Five on Friday

Happy 65th day of January!

We’re living in the twilight zone over here with another cold and rainy 4-day school week. This month has felt like the longest ever.

The first half of the week we were awoken every morning around 3 am to the sound of Mabel vomiting…on our bed. After a vet visit, she is now on 4 different medications (administered 2-3 times a day) to address a gastric issue and is finally feeling better. We’re also giving her a “bedtime snack” because it seems a too-empty stomach is a trigger for her. Anyway, I polled y’all for pet insurance recommendations and received lots of requests to share the results so I updated my New Puppy Supplies post with all of them!

In Case You Missed It

A few things I shared this week…

• How To Deep Clean Towels (Easy Laundry Stripping Recipe)
• Coffee with Christina (January 2024)
• Valentine’s Day Gifts for Women
• Target Spring Home Decor Finds
• J.Crew New Arrivals I’m Loving
• Non-Amazon Valentine’s Day Gifts for Him

This Week’s Top 5 Reader Favorites

1. Spanx Booty Boost Leggings: Hands down, my favorite leggings to work out in. I prefer the 7/8 length to the full length. Their sculpting performance fabric is breathable, sweat-wicking and have a built-in booty lift. Worth every penny.
2. The Pan Scraper: A small but mighty tool I shared we use almost every night to scrape our pans. It works especially well on scraping eggs out of pans!
3. J.Crew 9″ Vintage Slim-Straight Jean: Love this classic mid-rise style. Available in petite, and tall sizes too!
4. Pancake Dispenser: For perfect pancakes every time! I love how you can mix the batter right inside the dispenser. It’s easy to clean and also has a shut-off valve that prevents drips.
5. Easy Off Oven Cleaner: This stuff is extremely powerful so be careful when spraying not to get it on anything outside of your oven!

1. What We Ate This Week for Dinner

As promised, here are the links to all the recipes I made this week for dinner! Our favorite was the mahi tacos — those have been in our dinner rotation forever and are always a hit!

• Alice Springs Chicken
• Air Fryer Mahi Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw
• Pasta Night with Sunday Bolognese Sauce from my freezer stash
• Loaded Burger Bowls with Special Sauce

2. Silicone + Sandstone Dish Drying Mat

I was influenced to buy this silicone dish drying mat.

It was one of those items I questioned and thought might be overhyped, but I honestly love it. It’s effective at absorbing water super fast — perfect for those soaking wet plastic items that come out of the dishwasher (like lunch boxes and Tupperware), as well as glassware that needs a little air drying.

I also love that it’s pretty and folds up for easy storage. Is it pricey for a dish mat? YES. However, I have seen it on lightning deal a few times, and other times there’s been a pretty good coupon you can click for a discount at checkout. Either way, I have really enjoyed no longer using dish towels on my counter tops and would truly recommend this. Also, when I posted it on Instagram earlier this week I received a LOT of messages from those of you who have also purchased and love it too.

3. Affogato Espresso Martini

Last weekend I made dessert espresso martinis and they were INCREDIBLE. I started with my Espresso Martini Recipe and added a scoop of ice cream and shaved dark chocolate on top. Absolutely amazing — and would be perfect for Valentine’s Day!

4. Little Mama’s

This week Little Mama’s opened their second location right down the street from our house! Matt and I checked it out on opening night and it was delicious! We cannot wait to go back with the kids (they have an amazing kids menu). It’s the perfect family-friendly restaurant — great food, a cool but casual vibe, and good drinks! The meatballs here are GINORMOUS and I highly recommend the goat cheese mascarpone dip to start!

5. Crossbody Bag

Now that I no longer need to tote around a bag of eye stuff for Thomas, I am on a mission to downsize my purse from a massive tote to a crossbody bag. I’ve tried and returned several bags and finally found this ALDO bag on Amazon! It’s the perfect size for my wallet, keys, phone, lip glosses, and hand sanitizer, etc. It reminds me of the Saint Laurent Lou Quilted Camera Bag and I like it so much I purchased it in Other Beige and Black!

Have a great weekend!