Happy New Things

Mindy Kaling used to have a blog called Things I Bought That I Love and that's pretty much what's happening here. After buttoning down on all spending in April and May (and slicing our average credit card bills in half for both months, which helped substantially in balancing out the sudden closure of the swim school during that time), I loosened up a little in June and searched out a few things I'd had on my window shopping list for a few months.

Online Shopping Helpers

Jeans: It's been years since I had a pair of dark denim jeans that were comfortable and fit well (and were long enough!!) and I decided to make it my June mission. I tried pairs from Old Navy, Target, and Amazon and these were my top two:
- Signature by Levi Pull-On Skinny Jeans, Size 4-Long, Amazon, $24. These were great and came highly recommended in my law mom group. Unfortunately, to fit me correctly in the hips (and thus, stay up and not create what James lovingly refers to as my fabric hip flaps) they dug in more in my belly than I prefer for my stay-at-home life, so I sent them back. But I highly recommend them to anyone who isn't built like an upside down triangle!
- Women's Low-Rise Jegging Jeans, Size 4-Long, Target, $25. Ultimately my wider waist and super narrow hips led me to this now elusive pair of low-rise jeans (oh yes, bringing the 90's back!). I like them a lot (though I could do with a little more length; always), but they're pretty true to size and very comfortable. These are my new jeans.

Tees: Now that I live at home and wear pajamas almost all the time I decided I needed a couple basic tees in my wardrobe (something I weirdly didn't have? I have exercise tanks, dressy/work shirts, and SPF tees, but I was lacking the basic "I can wear this in front of other people but it also could be pj's" type of t-shirt). I tried Target but didn't love theirs.
- Amazon Essentials Classic Fit Crew-Neck Tee, Amazon, 2 for $16. These from Amazon are perfection. I think they run slightly large, so the small is a perfect "fitted but not tight" fit on me (normally I'd look to a Medium for that). I bought the white + navy pack and the dark grey + lilac. I'm wearing one right now (I should note that I started this draft a week ago but I am in fact wearing one again now as I type).

Kimono cardigan: Yes! I have ventured out in a HUGE stay-at-home chic kind of way. I have purchased and worn a kimono and I lurve it. It's so light and airy and pretty and I wear it with my new t-shirts! Because I have t-shirts now and can layer it under something! It is light and airy and pretty and makes jean shorts and a t-shirt look very stylish on a video call. I also have a navy swim suit I can wear it with by the pool or beach. All in all I'm very pleased with what felt like a big leap in my wardrobe choices.

Kitchen Tools: I cook a LOT and realized I was reaching over some things in my kitchen drawer every time in order to get my hands on other, somewhat worn out items. So I cleaned out the drawer and got rid of a few things I just never used and replaced 2-3 things that I used constantly and were showing their wear. So I purchased:
- Blender, Costco, $70. I was re-stocking our freezer and pantry at Costco two weeks ago when I realized we didn't own a blender AND I was never going to get to drink a frozen margarita in a restaurant again, so this little guy found its way into my cart/heart. It blends ice very well and makes margaritas that almost make me think I'm not at home when I drink them.
- OXO Flat Wire Whisk, Amazon, $8. Love this thing for a pan sauce and my old cheap one had separated from its handle a year ago.
- Offset Spatula, Crate & Barrel, $8. One of my faves, my old one had a painted handle that started flaking off.
- Good Grips Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer, Amazon, $16 (with Cut-Resistant Gloves, Amazon, $10). A totally new item for me and it is SO fun. I now keep a glass container of sliced raw veggies in the fridge at all times that the kids snack on like chips.

What are your favorite kitchen tools? I also love my metal flex turner spatula, medium-size cookie scoop, Silpat pan liners, garlic press, big flexible spatulas.

Baking Dishes: Similar to the cooking tools I emptied my cabinets and evaluated my baking and casserole dishes, donating a few I just don't use and purchasing these two new ones:
- Extra Large Potluck Baking Dish, Crate and Barrel, $37. We eat a LOT and I 1.5x or 2x every single recipe. Now I can mostly bake our meals in one big dish instead of dividing it between two. I also like the lid as an option instead of using foil I just throw away.
- Silpat Silicone Muffin Tray, Williams Sonoma, $50. My biggest splurge on a tough day of working and momming. I love baking but my loathing for cleaning out muffin tins is matched only by my children's love of eating muffins. I adore my Silpat baking pan liners and was overwhelmed with joy upon spotting this little miracle worker. Now I can bake all the muffins, grease nothing, pop them out when they're done, and toss this on the top rack of our dishwasher on top of the cups. WINNING.

Books: None of my authors are publishing new things which is killing me (Kresley Cole and Larissa Ione WHERE ARE YOU??), but I re-read every single Ilona Andrews book and I continue to just adore all of them.
- Nalini Singh put out a new one in her Changeling series (Alpha Night) which I appreciated very much.
- I really like Jeaniene Frost's spin-off series about Ian and Veritas and re-read the two she's published so far.
- I adored Sarah Maas's Throne of Glass series and enjoyed the Court of Thorns and Roses series (I didn't like that one as much as Throne of Glass? Loved the two main characters, particularly the male lead, and loved the side characters, but hated the initial main male character and that whole relationship; the series isn't finished though so maybe it will grow to be as great for me as ToG did).
- Gena Showalter had a semi-new book in her Lords of the Underworld series that was fun, but maybe not as great as the earlier books (a theme, I often find).
- I even dipped a toe back in my OG historical romance with some Lisa Kleypas and Sarah Maclean. Nora Roberts finished her The One trilogy which was better than most of what she's published in the last decade (she has some older books I still adore) but I thought book 3 wasn't nearly as good as books 1 and 2.
- I also re-read a bunch of Patricia Briggs and the latest Mercy Thompson book which was good, though she's re-treading some plot lines too.

So if you have a book, author, or preferably a long juicy series you recommend please let me know! Magic, action, paranormal elements, smart characters and dialogue, and amazing world-building HUGE pluses.

On a different literary note I bought this book for Claire a few weeks ago after some anxiety issues were ballooning beyond her (and my) ability to cope and it was really wonderful: What to Do When You Worry Too Much. We worked through a chapter a night, one time through with James, and then again with me and it opened a lot of conversations and gave great terminology and ways to re-frame and manage anxiety. It was maybe slightly young for her at a mature age 10, but still very relevant and she really liked working through it with both of us.

We continue to work on the master bedroom and I can't wait for the whole project to be done, though now that the swim school is back open, I'm not sure when James will have time to paint the walls and ceiling. My work also gave us a telework stipend and I used mine to buy an office chair and inexpensive desk that just arrived today. No more folding table and dining room chair and no more blocking our bedroom's french doors to the patio that have been inaccessible since March. My new desk should fit in the corner by his side of the bed and allow us to function a little more normally in what is now the new normal.

(Also normal: these two sleeping next to me while I work, often facing opposite directions.)

Have you bought anything that you love? Have any books to recommend? I would still love a pair of comfortable lounge pants that I could wear comfortably while seated all day (alllll day) but also wear outside on a Maggie pee break without it looking like I'm in pajamas. Frankly lately I find leggings too restricting. Similarly, I'm in the market for a comfortable, wireless bra that is similar to a non-tight sports bra with light padding and support. Something like this, I think? But in a nude color offering and comfortable for a 34DD. Like the desk and chair taking a permanent spot in my bedroom, this is my new daily normal, so I might as well embrace a new wardrobe for it. And maybe wrap up those pretty but constricting work clothes hanging in my closet in plastic or something...

(*Blogger note: I'm getting hit with a HUGE amount of spam comments. Deeply inappropriate disturbing spam comments that James happened to read over my shoulder last night and was like holy crap wtf is that. I have no idea how to stop them, but disallowing Anonymous comments has seemed to help. So if you were someone who preferred to comment without logging in to google or blogger, I am deeply sorry that you can no longer do so, but until I understand more about blogger, and perhaps the internet generally (oy; it's all pure magic to me), I don't know how else to get out of this spam pool I seem to be in.)