High Five for Friday #134 | H54F Friendship Day!

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // August 4, 2017 // 6 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Becky, Tif, and Della! Come, read up on what we’ve been up to this week and get to know some amazing bloggers down below!

Happy H54F Friendship Day!!

I can’t wait to see your stories about friendships you’ve made because of the High Five for Friday link up!

1. When I first started linking up to the H54F link up I was a newbie blogger. I decided to start linking up mainly to meet other bloggers. I’m pretty sure that Tif was one of the first that I stumbled upon and started to get to know! And then I found Della, and then Becky! This was all BEFORE we took over this link up. Isn’t that crazy? There are so many of you that I’ve known from the beginning of my blogging days and then even MORE of you I’ve gotten to know since we took over H54F.

I just love that the blogging world brings us all together and fosters such fun friendships.

I wish I had the chance to meet you all in person! Tif and I often plan a H54F retreat. One day…

So far I’ve had the chance to meet Whitney over at Come Home for Comfort! It was last year actually! I was super pregnant with William. Whitney and I met in Charlotte to attend a women’s conference. The conference was great! But honestly – hanging with Whitney was THE BEST! It was one of those “I feel like I know you even though I don’t know you” meetings. We giggled, shared stories, quoted The Office, and moved from Blogger Buddies to friends in real life. So fun!!!

2. On to this week! It was SUCH a full week. I need a vacation. Last weekend it was jam-packed. Saturday we went to church and then took our friends to downtown Durham for lunch at our favorite kid-friendly pizza place and then a quick walking tour of downtown. We had SUCH hometown pride! If you didn’t know, Durham is called the Bull City, thanks to a tobacco company’s marketing campaign (irony that Durham, known for Duke University and their healthcare is a former tobacco town!). So there is a HUGE bull statue (anatomically correct, mind you) right in the center of town. On the way home for our lunch, Elizabeth said in the car that the bull had a “big poop!”.

And then Sunday we had 2 kid birthday parties, back-to-back! Needless to say, by the time we got towards the end of party #2, Elizabeth was beat, William was screaming, and my husband was going to jump in the car and head home. We were just EXHAUSTED! It made for some early bed times, though.

3. Tuesday we had a great morning at a park launching rockets, picking flowers and walking trails with friends! I love it when Elizabeth has someone to explore with.

4. Wednesday we drove to a city splash park to check it out! It actually opened up last year but with a new baby and huge crowds, I wasn’t willing to go. But it was super quiet and chill this week. It was a lot of fun! William wasn’t too pleased with the whole thing, but Elizabeth had a BLAST!

Summer means running around in the sprinklers. #splashpad #summerfun

A post shared by Katie (@ktcupoftea) on Aug 2, 2017 at 10:32am PDT

5. The weekly vlog is coming! It’s been SUCH a busy week that I haven’t had a chance to edit it yet! It will probably happen today 🙂 But I’m thinking the weekly vlog will go live, from now on, on Fridays. If you haven’t seen last week’s video, it was a good one!

Today’s featured blogger is Danielle from Sparkles and Lattes! She’s a wife and a mommy to twin girls! So you know she’s got a busy life! She JUST celebrated her 34th birthday this week, so you can get to know her really well with 34 facts about her! Swing over to say hello and make a new H54F friend! 🙂

How was your week?? Can’t wait to hear all about it!

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Menu Monday | New Recipes To Try

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // July 31, 2017 // 3 Comments

It’s the last Monday of the month! That means I’m teaming up with my friends Come Home for Comfort and Polka-Dotty Place to share our favorite recipes from this past month that you HAVE to try!

Perfect Brown Rice | Anyone else just completely awful at making rice? Mine always turn into a sticky, gloopy mess. I noticed a few of my favorite food bloggers recommended cooking rice with the Saveur method. Intriguing! So one night I tried their method. Instead of the traditional 2 to 1 of liquid to rice, it’s 12 to 1! Sounds whacky, but it means that the rice has plenty of water to bounce around in. And when it’s finished, you’re left with rice that doesn’t stick together! It’s amazing.

Vegan Enchiladas Verdes | Ok, confession – I didn’t make these vegan. I ended up putting a little thinned sour cream on top instead of the cashew cream, BUT it was a very delicious recipe! I also made her homemade salsa verde, which wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be! And it was delicious! Although I could easily use my favorite store salsa verde for an even faster meal.

Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole | I ended up making this for a potluck a few weeks ago, and my platter came home absolutely cleaned out! It’s exactly what you’d expect from a dish like this. Lovely mashed potatoes with all sorts of delicious mix ins.

Olive Oil Cake | My favorite cooking magazine, Cook’s Illustrated, featured a recipe for Olive Oil cake. It sounded strange. I just couldn’t imagine a cake that took 3/4 cup of olive oil would taste good. I made it on a whim when my in-laws were visiting us. Let me tell you – it was the most delicious, most moist, most light cake ever! And it was the simplest cake to whip up. PLUS I didn’t serve it with anything. It was… just the cake. No topping, no fruit, no extra sprinkle of something. It was delicious on its own. When was the last time you’ve had a cake that’s so good it stands on its own?

What are some amazing recipes you’ve tried lately? Have you peeked in your trusty recipe box recently?

Follow Whitney’s board New Recipes We Tried And Loved! on Pinterest.

High Five for Friday #133 | The Week of…. Sicks

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // July 28, 2017 // 7 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Becky, Tif, and Della! Come, read up on what we’ve been up to this week and get to know some amazing bloggers down below!

Did you know National Friendship Day is August 6? We got to thinking…. the four of us hosts all met each other and became friends through this High Five for Friday link up over 3 years ago! In fact, I think about half of you that link up I actually got to know in the H54F link up before we became hosts. I love that I have gotten to know you over the years, reading your posts, seeing your adventures, and hearing your GREAT ideas.

So to celebrate International Friendship Day we’re declaring August 4 the High Five For Friday Friendship Day!

If you’ve met a fellow blogger/friend through the H54F link up, we want to hear your story!! Write about it next Friday. We’d love to share a few of our favorites.

Earlier this week it felt like the longest week in history! But then the last few days have zoomed by… but let’s recap, shall we?

1. So if you watched last week’s weekly vlog then you watched this all unfold. But on Friday Elizabeth got sick. And it wasn’t just the running nose kind of sick. It was the “sit on the sofa and stare” kind of sick. Poor kiddo! Our weekend instantly became low key thank to that.

2. All this week Elizabeth had another week of summer camp at her school. It was a REALLY cute week! She came home with so many cute crafts. And this morning they’re all headed out on their very first field trip to the Durham Life & Science Museum! I mean… so cute! But her crafts this week were next level. A Fairy Garden! Leaf rubbing with a toe-print catepillar! Ladybug rock! I love her teachers!

3. Anyone else notice that Starbucks has been changing their rewards stuff lately? I’m all sorts of confused. Last I checked (Tuesday) I was not gold level and still had something like 80 stars to collect until then. And then, yesterday, when I arrive at the drive thru I open the app and there is a pop up that says “YAY! You’re at Gold” and I’m back to zero stars collected. Hmmmm…… and I have still to see my birthday reward to pop up. Did they do away with those??

4. Recently I switched up my evening routine. Ever since Elizabeth was born I took my showers at night. But lately I noticed I was delaying getting ready for bed because I was too tired. I couldn’t face the 10-step process of showering, drying my hair, etc. So the last few days I have been getting ready for bed right after we put the kids to bed. And then my husband and I watch a show/wind down. It has changed my life! A few nights ago I found myself in bed, having just finished a chapter of a book, ready to go to sleep at 8:30! Glorious! So much better. (It’s the little things in life that make the biggest impacts sometimes)

5. This week wasn’t too bad in the weather department. Well… that’s a lie. It started off super hot and humid. But each day it got better and better. One evening we all headed outside to walk our little wood trail and check on the state of things. It was William’s first time trying to walk it. He did great! Elizabeth is always happiest when she’s outside exploring.

Today’s featured blogger is Allie from A Gal Named Al! She loves sharing a little slice of life, from adventures to recipes, over on her blog. Her Friday post this week features her family’s favorite movies for road trips! She also hosts a link up called Try It Thursday. This week she shared a delicious recipe for Baked Chicken and Rice Casserole. Ultimate comfort food! Swing over and say hello to Allie!

How was your week?? Can’t wait to hear all about it!

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High Five for Friday #132 | Itches + An (Unrelated) Anniversary

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // July 21, 2017 // 5 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Becky, Tif, and Della! Come, read up on what we’ve been up to this week and get to know some amazing bloggers down below!

What a week! Thank you so much for coming by today!

1. Last weekend my husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary! I can’t believe it’s been 10 years. We’ve known each other for 15 years and that seems like it wasn’t so long ago. We had a low-key celebration, because, honestly, it felt like we already celebrated. We went on our vacation back in May to celebrate, so this anniversary totally snuck up on us. I did write a post yesterday about the biggest lesson I have learned (and really still learning) in the last 10 years. I also filmed a fun video all about how my husband and I officially met, almost 15 years ago, during freshman year at college. It’s quite the story!

2. Monday was the one day that wasn’t 95 degrees and 100% humidity. So we headed over to the playground to play. Turns out the kids and I taste REAL good to bugs. We started feeling itchy in the afternoon, and then by the morning we discovered we were bit. A lot. I’m basically itching from the knees down, plus a super sneaky, super itchy one in my arm pit. One year I had some in between my toes. That was bad. This round isn’t toe-bite level, but it is still very itchy!

3. I’ve got a few bigger projects in the works these days… one is redoing my church’s website. I was planning on just fixing the existing one. But it really needed blown up and started again. But do you know how hard it is to do website development with kids running around? It’s impossible. So I had our baby sitter come Wednesday morning. I escaped to Starbucks to get a few hours of work in. Genius! I may not have been the most productive there (too busy listening to conversations around me) but I TOTALLY reminisced about my days in sales and killing the hour between appointments at Starbucks. I felt so… adult. And not like a mom. It was nourishment for the soul.

4. Last night’s date night took us to a restaurant downtown. Post-dinner we ended up strolling to look at all the new construction happening here in Durham. New condos, new stores, new fancy… it’s crazy around here lately! We popped into the local market for a stroll. It was so great! I’m such a sucker for “made locally” stuff, so I spent $50 supporting everyone. I bought greeting cards and postcards, a body scrub, face masks, a pint of ice cream, and chocolate. Yay me! Yay Durham! (being mildly sarcastic here)

5. Did you see last week’s weekly vlog?? I posted it over on YouTube. I’ve restarted the weekly vlog and you’ll see it each Monday! Be sure to subscribe to my channel so you get notified when it’s live.

Today’s featured blogger is Sarah from Foxy’s Domestic Side! She’s a wife and mommy of 2 and loves to indulge her crafty/creative side (jealous)! Actually, Elizabeth and her youngest are just a month apart in age. Fun! She’s also great at putting together an outfit! She’s also a co-host of the $10 Target haul link-up every 3rd Monday. Be sure to swing over and say hi to Sarah!

How was your week?? Can’t wait to hear all about it!

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The Biggest Lesson I’ve Learned After 10 Years of Marriage

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // July 20, 2017 // 2 Comments

Last week we celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary! We are quickly entering “old married couple” territory.

These 10 years just absolutely flew by! I can’t believe it. It honestly seems like yesterday we were celebrating just 5 years. In fact, it also seems like yesterday that we were dating in college! (in fact, head to the bottom of this post for a story of how my husband and I officially met!)

I remember when we were first married and I had friends’ older siblings celebrating 10 years, and I thought WOW that seems like so far away. But it really wasn’t that long.

In the last 10 years we’ve had a lot of fun adventures! New jobs, new states, new homes, new babies… so many things! Of course, there have been lessons learned along the way. Some lessons we’ve learned in the last year. For example, I learned that my husband LOVES starting a new project or hobby. He dives all in! He may eventually loose his gusto for that project, but he gets such joy and satisfaction when he finds something, outside of work, that makes him happy. And I need to cheer him on!

I also learned that I am an internal talker. I tend to have serious conversations, in my head, and either talk myself out of my annoyance, or frustration, or even joy; OR I prepare my arguments ahead of time and tell myself “just wait until he does that again!”. So not fair of me!

The BIGGEST lesson I think we’ve learned in the last 10 years?

We found our best way to have a “fight”.

I don’t mean an all out screaming match. Neither of us really have that in us.

But I’m talking about having tough talks. Deep discussions. Conversations where we really have to work through something.

Tough talks on finances.

Deep discussions on intimacy.

Conversations about disappointments.

We have had plenty of talks that lead to an eye roll (totally me) or a passive aggressive or snarky comment (totally me… again). It’s still a lesson we’re practicing, but we’re figuring out how we can best discuss hard topics.

My husband is a figure-it-out guy. He wants to offer immediate solutions. I am more of a stewer. I prefer to have my own internal monologue to work through what I’m thinking/feeling, and then, when all is calm, we discuss it.

We’ve had some of our hardest conversations since having children. I think it’s REALLY hard to become “mommy and daddy” and couples so often forget that they are still “husband and wife”.

We had 2 big tough talks right at about the same time, all around Christmas last year. For both, we did something completely different from what we’ve done before.

We chose to talk when we had zero emotion, zero skin in the game.

We talked during the kids’ nap time! It wasn’t bed time. It wasn’t after one of us was emotional about a topic. We kind of talked about them out of the blue! We weren’t upset. We weren’t resentful. It was just… a conversation.

Duh. I’m sure you’re thinking “duh”.

We were too after the fact! We, to this day, chuckle that we’ve waited this long to figure out that we have our best tough conversations randomly. We are more open and honest when we aren’t already charged up. We are better listeners when we aren’t feeling stressed.

BOOM!

It took us 10 years, but this one single lesson has been SUCH a game changer!

What about you? Any big marriage or life lessons you’ve learned in the last year? I’d love to hear them!

And now, for something light-hearted!

I LOVE to tell a story! And one of my favorites is the story of how my husband and I officially met, in college, freshmen year!

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