Alright.  The election is days away.  Headlines are cray. And there are a whole heckofalot of worrisome things we could chat about today.

Sure, we could do that.  But it’s Friday!  So, let’s pretend to be naive and blissfully unaware for a hot sec and talk about some favorite things, shall we?

This is Us

img_1839If you’re living under a rock and have yet to hear of this show, I’m going to need you to remedy that situation.  Stat.  Oh my goodness, it’s fantastic.  When I initially learned that much of the storyline would revolve around transracial adoption, I was nervously holding my breath as I waited to see how it would be handled.  Y’all, it’s been beautiful.  Real and raw and hard-hitting and justgowatchitnow.

No, really.

Now.

Our Venus Flytrap

img_1972People.  This $4 plant- effectively the newest member of our family- has brought our crew an inordinate amount of entertainment over the past week.  I’ve been found scouring dark corners of our house and mossy patches of our yard in attempts to find tiny crawling creatures for our plant.  My kids have stood quietly for whole MINUTES at a time (a notable feat indeed), watching and waiting for the plant to eat unsuspecting insects.  Coolest.  Ever.  (Says the self-proclaimed science nerd.)

There’s no telling how long this lil guy will survive because this self-proclaimed science nerd also happens to be a self-proclaimed plant murderer.  But we’ll enjoy him while he lasts.

Lip gloss

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As a 33 year old woman, I’m not sure if I should be embarrassed to admit this, but I have never- not ever– not on my wedding day or any other day of my existence- worn lipstick.  In fact, it was not long ago that I retired my multi-pack-of-Lipsmackers buying habit.  Because, the way I see it, if I have the choice between my lips tasting like Dr. Pepper and my lips tasting like… lips… I choose Dr. Pepper.

But I’m a grown-up now.  And, thanks to a recentish gift from my sister, I have now graduated to this fancy-sounding “rose salve.”  It claims to be “all-purpose,” but that makes me a little nervous, so I just use it on my lips.  And love it a lot.  Because if you can’t smell/taste like Dr. Pepper, then I suppose roses are another acceptable option.

Salsa

If you have ever been a dinner guest at our home, there’s a very high likelihood that we’ve fed you Mexican.  And, if we’ve ever fed you Mexican in our home, there’s a 100% chance that we’ve served you this salsa.  It’s cheap, easy, and a staple in our fridge.

Listen, I know when you hear the name “Pioneer Woman,” your brain doesn’t necessarily doesn’t necessarily jump to “authentic Mexican food”, but I’ve served this to my Mexican friends on a number of occasions (because, again, if you come over, just go ‘head and expect tacos), and they approve.

Chatbooks

There are people in this world who make meticulous scrapbooks to document the lives of their children.  People who make the effort to design beautiful yearly photo books.  And people who… don’t.  People like me.  People like this lady.  Oh my gosh, I feel so validated by this lady.

Anyway, Chatbooks are, hands down, the easiest solution to bridge my “wanna have my pictures printed/organized/beautified” desire and my “but just CAN’T GET MY JUNK TOGETHER” reality.  It’s just EIGHT BUCKS for a 60-page photo book, and there’s next-to-zero effort required on your part.  You should totally check them out.  And, if you want to use my fancy Chatbooks link, I wouldn’t hate it.  You’d get your first book free, and I’d get credits toward free books.  Either way, though.  Trust me on this one.img_2031

Happy Friday, friends!!