Money Monday: save some/waste some

tell me you forgot baking powder or soda without telling me

 

Gah.

This past week was SPENDY, and I was in a funk, so I thought buying stuff would make me feel better, but actually? I just felt worse because I also felt guilty about buying so much trash. (MOAR Sol de Janeiro for D -- twice in one week-- two different scents--and a Touchland for M for no reason, plus one of those heatless curler things, expensive shampoo, hair ties-- basically we just stopped at Ulta randomly twice last week because we were grumpy. Also new leotards and a ballet sweater. A random $40 water bottle for D (will save for V-day, I think), Nike Tech pants for Coop because I got tired of seeing him in the same 2 pairs and thought another one would make me feel better... the list goes on and on. Also! Dinner out for me because I was too lazy to pack, dinner out for the girls for a similar reason-- just crap upon crap. I even went out for coffee twice, something I haven't been doing at all. 2 new pairs of pretty pointless (but also pretty, pointy) high heels. And Ben and Coop were gone for the weekend. And groceries flirted with $600 this week because I just bought weird pricey stuff from 3 different stores. But not new leggings for myself or anything, like, worthwhile, you know???? GAH.

In terms of food waste, I made a few positive strides. We had spaghetti and meatballs and used the leftovers for both meatball sandwiches and pizza bread. We made a bunch of grilled chicken and baked potatoes and ate them for many lunches. I ate a giant 16 oz clamshell of spinach basically BY MYSELF last week.

But then! When I cleaned out the fridge in advance of Kroger and Costco deliveries, I tossed out 2 expired Two Good yogurts and 2 Yoplaits, 1/3 of a bag of desiccated baby carrots, some elderly sour cream, apple cider that was clearly alcoholic by now, jalapeno hummus that had barely been dipped in, blueberry bagels and strawberry cream cheese leftover from when Harry was home, some chicken broth just past its prime.

This week, we are going to me even more strategic about how we eat our fresh food, I swear.

Also!! This is the second week in a row that I have been unable to get a Whole Foods delivery or pick up slot all weekend and have had to GO TO THE FREAKING STORE and buy my groceries. And! My online cart was only $115, but when I went to the store? TWO TWENTY-FIVE because impulse buy is my middle name.

5 on a Friday: Things I Heart

 YOU GUYS. Ben also got Strep and Flu-A. WHAT THE WHAT? And now! He and Cooper are off to Minnesota for a dive meet (Dorothy has dance rehearsals all day Saturday, so we could not go with) and will probably get snowed in at about the exact second strep, flu, and RSV hit me. #itfigures #patriarchy

ANYWAY. Onto 5 things I love this week:

1. THIS hand sanitizer. You can also use it as a hair refresher, and I love the smell. Dorothy has the watermelon onne and also likes it a lot. I am kind of obsessed and will definitely be buying these for basically every purse.

2. THIS podcast episode. Lowered my blood pressure for a hot second anyway.

3. THIS series on audiobook. YOU GUYS. DRAGONS. AND SMUT. BUT NOT DRAGON SMUT (don't google that).

4. Annabel's really really awkward groom

5. MINNIE'S TAP COSTUME.

Bonus: Cows who have been blown dry. (Their feet and legs don't NOT look like Annabel's)

Bedroom makeover-- not a terrible distraction.

Minnie!! HAS STREP AND RSV AGAIN!!!! She got swabbed for everything last week on Tuesday (EXACTLY A WEEK AGO) and was NEGATIVE and then was fine on Wednesday, sick again Thursday, fine Friday, Saturday, and Sunday-day. But Sunday night at bedtime, she said her throat hurt when she swallowed, and Ben took her to the doctor Monday afternoon: positive rsv and strep tests**sob**

 

Dorothy asked me to make a double recipe of THESE for a school project, and I have TONS AND TONS of leftover custard and buttercream (mixed together into the most indulgent mess of frosting I have EVER EVEN TASTED). I think I am going to use the rest in eclairs? Or maybe chocolate cupcakes? With fudge frosting? All of this-- the cupcakes themselves and the leftover recipes-- are a ridiculous use of eggs, but I am sitting on SEVEN DOZEN because I am a panic buyer, so... (I blame the NO FOOD WASTE FEBRUARY for my need to use up the rest of the custard/frosting).

2025 status symbol: CUSTARD

I washed my dirty little sentient mop this weekend, and then I immediately booked her a grooming appointment for a bang trim and to have her nails done because honestly? She kind of grosses me out when she's wet, and I think someone else should wash her.

We shopped all weekend for furniture for Dorothy's bedroom because she wants a bedroom makeover for her 12th birthday (SHE IS GOING TO BE TWELVE NEXT MONTH AND WHAT?!?!?! I feel like THIS DAY JUST HAPPENED. My dad dressed all 3 boys in their matching big bro outfits and had them waiting for Ben to come home and bring them to meet their new sister, and that's just so sweet). I hate furniture shopping with Ben because he is SO SLOOOOOOW to make up his mind, and I could drop 4500 for a basement skee ball table in NO TIME. (We bought nothing). (Dorothy said she just wants an 86-inch TV and a sleeping bag LOL). 

She needs a new bed (unsure whether Minnie will get her old bed or a new bed herself because the IKEA one hasn't held up great, but would get replacement slats and hardware, which would go a long way. Minnie also needs a new bookshelf because hers is technically a changing table), and Dorothy needs a new nightstand. She also deeply wants a makeup vanity with a stool and a cute chair for reading. HER ROOM IS VERY SMALL. Also, we will paint, buy stuff for the walls, etc etc etc.

I am sold on this Costco daybed for both girls

I tried to talk Dorothy into this Costco fold-up vanity (we saw another slightly bigger version at a furniture store, too)

But she wants something silly with lots of lights, even if it means she won't have room for a cozy chair. Ben doesn't know if he wants to buy something from Wayfair or a similar place that will require assembly or of he wants to buy whatever big gaudy thing our local furniture stores have in stock.

Minnie is getting this bookshelf though because I mean seriously

Dorothy and I walked around At Home so she could show me her vibe (she says coquette as inspired by the Loveshack Fancy collection at Pottery Barn Kids), and I found a hilarious picture of a flamingo in a gilded frame that I am using as a starting point. (Mentally. I bought nothing).

Anybody bought a vanity lately that they love?

Money Monday: Welcome to FOOD WASTE FEBRUARY

 We spend over two thousand dollars a month on food-- mostly groceries (typically around $500/week for groceries-- more if we are going to Costco to stock up on things). And then! Nights out, quick dinners, takeout-- all of the things. So closer to 3k (and over?)

Soooo, when we are taking a look at our budget and trying to cut the fat, this is, of course, the first/ most obvious category to consider.

This month, I am going to keep doing the 2 no-spend days a week, and I am also going to tackle the problem of food waste. I think (based on nothing but casual observation and a hunch) that we are wasting quite a bit of fresh food, and if we ate it, we'd all be healthier.

Frist, Ben and I cleaned out the two giant (and really annoyingly deep-- I think the shape of our kitchen cabinets really contributes to food waste) cabinets where all of our meal ingredients and snacks live. We only got rid of expired things and stale things, and the the difference is startling. We can SEE what we HAVE, which is radical for us.

Also, say hello to the winning expired products of shame (beating corn bread mix from 2021 and green beans from the start of the panny): RAMEN FROM 2018

Next, I have started encouraging everyone (including myself) to open the fridge first when they are looking for a snack, not the cupboard.

Third, I have started cutting up veggies in small amounts every other day or so (I used to wash and chop and prep them all when I put away groceries as part of weird pandemic hygiene theater), and then I have them on hand to offer as a pre-dinner snack or eat myself when I need something crunchy.

Fourth, I am saving and re-serving fruit the kids don't eat. Dorothy, for example, ate like a third of an apple at breakfast, and I knew she had another apple in her lunch (and giant off-season organic honey crisps are like $2 a pop). I sliced up her breakfast apple and put it in a bag and returned her lunch apple to the fruit bowl. Minnie might find, for example, her leftover cutie wedges from breakfast mixed in with sliced strawberries at lunch. She eats half a banana every night after dinner and refuses the other half the lext day because iut gets brown. So now I have a tupperware of browning bananas for bread/muffins.

What other suggestions do you have for me as I solve this problem in February?

January: What I Read

Not my Favorites:

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash: I just don't have the attention span for another WWII book it seems.

James by Percival Everett: It appears I am not smart enough for this book.

Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia: Listen, I really wanted to like this because I have huge ethical and labor rights concerns about AI. But, this book was based off of an excellent long-form article the author wrote, and there just wasn't enough there there for a book. Or she couldn't weave all the threads together?

Reboot by Justin Taylor: Solid meh, but the concept was terrific. **audio

Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult) by Bethany Joy Lenz: Meh. But great title!

 Backlist Beauties:

Ward D by Freida McFadden: I like her books better the more terrible they are, and this one **chef's kiss** **kindle

What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman: A perfectly serviceable, page-turning thriller.

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen: THIS IS TERRIFIC. **audio

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen: Maybe I should read more books by dudes? **audio

The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery: Darling. *kindle

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand: HOW DID I MISS THIS ONE? **audio

These Titles Are so Last Year

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould: SO SCARY! Also YA, which I didn't realize until no one was having any sex even though they had Feelings. **audio

The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Fei-Fei Li: WELL THIS WAS TERRIFYING.

After Annie by Anna Quindlen: This is really wonderful-- you should read it. **audio

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer: YES! I loved this so much!!!! 

My First 2025 Book!!

What Happened to the McCrays by Tracey Lange: Hockey! Romance! Sadness! Liked it a lot.

Book Books: 8

Kindle books: 2

Audio books: 6

2025 books: 1

BTD: 16

(Dorothy is reading the book)

5 on a Friday: Complaints and Obsessions

 1. I LOVED LOVE LOVE a newly discovered drugstore lip stain: Milani Color Fetish Hydrating Lip Stain in Pink About It. It goes on glossy and then dries to a long-wear stain. As I have gotten older, my mouth has become really hard to make up. My lips are sort of just melting into the skin around them, and all the teeny wrinkles from my smoking days in the 90s make it REALLY HARD to wear lipstick, especially bold, matte colors (my favorites) I have been using Laneige lip mask every night and THIS wonderful local-ish lip balm when I put my makeup on, but for color? Things have been grim outside my long time stand by Lancome Sugared Maple WHICH HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED. Anyway-- this stuff is great, and I will be back for more colors.

2. Minnie has been sick this week. Not a shock after Dorothy's strep and Coop's strep and influenza-a. And also all of the kids at her school are hacking little snot balls (which drives me up a WALL because it is a 3-hour school day. KEEP YOUR SICK KID HOME. Like I am doing. Even though keeping her home makes me  see in STARK RELIEF how inequitable Ben's and my current work/life balance situation is. **shakes fist at universe**. Plus, when she has a cough (WHICH SHE DOES), I can't sleep and have major flash backs to when she was SO SICK last winter. She got swabbed for All of the Things and has none of them, so she went to dance, where everyone was hacking and blowing snot bubbles and they tired on their ballet costumes. (She felt crappy but was fever-free until Thursday AM when I has been planning to send her back to school so I could attend a bunch of meetings. Sigh.)

3. Maybe related to my sickness anxiety: my hot flashes are OFF THE CHAIN this week. Which makes me think my hormones are well and truly fucked-- which explains my general anger and anxiety/ insomnia. Also! MY FINGERS ARE TOO FAT FOR MY WEDDING RINGS. I am going to HAVE to get my rings resized. And commit to life with sausage fingers.

4. This week was a rough one in terms of news. On Wednesday, I ate 2 donuts and part of a third in the random mid-afternoon and then had a kiddie meal from Culvers for dinner. I CANNOT HANDLE MY FEELINGS LIKE THIS. One day? Funny. Habitually? NOT AT ALL FUNNY. Especially since early-ish menopause raises my risk for heart disease and my cholesterol is already kinds high and I am VERY ANXIOUS ABOUT MY HEALTH. And my sausage fingers.

5. Thanks to Annabel, I see all the pretty sunrises. Also! Minnie is her favorite chew toy.

January goals check in

Something that is becoming a bit of a pain point is PLANNING. I am starting to miss one-off Zoom meetings ( this frustrates me to no end, especially when I am just, like, SITTING IN MY OFFICE), and I have missed yoga a few times (LOTS OF TIME YOU GUYS). One of the items on my list was to develop an evening ritual that included my planner, and this is FOR SURE something I was to make sure I do every night in February.

I also want to hit my yoga goal, especially on the WEEKENDS, and I want to work in more writing time. These are really related-- I do a bad job of working most kinds of self care into my weekend because my routine gets thrown off, and we get busy. I am going to reflect on this problem in February and try to figure it out. Choosing a yoga video (Adriene all the way!) and making sure my mat is ready to go would go a really long way.

We had one day of ludicrous spending with many new non-necessary items (not all the kid stuff I complained about-- that was obvi all necessary, even the sequined Valentine skirt), and you know what? I TRACKED THEM ALL-- go me!!

I also can already check off my blogger meet up! (But I want more of these in 2025).

I fell short of my pomodoro goal, but I did use them to do some writing and also some work stuff that I hope I can tell you about later. I have set up a simple tracker going forward to make sure I get them all in.

January Kindle books: Ward D by Freida McFadden. I mean. You guys know I liked this one. The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery: this was for Engie's CBBC, so I will save my notes for those comments.

January new release: What Happened to the McCrays by Tracey Lange

January Albums: DeBi TiRAR MaS FOToS by Bad Bunny: This was GREAT cooking dinner/getting dressed music. (Also the title translates to I should have taken more photos, which,YES, I feel that). My favorite track is "El Club." I also listened to Lower by Benjamin Booker-- good writing music. I also think SZA's SOS Deluxe: LANA should count since it came out the last week in December, My favorite is 30 for 30.

January Cookies: Browned butter chocolate chip-- these were delish. Brownie cookies- YES PLEASE.

January word games: I randomly spaced out on completing Wordle (left with 2 guesses on the table and never came back!!), so instead of declaring the whole year a lost cause (first instinct, natch), I am going to track per month. 30/31 Wordle for Jan; perfect score on Connections; 28/31 Geniuses on Spelling Bee (forgot to play a few).

January date: We went out to breakfast, which was lovely. We will definitely do that again-- a great use of preschool time and rare morning lull. 

January restaurant: Old Glory in Clarksville, TN on our way home from Hilton Head.

January yoga tally: 18/25. I could not remember to practice on the weekends.

1/25 bags of donations are at the thrift store! Go me!

I BOUGHT PLANE TICKETS!! You guys!!! To go to Portland in April!!! More about this soon.

Minnie is FEELING her new clothes, and I love it so much

Money Monday: FAILS

 I think because I have been in more of a general funk about WORLD AFFAIRS this week and because I was distracted by impending WORLD AFFAIRS most of the month, my tracking has been… not the best, and I am buying WAY TOO MUCH.

Speaking of buying way too much, I would like to go back in time and un-buy some of this kinetic sand. (Just kidding— I love kinetic sand, and it is way less of a pain than other kiddie crafts).

Cooper demolished the zipper on his North Face coat (which, to be fair, was Very Old (hand-me downs for the win) and can be repaired for future use) which is also leaking feathers, AND it was so cold that school was cancelled. Sooooo, we had to buy him a coat STAT— which was trickier than you might think because most stores are all done selling coats in person, so sizes were hard to come by and Coop is very picky. But also! Most stuff is on sale, so the slim pickings were cheap. He got one for just under thirty dollars (SEVENTY PERCENT OFF ARE YOU KIDDING ME).

Then Cooper’s very favorite Speedo sprung a few teeny holes (too much washing! Too much wearing!). I found it on sale HALF PRICE, so he got 2 new ones for another fifty five dollars (when I am paying for shipping— which I freaking hate to do— I think ordering more is the best idea).

I noticed that Jack went out to shovel the sidewalk in a North Face fleece and I was all you should wear your winter coat, and he was all this is the only coat I have. OOPS. Kids grow, and you need to replaced their stuff, it turns out. Unlike Cooper, who is extremely picky and must try new things on unless he is getting an exact replica of something he already has— and even then it could be a few millimeters off and make him stabby— Jack is happy to order online. NOW is the very best time to buy a coat from Land’s End, so he got a down puffer for fifty bucks.

Speaking of growing!! Minnie Jedd! Is all of the sudden too big for all her clothes— too tall, arms too long, the whole nine yards. (Happened over night. One day she looked darling on her way to school, and the next day, she looked like she got dressed out of the oops-I-peed-my-pants bin in her classroom) This is sad because NO MORE TODDLER CLOTHES— she has to shop the big kids’ sections. But! It was a kick to take her shopping for… everything? She got 3 dresses, a sweatshirt, a pair of wide-legged lavender pull-on jeans, 3 pairs of leggings, 2 henleys, a sweater, and three skirts. Plus some cute tights and a pair of cowboy boots. For one hundred fifty bucks! (Dorothy and Minnie have not lined up well in terms of seasons and sizes, and Dorothy was a little girls 6 for like 3 years, so not much survived that size).

Even though these were good deals, that’s still like three hundred bones. Plus we had to buy Harry a new pair of Dunks ($130) because we literally THREW HIS AWAY when he came home (because they got tossed from his dirty clothes duffel bag into the garage in a Target bag, and we often toss trash into the garage for a kid to take to the can, and we use Target bags as trash can liners. I think a pair of Nike waffles got tossed, too, but they are discontinued? I don’t know— we are on the hook for another pair of sneakers is my takeaway) Also I had to refill my parking pass ($50). And Dorothy’s lunch account ($30). Plus there was a detour to the co-op for Naked Juice for Coop that turned int o a $70 trip and yielded some excellent wine. And! WORLD AFFAIRS made me go buy baskets and candles and pillows at Home Goods ($75).

IT WAS AN EXPENSIVE WEEK is what I am saying. And also I spent money every single day. I also blew my no-spend the week before. Blergh. I like the idea of this challenge, though, so I am going to extend it into next month.

Happy little shopper (in THE BEST reversible $8 coat from Costco— this is the second year we have bought this coat, and I hope they have it in her size next year, too).

5 on a Friday: Things I will miss about Harry

 1. It was SO WONDERFUL to wake up every day for the past 5 weeks and know that all my kids were also waking up in the same house and I knew where every one was and I could feed them and take care of them and this is why people hate their mothers in law, isn’t it.

2. It was also WONDERFUL to have another drive and another big bro, although I will say that Jack has really stepped up in this regard since Harry moved out.

3. Harry is even more terminally online than I am, so it was SO NICE to have another person LOCKED IN to everything political happening and reading all the breaking news headlines. Ben has zero patience for my doom scrolling, and I will very much miss having a partner in crime, even though I will probably be better off without an internet enabler.

4.  Harry has been eating crappy dorm food for months, so he was VERY HAPPY to eat home food, whereas the rest of us are just used to it and complain about it. 

5.  Harry, Jack, Ben and I played SO MUCH euchre! This is not the same without him because we play in life partnerships, and he and Jack are brothers, best friends, and colleagues, so it’s perfect.

BREAK IS OVER, and he drove his own self back to campus like a grown up. He’s in Minnesota for a speech tourney this weekend and is committed 3 weekends next month, but still! He has promised to come home one weekend in February, and we will see him over Spring break in March. Not sure about April, but he will be home for the summer in May! That’s practically tomorrow.

I will not wish these days away

 Minnie will be eight years old by the time there is a new administration in the White House.

Dorothy will have a learner's permit, and Cooper will be driving a car. Annabel will be rolling into midlife. Jack will be in college. Harry will be almost done with college. Ben and I will be on the cusp of a new decade.

These are happy golden years. Not, say, the good old days with 4 little kids under one roof and Ben and me volunteering in their elementary school classrooms and loose teeth and basements full of single-digit kids and their friends who all thought they were so big and cool but were really all so squishy and silly and darling. BUT STILL. I love being this particular mix of young/old and having big kids and a dose of preschooler with 75% of our parents and 100% of our combined aunts and uncles. 

I was on the massage table, knowing that Harry was driving back to his campus and still reeling from breaking news I listened to in the car on the way to the wellness spa wishing I could wake up in like 1400 days, but it was Minnie! The thought of preschool Minnie as Big Kid Minne that made me stop. I want to drink in every single day with her-- she's going to read and tie her shoes and learn to multiply and change out most of her teeth-- and with 4 kids still at home (only 2 more years for that **sob**), before Dorothy and Cooper are too cool for me and Jack flies the coop.  These are the days to remember.

Today, we are ok. We have a warm cozy house filled with nutritious food. We have fun plans to look forward to when the kids get home from school. We have work that we love and that fulfills us. We have everything we need and want and are able to help others, too.

(I found the best massage therapist ever and have seen her twice in 2 weeks).

Question: How to be present and shelve worry to enjoy the good that is right in front of me but also not devolve into complete solipsism? 

But listen, things are not completely awesome. I burned the eff out of my forehead straightening my bangs DAYS AGO, and it is still very red and very angry.

 

Weekend Updates

 Dorothy's friends yelled EAT when they saw my new shoes, so I think that's good. Also, yes I do plan to wear these out of the house.

Cooper also has influenza-A in addition to strep, so that's been terrible for him. He feels like trash, and he is allergic to ibuprofen, so he can only take tylenol every 6 or so hours. SUCH A BUMMER.

(also amoxicillin and tamiflu)

I am teaching a public speaking workshop for law students this week, and I got a whole afternoon in a quiet and fairly clean house to work on it.

 Woof is it cold here, you guys. I crammed my Comfy under my coat for Annabel's Sunday morning dog walk

Or should I say muppet walk?

FROZEN LAKE!! A kid pick-up treat

Minnie can change he earrings-- she HATES putting new ones in and out, but she loves the way they look:

This is Harry's last week at home because winter break has flown by! (We can get through this winter and the the season after that and the next one and the next-- I am studiously avoiding the news and gobbling all your blogs.)

Money Monday: A Grocery Haul

 Last week, we spent $490 on our weekly grocery haul. This is maybe a bit higher than normal because Harry is home, so we are buying more stuff (the week before that, we went through nine half-gallons of Fairlife chocolate milk, for example), and we bought some Costco Big Things, which will (hopefully) last awhile. Sadly, we only got 5 dinners out of this haul, but we knew that going in and planned to get take-and-bake pizza and fresh salad stuff (plus more cookie dough bites) from Whole Foods on Friday night.

The meals:

Sunday: Burgers (turkey and beef), fries, salad, and brown butter brown sugar cookies

Monday: Chicken parmesan, green beans, kale caesar salad, garlic bread

Tuesday: Eggs, turkey sausage, protein pancakes, fruit

Wednesday: Ham or salami sandwiches, veggies and dip, assorted fruit, chips, chocolate chip cookies

Thursday: Last call on any leftover anything/ another round of random sandwiches/ whatever you want in the freezer (THURSDAY NIGHTS ARE BUSY)

Here's what we got:

First, a Whole Foods delivery of fave things plus orange juice and yogurt that were cheaper there than the regular store: $62

This stuff! OMG. It's in the frozens-- you gotta get it.

THIS IS THE BEST SALAD KIT EVER

This is currently all Dorothy eats.

Next, a Costco delivery of Big Stuff for $164

Cooper is currently devouring both egg whites and Go Go Squeeze applesauce pouches at a rate that only Costco sizes can sustain. Do you buy your vanilla extract at Costco? It is only $11 for  that huge giant bottle. Strawberries, grapes, bananas, and spinach are the only produce weekly staples we consume at a warehouse rate. The kids love pancakes and waffles, and I am trying to make this Kodiak stuff happen becuase if you sub water for milk and one egg, it has a crazy amount of protein. WE SHALL SEE if it catches on. We ate a regular size box in a week, so maybe... I have never tried those toaster grilled cheeses, but both Harry and Jack are ready for another meal around 11pm, so these could be a great option maybe?(I also got bagel dogs at Whole Foods).

The 45 packs of Goldfish should last a couple few weeks? And they inspired m to sort our laundry room grab-on-the-way-out-the-door snacks into goldfish an not goldfish. The not goldfish box is sooooo very random, everything from Airhead Extremes to freeze dried strawberries to beef sticks.

We got pick up for our largest order of the day, but only because we have a child (Jack-- he's the sweetest) who is always up for going to get it. Here's $253 from Metro Market, which is most of the dinner stuff, plus most breakfast and lunch options.

We usually consume like 3 bags of chocolate chips a week, and SO MANY DIFFERENT kinds of bread-- whole grain white for the kids, sourdough for Jack when he wants a sandwich, French for garlic bread, thin-sliced sprouted wheat for me. The kids are obsessed with Jack's-brand frozen cheese pizza and eat them at all hours. Minnie is going through a Danimals and dill pickles moment. There is much cheese. (Which is funny because Ben always hits the wine and cheese store on Thursdays). I buy tomatoes, honey crisp apples, red and green onion, cucumbers, mini sweet peppers, apples, and blueberries every week, plus usually a clamshell of salad greens and whatever hot veggies we plan to make. Coop drinks Naked Juice smoothies on the way to dive practice (eye roll), and we buy at least 3 bags of chocolate covered pretzels a week.

This is why I love to grocery shop online-- my cart is so easy to just re-order.

I think I am not saving money on groceries (lol-- ya think?!) but I am saving SO MUCH TIME. And! Both Costco and Whole Foods order shoppers do an excellent job with produce selection (both of those stores have great options on the shelves all the time. Metro Market is less awesome with produce-- especially berries and grapes-- so I shop accordingly). For me, it is worth the slight mark up at Costco and the tips both places to have my groceries come to me. What about you-- do you still shop online post-panny?

ETA: We ended up with another $100 Whole Foods delivery on Friday to top us off before the weekend:

ONE HUNDRED GROCERY DOLLARS DO NOT STRETCH FAR MY FRIENDS.

5 on a Friday: VERY RANDOM THINGS

 1. Minnie and I are listening to Stockard Channing read the Ramona books, and we just heard the part in Ramona and her Mother where Beezus and Ramona get their hair cut at a beauty shop for the first time. And! Minnie demanded to go and get a haircut like Ramona (only she ended up more like Beezus, who got a bad hairdo in the book. But! Like Beezus, Minnie's just needed better styling). As luck would have it, my stylist and another were free at the same time, so we booked simultaneous appointments, AND WE BOTH GOT BANGS!

2. Dorothy grew up. I let her out of the car at dance, and there she was with flat ironed hair and Selena Gomez Rare Beauty makeup and her Scuba and Stanley and iPhone and Uggs and omg! SHE was my little Ramona just the other day, I swear.

3. Dorothy had strep on Sunday, and Coop just tested positive today. Booooooooooo.

4. I got to have lunch with Anne and Engie last weekend (MEET AT LEAST TWO BLOGGERS CHECK), and then Engie came over to meet Annabel and take a walk and drink a cup of tea, and we had so much fun!

5.THURSDAYS! Can be my library days! Minnie stays later at school, and we have time to run to the library before we have to get Dorothy adn Cooper, and it is magical! I can finally pick up all my holds on time!