Friday Favorites: Shelter in Place Week #10 (Opening up Phase 1)

Our state began slowly opening up this week... and I do mean slowly.  I know there have been protests at the capital both for opening up things and for stopping the opening up of things.  I know it's not an easy choice one way or the other but I have loved shopping in stores again and was giddy to hear that our library is opening up for curbside pick-up! Sometimes it really is the little things.



Friday I spent my morning working on the blog, on my puzzle, and reading my book.  We played  quick few rounds of Telestrations.  By lunch the sun was shining and, since my mother in law was bringing pizza/ lunch for all the kids, we decided to eat outside on the patio.  It was beautiful! I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in my new chair and reading my book.  Evan and I did walk up to get the mail but with the trees finally blooming my allergies were driving me nuts.



I had put ribs in the crock pot with some BBQ sauce and we served that with some rice, corn on the cob, and salad.  My husband and I ended up eating rather late as we had to run to Lowe's and get a few last parts for Alec's flooring but we needed to make it there by the time they closed.

On Saturday Alec, my husband, and I ripped out Alec's carpet and installed his new flooring.  It was a lot of hard work (mostly on my husband's part) but it looks great!




I had put meatballs with some sauce in the crock pot in the morning so we made meatball grinders and had them with some chips and salad for dinner.  Good thing I had planned ahead as the last thing I wanted to do was cook.  My husband and I ended our night with a walk around the neighborhood.

Ian and my husband headed off to work on Sunday morning.  I worked finished up my puzzle, finished up my latest book, and helped Alec unpack all the boxes of stuff and arrange them in his room.



After lunch my husband and I headed to Bj's to see if we could stock up on some much needed groceries.  We got a decent amount of food and found 99% of what was on our list so I'm happy with that.  We had pot roast, mashed potatoes, and salad for dinner then ended our night by getting to go get some ice cream.


Monday morning I started my day bright and early with a stability ball workout.  I also weighed myself and started tracking my food (again!).  Hopefully I can make this a daily habit once more.  It was cloudy and gray all day so my boys and I just hung around at home.  I read my book,, did some cleaning, and ordered new bath mats and towels for a couple of the bathrooms and a shower curtain for the boys' bathroom.  Evan and I did squeeze in a short walk in the afternoon.  I had dinner all prepped on Sunday so it was a nice lazy day.  I made a shepherds' pie of sorts using leftover ham from Easter, creamed corn, and leftover mashed potatoes.  Quick, easy and pretty tasty too.




It was beautiful on Tuesday so around 10 (after Ian headed out to work) the younger boys and I headed out for a hike.  We hiked nearly 2 hours checking out a new trail that ties in with one of our old favorites.




After a quick lunch at home I headed out to clean out the last flower garden and put out all my garden decorations for the summer.  I was so excited to see flowers in bloom; finally!




I started a new puzzle and a new book and took a quiche out of the freezer to serve with a tossed salad for dinner.



Knowing our state was opening up retail stores on Wednesday (along with a few other things like restaurants with --outdoor seating only --at 25% capacity) the younger boys and I headed out to buy a few things we've been putting off; like finding Evan some new shoes.

Unfortunately many of the stores decided not to open (or at least not yet) and we struggled to find him a pair... but we finally did and he went up another whole size and I see why he was complaining about walking!  We bought Alec a new rug at Target and also stopped in at Runnings and found some of my favorite pretzels on sale!  We found these in South Dakota last fall when visiting Mt. Rushmore and we just love them.



We were back home by lunch and I worked some more on cleaning up the last garden, putting out decorations, and I even repainted one of my garden decorations.  Isn't he cute?!  I just couldn't throw him away and a fresh coat of paint makes him garden ready again.

before:

After:

I helped Alec get his rug down and other than hanging his pictures back up on the wall his room is officially done.


My husband grilled up some kielbasa with BBQ sauce while I made BBQ macaroni salad and a tossed salad.

I thought we'd spend lots of time outside on Thursday since it was going to be so beautiful out but by time just got away from me.  I started my day by cleaning out my closet and tying on all the clothes I had from last summer.  After realizing most of it was not going to fit I headed to the computer to order some of my favorites that I knew I had ordered on Amazon in a smaller size.  My closet is so nice and clean and organized now!

Everything that fits (for all seasons) is folded on the shelves or hanging up and the rest of the clothes
I've outgrown are sorted by season & size all around the top of the room

Then Alec and I spent part of our morning ordering books for pick-up at our local library.  By the time I headed out to run to Target (to return a few tops I had ordered online that I didn't like), hit up the library to return our books and pick some up curbside, and get our groceries it was practically 11 o'clock... I did go to a new grocery store so it took me a bit longer to find everything (but I did find EVERYTHING!) and once home it took some work o get all the food prepped for the week and put away.. so it was nearly 2 by the time I was ready to head outside.

The younger boys and I managed a 30 minute or so hike/walk around the dam and then headed home to get dinner ready.






We cooked up some grilled chicken, baked ziti, sauteed zucchini & squash with a freshly tossed salad.

All in all it was a pretty great week! How was your week?

Linking Up With: On the Edge, 



Comments

  1. Looks like a great week! Love your garden friend- its amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do! :) Have a great weekend.

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  2. Love those Dots pretzels. The paint looks great and so does your weather. Hope it’s beautiful all weekend long! xo

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    1. It's supposed to be 80 and sunny most of the day/weekend and I am so glad I went through my closet and found a few shorts I can wear while waiting for some new ones I ordered to arrive.

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  3. Love your closet organization- congrats on slowly opening up- it does give us hope doesn't it? Have a wonderful weekend!

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    1. It sure does! I've been to 6 stores in 3 days.. and I have a hair appointment in two weeks!

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  4. Your closet looks so good!! I have not seen that telestrations game--need to check it out.

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    1. Thank you! My husband tried to tell me it didn't look any different... but I definitely notice a difference.

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  5. Such great favorites! The trails look so fun and inviting! You are lucky that stores are opening up, but I can't complain as I only live an hour away from Iowa and hopefully I'll get to go again this weekend!
    Your closet organization looks great! I ordered a few shirts this spring and need to get rid of a few. Not sure why that part is always so hard for me!! Maybe I need to rewatch the Mari Condo series on Netflix :-)
    Hope you're having a good weekend!

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    1. I don't have a strict one in one out rule but I do feel like I am always purging things from my closet. Just reorganizing yesterday I managed to get rid of one really huge bag of clothes I know I'd never wear again.

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  6. The floor looks great! I like the accent rug he picked out for his room!

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    1. I do too! I wasn't sure when he picked it but it's so nice and soft and the colors/ pattern goes great.

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  7. I guess our stores are open but I haven't gone yet! I'm craving a HomeGoods run really. Our library is starting curbside as well so we should probably put some more on hold!

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    1. I have been going everywhere! I am loving it... well, except for my darn mask but I'll deal. I just wish Kohl's & Target had their dressing rooms open so I didn't have to worry about making another trip to return those items that I don't like.

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  8. Your nature photos are so calming. Thank you for sharing them.

    Patty
    GoodBetterBestFood.blogspot.com

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  9. That room makeover is swoon worthy! It is totally transformed, I bet Alec loves it. Glad you are able to get out a bit, traffic is definitely picking up here and that's a sign that we are back in business!
    xo,
    Kellyann

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    1. Isn't it?! Other than his actual bedding (and bed; I HATE his mattress) I would be perfectly happy moving in there. He LOVES it so much. We have noticed a definite upswing in traffic here too!

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  10. His flooring looks really nice! I was also excited that there were stores open in Texas - I got Mercie some much needed new spring clothes! That shepherds pie with the ham and corn looks DELICIOUS!

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    1. My only problem with shopping around here is that I need clothes and none of the dressing rooms are open. I ended up shopping online for the most part. But I figured it was a step in the right direction that things are opening up.

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  11. What an organized closet! We found a similar situation when Texas partially opened. A lot of stores took about a week longer to actually open their doors. I'm going to start library pickups soon. We are on the border between 2 counties. The library system I usually use is not doing pickup til June 10, while the one I don't use as often has been doing it since May 4. Very different leadership in the two counties! Anyway, I will now be using the other library...ha, ha!

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    1. All of our counties are following the governor's orders so statewide everything is pretty much the same; however we live on the border of two other states and it's pretty confusing to try and keep everything straight that's happening everywhere and since we use hairdressers, doctors, and the like in all three states we are really trying to keep up on them all!

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  12. Alec’s room looks awesome! Love the rug. And I love puzzles too. Just never make the time to work them. I need to make time. They’re so relaxing. Happy Weekend!

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    1. Thank you! I love how his room turned out too.

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  13. The garden friend and floor look just great. I want to try Dot's. I have heard they are great before.
    Blessings, Dawn

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    1. They are so addicting! I had my mom try some the other day and she agreed that while spicy they are good. I was so happy to find that someone near us carries them in stock.

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  14. Busy week! Our state has been relaxing things too, and I think Philly is supposed to re-open in early June, but I am in no rush to get out there, honestly. I've always been an introvert and a homebody, and I have really enjoyed this time at home with none of the usual pressure to get out of the house!

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    1. I haven't felt like our life has been all that different these past few months; my boys and I tend to spend a lot of time at home normally anyway. I just think it's that whole psychological thing of knowing we can't go anywhere that has me feeling antsy.

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  15. Isn't it soooo nice/also a little scary that everything is starting to open back up again? We are still staying at home 99% of the time, but the boys did finally get hair cuts yesterday! They both had the LONGEST hair they've ever had. Haha. Our library opened this week for curbside pickup, too, so I was finally able to get some new books after being in a major dry spell! It's so nice!

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    1. I don't think it's scary at all since we are at very low risk to have complications and everyone we know that has had it or knows someone that has had it had very mild cases and there are so few in our area. I am just annoyed at all these darn protocols everywhere. My boys don't have super long hair since we've been cutting them ourselves but they sure could use with some re-shaping-- a hair dresser I am not! LOL.

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  16. I am so glad that things are slowly opening back up. I wonder how weird it feels to go shopping for non-essential things while there is still so much dispute surrounding the issue. I have not been fearful of the virus itself at all since the beginning of this, but I also have not left my house. For some reason, I have this fear of going out in public now. Again, not a fear of the virus, but of something that I cannot really name. Anyway, I am ready for normal to return! Thanks for sharing your Friday Favorites at my link party.

    Shelbee
    www.shelbeeontheedge.com

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    1. I haven't really been afraid of the virus at all either (thank goodness as my husband has been keeping his regular work schedule-- including road jobs and travel!) but I definitely had a few weird moments here and there going out in public... I think mostly I am afraid of other people-- some are just acting plain nuts, some are so full of fear I feel their fear and anxiety spilling over onto me and it's not easy to shake back off, and some are just plain nasty. Luckily, most are just happy and sweet and each time I go somewhere and have a pleasant interaction (if weird feeling due to the masks and obvious pandemic feeling) it spurns me on to do just a little bit more.

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