Things I’m Loving Lately

Hi all! Popping in with some things I’m loving lately. As always, it’s a very random mix. Let’s get to it!

Things I’m Loving Lately

1) Spinach feta eggs on toast

My recent favorite breakfast that I’ve been having on repeat almost every single day recently because it’s so good is the filling from my Spinach Feta Wrap recipe, but on buttered toast instead of in a wrap.

It’s really simple but so freaking delicious and satisfying. The key is good bread (I’ve been on a kick with the fresh sourdough loaves from Whole Foods lately) and also good butter (Kerrygold is our go-to, it’s delicious).

I typically make a few servings worth of the scrambled eggs/spinach/feta mixture so that way I can eat it multiple days in a row without making it again. Try it, you won’t regret it.

2) Seeing a favorite comedian on my birthday weekend

A few weeks ago, on my birthday weekend, Matt and I went to see Laura Ramoso, a comedian I like, perform live at the Lincoln Theatre in DC. When we got there we realized our tickets were literally for THE VERY LAST ROW (when we purchased them, it just showed general “balcony”, not the actual seats, since they were resale tickets). It was so far back we couldn’t even see the stage without standing up and also squinting, and I feel like for comedy you kind of need to be able to see their expressions.

It was about 20 minutes before the show started but I went online, saw that there were a handful of seats left for the second row available, and impulse purchased us better seats. It was 10000% worth it to be right up front. And lucky for us, since the show was legit about to start, the tickets were super cheap. YOLO!

The show was great; Laura is hilarious and was just as good live as she is online. If you need a laugh, check out her Instagram!

Also, while we’re talking about my birthday, I need to show you this amazing birthday card Riese picked out for me. I mean, a cat and birds eating pizza in space? What could be more random and awesome? I loved it. Totally won for best card!

And on the sweet side, Riese is very into decorating when it’s a special occasion/someone’s birthday. She spearheaded the wrapping and decoration of my birthday gifts (with Matt’s help). How pretty is this table I came down to the morning of my birthday?

3) Matt’s new under desk treadmill walking pad

Matt and I received an under-desk treadmill from WalkingPad (affiliate link) as a press sample (huge thank you to them!), and have been enjoying testing it out! I considered keeping it for my office, but we decided Matt was the one that would benefit the most from it since he doesn’t have much walking built into his day, and I do thanks to walking to and from school for drop off and pick up.

(In case you’re wondering what’s up with the paint, Matt is in the process of repainting his office but is doing it in small segments when he has time, like at night after the kids go to bed. Getting there! He’ll need to move his desk out of the way for the next phase, so it’s more of a commitment to get done!)

Anyway – so far he’s really liking the treadmill! Matt has back-to-back calls pretty much all day long, and for the vast majority of them he needs his computer so he can’t really take them on the phone to get outside. He already had a standing desk (which you’d need in order for a walking treadmill set up to work!), so the WalkingPad has been a perfect way for him to get in some movement even when on video calls.

We received the WalkingPad C2 Mini Foldable Walking Treadmill (affiliate link), and as the name suggests one of the really cool features of it is that it can be folded up and moved out of the way when not in use. This is huge so he can easily go back and forth between walking mode and either just standing or sitting without the treadmill in the way. (This would be easier on hardwood floors vs. carpet since the treadmill has wheels on one end to help you move it around when it’s folded, but he makes it work.)

Here are Matt’s official thoughts/review:

Pros:

• Simple and easy set up
• There’s a nice app you can use to track steps that integrates with Apple Health (picture of it in action below, pretty cool)
• If you don’t want to use the app, there’s also a remote control
• Sturdy/not creaky, feels solid and durable

Cons:

• A bit heavy (again, would be easier to move around if we didn’t have built in carpet)
• Not SUPER quiet, but also not super loud
• Couldn’t figure out the “automatic” mode where the machine is responsive to the speed of your walking. Not sure if this is just our model having a glitch or what. I did read somewhere this feature works best on hardwood vs. carpet – maybe that’s the issue?

Matt’s closing thoughts: “Overall, I’m a big fan. It’s a great way to get in movement during the workday, and it’s easier than I thought it would be to walk and work. I can do 2 to 3mph while on a call, and at a slower 1 to 1.5mph can easily type too. I’m closing my steps ring on my phone way more than I used to!”

If you’re interested in trying one of the treadmills yourself, use code WPANNE for $120 off all the products on WalkingPad (affiliate link) except the accessories. Happy walking!

4) Recent things I’ve listened to or read and loved

I thought about breaking these out into separate numbers, but since it’s all articles/podcasts I figured I’d combine them here.

• First up, this Atlantic article featuring the winners of their “Bird Photographer of the Year 2024” contest. The photos are incredibly stunning and so creative. I loved looking at them and thought some of you might, too!
• On a completely different note, I absolutely loved this recent Substack newsletter from Olivia Muenter called “The Internet is a Hallway Where the Lights are Always On“. It’s for paid subscribers, but her newsletter is stunning and so beautifully written I can’t recommend it enough. Worth the money for sure.
• I always enjoy the We Can Do Hard Things podcast, and especially loved the recent episode “Secrets to a Joyful Life” where they interview Ina Garten. It made me want to read her memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens (Amazon affiliate link) – have any of you read it? Curious to hear your thoughts if so!
• Another podcast episode I enjoyed recently was “Millennial with Child” on the Be There in Five podcast. I especially resonated with her thoughts on how you just can’t win sharing anything parenting-related on the internet.

5) A day date with Matt

Matt and I celebrated our 12th (!) wedding anniversary this past weekend – time flies! We don’t have an anniversary trip on the calendar for this fall (hoping maybe to do one during the winter at some point), so in the meantime we decided on a day date. Hadn’t done one of those in forever and it was really nice!

After our babysitter arrived, we drove about an hour or so outside of DC to do a late afternoon hike. We did the “Buzzard Hill via Appalachian Trail” route, and it was gorgeous! Don’t think we’d ever done this one before. It involved some waterfalls and stream crossings which are always fun.

The leaves were beautiful there; lots of green still, but more colorful fall leaves than we have yet in northern Virginia. We also spotted a sign that said it was exactly 1,000 miles to go until the southern end of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia – wow!

The trees blocked the majority of the views at the top of Buzzard Hill, but it was still really nice up there!

We had a nice sunset on our way down. It took us about 2 hours and Matt’s phone app said we hiked about 4 miles. It had been a long time since we’d done a legit hike together and was so nice to get into the woods!

I’m going to need to do a lot more hiking over the next 10 months as late next summer I’m hiking part of the Tour du Mont Blanc with some friends! If you’ve done it, I would love your tips. My friends are hiking the whole thing, but being gone for almost 2 weeks felt like too much (and Matt agreed, ha) so I’m going to meet them for the last week of it. I’m super excited and also nervous… need to research training plans!

Anyway! After the hike, we drove to nearby Bear Chase Brewing Company, which was awesome – tons of space, great views, lively scene. And open later than the other places nearby which was helpful since we didn’t get there until about 6:45.

We enjoyed a beer and some dinner with a great view before heading home. I got the blackened chicken wrap (yes, very into blackened chicken lately!), and it was quite good! Good flavor and a yummy creamy sauce.

And that’s all I have for you today, friends. Have a great weekend and I’ll catch you here next week with some recent fiction book faves!