Friday Favorites {6.16.23}

Happy Friday, friends!!  Today's post is a quick look at my favorites for the week....

First off... my most favorite thing, is that we got to spend four years with this amazing dog. His life was cut short, unexpectedly, and our week took a huge hit this past week. But we have a lot of amazing memories with him. Caroline (the youngest) asked if dogs go to heaven so she could see him again one day. Sweet girl, I sure hope so. 

You can read and see more about him HERE.

My favorite outfits for the week...

My favorite workout outfit this week is one that makes me so happy and cheery! I have mostly been wearing shorts because...you know. Summer. 

tank // bra // shorts

My outfit for the day - I actually wore the tank and bra to workout in and then I just changed into the summer shorts - they are the best shorts for all day wear! I've worn them hiking, tubing, shopping, to soccer fields, basically EVERYWHERE. 

shorts//tank//bra

I promise you, once you try them, you won't ever go back. 

My favorite Amazon purchase is these shorts! I got them in blue and neon yellow, and then I had to go back and get them in bright pink. I wore them this week and they just made me so happy!

They're on my list of Summer Favorites - because I'll basically be wearing them all summer.

And always, but especially this week, I'm thankful for this man.

He has had quite the last few weeks...

from having to build the closet  because of this...

to fixing our pool

and making the girls an outside movie theater

Screen // Projector // Speakers

and not to mention, he's the one that took Diesel in...

He has shouldered a lot the last few weeks...he's due for a vacation.

Speaking of... we're getting ready to go on our summer trip.

So here are some of my favorites for traveling!

Travel Favorites

Travel Tips

Packing for Road Trips

Have a great weekend! 

Travel Tips

It's no secret, I love to travel. I just wish I had an endless amount of money to do it. ha! I don't want money to buy all the things. I want money to travel the world. What's that saying? Money can't buy you happiness...but it can buy you travel, and that makes me happy! 

We travel to the mountains, to the beach, to the islands... wherever!

So here are some of my travel tips...

#1 - Plan what you might want to do, but don't make an itinerary. Unless you have to make reservations for something, kind of go with the flow...and the weather. Every time we go somewhere, I make a list of things we might want to do, and then we kind of just play it by ear. Having an itinerary, kind makes it less a vacation and more of a stress. Especially, when you have someone in your family who isn't used to running on a schedule (i.e. - my husband. lol)

#2 - Use these packing cubes. 

They are a GAME CHANGER when it comes to packing. I don't know how I ever did it before without these things. I will never go back to not using cubes when packing a suitcase again. You can organize them however you like, but usually, I pack my outfits together (I pair my shorts and tanks/shirts together and fold them together) and put them in one cube. One cube is my PJs, one is my socks, underwear, bras, and one is my sports bras and swim stuff. (I wear a lot of my sports bras as swim suits). If we go somewhere cold, then one cube is the outerwear (jackets/sweatshirts)

#3 - Don't ask your kids where they want to go. haha! Not trying to be mean, but seriously, my kids never want to go where I do. But as always, we go and they have fun. 

#4 - 

If you're road tripping, get yourself a topper! It saves so much room in the car. And then when you stop to eat and such, you're not constantly playing Tetris with all the luggage. 

#5 - Have your kids pack their own clothes.

Yep - even when they were super young, I would write a list, and they would pack their own clothes. They would bring out their outfits for me to approve, but they were in charge of it. It teaches them responsibility, and they can't argue that they don't like their clothes that were packed. lol

#6 - get these Stasher bags for medicine and liquids

They're clear, so you can see what's in them really quickly. I like the ones that stand up like this, so you can just put them 

You can check out my other favorites for trips 

FRIDAY FAVORITES - TRAVEL EDITION

PACKING FOR ROAD TRIPS

Friday Favorites {6.9.23}

Happy Friday, friends!!  Today's post is a quick look at my favorites for the week....

My favorite recipe from last week's menu ended up being the grilled fish. I decided to do it with black beans and rice, and MAN it made amazing leftovers for the lunch the next few days. lol I used this recipe for the black beans and rice

And these HELADOS MEXICO popsicles are my go-to treats right now! The mini ones are perfect for me. 

My favorite outfits for the week...

Honestly, we're basically living in workout clothes and bathing suits. 

My favorite workout outfit this week is one that makes me so happy and cheery! I have mostly been wearing shorts because...you know. Summer. 

shorts//tank//bra

/shorts/ /tank/ /bra/ /hat/

These luxe drawstring pocket hustle shorts are some of my most favorite shorts, ever! Right now, they only have the maroon ones, which I absolutely love!

The girls got new bathing suits from Athleta during their sale, and they are so cute! And all so different. Something for everyone, really.

bikini bottoms // tankini top // swim shorts // long sleeve one piece // bikini top

My favorite purchase? Well... it's not from Amazon.  But these sandals, I have been wearing for FIVE years straight now. I will never go back to regular sandals. I LIVE in sandals, you know, FL girl. But with the pains that I've had in my feet were/are unbearable, until I started wearing these OOFOS sandals. They have a bunch of different styles now, and even slip on sneakers (which I have and LOVE). The sandals are not so cute off, but once you put them on, they're not that bad and by golly they're so amazing you won't even care! These are the best teacher shoes too. I keep a pair at work and wear them around the classroom all day long. And if I can get away with it, I wear them around the school, too. Depends on your admin, I guess ;-) 

I promise you, once you try them, you won't ever go back. 

My favorite Amazon purchase is these shorts!

and my favorite little dainty letter necklaces from Victoria Emerson are on sale! I got me and all the girls one for Christmas last year. They're so perfect - and perfect for layering, if you like to do that!

see how dainty they are?!

letter necklace

We've had some BEAUTIFUL mornings this week. It's so hard NOT to be outside during these beautiful mornings. 

Morning sunrise from my portch

morning walk on the causeway bridge

swimming laps while my daughter was at a birthday party at the North County pool

Lake Atlantic! ha - just because the ocean was so calm, it was a beautiful morning!

Last week, I watched AIR on Amazon Prime. I really liked it! It's not normally something I would watch, but I gave it whirl, and I really liked it!

We FINALLY get to watch the last season of Yellowstone. It's one of my favorite shows. 

I'll be back next week! Have a wonderful weekend!

Meal Planning {6.5.23} and weekend recap

Happy Monday morning! I hope you had a great weekend! We had some fun in the sun...and rain. 

We decided to play tennis Saturday morning, and of course as soon as we got to the courts, it started POURING. So we were just going to wait out the rain. As the saying goes, if you don't like the weather in Florida, just wait 5 minutes. 

Well, apparently, my girls can't wait 5 minutes, lol, so they decided to play in the rain. It did eventually stop, and I joined them for an hour or so. 

Then, later, they walked back to the park (this is the summer of independence for them - they are loving it!) to play some basketball. Notice now how it's sunny??

The rain kept at bay, so I could go for my nightly walk. I love this time. I take 30 minutest to go for a walk and listen to my audiobook. 

I found a new pair of shorts that I LOVE. I will buying these in all the colors, but I'm currently obsessed with these neon yellow ones!

Morning sunrises, still going strong - there's something about starting your mornings like this. 

and trying out new hairstyles on the girls. My girls have the THICKEST and longest hair ever, and they HATE putting their hair up in ponytails. I just don't get it! So, my thought is if I do fun hairstyles, they'll want to put their hair up. 

Sunday, Autumn had a birthday party for a friend at the North County pool, so naturally the other girls and I hung out too - I swam laps in the lanes, and the girls played around in the lanes. 

We're all a little sunkissed and a little blonder :) 

Ok - so since it's Monday, I'll be doing a weekend recap AND a meal planning post. 

I was doing really good with meal planning, until the school year started, even though I STILL meal planned each month (yes, I do a monthly meal plan, so that I only need to do it every few weeks. It's a game changer!)

I have them planned for "days," but I don't always do them on those days. Sometimes I don't even make them in that week - I just circle them on my monthly menu so I know I can add them to the next month's menu. You'll find the links for the recipes below

 1. Grilled Mahi - We've been using our grill A LOT. The girls used to hate grilled food because it looked "burnt" but they're realizing it's not burnt, it's flavor!

2. Loaded Nachos - A SkinnyTaste recipe. I just love some loaded nachos!

3. Tortilla Encrusted Chicken - Another new SkinnyTaste recipe. I usually really like their recipes. If you try this one, let me know what you think. 

4. Sweet & Sour Shrimp Rice Bowls - This is a new one, but it uses already make salad mix, so I'm always game for a quick and easy recipe

5. Crabcakes - this is such an easy recipe using StoveTop Stuffing. Not the healthiest, in terms of whole foods, but it's always good!

And here's what I prepped for my breakfast this morning

Sweet potato

onion

sausage

paprika

tumeric

S & P

Then each day, I'll sauté spinach and cook an egg to put on top. It's SO GOOD

One of my go-to snacks this week - it's like a pina colada yogurt!

vanilla yogurt (your favorite - this one is my new favorite right now!)

dried pineapple

coconut

cinnamon

walnuts