the-simple-things-in-life

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Starting fresh...

Welcome to 2019 ladies and gents! I know I am feeling ready for a fresh start. 

I am not usually one for resolutions, but it feels natural to want to open a new notebook to the first page, and starting writing your plans. I like organizing and planning so maybe this only feels natural to me. But anyway... There’s something so refreshing about stepping out after the new year, and saying “Starting now.” 

Though I know there will be hiccups and hurdles, I plan to attempt a more healthy lifestyle. No dieting or crazy expensive gym memberships here. Just overall more healthy - more fruits and veggies, more moving, less fake/junk food and less feeling shitty about myself.

I challenge you to do this too. Let’s feel happy. And well, by golly, that’s what this blog is all about. 

Happy Tuesday, my babies!

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Hoar frost

Guys, there really is something magical about this phenomenon pictured above. Hoar frost is possibly my favorite winter attribute. It paints the prettiest winter portrait.

We had some of this hoar frost this week. I love it. I love it for lots of reasons. Its pretty, for one. And two, my mom always thought it was beautiful. 

Happy (not yet officially) Winter! 

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Fire in the fireplace

I love a good fire. In particular, I love fires in the fireplace in the comfort of my home. 

I’m not super picky. I grew up in a house that had a wood burning fireplace, and it was so pretty, and smelled good. I currently live in a house with a gas fireplace, and its ridiculously convenient to just flip a switch and there it is. Either way, I go to a happy place when there’s a fire roaring in the fireplace anywhere. It makes me want to put on a thick sweater and sip red wine. Top it off with holiday decorations, and it will put you over the top, am I right? It just gives you that fuzzy wuzzy cozy all over feeling, you know? #yulelog

Its cold out there folks, get that fire a-blazing! Happy Tuesday, ya’ll.

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Birthdays

It was my husband’s birthday yesterday. And I love birthdays. Anyone’s birthday really. 

Birthdays are the best. Who cares about the number, I just like to celebrate! I do love party planning. But I also love the little things. This year, our 8 year old daughter Maddie wanted to make Dad signs, confetti, birthday morning PB toast and juice. We bought him some new shoes and a funny phy ed teacher t-shirt. For dinner we had home made pizza and chilled out at home. It was absolutely perfect. Not only did the hubs confess that it was one of his favorite birthdays, it almost felt effortless. It was just regular, awesome life, with a little cele mixed in. I could really get into birthdays like that. 

If you don’t have a birthday to celebrate, find something fun to cheers to tonight. Its Wednesday - that’ll work. Have an amazing day, everyone! 

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Christmas Music

Yep. I’m proud to be that person. November 1st the Christmas music begins for me. And it makes me SO SO SO happy. 

Regardless of the nay-sayers, I think its acceptable to start encouraging holiday spirit with Christmas music prior to Thanksgiving. Let me be clear that I am not trying to skip over Thanksgiving. It honestly only heightens the holiday spirit for me. I get more excited for Thanksgiving by listening to Christmas music. If there was legitimate Thanksgiving music, you know I’d be listening to that as well. But for all those who say you can’t start listening until December, I say, do what you want. Listen to Christmas music when you feel like it! I empower YOU to listen to CHRISTMAS MUSIC NOW!

Whew... I got a little emotional there. The all caps wasn’t meant to sound mad, btw. Its just passionate. :-)

Ok, track down Rudolph, go tell it on the mountain, that the carol of the bells is starting and the silent and holy nights are just beginning. Rock around the Christmas tree, jingle some bells, roast your chestnuts, play your drum little drummer boy, and deck some damn halls. 

Happy Monday! 

[the-simple-things-in-life]

There, their, they’re

I am a little bit of a grammar nerd. It gives me a little thrill of joy when I see these three words used correctly - There, Their, and They’re. 

On the flip side, when they’re (see that?) used incorrectly, it makes me giggle like a little school girl. So really the use of these words whether right or wrong, makes me smile. 

I hope you smiled a little at my dorky-ness. Have a lovely week, my friends!

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Singing

I like singing. I like it a lot. I’m no Kelly Clarkson, but I really love to just belt out the tunes every once and a while.

There’s something to be said, I think, for losing yourself in a song, and singing until your heart’s content. Sometimes I like to pretend I’m singing my own personal concert... to my steering wheel. The car is the safe space for this exercise, of course. All alone, driving to or from work, and no one there to judge my vocals. I’m frequently off-key and a bit pitchy, as it were. But it doesn’t stop me. 

A few of my faves are: Aerosmith, Leann Rimes (Coyote Ugly soundtrack), Greatest Showman soundtrack, Backstreet Boys: Any song from Millennium, Bon Jovi, and Bruno Mars. 

There are so many more, but those top the list these days. So for your Monday, crank it up to 11 and sing your face off. When the song is over, you’re gonna feel so happy. :-)

[the-simple-things-in-life]

A ha!

You know you just said “A ha” in the voice of Miracle Max... Disclaimer: He has nothing to do with this post other than the phrase “A ha.” :-)

Have you ever watched a child learn something new or pick up a new skill? I don’t know what I love more than witnessing my kid have “Aha” moments. And for the record, I don’t mean the moment when she hears “Take On Me” for the first time, ok?

My Maddie is a pretty talented chick, not to brag or anything. She picks things up rather quickly. But it never gets old watching her figure it out, and seeing that sudden moment when she gets it. It is so cool. It also fills me with pride to watch her succeed at something... anything!

That’s my simple pleasure for this week, folks. Enjoy time with your loved ones and get out and enjoy some Fall!

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Weather

I am fascinated by the weather. Regardless of season, I love tuning in to my local news station and watching the weather forecast. 

I think it all stems from my youth. My sister’s and I used to be a little scared of severe weather. Thunderstorms made us really nervous. So our mom would flip on the TV to the cable access channel with the robot guy’s voice who said “Zero  Zero Zulu” all the time. And she’d show us exactly where we were, where the storms were, what direction they were heading, and how it might affect us. So we learned about the weather to overcome our fears.

Today, I do the same with my daughter. But for me, its not just the severe weather that I’m intrigued by. This year’s weather has particularly interesting. There’s 6 inches of snow in NW MN and its only Oct. 11. The November Gales have started on Lake Superior and that my friends, it some fearsome water. Poor Duluth is experiencing some nasty flooding. There’s hurricanes of unprecedented power, and of course there’s the good stuff. Who doesn’t love a beautiful, sunny picture perfect day? I ask, because I haven’t seen one in a while, but nevertheless, there are many contributing factors that go into that sunny day. 

Some have dubbed me Suzy Weather Channel, because I can always tell you what the weather will be. Maybe I should’ve become a meteorologist? But then I’d have to have been a Math major in college... no thanks! And with that, have a great rest of your week, my friends!

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Soup

In tandem with last week’s post about Fall, I’d like to take this opportunity to talk about something that holds hands with Fall. My love of Soup. Now, many of you who know me, know I love soup. And you also know about my idea to someday open a soup cafe (not like the soup Nazi on Seinfeld). My soup spot would be called Souper Dupers. Yep. You heard right.

At any rate, soup is one of my favorite things. I love making them, I love eating them, I love everything about them. And, when the weather cools down, it becomes what I lovingly refer to as Soup Weather. Because let’s be honest, its hard to eat hot soup when its 80 degrees outside. *Side note, if I did open Souper Dupers, we’d offer a lovely gazpacho in the summer to alleviate that issue. But I digress, soup is the best. Here are a few of my particular faves:

- Minestrone: Lots of veggies and tomato-based, plus mine has pancetta - yum. 

- Beef Stew: Hearty, meaty, and vegetably (not a word, but perfect adjective here I think)

- Chili: A definite crowd pleaser and versatile as hell

- Homemade Chicken Noodle: I specify homemade here because, I love you Campbell’s, but you just don’t cut it.

- Chicken Wild Rice: Because, Minnesota.

One piece of advice with Soup, ensure you have delicious bread on hand for ample amounts of dunking. Ok blog friends, go and make some soup tonight. Reach out if you’d like a recipe to try - I have tons. Enjoy the day!

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Fall

Greetings and salutations bloggees! It has been quite a long time since my last post, but I find myself today thinking of something that makes me pretty damn happy. That thing is Fall. Autumn officially started on the 21st or 22nd - and I have experienced a couple things over the few days and weeks that have brought my happy face out and I wanted to share them with you.

1.) Shopping for school supplies and back to school - I don’t know if my daughter was more excited or if I was. I love nothing more than picking out new notebooks, folders, pens, and pencils. Oh, and locker decorations, glue sticks, backpacks, and clothes. Its so much fun!

2.) The first cool, fall-like breeze - I’ve felt it a couple times over the last week, and it thrills me. I always think back to when I was in high school or college - sitting out at a football game, in a big warm sweatshirt. Your nose starts to turn a little pink, and you have some hot chocolate (or whatever) in hand, and it is simply glorious. I love a sweater, red wine by a fire place kind of cool evening. And fall supplies that in kind.

3.) Bright, crisp, sunny mornings. Its time for hot coffee again. I tend to make iced coffee in the summer, and its time to make the transition back to hot. I love those bright, cool mornings. They’re invigorating. Speaking of transitions, its getting pert’ near time where I move the flip flops and strappy sandals back into the bin under my bed, and pull the boots, and fuzzy slippers back out.

This is only the beginning, my friends. Pretty soon the leaves will be changing in earnest, and they’ll crunch under your feet. And that smell... You know the smell of leaves on the ground? Its such a cozy smell to me. I’ll leave all these thoughts out here for you (See what I did there? Leave, leaves, leafs... fall?! I crack myself up sometimes. #momjokes). ENJOY and happy Monday lovelies!

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Soft chocolate chip cookies

You will notice a trend of similar things that make me happy. Food is definitely one of them. And today’s food item is a chocolate chip cookie. But not just any chocolate chip cookie, it must be soft. I am not a fan of dry, crunchy cookies. This is why my Oreos are soaked in my glass of milk just a little too long. But I digress, a warm, soft chocolate chip cookie is one of the best things in the culinary world for me. Its just sheer perfection. A little salty, a little sweet, but very decadent. 

I have some favorites - oh yes, there is more than one kind of chocolate chip cookie favorite. If I had to rank them, I think #1 would be the chocolate chip and oatmeal cookie from Potbelly. Second place goes to a neighbor of mine when I was growing up in St. Paul. She had the best chocolate chip cookies (super fluffy and always soft), and they could never be replicated. My momma’s CCC’s were damn good too. She took the Tollhouse recipe and made it better. My cookies aren’t bad either, but I like to appreciate others. 

At the end of the day, if you offer me a chocolate chip cookie, I will rarely turn you down. So have your favorite cookie today and enjoy to your heart’s content.

PS. Apologies for missing a few days here and there - Life gets a little hectic every now and then. But you understand, right?!  :-) 

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Doing something nice for someone else

Something that makes me really happy is when I can do something nice for someone else. 

There are so many lovely people in my life, that I get excited when I can do something nice for them. We have been on the receiving end of generosity before, and its wonderful - but I think I enjoy giving more. There’s very few things that feel better than being able to make someone’s life a little easier, or surprising someone with an unexpected treat. It really does make me a happy happy girl.

In the wise words of Bill & Ted, “Be excellent to each other.” Happy Thursday!

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Sunsets

I love a good sunset. No matter the season, if there’s a orangey-pink sky at sundown, I am scoping it out and more than likely snapping a picture.

A good sunset does something to me. It makes me a.) very happy of course, but also b.) kind of reflective. I think back through the day and feel good, positive. Like Ice Cube once said, “Today was a good day.”  

Now that the sun has come back out a little today, I have a good feeling about the potential for a beautiful sunset tonight. I hope you see a winner soon as well!

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Perfectly cooked steak

On Father’s Day Sunday, my husband requested steak for dinner - and man was it tasty.

We love steak in my house. We’re not strangers to it at all. And for Matt’s Father’s Day entree, I bought some pretty delicious looking T-bones that did not fail to deliver. Since Matt is the grill master, he was in charge of the cooking part. He grilled them to perfection. I’m a medium/medium rare kind of gal, and I can’t even begin to tell you how good it was. I also learned a new trick from the Food Network geniuses on what to do when you cut up your steak on the cutting board. Rub some olive oil, garlic and parsley all over your board. Then set your steak on top of that to rest prior to slicing. MMMMMMMM!!!! So so yummy.

Food always makes me happy. I hope you enjoy something yummy tonight!

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Playing in the rain

I watched a half dozen girls (one being Maddie) play in the rain without a care in the world. It made my heart want to explode with happiness.

I love those days (like yesterday was) when its scorching hot, and then the storms roll in. This was a pretty epic, monsoon-like rain we had. The girls ran and jumped and twirled in the pouring rain effortlessly. They were giggling and screaming and having so much fun. The rain felt warm, and it cooled the hot and humid June day we had. I so wish I would’ve taken a picture. :-) 

This simple joy reminds me to indulge in the things that I think are so fun and not give a sh*t was other people think or do. Dance in the rain and love every minute of it. Happy Monday!

[the-simple-things-in-life]

Planning a getaway

Its summertime, and we’re plotting a little family vacation. Nothing huge, or long, but something that’s just the three of us. And it makes me real happy.

As of right now, its looking more like a ‘staycation,’ but even that does the trick. I love the planning ahead and having it to look forward to. It sends happy vibes through my veins! Having a short getaway planned helps get through the tough weeks. Having something to look forward to always makes me smile.

Look forward to the weekend now people. Its Friday and its gonna be great. Soak it all in and look forward to more wonderful weekends to come!