Our week in five

// ONE //

This past weekend, we celebrated Mr. L’s birthday. He’s been traveling a lot for work lately, so it was nice having a day with him. Per our tradition, he got to choose out any cake he wanted me to make him for his birthday. I was thrilled when he didn’t choose the Martha Stewart Salted Caramel Six-Layer Chocolate Cake. Even though it has been a year, I still get exhausted thinking about baking that cake, and making the caramel, and making the ganache, and stacking the six layers, and–you get the point.

Because it was just a coffee cake, I thought it would be easy. Not so. Lol. That Mar! I had to thinly slice and prepare five lemons, make batter, make crumble, and then make a glaze. I also had to find Meyer lemons, which is a task in and of itself.

But the cake was a hit, so it was worth it. It’s actually supposed to be a lot prettier, but everybody was hungry so I poured the lemon glaze on the cake while it was still hot. The cake tasted delicious, even without the iced look. This is the online recipe in case you want to try it out.

And here’s how I served it to Mr. L the next morning:

Breakfast of champions.

// TWO //

Hummingbirds are out in full force this week. We are lucky enough to live along their migration path, so I always keep a feeder out when they migrate through. The food is incredibly easy to make. I just heat up extra water when I’m making tea in the morning and then add a 1/4 cup of sugar to one cup of hot water. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves and then let it cool before pouring it into the feeder.

 I use the cheapest feeder I can find. My all-time favorite feeder is from Walmart and costs around $1. It can be hard to find, though, and as you can see from the state of mine, I need a replacement. I did cave and purchase a $5 feeder from Lowes this year, and the birds seem to like that one as well. Now if the birds would stop fighting long enough to eat the food, life would be perfect.

// THREE //

Lamborghini started back at school a few weeks ago, and part of our new routine has been walking to school instead of driving. At least walking was my original plan. Now I load both kids up in the Bob stroller with a cup of shaved ice and then high-tail it to school, which is about 20 minutes away by foot if I run really fast.

Because it’s still a million degrees outside, I have been exhausting my athletic short supply every week. The last time I bought workout shorts was in 2014, when Mr. L’s mom gave me a gift card to Lululemon. I have worn those shorts a lot and they still look really good for being over four years old. Kudos to Lululemon. I also have some even older Nike running shorts that are looking a little dated.

Enter Amazon. There has been a lot of buzz online about copycat Lululemon clothing. Hip2Save did a post here. And then one of my favorite bloggers wrote about her knock-off Lululemon selections here.

I decided to try out CRZ yoga for myself. I ordered this top and these shorts in white and black.

After trying everything on, I must admit that I’m not entirely sold on the knock-off shorts. First, the white shorts were a definite no because I could see the liner through them. Second, while I usually wear a size medium (8/10) in shorts, the medium shorts were way too tight. I’m wearing a large in the black shorts in the photo above. Third, the liner inside the shorts hugged my legs in an uncomfortable way. I could cut it out, I suppose, but $25 is still a lot of money for workout shorts. I’d rather them be perfect from the start.

While the shorts were less than ideal, I did end up liking the top. I ordered a large so that it fit a little looser. My only gripe about the top is that the other colors online have a neat detail on the back that apparently doesn’t exist on the pink. My fault, though, for not scrolling through all of the photos. I decided to keep the top, but I’m on the fence about whether I will order anymore. I’m also a fan of the Walmart brand athletic shirts, and the $8 Walmart price tag beats $17 any day.

// FOUR //

One of my favorite shows just released its latest season on Prime Video. I love love love Poldark.

The first episode is about a defeated captain returning home to England from the American Revolution to find his father dead and his family mine in disrepair. To make matters worse, the love of his life plans to marry his first cousin.

Every episode since then has been fabulous. In addition to the great storyline, the cinematography is gorgeous. You could probably watch the entire show on mute and still enjoy it. There are beautiful shots of cliffs of Cornwall, and the manor homes are fun to look at. It’s sort of like a more masculine Downton Abbey.

Anyway, Season 3 was high drama, which totally sucked me in. I may have binge-watched all seven episodes over a two-night period.

// FIVE //

Finally, I’m so sad to report a loss. For years, PotteryBarn had the BEST chenille throw blankets. They were so soft and the colors were a perfect neutral that would fit in any room. They even offered a red one during Christmas.

Then they disappeared. Their disappearance happened to coincide with when Lamborghini adopted my “blue blankets” as his own, and I realized it was time for replacements. I could not believe PotteryBarn had discontinued the chenille blankets. Almost everyone I know has several of them. So I waited and watched and waited and watched

And then they came back this summer. Or so it seemed. I ordered two as quickly as I could and was incredibly excited when the box arrived. But then I opened one and noticed a difference immediately. The new one is made out of a completely different material–it’s 100% polyester–while the original is clearly a woven cotton blend. To me, the new material looks cheap and almost plastic-like. It feels soft, but it has a pattern to it that seems unnatural.

Looking at my photos, the new one (right side) actually photographs well. However, the color variations you see on the new throw are because of the way the thread is printed. On the older style, you could run your hand along it and the color would change with the direction of the weave. Now the look is manufactured.

The worst part is that the new throw is about a foot shorter on the fringed end. The new length may work for more petite people, but I’m 5′ 10″ and Mr. L is 6′, so it’s a little short for us.

Sadly, the change didn’t come as a complete surprise to me because, quite frankly, everything has gone down in quality over the last 10 years. But the fact that PotteryBarn not only changed the material but also shortened the length was a shot across the bow. So sad.