What I’m loving

Peach Crisp

I can’t even begin to describe my love of peaches; they really are my favorite fruit. Since peaches have been in season, I’ve been buying peaches like they are going out of style. I absolutely love Shauna Niequist’s blueberry crisp recipe so I’ve used it with peaches instead. It is not your typical crisp, but it is so good and super healthy — healthy enough that it is sometimes served as breakfast or a snack around here. I substituted the almond flour with unsweetened coconut flakes, but I’ve also used whole-wheat flour since I never have almond flour. Carlos prefers the flavor of coconut oil instead of olive oil in this recipe. I love that the recipe is so versatile!

Slip shorts

Where have these been all my life?! Seriously, slip shorts are a game-changer for me. For years I have worn shorts under my dresses because I was either crawling around on the floor after a baby or toddler or my kids would play with the edges of my dress when we were in public, which never ended well for me.  Enter Jockey Slip Short — super comfy shorts that are smooth like a slip. I have loved these during the hot summer months to keep my legs from sticking together. These are not tight or slimming like shapewear, so if that is what you are going for, this is not what you want.

I am also a fan of shapewear and switch off and on depending on the outfit I am wearing. I think I tend to wear slip shorts a little more often because I think shapewear can be a pain to get on and off when you have to use the bathroom. Slip shorts are very true to size so don’t order a size bigger thinking they will be super tight. Definitely follow the sizing chart.

ALDI

I only recently started shopping at ALDI, but I am so glad I finally tried it. It has seriously helped cut my grocery budget! They have a nice produce department, and they also have a lot of organic and gluten-free products if that is important to you. Up until recently, I thought ALDI was just another discount grocery store. I didn’t know they had their own brands. I wanted to check out ALDI years ago but they didn’t accept credit and debit cards then. They do now, thankfully. If you decide to go check one out, you will need to bring your own bags and a quarter to get a cart (you get it back when you return the cart).

‘Hide/Unfollow’ feature on Facebook

Not only has a lot been happening in the world over the last few months, it is also an election year, and that means I need to avoid some things on social media. I am a fan of hearing differing opinions, but I am not a fan of hearing people being hateful or needlessly argumentative. So I unfollow “friends” who are always negative or hateful. This doesn’t mean I “unfriend” them, it just removes their posts from my feed.

There is also a little arrow on the top right corner of posts in your news feed that you can click on to hide specific posts. This is so helpful to maintain my sanity and not become bogged down with negativity.

Schoola

I heard of Schoola a month ago on another blog I read — it is a kids’ and women’s consignment-type store. They sell quality used clothing, and part of the proceeds of each purchase goes to schools. I got 3 pairs of pants for Judah for the fall, and they are all great quality, and better yet, I got them for free from a promotion they were running. If you use my link, we will both get a $10-credit and they also have free shipping, which is awesome!

What I’m reading

‘Present Over Perfect’ by Shauna Niequist

I feel like I found “Present Over Perfect” at the exact point in life that I needed to read it. I was already working out in my life some of the things she touches on, so when I heard about this book I knew I needed to get it. Honestly, I don’t even have much to say about it at this point because I am still processing it, but I definitely recommend it. Check out how many pages I needed to mark!

‘Everything Belongs’ by Richard Rohr

I am still in the middle of “Everything Belongs,” but so far I am really liking it. The writing style is a little out of my comfort zone but it is a relatively short book and the content is definitely worth it to me. I’ve heard much about embracing times of silence in life and contemplative prayer and I really wanted to read more about the subject. If I was going to choose any book, one by Richard Rohr seemed like the way to go.