Hi, Everyone!! How are you doing? I am so ecstatic to report we are on day three of a successful crib nap. Going to try to whip this post out at lightening speed before she wakes up.

January 17th I received this adorable photo from daycare of Quinn spelling out her name with letters.

January 18th was a day of planning meals, prepping for work the next day and getting the house organized. January 19th I also worked, but afterward, I walked Quinn outside on the surprisingly warm Thursday afternoon (I think it was in the 50s?!).

I love this new jacket!

That day I made a really easy pot roast with homemade gravy. So tasty. I didn’t use the extra lean beef in this recipe though, just regular.

January 20th out of nowhere (I wasn’t cooking or anything) our fire alarms went off through the whole house. It was so loud, I genuinely was, and still am, concerned about Quinn’s hearing after the exposure. I got us out of the house and bundled as quickly as I could to face the now bitter cold while covering her ears, but it was so loud it physically made me dizzy- which I’ve never experienced before. Out of desperation I called Gigi and Gordie who luckily were home and able to swing by and help inspect what was going on. Nothing was found as a cause (we suspect it was a power surge issue after speaking with a technician), and the alarms just stopped on their own right when they arrived.

Even though chaotic and a little concerning, I met the sweetest neighbor who insisted I sit in her car while waiting for my in-laws. I may have gained a new friend out of the whole fiasco.

Also it was fun to unexpectedly get some time with Gigi and Grandpa! I know I’ve said it a million times, but I really am so grateful to have them nearby.

That evening I made (aka heated to a scorching hot temp on the stove) Amy’s quinoa, kale and lentil soup with a tortilla lightly fried in some earth balance vegan butter for dinner. I add a couple scoops of collagen powder for a boost of protein to my soups. I like to have these and other Amy’s soups on hand for quick dinners, last minute lunches for work and chilly days that call for a cozy meal. Side note- any one else prefer their soup so hot it’s nearly inedible?

We were low on groceries, so I didn’t have my usual berries to add to my morning oats on January 21st, so I added some applesauce. This sounds so simple, and it is, but my goodness the combo of applesauce in oatmeal with peanut butter is really yummy!

Mr. Moose tired after a playdate at Aunt Marie’s!

That afternoon, we went to my younger sister-in-law’s basketball game where my other sister-in-law cheered! Quinn loves going to sporting events and is always mesmerized when we have football on. We joke it’s her favorite sport.

I love this pic of Quinn with her Aunt Kori 🥰.

That evening, I made air fryer chicken with the multipurpose umami seasoning from Trader Joe’s with parmesan broccoli (the violife parm block is out of this world for a dairy free parm!), potatoes and brown rice. It all was pretty good! I feel like it needed something else- like a glaze with the chicken or something. Maybe a cranberry salad for a sweet and savory type thing. But overall, tasty!

Once again low on groceries, on January 22nd, for lunch, I made this brown rice bowl with leftover garlic Alfredo sauce from Primal Kitchen with an egg over top and chopped red onion and green peppers. This last minute hodge podge meal was actually so good!! I’ve started putting that sauce on everything when I have the chance, which is surprising because I didn’t really know how I felt about it at first, but it’s really grown on me! I love mixing it with grains like rice and quinoa bowls.

For dinner that evening we did a pizza night with Mike’s hot honey and crushed red pepper! DJ had CPK’s Margherita and I had the Vegan Harvest Flatbread (sooo good & way better than some of the other vegan pizzas I’ve tried).

And that brings us to the week of January 23rd! We started the day out with a trip to Nervous Dog coffee. I brought along the teether crackers Quinn is obsessed with, and we FaceTimed my mom and Pete. It was Pete’s bday that day!

For Christmas, my mom gifted Quinn this iPad so they could FaceTime on it instead of my phone. It’s been awesome! She even covered it with this adorable butterfly stand.

Quinnie wanted me to make sure I got a pic of her cute boots too ;).

At this point we entered into the thick of winter, and I’m weirdly enjoying it? I greatly appreciate these seasons after being away from them for so long!

We discovered that evening that Quinn has a new favorite food- green beans!

With a new grocery order in the house, I made us wedge salads, parm crusted tilapia and brown rice for dinner. I *thought* I used the vegan parm, but accidentally used regular (speaks to how real the fake stuff looks!). Anyway, this meant I accidentally re-introduced Quinn to dairy earlier than I planned, but she’s tolerated it well!

On Tuesday, January 24th, Quinn and I went out for breakfast with Gigi to one of our favorite spots, Garrett’s Mill Diner. The chef was so sweetly concerned about my allergies that he even brought out the containers of what he cooks with to double check it was all ok. I do admittedly feel bad being this high maintenance out to eat, but gosh that was kind of him!

The food is always so good!!!

We came back home and crawled around in her nursery while I folded laundry.

I had a salad for dinner (the usual with veggie burger and hummus), but made DJ his favorite soup from the Dixie Stampede. This is the best copycat recipe I’ve found yet.

I was craving avocado toast with an egg for breakfast on January 25th.

That day I scoped out a venue for Quinn’s first bday! We don’t have enough parking/space at our townhouse, so we’re going to do her party at a park.

I also realized Quinn loves looking at photos on the fridge! I made a new collage for her, and she is obsessed. I’m going to try to make a book with all our family for her to flip through when time allows!

On January 26th I did something I haven’t done since Quinn was born. I had a full girl’s day with a friend! I didn’t have any shifts that week which is unusual, so I used a daycare day to meet with a friend in Columbus (she lives in Indianapolis, so it’s a great halfway point!). She’s a nurse too, so it worked that she didn’t have to work that day either.

I dropped Quinn off around 730, drove home and got ready/packed my pump bag, snacks, coffee and water then hit the road!

I met Laura, one of my dearest friends from college, around 11 AM at a fun brunch place called Drunch Eatery.

After chatting away and forgetting to look at the menu, we realized “oh yeah, probably needs to get an order in!”. We decided to start with mimosas to kick off a proper girls day. Drunch had more flavor options than anywhere I’d ever seen. I tried the strawberry rhubarb, it was good, but very sweet (I don’t love super sweet drinks, but it was still good!).

For my main, I got their quinoa bowl with an additional egg and a side of their breakfast potatoes. Everything hit the spot! I’ve been on a quinoa kick since this brunch.

After brunch, we headed to an adorable little downtown area to visit a candle shop like the couple of basic gals we are!

If it wasn’t so cold I would have loved to walk around more. There were a lot of cute boutique-type shops that lined this street.

Back to the candles! The shop we ventured into was called Penn & Beech. You actually can make your own candles and diffusers here, but we didn’t have quite enough time, so we just grabbed a couple to go.

How cute is this place?

What I love about these candles too is they are nontoxic. Even after smelling probably every single candle in the store we didn’t leave with a headache. I bought the Christmas Ale candle and Wild Currant. They both had unique scents that I couldn’t resist! When I burned them at home I couldn’t believe how they so beautifully filled the house with the delicious scents. Highly highly recommend!

And what would go better with a candle than a good book? We marched (drove about three miles) into German village to go to the famed Book Loft. This bookstore has 32 rooms of discounted books with every genre you can imagine!

Yes, we did get lost several times 😆.

I picked out a few books for Quinn and grabbed the Half Baked Harvest Every Day Cookbook for myself. I cannot wait to make all the recipes in there 😍.

It was around 230 pm at this point, so we said our goodbyes, promised to not let so much time pass before we did something like this again, I pumped once in the car and then headed back to pick up my girl! It was tough being that far away (about a two hour drive), but that girls day did something good for me & felt much needed!

I’ll get into our February in the next post ☺️.

Question for you:

– Would you rather live somewhere with seasons or somewhere it was warm all year round?

– What type of candle scents do you prefer?

<3,

Mackenzie