When you read between the lines: A rambling

You ever have one of those weeks that kind of takes you for a loop and it throws off your whole schedule? Well that's been this week for sure. Lots of unexpected curveballs that have kept me away from my computer other then for work.

I promised myself a few months ago that I would not apologize anymore for my absences here on the blog. It is hard, but I am learning to let it happen. Life happened. What matters is that this space still brings me joy.

And it does.

Tonight I wanted to write. I wanted to just put some positive into the world. We need that from time to time. We need it from others and we need it from ourselves.

On nights like this, I sit here in silence reminding myself that even when things get tough, I am grateful. I have my beautiful little family. I have people who love me in all areas of my life. I have a roof over my head and a bountiful garden.

I am grateful.

This week on top of all of the crazy, I also decided to start eating better. Start tracking what I am eating and really putting my foot down. It has been 13 weeks since baby bloob was born. I have no excuse anymore to think I am "eating for two".

Comfort food is okay when I need comfort, but I think I have been eating like every meal will be my last. It has started to become very unhealthy for me and my small frame. The weight that I put on before the pregnancy plus the lingering weight from the pregnancy is really doing a number on my knees.

I am human.

You will be reading this on Thursday and I will be counting down the days until Friday. I'm always in a hurry these days. Trying to get to the next thing. I need to remind myself that I not only need to live the length of my life, I also need to live the width.

I need to expand myself so I don't live for the weekend every single day. That makes for a very anxious and tedious life. There's got to be more to life then just living from week to week. Sort of life living paycheck to paycheck. Never saving. Never moving forward.

I will evolve.

On nights like these I need to look at my 100 dreams list. I need to remind myself that those dreams are attainable if I would just think outside the box. Things will change once I reset my thoughts.

Tonight I am full of wonder and anxiety. I want everything to happen now. I am tired of waiting. But then I remind myself that waiting isn't the answer. I need to react and get myself in motion. Keep the mind positive. Then things will happen.

I need patience.

What has been lingering on your mind these days?





Trish List signature

100 Dreams Project - Vol. 6


Happy Friday dreamers! What kind of dream crushing are you cooking up for the weekend? Me? I'm going to catch up on some reading that is going to help me with something I am very excited about, but can't announce yet. It is a step towards something that is on my dreams list already. Sorry to be so vague, but in the meantime, here are the next 10 dreams on my list!

51. Ride in a hot air balloon
52. Attend a summer Olympics
53. Make $100,00 in one year and then increase it every year forward.
54. Be invited to the White House (Hopefully under a different administration all together)
55. Be published in a magazine
56. Visit Singapore
57. Appear in a movie
58. Have a garden/greenhouse that feeds my family through the year
59. Zipline through the jungles of Costa Rica
60. Commit to keeping a journal for 1 full year

Happy dreaming!



Trish List signature

BLT Pasta Salad for 4th of July



I don't know about you, but when I think of Fourth of July I don't just think red, white, and blue. I think fireworks and pasta salad. I feel like everyone wants to show off their new pasta salads like it's a new car or something.

"OMG did you see Susan's pasta salad? It had some kind of seeds in it. Yes SEEDS!"

Oh Susan. Always trying to one up the next salad. I'm pretty sure I'm Susan in this story so I'm gonna share my pasta salad recipe that is currently packed and ready to roll.

BLT Pasta Salad

What you need:
1 lb of elbow pasta
1lb of bacon
1 container of cherry or grape tomatoes
2 to 3 green onions
1 cup mayonnaise 
1-2 tbsp of white vinegar

Prepare your elbows to al dente. It should look like this when done:


While your elbows are boiling, fry your bacon. Once bacon is complete chop into small pieces. Follow with chopping up your green onions. Stems only. Then cut your mini tomatoes in half. I use kitchen scissors to cut the onions and tomatoes.


Mix together your pasta, bacon, tomatoes, and onions. Once they are tossed together add your mayo and vinegar. 


Voila! You have a pretty impressive salad that takes under an hour to prep. You can save time by cooking your bacon the night before. Just put it in a pretty red or blue bowl and it's all festive for the 4th!


Presentation is everything guys.. Look at that mayo all over the side of the bowl. So pretty.. Oh and that water bottle in the background is super sexy.. yeah. woops!



Take that Susan! I may have also made a fruit salad....

So tell me. Are you a Susan?

I hope you have a wonderful 4th! Stay safe out there kids!



Trish List signature

Amazon Purchases Vol 1

Like many people these days, I do A LOT of my shopping on Amazon. Having a new baby in the house makes it hard to get out and shop, so throwing stuff in my cart and having Prime really makes life that much easier. I mean if I am being honest, I don't like to go out and shop, so I have been shopping this way since wayyyyyy before the baby. #lazyshopper

Let's see what I bought in June... (This post does include affiliate links btw)

We have been trying REALLY hard not to buy new furniture until we buy a house next year. I purchased this H.VERSAILTEX slipcover in the pretty blue to keep things fresh (and cover the damage my cats cause from thinking the couch is a scratching post!)

I really like this cover. It was really easy to put on and the price was pretty sweet ($45.99 and Prime approved!). We bought a pretty expensive one after our wedding back in September of 2016 and this one is comparable, but it almost feels more durable. I am excited to see how it goes.


Now that I am getting more serious with my blog again (and I really like to take selfies) I decided to try out a ring light for my phone. We all know we use our phones WAY more then we want to admit when it comes to taking photos (and pretty much everything else in life). This light by QIAYA is pretty great. For $12.99 and Prime approved, it is worth the try. It has 3 different lighting options and easily clips onto your phone.
 
We drink a lot of coffee in my house and we use a Keurig. It was time to get some new reusable K-Cups, and this 4 pack from iPartsPlusMore seemed to fit the bill. Now we have 4 to use so there is no more washing each one out immediately to make the next cup of coffee. At $10.85, I call that a win, plus we are saving the environment but not throwing away all of those plastic cups.
 

 
 Last, but not least, I purchased this swaddler by Love to Dream for Baby Bloob. I came across a link for it in a group I'm in and like a million moms swear by it. It offers a design that allows your little one to have their arms up above their heads rather than swaddled at their sides. Baby Bloob does not like his arms confined and will wiggle his way out of a blanket swaddle in no time. This has been a pretty great purchase. It's lightweight too, so it doesn't overheat the little one in the summer heat.
 
 
Do you have any of those items? Do you need any of those items? They are all pretty great. No fails here which makes me happy! How often do you shop on Amazon?
 

Trish List signature

The 100 Dreams Project Vol 5 & Friday Chat

Happy Friday! I am so ready for the weekend! What about you? I have a few things to chat about today as well as my next set of dreams for my 100 Dreams Project

1. 100 Dreams


41. Have my family be close again.
42. Have a space just for me dedicated to writing, yoga, meditation, etc.
43. Confidently promote myself.
44. Be a great parent.
45. Be a mentor.
46. Land a sponsorship that pays me to vacation.
47. Figure out what my "dream" job is.
48. Own a Range Rover Sport SVR in Estoril Blue.
49.Start a benefit/foundation that helps women with body image issues and mental health.
50. Dance like no one is watching. I need to get over the fear of people watching me.

2. Updates

Yay for blog updates! I am finally sprucing the place up a bit. New layout and nicer photos. I am actually taking time to either take my own photos or buy stock photos to make everything a little more clean around here. I can't believe how long it has been since I did any kid of housekeeping here. It is super exciting for me. Maybe not so much for you. Sorry about that.

I'm giddy about writing a new "about" page and adding some more focused topics here. This will always be a lifestyle page, but I truly believe if you write about what you love, it will be effortless and the passion will shine through to your readers. That is my main focus now. Write what makes me happy. If it goes viral great! If not, that's okay too.

3. Speaking of going viral..

So I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that a link from my blog was posted on a Reddit thread. Well it is apparently getting some hits because that post is now the top post on my blog. See exhibit A:



Not bad for a post I wrote in 2016.. Mind you this was the page views for one week.

Moving on.

4. Letter boards

Guys, I think I have found my new passion in life. Maybe even my "dream" job. Sorry dreams post, I think I just scratched one off the list before you were even published. So I got myself a letter board at Target (Also speaking of Target, I think I go there 900 times a week now that I'm a mom.. but that's a whole 'nother post) for a project and now I own 3. Mind you I went to Target on Sunday, like this past Sunday. Yeah I have a problem. Check out my 2 first masterpieces on Instagram. Follow me while you're there. I'm sure there will be MANY more great letter board works of art to come.

5.  Who likes it HOT HOT HOT?



If that's you, move to Central NY. It is going to be SO HOT this weekend. Like it's going from being in the upper 60's and rainy all week to the mid 90's this weekend with full humidity! Seriously! I am already roasting just thinking about it. I will NEVER complain about the heat after the winter we just had, but can we at least ease into the fires of Hell? Thanks!

How was your week? I hope it was fabulous! Have a great weekend! Stay hydrated!



Trish List signature