Five books to read while shelter in place

5 books to read while sheltering in place

Do you always want to read a book, but find yourself complaining about not having the time to read one? Well guess what! Now you do! Since we are all staying home, social distancing, and sheltering-in-place, we have an increased amount of free time on our hands. Unless you are one of our community heroes at a grocery store, hospital, or other essential service. If you are an essential service employee, I salute you and I thank you for your dedication to the community. You are truly helping all of us get through this!

If you are like me, and are hunkered down at home, then you have time to read. After all, wouldn’t you like a reason to get off your screens? I would!

I am currently reading “Season of the Witch,” which is about how San Francisco shaped into the city it is today. As someone whose family has been in San Francisco since the gold rush, this is very interesting to me to read. While it’s opinion differs from those in my family who lived through it, it is an interesting read and perspective.

Another good read is “Modern Etiquette Made Easy.” This is a great book for seeing how etiquette plays out in our modern era. Many of us learned older versions of etiquette growing up, so this is a great way to see what’s new, and what’s still relevant. My teen girls really enjoy reading this book too. So if you have a teen, this is a great time to teach your teen modern etiquette through this book. even if you don’t have a teen, this is a fabulous read for any age. I believe it was written for adults like us. Love it!

Shop my favorite books to read while sheltering in place:

What are some of your favorite books to read right now?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

What’s new in my spring beauty bag

spring beauty essentials

What’s new in my spring beauty bag from top left: Perricone MD hand cream / Elemis eye revive mask / Estee Lauder sunscreen spf 45 / Elemis Marine Cream / Estee Lauder Rapid Brightening Treatment Ferment 2 + Vitamin C / Elemis cleansing balm / Elemis Cica Calm cleansing foam / Elemis Cica Calm Hydration Juice / (all products shown c/o of their respective brands)

Spring has sprung! This means it is time to mix up our skin care routines in order to ensure our skin stays moisturized, healthy, and squeaky clean! After all, the pollen is everywhere, and it sticks to our skin. A nightmare for people like me who have spring allergies. Yikes!

The products above are my new lines of defense against spring’s increased sun, wind, and pollen floating in the air. I have been using the Elemis Marine Creams during the warmer months for years. It’s the perfect cream for dry days, and warm days. I love how it keeps my skin even and healthy. The Estee Lauder Perfectionist Pro multi-defense UV protection is perfect to wear underneath the cream for the ultimate SPF protection. Love it!

If you like to swim a lot like I do, the Elemis Cica Calm Hydration Juice is ideal for restoring hydration to your skin. It’s also perfect for windy spring days when it feels like all the pollen on earth is blowing in your face and sticking to you! Ugh!

If you are washing your hands often now due to the current shelter-in-place and virus prevention measures, check out my post about my three favorite hands creams; it includes the Perricone MD hand cream shown above.

While these products were sent to me in PR packages for testing out, they are products I actually use. This is only roughly 20% of the products I received to review for spring. They are brands I also purchase with my own money, and the Elemis Marine Cream I have purchased on my own in the past. I would never recommend something to you just because it was sent to me. I only recommend products I actually use and love. These products are all amazing, I highly recommend them for spring skin care! A few will also stick with me for the summer season such as the Elemis Marine Cream, and the Estee Lauder products.

Which one of these products have your tried and loved?

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

Baked Scallops recipe

Now that we are sheltering in place, there is plenty of time to try new recipes! My family enjoys eating scallops, but I always cook them the same way; I sear them. I decided to try something new this time, I baked them.

Baked Scallops are delicious! This recipe was a home-run on the first try. It is really easy. So, if you like Scallops, this is an easy recipe to try. It’s much easier to bake them than sear them! Love that!

Ingredients:

  • Large Scallops-20
  • 8 pats butter
  • 4 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
  • Season to taste: Paprika, Lemon Juice, Basil, Salt

Preparation instructions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 425, ensuring the rack is in the middle of the oven.
  2. Grab an 11×13 casserole dish and place 8 pats of butter, evenly spaced apart, in the casserole dish.
  3. Evenly space 20 large scallops in the casserole dish, ensuring the butter pats are spaced apart too.
  4. Evenly spread 4 tablespoons shredded Parmesan across the scallops
  5. Season to taste: evenly spread basil, salt, paprika and lemon juice on top of the scallops.

Baking instructions:

  • Bake at 425 for 16 minutes
  • Scallops should be white and opaque; 130 degree Fahrenheit internal temperature.

Serving instructions:

  1. Place scallops on dish. My kids typically eat 4 large scallops, while my husband will 6, and I eat 5. With a tablespoon, scoop up the buttery sauce in the casserole dish and pour it over the scallops on the plate.
  2. Serve with your favorite vegetable. We used frozen peas melted in butter because we are sheltering in place, and that’s what I had in the freezer. Under normal circumstances, I might serve with cauliflower, sliced cucumber, and/or peas. Peas are mild and sweet, so they do pair well with scallops!

Things you might need to make baked scallops for dinner:

If you want a side dish, try mashed potatoes or jasmine rice. You can pour the sauce from the casserole dish over the rice or potatoes. Yum!

This dinner felt fancy, and was a nice change during our shelter-in-place. Sometimes it is nice to treat yourself with good food when you are feeling down; like most of us are feeling during this unprecedented time.

Bon Appetite! I hope you love this dish as much as my family does 😊

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy