Dinners, Bachelorette, Podcast

It's a rainy day in Charlotte which is kind of a welcome break from the heat!  Here are some random things:

Menu for this week...I felt like actually cooking this week and doing something other than a taco salad every day ha!

 - Chicken Parm - this is a good Sunday night meal when you have extra time

 - Beanier and Creamier - I made this Sunday so we could have last night

 - Artichoke Chicken - I haven't made this in years but it's a favorite

What did you all think of The Bachelorette last night? I think she is very much into Blake. I will be honest and say the show isn't the same without Chris Harrison so I've barely been watching but I do like when it gets down to the final few!

I've told you all before that I don't listen to many Podcasts because I don't know when I would. I always have my kids or am at work. But lately since I haven't been dropping Grady at school, I have a 25 minute drive to my office so occasionally if I'm not listening to loud rap music (ha!), I'll listen to a podcast. One I've enjoyed is Live in Love with Lauren Akins. Anyone heard it? 

A sleepy puppy last night! We need a new rug desperately but I haven't spent the time to make it happen!

Weekend At Home

We were home this weekend and it was soooo nice! I have been feeling like if I’m not home then I’m at work or at the beach. I know, worst problems exist but I needed to get my act together here for a few days. It was also nice to go out with Kevin and not my children for a night! Ha!

Bella sent me this picture on Thursday afternoon! And yep Grady’s school is now closed for all of next week so it’ll be week three that we are out. At this point I probably won’t send him back until his new 3’s class starts later in August. I don’t want to risk anything if it’s not necessary. I definitely don’t want to screw up Molly Anne starting first grade etc. So yep, basically winging it and being thankful for wonderful babysitters! 

Kevin had continuing education for real estate on Thursday until late so I packed dinner and we headed to the pool. They loved that! 

I walked with a couple friends on Thursday night. A good walk solves a lot of life. 



Friday morning I took the kids to Impact One after a friend invited us. Molly Anne evidently learned how to do a flip off the trampoline the previous week at camp there! It was fun to get to watch her!


Molly Anne has been very into the Olympics! We’ve looked at her globe and talked about where Japan is and all of the things. And we told her that we went to Japan a few years ago! Actually that was before she was born so it was probably more like 2014 we were there. 


More swimming at our neighbors house!



Dressed in our pink on Saturday for #charlottesjoy 


Kevin and I went to a couples house in the neighborhood for a dinner! It was so fun and nice to get out! These pictures are blurry. I need to figure out how to take pictures on my phone in the dark. 









Good times with great friends!

We didn’t do much yesterday. Went to our club for brunch and saw friends there. I prepped food for the week - cleaned fruit, chopped veggies etc. Got my act together for the week!  

Happy August 2nd. Hard to believe it’s already August and school is starting so soon! Our school PTO puts on a fundraiser type event for school supplies so you can order a box of all of the supplies your teacher/grade has requested. I ordered it last Spring for this school year so it’s done. I still took Molly Anne to target to pick out a few things - she choose smelly markers, a pink and orange ruler and a box of new pencils. Ha! I always remember going school supply shopping with my Mom! ;)

Four on Friday

ONE:

Charlotte Aquatics does the cutest themed weeks throughout the year. This week was appropriately the Olympics! They walked on the beam in class among other cute ideas. Then gave them a medal and had them stand on the podium if they wanted to at the end of class!

TWO:

My Dad sent me this and I love it so much! Funny right?! Gotta find humor somewhere!

THREE:

Prepping for the school year. My fav lunch box containers that do not leak - bento / sandwich, slim ice packs, lunchbox to hold it all.

FOUR:

Thankful for good health at Molly Anne's 6 year well visit. 

Thursday Favorites

This flowy long sleeve tee is probably the most bought item from my posts and there's a reason - it's good! And now they have it in a bunch of colors. I wear a 12 which is my typical size.

Cotton popover in blue stripe!

These look so comfortable to pop on after a pool day or just to wear around on the weekends.



My favorite easy eyeshadow these days. This is color Golden Pink.

These leggings are 40% off and I love the spray dye! I stock up on these when they're on sale and I get excited when the weather turns cool!

In My Bag

Five quick things in my bag!

The most comfortable jeans

Thinking about getting this crossbody to replace mine that I fell with and scratched majorly!

I’m telling you, these jeans are unlike any other! And under $50! 

Grabbed this water bottle for Molly Anne but I love it too!

May grab these for Molly Anne so she has a pair of shoes this Fall/Winter that aren’t Natives ha!

Recipe and Lunch

I have not been cooking at all, for weeks. Kevin has been pretty much holding the fort down for dinners because I have been a zoo. But I miss cooking. Last night it was raining and I had a squash and zucchini. I had remembered an au gratin that Natalie posted recently and when I searched her blog, I found this recipe. I halved it. With the rainy weather and a casserole type thing, it was so good. Molly Anne even had a couple bites. Oh I didn't have gruyere either so I used cheddar. Anyway, add it to your list if you're looking for something different.  

Evidently this post is all about food. Anyone had Mezeh yet? It's in Strawberry Hill in Charlotte for anyone near by. It is so delicious. It's a mix between Yafo and Cava. Lots of veggies. I always need a big reset after a weekend so this did the trick yesterday for lunch at my desk!

I'm thinking that when Molly Anne goes back to school and we get on a better schedule, I'll cook more than nachos, taco salads or grilled chicken. We shall see!

Olympics At The Beach

This past week has been emotional, heartfelt and loving. Hold your people closely and keep April and her family in your thoughts and prayers. 

Found out Tuesday midday that Grady's class would be closed for two weeks due to a child in his class having covid. All good on our end though so I'm thankful for that.

Quick Friday morning field trip to one of our construction sites down the street from our house. We loved watching the digger fill up the dump truck about 100 times. He was so happy!

We cruised down to the beach and arrived to an 85 degree house. Yep, the blower of the upstairs unit failed and thankfully the company we had do a check up just a few weeks ago was able to come out on Saturday morning. They said they would come Friday night but we told them nahhh and we were fine!


Concert! We love that Ocean Isle has these beach music concerts every Friday night. They're so fun for adults and the children. 






They lined all of the veterans up and the crowd formed a long line to shake each person's hand that has served. It was so special. 



These two got to sleep in the same bed together for the first time since their rooms were hot! Thankfully we got the downstairs unit working that night so we had two cool rooms!



Late night fishing and a fire in the fire pit! It was very high tide with the special moon that night!



Saturday morning we hung around while Lionel took care of our HVAC problem. Then we hit the beach! Mr. Peter is always so nice to stop and talk to the children and ask if we wanted a picture!



That night Hilary and Drew hosted Beer Olympics since the Olympics are finally happening! Each couple was assigned a country and we were Italy! I literally ran into trader joe's on Thursday afternoon and ran right back out 10 minutes later with all of the things for a charcuterie board. It was probably my fastest shopping adventure ever. These are my four favorite cheeses from there!





There was so much food that I evidently didn't take a picture of!



All of the couple played the beer olympics. We started with Ring Toss then played flip cup, beer pong and corn hole! It was so fun!





The kids enjoyed homemade ice cream by the USA team!


The winners! They haven't done any bragging since then...ha...none at all...!!



Sunday morning Grady and I ran over to 59 Causeway to pick up breakfast while Molly Anne and Kevin slept in.



Then we went over to the beach to try to fly Molly Anne's kite that she got for her birthday from Nana and PapaG. There wasn't enough wind but we got it all set up for next time!



We came back to the house and the four of us played on the WaterMat for awhile off the dock in the canal! Always fun and a nice change from the sand!

We all took shower then hit the road home. Mills loves life at the beach.



Molly Anne's typical car ride activity...



Grady's typical car ride activity!

Anyone watch the gymnastics and swimming last night?! I LOVE the Olympics! The athletes are unbelievable. 

Hope everyone has a nice week!