Hello and happy Friday, I hope you had a wonderful week! It’s time for another round of “Currently“!

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Time and place: 5pm in my gorgeous hotel room at The Little America (I never want to leave!) in Salt Lake City, Utah. I’m here for Snap Conference with my fabulous partners at The Laughing Cow. We’re helping attending bloggers create snack pairings with a fully stocked snack bar complete with lots of cheese (I think I’ve had 28 wedges in the past 24 hours – you do the math.) If you’re attending, come see me sometime through Saturday!

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Experiencing: Beach waves (pardon the serial killer expression in my eyes – a beauty blogger, I am not!) I have really fine hair, but lots of it, so it keeps a curl for 15 seconds before going flat and stringy. BUT, I finally found a curling combo that actually WORKS!

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I ordered this curling wand on Amazon and paired it with this spray and I’m telling you – waves/curls (depending on how much you comb it out) for 12+ hours!! I’d been trying to achieve the look with my flat iron and it just wasn’t working – a curling wand is where it’s at. It doesn’t even take that long to do my whole head – 15 minutes or so? And it lasts all day with hairspray? Total game changer.

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Craving: Greek Marinated Flank Steak + My Favorite Party Hummus Plate. My jaw hit the floor when I saw this spread from Jessica from How Sweet It Is. This would be a great to set out at happy hour on the porch with some cold white wine.

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Awaiting: Spring blooms. I can’t believe how colorful Salt Lake is right now – tulips everywhere you turn! We’ve got a lot of green in central Iowa, but I’m really looking forward to our tulips and flowering trees to burst open, like the picture at the top of this post which I took a couple years ago. Hopefully by Mother’s Day.

Reading: The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey. I needed a good book to read on the plane and thought this one would satisfy my pioneer-loving soul. Holy cow, most boring book I have ever read, and I LOVE 1,000+ page snoozeville historical fiction novels (Pillars of the Earth, I’m looking at you!) I like non-fiction history too, but after reading 20+ pages on mule breeding in the 1800s in this one, I had to wave the white flag. What are you reading right now? 

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Hating: Spring colds. Lincoln is finally feeling better (no more night terrors – hooray! I think they were tied to his fever, poor thing.) Despite all our best efforts though, I caught his bug then Ben did too. I feel like everyone I know is sick – so ready for summer.

Loving: Manicures. Growing up with two brothers I never got into anything more girly than Barbies (hence the reason why it’s taken me three decades to learn how to properly curly my hair!) like makeup or keeping my nails painted, but every time I DO treat myself to a manicure, I’m reminded how good they are for the soul. Especially as a Mom, it’s nice to do something to pump yourself up every now and then!

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Cooking: Shrimp (or chicken) Wild Rice Skillet. I’ve been finding myself turning to this easy dish for dinner several times a month – really anytime I have a couple extra tomatoes on hand, as I’ve usually got the rest of the ingredients in the fridge and pantry. Lately I’ve been using chicken instead of shrimp because we always have a pack in the fridge, plus Lincoln will eat it too. Full of fresh vegetables and whole grains, and SO delicious, it’s definitely one of our favorites!

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Seeking: Swimsuit. Ready or not, swim suit season is coming – eek! I saw an ad for Mod Cloth’s swimsuits on Instagram the other day it totally worked…I immediately hopped over to the site and found some really adorable options. I especially like this one. Lots of patterns to hide, well, everything. ?

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Eating: La Victoria Salsa Verde. I was craving salsa verde something fierce last week so I picked up a bottle of La Victoria Salsa Verde, which is gluten-free. Holy cow, sooooo good – I ate an entire bottle in three…ok two days. I could only find the chunky kind so I pulsed it out in my food processor then poured it back into the jar, because chunks.

Crushing (on): Let’s Stay Home Print. I think I told you about the Linen & Lace Etsy shop in my last Friday Favorites? I followed them on Instagram, where they were having a flash sale on some of their pieces, and swooped up this “Let’s Stay Home” sign. As an introvert, it describes me well. ? I love it!

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Pick one “Currently…” category and fill us in!