Five on Friday - Carolina Charm

Happy Friday!

We’ve had a great week and are really looking forward to the weekend because we’re hosting Caroline’s birthday party!!!! The weather is not looking awesome but I’m hoping since it’s a pool party a little rain won’t stop them from having a great time.

It is also Sprinkles’ birthday weekend so we’re going to have our annual taco party on Sunday to celebrate her turning 4 (though it feels like we’ve actually had her for more like 14 years).

I’ve got one million party things to tackle today so let’s get right down to it!

I hope you all have an amazing (taco and marg-filled) weekend!

In Case You Missed It

This Week’s Top 5 Reader Favorites

Target Glasses: See #3!
Fun Amazon Dress: I love this dress so much!! It is fun, lightweight, has pockets, adjustable straps, and is available in TONS of other prints too. It’s technically a midi dress, but the perfect maxi dress length for my short friends! It is not lined, but the material is thick enough that it isn’t see-through. And it’s under $20!! I am going to be wearing this all spring and summer long!
Dryer Vent Cleaner Kit: Another week in the top 5!! If dryer fires keep you up at night, I wanted to recommend this super affordable cleaning kit that removes build up in your dryer vent. It has a long flexible hose that allows for deep access to hard to reach areas with trapped lint. You can also use it to clean the coils behind your fridge.
Caroline’s Maxi Dress: I shared Caroline’s new maxi dress on IG last weekend, along with 4 other items she bought in case you’re curious what a tween girl is using her own money on these days…
Diva Laundry Detergent: I just refilled my stash and reshared this heavenly detergent on IG earlier this week! This is for your towels, sheets, etc. — not your kids’! It’s a highly concentrated soap so a little goes a LONG way, and it lasts forever since you only need a cap full.

1. GRASS!

Starting off with one of the most exciting parts of our week — our sod has been laid in the backyard!

We’ve been waiting on sod for months to finish our backyard and it looks so good! You can see the before and after photos HERE!

But here’s the wild part…while talking to the delivery guy, Matt was gobsmacked to learn that the sod delivered to our house happened to be the EXACT same sod, from the exact same FARM, from the exact same FIELD, from the exact same CUT that was also just delivered the same morning to Pinehurst for this year‘s U.S. Open.

I wish I could have captured Matt’s reaction.

To me, it’s grass. And I’m elated to no longer have a mud pit in the backyard.

But to Matt, it means we technically have U.S. Open zoysia in our backyard. So you can find Matt sleeping on the lawn indefinitely. And telling everyone about it who he comes into contact with.

2. Visa Gift Card Hack

I shared on Instagram that I discovered the best gift card hack for Visa gift cards. I had a Visa gift card that was about to expire and wanted to figure out a way to use it at Nordstrom, but the balance wasn’t enough to cover my purchase. So I bought a Nordstrom gift card for the exact amount of my Visa gift card and then applied the Nordstrom gift card towards my purchase!

You can also do this with Amazon too (and probably other larger retailers). So if you have a few small balance gift cards hanging out in a drawer, use them towards Amazon gift cards and then apply that money to your account to use later. You can also use Visa gift cards to reload an existing Amazon gift card balance, just add as a new payment method and use the exact amount left on the gift card!

3. A Fun Drop-Off Dinner Idea

Last week I brought dinner to one of my friends in this fun flower container and her little girls LOVED it! I filled the container with all the ingredients needed for Build-Your-Own Pulled Pork Salads — diced cucumber, tortilla strips, avocado, shredded cheese, black beans, corn, carrots, tomatoes, and avocado ranch. On the side I packaged up some romaine lettuce and included a pound of pulled pork from a really good BBQ restaurant in town! It was easy to pull together (just had to chop all the toppings) and it looked really pretty. But the best part is my friend gets to keep the container as an added bonus! It would be great to use all summer for fruits and dip (like Noosa yogurt, omg yum), a snack platter, and so much more!

4. Book Review: None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

Rating 4/5: First of all, the narration of this book is excellent so I really recommend experiencing it in audio format! I love it when there are multiple voices, sounds, etc. It’s a fast paced, tense, psychological thriller that is dark, twisted, and unsettling!

Book Summary: Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.

A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.

Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.

But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.

5. Colorful Ribbed Plastic Glasses

I grabbed a few sets of these pretty ribbed glasses from Target for all our outdoor sipping this summer. I love the colorful rims (each family member has already called dibs on his/her color for dinners al fresco) and a 4-pack of glasses is only $10!