LOVING | my new Asics Novablast 3s. Solid recommendation, SHU! Thank you. And I recently read that Rachel bought the same shoe (different color) too and is also very happy with it. They’re definitely more cushioned than I was used to but I like how they feel.
CELEBRATING | 1400 rides on the Peloton with Tanja. I will sing the praises of my Peloton bike again and again. It’s been one of the best purchases I’ve ever made for myself and I love hitting these milestones together with a friend, separate but together.
LOOKING FORWARD TO | having some girl time with my friend Susi this coming weekend. She’s the friend that lives closest to me but it’s still a 1.5+ hours drive and I haven’t seen her since January. It’s been too long!
WATCHING | the UEFA Euro 2024 hosted by Germany. We’re into the knock-out phase now. Every match counts. The final will be on July, 14th!
DRINKING | coffee on the front porch.
EATING | all the veggies (and salads). We started making vegetable pan-sheet dinner again and I forgot just how satisfying they are. I just throw a bunch of different vegetables on a baking sheet, drizzle them with olive oil, add seasoning, and bake them for 40 minutes. Then I serve them over brown rice. Jon adds a bit of soy sauce, but I don’t need that. The veggies have so much flavor. I don’t know about you but I can feel a difference if I feed more veggies to my body.
BUYING | more stuff at Costco again. We have a Costco membership and might as well use it. Even though we’re a 2-person household there are definitely items that we can buy (in bulk) that make the membership worthwhile. I used to shop there more frequently before the pandemic and then fell out of habit, but I plan to go more often again. I am curious to see how that will impact our grocery budget (I am hoping it will bring it down overall, although I know that individual trips will seem expensive). Do you have a Costco membership?
ENJOYING | my early morning runs. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that the sunrise is currently before 6 am. It makes getting up so much easier and gives me more time to finish my weekly runs before work because I can leave earlier. Not to mention that the early morning temperatures are glorious right now (before the heat kicks in later in the day).
READING | Outlander #7, An Echo in the Bone. Well, actually, I finally finished it and started #8, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood. I am already 55% through the new (800+ page) book, which should tell you that I’ve been on a bit of a reading kick in June and I am liking it.
What are you currently loving? Eating? Looking forward to?
NGS
June 26, 2024 at 1:57 pmWe are also a 2-person household with a Costco membership. I don’t know if it helps much with grocery bills, to be honest, but we buy a lot of staples there:
Oatmeal for my granola
Tuna
Chickpeas/black beans/coconut milk
Eggs
Medicine for the dog is significantly cheaper than ordering in through Chewy or getting it at the vet’s office
TP/paper towels/aluminum foil
Frozen chicken for making dog treats
I also buy produce there, but I’m not convinced that we eat the produce fast enough for it to be a good deal for us: I’m partial to blueberries, carrots, and the delicious oranges they have.
Melissa
June 26, 2024 at 8:26 pmI love that mug of yours—it’s so fun! Roasted veggies always taste good and are so easy to prepare.
So, I’m happy that sunrtise is late here at the moment because I get to see the sunrise without even having to get up early. I think we are opposites in this, although if I was trying to squeeze runs in before work I think it would be a different story. Our daughter has got herself a head torch and just stays to the busy paths near her for her morning runs at the moment.
Nicole MacPherson
June 27, 2024 at 5:12 amOh boy, do I ever have a Costco membership, and just for perspective this week I was there and spent $394 and was in awe at how low my bill was. Usually it’s much higher. I mean, my older son is here for the summer which impacts our grocery bills a lot, but in general, we don’t eat out much so I buy a lot of groceries.
I love sheet pan veg and do that often. I might even do it tonight, with coconut rice.
Congrats on 1400 rides!
Jenny
June 29, 2024 at 1:15 pmi also love the rainbow mug- and that reminds me, I drank out of the Mug swap mug you gave me today! It’s my “Saturday morning” mug.
The veggie sheet pan dinner sounds amazing- I would add some tofu, and I might be able to get the rest of the family on board with that. I’m going to try it this week.
I’m currently reading a GREAT book- Stephen King’s 11/22/63. So fascinating!
ernie
June 30, 2024 at 11:14 amI cannot survive without a Costco run at least every 2 weeks. The natives get restless, and well – hungry! I love the veggie sheet pan dinner ideas. I make a Cuban chicken sheet pan dinner that we love. Love! It’s lots of chopping of veggies but so worth it. I just (like an hour ago, JUST) finished cleaning the garage. An annual task that I loathe. I hosed out the garage, so I still have to put everything back, waiting for it to dry. If I play my cards right, and the older kids are home from caddying, I’ll have them help me. Looking forward to Coach’s family gathering on the 4th.
Elisabeth
July 4, 2024 at 2:23 pmRoasted veggies are THE BEST!
We do not have a Costco membership. The nearest store is an hour away and I find it soooo overwhelming. And I kinda hate storing large quantities of things. And I always shop on sale. And I don’t like paying annual fees. And I can never walk away without spending 100s of dollars (which makes sense since it’s so far away). But I know Costco is amazing for so many people. I think if I lived a lot closer it would feel less overwhelming. When I go, I get tempted to buy things I don’t need since I know I’m not there very often. Over time, I learned the anxiety wasn’t worth it!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
July 7, 2024 at 4:42 amRoasted veggies… yes please. But isn’t it too hot to do in California this time around? I barely want to use the oven and it’s 10 degrees less here.
We used to have a Metro membership and I usually spend so much more money there because I bought all the things I otherwise wouldn’t. And the smaller sizes are not cheaper so I didn’t go and I think by now the membership is no longer valid.
Congrats on your 1400 ride.
Lisa’s Yarns
July 7, 2024 at 12:07 pmMy MIL gifted us a Costco membership probably 3+ years ago and we have yet to activate it! There isn’t a Costco close to us so it would add quite a bit of time to Phil’s weekend grocery shop. Maybe when our boys are older we will activate it. I should prob check to see if a gifted membership ever expires!
Mmm I love roasted veggies. They taste so good! I was making sheet pan dinners to take for lunches this winter but got tired of all the prep work of cutting up the veggies. I should make a sheet pan meal again soon now that more things are in season here. In the winter I used a lot of root vegetables like carrots.
coco
July 9, 2024 at 2:24 amthe veggie dinner sounds lovely, I’ll definitely make it when I go back. I miss homemade food while traveling. I haven’t had avocado for so long and got a bad when I came to the US, to my surprise, I’ve lost taste for it and had to throw the bag away, bummer.
love your rainbow mug too, so cheerful.
Daria
July 9, 2024 at 11:43 amLike everyone else said, I love that mug!
Costco… We have one in the nearby town, never been there. Yes, it’s cheaper, yes, it’s more convenient, but I refuse to go into a warehouse to buy tomatoes. We use Stop and Shop, a local grocery store, it’s much smaller and more enjoyable to navigate. Our grocery bill? Maybe $800 per month, maybe a little more? But yes, groceries are more expensive than ever.
Loving: summer camp for the kids! Gives me free time to go to the beach and read.
Eating: chicken salad from Wawa
Looking forward to: our Italy trip in three weeks!
Anne
August 8, 2024 at 3:02 pmSo, wait. JUST veggies and rice? No… protein? Beans, meat, chicken…? I mean, I know rice and veggies have some, but it just seems like a recipe for being hungry a few hours later, to me. Or maybe that’s just me. ;) But roasted veggies? YES. I use my air fryer – my favorite appliance – because I don’t have to turn on the oven, AND I can make one-person-sized portions.
Which is why I only shop for shelf stable things and/or gas at Costco. :) I do not have enough room to store their enormous cans/jars/multiples of stuff. But it is still worth it for the other stuff! :)