I wasn’t sure what to write today (thus the late post), but I’ve seen this link-up floating around and figured why not. Linking up with The Blended Blog.
1) Gratitude Journal? I’ve tried. I started one in October but I’m terrible at remembering to write.
2) Hosted Thanksgiving? I don’t think I’ve ever hosted this holiday. I usually host Easter for K’s family. That’s my holiday. And I like to host because ham is the Easter meat and I don’t like ham so I usually serve something else 😀
3) Favorite food? Can I say turkey skin…? Seriously, though. And real mashed potatoes. YUM.
4) Nature: I love the stars. I could stare at them for hours. I’m also a big fan of trees & mountains.
5) Pumpkin pie? I’m not a huge fan of pie, but I’ll eat pumpkin as long as the whipped cream dollop is roughly the same size as the pie slice.
6) Traditional cookbook? Sure, but also Pinterest & Google.
7) Oven Baked or Deep-Friend Turkey? I don’t think I’ve ever had the latter. I’d love to try it!
10) Home cooked meals or restaurant meals? Pretty much always home cooked.
In response to yesterday, I’m so freakin’ happy to see some representation in our politics. We have a long way to go, but so many women, citizens of color, and openly gay politicians took over their state’s representation. I think that’s awesome and a great start.
Ok. How the heck are we at “2000s”? I swear we just kicked this thing off with 1900s/1910s. So crazy how fast this year went in Blogland. Don’t forget– next month we’re hosting a LINK-UP for any and all period dramas, historical/fiction books, and historical movies that you want to review or share!! That will be Tuesday, December 4th!
On the first Tuesday of the month, February through November, we’re highlighting books & films from/about specific eras that we recommend! (Television shows, too, sometimes!) There’s no commitment or link-up during those months on your end, but in December we’ll host a recap/link-up for the entire year!
I thought it was hard to find books set in the 2000s.
B O O K S
One of my all time favorite books is The Art of Racing in the Rain (Garth Stein). The reader is introduced to Enzo and his family- and Enzo is a dog. It is one of the most beautiful, heart-wrenching, real books I’ve ever read. And of course I loved it because Enzo is named after the same person/car that my Enzo is named after 🙂
I have no idea why, but The Royal We (Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan) is one of those stories that has stuck with me. I already loved the royals (whom this book is not-so-loosely based on), but something about the personalities and hardships of each character in this book really stuck with me. It’s kind of long, but I enjoyed all the drama and romance and parallels.
M O V I E S
(2001) It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Save the Last Dance but I loved this movie when I was a teenager. Julia Stiles is such an underrated actress and the whole love story between her and Sean Patrick Thomas’ character is beautiful.
(2001) Does anyone NOT love The Princess Diaries (and also, has anyone not seen The Princess Diaries?!)? I love this adorable movie and the star power this one packs is insane. Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Heather Matarazzo, Mandy Moore, Sandra Oh… And Brink.
(2001, 2004, 2007) My love for the Ocean’s movies knows no bounds (including Ocean’s 8!!). I’ll admit that, as far as the male cast movies go, 11 is my favorite with 13 being a close second. I’m crossing my fingers that we get a 9 and 10 (with the ladies!) because this franchise is the best.
(2004) My favorite Pixar movie is The Incredibles. I love the story and the musical score and each character. Violet and Dash’s relationship is my favorite. I haven’t seen The Incredibles 2 yet but I need to!
(2006) It’s no surprise that Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby shows up on my list. We probably watch it every time it’s on TV and we definitely quote it daily. Damn- it’s just so funny and good and quotable. Especially for a NASCAR lover.
*dates indicate both when the movie was released AND when I think it was set
B O N U S
I mentioned The West Wing in our 90s post but most of it takes place in the 2000s. Seriously guys, if you haven’t watch it yet, DO IT.
Has everyone already seen The Office? It’s hysterical and awkward (and mildly not PC). Easy to binge, easy to follow, good mindless television.
On Deck…
Middle school/high school (without Hulu or Netflix) made me miss a lot of good shows. I’d love to watch:
Veronica Mars
Friday Night Lights
30 Rock
Be sure to hope over to Alexandra’s blog and check out her recommendations!
Next month we are linking up & we want you to join us!
Did you watch or read any of our suggestions from year? Maybe you thought of your own recommendations and you’ve been waiting for the right time to share them! Perhaps you just *happened* to read a book from the 1950s and you want to review it!
There’s no right or wrong way to link-up with us! Just do it! We will see you December 4th for our final Roaring Swinging Fabulous Groovy Blog Collaboration post!! Join us, won’t you?
I show up for our coffee dates about every 2 months it seems. I’m a little late with this one. Oops!
Linking up with Kristen for What’s New With You? today.
If we were sitting down for coffee I’d have to lament about the end of my favorite month. October kicks off the best quarter of the year (in my opinion) and it’s always bittersweet to say goodbye to the month. But I’m excited that the holidays are around the corner!
If we were having coffee I’d admit that I’m still recovering from our quick 5 day trip to Daufuskie Island, SC. My best friend & I drove through the night (Wednesday) to surprise our other best friend, who was on vacation with her girlfriend. We had been planning it for months and the surprise was perfect. Our time on the island was so relaxing. Here’s a link to the super quick video of the surprise: https://splice.gopro.com/v?id=yPjm4K
While sipping on our pumpkin lattes or maple coffees I’d probably gush about some of my birthday gifts. K got me tickets to see the Columbus orchestra play at a screening of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 🙂 My mother-in-law spoils me with a week of birthday gifts and some of my absolute favorites this year included this pillow, this skirt, and this wine stopper!
I’d also share about the new underwear I just got! (A little weird, I know, but what better way to end 2018 than cleaning out your delicates drawer and adding some comfy, quality undergarments?) Tommy Johns Underwear reached out to me a few weeks ago and set me up with some ah. may. zing. underwear. So soft and comfortable, dang near invisible, and it stays in place. I got a pair of their Cool Cotten Cheeky, Second Skin Brief, and Air Cheeky. I’m not kidding when I say I love these styles and all three materials!
When draining our adorably fall coffee mugs I’d ask if you’re participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I’ve done it every year, but never to completion. I’d really like to push myself to do it this year… I haven’t decided which novel idea to conquer, though.
Before we pull on our coats and dig for our keys I’d ask about your holiday plans. Are you doing anything fun for Thanksgiving? We have a business trip this month, then we’re spending a little bit of time in Williamsburg on a family vacation. I love historic little villages & I’m super excited. November is kind of crazy for us and I’m hoping for a slower December. How about you?
Sigh. I guess our coffee date would have to come to a close now… I’d head back to work & hopefully you’d head off and do something fun (like an apple orchard or pumpkin patch- fall isn’t over yet!).
Share with me what you’ve been doing this fall & tell me about your early winter plans!
Tonight is trick-or-treating in my town & I’m so excited. I carved some pumpkins last night for the big day! Also, Saturday is our annual Halloween party so stay tuned for pics from that!
For today’s post I’m borrowing this Halloween tag from Stephanie. I’m adding to it, though.
Favorite Halloween movie? Beetlejuice. I don’t know if that’s considered Halloween or just creepy- but I love it. Least Favorite Halloween movie? I don’t watch any slasher flicks, so I guess those would be my least favorite. Also… Hocus Pocus isn’t my favorite at. all. I know I’m in the minority here.
Favorite Halloween (or Halloween adjacent) song? Dave Matthews Band has a song called Halloween that I love. Least Favorite Halloween song? I don’t really like Black Magic Woman or Somebody’s Watching Me. But I honestly don’t feel that strongly about it. Lol
Favorite candy? I don’t love candy but Twix bars, runts (the bananas!), and gobstoppers. Least favorite candy? Candy corn is ew. Whoopers are ew. Peppermint Patties are ew. There’s a TON of candy I don’t like…
Favorite costume you’ve worn? Oh man… I don’t know. I’ve been Wednesday Addams & loved it. I was a Rockford Peach one year with Kyle as Jimmy Dugan. I’ve loved the majority of my costumes. My mom made me a princess dress one year- it was awesome. I’m SO excited for our costumes this year!! Least favorite costume? My freshman year of college I went to a party and I was a “sexy librarian.” I was actually a mess and I HATE that I went with that. First because of the stupid “sexy” adjective but also because the costume suuuuuuuuuuucked. Shame on freshman Audrey.
Favorite Halloween related activity? As an adult, it’s our annual Halloween Party 🙂 I’ve always looked forward to decorating the house, trick-or-treating, and carving pumpkins. Least favorite activity? I honestly thought I’d love passing out candy but our neighborhood is dull. Hopefully as they continue to develop it we get more kids!
Favorite Halloween decor item? I just bought a vulture this year and I love him!! I named him Edgar. (I got him from Target.) I love all my decorations! Least favorite…? Who are we kidding. I only keep the stuff I love and I love it all.
Favorite Halloween memory? I remember getting dressed every year and setting out into the neighborhood with my parents and brother. We’d always run into friends in the neighborhoods behind our house, and then I’d creep around with them. We were the only kids on our street so our neighbors put together HUGE bags of candy and full size bars for us. It was great!
Also, my mom has always been SUPER into Halloween and I think that’s where I get it from. She still dresses up each year and goes all out in her 1st grade classroom!
I hope everyone has a safe & spooky & spectacular Halloween!
I scheduled this post to go live at noon because about an hour ago my best friend and I showed up on an island 600+ miles from home to surprise our other best friend. I highly doubt she’d have read my blog this morning, but we’ve been working on making this happen for a few months now and I didn’t want to be the one to blow it. Shout out to Kayla for making the long-ass through-the-night drive with me & to Megan for essentially putting this whole thing into motion.
A big theme in blog world is finding your people or finding your tribe or keeping close to framily or… You know what I mean. We call them different things, but they’re the people that (usually) aren’t related by blood that we’d do absolutely anything for.
I had lots of friends in school and I hopped around a lot. In elementary school I considered a girl named Lindsey to be my bff (but I had many, many close friends). In middle school I fell in with a girl named Ali. In high school my best friend’s name was Sam & in college it was Sarah. I still talk to those woman, sometimes often (except one- which hopefully maybe will change as we get older?), but we’re not best friends and we’ve all gone our separate ways and we’re doing really well.
It makes me sad that young Audrey let those relationships crumble, but I also know that some people are in our lives forever and some aren’t, and there are different levels of involvement those people have throughout our lives.
That makes me all the more grateful when I think about my people right now. We show up for each other’s birthdays. When we get a few free minutes we hop on the phone and try to catch up between meal prep or kids’ doctor appointments or client visits. Anything noteworthy is immediately shared in the group text where successes are celebrated and disappointments are lamented. We’re spread out and busy, but we make the time because we love one another.
Also, I LOVE blogging because I’ve met so many amazing, supportive, genius, beautiful, strong women here! (And you guys showering me with birthday wishes last week made my heart burst.) So I fully believe tribes can be found off and online, as well as with people you haven’t met face-to-face.
What I’m getting at here is: Find your people. Find your tribe. Grow your family to framily. Invest in the bank of friendship and don’t be afraid to ask for that love and support back- it’s why they’re there. And if things change that’s ok. People change and circumstances change. You know the people you know for a reason- even if it’s not forever.
So send a text to your friend or give them a call. Hell, write them a letter! (I love getting letters.) Remember to show up & make the time & give the energy. Be there when they need you most and accept them into your space when things aren’t going well. It really is what friends are for ❤
Last Saturday marked 11 years with Kyle. The original “chat with K” occurred on that day in 2007.
Me: Guess what? My parents finally decided it’d be ok* if we dated! K: Cool! Me: …so…? K: Well, I guess we’re dating now.
Always the romantic, friends.
*There’s an age gap between us (and I was 17) so we wanted our relationship to be ok with my parents before we called a square a square.
Alright, now our more recent conversations…
I have a lot of these today…
K: If we have a kid that wants to race go-karts I could get behind that. I’d sponsor the shit out of their car.
Me: The fact that you just said “kid” and not “son” is pretty much why I married you.
Me: If you were going to throw me a surprise party what would I want?
K: Quidditch.
Me: I… uh… yeah, actually. But that’s not what I was going to say.
K: That’s because I know you better than you know you.
Me: What time are we starting this landscaping project on Saturday?
K: Your dad and I will probably go get the stone around 6am.
Me: …so I should probably reschedule my 8am massage?
K: *glares* I’d say use your best judgement.
K kills a flying against the counter with his hand and looks at me proudly.
Me: You’re gonna clean that up, right? K calls Lylee over and swipes the dead fly onto the floor. Dog eats it.
K: I did it.
While driving in the car…
K: Pick some music to jam out to. You always want to talk. I don’t get to jam with you in the car anymore.
Me: I would LOVE to not talk to you and jam out, thanks.
Me: I think you think I’m mean to you.
K *grumbles*
Me: I’m not mean to you. I just treat you like an adult. Don’t you want to be treated like an adult?
K: *sneezes all over the seat next to him without covering his mouth and grins* Does that answer your question?
After bitching at him for leaving clothes all over the kitchen…
Me: Kyle, I work hard all day and then come straight home and clean. You come straight home and mess.
K: But what would you clean if I didn’t mess? We’re like two peas.
Me: It’s about to get murderous up in this pod.
Me: Make me an egg. K just looks at me.
Me: Enzo, go make me an egg.
K: You’ve eaten several time today.
Me: It’s called “healthy”, Kyle. It improves your metabolism.
K: …one of those times it was Doritos.
I previously asked if anyone would be interested in a post about my planner usage. Turns out, many people are interested. Lauren & Alexandra invited me to link-up with them today and share a little about my methods.
My last three planners (2017, 2018, 2019) have been Plum Paper Planners. I love PPP because they have SO many choices. You can do a horizontal or vertical option, you can get prioritized pages, you can get student or teacher or mom-specific planners. Options are endless.
Their planners are durable and come in different sizes. You can pick from multiple front cover options and add customization like your name, initials, etc. You can make the inside colorful or neutral, & you can chose what month to start with, & you can chose the duration of the planner (12 to 18 months). You can also add organizational pages for home, baby, wedding, blog, chores, bills, scripture, exercise, and many many more.
So… as far as my planner goes, I order the 7×9 horizontal planner with two-sided days, the colorful layout, and my name + the year on the cover. I also add a bill pay chart at the end of each month. In the past I added sticker sheets but I have a lot left over from the last 2 years so I didn’t for 2019.
In the future I think I’d like to add more but for now this works really well.
My 2019 Plum Paper Planner
My new planner has coffee mugs and fresh, empty pages. To better illustrate my organizational habits I’m going to take pictures of my 2018 planner. Let’s start at the beginning…
(Click on pictures to see them larger.)
There is a basic calendar in the beginning of the planner. I mark birthdays and holidays but otherwise don’t use these pages for much.
Next is SPECIAL DATES
After each month is over I go back through the month and jot down important or noteworthy events. This is helpful when I go to scrapbook our marriage years.
The next page is IDEAS. PLANS. GOALS.
Here I write down the yearly and seasonal goals I am working on.
Now we finally get to the months. For past months I clip them together. When I’m in a current month I use a paper clip to mark the week:
We’ll use April 2018 as an example month…
The first page of the section is dedicated to goals, important dates, and lists for things happening this month. Sometimes it’s blog swap lists or book challenge lists. In December this is where I keep my Christmas shopping list. In April it was a “money owed” (to me! lol) list and a menu for Easter (which we hosted).
The next page is the overall month. I use long stickers or washi tape for trips.
On this page I also list my blog posts. Since I post on Tuesday & Thursday I number the column and add titles as I write them or think of them. I check them off once they’ve been scheduled/posted.
This is a relatively light week but….
The dinner planning cracks me up… Clearly a lazy week. I didn’t get to the grocery store.
My weekly to do list is up in the box (top of left side page). Our dinners are in the shaded box to the right of each day. My scheduled blog posts are also in that box on T/Th. I use sticker icons when appropriate.
The last two pages of the month are dedicated to books and bills, lol.
I keep track of what books I’m reading, what I’ve finished, and what I’ve logged on GoodReads and on the blog for Show Us Your Books.
On the bills side, I list them as they come in, check them off once the check has been sent or the payment has been scheduled, and mark them with a dot once the money has left my account.
In April I renewed PicMonkey, got my hair done (Exodus), and paid the dog sitter (Anna).
Ok… moving on. (If you’re still with me, HIGH FIVE!)
The back of the planner has some dotted pages for notes. I just list all the trips and goals we might like to accomplish over the year.
There’s also a page for passwords, contacts, and a calendar for the following year. On that future calendar I tend to mark appoints/weddings/events that I’ll want to jot down in my new planner once I’ve ordered it.
And that more or less sums up how I organize my planner! I keep a separate (monthly) planner for work related stuff. That one is just filled with deadlines, employee schedules, and work trips.
If you read this whole thing- thanks! If you have any questions on my planner style- fire away!
