Tag: favorite things

FTF

FTF – Favorite Things Friday!  Were you thinking it meant something dirty??  There are so many acronyms these days.  Thank goodness for being able to google the Urban Dictionary or I may not be able to communicate with my kids in text form.   On a different note,  I saw this quote on one of those funny napkins yesterday:

“This salad tastes like I’d rather be fat.”

I don’t think that salads were created for Fridays.  Friday is all about letting loose, letting your hair down, and “sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy”!  My favorite days are days when everyone is really happy and Friday has the best chance for being that day! 🙂  On to favorite things:

The Daily Skimm – A good friend from college recommended this daily email service and for me, it is the perfect amount of daily news.  I avoid watching the news like the plague. (especially these days – it’s just all too depressing)  This gives the highlights of the major headlines of the day without going into too much detail. The summaries are light and funny and include links if you want to go into a particular news story at a deeper level. So, I am able to remain informed without getting too obsessed and too downhearted.  My husband and I have a daily morning routine, in which I read The Daily Skimm aloud to both of us while he is getting ready for work.  It’s a daily moment that I treasure.   Here is a link to join, if you are interested:  http://www.theskimm.com/?r=fdfcd0ab

Spirituality and Health Magazine – I discovered this wonderful publication when I had a job merchandising magazines.  (btw, that was the best part time job ever- it was like getting paid to exercise and read!  LOL) I love the articles, ideas and book suggestions in this magazine.  Mostly though, like most of the magazines I subscribe to, I have one feature that I turn to first and is probably the primary reason why I subscribe to the magazine.  That feature in this magazine is a monthly column by Rabbi Rami Shapiro called Roadside Assistance for the Spiritual Traveler that I think is just great.  The author is a very wise, insightful man and his answers to questions always make me think and reflect.  Rami Shapiro is also the author of several books.

SpiritCups by Capital Cups – Over the many years of school/sports fundraising for my four kids, I have cringed at some of the items we were supposed to pimp to our family, friends and neighbors.  Usually my husband and I decided to just take “the hit” ourselves because we couldn’t look ourselves in the mirror asking our loved ones to buy filthy expensive wrapping paper that tore the minute you touched it.  However, being mostly past the fundraising years, this is an item that I would actively look for a cute, sporty looking kid in the neighborhood with a clipboard and uniform, to sell to me.  The cups we have purchased from this company are all decked out in our favorite teams’ logos and they last FOREVER!  These are our go-to daily cups for everything we drink.  They are dishwasher safe and unbreakable.  My eldest son quit playing football when he was about 12 and we still have the cups that we purchased from his Pop Warner days and they are still in good shape.  He’s 22 now.  I’m not sure if you can purchase them just as a consumer, but if you are in charge of some fundraising, look into selling these cups.  They are great!!

I’ll end on a Friday quote I saw recently:

There’s just one legitimate synonym for Friday: boom shakalaka!

Thanks, as always for reading and sharing my day!

Friday! Favorite Things!

Happy Friday!!

Rip dear Aretha Franklin.  Nothing but RESPECT.

My second son heads back to college tomorrow.  He’s a busy, social man.  He’s always on the go, with future plans always churning.  So yesterday, I decided that I would love to have lunch with him before he goes back. (when you have four kids, one-on-one time is special and hard to come by)  Early in the morning, I went into his room while he was still asleep and asked him if he would like to have lunch with me.  He said, “Sounds great.”  I figured I would get on his schedule before he got up, got on his phone and started planning away.  So, an hour or so later, when he got up, he said, “Mom, was I having a dream or did you say something about lunch today?”  LOL   We did go to lunch and it was great.

Without further ado, Favorite Things Friday:

Goat’s Milk Soap Bar with Sponge from Lori’s Soap and Sponges – I live by this cute little town in Florida called Tarpon Springs.  It has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the United States.  Every year it has an epiphany celebration where young boys dive into the gulf searching for a cross which will bring good fortune to their families for the entire year.  The town is also known for its natural sponge industry.  In fact, their high school mascot is The Spongers.  Anyway, the only soap we use now, are these soaps.  They are infused with olive oil and they have so many wonderful scents.  Coco Mango is my favorite.  The soap bars are attached to a natural sponge, so the sponge works as almost an exfoliator while the soap seeps through it.  I am a big believer in the little luxuries in life and these are one of those wonderful luxuries!  They make my shower experience one that’s very hard to leave.  You can order them online if you google Lori’s website.

Gourmet Garden Garlic Stir-In Paste –  Now, I am nothing close to being a good cook, so I am sure that there are chefs out there who can do wonderful things with this stuff.  I’ll tell you what we use it for, though, and I always have a tube of it in my refrigerator.  We love to press our sandwiches on our George Foreman Grill (another favorite thing, for sure!).  Why do sandwiches taste so much better when they are pressed?  I think it infuses all of the flavors together and makes the cheese so hot and melty and delicious.  Anyway, we spread some of this paste on top of the bread, before we press the sandwiches and it takes the taste sensation to a whole new level.  They have a really good Ginger version, as well. These are found in the refrigerated  produce area at your local grocery store.

Wild Birds Unlimited eliminator Bird Feeder – I am a nature/animal enthusiast.  I love almost all animals except that I’m less than thrilled with squirrels. (sorry, squirrel lovers)  This is the only bird feeder I have ever owned, that effectively stops the squirrels from draining my bank account from constantly having to buy more bird seed.   The squirrely squirrels now just have to wait patiently at the bottom of the feeder, hoping that the many beautiful birds that come to our “Avian Cafe by the Lake” will drop their crumbs for them.  I recommend Cole’s Blue Ribbon Blend bird feed if you want a large, colorful variety of birds to come and add a little dried meal worms (yuck, I know) if you want woodpeckers.  I got my feeder at the Wild Birds Unlimited Store and I order my bird seed from Amazon.

The blog is getting more readers every day!  I so appreciate your support!  Feel free to add your favorites in the Comments section. 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend!!!      

 

Fav Things Friday The 3rd

Woop! Woop!  It’s Friday!  Happy Weekend!

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it.” – Jack Handey

I found this quote on one of my favorite things which I will explain below in the favorite things section.  Years ago there was a sketch on Saturday Night Live called “Deep Thoughts with Jack Handey.”  I always found them to be so funny.  Anytime I find a quote or a thought or a musing that makes me think or makes me laugh I find somewhere to put it.  A lot of them are in a notebook I have, which is now almost full, but I also tape them on things like bathroom mirrors and refrigerators and inside the cover of my Barnes and Noble Hardcover Daily Desk Diary, which brings me to my favorite things.

Barnes and Noble Hardcover Daily Desk Diary – By now, you all have figured out that I’m kind of the old fashioned type who loves to write things down.  This is the calendar my family lives by and I have been buying the same style since 2008.  Why is it so great?  First of all, the monthly calendar blocks are nice and big and the weekly section is huge.   There are little blurbs about books and authors throughout the pages, which is interesting, but it doesn’t take a lot of space.  The maps in the back of the calendar are gorgeous.  The best part is that the calendars are black leather bound book style calendars that look terrific on our book shelves.  So I will keep them forever, and my kids can look back at them and say, “Oh, that’s when we went to Seattle or oh, that’s when I studied in Europe,” or “Wow, our lives were crazy busy and look how messy mom’s handwriting looks.”  Like I said, I tape things on the inside cover that tickle me, like cute pictures or funny sayings throughout the year so that makes for an interesting look as to where my headspace was that particular year, too.

Meditations for People Who Worry by Anne Wilson Schaef – This is my latest favorite meditation book.  I worry that I worry too much and this helps with that situation.  I found this book in the bargain section of my bookstore.  Some of the best books I have ever read, I have gotten in the clearance section or at garage sales.  I always feel like this is on purpose.  The right book comes at the right time.  Someone once told me that coincidence is God being anonymous and I definitely think that’s how it works with books.  This is a great, comforting daily read and I highly recommend it!

iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner- We first saw the Roomba rolling around by itself vacuuming the floors of Jesse’s house after a big party on an episode of  Breaking Bad.  My husband and I felt right then and there, that it had our family’s name written all over it.  Six people, two shedding dogs and a lot of foot traffic makes for some nasty floors in our house.  Our Roomba has been going strong for years on a daily basis.  I still marvel at how well it works!  The only thing that it ever disappointed us with, is it’s lack of smelling capability.  When our ancient dog, Bojangles, started having “getting outside fast enough” issues, Roomba, unfortunately felt the need to spread the love. Overall, though, A+++++ product!!

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****Hi readers!  Please feel free to add your favorites to Favorite Things Friday in the comments section.  I’m always looking for new Favorites! 🙂