Good morning, and happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you get to do something special with someone you love today.
We often go out to eat after church on Sunday, but we decided today is probably not a good day for that, if we could even get a table at our favorite place. They have a good brunch menu, and I can see it being popular for Valentine’s Day, especially since this one falls on a Sunday.
Instead, I’m planning to put a pot roast in the crockpot before we leave for church this morning. We all like a good pot roast with gravy, carrots and potatoes, and if I get really ambitious, I might make a pan of biscuits.
Did I tell you guys about the last time I tried to make a pot roast? It was a few weeks ago. Paul picked up a grass-fed chuck roast in one of those vacuum sealed meat situations, and when I opened it to cook it for dinner, the most disgusting, pungent odor filled the room.
Stupidly, I thought maybe it just smelled weird because it was grass-fed? I don’t know why I thought that mattered. I buy grass-fed meat all the time from local farms, and it never smells, but I actually put this meat on the stove and browned it… OH MY WORD. The stench was horrifying, and it quickly filled the house.
Everyone came out of their respective corners to see what on earth I was cooking for dinner. Well, we quickly determined this meat was not safe for human consumption, and Paul and the kids managed to get it off the stove and out of the house.
We opened all the windows (it was like 21 degrees) and lit candles, and I ordered Chinese takeout from DoorDash and declared the kitchen closed for the night.
Later that week, we were hanging out with friends, and we told them this story. He works in food service and knows all the food rules, and of course he admonished me for not immediately tossing the meat when I opened the packaging and smelled it.
I was embarrassed to admit I tried to cook it. I knew better, and I don’t know why I proceeded to cook that thing. He said it was probably botulism, and that if we had tried to eat it, we would have all ended up in the hospital. Nice!
Anyway, all’s well that ends well and all that, but no one in my house will never forget the story of the rancid pot roast. In fact, we are all a bit wary of having it today, but I assured them I will not cook it if anything smells the least bit “off” when I open the packaging.
In other news… I’m sure you are all happy to move on from that topic!
We are getting so much snow this winter, and I’m loving it. I was out driving R to and from her indoor drumline practice yesterday, and the landscape is so pretty all covered in white. I’m hoping all of the snow this month bodes well for a pretty spring.
It’s going up to like 39 this afternoon, which is weird because it’s been staying so cold here, so I guess it might start to melt off. I just looked at my weather app, and it’s definitely going to be warmer all this week (and by warmer, I mean high 30s and low 40s) so our snow will probably be all gone by next weekend.
I guess I’m ready to move on from winter, but the dreary, muddy-brown days of early spring are not my favorite.
But with March comes 23 Days of Spring Fashion, so I guess I need to start photographing some spring looks! Yes, Cyndi and I are teaming up once again for one of our seasonal style challenges. We will be doing weekdays only, so I’ll probably alternate Try-On Hauls and What I Wore Lately on Saturdays.
Spring is always a dicey one because the weather here isn’t usually very cooperative, so I’ll focus more on transition looks and pieces we can wear now and later. It will be interesting to experiment with the straighter denim styles, and I’m going to try to have a variety since I know we are all at a different place with that.
I’ve had requests for spring events such as bridal showers and things like that, so I will try to work some of those outfits into the mix. Since so much was canceled last year, it sounds like a lot of people are making up for lost time this spring.
Beyond that, are you all looking for casual looks, or do some of you need work wear? Admittedly, work wear is not my strong suit, but I usually try to incorporate a few business-casual looks into the series. And will you all be wanting some date night looks as well?
It’s an odd time to style outfits, as some of us are getting out and about more, and some are still pretty locked down. I want to be sensitive to where everyone is with all of that, but hopefully we will all be getting out and about more as the weather warms up and outdoor activities become more feasible.
Well, I better get off the computer and get that pot roast going. I wanted to run/walk this morning, but Paul says our driveway is a sheet of ice. He just went out driving to check out the roads and be sure it’s okay to have church. They are, but he said getting from our back door to the road would be a bit of a challenge.
I guess I could tread lightly on the yard, but we still have a good bit of snow. Would it be ridiculous to have him drive me from our garage to the street? Ha! I am so accident-prone, I don’t trust myself to walk on ice and not fall and break a bone.
Maybe I’ll just pour another cup of coffee and place a few more orders for our spring style series…
Anyway! I will stop rambling and let you go. If you missed it, I did post Part II of my Try-On Haul yesterday, and I also styled a shirt jacket, otherwise known as a shacket. I knew that one was going to elicit a variety of responses, and it sure did.
I like it, but it’s not for everyone, I get that. I do think the shacket can look more elevated in a solid color with more of a streamlined silhouette. I also think it’s important to wear a fitted top underneath, and I failed to discuss that in the post. If I include a shacket in our spring series, I’ll try to choose one that’s a little less lumberjack, haha!
Have a relaxing and blessed Sunday!
56 Responses
I’ll take the snow over mud season any day. As you know, early spring is pretty terrible around here and I get so tired of muddy dogs and muddy kids and both tearing up the grass in my yard… I wish we could skip from February to June!
SAME!!! I hate to be a Negative Nelly, but I truly loathe spring up here. I always say I want to travel somewhere in March to take outfit pictures somewhere warm and pretty, and I was so hoping to be in Florida for a week this year, but we ended up planning our trip for April, due to Paul’s work schedule.
Is it any nicer in Avalon? Maybe Alison and I could go to the beach for a weekend and bang out a bunch of outfits.
Transition outfits would be great. If we get any warmer weather, I will need some ideas.
Be careful if you decide to run. Years ago I was walking (I don’t run; I walk), and it slipped, fell, and broke my wrist.
Sending you and all your readers love this Valentine’s Day.
Yeah, and that is exactly something I would do. I think I’m going to stay put.
I’d love to see new casual office work looks.
Good luck with that pot roast!! I would love to see some timeless date night blouses and sweaters. We went out to dinner last night (safely distanced) and I wore the camel cashmere turtleneck!! (It was 9° !) But I really had nothing in my closet, even if it was warmer! I did wear black jeans and leopard boots so there’s that. Overall I felt a little frumpy for a Valentine’s dinner. Enjoy your day! I’m making “Marry Me Chicken” for dinner😉. Even though we’re married 28 years! Haha!
What is Marry Me Chicken? 🙂
I came across it on the internet when looking for Valentine’s dinner recipes. I liked the name and it looks yummy and easy!!
https://cravinghomecooked.com/marry-me-chicken/
It’s on several websites so it must be a real thing!
That looks amazing, thank you!
The Marry Me Chicken was delicious! I served with pasta and some zucchini noodles, too!! Yu’um!
Casual spring looks for me. Tops are harder for me to find than jeans so I look forward to seeing what you find for spring.
A white jean update/review is a must but include some with the on trend straight legs. Not sure if I read it here or somewhere else but many say order white jeans one size up. I did so but the Madewell jeans I kept are one size too big and don’t fit. Not sure why I kept them.
Swim wear and cover ups/ beach trip outfits especially since you are heading to Florida soon.
I sometimes size up in white jeans, but I did not in the Madewell. They do stretch out some, I found.
I’m glad to hear your husband thinks roads are ok. We’re getting ready to head to church, but I wasn’t sure if we should be. You’re close enough to make me feel better 🙂
Yep! You should be good. 🙂
Hi Jolynn, it sounds so warm there. Here in Texas we are in the teens and supposed to have up to eight inches of snow. Not above freezing until the end of the week.
I’d like to see some transition outfits, especially layering.
Thanks and be careful on the ice.
Wow! That must be unusual for Texas! Stay safe down there.
39 degrees would feel really good to me! Woke up to minus 22 with a windchill of minus 40 🥶! Not supposed to get above zero until Tuesday sometime!! That’s Minnesota for you! Enjoy your week!
I cannot imagine negative degrees!!! Here, the teens and 20s are unusually cold.
I feel Laurie’s pain about this crazy polar vortex deep freeze cold. Its the same crazy cold here too -25F, – 35F with wind chill in Alberta, Canadal. We try to go for walks but it is tough. I have a terrific Eddie Bauer parka with fur trim that goes to my mid shins; its like wearing a duvet outside but it is a necessity in this weather. No moto jackets for me in this crazy cold. It is supposed to “warm up” to the 30s on Tuesday and we can not wait; will feel tropical in comparison. Looking forward to your spring series with Cyndi. If you can feature purses that are lighter in color that would be great. If you have advice or suggestions about color palette options for those of us with Winter coloring who find spring clothes a miss because the spring pastels wash me out. Looking forward to spring not for the dreary brown grass but it is one step closer to summer, my fav season. Enjoy your pot roast lunch! Stay safe out on the icy roads.
Happy Valentines Day! It’s bitter cold in San Antonio today so we won’t be able to eat out. It’s very unusual for us to have several days of freezing temps in the 20s and 30s and possibly snow! Texans don’t know how to drive on icy roads or snow so our city is basically shutting down for a few days. I feel bad for the restaurants, first COVID and now bad weather on a day that would be one of their busiest. Looking forward to your spring series and enjoy the pot roast. Which I would have thought of making the same meal today. I think I was hoping the weather wouldn’t be as bad as they were predicting, but it is 😞
Oh, wow. Yeah, that really is bad timing for restaurants. I hope it’s short lived and you’re able to get out and about again soon.
Happy Valentine’s Day. I laughed about your pot roast story because we had something similar happen for Thanksgiving. We had one son and family over for Thanksgiving and when we started preparing our FRESH farm-raised turkey from a local farm, it didn’t smell but had a weird structure attached to the flesh in several places. I grew up on a farm and we raised poultry, so I knew this wasn’t normal. Plus I’ve been getting fresh turkeys there for more than 30 years and had never seen such a thing. I called (it was after actual Thanksgiving) and the owner called me right back even though it was after hours. She actually offered to bring another turkey and we ended up with one so big that we split it in half and had two turkey dinners. Any who, we didn’t determine what it was– maybe a form of cancer– but we laughed and laughed about having dinner with all the fixings, minus the turkey.
On the biscuits, Jo-Lynne, I grew up on biscuits so I’m a bit of a connoisseur. I found an amazing buttermilk biscuit recipe that you just mix together and pour into an 8×8 pan. You score the top and get huge, square biscuits. I don’t make them often for obvious reasons –lol– but they are amazing.
I would love to have that recipe! We make the old Betty Crocker version with Crisco. (I know… so bad for you, but SO DELICIOUS.)
Happy Valentine’s Day to you and all of your readers! My husband and I are doing takeout this evening as we are still in stay-at-home orders until Tuesday. We are supporting a restaurant that we just learned about and bonus, it’s only 10 minutes away from our house! I would love to hear about your slow cooker pot roast recipe as I am always on the lookout for new recipes. Enjoy your day.
That sounds nice. I’m all for supporting small businesses… anytime but especially now.
I use the old Betty Crocker pot roast recipe: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/new-england-pot-roast/62e7a5db-7c08-427e-a57f-6e1adf370797
(I don’t use horseradish.)
Happy Valentines Day to you and your family! Honestly, every day that I have Larry with me is Valentines. I hope that this roast did not have an odor! We are blessed and thankful that the only meat we really have to buy are steaks and then chicken. Either the two of us or our friends kill 99% of the meat that’s in our freezer, so we know that it’s good and not filled with s things that just aren’t good for us. I hope Paul got y’all safely out of the driveway! I’m curious if David still goes to church with the family, since he’s a young adult now. I’m all about put together casual looks since we don’t have date nights and I’m retired. I am interested in how to pull of wearing mules with everything since I really can’t wear shoes that are enclosed around my left heal. I am stuck in mules for the foreseeable future, and I know that they can ruin the overall look of an outfit, if I’m not careful. Thanks!
He does, usually… the teenagers always take their own car. I don’t know why, I guess it started b/c David didn’t always want to go out to eat after. And Caroline is usually running late, so she comes in her car. And Paul goes early to set up the live streaming… so we often end up there with 4 cars. It is ridiculous, but hey, as long as they get there! 🙂
The pot roast story will be in your family folklore forever! It’s a good thing you are a clothes blogger and not a foodie:)
Haha! I used to share recipes, and I actually wrote a cookbook once. But yeah, fashion is my lane, and I’m staying in it. 🙂
In NY here and loving all the snow. My boys snowboard and last winter was such a bust so we are enjoying a “real” winter this year – plus with my guys doing 100% remote learning, it’s been such a great outlet for them to get out and play in the snow. Style wise, I’m tired of wearing athletic wear – my youngest started kindergarten last year and after athletic wear being the majority of my wardrobe for almost 10 years, I am ready to get dressed and wear jeans – making myself shower and get dressed every day has been huge for my mental health during this Covid since we are are voluntarily locked down (middle guy is immune compromised) and have been since last March. Looking forward to seeing your casual looks with jeans (straight and skinny!) for spring.
Yes, athleisure has its place, but you can definitely overdo it. 🙂
I do need work wear inspiration. I usually do pants/skirts and sweaters/blouses. Nothing formal.
Send some snow to NC! Raleigh doesn’t get it very often.
Good to know, thanks! I hope you get some of this snow. 🙂
So thankful you didn’t eat that Pot Roast! We subscribe to an Alaskan Seafood delivery service. The fish arrives in vacuum sealed packages. The company is VERY clear that you MUST NOT thaw the seafood in the packaging due to the threat of botulism. I never knew this until I started receiving their products!
Interesting! We didn’t freeze or refreeze, but that is good to know!
I’m ready for anything but athleisure wear and activewear! Transition outfits and tops would be great as I am struggling to find both. I’m also looking for a new spring handbag. It’s seems that everything out there is still in darker colors. Maybe it’s just too soon?
Hm, I don’t know. I’ll look around.
I’m wondering what are the styles trending this spring in tops.
I’m still struggling with straight leg cropped jeans so I’d be interested in how to make them work. I’ve been wearing regular straight leg this winter and the style has grown on me, so much that I rarely wear skinnies. I think the crop might look better with sandals or sneakers than with booties.
It’s snowing again this morning. Yesterday was our first snowfall of the year. It is so pretty and feels quiet. But, it can stop now and go up above 32 anytime now, I’m not much of a winter person. I’m always afraid of falling and hurting myself on slippery sidewalks (accident prone). My daughter fell last year in the neighbour’s driveway and got a concussion and terribly bruised face. I think you’re wise not to run today, JoLynne. The streets might be fine but the sidewalks not so much.
Yeah, I run on the road, but still. There could be some icy spots. I stayed in. I will look into spring tops… I haven’t seen many yet but I do like the short sleeve sweaters or “sweater tees” that I’m seeing.
It’s supposed to snow/ice from now until Thursday in East Texas. That’s not normal and we don’t know how to drive or anything in this weather, so everything is shut down, only online church. We have only been once since last March anyway. I picked up Olive Garden curbside Friday night for our Valentine’s Day dinner while it was still safe to drive. We are staying in and hoping the power stays on today!
Yikes! That is wild. Yeah, things pretty much get back to normal around here within a few hours of the snow stopping. But ice, now that is a different story. There is no way to combat ice. Definitely stay home, and stay safe!
I’m glad you brought up cooking because there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you. What do you wear when you’re cooking?
I’ve been upgrading my at-home wardrobe. But I find it hard to wear something I really like and care about when I head to the kitchen. Maybe I’m unusually messy, but if I’m making spaghetti sauce or a stir-fry, they usually end up on whatever I’m wearing.
Do you use an apron? (Do they even help?) Or just whatever you’re wearing that day?
Love the Vince cashmere sweater, hopefully it will go on sale.
I am in Southeast Texas and it’s bitterly cold, we are expecting ice and snow which we are not accustomed to, by this evening thru Tuesday we will probably be totally shut down!
Enjoy your Valentine’s Day dinner. It’s beef stew for us and as they say hunkering down.
Stay safe down there!
Your story of the pot roast truly gave me the heebie-jeebies! I’m a little OCD when it comes to raw meat and I’m a little weird about expiration dates on food. I throw things away a day before the “sell by” dates sometimes. My mom lectures me ALL the time about how things are still good a few days past those dates but I just can’t do it. 🤷♀️
I’m laughing over the roast story and the future fear the kids will have when hearing Pot Roast for dinner… lol bad memories. I remember buying a roast one time from our local grocery store and when I went to cook it well within the date it was brown and looked terrible. We didn’t even bother to unwrap it and my husband took it right back and got a new one so yeah that can be scary! I like the idea of transition outfits as we don’t often even get a spring and if so it’s still cool… I’m interested in more casual with perhaps some joggers in various materials styled different ways… also incorporating the ever so comfortable sneakers we are all sporting and our feet may never see real shoes again… # loving the comfort…
Happy Valentine’s Day we celebrated last night with friends and had a nice time… loving the little things these days:)
Also like Bonnie I’d like to see date night outfits where we take jeans up a notch to feel more dressed up especially if it’s still cold.
JoLynne
I would like to maybe see a blog on dresses for sring. Easter will be here soon and I always like to have a new dress for then. Could you maybe suggest what is more flattering for different body types. I enjoy your blog and appreciate all the work you do for us ! Thank you very much!
Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your family! Thank you for always doing blog posts to meet your reader’s varying needs. I am really looking forward to your 23 Days of Spring Fashion with Cindi. Your collaborative posts are a favorite of mine with very helpful info presented. Glad you have decided to continue those.
Enjoy those warmer temps! 🌞 We have a warm-up coming end of next week here in Missouri, (near 40!) but we’ve had near zero temps the past 2 weeks!! Today it’s zero & feels like -19. Tomorrow it’s not even supposed to be that warm with the low getting to -18. The TEMPERATURE low! Ugh. I love the snow too, but not these ongoing temps. C’mon Spring!! I hope your pot roast dinner was delicious! Have a good Sunday.
Hi Jolynne….I live in the Texas panhandle & we’re having colder weather than you. As I write this it’s 4 degrees. We’ve warmed up from -1 at 7:30am. We got 3 inches of snow last night into this morning….and they’re saying we have more on the way later today and then on Tuesday…but who knows? We don’t usually have this cold of weather, so most churches cancelled today and had an on line service. It looks like we’re not getting into above freezing weather until next Friday. Gracious, I may be a popsicle.
I remembered your pot roast story,,,,better luck for tonight. I did two crockpots yesterday,,,one with pinto beans…and the other with a pork tenderloin. I love doing the tenderloin as a meal with salad and veggies, I also like eating with a tortilla, some cheese and salsa. This cold weather needs warm food. Lol
I’m thinking about you in your cold weather with the spring fashions…shoot inside if you need to…we all understand. I’m a Children’s minister in a church and our office is business casual to very casual. so I’m sure whatever you chose to share will be great.
Thanks for all you do to keep us girls stylish.
Sherli
Love your family insights!
I look forward to your try on series and appreciate all the work that goes into them and the comments.
I am observing that there is a lot of tops with dropped sleeves and I feel the same as you, they are not the best feature for more endowed women. I hope this trend becomes less prevalent. I hope the shaket trend goes away too.
Happy Valentines Day.
Oh my I have been chuckling to myself all day about your horrid roast beast episode . . . and I do hope you enjoyed a delicious meal today and lots of laughs with your family. Tonight my son said, “We should make homemade biscuits sometime.” What’s your favorite biscuit recipe?
ahhh…Just sitting here watching the weather, and news of more ice-snow-cold-for New England; Reading your blog took me away to March.
My favorite things about March????
Daylight Savings Time
Warmer days, a breathe of Spring…and…
23 days of Spring Fashion!!! Yay!! Seriously, that’s when I know we are on our way to sunshine. I can’t wait!
I’m chuckling about all the comments regarding weather so I’ll just add that it was full sun and 68 degrees for Valentine’s Day in Portugal. 😉 Enjoy all that pretty snow, though.
I’m so looking forward to seeing some casual spring looks as I live in sunny south Florida and the temps are very warm.