Welcome to the Friday 5!
Every Friday I will highlight 5 things I am currently loving. This can be anything from habits that are currently serving me, clothes, apps, people I am currently loving, podcasts, food, mom hacks and everything in between!
What I am currently loving:
Revisionist History Podcast
Malcom Gladwell is a New York Time’s best-selling author for his books, David and Goliath, Outliers and several more. Matt has read all his books and finds them incredibly interesting. A few years ago, we were stuck in traffic driving home from visiting his family and were bored out of our minds in the car. So, we started just randomly searching Podcasts to listen to. We stumbled upon Gladwell’s Revisionist History. I think we listened to every single episode that was available at that time. He is such an incredible storyteller and shares such obscure information that you are not expecting. My favorite episode by far is from season 1, episode 03, “The Big Man Can’t Shoot.” The podcast starts off discussing basketball legend, Wilt Chamberlain and his historic 100-point game, a record from 1962 that remains unbroken. In that game Chamberlain shot all of his free throws underhanded, making 28 out of 32 attempts. The actual point of the podcast has nothing to do with basketball, but rather our human nature and why we make the choices we make. I listened to it again yesterday and it was just as fascinating the second time. The podcasts never end up being about what you think they are about, and I just love that.
Randomly Dressing Up for a Night Out
I love to get dressed up and celebrate special occasions. Planning an outfit for a wedding or a black-tie event is one of my favorite things to do, especially now that I do not get dressed up for work every day. With everything that transpired in 2020, we have not gone to any special events and I have found myself longing to get all dressed up. So, I have started getting dressed up anyway. As I discussed here, Matt and I go on a date most Friday nights. Most of these dinners or nights out aren’t anything fancy and sometimes even include a trip to Target, but I have started randomly pulling out my fun cocktail dresses when we are going to dinner at a nicer restaurant. We live in a very casual town and I don’t think there is a restaurant locally that we couldn’t wear jeans to, but some are certainly fancy enough to get all dressed up. I also love the mystery of being all dressed up and seeing all the other diners wondering where we are headed next. So, if you have those fancy dresses getting dusty in your closet, pull them out. Get dressed up, for no other reason than you want to. You don’t need an excuse; you are out of the house and sometimes that is special occasion enough.
5 Minute Face
Speaking of getting dressed, this is my current favorite habit. A small personal goal of mine this year was to be a little more put together when I leave the house. There were several occasions last year that I would come home from the store or dropping the kids off and look in the mirror and think, I cannot believe I left the house like that. Rebecca of 10 years ago would be so disappointed in me. Putting on just a small amount of makeup makes me feel better, makes me more productive and just overall I am in a better mood. Most days, I am in some version of my mom uniform of leggings, work out top and jean jacket, so throwing on a little concealer, blush and mascara just makes me feel good. I timed myself this week, taking right at 5 minutes, I feel like a whole new person. Another hack that makes this easier, I keep my makeup in a bag now and sometimes do my makeup all over the house. In the bathroom off the kitchen while the girls are finishing breakfast, at the mirror in the foyer while they are putting on shoes or in the girls’ bathroom while they are brushing their teeth. I am doing my best to find a way to make it happen. And I feel better every single time.
Art Party Boss
If you have been following me on Instagram, you know how much we love these things. This is a local, woman owned, small business. After we bought our first kit, I was so impressed I thought for sure it was a franchise that this local woman had started selling at the farmer’s market. I couldn’t find anything and asked her the next time we saw her if she did this all on her own, she said, “Yes, I make it all at my home and put each box together.” I was blown away. These kits are so professionally and thoughtfully put together. Every single thing you could need and step by step directions to put together the clay kit or painting. These are the girls’ favorite things to do, we have an entire fireplace mantle gallery of their work. I have started giving the kits as gifts to everyone I know. I love that it is an activity that the kids can do and not just another toy that gets thrown to side when they are bored of it. The girls love to look at their creations and talk about them constantly.
Kitchen Shears
I did not grow up with a mom who made home cooked meals, she was the best mother I could’ve ever asked for, but cooking isn’t her spiritual gift. So, when I got married, I was determined to really learn to cook. I experimented constantly, collected cookbooks, and watched cooking shows to see how they did everything in the kitchen. I feel like I really found my groove in the kitchen, then I became a mom, of 3, in 3 and a half years. Now, I had to figure out how to cook for 5 people and usually very quickly. I kept seeing moms in a group on Facebook recommending cutting food with scissors rather than using a knife. I thought to myself, this is ridiculous, cutting with scissors cannot be THAT MUCH faster or easier than using a knife. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I started using scissors just to prove that it wasn’t that much different, but it is. I can’t even explain it, but it is so much easier. I cut sandwiches, toast, waffles, chicken, hamburgers, fruit, all of it. You name it, I cut it with scissors. I have two pair that I keep in the kitchen that are only used for food and nothing else. And most days they are both dirty by the end of the day. So, get yourself some kitchen shears, you won’t regret it.
I hope you found something helpful or inspiring in this week’s Friday Five! I’ll have 5 new favorites to share with you next week, have an awesome weekend!
