Weekend 5+1 (5 Things I Love + 1 Thing I Don’t) – 4.6.24

It’s been a hot minute – things are starting to pick up speed around here, with my daughter graduating from high school next month(!).  It’s been awhile since I’ve thrown a graduation party, and hers will be different from my boys, because she has opinions. The boys pretty much had a couple of simple requests, and that was that. I’m still in denial that she’s flying the nest, and I’m going to miss her so much!

We did just get back from an amazing trip to Arizona though, which helps.  My husband and I were gone for two weeks, and the kids joined us for the second week, which was such a gift.  We haven’t taken a trip with all five of us since 2018.  We had plans, but Covid through a wrench in all of that, so I feel lucky that we were able to all go together. I fall in love with Arizona more each time we visit.

Enough of my personal babbling, let’s look at some fun things for this Weekend 5+1! This post contains some affiliate links.

Strappy Summer Sandals

I have been thoroughly enjoying my clothing subscription box deliveries lately, and one thing I came upon and love, are these Dolce Vita platform sandals.  As a girl who always needs some extra height, they’re perfect.  They’re also comfortable, cute and go with just about anything.  Now if the weather would just cooperate, so I could actually wear them, that would be great.

A Great Book – Local Woman Missing

Local Woman Missing is a book that has been in my wish list for awhile, but I never pulled the trigger on it.  Then, on my way out of the gym, where we have a free library, I spotted it and picked it up.  It’s been ages since I’ve read an actual book (I’m a big audiobook listener), but this book captivated me right away.  Lots of twists and turns, but it kept my attention the whole time.  If you read it, let me know what you think about the ending – I won’t spoil it.

A Handy Drain Cleaner

We tend to have drain clogs in the a couple of showers in our house (the ones my daughter and I use, that is), and we keep this handy drain cleaner contraption on hand if they get clogged.  Works every time.  I can’t say enough about them – good to have on hand if something goes wonky, and I swear it’s better than any drain cleaner I’ve used.

For Your Achy Hands – A Hand Massager

I don’t know if it’s from age, or the gripping that I do with work and working out, but my hands seem to ache more than they should.  My son got me this hand massager for Christmas, and I absolutely love it.  It’s such a great little gadget for a hand massage.  I relish the hand massages I get with a manicure, and this is a good alternative to get you by until your next appointment.  It also has a heat option so you can warm your hands while it works as well.

Pour Over Coffee and Ambiente

My husband and I spent a couple days in Sedona at the nicest place I have ever stayed – in my life.  The resort is called Ambiente.  I literally saw it on Instagram, and shared it with my husband, not at all expecting that we would actually stay there.  Each unit is a little pod, with unbelievable views of the Sedona red rocks.  It was a total splurge, and something we don’t do often, but this year we’re celebrating our 30th anniversary, and we’ve decided to celebrate all year long.  So, we’re doing some fun things this year.

This is one of the pods at Ambiente.

A view from our room.  The tv comes down from the ceiling, and there are remote controlled black out curtains too.  It was such an amazing place to kick off our vacation.

Back to the pour over coffee – they had it in our room for us to make, and it’s the best coffee I’ve ever had.  So much so, that I’ve bought a pour over coffee setup like they had in the hotel.  It’s going to turn me into a full blown coffee snob at this rate.

They had an electric kettle and pour over set in the room, with delicious local coffee and fresh cream.  Unbelievable.

My +1 for the week – Roundabouts

Let me preface this by saying, I personally appreciate the roundabout that was put in place of a congested intersection near me.  However, I’m always surprised at how many people seem absolutely clueless as to how to navigate one.  People stop in the middle of it, treat it as a stop sign and don’t seem to comprehend the idea of merging into it, they don’t go with the flow of traffic and stop trying to let other cars in, etc…  And it’s just a single lane roundabout.  Nothing complicated.  Not a double land roundabout.  Simple, right?  Maybe not.

There you go – my two cents for the week.  Hoping spring arrives soon, as I don’t think we’ve seen the sun more than an hour since we’ve returned home.

Jenny