Hi Friends and Happy Wednesday! I am linking up with Joyce for her last Hodgepodge of 2025! Let's get to it...
1.
Did you make resolutions or set goals for the year we're waving
goodbye? How did that work out for you? Will you set any goals for this
new year, new season, or new month? Share one or two if you'd like to
share.
I used to make resolutions and set goals and then I was over it- ha! In the last few years, I have chosen a Word for the year. I joke because last year (2025) it was Thrive and I said it should've been Survive...anyway I digress. I do have my 2026 Word chosen and I will be sharing that next week!
2. When did you have the most fun this year?
I guess planning for Diana's Junior Prom- I was so excited for her. We hosted breakfast and bouquet making for her and some friends and then family came over to see her all dressed up and heading out with her date. Spring is such a wonderful season and exciting in these parts and I would say I was pretty darn happy leading up to her big day!
3. What's a song or song lyric you'll associate with 2025? Tell us why.
"Cause I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my shit They said, "Babe, you gotta fake it till you make it" and I did Lights, camera, bitch smile, even when you wanna die"
Lyrics from "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" by Taylor Swift
Because business y'all...business
4. Best (or a favorite) bite of something delicious you tasted this year?
I guess I would have to say Chicken Milanese- recent fave. I enjoyed the one at Dreo. It is perfectly paired with an Aperol Spritz too ;)
5. What do you want to do more of in the new year? Less of?
I always love looking back on my years of blogging. This year, some posts got an extreme amount of hits...so much more than others...I always find it so interesting to look at the analytics...here are my Top 10 Posts of the year...listing from 10 and ending at #1...The Most Popular Post of the Year...Here we go...
Labor Day Weekend Full of Jaws 50th Anniversary Viewing- Birthday Celebrations- A Pool Party- A Catfish Mom- The Rail Trail- Dining Al Fresco and Making S'Mores at the Fire Pit!
Wow! I was so surprised to go over my numbers...had the most hits I ever have and the topics that got the most were surprising to me
First off, September was my biggest month yet...guess you all love all the buzz surrounding Senior Year and Friday Night Lights!
The posts about cheer and FNL got the most hits
Then hockey and softball
Followed by other every day life events like meal planning and career talk and memes.
What do you want to see more of next year? Comment here or email me privately at hbinda@yahoo.com
Thank you for following along-grateful for you all!
Hi Friends and Happy Monday! How was your Christmas if you celebrated? I am here with Sarah and today I am going back to Tuesday night and working my way forward...capturing our Christmas Week
Here is what it looked like....
Tuesday Night
Rob headed to dinner and then the Bruins game with Zach, Marshall and Tom- Christmas Present for the boys!
I took a jacuzzi bath for the first time in a long time and enjoyed watching the snow lightly fall...it was so cozy and warm and a great way to decompress after a pretty brutal year- ha!
When Diana got back from the WHS Hockey Game, she and Eva came to snuggle with me and we watched the last two episodes of the Taylor Swift documentary- SO GOOD- I want to watch the whole thing again!
Wednesday
Christmas Eve!
The girls and I headed out first thing to meet up with the Fournier girls for breakfast and our gift exchange...morning after the snow
The only pic I snagged a breakfast #fail
When we got home, I took out Remi and snapped a few pics because even I had to admit that it was very pretty
Then I got cooking
The Lobster Risotto
I also made crabbies, prepped the shrimp cocktail, made a dip and a Christmas Pull Apart Bread appetizer. Then I made asparagus and a salad. My mom made the famous Christmas Eve pasta.
We left for church a little before 3...even though mass didn't start until 4...we needed to reserve a bench for our fam
My girls!
Our beautiful church AND Monsignor Anthony came back to say mass- I was so excited! :)
On the way home, I snapped a pic of our very pretty town common
Then it was time to celebrate with all the fish! We had a house full...it was a different year and I loved it...the big kids came this year to celebrate instead of Christmas morning and I really enjoyed it...
A Gift we saved for this special night :)
Christmas Gift for the Girls Again- Dancing with the Stars!
We had such a great night!
Thursday
Merry Christmas!
It was a nice slow start....quiet morning....the girls opened their one gift from Santa...Ariana Grande tickets!
Then we enjoyed breakfast together with
Papa- I made a berry croissant breakfast bake that we all loved and
agreed to make for Easter again!
and we enjoyed some of the Andy Williams Christmas Special and White Christmas
Then while Papa went to get ready, the four of us and Remi hit the Rail Trail for a Christmas Morning walk! It was beautiful...and very slippery...I fell at one point...Eva fell at one point too...we had some laughs...it was great :)
Then it was time to head home and get ready to hit the road!
We got to Mimi and Papa's around 12:30 and enjoyed a quiet and delicious Christmas Day...Mimi always outdoes herself with an elegant meal
We headed home to crash around 5 and Diana was the only one to head out again...she enjoyed Christmas Night at the Fourniers...we went to bed! The post-Christmas exhaustion is real my friends
Friday
I was up bright and early and headed straight to heated yoga...felt so good!
When I got home, I showered....purged some clothes for donations and then got some work done.
For lunch, I threw together another "supermodel snack"- delish!
and took Eva to her doctor's appointment- grateful for our healthy girl!
When we got back, I got some more work done.
That night, Rob had a gig...Diana headed to the WHS Hockey Game with Friends and Eva did too...so just Mama and Remi were home and hunkering down. I watched some 20/20 but feel asleep pretty early...so exciting right? Ha!
Saturday
It had snowed again overnight so Rob got up to clean us up outside. I got some organizing and blogging done while enjoying my tea.
Then Diana and I hit the road and headed to Carbonneau's Bridal and Formal in Worcester MA- took us a little over an hour-not bad especially since it had snowed overnight!
We were going prom dress shopping- we wanted to start early- take our time and the plan was not even find her dress this day but guess what? WYKYK...she found the dress- spectacular- or as I was saying "outstanding" for Senior Prom....here are a few runner ups...it was hard to decide!
We highly recommend Carbonneaus in Worcester- wonderful selection -beautiful store and stellar service- they took such great care of us!
After that, we took a Christmas gift card and enjoyed a nice lunch together...Diana said "this is such a great day!" I couldn't agree more :)
Then we headed home. I started watching a series that Cass recommended on Netflix called "The C Word" with Laura Linney- it is really good! I got sucked in!
That night, Rob had a gig, Diana headed to the hockey game and I did too with Eva and her bestie. Although Windham lost to Salem, it was what we call here in New England "a nail bita"- very exciting game to watch.
Sunday
I was up bright and early....made my tea..headed to mass and then the gym. Met up with my Lea and we agreed to do mass and the gym together on Sundays- woohoo!
When I got home, we all got working together to de-Christmas and clean up. Diana convinced us to keep up the family room tree just with the lights on for some extra coziness this winter :)
I then did the meal planning and went grocery shopping. Diana headed to work and Eva and Rob headed to the last WHS hockey game of the weekend.
Last night, I made chicken enchilada soup (enjoyed mine with these protein chips ftw!)
and we watched some more of "The C Word." I think Rob is sucked in now too
BTW this is a GREAT snack...cure for your sweet tooth while getting in an awesome punch of protein!
