Starbucks

Currently: January 2018

Current book Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. I read this book in high school and it has remained a favorite to this day. So excited to be rereading it!

Current drink Starbucks blonde roast. I love taking Lola and Mavis with me when I go through the drive-through so they can enjoy a puppuccino.

Starbucks holiday cups 2017

Current beauty product EOS Strawberry Sorbet Organic Lip Balm. I’ve always wanted to try EOS and now I’m hooked!

Current excitement Snow! If it’s winter, it might as well snow, right? We got a few inches on Friday night, so Jimmy and I took the girls out in the snow on Saturday afternoon and they had a blast running through it!

Current obsession Dogs in jackets. So stinkin’ cute! They have been much needed, though, as the temperature here in Pittsburgh has dipped down to zero. Brrr.

Cocker spaniel and chocolate lab in winter coats

Current need Either snow boots or salve for the dogs’ paws. Lola and Mavis have been limping if they get salt in their paws or if they get too cold. Poor gals.

Current blessing Thinking back on how amazing last year was.

Current craving Adopting another pet! Just kidding (but not really…). I think Jimmy might smack me if he reads this. I just love having fur babies 🙂

Black cat laying on gray rug

Current procrastination As always, finishing writing my book. So many things seem more pressing than writing, but I know I just need to make the time.

Current goal I really want to paint our office. This has been a goal of mine since last January. I think Jimmy and I are finally going to start working on it this month, though!

Current indulgence Lighting a candle each evening and cuddling on the couch with a good book!

Bath and Body Works Cinnamon Caramel Swirl three wick candle

Current food Cracker Barrel! My mom and dad took us there recently and it was great, as always. Does anyone else love Cracker Barrel? I’m a big fan of their rainbow trout and cornbread. And country store. I could spend hours looking at everything!

Current prayer Praying that God would be front and center in my life this year and always ❤

Current mood Happy. Jimmy has the day off work!

Excited to spend time with this guy today!

Current confession It was too cold to walk the dogs yesterday, so I made a little obstacle course for them to get their energy out. I’m not sure who had more fun with it, me or the dogs?!

Current question What are you up to today?

A Relaxing Staycation

Jimmy and I took Thursday and Friday off of work last week and sent Lola and Mavis to my parents’ so we could have a little staycation! We weren’t sure if we would be out of the house for long stretches of time, so we figured it’d be good to have the girls stay with my mom and dad. Plus dogs = extra responsibility and we wanted our time together to feel like a vacation.

I was definitely starting to feel burnt out from the busyness of life lately, so it was wonderful to take some time to relax and rejuvenate with my main man.

Husband and wife black and white picture smiling in car

I missed the girls so much and literally felt guilty for having them stay with my parents (even though I knew they were having a blast and were in good hands). Jimmy and I had such a wonderful time, though!

At first, we had these grand plans to go to a hunting and fishing store in West Virginia, or to visit the National Aviary here in Pittsburgh, but we didn’t do much of anything and it was honestly perfect.

What we actually did

  • Slept in until sometime between 7:30 and 8:30 each morning
  • Got coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks each day
  • Walked/rode bikes on a local trail
  • Did a little Christmas shopping for Shiloh Christian Children’s Ranch
  • Washed Jimmy’s truck
  • Cooked HomeChef meals

Starbucks holiday cups 2017

I’m usually team Dunkin’ when it comes to plain coffee, but I tried the Starbucks Christmas Blonde Roast coffee and was a big fan. Jimmy got the salted caramel mocha and said he highly recommends it!

HomeChef pork tenderloin

We had fun testing out three meals from HomeChef as part of our little experiment with meal delivery kits! Spoiler alert: we liked HelloFresh more than HomeChef. I’ll definitely blog more about this as we try other companies. We are looking into Plated and Sun Basket next!

May Designs planner for BlueSky with accessories and coffee

I also grabbed some accessories for the planner I bought for 2018! Is anyone else obsessed with all things planner-related? For 2017, I had an Erin Condren planner and liked it, but wasn’t a fan of the price tag. I decided to go with a planner from Target for 2018 and bought some binder clips with tabs, washi tape, page flags, and color coding labels to gussy it up!

My sister and I always talk about how much we love looking for the perfect planner. My mom used to get annoyed with us during back to school shopping because we would spend at least 30 minutes looking at planners. We have yet to find the perfect planner and agree it’s because we are destined to create our own. Someday 😉

Brown and white cocker spaniel puppy

After a restful staycation, Jimmy and I met my parents to pick up Lola and Mavis this afternoon (Saturday) and we’re all back home. Mavis fell asleep on the way home and is currently crashed out on our bathroom rug (aka the only patch of carpet-like material in our all hardwood flooring house). It’s safe to say she and Lola had a great time with my parents and Jimmy and I had a great staycation!

Two questions today:

If you use a planner, are you loyal to a certain brand?

Have you ever done a staycation?