Sunday Summary - 10.23.22
This weekend was action packed! We played putt putt and ate Thai food on Thursday night with Ashley and Jordan and made fajitas and margaritas on Friday with Emmett and Kes. On Saturday morning I got my ears double pierced, Bryan, Nash, and I went to an airshow in Ft. Worth with my parents, and then we all enjoyed red beans and rice for dinner. We wrapped up our jam packed weekend at the Dallas Arboretum with our friends and their cute little babies. I just woke up from a brief nap after watching the U.S. Grand Prix, so the weekend clearly caught up with me!
Reading & Listening
This is the second book by Erin Sterling set in the small town of Graves Glen. Since this is the follow up book to The Ex Hex, I highly recommend knocking that one out before diving into this one. This book follows Gwyn, the cousin of the first book’s main character, and her interactions with two high school classmates who return to Graves Glen after many years away…the same time her powers start to slowly disappear.
Want more reading recs? Check out past Sunday Summaries here.
For all the non-book readers out there, here are a couple of articles and podcasts I enjoyed this week:
Article: Don't fall for the productivity aesthetic. It's a scam. — What’s old is new again. Abercrombie sells lace trim camis, and the Girlboss of years past has been relabeled as “That Girl,” a trend I didn’t really know existed until recently since I don’t have TikTok. <gasp!> This article kind of dissects some issues with the trend and, as an added bonus, calls out how people are using the word “aesthetic” incorrectly.
Podcast: The Love Prescription, Part 1 with Drs. John & Julie Gottman - Bryan and I really enjoyed our pre-marital counseling experience in 2019. It was administered through our church and focused heavily on research from The Gottman Institute. We took away so much from those sessions — how to respond to your partner’s “bids” for connection, how to have open conversations around frustrations, setting baseline expectations for money and chore management — the list goes on! Recently my friend Ashley recommended the series on Unlocking Us that featured the Gottmans, and it was a great reminder of those fundamental relationship skills. Highly recommend!
Cooking
This week I was feeling kind of “blah” about our menu planning, so we’re keeping things relatively simple with only one new recipe and turkey sandwiches are on the menu.
New recipe: One Skillet Buffalo Ranch Enchiladas
Halloween recipe: Healthy Slow Cooker Turkey Chili — We’re going to make this toward the end of the week so we can eat some leftovers on Halloween, a tradition of ours!
Simple standby recipe: Kale Caesar Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas — We’re swapping out the kale for romaine this week, because we’re a little burned out on kale.
Weekly Favorites
HOME
Solo Stove
This little guy is going to be put to good use this week! We had a one-off day in the 30s last week, but this week is serving up some very fall-like weather with consistent temps in the 50s. This is a portable bonfire that works like a charm, and I’m envisioning some movies on the porch by the fire.
LOUNGEWEAR
Slippers
I tried bootie style slippers for the first time in college (which is somehow about a decade ago.) Once I experienced the coziness of slippies that cover your ankles, I’ll never go back! Bryan gave me an updated pair last year for Christmas, and I wear these almost daily. They’re discontinuing the waffle style (sadly), so they’re 50% off right now. I’m a true 7 and got size Small.
FOOD
Harvest Blend Tea
This Harvest Blend Herbal Tea from Trader Joe’s is so. incredibly. yum. I’m not even going to attempt to link it, because it will probably cost 3 times as much and be sold out of a stranger’s garage. If you have a Trader Joe’s near you and love warming spices like cinnamon, cloves, etc. — you will really enjoy this! It’s sugar free and packed with flavor. We went through a box in 3 weeks!