Fortune for the day – “In every human being, there is a special heaven whole and unbroken.” – Paracelsus
Happy Friday!! Happy Favorite Things Friday!! I am away from my normal routine, surroundings, resources. Last night we went to a wonderful restaurant that served Spanish tapas. Everything we ate last night was so wonderful. Spanish tapas is definitely my new favorite. Please don’t ask me to pronounce anything we ate last night. I group it all in one word . . . . delicious.
Today, since I am away on a trip, far from my pile of thoughts and research, I am not going to write my traditional blog post, listing three favorite things, songs, books, products, etc. New readers, please check out previous Friday posts for more favorites.
Recently, I read an article about the best small towns to visit in each state. Based on the fact that some of the towns that were listed that I have visited, and they are some of my favorite places that I have ever visited, I have put some of the other towns which I have never visited on my bucket list. Here are some of the towns on the list. At the very least, they are worth a little research if you are looking for a great, quaint, weekend getaway. The first eight I have visited and can vouch for, they are definitely “Favorites” worthy. The rest are recent additions to my bucket list.
Hello and happy Friday!!! Happy Favorite Things Friday!!! This has been a productive, yet tiring week for me. I’m looking forward to some chill-time. How about you, friends? New readers, Fridays are for frivolous favorites. Typically I list three favorite items, beauty products, websites, songs, books, etc. that make my heart just sing. Please check out previous Friday listings for more favorites and please, please add to the favorites in the Comments section. Sometimes I feel like I am running out of favorites. (as if that was possible) Here are mine for today:
Basin.com Shower Bombs – I’m not a “bath girl.” I only enjoyed baths when I was pregnant and when I was three. I do love me a good, long, butt-turning-red hot shower, though. However, there is a part of me that always felt that I might have been missing out on the bath bomb thing. I even contemplated putting a bath bomb in our outdoor hot tub, but then I also started contemplating the service call price for stuffed up pipes, and I shelved that idea quickly. So, when I found these shower bombs at my local CVS, I jumped on them. They are wonderful! They come in many different scents and they kind of just “sizzle” when water hits them. My FOMO about bath bombs has now disappeared.
PlantNet App – This nifty free app for your phone allows you to take a picture of the plant you are questioning about (say in a random walk in the woods or perusing a beautiful garden), and it immediately sends you links to the name of the plant you are looking at, with all of the care information available at the click of a button. My daughter and I tested it at our local nursery (which had tags with plant names and care information) and the app was “spot on.” Very cool!
Dove Chocolates Valentine Candy (Dark Chocolate Almond Promises) – Okay, I love chocolate. All varieties of chocolate, I love. Typically though, if I am honest, I will choose milk chocolate and even white chocolate over dark chocolate. But, this particular concoction of dark Dove chocolate filled with chopped up almonds, all wrapped up in Valentine foil with the ever-wise Dove fortune printed on the inside, is the bomb! The total bomb! Milk, be gone! Which brings me to the fortune of the day. This fortune comes from the delicious Dove dark chocolate almond promise morsel I just unwrapped and devoured.
Fortune for this fortunate Friday – Find someone to accept you completely.
Fortune of the day – “In pursuit of knowledge, every day something is acquired. In pursuit of wisdom, every day something is dropped.” – Lao Tzu
In case you are wondering how to say Lao Tzu, it sounds sort of like this, “Lout Za”. I always forget and I have to look it up all of the time. One of my absolute favorite features of the internet is the pronunciation videos.
Happy Friday, my dear friends! Happy Favorite Things Friday! New readers, Fridays are simple and on the surface. On Fridays, I list three favorites of mine and I encourage you to do the same in the Comments section. One can never have enough favorites. Please also check out previous Friday listings for more favorites that I have shared in the past. I’m sticking with my favorites!
Today’s favorites:
Viridian Bay – If you like interesting, eye candy objects in your garden, you will love this website. They have so many cool garden accent pieces, like statues, and wind chimes and lanterns. I think that their prices are pretty reasonable, too. Even if you are “just window shopping” the internet, Viridian Bay is a really nice, relaxing website to peruse.
Quaker Instant Grits – I love grits! One of my favorite dishes is shrimp and grits. (I also love Quaker instant oats.) I don’t think that the rest of my family are as nearly into grits, as I am. That’s why these individual packets are so great. I can get my grit fix and give the rest of the fam, the usual rice and/or potatoes. The jalapeno flavor absolutely pops! Get yourself a box, if you are hankering some southern comfort food, in an instant.
Naturium Multi-Peptide Eye Cream – I read an article recently that stated a good eye cream must have peptides, in order to help soften the wrinkles and to tighten the crepey skin that comes with aging eyes. I purchased this cream on Amazon. It is reasonably priced and while I am not seeing miracles, I do like how it makes my skin feel. Until I find something better, this has become my daily go-to under eye cream.
Friday: Well, hello! I’m right here for you. Right here. Right now. We are going to really enjoy the day together. We’re going to laugh, we’re going to have fun and we are not going to take anything too seriously. Let me wrap you into my big, warm, comfortable arms and you just sit back and enjoy the ride!
As seen in one of my favorite boutiques . . . Target.
Yesterday I wore a sweater dress for the first time since probably the 1980s. Given that it is only a couple of weeks after Christmas (which, for me, was a time of highly overindulging in anything the least bit sugary), I decided to also break out what was once called a girdle and is now more commonly called a “Body Shaper.” BodyShapers/Girdles should be damned to hell, for all of the physical and the emotional pain that they inflict on women. There is NOway ever that a Body Shaper will make the Friday Favorites list here at Adulting-Second Half. That’s a promise and a guarantee. To add insult to injury, I noticed that my Body Shaper has stretch marks. Yes, stretch marks to match the originals, the stretch marks on my skin. Garbage Can, open your mouth, I’m about to feed you a Body Shaper. Wow, even you, Garbage Can, spit the Body Shaper out. Yucky!
Welcome to Favorite Things Friday. New readers, Fridays are frolicking and frivolous here at Adulting – Second Half. On Fridays, I list three of my absolute favorite anythings and I would love for you to share your favorites in the Comments section, too. I am always looking for more favorites, in my life. Here are today’s favorites:
Body Shapers – HA! Go back and read the first paragraph, in case you decided to just skip to the favorites part. I caught you.
Pollo Tropical – One of the best and most underrated fast food restaurants known to man. If you ever get a chance to eat at Pollo Tropical, take it. It’s one of those fast food chains that kind of tricks you into believing that you are actually eating relatively healthfully and wholesomely. (kind of in the way of Boston Market tries to trick you, especially if you get the broccoli, as one of the sides) Pollo Tropical is chicken and pork served Caribbean style. Their Cilantro Garlic sauce is so yummy that it is drinkable, but don’t kiss anybody for three days after eating it. Their iced tea is probably the best iced tea that I have ever drank.
Dr. Teal’s Foaming Bath With Epsom Salt – This bath wash is incredibly soothing. It comes in different scents like lavendar and eucalyptus, but it just so healing to use a little bit of it on tired muscles and dry skin. If you don’t have time to sit in a bath full of dissolved Epsom salts, just rub a little bit of this wonder into your skin while taking your shower. So soothing!
T-Rex Postal Forever Stamps – Do you know what lenticular printing is? I didn’t either. I had to look it up. This is how the postal service describes these mailing stamps:
“The Tyrannosaurus Rex Forever stamps are available in panes of 16 stamps with four designs. Featuring lenticular printing, two of the four designs show movement when rotated. See the skeletal remains with and without flesh and watch as an approaching T. rex suddenly lunges forward. “
They look so cool. The postal worker who helped me, apparently was as equally unaware of these stamps’ special features, as I was, so she kept trying to separate the thick sheet, convinced that several sheets of stamps were stuck together. My mother always taught me to never settle for “just the flag stamps” in life. These T-Rex stamps are so much fun and will make any envelope truly stand out!!
Have a great weekend, friends! Here is the fortune for the day:
“Our real personality is all light, all love, always shining.” – Upanishads
Welcome to the firstFavorite Things Friday of the new year and of the new decade!!!! This is the first time, in probably a whole decade, that I am saying to myself, “Wow, I can’t believe that it is Friday already.” The buzz that I have been hearing around with my friends and neighbors, has been a lot of “craving structure” and “getting back to a sense of normalcy.” That is one of my favorite gifts that we get every single year from the holiday season – a true appreciation of our normal, every day lives. New readers, Fridays are fun and frivolous. I typically list three items, songs, websites, etc. that make my world pop. I encourage you to check out previous Friday posts for more favorites and as always, please share your own favorites in the Comments section. It is kind to share.
Here we go:
One Hundred Fortunes – The above quote is from this adorable tiny, beautifully wrapped package of One Hundred Fortunes. I picked today’s beautiful paper fortune, out of the pile randomly and I think that I am going to try to pick one fortune out and put it on to the blog post every day, until I run out. On Christmas Eve, my family and I, each drew our own fortune out of the pile. We took turns reading our fortunes and saying what we felt that the fortune meant to us or was saying about the world. It is one of my most favorite 2019 holiday memories. It felt so intimate and warm to really hear each other’s thoughts and feelings and perspectives. You can find this and other wonderful delights on the creator’s (Ingrid Goff-Maidoff) website: www.TendingJoy.com
The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse (by Charlie Mackesy) – This is Barnes and Noble’s “book of the year” and all you have to do is to flip through it, to understand why. The illustrations are so whimsical and enchanting. I read it to my family on Christmas Eve, as if they were all little children again, and we all lapped up the experience. (either that, or they are all great fakers ;)) The story has a timeless message and I know that our copy will stay in our family forever.
Deep Sleep Pillow Spray by thisworks – I wouldn’t put this stuff in the Tylenol PM category, but the beautiful, refreshing lavendar scent is a wonderfully dreamy way to fall into a nice, peaceful, blissful slumber. The scent whispers comfort and peace. I got mine on Anthropologie’s website.
I guess that I am feeling a little bit more serious and sentimental than I typically feel on Fridays. I suppose this may be because I am in a reflective mood, with it being the end of the year, the end of a decade, the end of our winter break and yet also, the sweet and exciting start to a new year, a new decade, and a new chapter, in all of our lives. The photo below is the last page of The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse. I think that it says what I am trying to convey, the best. Have a great weekend!!!
Happy Friday!!! Happy Favorite Things Friday!! In case you haven’t noticed, one of my favorite activities during the holiday season, is sleeping in. Late. Readers, Fridays are devoted to Favorites here at Adulting – Second Half. On Fridays, I list three favorite things, activities, beauty products, websites, songs, whatevers and I encourage you to do the same in the Comments section. Please check out previous Friday posts for more favorites to make your life fabulous, fun and fantastic.
Today’s favorites:
Smathers & Branson – This company is known for its needlepoint belts. They also carry needlepoint key fobs and sunglasses holders and wallets and dog collars. The items are pricey, but that is okay, because the items are priceless and top quality and can be personalized with a monogram. I got my husband a belt with our college alma mater on it, and he LOVES it! They are a perfect shop for a man who already has everything.
Awkward Family Photos 2020 Calendar – My husband buys this calendar for me every year, just so that he can hear me laugh every morning, when I rip off the old day and look at the new “photo of the day.” One of my close friends bought me Anne Wilson Schaef’s Pageaday calendar, too. I find Anne Wilson Schaef to be so insightful and inspiring. Go get your Barnes and Noble gift card that you got for Christmas, and go pick out your favorite Pageaday calendar or go to their website for all of their offerings. You are bound to find something that speaks to you there. My friend wants us to write just one thing we are grateful for that day, on the back of each calendar page and put them in a jar. On NYE 2020, we will then have a jar full of gratefulness to reflect on, as we bring in the new year.
Enchant Christmas – Every year, three cities get gifted with an opportunity to visit Enchant Christmas, which is a fabulous light show (thousands of Christmas lights), a walk-thru maze, with a Christmas market, professional carolers, a band, a bar and a winding ice skating rink. We were lucky enough to live near to one of these cities, this year. The event was housed in our baseball arena. Last night, our entire family plus our middle son’s girlfriend, enjoyed ice skating together through twinkly light tunnels, laughing, falling, and honestly, just feeling “simply enchanted.” Don’t miss this opportunity if it comes to your city next.
Well, we’re off to a family beach day. That’s one of my favorite things about living in Florida. I was ice skating last night and beaching it today! I hope you all are having a fabulous holiday season!
I’m not really in a bad mood at all. It’s Friday, for goodness’ sake! I just thought that the meme was hilarious. The minions will always be a “favorite” of mine. Happy Friday!!! Happy Friday, the 13th!! (extra lucky) Happy Favorite Things Friday! New readers, Fridays are all about the material world. We keep it light and on the surface on Fridays. I typically list three favorite songs, downloads, gift items, gadgets, whatevers and I strongly encourage you to list your favorites, as well. Please check out previous Friday listings for more favorites. Favorites never go out of style. Here are today’s favorites:
Wsky Laptop Cooler – My laptop computer runs really hot. I need an oven mitt to move the laptop to a different location on my desk. This laptop cooling stand is quiet, only comes on when the computer is on, and is unobtrusive. I ordered it on Amazon and I truly believe that it is adding years to the life of my computer. I wish that they would make a person sized one, as it would be a wonderful way, to lay out in the sun. (shhh, I admit that I still do that, but I do wear sunscreen)
Derin Collection Coin Purses – I love small little bags to put all of my little minutia in. My friend once emptied out one of my colossal purses and counted 15 different bags, inside of the bag. (wallets, eyeglass cases, checkbook holders, makeup bags, you get the gist) No exaggeration. Hey, I own my idiosyncrasies. I love bags of every shape, size and color. I just found these Derin coin purses and I am in love. They look like tiny little Persian rugs for your purse. They are wonderful and the bottoms expand to hold all of our lucky pennies. Every purse needs a Persian carpet, right?!
Jillatay Etsy Store – I decided to add to my nativity scene collection this year. I typically like simple nativities that are only one piece (like Mary and baby Jesus) or a few simple pieces. (The larger sets are beautiful, but do not fare well in a chaotic household of six active people and two large dogs with long, wagging tails that tend to take these elaborate nativities out, in one full sweep) Anyway, I found some adorable nativity additions at this store and I fell in love with this ceramic artist’s complete whimsy and spiritually artistic viewpoint. (she makes art from many religious/spiritual/natural viewpoints) Check her site out. Eye candy! See an example below.
Happy Friday, my brilliant readers and friends!! New readers, today is Favorite Things Friday. On Fridays, I list at least three of my favorite anythings and I strongly encourage you to share your favorites in the Comments section. Also, check out previous Friday posts for other good recommendations to make your life just a little more warm and snuggly . . . which segues me into describing one of my all-time favorites. I love my Poof! black, slinky, cozy, comfortable, comforting, cowl-neck sweater so much, that I bought three of them, so that I can wear one of them practically each and every morning, to take my daughter to school. (not sure how she feels about that, but hey, it’s not my pjs) This sweater just spoons against my body in just the perfect way. I could probably stretch the neck part of the sweater to fit my entire body, just by itself, if I wanted to, but that would make it look a body bag, which would take away from this sweater’s charm. I love it so much, that if I weren’t already married, I’d marry it (them). I’d marry my Poof! sweaters. Sorry, honey.
Okay today’s favorites:
Acupuncture – I made my first ever acupuncture appointment about a month ago, as a last ditch effort to get rid of a months long chronic eye twitch, before succumbing to a neurologist appointment, as suggested by my primary care doctor. A visit to two doctors plus an eye doctor, a bottle of tonic water, two different prescriptions for muscle relaxers, eye drops, eye spray, warm compresses, etc. The list goes on and on, and none of it worked. After just one session of acupuncture, I didn’t have an eye twitch for five hours straight and by three sessions, it was completely gone. I am so impressed and I have decided to make acupuncture part of my regular health regime. My health insurance even covers it, which is wise on their part, because I have cancelled the neurology appointment, which undoubtedly, would have involved expensive and stressful testing.
Prayer Box – I have a tiny little commercially made prayer box, which is very nice, but I just bought a bigger one, recently, at a local arts and crafts fair and I put my other little prayer box inside of that one. (As I have mentioned before, I worry and pray about just about everything.) I like prayer boxes because it forces me to write out what my concerns are, and then it makes me do the physical experience of leaving my troubles with God/Universe and getting on with my day. Plus, every once in a while I clean out my prayer box, and it never fails to amaze me, when I read about all of those things that were bothering me, that they have resolved themselves, sometimes not how I requested them to resolve, but usually in even better and more miraculous ways that my small mind could have imagined. So then, the next time a disturbance comes to my mind, I remind myself that it will resolve itself, like all of the other “problems and perplexities” piled in the prayer box.
Nars VIP Room Essentials Kit – Nars is expensive make-up, no doubt and I always like to try drug store brands first and then work my way up, if necessary. Still, Nars has a few items that I now consider essentials. Nars’ Laguna Bronzer and its Orgasm The Multiple Cheek Stick. (yes, Orgasm especially, is crucial . . . but you already knew that) I bought two of these kits on a crazy good Black Friday online special, but if you want to try the bronzer and the cheek stick, there are minis of these included in the kit, which also has lip crayons and Nars’ wonderful mascara. I think that this kit is even worth its regular price.
Happy Friday, my dear readers!!!! It is not only Friday, it is Favorite Things Friday!!! Can I get a “Gobble, Gobble?!?” Friends, we don’t get into the depths on Friday here at Adulting – Second Half. On Fridays, I typically list three favorite songs, books, products, websites, apps, etc. and I encourage you to add your favorites to the Comments section. This will be particularly helpful, as we all will be doing our Christmas shopping in the next few weeks. Please check out previous Friday posts for more goodies. Without further ado, here are today’s favorites:
mint&lily Remember Who You Are Cuff bracelet – I ordered one of these for my daughter and it arrived over the weekend. She loves it and I love it! It is very nice quality. Inside the cuff are the engraved words: “Whenever you feel overwhelmed . . . remember whose daughter you are and straighten your crown” My daughter wore it yesterday, when she had to take five exams. I like to think that it helped calm her anxiety a bit, and at the very least, she knows that I am with her, always.
Gemmy Industries Animated Baby Goat – Every year I add to our collection of cheesy animated Christmas trinkets. We have a hound dog that sings “I’ll Have a Blue Christmas”, a naughty, flirty, French mistletoe man and a Christmas Tree that shakes and whirls like nobody’s business. This year might be our best addition yet. This little guy wears cute pjs, a Santa hat with a matching scarf, and is a “live” version of the screaming goats that are very popular on social media. He appropriate sings “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire“, while intermittently screaming. My dogs can’t stand him, but I am not even close to being sick of him, yet. I hope that his batteries have lasting power.
Honey app – This app really appeals to the lazy in me. They call it the “smart, shopping assistant.” Honey, when you are shopping on-line, you no longer have to look for promo codes. This app will add every appropriate promo code that it can find, to your order before you check out. It’s already saved me quite a bit of money, honey. (and I have tested it, by looking up promo codes first to see if the app will find it. It has, so far!)
Enjoy a nice weekend!!! I’m so thankful for all of your support!! xo
Hello my favorite readers in the world!!! Thank you so much for supporting me and my blog. I appreciate you so much! New readers, Fridays are really light here at Adulting – Second Half. We keep it surface level on Fridays. On Friday, I list three favorite products, services, books, songs, websites, ideas, etc. and I encourage you to add your favorites to the Comments section. Please check out previous Friday posts for more favorites. Here are today’s favorites:
Books Are Magic merch – I am very excited to get my black Books Are Magic t-shirt, scheduled to arrive any day now. Books Are Magic is an old-fashioned, awesome, “hope that this type of store, never ever goes away”, book store in Brooklyn. They sell all kinds of merchandise, such as mugs, key chains, pennants with the fact, “Books Are Magic” printed on them. My favorite quirky item is a t-shirt for kids. It says “Cigam Era Skoob”. (Despite my many years of studying Latin, I had to look that one up. It’s “Books are Magic” spelled backwards. I know . . . Duh! Back then, anyone could take Latin.)
Joy For All Pets – Despite having living, breathing versions, I want one of these pets. (or maybe even two) These interactive, high tech stuffed animals were designed by Hasbro to give seniors a pet to love, without the mess, fuss, and expense, of a real pet. They are about as life-like as you can get in a machine, and they have brought comfort to seniors, all around the world. I have also have seen videos where people have purchased Joy for All pets for children who can’t have live pets due to allergies and housing restrictions, etc. This is like West World, without the creepiness. Just love . . . and joy for all.
Angry Orange Odor Eliminator – “Smells Like Heaven, Works Like Hell” is printed on this concentrate’s bottle. I like this stuff so much, that this may be a repeat, on my Friday Favorites. If you have a nasty smell somewhere that just won’t go away, this is what you need. I have never experienced a better bad odor eliminator, in my life. I order mine on Amazon and a little goes a LONG way.
That’s it for today! Have a wonderful, three day weekend!!! Books are magic! Life is magic!
