Friday Five – 8/23/19

Happy Friday Everyone!

Well, my kids have almost finished their first full week of school and I’m excited for a nice relaxing weekend. Let’s get started with Friday Five!

I had planned to do a Friday Five last week, but it was so hectic with back to school and everything else… so, I’m finally sharing their back to school photo today (and, if you follow my personal account on Facebook, you’ve probably already seen it). Nathan is in 8th grade this year and Autumn is in 5th grade. I was super emotional this time when they went back to school, I think because August 15th seems SO early and because my oldest is in 8th grade… the LAST grade in his school, so next year he’ll be at the Lutheran high school. I just don’t know where time goes and I always told myself that I wouldn’t have to worry about either of them getting too big until they were in 8th grade. Well, it has come for Nathan and man… I’m still trying to grasp it. But, happy thoughts, right?! I am SO proud of him… SO very proud of him. So MANY exciting things this year with his class trip to Chicago, confirmation and graduation! Plus, Autumn has decided she’s going to play the flute and will be starting band soon. Oh, do I love these two with ALL my heart!

You get a tour of the winery and then they take you down to the cellar and you get to try 6 of their sweet wines or 6 of their dry wines. We tried sweet, but we’d love to do this again and try the dry ones (because, we love pinot noir!). They gave us a mini charcuterie try during the tasting. After the tasting we split a pretzel charcuterie board… it was AH-mazing! They also serve pizzas and other food if you’re looking for something to enjoy outside with your wine.

Brian baked me the same exact cake this year for my birthday. It is a homemade (cake AND icing, all from scratch) yellow cake with chocolate frosting. SO yummy! This recipe is a winner and you can find it HERE. Can you guess who decorated it? Autumn did!

Autumn also asked Brian to order me these flowers that she picked out. What a sweet girl!!!

I received a couple of gifts from some of my sweet blogging friends! Lauren from Mom Home Guide and I met last summer at Haven (almost two summers ago now, we need to get together again soon!). We text daily and she’s one of my besets friends, it is just a shame we don’t live closer. She knows I love Rae Dunn and she purchased me this fun Rae Dunn seasonal tray. She also got me a really cute pair of resin earrings which will be on repeat this Fall and a card with sequin sprinkles on it. So cute! Thank you, Lauren!!

Laura from I Do DeClaire and I share August as our birthday month and she asked me for my address and sent over all of these darling items that she made on her Silhouette machine. SO, so cute and I love personalized items! You’ll be seeing a cute fashion post soon with some of these items she sent me. Thank you so much, Laura! 🙂 I don’t know how long Laura and I have been following each other, but it has to be for over 5+ years. She lives outside Chicago, so I hope to meet up with her eventually.

Here is a closer look at the wine glass she sent me with my monogram on it. It is a nice sized wine glass, too! Hee, hee! 🙂

Three – Pixi Goodies

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Pixi recently sent me this tub of all kinds of Vitamin-C goodies for my face. Did you know that Vitamin-C will brighten your face while promoting healthy collagen productions? It also includes ferulic acid, which together with the Vitamin-C will reduce the effects of sun damage and free radicals. The results? Your skin tone will be improved and you’ll have a smoother complexion. They sent me their Vitamin-C Juice Cleanser, Vitamin-C Tonic, Vitamin-C Serum, Vitamin-C Lotion and Vitamin-C Caviar Balm (just let this encapsulated  vitamin mask melt into your skin overnight!).

Four – My Parent’s 50th Wedding Anniversary

Before the kids went back to school, we celebrated my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary at Annie Gunns restaurant. I am SO, so proud of my parents… 50 years is no small task. It was such a wonderful evening and I always love spending time with both of my parents, my brother and SIL and my own fam bam. The kids were excited to go to a fancy restaurant and order steak (well, Autumn got mac and cheese). My parents are such an inspiration and I love them both very much. I wish them many, many more years of happiness together. They’re my rock, I always know I can come to them for anything.

Five – Sephora Play! August Box

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I received my Sephora Play August box and it had a lot of great new (to me) items in it. I was really excited about the BareMinerals and GlamGlow products included this time.

This lipstick is the perfect shade for the Fall! I love that it has a little brown and a little rose coloring to it.

This is a nice light setting spray, perfect for keeping that makeup on as we wind down the summer. I love to keep this small trial size in my bag for a little pick me up while I’m on the go.

I love the color of this toner! It exfoliates, purifies and clarifies your complexion with a mixture of charcoal, acids and clay.

This retinol serum works hard yet it is super gentle on your skin. It combats the look of fine lines, wrinkles and those dreaded dark spots.

This face cream will be AWESOME sauce during the winter months when my skin dries out easier. Just don’t forget to use a sunscreen over it if you wear it during the day.