animals

Things Our Pets Destroy + Trying Meal Delivery Kits

Add ceramic vases to the list of things our pets destroy 😉

Black cat with broken vase

I was in our basement doing laundry the other day while Malcolm and Mavis were upstairs playing. I heard a big crash and found the shattered vase all over the floor. I’m pretty sure Mavis may have ate some of it, too. I’m happy to report she’s alive, though!

Other things our pets destroy
– The ability to sleep in (<– Mavis)
– Unattended books, shoes, and rolls of toilet paper (<– Mavis)
– Anything that can be knocked off of a counter (<– Malcolm)
– Food that is literally sitting on my plate right in front of me (<– Malcolm)
– Our old couches (<– Lola)

Dog and cat playing in bathtub

See Instagram for more of their antics.

They’re worth it though. It’s all material stuff (except sleeping in…) that can be replaced!

So, have you guys heard of meal delivery kits? I know I’m super late to the game with these because I’ve been seeing advertisements for Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, and a few others for years now. I found a Groupon for HelloFresh and decided to give it a whirl since it was such a good deal!

HelloFresh Kimchi Chicken HelloFresh Kimchi Chicken

Sorry for the poor quality photos (daylight savings is killing my photography at night!). I have to say, we really enjoyed the whole process of picking out meals, not having to shop for them, and then having all the ingredients and recipes on hand to prepare them.

Jimmy and I were just talking last night and agreed that we want to try all the meal delivery services out there and pick which one we think is the best. It sounds like a fun experiment that will keep us out of dinner ruts! It’s probably not something we would do forever, since I think it can be a bit pricy, but I like the idea and all of the companies seem to have good deals for first-timers.

We are trying Home Chef next and looking into Blue Apron, Sun Basket, and Plated. Send any other recommendations our way!

Alright, enough about meal delivery services! Let’s talk about fun things like coffee.

Coffee in catfinated mug from Kirkland's

I tried Trader Joe’s coffee for the first time and loved it. I think I’ll have to add their coffee to my list of favorite foods from Trader Joe’s. What else is on the list, you ask? Their chocolate coconut milk ice cream and sunflower seed butter! Also, I painted my nails for once. Yay!

Mother and daughter

My mom and I spent some time together on Friday because she needed to pickup a 5k race packet on “my side” of Pittsburgh (she also made an appearance in my most recent vlog!). While we were out and about, I got a new candle from Bath and Body Works! It’s the cinnamon caramel swirl scent and I’ve pretty much had it burning nonstop for the past two days.

There’s just something about a lit candle that makes a home feel so cozy, especially in the fall and winter 🙂

Bath and Body Works Cinnamon Caramel Swirl three wick candle

Alright, I’m off to do some chores around the house and then Jimmy and I are heading back to our church’s evening service. After the service, we’re co-hosting a taco fellowship for everyone with my sister and her husband. Yum!

I have lots of questions today…

If you have pets, have they every destroyed anything?

Have you ever tried meal kit delivery services?

What is your favorite candle scent?

Pumpkins, Pet Sitting, and Puppies

Hi and happy Friday! I’ve wanted to blog all week, but my schedule was jam-packed. I really missed this space!

I have a little chunk of time to blog this morning before I pet sit and do some baking for a birthday party, though. Hopefully Mavis, Malcolm, and Lola behave so I can write this in a reasonable amount of time 😉

The title of the post starts with pumpkins, so that’s what I’m going to start with! Jimmy and I packed up Lola and Mavis last Saturday and headed to my sister and her husband’s house for the day. They wanted to take us to a local farm to pick pumpkins!

Cocker spaniel and golden retriever puppy in wagon with pumpkin

While we don’t celebrate Halloween, we do celebrate fall, and it just seemed quintessentially fall-ish to pick pumpkins!

We also took the dogs on a walk, cooked dinner together, and relaxed. I hadn’t been to Hannah’s house since the day of her bridal shower, so It was fun to see how she and Josh have made it their own with decor and personal touches.

Rustic country kitchen decor Pioneer Woman and Fiestaware

As for pet sitting, it has been busy and so rewarding. I have especially loved bringing Mavis along for all of my visits. She’s my little working buddy, and all of my clients like that their dogs get some social interaction. Definitely a win-win situation!

Dogs sitting together Havanese and cocker spaniel puppies

As for the puppies in the title of this post, I’ve been hanging out with a lot of pups lately. I’d say about half of the animals I pet sit right now are puppies. It keeps me on my toes since puppies like to explore the world with their mouths, and find plenty of ways to get into trouble, haha.

Jimmy and I also had our friends from church over recently and they brought their puppy along to meet Mavis and Lola and it was adorable seeing them play together. Our friends’ puppy is a gorgeous beagle-husky mix!

Beagle Husky mix with blue eyes

I’ve also been doing some baking this week! My cousin is having a birthday party tonight and I’m making him a Lego cake.

I did a practice run earlier this week to get a feel for how I want to do everything. The practice cake could definitely use some work, but I was putting the finishing touches on it close to 10 pm on Tuesday night and just wanted to go to bed, ha.

Lego Cake

I’m making the actual cake today, so hopefully all goes well!! It’s going to be a mix of chocolate and vanilla cake layers with vanilla frosting. I’ll let you guys know how it turns out 🙂

Speaking of my cousin, he spent the day with me on Wednesday and we had such a lovely day together! We spent the day pet sitting and making some Lego treats. We even filmed a vlog together!

What have you been up to lately?!