FRIDAY FAVORITES #144 | HEY THERE, OCTOBER!!

Hello October!! 

I love October. Apparently, everyone else does too because there are approximately 4,287,983 memes about it. 😉 October means another year older for me. My birthday is October 5th (I'll be 39 on Monday 🙈) so it always acts as a kick off to all the holidays for me. Birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas & then New Years! (I still remember ringing in 2020 last NYE thinking it was going to be the best year! 🤣)

Usually, we do something fun around my birthday and it typically involves Packers games--either us flying there or cheering them on here in Dallas. This year is not typical of course so we don't have anything special planned other than my parents coming in to visit for the first time since I don't know when! This will be their first time meeting Charlie and I'm so excited to introduce them to their new "grandbaby".

But let's go ahead and jump into our Friday Favorites! I've rounded up a nice little list of favorites from this week so here we go with...

My favorite movie from this week has to be Patriots Day. It's based on the true events of the Boston Marathon bombing and it was SO GOOD. It really felt like you were getting a true behind the scenes look at what went on that day and the days after that lead to the dramatic capture of the bombers. They even incorporated real footage from that day into the movie.

It will make you proud to be an American, for sure!

After I watched that, I ended up watching the HBO documentary, "Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing", which focused more on the lives of the survivors and their journies after the bombing. Highly recommend both!

I'm currently reading/listening to His & Hers on Audible and while it started off a little slow for me, it is heating up fast! The book is told from 3 points of view: hers, his, and the killer's. 

Quick overview: A small English town is rocked when a local woman is murdered. A news reporter from London is sent to cover the story and finds herself personally involved when she realizes the murdered woman was a high school friend. The detective on the case is also someone she knows very well and has a long and complicated history with. When another woman from the same high school cliche is found murdered as well, things start to really get interesting...

It's definitely one of those crazy psychological thrillers that are so fun to read and I've already got at least 3 potential suspects in mind. Surely one of them is right! ;)

PS: If you decide to listen to this on Audible, beware of the super creepy narrator who does the part of "the killer". I can't decide if he's too much or playing his part perfectly! But its creepy nonetheless.

I posted this knife set over in my Deals Group earlier this week and HAD to get one myself!! I thought the white with the natural wood block was so pretty, clean and just a small way to update the kitchen counter decor a bit.

Why do I get so excited about things like this now?! #adulting

Also, someone in the group told me I should flip the bottom knives updside down so they don't dull the blade every time I pull one out and I thought that was such a great tip! (And I also wondered why I never thought of that. 😂)

This set is still (as of when I'm typing this) on sale with a nice little clickable coupon! The coupon can disappear at any time, just FYI! (It also comes in black!)

Now for my favorite pictures of the week! This is also the space where I fill you in on what's been going on since I can't seem to put together more than one blog post week lately. Sometimes blogs feel like homework that I don't HAVE to do...so I don't. 😂 Other times, I can't wait to sit down and pound out a post or two. Blogging is weird. Or maybe I'm just weird? Or lazy? Or too tired? 🤷‍♀️ 

(See also: M.I.A. book reviews for the past several months...)

Anyway, back to what we've been up to.

Last Friday, I told y'all that I was going to be spending a lot of time in my closet that weekend and that was no lie. I spent a LOT of time purging a lot of clothes, shoes, bags, and complete nonsense. The older I get, the more ruthless I become when I declutter.

I forgot to take a before shot but I did remember to take one mid-purge. For the record, the before shot wasn't as bad as the mid-purge so this way the before and after is more dramatic. ;) Also, I never thought I'd be brave enough to show the world the reality of my closet situation. 😂

Mid-purge/before... (oof)

And the after...

So much better!

I have yet to tackle anything above the high ledge though. I just kind of added things to storage bins and put them up there for me to work on next time. That whole top corner is filled with stuff Craig hasn't touched in at least 12 years. It all needs to go. But I'm not tall enough to get to it unless I have a real ladder as opposed to my little step ladder. So it'll be for another day.

My closet is a great size but we haven't added any extra shelving or anything to it. We've always just used it as it came. It has some shelving built in but not a lot. Trust me, I've drawn up plans for what I'd love for it to look like many times. I'd knock out that rack that juts out into the middle and replace it with an island full of drawers and storage for starters.  I know that it would be amazing if we hired someone to come in and build it out the way we wanted it but it just isn't high on our priority list. Maybe someday. Until then, we will just make do with bins and baskets and try to come to terms that while it may not be Instagram worthy, it works for us and that's all that matters, right? 

This is Craig's side. I didn't touch it so it's still messy we'll get to that soon enough!

I'll put all my "after" pictures in a separate post for next week. I'm still waiting on a little dresser to come in and I want to show you that!

These are all straight from the 'gram this week. (You can find me @amandanall).

I asked if any of your kids walked around the house brushing their teeth and there were actually a lot of y'all who either do this yourself or your kids do and you hate it! 😂 I just don't understand how the spit doesn't get everywhere. When I brush my teeth, water and toothpaste and steadily rolling down to my elbow. I don't think he's doing it right.

After Matthew left for school Monday morning, Charlie and I got in a little snuggle sesh.

Charlie needs a bath every week because his fur gets so greasy! I don't even know if greasy is the word. It just gets clumpy and like mine does when I've gone 4 days without washing my hair. Did you know that there's dry shampoo for dogs?!! Any suggestions??? I'm currently on Amazon looking at my options.

Tuesday was my first day to venture out and look for a new couch. This has been a long time coming and I've finally decided it's time to do this. Our old one is...old. The time has come. So I headed to Living Spaces which just opened up near us and it was huge, a little overwhelming and was so fun.

All of their couches are made to order and you are able to customize your sectional in a ton of different configurations and choose your fabric from dozens of options at no extra cost. (And your throw pillows too!) The only downside I saw from this was that it takes FOREVER to get your couch in. They said 8-10 weeks typically but that things are already starting to run a little a longer. Sigh. Patience is not my best quality. But I checked other furniture sites too to see about their wait times and almost all of them were just as long if not longer! Wayfair had couches available with waits of 18-20 weeks! So it actually made the 8-10 weeks sound pretty reasonable.

My parents are coming to town today (yay!!) to see the boys play (Matthew baseball tonight, Mason football tomorrow, Matthew football Monday night) and Monday is also my birthday! My mom is going to go with me on Saturday to look around some more and help me figure out "the one".

This is the one I'm wanting I think...

It's basically the same size/shape/configuration that we have now which is perfect and I'm kind of obsessed with these two fabrics which look almost identical. I'm hoping one is softer than the other so I can make a decision easier.

If I can have a new couch in my living room by New Year's Eve, that would be ideal! Fingers crossed though...this is 2020.

Matthew's very first football game (like EVER) was Tuesday night and I honestly never thought I'd see this day. He never wanted to play football when he was younger. Matthew is just so gentle and so NICE. Sports aren't about being gentle. So football has been a big adjustment. He's not LOVING it. But he's not hating it either. He actually had fun at his first game which I wasn't really expecting. His biggest source of hatred comes from those crazy early morning workouts. My sweet boy is so not a morning person. He takes after his mama! I swear if he had after school practice as opposed to before school, he'd like it a lot more.

After the game, Mason was dying to try on Bub's helmet. 😉

He wore it all the way home.

Some people love sweater weather. I love SWEATSHIRT weather. Sweatshirts are my JAM. I got in these three from A&F this week and I love them all!! Abercrombie makes the cutest and the softest sweatshirts that I've found. I now own at least 7 of them in all different styles and colors. 

Sweatshirt #1 / Sweatshirt #2 / Sweatshirt #3 / Jeans (TTS) / Tan Skechers / Black Mesh Slip Ons / Earrings

All of these run TTS and are so so soft and cozy. I'm wearing a small in each. I've got one from last year in a medium though and it's awesome too just a little oversized. So sizing up is definitely an option if they don't have your normal size and you're ok with it being slightly oversized/longer. 

Also, my jeans are back on Jane today (Style #2) but if these are sold out by the time you see this, be sure to check out ALL of the Kancan jeans! I've never met a pair of Kancans I don't love.

The shoes...YES YES YES. Both pair are like walking on air. Just slip them on and go. They are a must-have in my opinion! And the earrings are from my Etsy shop! :)

It's October which means it's REALLY Fall now which means I get cravings for those Gilmore Girls! I'm not sure why this show always makes me think of Fall but it does. I've watched this series from start to finish twice now and I'm currently at it for the third time. Do you have those shows that just feel like you're reconnecting with old besties? That's what Gilmore Girls, Friends, and Parks & Rec are for me. Every time I watch an episode I just feel happy and relaxed.

Love them. ❤

Happy Friday, friends!!

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Linking up with Erika and Andrea for Friday Favorites, Nancy, Simply Sweet Home, Friday at the Firehouse, and Create with Joy.