Five Friday Favorites 10.01.19

Well hey. It’s been a hot second, and all I have for you is: I was doing life and pondering stuff and talking to people not on the internet, and not talking to you. But I miss talking to you and I want to change that. Like, desperately.

So as I come back, I want to write more about a thing I’m cah-razy passionate about: money. Not, like, the acquisition of money (though that’s always nice). Rather, the stuff people tend to not want to talk about: where you get it, what you do with it, how you think about it, all that. I will also be sharing more life-y things, per usual, because I want to and also because I want to show how I practice what I preach teach with the money.

Anyway, let’s do our normal (you know, pre-hiatus), Five Friday Favorites today.

Hockey

Hockey season starts tonight. Well, for the Blue Jackets. It actually started earlier this week, but I care about that less. I will not be attending the game, but I will be watching while I bake at my parents’ house. They’ll be at the game, so I get a big nice kitchen and house to myself while I watch the Jackets win. I hope.

Fall Baking

On the one hand, I’d love to be super negative here because this whole my-boyfriend-is-in-the-National-Guard thing flat out totally sucks sometimes, and one of those times is drill weekends, especially ones that actually take up the whole weekend. However, I will turn it happy by saying it’s giving me license to spend time at my parents’ place and do some fall baking and cleaning and all that. I’m making these pumpkin bars, these oatmeal raisin cookies, and… something TBD. I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s been a long while since I chilled in the kitchen and baked a lot, but after I leave work and walk the dogs, I get to bake tonight.

I have dogs!

Omg omg OMG. Speaking of dogs, I have dogs! Like, two dogs. I mean, one is Jack’s, but he’s mine, too. Willis is a three-year old Golden Retriever. He is clingy, jealous, and sheds every-freaking-where. He’s also incredibly sweet, the most excited to greet you at the door, hilariously clumsy, and a mostly-great listener.

We had a couple days of roughness when we moved the pups in together (Ben wanted to play fight constantly, Willis did not), but they’re best friends now – and Ben has gotten used to having another dog around and calmed down.

Dinners this week

I will probably make my weekly menu part of the blog going forward, along with some grocery lists and meal costs. This is the first week in a month that I’ve repeated meals, but these are all total winners and I didn’t want to come up with anything new.

I made this Cajun Salmon with Lime Butter on Monday with Brussels sprouts sautéed in bacon fat and salt and pepper. Tuesday we went out with Jack’s mom. On Wednesday I made these chicken fajitas with chips and homemade guac. Aaand last night I made roasted broccoli, pan-fried potatoes, and a version of these pork chops. One day I’ll get my life together and make them in the slow cooker, but for now I usually just make them in a cast iron skillet. Less tender, I’m sure, but perfectly tasty.

Cooler weather

Holy crap, it’s been hot around here. Sometime in mid-September, we had some cooler mornings and maybe a 70° day, but even yesterday it was nearly 90° and humid. Bleh. It’s fiiinally cooling down, and I’m the happiest about it. I love sweaters and boots and coats, and not feeling like I’m swimming in jeans when I walk into work. There are no more hot days in sight, and I’m cool with that.

And that’s all for me for now! I hope you have a fabulous weekend, and I’ll talk to you next week.

Any fun plans for the weekend?

Are you excited about fall or do you vote to extend summer?

What’s the best thing you’ve made/eaten lately?