Weekend Update

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I haven't done a weekend update in awhile, so I thought I would today.

Last weekend was special in that it was the first home football game of the season (in 2 years that we could attend) and it was 9/11. But let's back up to Friday.

I work from home every Friday and since I was at home, I took the girls to their before school program. It had rained all night, so the girls got to wear their new rain jackets.

Kids Rain Jacket

I went home and worked until lunch time and then I headed over to my sister's house to watch my nephew and work from there. We played, he helped me work and got bored of my work and fell asleep. Ha.

Then when work was done, I headed to an acupuncture appointment and then home. I picked up the girls along the way and then we did homework. I had to leave in the middle of homework, so Rory helped them finish. I went to meet up with one of my girlfriends for dinner.

She had a concert to go to, so we kept it short (about 2 hours) and then I headed home for the nighttime routine.

Saturday morning, Rory had a golf tournament to work, so I made the girls pancakes and told them all about 9/11. We watched videos on what happened, listened to news stories and gave them a run down of it in my own words. As we watched videos, the girls noticed that I was crying. I told them even though I wasn't there, it still hurts my heart and is tough to remember it all. It changed things like flying on planes, being able to pick up friends and family at the gates and overall security.

The girls and I put up flags in our yard.

Later, we went to lunch with Rory and did a bit of shopping. I got some new candles from Bath and Body Works and some game day gear. Then we took the girls down to my parents house as we had a tailgate to attend.

We grabbed some chick-fil-a nuggets to take to the tailgate and then hung out there before the Nevada vs Idaho State game.

The game was really packed and it was so nice to be back in the stadium after 2 years.

And we won!

Sunday morning the girls were at my parents house still since the game was over after 11 pm. So I did all the household things. I did 6 loads of laundry including all bedding. I folded it all, put the beds back together, went grocery shopping, packed the girls lunches and cleaned the kitchen. Then we went to my sisters house for dinner and to pick up the girls. We had meatloaf (from the traeger), mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans with almonds. It was so good. And then homemade apple pie that the girls helped my sister make.

Then we headed home to get ready for the week ahead which meant showers and hair drying for the girls since Monday was picture day.

Monday morning I made the girls their leftover pancakes and got them ready for picture day. I even straightened their hair and got them all prettied up. Don't they look so grown up here?

And then I worked the rest of the day. Ha. Oh and made peach pie since we had so many peaches from our peach tree this year.

How was your weekend?

Show Me Your Books - August

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

I only read one book in August. I started others, but ran out of time reading them. And then I started another book, but didn't finish it before August 31st. But I did get most of the way through it. I will save that for next month's Show Me Your Books.

So what did I read?

Local Missing Woman - Mary Kubica
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Rating: 4 Stars

Local Missing Woman - Mary Kubica

I went back and forth on how many stars to give this one, but I ended up with four stars. I have read several other books by Mary Kubica including The Other Mrs. and Pretty Baby which I enjoyed both. But I feel this book should come with a disclaimer in that parts of it are tough to read. As in if you have a small child, this will freak you out. If I wasn't paranoid before, I am now.

Two women and a child go missing within weeks of each other. First, Shelby Tebow. Then Meredith and her daughter, Delilah. Eleven years later Delilah is found. What happened in those eleven years? You will read about the torture that Delilah goes through and the last months before Meredith and her daughter go missing.

The book goes back and forth between Delilah, Meredith and Kate (Meredith's neighbor) and also present and eleven years ago. It is a very easy read, and keeps you turning the pages, but the twist of the book was a bit of a let down, but part was redeemed at the end.

It is a good book and one I would read, but read with caution.

Here is Amazon' synopsis:

People don't just disappear without a trace…

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they'll find…

What have you read recently?

Friday Favorites and Happenings

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

Happy Friday all! It has been a week. I feel like I am still catching up on sleep. Even though I only worked in the office three days this week, it just feels like a really long week. Maybe the seasons are starting to change? Or maybe we just have been really busy lately.

Anyways, we have our first home football game this weekend and I am very excited about it. Last week, Nevada played Cal and we won. Such a great way to start the season. And we just made plans to travel for one of the football games. Hopefully things don't get worse and games are cancelled again.

Onto Friday favorites and happenings.

ONE. Can we take a minute to talk about how 9/11 was 20 years ago (tomorrow)? I still remember the day like it was yesterday. I was a freshman in college and was headed into my first class of the day, Macroeconomics. We arrived in class and I saw the tv was on with the news playing the first airplane crash.

I had wondered why things were quiet when I was walking to class. Basically class was cancelled, but no one could move from their seats. We just sat there watching the news and looking around at our classmates. Some who were not there. Some who were from New York. And we were still in our seats when the second plane hit. 

We were devastated.

After a few hours, I left and went back to my dorm room. There were people around campus crying and trying to get ahold of family. It was so surreal. 

And everything changed from that day on. Nothing was the same. We were not allowed to go to the gate to pick up family, more security measures were taken with flying, hearts were broke and we were at war.

Then several years later my dad was in Afghanistan fighting this war. And now we are dealing with the issues of pulling our troops out of Afghanistan and the uprising that has happened there. I can't help but be scared for tomorrow and what is going on in our country and other countries around the world. I am looking at you Australia and Afghanistan.

Let's all say a little prayer and remember what happened 20 years ago. And let us pray that it doesn't happen again.

TWO. On a happier note, we went to a wedding last weekend and had the best time. The girls were flower girls and they killed it. They were nervous, but I told them when I was about their age, I was a flower girl too. But I did not have a sister to walk with me. 

They practiced and I coached them and they nailed it. They flew flowers beautifully and were just in awe of the ceremony. They stayed for photos and a bit of the cocktail hour, but then they went to the brides sisters house for the reception.

We ate, drank and danced the night away. Here are a few highlights.

THREE. The dress that I ended up choosing from Lulus was a huge hit. I had so many compliments on it and was very happy with the choice. I was a little nervous about it since it is tight, but it has stretchy material which allowed for me to dance easily, move easily and hid the sweat that happened during the ceremony. Ha. 

Overall it is a winner. Now I can wear it for date night or another wedding. Who doesn't love a good little black dress?

Here is the link again for it. I got it in a small. I could have gone to a medium for it to not be as tight, but they were sold out of mediums. And frankly, it fit really well and didn't get all baggy. It has stretch and holds everything in.

Black Ruffle Dress

FOUR. I went to Nordstrom Rack on Friday to look for some holiday decor and look at shoes...just in case. I was going to wear my Vince Camuto point toes heels, but I found a pair of cute chunky block heels from BP that worked out even better.

I am embarrassed to admit that I never broke them in, but fortunately they didn't need it at all. I danced all night in them and never felt uncomfortable. Total winner.

These are the shoes I got.

BP Lula Block Heel Slingbacks

FIVE. Weekly funnies.

Have a great weekend. I am linking up with A Little Bit of Everything.

Fall/Winter Boots and Booties

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

I think Fall is one of my favorite seasons to dress for. I usually get a couple new cardigans (posted that fun collection recently), a new jacket (also posted that collection) and a pair or two of booties/boots. And since I have fun shopping around for myself, I thought I would share what I found and what I almost purchased and what I did purchase.

What is your favorite season to shop for?

Top: Sam Edleman Hilary Boot | Steve Madden Cedar Boot | Vince Camuto Over the Knee Boot | Steve Madden Touchdown Bootie

Middle: Timberland Skyla Bay Bootie | Vince Camuto Leminda Bootie | Vince Camuto Ackella Bootie

Bottom: Hunter Refined Chelsea Boot | Spring Step Khazera Boot | LL Bean Duck Boot

The only boot I own on this list is the LL Bean duck boot and I love them. They are my favorite boot for the Fall, Winter and Spring. These ones have the shearling in them which makes them warmer. I got a size 8 in them and I usually wear a 8 1/2 (now). 

I am a big Vince Camuto and Sam Edelman fan and I own a lot of shoes from both of them. So those are always winners. Steve Madden makes great shoes and any of those booties would be very cute. 

I have Hunter boots that are tall and I love them, but I want these shorter ones. You can't have too many boots and booties.

Happy Fall shopping!

Amazon Prime Purchases - August

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes. 

It's time for another round of Prime Purchases. I didn't make my first Prime purchase until August 18th. How crazy is that?

So what did we buy this last month?

linking up with Tanya

No Poreblem Primer

Amazon says I have purchased this 10 times now. Crazy. But I love this face primer and use it daily. It is way cheaper on Amazon, so I purchase it here every few months. Simply the best.

Toy Building Set

We bought this for our friends son's birthday. It gets great reviews and he loved it!

EO Shower Gel

I usually buy this at Whole Foods, but I haven't been recently and we needed new shower gel. I got the two pack for the house. This one smells heavenly!

Meal Prep Containers

Now that I am in the office more often, I needed new to go containers or leftover containers. I get these when we go to take out and they are reusable and microwaveable. I have already used some and they work great!

Bissell Steam Cleaner

I saw this all over Instagram and wanted to get it for my house. I want to clean my grout and the window sills. It gets great reviews and is on sale for $30.

Art Set

This was another gift for the birthday party we attended, but for the girl twin. She loves anything art.

Princess Birthday Card

This was to go with the art set. She loved the card and it had sticker earrings included in it.

Big Truck Birthday Card

This was the card we used for the builders set. Amazon has great cards!

Kids Pink Ballet Flats

I got these to go with the dresses below. They do run a bit wide, but with the strap over the foot, they fit just fine. And these are so cute in person.

Girls Party/Flower Girl Dress

This is the dress that the girls wore this last weekend when they were flower girls. It is so cute in person and perfect for parties, being a flower girl or family photos. The girls LOVED it.

And that is all we purchased this last month from Amazon Prime. What did you get?

Friday Favorites and Happenings

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

Happy Friday all! The fires have been really devastating here and are in the Lake Tahoe area. I am in tears over this. Earlier this week, Sierra at Tahoe burned. I have snowboarded there many times and been to many concerts there. Just devastated. 

Due to the fires, one of the events we had this weekend has been cancelled. The other is still a go. This is the wedding the girls will be flowers girls in. I can't wait to see them walk down the aisle! 

Our weekend is still full and we are excited to celebrate this weekend.

Onto Friday favorites and happenings.

ONE. Last weekend we escaped the smoke and headed up to Graeagle for the weekend. Well close to Graeagle. We stayed in our friends mountain home with some other friends. It was a lot of fun. 

We arrived Friday evening and got some pizza to go. We all settled in and decompressed from the last week. Saturday morning, the boys went golfing and us girls hung out around the house and then went into Graeagle for some shopping and ice cream. Then we met up with the boys and went to the pool for hours. After the pool, we went back to the mountain home and made a tasty dinner!

The kids went to bed early as they were exhausted and us adults stayed up talking and playing games. It was a lot of fun. Sunday morning we had crepes and cleaned up the house before heading home around noon. 

It was the perfect little weekend and a nice way to get away from the smoke. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

TWO. I have been using the new Living Proof Dry Shampoo for about a month now. I gave a review of it to a fellow blogger/IGer and I thought I would do the same here. Now I have been using the original one for over a year. I love it. It works better than pretty much every brand I have tried.

When I saw the new one on Sephora, I ordered it right away. Plus I was getting closer to needing a new one anyways. When I originally ordered it, it came with the 5.5 ounce and the travel size 2.4 ounce for $30. That promotion is over on Sephora and now you can get the 5.5 ounce for $30.

The new Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Advanced Clean Dry Shampoo is a winner. It has a different spray nozzle than the original which means it doesn't get clogged or built up on the nozzle. You still spray it 6 to 10 inches away from your roots and you wait 30 seconds to massage it in. But this one goes on so much better. It doesn't leave any color (whiteness) in your hair at all. It massages in nicely. It soaks up the oils so much better. I have used it after working out and my hair looks clean after. And you can use it for days upon days and you don't get the build up that you get with the original one. And you an easily run your fingers through your hair and it doesn't feel like you have product in it. You can style your hair and not worry about hiding the greasy parts because it makes your hair look, feel and smell clean.

Do yourself a favor and try this out. Even order the mini/travel size just to see if it works for you. I personally love it and will reorder it when I need more dry shampoo.

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Advanced Clean Dry Shampoo

THREE. Again, I want to talk about how bad the two fires near us are. The Dixie fire which is north of us in California is up to 860,000ish acres burned and 55% contained (as of Thursday morning). And the Caldor fire which is in the Lake Tahoe area has burned 210,000ish acres and is 25% contained. 

These fires have brought in a ton of smoke and ash into Reno and the surrounding areas. They have burned homes, commercial property and forests. And the Caldor fire is knocking on Tahoe's door. It is creeping towards Kirkwood and Heavenly and South Lake Tahoe. Tahoe is my home away from home. I am so devastated to see one of our ski resorts burned down, Sierra at Tahoe and others threatened. I have friends that live in the line of the Caldor fire and I am so scared for them. 

We donated money towards the fire relief and the people who have been displaced by this.

I know a lot is going on in this world right now and I am just devastated. Let us all pray for the fires to be put out soon. And for everything going on in Afghanistan. I can't even begin to write about my feelings towards that. Just know that I have a lot to say on that, but would rather speak to people in person or privately through text and DMs.

FOUR. Weekly funnies.

Have a great weekend. I am linking up with A Little Bit of Everything.