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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I’m totally writing down some of these recommendations! I love documentaries. My favorites are ‘Happy’, ‘Fed Up’, and ‘Minimalism’ and I can’t wait to watch a few more! — Lisa | Naptime Chai
Just watched that documentary! Soooo good! Crazy amount of knowledge/studying involved!
I need to try that cabbage!! I’m a huge fan and should work for Whole 30!
Iris is a must watch… Fascinating woman.
That Somm documentary was way intense! When my partner and I watched that, we couldn’t believe how much work (and the crazy nerves) goes into being a sommelier. If you liked that show, I definitely recommend watching Chef’s Table which is a documentary series (also on Netflix) about some of the world’s best chefs. It’s very beautifully filmed and the creativity and passion of those chefs just blew me away. (warning, though – watching it can make you pretty hungry!) 😀
Love taking my daughter to play with the train at Barnes and Noble! Some of them have a Lego section, too.
“Welcome to Leith”, “The Imposter”, “Dear Zachary”, and “Team Foxcatcher”. Of course, “Blackfish”, but I think that everyone who loves a good doc has seen that by now. Thanks for all of these suggestions, commenters!
We just watched “The First Monday in May” and LOCED it. It’s all about the Met Gala!!!
Hi Julie!
I know I’m a little late, as this post was from way back on the 6th, but I just watched Somm last night and found it absolutely enrapturing! (Full disclosure: I’m a hardcore wine lover.) I would love to hear some more of your personal documentary faves, as I think you’ve created a new addict! Perhaps a future post?
I’ve been following for a couple of years now – love the blog! 🙂
Wasn’t it amazing!? We loved it! Apparently there is a followup documentary (Somm: In A Bottle — I think that’s the name?) that we’re dying to watch now!