JTOK Chatter > House & Home > Page 21

Category Archives: House & Home

Trust me. You want a 2.

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

IT’S S’MORE SEASON, Y’ALL!! And I’m a 2 all the way. If you are a 4 we might not be able to be friends. 😂🔥 (Just kidding! We can be friends but there’s no way in hell I’ll ask you to toast my marshmallow!)

You have to s-l-o-w-l-y toast it over the coals–no sticking it straight into the fire 🤦🏻‍♀️–turning it consistently so that it melts evenly throughout. Once it starts to droop (if pierced in two spots) or rotate (if only pierced once), then you can get it closer to the coals so that it starts to brown but not burn. NO BURNING! NO BLACK!! 🤮

This method gives you the ooiest gooiest stretchiest meltiest marshmallow that really melts the chocolate nicely. Trust me. I’m a s’mores guru–I’ve been making my own s’mores for probably 35 years from campgrounds to gas stoves to backyard bonfires.

I might also put peanut butter on mine (it goes perfectly with the chocolate PLUS it keeps the chocolate bar attached to the graham cracker). LIKE I SAID, TRUST ME.

So, which one are you?

Today’s margarita drinking vessel!

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Today’s margarita drinking vessel, again courtesy of Target. Also, lipstick that’s been on since 9am and still looks good as new, even after shoveling McDonald’s fries into my face three at a time because I’m classy like that, sucking down an A&W Freeze like my life depended on it (have you HAD one? So much better than a float!), inhaling a margarita post-museum-adventure-afternoon with the kids…and it will last through the BLT pizza Tom is picking up right now.

School is officially over and summer has officially started!!

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Had the kids stayed in school, today would have been their first full day of vacation. Against my better judgment, I decided to take them to the pool after we unpacked and ran a few errands. Ugh. WTF was I thinking on the first day of no school when it’s finally 80°? 🤦🏻‍♀️

Too many people. No seats in the shade but lots of shaded seats taken up with bags and towels. The kids didn’t pack a towel for me so I’m sitting on Katie‘s towel on the ground in the shade and ants keep crawling all over me. Am I having fun yet?

I guess this is my repayment for being a good mom?!

And it only took a matter of HOURS for me to be annoyed by the kids. 🙌🏻 What do I win?

They were complaining that we were leaving the pool early. REALLY? After I had told them we weren’t staying long? And after I just took you on a five day vacation to a house WITH AN INDOOR POOL where you got to do whatever you wanted and eat whatever you wanted and play with your cousins then we came home and I TOOK YOU TO THE POOL!! But that’s apparently not good enough. 🤦🏻‍♀️

So I went to Sam’s Club and bought them their summer workbooks. Ha. I’ll show them. 😂

How’s your summer going so far?

Vacation house, Day 3

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Random pics aplenty!

Cousin Gabby made some gorgeous flower crowns.

Kathryn and Izzy tried some lipstick!

Filipeks made an awesome taco bar for lunch and ice cream bar for dessert!!

We spent the afternoon chatting on the deck and then dinner was delicious cheesy shrimp and grits!

And then the annual pics!

Cousins!

The kids, then and now.

Aunt Marie put together an amazing escape room/box for the kids. They had a blast!

Then there was card playing and video games.

And this is why I love technology.

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I am on a family vacation in Indiana and for some reason thought about a wine cooler-esque non-alcoholic beverage my cousins and I bought in the late 80s while we were camping. Imagine the exhilaration of being in middle school or early high school, being old enough to not need parental supervision, and walking around a state park campground drinking something that LOOKED adult but wasn’t. Living the dream, right? Feeling all adult and fancy. Like maybe we were getting away with something. 😂

But not one of my stepsiblings could think of what it was. We spent a half hour looking at Google’s suggestions for “1980s and 1990s beverages.” There were a hell of a lot of good memories but NOT what I was looking for.

I then texted my cousins (who I love dearly but rarely text with) and they both IMMEDIATELY got back to me with their ideas!! One who was on a road trip driving up I-75 in Michigan and the other at home elsewhere in Michigan. After a few texts and Google searches on either end, we got it!

What would we have done before the internet and instantaneous communication?! How could I have survived not knowing the answer to that most pressing of questions?! 😂

What is something from your past that you’ve needed to Google or use technology to help answer?

P.S. Bonus points if you remember Sundance or drank it. 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏼‍♂️

Vacation house, Day 2

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

We were sleeping in an awesomely dark and quiet basement room so combined with a late bedtime, we all slept in! I was up at 7:30 (technically 6:30 CST) and just waited for either kid to wake up. Owen finally got up about 8:30! I stayed in bed to enjoy the quiet and when I finally came upstairs, this is where I found Owen.

And I decided to have a fully relaxing no makeup day.

The kids spent most of their day in and out of the pool. Spending time with Uncle Jim was super fun and they even had a cannonball contest!

While the kids were (still) in the pool I got some work done. Not a bad view.

The kids were finally out of the pool and playing hide and seek while we were getting dinner ready. Uncle Marcus and Uncle Jim we trying to confuse Katie as she counted.

The birthday kids!

And tonight was a campfire and sparkler night!

And it was a momentous night—Katie actually asked to go to bed!!!

Vacation house, we are in you.

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

The kids really wanted to get in the pool the minute we got to the house but I was a mean mom and made them look through the house first and then actually put their suitcases in a bedroom and not just leave them splayed open in the middle of the living room.

Watching intently as I opened the pool cover.

It’s like this pool house knew I was coming.

They might already be in the pool and I might have bought them an inflatable unicorn. 🦄💦

Ahhhhh.

We had a bit of time before everyone else got here. It was quite a steep journey to the water and fire pit.

Dinner tonight was shish kebabs from the Coes. They were delicious!

The best kind of friends?

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

The ones where you are texting about nothing important at 4:30 on a Sunday and you think it’s such a nice day it would be great to have dinner outside and have a fire and why not invite your friends? And they say great, we’ll bring ribs, corn, and hot dogs—and I say perfect, we have beans and alcohol, see you at 6:30! We did a quick 20-minute pick up so they could get in the house, threw another rack of ribs in the sous vide to heat up, and that was it!

All the kids were super excited and we barely saw them all night! We had fun around the fire, ending the night with a few fireworks and s’mores.

I’m at my summer happy place.

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

This is what I look like on opening day of pool season when the storms never materialized and you realized it’s 80° and humid and the kids are driving you insane for no good reason so you give them five minutes to get their suits on because the pool closes in two hours and you can’t find your old passes so you have to get new ones before 5:00. 😂

There is no toilet paper fairy.

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I’m not stupid—I knew raising kids would not be easy. I guessed sleepless nights would be exhausting. I didn’t look forward to potty training. I’m not looking forward to dating and curfews. But no one ever warned me about these little things that make. me. want. to. scream.

What I will tell you is that this will be waiting for my son when he gets home from school lest he continues to think the toilet paper fairy magically appears during the day.

What do your kids do that annoy the crap out of you that no one warned you about?

Basking in the post-winter sun

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I absolutely love the feeling of sun on my face after a long and cold winter…and today was that day, y’all. It feels like I have no cares in the world as I bask in the warmth and listen to the birds chirping and the kids screaming with delight as they jump on the neighbor’s trampoline. Summer is almost here and I’ll be out here enjoying every last minute of it before it gets too hot and buggy.

Do you enjoy basking in the first days of post-winter sun, too?

Sous vide lobster prep!

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

We were trying two different types of lobster in the sous vide—fresh and fresh frozen. You had to parboil them all first so you could get the meat out of the shells.

It was a lot of work but I think it was better to have it done ahead of time instead of at the table.

It was unanimous that the fresh lobster was better, though we ate every last piece of both…plus the steak and green beans.

Which, speaking of the green beans, we had a helper:

Escape artists!

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

So we originally were going to have the lobster for dinner Saturday night, so I just threw the bag in the garage fridge and didn’t think about it. Fast forward to a change of plans and we weren’t going to eat them Saturday night but we still needed to get in that fridge. Imagine Tom’s surprise when he opened the door and the lobsters were trying to escape! They had made it out of the (untied) bag and were in the door compartment!

Dinner prep for six? Easy peasy.

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

A Cowboy Ribeye as big as your head vacuum sealed and seasoned with fresh rosemary, onion, and spices going into a 132° sous vide water bath for a few hours and then it will be quickly seared on a 600° grill. I am already drooling just thinking about the melt-in-your-mouth smoky meat that you can cut with a fork.🍴🤤 Do you sous vide? (If not, you totally should!)

How long would you last?

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

So I finally just decided to get these photos up on the wall after two years. They were on the floor of our bedroom leaning against a wall for about a year…and then they got moved to the MBR closet…and then the hallway and then another hallway. 😂 I finally had enough…and I didn’t really plan or measure. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I’m not sure I’ll be able to stand it for the next two years…

Three things.

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

1️⃣ It was supposed to rain all day so I thought I’d better get my walk in first thing since it was dry. I’m not often up and moving by 8:30am but when I’m on a mission, watch out. (I lost two more pounds last week, which puts me at 10 total for two weeks! Gotta keep it going!!)

2️⃣ I love my long hair but coats and wind are my enemies. 😂

3️⃣ I can’t wait to get my brows done at Ulta Beauty today. It’s been two months (one month too long). I try not to touch them myself since I’m a compulsive overplucker…

Sometimes it’s the little, unexpected thrills that totally make your day…

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

I love dollar stores and on a total whim stopped at a new Dollar Tree while I was making a run to ALDI. Oh wow. It’s much bigger than the one I normally shop at and the stock, while mostly the same, just seems so much…more. I didn’t need anything when I walked in, but I managed to spend $50. And I found the holy Grail for my kids.