Life Lately #15

After an insane December, I'm so happy to have a fresh start here in January. We will still have a busy month, but maybe we can have some routine in there too. To kick off my first post of 2025, I wanted to share a few snapshots to share life lately!

Pug Update

Winston and Bailey are doing well! In 2025, Bailey will turn 15! We think anyway. She became part of our family in 2016, and we can only guess her age. Aside from her eyesight dimming pretty significantly, she is still so spunky. We will have their yearly vet check up next week, and we are sure we will hear she's got a long time left. 

In December I decided to start making homemade dog food, so that's been quite the experiment. It seems to be going well, so I'll have to update you all with my official recipe once it sticks. I'm still playing with ingredients. It's fairly inexpensive to do, and they absolutely love it. 

Fun Times With Friends

Not only did we have non-stop company in December, but we also managed to have some fun nights out with friends! I'm just so thankful to have found people that are in the same life chapter as we are. It's awesome to have a variety of friends, and I do. In fact one of my closest friends is 90 years old! We hang out with my parents all the time, and we have lots of friends that have kiddos. But, there is something to be said about having friends who are your age and stage of life. People who like the same things you like, have similar budgets, similar schedules. It's just nice is all and I'm grateful! 

Time With Family

Ditto for having lots of great times with family this past month too! We had some family friends come and stay and it's really cool to pick right back up where you left off with people - even though it has been years in some cases. (How sweet is that picture of my sister and my nephews?!)

New Toys

My Grandma sweetly sent me two things that have been on my Amazon Wishlist for ages. First, a gel nail kit with a light. This is such a great starter set, and I'm having fun learning how to use it. I had my niece for a few nights and we had fun doing manicures! Grandma also bought me the Cricut Easy Press, which I am so excited about! It's SO nice, and such an upgrade from using an iron. Gia got a Stitch shirt for their upcoming Disney trip while she was here. I'm really excited to keep using this. 

Peanut Butter Bars

I made these Peanut Butter Bars from the Defined Dish cookbook and WOW! They were fantastic, and I can't wait for an excuse to make them again.

-Kristen

This post contains affiliate and referral links! | Blog Disclosure

Life Lately #15

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Recent Reads #39

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave

Nora is approached by her brother who feels that their father's death wasn't an accident. Liam Noone was a luxury hotel designer, and he falls to his death off the cliffside of his California home. Her brother gives her enough reason to travel to California and see what they can find out. They quickly discover there is a lot they didn't know about their dad. This is filed under a 'thriller' category, but it definitely wasn't what I'd call a thriller. I'd say it's a mystery mixed with a little family drama. I listened on audio, and will eat up anything Julia Whelan narrates. Overall, it's really good, if not a bit slow. It's mainly about family and loss. I think if you are going into it looking for a super twisty thriller, you will be disappointed. ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop

This is Kelly Bishop's memoir. As a Gilmore Girls fan, I was interested to see what she had to say! Then I saw this was one of 2024's top memoirs according to Goodreads, so I was happy when my library hold became available. As always, I love listening to the audio version of memoirs read by the author. I learned a lot about Kelly, and specifically the Gilmore Girls chapters. She has some pretty strong views she doesn't shy away from sharing here. 

The Honey Don't List by Christina Lauren 

Carey and James are personal assistants to a very famous HGTV couple. The Tripps have built an empire with a design tv show and they have just written a book about marriage. The problem is their marriage is awful. Carey and James try to keep them from killing each other on the book tour. This was completely a miss for me. Christina Lauren books can be like that in my opinion - really great, or just dumb. I picked this one up because my neighborhood has a new cute little sharing library at the clubhouse and it caught my eye. Overall, just okay. Some parts were cute, but I skimmed a lot. ⭐️⭐️✨

Look Closer by David Ellis

If you like a thriller that keeps you guessing, this is the book for you. I'm almost afraid to write a summary in case I give it away! Simon and Vicky aren't an average couple, and as the book progresses all their secrets come out. Go in blind, and trust me, you won't be able to figure it out. Twists after twists! Five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodges Burnett

I was desperate for something to listen to on a drive, and had no library books and I couldn't think of anything I wanted to buy. Thus, The Secret Garden - it was free to listen to on Apple books. I remember the movie as a child, but couldn't remember the book. Mary Lennox is a spoiled child who is orphaned and sent to live with an uncle. She's left on her own in a huge house and soon discovers a secret garden. She really changes throughout the book, and is able to help others because of it. A lovely book! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mother Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon

Lana ends up having to live with her daughter Beth and granddaughter Jack. (Think Gilmore Girls relationships - Beth and Jack are really close and have been pretty independent from the high powered business woman Lana.) Jack works as a kayak tour guide, and one day she finds a dead body in the water. The three ladies get wrapped up in the investigation and it changes their relationship. This started off really strong, but by the end I felt like it was so random that these women were involved in the murder. In a word: bland. 🫣 Good start, lame follow through. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Shop These Books: 

-Kristen

This post contains affiliate and referral links! | Blog Disclosure

Recent Reads #39

Friday, December 20, 2024

December Grove Haul

Every month or two I do an order with Grove, my go-to for more natural home/personal products. I started ordering from Grove way back when, and have been sharing my hauls ever since! Because we used to live in a small town, this was the best way for me to get the products I wanted with limited options nearby. 

My shopping habits have evolved somewhat, but I still love my Grove boxes! You can use my link to sign up and get 30% off your first order. Plus! If you are new you can use Rakuten for even more cash back. Here's what I got in December:

The Usuals:

Scrub Brush Head Replacements

I've had this scrub brush forever, and it's so nice to be able to replace the head when it gets gross. 

Grove Co Cleaning Concentrates

These are great cleaners for maintenance, when you aren't deep cleaning. For example, I keep a set in our guest bathroom for quick cleanings between guests. That bathroom doesn't get abused quite like our primary bath. Grove had a serious Cyber week sale on these, and each bottle was like a buck. Perfect time to stock up. 

Grove Co Lemon Essential Oil

Even though I just stocked up on my essential oils, I forgot to get lemon! It's a favorite for the kitchen. So when I saw it was very discounted for Cyber week, I went for it. 

Sea Salt Room Spray

You may remember this from last month's haul! It was SO good, I just needed another one for downstairs. I love spritzing it on all our pillows, and living room textiles. 

Ecloth Set for Stainless

This will be my second time purchasing this set! I wanted to have 2, one to wash and one to have on hand. All you do is add water. I specifically like the scrubbing cloth, it works really well to clean off any build up. Then I polish it off once it dries.

New To Me:

Burts Bees Gift Set

This was just a good price, and I thought it would nice to have a few of these things in our guest room. (We are about to have a lot of company this month and next.) Plus you can never have too many lip balms!

Grove Travel Pouch

Again, another really good sale price. I need a new make up bag, so I'm thinking of using this for that. Either way, it'll make a great addition to our travel supplies. 

Kitsch Sleeping Scrunchies

In an effort to be nice to my hair at night, I'm trying out these sleeping scrunchies! They are made of satin, and are meant to sleep in. Cute colors too!

Kitsch Nylon Hair Ties

Where do these things go?? My stash got depleted so I ordered these hair elastics. Thick hair girlies, if you know, you know. The nylon hair ties are excellent! 

Rooted Vitamin C Serum

I have tried Vitamin C serums before, but I'm not sure if I have given Rooted a go. My skin has been quite dull now that summer is over, so I'm hoping this will help.

Samples:

In this order, I also got the Upcircle serum and the good juju laundry detergent sheets. 

Shop This Post:

-Kristen

This post contains affiliate and referral links! | Blog Disclosure

December Grove Haul

Monday, December 16, 2024

Recent Reads #38

I love sharing my book recommendations with you! You can find all of my book reviews here on the blog or by following along on Goodreads. I'm probably not going to make my goal of 100 books this year, but I feel pretty good about getting close. 

Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz

You might recognize Bethany Joy Lenz from One Tree Hill. As a fan of the show, I was curious to read her memoir! The tag line is something like 'being on a cult tv show, while being in an actual cult'. I had no idea that was going on while she was filming the show. This is a very interesting memoir and I always enjoy listening to the author reading their own story. (I don't like to rate memoirs 'cause that just feels odd)

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

Eileen finds herself in a strange small town with car trouble as she's on her way to a book club retreat. She quickly realizes this town is home to her favorite book series...and everyone who lives there are characters in those books. Ooof. I really really wanted to like this. On paper, it should be adorable and my perfect genre. The pacing was odd, and the love story felt super rushed and forced. I can look past that if the rest of the story feels right, but it didn't. I rolled my eyes multiple times, found myself wishing it was over, and I couldn't believe how often this book repeated itself. You can play a drinking game with how many times she says "minty green eyes". 

This almost redeemed itself with the 'big reveal'. I thought something was coming that would have made things interesting, but no - it was something else. ⭐️ ⭐️

Veronica Ruiz Breaks The Bank by Elle Cosimano

This was a short story prequel to the Finlay Donovan series. I have been loving the Finlay Donovan series this year, and I was excited to read this! What's missing is the best part of the whole series - Finlay & Vero's antics together. Obviously in this story takes place before they met, so of course that's how it had to be. Either way, if you like the series, you'll probably enjoy this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden

This lady knows how to get you to turn a page, I'm telling you what. I know I can always count on Freida to get me out of a reading rut. This is her newest release! The Boyfriend is told in 2 POVs. Sydney, a woman in her early 30's who has had a tough time with dating. And, Tom - her new boyfriend, but you are reading about him in High School. I had a really hard time getting into this because the timelines were so odd, but of course they do connect. Honestly, this was not my favorite of her books. I was sure I had it figured out from the beginning, so I was happy I was wrong - but the journey to get there was just boring. Just Okay. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

This historical fiction novel takes place in the 1780's, and follows Martha, a midwife. She gets summoned to examine a body that was found in the frozen river. She knows it was murder, but a new doctor in town says it was an accident. It's up to Martha to figure out what really happened. This took me a long time to read, but not because it wasn't good! It's written so well, I was easily engrossed in the story. It does take a long time to play out, and felt a bit repetitive at times. I also felt that Martha's 'voice' was very modern and felt off for this time period. It wasn't until the author's note that I realized this book was based off a real person. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Read With Me:

-Kristen

This post contains affiliate and referral links! | Blog Disclosure

Recent Reads #38

Thursday, December 12, 2024

Revive Essential Oil Haul

Revive is an awesome way to get high quality essential oils without doing the MLM thing. I share a lot of my oily posts here. It was time for a restock, and Revive was doing a really good black friday sale, so here we are! 

Here's What I Got:

Old Faithfuls:

Lavender - My all time favorite. Lavender is just so good. It's relaxing, fresh, and clean. I never want to run out. 

Rosemary - Rosemary is good as it gets. I love to diffuse rosemary with peppermint especially. It's a stronger oil, so just a few drops and it lasts forever. 

Citrus Delight - This one you guys! It's citrus with a bit of vanilla, so think creamsicle.  

Pumpkin Pie - If you only buy one oil from Revive, make it Pumpkin Pie. It's fantastic and smells just like it should. 

Grapefruit - Mmmm. Grapefruit is such a simple scent, but so fresh and good. 

Lemongrass - For a bright, invigorating citrus - go with lemongrass. 

New To Me:

PSL - Pumpkin Spice Latte! This is like pumpkin pie, but with a drop or two of their coffee oil. Great for the fall, especially in the morning. 

Cinnamon Sugar - Yummmm! Last year Revive did cinnamon roll, and I was so sad to not see it come back. But this fills that spot just fine! Sweet and spicey. 

Christmas Morning - The description of this just sounded too good not to try. It's spicey with a bit of clove and cinnamon but clearly has a birch woodsy tone to it too. Love it for winter. 

Sand & Sun - I don't know why I got this one 😂. The main oil is ylang ylang, which I basically hate. But, something about this works for me. It was too strong just sniffing the bottle, but diffused it works. It reminds me of being in a hotel lobby in a tropical location.

Bergamot Mint - Someone in the reviews convinced me to try this when they said it had earl grey vibes. That's my favorite tea, so I figured I'd try it. I don't think that's what I get from this one, but I still like it! Fresh with just a touch of citrus.

Marble Display - This was deeply discounted so I gave it a go! It's an awesome display for 3 oil bottles. Right now it's next to my kitchen diffuser, but I think I'll move it to my office. 

 
I have a referral code, but honestly their sale prices usually get you more of a discount! 

I recently shared this diffuser in an Amazon Purchases post, and I just have to keep raving about it. It might be my favorite diffuser I've ever owned. The light is just lovely. It's got the coolest candle flicker effect.

My Diffusers:

-Kristen

This post contains affiliate and referral links! | Blog Disclosure

Revive Essential Oil Haul

Monday, December 9, 2024

Kacey Musgraves Concert

Just a few low quality snapshots from the Kacey Musgraves concert in Tampa! My sister and I don't have a lot of music taste in common, but we do agree on Kacey. She loves to go to concerts, and when we saw Kacey Musgraves was coming to Florida, we knew we wanted to go together. So funny, when we booked the tickets it was in March and November felt so far away. 

We had a great time. I especially loved that Lord Huron was the opening act. It was absolutely freezing in this arena, and I felt like we had a vent blowing directly on us! There was also a really weird incident where a 'fan' grabbed Kacey as she moved through the crowd from one stage to the next. We didn't realize what happened from our vantage point, but seeing the videos later was nuts.  

Amy and I hadn't heard 'Little Sister' from her new album, and wow what a sweet moment. The words really resonate, and it was just so awesome to be standing there with my little sister hearing the words. 💖

What I Wore:

-Kristen

This post contains affiliate and referral links! | Blog Disclosure

Kacey Musgraves Concert

Friday, December 6, 2024

The Oxford Exchange, Tampa Florida

If I were to create a store containing all the things I loved...this would be it! The Oxford Exchange in Tampa has been on my bucket list for something like 10 years. It's such a photogenic place, the internet loves it - so I've been seeing photos for years! The Oxford Exchange is a bookstore, coffee shop, restaurant, gift store, champagne bar, and the list goes on. 

We visited Tampa for the weekend to go to a concert, and I knew this was my chance to go! We got a brunch reservation, and while we were waiting we all got a delicious drink. Blake ordered a coffee float..which is exactly what it sounds like! Coffee over vanilla gelato. 😋 My sister and I both got earl grey teas, but over ice. Holy cow, I can't stop thinking about them. I added some loose leaf tea to my grocery order just so I can attempt to recreate it at home. 

For lunch, we all got different things. My steak and eggs were just so delicious. And, to eat in a beautiful, light and bright garden like setting was just awesome. It was so hard to choose what to order, I'd love to go again to try more. At the end of your meal, they bring you the bill inside a book - so cute!

I was so happy to finally get to visit this place, and also a little relived it lived up to my expectations! 10/10

-Kristen

This post contains affiliate and referral links! | Blog Disclosure

The Oxford Exchange, Tampa Florida

Monday, December 2, 2024

This Week's Outfits

Well, it's that time of year! The time when it's 40 degrees in the morning, and 80 by lunch. We are grateful that Florida finally has a hint of Fall weather, so I won't complain too much. It has been more fun to get dressed lately! Here's a few recent outfits:

Shirt: Target | Jeans: Levis | Shoes: Adidas | Purse: Kate Spade | Watch: Older Kate Spade

Pants: J. Crew | Striped Tee: J. Crew | Blazer: J. Crew | Shoes: Rothy's | Belt: Amazon

Top: Thrifted Anthropologie | Jeans: Loft | Sandals: Reef | Earrings: Amazon

Tee: J. Crew | Jeans: Loft | Shoes: Adidas | Sunglasses: Amazon | Necklaces: Amazon

Dress: Walmart Size Down!! | Shoes: Old Target

Shop This Post:

-Kristen

This post contains affiliate and referral links! | Blog Disclosure

This Week's Outfits

Friday, November 29, 2024

Things We've Bought on Amazon Lately

One | Board Games

Our family is big on games! I wanted to add some fresh ones into the rotation, since sometimes you get sick of one. (We are still very much obsessed with The Game which I bought earlier in the year.) We are really enjoying Hues and Cues! It's kinda tough, but enlightening too! This game is probably much faster to play with a larger group, but Blake and I played it just ourselves totally fine. Another game I bought was You Laugh and Your Out, but we haven't played it yet. I had my niece and nephews in mind when I added it to the cart, and I think they will find it fun! Honestly, we are all gigglers, so we will all be disqualified quickly!  

Two | Fresh Sunnies and Earrings

I love a cute and fun pair of sunglasses and I wanted to try something new. I got this cheap, but still nice sunglasses that were probably more suited to the summer. But, so fun! And, I love to wear a pair of gold earrings everyday, and needed a new pair. These are affordable and just what I was looking for! 

Three | Dog Car Seat

I feel like you're laughing. Fully aware of how silly this seems, but I think it's going to make me feel a lot better taking our pugs on their first road trip. When we had 3 pugs, traveling with them never felt like an option. Now that we just have 2, it seems more doable. We are about to give it a try! It made me feel better to know they'd be secure in the car for a few hours. I've been keeping the seat in the house so they get used to the scent and also can climb in. It's a cushiony bed with high walls. You strap the seat belt through the back, and then there are 2 tethers that you attach to their harnesses. I'll have to report back!

Four | Old Man Sweater for Blake

Blake has been wanting sweater for the upcoming colder weather that would look good with khakis or even a tie. I had my eye on one from L.L.Bean but didn't really love the price tag. We got this one from Amazon instead, and it's great! 

Five | New Diffuser 

My desk upstairs was totally missing a diffuser. I love having something nice diffusing while I work! This diffuser was affordable and I love the look. I just ordered a bunch of oils from Revive, and got a few extra for the office. 

Shop This Post:

 

-Kristen

This post contains affiliate and referral links! | Blog Disclosure

Things We've Bought on Amazon Lately

Tuesday, November 26, 2024