Friday Five

Posted on September 1st, 2017

Labor Day Weekend!  The weather isn’t supposed to be great for the first part of the weekend, so Ian and I have major football watching plans tomorrow and are heading to New Haven to have lunch with a friend on Sunday.  The sun will come out on Monday just in time for us to head to Flushing to the US Open.  I have only been once and Ian has never been, so we’re both really looking forward to it.  There are definitely perks with living in New York!

 
I’ve never been a coastal girl, so it still wows me that this is where I live now!  Not a bad place to spend a Labor Day staycation.
 
Sending love and lifesaving supplies to Texas.  The list of heartbreaks associated with Hurricane Harvey is too long to enumerate, and many people with chronic illnesses have been waging life and death battles as they deal with limited resources and treatment options.  JDRF has led a campaign in partnership with the American Diabetes Association and Project Blue November in supporting Insulin for Life’s lifesaving work to deliver insulin, syringes, blood sugar testing supplies, and medical devices to hurricane victims living with diabetes.  The first supplies were delivered this morning, and they are already changing outcomes for Texas communities.  If you would like to support the campaign to get Harvey victims the medical treatment they need, you can donate directly to the efforts through this link.  On a personal note, I’m so proud of my dad and JDRF for pioneering this groundbreaking initiative.

Feeling like a newlywed.  With our anniversary last Sunday, I have been feeling like a newlywed all over again!  Ian spoiled me with the largest bouquet of flowers I have ever received, and I’ve been enjoying them– and married life– all week.  It is easy to feel excited about the future when I know it will be spent with such a marvelous guy.

Taking the homeowner plunge.  Being a new and first time homeowner and facing a big renovation comes with approximately infinity decisions, but I feel like I made good progress this week in finally making a few concrete decisions.  It may seem silly, but I tend to plan and plan and then get nervous about actually pulling the trigger.  We have a contractor and architect with whom we have been working closely on the overall design, but in ordering fabric samples and some light fixtures, I’ve taken the first baby steps on my own, too.

Shopping sales.  Everything is on sale this weekend!  I was excited to see such a good collection of transitional coats from Tuckernuck (like this striped Barbour and this reversible red one), and I’m pretty in love with these incredibly fun J. Crew heels that I now see are tempting me with their 30% off ways.  Though let’s be honest– I’m trying to save my money for exciting things like curtains.

Getting inventive.  I’ve had a bee in my bonnet about a recipe that had been existing only in my head that I really wanted to try, and I finally had the chance to execute this week.  Since Ian’s coworkers (currently the #1 recipient of my baked goods) at his new job have not had too many of my creations at this point, I’m really trying to deliver quality as I build up my reputation with them.  Luckily the “Brown Butter Almond Blondies” of my dreams seemed to have delivered!  Recipe to follow once I have a semi-photogenic kitchen.  Aka in the winter.