High Five for Friday #66 | Meeting Blogging Friends + A Half Birthday!

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // April 15, 2016 // 35 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Tif, and Della! If you want to know more, read about it here!

This week’s featured blogger is Stefanie from Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too! She’s a Pittsburgh mom of 4 who has such a fun, sweet blog! LOVE that today she mentioned she’s a mug fan! Woohoo! And her recipe for paprika chicken and dumplings sounds really yummy! Swing over and say hello!!

It was quite the week for us! (Oh and Happy Tax Day!)

1. On Saturday I drove down to Charlotte for the Influence Conference and it was a delightful time! Any mom would probably understand when I say I wasn’t sure what was more fun – the conference or the 4 total quiet hours in the car, just me. HA! The conference was amazing, but the best part? Meeting blogging friends in real life! I hung out with Whitney all day, and honestly, it’s like we’ve known each other for years already! We also sat (randomly!) right behind Keri! There was also a blogging celebrity sighting – Kate from The Small Things Blog! We didn’t chat with her BUT she was spotted, although I was working through my conversation “In” in the middle of the conference, just in case. But Whitney and I had so many giggles we decided this needed to be replicated regularly.

2. While I was gone on Saturday, Elizabeth spent a fun day with Daddy! They truly had a blast!! But it was weird spending an entire day away from her. When I realized I wouldn’t make it back in time to see her before bed, I just called to talk on the phone. It was SO STRANGE talking to her on the phone! HAHA But she loved it, and told me all her adventures from the day. So sweet! Mommy had to make up for it on Sunday. One fun thing? We mixed up some brownies! Is there anything else better than licking a spatula covered in brownie batter? Nope!

3. Those brownies came in handy for Elizabeth’s 2.5 birthday on Monday! My husband grew up celebrating half birthdays, so we’ve been doing the same. Nothing extravagant! Just a fun dinner/dessert, a few balloons, and a small gift. BUT such a delight for a 2.5 year old! She even got to choose her fancy dress that day. She was SUPER fancy for our Bible Study that morning. I’ve been trying to enjoy some “Just Elizabeth” time before baby brother shows up. And with another milestone passed, I figure it’s time for another “Meet Elizabeth” video soon.

4. Speaking of new baby, I’m down to the last 6 weeks! I’m happy but apprehensive, all at the same time. I’ve also decided I’m not allowed to complain that I’m tired right now, because I’m sure in a few months, I’ll be giggling that silly April Katie didn’t know what tired was… but… I’m tired. When I was pregnant with Elizabeth, at this time, I was full of energy and definitely nesting. I was cleaning/organizing like a mad woman. This time? I can barely keep my eyes open! But we’re on the home stretch.

5. Anyone else just get to the end of the week and wonder where the week went? That’s definitely me right now… These weeks are just blitzing by. And I feel like we have something going on every single weekend from now until the baby gets here. YIKES! But Hubby and I are taking time for a date night tonight AND squeezing in some more between now and the end of May. So excited for that!

What were you up to this week? Let me know!

I’m also linking up with Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre, 5 on Friday & Diary of a Real Housewife

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What’s in My Travel Makeup Bag

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // April 13, 2016 // 9 Comments

This week you get to take a peek inside my travel makeup bag! I filmed this JUST after returning home from a trip for Easter, and knew I had to show you all what I packed.

When I was a seasoned business traveler, my toiletries and makeup fit in only the blue tote with room to spare… now I’m hauling a little more. But it’s still simple and streamlined! I might bring a few more hair products than I used to, but I’m ok with that. HA!

If you missed the peek inside my handbag, you can catch up on that video too!

And if you didn’t realize I had a YouTube channel, swing by to check out other videos and subscribe!

Are you an overpacker? Or keep it simple? Let me know!

Linking up with Tuesday Talk

Menu Monday | Streamlining Grocery Shopping

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // April 11, 2016 // 12 Comments

Happy Monday! Did you have a glorious weekend? We were sunny but cold here, but still a lot of fun crammed in! I spent all day Saturday in Charlotte for the Influence Conference, where I FINALLY got to meet my meal planning partner-in-crime Whitney from Come Home for Comfort! We had a great time. More to come on Friday.

This week I’m trying out something new! Harris Teeter (the fancier, pricier of the grocery store chains in our area) offers a service for online ordering and a drive-through pick up, all for just $5! I have had so many local friends rave about the service, and with a new baby coming, it seemed like it might be a great option for busy weeks.

I planned out my menu as normal, and then just clicked around online selecting my items. The handy thing? You can see the sales and compare prices really easily! There is also a running total in the corner of your screen so you can easily adjust products and quantities if you’re hitting your grocery budget max.

One of the easiest ways for me to blow a budget at the grocery store is to impulse buy. This will ABSOLUTELY prevent me from that. So handy!

If this works, I may need to tweak my shopping strategy slightly… TBD. But looking forward to sharing how it goes. Maybe there is a similar service in your area??

For this week’s menu, it’s heavy on the Asian flavors… don’t know why… it was just speaking to me. Maybe because we’ve been eating quite a bit of Thai lately since a new restaurant opened up down the road.

Monday:
Burgers and Fries

Tuesday:
Thai Style Lettuce Wraps

Wednesday:
Orzo Summer Salad

Thursday:
Vegetarian Thai Noodles

Friday:
Taco Salad

Saturday:
Leftovers

Sunday:
Vegetarian Pot Pie

Need more info for how I menu plan? Check this out!
Or read up on my favorite meal planning and grocery shopping hacks!

Need more ideas for dinner?
Follow my Pinterest board – it’s where I save all of my dinner ideas!

Follow Katie | Cup of Tea Blog's board Good Eats | Dinner on Pinterest.

Linking up at Menu Monday with Org Junkie

High Five for Friday #65 | Back to Normal

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // April 8, 2016 // 12 Comments

Welcome to High Five for Friday – hosted by me, Tif, and Della! If you want to know more, read about it here!

This week’s featured blogger is Tanya from The Other Side of the Road! Today, she is celebrating her 2,000th post!!! What a milestone! Swing over and say congratulations!!

It was quite the week for us!

1. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I think we conquered (for the most part) potty training! We’ve had only 3 accidents since we turned a major corner last Friday, and 2 of those 3 were while the poor kid was running to the potty. One in particular involved trying to get off a pesky tutu. We managed to make it out of the house several times for eating out, and Elizabeth did GREAT at school, asking to use the potty apparently. I’ve been vlogging the whole time, and will have that up next week. I did it mainly for myself, because mercy it was hard! And for those of you who are either thinking about starting it OR are in the throws of it. Solidarity, moms.

2. This last weekend, my parents were in town! I felt bad that they were entering potty training land, but it was nice having an extra set of encouragers. When they’re in town, we usually go out to eat and then hang at home, and this weekend was no different. But we did go to Duke Gardens to enjoy those beautiful flowers!

3. It was nice to get back to normal this week after spending last week confined to the play room. Groceries, school, Bible study group… it was such a relief.

4. I’m REALLY excited about tomorrow! I’m headed to Charlotte for the day for a great conference with the Influence Network. It will be a full day of worship, encouragement and meeting new people. Not to mention meeting a few blogging buddies in real life! I’m so excited to catch up with Whitney from Come Home for Comfort AND Keri from Living in This Season!! This is what I love about blogging – you can be friends with amazing people BEFORE actually meeting people in real life. It’s going to be fun!

5. There were some good posts on the blog this week! Did you catch them? I shared my quick and easy recipe for Huevos Rancheros. And for my current favorites round up I shared my favs that I bought on a whim and didn’t need, but REALLY love!

What were you up to this week? Let me know!

I’m also linking up with Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre, 5 on Friday & Diary of a Real Housewife

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Current Favorites I Bought on a Whim!

by Katie @ Cup of Tea // April 6, 2016 // 8 Comments

After an entire month of being plagued by a cold/cough, it felt GREAT to get in front of the camera again. And what better way to kick off the month of April than to show a few favorites.

This month I thought it would be fun to mention all the random things I have picked up over the months, on a whim, that I just LOVED and use regularly.

Links down below of products mentioned!

And if you didn’t realize I had a YouTube channel, swing by to check out other videos and subscribe!