Fall break for Jack, a new recipe, and more miscellany

Minnie was a clutch baking assistant this weekend. Jack came home for fall break (YAY! WE MISSED HIM SO MUCH), and she helped me make delicious pumpkin bars (we added chocolate chips) and also pumpkin muffins. She's the best. (They're both Jack's favorites).

In other food news, I made THIS minestrone, and we lurved it. We had it with tiny ham and swiss sanwiches because HyVee gave me 1.75 lbs of ham when I asked for just .75, and they Door Dashed me the ground beef they forgot to give me-- only first they door dashed me SOMEONE'S ELSE'S GROCERIES that we had to keep since they were going to give her brand new ones, and she ordered A LOT of Swiss cheese. And dijon mustard, BOTH PERFECT FOR OUR TOO MUCH HAM.
 

I think one of my goals for next week is to do a better job with groceries. It has been MONTHS since Ben and I had time to go shopping in person, and my slap-dash meal planning is stressful.  think part of the HyVee problem was my last-minute ordering. Bah humbug.

This woodpecker has spent all morning beating its ponty little beak against a rock (?) outside my window. I think the person next to me thinks I am tapping on something because there's no way she can see the bird from her window.

My main job in life according to Dorothy and Cooper is to mail their clothes that they're selling on Depop. Dorothy sold some White Fox sweats in 5 minutes. Because I paid $70 for them initially,  and she was only asking a mere SEVEN DOLLARS.  No wonder they sold quick. **eye roll** That shopping bag is full of mylar envelopes, each containing a single item of clothing. The kids text me a QR code with a note telling me what item of clothing it corresponds to, and the person at the PO scans the code and prints a label. I smack the label on the envelope and seal it up. AND THAT'S IT. Depop is pretty great.

I sweated literal BUCKETS at hot yoga and then came out of the studio to my Ugg slippers and was VERY annoyed at myself. 

Dorothy had a 9-hour dance intensive on Sunday, and I got Starbucks for her and our neighbor who is also on the team since I drove the first leg of the carpool. And! I also got myself a pumpkin spice latte, and you guys! IT WAS THE BEST PSL EVER. Not too sweet. Perfect temp. Ideal swirl of pumpkin spice, erm, spice. THE BEST. Plato's PLS. I took a selfie to commemorate.

Dorothy forgot her lunch, so I dropped it off with "everyone else's" Door Dash. Honestly, while I was packing her lunch, I rolled my eyes when she told me EVERYONE ELSE got takeout at these things. But maybe she was right. I texted her a photo, so I feel like she got the Door Dash experience anyway.

Annabel did her part to help Harry's new mattress find its shape. It boggles my mind when mattresses arrive in little rolled-up tubes and then get huge. I am a simple soul, what can I say?

Bedroom shuffle part one billion

Ah our cozy little Room of Requirement house. It continues to satisfy our needs at every stage of life. As I noted in my October goals post, we once again have a need for a bedroom shuffle. Some of you thought the scope of this project was ambitious for a single month, but we got SO MUCH DONE in a day that I think we might make it!

Clearly we need to paint this room because what the actual eff were we thinking oven choosing this color (called calypso) in the first place? (Cooper picked it when he was 6).

We have 2 new mattresses in here on the the beds from Cooper and Harry's previous room. The beds and mattresses that used to be in here are gone to a good home (for free!) thanks to the magic of Facebook Marketplace. Mattresses thanks to a Prime Day sale. Each college kid has a dresser, a bed, and an IKEA EXPEDIT  book shelf. We need to paint FOR SURE and empty out the closet so they have room for their college things when they come home. The wall next to Jack that is not pictured is a chalkboard wall (COOPER WAS SIX, OK?) and we will probably also paint that my god, but everyone still kinda likes it so maybe not.)

Cooper's room has one queen bed from our room and that's about it-- I like this room a lot-- it's very chill and quiet. Needs some stuff on the walls and maybe a chair next to the EXPEDIT shelf.

Which leaves our room, which is an unholy nightmare.

We are getting new carpet! Yay! And also taking everything off the walls and painting and rearranging stuff (duh) and likely adding chairs or a small loveseat. Soon because the whole thing sucks right now and is kind of stressful to live in.

Soooooo-- progress! yay! And lots more to do! boooooo!

Some random things:

sometimes you gotta take a snack on a walk

ben and I got to run together-- after sunrise!

putting her desk to good use

love this 

she went to a meeting with me at school, sat totally quietly the whole time and drew pictures in a tiny notebook. this is a first for me.

walking the dog before swim team practice

perfect mom hair for school

I took a selfie walking down the stairs at work because I have been walking down these stairs since 2003, and that's WILD

this tastes like a candle. it was free with my regular shipment.

 

New date night habit + calorie deficit update

 New thing: The moment Ben gets home from Peoria, we go out for a drink. ONE drink-- that's it. It's quick and easy and a perfect way to take a beat and catch up for less than an hour before we jump back in the the fray.

Conversations about who is taking Minnie to swim team or what homework Dorothy might have to be cajoled into doing after dance are much more entertaining AT A BAR with a beer or an old fashioned.

Even in a prolonged calorie deficit, I can have a drink or two, and not figuring out where to go based on what food they might have and how I can possibly wait until 8 pm to eat dinner when I am hungry by like 5:45 (lol) is lovely. It's like it just occurred to us tat we could go to a bar just for the dranks.

Speaking of calorie deficit! I actually have no idea if I have lost weight because I haven't weighed myself-- which is weird, I get it. But I can say that my clothes fit much better. 

Something that is really hard for me is treating the weekend like any other part of the week. I am TOTALLY the person who under eats all week, OVER eats on the weekend, and ends up at maintenance without enjoying being at maintenance. Sooooo, I have been trying REALLY HARD to not be that person and also to LIVE MY LIFE-- especially since we have been visiting the boys on the weekend, etc. I want to break out of the "starting Monday" mindset.

Things I love to eat right now:

Plain Chobani yogurt with 15g Purely Elizabeth chocolate chip cookie granola and a chopped up nectarine

Chobani Flip yogurt when I need something sweet

Tru Fru choc covered frozen strawberries 

Whole Foods deli turkey in Carb Balance wraps

Honey crisp apples

Roasted broccoli

Sweet potatoes

Cottage cheese with pears and cinnamon

Oatmeal with peanut butter mixed in

Egg whites and spinach with chicken sausage links on a whole wheat bagel

Built Puff bars

I am eating around 80 grams of protein a day (sometimes as many as 115-ish), 35-40 grams of fiber and less than 15 grams of saturated fat. Most of my fiber comes from fruits and veggies and beans and seeds, but the occaisional multigrain English muffin or wrap boosts me over the edge (I try to make sure I get 25 grams from fruits and veggies before I eat a Carb Balance wrap).

I am  still bakig, but it has really been working for me to make a quadruple batch of cookie dough and freeze the balls. I can pop cookies in the oven ANY TIME someone wants cookies, and I only have the huge (for me) temptation of a giant open bag of chocolate chips and a vat of cookie dough (I freaking love raw cookie dough like no other, health risks be damned) every couple of months. I am also WAY MORE LIKLEY to eat just one cookie fresh out of the oven (one of life's true pleasures) when I am only making a dozen or 18 of them-- when I make a huge batch it feels like I can eat and eat and eat and eat for some reason.

Speaking of moderation! I was craving candy corn and peanuts (IYKYK) so I bought some and ate exactly 8 pieces of each and haven't touched either one since. LOOK AT ME MODERATING!

The TL;DR is that I feel great and am eating delicious food and don;t have to buy new jeans. ALL WINS.

My Athleisure Life

 For years I tried to avoid athleisure in public, and then I started buying Lululemon pants. And now? I aspire to never getting dressed in hard pants again. Kidding. But not really. I think I will just waft from maxi dresses to leggings and sweaters forever. From Birkenstock season to Ugg season, with a brief stopover in cute sneakers season on the way. 

I have my eye on THESE pants, and then maybe I won't even have to get dressed for lecture?

But still. I have some questions for you.

1. Who makes the very BEST leggings?

2. What sports bras do you love? My current favorite is THIS ONE, but I am open to experimentation.

3. What's your go-to sneaker when you're wearing workout gear and not actually working out?

4. What do you wear on top? Who makes the BEST t-shirts?

5. Have you tried a Quince yoga set?

Can't wait to wear these sweats again

Forget dance! Studio pants are the best eating pants ever

Actua/ exercise clothes= not actual public clothes

I bought these 4-inch Align shorts on eBay and actually like the way they feel but could never wear them in public. They ride up like crazy and the google tells me that's a design flaw, not a me problem

Life lately + Ask Me Anything

 I have traded my messy bun for a neat ponytail. WHO EVEN AM I YOU GUYS?

I think we need a new puppy?

I gotta get these boots re-soled. AGAIN. They are older than Cooper and I just love them so much.

So far, first grade is as cute as kindergarten, Minnie's "firnd" made her a similar pic. that said "FIRNSHIP"

Minnie is Very Into helping me with things and is always asking for jobs.

I cannot stop buying vintage editions of books I want to read to Minnie. THIS WAS THE SAME COPY I HAD! She adores Little House (the Garth Williams illustrated paper back from my very own bookshelf at my mom's house) but was not a huge fan of Wonder (we gave up reading it at night, but we are listening in the car). I hope Sara Carew hits.

In anticipation of NaBloPoMo, I made an ASK ME ANYTHING because I am running out of ideas you guys omg. Please ask questions/suggest topics-- I would appreciate it so much.

October! I love October!

 Oh, my dears, we are right in the middle of the 'ber months, and like all basic bitches, I am thrilled.

October goals:

Read my Book the Month back ups (all of these, plus the new John Green that's on it's way)

Start a Girl Scout Troop. Minnie really wants to be a Girl Scout. We went to an intro meeting at the library where I thought I would be matched with an existing troop, but there aren't any open spots! The event was aimed at connecting people from the same grades and schools together to start troops, but we were the only people fromMinnie's school. Soooooo, I guess I'm starting a troop. YOU GUYS. HOW DOES THIS STUFF ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?

Carry on our tradition of going out for a drink when Ben gets home for the week. I love this so far.

Visit UWEC for parents' weekend

Pick apples

Visit the pumpkin patch 

Make my holiday gift wish list

Buy at least 2 gifts each for Harry, Jack, and Cooper

Clean out the big storage room in the basement

Set up Jack's room for Harry and Jack (Move beds from Coop's room. Move a bed from our room to Coop's room. Sell existing beds in the room on Marketplace. Buy a new mattress so the beds from Cop's room will match in height. Clean out bookshelves so each kid has one. Get a matching IKEA dresser? Empty closet)

Decorate for fall, I do not really want to do this because I am feeling overwhelmed by clutter, but Minnie is ALL IN.

September: What I Read

 SO MANY BOOKS this month you guys! Mostly audio. And! This is the first month of the whole year that I have only read 3 books on my Kindle, instead of the book-a-week rhythm I was going for. I actually had a disturbing feats and famine book cycle this month instead of reading a little bit every day, so I am going to try to get better at habitual reading next month.

Here are my reads, from worst to best:

Baddies in a bad way (7)

📚🎉Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb: Snooze. I read this light romance for the Pop Sugar challenge, and I did not like it very much.

📚🎉Time to Burn by Ellery Lloyd. Meh. This should have been better, based on the plot about commercial time travel. This author is actually a husband/wife team, and I have liked their other books.

📚🎉Love You More by Emily Giifn: It's not just her politics that suck.

📚🎉Awake, Awake by Fiona Mozely: This was really buzzy, but it just... didn't do it for me.

🎧Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead: Anne told me the main character is really unlikable, but I went for it anyway.

📱🎉Start at the End by Emma Grey: NOPE. I usually really do like this author, but this (time travel! or at least multiple timeline!) romance did not totally work for me.

📱🎉Forget me Not by Stacy Willingham: SNOOZEFEST.

Super solid back list titles you can probably get without a wait (3)

🎧The Float Test by Lynn Steger Strong: I saw this author blurb something else and remembered how much I liker her. This is a book about a fractured family and adult sibling drama, and it's excellent.

🎧Bug Hollow by Michelle Huneven: I loved her previous book about a Unitarian church searching for a new minister, and this one was also great. Set in suburban inland CA, a family drama that had great characters and an excellent plot.

🎧Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead: another CA book-- this one is about ballet dancers, and I looooooved it.

Not bad new books by old faves (2)

📚🎉The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman: Spooky fall and dark academia. Liked it!

📱🎉Big Little Truths by Lianne Moriarty: Fun to revisit these characters and see how the show's popularity impacted her writing.

Best books of the MONTH (3)

🎧🎉Someone Else's Husband by Kimberly McCreight: COULD NOT PUT THIS DOWN.

🎧🎉Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult: TRASH but GOOOOOD TRASH!

🎧🎉Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox: YES-- a beauty pageant murder book? SIGN ME UP.

BEST BOOKS OF THE YEEEEEAR (2)

🎧🎉The Thoroughbreds by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham: This is the sequel to last year's The Academy, and it is fab. I think it's maybe going to be a TV show! I wish it were going to be another book, but, alas. SO FUN THOUGH YOU GUYS and one of my favorite things I've read this year. Meeting these characters again was like reconnecting with old friends, and it is so fantastically escapist. 

🎧🎉The Understory by Chloe Benjamin: OH WOW. This is a total masterpiece. I read some reviews that said you really have to suspend your disbelief, and I think this is absolutely true-- some things just do not make sense or hold up to rigorous scrutiny, but WOW OH WOW. I think you should read this right away.

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