Friday Five - Earning My Meals!

 Friday Five - Earning My Meals!

If I had to sum up the week in a word, I'd say ocean-oriented. We've returned to a state of humidity just high enough to cause us to turn on our A/C and keep our windows closed once again, and getting out each day for walks along the ocean shoreline has been a focus. 

1.  I enjoy 'earning' my meals. My favorite way to spend any day is to enjoy lots of miles in motion, followed by good eats and/or good coffee. I was able to combine these multiple times this week. I spent one day walking seven miles with my gal-pal, enjoying a shared BBQ bacon cheeseburger afterward. I love gal-pals that enjoy sharing food!

The second time was with my spouse, also seven miles, also shared. But this time, we shared a delicious carnitas burrito, then stopped for a shared iced coffee just before reaching our car back at the starting point.

2. I continue to enjoy the challenge of chasing loss leaders and mark downs. I am not at a point in my retirement life where I need to chase supermarket loss leaders quite as hard as I did in my earlier marriage years, however, I continue to enjoy the chase, so I keep on.

This week I found a box of 12 Kind bars on a clearance rack for some odd reason - discontinued flavor, perhaps? The clearance cost was $8.50, or 71 cents a bar, a fantastic price. I've been pairing one with 1/2 a cup of low-fat cottage cheese for a quick, easy and nicely nutritious breakfast.

3. I'm looking forward to H&M'ing out my girlfriend. One of my gal pals recently asked me where I get some of my clothes, and I happily told her that while some come from smaller boutique stores, much of my clothing comes from always-affordable H&M. So we made a shopping and lunch date for me to turn her out, fashion wise.

Lightweight summer trousers, one of my recent H&M discoveries. 
So, so comfortable and easy to wear.

4. It'll be hard returning to store bought tomatoes after a summer of enjoying them fresh from my girlfriend's garden. What a treat and joy it was to be the recipient of oddles of different tomatoes this summer, a result of my girlfriend's apparently very prodigious tomato garden. I was so very appreciative, and I made sure that not a single one went to waste, as they were all so beautiful and delicious it would have felt like a crime!

5. I made my own version of a professional photo I saw at a recent art show. I loved the simplicity of the palapa photo when I first saw it, particularly in that it depicts a beach scene I walk by regularly, but when I saw the $1,500 price tag I thought, 'Oh, no, I don't think so!' So, just to see if I could, I took my own photo of a palapa and then converted it to black and white using one of my phone's photo filters.

The cost to then have my photo blown up and printed at our local print and copy store was less than $50, and a matted frame from Hobby Lobby was about the same, so I ended up with a version that I'm very, very happy with for just under $100. Not to mention the fun and satisfaction of attempting my own re-creation.

I hope you all had a good week wherever you are!