Casual Friday 10.5.18

BLOG MORE – WORRY LESS

OK. So in my last post, I mentioned that I want to blog more and because of that, I want to expand this blog to cover more than just food and recipes. Ergo – this new content series – Casual Fridays. I’m excited to write more, to use this space to talk about things, places, and moments I’ve loved throughout the week. Through this, I hope to reverse-engineer “finding joy in the little things.”

I figure, when I know I have to write something at the end of the week, I’ll spend more time looking for happy or interesting things to write about. Sneaky! But hopefully effective.

Here are a few things I’m excited to highlight this week.

THE REAL MVP OF FALL

It’s Home Goods y’all

For a total of $25 my house is completely in #fallmode Here’s what I bought:

• $4 grocery store pumpkin
• $15 fall wreath (similar here)
• $6 spice apple candle (similar here)

Done and Done. Bring on the pumpkin spice.

Also, I already bought this cute doormat.

BONUS: Follow this Instagram channel for more Home Goods inspo.

CHEESE PLATE INSPIRATION

From my last post!

If you read my latest recipe post, you know it’s all about fantastic CHEESE PLATES. I want to share some of the fantastic cheese plates found across Instagram.

• @YourPlatterMatters: THIS IS MY NEW DREAM. If anyone needs me to make them a super huge cheese plate for their wedding, CALL ME I’m not even joking.
• @TheOliveandMango: Love the idea of including honey on a cheese plate, but might be harder/messier if you’re making it for a party.
• @GrilledCheeseSocial: This arrangement is just eye-pleasing, with the circle. BONUS if you use the “Eye Squint” trick I outlined in my post, you can totally see the balance of circles and white/colors in this photo.
• @EpicureMess: Look at that mango….

FOUND ON THE INTERNET

The Essential Man

My husband, Jonathan, is starting his 22nd and hopefully LAST year of school, so we spent some time cleaning out his closet this weekend. His wardrobe was a mess of random startup t-shirt logos from career fairs, lots of button-up kind of nerdy plaid short and long sleeves, and ill-fitting jeans. I found this amazing blog post: A Beginner’s Guide: 16 Essential Style Tips For Guys Who Want to Dress Better by Peter Nguyen, who is a fabulous personal stylist. He shares 16 top tips for how, as a man, to start dressing better. However I found his notes helpful for either men or women. A few of my favorite:

• The “Pull 3” Trick: for the dressing room, always pull 3 sizes of the item you’re hoping to try on: the size you think you are, one larger, and one smaller, to save time and compare to find the best fit.
• Focus on a classic style first before trying to develop a personal style.
• How to feel more comfortable in an outfit for a big moment: wear it around for a whole day before you need to, so you feel more natural and confident wearing it for your date or interview or presentation.

We just spent a ton of moolah on new clothes for Jon,  and I’m very excited about it.

Words of Wisdom

Want to leave you with a nice quote and a cute photo of my pup, Rocket, doing yoga. It’s been a rough few weeks for many people with all that’s going on in politics and culture. We used to say this prayer in college (thank you Christian Liberal Arts education) after our history class. I think it’s a particularly apt sentiment for how I hope to walk in this world after this week’s events:

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.” – St. Francis of Assisi

Have a great weekend!