Five on Friday

::: Glossier Cloud Paint :::

I went with puff and beam 

I have always loved a liquid blush - and this one is my new favorite. I like both colors that I got - I ended up going with the sample pack (for $30) in order to determine my favorite color, but I couldn't tell you which one I like better! They go on so smooth and easy, they stay on, and a little bit goes a long way.

::: 2 :::

I don't know if I've shared this - but I made a twist on Liz Adam's mushroom turkey burgers - I added thawed frozen spinach, and they were SO good.

So easy, really filling, healthy and quick to make! I would highly recommend! 

::: 3 ::: 

My book club last week had a really cool opportunity to facetime with the author, Steve Pemberton, of A Chance in this World. The book is incredible .... I actually listened to it on Audible which I loved because it's Steve who is reading it. The book is incredibly inspiring, motivating, and heart wrenching. 

::: 4 ::: 

The weather has FINALLY turned here in Chicago and I am ALLLLLLLLLL about it! It's been SO nice to get outside, take some wagon rides, play on the swing set, go for walks.....life is GOOD when it's not 15 degrees outside! 

::: 5 ::: 

The kids have spring break this week, and so a few family friends and us are renting a house in Galena while the kids are off school. We are SO excited for a fun trip with friends! We plan to hike, hit up a few cute breweries, maybe do some bowling, swimming, and anything else we can do while enjoying mimosas with our dear friends! 

Reading, Watching, Listening, Cooking, and Doing

Reading: 

 

I think I talked about this book before - but if you haven't read it - put it on your list immediately!  One of my book clubs read it, and everyone really, really enjoyed it. If there was any complaint, it was that it was a tiny bit slow (and sometimes predictable) at parts, but overall, I couldn't put it down and enjoyed it from start to end. 

For the same book club - our book for next month is The Woman in the Window. It is not my typical type of book, and I'm actually a little scared to start it, so if you've read it, please tell me if its worth reading! 

I'm also doing my first Audible book for The Woman Who Smashed Codes. A neighborhood book club is doing this book for the month of October, and while also not my typical genre, it has been really interesting - especially since its based in Illinois.

 

Watching:  

Such a fun, bright, extravagant rom-com. I saw it 1.5x because the first time I went, the power in the theater went out, so I went back this past week with my mom to watch it again.

 

 

 

Listening: 

Age three is going to rock us around here. 

Leo has been seriously pushing boundaries, sassy, talk-backy, and FIERCELY independent. There are so many times during the day that I want to just rip my hair out of my head because it becomes so frustrating when you find yourself fighting with your toddler.

I've been listening to this podcast lately, and I really enjoy her perspective on things. The podcasts are short, smart, and make me feel quite a bit better about things.

Cooking: 

I've been bringing back a lot of my fall staples, but this is the only new dish that I've cooked in the last few weeks - and it's super simple and healthy. 

I used this recipe from Damn Delicious for her Sesame Ginger Salmon, and it was SO good. Served over brown rice and asparagus that I broiled on high with olive oil, balsamic glaze, and grated Parmesan.

Doing:  

I've really enjoyed our fall schedule. MWF - Leo is at school in the mornings for 2.5 hours. 

After school on Monday, the kids have a music class at the library with a bunch of our friends, so we scoot over there to fill our Monday.

On Tuesday afternoons, I have a sitter come from 3-6. 

Normally I run errands or schedule appointments, but last week, I treated myself to a beer and movie all on my own and it was heaven!

 

It was a jam packed week actually, because then on Thursday, I met Joel downtown for a Cubs game. The Cubs held on for as long as they could, and we were excited to be there for a win, but their season is officially over. 

 

I'm also doing a little fall shopping. I went yesterday to Nordstrom Rack and Old Navy and tomorrow I'm going to head to Gap and Janie and Jack. Those are pretty much the only stores I shop at for the kids with the occasional find at Tj.Maxx.

 

And that's the latest and the greatest around here! Please tell me when you've been RWLCDing too :)

Reading, Watching, Listening, Cooking and Doing

Reading:

 

I just finished the first book of the Peach Tree Bluff series, and loved every page of it. It's easy, heartwarming, and summer-y. Overall, my perfect kind of read. 

My neighborhood started a summer book/wine club, and we had so much fun....we decided to continue it through the school year. I'm hosting September, and we voted to read this book, so it'll be my next read. 

 

Watching:

I'm really liking Very Cavallari.

 

She is a cool chick - and she has a way about her that makes you want whatever she is doing. Honestly, she makes coffee look cool. I will say - the exception to that rule is her husband. He is a total dud. 

I'm also happy to see Bachelor in Paradise back in action, I'm obsessed with this season of Younger, and I'm also loving Counting On - no joke.....it's honestly more entertaining for me than the housewives lately. 

Listening: 

I'm still listening to Podcasts when I get the chance too. I like them in the morning while I'm getting ready, while I'm running errands in the car, or when I'm doing things around the house.  I'm not following any this month that I've loved, besides the one's I've shared in the past - so please share if you have any that you've enjoyed. 

We have been doing a lot of Jack Johnson's station on Pandora, and Leo has really been into music lately and constantly requesting the Children's Disney channel, so that's been hitting the speakers often too! 

Cooking: 

I've been cooking a lot lately, but dinner time is our most chaotic time, so I haven't been getting around to snapping pictures of what we've been eating. During the work week, I try to get in as many salads as I can - and my most recent favorite dinner was Natalie's Greek Turkey Burgers over an Argula salad. They make quite a bit - are really hearty - and make for great leftovers the next day. 

Doing:

This entire summer I've had the opportunity to play in a tennis drill in the mornings from 9-10 and it has literally been my absolute favorite thing of this entire summer. My game has gotten a lot better, I have so much fun out on the court, and I honestly didn't realize how much I had missed having a competitive sport in my life!! I think I'm going to keep at it this school year and play in a drill with some of the women I've played with this summer which excites me as well.  

We've also been DOING summer right. Lots of walks, beach visits, library time, play dates, happy hours.....we've really been living it up and it's been so much fun.

 

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Reading, Watching, Listening, and Cooking

Reading: Woohoo! I finally read my first book post-baby! 

I typically enjoy Elin Hilderbrand - and this book was no different. Easy, sweet, and a fast beach read. A perfect summer book. A few of my neighbors are putting together an easy Book Club for the summer and our first book is Mindy Kaling's "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" which I've been wanting to read for a while.

 

Watching: My sister has been telling me to watch Schitt's Creek for a year now, and I finally got a chance to on my flights from Chicago to Los Angeles. The episodes are hilarious, fast, and you can easily binge 5 or 6 if you get a few minutes to yourself.

And if you watch, did you know that Twyla (the server) is Eugene Levy's daughter (and, thereby Daniel's/David's sister?!)

Listening: I've really enjoyed the last few episodes on Coffee + Crumbs. I like hearing how other women and families do (date nights, meal planning, summer vacations, etc.). 

 

 

 

Also, now that the Bachelor is back on, I'm listening to all of the bachelor podcasts too. The Ben and Ashley I podcast and You're Favorite Thing are my favorites.  

 

Cooking: As you've seen in the last couple of weeks, I'm trying to cook a lot of salads around these parts. The weekends keep destroying my diet, and the scale is just not budging for me. I still have ten pounds to go to get to pre-baby weight, and I'm ready to get there already. 

With that being said, this weeks salad have included: an Italian Chopped salad, a BLT (and I added chicken) salad, and a Greek Turkey Burger salad - ALL thanks to Natalie at Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers. 

 

 

 

Would love to hear if you have anything I need to add to my RWLC list! 

Hope you have the best weekend

Reading, Watching, Listening, & Cooking

Reading: I'm reading the Winter Street series by Elin Hilderbrand. It's the perfect series for this time of year. It's pretty predictable, and pretty light, but it's overall easy, cozy, and relaxing and I've really enjoyed reading them. I'm on the 3rd book right now (that's my one complain, it's getting a little expensive, since I've had to buy 4 books and the newest one below is $13.99 on my kindle), but I saw TWO other women at the spa I was at last weekend reading Winter Solstice too.

Watching: Hallmark Christmas movies. I haven't caught any new ones yet, but I've rewatched some of my favorites from last year. Let me know if you find one that I should DVR. 

Also, I'm really trying to like American Housewife but I don't think I do.

I want to like it, and I have been watching each week's episode but it's so OVERLY acted and extreme, they're kind of just ruining it for me.

Listening: Well, I've been loving that The Big Boo cast has been putting out more podcasts lately - so I've been listening to them a lot, but I've also been listening to Ben and Ashley Almost Famous. I don't think I can even recommend this one, it's ex-bachelor contestants - with very little depth on anything but I've listened to like 3 episodes while I've done random house things, and it's fine background chatter.

 

Please throw any recommendations my way. I prefer podcasts to be bloggery/talk radioy, versus listening to a story, but I'd love to hear what you are enjoying lately.

Cooking: On Halloween I made Pintrest's ever famous ham and cheese sliders and holy cow are they good! I actually decided to triple the recipe so that I could freeze 18 of them, so I'll let you know how they are as a freezer meal once we break into them (post baby!).

also, I made my first batch of tomato soup of the season and it was SO good. I use this recipe, and it really couldn't be simpler.

Let me know what your RWL&C too! 

Reading, Watching, Listening, Cooking

Reading: I took the last six weeks off and just never picked up my kindle. That's sort of the kind of reader I am, I go on major reading binges for weeks, and then need a little break. I'm currently half way through this book and have been enjoying it. It's a breezy, summer, light read, but relaxing.

 

A lot of my book recommendations come from Mix'n'Match Mama....and this one is no exception. I downloaded a sample of Class Mom which didn't totally thrill me from the beginning, but I may try it one more time because I like the idea of it. 

 

Watching: The best housewives of all....RHODallas. 

They're amazing. I'm so bored by OC, but Thank God for Dallas. I feel like they're not changed by the show yet, and I just love it.

And, I'm loving Flipping Out, LOVING Younger, and somehow finding time to keep up with Bachelor in Paradise even though I probably could be doing about 25 better things!

Listening: My newest Podcast that I'm listening to every week is called Hello Bump with Angela and Matt Lanter.

 

She's a blogger, he's an actress, and the podcast is a cute week by week recap of her current pregnancy. She is just a few weeks behind me, so I find it relevant and entertaining. 

I will say, I spend a lot of my time rolling my eyes but I do keep listening. Everyone "does" pregnancy differently, and they do it a little differently than I do, but I enjoy hearing about it - and haven't missed an episode!  

Cooking:  I have been pretty much back to regular cooking around these parts, but with fall, I feel like I've been inspired to start trying a few new recipes. If I don't eat another brat or ear of corn until next summer - that will be just fine by me! We've over done a lot of our summer recipes, so in with the new! 

The two newest recipes I'm trying this week I'm really excited about. They both look super easy so I'll report back on how they go.

Slow Cooker Chicken Ceaser Sandwiches (serving with sweet potato fries) 

 

and

Spicy Soba Peanut Noodles (service with an Asain Salad) 

 

Let me know what your RWL&C too! 

Reading, Watching, Listening, and Cooking.

I'll start with Listening: since that's where I got the idea for this podcast, but I'm still listening to the I Do Declare Podcast. It's an easy, breezy listen that is always fun. 

I also am pretty obsessed with the Bitch Sesh podcast. I'm late to this trend, I know, but it's absolutely hilarious. I actually laugh out loud, multiple times an episode, and totally of think Casey Wilson is possibly the coolest/funniest person ever. 

Other than that, we've been doing a lot of the Jack Johnson and Sam Hunt pandora stations because they just feel like summer time listening! 

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Watching: I'm on season 2 of Younger and I'm super addicted. If you watched...I just finished up the episode with the sheep guy yesterday. Mhmm.....

The show is freaking hilarious, cute, relateable, funny, edgy....and I like the episodes are short (22mins) so that I can binge watch a few of them at a time when I go upstairs at night.

We've also been watching a lot of cubs games lately. This is our first year back in Chicago which means we finally get all of the games again and it's been fun. I've never loved watching baseball on TV, but lately I've been into it even though the Cubs haven't been playing all that amazing.

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Reading: I just started It Happens in the Hamptons

And so far, it's exactly the way it looks. Beachy, fun, and easy. 

On deck reading (I think) is: The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

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Cooking: Honestly, I have not been in the mood to cook much lately. It's been too damn hot, but as I mentioned yesterday, Joel made a seafood pasta that was out of this world. Annie at Home of Malones sent me this recipe, and although we made a few tweaks, it was DIVINE!

I'd love to know what you are RWL and C.....so please share!