Five on Friday - Barrington Bag, Plant Lady Update, and Antibodies

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Happy Friiiiday, y’all!  We’ve had a great week – the kids have had a blast at camp and I was able to get the house back in order after our trip – and now we’re ready for a fun weekend!

O N E – New Barrington Bag

My love for Barrington bags runs deep!  Brian and the kids bought me my first one last Mother’s Day in 2021, and I have used it every single day since then.  It has held up phenomenally – it still looks brand new so I can attest to the quality – and I cannot say enough great things about it.  The bag I chose last year is blush pink and white, so it’s perfect for spring and summer, but it’s not the color palette I’d normally choose for fall and winter… 

So, after using my bag for a whole year, I decided that I wanted another one in a fall and winter appropriate pattern, and B and the kids bought it for me for Mother’s Day this year.  I opted for the black and white gingham with brown leather accents, and I love it SO much.  It will go with absolutely everything and it’s perfect for fall and winter! 

For my first Barrington bag, I went with the “St. Anne Zippered Tote” because it was slightly larger, and I love it because I can fit all of my stuff in there, plus my full-size 30 oz. Yeti thermos plus a book plus a cardigan or sweater for when it gets cold.  And it still zips up.  It is awesome to have that much space for all of my extra items, especially when we travel. 

However, for everyday use, I decided I wanted something a little bit smaller, so this time, I went with the “Savannah Zippered Tote.”  It’s still large enough to hold all of my things plus a book and sweater, but it’s much better for everyday use as it’s smaller.  I also love that the Savannah tote has the key loop inside so I can just clip my keys inside and have them at my fingertips at all times… no more falling to the bottom of my bag!!  Woo hoooo! 

The Savannah tote also has an outside zipper pocket which I LOVE.  It’s a great place to store my phone and my hand sanitizer… things that I use often and don’t want to have to unzip the entire bag for! 

The bags are all very sturdy, the stitching has held up (and my bag from last year has held probably ten pounds of stuff here and there), and the leather looks even more beautiful with age.  The main part of the bags is made from water-resistant nylon canvas so they’re sturdy and they also wipe clean!!  Any time my pink and white bag gets scuffed, I just use a damp cloth or even a hand wipe to wipe it clean, and everything comes right off!

The bags are SUPER customizable and there are probably thousands of combinations that you could do for personalization.  The canvas comes in a gajillion colors and patterns, the leather comes in three different colors, and you can have your initials or name printed on the side (in tons of different colors) or you can have them engraved in the leather.

The bags themselves are light as air, and that’s one of my very favorite things about them… I put so much stuff in mine that they’re heavy enough already.  I don’t need the bag adding extra weight, too.

I cannot recommend these bags enough!  They are pricey (although, not as pricey as the designer bags that a lot of people carry), but I have a feeling they’re going to last a lifetime, so I’ll be able to use them forever.

My plan now is to use my St. Anne tote (the larger pink and white one that I got first) just for travel and also for things like Olivia’s recital weekend when I need to have a lot of stuff with me, and then I’d like to get one more Savannah tote (the smaller one) in pink and white gingham for everyday use in spring and summer… maybe for Mother’s Day 2023, Brian?  ;o)

That way I’ll have an everyday pink and white tote for spring and summer, an everyday black and white tote for fall and winter, and a pink and white larger tote for travel.  I’ve got it all figured out.  ;o)

 

T W O – Plant Lady Update

If you’ve been following along for a few months, you may remember that I repotted some plants.  I had a plant in my bedroom that wouldn’t grow no matter what I tried.  I tried moving it around to different spots of the house so it would have more sunlight and less sunlight.  I tried watering it more.  I tried watering it less.  Nothing I did would get it to grow. 

I finally removed the plant from its old soil and put fresh soil in its pot, and within days I started to see new growth.  Within a couple of weeks, it had grown by several inches, and now it’s grown nearly a foot!  All it needed was new soil! 

Before

 

After

T H R E E – Plant Trims

I also spent some time these last couple of weeks trimming back all of my plants that have been out of control.  The golden pothos in our bedroom was insanely long, with the stems hanging down about 7-8 feet.  They were trailing out into our bedroom and curling under Brian’s chest of drawers, and they were constantly getting in the way.  I trimmed off several feet from each of my trailing plants and I’m loving having the floor clear in our bedroom and in my office, too!

When I trimmed them, I also saved some clippings to start new little babies for a couple of friends, and I love knowing that my little plant babies are going to be spreading love all over to some of our loved ones!

If you had told me five years ago that I’d be writing about plants I’d have told you you were crazy, but here we are!  Haha.

Before

After

Clippings for friends

F O U R – Antibodies

My Momma and Daddy and I all donated blood together back in May, and The Red Cross just happened to be testing for Covid-19 antibodies when we went.  My results came back as “Reactive+” which means that I still have very high antibodies in my system… so high that my plasma can be used as convalescent plasma.  Woo hoooo!

B and I got our boosters back in November, so it had been more than six months since we’d been vaxxed, so I was excited to see that my antibodies are still strong!  Hopefully that means that our vaccines are still working their magic.  I mean, we had Covid in our house for three whole weeks back in February and Brian and I never got it, so it does seem that the vaccines have been working for us.  I’m sure we’ll get it at some point eventually, but hopefully it’ll be mild since we still have antibodies.

Having the antibodies has been giving me a bit of comfort since cases are spiking again, especially since we’ve resumed all of our normal activities.  I couldn’t miss my Dave Matthews Band concerts!!  ;o)  

 

F I V E – Another Old Family Picture

My daddy has really been delving into our family genealogy since he retired and he’s always sending new (old) pictures that he discovers.  I love love love an old picture, so I just eat it up when he sends them.  The most recent one he sent is this one of his great-grandfather and great-grandmother and their oldest daughter.  That makes them my great-great-grandfather and great-great grandmother. 

I was fortunate enough to know and love (and remember) my great-grandmother, and she was very old when I was just a little girl.  The people in this picture are her parents, and that is just wild to me.  None of us had ever seen pictures of her parents before, so this was a new find for all of us.  We don’t have any dates for the picture, but my dad is estimating that it’s from the 1920’s or 1930’s.  So cool, right?

Friday Funnies

Brian!!!!  Hahahaha.

On the Blog This Week

 Our 2022 30A Summer Beach Trip by the Numbers

Our Week – The One with Summer, Week 3 (Back from the Beach and Dinner with Family)

 

Happy Friday, y’all!