Friday Things #338
1. Poor little Isabelle came down with a bad case of croup this week. Ugh, I feel so awful for her. All of the kids have been over their colds and she seemingly came down with it out of nowhere on Wednesday morning. Joseph had it a couple of times when he was 2/3ish, but his seemed to just spike at night; she has an awful cough during the day, as well. Here’s hoping she’s back to her perky self soon!
2. Joseph is learning some words at school and I can’t even fathom how much he’s grown up. Seeing him play with his friends, run and laugh, just totally melts me. It’s so crazy that this was four years ago!
3. Dominic is SO excited that he graduated to the next level of swim class this week! He’s getting so big, and preschool dropoffs have been getting incrementally better! We’re not at the no crying point yet but each time is an improvement, and it just makes me realize how small he still is and what a big leap this is for him. My buddy :)
4. Okay, so last week I asked about pesky little pinholes in the front my shirts and oh my goodness, EVERYONE GETS THEM! What in the world? Many of you wanted me to give an update if I figured it out, so here are my thoughts… A couple of people seemed to nail it – yes, we have granite countertops and YES, when I looked, there is a seam right in the front of the sink, where I would lean to do dishes. I feel like this is the most likely culprit, but there is also a little snaggy notch on the underside of my seat belt that could also be to blame. So I’m going to make sure I pull my shirt out from under the seatbelt, and my husband said he can put some clear tape on that granite seam (or I could wear an apron). Fingers crossed we’ve solved the mystery! THANK YOU!
5. Last night, my husband went to see Jay Leno do standup and it was a wonderful date night! We weren’t sure what to expect and if he would be all that funny, but we really enjoyed it. You may remember that we saw Jerry Seinfeld back in February or March and I think we agreed that overall, Jerry Seinfeld’s show was overall funnier (my face actually HURT afterward because I laughed so hard for so long), but that Jay Leno had some really terrific stand-alone bits that hit home (mostly when he was talking about his family). A great night out!
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6. Currently craving my salted caramel chocolate chip cookie bars.
7. I saw this earlier in the week on Instagram and I feel like it’s great for everyone to hear, no matter where you are in life :)
8. Really wanting to kick my daily Diet Coke habit, which I did during all of my pregnancies, but ugh, coffee. I did try Dunkin cold brew with just cream and it wasn’t BAD, but it’s not something I actually WANT to drink. I also am not a big tea person. How can I get a caffeine fix with also some carbonation? Is this possible??
9. We finished all of the available seasons of Line of Duty (OMG SO GOOD!!!), then moved on to ABC Murders. While we wait for The Crown to come back, along with Blacklist and Homeland, give me your current binge recommendations! We love British crime drama (Broadchurch, Happy Valley, The Fall, etc.) and things like Jack Ryan, Homeland, The Americans, Longmire, etc.
10. TGIF! I hope you enjoy a weekend full of happy moments.
I am a big Hinterland fan. Shetland is one of my favorites and so is Foyle’s War. My husband and I both loved Scott and Bailey and Endeavor, Inspector Lewis and DCI Banks. I love British Murder mysteries and just about anything on Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery…old or new!
Hope Isabelle is better soon and hope school drop off for sweet Dominic continues to improve! I have a couple of British tv series to suggest: Scott and Bailey on Prime is a good police procedure and Last Tango in Halifax on Netflix is a great dramedy!
I drink a lot of cold brew. Starbucks has a sweet vanilla cream cold brew that is okay, but j like to make my own. You can Google how to make cold brew at home,. Once I found out that I liked it, I bought an OXO cold brew coffee system. Very easy to use. You can experiment with coffees, whether you like it plain or with mil k or creamer, sugar, syrups, etc. I drink it most of the year because it doesn’t give me heartburn like regular coffee does.
You might try Dr. Pepper; it’s caffeinated. I’m at an age where I have coffee (with lots of milk) with friends once a week at a neighborhood place. Scones seem to go down well with the coffee and conversation.
Any particular reason you’re trying to kick Diet Coke? Some brands of cream soda (A&W, I think) are caffeinated. I’m pretty sure Mug is NOT.
9 – I really enjoyed Scott and Bailey on Amazon Prime – 2 female British detectives. It’s only a few seasons long so not a huge time investment.
Kombucha. Give it a try. Also, buy local, if possible.
“Scott and Bailey” and “DCI Banks” are two great British detective shows.
I am currently watching season one of Veronica Mars! Never watched it when it originally came out. Wanted to watch the new reboot season but thought I should start at the beginning. Love it! Especially the clothes <3
Did you watch Luther? Love me some Idris Elba…
Chernobyl on HBO was really good (disturbing parts…that are hard to watch tho). I remember the accident but did not remember hearing any of the details.
So I am a little late in responding to your post about the small holes in your shirts. This was happening to me as well and I finally figured out what is was. I started making sure all zippers were zipped up when I put clothes in the washer and dryer. The holes have completely gone away. The metal teeth were snagging my shirts and making the holes. That may not be your issue but it sure fixed mine.
I know you probably have a humidifier going, but it REALLY helps with the croup. I hope she’s back to her sweet, happy self soon! And oh, my gosh! That picture of Joseph! I had forgotten how cute he was! He’s certainly a big boy now! And I am so glad Dominic is adjusting – it takes a while. My youngest was the same way! I never thought he – and I – would make it through, but we did!
Have you seen 800 Words? It’s a New Zealand comedy/drama – I LOVE it. Another small town like Doc Martin – the lead is a columnist who lost his wife to cancer and has moved to New Zealand with his two teenage kids. There are 4 seasons, I think and hopefully more to come!
Have a great weekend – hopefully with a much better Isabelle!
Hope Isabelle is feeling better soon…the boys are getting so big. It’s so fun to see their accomplishments…and it’s almost daily with little ones!
We saw Jay Leno in March here is SoCal and he was much funnier than expected! It was a very enjoyable date night for us as well! He was on stage for almost an hour and a half and he was just so entertaining. Glad you enjoyed him too. We’ve yet to see Jerry Seinfeld but it’s on the bucket list!
Have a lovely weekend with your family!
Yellowstone!
Kombucha! I don’t think there’s a ton of caffeine in it, but some, and it’s a great replacement for soda. Good for the gut.
We really enjoyed Silent Witness
For shows to watch, try Justified. It was originally an FX series and can now be found on Amazon Prime. I also enjoyed the Bodyguard on Netflix.
Maybe try Soda Stream? You can make up or buy any flavored syrup you want and experiment. We don’t do caffeinated drinks much in my household but we make up all kinds of flavored drinks with ourSoda Stream using fruit juices, sugar syrup and extracts, etc. it’s fun and tasty!
For the caffeine issue, which I 100% relate to, try Tazo Awake Tea. I love the stuff and use for hot tea and cold. There really is nothing like a cold diet coke though.
Hey Michelle,
Guayaki Sparkling Yerba Mate Blackberry Mint is pretty good. I think it has some tea in it, but I’m also not a tea fan, however I like this drink..it’s caffeninated and carbonated too.
That’s wonderful that Dominic is settling into drop-off. I’ll admit that I still got butterflies in my stomach when Mom let me out even through high school. Tell him even the big kids get nervous sometimes!
Vera is a fantastic show, if you haven’t tried that one yet. There’s also a new 4-part show on Britbox called The Victim that was pretty good. Hinterland was good, also. That show was interesting; they filmed each scene twice, once in English, then immediately shot it again in Welsh.
Have you tried the sparkling ICE waters + caffeine? Black raspberry is my favorite! Here’s a link to their website: https://www.sparklingice.com to see if you can purchase near you or maybe just on Amazon.
Watch Unbelievable on Netflix. It is a crime show based on true events and is really good! Just finished binge watching it
I think the Diet Coke substitution depends on the reason for you wanting to kick the Diet Coke habit. For me, I’m comfortable having one a day, but I know others are cutting out artificial sweeteners altogether.
If you like coffee, you could add club soda to coffee (I like black cold brew, but you could certainly do a flavored or sweetened coffee if that’s your thing). And there are a bunch of carbonated canned coffees on the market now, some of which don’t really taste like coffee! https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2019/06/27/canned-coffee-is-suddenly-a-lot-more-interesting-with-funky-flavors-and-many-more-bubbles/
Cute kids! Cold brew coffee is the way to kick the soda habit. You can make it yourself and it’s super easy. British and Australian tv….Father Brown, 800 Words, Wanted, A Place to Call Home, Janet King. All very good!
Oh my gosh, I’d love to know the answer to what can be substituted for Diet Coke, too!! I consider my one Diet Coke in the morning my coffee and I can’t seem to kick the caffeine/carbonation habit. Nothing else does it for me (coffee or tea) either.
Caffeinated crystal light!!!! I swear by them. (To be totally honest- I prefer the Walmart brand)
Hi Michelle, Totally adoooooor-able pictures of your kiddos. They are soooo cute! My thought is… keep the daily Diet Coke. Is it just one?? Go for it, and enjoy! :-)
Maybe try organic matcha with sparkling water?
Your repost of that Instagram today hit a nerve and made me cry this morning. A good cry so thank you! Also I love your site and your recipes and look forward to checking out your blog every week. Thank you and have a great weekend
Another possibility regarding holes in clothing is the dryer! I’ve heard it can do that especially on high heat.
Have you tried nitro cold brew? Cold brew is naturally sweeter so just adding cream can be enough to make it very delicious! And nitro cold brew is carbonated!