Friday Five | July 2018
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Oh, July!
You have been interesting. Starting with the fact that we kicked the month off with a pipe leak in the wall of our family room. Which, unfortunately for us, we didn’t catch until one morning when I walked across the floor and felt the laminate flooring squishing. And within seconds water was bubbling up from the planks, and in a panic, I was screaming for hubby to come down before the house floated away.
My dad came over, assessed the situation and flagged someone to come down and help us get it all fixed. By the end of the day, we had the leaky pipe problem was solved but what was left behind was a enormous hole in the wall and a pile of warped flooring that had to be pulled and needed to be replaced.
This leads me to my first Friday five.
1. Favorite Snacks this month
Because I’m not gonna lie, there was a ton of stress eating that happened while the hubby tried to chase down additional boards of our laminate flooring Because otherwise, we were looking at having to replace ALL of the floorings in the bottom portion of our house! It all worked out in the end, and our room is back to its original condition. Crisis averted.
Okay, so these birthday cake Oreos are not new! But I hadn’t tried them until I bought a couple of packs to test a no-bake pie recipe that I’m going to be sharing soon. But good lord, they are addicting! I’m not planning on buying more because too often I find myself wanting to head back to the pantry for a quick 70-calorie cookie.
I found these Almond Crunch bites at Costco, during my last visit and honestly, I was stoked because they fit so many different dietary restrictions. Can I also just say how big of a plus it is to find a snack that only has five ingredients? All clean too. No funny ingredients. YAAAAAS.
Overall, these are yummy. A little sweeter than I expected them to be but they do have a nice sweet/salty balance thing going on. Anees loved them even more than I did so these are certainly going to be a permanent item on our Costco shopping list.
2. Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Faves:
I also threw a pair of men’s shoes and dress shirt into the mix. These dress shirts are a steal and the quality is great!
shop the post:
shop the post:
3. Favorite recipes of the month:
no-bake double chocolate Nutella pie (coming soon)
crispy chicken salad with sriracha honey bbq dressing
4. Summer Travel Accessories:
1. Straw Hat: No summer travel is complete without a proper hat! I just got this one and can’t wait to wear it on vacation.
2. Minnie Travel Flats: Hands down my favorite pair of flats! These fold up and you can easily pop them into the smallest of bags.
3. Hanging Toiletry Bag: This little tote has tons of space for your makeup, hair products, and shower accessories. I love how much this bag holds!
4. Water Bottle: Water Bottle: This one keeps water cold for up to 24 hours, so it’s perfect for carrying with me on my summer travels. P.S. no plastic water bottles for me, please and thank you.
5. Travel Pillow: We’re headed to Europe (talk about a long, long plane ride), so I’m taking this travel pillow with me. I also plan on getting plenty of use out of it when we’re riding the rails from city to city.
6. Glasses Case: whether it’s your reading glasses, sunglasses, or your everyday glasses, you gotta have a quirky-cute case to keep them in.
7. Passport Holder: travel in style! This case is the cutest.
8. Luggage Lock: This is a TSA approved lock so if there’s any reason for your bags to be opened, they can use the master key to get in. This is super useful and comes in a pack of 1, 3, or 5.
9. Camera: This is the camera I purchased recently for my travels. After carrying around my DSLR for years, I finally decided to invest in something a little smaller. This one fits into my everyday crossbody bag, so it’s super convenient!
10. Travel Charger: This thing is a powerhouse – literally. It charges my phone at least six times before running out of juice and will power pretty much charge anything that has a USB port!
11. World Adapter: one adapter that you can use worldwide.
12. Travel Bag Scale: Take it from someone who’s been in a pickle a few times, this is one thing you MUST keep on you during travels!
13. Luggage Organizer: luggage packing organizer cubes that you can use to stay organized when you’re traveling. This set comes with a laundry bag, toiletry bag, and a bag for your shoes too!
5. Italy!
I’m still in the thick of planning our trip at the end of August. So if you’ve got any recommendations, feel free to leave them in the comments, or send me an email!
Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest
Image via Pinterest
Moving along. I’m starting to plan recipes for the rest of the year, so I’d love to hear what you want to see! More one skillet/ sheet pan dinners? Easy desserts? Are we tired of salads? How soon is it too soon to share soups? Because I dig a bowl of hearty soup.
P.S. I’m still a little shocked that we’re already halfway through the year.
And that’s it for this months Friday Faves!
Alright, have a greattttt weekend! 
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3 Comments on “Friday Five | July 2018”
Yes I am getting a little tired of salads, but it is too hot to eat much else. I think I am becoming a winter person, I love the food, i love to bake and I love the clothes! So why do I live in West Texas! That said, I will be trying the crispy chicken salad with the sriracha bbq honey dressing, because it is still hot!
You are going to Italy?!! I can’t wait for those posts!
Here’s to August!
You and me both! I’m feeling the salad burn-out so bad right now! But like you said, it’s way too hot to eat anything else in Texas, LOL! I’m a winter person too, I’m already finding things for my winter wardrobe, despite the fact that we won’t even have a proper winter here ? Hope you love the crispy chicken salad. Yes, Italy at the end of August! Cannot wait to share everything once I’m back! Have a wonderful August! 🙂
Italy! You are going to love it! I just came back after being there for two months. Hubby was working in Milan, so we did a bit of travelling around. Where are you planning on going? It’s been very hot there for weeks. 90° +, but that is Milan, so not sure about the rest of the country. We loved Rome the most, however we went to Venice as well. Not my favourite, but I guess something one should get to see once before it sinks below the ocean and is gone forever. Cinque Terre was beautiful as was Lake Como. Florence was lovely too. Train travel between places is excellent and fast. Thin crust pizza is excellent, wine is cheap, outdoor cafe’s are everywhere and “apertivo” is an inexpensive and fun way to have a drink and have your dinner! If you were planning on going to Milan, I would “for sure” skip it. It is “not in the least” a pretty city and really there is nothing to see. Side trips….LOVED Amsterdam!
Sorry for the delayed response, Colleen! Wow, two months in Italy sounds like a dream! Unfortunately, it’s going to be super hot when we get there as well as it’ll be late August — not looking forward to that at all! Thank you so much for all your recommendations, we’re planning to make our way from Rome to the Amalfi coast, Florence, Cinque Terre, and finally Venice. I’m glad you’ve confirmed my decision to skip Milan! I’m sure it’s lovely but we just decided to spend extra time on the Amalfi coast and Cinque Terre instead. I’ll have to add Amsterdam to my list of cities to see! 🙂