Happy Good Friday! We are looking forward to celebrating Easter this weekend, and it appears we’ll luck out with beautiful weather. I plan to spend some time today in the garden getting my hands dirty and my garden planted. At least somewhat planted with what I have on hand. My not-really-a-plan plan is to plant what I have then look around and fill in the holes with possibly more vegetables, but definitely with some herbs and flowers. I had it in my head I would be super intentional with my garden plan but now am feeling more relaxed with it. I’m very excited to watch it grow and learn from it! Keep reading for Five on Friday 4.18!

What are your weekend plans? We’re having David’s brother come visit which will be great because we haven’t caught up with him in a while. Hailey has her last soccer game and Kaitlyn has a full day of theater prep. We’re going to put David’s smoker to work this weekend and smoke ribs as well as a whole turkey I’ve had chilling in the freezer. Now that we procured our half cow share, I need to be more diligent about chipping away at our freezer stash to get the space better organized. OK, enough chitchat, let’s get to this Friday’s FIVE!

Five on Friday 4.18

Travel Slow Cooker

This travel slow cooker has gotten a lot of attention lately! I realized I needed to do a better job sharing it when I brought it to a chili potluck a couple weeks back and it garnered a lot of interest and questions. Then I brought it to a neighbor’s house for dinner this week and it reminded me just how easy it is to travel with. It’s super handy! It’s 8qt (holds more than you’d think) and acts as a regular slow cooker with warm, low, and high settings. *But* it travels like a dream by sealing completely shut so no amount of sloshing around will spill a drop. It has a bungee cord holder for your serving utensil and even a little white board and marker to label your dish. It’s so great for pot lucks, tailgates, camping, and more!

Chicken Progress

I’m trying not to be annoying and refer to our new digs as life on the farm all the time, but it is what I want to call it. I just love how much we are outside now. We hike more, bike more; the kids play outside more and David has more outdoor projects. One of those big projects is building out chicken coop! Last weekend he rented a skid steer to level out the coop grounds and dig a drainage trench. He’ll start building it over the next few weeks and our chicks arrive in June!

In the meantime, I’ve officially signed up for chicken duty for our community flock of about 60 hens and 2 roosters. With many volunteers, it makes for light work, but once a week the girls and I have the responsibility to feed, water, and check on the chickens. My favorite part of this is how much the kids love it. They have dedicated chicken boots and ask to go visit the chickens often. Hailey has gotten bolder about picking them up and Kaitlyn loves feeding them meal worms. 

Sunscreen for the Face

We all know we should be wearing sunscreen on our faces year-round, but I feel the sun is starting to strengthen as we dive deeper into spring, so I’ve been more diligent about it lately. I prefer a physical block, which means zinc, but also want one that absorbs well, which usually isn’t zinc. Well, I have two that I found that I really like- one for when I want tinted and another for when I don’t. 

Clearstem’s tinted and Elta MD’s Restore (different from their regular sunscreen because it has a higher SPF and and more zinc to be more effective while still absorbing well into the skin).

Living Room in Progress

One thing I promised myself with our new home is that I would decorate it. I want it to reflect us and feel like our home. We always kept the old one so neutral, knowing we’d sell, so I’m really leaning into personalization with this one. Well, I’m trying to lean in. I’m so timid with decorating decisions, but I’m working on it. One color I’m always drawn to is green. I love a mossy, cozy green color and almost went that route with my kitchen cabinets but balked last minute (and am kind of glad I did; I really like the neutrality of my quartersawn white oak). My main focus right now is to create a cozy living room by fall and the first piece of my puzzle just arrived- my new rug (I got the 10’x14′) and my new swivel chairs (40″ in moss performance suede) anddddd I LOVE both so much.

I have a lot of other ideas of things I’d like to procure to warm the space up, but it’s a long list (couch, sofa table, lamps, plants, mantle decor, etc) so I plan to chip away at it. I’d love to hit up some of the local antique and thrift spots I’ve heard of to find some great frames, baskets, accents, etc. I’m trying to remind myself that’s it’s not all going to be done fast and enjoying the process is part of it- slowly curating it to be our own.

Spring Workout Tops

I ventured into Athleta the other day looking for some workout tops. Usually a store I really like, I was disappointed to find most of their current offerings to be shapeless, large, drapey, thin and rather unflattering on me. They aren’t inexpensive either so I left a little frustrated and ran by Old Navy. I found a gray workout top there that I grabbed without even trying on and headed home. Well, what do you know, two weeks later it was my favorite top! It fits well, washes well, is comfortable, and a great price. So I stocked my spring wardrobe and bought one in every color they had in my size! If you need a great basic workout top, I highly recommend this one!

I’m wearing a small and got some in the petite version (I’m 5’1″) and some regular. They both fit well, but I get maybe an extra inch or so of length on the regular version.

Usually I try to include a meal in these posts that I’ve made lately but I rounded anything pretty I’ve been eating up in this most recent post and other than that we’re eating the staples on repeat. We’ll probably continue to do so through May with our full schedule, or maybe until I get inspired at the farmers market (which is opening soon!!). 

Happy Good Friday and I hope you have a beautiful weekend. Thanks for stopping by and if there is something you’re loving lately, please share it with me! Take care <3