What's Making Me Happy This Week

 

// We are now getting three eggs a day from the chickens and the occasional double yolk egg!

// In our tenth year of marriage, we began playing tennis together.  Luke is playing several HOURS a day and I am trying to play 2-3 times a week.  CK, our tennis coach, was talking about love languages recently; mine is "allow me to go to sleep at 7 pm on a weeknight a couple of times a month week" and Luke's is "hit 300 balls with me at the park." 

// ThredUp x Athleta. The Athleta store has ThredUp labels at the checkout. Register the code, pack up the box of stuff to consign, pop in the mail (or, in my case, heave onto counter at the post office), and the earnings are issued as an Athleta gift card. I packed up a box of stuff, waited a few weeks, and was shocked to earn over $400 in Athleta bucks! what the what! I thought I would earn about $37 if I was lucky. Which leads me to...

// These salutation joggers. I had my eye on them for a long time but they just seemed like too much money for sweatpants. Which they are - too much money and sweatpants. But when you have a windfall gift card in your pocket ... I have worn them almost every day since I bought them. So soft.

// Olive & June polishes.  All of a sudden I like painting my nails? It's also a great nighttime activity with the girls because it involves stillness and concentration.  I put my hand to my ear and call Nail Snail, Clementine's salon, and she answers on her hand-phone and I make an appointment and am shown promptly to the nail station in the middle of the living room. 

What's Making Me Happy This Week

 

// Took Clementine to Athleta for some athletic clothes. She's never tried clothes on before - I've been buying Hanna Andersson clothes since they were size 90 (age 2ish?)  When the saleswoman asked which colors she likes, she answered: I like black.

// Alice has laid 7 eggs in 8 days!

// The Bluey episode "The Pool".  Luke and I have a running joke about the number of bags I have and the number of bags I pack for an outing (coloring books, colored pencils, stickers, very small My Little Ponies...) and how I tell the girls to pack their own activity bags for an outing [back when we went to brunch, etc].  This episode is a paean to the packed bag! 

// On Monday my front squat max weight for 4 repetitions jumped up by a lot. I surprised myself!

// Josie's drawing of a troll from Harry Potter:

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// The kids' summer reading club from the county library. Log minutes of reading and attend library events or community activities to accumulate points. I am looking forward to using the community activities (ie scavenger hunts at a state park, checking out an activity backpack at the wolf preserve) to explore new destinations this summer.

I explained the program to Clem and showed her the webpage. After logging the first book read, the reading log shows each cover - it's a really terrific interface. In the morning she woke up and told me: I read Ladybug Girl to myself after I went to bed - LOG IT!


// This incredible video from the Hong Kong Ballet:

// This cast iron skillet blueberry pie was really easy and so cute!



// I found this recipe recently and am eager to try it! I ordered the tonic syrup and bitters.

// Finally reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel after watching the BBC miniseries several years ago. It's long so I'll be reading that and Ruth Reichl's memoir Save Me the Plums this month.

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// The Breast Trivia Night Ever to benefit Gateway to Hope (they raised $54,000!) We didn't win but we did have the best name: Areola Grande.

and best t-shirt.

// Asian chopped salad kits + tuna steak + avocado for a packed lunch. I hate buying salad dressing because it's never used up and sits around wasting space in the fridge. The downside to salad kits are the packaging waste - the upside is no food waste. 🤷


// Lately we've had a lot of visitors and I love all the energy in the house.


// Circe is a page turner and I recommend it!


// Iced caramel cloud macchiato at Starbucks (with sugarfree syrup). It's so good! I've made my own coffee for a long time now but I saw the cloud macchiato and had to try it ... the foam is ever so tacky and thick, marshmallowlike. LOVE. I bought meringue powder per this copycat recipe and have tried to make once myself in the Vitamix Aer container. I need to work on it -- because it's still over $5 with my brought-my-own-cup discount!

image via

// Kellee's haircut for Clemmie.

// The Day of the Mulch. (Those yellow bushes are candy corn spiraea - they are so pretty even when dormant. Looking forward to their colors this summer).

What's Making Me Happy This Week

Things I'm thinking about, reading, enjoying...



// When we took the girls to Disney On Ice, Clem clamored for the light-up wands, giant plastic cups, noise-makers and we told her "oh, you don't want that junk!" She responded by yelling at us / the vendors, waving madly: "I want junk! I want that junk! JUNK!!!" I thought about that (and the Polly Pockets, squishy toys that disintegrate immediately, McDonald's toys...) when I read this article about pathological consumption.


// Scampi butter. The grocery store sells several compound butters and this one is very garlicky and delicious. Thaw shrimp in a colander, throw in pan with butter, saute until pink --> a tasty dinner in no time. I bought more shrimp tonight at Costco for exactly this dinner plan.


// Paula's Choice Omega+ moisturizer. I bought a new moisturizer to use with the new powerhouse Retin-A I've started. (I was hoping my vitiligo would fight off my melasma, but no such luck). The texture of the moisturizer is fabulous - sort of fluffy. For a long time I used every mattifying, satin-finish product I could find but now I embrace having downright shiny skin. (Thank you, Katie Jane Hughes!) One, I apply five skin care products THEN sunscreen every morning - matte isn't happening - and two, shiny skin is youthful skin!

// Being AHEAD in my reading goal so far this year. I've read or listened to eight books so far. My favorites: the audiobook version of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock - the narrator is so wonderful - and A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore. Right now I'm reading Isaac Mizrahi's memoir - next up is Madeline Miller's Circe.

What's Making Me Happy

// Berbere. I ordered this spice blend from The Spice House a while ago. Lately I've been sprinkling it on butternut squash and sweet potato - things I'm not crazy about, frankly - and it makes them delicious.


// Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick and David Serlin. I heard about this book on Pop Culture Happy Hour when it was mentioned by Barrie Hardymon, whose every recommendation I write down breathlessly. She said she liked this book because both of her sons liked it despite their four year age difference.

It is an absolutely delightful book! The girls love it and it is very fun to read as an adult.

link via

// WeightWatchers. It's a game and I like games! Luckily I also like eggs (eggs are zero points).  Progress has been slow but steady and that's encouraging. This week I had to take a course of oral steroids and exercised more after a little hiatus - a recipe for being ravenous. Expecting a setback upon the weekly weigh-in but hey, Rome wasn't unbuilt in a day.


// Poshmark. This consignment app works for me because I'm buying non-tailored clothing (Eileen Fisher, medium, please). I have found so many great pieces (gently used or even new with tags) in perfect shape for a fraction of their original cost ... and even more sustainable the second time around.


// Electric pressure cooker. I bought the Fagor model recommended by American's Test Kitchen.  Set the pressure (usually high) and timer and then, done! The timer starts when pressure is reached, no monitoring the stovetop heat to maintain pressure like a conventional one. I've been really pleased so far but have not perfected hard boiled eggs (what Instant Pots are known for!) Too many variables? Temperature of eggs? Freshness of eggs? Number of eggs in the pot? Amount of water?!


// Smartwool no-show socks. I've purchased SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF NO SHOW SOCKS and at last, these work! No slipping off, not too tight. I wear them with oxfords (you'd have to try a different style to wear with ballet flats, etc).


// Getting back into CrossFit. I am hoping to go 2-3 times a week but sometimes I suffer from poor estimation skills when it comes to available time and and reserves of energy. I've settled on a Tues-Thursday-Sunday spin class schedule. Wed-Fri-Sat? I like to keep Monday morning a non workout morning (ie, wake up at 6 or 6:30 instead of 5) because Sunday night is usually the only night of the week I get to spend with Luke. 

New Favorite Things

// Creamy chickpeas with proscuitto. I've mentioned it before but I don't think I've ever made a dish so often.



// This Spanx bralette if, like me, you've reached a point in your life when you refuse to wear anything less than ultra-comfortable. (See also: Fisher, Eileen and orthotics, custom and fu$%s, out of 'em).



// Taffy Brodesser-Akner's NYT profile of Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop. I am still thinking about it.



// Patrick Melrose on Showtime. I loved these novels (way back when!) and was thrilled to hear they had been adapted as a series. I'm two episodes in: fantastic.

// Our first foray into home improvement went well! I'll post before and afters.

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// Eating my first-ever cucumber that I've grown. I think I might be turning into a gardener!


// NO-AD brightening moisturizer SPF 15  I'm always looking for a light-textured body sunscreen for daily wear (we're talking running errands in the summer. If I plan to be outside I wear a rash guard or heavy-duty sunscreen. And always a hat!). This is fantastic - very little scent, absorbs into skin with no greasy or lotiony residue, and is about as inexpensive as it gets.


// New patio chairs as curated by Sarah of The Home Capsule. I will post a before and after when the porch makeover and front yard planting are finished. Somehow making this house our own is preceding from the outside in.

// Speaking of which, this cartoon made me bark-laugh because it is absolutely me right now:

// This tweet cracked me up - also so true.

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// The Florida Project. I've been waiting for this movie from the library for weeks (why? because it's free and provides a timeline in which to watch it. AND anticipation makes things more enjoyable!) This movie made me think and also made me a nervous wreck. I highly recommend it. (Willem Dafoe received a lot of acclaim for his performance but I liked the unknowns better. The whole time I saw Willem Dafoe or the fish from the dentist's tank in Finding Nemo... he was the sticking point in my suspension of disbelief.)

// Making plans to go to Vicia soon. Haven't been to a new restaurant in a while.


// Seeing Curtis Sittenfeld speak at the library. (I need to read her books now.) Our library has such an active speaker series -- and most events are free!


// New additions to my cookbook shelf: The Perfect Cake, The Perfect Cookie, Bollywood Kitchen, and Cast Iron Dump Cakes. The author of the Bleubird blog used to write a semiweekly post, Sunday's Cake. Using that inspiration plus my love for project baking, I plan to start Just Desserts Sunday - little get-togethers with cake/pie/whatever. Many baking projects are multi-step and can be accomplished over a couple of days. And at the end there's cake!

// Making me miserable this week - going off allergy meds so I can get skin testing done and hopefully back on allergy shots, as onerous as that will be. 'Snot fun, friends.

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// THIS is the yeast breakdown I've been waiting for --> Stella Parks talks yeast on the Serious Eats blog. I'm finally going to understand it.

// Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille perfume - so spicy, so smoky. I went back to the fragrance counter looking for something more springy and got samples of two more TF perfumes, Rive d'Ambre and Vert Boheme. The latter smells like a lawn on fire, in the best way.

// My seedlings are growing! I think I need to transplant to slightly larger pots soon (this weekend).

Luke assembled the raised beds so as soon as the SNOW FLURRIES stop (!), the planting begins! Three weeks, perhaps? 

// Hamilton Beach breakfast sandwich maker. This gadget has been at Luke's studio for months. When I bought the girls Egg McMuffins on the way to school (Josie, delighted: it's an egg burger!) I was reminded to get it back. I picked up fixins and made them egg, Canadian bacon, and cheddar sandwiches and, for myself, a sandwich with egg, prosciutto, provolone, baby spinach and arugula, and sundried tomato pesto. So delicious! Nothing better than a homemade home-assembled hot breakfast.

// Getting the girls' rooms painted this week. We have many house projects planned and it feels great to have checked one off.

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// Planning a raised bed garden. I grew some lettuce in Texas, and that was exciting - I'm about to purchase two 2 x 8 foot planters and have spent some time pondering the pre-planned layouts. I was already gravitating to the cocktail garden (herbs! cucumbers! Alpine strawberries!)

image via

Even though I'm not much of a cocktail drinker and never make them at home when what to my wondering eye should appear but this book on Serious Eats...

image via

which promises 

Every cocktail in the book can be made with just a single type of liquor and a handful of easily purchased, totally affordable supermarket ingredients...forging surprising, nuanced, eminently sippable flavors from commonplace liquors and fresh fruits, herbs, and other seasonal ingredients, as well as vinegars, spices, and sodas.

*** Of course, after I purchase the planters, soil, plants, and book this will be the most expensive cocktail ever but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ***

// Getting back in a workout swing. When does a few instances become a trend? I have a standing date with my trainer (more like a squatting / step up / deadlift date) and bought a Groupon for the cycling studio near me. After one ride I bought the extender deal -- the studio is so nice. 

// Being on track with my reading goal.

// Pouring over the recipes in Nicole Karr's Handmade Pasta. Looking for a chance to make the sweet potato gnocchi with pecans and prosciutto soon.


// Date night. We got a sitter and had appetizers and drinks at 5 pm, a brief mall walk (during which I bought a gnocchi board (vide supra)), and walked across the street to see Steven Pinker speak FOR FREE at a library event. (Can you believe you can see the great minds of our age for free?!)


// Seeing our new home in the springtime for the first time although today there were snow flurries. That's ok! I need time to assemble my planters!

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// Attending two fantastic author events - the authors were fantastic, the events were fantastic.

Dar Williams at Novel Neighbor. Nineteen year old me never thought she would be sitting so close to her!

George Saunders at the public library. So funny, so smart, so charming -- have you listened to Lincoln in the Bardo? I haven't read the book but the audiobook is superb.

// Drinking a protein shake in the morning. My trainer introduced me to a chocolate-flavored whey protein that is Not Gross. Not good, but not gross. And that's good enough.



// After I read Tribe by Sebastian Junger I've recommended it to everybody. Funnily enough, it shares many themes with Dar Williams' book What I Found In A Thousand Towns - the desperate, innate need for community, the necessity of struggle, etc. We're going to do a trial of the girls sharing a room based on a persuasive line of thinking in this book! I got a lot out of it and it's a quick read. Highly recommend.


// Managing magazine subscriptions through Amazon makes things so much easier! I cancelled most of mine and re-subscribed through Amazon to consolidate them. When we moved, updating our address was so fast instead of "what's my password..." "enter your account number..."


// Knife Skills documentary. I heard a brief interview with the filmmaker and thought, I have to see it! But where?

Then I saw a link somewhere else - watch Knife Skills for free! (It's been purchased by Conde Nast). You can watch here. I only wish it had been more in depth. People are doing amazing things for each other - it's so nice to be reminded.

What's Making Me Happy This Week

Bedhead pajamas. I finally bought a pair of these made-in-Los Angeles pajamas and they are WORTH IT. So soft and they wash and dry well. I think this pair might be my next...

Beverages!

Mike's tea  In Elgin Mike shared his recipe for great iced tea and I'm sharing with you: to make a gallon, steep 3 bags of Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger and 3 bags decaf Green Tea. No caffeine, no sweeteners, no carbonation.

Pour over coffee  Everyone's talking about zero waste it seems and the bottles of Starbucks coffee I buy for my morning iced coffee + cream are such a waste of plastic and money. I bought Luke a Chemex for Christmas but I've been using it to brew then chill coffee.

Stevie. I read her unauthorized biography this month and spent some time listening to her records, solo and with Fleetwood Mac, to round out the experience. She entered my consciousness in high school with their 1997 live album. I've never seen her perform as a young woman with her voice in great shape. What an incredible performance.

Volume.  These volumizers are great for adding lift to first day and second day hair (and third day...) Living Proof Full Dry Volume Blast and Kerastase Volume in Powder (this one smells great).


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What's Making Me Happy This Week

// So much wisdom in this interview with cookbook author Melissa Clark. I've loved cooking from Dinner: Changing the Game and her new cookbook, Dinner in an Instant: 75 modern recipes for your pressure cooker, multi cooker, and Instant Pot came out this week. I'm on the library waitlist for it. I have a pressure cooker but will likely decide I need a multi cooker too. Or Instant Pot. Or both!

// I gave up on Hilary Mantel's Beyond Black 3/4 of the way through -- supernatural's just not my genre -- and I started James Shapiro's The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606, which is fantastic.


// The discovery that Google Photos makes movies... unprompted! This video just appeared as is on my phone. Big Brother is watching and controls everything, but sometimes he makes such good content!







// This poem by Sharon Olds, recently shared on Writer's Almanac. Take-out is my love language too!

I have heard about the civilized,
the marriages run on talk, elegant and
honest, rational. But you and I are
savages. You come in with a bag,
hold it out to me in silence.
I know Moo Shu Pork when I smell it
and understand the message: I have
pleased you greatly last night. We sit
quietly, side by side, to eat
the long pancakes dangling and spilling,
fragrant sauce dripping out,
and glance at each other askance, wordless,
the corners of our eyes clear as spear points
laid along the sill to show
a friend sits with a friend here.

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// When I realized I warn the girls [to hush, to turn off the lights, to tidy up] "Daddy's coming!" precisely in the style of The Wire:

// I'm going to re-watch The Wire someday but first is Transparent (season 4 debuted on Friday!), Orange is the New Black, ten more episodes of Season 2 of Outlander... so much good TV! Not to mention movies. Still haven't seen Wonder Woman! Lady Gaga's Five Foot Two! I listened to Pop Culture Happy Hour's fall movie preview and I'm eager to see The Florida Project -- the director's earlier work Tangerine was so great (and shot on an iPhone!)

// Speaking of Outlander, it's an average show but so fun to watch. I watch an episode then listen to the podcast by the show runner and staff discussing each episode. Sometimes he brings on the writer of the episode, the producer, or the costume designer who is his wife. I enjoy hearing about the process - adapting the novels, casting, shooting locations, what's real versus CGI.

// I loved this essay.

// Eating foraged foods for the first time. Amanda and I attended a FoodRoof fundraiser that included a pop up by soon-to-open Bulrush restaurant. Atop the corn soup is a croquette made of acorns!

// Looks like fall, feels like summer: a visit to Carondelet Park for the Strange Folk Festival on a very hot Sunday afternoon.

"Take a pitcher of my jumping!"

What's Making Me Happy - Late Summer Edition

// "Look, Mommy, a mask!" Pretzels wif no spwinkles from the poolside concession.

// Clem was reciting The Gruffalo's Child and when she paused and I prompted her with the next line, she howled and said, "no, I was just getting my breath ready!"


// Dinner on the grill.

// Dessert on the grill!

// Dives.

// "I wanna take a picture wif Jenny."

// Lincoln in the Bardo as an audiobook. For your daily dose of devastation. This production features 166 narrators but the majority is performed by Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, and the author. I loved it.

What's Making Me Happy This Week

I came home from working on Saturday to the following:

// Luke prepared my favorite things to greet me: a can of Diet Coke; Lucinda Williams spinning on the turntable; bacon-wrapped, cream cheese-stuffed jalapeños hot on a baking sheet and C met me at the door with:

Repeating something she must have heard Luke say: "Did you get stuck at work?" [anxiously, likely referencing the times she's been stuck] "Was the door locked?"


// Once again, Instacart Costco delivery is THE BEST. We needed stuff, my day was crazy, so was Luke's... spent two minutes at my desk ordering the things we needed and voila, delivered.

// Watching new episodes of House of Cards. Eek. Tense!

// Bought the all-brass version of this wall hanging which looks exactly like these Madewell earrings that I considered buying but hesitated because they look heavy. This wall hanging is part of Bedroom Get All the Shit Out of It Makeover and it starts with this $9.98 piece of decor. (Still have not thrown out a single magazine.)

// Wearing this perfume oil from Florence.

// This new video from The Secret Sisters, perfect for Father's Day. Dads rock!

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// In looking for surf suits for the girls, I came across these leggings/swim tights which I will be purchasing posthaste in the avocado print. The girls recently caught sight of the outdoor pool and Josie said I wanna put on my simmin suit, I wanna go simming. The indoor pool is great but even I will acquiesce to time outside (in our swim tights). I think these avocado leggings + bra top + white rash guard + large hat will be my summer 2017 look! #BackThatHassUp


// Going to read this House of Cards recap before Luke and I start season 5!


// Getting into a rhythm of gym time after work - seems sustainable. It is much easier to pack a gym bag than a clothes/makeup/shoes-for-work bag.


// It just occurred to me to take the girls to the circus this weekend - we haven't talked about it or read any books about a circus ... I think they will be amazed. It is so fun to delight them. If we have dinner at C's most requested spot - Qdoba - it will be the Best Night Ever.

// This Tata Harper mask was in my last Birchbox and I really like it (but probably not $58 like it). I almost never get facials but I had one with all Tata Harper products in San Antonio and it almost made a believer out of me.

// Learned about sea power in the modern age on On Point. Why oh why can't we have an articulate statesman, academician, soldier as president?!

// I never make salads at home because 1) too many ingredients 2) too much prep and 3) no leftovers but after hearing this interview I'm looking forward to perusing this new cookbook and book of photography. The STL public library didn't have the book so I emailed them and they purchased it! 

// Speaking of salad I've been eating my farm share tomatoes with fresh mozzarella (I MISS YOU, CENTRAL MARKET, AND YOUR MADE-IN-STORE MOZZ) and basil from the porch with healthy pinches of salt and pepper, healthy glugs of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I could eat that meal every day, happily.

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// Being excited about a book, Oryx and Crake. I finished it last night and have checked out the next two books in the trilogy. It feels so good to be excited about the book you're reading.

// Kerastase Volume in Powder - this is the best hair product I have ever used! I have a new cut (a shag?) that I need to style (always something that dooms me to failure because I'm not even a wash and go kind of girl, I'm a no-wash, let's just go kind of girl. Anyway, spray this stuff at your roots and ends, fluff up your hair, let your 90s Meg Ryan Big Messy Hair dreams live. (I'm also using my new Beachwaver, the hair tool for people that can't remember which way to spin their wrist, i.e., me.)

// Dead Blondes - a themed series in the You Must Remember This podcast. If you like celebrity gossip, true crime, and schadenfreude, this is for you. (The Charles Manson cycle was fascinating too).

// Bourbon cream. Discovered this in Kentucky, trying to find here. Think of the possibilities! In coffee! Over ice cream! Bananas foster! Boozy milkshakes!

// Having Luke home from Texas! We've been listening to S-Town together. Looking forward to folding four baskets of clean clothes (I'm good about laundering, not good about folding/putting away) and listening tonight.

// This meme made me laugh out loud.

via

What's Making Me Happy This Week

// Lucinda Williams' self-titled album (1988) Haven't listened to it in a while and it is just so great.

image via Amazon

// Finally finishing The Royal We. It's a delightfully written book (by my favorite bloggers) but it reads like a screenplay and I wish I could have just watched the movie. That said, I hope it becomes a movie! My next read is Oryx and Crake, a Margaret Atwood novel my sister recommended while I wait for The Handmaid's Tale to become available - I want to re-read that before watching the Hulu miniseries that premieres April 26. (Earlier this month women dressed in costumes from the novel protested, silently, at the Texas State Capitol - a stunning and wordlessly elegant rebuke of measures being considered there. Go art! Go literature!)

// Wondering where I have room for a plant stand like this or this.

// This Skin Medica sunscreen is AMAZING. No white cast at all. Great finish for wearing under makeup or bare-faced (me this week).

// I'm making iced coffee now with this so-simple recipe. The other recipes I've tried have turned out too bitter or have too much particulate in them, necessitating rounds of filtering that I just don't feel up to in the morning. Lately I've been using preground Caribou Coffee Vanilla Hazelnut Dreamstate, because it was on the clearance end-cap and I like the name. I mix 2/3 of a cup of grounds with 3 cups of water, stir, let sit overnight, then press. No additional filtration needed. Splash of cream, dash of cinnamon, add ice. I like the commenter's idea of making coffee ice cubes.