Saturday Morning Coffee Talk

Well hello friends! Happy Saturday! Today I’m starting a new series here at Our Fifth House. Welcome to the first installment of ‘Saturday Morning Coffee Talk’. These posts will bring a little bit of everything, from random nonsense to deep thoughts. Grab a cup, and let’s get chatty!

The thing that is making me so happy this week!

You guys! I am deeply in love with our new coffee maker! Or should I call it a machine? Not sure what the correct terminology is, but this thing can make either a pot of coffee or a single cup! It’s a traditional coffee maker and a keurig in ONE! AND. I’M. IN. LOVE. with it!!!!!!

We had a Nespresso machine, and it served us well for the past four years. But I missed having a coffee pot. And my husband missed having a Keurig. SO we parted ways with our Nespresso. We, as Marie Kondo says, thanked it for its service and let it go to Goodwill. 😉 And I could not be happier!

Is it normal to be in love with a small appliance?

Speaking of coffee, have you tried this creamer? Holy mama, it is good!

The thing I’m most of proud of…….

is that I threw this scale into the trash. #byefelicia

This week as I was cleaning out the last few items from our sixth house, I decided I’m done with this scale. I no longer need to weigh myself. The number this scale holds doesn’t define me or represent me, and it surely doesn’t give an accurate reading of my health. So I threw it into the trash.

And it was both cathartic and exhilarating. No one was around when I threw it into the dumpster. And I snapped this picture just before I pitched it because I wanted to really drink this moment in and be grateful for where I am in this journey. It’s been a struggle to get here.

I’ve shared about my body image issues in the past. This internal struggle I’ve been dealing with since my teenage years has been like a barnacle clinging to me even when I think I’m getting better.

As I stood here snapping this picture I remembered the college version of myself taking diet pills to fit into a smaller size, the newlywed who was embarrassed to wear a bathing suit on the beach, the nursing mom completely out of whack and feeling like a stranger in her own body, and the thirty year old who decided to start embracing her body in order to put an end to the cycle of self-loathing and be a body positive role model for my daughter.

I thanked those women, those former versions of myself for the lessons they taught me, and then I picked this scale up, said goodbye, and flung it into the trash.

Forty year old me is so proud I’ve made it here!

The beauty items I might get all my girlfriends for Christmas this year.

I’m pretty much loving all things garnet right now. I think it’s just the perfect hue for this time of year. And I’ve been so impressed with how well Mineral Fusion’s Garnet polish wears. My at-home manicures have been lasting for quite a while with no chipping!

So I’m planning to pair one polish and one of these hand creams in a cute little cellophane gift bag for all my girlfriends this Christmas!

I may also throw in a nail file from the dollar store. I think it’s a fun little gift idea! These perfectly purse-sized hand creams come in a set of three for $34. And they are seriously the best hand creams! They smell amazing but have no synthetic fragrance, and they don’t leave your hands feeling too greasy. I’m very particular about my hand creams, and these are my fav!

The This Is Us Episode I’m still thinking about days after watching.

Well, I guess it’s not really about any one episode but more about this season of the show in general. I’m really loving the deeper dive they’re taking on veterans. Maybe it’s because my dad is a Vietnam vet, but I feel like those who served in Vietnam came home with a lot of “stuff”.

And veterans in general, well, we don’t really get to see their stories play out in tv shows or movies that aren’t specifically about war. This season I’ve really appreciated the way they are weaving these stories into the narrative of the show. Serving in the military, fighting in a war, is a huge part of so many peoples’ lives. We owe so much to our veterans, and their stories deserve to be told. Are you a big This Is Us fan too?

The Facebook post that irked me.

I deleted the app from my phone years ago because I found it to be such an enormous time suck. And to be completely honest, the last election had so many people in a tizzy, the commentary over there just started to be too much for me. But I still have a FB account that I check in on every now and again via my laptop.

This week an acquaintance I’m friends with on FB posted something that really irked me. I’m not one to comment when I don’t agree with something. I personally find that FB isn’t a great platform for discourse, so if I don’t agree with something I typically just move on.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t think about the posts I’ve read……..sometimes long after having read them. And often talk my husband’s ear off about them. 😉

This one post still had me thinking days later.

In this post the person basically blasted the social media app TikTok (an app lots of young people use to make short music video clips) saying that it was awful, “contributing to the dumbing down of society” and that she made her teenager delete the app.

Then the post basically went on to say parents really need to be vigilant about the way their children are using social media. And then concluded with a warning to parents about how bad this app is, encouraging them to follow suit and ban TikTok.

All in all my initial takeaway was – first, an eye roll and then, this thought – this person is really looking for validation on their parenting.

But the more I got to thinking about it and why it irked me, I realized a few things.

1. Making unpopular parenting decisions is really tough in this day and age. Maybe this post wasn’t meant to garner validation but to share a parenting struggle and resolution in the hopes of helping other parents that are also navigating teens and social media. Maybe this message irked me because of the way I received it rather than the way it was delivered.
2. It’s OKAY if the way I run my household looks differently than they way you run yours. There’s no one right way to raise a child because all of our children just like all of us are different.
3. Someone else’s strong difference of opinion doesn’t need to trigger me or cause me to second guess my own parenting decisions.
4. And last, there is much to be learned from digging in to why the post, conversation, article rubs you the wrong way.

I’m going to start paying more attention to the things that irk me rather than brushing past them. Because I don’t think these little moments happen by accident. I think they’re there to help us learn more about ourselves and each other.

And in case you’re wondering, I’ve allowed TikTok. I think it’s a fun app that encourages creativity. My daughter is a dancer, and this app feeds the artsy side of her brain. I monitor her use of this app on my own phone and have full access to her account. There have been plenty of teaching moments that have come from her using this app, and I’m fully aware of the negative aspects of this particular platform. My main parenting goal with regard to social media is to help my kids learn to navigate this world while they’re still living under my roof.

The chairs I ordered for the dining room.

To wrap on a less serious note, let’s switch it on back to decor! After much online searching, magazine and design book flipping, I finally hit the purchase button on some new side chairs for our dining room! You remember last week when I was debating between a few options?

Well, I ended up going in a different direction. Sometimes when you’re struggling to make a design choice, it’s because none of the current choices are really right, ya know?

I feel like I’m inching back towards a more classic, traditional vibe in this house. Every house has a soul, I think, and I definitely feel like this new house has an old one.

Okay friends, your turn! Tell me something that made you happy this week! What are you most proud of? What decisions did you finally make? Did anything irk you? Have you taken the time to think about why? I’d love to hear all about your week!

But first, let me go grab another cup of coffee. 😉