justem: little bits of this and that

Five for Friday

The last time I did a "Five for Friday" post was in January of 2015. Think of how many fun Fridays I missed sharing with you all (and by "all" I mean "all three of you who still follow this blog!")  Five for Friday was always one of my favorite ways to share a bunch of fun, things quickly and rather easily, so maybe it will be one that I can commit to trying this year? I'm a bit out of practice...here goes nothing:

1. I know Christmas is over, but I just had to share my new holiday jam - Sharon Jones was one of the many amazing entertainers who passed away during 2016. This song has been on replay at my house for the past couple of weeks...it's pretty much perfect. :)

2. My husband and I had a little holiday party for some of our local couple friends last week. I love entertaining, but I never do it! On a whim, we decided to have an adults-only gathering, and it was a huge success. We were lucky enough to have a wine distributor as a guest, and he brought a bunch of really amazing bottles of wine...or so my wine-drinking friends tell me. I am more of an egg nog + extras girl, myself! I made a bunch of food to serve, including this Crostini with Thyme-Roasted Tomatoes (decent) and this Walnut-Pepper Spread (kinda weird), but my favorite was the charcuterie board I made including lots of Wisconsin cheeses, some meat, fruit, and nuts. It was so pretty and delicious that I made another one for Christmas Eve with my family. I know I'm late to the party when it comes to food trends, but this might just be my new go-to thing make when I have to bring an appetizer someplace.

3. Did you make it to any great after-Christmas sales? I just may have gone to Target...twice. ;) 70% off?! Can't beat that! The first trip I saved $134 and the second time I saved over $30. I stocked up on tissue paper, wrapping, labels, teacher gifts for next year, and of course, a few things I didn't really need but couldn't resist. My favorite finds were a pair of green tree lanterns and a cute Christmas Tree throw that ended up costing me about 7 dollars (in-store deals appear to be much better than online deals!). Next year when I want to buy everything at Target for full price before the holidays, remind me of this post!

4. Do you have a New Year's Eve tradition?  For as long as I can remember, my husband and I have stayed up late and cooked for each other. I don't eat meat, and he doesn't eat dairy, which means many of our favorite meals cannot be shared between us. I love this tradition, though I still haven't decided what he is going to make for me yet!  It's probably between my old favorite standby (leek and lemon risotto) and homemade vegetable potpie. I'm clearly a comfort foods kind of girl! We also usually have a special desert with the kids and do something fun like play games and put on funny mustaches. It's not very exciting, but it's something I look forward to every year! I'd love to hear about your traditions! 

5. Are you in need of something to do on New Year's Day?  Never fear PBS (maybe just in WI?) is running an Anne of Green Gables Marathon! It's settled...I will be in front of the television all day watching Anne with an E. (Okay, in reality, I will tape it all and hopefully watch it at some point in the next couple of months...but oh, how lovely it would be to have an entire day to watch a childhood favorite!) I wonder if Gilbert Blythe will be a dreamy to me as he was when I was 12. ;)

 

Listen. Love.

I feel like I went for about an entire year without discovering many "new" songs that I liked...and all of a sudden I'm hearing all sorts of things that grab my attention. They may not be new to everyone, but they are definitely new to me.  I know nobody here probably gives two hoots about the music I like, but I love hearing what other people are listening to, so I figure I can share a few of my favorites, too. I've been listening to this song over and over for the past couple of days. Like...truly over and over...three, four times in a row. Everybody I know seems to enamored with the "Take Me to Church" song by Hozier, which I just don't love.  Not sure why...something about it kind of bugs me.  However, this song by the same artist is perfection.  The background vocals, the clapping, the chorus, the harmony, the chords, the syncopation (geeky music teacher alert!!). It makes me want to close my eyes and sway around my kitchen. Not that I really did that... ;) 

Tunes on Tuesday, er Wednesday...

That title is code for "I still haven't written my OLW post, nor do I have the time because I'm presently trying to clean my house for a playdate so that I can fool all the other moms into thinking that I'm one of those awesome moms who's got it all together."  Yeah.  So - as a nice little filler post, here are the last five songs I Shazammed...aka: songs that are on my radar. I'm not saying I love them. Or I hate them.  But they must have intrigued me enough to ask my phone to identify them! Some of them are pretty old, but new to me.  What songs are you enjoying lately?

Yes, I never actually ended up posting this last night (hanging my head in shame)...so it's Tunes on Wednesday, which just doesn't have the same ring to it! 

Five for Friday {night}:

1. My new favorite shirt is this one from Target. I have purchased the foxes and the teal arrows. I wish they had more patterned options (most are solid), because I would buy every one!  They are soft and warm and comfy!

2. I have to laugh when I Shazam a song on my phone, only to realize that I had already Shazamed (yes,that is totally a verb!) it before!  This is one that I have tagged at least twice already, ha!

3. Speaking of music, I randomly stayed up and watched Jimmy Fallon last night. I can't even tell you the last time that I saw his show when it wasn't a video after the fact. Um, maybe never. ;) Anyway, I basically live under a rock, and I had never heard of Echosmith or Cool Kids (have you?  maybe nobody has heard of them...), but...man, I was blown away by the stage presence of the 17 year old lead singer.  I could barely walk down the hall without tripping at 17. Oh wait, that's still true. Anyway, check it out.  It's a catchy little tune, and how fun that they are siblings. Note to self: start rehearsing with the Super Spahns... ;)

4. I am an egg nog junkie. I LOVE it. I have been a fan since I was a little kid. I was crazy excited to see egg nog at Target this week. I picked up two of the three Watkins flavors they carried: Vanilla Almond and Pumpkin Spice. The Pumpkin Spice was good, but the Vanilla Almond was kind of life-changing.  I am considering going back and buying up every single container...which would last me like a day or two. ;)  I realize this is full of sugar and fat and all kinds of junk...but hey - it's the holidays and it only comes out one month, er, two months a year!  

5. I am constantly embarrassed by "my country."  Why, you ask?  No this has NOTHING to do with elections!!! ;)  Well, I love using the "Explore" tab on Instagram. Most of the photos that show up in my Explore tab are beautiful photographs, cute kids, fun crafts, etc. However, every once in awhile some totally inappropriate photo of a scantily clad woman or something of like. Inevitably, every time I click on one of those (and really, why do I even do it?!) they are shown to me, because they are "popular in my country." UGH. Come on country. Have a little more class! ;)

And...because I somehow messed this up (let's blame the old replacement computer...ughhhh), I ended up with one extra fact...so here's six...for almost Saturday!

6. Have you seen the #crafttherainbow posts on Instagram?  They were started by a blogger/instagrammer I follow called The House that Lars Built. If you know me, you know I love rainbows, especially *things* in rainbow order! So this entire "project" was pretty much perfect for me!!  Check out some of the favorites on her blog. 

Be sure to stop back tomorrow for the Gossamer Blue Inspiration Blog Hop! I will be freezing my heiny off at a tailgate...where the high is slated to be 34 degrees! We are hard core! ;)  Have a great weekend!

Music Monday

If you've been following this blog for awhile, you know that my #1 favorite artist is Ingrid Michaleson. I had the awesome privilege of seeing her in concert for the fifth time on Friday evening at the Wisconsin Union Theater. We were in the third row on the aisle, so I could see everything incredibly well. I sound like a star-crazed teenager with a crush, but honestly...she's just so wonderful. I loved every minute of it. Even my husband commented on how happy I looked during the entire concert.  A couple of times last week, I used social media to mention to her that she really needed to eat cheese curds while in Madison...and that I had a few good suggestions for her. Of course I was really hoping she would decide I should be her personal cheese curd tour guide of Madison, but that didn't happen. (I'm sure my stalkerish tendencies had nothing to do with that!) However, she DID mention during the concert that she heard Madison had some great cheese curds, which I consider to be a little personal shout-out to me. ;)

(I did not take the above photo - I took a photo exactly like this, but mine was blurry.  So I stole this one from the internet - this is the same night and from a person who must have been sitting pretty near me!!)

She played a lot of good music, but the long I loved the most is my 2nd favorite Ingrid song of all time...in fact I've already shared it on this blog, but I will again, because it's so good. Ingrid's mom recently passed away, and I appreciated how honest she was about her pain. I have to wonder if this song (though written years before) is performed now as a tribute and a reminder of her loss. The song is haunting and beautiful - "One day you will go away from this.  One day you will know we're men of snow...we melt away." It doesn't sound quite as perfect when I type it out, so you should probably just listen. ;)

Five for Friday:

1. My daughter and I have tickets to see James and the Giant Peach this weekend, put on by the Children's Theater of Madison.  We started reading the book, and it's been so fun for me to revisit it.  I'm looking forward to rereading some of my childhood favorites with my kids when they get a little older!

2. Can we talk about black pants for a minute?  I have been going to our local YMCA and have checked out some classes.  I really haven't been to a gym in like five years. And now...EVERYONE wears those damn black pants. Everyone.  Big. Small. Old. Young. Everyone. And let's be real...my body is so not black pants friendly. UGH.  To any of my more comfortable in their black pants friends - can you suggest any good ones for me to buy?? I would love ones that are like capri length...and maybe that are a tiny bit flared vs. totally suctioned to my body. And go!

3. My mom emailed me a link to this video yesterday. I LOVE it.  The music. The video. It's perfect. :)

4. Last year when I had a newborn, a good friend of mine made me some pumpkin pie cupcakes (along with like five other awesome goodies) to enjoy.  I've been wanting to make them ever since, but now that's it's finally fall, it felt appropriate! ;) We made them last weekend and they were soooo amazing.  They aren't cupcakes exactly...more like tiny little pumpkin pies.  They are also crazy easy to make. You should try them!

5. Have you seen the sneaks of the Gossamer Blue December Memories kit?  I have never done a "December Daily" but this makes me want to... ;)  Be sure to check out their Instagram account for all the goodness! Here's my favorite sneak so far:

Have a great weeeknd!!

Music Monday

It's almost 10 p.m., and I've listened to this song probably six times already tonight. I do that sometimes...get myself "into" a song and just listen to it until I'm sick of it. I'm a weirdo, yes. It comes with that whole "music teacher" territory. It's an older song, but one that I continually come back to as a favorite. Love that Ben Folds. It's about drugs. And God. And is sure to offend someone. But whatever. It's so great...the audience singing...perfection. I could listen to it all night. Oh wait... (song starts at :32)

PS: Music Monday is not a thing. I mean it probably is somewhere. But not here...big sigh of relief for those of you who thought I was hopping on yet another day of the week blogging bandwagon that I would inevitably fail at. ;)

a saturday song...

Remember last week when I was in need of a new song?  Well, I found one! ;) Last night we rented "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (Side note - it's seriously embarrassing how long it had been since I watched a movie - months!)  It was a fun movie with great music. As the credits rolled, I thought, "Gee...this is an excellent song!" It was totally an "Emily" song. ;)  I shazammed it  (that's totally a word, right?) and was pleasantly surprised to see it was José González, a musician whose music I have liked for awhile! Of course I immediately downloaded it and have listened to it about five times already this morning. Take a listen...and have a great Saturday!

Five for Friday:

1. Last Friday my husband and I went on a date...okay, not really, because my brother-in law was along, but close enough. ;)  We had dinner at The Free House Pub in Middleton. If you are local and never been, definitely check it out!  We got to eat on the patio and enjoy the music of No Name String Band.  It made me yearn for more kid-free evenings!!  My food was very good...especially Wisconsin's greatest appetizer... ;)

 

2. Speaking of cheesecurds...we had a case of mistaken lyrics at our house this week.  Have you heard this new Ingrid song "Girls Chase Boys?"  Miri was singing, "Girls Chase Boys' Cheesecurds."  Perfect. 

 

3. We made one of our all time favorite summertime meals this week: Artichoke Pizza (with roasted red peppers, almon ds, and oregano).  We basically follow this recipe, but instead of pitas, we use garlic naan (usually from Whole Foods) and it's soooo delicious - and easy to make!

 

4. Have you joined Pippit yet??  I signed up...mostly because it usually takes me like a year to catch up on the newest hip social media. Pinterest? Instagram? I joined all those like WAY after everybody else. I'm always late to the party, so I thought maybe I should get a headstart this time. My username is "justemspahn" like it is most places. I'm totally not sure yet...thoughts??

5. Next week is the last week of school! Yahoo!  This means I need to get my summer to-do list ready...look for it sometime next week. Any suggestions for things we should add to it? :)

Have a great weekend!!

Five for Friday:

1. Have you tried Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie & Cocoa Swirl Butter??  I'd tried the plain old cookie butter before. It was just okay.  Add chocolate, however, and it's like little bits of heaven in your mouth. Yes. It's that good. I may or may not have been just scooping it out of the jar and eating it plain.  You know, I'm still nursing a baby...so I definitely need those extra calories, right...right? ;)

2. I am obsessed with yellow dresses right now.  These three are all from Boden. I have zero need for a yellow dress, but I really, really love them.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I would not even look good in a yellow dress...but that doesn't make me want one any less!

3. This evening the baby, my daughter, and I are driving to my hometown in Northern Wisconsin for a few family events. Last time I went (driving by myself + 3 kids) we got stuck in a snowstorm, Henry had 3 epic tantrums, it took us almost twice as long to get there (it's normally a 4 hour drive), AND I forgot my entire bag of clothes and toiletries sitting on the couch at home. I'm feeling like this trip is guaranteed to be better than the last! It better be, or I may never go back...sorry, Mom. ;)

4. I love, love, love Ingrid Michaelson. I've been to a few of her concerts, and her songs are some of my all-time favorites.  She has a new album out, and this is kind of like a throwback to the old Ingrid - simple, slow, meaningful. :)

5. I took this photo recently.  I love it - because it shows my life as it really is. It's chaotic. It's creative. It's bright. It's far from perfect...but it's good. Happy Friday, and have a great weekend! - Check back tomorrow for a fun National Scrapbook Day Blog Hop!