Things I’m Loving Friday #390

Halloween weekend is here!! Are you guys dressing up? Any fun plans on the agenda? We’ll be trick-or-treating with friends in a local neighborhood and I’m so excited to see the boys all dressed up in their costumes. Ryan and I maaay have matching costumes because we can’t resist the opportunity to dress up as a family while the boys are still young enough to think it’s cool.

Aside from Halloween, we’ll also be celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary this Saturday! And by “celebrating” I mean we’ll be spending the day as a family without any major plans on the agenda but that was what we both wanted so we’re looking forward to it. 11 years has truly flown by!

I’m sure I’ll have a weekend recap to share with you guys on the blog on Monday but, until then, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a very Happy Halloween! Now let’s dive into this week’s roundup of Friday favs!

Things I’m Loving Friday

• Wrightsville Beach Weekend

(Overalls: This is the ripped black pair. I sized up and was glad I did. / Shoes: Madewell / Ribbed Tank Top: An old Aerie find but the fit is similar to this $8 high-neck Target tank.) 

Earlier this week, I shared a recap of Ryan’s first Half Ironman but didn’t go into much detail about the rest of our weekend in Wrightsville Beach and felt like it deserved a highlight here today! Wrightsville Beach is located east of Wilmington and is about 4 hours from our home in the Charlotte area. It’s such a charming little beach town and now that we’ve been, I cannot believe we didn’t make the drive over sooner.

We stayed in a beach townhouse off Lumina Avenue (Station One condos) and loved the walkability of the area. Aside from driving to and from the Ironman-related events, we never used our car and easily walked to restaurants, shops and the pier from our rental. I love the way the restaurants within walking distance of the beach all felt relatively unique to the area and we had a great time trying new-to-us spots. Our favorites from the weekend included Tower 7, a Baja Mexican-inspired restaurant, The Original Ice Cream Stand (the graham cracker ice cream was amazing!) and The Workshop, a local coffee, sandwich and smoothie shop! Chase would also say the Trolly Stop was a favorite since their hotdogs were “the best he ever had in the whole land.”

When we were wrapped up in race-related events, we spent most of our time at the beach and meandering along Lumina Avenue to the pier. The boys loved walking out onto Johnnie Mercers Fishing Pier mainly because it was so high above the ocean (so cool!) and there were a lot of people out fishing who happily showed the boys the Spanish mackerel they caught. To be honest, I feel like we only began to scratch the surface on Wrightsville Beach and I suppose that just means our family has to return again soon!

On Sunday, before heading back home, we promised the boys “one last morning of vacation” and drove over to Kure Beach to check out the North Carolina Fort Fisher Aquarium. The aquarium was a gem of a place and we spent two hours looking at the various marine life and playing on the outside playground.

We thought the aquarium fun ended inside and had no idea there was such an awesome playground and boardwalk outside that ended up entertaining our crew for quite a while. It was the perfect stop to get some energy out before making the four-hour drive back home.

• The Ironman Community

I have to give a shout out to the Ironman community one more time! Earlier this week, I received a message on Instagram of a screenshot of a photo of our family at the finish line of Ryan’s first Half Ironman. The screenshot was of the above photo which was posted in an Ironman 70.3 North Carolina Facebook group above a caption said the man who posted the image was trying to find our family because his wife took the picture and wanted us to have it. How thoughtful is that!? I requested to join the group so I could thank them both and really appreciate having this photo to help us remember such an awesome day!

• Seasonal ALDI Candles

The holiday season is nearly upon us which means ALDI’s holiday candles are just beginning to trickle into their stores. As Rhett and I were grocery shopping together on Wednesday morning, I couldn’t resist throwing a few of their fall candles in my cart for our family and the boys’ teachers as a little Halloween surprise. They smell fantastic and I love the way ALDI has really stepped up their game aesthetically and makes their seasonal candles look beautiful, too!

Remember this gem from last holiday season? I’m crossing my fingers they’ll be back with the Anthropologie Volcano candle dupes again this year!

• October 2021 Top 10

In an effort to be better at taking the time to analyze some of my analytics, a few months ago I began sharing a monthly recap in my Friday posts highlighting my top 10 blog posts and your top 10 favorite finds from the blog + Instagram. Hopefully this will also help you check out some blog posts you might have missed or help you easily locate an item I’ve mentioned in the past that got buried in blog/social media mayhem.

Here’s a peek at was you guys liked best in October 2021!

Top Posts

Note: This roundup does not include Things I’m Loving Friday posts. 

• A Shift in My Fitness Mindset
• Orange Juice Marinated Chicken Thighs
• Hamilton At Last
• Almond Farm Pumpkin Patch, A Wedding and Finally Feels Like Fall
• Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
• My Simple Skincare Routine
• Easy Cheesy Crockpot Chicken Corn Chili
• Turkey Vegetable Meatloaf
• Winning Cornbread Recipe
• Instant Pot Butternut Squash Chicken Curry

Top 10 Favorite Finds

• Black Bodysuit (Love the neckline on this affordable Amazon find.)
• Custom Pet Embroidery (The birthday gift I got for Ryan of Sadie. We were blown away!)
• Long-Length Flannel Shirt (So comfy and I love that the longer length covers my booty when I wear it with leggings.)
• Hyper Clear Brightening Vitamin C Serum (One of the only products I’ve tried that visibly reduced dark spots on my face.)
• WAYF Gathered Top (Love this one with high-waisted jeans or a flowy maxi skirt for fall.)
• Outfoxed! Game (A collaborative game Chase adores. You work together to catch a thief.)
• Picasso Tiles 100-Piece Race Track (A Chase and Ryder fav!)
• Open Heart Necklace (A small-shop version of my open heart necklace that’s been sold out for months.)
• Children’s Knives (Our boys use these to “help” me cut softer foods like zucchini, bell peppers, strawberries, etc.)
• Freshly Picked Moccasins (My favorite baby shoes for little ones just beginning to walk. All of our boys have worn these.)

• Friday Flashbacks

Halloween Spider Cupcakes (Something fun to make this weekend!)

Pumpkin Spice Cake Mix Cupcakes (The easiest semi-homemade pumpkin cupcakes on the planet. Only two ingredients!)

Question of the Day

What is one thing that made you smile this week?