Tag: Trader Joe's

The Question For Friday

Credit: Rex Masters, X

Happy Friday!! Happy Favorite Things Friday!!

“Are you all set for Christmas?” – everyone’s most hated question to answer during the holiday season, and yet the question seems to drop out of my mouth almost like a nervous tic, to everyone I come across, as much as I abhor getting asked this question myself. I always immediately apologize after asking “the most hated question”, as I observe the groans, and the eye-rolls, and the signs of blood pressure rising, in anyone who gets asked that question, 99% of the time. Every once in a while, an outlier will express total enthusiasm, nodding an emphatic “Yes!” with their eyes all aglow, and then they will start listing all of the gifts, baking, decorations, wrapping, cards and plans which they have already successfully and enthusiastically completed. These are typically the people who get asked “the most hated question” immediately after Thanksgiving.

If you aren’t one of those outliers, and you still need an idea for some stocking stuffers, here’s today’s favorite: Trader Joe’s Shampoo Bar Peppermint and Tea Tree. My husband likes simple, quality, environmentally friendly products, and this one fits the bill. It is shampoo that is free of any toxins and it comes in the form of a soap bar, so it is not contained in a plastic bottle. It also has coconut, olive and jojoba oils in it and the scent of the shampoo is refreshing but light. At $4 a pop, maybe you can stuff two of these gems in a stocking.

Before you ask “the most hated question of the holiday season”, ask yourself this:

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

Pumpkin, It’s Friday

Hello!! Happy Friday!! On Fridays, I keep it on the surface and I discuss the stuff that I like. Fridays on the blog are all about my favorites. Please add your own favorites to my Comments. We all love the joy of finding new favorite things to help us to enjoy life on an everyday basis! It’s all about the little things, isn’t it?

Sadly, we don’t have a Trader Joe’s close to us, but we were visiting my daughter at her university last weekend and she and I could not resist a visit to one of our favorite shops. True to the season, Trader Joe’s is not immune to the pumpkin craze. There was pumpkin everything, everywhere you looked. So, my daughter and I loaded up the cart with pumpkin stuff (and even an actual, real pumpkin for her balcony). My favorite out of this lot (and my daughter’s, too) is Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Body Butter. Surprisingly, this body butter does not smell like pumpkin. In fact, it has very little scent. The secret ingredient, however is the pumpkin seed oil, on top of coconut oil and shea butter. These ingredients combined make this cream easily absorbable, long lasting, and particularly emollient. As usual when it comes to Trader Joe’s, this big jar is a bargain at only $4.99!

Have a great weekend! See you tomorrow!!

Credit: Courtney W. May, Pinterest

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

Sweet Friday O’Mine

Hi friends! I am exhausted. This has been a big week in the life of our family, and we have a big weekend ahead of us. Still, I am feeling good. I am feeling a whole lot of pride, and also some comforting relief that everything came together without too many hitches. For my new readers, Fridays are devoted to favorites. On Fridays, aka “Favorite Things Friday“, I list three favorite things or songs or books or websites or apps, etc. that have really added to the surface-y, fun experience of my life. I strongly encourage you to add your favorites to my Comments section. Here are my favorites for this week:

Trader Joe’s Chicken Shawarma Thighs – I mentioned that recently we had gone to a Trader Joe’s after a long hiatus. I found a little bit of heaven in this package of deliciously marinated chicken. The Chicken Shawarma thighs will become a new staple of mine as soon as all of the rumors really become true, and we actually get a Trader Joe’s built closer to us, in the supposedly near future. What does Shawarma taste like? It tastes like chicken. (because it is chicken) No really, it tastes like chicken on explosive, spice, taste steroids (and I mean that in a truly positive sense). Just yummy!

Vitamin Water Zero Sugar Ice Cool Blueberry Lavender – I LOVE vitamin water. It tricks me into drinking a lot of “water”. This particular flavor of Vitamin Water is supposed to give you a hint of “chill”. With iron, a bunch of Vitamin Bs, plus some l-theanine and chamomile, this water is supposed to help you to keep healthy and calm, and it only costs you 10 calories. While all of that nutrition, sure is great, I only learned these facts recently, when I finally read the bottle. I’ve been drinking Vitamin Water Zero Sugar Ice Cool Blueberry Lavender for a while, mostly because it is just so damn tasty and refreshing! Drink and chill out.

Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine – This is a forever favorite jam of mine. My husband and I belted out this badass ballad yesterday, as we were driving home from a few days of driving all over our beautiful state of Florida. This is a great classic, and an energizing song to bring in any adventure filled weekend. If you haven’t heard it in a while, play it now. You will start head bangin’. And it will feel awesome! Bring back Hair Bands!!!!! Love you, my fellow Eighties kids!! Where do we go now????

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

Friday Shenanigans

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

Hi! Welcome to the best day of the week!! Fridays are light and airy here at Adulting – Second Half. On Fridays, I only discuss that tactile, sensory stuff that makes life fun to live! On Favorite Things Friday, I list three favorite products, songs, books, movies, etc. and I strongly encourage you to add your favorite things to my Comments section. I’m a lady who likes a lot of stuff (I’m relatively easy to please, and I’m usually game to try), but even I run out of ideas, having done this “Friday – full of favorites” post for a few years now.

Yesterday, we were about 45 minutes away from our home, in a different town, for one of my daughter’s tennis matches. My husband suggested that we stop off at their Trader Joe’s grocery store after the match, since we don’t have one nearby to us. My son had been going on and on about their Scandinavian Swimmers (Joe’s answer to Swedish fish) and I think that ever since that, my husband has been on a quest to get himself some, too. Now, I haven’t been to Trader Joe’s in years, so I too, was thrilled with the prospect of shopping there. I love novelty, especially in food!

I felt a little excitedly overwhelmed when we entered the store, not wanting to miss out on anything, so I looked up articles on “must buys” at Trader Joe’s. I cannot personally vouch for any of these items, because we just bought them last night and I have not tried any of them yet, but due to rave reviews, here are three things that I made sure were in our cart to buy, and then to try. Please let me know your Trader Joe’s favorites.

Three best sellers at Trader Joe’s which we purchased but I have no description to give because I haven’t tried them yet:

Trader Joe’s Mandarin Orange Chicken (bake and serve)

Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning blend (it’s a spice)

Trader Joe’s Creamy Cauliflower and Jalapeño dip (it’s a dip . . . obviously)

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!! This weekend was a little long in coming, in seems, at least for our household. May health and blessings abound for all of us! I’ll end with some funny Tweets, collected about shopping at Trader Joe’s:

“You think jumping out of an airplane is dangerous? Pfft…try going to Trader Joe’s when you’re starving to death.” – Stacey (Twitter)

“I was so close to fighting someone at Trader Joe’s just now but instead, I bought their snowflake-shaped pasta to calm down.” – Ella (Twitter)

“Trader Joe’s feels like if Jimmy Buffett were a grocery store.” – Sammy Rhodes (Twitter)

“We could go to Trader Joe’s – that’d be fun!” a glimpse into my social life” – Noah Sebastian (Twitter) I totally relate, Noah.