High Five for Friday #105 – Cabin Fever

H54F - A weekly link up, hosted by Cup of Tea, Bright on a Budget, Coffee with Caitlin & Della Devoted

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

Today’s featured blogger is Amanda from Cupcakes N Dreams! She is a travel girl, so her blog is filled with inspiration for your next trip! Be sure to swing over to Amanda’s blog to say hello!

It’s Friday. It’s the end of the longest week ever. Let’s get started.

1. We had a snow/ice storm on Saturday and that, paired with below-freezing temps, meant that everything here in Durham shut down (true story) and we didn’t leave the house until WEDNESDAY. Ugh. That’s a long time to keep kids cooped up. Something about being told you can’t go anywhere (because there are giant ice rinks on your driveway and street) makes my cabin fever worse. Plus, Elizabeth loved the snow, but wasn’t super thrilled to go out in it. We beat the cabin fever by doing lots of crafts, watching lots of TV (I have zero guilt about that), doing exercise at home, and blowing up an air mattress to use as an indoor trampoline.

But at least the snow was pretty!

Ah….. bliss! #snowday #bullcity #durhamnc

A photo posted by Katie (@ktcupoftea) on

2. I made another meal from my new cookbook – The Southern Vegetarian from the Chubby Vegetarian blog. It was a Porcini + Portobello Mushroom Bourguignon over smashed potatoes. YUM!! It was, like last week’s recipe, VERY tedious to make for a weeknight meal. Not hard, but just took a long time. But the results were amazing. We still have a lot of leftovers, so planning on making a batch of rice or polenta to reserve this.

3. I started some major clearing out this week. I had about 6 months worth of clothes purge built up in the closet, so it all came out and went to the charity shop. In fact, it looks like I wasn’t the only one having a snow day clear out – the drop off area was FULL of donations! HAHA! The purge continues next week, too. I’m basically going room by room hunting for things to go. If I haven’t used it in a few years, it has to go.

 

4. William has surprised me this week! He is WOLFING down food left and right. He’s eating so much food that bottles are no longer as interesting as they once were. And he’s officially sitting up with out toppling over! AND he sat himself up in his crib yesterday. I walked in to check on him and there he was, sitting up!

Elizabeth and William are now also playing a little bit together. Elizabeth thinks William is the perfect addition to her tea parties, since he’ll gladly take the tea cup and slobber/drink out of it. Just as long as he doesn’t touch her other “friends”, they happily sit next to each other, gabbing away.

5. Date Night last night, people. Date Night. I never take pictures when we go out on date nights because I just want to enjoy the moment. But I kind of wish I snapped some pics of our food last night. We went to a restaurant that’s been in Durham a while – The Piedmont. It has a great reputation for being an amazing farm-to-fork, classic rustic food place. We went there when we first moved to Durham 7 years ago, and were a little disappointed. Since then, they’ve had a new chef, and the food was AMAZING!!

We ended up eating a delicious roasted buffalo brussels sprout with blue cheese dish for an appetizer, and then my husband ordered a sweet potato gratin as an entree. I ordered the whole roasted carrot with beets, oats + grains risotto and pecans. Such a satisfying meal!

We’ve made each other a promise that we’ll try to have Thursday date nights at least twice a month, but hopefully every week. It’s such a treat to head out to a restaurant and enjoy food, without worrying when one of the kids will bawl or jump on the seat. (Not naming names)

Although, Elizabeth is starting to be too clever with our baby sitter… we came home to hear she requested to watch Frozen… she just sat down and said “Now my mommy lets me watch something!”. Um, no. And then she said that she gets a treat after she uses the potty…. Um, no. Not since we first did potty training back in MARCH! She is getting to be TOO smart.

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

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Favorite Favorites from 2016

I took a look back over past favorites and see what I loved throughout 2016 and have rounded up my favorite of favorites! It’s a great combination of beauty, hair care, and lifestyle.

I’m sure there is something that I missed, but these are definitely the best of the best!

Items Mentioned:

OPI nail polish in Lucky Lucky Lavender

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Underye Concealer

Urban Decay Naked Basics Eye Shadow Pallet

L’Oreal Volume Inject Mousse

Tresemme Volumizing Dry Shampoo

God Centered Mom podcast (LOVED this one on breaking busy)

The Productivity Show podcast (my favorite of the year was this interview about different productivity hacks that were put to the test)

Game of Thrones + Veep (both on HBO, although some Veep seasons are on Amazon Prime)

If you love watching these kinds of favorite/best of round ups, check out my other favorite videos from other YouTubers!

Tati’s Best Products of 2016 (makeup // skincare // haircare)

The Anna Edit (Everyday Makeup Favorites and Tutorial)

The Small Things Blog (2016 Beauty Favorites)

Estee Lalonde (Best Beauty Products of 2016)

And my favorites from 2015

Any standout favorites for you in 2016?

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Linking up with Tuesday Talk

Menu Monday | Cooking Resolutions for 2017

Menu Monday

It’s Monday! How was your weekend? We had a great snow over the weekend, but now it’s completely socked us in…. I always forget that around here in the South, even though we may not get much snow with each storm, there is not enough equipment to clear all the roads. So our street is a complete ice rink as is every parking lot. So we’re stuck for a few days until it all melts. Thankfully, my husband had cabin fever yesterday, so I sent him to Costco for some extra supplies!

I love to cook and bake, but I often get stuck in a rut with what I make. So with the start of the new year, I have gotten an itch to have a few “resolutions” when it comes to cooking!

1. Use my cookbooks more | I have so many favorite cookbooks (like The Forest Feast, or anything from Ina Garten) as well as a few new cookbooks (like The Southern Vegetarian) and I’d love to encorporate them more into my weekly meal plans.  I often gravitate towards Pinterest when I want to try something new, and I have gotten out of the habit of referring to cookbooks. So 2017 will be the year of going back to the ol’ cookbook!

2. Try making homemade bread | I LOVE bread!!! I could live on bread and potatoes for every meal. And there is something about homemade bread, baking in the oven, that just feels so comforting and cozy. I got into bread making when we first moved here to North Carolina and I would like to get back into it again. Anyone have a favorite bread recipe??

3. Make delicious desserts more often | Life is too short to avoid desserts. I want to make desserts more often. I’m not talking about the usual cookie or even a fruit crisp (my fav!). I’m thinking decadent chocolate desserts. Desserts with little swirls on the plates. Fancy. It would just be fun to end a weekend with a fancy dessert, right?

4. Freeze more, but don’t let the pantry get out of control | I got in a rut this last year with overbuying pantry supplies (like spaghetti, beans gallore, specialty sauces) just because it was on sale. There was so much it was hard to see what I had on hand, which meant ingredients got left behind. I don’t want that to happen again. I want to have a small supply of pantry goods, but I don’t want a mini-Costco in my garage. If I am to stock up on things, I want it to be doubling up on dinners I make to then freeze! I’d love to have a few more freezer meals tucked away for those emergency evenings where I just have zero energy to make dinner.

Any resolutions for you in the cooking department? What are you going to try this year? I’d love to hear it!

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High Five for Friday #104 – January with a Bang!

H54F - A weekly link up, hosted by Cup of Tea, Bright on a Budget, Coffee with Caitlin & Della Devoted

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

Today’s featured blogger is Shelly from The Queen in Between! She’s a wife and mother who LOVES her family! Her posts are always a delightful mix of recipes (like these chicken enchiladas!), fashion (she co-hosts the Ageless Style linkup!) and delightful lifestyle posts! Swing over, say hello and check out Shelly’s blog.

This week just flew by! I’m looking forward to a cozy weekend here at home. It’s even supposed to snow (or dust… I’ll take either) overnight so I’m SUPER excited to wake up in the morning to see what we got.

Anyway, on to the week!

1. Last week my family was in town visiting us. It’s always such a treat when my parents are here, and we were definitely feeling the “Grandma + Grandpa Blues” when they were gone. We didn’t do much other than hang around at the house, eat out a few times, and just enjoy each other’s company. The perfect visit! (At least for me…. maybe they were bored??)

2. This week I busted out a new cookbook – The Southern Vegetarian cookbook from the Chubby Vegetarian blog. I flipped through the cookbooks at my in laws home over Thanksgiving and instantly requested them for Christmas! The first meal I made was so good and looked OH so fancy for a weeknight meal. I snapped a pic on Instagram and it was quickly regrammed by the bloggers. Fun!

3.  I finally had a chance to sort through our Christmas pictures! Am I the only person that takes forever to get pictures off of a camera?? If there is a faster/lazier way, please tell me! Anyway, I couldn’t stop smiling at all the sweet pictures, but these are my favs.

4. My MAJOR goal this week was “Take Christmas Down” and it was accomplished! Hooray! Everything was sorted through, packed up, and hauled up to the attic. Check! Next week I have a big plan to purge, purge, and purge some more! Something about a new year makes we want to declutter everything….. I also made it to the gym 3 days this week! I hadn’t been since around Thanksgiving time for a variety of reasons, so it was great getting back in there. I also ache from head to toe…. but that was to be expected.

5. Blog-wise, there was some productivity as well, but all for next week. I got on a late roll with videos, photos and writing, that I just decided they’d all get published starting NEXT week! But one thing I want to focus on in 2017 on the blog is more content around productivity and organization. I love this topic! And I love trying out different tips and hacks to see what works best. I’m a naturally lazy individual, so I love finding ways to do the most amount of work in the least amount of time. Anyone else like that??

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

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High Five for Friday #103 – Happy (almost) New Year!

H54F - A weekly link up, hosted by Cup of Tea, Bright on a Budget, Coffee with Caitlin & Della Devoted

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

Today’s featured blogger is Trista from The Classy Chaos! She is a wife and mom, living the farm life (my childhood dream!). She had a blogging break and just picked back up blogging in November, so it’s the PERFECT time to get to know her! Catch up with her 2016 highlights and take a quick peek at how her Christmas went!

On to this last High Five for Friday of 2017! This weekend will be a fun one, as we’re spending a few more days with my parents, and we’ve got the stresser of the Ohio State vs Clemson game at the Fiesta Bowl tomorrow. (Go Bucks!)

I thought it would be fun to share my 5 favorite memories from 2016, courtesy of Instagram! If it weren’t for IG, I would forget a lot of memories each year!

I had a busy day today ? William is here! Arrived just after noon today. Never did get that pedicure….

A photo posted by Katie (@ktcupoftea) on

Meeting William for the first time was DEFINITELY a favorite memory of 2016! He is such a sweet baby and can’t help but smile at you if you look his way. He loves noises, chewing and jumping. He is clearly going to be my “go go go” kid, but loves to sit and snuggle. He is the perfect addition to our family.

A very merry Christmas to you all!!!! ???#merrychristmas #santaphoto

A photo posted by Katie (@ktcupoftea) on

Christmas this year was the best yet! I adored every moment. It didn’t feel too rushed. We had time to enjoy the entire season. And the fact that Santa is cool was a HUGE highlight!

Fellow moms – you may laugh…. but potty training was a highlight for 2016. Not a happy highlight (it was SO TOUGH!) but the fact that we are at 100% independent potty usage and I can’t remember the last time Elizabeth had an accident, proves that tough times can give you sweet results.

My husband and I went to see Hillsong United just before William was born, and it was SO great! We’ve been to every Hillsong/Hillsong United concert when they are in town, and couldn’t miss this one. There is nothing like being in a huge stadium, listening to thousands of people singing praise!

This Fall we road-tripped up to Michigan to visit my family. My husband and I were both dreading the 11+ hour car trip, BUT looking forward to the destination. We didn’t expect to have such FUN on the drive! Every stop added extra time to our drive, but every stop gave us a chance to run around in the BEST Midwest grass (seriously. superior.), enjoy some sunshine, and just be a goofy family. Can’t wait for our next road trip!

What was your favorite memory from 2016? Thinking of you, friends, as you start a new year of adventure!

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