Friday Favorites #47

Happy May! This is going to be a pretty busy month for us with school events, soccer, some travel plans, visitors, and beginning to get ready for tenant season! We did decide to start our rental season after July 4th so it will be nice to celebrate that holiday at the lake.

We do not have a soccer game tomorrow, so this is our only May weekend without any set plans. Sometimes no plans are the best plans! I think the weather is looking decent so I’m sure much time will be spent outdoors. The cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom-a true sign that spring is in full swing, and summer is not too far off!

Keep on scrolling for this week’s roundup of favorite things and enjoy a lovely first weekend of May:)

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

I feel like I have read some pretty intense books this year. The Grace Year may top them all! Honestly, I probably could’ve started and finished this book in one sitting. I could not put it down! Don’t let the pretty pink cover fool you-this is a dark, haunting novel. It hooked me from the beginning with its twisted, horrifying plot, suspenseful action, and a main character you can’t help but fiercely root for. I thought about it often when not reading which for me is always a sign of a really good book. While it can be quite graphic and pretty upsetting (maddening really), I highly recommend!

Thrifted/DIY Spice Shelf

If you read my weekend recap post, you know that Sunday was spent transferring all my spices and herbs to these pretty jars and hanging this new thrifted shelf to put them on. You can read the details in that post, but I am loving it! I styled it a little more with the hooks and am still obsessed with how it turned out.

Amazon Bamboo Plate Organizer

It seems many of my favorites lately have been kitchen related! This nifty organizer was another find to help maximize cabinet space in my little kitchen. I was stacking different types of dishes on top of each other, and it was time to figure something else out. It didn’t take long after searching “plate organizer” on Amazon to find my answer. I like how it’s made of bamboo making it both sturdy and pretty. It fit a little taller in by cabinet than I would have liked, but the top shelf works perfect for paper plates.

Sidenote: I got these Fiestaware dishes as a wedding gift almost 13 years ago and not one has chipped!

Hike at Whaleback Natural Area

I have mentioned Forest School as a Friday Favorite before (this post), and it has been a while since we’ve gone. Thursdays always seem to be busy with appointments and things. We did make it this week though! We drove to Whaleback Natural Area in Leland.

Owen loved looking for bugs along the trail with his buddy. We saw quite a few chipmunks and some deer tracks too. We were also on the hunt for morels, but no luck. Owen filled his morel bag with acorns instead because we found plenty of those!

This trail reminds me a lot of Clay Cliffs Natural Area as it’s a hike through the woods to an overlook with the view of Lake Michigan. That view never gets old! All the kiddos hung out for a bit sharing some chickpea puffs. We took a very cute picture of them all, but not going to share for privacy reasons. Here is a picture of Lake Michigan though!

Most of the kids are younger and I think Owen enjoys any opportunity when he can be the oldest. I like seeing him take that role on, teaching kids younger than him about what he knows, especially bugs!

While we were hiking, my friend who organizes this group told Owen that you can eat dandelions. Owen was very curious about this as he LOVES dandelions. He tried one and loved it! Ended up eating quite a few! He kept saying how good they are and that they are his new favorite food haha.

Papaya Reusables

My last favorite is yet another kitchen item! I totally fell for the Instagram ad for this one (she’s really good lol). However, I am terrible about using too many paper towels. I don’t like rags because they get stinky and paper towels are just easy to grab. When I saw the ad for the Papaya Reusable Paper Towel I was intrigued. They’re advertised as eco-friendly with just one sheet replacing 17 rolls of paper towel. I thought, why not try? It does live up to the hype! I love that it comes with a hook, you can simply rinse and hang when finished. They come in a two pack, so I am going to hang the other one in our camper. There are lots of fun colors and designs to choose from too!