Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T. No. 006

The busiest quiet week I've ever had

Helloooo and happy Sunday! It’s my goal to have Craveable out on a consistent day each week for you all, but I chose a pretty busy time of year to bring back the newsletter so there’s been a little bit of variance in that recently. Let me know if there’s a day of the week you’d like to see me pop up in your inbox!

I’ve been flying solo this week while Kevin has been in Charleston working, visiting some of our old favorite spots, and playing an annual golf game with friends. I was looking forward to a quiet week of girl dinner-ing, working a little bit more than normal, and perhaps developing a recipe or two for you all.

That plan went sideways a little bit when I woke up on Thursday morning with some dental distress 🤪 one emergency trip to the dentist later, and I’m scheduled to get my wisdom teeth out this upcoming week! You may be thinking, “Wow, that’s interesting. Most people either get their wisdom teeth out when they’re in high school or college- or, they just never get them out at all”. Welllllll I’ve been told plenty of times to get mine out and I just ignored it until my wisdom teeth made it clear that I no longer had a choice.

Allll of that being said, I’ve not been very excited about cooking or eating or posting for the last handful of days. I also worked my first two shifts at a new job that I’ll be starting full time in September! If you’re in the Nashville area, keep an eye out for the official opening of Mama Bread- a bakery, market & cafe in East Nashville 💙 I’m super excited to get back in the kitchen, and for the opportunity to learn more about bread baking!

Ok- I think those are all of my updates for now. On to the R.E.P.O.R.T.

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As a reminder, the weekly R.E.P.O.R.T. is a little recap of the things I’ve been Reading, Eating, Playing, Obsessed with, Recommending & Treating myself to over the last week.

1. What I’m Reading

We’re keeping it light, kids!!! I’m obviously rereading The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. I read the first book when I was in middle school and have probably reread the series five or six times 😅 What can I say?! They’re a comfort read, they’re perfect for summer, and since reading for the first time, I now find myself agreeing with the main character’s mother more than I do her.

That being said, If you have any book recommendations- please send them my way! I’ve been in a little bit of a reading slump, and would love to get out of it. Perhaps I’ll start a new book while I convalesce from my procedure!

2. What I’m Eating

So, before the tooth pain, I was eating some pretty tasty and colorful breakfasts. Most of which featured either one or both of the following fridge staples that are pretty easy to prep ahead and use throughout the week: confit cherry tomatoes and green goddess dip.

Confit tomatoes are pretty easy- just pop any cherry or grape tomatoes that you have + need to use up in an oven safe dish, cover with nice olive oil & cook low and slow at 300 for about an hour.

I also wanted to share the green goddess dip recipe with you all! It’s super herby and light. It’s a great dip on veggies, could be thinned out and used for salad dressing, and is also great on sandwiches as a spread. Here’s how to make it:

ingredients:

• 8 oz cream cheese

• 1/2 cup greek yogurt

• 1/3 cup mayo

• a generous handful of 3-4 of your favorite herbs. I tend to stick to

  • cilantro

  • dill

  • chives

  • parsley

  • basil

• the zest and juice of one whole lemon

• salt + pepper to taste

how to:

1. put all of the ingredients into a high-speed blender or food processor & blend until smooth

2. season to taste with more salt & pepper

3. enjoy!

3. What I’m Playing

Ok- playing is kind of vague, but I will take the opportunity to tell you about one song that I can’t stop listening to and one game that I love to play with my friends and family.

For the song, I don’t really want to give the whole backstory on Las Culturistas, the award show they hosted, Ben Platt, or Addison Rae and her music career. This is Ben Platt’s cover of Diet Pepsi by Addison Rae. It was performed at the Las Culturistas annual Culture Awards. If you have taste, you will enjoy this song. And, if you know what I’m talking about without all of the back story- we’re probably friends.

Ok- sorry, that was for a pretty niche audience. Although, I think you should all listen regardless. Now for a game- it’s so simple I feel silly including it, but I always have such a good time playing that I want you all to know about it ❤️

Ok it’s called Play Nine and it’s basically just the card game of golf. Technically, this game can be played with a standard deck of cards, but Play Nine has these goofy little golf balls on each card. There are also different card values, thus making it a little bit easier to understand and track scores. I could play for hours.

4. What I’m Obsessed With

Is it weird to say that I’m obsessed with my house? I love spending time here. I’m so proud of the way that Kevin and I have decorated everything. I have so much fun cooking in my kitchen, and I barely even got scared staying alone in the house for an entire week!!! I haven’t given much thought to how I want to share all of the details of our house, but I do think it could be fun to have a newsletter dedicated to some of our house favorites, tips on how to source & style each room, and the fact that patience is really key when it comes to finding things to put in your home.

We were extremely fortunate to receive some really nice furniture from family who didn’t want it anymore, but we’ve also spent the last five years that we’ve lived together collecting things for our home. Here are a few glimpses into my favorite spots in the house.

I don’t know if these photos even do it justice. The Budweiser photo is just gorgeous tbh. Around 4pm the light is really hitting the corner of our faux denim pleather loveseat in such a charming way!! Kevin and his dad put together the peg board for all of my pots and pans a couple of weeks ago and it’s the perfect mix of function and style for the kitchen. Let me know if a dedicated house newsletter is something you’d actually read. Or, if you have any questions about house things.

5. What I’m Recommending

It’s a little bit ironic for me to be recommending this product, because I’ve been distracted by my phone all day. HOWEVER, I really love our Brick phone lock. It’s a little square magnet that you pair with an app on your phone. You can set apps that you’d like to block and when you tap your phone to the brick, it’ll lock the apps with no way for you to override it.

I keep ours on the fridge, and was able to be much more present and productive during the times that I had my phone locked. The only way to unlock your phone is to tap it to the physical Brick device again. The other thing that I like about it is that there’s no limit to how many phones can be used with the Brick. As long as you have the app downloaded, you can use any nearby Brick.

This is certainly not sponsored and Kevin and I actually paid for a two pack before realizing that we didn’t each need one 😅 Of course, since using it and talking about it, my phone has served me several ads for similar devices. I can’t speak to any of them, but do your research if you think this sounds like something that could be helpful for your productivity too!

6. What I’m Treating Myself To

This one is so hard! I feel like I treat myself to plenty of things, honestly. Yesterday I treated myself to a complete and total lazy day where I watched TV and didn’t put anything major on my to-do list. I guess I can share a treat that I actually will no longer be keeping in the house because it was too good and too easy to take two or three down without even noticing. oops!

It’s these Trader Joe’s crunchy milk chocolate & sea salt thins. They’re individually wrapped so you can take them on-the-go. They have the perfect amount of saltiness, and there are little caramelized bits that add a little crunch. They’re a relatively new product at Trader Joe’s, and I treated myself to a bag a week or so ago. They didn’t last long in the pantry, and I fear that I’m going to have to avoid them sneaking into my cart in the future due to my lack of self control. yay!

Ok, that’s it for Craveable this week. Keep an eye out for another recipe for paid subscribers coming soon! As always, I’d love to hear from you all what you’d like to see in future newsletters ❤️ love you!