Whyyyy do I have the most motivation and inspiration to do home projects when I'm stuck at work?  I blame this Diply article I clickbaited my way into this morning as I was lying in bed, cursing at the alarm.  The looming holidays make the itch that much worse - I want to finish these tasks and be able to show off our home to our guests and enjoy it to the fullest!

While there are so many I could illustrate, let's start with this stack of crown molding that's been waiting in our garage for well over a year (closer to 2?  I've lost track).  We just have to slap a fresh coat of paint on 'em and put 'em up (with some help from some adultier adults who have done that sort of thing before).


Also?  this ivory fireplace insert is driving me batty....I bought black high-heat spray paint long ago to take care of it, I just have to put forth the energy (and bravery) to do it.


It looks like it was spray painted previously, so maybe it used to be brass?  I thought I'd be able to take it out but I'm not sure I can, so that means taping and papering and plastic-ing like this tutorial from Bright Green Door.  Not hard, just time consuming, and something you can't un-do if you screw it up.  Ooooh, also - WE NEED A MANTEL.

In our hall bath that gets the most use when we have company over, we're not at a point where we're ready to rip out and re-do the sink and countertop, but they're so fugly.... I want to give the cabinets a mini-makeover with paint in the meantime (hello lipstick-on-a-pig technique!) and have been drooling over Urbane Bronze by Sherwin-Williams or something in that family.

I have the most drive to do these kinds of small-ish projects when I am wholly unable to...does anyone else have that problem?!

Halloween this year was pretty low-key.  I think it falling on a Tuesday put a damper on things...we only had about half the Trick-or-Treaters we usually do!  Our Halloween get-together this year was our Stranger Things party a few days prior, but in previous years we've thrown a big shindig.

I put out my Halloween luminaries to light the way to our door - white glossy paper bags with spooky faces drawn on with permanent marker.  I use battery-powered votives to ensure no little goblins set themselves on fire.

Over the weekend I hosted a girly slumber party (without the slumbering...we all prefer sleeping in our own beds as opposed to on my living room floor). 


This event has been in the works for awhile - my sweet friend Twinkle moved to the US in middle school and we've often talked about some of our favorite childhood movies she has yet to see. Well, "let's make a list of movies you have to see" turned into "let's have a weekend-long slumber party during which we watch all these movies you have to see."  But then we got realistic....we're (masquerading as) adults and have too many obligations to spend a whole weekend lazing around eating junk food and watching movies.  So we kept it to one night!  You better believe we were in our jammies and makeup-free, though!

The signature cocktail was a raspberry lemonade spritzer with a rim full of sprinkles....



My friend Lofton also brought some apple cider and mulling spices to which we added cinnamon schnapps (of course).  Because we were so full from snacking, I have tons of cider left over to enjoy by the fire!

Have you ever had a grown-up slumber party?  It was a lot easier to stay up late when we were foolish kids without responsibilities!  😝

A few days ago I made a couple banners for our upcoming Stranger Things premiere party!

Source

I used my Cricut to cut out chipboard letters, then strung them together with this neat baker's twine I found somewhere a few years ago.

My mom shared this with me from her daily devotional this morning:

"Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life."

I've been a fan of Alie & Georgia since I saw their interstitial cocktail segments on Cooking Channel, and I absolutely LOVED their short-lived show, "Tripping Out with Alie & Georgia."  What an amazing concept - go on a foodie-ful trip with your BFF then come home and throw a party where you make eats and drinks based on the things you experienced on your trip.  Love it!  Buy. It.

These ladies are hilarious, they're smart, they're irreverent, they're silly, they're nerdy...everything you could want in a friend!

Alie Ward and Georgia Hardstark (photo credit)

So I'm not sure why it took me so long to find and listen to their podcast, Slumber Party, but I'm glad I get to binge it now (which I'm totally doing lately).  It's rare that I truly LOL when I'm listening to a podcast alone, save for a little chuckle here and there, but some of the things they say make me GUFFAW.

Also check out their web series, "Classy Ladies," on Cooking Channel.  Comedy and culinary gold.  I want to travel and drink and cook and eat with these gals soooo baaaaad!

PS - Alie has a new podcast, "Ologies," that deserves a listen, too!

Today I traveled with some of my oldest, dearest friends to Historic Brattonsville, a place I had never even heard of, to attend a pottery festival.  While we did end up with some pottery pieces, we also had a great time soaking in some of the history of the site.  I had never heard of it before this pottery festival was advertised, and I'd definitely like to go back when we have more time to explore!

Sweet little bowl I bought myself as a souvenir. C'mon over and I'll make you some dip!

Ornament I got for my grandmother.  Shh, please don't tell her.

The festival was nice and shady!  Today sure was hot for being the first full day of autumn!

The vendors donated pieces to be raffled off, and a couple of us were big winners!

The light in the large house, "Hightower," was beautiful.

In addition to the pottery, they also had a BBQ truck there.  I got a bun-free pulled pork sandwich with slaw (hopefully not much sugar in that...).

We're having a low-key Friday night in, which I'm thankful for since I'm going out of town with some girlfriends tomorrow.  I threw together a low-carb eggplant casserole lasagna-type dish....


....and notice anything different?  WE GOT OUR BACKSPLASH INSTALLED!!!!  No more icky laminate!

For better or worse, I'm pretty accustomed to talking about weight loss and weight management.  I maintained a weight loss blog for awhile at Low-Fat Kat and work in a bariatric clinic currently, but I am far from having all the answers (and there's no "right" answer for everyone!).  There are so many different approaches to weight loss, but consistency is key, and I've not been very consistent in awhile.  Since getting married almost 3 years ago I've put on about 15-20 pounds, and while I'm still down close to 100 lbs from my very highest weight, I'm really starting to feel bad both physically and emotionally.

I decided it was time for a change, and the more I (casually) read about higher-fat, lower-carb diets and the way the food and diet industry has changed our eating habits over the decades made me think more seriously about following a ketogenic diet, not just for weight loss but for longer-term health.  I know we rely too much on simple processed carbs as a society, so I definitely want to make a lasting change that gets away from that.  I may not always be as strict as I am resolving to be in the near future, but the commitment I'm making to follow this has lended a novelty to the situation that makes me excited to try new recipes and see what kind of results I'll get.

Having said that, I'm trying to be strict but am still figuring out what my new routine is and where my macros need to be, so I'm going through a learning curve/trial-and-error period.  I'm relying pretty heavily on a few resources at the moment:

• The Keto Sub-Reddit boards for advice and info
• CRON-O-Meter to log my food/macro intake and make sure I'm staying on track (both browser and mobile app)
• The Keto Calculator to fine-tune your macro goals and figure out your targets
• The Ketogenic Bible book - this gets WAY in-depth as far as biochemistry and scientific studies, plus it has recipes!  A great resource, but potentially a little overwhelming.
• The Keto Diet Podcast - I've only listened to a few so far, but I'm a huge podcast fan, so it's nice to immerse yourself in a subject and learn from the experience of others.

This past weekend, Mom and I headed up to Lexington, Kentucky for a family memorial service.  While it was a sad occasion, we tried to make the most of it by hitting a few fun spots while we were there and along the way.
When Mom and I arrived late Thursday night, we walked from our hotel over to Bru Burger Bar and split a burger and the best onion rings I've ever had in my life (no joke).  We each had a local beer, too!

I wasn't thinking with both lobes of my brain when I was packing Thursday, so I failed to include something orange for Solid Orange Friday!  My first coffee of the day, however, made up for it.






 We had a couple of special requests from home, so we had to cross them off our to-do list Friday.  First of all, we ventured to the liquor store to find some hard-to-find bourbon.  Oh how I wish I could've brought this guy home with me...

The essentials.

 Friday afternoon and evening were the memorial service and family time, but Mom and I had some wind-down time when we got back to the hotel.  Mud masks and wine in a cup!







Hope you all are safe and sound this hurricane season - it's already proving to be a crazy one!