Five Things that I'm OBSESSED With Lately

There are phases that I go through, and I'm sure I'm not alone, where I have what seems like a long list of "must-haves".  I don't know if it's the fact that spring is upon us...hopefully soon...or just because I'm a product and trend junkie, but I have a new list of loves these days.  In no particular order, here's what I'm lusting after RIGHT NOW.

1.  Coffee...because, duh.  (if you follow me on Instagram, you already know this) Let me clarify, though.  NOT just any coffee.  Fresh, coarse ground, French pressed, delicious coffee.  Have you tried a French press before?  For me, it was life changing.  Now that I have the hang of it and what ratios are best, it's the only way I love it brewed.  Do I still use my beloved Keurig, yes...just not as much.  On the weekends, the Mr. prefers the press.  "Do you want coffee?" (this is such a rhetorical question in our household, but asked anyway) His response is always the same, "are you using the press? then yes!"  For those interested, I use this method.  There's plenty of opinion on ways to use the French press.  AND, did you know that if you enjoy coffee inside of Starbucks vs the drive thru, you can request a French press?  Pretty nifty.

2. The bootie.  Notice I spelled that with and "ie" and not "y".  Booties. Shoes, y'all.  Super cute with dresses, skinny jeans, and if you're brave enough (I have a friend who is), shorts with tights.  I was cleaning out my closet and organizing my shoes the other day and thought actually said out loud, "man, my spring/summer shoes have a lot to live up to." This past fall and winter, I collected quite the collection of booties.  Wedges, chunky heels, hidden wedges, you name it.  Now, looking towards spring, I'm on the hunt for a peep-toe bootie.  So. Cute.  Combine it with the still popular greige and you've hit the motherload.  BTW, flatforms and block heels are on trend for spring.  I don't know if I can rock flatforms...they're a little too 1999 for me. Eh. 

3. Cloth Napkins.  Weird thing to put on the list, right?  Well, it's because my Pottery Barn spring catalog is full of supercute options.  Normally, I get them from Pier 1, Target, or World Market...all on sale/clearance, of course!  I love that I don't ever run out of napkins like I used to with paper napkins.  Plus, it's way better for the environment and they just work better! I have quite an eclectic collection that started with a sweet friend sending me a vintage set.  Now, our napkin stash is split between two drawers in our kitchen.  I'll retire a few pretty soon and let them become cleaning rags or let the girls have them for tea parties. LOVE these for Easter/Spring. 

4. Lorac Pro Palette 2.   You know I couldn't list my faves without throwing some makeup in.  Ask my bestie, Jess...I had been obsessing for weeks researching all the different popular palettes that are out right now.  I decided after MUCH deliberation, to go with this one.  It's gorgeous.  Seriously.  I like that it's not one that geared towards any certain eye or skin color.  I watched a slew of YouTube videos of vloggers who raved about it.  I tried to find mostly brown-eyed gals, like myself, but there were plenty of blondies with baby blues, a couple redheads, and the rest of the gamut.  Gorgeous.  It was a Valentine's gift from the Mr. and I have played with it every day since!  Bonus- it comes with an eye primer that is legit.  Perfect peepers, allllll day. 

5.  Poshmark.  Have you heard about Poshmark?  It's pretty flippin great.  I've used it on and off over the past year or so.  It's kinda sorta like eBay, but better.  I scored a pair of $230 Current/Elliott jeans for spring for...$35.  No lie.  They are in near perfect condition, whaaat??  The cool part is that you can quickly sell using the smartphone app, then use your earnings to buy from others.  I'm not getting paid to give it a shout out, I'm just happy to not have any buyer's remorse! Maybe I'll find some of those booties listed above...hmmm...

FYI, I could've easily written a short novel (and maybe I did here) about what I'm loving right now...but I'll spare you.  What are you loving right now?  Anything on my list?  I wanna hear it!!

**a few goodies who didn't make the cut for the blog, but are still on my list: thuglifeshirts.com - I want about 72.8% of them; CC creams - I use and love both Younique & Smashbox; lipgloss - oh the obsession, I have about 40ish tubes...that's a whole other blog in itself; last but not least, all of my Young Living essential oils.  There's an oil for everything, people, no lie.**

What's for dinner...and lunch tomorrow?

My husband and I are back on the meal prep train.  I got worn out with constantly cooking while in contest mode in my former bikini girl life, so I'm not all that excited.  Sadly, bread and bread and bread won't build the body that I want...time to make some changes!  (If that's what you do to get swimsuit ready, please don't tell me)  I've bought more meat in the past two weeks than I have in the past month.  Well, aside from yummy uncured bacon. *please hold while I think about bacon for a minute*  Ok, I'm back.  I know, I know...but I could totally sustain life on all things carby.  Yes, carby is an adjective.  

Enter the crock pot.  Easy prep and one pot cleanup.  Yes, please.  Plus, I want to find some great go-to crock pot recipes for summer so I don't have to sweat like a pig while cooking heat up the whole kitchen. 

I just so happened to be on Pinterest (shocking, right?) and came across this recipe for Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken.  No lie, it took maybe 15 minutes to prep and throw it in the pot!  I added about 8 drops of ginger essential oil - I get my oils here - to the mix to add in a little extra flavor. :) About 20 minutes before dinner, I brought out the rice cooker.  I threw in brown rice and then broccoli into steamer basket.  Bam. Dinner.  I had every intention of taking a pic of it along the way....buuuuut I didn't, that pic up there is from the Slender Kitchen page.  Whomp whomp.  I will tell you, it was delicious.  I only had 1/2c of rice, I swear.  The skinless breasts made it lower calorie, next time I might use thighs instead...because, well, they're way more tasty than white meat wonderful.  What's your favorite crock pot meal?