Tag: Friday

Free Friday

As a woman from a family who has many members who have served in our military branches, and who has married into a family of many members who have served in our military branches, I couldn’t be prouder. There is no greater sacrificial service, than to be willing to put your life on the line for something bigger and more important than yourself. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We honor you. Veterans will always, always be a favorite of mine.

Happy Friday, friends!!! Friday is the best day of the week, in my opinion. Therefore I keep it light on Fridays and I only discuss the frivolous – essentially material stuff that I like. On Fridays, I offer up one of my favorites, whether it be a book, a movie, a product, a website, etc. and I ask you to add your own favorites to my Comments section. Please also check out previous Friday posts for more favorites.

Today’s favorites are hilarious plant stakes that I purchased at a local plant shop, but it turns out that you find all sorts of these sticks of cute-funness, on Etsy. (With that in mind, before you know it, every one of our own dozens of plants will soon have their own stake.) These plant stakes make me smile and giggle to myself every time that I look at them, so besides the delicious clean oxygen my plants offer up to me, now they make me giggle and smile on the daily, too. How great is that?! What a simple, easy, inexpensive way to add delight into your own life.

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.

Catch the Smilin’ Sun Friday

Good morning! Happy Friday! On Fridays, I discuss the frivolous stuff of life only. I discuss my favorite things, or songs, or products, or foodstuff, or TV shows, etc. I’m feeling generous today, so I am going to list two favorites of mine for you to explore, if you are so inclined. (Btw, this upcoming weekend is “Fall falls back,” on the clocks. How delicious is that?! An extra hour of sleep is definitely a favorite of mine!)

Let’s just cut to the chase. Today’s first favorite of mine: suncatchers by Scout Curated Wears. These are not your Grandma’s cardinal/rainbow suncatchers. These are not your handmade Makit & Bakit suncatchers that were always ruined by that stray color bead that you just couldn’t remove from the section you didn’t want it in. These suncatchers are actually modern, intriguing, and spiritually pleasing. Scout Curated Wears has a lovely website with other pretty items like jewelry and greeting cards. Go to their site and enjoy perusing all of their offerings.

And my bonus favorite for today: Smilin’ Bob’s Smoked Fish Dip As I grabbed yet another two tubs of this delectable treat, and threw them into my shopping cart, my seafood grocer yelled out to me, “Oh, so you’re the one who keeps me selling out of this stuff!” Yep, it’s me. Guilty as charged. Although, I am sure I am not the only one who can’t get enough of this stuff. I have always loved fish dip, but hands down, this is the best fish dip I have ever eaten. Just call me “Smilin’ Kelly.”

Enter the weekend with this thought: “You get to decide your life.” Try it out. Just for the weekend: “You get to decide your weekend.” You won’t have control of everything that happens this weekend, but you do get to decide your reaction to it all. Decide wisely. Catch the sun and keep smilin’!

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

Friday Travels of the Mind

-Jonah Lehrer

Good morning! You woke up to the best day of the week. Fridays are fabulous. On Fridays, I don’t discuss anything serious. I keep it light and fun. On Fridays, I discuss favorite things. Today’s favorite of mine might have you questioning my sanity (if you haven’t already). We were in a Japanese area of New Jersey earlier this week, and that is where I discovered the adorable Sonny Angels. (The Japanese people seem to have the market on all things “cute.” Remember Hello Kitty?) Sonny Angels are so popular that the one store was entirely sold out of them. Sonny Angels are little naked kewpie doll figurines that have funny little helmets made out of fruit, or animals, or sea creatures, etc. They also have a pair of adorable angel wings on the back of each Sonny Angel. The true fun of Sonny Angels is that you buy a box in one theme, such as “Sonny Angels Vegetable Series” and then you open the box up, to see which figurine you got. I ended up with the adorable “Bok Choy Sonny Angel.” I bought myself a few boxes for the glorious fun of opening them up and being surprised, and I offered to buy a couple for my 26-year-old son. He looked at me like I had three heads. He said, “Mom, if I had Sonny Angels lying around my apartment, people might call the police, thinking I am some kind of weird pedophile.” Luckily for me, I’m just some quirky middle-aged lady, so I can get away with the fun of purchasing silly little dolls. I know that you are curious to check these cutie kewpies out. Their official website is here:

https://sonnyangelusa.com/

We are back home from our travels. It was a wonderful trip and a lovely visit with our son. I feel refreshed (but also exhausted). I think that the quote above is spot on. I read once that we all are just an accumulation of our experiences: the people you meet, the books you read, the things you see. I love how travel wakes you up to new perspectives, ideas, questions, and joys. Travel always opens you up to new elements of yourself. 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.

Put a Ring On It Friday

Happy Friday!! Happy Best Day of the Week!! On Fridays, I don’t think deeply (thus, I don’t write about deep or meaningful things). Or if I do, I quickly shut it down. Here on the blog, on Fridays, I discuss my favorites: things, songs, products, websites, books, u-name-its. Please share some of your favorites in my Comments section, so we all can even more fun this Friday.

Before I mention today’s favorite of mine, I want to gift you iPhone users, a bonus favorite. Text “pew pew” to some of your favorite people who also have iPhones. Fun, right? If you hold down the send button when you text someone on your iPhone you will find that you have all kinds of options, to add pizazz to your text messages. (my favorite option is the “Invisible Ink” option) Thank you, my dear friend (you know who you are) for teaching me the “pew pew” skill. Have you come to regret it, yet?? Pew pew. Pew pew.

Today’s favorite is a time saver. Shinery Radiance Wash washes your hands and your jewelry, all at the same time. It adds a gorgeous sparkle to your engagement ring without you having to take off your rings to clean them, and risk losing them. It’s wonderful stuff, and it can be purchased on Amazon. Speaking of lost wedding rings, we are having to replace my husband’s wedding ring for the second time in our almost 28 years of marriage. (Thankfully, he only loses his wedding ring when he is with me.) When we were on our honeymoon, my husband lost his first wedding band when we were snorkeling, because it was too big for his hand and it slipped into the water. A trip to the jewelry store in St. Martin was the first stop of the next day, because as a young bride, it was important to me for my husband to “keep a ring on it.” Last weekend, we were boating with our daughter. During the pandemic lockdown, my husband had his wedding ring made a size larger, because, as you may intimately know, the pandemic and weight gain went hand-in-hand for many of us. My husband has since lost his pandemic weight gain, and the ring was too big. Guess what came off in the water, again? So today’s date excursion, is a trip to the jewelry store. Why? Because as a middle-aged bride, it’s important to me for my husband to “keep a ring on it.”

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

What a Week Friday

I hope that by reading my daily blog, you get a little taste of what it’s like to live through a hurricane. There are several days before the hurricane of anticipation, concerns, worries, preparation, tough decisions, and battening down the hatches. Then you experience the lockdown of about 2-3 days of weathering out the actual storm. Finally, the storm passes, and luckily, most of us don’t have to assess too many damages. We can now breathe out, before we take up the task of driving home in heavy traffic (for those who evacuated), and putting everything back and away that we put up and brought in, to prepare for the storm. Hurricane Ian has literally been the focus of my life for more than a week. It’s been sort of a “lost week.” And I am one of the lucky ones, who didn’t even end up losing power. My heart breaks for the many whose lives are forever changed by this horrific storm.

My main point is, I am so happy that the storm has passed and I am so grateful that it is my favorite day of the week – Friday. Friday is devoted to my favorite frivolous things, TV shows, books, products, beauty items, foodstuff etc. on the blog. Each Friday, I discuss a favorite that has made my life better. It might makes yours a little more fun, too.

My favorite for today is a little snack I discovered when purchasing a coffee at Starbucks one recent afternoon, Starbucks Bacon & Gruyère Egg Bites. These delicious little treats are only 300 calories and are full of flavor. I think I even prefer them to the coffee, dare I say it? When you need a little pick me up in the afternoon, it is worth waiting in line, at your local Starbucks, for these delicious, hot delicacies.

I think the biggest lesson for the week, is don’t take your favorites for granted. When you see how easily one act of nature can wash everything away, your favorites are all that more sweet and satisfying. Have a restful weekend. That’s my plan.

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

Mad Respect Friday

John Cena has set a new record for most wishes granted through the Make A Wish Foundation. He has now granted 650 wishes to critically ill children — more than anyone else in history. (Tweet sent this morning by @Goodable)

Happy (Favorite Things) Friday!! Happy Best Day of the Week. Today, my favorite is John Cena. He is my favorite wrestler of all time and I have never even watched a full wrestling match in my lifetime. When my youngest two children were little, they were big fans of wrestling. They bonded over it. Earlier this summer, my youngest son showed me a news story where John Cena surprised one of his biggest fans, a Ukrainian boy who has Down Syndrome and is currently a refugee, by surprising him and spending a whole afternoon with him. When they had to leave Ukraine, due to the war, the young man’s mother told him that they were going to look for John Cena, as it was the only way to get him to leave their home. When John Cena saw this story on the news, he decided to make the young man’s mother’s words, the honest truth. What a wonderful, big-hearted man!! John Cena’s catch phrase is: “Respect: Earn It!” John Cena, you have earned our respect.

Have a fabulous weekend! Respect yourself. Respect others. Show respect and appreciation to those who have earned your respect. The way to make the world a better place is just to work on being a little bit better, ourselves, each and every day. Those little bits add up, sometimes even to Guinness World Records.

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

Frizzle Sizzle Friday

credit: @WakeUpPeople, Twitter

Friday is wonderful. It is a day so full of relief, yet excitement and anticipation. Friday is full of the world’s most fabulous feelings, even though technically, it is just another day in the work week. Happy Friday! On Friday, to keep those fabulous feelings flowing, I focus on my favorites. (Say that sentence, three times in a row, quickly. I dare you.) Every Friday, I list a favorite thing, or book, or song, or website, etc. that helps to make my life more interesting and fun. Today’s favorite is this:

This is “Curly”, a succulent plant known as Albuca Spiralis, or “Frizzle Sizzle.” I love this plant’s delightful curls! She looks just like curling ribbon. You can purchase the likes of Curly from sellers on Etsy, along with many other rare and unusual plants and succulents. Plants make amazing pets. This baby is the “poodle” of the plant world.

Have a wild and wonderful weekend, friends. See you tomorrow!

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

My Sweet Friday

Cauliflower. Albino broccoli. When did it become amazing? It feels like it was just in the last few years that we have truly explored the wonders of cauliflower. When I was a kid, I loved white chocolate. (Who am I kidding? I still love white chocolate.) Anyway, every single Easter, the Easter Bunny would bring me a big, white chocolate bunny which I would gnaw on throughout the Easter season. Once, when I was out in my yard, and my white chocolate bunny had become just a little white nub full of teeth marks, my snoopy next door neighbor yelled out to me, “Dear, what is that, that you are gnawing on?” I explained that I was feverishly gnawing on what was left of my white chocolate Easter bunny. “Oh silly me!” she exclaimed. “I thought that it was hunk of cauliflower.” That’s then when we both doubled over in hysterical laughter. Feasting on cauliflower! Was she crazy?!? If this had happened nowadays, versus in the 1970s, I would have better understood her confusion. Cauliflower is good! My favorites for today, on this Favorite Things Friday are two cauliflower crusted pizzas, and a delicious bag of non-potato “tater tots”, made of, you guessed it, cauliflower. These items are delicious. They are not quite as good as white chocolate, but I would put them right up there, and they are not full of sugar.

Kirkland Signature Supreme Cauliflower Crust Pizza (a supreme pizza with meat) and Milton’s Craft Bakers Roasted Vegetable Cauliflower Crust Pizza (no meat) are both delicious brands of cauliflower crusted pizza that can be found at Costco. We get them every time we go to Costco (which is a lot, of course, because we’re a middle-aged married couple) and we haven’t tired of them yet! They come with two pizzas to a box. And you should be able to get Green Giant Veggie Tots Cauliflower, Cheese, & Bacon at any self-respecting grocery store. Try them, you’ll love them. And maybe, because of the pride that you’ll feel for yourself for eating healthier options, you might be able to add a little white chocolate in the mix, for dessert.

Have a delightful, holiday weekend, friends! So long, summer! It’s been real.

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

Friday is Good For U

“When you meet someone who is good for you, they won’t fill you with insecurities by focusing on your flaws. They’ll fill you with inspiration, because they’ll focus on all the best parts of you.” – Colleen Hoover, All Your Perfects

My daughter joined a sorority yesterday. When she was going through rush, one girl told her to pretend that she was lounging on a couch. The girl told my daughter to ask herself, “With what group of girls could you lounge on that couch, and feel most comfortably, happily and easily yourself?” My daughter told me that she found that perfect fit. She found her space on the right couch. And as a woman who is still extremely close to her best seven friends from her own wonderful college sorority, this makes my heart swell with happiness and hope. We women will always need other good women to paddle through life together. It’s in our DNA.

The emphasis here is of course on “good women“, and women and people, in general, who are “good for us.” As the quote says above, the people who are good for us won’t be judgy and overly critical. The people who are good for us will help us to discover our own very best gifts, and how best to utilize these gifts for ourselves and for our world. Judgmental people put up big blocks in relationships. The judgers cause people to get defensive, to shut down (for fear of more criticism), and they encourage others to start honing in on the critical person’s own flaws. (because none of us are flawless) For this reason, judgers often end up being extremely lonely, angry people. The people who are good for you, are just the opposite. These people will cause you to open up, and to bloom, and in this way, they will make you see the beauty in their own lovely, loving, wonderful characters, as well.

Okay, I get it. I’ve gotten off course. I’ve gotten a tad serious for a Friday post. My apologies. As my regular readers know, Fridays are devoted to the frivolous here at the blog. On Fridays, I list a favorite item, website, book, product, etc. that has made my sensory life nothing short of delightful. Please check out previous Friday posts for more of my favorites and please share your favorites, too. We can all have some of the same favorites. Todays favorite: Garlic Expressions Vinaigrette This salad dressing was supposedly created by a “legendary” supper club in Ohio. I love anything that contains garlic, but somehow this supper club encapsulated garlic in the most dreamy, light, liquid form imaginable. I got my first bottle at the Fresh Market, but I noticed that you can also order a bottle on Amazon.

Have a fabulous, frolicky, garlicy weekend! Spend time with the people who are good for you!

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

PinkLionDog Friday

Happy Friday to my wonderful friends and readers!! Welcome to the best day of the week. Fridays are frivolous and fun here at the blog. On Fridays, I discuss a product, or a website, or a song – a whatever that has added sparkle to my own life. In short, Fridays are about the things which have helped to make my own life more interesting and intriguing. Please check out previous Friday posts to find out about some more of my favorites. Who knows? Perhaps some of my favorites, could become some of your own favorites, too!

Today’s favorite is a Florida artist whose art I totally adore! And I am not the only one. Paige Gemmell has done partnerships with stationery companies (Caspari), Spartina, Anthropologie, and she even has her artwork printed on lingerie! Go check out prints you can buy, and other products that have her artwork printed on them, at her wonderful Etsy store: PinkLionDog

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PinkLionDog?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=51607158

Make this Friday a grand entrance into a fabulous weekend. Make this Friday simmer with excitement, anticipation, expectancy, and sultry suspense. Make this Friday one of the best of your life. You have that power to steer your ship in that direction. Do it.

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