Friday Favorites

Today is my birthday!!

I won't hesitate to tell you how old I am….

I'm 41!

I'm proud of every single year I've had on this earth and really, the past 3 years I've been actually finding myself.  I used to think I was somebody, but when I really started to listen to that person, I realized through a very, very painful and traumatic occurrence, that I really wasn't that person after all.  For most of my life, I had hurtful, poisonous, smothering things said to me, and I took on that persona, little knowing that I would have a major metamorphosis years later! However wrong that persona was, it was comfortable and familiar to me, kind of like a rotten, stinking, torn up coat...

Now, at 41, I'm finding that I'm someone new, and I'm just starting to figure out who I really am!

So today, I want to do a kind of Friday Favorites and a Birthday Wish List combined!!


Here we go!!

I'm loving lime! Right now, lime is just about the most refreshing flavor I can think of.  I bought a whole bag of limes at my favorite local grocery store and I love to slice them and put them in my water or squeeze them over sautéing chicken or float them in punch! 

It's no secret around my house that I'm a Paper Freak. I get high just by going into places like Office Max! I've always loved paper, journals, notebooks, spiral binders, good pencils and my Bic Crystal stick pens in blue ink! I love index cards so much that I admit to hoarding them.  I have every size and color.  I do love index cards, but I don't do weird shapes.  I only like real ones in different colors and sizes.  They're good for note taking, recipes, reminders and little sayings.  And yes, I have tons of these in my favorite basket!

I love the new blue canning jars from Ball.  I bought some last summer to can my salsa verde in, and now we use them for drinks! They're pretty indestructible, which is good with my big family, and they've been holding up really well.  I think I'm going to buy some more.

Now, I've professed to being a Paper Freak….right, I'm fine with that….but I'm also a Pen Freak! I love love LOVE Ultra Fine Tip Sharpies, and these are all of my favorite colors!! These write really nicely and are juicy without being clumpy or too watery, and they're perfect for journaling or scrapbooking. Hmmm…maybe I'm going to buy a package of these too!

And last, but definitely not least….Back in the Spring, I got new bedding for our bed.  We have a California King sized bed on account of my husband being 6 feet 7 inches tall, and you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find bedding that's nice for a bed that size! I wanted to get good stuff because I didn't want to wear it out and I wanted it to last.  

I went to Target to look around and I found Threshold brand linens! 

Now, the last sheets we had were Fieldcrest linens and let me tell you that those sheets had a high-end price tag but were junk! Ugh.  I wanted to avoid that problem again! 

So I was extremely careful about picking sheets and pillowcases for our bed.  I spotted Threshold brand and was able to touch and feel the sheets and pillowcases, and I thought that they felt like super good linens.  And now, after several washings, these sheets are supreme.  I'm so happy with them.  They fit our huge mattress so well without wrinkling or stretching.  I bought these and we adore them.  They don't match my duvet cover very well, but the print I was going to get is unavailable right now……

I discovered the Threshold towels and washcloths too….Ooooh, these babies are thick and luxurious, and these little loves are soft and poofy yet substantial also! I bought several washcloths for the bathroom when we finished our remodel…which is another post all together.  

Threshold also makes home furnishings that are simply divine.  I love this cabinet, and it would look fabulous under my front window in the living room…..and this bench would be perfect to replace our 40 year old, broken down piano bench!

Thanks for hanging in there with me through this long post….

What's on your Friday Favorites list? How about your Birthday Wish List? Leave me a comment and let me know!