Well if you blinked then you definitely missed the month of September! But it always seems to be a blur with school starting and the seasons changing anyway. Our family still managed to fit quite a bit in though. I hope your month was as good as ours!
Books I’ve Read
The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe– Anita Hemmings has longed to attend the elite Vassar College since she was a young girl. But as an African American, it was a dream she never thought would come true. With her light skin, Anita is able to pass as white. But in her senior year as she becomes closer to her roommate, Lottie, Anita’s secret may be uncovered. It was fascinating to me to read this fictional account of real life people and events. 4.5/5
The Stand-In by Lily Chu– After Gracie Reed is fired by her pig boss, she is desperate for money to help pay for her mother’s nursing home fees. So when famous Chinese actress Wei Fangli stops her and proposes that Gracie act as her body double for events, Gracie accepts. This was a darling story and thoroughly enjoyable to read. 4.5/5
Products I’ve Tried
- Imperfect Foods– I was able to try out a couple of deliveries with a credit from minisocial. I was impressed with the ease of choosing foods, shopping, and delivery. It’s a great service and I really appreciate the goal of reducing food waste. That said, I still found the prices, especially of produce, to be more expensive than stores like Aldis.
- Sunday Lawn Subscription– I was a part of a campaign with Sunday and Matt and I tried out the products on our lawn. It was so parched from summer, but the fertilizer and lawn seed really helped revive it. The brown spots are starting to show new growth and our grass looks much greener! The Bug Doom and Weed Be Gone sprays work well, too. The campaign is over so I didn’t have to share this, but wanted to because of how impressed I am.
- Strivectin Eye Concentrate Plus– I have previously used Olay Total Effect Eye Cream and that has been my favorite so far. Strivectin works well and goes on smooth. It has a thicker texture than Olay so it felt more moisturizing. I liked it a lot, but am unsure if i
t is worth the extra expense for me at this point. 
- Armani My Way Intense Perfume– I received 3 scents from Influenster to try out. But this was my favorite! I loved the combination of tuberose and orange blossom. The Coach Dreams Sunset was another good one.
Recipes I’ve Made
- Sticky Rhubarb Pudding– I was trying to make a few more recipes with rhubarb before the season is over. This was a new recipe and so easy and delicious! I can’t wait to make it again!
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cheesecake Bars– We all loved the salty sweet combination of this. It was a bit time consuming to make with the layers and pretzel crust, but worth it.
- Everything Bagel Sausage Casserole– I actually didn’t make this with bagels, but leftover buns and ends of bread that I had leftover. I added Everything Bagel seasoning to make up for it. Matt absolutely loved this casserole and although I made it for dinner, he had it for breakfast the next day!
- Pear Crisp-I shared I was making this yesterday in my stories and most of you said you had never cooked with pears. Well you should! It was so good!
- Berry Caprese Salad- I made this to eat alongside some pizza we ordered when my in-laws were in town. Oh. My. Goodness. It was my favorite recipe this month. So fresh and flavorful! Don’t made too much though. It doesn’t store well.
- Greek Chicken Burgers– I got a recipe for this from the Real Plans app so this was the closest I could find to link to. Matt actually put it all together. They were absolutely delicious! We’ve had a lot of winning recipes from that app!
- Lime Flank Steak– This was another from the Real Plans app. I would marinate it longer and maybe even add some lime zest to kick up the lime flavor next time.
- Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole– This was much faster to make than typical enchiladas and just as yummy!
Currently
- Borrowing- I’ve been borrowing my children’s ice pack. Yes it works well for booboos, but it’s a great waterproof bag for icing sore muscles, too.
- Buying– After 3 years of trying to keep the squirrels away from our pumpkins to decorate our porch I gave up and bought a few fake ones to use year after year. We will still get real ones to carve later in October, but for now my porch looks good without me having to chase away squirrels!
- Planning- I am getting started on planning Thanksgiving and a little something for Aveline’s 4th birthday in early November.
- Prepping- I’m prepping Aveline’s Halloween costume. Claire wants to be Harry Potter again (big surprise after our trip to Universal in August) so I am just concentrating on Aveline’s She wants to be Skye from Paw Patrol and I think I can make one with a sweatsuit and felt.
- Reading- The Stand-In yesterday and plan on starting 80/20 Running by Matt Fitzgerald next.
- Family Updates-
- Aveline– Avie started preschool this month and seems to really enjoy it. We signed her up for lunch there twice a week and she LOVES those days. She already knows a few other kids attending, too. I’ve noticed she is learning some of the letters she couldn’t recognize. For her first day of school, she snuck into my makeup drawer and put lipstick on herself to be ‘ready’. Some days I just can’t with her! Haha!
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- Claire- Claire has been really busy with soccer, Girl Scouts, and swim lessons. She is in the gifted program for reading this year and has been enjoying it. She comes home and tells us all about it. Our oldest niece visited us at the beginning of the month and Claire had a lot of fun seeing her. I wish she lived closer! We all enjoyed the last open weekend at the pool.
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- Matt- Matt has been having fun with his Father’s Day gift and birthday gift. I got him a 4 burner propane griddle and then for his birthday I got him a wood fired pizza oven. Secretly, I’m just trying to get out of making dinner. Haha! But seriously he has been rocking some delicious, new recipes and we all benefit!
- Me- I had an amazing month! Apart from slowing enjoying my free time in the mornings, I got to visit some wonderful blogging friends in Chicago this past weekend. In addition to our blog collaboration last week, the Blonde Squad (Andrea, Caroline, Kathrine, Jill, and I) was able to meet up! I can’t stress enough how wonderful these women are and how good it was to see them in person. We celebrated with a champagne toast, dinner at Cruz Blanca, then drinks at the Hoxton Hotel at Cabra and The Lazy Bird. The next day we were up early to attend a super fun boxing class at Rumble and brunch at The Smith. I hope we are able to see each other again soon!
Thanks to Teddy Blake and 2 Wonder and Wander for the bags and bracelets!
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- I wasn’t able to include it in time for last month’s update post, but Jill sent me the sweetest birthday gift! I can’t wait to try the drinks and have already been enjoying the candle and soap!
SEPTEMBER GOALS Recap
- Visit Painted Tree Boutique- Done!
- Read a running book- I have a book on my kindle, but didn’t have a chance to read it yet.
- Schedule a haircut- Done! It was only 8 months, but who is counting?
- Decorate for fall- All set!
- Sign up the girls for gymnastics or dance- They are on the waitlist for a November start date.
October Goals
- Schedule family photos
- Go apple picking
- Get a script and start PT for my hip (again)- My hips are bothering me again and I want to get some help ASAP.
- Organize winter accessories- We have too many hats and mismatched gloves. I would love to go through them all.
- Read a running book- Now that I have it download it should be easy, right?
LINKING UP WITH ANNE & WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY
