The first half of the first week of 2017 was a good one over here and filled with plenty of play dates with my favorite little man, crock pot dinners, Chipotle and evenings spent curled up on the couch under a blanket with Ryan at the end of the day. I also began reading a new book (Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty) and I always love crawling into bed at night when I know I have a good book waiting for me!
The past two days of this week, however, things took a turn and I’ve been camping out at home with a sick toddler. I took Chase to the pediatrician after a rough Wednesday and he has an ear infection. We spent most of Wednesday and Thursday cuddling and doing our best to make him feel better. I was up a lot in the night with him and my heart just melted for our sick little guy. Chase never slows down enough to so much as rest his head on my shoulder so I took every opportunity to hold my sweet boy and love on him. I am hoping his medicine kicks in soon and have hopes for a (relatively) healthy weekend ahead. I hope you all stay healthy out there, my friends!
And on that note, now it’s time for my first Things I’m Loving Friday post of the new year! Below you will find a roundup of a few of the things that are making me smile this week and, as always, I welcome you to join in the fun in the comments section.
I hope you have a fantastic weekend and stay nice and warm!
Things I’m Loving Friday
- Reformatted Workout Pages
It FINALLY happened! The Workout Page on the blog received a much-needed makeover and should now be much easier to navigate thanks to lots of specific categories and thumbnail previews. I owe a huge thank you to Katy Widrick for her incredible knowledge and ability to sort through the incredibly difficult coding that left me wanting to pull my hair out time and time again. (P.S. If you’re a very visual person, I try to pin all of my recipes and workouts to my Pinterest boards which is another great way to quickly locate everything!)
As a former Floridian, I remember seeing Yeti tumblers, coolers, bottles and koozies everywhere. My family quickly hopped on the Yeti bandwagon after my sister and brother-in-law gave my dad a Yeti tumbler for Christmas a couple of years ago and he absolutely raved about its abilities to keep his drinks cold during long days on the water spear fishing. I’ve been eyeing them for a while now but had not purchased one for myself and was surprised and excited to receive a 30-ounce sea foam-colored Yeti tumbler for Christmas from my parents.
- Somm Documentary (Netflix)
Ryan and I have always enjoyed watching documentaries together and it had unfortunately been ages since we found one we really enjoyed on Netflix. That all changed this week when we watched Somm together! The documentary follows four candidates as they prepare to pass the extremely challenging Master Sommelier examination and let me just say that I had absolutely NO idea how difficult it is to become a Master Sommelier. Neither Ryan nor I know much about wine (we just drink what we like and don’t worry about all nuances of wine) and we still found this documentary really interesting.
Also, if you guys have any quality Netflix documentary recommendations, I’d love to hear them!
- Barnes & Noble On A Rainy Day
I’ve always loved the ambiance of a bookstore but didn’t think to bring Chase to Barnes & Noble for “playtime” until I happened to catch a glimpse of other moms and their kiddos in the kids’ section of the store a couple of weeks ago. Since the beginning of this week in Charlotte was rainy and freezing, some of my girlfriends and I were on the lookout for indoor activities and Barnes & Noble ended up being a slam dunk! Chase LOVED the train set in the store and we had a great time and reading lots of new books together. I’m not sure if all Barnes & Noble stores have cool kid areas but I just wanted to share this here in case any one else out there is looking for a fun rainy day activity with their little ones.
A bar of Bend Soap was a stocking stuffer gift from my sister (she gave a bar to everyone in my family) and it is so wonderfully moisturizing and nourishing. Made with fresh raw goat milk and all-natural ingredients (coconut oil, olive oil, red palm oil), the soap was created by a family in search of a natural soap to help with their son’s eczema. They now produce a myriad of products and use milk from the family’s goats and other natural ingredients to create everything from bar soap and lotion to to and used goat milk to create a moisturizing soap. Ryan and I are both loving this soap so much! (The Bend Soap website has a lot more options but you can also order a four-pack of the oatmeal and honey soap we love on Amazon.)
- Friday Flashbacks
Easy Garlic Roasted Cabbage (A simple, Paleo/Whole30-friendly side dish! Leftovers taste great with a runny egg on top for breakfast!)
30 Minute Treadmill Workout (This workout plays around with various speeds to hold your interest and help fight treadmill boredom. After a quick 5-minute walking warm up, it’s time to pick up the pace and incorporate some intervals into the mix!)
Questions of the Day
- What is one thing that is making you smile this week?
- Have you seen a great documentary on Netflix lately? Any recommendations?
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Good morning!! Poor Chase!! 🙁 I’m so sorry he isn’t feeling well. Hopefully he is better for all the snow we’re supposed to get tomorrow – woot!!
We LOVE Barnes and Noble for playtime! My husband and I took the kids there this past weekend. Always so fun for them to play with the trains, and then we read a few books to them before leaving.
I heard Minimalism on Netflix is good! Haven’t watched it yet; but it sounds interesting!!
-Sarah http://www.thefrugalmillionaireblog.com
Yay for an organized workout page! I usually always check your pinterest boards for inspiration, but now will look at both! And hope Chase feels better soon. Such a bummer when you have to spend a weekend with a sick family member.
I highly recommend the follow up to Somm: Into the Bottle. It’s so interesting and full of great facts about wine. Some of the sommeliers from the first doc show up again as well!
Is that also on Netflix? If so I’m mad at Netflix for not automatically recommending that to m after we gave good reviews to Somm! Haha!!
I agree about Somm: Into the Bottle! It is on Netflix. More of an educational piece about wine and history. I think you would really enjoy since you enjoyed Somm and admittedly don’t know the science behind wine. Great watch!
the library and pet stores are also great for rainy days! that’s where william and i went the other day and it was great! the pet store will even take out animals for you to look at and touch!
Ooh I definitely want to watch that documentary! I finally watched the Amanda Knox documentary recently and it was super interesting.
My husband and I are ALL about documentaries as well! Definitely watch 13th – best one we’ve seen in a long time. I’m excited to check out the comments for something to watch tonight 🙂 Have a great weekend!
I hope Chase feels better soon. I feel like there is something going around, because almost every toddler i know seems to have an ear infection, inclduing my son. After a couple days he seemed back to his normal happy self, so hopefully that will be today for Chase!
And also, Etsy has alot of colors for tumbers as well as decals! And if anyone wants a bargain option…the Ozark from Walmart works just as good!
You have to watch the documentary Barkley Marathons: The Race that Eats Its Young. Not your typical documentary and definitely low-budget, but as a runner it was fascinating and so inspiring (on a crazy level)!
and that is not a typo- it is the Barkley MarathonS. Multiple marathons…in one race. Told you its crazy!
Great minds think alike! I must have been typing up my recommendation (right below) as you were typing up yours!
I recently watched The Barclays Marathons: The Race That Eats It’s Young on Netflix. It follows the competitors of the 2012 race, a grueling 100 mile trail trace through the wilderness of Tennessee that only like 15 people have ever completed. It’s fascinating and crazy at the same time and I found the documentary very interesting.
Sorry, it’s the *Barkley Marathons*
Liane Moriarty is one of my favorite authors! She’s just so funny. I haven’t read Truly Madly Guilty yet, and I’m a little nervous to since it’s not ranked as high as her others. Interested to hear what you think of it!
I hope Chase gets better. Ear infections are the worst. Poor little guy. <3
Also, RTIC tumblers are just like Yetis, but at a fraction of the price. Sorry if you already know that. Both brands really are everywhere in Florida, haha!
Oh, and John and Sherry from Young House Love talked about the Minimalism documentary on their podcast recently. They both liked it, and I now have it on my to-watch list!
You should definitely check out “13th” on Netflix. An incredible documentary about mass incarceration and race, and as a bonus the music is great too! I know its up for a bunch of awards this year.
Walmart has the same tumblers for $10 and are rated HIGHER than Yeti on consumer reports! You have to try them! We have four now!
I watched Somm a few years ago and got so hooked..now we have a wine fridge and all kinds of gadgets. Beware that it might take over your life soon! There’s a second one that came out last year that you might like called Somm- Into the Bottle. It has the same main characters but talks about the history of wine and about a few specific, amazing bottles. You might like it 🙂
(just noticed other people above recommended this so I’ll just second what they said).
Hope Chase feels better soon!
The workout page looks amazing! Congratulations! 🙂
Hope Chase feels better soon!
Hope Chase feels better soon!
I haven’t watched this yet, but the series The Crown looks super interesting. I don’t think it’s considered a documentary, but it’s based off real events.
A couple of great documentaries that I watched over the holidays (on Canadian Netflix) was Finding Traction about ultra runner Nikki Kimball’s Long Trail record attempt and Touch The Wall which followed Missy Franklin and Kara Lynn Joyce as they trained for the 2012 Olympic games.
And another vote for Barkley Marathons. Watched this a couple of years ago and loved it.
We are big tumbler people over here! We’ve got a Yeti, a Bison, and an Rtic, ha! Tumblers for everyone!! It’s the BESSSST way to make sure you’re hydrated all day long!!
Last Chance U is really good! Actually a docu-series – 6 one hour episodes.
Totally different from Somm but really good.
More food/wine related and super enjoyable to watch is Cooked! You can watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epMAq5WYJk4
Was hoping to avoid it, but ended up coming down with a cold yesterday. Hoping to kick it fast! Hope Chase feels better soon.
Not a documentary, but a really awesome movie on Netflix is Chef. My friend was like you have to watch this and I was like yeah sure, whatever and then I loved it. Don’t watch it without having some tasty food available, a good grilled cheese or a cubano!
I hope Chase is feeling better soon! I used to get a lot of ear infections as a baby and kid – I’m sure glad I grew out of it!
This week was the first week of university classes. To be honest I’m kind of excited to be back and have a regular schedule and routine again.
The workout page looks awesome! Your workouts have always been the ‘go to’ for me, now it’s much easier to find one that fits what I’m looking for!
Hope the ear infection clears up quickly, but the snuggles stay!
Ear infections are the worst! My 2.5 year old is getting over her 4th one this year, it’s terrible and I hate when they come on! I hope Chase feels better soon!!
Ha- it’s not 2016 anymore, so edited to add that it’s her 4th ear infection since last January 😉
Julie, I love your blog but I’m beginning to be really turned off by all of your affiliate links! The ones you used in your “gifts that give back” post really made me raise my eyebrows, but now to affiliate link all of the gifts your family members gave you for Christmas?! I know your blog is your business and appreciate the need to monetize what you can, but between the excessive use of affiliate links and the flood of “evergreen content” (which, no offence, but can be sourced from much more credible, formally trained sources in fitness, nutrition, cooking, etc) your blog is sliding off of my must read list. I hope you can take this comment for what it is meant to be – constructive criticism from a loyal reader – and go back to your roots as a personal blogger just sharing your passions.
My son is 20 months old and got his first ear infection last week – and it was horrible! Poor little guy was so miserable. All he wanted to do was sit and watch “Elmo” so that’s what we did. A few days after antibiotics and he was feeling much better, so hopefully Chase does too!
Bend Soap is awesome! I discovered it a few years ago at a festival, so when my family went to Bend for a weekend trip, we called them up to see if we could visit. They let us come out to their farm on a Saturday to pick up some soaps. They also let us walk around the farm. My son loved playing on their tractors and seeing the goats. It made me love their soap even more. They were such a nice family with a great product!!
I know what you mean about having a great book waiting for you-can’t wait to jump into bed! I loved the one you are reading now, and thought I would suggest another title for the future. “Radio Girls,” by Sarah-Jane Stratford. I could barely put it down.
Hi Julie,
Definitely watch Minimalism, 13th, or Valley Uprising on Netflix if you haven’t already. All of them are very entertaining and also educational.
Have a great weekend!
I really enjoyed watching Fed Up, a documentary about sugar and its pervasiveness in our society. I also enjoyed Minimalism, for a look at the way people connect their happiness to the stuff they own. Both eye opening and engaging documentaries. Happy weekend!
The Allen Iverson documentary “Iverson” is great! I haven’t watched these yet but I also have Sneakerheadz, One in a Billion, At All Costs, and Hip-Hop Evolution on my Netflix list!
Check out the Netflix documentary Cooked. It’s a 4 part series and really interesting viewpoints on where our traditional cooking habits started and the importance of them for various cultures. I also really liked Living on One Dollar. It stemmed from a college project and follows 4 guys spending a summer in Guatemala living on one dollar a day.
Hopefully you like them!
I second the documentary Cooked! My husband and I also enjoy Chefs table.
Chef’s Table is a GORGEOUS series!
I eat up documentaries! Here are some of my faves that are streaming on Netflix:
Finding Vivian Maier (definitely my favorite within the last 3 years)
Fed Up (I second the person that mentioned it above!)
Casting By (about casting directors in Hollywood–really interesting)
The Seven Five (about corrupt cops in NYC)
Dinosaur (about the discovery of Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex. I cried at this. I cried about fossils. LOL)
Buck (about the real life horse whisperer)
And, people have already mentioned this, but you can get knock off Yeti’s at Walmart (in the camping section) and they are exactly the same and SO much cheaper. Not only do they keep beverages cold, but I poured my coffee into mine this morning at 9:30am and I just finished it at noon and it was still warm!
Oops it’s Dinosaur 13! 🙂
Minimlaism and Dear Zacahary are two good netflix documetaries I’ve seen lately! Just a warning that Minimalism will make you want to clean out EVERYTHING and make a bunch of donations and Dear Zachary will make you want to hug Chase extra tight (it’s an emotional one!!).
I totally agree with “Minimalism” – a great documentary! I have definitely started the “purge” after watching this, but it feels good and was needed. *This does not include my 2 kiddos… they still have too many toys!*
I just got a yeti tumbler from work and I looooove it!! Keeps tea hot for SO LONG! Also my current favorite documentary is Minimalism (I think there’s a sub title but I forget) on Netflix. I love the minimalists’ website and podcast and their documentary is great! But watch out, you’ll want to get rid of everything you own after watching it, haha.
That soap looks great for the winter!! Hope Chase feels better 🙁 Always so sad to see the little ones sick! I always love the food/health documentaries about going more plant-based with our diets.
Ha ha I went to Europe and did all kinds of wine tours, I remember nothing except I love red wine.
Oh poor Chase! Ear infections are the worst. Jackson just got diagnosed with double ear infections on Tuesday after being slightly off from his normal happy-go-lucky self. Our pediatrician recommended taking Culturelle Kids probiotic once a day to help fight off the infection and keep him feeling better. So far it’s working like a charm! And it’s on sale at Target right so win-win! Have a great weekend and hope the little guy feels better! <3
Ear infections are the worst! My now 4 year old never got one but my 10 month old had one at 7 months or so and it knocked him for six. Thankfully the antibiotics worked pretty swiftly so I hope that’s the case for Chase too and he’s back to himself soon. Since then I have been super sensitive to any ear tugs etc ( which is silly as that’s one of his tired signs too!) good luck!
Great documentaries:
-Going Clear (on HBO NOW)
-Tiny Homes (Netflix)
Hi Julie!
I am a new PBF reader and I am loving your posts. I LOVE the idea of ‘things I am loving Friday” – I now look forward to these! I also happened to do one of your 30 minute treadmill workouts last night and it was awesome.
Actually, the new gym I joined is my fun happening this week. Though our old gym was only 15 minutes away, this added a half hour of drive time to my early morning workouts- thus many early morning workouts didn’t happen. We joined a new place less than 5 minutes from us (and it’s cheaper ;). Lots of great trainers and new equipment keeping me motivated.
We have not watched any documentaries on Netflix but hubs and I recently started (and blew through) a couple seasons of the show ‘Longmire’ on Netflix. It’s about a Sheriff in Wyoming and it’s intense! I thought this was going to be one I wouldn’t like but now I am hooked.
Have a great weekend!
I recently received a Yeti tumbler myself, and it’s great for keeping drinks hot, too! I absolutely love it.
The documentary Mitt on Netflix is really awesome, no matter your political views because it shows what it takes to even run for the highest office in the country. Highly recommend!
Documentary: Sour Grapes
If you enjoyed Somm!
We have a vacation home near Bend and I can’t wait to try the soap!
I watched the Minimalism documentary this week- it was really good! Also, if you’ve never watched Happy before it’s an awesome one!
I hope Chase gets to feeing better! We have snow coming and I am sure he and Sadie want to play! (I’m in Mooresville) Love new soaps- I’ll have to try this one.
As for Netflix documentaries check out the “13th” and “Fear of 13” (two different docs) they are both so good! I LOVE documentaries so ill be checking that one out at well =) I hope Chase feels better!
I’m not sure if anyone else mentioned it but Sour Grapes and Some in the bottle are great! My husband is a netflix documentary junkie.
You may have already seen it but great for some fitness inspiration- The Barkley Marathons (you don’t have to enjoy running to appreciate it). Also, if you like fashion- The First Monday in May (about the annual Met Gala and all the behind the scenes work)- prob not for Ryan haha 😉
We live close to Bend. I’ve never heard of that soap. I’m a home school mom of 3, I think we will go take a tour and buy some soap!!
Hang in there mama! We just got over our first ear infection and man the cuddles are great but the fever and sickness is NOT …hope Chase feels better soon! I feel like your favourites this week are mine! Everyone I know has been talking about the Yeti mug after I complained about reheating my coffee due to a crazy toddler! I Think I need to go out and grab one! And we went to our Canadian Barnes and Nobles this morning for a little kid time, how fun is it, and free! Plus mama got some starbucks so we were all happy!
Happy weekend and sending healthy love and hugs!