Five on Friday!

Happy Friday!

one. We kicked off our week with pink eye — yay! We had a pretty light case and it cleared fast…then came back in both eyes (even on drops) later in the week, so Caroline got to Netflix binge two days this week — she was in heaven.

two. Last Friday Matt and I had a date night at Dot Dot Dot, a members-only Prohibition-style speakeasy located in the back lot of a shopping center. I have been anxious to visit this cocktail parlor since they opened last summer, and after hosting a happy hour recently, Matt came home raving about this place. So I scheduled a date night to go and see what all the hype was about! The atmosphere was just as cool as I had expected. The entrance is basically behind some dumpsters and you would never know it existed unless you were looking for it. After flashing your membership card (which Matt thinks is the coolest thing ever) and walking down a long brick hallway you enter a second door before you arrive to the upscale cozy (screen-free) lounge. We enjoyed delicious handcrafted cocktails and small plates. I highly recommend the refreshing “Lily Wants a Pony” cocktail, made with vodka, riesling, rosemary and fresh lime juice. As for food, we loved the steamed buns the most and also enjoyed an amazing charcuterie board and the braised beef cheeks.

three. While grabbing some things at the grocery store for Thomas’s St Patrick’s Day class party I decided to pick up some treats for the teachers too. I’m not normally a big celebrator of this holiday, but since I had some extra time on my hands yesterday at home with Caroline I thought it would be fun to whip up some “I’m so LUCKY to have you as my teacher” goodie bags. Because for real, we are lucky. Our teachers are awesome this year.

These remind me of the treat bags I made for the teachers two years ago for Teacher Appreciation Week.

four. Brussels sprouts were BOGO at Harris Teeter this week and I’m a sucker for a deal so I picked up too many bags, without a plan for how I was going to use them. Naturally, they were on their last day when I refused to let them go to waste and instead tossed together a Bacon & Brussel Sprout Salad for dinner (and leftovers for lunch)!

BACON & BRUSSEL SPROUTS SALAD

Adapted from Pinch of Yum

Mix the dressing:

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon EVOO
1 tablespoon juice from orange
salt & pepper to taste

Toss the salad:

2 dozen brussels sprouts, shredded
1/4 cup almonds, sliced
6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Yields 2 large salads

five. Thank you all for responding to my Insta-Stories about the kinks with my blog showing up in your blog reader feeds. I think I’ve worked out the issues with Bloglovin so I should be showing up in your feed now (and hopefully not super delayed). As for those of you who said you could only read the first few sentences, below is a quick trick to changing your settings from reader to browser view in Bloglovin. I too follow some blogs that only showed a preview and it drove me nuts and was so happy when I found this feature! Working on feedly still.

Do me a favor, if you still aren’t seeing my posts, please let me know in the comments which reader you use!

Don’t forget to stop by and say hi to my Five on Friday co-hosts, April and Natasha, and link-up your Friday five below, too!!