Five Loves on Friday!

Happiest of Friday wishes to you, friends!  Once again it's that glorious day, when the weekend is so close you can almost taste it! Before it arrives, I'm excited to share what's been going on in my lit'l corner of the world since we chatted this time last week!

Five Loves on Friday!

Happy Friday!  Hope you all have enjoyed a fantastic week!  Ours has gone much differently than I could have ever imagined this time last week!  Last Friday Jason set out to repair a leak in our bathroom sink.  One thing led to another and we decided that while the bathroom was torn apart it'd be a great time to go ahead and update it, replacing our vanity/sink, toilet, and more!  While today's 5 will have much to do with tackling this home improvement endeavor, I'll be saving the big reveal for later! Stay tuned for that! ;)  Meanwhile, let's get to some loves, shall we?

1.  I'm continually in awe of my hardworking hubby! 

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Jason is always willing to learn any skill to provide for our family's needs.  I'm so thankful to have a husband who gladly rolls up his sleeves and get his hands dirty to fix things, rather than taking the easier route of picking up the phone and opening a wallet to hire someone else to do it.  I love that he will do whatever he can to take care of our home, and ultimately our family, in every area of life.  I praise God for him continually!

2.  Princess is taking over laundry duty!  

Princess requested that I teach her how to do laundry this week.  Can you hear me cheering from here? ;)  It sure does make my heart happy when my girls look for ways to help out, especially with those seemingly never-ending chores!

3.  Painting with Michael Bublé

Anyone else have the iHeart Radio app?  I love it!  I've been really enjoying my Michael Bublé station this week while painting the bathroom.  Good stuff.

4.  Cuteness on Clearance!
One fun part about redoing a room is shopping for fun accessories!  Even bathrooms need a touch of cuteness!  Check out these adorable hand towels that I spotted on clearance, paired with an additional 30% off Kohl's cardmember discount code I received this month, plus free shipping!

Sonoma life + style "Wake Up and Be Awesome" Hand Towel

Sonoma life + style "Don't Worry, Bee Happy" Hand Towel

& some festive fancies...

"Happy Valentine's Day" Chevron Hand Towel

Sonoma life + style "Happy St. Patrick's Day" Hand Towel

My upcoming bathroom reveal will include more cutesy accessories ...some with a lit'l Disney flair! :)

5.  Bath & Body Works Sale + Additional Coupon Code!
Oh, how I love Bath & Body Works 75% off sales!  When I went to share some of my fave buys with you guys I noticed that several of the items I bought are now either backordered or just plain out of stock.  Guess I'm not the only one who's been snagging some deals!  They do still have a few shower gels deeply discounted though, one that I ordered that's still available is Hawaii Passionfruit Kiss.  I've never tried it before, but it sounds like a vacation in a bottle ...how could I resist that?! ;)

Hawaii Passionfruit Kiss  

Regularly $12.50, on sale now for $3.00! Pair that with the code below it brings it down to just $2.40! SUCH A DEAL!

If you plan on doing any shopping on their site between now and 2/22/15 be sure to use the coupon code:  F144791  to receive 20% off sitewide + a FREE signature collection travel-size item!

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Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

Join me in the adventures to come!

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Five Loves on Friday IS BACK!!!

Happy Friday, friends!  I'm tickled pink to share my future blogging plans with you today, and excited to recap this scrumptious week now!  Let's dig in! ...

1.  First off, I'd like to say a BIG THANK YOU to all of you who took the time to complete my 2nd Blogiversary Feedback Survey!  

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I was truly touched by the responses I received!  Your feedback was such an encouragement, and made me miss blogging and the interaction I so enjoy with you, my dear readers and cherished friends!  With that said, I've made the decision to continue to share here at Chatting Over Chocolate!  I'm feeling freshly inspired, once again at ease, and delighted with the decision to fill this nook of the bloggy world with more family fun, and of course plenty of pixie dusted Disney goodness!!  It turns out that what the majority of you enjoy most here just happens to be exactly what I enjoy sharing the most!  Fancy that! ;)


2.  My New Convection Oven!!!

I couldn't be more excited about this!! We've lived in our home for 15 years now, and I've been using the (used) oven that came with our house ever since.  Jason has made many repairs on it over the years.  He's so awesome about doing work himself to save us money, also allowing us to avoid replacing things before it's really necessary.  Recently, it become necessary.  Our ancient oven decided it had a burning desire to cook. all. day. long!  It began turning on by itself.  Yes, you read that right. We'd hear it beep, beep, beep that it had preheated itself continually!  I began unplugging it any time it wasn't in use out of safety concerns.  Wednesday night while our girls were in classes at church, my sweet hubby took me shopping and we purchased our first new convection oven!  The sweetest part of the night had to be when we were making the final decision on which one to purchase and I asked, "What do you think, Jason?"  In his typical sweet style, he replied, "Whatever you want."  A sales manager nearby heard and shouted, "Oh no!  You never say that!  We'll be heading over there!" as he motioned to a designer kitchen display.  Yet, Jason meant it ...also knowing his frugal wife would want the best oven that was within our means. ;)  Being that it was January 14th it sort of felt like Valentine's Day came a month early!

3.  The Culinary Tale of Two Cuties:

 

Princess prepared her first dinner for the family this week!  She made balsamic roast beef in the crockpot all by herself.  It was delicious!  What a beautiful thing it is to see her so eager to learn new skills that will benefit herself and others in the years to come!  

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Pony Cafe / Snacks Prepared with a Joyful Heart!  Little One opened the "Pony Cafe" in our home this week, complete with a hand drawn menu of snacks, meals, and desserts that she will make and joyfully deliver to her mom, dad, and sister any time day or night!  This has been such fun!  She has a great time creating unique and adorable food presentations, and who wouldn't love free room service, in any room, anytime, served with a smile?  


4.  Kitchen Goodies!  

My kitchen goodies haul included a purple frying pan fit for Rapunzel, 2 qt & 3 qt saucepans, 4 cup measuring cup, measuring spoons (I'm missing a few sizes - does that happen to anyone else?), some fun vibrant colored whisks, cookie scoop, pancake flipper spatula, 3 new cookie sheets & pizza pan (not pictured because I couldn't fit anything else in the shot - ha!)

As if the new oven wasn't enough to get excited over, we replaced a bunch of our kitchen cookware and gadgets too!  I've held onto stuff for a while now that is in pretty bad shape.  Jason really wanted me to have some nice new things to enjoy using when cooking and baking with my new oven.  He's sweeter than the chocolate chip cookies I can hardly wait to bake later today! ;)  Also on the weekend menu, his favorite, Cheesy Eggilicious BACON-Y GOODNESS (super simple & mighty delicious quiche)!

5.  We filled our car up from empty for just $16.50!

I had to show you the receipt, because I thought you may not believe it if you didn't see it with your own eyes!

We are still in shock that gas prices are below $2 a gallon in our area!  Our grocery store also offers some fuel saver deals which we take advantage of whenever possible.  In the past few weeks we've accumulated a 72 cent per gallon discount from our grocer's fuel saver program, pairing that with the already crazy low gas price, we were able to fill up for a total we hadn't seen since Jason and I were newlyweds!  I still can't believe it!  It's the little things ...especially when they save you big money!  *happy sigh*  I hope the prices are dropping at pumps near you all, too!

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Have a lovely weekend, everyone!  I'm so excited to be back blogging once again and look forward to sharing with you again soon!  Thanks for taking time out of your day to pay me a visit!  I'd love to hear from you in the comments section below!  

Join me in the adventures to come!

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Feedback Appreciated on Chatting Over Chocolate's 2nd Blogiversary!!

Hello, long lost friends!  I'll admit I've been away from my lit'l nook of the bloggy world far longer than I originally planned to be.  Thanks for your patience, sweet readers!  

This week marks Chatting Over Chocolate's 2nd Blogiversary!  I'd like to ask for a moment of your time for a brief survey (only 8 little questions) to help me better understand what you've enjoyed or found helpful here during these past two years.  You'll find in the conclusion of the survey that I'm uncertain about what the future holds for my blog. Before I make any final decisions I'd like to hear from YOU!  I value your thoughts, so your feedback is greatly appreciated!  Thank you in advance!!

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