Happy Friday Everyone!
Wow! It’s November!! I am doing my Friday Five one week early, because next week is the week of THANKSGIVING and I’ll be taking off the day after. However, I will have a holiday wish list post up early next week, so stay tuned for that! November is a special month over here, because it is my daughter Autumn’s birthday AND my mom’s birthday. Autumn will be 16 (!!) this year and we are gifting her Brian’s car… which means we’ll be needing a new car soon. Brian will either take my CRV or I may just let him get the new car, since I won’t be doing as much driving once Autumn starts driving herself to school. And, I kinda like my CRV still. This is going to be a NEW CHAPTER in the books for me… I have been driving them for YEARS (well, just Autumn the past 3 years). There is a lot of driving involved when they go to private schools! It is just going to be weird having BOTH of them driving themselves. Maybe I will be more motivated to cook dinner in the late afternoons now with a little extra free time? Ha, ha!
One – Photoshoot with Roasted Purpose
I had my photoshoot with The Roasted Purpose and the talented photograph J Whitmore and it was so much fun! I got my hair done at The Dry Bar and I just always love what they do! I omitted the big curlers on top, because I didn’t want my hair ‘too big’!! I’m more for a little natural, but yet a little glam. I had the lady take a photo of the back of my hair and I just love how it turned out! It is fun to get pampered sometimes! I’ll be sharing a blog post next week that will share some of my favorite photos from the photoshoot and also a little more about why I love The Roasted Purpose (coffee + 18 grams of protein is each cup!!).
The photoshoot was in Cottleville, MO, which is a good 45 minutes from our house. There are some really cute coffee places and restaurants in this area. I’ve been wanting to check out the new Pink Willow Cafe and we got on the wait list and were able to have a late brunch there after the photoshoot. I was doing a 10 Day Sugar Detox that week, so I had to order carefully. I did land up enjoying the biscuit, a little jam and I had milk in my cappuccino (but no syrups). I wanted to enjoy breakfast, but I didn’t go all out with something loaded with sugar. I did follow the rest of my Sugar Detox pretty well! I ended it on Halloween, which was perfect! It was crazy, after I ended it… I wasn’t even craving sugar anymore, even on Halloween! It took me until the middle of the day to actually want it! LOL! It’s crazy how sugar cravings are really all in the head!
Two – Halloween & Lily Ingestion
WELL… Halloween is different these days with a girl in high school and a young adult in college!! So, I won’t be sharing any photos of them. But, I will share ME! Brian went on a work trip to Orlando the week before Halloween and brought me back this cute Boo Halloween shirt from Disney. And, we had a nice bonfire in our solo pit with s’mores. It was a nice day!
I shared these adorable photos on my Instagram, but wanted to share them on here too. I got a couple of bandanas from Wags and Whiskers. She has 2 adorable ragdolls (one of them is named Oliver too!) and she shows them wearing bandanas she sews. I love these bandanas too because they have a snap closure on the back and not a tie. Unfortunately, Oliver and Aurora HATED, HATED, HATED the bandanas. So, I won’t be buying them again. But, I did bribe them with treats and I got a handful of cute photos of them wearing the bandanas.
Aurora is wearing the Halloween bandana. Not only was it hard to get her to pose, because she just wanted to rip the thing off, but she’s so fluffy I had to make sure her hair was tucked in around her neck so you could read what it says. LOL. Whew! I was exhausted after I did this mini photoshoot session with them… and never again! So, a little about Oliver and Aurora… they are both ragdolls and one litter apart, 2 months apart in age. They are half siblings and actually have the same dad!
So, I love to go to Trader Joe’s and get their flowers. But, sadly… I’ve had cats for 30+ years of my life and I’ve purchased lilies, yet NEVER had a cat ever have anything to do with them. Honestly, I knew some flowers were toxic to cats, but I didn’t realize it would do more than just upset their tummy… lilies will actually cause a cats kidneys to fail AND quite rapidly!!! Sadly, after my photoshoot with The Roasted Purpose, I came home and realized something was just off about Oliver. His nose was very flushed (it is usually pale pink unless he’s running around), had crustiness on it and he kept licking it. I saw when he was sleeping he was actually shivering in his sleep. Now, I examined the lilies very carefully and he did not ingest any of them (thank goodness), but his white hair was on the flower like he had maybe sniffed it or rubbed against it (which can be very toxic to them as well, which is just CRAZY!). The flower was also SO fragrant (it was a stargazer) and the entire house just smelled of it, so I don’t know if the scent was bothering him as well. The strong scent was actually what drew me to realize that was probably the cause. Anyway, we called the emergency vet and it was a quick rush to the vet and he was omitted for 2 days and they flushed his kidneys constantly with IV’s. He did have a fever as well. I don’t know if we were being overly precautious, but if you read online (and with the guidance of the vet), you have to act very quickly. Oliver is my baby and only a year old, so I of course was crying and swore to myself if I lost him over something so stupid on my part, I’d never ever get a cat again. I was a mess! Google does not calm your fears! So, I don’t know if I’ll ever buy anything but roses again… apparently onions, garlic and even grapes are toxic to cats. I’m trying to educate myself now. I just never knew how extreme. Thankfully, Oliver came home in 2 days and was ok. If he had ingested it, we would have had a different story. It is just scary for me to even think about it. I still feel so awful and wish I had known better. But, I really just had never had a cat that cared about flowers before!
Three – New Running Shoes and Nathan’s Schoolwork/Cards/Artwork Organization
I got new running shoes! I try to get a new pair with new inserts every year. They’re pricey, but my feet are important! I landed up getting the Brooks Adrenaline again, they just came out with the GTS 24.
With Nathan in college now, I’ve decided it is time to finally organize all his school papers from preschool through high school! I have a different organized bin for all his school papers, another bin for cards he’s gotten for each birthday (and some special holidays) and a third bin for artwork. I went through it all, organized it better and tossed some things. He will get all of this when he moves out some day.
The Women by Kristen Hannah – I don’t give 5 stars out on Goodreads often, but wow! Just wow! Best book I’ve read in a long time, but honestly… I’ve never been disappointed in a Kristin Hannah book. This book covers Vietnam and what it was like for a woman to be a nurse over there (Frankie McGrath) and also what it was like after she came back home. It talks about the solid friendships she forms with Ethel and Barb as they work as nurses during the war and after they return home. I think my favorite part of the part where she was in Vietnam, yet the entire book was excellent. And it ended almost exactly how I had hoped it would! A must read!
I was recently send these two Pipa Owls and they are so, so cute with my holiday decor. You can order the owl with the tail to the side, to the back or you can order both! They look so cute on/next to my tiered tray. Each owl is handcrafted from miniature foil tubes that are carefully layered over a rigid inner core. This unique process creates a shimmering reflective surface that will dazzle your holiday display! You can purchase these beautiful owls by clicking HERE.
Shop Christmas Mug:
When I went to the outlet malls, I saw this cute Christmas tree mug at the Francesca’s store. It reminds me of those antique ceramic Christmas tree with the lights.
Shop These Items:
I was excited to see a new Aerie store in our outlet mall! I’ve been wanting this red Aerie Getaway Quarter Snap Sweatshirt and although it was a new item, I left the store with it. I found some matching leggings on Amazon in Red Merlot that go perfect with it! I can’t wait to go out Christmas shopping and errand running in this cute outfit. And I even added some of those new white ruffle socks that everyone is wearing with their leggings these days!
Shop These Items:
I had been using Kopari Deodorant for years, because it is clean. But, I don’t know if they changed the ingredients but it would start foaming up on me once I applied it… and even more during my runs!!! Isn’t that crazy?! So, I started to research other deodorants, but I knew I wanted something with clean and minimal ingredients. I landed up purchasing Primally Pure Deodorant in the Blue Tansy scent. It’s $16 for a container and we’ll see how long it lasts. They have other scents, but this one seemed to be one of the more popular ones. It applies great, I still smell great when I wake up the next morning to workout (I don’t need to reapply!) and it doesn’t foam! I really love the scent too and it goes on clear. This will be my new go to for deodorant in the future! I also have been working on updating our bathrooms decor a bit (deep cleaning, swapping out old stuff for new, etc.) and I purchased this new floral print on Wayfair. I just love it!!
Shop This Item:
When I saw these glass straws on Amazon and how cute they would be for the holidays, I had to have them!
Shop Truvani:
Truvani came out with a new flavor and it is my favorite ice cream flavor! Mint Chocolate! I tried it and it is SO good!! I love their vegan protein powder and it has minimal ingredients that are organic. Plus, it is an easy way to get some protein in your day.
Jessica is the owner of the small shop Rural Cute Creations. I met her through blogging and we’ve kept in touch over the years with our seasonal gift exchanges! Jessica used to own chickens, but recently gave them away to someone that lives near her. She goes to visit them and picks me up eggs sometimes. I appreciate them, because they taste so much fresher than store bought eggs. She also gifted me a couple pairs of fall earrings from her shop.
I am always interested in what food/drinks work with running and recovery. I recently saw that these Fairlife Core Power protein shakes are great to drink after a long run to get some protein in you quickly. I have tried the vanilla and the chocolate flavors and they’re both great!
So the owners of Cozy Earth have a clean skincare line now called Fount Society. They were kind enough to send me their Water Cream. This moisturizer is light weight and provides hydration to the skin. I’ve noticed a difference in my skin texture, elasticity and I feel it has plumped my skin up! I’ve enjoyed using it so much that I’ve asked them to send me their serum to try with it. I’ll be sharing that soon! Save 20% on the Water Cream or off any purchase on their website by clicking HERE!
I hope everyone has a nice and relaxing weekend!
