Fabulous Friday Favs * Warby Who?

Remember earlier in the week when I said the weather was about to turn ugly? It did. Yesterday was cold and dreary. I felt like I was back in Iowa not North Carolina. Luckily, today turned around a bit and we have some sunshine (although, the rumor mill is that there were flurries early this morning. Luckily I was not up early enough to witness such). 

I love sunny days. There's no way I could move back to the land of grey from October to March. It just gets me too low. I'm one of those that needs the sunshine. With that sunshine, that means that I also need something to wear to shade my eyes. But the catch? I lose sunglasses. I buy the cheap ones (typically) and then set them down somewhere and forget them, because, hey. . . . they were only $15. Plus I have a tiny noggin (explains a lot doesn't it?) and finding a cute pair of sunglasses can be a chore. 

But my crafting loving friend Jody down in Atlanta is a retail goddess (no, really - she's worked for some awesome retailers) and is currently managing the new Warby Parker store in Atlanta. You may have heard of them - they are the folks that will send super cool, hip eyewear frames to your home for you to try, you pick out a pair, send in your script and they send you back a pair of glasses. For about half the cost (or less) of picking up a pair at the mall. 

See, you can even use them as a hair maintenance system to keep your hair off your face.

What you may not know is that they have stores popping up all over the country. Jody is managing the store in Atlanta, so when I was there for the blogger's conference several weeks ago I went to check it out. And of course I walked out with a new pair of sunglasses.   The Teddy (each frame style has a name). Which, while they weren't $15, they certainly didn't break the bank and they are WAY cuter than any pair of "sunnies" I've ever picked up at TJMaxx. And better for my eyes too (with polarization and all that kind of stuff). 

And guess what. I still have them! They go in their case when I'm not wearing them and lo and behold, I find them there every time. Maybe the trick for me all along has been to buy a pair I would hate to lose. And I would HATE to lose these. I love them!

My new dirty little secret is that these days, I also need readers (go ahead - make your "she's old" jokes. I can take it). So my next trip to Atlanta, that's on the docket. I thought about taking advantage of the "try them on a home" offer, but this gives me a good excuse to head back to Atlanta and hang out in their cool library themed store. And use the photo booth in back. I'm a sucker for a photo booth. I'd share my pics from when I was there, but then Jody would be mad because she's in them and she hates the interwebs and hates having her picture on the interwebs even more. 

If you wear glasses and you need a new pair, go check these guys out. Their stores are cool, their staff was awesome (not just Jody but the whole staff was so nice) and I've heard really great things about their customer service using the "try on at home" service too. Oh, and get this, for every pair of glasses you buy, they GIVE a pair away to someone less fortunate. I saw somewhere this week that Oprah has a bazillion pair. They even made her favorite things list this year. 
You know what I say. If it's good enough for The Oprah. . . .  oh, and you're welcome.

Fabulous Friday Favs * You Say Frittata, I Say . . . Frittata

No.  I wasn't hungry at all and it wasn't any good. Ignore the lick marks.

Holy. Cats. What. A. Week.  After a long drive back to North Cackalacky yesterday, today was crazy packed full of work and evening errands.  I'm just not finishing up with dinner and yes, a beer (gluten free, of course).  
Things were so nuts today, I didn't get lunch until after 3p.  Thank goodness I had one of my new favorite prepared meals in the freezer waiting for me.  I'm pretty health conscious and I hate eating "fake" foods or foods that aren't freshly prepared.  But sometimes I don't have time to pull stuff out and make a meal. Especially a well rounded one.

It's days like today when I reach into the freezer and pull out one of my Luvo meals.  Not all of them meet my dietary restraints, but many do and all are pretty darn good for you.  Today's choice was Luvo Orange Mango Chicken with Whole Grains, Kale & Broccoli.  It's a complete meal (grains, veggies, fruit and a protein) and it's healthy (low sodium, low fat, under 500 calories, etc.).  And while it's not fresh, it's pretty close.  

Luvo has a great story to tell and I love that their packaging is made from recycled materials. And their steaming pouch is pretty revolutionary.  Their other options like 

Luvo Nine Grain Pilaf with Sweet Chile Beef and Steamed Vegetables or one of their breakfast meals like Luvo Farmer's Market Frittata with Sweet Potato-Mango Hash and Spicy Garden Salsa make for awesome choices when I'm pressed for time or when The Hubbs is out of town and I don't want to make a big meal for just one.  

If you shop on Amazon for them, you can even get breakfast, lunch and dinner variety packs, like.  Great for those weeks when you're trying to eat right and maybe drop a pound or two (my thoughts - Luvo has no idea I'm talking about them, and to my knowledge they don't make any weight loss claims).  

So, here's to the weekend, healthy eating, feeling good and did I already say here's to the weekend?  See you all Monday.  You're welcome. 

A Little Fall Spruce Up Is A Good Thing

Do you ever just feel the need to clean up the whole house?  Me neither.  But having just planted my fall/winter flowers in the pots on the front steps (see picture above and please ignore the bushes that desperately need to be trimmed.  That's next on the list.), that lead to cleaning the front windows because they got sprayed with water from the hose. Which lead to cleaning the kitchen and back porch windows, because they were filthy and we have company coming in this weekend.  

See, I told you it was bad.  The seams are lifting and it's just so. . . . 1998. Which was a good year.  But a long time ago.

I'll admit I've been in nesting mode for a few weeks now.  I NEED to change things up in my house (and deep clean it, but that's another story).  It's just that time of year.  Time to move the couch to the other wall and get some new pillows.  Or maybe change out the curtains in the bedroom.  Get a new rug or take down the awful wallpaper in our 1/2 bath off the kitchen and paint (my sister-in-law Cathy wants to be here for that one. She's always hated the wallpaper in there as much as I have, but for several years longer). 
So, while I was being Wendy Homemaker, I was daydreaming of changing up the blog a bit too.  Maybe being a little less scattered (here comes the OCD organizer in me) and a little more focused.  Giving you something to look forward to instead of the randomness that is usually this blog.  
Here's what I'm thinking:

Monday Quickie - I hate to get rid of our quickies.  Everyone likes a good quickie, so I just decided to move them to Mondays.  It could be a fast and simple recipe or something easy to craft or do around the house.  

Tech Stuff Tuesday - If you're reading this, you're using some sort of technology.  And I love technology.  All kinds of technology.  Heck, my day job IS technology.  So on Tuesdays, I'll be blogging about techie stuff.  Nothing too deep.  Maybe a new app I found that's awesome.  Or a yoga mat that tells you if your doing it right (hint - read next Tuesday if this sounds interesting).  Or maybe it's just a helpful hint on how to use your technologies more efficiently.

Trendy Wendy Wednesday - I'll be honest.  This one is to help get me out of my rut of no make up, ponytail, yoga pants and my Namaste tank top days (see my logo above - that's what I look like most every day).  I work from home these days, so I need a reason to put 'real' clothes on and do my hair and makeup.  I have personal Pinterest boards full of hair, makeup and clothing ideas.  Except now you'll get to experiment with me.  Maybe it's trying out a new smoky eye.  Or the sock bun (I'll be honest - I've still never mastered it).  Or putting together a new outfit.  Sorry guys, you may want to take a knee on Wednesdays and go read a SportsCenter blog or something.

Thirsty Thursday - By Thursday each week, I need a drink.  My health stuff this year forced me to slow down my cocktailing ways, so now I only have adult beverages (drinky treats, as I like to call them) Thursday through Saturday.  That means Thursday is the new Friday and I think we need to celebrate that the weekend is almost here.  I'm going to team up with The Whole Smiths here and there, since they always have great drink ideas.  So be looking for a new recipe each Thursday right here. 

Fabulous Friday Favs - I have lots of favorites.  Just as The Hubbs.  Favorite foods. Favorite hair products.  Favorite work out gear. Favorite housewares. Favorite music.  Lots of favorites.  And I'm going to share them with you on Fridays.  I may even sneak in a favorite I've created in my online store each week too.  But you can count on whatever it is, it will be Fab.
There will be other posts here and there and guest bloggers will still show up from time to time.  But now that we have a little more order to this place, I'm headed up to go re-organize my closet by item then color.  You're welcome.