Blogtober Friday Finds

I really wish I had kept up with this features more this month! I really try to find a balance between my shop, blogging and motherhood. And trying to sleep, that part usually suffers.

I found some really cool posts around the web this week I want to share before Halloween!

| Sarah guest posted on Laurenyloves 5 ways to celebrate Halloween that isn’t trick or treating; this is a fun list if you’re out of idea’s on what to do on Halloween or prefer to just stay home.

| To follow that up cupcakesandcouscous posted 6 easy Halloween cookie idea’s along with a recipe for a basic vanilla cookie dough!; I really need to start using my KitchenAid. It’s like I want to but it’s so intimidating! I’d love to give this a try!

| Kate at yourtitakate posted a Undas book tag challenge; October is also Filipino American History Month and I wish I had known that, I haven’t put up very many Filipino American posts. For some reason they’re hard to write about esp when you’re far from your family. So I tend to stalk Kate’s social’s to remedy that. It is what it is lol.

| I came across a post on ThePlainSimpleLife on 10 tips how to declutter before a move; I always intend to do this and run out of time. I really want to make this a completed project before the new year!

I can’t believe October is already over! If you found any cool or useful links feel free to share them below!

Have a good weekend & stay safe!

Friday Finds

Happy Friday!

I never start a post like that jfc lol.

I told ya’ll I was gonna change the graphic to this weekly feature. Okay anyway.

It’s Good Friday! I’m not in that religion anymore but ironically, I’m not eating meat today. Was it meat? Chicken? I don’t remember. Or was that Lent? Or the whole week? Either way, I get weirdly proud of myself when I accidently don’t eat meat on Good Friday or Easter. You can leave the religion but the religion won’t leave you, and that’s real lol.

I had a super fun Easter-ish weekend planned, including going to a Tulip farm but I realized that 1) I don’t have an outfit I want to wear for it 2) what if it’s cold and 3) I didn’t wanna hear B bitching about how far it is or about gas cost oh wait and 4) my depression doesn’t wanna do jack this weekend.

My mom wrote me a super long letter about basically: I know it’s hard and I know you’re struggling but you need to get your shit straight. But in 3 pages. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that my mom has started writing me letters. They’re usually full of her saying she’s proud of me and I’m doing great. Without verbally saying it cause you know… Asian parents and feelings. Just a word of random advice — clicky keyboards aren’t a good idea if you eat at your desk.

I lost my train of thought…

Easter is one of my favorite self holidays but this year I’m barely celebrating. Didn’t grab any of my traditions or anything. I had that planned for tomorrow but eh, I’m not in the mood.

It’s time to boss up

Fix ya credit, girl get at it

Get ya bag up

Hit that gym and get back fine

Go get that degree, go girl

Unlock potential that you didn’t know you had in youget ya bag up

Yeah ok.

On to the links;

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Friday Finds

Finally got my laptop replaced after Tums had somehow managed to break the monitor. She’s been messing with that laptop since she started crawling. How toddlers break almost everything they touch is way beyond me. I strive to have that energy, where you do thinks without apology and can’t read the room lol! I also got my keyboard gift from my Kuya Dru (I broke my own keyboard) got here and I. AM. IN. LOVE. It’s so pink and so cute and it has the clicky keys!

I’m still fighting my depression this week; my doctor put me on an additional anti anxiety med that doubles as a sleeping aid which helps since most of my shit happens at night. Paranoia and intrusive thoughts have come back and I’m pissed. It took me years to get them to go away and now I’m in this high strung stressed out environment and it feels like all the steps forward I took with my mental health just ended up being a huge step backward.

On to the links;

I posted about how I want to make some lifestyle changes on the food blog which I’m also trying to build back up. I got a mental health book for review about a month ago that talked about foods that could trigger your anxiety and I found it super interesting.

I also decided to start a blog coaching service since a lot of people like to ask me how do you start a blog.

As if you need any more idea’s on what to get from Target lol! Best Products (I totally got sucked into this site) lists the Target cult favorites. How many of these are true for you? Some of these have been on my mental grocery wish list for awhile now.

MSN Money (really?) just posted the 3 new Starbucks flavors to hit grocery stores. I can’t see if these are Cold Brew or not but man, a tired mama is hoping. I miss my coffee shop downstairs that made this delicious Cold Brew. Ughh.

Real Simple talks about the 10 Spring Trends that are taking over TikTok; Not sure how I feel about bubble candles. I mean they’re def cute but they’re also… kinda weird lol.

Sundays were my self care days, before I had Tums and a marriage and I miss that. Having self care days, I mean. Now it seems like self care time for me is the 20 mins it takes for me to get adjusted at the Chiro. I’ve told my Chiro that this is my weekly alone time. Thankfully he thinks it’s funny. Here are 18 things I’d like to try doing as self care and there are a few I use to do as well; I’m not going to place a day or a time on it because then… I’ll just end up disappointed lol.

Friday Finds

If you’ve scrolled through the news lately you’ve probably seen the shit show that Texas is right now with the cold front and snow. I’ve pretty much been stuck at home since the day before Valentine’s Day. It snowed all day Valentine’s Day which is weird since Texas doesn’t really get snow and the Dallas area def doesn’t. And absolutely not all day. A few people I know lost power for over 3 days and it sucks that there’s no way to help since every other Texan thinks it’s a cool idea of wipe out the shelves. So there wasn’t any food, water or wood or anything. Nothing. Texas was not at all prepared for this and the people had to suffer.

Luckily today the sun is out and it sounds like the snow is starting to melt. I’m thankful since they were saying last night we were suppose to have another hard freeze warning.

Man I’m ready for SPRING SPRING, hell even Summer.

Being stuck at home really made me think about food. I want to be better prepared; LoveFood lists 50 Favorite Comfort Foods a few of these will be making their way on to my next grocery run.

MediaFeed is dropping some Year of The Ox knowledge; yes I believe in this stuff! And I have super high hopes for this year!

MediaFeed is also dropping how to know the difference between a W2 and a 1099; As a review blogger I had to file my first 1099 n 2017. I had no freakin idea what that was. But it’s not as hard as you’d think. I kinda thought it was easier than filing a W2 for sure.

I’m a sucker for new/seasonal snack flavors. Or well, food flavors. This year Dove is doing Lemon Meringue chocolates and I am HERE for it!

Aldi snacks have been flooding Instagram, or maybe it’s just my feeds, idk. But they’ve really stepped their snack game up! I’m going to hunt my ass off for these pudding cups as soon as I can get out of this dang house!

I was hoping to find more Spring themed or Easter themed articles. But maybe it’s still too early? I mean, then again, there’s still snow on my balcony… so I guess there’s still time lol.

Did you find anything interesting this month? Share it below!

Friday Finds

Welcome to the first Friday of February.

Am I the only one who hates writing that word out lol. I said I was going to change this graphic didn’t I. Man, when was the last FF I did?! I hope Feb (this is what it is now) is treating you well so far and that hopefully the weather where you’re at is getting warmer! We’ll be celebrating Lunar New Year tomorrow and it’s one of the things I look forward to in Texas!

Valentine’s Day is also just around the corner. It’s my favorite self holiday. Maybe I’ll blog about why and what that means! But I just love the vibe that surrounds this holiday and the bright reds and pinks! And following that is Easter! Also another favorite self holiday! Even though it takes over my birthday every 5-8 years. I literally just skipped my daughters birthday, whoops. But that’s in there as well. She’ll be 2. Where does time GO?!

On to the links;

| Deandra over at TBPD talked about The Hate You Give. I haven’t seen the movie yet or read the book but I know it’s a big title/series in the book community!

| Redbook lists 11 Traditional Lunar New Year foods to eat; ironically I’m not Chinese though some Filipino’s will argue we’re all part Chinese. But my mom always made a point to celebrate Lunar New Year for as long as I can remember. Every year she’d give us red envelopes and decorate the house with symbols of good fortune and prosperity. It’s something I looked forward to, and it’s something I hope I can have Tums grow up with as well.

| With Spring on the way I definitely need to keep this in mind; 7 Air Purifying Plants! I had an Aloe Vera plant once… it died. I need to do better lol.

| SheKnows compiled a list of Unique Valentine’s Day Gifts on Etsy; I’ve been on such a big Etsy kick lately with buying digital planner stuff, clip art and brushes for Procreate! Plus, it’s always a good feeling to help a small business!

| ICYMI I posted My Feb Goals earlier this week! Let me know what are some things you want to accomplish this month.

| Kayleigh at Kayleigh Zara shares tips on Manifestation Techniques; something that I should definitely prioritize in 2021!

What are some interesting links you’ve stumbled on this week?

Friday Finds

Welcome to the first Friday Finds of 2021!

It’s a new year and we all have new goals. I’ve been really into the idea of rebranding and learning more about blogging and doing more with my blog(s) this year. I’m debating on keeping my blog here on wordpress or going self hosted. I don’t want to lose the community aspect of keeping it here but I do want the freedom of ads and changing the template. It would be cheaper to go self hosted than to pay the $300/year wp is asking for in order to do all that stuff. Freakin yiiiikes.

This week I’ll be sharing a few blogging type of resources so if you’re not into that; I’m sorry lol.

Christine at The Uncorked Librarian talks about how to turn your blog into a business and why it’s important to register it as an LLC.

Kayleigh at Kayleigh Zara has a ton of great blogging resources to choose from, like this one; 35 useful resources for bloggers.

Emily at Love, Em talks about how to raise your blogs DA score! I use to be super obsessed with my DA score but I haven’t thought about it in a while lol.

The Social Blog talks about 5 Instagram Planning Apps.

In addition, The Social Blog also has a useful post about 5 must listen to podcasts for bloggers; this is something I want to start in 2021 — listen to more podcasts!

ICYMI I wrote about the 4 blogging apps I swear by; they definitely make things a lot easier!

If you have a blogging source you posted about please feel free to leave it in the comments below!

Friday Finds

I debated on doing one of these this week; Christmas/New Years week always feels like some really weird in between gray area. I lose sense of time, of what day it is. Even with a strict list of what posts are suppose to go up this week all I can think of is but I really just want to sleep. It’s been cold af here in TX and I’m not living for it. I hate the cold. So much.

There aren’t many links I’ve discovered this week but I am having fun reading everyone’s yearly recap posts and 2021 goals posts! So if you have one please link it below in the comments, I’d love to read yours!

Cnet talks about 6 Useful Amazon Echo Tips You Should Be Using; My dad gifted me my Echo Dot the year before he passed away. And he was so excited for me to have it. We use it for almost everything in this household. I even got an Echo Show for my bedroom and planning to get a Kid’s Echo Dot for the office/Tums playroom!

Fast Company is talking about The 26 Best New Apps of 2020; I’m always on the hunt for a good app to fall in love with — though I really need to organize my ISO’s. But we’ll talk about that part later.

I signed up to be a contributor at ThriveGlobal; It’s been a goal of mine for awhile to publish writing. I just… don’t know what to write about. They have a ton of interesting articles covering a bunch of different subjects.

Shealea from Shut Up, Shealea (interesting blog name for sure) talks about 23 Books by Filipino authors; I’ve been trying to add more Filipino authors as well as learn more about my culture in 2021. There’s a lot I don’t know and there’s a lot of differences when you learn about it from a Philippines versus Western stand point. I want to be able to educate and expose T to as much of her Filipino culture as I can and as someone who’s first gen Filipino American, I worry a lot of the things I was exposed to will be lost since I don’t have those certain roots to the Philippines itself. I try to speak Tagalog and Cebuano to her as much as I can but it’s not enough for her to pick up, I don’t think. Which also worries me.

The downside to the holiday being over? Putting the holiday decor away. Ugh lol.

How was your week? Did you find any cool links around the web?

Friday Finds

This post is going up a little later than usual because well… I got sick. Or well, I am currently sick.

And I hate that any time I start to slightly feel unwell or sick I panic and think it’s covid despite I only leave the house once a week and that’s to run errands and I never take my mask off outside of the house. Although I’m sure it’s not covid since I don’t have a fever or trouble breathing, I’m just drained and achy. My meds increase was also making me dizzy the last few days so there’s that too. But still, achy muscles are the worst. I just wanna lay in bed all day and not be bothered! But I got up to write this post. And to start laundry. And to clean since people in this house like to not.

Thanksgiving is coming up fast and I still have a few things I need to get. Here’s some related links I found this week!

Whole Foods is “insuring” your Thanksgiving meal; this is a cool idea!

Food52 shares a trick for the most flavorful roasted veggies; My sister recently had issues in her gut and it turned out it was because she had “too much raw veggies” idk the exact details but I tend to like my veggies cooked anyway (she doesn’t, and I really need to introduce her to new eats lol).

PureWow (why have I never heard of these sites before) shares 43 mini Thanksgiving desserts; I’m a sucker for mini foods!

I posted 5 books that changed my life on hazearella this week! I really need to start pre-planning my posts.

Succulent Pumpkin centerpieces are a thing and they’re adorable!

CountryLiving is out here spreading good news! Cinnabon is selling it’s Cream Cheese Frosting in PINTS this year! Don’t act like it’s not the best part of a Cinnabon cinnamon roll lol.

If you’re like me and you like cranberry but wish you could do MORE with it, Epicurious has 63 idea’s for you to try out!

And with that, I’m going back to bed lol. Hope you all have an awesome day and a great weekend!

Friday Finds

I feel like I haven’t done one of these in forever. I honestly feel like I haven’t blogged in forever either! I’m feeling a little bit more mental stability and the stress has eased off a bit. So yay for good news! My cat Sophie however is mad about something because she’s been pooping all over the floor again. Cat’s man, who even knows sometimes. The apartment isn’t any closer to my goal of getting it tidy but I have slight hopes for this weekend that it’ll be a little bit better than it is today. I also need to store away all the pumpkins, despite how much I love seeing them around.

I’ve bookmarked a ton of interesting reads this week and ironically I’ve been skipping anything political cause man, a president can’t like not leave if he’s voted out, can he?! Like man you lost the popular vote TWICE. Get over it and go. Thanksgiving is coming up and we’re spending it at home. I mean I was anyway but the husband and the kiddo aren’t going to his moms like they usually do. I’m also in the middle of getting Christmas shopping done which I’m almost done with? I just have to get the other half of the husband’s gift, the kiddo’s gift and the other half of my mom’s gift and maybe something else for my sister and my brother.

On to the links;

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Friday Blogtober Finds

This week has been weird. I’ve been without Sage for almost two weeks now. I ordered some from the Etsy store I usually get them from but for some reason they haven’t shipped yet. So that bit of my nightly routine has been missing and I’m super feeling it at this point. A super good friend of mine has been struggling with a nonstop migraine for almost 3 weeks now and I’m worried as hell. I wish there was a way I could help her. Through it all she’s still managed to be warm and sarcastic as always. I’m sending you so many good vibes Kay.

I’ve also been planning Christmas gifts for people in my life since I don’t want to be caught doing alla that last minute like I have been the last few years. Since we assume Tums is going to get a crap ton of toys from her grandparents on her dad’s side I’m trying to think of toys that will spark her imagination or books. But I’m seriously considering getting her a camera; she’s been fussing with my dSLR the last week. Including right now. As I type this.

I’m horrible at unpacking, seriously. Idk if it’s an OCD thing or what but just know, I’m absolutely horrible at unpacking! I still have to set up Tum’s side of the room and finish unpacking clothes and other things. Not much I can do about books right now until I settle on bookshelves. As well as a real computer chair so I can start filming book videos again. At least, I’m hoping to!

I’ve also got a ton of fun projects I’m excited to start on. Whenever I get done unpacking, cleaning and setting this place up. I’m aiming for before Thanksgiving.

I’ve been bookmarking things on MSN and Food52 like crazy without realizing just HOW CLOSE TO HALLOWEEN we already are. Where the heck did October go?! Moving in the beginning of the Fall season really throws my end-of-the-year routines off! I mean should I just put away the Fall decor now and start setting up for Christmas?! That being said I have a few links to share that’ll hopefully help you get in the Halloween mood; if you’re like me and it hasn’t exactly hit you yet.

Fall to me is cold dark rainy days, bowls of hot soup, fuzzy socks, pumpkin scents and movie marathons.

I’m sharing mostly food posts but hey, Halloween is also about food so there’s that;

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