Happy Friday, friends! I hope you've had a great week! My week was excellent; the first week I was off, I was getting used to being off work and catching up on things. This was the week that I fully embraced my days off. I was out every single day doing lunch, meeting friends by the pool, and shopping. I won't do that every week that I'm off, but this week it felt amazing. It's been a busy one for me, but here are some of the things and moments that stuck out to me.
I introduced Chris to one of my favorite places last weekend: Taziki's! Their hummus and oven baked pita chips are my favorite. I could just about eat this hummus with a spoon! That olive you see in the picture was scrumptious!
Going to the pool with Marilyn on Monday was my favorite! She has the best pool where she lives; those chairs in the water are amazing. The water felt amazing, which I was surprised by, since it hasn't been that hot for too many days in a row. How cute was our little friend we were sharing the pool with?
Bread making day is complicated, but it always ends up being a favorite when it's all over and done with. I say bread baking "day" like it's just a day, but it's not. It takes the better part of a day and a half! The day you pull the starter out to discard and start the rising process is not the day that you bake; you won't do that for at least twenty four hours more at that point. My bread didn't want to rise this time, so I didn't actually bake it until the late afternoon of day two. Isn't she pretty, though? The heart is my signature design; I don't have tools for this, I just use the tip end of a very sharp knife and free hand it before closing the lid of the Dutch oven and baking. I've tried a fleur de Lis and a flower; neither turned out well. For me, a heart is the easiest, and it's kind of my thing.
Dinners this week have been a favorite! Monday night was Mandarin orange chicken and chicken fried rice from Trader Joe's; Tuesday night was hamburgers (not pictured), and Wednesday night was steak, fresh squash and zucchini, and sourdough bread.
I loved this image that I saw on Instagram this week! It's all true, right? As I went four days without washing my hair, I'm grinning. I was going to wash it Wednesday night, but I skipped it since I knew I'd be at the pool on Thursday.
I had a fun day out Wednesday! I'm hosting Bunco next week, so that means that I get to shop for the gifts and provide the food for our next get together. I don't love shopping for these gifts, though...it's harder than it sounds. My friend Teresa loves to shop, so I asked her if we could go and do that together before I hosted in June. Wednesday was that day! I picked her up and we got started immediately. We went to Ross, then Marshall's, then John Mark's (I didn't buy anything there), then to lunch at a new to me place called Rio Lobo (which is in the building where another restaurant was that I went to for my senior prom), then ended the day at a cute little place called The Truffled Pig.
It was such a fun day, and we got some great gifts! I would love to win any of them, honestly, which is how I like to go about shopping. We got some great things at Marshall's! I also have the menu planned for that night: rotisserie chickens with dipping sauce, chips and guacamole, a summer salad of some sort, sourdough bread, fruit, and key lime pie (with cool whip) for dessert.
On a side note, the margaritas we had were delicious! I got a regular; hers was a mango one. The food was just mediocre and the service wasn't very desirable. Twice this week I've been out and had wait staff that weren't friendly. What in the world? I sound like I'm full of complaints today...I'm not usually like this, but with everything being so expensive, you would think that people would be friendly in restaurants. Am I being unreasonable?
This song is a current favorite; have you listened? It's Younger You by Miley Cyrus. I don't typically listen to her music, but my sons watched Hannah Montana when they were young, and I was a huge fan of the show and of her for a long time. She went a little haywire as she got older, though, so I haven't listened in a long time. This song is a tribute to her younger days and to the show as it was the twentieth anniversary of when it first aired. That doesn't even seem possible, but I guess it's true! Anyway...this is a great song and I love what the lyrics say.
This was another favorite from Instagram this week. I love what this says about who God is!
Having a second pool day yesterday was a favorite! My friend Wendy came over while I floated and we caught up on all of life. I haven't spent time with her in ages, and it'd even been months since we'd spoken. She is a friend I met through choir; I've traveled with her, and she and I went to see Peter Pan together at the Orpheum in December of 2024. It was so good to see her!
Lastly, reading has been a favorite this week! I finally finished this book; it was so, so good. I will be thinking about some things I highlighted for a long time to come!
What was a favorite for you this week? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all!
Jenn
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