Happy Friday!!! Happy Favorite Things Friday!!! Lately, all of us probably have some of the same favorites: water, shade, ice cubes, ice cream . . . . My own favorite for today, is dual purpose. It keeps my hair off of my neck, and it has a personality – it is a little sneaky and clandestine. My favorite for today is probably more for my female readers, unless you have a man bun (see above). (I’m still in awe that I have any male readers – thank you, guys!!) Today’s favorite is The Hidden Pocket Scrunchie Hair Elastic. This cute, fun scrunchie has a zipper pocket where you can keep things like money, air pods, chapstick, etc. If you are doing some weeding outside (what are you crazy? There’s a heatwave going on!), and the ice cream man happens to pull up, all you have to do is reach up and pull the dollars out of your hair. How fun! I got mine at a local boutique but you can find them at Target and Amazon.
Bonus Favorite: For those of you who have dogs who love the water as much as our Ralphie, the Labrador retriever does, we finally found a collar for him that does not leave a rash around his neck, from its constant dampness. The collar is called the Coastal Pro – Waterproof Dog Collar. Ralphie’s collar is a beautiful shade of aqua blue (and it hasn’t faded) but these collars come in all different, vibrant colors. For those of us, whose dogs are also part fish, these collars are a must. We got ours on Amazon for $15.
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
Happy Friday!!! I am not going to spend a lot of time with my favorites today because I am enjoying my time with some of my longtime favorite people. My favorite for today is my mouth guard which I resisted for years and thus paid to repair many a cracked tooth. My biggest fear, that as a claustrophobic person, I was concerned about anything that felt to big and clunky and “choke-y” in my mouth. And I certainly didn’t want to pay hundreds of dollars for it. And so my practical, kind, hygienist suggested this inexpensive, no frills, no-need-to-boil, dainty nightly mouthguard. It works. I love it. I no longer wake up with sore teeth or a sore jaw. I’m grateful to have finally broken down, and to have tried it, and at a $20 pricepoint, there is no reason not to try it. You can get this at any local drugstore or Walgreens: SleepRight Select-Comfort Dental Guard
Have a wonderful weekend!! See you tomorrow.
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
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.
Happy Friday!!! Happy Favorite Things Friday!!! Before I get to my favorite for today (hint: see above), I wanted to share two interesting things. One, I just read that the reason why Redwood trees are the tallest living thing on Earth is because they intertwine their roots and they share their water. Isn’t that beautiful? What’s your “water”? (i.e. special gift or talent that was meant to be shared to make our world a more beautiful place) Share your water today, and stand taller for doing it.
And two, I had a really interesting, kind of hilarious conversation yesterday. I was doing quite a few returns at a local department store. I was being waited on by quite the colorful lady. She and I both agreed that we especially enjoy the thrill of getting quality items, at discounted prices. The lady, a quirky, jumpy, constantly smiling, slim, elfin type of a person told me, “My talents aren’t limited to bargain hunting. I’m just the kind of person who knows people. I get what a want.”
“What are you, a mobster?” her coworker quipped and we all three nervously giggled.
“No,” the confident lady replied. “For example, I get reservations where no one can get reservations. I get to the best seats at games, and I get backstage passes when I want them.”
My curiosity overcame me. “Okay, so how do you do that? What’s your trick?” I said, half-believing her.
“I just call ’em up, or I show up and I say I’m with Senator So and So’s party and then I march right to wherever I want to go.”
“Do you ever get called out?” I asked.
“Only one or two times, but then they still let me go on through, and I think it’s because they admired my pluck. The key is to have total confidence. Know that you belong in the place where you want to be, and act on it. Never show doubt.” And then she smiled like a self-pleased Cheshire cat, who was already dreaming about her next stunt to pull off.
Okay, back to the moment that you have been waiting for: today’s favorite. (See above) Another Studio’s plant animals are like jewelry for your plant babies. They are adorable and light and rest easily on even the lightest of leaves. They come in many different varieties (I personally purchased the bee and the gecko). They run around $7-$8 a piece. I got mine at a local store but you can go to their website and purchase them from there. For those plain plants of yours who don’t naturally flower, why not give them a cute little bling of their own with an A-S plant animal?
Have a great weekend, friends. Find the small things/experiences that bring a smile to your face, and buy them, and relish them and act on them (and share your water). See you tomorrow!
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
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.
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.
Happy Friday!!! Happy Best Day of the Week!! Happy Memorial Day Weekend!! I hope that it’s a fabulous “unofficial” start to an amazing summer for all!! Before I get to my usual “Favorite Things Friday” favorite for the week, I want to get a little unusually serious, for a Friday on the blog, first. I need to get something that’s been wrangling around in my brain, down in writing. If you aren’t in the mood for some serious thought, please just scroll down to my favorite for today, as I typically like to keep Fridays on the blog, footloose and fancy-free.
Now the serious part: When I was reading some articles about Tina Turner earlier this week, I came across some film clips from the movie about her life,What’s Love Got to Do with It, starring Angela Bassett as Tina Turner. I then ended up on a clip of Angela Bassett in another movie from the 90s that I remember liking called, Waiting to Exhale. I vaguely remember enjoying both movies, decades ago. Watching these clips reminded me of what an amazing actress Angela Bassett is, in just about any role that she plays. The Waiting to Exhale clip was of Angela Bassett’s character, Bernadine, going ballistic when she finds out that her husband is leaving her for one of his employees. In the movie, Bernadine had given up everything of her own self, in order to support her husband and to help him to create his company, and she is feeling justifiably full of rage. As she is filling his high-end car, full of his high-end clothes from his enormous closet, before she lights it all on fire, (This scene underscores the proverb: “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”), she is crying and ranting and raving. At one point Bernadine is angrily mocking something that her husband implied in the past, “I need you to be the f-ing background, to my foreground.” Ouch.
Background people are needed in every entity. Background people are typically what makes ‘the whole thing’ go round. Think about every music concert. There are a helluva a lot of background people – roadies, lighting, promoters, assistants, bands, managers, background singers, etc. that make the actual concert happen. The lead singer/star is in the foreground, but she/he couldn’t be in the spotlight, without all of the background players and staff. There is a time and a place for us all to be background players and support staff. The hive only has one queen. Still, sometimes we individuals tend to play it a little small, and we keep ourselves in the background, perhaps playing martyrs, when there are times that we need to let go of our fears and uncertainties, in order to venture into the foreground a little bit, of our own interests and lives. I think that in transition times in life, such as the newly empty nest, this is a good thing to ponder: “Where in my life do I need to step up into the foreground of my own choosing?” We women, especially, tend to take pride in being the supportive background players to our families, and to our spouses, and to our kids, and even to our bosses, and that’s great, and we don’t have to give all of that up, by also inching into areas of our own foregrounds. And as we discover and explore our own “foregrounds”, we can use this experience to learn how to ask for, and to lean on a little background help of our own.
Okay, that’s way too much seriousness for a Friday. What was I thinking?! As usual, I was thinking too much. My favorite for today, is my new favorite brand of mascara. (This happens a lot for me with mascara. I am fickle. I love one brand until I just don’t like it anymore.) I found this mascara at Sally Beauty Supply and it is my new “holy grail mascara” until it isn’t. This makes my slowly dwindling, shrinking, getting sparser with age, eyelashes pop, like they haven’t in a long time: Lime Crime Astronomical Volumizing Vegan Mascara (I am not clear why it is important to say that this product is “vegan” since I don’t know anyone who eats mascara, but c’est la vie. I’m open and learning.)
Have an amazing Friday and an outstanding weekend, friends!! See you tomorrow!!
Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.
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 thatyou 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.
Hi friends! Sorry! My morning has gone in all different wayward directions. It’s not my usual Friday vibe. It’s so annoying to have an un-Friday kind of Friday. Hopefully, my Friday will get more “Friday” as the day goes on.
Since I have been so distracted (nothing major, just a lotta little “chit-chits”), I don’t really have any favorites to share. I will say that I am thrilled that two of my favorite series have come back recently with new seasons and I highly recommend watching them: Yellowjackets and Ted Lasso. They are two entirely different watches and yet equally as good, in their own unique ways.
Please pick up my slack, and recommend your own favorite things to my Comments section. Or go through my archives and look at other Friday posts for some of my favorite things, websites, songs, beauty products, foodstuff, etc.
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.
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.
