{T.I.L. #18}

I like to wake up all bleary-eyed in the mornings with *just* enough time to tame the curly beast on top of my head and stumble down stairs to make my pour-over butter coffee.




Screeeech. Butter coffee??

{T.I.L. #15}

I've been sick as a dog this weekend and I'm not really looking forward to another work week to be honest. I've also struggled with technology so much lately that I'm ready to toss all this digital crap and go back to the days of candlelight (another post coming!) and paper & pencil (you guessed it...another TIL post!)

So another weekend gone, another round-up of Things-I-Love-that-don't-deserve-their-own-post.

This stuff from Trader Joe's is AMAZE.  

I heard all the hype around it and thought, 'gee. It's like peanut butter or something but tastes like cookies. It can't be THAT great.' Well, it is pretty darn good. I'm at-risk for spooning it out and eating it directly from the jar, so I insist on eating only one spoonful at a time with a crunchy Honeycrisp apple. They have crunchy and cocoa swirl which I have yet to try. And I hear that there is cookie butter ice cream too. Mmmm.

This is sort of a given. I mean, who doesn't really like twinkle lights? I once had a conversation with a member of a favorite local band who insisted I was the only one who called them this. He said you are supposed to call them 'christmas lights'. Uh, noooo, year-round lights can't be called Christmas lights, in my humble opinion. I really like twinkle lights in a backyard or outside like when I was at Cottonwood in Houston:

I also really love dainty twinkle lights like these at Restoration Hardware. I liked them after reading a blogger who used them in her front yard, and then my friend Ashley bought them this past month and I love them even more in person!

I want to use them around my headboard if possible (or at least somewhere in my bedroom) for an effect like this:

Photo from RH website

I also really like to write to-do lists and make schedules for myself and then promptly not follow them. I guess it feels good to have a plan but I struggle with the implementation part. But dang, if they were giving out awards for best list-writer, I'd surely win!

I like how Elise writes hers out each year and then each month in sharpie to highlight them or check them off as she completes each task:

From her blog

From her Instagram with #makeitpublicmakeithappen

I may try this but for a weekly system to see how I do.  I also like the way Clean Mama sets up her cleaning schedule with one major task per day. 

Again, gotta follow through for a schedule to work. But I'm halfway there, right?

{T.I.L #9}

This one needs no introduction...

I know saying 'in love' makes me sound like an alcoholic, but I promise I'm not. I'm just an exaggerator. I also grew up with people who showed me that alcohol addiction can be no joke. So, I'm pretty careful with rules around my drinking:

1. No drinking alone--there's a reason for this one!

2. Only drink when I'm happy--not using alcohol to 'take the edge off' of a tough day

3. Do not drink 2 days in a row--within reason, this keeps it a 'few and far between' thing instead of 'why not finish this bottle I started yesterday?' thing.

4. Pretty strictly stay within 1-2 drinks in one session

Those rules are there for a reason and most are there because I pushed past a boundary and knew it wasn't good. I'm fairly relaxed about it all and don't expect others to follow these rules, just me. Alcoholism runs in my family and I've already got a Starbucks addiction...I don't need another expensive addiction to add to the list! At least Starbucks won't ruin my life.

With that said, I love a good glass of whiskey. Mostly, I like my whiskey like I like my men: strong, high-quality, and neat. Just kidding, I've never said that in my life. Though I do like my whiskey neat. No fuss. {I mean, I won't say no to a whiskey on the rocks but I kinda want the flavor to take my breath away}

Yummers.

Fun story: Rule #1 came about the night I thought it'd be super cool to have a quiet time with Jesus while drinking Revel Stoke spiced whiskey (my fave) from a mustached glass tumbler.

Cuteness, huh?

Then, I got the bright idea to take all that fun into the bath tub to relax by candlelight. Can you see where this is going? Jesus. Prayer. Spiced whiskey. Hot water.

I didn't even give it a second thought as I prayed and sipped my whiskey. It wasn't until I got up that I realized I could barely stand. Not only was my face hot from the bath, it was also hot from embarrassment as I realized I had accidentally gotten drunk before the Lord. Oooooops.

So now, I don't really drink alone & definitely not while sitting in hot water--it saves me from drunken quiet times and drowning my sorrows all in one fell swoop!

My friend, Chrissy, recently posted this article about whiskey girls and it fit me to a T. I joked that I should use it as my dating profile because it is a pretty accurate description. 

Now, don't get the erroneous idea that I like to booze it up. But a good whiskey on a random weekend is all right by me. In fact, I had one this past weekend at Cottonwood in Houston. Dee-lish.

Peach + whiskey = yes!