It’s time for another round of Friday Five and this week is a random assortment of goodies! I hope all of you enjoy your weekend and thank you so much for visiting!
- Coconut layer cake
- Solar LED jar lid
- Essie nail polish in “Midnight Cami” & “Berry Naughty”
- Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus eye cream
- You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Today is my hubby’s 31st birthday and he requested a coconut cake to celebrate. I’ve tried a few coconut cake recipes in the past and I have to say this is by far the best one I’ve made. I think the key ingredients which make this cake so tasty are buttermilk and a mix of several flavor extracts. I’ve found that when a recipe calls for buttermilk, it usually guarantees the cake will be moist. Whenever I’m looking for a certain type of recipe, I almost always find a good one from Taste of Home. The best part is that most of their recipes are now online, which makes the search a whole lot easier. You can find the recipe for this “Incredible Coconut Cake” here.
While on our anniversary trip to the Outer Banks a few months ago, we happened to see this really neat decorative idea in one of the restaurants: solar-powered LED mason jar lids. The lid fits a standard mason jar and charges from any direct light, whether outside or beside a window. It serves as a great light source while sitting outside on the deck on summer nights. They work really well inside, but are actually so bright, I prefer to use ours outdoors. We’ve been leaving ours outside and when it rains, I have noticed some moisture inside the jar and I have to air it out. I’m not sure if this will negatively affect the lid in the long run, but so far it has continued working. You can buy various types of solar lids on Amazon.
There are definitely perks to shopping at Kohls. First of all, I love earning Kohls cash. This can be done by spending $50 during a designated time period. The best part is that, unlike most other stores, there are no exclusions on what you can use the cash towards. I had $10 to spend this week and received an additional 15% discount off my purchase since I am a Kohls card holder. I was able to score both of these polishes for just over $6 and the regular retail for each is $8.50–talk about a steal! The dark blue color is “Midnight Cami” and the deep burgundy is “Berry Naughty.” I really love rich colors for fall and can’t wait to wear these.
I’m starting a new eye cream ritual this week. This little jar from Clinique had a fair share of good reviews so I thought I’d give it a try. It is a little pricier than some eye creams, but the amount will last a long time for me. I chose this product since it is supposed to specifically target smile lines around the eyes–hello, crows feet! Results are said to begin showing within 4 weeks, but to allow 12 weeks for the most improvement. That said, I’ll have to get back to you on how well it works!
I love books that explore relationships and human nature. This novel focuses on a couples therapist who discovers that those closest to her have plenty of secrets to hide. If you were a fan of the novel Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, you should also enjoy this book. Full of suspense, mystery, and plenty of twists and turns, it held my attention until the very last page.
