Monthly Musings Vacations and Staycations

Hello there Besties! Are you ready to join Holly and me to talk vacations and staycations? Who knew this topic would be so ahem...interesting...when we came up with the topics earlier this year. 

1. Top Five Items You Pack When You are Headed on Vacation.

This answer is going to seem both practical and a little nutty, so here goes.

The first thing I always make sure I have is all of my medication and supplements. I always pack enough for the trip plus one full extra day because you just never know what can happen. Things you need to think about when you have a chronic illness. (practical)

The second thing I bring if we are traveling by car is coffee and the little shelf stable creamers. That way we have coffee ready to go the first morning. Heaven forbid I wait for coffee. (nutty?)

I also bring a little bit of cereal for Hockey Guy for the first morning too. (practical)

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What's Up Wednesday--July 2020

Hey Besties. Here we are at the end of July. For the first start of the pandemic it felt like the months crawled, now it seems like the weeks are flying by. We are still playing it safe but trying to find glimpses of normalcy. 

It's the last Wednesday of the month and I am linking up with Shay and Sheaffer for What's Up Wednesday. Settle in to find out what we have been up to this month. July flew by in a flash.

What We're Eating This Week

I have a feeling that this week is going to be a little nutty workwise, so I think we are going to have to keep dinners simple.

Monday-chicken and vegetable stir fry with brown jasmine rice

Tuesday-take out Tuesday.  We have been doing this since the pandemic started to help the local restaurant industry.

Wednesday-no sure what we are going to do , this night as we needed to make an appointment at the Apple Store.

Thursday-maybe baked chicken tacos, maybe homemade gluten free pizza

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Monthly Musings Topics for July

Join Holly and me on Thursday, July 30 as we talk vacations and staycations. Join us to link up, read up or both! We can't wait to hear what you have to say about travel, especially this year.

See you back here on Wednesday for What's Up Wednesday, Thursday for Monthly Musings and Friday for Friday Favorites. 

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Friday Favorites: Preppy Ugly Sandals, Hallmark Christmas in July, Best Trader Joe's Crackers, a Little Bit of Normalcy and Bachelor GOAT

The last few weeks have been...a lot. It's campaign season, I am up to my ears in school paperwork, and just trying to keep our house looking decent and not like a frat party just let out. Besties,  I live in a frat house...even the dog is a boy. I am just trying to take a deep breath, write down the three things I need to try to accomplish every day and just dig in and get it done.

Since it is Friday, I am linking up with Erika, Andrea, Narci to share with you the things that bring me Joy this week as there is Joy in every week.  

1) The Preppy Ugly Sandal

I know the ugly sandal trend is super hot right now. A lot of them are supposed to be really comfortable such as Birkenstocks but they are really not me. I have even thought really hard about a rose gold Birkenstock and I just cannot do it. 

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Week End Favorites: Lobster Compost, Good Summer Lip Tint, Good Frozen Bars, Best Tote, and Easy Caprese Grilled Chicken

Happy Weekend Besties! Whew, this week I was pushing hard to get a lot of things done and I am so ready for the weekend. I so wanted to get this posted on Friday, but the end of my week needed to be totally focused on work and I started my day super early on Friday. Now I am ready for a little food, a little pool time with friends (in the safest way possible) and hopefully a little sleep. I am linking up with Erika, Andrea, Narci to share with you the things that bring me Joy this week.

1) Coast of Maine Organic Lobster Compost

Calling all gardeners, if you have been seeing some bottom rot on your tomatoes and zucchini, this is the product for you.  While my tomatoes are coming in a little slowly, I was starting to see some bottom rot on my zucchini last week. As Running Daddy says "no one wants bottom rot!" I knew there was a simple solution if I could find it and that is the lobster compost from Coast of Maine. 

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Easy Caprese Grilled Chicken

Needed to get back to my roots a little bit and share this easy weeknight recipe with you. Monday afternoon I was working at home, like everyone else, and knew I had a lot of food in the house but didn't have dinner planned. On Mondays, Running Daddy has a day off from triathlon training and since he is also home all day, he is always up to help with dinner by grilling.

In the summer, I always feel that if I have tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and Kirkland pesto from Costco in the house, I have dinner! I pulled this recipe together in my brain and it was so Good. The Best part was how quickly it came together. 

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Friday Favorites: Good Podcast on Stress, Balancing Night Cream, Good Lip Balm, Calla Lilies and Fun New Masks

Happy Friday Besties! Whew, this was a productive week and for that I am so glad. I have a lot on my to do list but I am just making my lists, working in blocks and using my time well. I am trying to stop myself when I feel myself scrolling at lunch and take that time to make a phone call or send an email so that I don't get too overwhelmed.

As I do on most Fridays I am linking up with Erika, Andrea, Narci to share with you the things that bring me Joy this week. Are you ready? Let's go!

1) The Brilliant Balance Podcast

A friend told me about Cherylanne Skolnicki's podcast Brilliant Balance. I listened to the four part Stress Watchout series and it really spoke to me. Those four parts are:

1. Overeating/Under-exercising-I have probably been under-exercising during the pandemic at times and I am probably more of an under-eater when stressed. This was a Good episode to keep me in check.

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What We Wore Week 3

The end of June, had me super busy for work so I needed to give myself a little grace on this site. I have a few of my outfits to share with you this week and hopefully I have everyone who shared their outfits with me. I am still trying to do this post once a week but I may not lock myself into a certain day. Let's see how this goes. 

Is there a certain day of the week you would like to see a fashion post like this?  If so please leave me a note in the comments section.

Here is what I have been wearing lately.

Heartbreaker pendant

Floral/pink band

Heartbreaker necklace

***contains affiliate link

Since we are in the throws of summer, some days I do wear shorts for working at home. I love this look at it is totally put together but summer ready.

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Friday Favorites-More Joy, Best Tote (on sale!), Intriguing Podcast, Sewing Down South and Return to Normalcy

Happy July Besties! While I know this is supposed to be Friday Favorites, I am well aware that this is being posted on Saturday. This should tell you how my week was. This week has been busy work wise so I needed to give myself a little grace. I also ended up on the phone with a customer service line for over 3 1/2 hours Thursday night which truly led to the delay in this post. I was rolling right along and then I had a matter that really needed addressing. It ended with me getting cut off while on hold at 11:45 pm on Thursday night as I tried to untangle the last part of a trip. The major part is cancelled but I just need to deal with the travel insurance part.

I am also working on moving around some of my blog scheduling. I think that the mid week edition of What We Wore is not really working for me. I am thinking about moving this to Mondays, so stay tuned as I move that post around.

As we head into this holiday weekend, I am linking up with Erika, Andrea, Narci to share the things that are bringing me Joy this week. After three hours of hold music the other night...I need some Joy.

1) More Joy

More Joy

I wear a small

**contains affiliate links

How sweet is this shirt that my friend sent to me? The tye dye is so on trend right now and you know I am all about Joy. These are a total steal this holiday weekend, so if you need a little lift or want to send a little happy to a friend, this is a really Good way to do it. 

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