Friday Favorites, 9.2.22.

 

Happy Friday, friends! I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for this weekly FAVORITE blog post. How has your week been? Mine has been really good! I worked, I did the house things, I read, I blogged, I did Bible study...it's all been good. It did FLY BY, which I feel like is kind of the new thing right now, with my job. I am not complaining, I am just still getting used to a new normal. 

Before I jump in to today's post, I want to remind you/tell you for the first time that I have taken over a link party that happens on the first Wednesday of every month—it's called "currently" and it's when we share from the topics I pick for each month. Anne over at Anne In Residence used to host this, but she ended it recently and then I reached out to her about taking it over...I know several blog friends who loved being a part of that as much as I did, so I'm excited to keep it going! I've kept the link open all month long, in case you want to join in August's when we shared what we're currently loving, wearing, dreaming and hoping. On September 7, the topics will be loving, beginning, ending, picking and posting. I hope you join in! Here is the link from August...this will take place every month on the first Wednesday of the month. I hope you join me, so get your post scheduled! 

Now, onto my favorites. 

(This picture is from last year.) My favorite time of year is when I can start pulling out the holiday decorations! I am anxiously awaiting being able to get a mum like this for the porch, but I hung my cute pumpkin door hanger, I turned that sign around to the "hello Fall" side, and though it may get close to a hundred degrees some days, it is full blown fall in my house. My fall candles are lit as I write this post. Can you sense my immense joy? It feels like it's tangible, I'm so giddy.

One of my favorite things to use to decorate with are old books like most of these you see pictured. I figure if I'm going to hang onto books that are nostalgic, I might as well use them. Right? I also have books all over my house and use them everywhere. Another favorite thing I like to do is use them as stands to put little lamps on, like the kitchen lamp I have. I like that it makes the lamp appear to be taller and I can easier hide the chord that way. It drives my husband crazy that I hide all the outlets in our house. 🤣

Another favorite thing I like to do is use good smelling all-purpose cleaners like this one pictured above in the kitchen and bathrooms in our house. It doesn't disinfect, so when I need to deep clean I still use 409, but just to give it a quick cleaning, I use this stuff. I love a lot of her scents, but this Acorn Spice scent is my very favorite. I was out with my Mom and sister Trish last Saturday when Trish pointed this out to me at Target. I was so glad she showed it to me! I bought two bottles of this and three bottles of the hand soap in the same scent. I love to clean with this right before someone comes over. It's a great way to make your house smell really good.

Speaking of the month that ushers us into my favorite season, this was my favorite thing on Pinterest yesterday morning. Speaking of Pinterest, do you follow me there? Here is my profile. It's my favorite social media outlet, other than this blog, followed closely by Instagram. 

This is still one of my favorite views. I love walking into work on the mornings when I go in. This little coffee shop always has people sitting at the tables outside. Funny story, one afternoon I was coming out of work and I could not get the door to open going out of the office. I don't know if it was jammed or what, but I finally had to turn the handle-style door knob upward to get it to open and when I did that, I stumbled through the door and scared the poor lady sitting at the table closest to me half to death and when I apologized for that, we started talking and we were all laughing by the time I left. Being stuck anywhere is NOT my favorite and I think I always panic a little when that happens.

Wednesday night choir rehearsal was my favorite this week. We had a Christmas party to preview the Christmas music we're about to start learning for December. It was a fun night! 

The picture of our worship pastor is one my talented photographer friend took while we were there and this one right above is my adorable friend Melanie, who is also a mom to four boys and who homeschooled them and who was also the one I talked about who helped me learn to dress in a way that I love. She used to sell Premier Jewelry, but they went out of business a couple years ago and she has since started up her own online clothing boutique, Ann & Grace. You should follow her on Instagram! Here is a link to do that...she does ship and you can purchase from Instagram or from the app she has available for both Apple and Android phones. Her clothing is unique and always on trend for each season. If you want to follow me on Instagram, here is a link to my profile. 

I'm sharing these two pictures for two reasons. First, in the one above, I love the outfit I wore to work yesterday. I have mentioned that I do not have to dress a certain way and I also don't dress up for anyone except myself. I usually never see anyone at work except for my best friend, but I love looking cute and put together. Also, I love this top and probably won't wear it again this year. 

I'm sharing this picture because my sister Debi gave me some new lipstick while she was here. I used to love wearing dark colors like this and while I still love them, I haven't worn a dark shade like this in years. I'm kinda thinking I love it, though! It's rich and chocolatey, but I toned it down with a light shimmery lip gloss. I'm going to wear it when I go out! Another favorite are the shoes I've been wearing more the last two weeks. Aren't they cute? They're the Naked Feet brand. I love that white sole on the bottom that contrasts the black.

I'll wrap up with this last picture and a funny story. First, today is my sister Trish's birthday! She's the fourth one from the left pictured above. We surprised her with this Nashville trip with all us sisters for her 50th birthday a few years ago and on this night we were dressed up to the hilt to see a play that we thought was going to be at a fancy theater. Imagine our dismay when we pulled into a SENIOR CITIZEN community center and discovered that everyone else was dressed in shorts and that the "dinner" that would be served there was cooked by volunteers and eaten at communal tables. You should have seen the way everyone was looking at us! It ended up being a fun night, a great play and the best memory ever. At one point in the night when Debi (far left) was eating and said how good it was in her sarcastic voice, I legit laughed so hard that the water I'd just taken a drink of came back out of my mouth. To this day, I cannot sit near her at a serious event! 

Did you catch all of my blog posts this week? Here are links below in case you missed any of them! There were two on Wednesday, because I shared about the books I read in August, as well as the scheduled post I'd planned on. 

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Wednesday

Thursday 

It's your turn!  Tell me something good from your week that was a favorite. I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!