Amazon

Posted on July 15, 2020July 14, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

Travis had a birthday last week, and we bought him a few things that I thought I’d share in case you need some ideas for any upcoming occasions.

Keychain

Lewindy popped up as a Facebook advertisement, and I thought the personalized keychain would be a great Father’s Day gift for Travis. We were in Florida during that time, so I personalized it with a picture of the kids that I took on the first night of the trip.

The downside was that it did take over three weeks to come in, so it ended up being a birthday present instead of a Father’s Day gift. The quality is great and the product turned out perfectly. Also, it came in a cute bag that made for a nice presentation.

On the backside of the metal plate with the picture, I personalized it with a note from the kids.

That being said, I don’t see this product on their site right now. BUT…I did find a similar product on Etsy.

Etsy had a few shops with this type of product.

Coffee Mug

We don’t necessarily need another coffee mug in this house, but I noticed Travis taking his coffee to work using some of my random travel mugs that have mom or teacher sayings on them 😉 So, as always, Amazon saved the day.

I loved the look of the mahogany color and packaging of this Sipworks travel mug. And, of course, it arrived in two days! Win. Win!

Wallet:

If you’ve been following along for even a bit, you know nothing is safe at our house in regards to being #homered. Desserts and wallets seem to be his jam. Around Christmastime, Homer destroyed Trav’s wallet. Even though we don’t do Valentine’s Day gifts, I bought Travis a wallet. It lasted two days.

Since Valentine’s Day, Travis has used a rubber band to keep his cards and cash together. I thought I’d try one more time to purchase a wallet for him after seeing Christine talk about the Andar wallet in her Instagram Stories. I even used her code for a discount.

Besides the fact that he needed a new wallet, I also loved the feature she showed where you pull the tab and the card pops out…rather than when you have to dig, pinch, and pull to get your card out to pay.

There are a few wallet options, but I bought Travis “The Apollo.” Like the keychain, the packaging for the wallet was nice with a box and then a drawstring bag.

I don’t want to jinx it, but it’s already lasted longer than the Valentine’s Day wallet from Target.

Once he opened the gifts, I realized I clearly had a brown/tan/mahogany theme going on!

He appreciated all the gifts, of course…and the kids were excited for him to open them.

I hope you are having a great week!

Clothes, What's up Wednesday

What’s Up Wednesday

Posted on June 24, 2020June 23, 2020 by jgalvinwhite

It’s the last Wednesday of the month (Y’all, how is that even possible?!), so I’m linking up with Sheaffer and Shay for What’s Up Wednesday.

I have to start off by wishing my husband a Happy Anniversary!! Today is our 15th wedding anniversary. Again, y’all….How is that even possible?! He may be wondering the same thing! 😂I couldn’t do life without him and love and appreciate him more than he’ll ever know! #cheersto15years

WHAT WE ARE EATING THIS WEEK:

Sunday: I mentioned in my Father’s Day post that we had kabobs, pasta salad, watermelon, and asparagus fries for our Father’s Day menu. Then, we had lemon freezer pie for dessert.
Monday: I kept it simple and put Trader Joe’s Traditional Carnitas in the slow cooker with Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde and cooked everything on low for 4 hours. I mixed my carnitas in with one of my favorite Trader Joe’s salads: Southwestern Chopped Salad. I only used half of the salad. Travis and the kids had hard shell tacos and tortillas for their carnitas.
Tuesday: I hadn’t planned for it, but we ended up having enough carnitas for leftovers on Tuesday which was perfect because Hadley had dance and Hayden had baseball. I paired the tacos with Trader Joe’s Mexican Style Roasted Corn. (another fave!)
Wednesday: Pork loin, bagged salad, and Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes (Hadley’s fave!)
Thursday: Travis and I are going out to dinner, so the kids will have dinner at home.
Friday and Saturday: We’ll eat out (or get carry out)

WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT:

Where the heck the time as gone?! We got married 15 years ago today in my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. When I look back on these years, I always tell Travis he seems to never change (He doesn’t even age, dang it!), and I always feel like the hot mess. Any ups and downs we’ve had in life, I feel like he’s handled with grace and wisdom…and I’m just over here fumbling. Thankfully, we strike a good balance with our personalities and how we handle things. That being said, I blinked in we were wrapped up in full time careers with two very active kids. Jobs and kids are both a blessing, but we do have to continue to work to make time for each other. Thankfully, we give each other grace and are each other’s biggest supporters. It’s been a blessing to grow together as a couple, and I’m sure we’re forever a work in progress (at least I know I am! 😉 I’m very thankful every single day for Travis White!

Thanks to my dad, we had a police escort from the church to our reception.

WHAT I’M LOVING:

As you can tell from my menu this week, I made a trip to Trader Joe’s! Their peonies always stop me in my tracks. Peonies, hydrangeas, and tulips are my favorite flowers.

In the spring and summer months, I usually buy flowers once a week for a couple spots in our home.

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO:

Baseball practice for Hayden, a dance workshop for Hadley, running errands, and just a little of this and a little of that.

WHAT I’M DREADING:

Hayden is getting his Phase 2 braces soon. I thought he was getting them yesterday, but at his appointment, they took impressions and put spacers between some of his teeth.

Phase 1 was in 2nd grade and lasted about 9 months. This time, he will have top and bottom braces as well as rods to help with his overbite. So, I’m not dreading the braces for myself (obviously), but I just know they will be a big adjustment and a bit painful at first for him. He’ll have them for about two years. Hadley is due as well but we are holding off a bit for her as his ortho work is more extensive.

WHAT I’M WORKING ON:

I’m working on drinking more water. I bought this water bottle...and it’s not small! BUT…I fill it up 2-3 times a day and am definitely drinking more water. I like that it has a handle and straw with a cap and I do find myself taking it with me wherever I go.

Also, we are working on crossing some things off of our Summer 2020 list.

WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT:

I’m excited to go to one of our favorite restaurants tomorrow night for dinner to celebrate our anniversary.

WHAT I’M WATCHING/READING:

I’m still binge watching Good Bones and just finished this season of Top Chef.

On Netflix, I’m still chipping away at Dead to Me and only have a few episodes left of Sweet Magnolias.

I’m close to finishing Simple Wild on my Kindle and have started One in a Million that I picked up from the library recently.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO:

I just finished Even the Rich Season 3 which was all about Beyonce’ and Jay Z. I love this podcast!

WHAT I’M WEARING:

Target has been my main source for summer wear.

I love both of these shorts by Universal Thread because they can be casual or dressed up.

Also, this pink dress is super comfy and comes in a variety of colors. Again, it can be dressed up or down.

olive shorts

medium wash shorts

dress

WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND:

At the moment, I’m not sure. I’m happy to continue to not be too busy on the weekends! Hayden does have practice Friday-Sunday evenings, but other than that, we don’t have solid plans.

WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

I’m looking forward to possibly visiting family in KC next month.

Also, I love the 4th of July, so we are all looking forward to that. Last year, Hadley was away at camp on the 4th, and it just felt so different without her home. We saved sparklers for when she got home.

Also, Trav’s birthday is in July! I doubt he wants a birthday parade, but he’ll for sure get our traditional birthday cookie cake!

Thanks so much for reading today’s post! Make sure to check out the other ladies’ posts too!

Amazon

Prime Purchases

Posted on May 15, 2020February 17, 2021 by jgalvinwhite

Resharing this post from May and linking up with Tanya for her monthly Amazon post.

Well, we made it to another Friday! Seriously, the weeks are running together. I’ve just realized howclose we are to Memorial Day Weekend, and we only have one more full week of distance learning. I’m so ready to have passed the 4th grade again, y’all! 😉

Amazon is my lifeline…always has been, always will be. I used to rely on Amazon when I didn’t have time to run around to a million places looking for stocking stuffers or art supplies. Now, I rely on it because I can’t leave the house!

Also, I love seeing what other people order from Amazon, so I thought I’d share some recent purchases.

(Pictures are linked)

Blankets

I swear I’m finished talking about the Sunroom Refresh 2.0, but with the refresh came my desire to purchase a couple new throw blankets. In all honesty, we’ve had some throws for quite some time, and I made a pile of bedding and older throws to donate.

Y’all, this leopard print one ($17) is out of my comfort zone of style, but I wanted something a little different, and this has delivered. It’s super soft and cozy…so much so, Hadley has stolen it every night to sleep with in her bed.

This “slate” colored waffle fleece blanket ($17) is more in my color palette. Again, it’s a perfect way to keep warm while reading a book or watching tv.

Clothes

I think I’ve mentioned these pajama shorts ($12.50) before, and I ordered another pair. Again, it was kind of time to purge some of my older pajamas and start fresh. So, I have these Amazon Essentials shorts in aqua and grey heather stripe, and they are perfect for spring and summer.

I’ve talked about these Soulomelody tops in the past. I have a couple long sleeve tops as well as one short sleeved tee. So, I bought the tank ($15) in gray and love it. I’ve worn it on a bike ride but also with jeans and a cardigan. There are lots of options between the long sleeve, the short sleeve, and the tank versions.

Books and Games

Hayden’s teacher has been doing a read aloud of the first Harry Potter book in the afternoons. They read a chapter a day together. They finished the first book on yesterday, and he was so excited to start the second book that he asked me to order it. I don’t buy many books online, but with the $6 price tag, I went ahead and purchased it for him.

One of my favorite authors came out with a new book, so I pre-ordered it on Amazon. It arrived a couple of weeks later, and I can’t wait to read it.

I saw this game mentioned in one of Andrea‘s posts, and we’ve enjoyed playing it. The game is a combination of math and strategy, and it’s been good to throw into the mix of games and puzzles we’ve been doing to pass the time.

Household Items

We’ve had our outside patio furniture forever. We used it in our screened in porch at our old house, and now have the love seat on our patio. For years, I’ve hauled the cushions in if it looked like rain, but last summer I bought this cover. It’s perfect and has space for me to put the chair cushions under it as well. That being said, the one I bought last summer, was #Homered. So, I’m trying again, and, at under $20, if it can last me through the summer (by not being #Homered), I will be happy! Again, the quality is great…Homer is the issue 😉

Lastly, after completing our mini gallery wall for our master bedroom refresh, I thought it needed one more touch. The mini boxwood wreaths provided color and filled the space nicely!

So, there you have it! Just a few things I’ve ordered off of Amazon recently. Are you an Amazon person? What are some of your favorite Amazon finds?

I hope you have a great weekend! The weather looks to be nice today and tomorrow…but the rain chances come back in full force on Sunday. I know where I will be…snuggled up in one of those Amazon blankets while reading a book in the sunroom!

Thanks for reading,

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites {#25}

Posted on May 8, 2020August 20, 2021 by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy Friday! We’ve had a pretty good week around here, but I can’t get over the weather. Mother Nature needs to get her act together! We have freeze warnings the next couple of mornings. Anyway, we’ve continued in our distance learning and work from home groove, but we are always ready for the weekend!

I’m linking up with Erika and Andrea for Friday Favorites, so check out their posts too!

FAVORITE PIC:

Last week, Hadley had my phone for a bit. Later, I found this pic plus a few more. She’s so funny…and why does she look 16 in this photo?!?

FAVORITE KID QUOTE:

Hayden was petting Homer and said, “Mom, Homer is like the grown up that lives with his parents but doesn’t pay any rent?!” It was just such a random comment. I don’t even know what he meant by it but it made me laugh.

FAVORITE KID ACTIVITY:

While the kids have probably been on technology too much or played too many hours of Xbox, I feel like this week they spent some more time outdoors again. Recently, Hadley built a fort in the basement and spent some time hanging out in it. Then, this week, both kids started building an outside fort in the space between our house and the neighbor’s fence. It’s been fun to see their creativity, and it’s always nice when they get along!

FAVORITE CLOTHING ITEM:

We’ve still had cooler weather which I love because I’m a big fan of sweatshirts! So, lots of shorts or leggings with sweatshirts as my momiform.

I wear this Target sweatshirt on repeat; I have it in both blush and camo.

I am also still loving these Hanes sweatshirts from Amazon. They are comfy, and you can’t beat the price. I have it in light pink, black, and this blue color.

Recently, I’ve purchased this style of Amazon Essentials lounge shirt and shorts to use as spring/summer pjs. They are comfy and cute.

FAVORITE FOOD:

This week, I made two recipes that I haven’t made in awhile…Pizza Pork Chops over Orzo and Shay’s Slow Cooker Ranch Chicken & Mushrooms over Rice. Everyone loved them; I need to bring them back into the rotation.

FAVORITE MOMENT(S):

I mentioned in a recent post that while we updated our sunroom a few years ago when we moved in with a fresh coat of paint and new flooring, we still don’t use it much.

This week, we went ahead and made some moves on making this space more functional for our family. I’m talking we went from 0 to 100 in a day! I had my eye on this set after seeing it recommended by Jen Reed as she has it in her outdoor space. It was out of stock at our Walmart, but Travis stopped by on Monday, and they had one! Then, I put our sectional for sale on Facebook Market Place and had multiple offers over asking price within minutes! Another person even asked to buy the rug I had which I wasn’t necessarily planning on selling. Both the couch and the rug were gone by Monday evening! So, Travis put the new furniture together on Tuesday, and we’ve been enjoying it ever since.

It’s still not 100% finished, but the new furniture and new rug certainly have made this our Updated Sunroom 2.0!

As you can see, I’ve been playing with the room arrangement. We are planning on putting a tv in here, so I think the arrangement below may work best even though I prefer the chairs on either side of the rug.

I received a fun surprise on Tuesday. My mom asked my brother to pick up some flowers for me for Teacher Appreciation Week as well as flowers for my sister-in-law as it’s also Nurses Appreciation Week too.

I added them to the sunroom table.

FAVORITE MOM MEME:

I have always been strict about bedtime (lights out by (9pm) and wake up time (don’t leave your bedroom before 8am) with my kids…but I feel like we are regressing. I remember when they were three and would egg each other on and have lots of energy at bedtime. That’s how it’s been lately. I guess maybe they aren’t burning as much energy during the day to be completely exhausted at bedtime.

Bonus: Flashback Friday:

I remember taking this pic Derby Day 2011. The twins on horsies coming down the hall.

Also, I took a trip down memory lane recapping our best family vacay to date. After finishing the post, I realized, I think it was my favorite post to write on the blog so far.

I hope you have a great weekend! Also, Happy Mother’s Day weekend which is obviously a time to celebrate moms, but through the years, I’ve also realized this day is a tough day for some. Prayers for those who have recently lost a mother and for those who are struggling to start a family. The time will come, continue to be brave, and know the journey is worth it in the end. And for new moms—cherish this time…the years sure do fly by!

Thanks so much for reading,

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites {#21}:

Posted on April 3, 2020August 20, 2021 by jgalvinwhite

Hello! Well, today is our last day of “Spring Break.” We’ve had a pretty good week at home. We had a couple of dreary days, so I gave us permission to be a bit lazier than usual…which pretty much ensured I was able to finish a great book and wrap up Season 2 of The Crown 😉

Virtual school starts on Monday, so we will be starting a bit of a new routine while I also work from home as well.

As always, for Friday Favorites, I’m linking up with Narci, Erika, and Andrea, so make sure to check our their posts too!

Favorite Pic:

We purchased these #TeamKentucky hats from our friends. With a donation being made to the #TeamKentucky fund for each hat sold, it was just another way to support our community during this time.

Favorite Kid Quote:

Hayden had a couple of funny quotes this week!

Of course, a 4th grade rite of passage is receiving and playing the recorder in music class. This week, Hayden pulled his recorder out of his back pack and tried to play Hot Cross Buns. After a few squeaky tries, he said, “Yikes! I’m rusty. I haven’t played in awhile!” (He also says the recorder is the reason he has an A- in music right now!) 😉

Another funny Hayden quote….I’m getting caught up on seasons of The Crown. I was watching the last episode of Season 2, and Elizabeth and Philip were having a heart to heart. She said that any marriage presents challenges let alone challenges with the structure of their marriage. Hayden said, “Challenges?! That’s why I’m never getting married!” 😂

Favorite Clothing Item:

I’m loving the joggers and Hanes sweatshirt that I mentioned in my Amazon Lately post from this week. Not only am I loving those items, I’m also living in them right now! #momiformonrepeat

Favorite Food:

I actually cooked a couple of favorites this week. We had Bev’s Simple Chicken Pasta Soup which provided us with dinner for Monday and Tuesday. Then, I made my brother’s stuffed peppers recipe. The whole family loves stuffed peppers, and we had them for dinner Wednesday and Thursday.

And, bonus—we made Easy Peanut Butter Cookies that lasted less than a day in our house!

Favorite Moment:

In times like these, it’s been so nice to see communities, cities, states, and the country come together with a sense of solidarity. With that, comes so many visible sights of kindness. From signs my kids made for the teacher parade, to kindness rocks, and the chalk the walk movement, there is certainly a sense of unity even when we have to stay six feet apart.

Our neighborhood had signs of beauty everywhere!

Besides at least doing reading and math every day, I’ve tried to plan at least one other thing for us to do. Sometimes it’s a bike ride, other times baking cookies, maybe watching the Cincinnati Zoo Home Safari, or doing some kind of craft.

On Monday, we did our own Chalk Your Walk project in our driveway. The kids were big help in taping the driveway, and we all used sidewalk chalk to complete the project. From start to finish, it took about an hour and a half; the kids were impressed with the final product! I was too! 🙂

Favorite Mom Meme :

Three weeks into social distancing…I will take whatever laughs I can get.

Other Favorites:

Of course with some extra time on my hands, I’ve been able to read a bit more, listen to some podcasts, and even watch a movie or two…

I started listening to the Even the Rich podcast. I think it’s fairly new. I’ve listened to the first three episodes which are all about the Royal Family! I’ve always had interest in the Royals, but I seem to be on a roll while listening to this podcast, getting caught up on The Crown and even reading the American Royals book last month! –

Just yesterday, I finished reading Regretting You, and I loved it!

On Tuesday, Travis mentioned that Call of the Wild could be purchased to stream on Amazon. So, Tuesday night, we popped popcorn, purchased the movie, and all watched it together. It was so good! Of course, it brought a tear to my eye, too!

Bonus: Flashback Friday

As always, Facebook memories continue to slay me. These pics popped up recently.

The kids were four months old here, and we’d taken them to KC to see my family. We were packing up to head home, and I propped the kids up in their suitcases and sent this pic to Travis who had already headed back to Lex.

This pic collage always cracks me up. We’d received these hand me down onesies from another set of twins. I love the pic of both kids as Hadley’s clinging to Hayden as if she never wants to let him go. Story of his life! She’s always up in his business!

Fun fact: Hadley was a hot mess the first nine months of her life. Hayden was the easy going baby and she was super serious and suuuuper fussy all of the time. Now, she’s the easy going one and he’s a bit more intense (Type A, schedule oriented, etc…apple doesn’t fall far from that tree.)

I hope this week has treated you well! As always, thanks for reading.

Take care,

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites {#14}

Posted on February 7, 2020August 20, 2021 by jgalvinwhite

Happy Friday! It’s been a soggy, cloudy week around here. It’s also just been the weirdest week. It legit took us all a couple nights in a row of going to bed by 9pm (all of us—well, the kids and me) to recover from our hectic and then exciting (GO CHIEFS!) weekend. Then, Wednesday evening as I was driving home from volleyball carpool, I get a phone call from a random number…Well, it was our school district saying that because of the high level of absences due to flu, they were cancelling school for Thursday and Friday. I’m so thankful we are all healthy (but, remember, the flu took Hadley out for a couple days and myself for an entire week a few weeks ago. #sowevepaidourdues I’m hoping Travis and Hayden continue on the healthy train!) It’s been nice to have a couple extra lazy mornings, and I’m ready for a slower paced weekend…

As always, I’m linking up with Narci, Erika, and Andrea for Friday Favorites.

FAVORITE PIC

Honestly, it’s a little tough to choose one fave pic. In Monday’s post, I recapped our weekend. I loved lots of pics from last weekend—Hadley at the District Science Fair, Hayden’s Kobe tribute (in permanent marker on his Mambas), Hadley’s chorus performance, etc…but these four cuties in their Chiefs gear was definitely a sweet pic. That being said, three of the four cuties had no clue what was going on during the game, but Hayden sure did!

The Chiefs pic reminded me of this early November 2015 when there were only three cutie cousins basking in the glory of the Royals World Series victory.

FAVORITE KID QUOTE

I forced Hayden to go to bed at 11pm on Sunday….he was still very pumped up after the Super Bowl win. As I tucked him in, he said, “Mom, I hope this Chiefs win isn’t a dream!” So cute. When the Chiefs won the AFC game, Hayden said, “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this!” I told him that I technically had been waiting my whole life for the Chiefs to go to the Super Bowl. haha Fifty years in the making! I hope he always remembers this victory…and I hope there are more big wins for the Chiefs in the future.

FAVORITE CLOTHING ITEM

I’ve been wearing my favorite Nordstrom turtle neck sweaters on repeat. They are easy to wear to school but also with leggings to be more casual on the weekends. I’m also still wearing my Thread & Supply Wubby Fleece Pullover , also from Nordstrom, especially on the weekends when I don’t want to wear a coat somewhere. It keeps me warm going to and from kids’ sporting events, etc. I linked them in a previous Friday Favorites post.

I’m also waiting on a Stitch Fix order to arrive. I receive orders about four times a year, and always end up keeping a couple items. The past few orders, Narci has been my stylist!

FAVORITE FOOD

It was finally cold enough outside to make chili for dinner this week. I usually use my dad’s recipe. I plan on sharing the recipe on Monday for Monday Meals.

FAVORITE MOMENT

Y’all, having kids in elementary school continues to be a walk down memory lane. They were so excited to receive their recorders this week. I was having a flashback to elementary school and playing the recorder in music class with Mrs. Young.

I played Hot Cross Buns for the kids, and they thought I was the coolest mom ever. Travis basically called me a nerd. haha

FAVORITE MOM MEME

I saw this meme last week and literally laughed out loud….because it’s the truth. I even walk into a room and can’t remember what I am looking for!

BONUS Favorite

Once I wrapped up my “Dry January” of no purchases from Amazon or Nordstrom, I purchased this blanket. We “needed” one more for the living room and this one is soft, fuzzy, and cute. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t think through the fact that Homer would think the fuzzy decorative pom poms on the blanket were chew toys. Ugh! Nothing is Homer proof.

Also, Wednesday’s post included my favorite Valentine’s Day decorations around my house.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you have a great weekend. We are looking forward to two basketball games and a cookie decorating class.

Take care,

Jen

Instagram: @showmeandsweettea

Facebook Page: Show Me and Sweet Tea