i'm back ... and five on friday

Finally it's Friday.  It's been crazy around here lately, so I haven't been posting very regularly. Things are starting to slow down, so I hope to be back to 3-4 posts per week. I'm jumping in with Five on Friday today to catch up on what's been going on around here. Let's jump right in.

Fun news!! I'm going to be doing macaron classes this summer. The first one will be on June 8th. If you're local and want to grab a spot, follow me on Instagram and Facebook for all the details. I'm really excited about the classes and so thankful for the opportunity.

We're leaving for our annual family vacation in a few weeks. I cannot wait to get away for a while and just enjoy my family. Relaxing is the only thing on my itinerary. It's our last big family vacation before my niece goes off to college in the fall, so it's kind of bittersweet. I'm looking forward to getting some good quality time in with her. 

I found this cute top at Dress Barn earlier this week. I had a few things to return and this caught my eye on the sale rack. Of course I had to get my sister one too. I'm packing mine for our upcoming trip. It looks perfect with jean shorts and sandals or my navy Tieks. Casual but still a little dressy. 
 

We're having a back yard project done when we get back from vacation. The pic above shows what we're going for.  It has to be scaled down a bit in size because our back yard is a good size without being huge. My cousin's husband is making this happen and I told him my only must-haves are the tin roof and that the swing fits a twin size mattress. I'm excited to see our back yard transformed and am already planning my summer naps. Yep, I'm old and exciting. I'll share the process on the blog once the project is underway. We're also adding a fire pit and eventually a storage shed. The storage shed may be a Father's Day surprise.

 

And now for book news... I have a few food magazines packed for our trip and also downloaded some new books to my Kindle app. I've talked about Karen MacInerney's Dewberry Farm series here before and she also has another cozy mystery series, The Gray Whale Inn Mysteries. I'm about to start book 2, Dead & Berried. I don't like this series as much as Dewberry Farms, but I'll give this second book a try before I give up on it. I'll keep you posted. 

Have a fabulous weekend!

- Tonia

five on friday

Happy Friday! It has been quite a week for me. I had an allergic reaction to a sulfa medication and spent Sunday in the emergency room and Monday and Tuesday on Benadryl & steroids. Fun, fun, fun. I'm feeling much better now and looking forward to the weekend. I'm linking up with Five on Friday again this week. Let's jump right in. 

I ordered this shirt from Nordstrom last week.  I love a cute thermal shirt and especially love this shade of blue. It's also available in red if you need something cute and casual for Valentine's Day.  It's on sale right now, so grab one for yourself.

I'm going to be busy this weekend making my red velvet macarons for Valentine's Day. I'm going to try making heart-shaped. Follow along on Instagram to see how they turn out. I'm Tonia_thc. 

There's some big changes coming up in my life next month. I'm anxious, excited, full of hope. Just ALL.THE.FEELINGS. I got a new life planner from Erin Condren to help stay organized, plus lots of fun stickers.  I can't wait to get ready for my next adventure. I'll share more about that in the next few weeks. 

And now in book news... 

I got my advance reader copy of Raspberry Danish Murder in the mail a few weeks ago and just finished it up over the weekend. It's the latest in the Hannah Swensen series by Joanne Fluke. It's one of my favorite cozy mystery series and I've been reading it from the very beginning. That said, I was very disappointed in this latest book. The previous book was quite a cliffhanger and this new one did not really focus on that or wrap it up...it actually kind of ended with yet another cliffhanger. It might be time to wrap this series up, but just because I feel invested after 22 books, I'll keep reading. 

I guess I actually just have four things to share this week, so I'll stop here. Hope you all have a great weekend! 

- Tonia

five on friday

Hooray for Friday! Goodness, what a week it's been. I'm looking forward to a relaxing, but fun and busy weekend. I'm linking up with Five on Friday this week. Here's a peek at what's going on around here. 

Mike & I are headed to the beach next week for our anniversary getaway. We'll be celebrating 19 years of wedded bliss. How have we been married that long?! I truly can't imagine a day without him by my side. I give God all the glory for our marriage and the love that keeps us happy and strong. We're not making lots of plans and will just go with the flow most of the week. I did make dinner reservations at one place - Wicked Tuna. I cannot wait to get to that Ahi Tuna. Yum!

I have a confession to share with you all. I am crazy about these Go-Mart potato wedges. Yep, gas station food. We went to see my mother-in-law Wednesday evening and the Go-Mart we pass is one of the few that still sells them. Any time we drive past, you can bet I'm stopping. And I may or may not have emailed the home office to get a list of all the locations in WV that have them. Mike got tired of me stopping to run in every Go-Mart we passed if we were traveling. They are just that good. If you're a local and want a copy of that email, just let me know. 

 

Ya'll know about my pajama addiction for Landon. Well, this time I bought some cute pajamas for mommy. These owl print pajamas are so soft and fit perfectly. They are packed and ready to go on our anniversary getaway. I also got this because sometimes it's fun to be fancy.

 

Landon loves Mad Libs and the Charlie Brown Halloween special, so I picked these up at Walmart earlier this week. He still struggles a bit with his reading, so we're working really hard to encourage him and make sure his self-esteem doesn't suffer. We'll be adding a few more new books to our Halloween collection, so I'll probably do another post to share those.

And now for more book news... If you've been reading here for a while, you know I love cozy mysteries. I got an advance copy of Turkey Trot Murder by Leslie Meier, the latest in the Lucy Stone Mystery series. I've been saving it for fall and it's packed in my bag and ready for beach reading. For our fall getaways, I always like to read an autumn or Christmas-centered mystery and holiday recipe magazines or cookbooks. It really puts me in a festive spirit.  If you're looking for a new series, give this one a try. Be sure to start from the beginning so you can watch Lucy's family grow up as the series goes on.

 

Have a great weekend! If you want to see snippets of our getaway, follow along on Instagram - I'm tonia_thc.