5 Things I Don't Leave Home Without

Outfit

When I leave the house, I'm either packed for a month or for five minutes; there is no in-between. That's why I own very few mid-size handbags. I either have hand sanitizer and a lip gloss, or I'm carrying 10 lip glosses, a first-aid kit, five different snacks, and more.

Anyway, I thought I would share 5 things that I rarely ever leave home without. They make the cut whether I am running to the grocery store or on a week-long vacation. 

MagSafe Battery

I'm not someone who runs out to buy the latest technology or needs the 'newest'; however, as someone who heavily relies on my phone for my job, I truly need a new phone, and I've been holding out for the newest iPhone, which is expected to be released this fall. For the last 8ish months, I've just been dealing with it. Among other issues, my phone dies after about an hour of use, which is frustrating. 

Because of that, it's important to me to make sure I have a fully charged portable battery with me. I love how small this one is. I've even been able to fit it into my smallest clutches. It charges quickly with a standard USB-C cable, and I love having two when I travel so I can keep one charged and ready to go while the other is in use.

I'm hoping that once I finally get a new phone, I won't have to be quite so diligent about this!

Mini Hairbrush 

I usually carry this mini hairbrush, or at least a comb. The hairbrush doesn't always fit in my smallest handbags, but it fits in most! My hair has a mind of its own, so something to tame it is necessary! I even keep one in my car, so I truly do have a brush at all times. It's especially nice to have after a workout or driving with the windows down! Also, I cannot get over how expensive the MP brushes have become. They've always been pricey, but they must have had some price increases in recent years (like many other things, sigh)! I don't think you need the name brand. Is it nice to have, sure, but I think something like this is likely as nice or close enough! 

Lip Plump

I am a lip gloss gal through and through. I often fit as many as I can into even a small clutch. I like to have options! The one lip product I likely have on hand, regardless of handbag size, is a hybrid of gloss, stick, and balm. You get the shine of a gloss, the color payoff of a lipstick, and the creamy feel of a balm. It's truly the best of all the lip product worlds. I have many colors, but the two I wear most are Poppy and Pink Poppy! 

Spray Hand Sanitizer

This is my go-to hand sanitizer and has been for many years. It smells wonderful, sprays evenly so you get the perfect amount on your hands, and dries quickly without drying out my skin. 

Flat Hair Clip

I cannot take hair in my face. Even when I am just sitting at home working on my computer, I have at least some of my hair pulled out of my face. The flat clips are especially nice when driving or sitting, especially when you have something behind your head, like lounging on a chair by the pool. I like that this lighter color kind of blends into my hair and matches with any outfit. This is the medium size, which is the perfect size for me to pull back half of my hair. 

You can find me on ShopMy, where I link all of my outfits, favorite finds, home decor, beauty, and more! I am constantly updating it with the latest! You can also follow me on the LTK app. Plus, you are able to access all of my posts, here, on my website! 

This content may contain affiliate links; when you click the link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no cost to you).

Roasted Tomatoes With Cottage Cheese

I am not a big cottage cheese lover; however, I have gotten myself to like the Good Culture brand. I also think the Friendship brand is good when you can't find the GC brand, since it's often sold out! 

I am picky about cottage cheese, only liking savory varieties. I can't stomach cottage cheese with things like fruit. I think it's a texture thing! So I've been trying to find interesting ways to eat cottage cheese in a savory way because it is such an easy way to add a good dose of protein to a meal! 

One of the ways I have been loving lately is roasted tomatoes and cottage cheese. It makes for the easiest lunch or side dish and is packed with summertime flavor. 

This isn't really even worth a recipe, as it is incredibly quick and easy, but whenever I share it, many of you ask for one. I am not one to measure anything, so I'll give you the ingredients, and you can eyeball it all, based on your flavor preferences. 

Also, if you all have any other savory cottage cheese recipes that you enjoy, send them my way! I often just load up the cottage cheese with cracked black pepper and pickles and eat it that way, which I assume won't be popular with most people, ha! 

You'll need:

- Grape tomatoes 

- Garlic cloves

- White Onion

- Olive Oil

- Balsamic vinegar

- Hot honey

- Black Pepper

- Salt

- Italian Seasoning

- Fresh Basil 

- Red Pepper Flakes

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. 

I use one large carton of whole grape tomatoes. If you can find the mix of colors, I personally prefer that. I roughly chop one small white onion into chunks. I add several cloves of garlic, cut in half or quarters depending on the size of the clove. You just want the garlic small enough to cook evenly with the onion, but not so small that it burns. 

When it comes to seasonings, I am very generous. Obviously, omit the red pepper flakes if you are sensitive to spice. I love garlic, so I add many cloves, but if you don't, personalize it to your preferences. The garlic almost caramelizes in the oven, and the big chunks are so delicious! 

For the marinade, I just add everything to a bowl with the tomato, garlic, and onion mixture, but you could mix it all in a small bowl first and then pour it over the tomato mixture to taste-test to your preference. 

I coat the tomatoes with olive oil, but make sure your olive oil is suitable for high heat. I add a big splash of balsamic vinegar (this is my absolute favorite). I add a dash of hot honey to cut the acidity of tomatoes. If you are sensitive to heat, use regular honey. Truly, just use a tiny bit, because tomatoes are already naturally sweet. 

Mix everything together until everything is evenly coated. 

This is a quarter sheet pan. 

Lay it out on a baking sheet as shown above. I like to use parchment paper because there is a lot of leftover juice in the pan, and you want to make sure you capture it all. It's easy to just lift the parchment off the pan and drain everything into a storage bowl. 

Once the oven is preheated to 400, bake for 20 minutes. 

This is the parchment paper I prefer. It's supposed to be unbleached, chlorine-free, and PFAS-free. I'm not someone who lives a fully non-toxic life, but if I learn something and have the power to improve what we use in our house *easily*, I will do it. I learned that some parchment paper contains PFAS, so I bought this brand instead. Unfortunately, it is pricier than some brands.

After about 20 minutes, it should look like this. I take it out, mix it up, and put it back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes. So your total cook time should be around 30-40ish minutes, depending on your preference. The biggest thing is to make sure the garlic has time to fully cook. You can tell if it's easy to smash with a fork! 

After another 10-15 minutes, your tomato mixture should look like this. See the juice pooled in the bottom? That's what you want to make sure you collect. There is so much flavor in that. I often will use that liquid as salad dressing. It's so good over arugula with the tomato mixture and lots of freshly grated parm! 

I add it to a storage bowl, and you can keep it in your refrigerator for several days. You don't have to heat the mixture up again; it's delicious chilled, too. Technically, you could use an immersion blender and basically make marinara sauce, ha! 

I mainly love it over cottage cheese, and I top it with fresh basil. It's the perfect addition to summer salads with some roasted corn, artichokes, and grated Parmesan. I also love it on toast! If you don't like cottage cheese, you could do ricotta on toast with the tomato mixture! You can also make a 'baked' caprese salad and use the mixture with fresh mozzarella and basil. 

You can find me on ShopMy, where I link all of my outfits, favorite finds, home decor, beauty, and more! I am constantly updating it with the latest! You can also follow me on the LTK app. Plus, you are able to access all of my posts, here, on my website! 

This content may contain affiliate links; when you click the link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no cost to you).

Weekend Wish List

Basket Charm// Pink Top// Bezel Earrings

Gold Tassel Bag// Sweater Cardigan

Sunglasses

Swimsuit// Scallop Tote// Raffia Tote

Some items of note... 

- I love seeing all of these basket charms coming out from various brands. This Basket Charm is particularly cute! My code is SYDNEY15.

- I absolutely love these Bezel Earrings. The mix of colors is gorgeous, and the style is elegant, but you could still wear them more casually, too. 

- These Sunglasses  look promising and are under $50! 

- I've long been eyeing this Sweater Cardigan, and they just added it in this beautiful pale blue shade! 

V-Neck Sweater// Peptide Lip Treatment// White Skirt

Striped Shirtdress// Navy Dress

Bandana Pouch// Martini Beaded Bag Charm// Sheer Bralette

Some items of note... 

- I love all things Irene Forte, so I am very anxious to try the Peptide Lip Treatment!

- This Sheer Bralette comes in many colors and looks so comfortable. I just got a code, SYDNEY15, for 15% off. 

- This Martini Beaded Bag Charm is so fun! I think it would be great to wrap a jar of olives in tissue and use the charm as a bow. It would make such a cute gift for a 'tini lover! 

- I love the pleating details on this Navy Dress. My code is SUMMERWIND10. 

See last week's Weekend Wish List, here!

For your weekend reading, here are blog posts you may have missed from this week:

- A Brand I'm Loving

- July Amazon Picks

- Lately

You can find me on ShopMy, where I link all of my outfits, favorite finds, home decor, beauty, and more! I am constantly updating it with the latest! You can also follow me on the LTK app. Plus, you are able to access all of my posts, here, on my website! 

This content may contain affiliate links; when you click the link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no cost to you).

Lately

A cozy morning thunderstorm with a second cup of coffee! 

My sister and cousin, we are all wearing the same earrings!

Henry loves to snuggle up in my clothes. It's adorable. 

Date night at the symphony! We saw Mad About the Movies, where they played many popular movie scores! It was excellent! 

I love Heinz Hall, home to our symphony. I love the domes on the outside of the building. They remind me of Wedgwood. 

Photos from my 'vintage' point-and-shoot camera. My code is SYDNEY7CS.

I hope you are all having a great week so far! It was a slow start, but today is busy, and we have quite a few plans this weekend filling up our calendar. This past weekend, we had a date night at the symphony, hosted family for my dad's and aunt's birthdays, and had a fun pool day with friends. My social battery was ready for a recharge, so it was nice to have a slow start to this week without much going on. We are headed to a friend's pool party this weekend, and I am looking forward to it! 

I cannot believe we are nearing the end of July. This is the first year where I can truly say I don't want summer to end! I am normally not a summer gal, but something about this past winter changed me, and I'd much rather have this than winter. Though I do love autumn and all that it brings- clothing, food, colors, etc. I'm not ready to shop for fall clothing. I'm still very much into linen, crisp white dresses, ice-cold drinks, and sweatshirts in the air conditioning. 

We actually had the most picture-perfect day yesterday. The smoke from the wildfires was so bad, but it totally cleared yesterday, and it was cool and sunny! I had the windows open in my house and car! My mom and I went on a long walk in the morning, and then my husband and I went on another walk after dinner. I'm so easy to please- good weather paired with a long walk with my people makes me so happy! 

We head to the lake later next week, and I am so looking forward to it. We are just going for 10 days this year, but my cousins are coming, and I am so excited about that. Next Friday is also our 5th wedding anniversary, but we will celebrate it a bit later at Old Edwards! Yay! 

Necklace

Pullover// Leggings// Tote

Similar Shirtdress// Tote// Necklaces (use code SYDNEY15)

Cardigan// Shorts (on sale)

Top// Pants

Dress (use code SYDNEY15)

Wearing: I've started to pack for the lake, so lots of my current faves are already in piles, so I've been leaning on casual outfits and old faves this week! 

You can find me on ShopMy, where I link all of my outfits, favorite finds, home decor, beauty, and more! I am constantly updating it with the latest! You can also follow me on the LTK app. Plus, you are able to access all of my posts, here, on my website! 

Eating: The perfect summer meal! We love grilling corn on the cob rather than boiling it. it! It has such a rich flavor!

Reading: Can you all recommend a few books that I should download on my Kindle for vacation?! I'm hoping for something light. I read the oddest young adult book last year, The Cure, and it was so quick and easy to blow through. I read it in like 24 hours! I've read most of the Elin Hildebrand books, love that vibe too! I also love WWII-era books like All The Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, The Book Theif etc. Definitely not light, but it's a genre I tend to read a lot of! 

Sale: The Lake Pajamas Sale is going on now through Friday! They typically do 3 sales per year. One sitewide sale in November during Cyber Week, one sale in February, and this sale in July! So this is their last sale before the holiday season! My fave pajamas and one of my favorite things to gift anyone and everyone! 

The Nordstrom Sale is still rocking and rolling. As I have said in my blog post last week, it is just sooo not wowing me this year! A lot is usually sold out by now, but I'm not seeing that as the case this year, so I wonder if many share my sentiment.

Watching: Very fun watching this Homeworthy house tour of a fellow Pittsburgher. The designer has impeccable taste and talent! I love the collection of cast-iron dog doorstops! 

Lipstick (in September)// Gloss (in Pink Beet)

Loving: One of my favorite lip combos as of late is this lipstick (in September) and then this gloss in 'pink beet'! It's just a classic mauve-y pink that gives me a nice flush of color. Most of the time when I am wearing this, you all message and ask what the lip combo is! 

Wanting: This is such a cool ring! The coolest bandana! This white dress is dreamy. Eyeing these jeans, the fit looks perfect! We have a long way until velvet coat season (which I'm glad, let's keep nice weather for as long as possible!!!), but I am soooo tempted to buy this velvet coat in July. It's that good. This cable knit cashmere throw blanket is the perfect Ralph Lauren look for less! This is a gorgeous dupioni wrap skirt. Such a cute little colorful basket bag with a nice price tag, too! A beautiful jacket. I love the navy trim. A great silk bandana scarf! A cute swim cover-up that comes in many beautiful colors. I'm not sure I could pull these jeans off, but I love the look! A cute and unique raffia bag under $100. An adorable makeup bag that is just $20! Such a cute little basket charm (my code SYDNEY15 should work). A Doen look-alike for 1/4 the price! These totes are really having a moment. Many prints are out of stock, but I'm holding out to see if more pop back in stock! These bracelets are so pretty, and I love how they look stacked. They look like fine jewelry and would be perfect to wear while traveling, or just every day. This is a new-to-me brand! I love a backless dress, and this one is timeless! A unique and beautiful belt, albeit pricey. A very cool activewear brand that I need to try! The cutest little bag charm for a martini-lover! This is a great, classic western-style denim shirt without being too costumey-western. Love the pleating on the bodice of this dress. These Roger Vivier wedges are gorgeous and on major sale! A fun polka dot dress! Beautiful pants and they look comfortable, too! These sunglasses are under $50, I really like the shape of them and the same with this pair! I love a novelty handbag and as soon as I saw this, my jaw dropped. It's a bit pricey, but it is such a showstopper! This skincare kit is on major sale for just $60- so many great products to try! You can get your pet on this ring- so fun! A pretty and classic striped shirtdress. 

Pittsburgh: We hadn't been to Alta Via in a while, and I forgot how good it is. The pickle platter (top right) was on special for Picklesburgh, and I wish they'd permanently put it on the menu because it was SO good. I'd go back just for that! The little green balls are actually pickled green grape tomatoes. They were amazing. I had never had a pickled tomato before, but now I am a big fan. 

Amazon Rec: I shared my July Amazon picks on Tuesday!

You can find more of my Amazon favorites, here on my Amazon page where I am constantly updating it with all of my finds and top picks from home, beauty, fashion, and more!

Quoting: 'Nothing is stronger than gentleness.' - Abraham Lincoln // See more of my favorites, here.

This content may contain affiliate links; when you click the link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission (at no cost to you).