Things I’m Loving Friday #603

Hello, hello! A three-day weekend us upon us and while our initial plans to head to the mountains with friends got postponed until October, Ryan and I threw together a last-minute plan for the weekend that should be a fun one. We grabbed a deal on a room at Great Wolf Lodge and also hope to take the boys apple picking, as a handful of orchards in the area open this weekend. Do you guys have any plans for the next few days?

As for last week, all of our fall activities began so it was a little taste of what fall in our house will look like on a weekly basis with school, sports and piano in full swing. Thankfully it all feels managable and the boys are into it! But now it’s time for my weekly roundup of favorites, Things I’m Loving Friday style. Let’s do this!

Things I’m Loving Friday

• Sticky Notes: A PBF Weekly Newsletter!!!

How many of you have signed up for blog post emails and never received them or randomly stopped receiving them without warning? A LOT, judging by the emails, DMs and comments I’ve received over the years. So I’m doin’ it! I created a newsletter you can subscribe to via Substack that will actually be reliable and that will serve as a “home base” of sorts where you can see a roundup of any blog content you may have missed that week, links and finds I’ve shared on social media, meal ideas and anything else my mile-a-minute brain feels like sharing at any given time. I’m calling the newsletter “Sticky Notes” and my goal is for it to serve as a hub you can visit if you’ve taken some time away from the blog or social media or when you might simply want a quick overview of anything you may have missed! I hope it’s a helpful resource and I’m also very open to your feedback if there’s anything you would like to see me include in Sticky Notes!

• Blog Talk Friend Catch Up Time with Brittay and Lexi

A highlight of my week occurred on Wednesday morning when Brittany, Lexi and I got together for several hours. I first connected with Brittany through the blog world when we moved to the Charlotte area over a decade ago (she’s since moved to South Carolina) and Lexi and I became fast friends when she moved to the area from Boston four years ago. I value our time together so much from a work perspective but also from a friendship perspective. Blogging is a weird but wonderful job and it’s so incredibly helpful to be able to connect in-person with women who do what I do and openly share, encourage, root each other on 100% and brainstorm together. I always leave our time together feeling so energized. These two are every bit as positive and genuine as they come acoss online!

• Stickerbox

Stickerbox was the hit of Chase’s birthday this year but all 3 boys love it and think it’s the coolest! (It honestly blew our adult minds as well!) You tell Stickerbox out loud what design you want it to make and within seconds it prints out a crazy-accurate sticker depicting the sticker design you requested. Our boys get very specific with their requests — we’re talking “make a sticker of a sailfish jumping over a little fluffy dog” and it does it time and time again. It’s wild and has been an instant hit with their friends, too. They’ve created stickers to decorate just about everything but especially love putting them on their school folders. Keep this one on your radar if you’re looking for a unique gift this holiday season. (It’s currently $20 off for Labor Day weekend!)

• Summer Fridays Lip Stain

Holy heck this Summer Fridays lip stain is LEGIT. It’s everything I want in a lip stain: Precise, extremely long-lasting (through eating and drinking, too!), pigmented enough to bring my dull, lifeless lips back to life and it doesn’t feather/bleed out into my lip lines (thank you, aging). The tip has two sides — one is more pointed for a super-precise line while the other side is a little feathered for a softer application. I prefer the precise line for the outside of my lips and the feathered side to shade them in and have truly been blown away by just how long color stays on my lips when I use this stain. My favorites are the rosette shade for a deeper color when I’m going out or wearing a little more makeup while I prefer the slipper shade when I am not wearing makeup or just want a more subtle pop of light color on my lips. I like it best with a little lip balm on top. So pretty!

• Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

Genre: Contemporary Romance / My rating: A

I adore Annabel Monaghan as an author. Her books are the perfect blend of light and breezy but with a few nuggets that feel a little deeper. Her dialog between characters is full of witty banter that adds a lot to the entertainment factor of her stories and often makes me chuckle as I read. As much as I loved Nora Goes Off Script (it’s one of my favorite beach reads!), I’d rank Dolly All The Time right up there with it! The book follow Dolly, a woman in her late 30s, as she returns to her hometown of Whitfield with her teenage son to help prevent her dad and brother from losing their family home. Ever the helpful first born daughter, Dolly is used to playing the role of helper inside of her family unit and out. When she crosses paths with Stewart Whitfield, yes the same “Whitfield” for which her hometown is named, and he needs her help, she figures out a way to help him, but also help her family in the process. Only their arrangement begins to feel increasinly precarious as feelings begin to develop, feelings Dolly assured herself she would keep in check, no matter how handsome and surprisngly thoughtful Stewart Whitfield is turning out to be.

• Weekly Looks

Hot on the heels of the outfit roundup I shared last week, here are a few of the looks I wore this week!

Flannel Top: Lands’ End / Joggers: Z Supply / Sneakers: Nike / Bag: Clare V. / Tank: Target

Pants: RUTI (code PBFINGERS15 saves 15%) / Top: Target (but no longer available) / Sandals: beeks (PBFINGERS10 saves 10%) / Bag: Clare V.

Bodysuit Tank: Nuuds / Skirt: Target but old / Sandals: beeks (PBFINGERS10 saves 10%) / Bag: Walmart

• Labor Day Weekend Sales

Sharing a roundup of some Labor Day weekend sales that caught my eye!

• 30% off SPANX Sale: Their air essentials fabric is a dream! And my beloved hoodie is on MAJOR sale — originally $110, on sale for $34.30!!! It’s oversized so you can absolutely size down but I like my true size small.
• 20% off BruMate with code LDW20: I swear by their new Era Flip tumbler. Cupholder friendly, keeps my water cold and totally leakproof with a straw that collapses.
• 25% off Albion Fit with code LD25JULIE: Some of my favs: These trouser pants (see them on here), these pull-on pants (see them on here + here) and I just ordered these and these!
• 20% off Supergoop! + free Glow Gloss with orders $70+ and keychain topper with orders $80+: A good time to restock sunscreen for fall sports + sidelining spectating! Their Play Everyday SPF50 has been our family’s go-to for years and I love the spray sunscreen for easy on-the-go reapplication.
• 20% – $100+ off Canopy: We love our Canopy air purifier (normally $199 and currently on sale for $99!)  and I ordered their bedside humidifier back in July for the dry winter months (and to hopefully help with Chase’s winter bloody noses — finger’s crossed!). While I was sold on all the sciency stuff behind a humidifer what really pushed me over the edge to this one was that the parts are dishwasher safe. Canopy, you get me!
• 40% off + 70% off Clearance at Lands’ End: Sale includes my favorite packable raincoat + their beloved canvas totes + I have and love this plaid button-down (such a great layering piece)
• Up to 40% off Ruggable: We have them all over our house! We have the Kamran Coral runner and mats in our kitchen and mudroom, the Kamran Ivory rug in our living room and also as mats in our bathrooms and the Piper Plaid runner in our hallway.
• 30% off Ann Taylor: I was sent this lightweight tie sweater (so pretty and feminine) and these pants + this top and love them together for a polished yet incredibly comfortable look.

 

• Friday Flashbacks

Basil Seed Pudding (I’ve made this for my self 4 of the past 5 days!)

Turkey Vegetable Meatloaf (Forever one of our family’s favorites!)