Happy Friday!!!! I am so glad today is Friday. It has not been a bad week but I am just glad to be off from work for a couple of days.
The first thing today that is a favorite is that the sun is finally shining. It’s still cold but with the sunshine it makes it feel so much better.
I have to show you this weekender bag I bought a couple of weeks ago. I first saw it on TikTok. It is from Target and it was sold out for a few weeks. I was finally able to order it and I got it in just in time to take on my North Carolina trip. It is big and soft and it holds a lot of stuff. It was $40.00 and totally worth it. It makes a great overnight or weekend bag.
You can see from this picture it is a great size.
Remember the Valentine wreath I made a few weeks ago? I just wasn’t happy with it. I felt like the two reds sort of clashed. So I painted another heart white and added these hearts I already had. I think it looks so much better. I put the other red heart in an inside door.
This was the first one. See too much red on red.
I like this one much better. What do you think?
Keeping up with my word of the year, Celebrate, we celebrated my nieces Birthday last night at our favorite local Mexican Restaurant. It was a lot of fun. We were sad because my sister couldn’t join us. She is going through chemo and has to be really careful about being out and about. But she will be back with us soon.
Birthday Girl!!!
Spending time with family is my favorite of all.
I don’t always like Danielle Steels’ books but I just finished this one and it was really good. I would definitely recommend this one. Invisible.
Another thing I would highly recommend, and I may have already, these Universal Thread jeans from Target. I order the high rise, which I swore I would never like but I love them, and they fit so nice and comfy. I have two pairs and I could wear them every day.
So that is my favorites for this week. What have you been loving? have a wonderful weekend.
Happy Friday, how was your week? I have a few favorites from the week to share with you.
I had seen these rollers all over TikTok and Instagram. I finally bought one from Amazon. They are about $20.00. It is amazing. I have to admit I put it in my freezer and forgot to use it for a couple of days. I finally got it out and used it. The best time to use it is in the morning. It is cold and feels wonderful on your face. It reduces pores and puffiness and it just feels so good. It is supposedly good for headaches and pain relief.
I decided to put out a few Valentines decorations. I was thinking about the red and white wreath I had made for Christmas. I made the wreath and then added the white bells for Christmas. I decided to take the bells off and add a red heart. I bought this heart at Hobby Lobby and painted it red and added it to the wreath. I am still a little undecided. It looks like the reds don’t quite match. I may do something different but for now it is on the door and it looks just fine.
I stopped in at The Dollar General Store yesterday and all Christmas items were on sale 70% off. Most things were picked over but look at this adorable little Christmas calendar I got. I will save it for next Christmas. It was only $2.00!!
I love to color. I found this Cat coloring book. It is so nice. I may have a problem with cats I just love them so much!!!
I love taking salads to work. My niece has one of these Bentgo salad containers. I had to get one too. It is so convenient. Again I got this at Amazon. Only $14.99 and so compact. It’s perfect for taking my salad to work.
I just finished this book. It was really good and had a little twist at the end. I got it through my Libby online library app.
Now for the best “favorites” this week. I had lunch with my niece Michelle and lunch another day with my friend Lorie. And my sister is doing very well after her first Chemo treatment. She has five left to go but so far so good. I think we have to celebrate the small victories as well as the large. And that is right on track with my word of the year. Celebrate.
What a crazy week this has been. We have a huge project going on at work and we are moving all of our offices and basically everything in our building to another area or two on the grounds. This is so we can build a new entrance, visitor’s center building. I’ll explain more as the process goes along but it has been hectic. I am off today but will go in tomorrow.
I wanted to share some of my favorites that I have enjoyed lately, here we go!!!
These Pond’s makeup remover wipes are awesome!!! I have tried several different types through the years. They are to be used when you can’t take your makeup off properly for whatever reason. Or you can keep them in your car or purse if you are working out and need to wipe sweat away. I kept a small packet of these in my overnight bag when I spent the night at the hospital recently with my sister. I loved them. I got these at Dollar Tree. This is a package of 10 and fits easily into my purse or overnight bag. They also make your face feel so smooth.
These garlic knots I got at Walmart are a meal in themselves. You actually bake them or heat them I should say, in the bag they come in. They are incredibly yummy and addictive. I think they would go great with lasagna or spaghetti and then maybe you wouldn’t eat half the bag like I did. They’re is 8 in a bag and my husband and I shared most of a bag last night. That is all we had for dinner but as I said I think they would be great with spaghetti or any type of pasta.
I got these little boots back before Christmas. I bought them at Burkes Outlet in nearby Athens. Do you have a Burkes Outlet where you live? They have some really nice things. Also very reasonably priced. And their store has undergone a transformation and it is just lovely. The layout is very inviting. Anyway I bought these boots in a size 7, they are Dr. Scholl’s. The 7 turned out to be too small and I had to take them back for an 8 and they fit great!!! I have worn them so many times since Christmas. I find myself pulling them out every other day or so. I just love them.
I am not sure what brand this little cup is. My husband got it at our dirty Santa exchange at Christmas but I immediately took it away from him. It barely holds 16 oz. but it is just the perfect size for me to take on my drive to work. The coffee stays hot the entire time even if I don’t finish it until after I get to work.
Look at this little gardener Santa. I snagged him at a thrift store just before Christmas. I added him to my Santa collection. I definitely don’t have one like him. I also got him 50% off because it was just a few days before Christmas and all Christmas items in this store was marked down. Isn’t he adorable?
This mini Chainsaw was a Christmas present. There are probably not a lot of women who ask for a chainsaw for Christmas but I am her. This is 6 inches, cordless and is made to cut wood and do tree trimming. It has two batteries so I should be good to go for awhile. I haven’t used it yet but I can’t wait to get out in the yard with it.
This is not my kitty. She is a resident kitty where I work. She came to us a few months ago. We named her Anthy, after Anthodite which is a beautiful cave formation, and she is a bit feral. She comes out mostly in the evening and we feed her. Some of our night guards at work have even been able to pet her. She is becoming friendlier so we are hoping maybe someone will soon be able to take her home. Not me!!!!
Guys, this book is amazing. I loved it!!!! Tara Westover recounts her journey from her isolated life in the mountains of Idaho to completing a PhD program in history at Cambridge University. I was so engrossed in this book I was sad to finish it. Tara has appeared on several talk shows and you can google them and watch her. It is an amazing story. If you read nothing else this year please read this book.
The last Friday Favorite is actually a Christmas favorite. My 21 year old nephew bought me yarn for Christmas, soft yarn because he remembered that I told him I didn’t like the acrylic yarn. You guys this touched my heart. Anyone who buys me yarn gets me. Forever. It is absolutely the best thing you could buy me. I was beyond ecstatic and touched.
Hello and happy Friday!!! How was your week? My week was really good but a bit hectic. I think I say that almost every week. I have a few favorites to share with you and some not so favorites that I will put a spin on and make them a good thing.
Last weekend my niece, Michelle, and I went to nearby Tellico Plains to a little gift shop, Timeless Treasures. They sell the Judy Blue Jeans that everyone is raving about. I will have to say they are very comfy. I tried on a couple of pairs but decided I didn’t need any. Michelle bought a pair. They do have some nice things in this shop. They have a great selection of the Simply Southern Sherpa lined shackets. I will definitely go back and do some Christmas shopping.
We also went next door to the Charles Hall Museum Marketplace. This is a shop with several booths of lots of different things. You may find a booth with antiques, local made crafts, photography, and lots of other things. There is a lady who brings in fresh flowers on Saturday. She has dried ones in the fall and winter. I bought a bunch of dried ones. I also bought these ceramic cats. I thought at first they were McCoy because there was an Mc marking on the bottom but I think it could have been someone’s initials. But that is ok I love them.
I forgot to show you this Santa that I bought a few weeks ago when I was in Dahlonega GA. We had some time to run into a few antique stores on the town square and I bought this cool guy. I am adding him to my Santa collection. I definitely don’t have one like him. The artist is Greg Guedel. This Santa is actually carved from wood. I think he will make a nice addition to my Santa family. Check out Greg Guedel if you get a chance he is a fantastic artist.
O.K. I don’t know how I am so late to the game. I saw someone on TikTok eating from a tub of Cheesecake No Bake Filling. I didn’t even know this was a thing. I went to Walmart and sure enough you can buy a whole tub of just the filling!!! How did I not know this? You can eat it with animal crackers, graham crackers, or just with a spoon. Or you can put it in a crust and make it into an actual cheesecake. I had to buy a tub. I haven’t opened mine yet. I will admit it is a little costly about $5.00 a tub. But I am sure it will last a long time HA!!!!
I think I may have mentioned these candles to you before. Someone gave me a large one as a gift last year and it is now the only candles we burn in our house. I love this scent. I always get mine at Walmart. The large size, 16 OZ. are about $15.00 but right now you can find the smaller ones like this 12 OZ for only $6.00. I am going to stock up on these.
The other night for dinner I made my own little Charcuterie board, or plate I should say, It made the perfect dinner snack. I haven’t done a large Charcuterie board but I may have to try my hand at that through the holidays.
So a few things this week that were not too pleasant. Our heat and air system finally bit the dust. It is twenty three years old and we have had it since we built the house so I guess it served us well. We noticed a few weeks ago when it got warmer that the air didn’t seem to be working correctly. Then the heat wouldn’t come on when it got cold. We called the man who has worked on it for years. He checked it out and declared the official time of death. It took a few days but today we finally got the new unit installed. A costly but necessary project. and the best part to me is we have wonderful heat. And the new thermostats are pretty.
I had to be in Knoxville on Monday morning at 8:00 AM. Knoxville is about an hour from me so I had to leave out very early. I had a follow up Doctor’s appointment. Good news there everything was fine. I had a high potassium level reading back in May but my doctor assured me that all of my other blood work was fine and he didn’t think it was anything to worry about. Too late for that. But I was glad to get the news when I did.
I had to have a yucky colonoscopy on Tuesday so another early morning appointment in Knoxville. The prep for these are much worse than the actual test. I had to do the prep on Monday so I was starving by Tuesday afternoon. My husband took excellent care of me and treated me like a big baby. All was good with my colon and I don’t have to follow up for another five years. So that is a bit of fantastic news. My sister had colon cancer at the very young age of 35 so me and my brothers and sisters have had to have colonoscopies on a regular basis for many years. I am happy to say that my sister is a 35 year cancer survivor. Catching this early and getting it taken care of is the key.
So some things that were not extra nice to have happen but turned out to be fine overall. I just have to leave you with this picture of two adorable Christmas presents that I found under the Christmas tree.
So how was your week? Anything new and exciting to share? Have a wonderful weekend.
Southern Patches 