favorite things Friday Archives - Page 21 of 23

Feeling Friday

Hi Friends!! Happy Friendly Friday!! Yay, Friday is finally here!! On Fridays, at Adulting – Second Half, we keep it Frivolous! Frivolous Friday!! On Fridays, I list three favorite products, services, websites, songs, etc. and I encourage readers to add some favorites to my Comments section, so that we all can have some Friday fun! Please see previous Friday postings for more ideas. Here are this Friday’s Favorites:

Secret Box New York Constellation Earrings – I love these earrings! They take your zodiac sign’s star constellation and make them into a pair of intriguing, mismatched earrings. One side is just the major star (one CZ) and the other side is the rest of the constellation. These are fun and definitely conversation starters. They have constellation necklaces to match, as well. Unique, and can be dressed up or down!

Chanchitos – “In the small village of Pomaire, Chile, it is believed that “chanchitos,” little pigs, bring good luck. Three legged chanchitos are especially fortunate and are traditionally given to friends as a token of goodwill and love.” I found these sweet trinkets at a little souvenier shop recently and I brought one back for me and my kids. My little chanchito is smiling at me right now, as I write my blog. They are inexpensive, cute reminders of just how lucky we all are, just to be breathing and soaking in this miraculous experience called Life. You can find similar ones to what I bought, at Many Hands Gallery, on-line.

Emu Oil – I recently bought some emu oil cream because I was in a climate much more dry and less humid than me and my skin are used to being in. I have used it before, but I forgot just how emollient, and saturating and healing, emu oil really is for our skin, the largest organ of our bodies. One person told me that emu oil healed her sister’s scars after a sledding accident. It is particularly good for sensitive skin. If you have spent a little too much time in the sun lately, you need emu – emu 4 u.

Oh Yes!

Happy Friday!! Happy Favorite Things Friday!! What a nice little, easy, short week a lot of us have had with The Fourth being on Thursday and a lot of people taking today off, as well! Here’s to 4 day weekends!!! May they prosper and multiply!!!

New readers on Fridays, we keep it light, simple and materialistic. On Fridays, I list three favorite things, music, websites, books, etc. and I encourage you all to add your favorites to the comments section. Please check out previous Fridays, to peruse more favorites, to make your Friday even more fun.

My husband loves bees. He loves honey. He is just fascinated with bees. Therefore, I have a lot of bee motif jewelry and I have no problem with that part of his obsession. I have jumped on the bee bandwagon and I have filled our home with bee trinkets, as well. Here are some recent bee purchases that I highly recommend to anyone who is also entranced by bees.

Costco Native Bee House – This cool wooden and bamboo contraption is like a bird house for mason bees (great pollinators, but these bees do not produce honey). It looks adorable hanging on our fence and we have seen a couple of bees looking at the real estate with interest. There is even a slot for butterflies who are the flamboyant tenants that I am really hoping take up residence.

Wisteria Beehive Hose Holder – I love this hose holder so much, I would bring it inside. It is absolutely adorable, yet functional. The shape of it reminds you how they got the name for the 1960s beehive hairdo and it has little statuesque bees all over it with springy wings. Sometimes, I just go around the corner of our house, just to gaze at this adorable container.

Laguiole French Home steak knives – Not only are these steak knives divinely sharp and functional, they are beautiful works of art, with lovely handles. The bee part comes in, with the fact that the top of every knife has a bee ornament on it. I think it is the small details that can make something go from ordinary to exquisite!

Friday Blues

Happy Friday, readers and friends!!! Happy Friday all!!! Honestly, this particular Friday is the first Friday, in a LONG while, that I wish it weren’t Friday. This Friday marks the almost end of a wonderful, memorable family vacation. It marks the end of something that we all have been looking forward to and anticipating for a long, long time. As my family grows up and out, I realize that each of these vacations are even more precious than ever, as our six schedules are becoming more and more complex to allow these long, interrupted periods of time with each other, to even be a possibility. Since I am experiencing my ultimate favorite thing – uninterrupted adventures with my family, I am going to stop posting and start adventuring and I won’t be listing my three favorite things. Please don’t let that stop you from sharing some favorites in my comments section and new readers, please check out previous Friday postings where I usually list three favorite products, tips, websites, songs, etc. that have wowed my world.

Happy Friday Friends!! Enjoy your day and have a wonderful weekend!!!

Life Gets Better

Happy Friday!!! Happy First Day of Summer Friday!!! Can it get any better than that?!? New readers, we keep it light and surface-y on Fridays, here at Adulting Second-Half. On Fridays, I discuss three favorite products, websites, songs, TV shows, foods, etc. that make my material life just a little more “Life gets better.” I strongly encourage you to add your favorites to share with us, in the Comments section. Please see previous Friday posts for more fun ideas. Here are today’s favorites:

Buxom Wanderlust Primer-Infused Blush – If you want blush with staying power, this will become your new holy grail. As I age, I now understand why older women’s make-up gets brighter. We get paler and ashier, as we age. This blush brings us back to our youthful glow and it stays on (even through summer perspiration)! I get mine at Ulta and Ibiza is my shade.

Red Clay Gourmet Pimiento Cheese – One of my guiltiest pleasures is pimiento cheese. I got addicted to it when I lived in North Carolina. (Shout out, Charlotte!) This brand is particularly tasty. My daughter mixed some up in her macaroni and cheese the other day and I have never seen her eat so fast and happily, in my life. I get it at Earth Fare, so it is free of all artificial anything. So yum!!

Medium – If you like reading my blog, and articles like my blog, you will love Medium. It is a writer’s/reader’s heaven, chock full of short, interesting articles tailored to your interests. When I go to Medium, it never fails, I start reading and then I look at the clock and at least, two hours have passed . . . .

Have an amazing weekend, guys!!! I get to spend the upcoming week with my awesome family! As I age, I understand that these are rare opportunities that I can no longer take for granted. I plan to savor every moment of just being in my family’s presence. If I end up being short and spotty with my blog, please forgive me and don’t worry about me. Know that I am in my bliss. Love to you all!! Happy Summer!!!

Fried Egg Friday

Hello friends and readers!!! Happy Friday!! Happy Favorite Things Friday!!! On Fridays, we keep it light and crispy here at Adulting – Second Half. On Fridays, I list three “favorites” – things, songs, TV shows, books, etc. These favorite things make my material world all the better! Please check out previous Friday posts for other favorites and please, please share you favorites, as well. Because like Madonna says, “We are living in a material world . . . . ” Here goes – today’s favorites:

HBO’s Chernobyl – Amazing TV series! Captivating, awful, excruciating, yet hopeful. The acting in this series is absolutely exquisite. This production came in right under Game of Thrones as one of HBO’s best productions, in my mind. It is definitely worth some of your weekend to start to watch this show and ponder its magnanimity.

Should I Answer? App – I have been on the pointless “no-call list” (HA!) for a long time, but now my cell phone seems like it is THE hot number for anyone selling anything, to call. I want to kiss this app’s feet. So many pointless, ridiculous, aggravating calls have been blocked since I downloaded it. I have proof from the list of blocked calls that it keeps every day. Numbers that are known to be telemarketer/spoof dialers have angry red faces on them, and they cannot get through. Love it!

“Things Are As Big As You Make Them” – This was the best piece of advice I received as a young mother, by another young mother, when we were embroiled in neighborhood drama that was probably rooted in the lack of sleep and the lack of solitude, young mothers get, when they are raising their children. I never forgot this piece of advice and it has helped me, many, many times, keep things in perspective. Now, some things actually do need to be made BIG (to make a point), but most things do not. This little mantra is an excellent reminder of this.

Let’s end Friday, with these “wise” thoughts:

“For Children: You will need to know the difference between Friday and a fried egg. It’s quite a simple difference, but an important one. Friday comes at the end of the week, whereas a fried egg comes out of a chicken. Like most things, of course, it isn’t quite that simple. The fried egg isn’t properly a fried egg until it’s been put in a frying pan and fried. This is something you wouldn’t do to a Friday, of course, though you might do it on a Friday. You can also fry eggs on a Thursday, if you like, or on a cooker. It’s all rather complicated, but it makes a kind of sense if you think about it for a while.”
― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

Fur- riday

Hello readers and friends!! Hello Friday is right!! New readers, Fridays are fun here at Adulting – Second Half. We call them “Favorite Things Friday”. I keep things on the light and bright and I typically list around three things, ideas, websites, songs, etc. that I recommend highly. I also highly encourage you to give us some of your favorites in the Comments section. Please also see previous Friday listings for more favorites to make your Friday even more fabulous than it already is . . . . here we go:

Farmhouse Culture Ginger Beet Gut Shots – Let me preface this by saying, I hate beets. I don’t like the taste of this concoction at all. My husband and I drink this in one full swoop, from shot glasses every morning and I pinch my nose. (this is the only kind of shot that we can still handle at our ages) However, the key word here is “gut”. This liquid really, really does help with digestion and making your stomach feel good. I like me a happy tummy! My husband first discovered this at Costco. I have since bought it at Earth Fare. It’s not cheap, but a little goes a long way. So, these gut shots have now been added to our daily regiment of the other 6,592 supplements we take on a daily basis. (recently my husband asked into the air, “I wonder which of all of this stuff actually works?”)

RecoverT Wrap Bracelets – I found these bracelets at a local art fair and I love them, and I’ve given them away and I always find a reason to buy more of them. Wrap bracelets are something that I wear almost on a daily basis and these are particularly neat. Most of them have charms that have uplifting words, prayers, scripture or symbols on them. The braided cords are made out of colorful recycled t-shirts, so the bracelets are pliable and easy to wrap around your wrist as many times as you need to do it. The best part about the bracelets is that they are created by women in recovery. The shop is found on Etsy and this is their motto: We are “Recycling T-shirts and Recovering Lives”.

Erno Laszlo White Marble Dual Phase Vitamin C Peel – Okay, this stuff is pretty pricey. However, a little bit goes a long way and the difference in your skin, especially right after you use it, is truly remarkable. I’m forever wanting the skin that I see on people which looks like it was just taken out of the package and put on their faces, that very morning. You know what I mean – “the shiny, happy people look.” I don’t mean shiny like sweaty, I mean shiny, like brand-spanking-new and sparkly. This at-home product really helps to take your skin in that direction and it does not burn or sting.

A week ago, when my eldest son came home for his brother’s graduation, our Labrador retriever, Ralphie, discovered our eldest son, early in the morning, still asleep in his bed. (my son had gotten in really late the night before and Ralphie was already asleep in his crate at that time) I’ve never seen Ralphie more joyously happy than in the moment that he discovered that our son had come home. His tail was wagging so hard that it was swinging his hips, back and forth, like a pendulum. He kept jumping up and down in mid-air. He licked my son’s face like it was the last T-bone steak on Earth. Ralphie kept looking back at me, like he was saying, “Mom, do you see who it is?!?! He’s back!! He’s back!! Can you believe it?!?” Ralphie got three toys in his mouth at once and offered them up to my son, like they were gold, frankincense and myrrh. Ralphie perfectly portrayed everything that I was feeling in my heart. I say this story to remind myself to live and love with reckless abandon. Have a Ralphie kind of Friday, friends! Heck, have a Ralphie kind of a weekend, if you dare!! See you tomorrow.

Ehh, It’s Friday

funny friday quotes for work

Happy Friday, friends and readers!!! This one felt “long in coming” didn’t it?!? New readers, I love Fridays. We don’t go into deep subjects on Fridays here at Adulting – Second Half. On Fridays, I discuss three favorite things/songs/websites/ideas, etc. and I highly encourage you to share your favorites (anything goes!) in the Comments section. Please check out previous Friday posts for more favorites. Here are today’s favorites and they are all random and in no specific category:

Sconza Chocolates Lemoncello Chocolate Almonds – My family first had these “euphoria for your mouth” almonds in California last summer. I was absolutely delighted when Costco started carrying them, although I have the feeling that they were a limited special purchase. Get these yellow nuggets of gastro gold, however you can. Find a way. I would beg, borrow and steal for this candy. And you know, on a happy note, almonds are a super food . . . .

Next, by now, you regular readers know how much I love Think Smarter on Twitter. I attribute 60-70 percent of my “smarts” to this feed. Below is my favorite post yet. They posted it just a few days ago. I LOVE when a few words can encapsulate a feeling, or an experience, or a nuance that we all can relate to:

(It’s not just “human” that this applies to – our dogs have idiosyncrasies that evoke the same smile in my heart)

Final favorite this Friday –

Frontgate Ultralight Slimline 4-Step Ladder – I may have shared this one already, this is how much I love it. It bears repeating. This is not your average step ladder. Granted, it is not inexpensive but it is worth every penny. It is as sturdy as they come, and the best part is that it folds up so skinny that we keep ours in between our washer and our dryer. This ladder is so skinny, that if it were your friend, you’d secretly hate her. It is light and easy to carry from room to room, too, so you really only need one of them and it comes in all sorts of color choices.

And a final thought for this Friday as you head out to festivities for the night:

“At every party there are two kinds of people – those who want to go home and those who don’t. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other.”– Ann Landers

Friday Frenzy

*****Ugh. I lost my entire post into the abyss and I had to start all over again. This has only happened to me one or two other times. My mouth needs to be cleaned out from the filth that was erupting from it.*****

Here we go again! Happy FRIDAY!!! Happy Favorite Things Friday, friends and readers!!! We keep it silly and surface-y, here at Adulting -Second Half, on Fridays. (I just hit Save Draft) On Fridays, I typically list around three favorite anythings, whether they be products, websites, songs, books, etc. etc. that have helped keep a spring in my step and joy in my life. I encourage you to add your favorites to the Comments section. Please also check out previous Friday posts for more favorites. Share the love!!

As my regular readers know (I know that you are getting really used to my complaints), we have had a little renovation project going on here at our home, that we are finally wrapping up. (I just hit Save Draft) The final touch to most projects, is the paint. I am very happy with the paint colors which we have chosen, so I thought that I would pass the paint colors on to you. All of these colors are neutral, background, subtle colors. None of them are color popping, statement colors, just so you know. (I just hit Save Draft) Some fun, helpful painting tips: Paint the color sample on to a white piece of poster board and tape it to the wall. This helps from the distortion of the color that may happen, if you just paint the color on the old paint, underneath the new paint. Also, the magical internet has pictures of rooms painted in the colors that you are considering and often, you can find more than one picture in different lighting. Finally, artists and crafters are happy and grateful to take the little containers of paint samples off of your hands for their projects. Just advertise them for free on Craigslist or neighborhood social media venues. (I just hit Save Draft) Win-win for all, including Mother Earth!!

Here are my paint color recommendations (they are all Sherwin Williams, as that is the brand of paint that our painter likes to work with):

(I just hit Save Draft)

SW6099 Sand Dollar – warm, slightly tan, slightly peach, glowy, dreamy. This is the color that you would have picked out of a crayon box, as a kid, to depict white people’s skin, but not pasty people.

SW7013 Ivory Lace – creamy, warm, glowy, very slightly pinky/ peachy. Matches anything. Clean and bright.

SW9166 Drift of Mist – slight, slight gray. Mist describes it perfectly. Bright, light, clean, crisp tint of gray.

(I just hit Save Draft)

SW7656 Rhinestone – the whitest of white, blues. White that might be a little bit blue. Subtle white, light blue. This does not scream light blue, it hints at it . . . .

I hope that you all have a very colorful weekend, as colorful as what was coming out of my mouth when I realized I lost my entire first draft. (I just hit Save Draft)

Stop Stressin’

“It doesn’t need to be a great day, as long as it is Friday.” – upJourney

Happy Friday, readers and friends!! Here at Adulting Second Half, Fridays remain fun and frivolous!! We don’t take anything seriously on Fridays. On most Fridays, I list three Favorites (whether they be things, books, music, etc.) and I strongly encourage you to share your favorites in the Comments section. Please check out previous Friday blogs for other excellent ideas to brighten up your living experience!

Here are this Friday’s Favorites:

Toffee-To-Go – I adore toffee. I love Heath bars. However, this Toffee-To-Go is the best toffee that I have ever eaten. It is the best combination of chocolate and nuts (which is the best combination in the world to begin with). It is totally impossible to not eat a small box of this mixed perfection in just one sitting. Go to their website now and order yourself a little box to be delivered to you or to your friends and associates, straight from Heaven.

Ballard Designs Clothes Drying Rack – A very wise, creative closet designer suggested that we add this dream contraption to our newly remodeled laundry room and I am so happy that she did! (shout out, Jo Anne) This drying rack hangs on the wall of your room and you pull the racks down from their magnetic closures, to dry your socks and intimates and whatever else you prefer not to put into your dryer. When you are finished, you just close the racks back up and they fold nicely back into the frame on the wall. Before this, we used to haphazardly dry our things on various pieces of furniture and unfortunately, some of the wooden furniture shows that we did that, with ugly water wear marks. (so sorry, my lovely, beloved rocking chair) This rack comes in all different sizes and is sturdy and attractive and yet, still extremely useful.

Madonna’s Medellin video – Love or or hate her, you have to hand it to her, Madonna remains transformational, relevant and interesting to this day. She came on to the scene when I was just 12 years old and now at age 48, I am encouraging you to check out her new video. The video is raunchy and racy and controversial (would we expect anything else from her?), but it’s fascinating to watch and I do really like the beat of the song. I watched a little bit of her MTV interview about the video and here are a few interesting tidbits that I took from it:

Madonna picked the directors for this video because she wanted it to look “painterly” (her words) and surreal. It does seem otherworldly.

Madonna currently lives in Lisbon, Portugal. She moved there so that one of her sons, who wants to become a professional soccer player, can get his best training. In her words, Madame X (her new persona) is a “soccer mom” at heart.

Madonna believes that it is MUSIC that universally connects all people of the world. “We were connected before Instagram, people, seriously.” (her words)

Finally, Madonna told one of her fans that she wanted to get back to her naivety. Now, most people don’t look at Madonna and think, “naive and innocent.” She explained that what she meant is the naivety that she had when she just started out and didn’t care, at all, what people thought of her or of her work. Madonna explains that when she was young and starting out, she created herself and her craft, out of pure passion and inventiveness, without giving much credence to other people’s influence and criticisms.

I have never found Madonna to be a particularly warm, ingratiating person, but I really do respect her vision and her daring and her inspiration. She is encouragement for all of us Second Halfers to keep on creating, doing and exploring what makes us alive and “naive”, in the best sense of the word. And for that reason, I’m grateful for her influence.

What the Friday?!?

Image result for hilarious quotes about Friday

Welcome to Favorite Things Friday!!! Every Friday, here at Adulting Second Half, we keep it frivolous! There is no seriousness on Friday, unless you take your consumerism very seriously. On Friday, I list three favorite items, websites, videos, songs, etc. that I find interesting and I always encourage comments from my readers letting us know about a few more favorites, you would recommend. Don’t be shy, guys!! New readers, please check out previous Friday posts for other good ideas to make you life just a little more peachy!

Here goes:

Dog Tags at Growlees.com – Our house is having some renovations done, so my front door has become a revolving door for all different craftsmen and construction workers. I have seen more pictures and heard more stories about their dogs than I have in a long time, as they kindly pet my pestering pooches. People love their dogs! We have two dogs and I am hoping that my pups lose their tags soon, so I can buy them new ones at this site. These tags are hilarious and there is a myriad to chose from. Some of the sayings printed on them are these: “I Eat Homework”, “Rub My Belly For Luck”, “Attention Seeker” (that tag would be good for a few people I know 😉 ), “Foodie”, “Have Your People Call My People”, etc. Even if you don’t have a dog, go to the website and check them out for a few Friday giggles.

OxyLED Motion Sensor Rechargeable Wardrobe Lights – I love jewelry and accessories and I have a lot of baubles. We have had closet organization companies coming out to give us quotes, and one woman who came out, even suggested that how I keep my necklaces lined up, hanging on the fronts of wire shelves, is kind of “hokey.” Well, hokey works for me and I’ve decided to convert a small, linen closet into my own hokey haven, for all my accessories. These lights that I purchased on Amazon are rechargeable, come with a magnetic strip to hang them on and have motion detectors, so they’ll only turn on when I open up my “hokey pokey” jewelry closet.

Rebecca Minkoff Key Chains – For years and years, I was one of “those people” who always loses their keys. I had to come up with a system to help me stop wasting my time looking for keys. (on an aside, true confession – I have looked for “lost” glasses that were sitting on my head and looked for my “lost” phone, while having a conversation on it. No horse pucky.) So, now, I always, always put my keys on designated hooks right by our garage and I always purchase giant, obnoxious (yet, adorable) key chains. My Rebecca Minkoff key chain has a little leather doll wearing cute sunglasses on it, plus a big, bright pink leather tassel on it, both being over 4 inches tall. I never have any problem finding my keys in my purse anymore, thanks to my colossal-sized key chains. I highly recommend my system, to any friends out there who are kind of absent-minded, like me.

Have a great weekend, friends. I’m ending with a note that I’m sending to Monday: