Five on Friday - Sandals, Popsicles, and Ladies Night

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I honestly cannot believe that it’s Friday again.  Just where is this time going?!  I thought it moved quickly when I worked, well, it moves about 10 times faster when I don’t work.  The end of today officially marks the halfway point of summer break for our babies and I can hardly believe it!  We still have so much to do and we only have five weeks left!!  I’m just not remotely ready to turn them back over to the school yet… although, maybe in five weeks I will be, though.  Lol.

Time for some favorites from this week!

O N E – New Sandals

My very favorite, beloved pair of gold sandals bit the dust a couple of months ago and I’ve been on the hunt for something new ever since.  The goal was to find something in either gold or brown that straps all the way around my foot (no flip flops), that are comfortable, and that slide on and off very easily… basically just an every day bumming around kind of sandal. 

Well, I searched all over online and I looked at a few local stores including Target and Old Navy, and I just couldn’t find what I was looking for.  The kids and I had to make a quick stop at Walmart on Monday and it had never occurred to me to look there, but we just so happened to walk by the shoes on the way back to the freezer section so I decided to stop.  I am SOOOO glad we did!  I found the cutest, simple brown sandals that were EXACTLY what I was looking for.  I thought for sure they wouldn’t be comfy and that they would cut into my feet, but friends, these are as soft as buttah.  I’ve worn them every single day since Monday – I even walked all over Atlanta the other day in them – and I AM IN LOVE.  They are SO comfortable. 

The best part?  Only $5.87!!!!  Whaaaat.  I have no clue how long they’ll hold up, but even if they only last me this one summer it’ll be worth it because - $6.  They also come in black and nude and I might just go back and grab a pair of each.  They don’t come in half sizes so I just sized up and they are perfect!

T W O – This Book

I know I already mentioned this in my What’s Up Wednesday post this week, but it’s definitely a favorite from the week!  I am a big fan of Me Before You and Me After You and Still Me is the third book in the series.  While I loved the first two, I think this third book has been my favorite so far.  I haven’t been able to put it down this week!  If you liked the first two, or even if you thought the first two were just okay, I still recommend reading the third one because it’s better than the first two! 

T H R E E – Homemade Popsicles

One thing I’ve always wanted to try is making homemade popsicles.  I ran across a few of Shay’s recipes recently and decided that it would be a really fun project for the kiddos for summer.  We picked up this popsicle mold from Amazon per her recommendation and she was right!  We love them!  If you follow the instructions exactly the popsicles come right out and they come out whole!  The first batch we made were the Creamy Lime Pie ones and they are DIVINE.  I’ve never been a huge fan of traditional popsicles, but gourmet popsicles?  Sign me up!  I see lots more popsicle making in our future!  Next on the list are these Strawberry Lemon ones per Olivia’s request.

F O U R – Private School Attire

Olivia starts Pre-K4 in the fall and she will be moving over to Jacob’s school for her first year.  Jacob’s school is a private school that I attended when I was little, and the kids wear uniforms there.  The girls are required to wear plaid jumpers on church days but most of the girls just wear them every day, so Olivia’s closet is already loaded up with five jumpers for next year thanks to some of our sweet friends who passed down their daughter’s old ones to us (their daughter is in Jacob’s class). 

We tried one on for the first time the other day to make sure that they fit, and I may or may not have teared up when I saw her in it.  She will, of course, be wearing a blouse underneath the jumper for school, but you get the idea!  The plaid on the jumpers is different than it was when I was there, but I think they made the change for the better.  These are darling!  Somebody just go ahead and pass the box of tissues because I’m going to need it in August.

F I V E – Ladies Night

Wednesday evening I met up with four of my favorite ladies to celebrate my best friend, Shelly, for her birthday.  We opted for Bonefish instead of our usual Mex and as always it was delicious!  I’m typically a wine or beer woman, but when I’m at Bonefish I can never resist their martinis.  During the summer they have the Pomegranate Martini and it’s so delicious it’s almost as good as their Winter White Cosmo!  We had not one, but two rounds of drinks, and I had to have the Pomegranate Martinis for both.  I also had a steak and the garlic whipped potatoes + green beans and it was all yummy.

The best part was, of course, catching up with my girls!  We’ve been doing these Wednesday night ladies nights for 13ish years and they never get old!  We used to have them weekly, but now that we all have multiple kiddos and are being pulled in lots of different directions that’s nearly impossible, so instead, we tend to meet monthly these days.  I’ve been friends with these ladies for 20 years, 25 years, 22 years, and 8 years, and I’m so thankful for each and every one of them. 

Ladies, find your tribe and love them well.  Make the time to see them, to talk to them, to spend quality time with them because it is so important to foster these relationships.  It’s really, really hard to make new friends the older you get, and I’m thankful that I have a handful of ladies who I know will always be there for me.  I just know we’ll still be doing these ladies nights 30 years from now! 

Happy Friday!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.