May has been absolute chaos in the best and worst ways. Work has been busy, the kids have had approximately one million activities, summer is rapidly approaching, and I’ve been trying to keep all the plates spinning without losing my mind in the process. It has definitely been one of those seasons where I feel pulled in a hundred directions at once.

At the same time, this month has also been really fun. There have been a lot of little moments and experiences lately that have made me feel really grateful for this stage of life, even in the middle of the chaos. Off Campus absolutely consumed my personality for a solid couple of weeks, as you’ll read below, but there have been so many good little things lately beyond just what made this list.

So I’m trying to stay focused on that. Life feels full right now in every sense of the word, and while I would love slightly fewer calendar notifications, I also know these are the kinds of seasons I’ll probably look back on one day and miss.

Now on to this month’s Little Things!

1. Off Campus

I saw they were making the Off Campus series into a TV show, so naturally I decided I needed to read the books first. Well…I binged the first three books in a single week and was completely obsessed. I loved the romance, I loved the character backstories, I loved all of it. I also love a good book-to-screen adaptation. One of my favorite things is to watch something after reading the books and pick apart all the changes they made, what worked, what didn’t, what characters feel right, all of it. And I genuinely think this might be the best adaptation I’ve ever seen.

I ended up watching the entire eight-episode season in one day when it came out, which I immediately regretted because now it’s over and I cannot stop thinking about it. When I tell you this series has its hooks in me, I mean it. I think part of the reason is because it feels incredibly nostalgic. It brings me right back to my early 20s, falling in love with Mike, spending time with your friends before kids and responsibilities completely take over your brain. It’s just fun in the best possible way.

I also think they somehow made the TV series even better than the books. The changes they made to the storylines actually made more sense, and the male characters are more emotionally intelligent, respectful, and self-aware than they were in the books, which I loved. The casting is perfect too. Every single actor feels exactly right for their role.

Apparently I’m not the only millennial mom currently wandering around absolutely lovesick over this series. So fair warning, if you do not want to spend the next week emotionally attached to fictional hockey players, maybe skip this one. Otherwise…your welcome.

2. Taco Slop

We have officially dubbed Taco Tuesday “taco slop night” in our house, because that’s essentially what it is. A bunch of taco-adjacent components thrown into a bowl in whatever combination makes sense at the time. And somehow it hits every single time.

This is genuinely one of my favorite ways to eat a balanced plate without overthinking it. Lean ground beef with taco seasoning is perfection on its own, then you can add whatever you have. Beans, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted vegetables, lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, cottage cheese, salsa, tortilla chips, tortillas…there are no rules here. It’s just a balanced bowl with taco flavors and somehow it always tastes amazing.

I probably eat taco slop for lunch multiple times a week because we always do tacos on Tuesdays, and it’s such a hack. High protein, high volume, super satisfying, and easy to adjust based on what you need or what sounds good that day. If you follow my meal plans, you already know taco slop season never ends around here.

3. Claw Clip Messy Bun

I do not have the kind of thick hair that naturally looks cute in a claw clip situation. Most of the time my hair just goes flat and sad immediately. But I recently found a TikTok hair hack that has completely changed the game for my day-three hair.

Basically, you put your hair in a super high ponytail, but on the last pull-through you leave it in a little looped bun instead of pulling the ends all the way through. Then you take a claw clip and clip it right over the ponytail holder while kind of pushing the bun forward a little bit. Somehow it creates the illusion that I have way more hair than I actually do, and the shape of it looks so much cuter than my normal messy bun attempts.

I’ve been wearing my hair like this constantly lately, especially on wash day three, and I’m obsessed. It’s one of those weirdly simple hacks that makes you feel way more put together with almost zero effort.

4. Kids Colorsoft Kindle

We got the boys the Colorsoft Kindle Kids for Christmas last year, and it has genuinely been one of the best purchases we’ve made for them. Our kids are obsessed with graphic novels and can sit and read for hours, which I absolutely love. But constantly trying to keep up with library trips and physical books was becoming a lot.

We also keep screens pretty limited in our house because James is neurodivergent and traditional screens can be really hard for him to regulate around. That’s what makes these Kindles such a sweet spot for us. They feel completely different than handing over an iPad, but they still give the kids something engaging and calming, especially while traveling or sitting at restaurants.

You can check out graphic novels and books through Libby and send them directly to the Kindle, plus the kids’ subscription library has tons of options they can browse and download themselves. I have truly been amazed by how much use we’ve gotten out of these and how helpful they’ve been in moments where we needed a distraction but didn’t want to rely on regular screens.

5. Caffeinated Electrolytes

Typically, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend getting your caffeine directly through an electrolyte packet, but I have to admit…these caffeinated Cure electrolytes have become one of my favorite recent discoveries.

I work out at 5 a.m., and I simply cannot raw dog that experience without a little caffeine in my system. At the same time, I really don’t love most pre-workout formulas because they tend to have a bunch of added ingredients and giant doses of B vitamins that make me feel weird. This has been the perfect middle ground for me because I get a little caffeine plus electrolytes first thing in the morning without needing extra coffee or a full pre-workout.

I also think these are going to be amazing for travel this summer because there is not always coffee readily available when you wake up in hotels or Airbnb situations, and I am not emotionally prepared for that kind of hardship. If you want to try them, I do have a 20% off discount code with Cure. You can use code ADWELLNESS for 20% off.

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And that’s May. Some practical, some completely unnecessary, but all things that made life feel a little more fun, easier, or enjoyable this month.

Also, if you’re looking for something from a past Little Things post, I’ve tried to organize and link as much as possible over on my Amazon storefront so everything is easier to find in one place.

Here’s the link: Amber Frauenholtz’s Amazon Page

See y’all next month for another roundup of random things I’m currently making my personality.