Friday Favorites

February 21, 2025

Friday Favorites have been Few and Far between (don’t you just love alliteration?). With that, I’m here to share a few recent faves…

Favorite # ONE

CAKES

I’ve been busy making cakes in 2025.

Mama’s Birthday Cake,

Mississippi Mud Cake requested by my girls,

German Chocolate cake for LB’s birthday,

Rory’s Chocolate Stitch cake.

Speaking of Rory…

Favorite # TWO

Rory!

Happy Birthday to my favorite little 7 year old!

You’ve come a long way baby!

~

Favorite # THREE

SHOES

Monday was a delightful day off work, so LB and I went shopping for a pair of shoes I had been eyeing. Sadly, they were not available at my local Target, but happily, I found these and liked them even more

~

Favorite # FOUR

EGGS

When you can’t find organic eggs, they quickly become a favorite! This carton from Vital Farms was purchased from a store that we never visit… Publix in Avondale. $11. SMH.

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Favorite # FIVE

Only 20 more workdays until shutdown!

Along with a photo of my team celebrating Christmas, I mentioned in this post that “it may be the last one”. I didn’t elaborate, but I wasn’t talking about Christmas and I wasn’t talking about “this post” being the last one. I’ll now share that we were called into a MS TEAMS meeting on December 13th to hear the announcement that our company has chosen to close our office. We have all been impacted by a surplus. Once the date of separation takes place, I’m sure I’ll have plenty to share about what we as a group have endured 😇

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Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

December 13, 2024

It has been so long that I don’t know if I remember how to do this.

Hopefully its easier than riding a bike.

~

We celebrated my middle child’s birthday on Monday evening.

Favorite # ONE

AMANDA

I’ve published several posts featuring Amanda. Some of my favorites are here and here.

All three of my children were born in the fall, so while the rest of the world is anticipating Thanksgiving, for my family, starting November 1^st the celebrating begins. November 1^st is Stephanie’s birthday. While she didn’t specifically request it, her birthday dinner was a fish fry.

It was EPIC.

Richard’s birthday is November 9^th. Amanda thought it would be a good idea to have a low country boil for Richard’s birthday dinner. Since he didn’t object, that is what we did.

It was also EPIC.

Amanda asked for an appetizer/Hors d’oeuvres “dinner”, which isn’t really a dinner, but very fun and filling.

She also asked for a slab pie in lieu of a birthday cake, and so…

Favorite # TWO

SLAB PIE

A slab pie is baked in a sheet pan and is designed to feed a crowd. For Amanda’s pie I used my pâte brisée recipe and canned pie filling: apple, blueberry, cherry, and mixed berry. The pie turned out pretty good. Either that or no one was brave enough to tell me the truth.

With Amanda’s birthday past, on Wednesday LB began setting up the Christmas trees. We have two and they are both special.

Favorite # THREE

THE PURPLE TREE

This was our first Christmas tree with baby Elvis, which makes it 15 years old.

These days he doesn’t have the impulse to climb the purple tree, but he still likes it.

Putting it up was a bit difficult this year because LB had to strip the lights and add new ones.

Now I get to decorate.

This year my team at work decided to have seafood for Christmas dinner

Favorite # FOUR

BONEFISH GRILL

and my Team

Most of us went out on Thursday night for our Christmas dinner together. It may be the last one.

~

Favorite # FIVE

this little tree

that lives in my front yard.

This fall his leaves turned yellow.

Now I call him Arnold

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

August 30, 2024

This has been week 2 of the CWA strike. I’m still not working and not getting paid. I’m also not complaining. Here are my Friday Favorites for the past week. I’ll start with Saturday date night…

Favorite # ONE

LB took me to see a very interesting performance at the Florida Theater. Neither of us had ever experienced this type of performance. The actors were in costume, but there was no set. There was, however, a full orchestra and choir. We both agreed that it was weird but enjoyable.

But date night is always a favorite!

~

Favorite # TWO

from Aldi

This stuff is tasty.

“Hibiscus tea is an herbal tea that’s made by steeping parts of the hibiscus plant in boiling water. It has a tart flavor similar to that of cranberries and can be enjoyed either hot or cold. Research has uncovered a range of health benefits linked to drinking hibiscus tea, showing that it may lower blood pressure, reduce the growth of bacteria, and even aid weight loss. This article reviews 8 benefits of hibiscus.

~

Favorite # THREE

Eighties Night

at Music By The Sea

LB and I enjoyed music by Slang

and our favorite lemonade 😁

~

Favorite # FOUR

The country white bread that I made on Thursday…

I’ll post the recipe soon because it is foolproof. And I should know.

~

Favorite # FIVE

Don Eduardo Cocina Mexicana

It isn’t a new restaurant, but it is new to me. It is very cute… decorated nicely. The fajitas are good, but they do not come with guacamole, which made me kinda sad. It was, however, still nice to go out for Mexican 😁

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

August 23, 2024

This week’s Friday Favorites begins with Saturday, August 17th.

This day is very important because on August 17th, 54 years ago, my baby sister came into the world.

Favorite # ONE

GINA

Happy Birthday to my lil’ seester!

~

August 17th is also National Black Cat Appreciation Day.

No one appreciates Black Cats more than I. No, it isn’t because I identify as a witch. It is because my little Elvis is such a big part of my lfie and he is a mostly black cat. And I appreciate him.

Favorite # TWO

ELVIS

He is My Precious Angel

~

LB purchased tickets to an Alhambra show on August 17th a long time ago. I mentioned to him that it was my sister’s birthday and he said we could invite them. When I started to mention it, Gina announced she would be spending her birthday at Disney.

With that, LB arranged for his friends to join us.They are on the other side of the table.

Favorite # THREE

That’ll Be the Day

A Tribute to Buddy Holly

at the Alhambra Dinner Theater.

It was mostly fun, and the performers were very talented.

The next day I was exhausted but, I managed to make the requested lemon flavored birthday cake.

AND

since I missed the birthday gathering, LB and I took my sister and bro-in-law out for Mexican on Tuesday night. We had a GREAT time and left each other saying “we need to do this more often”

just like we always do 🥰

~

It has been a mostly laid-back week because the CWA union where I work went on strike. All I’m going to say about that is that I’ve been home and unpaid this week. I fully expect to be back at the office next week, however, if that doesn’t happen, I’ll continue to enjoy my free time. I’ve slept late, enjoyed morning coffee with Elvis, logged 5 treadmill miles every day, and still have energy. Tomorrow my kids are coming over for a barbecue. For dessert we’ll be having peach cobbler.

Favorite # FOUR

Peach Cobbler

Servings: 16
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: meh
Print

Ingredients

8 cups canned peaches [trust me don’t use frozen]
1 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
1/2 cup boiling water
Recommended for topping: vanilla ice cream, whipped cream

Directions

Spray 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and preheat oven to 375°
Drain and arrange sliced peaches in bottom of baking dish
In a medium bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar with softened butter
Add dry ingredients (salt, flour, baking powder) and milk to make a batter. Batter will be thick
Spread the batter over the peaches
In a separate bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and a pinch of salt.
Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over batter completely covering the surface.
Slowly pour boiling water over the top
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until the cobbler is golden brown and bubbling

prettyis.me

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

August 9, 2024

Friday is my favorite day of the week and I’ve got Friday Favorites to share!

I’ll start with the previous weekend. Saturday & Sunday There was nothing pressing to do. I had the opportunity to go nowhere and remain at my favorite place…

HOME

Favorite # ONE

It was a joyful couple of days that came to a screeching halt on Monday morning.

~

On Wednesday I learned that it is a code of business conduct violation to work during my lunch. I was told “they’re really coming down on us for that”. So, I wanted to complain, but, LB tells me to always be positive with what I write. So I’ll try to keep it positive.

This week my team was awarded a lunch from the LOOP. I ordered the

Great American Cheeseburger

Favorite # TWO

with steak fries.

Now for the real positivity:

One day I will walk out of that building for the last time. I will walk away and find a place to have a party 😊

~

I’ve been listening to a YouTube influencer talk about these jeans for Idk how long. Last week they were on sale, so I ordered them

Chico’s No Stain Girlfriend Fray Hem Ankle Jeans

Favorite # THREE

Color: Alabaster

They arrived on Wednesday and I wore them to work on Thursday. As luck would have it, for the first time my mixed berries splattered and landed on my new pants. But it was only a temporary splat.

The claims are real… these pants will not stain.

~

It has been a long time since I made LB something sweet, so I did some baking this week…

Favorite # FOUR

LB’s Favorite Oatmeal Cookies

I shared the recipe in this post.

~

its been a weird week and I thought I may not find a fifth favorite, but Amanda sent a photo of her cat Bunny and I thought it was adorable.

Favorite # FIVE

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

August 2, 2024

Making a list of happy thoughts is an easy way to find the good in every day. Finding the good in every day is key to personal happiness.

Today is

And I’m going to share a list of my favorites from this past week.

Favorite # ONE

The Garden Center

at Hagan Ace Hardware

Recently my “cube mate” Michelle told me that whenever she is in a bad mood, she goes to the Ace Hardware on San Jose. I wasn’t in a bad mood on Saturday, but we were in the area so LB and I decided to check it out. $65 later we came home with 7 new plants.

It was SO hot Saturday afternoon as we walked around that expansive garden center, but all of that changed when the rain came on Saturday night.

I was pretty disappointed because it was date night and my outfit was cute. The rain WOULS NOT STOP and the street was flooded. It was impossible to step up onto the sidewalk from the street without wading through at least 4 inches of water. We walked all around that block looking for a place to step up, but it was not to be. My shoes were soaked. My pants were soaked. It was not a pretty sight after LB and Iwalked only one block to see

Favorite # TWO

Donny Osmond

at the Florida Theater

This man is a true entertainer and his show was great!

Later that evening when LB and I got home, my pants and shoes were still wet. It occurred to me that my shoes may be ruined which was a good excuse to buy a new pair.

~

Favorite # THREE

New Shoes

Metallic shoes are supposedly trending and I’ve been looking for a style that I like. I saw some on the Chico’s website, but when I clicked on them, and was redirected to the shoes and accessories, they were not to be found. So I looked to Amazon for help and sure enough… there they were.

~

Favorite # FOUR

A Day OFF

And I’m fixin’ to be out of vacation.

LB had a death in the family and needed to drive to GA to attend the funeral. Needless to say, he wanted me to come along. Thursday was not available, but the attendance manager helped me add a vacation day because she could see that someone was releasing their vacation day. That was such a big favor and I just love her. The only reason I didn’t use her as a favorite is because I didn’t get permission.

I decided my last Friday Favorite would be one that I have used many times. LB and I ended the day with my favorite quisine… Salsa’s Fajitas

Favorite # FIVE

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

August 18, 2023

Welcome to my Friday Favorites featuring nothing to do but sit in the house propping my foot. LB takes time to bring me coffee and breakfast every day. Lately I’ve been enjoying a piece of toast. But not just any toast. My

Favorite #ONE

Cheese Toast

Made in the toaster oven using KETO white bread [0 net carbs] and a slice of pepper jack cheese. That’s the way I like it.

Can you believe that there is a website that provides instructions for how to make cheese toast?

So… that’s my first weekly favorite. Cheese toast. Because we are out of eggs. 😆

~

Although last week was a hot sunny week, this week in Florida the rain began again. On Tuesday, it rained early in the day and never dried out enough for me to sit outside. This made for a loooong day. So I watched a new-found TV show. My

Favorite #TWO

No Demo Reno

“Home renovation expert and social media influencer Jennifer Todryk combines clever design solutions and cost-saving ideas to create stunning home overhauls for clients in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, all without major demolition.” [source]

Its the closest I’ve ever been to binge watching.

~

I haven’t done any shopping this week, but something I ordered a few weeks ago arrived yesterday.

Favorite #THREE

Comfy to go Velvet Storage Bench, Upholstered Tufted Storage Ottoman with Golden Legs

Mine is black. I’m guessing I bought the last black one because only blue and green are shown on the website now.

~

For a change of pace, LB and I ordered dinner from a place just down the road we had never visited

Favorite #FOUR

Hokkaido Japanese Restaurant

Hibachi Dinner

It won’t replace my love for fajitas, but it was a nice change.

and speaking of fajitas…

Favorite #FIVE

National Fajita Day

There has been a lot of focus on food this week. Hopefully my foot will heal quickly so I can get back on the treadmill!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.