Saturday Suggestions

Happy Saturday, my friends! Is it rainy - or maybe even snowy - where you are? If so, I hope you get to enjoy a safe and cozy day at home. And if you need some ideas to pass the time, I'm here to help! 

ONE. 

This has nothing to do with anything in the rest of the world, but it made me laugh so hard, because THIS is a picture of what it’s like to be in the car with Ryan and Bekah. Ryan? This one’s for you. (By the way, I accept this about myself, count it as a strength, and am unlikely to change.)

TWO. 

One of the pitfalls of working from home is the tendency to get quite lazy about appearance. It’s simultaneously a perk of the job, if the day doesn’t contain meetings, but it can be a pitfall. I’m working to learn a bit more about simple makeup techniques so I can look my best with minimal effort and supplies. Eyebrows are a whole topic, but I found this video a few days ago that I thought gave good advice without relying on laborious solutions. Maybe someday I’ll do an eyebrows post. I’m not an expert, but it could be fun to talk about. Meanwhile, learn from someone who knows; watch the video!

THREE. 

Yesterday I talked about shredding junk mail that had identifying information on it, which reminded me I should tell you about these nifty little things. My sister gifted us these when we lived in Kokomo, and they are still going strong, so they seem to have a great life! I think she’d seen them on TV, and when she gave them to us, we’d never heard of them. They’re little stamp rollers that you run over your address so you can toss envelopes. This is great if you don’t have a shredder or whatever you need to project won’t go through a shredder (like a bubble mailer or cardboard box.) We have used these ALL THE TIME since she gave them to us, and they’ve been a game changer. (For reference, we have two and they’re both still full of ink!)

FOUR. 

I also told you this week about the doggy diaper bag I made using a backpack I no longer needed for its original purpose. What we have works great, and we already owned it so that was a bonus. But if you have or are getting a dog and you don’t have a random bag ready to assume the purpose, here is an idea for an actual dog bag. It comes with some of the supplies for holding food/water/poop bags, and that is a bonus!

FIVE. 

When my sister was here earlier this week, she was excited to find I had our electric blanket out and ready for her. Nita gave me that blanket not long after Ryan and I were married – back when we lived in Marion and our house wasn’t the warmest in the world in the cold of winter. It was such a thoughtful and practical gift, and I loved it! I still use it, but all of our houses since have been much warmer, so I don’t get as cold as I used to! But I have learned that having an electric blanket in my throw blanket stash is one of the best hospitality moves ever. When we hosted small group every other week, I always had someone who was cold-blooded and wanted that blanket. When we worked at WillowBridge, one of our coworkers was always cold and when we had staff meetings in our apartment, she went straight for the blanket every time. When we have other guests over, I bring it out as an option if we’re going to watch a movie, and it almost always finds a friend. So even if you aren’t cold-blooded, this is a great way to show love to your freezing friends!

SIX.

I’ve already been trying to figure out my outdoor plant game for this house. We have the most adorable built-in planter box on the north side of the house, so I did some hunting for ideas of plants that would work well in that spot. I found this article and am so excited to see how it looks when it all fills out throughout the summer. I’m also trying to figure out where to put our other planters and what to put inside. The outside of the house is cute as it is, but it’s all very bare right now. I’m envisioning how it will come to life when our porch furniture is out and plants are blooming!