Tag: favorite things

Pet Rock Friday

Good morning. I am still in a NyQuil haze. First I’d like to send a birthday shoutout to my aunt today. She is that “cool, stylish aunt” who everyone needs to have in their life. She bought me my first phone (rotary, pink) and took me to my first ever concert (Olivia Newton John). She’s always been incredibly supportive of my family and of my writing. I love you, AB!! Have a great day!!

I’ll cut right to the chase to my favorite for today because this damn virus allows me the energy of a sloth. Today’s favorite is the adorable Pet Rock seen above created by JellyCreativeCo on Etsy. I gave her to my youngest son who works remote, since he is already entertaining the idea of getting a dog for his new apartment that he moved into earlier this month. (I am totally to blame for this, I understand. We have three dogs, but still . . . .) Anyway, I hope that this adorable pet rock staves off the dog idea for a little while, since my son is still getting settled into his new digs, new job and new routine. The adorable pet rock comes with an adoption card and everything. Everytime my son looks at it smiling up at him, my son will remember that his mama is rooting for him. Good rock!!

Have a great weekend, friends!! See you tomorrow!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Drink the Tea Friday

Welcome to the most fabulous day of the week!! How has summer been treating you? In Florida, summer is our rainy season. Rarely, does it rain all day in Florida, but during the summer it is common for us to get a rain shower here or there, almost every single day of the week. So today, on a day when I keep my thoughts light and easy and breezy, and I offer up one of my favorite things for us all to enjoy (It’s Favorite Things Friday on the blog. Check out previous Friday posts for more favorites.), I decided to tell you about two favorites of mine that kind of go together, and help to keep things cozy, during a little rainy spell.

Herbal Cup Turmeric, Cinnamon, Moringa Tea – I originally bought this tea because I read somewhere that turmeric and cinnamon and moringa are good for you. I forget exactly how any of these ingredients are particularly good for various parts of your body, but that’s okay. This tea is so soothing, and tasty and comforting and it does not have any caffeine. I now only drink this tea for its excellent taste and the soothing aroma. If this tea also has a lot of healthy side effects, that’s just a bonus, in my book.

Devotions by Mary Oliver – This book of poetry is sublime. I don’t have many books of poetry. Poetry is not my “first language” when it comes to literature, but I have read enough of Mary Oliver’s excellent poems to decide that I should finally download one of her books. Mary Oliver’s poetry is mostly about nature and it so accessible and relatable and yet profoundly astute. Her poems are short, simple and yet flowing with emotion and awe. If you want an easy way to fall in love with poetry, this book is for you.

Summary: If you would like to up your mind/spirit quotient on some rainy day in the near future, drink the tea. Read the poems. Feel the peace. Breathe.

Have a great weekend, friends! See you tomorrow!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Humm, It’s Friday

Credit: Petite Alma

Happy Friday!! Happy Summer!! Happy Weekend!! On Fridays, I try to keep things on the surface, like a water bug. On Fridays, I just lightly float on the top, and I let the things churning around beneath me, be to themselves. Fridays are for Favorite Things Friday. Today’s favorite is something that I picked up at Costco recently. We hadn’t been to Costco in a while, but this past month, our two youngest kids have been back home, so a Costco trip was in order.

Today’s favorite of mine: Humm Probiotic Kombucha I’ve tried many kombuchas over the years, and usually they are just “too much” – too tart, too acidic, too full of the mother, etc. This kombucha is tasty, and it supposedly has less sugar than most kombuchas do, and yet it does have a nice, light, sweet taste. The flavor available at Costco is Mango Passionfruit. I highly recommend giving this refreshing drink a try. Things that make you go Humm, can be really good things, too!

(And as a bonus: one of my past favorites from a previous Friday – Starbucks Bacon & Gruyère Egg Bites are now available in a box, in the freezer section of Costco, so that you can heat them up, right at home. A Humm Kombucha and a delicious Starbucks Egg Bite made for my yummy breakfast, on this wonderful Friday morning.)

Give yourself today to be like a waterbug. Float on the surface and ride the waves. See you tomorrow!!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Wear the Pants Friday

Good morning!! Big Friday hugs to everyone! On Fridays, I get out of my head and into my stuff. On Favorite Things Friday, I just talk about the stuff in life that makes my life fun to live. Please check past Friday posts for more good stuff to get, to eat, to buy, to smell, to try, to wear . . . . and please list your favorites in my Comments section.

My daughter had to buy a few pairs of black slacks for her ice cream serving job this summer, and she immediately said that she knew exactly what pants to get. She said that her friend who is a hostess at a nice restaurant, told my daughter about these black slacks, and these are now my daughter’s go-to black slacks for any dress casual business event at school, etc. After seeing how flatteringly these slacks fit on my daughter, I asked her if she minded if I also bought a couple of pairs for myself and when she said, “Sure!”, I promptly ordered two pairs. These pants are nicely cut, inexpensive, yet good quality, durable, and they have a little bit of stretch to them. Old Navy High-Waisted Pixie Flare Pants for Women are my favorites for today. They come in other colors besides black. My daughter and I both purchased a size up from what we each normally wear, as these pants seem to run a little small. These pants are a great staple for any woman’s closet!

Okay, put your big girl pants on today and let yourself have a weekend to never forget!! See you tomorrow!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

It’s Me, Friday

Happy Friday!! Happy Favorite Things Friday!! I’m not going to be writing much today, because I am going to a matinee with my favorite daughter (yes, she’s my only daughter), doing one of my favorite things (going to the movies), and seeing a movie based on one of my favorite books of all time. (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume) I’m so happy that they finally made a movie out of this great book. I love all things book related. Not only are books my favorite, but so are bookstores, and libraries, and those little free libraries that look like bird houses, and bookmarks and book covers . . . . . .

Today’s favorite has nothing to do with books, however. Today, my favorite is a hairspray that the kind, informed clerks recommended to me, when I was at Sally Beauty Supply the other day. (Remember, I live in humid Florida. Humidity is not kind to hairstyles.) When Sally clerks first recommended their best selling hairspray to me with the selling feature of “it works, but you can still comb through it” in my mind, I automatically turned that statement into, “Oh okay, so it doesn’t work.” But I took the professionals’ advice anyway, and it turns out, this hairspray is good stuff. It works! Professional Sebastian Shaper Plus Hairspray is the best that I’ve tried yet in my long life with my fine and stubborn hair.

Now, I’m going to go use a little bit of this liquid gold in a bottle on my hair, as I prepare to see my movie with my best girl. Have a great Friday!! See you tomorrow!!!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Non-Boring Friday

Good morning!!! Happy Friday!!! Happy Best Day of the Week!!! Happy Cinco De Mayo!!! On Fridays on the blog, I discuss the stuff of life that makes life just so fun. I call it Favorite Things Friday and I would love it if you would share some of your favorites in my Comments section. Now, on to my favorite for today:

At the end of April, my husband and I were in Italy, and in Florence we had a tour guide who was extremely dramatic, and also quite attractive. As snobby and eccentric as she came across, she still had obvious flair. As we were walking the streets, our fashionable tour guide airly pointed out a store and stared deeply at my face, apparently checking for wrinkles.

“Oh yes, I can see that you would remember the 1980s,” she said quite confidently.

“That jewelry maker there,” she said, pointing to a store, “is making quite the splash, all over the world. Angela Caputi is bringing back the huge statement pieces of the 80s. You may want to check it out, if you dare . . .”

The Angela Caputi store was my very first stop the next day. And I purchased three enormous, over-the-top, interesting, eye-catching, popping pieces of jewelry (perhaps that’s part of the reason why we had to pay for extra heavy baggage on the way home?!) Angela Caputi jewelry is big and colorful and plastic-y and not for the faint of heart. One evening I wore my enormous Angela Caputi elephant (trunk-up, of course) orange and turquoise, charm bracelet to dinner, and I had at least 3-4 women ask me where I had purchased it. Angela Caputi jewelry is all that you need to make a plain black outfit, or a simple linen dress, make you look like you should have been invited to the Met Ball. (I imagine that Iris Apfel owns hundreds of Caputi pieces.)

Have a safe, fun, fabulous Friday, friends!!! See you tomorrow!!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Hoot Hoot Friday

Happy Friday!! Happy Favorite Things Friday! On Fridays, I stay above the surface and talk about the tactile, sensory, stuff you can experience in life that I just love!! Please check out previous Friday posts for more good recommendations. Today’s favorite, involves two of my favorite creatures from the animal kingdom: Owls (if there is such thing as a spirit animal, then I am convinced the owl is my spirit animal) and Underdogs. (Underdogs might be my all-time favorite of anything.)

Every year my husband asks the family if we want to do a family bracket for the March Madness College Tournament, and every year I agree to participate. I pick my bracket utilizing the highly scientific “Oh, okay, I know someone who went there, or someone’s kid who goes there . . .” system. Interestingly, I usually don’t do half bad every year, despite knowing virtually nothing about college basketball. I’ve even won the bracket, a year or two.

Honestly, I don’t think that I picked the Florida Atlantic University Owls to go too far. (Despite living in Florida, I don’t know any FAU alumnae) But I’m rooting (and hooting) for the Owls now! This is only the second time in which the Owls have ever made it to the tournament, and the ONLY time they have made it to the Elite Eight. This is what makes March Madness so special. You don’t even have to be a sports fan to revel in vicarious joy. March Madness brings out the freudenfreude in all of us, especially for the inevitable Cinderella team that surprises everyone.

Is there anything better in life than a Cinderella story? Be a Florida Atlantic Owls fan with me. Make them your favorite team of the tournament and send all sorts of good energy their way!

Have a great weekend! See you tomorrow!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

The Luck of the Friday to Ye

Happy Friday! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! May today be lucky, plucky, clucky, ducky and crispy! (see Wack-a Chicken game) Obviously, I am in my typical devil-may-care Friday mood! On Fridays, I try to stay away from the serious side of life. On Fridays, I discuss my favorites of anything. Life is supposed to be lived sensually and tactically and curiously and peacefully, and then our minds start making up stories about it – stories that get us all tripped up. On to my favorite for today:

While we all love clovers on St. Patty’s Day (especially the elusive yet extremely lucky four leaf clovers), we usually do not like clovers on any other day, especially clover that shows up in huge swaths in our lawns. In wanting to be good to the Earth and also good to our three dogs, my husband no longer purchases synthetic weed killer. (which he insists doesn’t work well anymore, anyway) Instead my husband swears by this formula (which, you guessed it, is my favorite for today): 30 percent Harris Vinegar (one gallon), 1 cup coarse salt, and 1 teaspoon dish washing liquid. He mixes all three ingredients in his sprayer and makes sure that the concoction sits for 30 minutes so that it dissolves and mixes completely. Harris Vinegar is much stronger than the usual stuff that you get in grocery stores and use in salads. It’s worth every dime when used as a cleaner and as a weed assassin.

Some Irish proverbs to consider:

May you be at the gates of heaven an hour before the devil knows you’re dead!

May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you are going, and the insight to know when you have gone too far.

 May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

It is often that a person’s mouth broke his nose.

And what I wish for all of you, my beloved readers:

May your heart be light and happy, may your smile be big and wide, and may your pockets always have a coin or two inside!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Smile Sock Friday!

Happy Friday!!! Happy Favorite Things Friday!!! Today’s favorite is a different pair of socks than shown above, but when I was searching for a cute Friday meme, with socks, these showed up. These Monday/Friday sock sets are sold by Uncommon Goods. Adorable!!! I’m sure happy that it’s the day to wear the yellow pair.

On Fridays, I discuss only the frivolous side of life – stuff. On Fridays, I talk about my favorite things. Today’s favorite is also a pair of socks I saw a woman wearing at the Stretchlab, and I decided that I had to have them. She told me that I was the fifth person to compliment them. These are non-slip socks that have a see-through mesh top with beautiful floral embroidery on them. These TAVI NOIR socks are like “shoes light”, and they make you feel like you are a beautiful ballerina. If you must wear non-slip socks around somewhere, they might as well be beautiful. Here is the link on Amazon:

I was at the beach yesterday. I can tell that spring break is full-on. My own daughter comes home tonight for her spring break. Good times! Enjoy it, all!! See you tomorrow.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Dog Lovers Friday

Happy Friday, friends!! Happy Best Day of the Week!! Our daughter is coming home for the weekend from college, so needless to say this is a great Friday for us! (but aren’t all Fridays wonderful?!) My regular readers know that I dedicate Fridays on the blog, to the materially fun and frivolous. On Fridays, I discuss stuff that I like. That’s it. Nothing deeper than stuff and fluff that I like. Please check out previous Friday posts for more favorites and please share your favorites in my Comments section. I’m always looking to add to my list of favorites in my life!

Today’s favorite I picked up the other day because I love all things related to stationery. (And I love all things related to dogs.) Of course I didn’t need another pad of paper, but this one makes me particularly happy. Today’s favorite is Eccolo World Traveler Dog Lover’s Pad. What makes this pad of paper particularly special is that each piece of paper features a different dog. There is not one duplicate of the same dog! We dog lovers know that each dog, even if they are of the same breed, are as utterly unique as individual snowflakes and fingerprints. If you are a dog lover (and most of us are, it seems) you will find this pad for jotting down notes and lists, a must-have! You can purchase Eccolo World Traveler Dog Lover’s Pad at Staples like I did, or you can order it from Amazon.

I hope that your tails wag all weekend, and that you have new exciting tales to tell of what you explored and experienced! See you tomorrow.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.