Friday Favorites - September 11th 2026

 

Today I'm linking up with Andrea & Erika for Friday Favorites! I wrote a separate post this morning about the 25th anniversary of September 11th 2001. The fact that 25 years has already gone by is wild to me. I'll never forget that morning. I worked for a Boston radio station and took a call from the pilot's wife of the first plane. People were speculating that the pilots were the ones who flew the planes into the buildings, and his wife called to reassure the public that her husband would never do such a thing. Sure enough, a short time later we found out she was right. It was a day that will never leave me. Hearing her voice, terrified and yet calm, determined to defend her husband's honor...it was beyond words. 

On a lighter note, this week was another busy school week and it wasn't even a full week. We celebrated Labor Day with some friends which included some pool time and smores and soaking up the last bit of summer. Alec had a training event for gymnastics, and that was fun to watch. His dad has surgery next week, so I've spent a lot of my week prepping and coordinating for that. 

This won't look appealing, but it's SO easy and delicious...a definite favorite for a busy week. I just put 4 chicken breasts in the crockpot on low for 8 hours with one bottle of BBQ sauce. That's it. Shred it and eat. I served it over the refrigerated mashed potatoes with some frozen corn. My son loves it and it's about as easy as it gets. A win win, even if it doesn't win any food photo contests! LOL 

A favorite this week has been enjoying the cooler, but still warm (if that makes sense!) weather! I love being in the screen porch while Mac is outside in the sun. Fixing up my old screen porch and getting a new dining set was a great investment. The photo is grainy because it's through the screen.

My book club is reading this book. I'm about halfway through and HAVE to finish this weekend because book club is Monday (eek!) but it was so hard to get into. Now that I'm in the middle it's getting better. It's a little too 'adult' for me, especially because I like to listen to my books as audiobooks and I absolutely cannot listen to this in the car with my 12 year old child! LOL So while this book isn't a favorite, my book club IS. A while back, some moms from my son's school started a book club and invited me. Maybe this is dorky of me but I've always wanted to be in a book club, and let me tell you, it's as good as it sounds! We make a point to get together monthly. We have food and talk about the book, life, etc and it's just really nice to unplug and chat with other moms. 10/10 recommend a book club! 

That's all I have for this week! Enjoy the weekend!

Friday Favorites - August 28th 2026

 

Today I'm linking up with Erika & Andrea for Friday Favorites! I'm posting this late in the day because it's been crazy at work this week (I can't post during the day, so I usually post at night and schedule it for the following morning, but I was so tired last night I fell asleep!). This is a busy work time for me and it's also the last week before school starts, so I don't have anything too exciting to share, but we are soaking up the summer whenever we can! A favorite this week has been enjoying some nice warm weather walking my dog Mac. He doesn't love long walks (he has some leg issues) but he likes a good sniff-walk around the neighborhood. 

While we were walking I saw these gorgeous flowers in the neighbors yard. Not sure what they are, but they're pretty and the blooms are huge!

Starbucks just opened near my house, but they may have to work on their names because Shelly is not Nikki! LOL But a favorite is being able to get an oatmilk shaken espresso without having to drive too far.

Alec helping me make dinner is always a favorite. This night we made Andrea's Taco Pie 

A favorite is always finding our cat, Cheese, in the funniest positions! Siberian cats are hilarious. Smart and a little crazy. 

That's all I have for this week! Have a great weekend and I'll be back here Monday! 

Friday Favorites August 21st 2026

 

It's my first Friday favorites with Erika from A Little Bit of Everything and Andrea at Momfessionals. 

My son starts school at the end of the month and we're soaking up the last bits of summer. We went to Newport RI and he surfed with Rhody Surf. He's taken some lessons for the past few summers and has really loved it. He's a gymnast who likes anything adrenaline based, but thankfully he's also responsible!

Watching him surf while I read my book is definitely a favorite (he has a surf instructor for safety, so it allows me some freedom to read). Right now I'm reading Remarkably Bright Creatures and it's SO good! I had read Theo of Golden and loved it, so I asked AI to recommend a book that I may like and it recommended this one. I was skeptical, but it was spot on. So good! I'm about halfway through. I'll share more when I'm done. 

When I was doing back to school shopping I noticed that Dicks Sporting Goods had some Nike sports bras that have pockets for pads, and due to the stitching down the middle, they work well if you wear prosthetics like the Athleta Empower Pads. I took a photo so you can see the insert area. 

This is the outside of the bra 

They also had a Ton of colors! Anything that is mastectomy-friendly but doesn't look too old-lady-ish is definitely a favorite. 

While we were out shopping, we went to Level 99 at the mall. Have you been? It's really fun! Definitely for older kids because it's a lot of physical and mental games that a small child would have a hard time with, but if you need something for tweens or teens, this is your place! 

This was inside one of the rooms. Each room is it's own challenge! 

After Level 99 we went to Dave & Busters because my son has been dying to try the human claw machine. Have you heard of it? They strap you in and you can try to pick a toy. His 12 year-old-self loved it, which made it a favorite of mine too! 

That's my son's feet sticking out! haha! He's deep in the claw machine! 

And here he is with his prize! It looks like I put an emoji over his face, but that's a giant blow up emoji ball! To say he's excited is an understatement. 

That's all for today! 

Nikki