Tuesday Things.
1. This is the best DIY pumpkin keg I’ve seen. Stunning.
2. Okay guys, who is totally freaking about the iPhone update where it shows you how much time you spend on your phone? Mine is averaging around three hours per day. Not awful but what kills me is that if I get up at night and feed Emilia, once I get back to bed, I’m awake and sometimes start looking at my phone… which occasionally lasts for an HOUR. The worst. I’m so curious – what is your screen time?!
3. I know that this means I should probably switch to a real alarm clock. Do they still exist? Kidding. Kind of. The post proves they do!
4. Eddie’s pumpkin carving skills are insane. He’s so talented when it comes to art. My only contribution to pumpkin carving is the secret hack to sprinkle cinnamon inside your pumpkin (and on the “lid) then use a vanilla candle inside. Smells like heaven on Halloween night!
5. Being an adult and homeowner totally stinks when you walk in the door at 11PM from a dinner to find your laundry room and basement flooded. It.was.the.worst. I thought I could clean it up on my own but it was way too overwhelming, so I had to wake up Eddie and I felt so bad because he gets up at the crack of dawn. Definitely a marriage building experience, haha.
6. TV favorites last week? This Is Us was meh. A Million Little Things is still SO good. I’m so glad so many of you also love it. Know what else I think is embarrassingly super cute? Splitting Up Together! I always DVR it and watch while editing photos.
7. What are you currently reading! I started Elin Hilderbrand’s newest and downloaded Anne Lamott’s newest last night!
8. Every year is different for me in terms of when I start listening to Christmas music. Sometimes I don’t start until December. Other years I start November 1st. This year is definitely the latter and come Thursday, it’s on.
9. Speaking of Thursday, I am launching an amazing holiday entertaining guide for you guys! Be sure to come back and check it out. I am SO excited about it.
42 Comments on “Tuesday Things.”
I have been using a regular alarm clock since forever. I used to use my phone too, but found leaving it in the kitchen works well for me. Yes water that doesn’t belong in your house is marriage building. When you have to wake up your spouse or frantically call them at work because of flooding is the worst, been there done that and it is not fun. Hello dehumidifier that now lives in my basement. That Eiln Hilderbrand novel sounds like the perfect cold weather escape, will have to get it. I have already started watching Hallmark’s Christmas movies, I am so into it every year and just saw Chad Michael Murray in a commercial for one and my One Tree Hill 20 something self squealed.
thanks courtney!! xoxo
Sorry bout your foooding. We had that happen in spring 2017 and had just started getting our act together to remodel when bam! Our area got 8” of rain in two hours and freak flooded. We live on top of a hill and had 6” of water in our downstairs during the height of the storm. Super sucky.
I’m glad I’m not the only one feeling meh bout this is us. It’s like how can it be as good as last season?? Also, the end of last weeks a million little things!! Eeek! I can’t believe it!
oh man that is so rough!!!!
I use the music alarm, have for many years, it works for me.
I’m reading Michael Crighton Dragon Teeth
and Brian Freeman The Burying Place. Love Mysteries CJ Box and Sue Grafton.
thanks alicia! xo
Oh my goodness! I just stayed up last night to finish Elin’s Winter in Paradise. IT IS SO GOOD. I absolutely love the mystery surrounding everything and can’t believe I have to wait an entire year to find out what happens next. She has me hooked.
i can’t wait!!!
Anything household related that goes wrong is relationship building- sigh. Good times.
‘this Is us was meh’ agreed! Not enjoying this season much
that is the best idea ever about the carved pumpkin #noteToSelf
have you set a limit on your screen time for social media? I set mine at 90 minutes and the phone reminds you ‘5 minutes left for the day’ The only problem about it is that it also includes texts and basically everyone contacts me that way soooo.. yeah. I felt like 90 minutes for everything (FB, Insta ) in the day was good, but when including text messages from kid, mister and friends/family… I’m going over my time.
I do use an old fashioned alarm clock. That way I don’t have an excuse to have my phone right next to me at night.
You. An change the apps it affects in your settings. I only have mine on social media (Facebook/Instagram) so my other phone features still function.
see? I’m having a blonde moment because I chose ‘social media’ but it includes messages in that and I can’t find the area that I could remove messages, and just leave it at FB/Insta/Pinterest…
I didn’t know you could set a limit for social media? I will have to figure out how to do it. Wow! I do post animals that are in urgent need of adoption, pledges and so forth on Facebook which is important to me. That time I can’t give up as it helps to save lives.
interesting!! i need to set the limit. i had no idea i could!
I just wanted to say I love your holiday gift guides and can’t wait!!!!! So excited. :)
thanks rachel!! gift guides are coming in 2 weeks, tomorrow is an entertaining guide! :)
Uggh! So sorry to hear about the flooding. That sounds awful. Hopefully not too much damage.
I was traumatized when I saw I averaged 52 minutes of screen time per day on my phone. That’s in addition to what I spend on my laptop too! At least you have some excuse…part of your job requires you to use social media. Me, on the other hand, not in my job requirement!
So excited for your holiday gift guide. Have a great Halloween!
xoxoxo
There are two pretty glaring editorial mistakes in Elin’s new book. I liked it, but I will be interested to see if you find them as well. Not sure if they have someone helping her ghostwrite at this point or what? But she is putting out a lot of books in a quick manner. They may want to slow down! Looking forward to Ann’s newest as well. If you haven’t read Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan, run and get a copy.
100% agree about Kelly Corrigan’s book. Amazing and such an easy book to read when busy
oh my gosh now i’m going to be on the lookout!! i don’t think she has a ghostwriter but maybe it was something overlooked in editing?
Yay I cannot wait for the holiday gift guide!!! I have already started brainstorming gift ideas. It makes the holiday season more joyous for me if I get a head start and feel organized.
xoxoxo
I don’t have any apple products (other than food related things). I’m sure it looks like I spend an ungodly amount of time on my phone, but I use it for playing music, and reading books on the Kindle app when I’ve got 5 min before a meeting, and listening to audio books in the car and when I’m doing other work – and my commute on days I’m in the office in 45-60 minutes each way. . . so. . . yeah. I tend to set and leave my phone 5:30-8:30, but I check it first thing the moment my eyes open to double-check the gal who watches my kids hasn’t sent me a text saying she’s sick (paranoia around childcare is REAL for me). So, I guess I’ve made my peace with being somewhat attached.
I’m currently reading a real, hold-in-your hands book: The Wright Brothers. When the brothers were first starting to figure out how to construct the glider, they spent a lot of time watching birds flying patterns. I loved Wilbur Wright’s observation one day: “No bird soars in a calm” – great metaphor for life.
that sounds so interested!!! i’m adding it to my list.
I love the screen time feature and, even though I consistently override it, love the timesup reminder. I had deleted Facebook on my phone but then I joined a pretty active cookbook club and my gym also post frequently and my FOMO kicked into high gear 🙃
I really like This is Us but wonder if they “cut to the chase” too quickly.
excellent point! but at the same time, i didn’t want it to drag out any longer.
Well I was already feeling bad about the screen time report that I get now, but when I read what you said I realized it was per day and not per week like I was thinking. So yeah now it’s really bad!! Mine is also usually around 3 hours and I don’t have a nursing baby. So, need to work on that.
I KNOW this is what happened to me at first too. i thought it was per week!
I feel like the last couple episodes of This Is Us were ehh. I had trouble focusing on both of them. I am interested to see what happens with Beth though.
yesss!!
I agree with you…my pumpkin carving skills ARE insane! :)
hahahah awesome response!
Ugh so now my screen time is giving me anxiety (slightly being dramatic here). I commute on a train 45 mins twice a day during the week so I feel like that is a big part of my 4 hours a day I’m averaging. Instagram is my biggest time sick, b u t I c a n ‘ t s t o p.
Had the same problem and was always on phone during commute! Then for new years I made resolution to read one book a month. I thought it would be a struggle but find myself way more engrossed in whatever book I am reading. I am now up to 3 books a month and set a goal for myself on how many to finish by end of year. It’s silly but it keeps me motivated. Also sleeping WAY better and less anxious
well that’s a good excuse though!!! i mean, what else to do on a train commute? ;)
I’ve had an arm injury that I’ve been rehabbing and I knew my phone usage was contributing to the problem. I started checking the screen time every day and was horrified, so I set a 2 hour limit. It took about a week to adjust to the change, but now I am consistently spending about 1.5 hours only on the phone. It really reset what feels like a lot of phone time for me. I’ll think “man, any minute the 5 minute warning is gonna pop up” and I’ll be pleasantly surprised to see I’ve only been on my phone for an hour and a half!
i had no idea i could set a limit. totally going to do that!
I didn’t know about the social media alert. I’m defy going to look into it, for better or worse. Lol! I may just have to buy an old fashioned alarm clock! Loved A Man Called Ove. Read it for my book club and was so glad I did.
Just purchased the Target alarm
Clock from The Mashable article.
hahahah i love it amy!!! xo
5.) I’m terribly sorry – I know that’s cliché, but I’m sincere! Hope everything gets better and the damage doesn’t spread.
6.) The Conners! Still enjoying.
7.) ‘Every Man A King’ by Chris Stirewalt – engaging historical book!
My screen time is really high. I do use my phone for work and sometimes I notice it stays “open” when I’m using Spotify so that definitely impacts my #. However, my main problem is that I dink around in the morning upon rising (weekdays and weekends) for waaaaaay too long when I should be getting ready for work OR doing something more fun than that. I am working on it… If you have tips, please share!