5 Friday Favorites: November 17, 2023

It's time for my Friday link up with  A Little Bit of Everything and Momfessionals. 

On Fridays I share things that made me happy from the week - a photo, a song, a quote, a beauty product, a recipe, a pair of cute shoes, etc. If it's a product, sometimes it's something I actually own and sometimes something I just saw online that gave me a smile. Sometimes it's serious and sometimes it's silly. I suppose I believe that God is in the simple details of life and yes, I can even find Him in a tube of lipstick.  

Hello and Happy Friday. I'm off to visit my littlest big boy to watch him play in some scrimmages this weekend and I'm so excited. It's been a really crazy busy week and I'm happy that baseball will come to rescue me from my muddled up brain for a few hours as it has always done so well.

We'll get all the boys home for Thanksgiving for various periods of time and I cannot wait to have them all here. I know there will be all kinds of carbs and chaos and I am here for every bit of it. I especially look forward to all the smack talk and foolishness that will happen during the football watching portion of our Thanksgiving week. It's going to be heaven.

Here are some favorite things from the week.

1. Romantic Comedy

One of my very favorite fiction books ever was American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. This is not that book. :( However, I am enjoying this story about a comedy writer on a SNL-type tv show. It's an easy read and not too heavy which is great to read at the end of a much too heavy day.

2. Aunt Marilyn's Cream of Mushroom Soup 

I believe I mentioned last week the big news that I purchased new soup bowls for Steve and me. Well, you can just imagine the excitement that has been happening since then. I've got tons of ideas of soups I want to eat out of my new bowls. The thing that's tripping me up with all the recipes is the part where you have to buy the ingredients, chop some of them and then actually make the soup. This seems to be a stumbling block for me. So this Cream of Mushroom Soup is not necessarily a favorite from this week, but I did intend to make it so the thought of making it was a favorite. This is a recipe from my Aunt Marilyn who is one of the best cooks in the entire world. After Thanksgiving I plan to follow through on this favorite. 

1/4 cup of butter

3/4 cup of chopped green onions

2 cups of sliced fresh mushrooms

2 T flour

1 cup of half & half

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

In large skillet, cook green onions in butter over low heat for five minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for two minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring for three minutes. Remove pan from heatj, add chicken broth and 1/2 & 1/2 in steady stream, whisking continuously. Bring soup to boil over moderate heat. Simmer for five minutes - stirring. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

3. Long Cardigan Vest

I saw this long open front cardigan vest on the BigMamaBlog and I loved the color so I ordered it. I didn't have high hopes for it to look okay because I was worried I would be too short, but I love it. The green is so pretty, the material isn't at all heavy or itchy and the length was great. It comes in a ton of colors and is great to wear over leggings which are my pants of choice lately because NO BUTTONS is one of the Lord's greatest gifts.

4. Aerie Leggings

Speaking of leggings, I've mentioned these Aerie High Waist Real Me Leggings before, but they are by far my favorite leggings. I know everyone loves Lululemons, blah, blah, blah. Honestly, the Lulu ones I have make me so much hotter when I'm working out that it takes every thing in my power not to rip them off in the middle of Orange Theory. And somehow I feel like that would be frowned upon. I looked yesterday to see if I could grab a couple of new pair and found that they are 30% off right now. A big discount on a pair of leggings that I can stand to wear throughout my entire workout seems like it's a win-win for everyone. 

5. In Memory of Mathias

Many of you readers know that I voluteered in the pediatric cancer community for many years. I have written here countless times over the years about the many children and families I met who were and are involved in the fight against cancer. These children are among the most courageous people I have ever known and likely ever will know. One of those special children was Mathias Giordano who I met in the fall of 2013. I wrote about Mathias here and here and probably a bunch of other places. 

Mathias was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and fought for 29 months until he passed away on December 7, 2014 at the age of 13. He endured multiple rounds of chemo and numerous surgeries including the amputation of his leg. Despite all of his hardships, every time I ran into Mathias whether it was at the hospital or at a fundraising event or just somewhere in the community, he always had a smile on his face, a joke or funny video to share, and the most extraordinary way of making people on the other side of the interaction with him feel comfortable and hopeful. 

His family started Team Mathias in his honor. It is an organization dedicated to supporting families as they fight against cancer. Some of the many ways they do this include delivering care packages to newly diagnosed patients. Mathias was insistent that these care packages include special gifts for the siblings of cancer patients as well because his younger brother was so special to him and was by his side throughout his treatment. They offer assistance with medical, utility and healthcare costs, deliver monthly meals to the hospital to feed staff and patients, and tirelessly raise awareness for the need for blood drives and increased funding into research of childhood cancers.

When I started with Park Lane Jewelry, I was thrilled to learn about their very generous fundraising program. Park Lane gives 50% of all sales for a non-profit 501c3 fundraiser to the organization. If you would like to partner with Park Lane and me to support Team Mathias through a purchase of jewelry on the link below, I would be ever so grateful that those of you who visit here each week honored the memory of my friend, Mathias, while supporting families continuing the battle against childhood cancer. The link is below to shop. (update: you'll need to copy and paste it into your browser.)

https://parklanejewelry.com/f/3320

I am also including one of my favorite pictures of Mathias when he joined our Freedom High School baseball team as a special guest just seven months before he passed. He lit up the dugout with his smile, threw out the first pitch, helped line the field, and stayed until the very last out. We miss him so much.

Thank you all for stopping by. I am incredibly grateful that you read my rambling and often chaotic words, especially this year since it has been one full of so much upheaval, change, and grief for me. My favorite theologian and writer Frederick Buechner says that "writing is really quite simple. All you have to do is sit down at your typewriter open a vein". That is what writing has always felt like for me, this year more than any other. This space to write is healing for me whether anyone reads or not. The fact that there are those who show up here for my mess each week brings me comfort, peace and connection. I appreciate you.

Happy Thanksgiving week, friends.

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