Weekly Ramble 7/27

Hello, Hi, How are you? We’re rolling into the end of the month. That went fast, didn’t it?

Since we’re all ladies here (Men, this is your warning to click away), I am taking the opp to suggest that there may be a lot about menopause and God’s design for The Change that people haven’t figured out yet. I really can’t believe that the God who loves us so much would have us feel so miserable.

Something must be off. Yes, indwelling sin, of course. But, I feel like there must be something physical that Modern Medicine hasn’t figured out yet.

Needless to say, it’s been a rough weekend. I’ve done the massive doses of Advil hoping for relief, but that hasn’t quite done the trick. The midwife I saw last month says I am postmenopausal so I “should be past this”.

I have a pelvic ultrasound scheduled for the end of August, so I guess please pray for my patience in the interim.

I know you may have books to suggest, but I’ll admit nonfiction/medical books are a slog for me. I can do it, but it will also be rough. Pray for me instead?

Despite this being Shark Week, it’s been a really good weekend! So, let’s take a turn toward the good things…. particularly five favorite things from the week:

Five Favorite Things

Monkey Bite Coffee from Bird Rock Roasters

As you know Bryan and I take a vacation day once a month. Since we live in a tourist destination, there’s never a shortage of things we can do if we choose to spend the money.

We usually just roam, getting our steps and eating good food. This time we were on the hunt for good coffee. While there has been a recent explosion of local coffee houses, many of them really don’t have good drip coffee, B’s drink of choice.

When we saw that the Del Mar Starbucks with the Clover machine had been closed, we headed farther south, toward Liberty Station. We know the scones are awesome at Con Pane and there’s a Bird Rock Roasters location there as well.

I ordered a flat white and dang it! if it wasn’t the BEST I’ve ever drank. EVER. Oh my.

We went back in after walking around to ask what espresso they used because I wanted to make sure I can get the same when I go back or go to other locations. It’s their Monkey Bite roast which is standard in their flat white. Amazing!

It may also solve the problem of a good drip coffee for B.

We visited the Carlsbad location on Saturday morning to see if it was a fluke. It was not. So sooooo good.

At first I thought I’d buy some beans next time we run out of coffee, but I’m wondering if then Monkey Bite would lose its amazingness. I may just save it for mornings out with my main squeeze. It’s definitely ruined me for Peets or Starbucks.

Christmas Planning

We had our property inspection earlier in the week — it sounds like the lease will be renewed YAY! Once that was done, I dug out all the holiday decor from the Room of Requirement (aka the Linen Closet that I use for overflow storage).

The girls and I have popped into Hobby Lobby a few times over the last month and, of course, the fall and Christmas stuff has drawn my eye. However, I didn’t want to buy anything until I 1. knew what I had and 2. had a plan for our holiday celebrations.

Be sure to read this post: How to Plan Christmas – in July to start your own plans. I’m slowly figuring out some of the logistics of our celebrations…. including some rabbit trails.

For instance: I spent way too many hours on Pinterest and google researching the fine details of Advent wreaths. There are lots of different traditions and conflicting opinions, and it’s a little hard to sort through the secular, Catholic, and Protestant traditions.

I ended up deciding on the traditional purple, pink, and white for the candles but found them in a muted color scheme to match my vibe — on clearance at Michaels. And it worked out that even though we had to go to three Michaels to get them, all three were in the path of mine or Bryan’s travels this week.

Weird I know, but there we are.

I also got out the chargers, napkins, etc. that I collected last season and put them together with new salad plates and goblets that I recently purchased to see what I can set up our fall Sunday Dinners and holiday feasts. I even splurged on a few new dinner plates from my wedding set.

A follower on Instagram pointed me to a BIG listing on eBay for a very large collection of my Francesca dishes, but it required a drive to Pasadena and it was way more dishes than I actually want — even though it was a good deal. Too much of a good thing, unfortunately.

Baguette from the Local French Bakery

While Bryan and I were at Con Pane picking up scones, we also got a baguette for our lunch. His hopes of that baguette were heightened by the fact that the baguette was still war.

Unfortunately, it paled in comparison to an authentic French bakery closer to home. We had their baguette on Sunday and it is sooooo much better. You may be able to find Le Rendezvous goods at SD Farmer’s Markets. They are excellent.

Spicy Mayo from Blue Plate

As a grandmother in the blogging world, I remember the very first years when brands would send free product to try. Now that there are so many “influencers,” those offers are more sparse.

Recently Blue Plate Mayo emailed me about their products. Since I’d never even heard of them, I replied asking for samples.

OMG. The spicy mayo is so good! We’ve had it on burgers, sandwiches, roasted veggies. I’m in love.

Usually, I’m incredibly picky about mayonnaise and will only have homemade or Best Foods/Hellman’s. I think Trader Joe’s mayo is absolutely gross.

Anyway, I have a third option now in the mix with Blue Plate. I’ll have to have it shipped via Walmart or see if one of our neighbors will get it for me from the commissary, but I’m thinking it may be worth the effort! (Find your location here.)

Meeting New Friends

As I’ve mentioned previously, after 16 years of visiting churches, we finally found one where we’ve clicked. It’s been a lot of fun to get to know people and find out where our paths have crossed in the past.

Last week I enjoyed a beach day with a new friend and her girls as well as the baby shower. This week we had another family over for Pizza Night. Next week I’ve got a beach walk planned with an older woman at church.

I’ll confess most of my friendships these past 16 years have been long distance, so it’s pretty fun and amazing to have in-town friends. And honestly, how cool is it that our new house is perfect for welcoming people in?!

We’ve even had requests to join Game Night so it seems like all our worlds are colliding, and I’m pretty chuffed about that.

Okay, I guess that is it for me. I’ll be back this next week with a few more thoughts on advance planning for Christmas and then we’ll be rolling into Back to School content. How is school starting already?!

I’ve just got one high schooler left, so this is going to be bittersweet, isn’t it? Hold me.