Thinking Out Loud about Plumbing/Thankful Thursday Employment

Today I am joining in with Penny for Thinking out Loud Thursday HERE and Rebecca Jo, at Knit By God's Hand, for Thankful Thursday HERE. Please link up and join us today!!! Updated!!!

So my thinking out loud entails this...

When I was on vacation (3 weeks ago)...I got a call from my neighbor that lives under me. I am in a condo. He said that something was leaking into his cupboards above his refrigerator. He was worried that one of my appliances was leaking. I said I was not home but I would have my cat sitter check to make sure there was no issue. She looked under the stove, sink and refrigerator, she checked the toilet and the tub - there was no leaking she could find.  Fast forward 3 WEEKS YA'LL and he called me again and said "I really think you need to call the plumber; my drywall is wet and starting to buckle". I said "why would I call the plumber when you are the one that can see the leak?" Why have you not called the plumber yet?  I will happily let your plumber in if he needs to check something in my condo but it sounds like it is a leak in the wall pipes since it is over your refrigerator."  (I have no appliance other than my refrigerator above that and it is bone dry under there)  He said he had not called because he did not want to be responsible for the bill!!!! WHAT?!?!? Who does this?!?!? The condo has insurance and money saved to deal with these issues....you just don't let it keep leaking!!!! Are you kidding me!!!

My Thinking Out Loud over and over and over again is....

Is it me or is this just amazing?!?! If you are old enough to purchase a condo you should have the brains enough to know to call a plumber right away, no?!?! WOW!! Have we raised this generation to be clueless?!??! I think my 10 year old niece knows better than this!!!!!!!

Okay...now for Thankful Thursday. I am so very thankful that I have a job! Sometimes I take it for granted and I never want to do that! I work for a great company that really takes care of us! We have great benefits and compensation. Also, I have a lot of freedom in how I plan out my day, etc. They also stress a work/life balance and really support that with two paid volunteer days a year and allowing us to work on a variety of charities throughout the year.

Today I will be spending a few hours during my work day prepping for our annual Variety Halloween Party...it is a great charity and my company does it every year. The kids we get to work with are incredible!!! You can read more about Variety here.  This year the theme is Star Wars and today we are going to be making decorations for the party (cutouts and a banner for the party).

I will update this post after the crafting with a few pics from the meeting. Here is the update!! 

We worked on cutouts that will be hung around the walls and strung on banners

And we worked on these really time consuming cubefolds - they are paper cutouts that you print and then fold into the character. We are using these to lay around the food area as decorations...

Here is my finished cubefold of Princess Leia...I am not even attempting to fold her sword. I think she looks good without it! LOL!!

Also, Thankful for the tickets to the Steelers pre-season game tonight at Heinz Field!!!! I can't find anyone to go with me so I will go alone and lay across my four seats to watch the game!!!!!!! LOL!!!! That will be tomorrow's post!

I hope everyone has at least on thing they are thankful for today....what is yours? every wait three weeks to call a plumber? What charities are your favorite?

Aladdin!

What a great night I had last night! I needed a great night out and last night really came through!  I spent the evening with a great friend of mine that I had not seen for probably at least a year! In the past we have gone to conferences together and hung out a lot more but with my travel the past two years, we have not been able to hang out nearly as much!

We met up in Pittsburgh for dinner and a show. I have season tickets for the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series and last night was the show that closed out the season this year...Aladdin.

We met up at the Starbucks and decided to have dinner at Peter Allen's Italian in, what we in Pittsburgh, call the Cultural District. They are known for their fried zucchini so we could not resist getting that! After browsing the menu, we decided to get a few appetizers to share.  We had the fried zucchini, stuffed mushrooms and shrimp cocktail. We were both really hungry and it was all so delicious that this was the only picture I got - ugh! One of everything left just in time for the photo - LOL!  Bad, Bad Blogger!

After our dinner we walked around town a little bit since we were stuffed and it was such a beautiful night and then off to the show we went!  Aladdin was amazing!

Here is our obligatory photo before the show with the playbill!!! I am on your left and Laura on your right.

Disney does the greatest job with sets and costumes! It was a fantastic show! The dancing and costume changes never stopped!!! I loved all the bling!!! The costumed were covered from head to top in shiny gems and glistening sequins! It was a beautiful show and the cast was fantastic!!! The singing and dancing was non-stop! The cast had to be exhausted!! They all had abs and by the end we could see why!!! HA HA!

It was a great night spent with a great friend!! I hope you all have an amazing Wednesday!!

 Anyone else ever see Aladdin on Broadway? Do yo have a "local" Broadway in your town?  Do you love Disney or not so much? Fried zucchini, yes or no?!?!

Perricone MD Influenster Box

I came home from work on Monday to find an Influenster box awaiting me!! It was like Christmas for me - I love an unexpected package!!

Here is what I got...

I AM SO EXCITED TO TRY THIS PRODUCT~~

This is what the website says about this product...

What It Is

Essential Fx Acyl-Glutathione Deep Crease Serum is designed to target the most stubborn deep-set lines, creases and wrinkles, including deep forehead wrinkles.

What It Does

• Softens the look of facial lines from daily repetitive movements.
• Visibly improves etched creases making them appear more shallow.
• Minimizes the appearance of skin imperfections and imparts a beautiful radiance.

I do not really wear makeup anymore at all. Maybe here and there for pictures or a family wedding but that is it so I am really hoping this works!!!  I promise to use it daily like instructed and report back with my honest review.
 

I am really excited to try this product from one of my favorite skincare companies!!  I also really like that they called it Deep Crease instead of Deep Wrinkle! HA HA

 

Hopefully this will help smooth out all the worry lines and frown lines that are etched in my face lately...LOL!!

I will keep you posted and promise to write an honest review on my blog!   Thanks Influenster for selecting me to test this product!!!

Anyone else an Influenster? Anyone ever try this product? How about another product from Pericone MD?

Oh What a Weekend and Liar Liar Pants on Fire!!!

What an eventful weekend!! I had a busy one planned and then it actually became more eventful with a revelation and tire blowout! UGH! Life happens, right?

So, lets get right to it! I was so excited to stay home for a weekend and have my family come into town and then get to chill and spend a little time with my friend that is recovering from a stroke on Sunday.

So......Saturday morning I dressed in my Steelers best and met up with my parents for the game. I left my car at a local mall and we drove to Heinz Field in one car so we would not have to pay for parking for two cars.

We always like to get into town early and get lunch at a local restaurant. We decided to eat at Soho (which I love)!!! It was delish!!! They have a special game day menu that includes all the favorites. We had lamb gyros and tuna melts - everyone's food was soooo good and it was the perfect day to eat on their patio. If you live in Pittsburgh you should give Soho a try!!! Here I am with Mom and Dad!!

After we ate, we walked to the stadium and we made Dad pose in the Antonio Brown cutout - cute, right?!??!

I then made Mom get a game day spirit tattoo on her cheek...do you see a theme here (I made.....). Before the game even started they begged me not to "make them" be in any more pictures - HA HA!

Here is a quick shot of warmups before the game started ...

And this is our view from our seats! It is electric in Heinz Stadium on game day! Even for preseason games I never understand how people would rather watch from their homes on TV because I LOVE to be there with the crowd and players!! SOOOO FUN!!!!!! You can see the tip of my new shoes!!! They are Sketcher's I saw in Costco and they are crazy comfortable. LOVE them!!

We met up with this adorable family at half time! This is my brother and his family.  They used my friend's tickets and my parents and I used my sister's tickets.

Here is the whole gang when they came to visit us at halftime! It was preseason so a lot of people left at halftime so they joined us in some empty seats in front of us. Aunt Sara was the skill behind this group selfie!!! Great job getting everyone in!

I love this picture of my nephew. He LOVES sports!!! Antonio is his favorite player and I swear he was swinging his terrible towel the entire game!! He tried so hard to get onto that jumbotron but it just did not happen!  It is so much to be there with fans that get into it!!! Such fun!

After the game, my brothers family and Mom and Dad were headed back to my parents house for the rest of the weekend. We decided to stop and eat dinner together before they all drove home so my parents took me to get my car at the mall where I left it and we were going to meet my brother at my family's favorite restaurant Eat n Park in Robinson, PA. I got my car and my parents were following me to the restaurant and I blew out a tire!!!! UGH!!! It was crazy and scary but I was able to get off the first exit and my Dad put my donut wheel on my car for me. Thank Goodness they were following me!!! Thank you Dad!!

So my Sunday ended up being spent getting tires for my car at NTB. The tires on the car were the ones that it came with and they were all ready to go (there are 25,000 miles on my car now) so I ended up being safe and replacing them all. I took my friend to breakfast and made an appointment for 1PM to get the tires on. As I was hanging out with him the "selfish him" came back and he was griping about me having to leave and get tires (what?!?! are you kidding me?!??! like I want to go sit and get tires?!??!) and I noticed a cupboard above the refrigerator that was open halfway...it was where he used to hide his weed. When he left the room, I opened it and GUESS WHAT?!?! There was weed and a pipe there!!! I confronted him and he swore up and down that it was from before and it was not his.  The reality is he is such a giant liar it is no longer even sad or pathetic. It is scary how easy it is for him to lie to me looking right into my face!! I feel nothing at this point except disgust in the fact that he had two strokes and he is still smoking weed!! What an idiot...and lying about it on top of that! I flipped out and told him that he is going to definitely have another stroke and he just kept lying and saying it was not his...LOL!!
I am going over today after work to go for a walk with him but I am not even sure how long I can continue to be his friend. This weed crap is getting so old at this point and it is a matter of time until he kills himself so I am getting really close to tapping out of his life again. I am going to pray on what to do but at this point; I may not even have the patience for a friendship with him!!! Thanks so much for letting me vent - UGH!

Here are my pretty new tires though - HA HA!

So that sums up my weekend!! HA!! I love my family and I thank God for them everyday! You can bet I will not be slating any more time in my life to stay home and spend time with my friend. Especially when he is not even trying to help himself!

Any advice?!?!? It is always welcome from you guys!!  How was your weekend? Ever have a tire blow out? Ever have to deal with an addict?

Friday!!!!!!

This weekend I get to stay at home...in Pittsburgh...yippee!!!

Today I am joining all the fun parties below...

The Peaceful Posse

Amanda at Meet At The Barre
Erika at Little Bit of Everything

Simply Sweet Home
High Five for Friday
5 on Friday

The Blended Blog

  I get it...my family is very close and we try to get together often. Also, my parents live on a lake so where else would we want to be in the summer on the weekends?!?! I do not mind traveling every weekend. Since I am the sibling without a husband or kids; I usually travel to them and not the other way around. The only exception to this is Pittsburgh's Great Race weekend and then they all come to me!!! Yippee!!  But it is going to be SO NICE to stay home this weekend!!! My sister gave my parents and myself tickets to the pre-season home games for the Steelers!! You can bet your bottom dollar I will be there with bells on!

So...lets get into the 5 things I plan to do this weekend!!!!

ONE:  We are having a glow party at barre class! I am so excited! We are supposed to wear bright colors and white so I think my outfit will be perfect!! I will definitely post about it!!

TWO:  Make sure I get to my home group Friday night! This is the AA meeting that I try to make every week. Pretty much everyone there knows me and if I stop coming around (which is usually not a good sign in recovery) hopefully people would call me and question my absence...that's pretty much how it works!! 

THREE:  Steelers game on Saturday!!! Can not wait!! Time with my parents and the Steelers fans!!! Only regret is that my sister can not make it with us!!

FOUR:  Spend time with my friend as he recovers from a stroke. If you did not see this post you can read about it HERE.  Hopefully we can spend Sunday together and just enjoy each others company. Also, another thanks to everyone that shared their ideas with me! I printed out a lot of worksheets for him to practice math and writing! I appreciate all your prayers and encouragement! HUGS!

FIVE:  Chill on the couch and snuggle my kittens as much as possible!!!! I need chill time so badly...Just to veg out and watch TV!!!

So I have a few fun things for the weekend but mostly hope to relax and enjoy time at home in Pittsburgh for the weekend! I promise lots of pictures and posts if anything turns out to be interesting! 

Anything exciting planned for your weekend? Anyone else a homebody? What do you watch when you want to mindlessly chill?

Thinking out Loud and Thankful Thursday

Today I am joining in with Penny for Thinking out Loud Thursday HERE and Rebecca Jo, at Knit By God's Hand, for Thankful Thursday HERE. Please link up and join us today!!!

I am really excited to meet new bloggers and read everyone's posts.

As I got ready for work I was thinking out loud and said to myself "no more snacking after 6PM"...here is where that thought came from.

I am working hard at losing weight due to my knee issues and I do great all day! I eat a muffin or oatmeal for breakfast and then plain tuna fish and different veggies for lunch and a healthy dinner. I also added a few healthy cold presses juices to my day at the recommendation of a friend. We have a juice bar near my barre class so I went and checked it out. It is kind of pricey but I decided my health is worth it. So I spent to extra cash for the juices and I do great ALL day!!!

My issue is after I get home from visiting my friend and doing barre I start snacking like crazy. In my head, I justify it by saying "I worked out today", etc. but it is defeating everything I am doing ALL DAY!

So...all of this is to say...no food after 6PM AT ALL!! Anyone else turn into a gremlin and eat the cupboards bare after midnight?  I will let you know how that turns out! LOL!!!

Anyway...onto the juices!!!! THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST...I just wanted to share this with you in case you wondered what the heck it was like I did!

We have a cold-pressed juice store right next to my Pure Barre class in Peters Township called Fresh From the Farm Juices.  

I stopped in last week and talked a little with the cashier after hearing how much my friend liked their juices. They let you taste test any juices you want and after trying almost everything in the store I decided to try a few different ones. Here is my collection in the refrigerator. They are good for ten days after they have been pressed. The large bottles are $6.50 each and the wheat grass shot (pictured in the front) is $4.50. Not too too bad for pricing for fresh veggies! It says that every bottle has the nutrients of at least 2 pounds of fresh, organic ingredients. You can read about this process HERE.

This is one of my top two favorites The Healer... it tastes soooo good!!! Sorry for the dim picture from inside my fridge!! HA!! It has kale, pear, ginger and wheat grass. All larger juices are around 110 calories.

My second favorite is Limey Green...it has spinach, kale, apple, carrot, lime and cilantro. So yummy!! I should also note that if you buy ten bottles, they give you 10% off so the total was really not that horrible.

If you were wondering what a juice bar is all about - check it out! I loved it and hopefully I will start feeling the benefits of drinking two pounds of veggies everyday!!! and PS - no more food and snacking after 6PM!! 

1 more PS (since it snuck it's way into the left side of a few fridge pictures) this Beach Plum Jam is the best!!! It is tart and soooo yummy! My sister recommended it at the beach this year and I am going to have to find it online! It is so delish if you like a tart and not so sweet jam!!! You are welcome!! HA!

Apparently there is way more on my mind than I thought there was when I started this post!!! LOL!!! Thanks for hosting Penny! I hope everyone has a great rest of their week!!

Today I am thankful for my wonderful and supportive family and my adorable furry babies! My babies are always there for me just waiting to love me and support me when I get home! Whether I had a good or bad day, they are always there!!!!  I could not imagine coming home to an empty house! They all run to say hi as soon as I come home...they are what I am truly thankful for today! Here is a rare picture of them all together..it's catnip here here! LOL!

Do you prefer jam or jelly? Every juiced or been to a juice bar before? Ever do a wheat grass shot?
Anyone else turn into a gremlin and eat the cupboards bare after midnight?

Back to School Pivot

My sister is taking her youngest son to college today for his Sophomore year. When I spoke to her after they loaded up the minivan and sprinter she mentioned that they are going to have to move a heavy sofa couch into his place.

From what I understand; it belonged to one of the other kids friends and they decided not to take it back to school because it is so heavy.  My nephew saw it in the garage and decided it is perfect for his room at school! LOL!

My sister and brother-in-law loaded the sofa couch into the sprinter and she said it was horribly heavy so they are not sure how they are going to get it up three flights and into his room at school!!

It totally reminded of one of my favorite episodes of Friends. I will leave you with this laugh for today as I sit at work and picture my sister and brother-in-law pivoting the sofa bed up to the third floor!




Wish them luck - please!!!!!

Good luck and have a great sophomore year Matthew!!!!

Any one else love the show Friends? Anyone else moving kids into school? The old shows were so much better - what is your favorite show from "back then"?

Real Life Happens

It is crazy how fast real life hits you when you get back from vacation! WOWSA!

I want to make sure to thank each and every one of you that commented yesterday on my post. I appreciate the time you took to comment and share information with me regarding your experiences with strokes. I also really appreciate all the well wishes too and my friend does also!

Time will tell how he progresses but I am so happy I have you all to share with.  I also appreciate you letting me know that I am not alone in this experience. It means a lot! As long and he keeps putting himself and his health first, I will be there. If and when the destructive behavior and choices start up again;  I will be tapping out. Does that sound horrible? I hope not. I really just realize that I need to take care of me first and I cannot save anyone else. IF he chooses to hurt himself and jeopardize his recovery; I will not stick around! Again, time will tell but so far so good!

Today is just another Tuesday! Nothing exciting happened last night. I went to barre class and then over to visit my friend at his house. He had about a million burnt out lights so we worked on getting the bulbs changed in all of those and chatted a little. He has two grown kids at home and they have really stepped up lately. His son is 30 and daughter 32. They both still live at home. His son has stepped up at work and his daughter has been helping schedule aids, make dinner and give him his meds. I just always wonder how little things get ignored. It makes me crazy when a light is burnt out. They all ignore it and just use a different light. I swear, they would walk around with flash lights if they all went out rather than change a bulb. LOL!!! Maybe I am just OCD...not sure.  Little things like that make me nuts.  I am back to working in an office setting and there is so much going on with the company I work for. We are all waiting to hear things will proceed and praying there will not be job losses but again, time will tell.

I am very focused on my vacation in September with my mother - I am ready now!!! Feeling like I need a break with all the current unknowns in my life.  But, in the end, God's will be done and I know I will be right where I am supposed to be. I will also keep you all posted along the way! HUGS TO YOU ALL!

Stroke Recovery Wisdom?

I have really been debating about how and if to write this post but I have decided it is time to go for it because I really want all of your input!

On the 4th of July, a friend of mine had a stroke. Actually he had two strokes. I heard about it from a mutual friend and went to visit. He spent about a month in the hospital between ICU and regular stay and then went to a live-in rehab for a few weeks. He was totally miserable and just wanted to be home with his family and dogs!  He is now home and has home health care coming every day when his children are not at home with him. He is never alone right now and is actually recovering fairly well. He is taking care of himself and, at least, for now we are staying open to the option that there may still be a possibility for a future for "us". Time will tell but for now, it appears he is really taking care of himself (which is all I ever wanted in the past).

He is able to walk and move everything so he regained all movement although he is working very hard on writing. He seems to be getting his memory back slowly but surely.  He had to re-learn how to dial his iPhone and really struggled with telling time at first.  As of now, he is struggling with fine motor skills more than anything and really has a hard time signing his name and writing letters and numbers. Also, he is struggling with numbers in his head (subtraction, etc.).   Some of his health care people are working with him on these (visits from the occupational therapists, etc.) but I am wondering if anyone knows of an app or workbook you can purchase so he can work on these things in his spare time (which he has a lot of right now). I just keep thinking there has to be something he can use to work on it on his own or when I visit.

I just thought I would throw this out to you guys and ask if anyone else has ever gone through this with a friend or loved one? Hopefully some of you have some insight. I know it will take a while but it seems like he could be playing on some app that would help him and he would not even realize that was what he was doing.

Any input that you guys have is greatly appreciated!!! Thanks in advance - have a great week!

TGIF!! Whoopie!

Welcome to Friday! Yippee!!!

The first week back after vacation is so brutal! Hopefully, next week vacation brain will be gone! Wow-it has been a rough one!

Today I am joining all the fun parties below...

Simply Sweet Home

High Five for Friday
5 on Friday

The Blended Blog

Well...let me get right to it!!!

ONE:  It is football season!! I know there are a lot of opinions and frustrations about the NFL but I love my Steelers and I am obsessed with football! I love the game and the energy and everything about it!! My sister has season tickets and also a friend of mine so hopefully I will get to go to a few games this year!!! I love everything about football! Go Steelers!

TWO:  I am in love wit this purse/wristlet! My sister ought this for me at the beach. I babysat the kids one night and next thing you know I have anew purse. I love spending time with my nieces and nephews so this was definitely NOT necessary. I think she heard me say I liked it when we saw it in the store so she found a reason to buy it for me. Soooo super cute!! Such a sweet sister!!! I have a great family!!!

THREE: Yes please! I love these chips!!! I had them when I was traveling in First Class on Delta but could not find them in any stores to buy now that I am no longer traveling. The other day I was browsing in TJ Maxx and found them in the food section??!!! What?!?!? It was a major score!! I may have bought the last 14 bags they had!! LOL!!! I am serious - I filled my cart and bought all they had left there!  They are so good when you want something sweet!

FOUR:  It is a perfect time of year for these babies! I have been living on cherries and they are so cheap right now!!! Aldi's has the best prices anywhere; not just on cherries but on everything!!!! This is not a paid advertisement...it is just the truth!! I hope the enjoy at least one more week of delish cherries!

FIVE:  I will leave you with a photo of my fury kids!!! This is the only time they are all together in one location - catnip time!!!  They love their catnip and all chill together and eat and lay in it! HA HA!

Happy Friday y'all!!! I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!!!


 

Favorite Quotes I Live By

Hi everyone!  I decided this week to start joining in on the girl chat link up.  The topic this month is quotes to live by and I am so excited to join in!

If you would like to join in also, just grab their graphic and start chatting! 

Danielle - Bloglovin' | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter 

Emily - Bloglovin' | Instagram | Pinterest 

Lindsay - Bloglovin' | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest 

Lizzie - Bloglovin' | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest 

Sierra - Bloglovin' | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

 

This months topic is favorite quotes you live by! I have so many but I was able to narrow it down to five for this post!!

 

 

My first is...

I live everyday one day at a time. This does not mean that I do not plan for my future and take actions; it just means that I do not overwhelm myself by thinking too far in advance. Think about something you were really worried about last week; now think how much time you spent worrying abut it only to have it work itself out anyway.  This is what I am referring too. I refuse to get angry, upset, stressed or lose sleep over a situation that will eventually fix itself and I will look back and say "Wow, I wasted so much time worrying about nothing!" This also works well in recovery and goes along with the saying "I will not drink of use today." Who knows what will happen tomorrow but today I make a commitment...get it? Do this everyday and tomorrow never comes!!


My next favorite is...

I am a big believer that woman (and men) should be able to survive on their own. I was married once many years ago and after we divorced I swore I would never rely on another human like that again.  It sucked to have to struggle to get out of debt that someone else orchestrated and to find employment after a long break, etc.  I want my own identity and my own life - yes, it would be nice to find someone to share it with but not to the point that I have to have that person to survive.  I want to own my own home, have my own job, etc. that way if someone comes into my life they simply enhance it and don't become my sole focus. Does that make sense?!?


 Next favorite quote...

I love this one! A sponsor once said this to me when I kept expecting different results from a relationship. After he cheated the second time she said "why would you have expected anything else?  I now live by this quote! It sounds very harsh but I now only give people one shot and then I walk away...I don't have time for chaos and I work too hard for my serenity to give others any power to take it away from me.


Here is the fourth quote...

I have learned that I should not concern myself at all about others think of me. I just need to take care of myself and others around me and everything else will fall into place. It is none of my business what others say about me behind my back-it changes nothing about me. My actions should speak for themselves.



And lastly, and MOST IMPORTANT...

I realize that my entire life has been a tapestry woven together. I have bad experiences, good experiences, deaths and joys that are all woven together to make me who I am today. The sadness and grief allows me to see how grateful I should be when things are going well and the happy days make me want to cherish every moment because they, also, do not last.  I only have the perspective I have today because of what I have gone through and survived. I have tools for living today that I only have because I am in recovery (21 years) from drugs and alcohol. Everything I am and everything that happens is a result in some way or another of God's will. I am blesses to allow him to work his magic in my life! I am thankful and blessed and I try to stay out of his way on a daily basis!

Thanks to all who hosted this awesome hop...I will now go around and get inspiration from others posts! Thanks-have a great day everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

Nutrition and Beach Glass Art

Does anyone else struggle to get back into life after vacation?!?! I am joining in with Wellness Wednesday to discuss my "FUNK"-LOL!

I swear it takes me a while week to be able to get focused and back into work and life. I guess that means I was relaxed...not sure?!?!

Well, I have been back for three days now and I am on the struggle bus!! I just want to return to the beach!!!

I have gotten back into having my spinach and kale shake in the mornings and I am feeling more energy from them I think. Does anyone else have a nutrition shake during the day?  I also added collagen peptide powder in my coffee and a turmeric pill every day for inflammation and pain in my joints. In case you are new to my blog, I have psoriatic arthritis and my knees are shot due to many years of running overweight and the degeneration and arthritis.

Here is the contents of my shake...

Kale-about 1 1/2 cup compressed
Spinach-about 1 1/2 cup compressed
2 T (flax seed, chia seed, hemp seed, gogi berries) I have these all mixed together in equal parts in a Tupperware.
1 T beet powder
1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
add water to fill and then grind on the nutrabullet

Here is the finished product as I am drinking it at work!!

It tastes okay and I know I am getting the nutrition I am looking for from it. I would love to hear what you use in your shake!! My sister makes shakes for her kids and uses yogurt...I am not a sweet shake kind of girl. Any ideas on what I could add would be appreciated!

The one thing that is keeping me together this week is my new art projects!!! I started making these adorable beach glass art pictures in frames. I am using all of the glass I have collected over the past few years at the Great Lakes and Oceans on vacation! I think everyone in my family wants one now but here are a few of the examples I have made so far!!!!  They are in my ETSY HERE!!!

I hope everyone has a great day!!!! I cant wait to read all of everyone elses posts!!!

Anyone else have a nutrition shake each day? What do you put in yours? Anyone else collect shells or glass at the beach?

Sea Glass Art Etsy

Please excuse the shameless self-promotion but I have added the cutest things to my Etsy store this week!!

I have created these adorable framed works of art! If you love the beach; I think you will love these adorable little pieces of art using the beach and lake glass that I have collected over the last few years!

I do not tumble glass to make these - it is authentic lake and beach glass tumbled by mother nature!

Check them all out below and let me know what you think...

Birds on a Wire - Family in Sea Glass

Birds on a Wire - Love Birds in Sea Glass

Bikini on the Line in Sea Glass

Bikinis on the Line in Sea Glass

Stay Unique/Stay Weird/Be Yourself

If you want to check out my complete Etsy store you can get access it HERE. I sell handmade sea glass earrings and personalized, hand-stamped necklaces also.

Please leave me your feedback in the comments section. Also, any ideas on what I can add or do differently is appreciated. 

Have a great day everyone!

The End of Stone Harbor 2018 Family Vacation

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great week! I am in that "just returned from vacation" funky mood right now...UGH!! I think it will take a few days and I will be fine...LOL!!!

Here are pictures from the final two days of vacation. On Saturday morning we went for a little walk in the am to say goodbye to my little sister and her family who stayed a few blocks away. They had to leave a day before us; my older sister, Mom, Dad and myself stayed one extra day and drove home day Sunday. Here is a selfie of me and my sister!!

Here is the beautiful sunrise we saw on our way to meet them to say goodbye...

My last day on the beach I was still reading this SAME BOOK! This is crazy for me because I usually finish at least four books on vacation but I spent a lit of time playing in the water and sand with the kids! It was a great year!

Here is a picture of the lifeguards on duty on our final day at the beach...I like the picture with the life boat in it!

On Saturday night the Yacht Club of Stone Harbor held their 2018 Festival of Lights. It is a lighted boat parade, like we did HERE, only it is much larger boats and they had about 25 boats participate! It was great fun even though there was a little drizzle that night! Here is Mom, Dad and sister staying dry as we waited for the boats to drive past!

I was only able to get decent pictures of a few boats...the theme this year was around the world.

Another...

And finally this one...they had a giant toga party on board! It was great!!

Then my parents and I left early and drove all day Sunday to get me home to Pittsburgh around 3PM. My parents had another two hours to get to Ohio so they arrived home safely around 5PM. It was nice to have time to do laundry and get organized before heading into work today.

This is the only thing I have left from the beach, other than the memories...I bought salt water taffy for my treat bowl at work...Fudge Kitchen anyone?!?!?

I hope everyone had a great week and I look forward to being able to catch up on every one's blogs this week. I tried but was way to involved in family and nieces and nephews to be able to keep up!

Just a little PS on this chair below that I told you about in one of my favorite things posts.  I took it to the beach and opened it up and it immediately died! Yes, you heard me right, it died. You should be able to fold the top and bottom up and down and it just got stuck in the U position! It was so irritating! It was marketed for the beach so sand was not this issue...I was so disappointed! I cannot wait to return it to Walmart! Do not buy one - it dies right away and stops folding! UGH!

I wish you all a stress-free, enjoyable week!

Anyone else every purchase anything that you could not even use once? Does Walmart take returns without a receipt since it was a gift? What vacations do you have coming up?