Hello, and happy Monday! Y’all, it finally is feeling like fall, and I’m here for it! It’s raining today, which we so desperately need, but I hope it’s not too late for our gorgeous fall foliage. Fingers crossed!
Friday
For breakfast, I soaked oats overnight with milk, pinch of salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, pumpkin, and banana. After heating it, I topped it with maple and almond butter. So good!
I had a coupon for an Oatmega bar, which I’ve wanted to try, so I swung by Kroger on my way home. It tasted pretty good, but I could detect the whey, and it had a little of that “healthy” food/supplement taste. Know what I mean (jelly bean)? If I needed something to eat, then I’d buy it again but am not racing to the store.
I got changed and freshened up for a nice night out with Matt and his oldest brother, Brian. We participated in First Friday Downtown ArtWalk. I rocked my burnt orange dress and cardigan from Goodwill! The dress is by A New Day from Target, and the cardigan is Cherish brand.
I love Rachel relaxing in the background!
Once we got downtown, we met up with Brian and browsed The Emporium. Some of the paintings and photos on display were absolutely stunning! I love hummingbirds.
The style of this painting is so beautiful.
My main squeeze! <3
Brotherly love.
Love his smile!
I was so drawn to the green hues in this artist’s collection!
I loved them all so much. One of my favorite displays for sure.
I was so glad there was an owl on display, and I love how they framed it!
There were just so many amazing pieces of art. Do you have a favorite?
We took a Lyft to another studio where a student from The University of TN had her art on display. She said it was based on scatological (toilet) humor. It was…weird. She had a short PVC pipe I believe in the middle of the room with a contraption that holds baby teeth with a coin slot in the center balancing on it. Matt didn’t see it because, you know, it was in the middle of the room, and he kicked it by accident. We found the one baby tooth of hers that fell out, but I just couldn’t. To each his/her own, but she was rather snobby. Matt was very apologetic, but she seemed cold. He remarked that he couldn’t figure out what the dirty sheet draped over a cardboard roll (like from wrapping paper I think) with a hole cut out to the let it poke through signified. She said, “well, I won’t tell you”. Alright then, dear. Pft.
Anywaysssss, she had this funhouse mirror, so we kneeled down and took a dorky photo.
We took another Lyft ride to a studio that was located underneath a bridge. As in the studio had the concrete bridge supports tied into it. It was wild. The theme was “cleaning”, and again, it was different. Not my cup of tea, but I don’t speak for everyone.
By this point, it was after 10 pm, and Matt and I needed dinner stat. We chose Not Watson’s, and boy did it not disappoint! Our table was 17, and my birthday is June 17th. I love number coincidences like this!
They were so incredibly accommodating! I chose their strawberry balsamic salad that comes with roasted red peppers, candied pecans, fried goat cheese, and lemon poppyseed vinaigrette. Instead of the chicken, I substituted their black bean burger with guac for no additional cost. I ate every last bite!
Matt thoroughly enjoyed their blackened mahi mahi with mashed potatoes, braised kale, and a roasted red pepper-tomato beurre blanc. I had this at our last visit, and it makes you want to lick the bowl clean!
We then walked over to the swanky loft where one of Brian’s friends now lives. It overlooks the Southern Railway Station and other pretty landmarks and sure is nice! He made us each a lovely cappuccino.
He also had some amazing snacks to go along with it.
We all walked out together, and while Brian and his friend went out, we headed back home. We spotted this old store sign for, “S. H. Kress & Co 5 – 10 -25 Cent Store”, and we marveled at the fact that you could buy anything with those coins. Matt said it was the original Dollar General, ha!
We partied like the youngins that we are and didn’t get home until 1:30. I had a blast! Some of my observations: people (men and women) are purposefully wearing mullets, and some women think that bras are optional, even in a white tank. It takes all kinds!
Saturday
Unfortunately, we couldn’t sleep late. The babies wanted their noms, and then our internal alarm clocks were ringing. Oh well, it was worth it stay out later. Sometimes it’s nice to get out of our comfort zone.
For breakfast, I went supah simple with yogurt out of ze tub, thawed mango, and some of the Earl Gray glaze-topped granola I made last week.
Sweet Ray bay was pooped too.
I wore my sequin skull tank in honor of it being the month of Halloween.
Lunch was quick and just what I was craving: toasted Canyon Bake House GF English muffin with cheddar, Sabra guac, and pepitas with crunch veg and an apple on the side.
Before I left to run my errands, I made these delicious pumpkin oat bites by Lindsey Letellier (recipe posted on her Insta page; highly recommend you follow her!). I only had enough of each pb and almond butter to combine, which made for a fab outcome. I took a few with me to snack on that afternoon.
I stopped at Mahalo and got a decaf iced latte. Even though I hadn’t slept well, I didn’t want to overly caffeinate and risk not sleeping well that night. I figured just sipping on it would give the placebo effect. 😉 Look at those swirls.
I found some awesome things while at Target, Goodwill for one final run for now, and Kroger that I’ll share in my upcoming Friday post!
While at Kroger, a sweet lady behind me in the checkout line remarked, “you have a lovely figure, and you wear your clothes so well”. I told her the same, & I truly meant it. It was so sweet of her to extend that compliment! Then as I was loading my car, a nice gentleman asked where I got my hair cut because his wife loves short hair but was unhappy with her last cut. It was nice to connect with others.
Dinner was a hugh jass salad with roasted Brussels, hummus, rotisserie chicken, garlic oil hot sauce, extra virgin olive oil, and fall chips.
Jax always puts such a big smile on our faces! All of our babies are just the cutest.
My snackage included banana, Life Pumpkin Spice cereal and almond milk out of our pb jar.
Sunday
I woke up in the seven o’clock hour and noshed on a banana with pb while I relaxed with the babies.
Then I got to work on Brittany’s Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal! I topped ours with pepitas and raisins. I did bake it much longer than the recipe called for, and it was still a little wet inside, so I would just recommend to bake longer to your desired consistency.
I enjoyed a slice with Greek yogurt and maple plus fluffy scrambled eggs with EBTB seasoning. It really hit the spot – loved the sweet and savory combo!
I decided I wanted to get a backpack to use at FNCE to maximize my carrying potential + allow me to bring back so many snacks from the expo. Priorities. I considered this adorable green backpack, but it wasn’t quite structured or big enough.
Isn’t this tablecloth so cute? I started with their Ceaser, and they are so generous with their parmesan and croutons. Mmmm
I ordered their personal pan pizza with a red base, mozzarella, and ricotta. YUM.
Never growing up <3 They had a professional and very talented artist setup for complimentary face painting. You are never too old to enjoy it! We chatted about how it has come a long way since our youth. You can follow her and her husband, who is a magician and made pretty balloon animals there, on Insta with @terinagillettefinearts.
I just loved it, and so did Matt! I wish I could’ve left it on for today. I was sad to wash it away that night.
Kaci and I will be having a twin date soon and will lock our lips on their pumpkin ice cream. It tastes like pumpkin pie and is so damn good.
So Matt had to work really late (didn’t get home until 10 pm on Saturday) helping his boss prep for an important race this week. As a way of thanking me for being understanding, his boss gave me some money. I felt that was really nice of him, so I went by Planet Xchange and found the last two items I’ve been looking for, so I’m all set for (fashionable) FNCE!
They didn’t have any of their stickers, but they had this complimentary pin. So cute!
Here was my pretty balloon heart. No sooner had I snapped this that Jax popped the white part. I knew it didn’t stand a chance. Well, it definitely isn’t standing now. Bahaha. I hung the heart on our tv.
For dinner, I made a lentil and grain bowl that included sautéed yellow pepper, onion, sugar snap peas, roasted Brussels, coriander, turmeric, salt, pepper, and lemon. I forgot the garlic and added a pinch too much turmeric, but it was tasty. We topped our bowls with Aldi cucumber dill tzatziki sauce.
I sipped on a fabulous mug of chamomile tea with honey and ate a banana, Pumpkin O’s, and almond milk out of the almond butter jar. It was a weekend for eating out of nut butter jars and yogurt tubs.
Monday
Sadly, Matt couldn’t sleep too well and was up a little before me, but it was so nice to relax this morning together as we sipped our coffee! As he was folding his laundry, I saw this camo bandana that his mom got us to use as a napkin. I decided to build my outfit around it and wear it as a neck scarf. Matt called this my, “GI Kori” look. 😉
In case you were wondering, the peace symbol is my go-to. Ha!
Have a most wonderful day and week!
