Fun Finds from October

 

I am excited to share with you some of the fun things I’ve run across this month. Maybe you can run across some of them too! 😊

                I am trying to beef up my collection of dressy shoes, given that sometimes my job requires a little bit of dressing up. I was excited to find these kitten heel mules on the clearance rack at Walmart this month. Five bucks! (They still had a bunch of them in tan AND dark brown last time I was in our local store.) Are they comfortable? Not really. Are they cute? Totally!

Speaking of fun finds at Walmart, I sprang for a new lunch bag this month. I had one I’d been using for over a decade, and I loved the size of it, but it wasn’t very well insulated, and sometimes I’m out and about for a bit with food and don’t have a way to refrigerate it. I need a bag that will hold the cold. This one is super cute, came with two little food storage containers, and an ice pack. It has worked really well and is so stinkin’ cute, I can’t handle it!

You know that Ryan and I do find the occasional gem in the Aldi Aisle of Shame. This month we found this weird-looking back massager that I can’t find a link for, but if you see one of these in your store, you should get it. It works kind of like those long fork-looking back scratchers: you can work on your own sore neck or back with this. It has come in quite handy for both of us this month on days when we slept wrong or are sore from working out!

Another Aldi find that you should grab if you see? A package of the teriyaki chicken kabobs! I love kabobs but don’t/won’t mess with the annoyance of assembling them. These come already assembled and seasoned, and they grill up quite nicely. We grabbed a couple packages to keep in the freezer for days when we are behind on grocery store runs and need a meal plan. (I don't have a picture or a link, but if you see them, buy them!) 

I love the idea of a honey jar, but I find the whole mess of putting honey in a jar and dispensing it with the little wooden stick…messy. So when one of my friends shared a picture of this honey jar on social media, I immediately put it on my wish list. He said it works perfectly (and with no mess) and you can’t beat the cuteness. (That last part was my own observation, not his.) It dispenses through the bottom with no drippy mess leftover. I love it!

Ryan and I had a date night at Subway one night this month, and we both tried the chicken avocado protein sandwich. I really liked it because they put a decent amount of chicken on the sandwich. (Some Subway sandwiches feel kind of stingy with the protein.) Please note that the avocado is almost like an avocado puree and not guacamole. Ryan didn’t love that part of it, but I thought it was good.

I love chai (not as much as coffee, but still a lot!) and have missed it the last couple of seasons. I used to buy a big canister of the chai latte mix at Sam’s Club, but it’s full of sugar and who knows what else, so I quit buying it. This month I tried this sugar free chai concentrate, which I mixed with almond milk, one cup at a time. It was really good. I still only had maybe one a week, but it was a fun treat.

I read on a blog about YouTube TV art, so I told Ryan about it, and before we hosted small group one night, he looked it up and had it playing on our TVs. Have you heard of it? Go to YouTube, search TV Art, and you can choose all kinds of pictures to display (music-free) on your TV. It makes it look like a big painting on the wall, frame and all. I know some TVs now come with this ability, but I think they cost more than our cheapie TVs, so this is a good alternative for us.

Ryan and I made an apple crisp for small group this past weekend, and that is when I remembered I had a brand new Pampered Chef apple peeler/corer/slicer that I bought BEFORE WE WERE MARRIED. Ryan put it together for me, and it made everything go so much more quickly than we ever imagined. Why did I not put this together years ago?? Also – so glad I did not sell it in a rummage. I don’t see it on their website anymore, but if you ever see one thrifted, I declare it worth it!