Happy 1st Friday of 2024!
We are headed down to Charleston today (with both kids and the dog this time) for Thomas’s IOL post-op appointment! During this appointment he will finally be ready to get fitted for glasses which he’s excited about because he’s been having a hard time seeing things without them (his friend has been reading the whiteboard and assignments to Thomas in class)! We had to wait until his eyes were fully healed (about a month) to determine what sort of new prescription he will need.
Between our travel today and the kids out 2 days earlier this week, it’s truly a miracle I was able to pull off a five on Friday this week! I feel so behind in this space already. I have so many ideas piled up in my head that I am excited to work on but just haven’t had the time yet! However, yesterday I filmed my first campaign of 2024 and am really excited to share it next week! It’s actually content I’ve been dreaming up for liiiiike 6 months and this partnership was the perfect opportunity for me to finally carve out the time to do it!
Alright, lets get down to the best sellers of 2024 so far! I was so excited to see these were all items from my Favorite 23 Items of 2023!!!!
- Daily Planner Pad — start your year off with a fresh daily planner pad! I love this 6×9 pad because it breaks out to do lists into different sections including work and personal, features a timed daily schedule, and a top 3 priority tracker!
- Cheers Restore Pills — This after-alcohol aid is designed with the ingredient, dihydromyricetin (DHM), a natural plant extract (like caffeine is to coffee) derived from sources such as the Japanese raisin tree. Also kind of cool, Cheers was created by a team of PhDs and was featured on ABC’s Shark Tank! You can read all about the science on their website, and I’m telling you they work.
- Toothpaste Caps — My kids absolutely DESTROY their toothpaste. I swear they squeeze half of the tube every time they brush their teeth. These toothpaste caps have been a game changer. Not only have they significantly cut down on the amount of toothpaste in the sinks, they extend the life of the toothpaste tube by probably 80%.
- Gold Sun Hoops – These sun earrings are super fun! One of my girlfriends was wearing them and I loved them so much. She sent me the Amazon link and the next day they were at my door. Such a good Amazon find!
- Hair Vitamins – My gift last year for my Favorite Things Party, this serum is a no-rinse treatment that you apply while your hair is wet. It doesn’t make your hair greasy and has tremendously helped restore shine and a silky smooth texture to my hair.
1. Weekly Meal Plan
I have a few goals for feeding my family this year (which I think I’ll share more about in my next Coffee Talk post) and one of them is making every recipe in my recipe binder! If I don’t have any desire to make a recipe or I make one and we don’t love it, it’s getting trashed! My binder is so full of old recipes, recipes I want to try, and tried and true recipes. I really want to condense my binder to recipes that we truly love so it’s a better tool for meal planning.
Below is our meal plan for this week! I shared this on Instagram earlier this week and received such a positive response that I will try and share it most weeks moving forward! We do recycle recipes quite a bit, so I’m hoping this doesn’t get boring.
Recipe Sources: Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes / Loaded Burger Bowls / Crockpot Tuscan Chicken
2. Pool Progress
I shared in my Winter Break Recap that our backyard was pretty much under water for weeks due to so much rain! This week all the crews have returned and made so much progress finishing the pool coping, laying all the decking, and moving some trees around. I am getting so excited to see the backyard coming together and am counting down the days until I can break in my Christmas present!
3. Sleepy Girl Mocktail
I’ve been making the “sleepy girl mocktail” the past few nights! The drink is a combination of tart cherry juice, magnesium bisglycinate powder, and sparkling water! The tart cherry juice has a reputation for a naturally high amount of melatonin, the magnesium powder provides a natural muscle relaxer, and the sparkle water cuts down the tart/sweetness. It’s sweeter than I like, but it’s been a nice healthy replacement for a glass of wine during the week! I’ve found unflavored seltzer water tastes the best.
And have I slept well the past few nights? Yes. But I’ve also gotten back on track with all my other healthy habits so it’s hard to pinpoint the fizzy mocktail as the reason for bringing about a good nights sleep!
Sleepy Mocktail
- 1/4-1/2 cup Tart Cherry Juice (depending on how sweet you like your drink)
- 1 scoop Magnesium Bisglycinate Powder
- Top with sparkling water
4. Magnesium Glycinate Gummies
Speaking of magnesium, we’ve recently been giving our kids these magnesium gummies in the evenings to calm them down a bit before bedtime and they have also been sleeping better! And they taste good. Matt and I will also take these on nights I don’t make the Sleepy Mocktail.
Hiya also makes a really good kids bedtime gummy that doesn’t contain any added sugar and uses magnesium instead of melatonin, but it’s pricier!
5. Que Onda Tacos + Tequila Family Meal
Charlotte friends, we recently tried the Que Onda Family Meal and loved it so much that we have since ordered it several more times while hosting company over the holidays. We’ve tried the fajitas and tacos and both are insanely delicious and provide a good amount of food! And they have amazing cocktail kits! Anyway, if you are looking for delicious takeout to feed your family or host a crowd, you should try Que Onda. There are 5 locations around Charlotte and Door Dash delivers too.
