My birthday was really nice and low key and filled with quality time with friends and family. I’m thinkin’ 32 will be a pretty good year!
This weekend is another travel-filled weekend (the last of our foreseeable travel adventures for a while) and I’m heading off for a girls’ weekend in Savannah with four of my closest girlfriends. We’re road tripping it to Georgia later today (so psyched!) and I’ll be flying from Savannah to Washington, DC on Sunday for a super-fast blog trip before returning to Charlotte on Monday morning. It will be a whirlwind weekend and I will miss my boys very much, that’s for sure!
I’ll be sure to recap the fun on the blog next week but for now, let’s keep things consistent and dive into your usual Things I’m Loving Friday blog post, featuring a short roundup of a few things that are making me smile this week. As always, I’d love for you to join in the fun in the comments section of this post!
Things I’m Loving Friday
I found this cleanser on Amazon after I did a bunch of research for a clean, organic and vitamin-C rich facial cleanser and have been LOVING it so far. I used Clean & Clear face wash for years and years, abandoning it when I was pregnant but using it again when my skin totally freaked out earlier this year since it always seemed to work well for me.
Though C&C face wash works for me from a get-rid-of-blemishes standpoint, I didn’t like using it based on the ratings it received on the Think Dirty app, an app that rates cosmetic and personal care products based on potentially toxic ingredients. I used Beautycounter Nourishing Cream Cleanser for a while and LOVED it (I still do, actually!) but wanted to try something with vitamin-C, following the advice my esthetician gave me during a facial back in March. I found Amara Organics Vitamin C Facial Cleanser after looking for a product that was free of many common harsh ingredients that also contained vitamin C. It’s been wonderful for my skin so far and I already feel like it has minimized the look of my pores and leaves my face feeling soft and clean.
- Our Previous Home Owners’ Love For Gardening
One thing is for certain: Neither Ryan nor I were blessed with a green thumb. I do not have a knack for gardening and seem to have no trouble killing plants that people assure me are “hard to kill” so it is a miracle that we have a small assortment of beautiful flowers blooming around our house. We deserve absolutely none of the credit, but I’m pretty darn grateful to the previous owners of our house who planted some beautiful (and apparently very low maintenance) flowers around our backyard. We absolutely loving watching them bloom every spring! We have aspirations to plant a vegetable garden one day but I should probably conquer the easy-yet-impossible-for-me task of keeping a basil plant alive first.
- Birthday Play Date
My girlfriends planned the sweetest birthday play date yesterday morning and I absolutely loved celebrating with my favorite girls and our kiddos! They had tons of my favorite foods on hand (I am such a sucker for Nothing Bundt Cakes mini bundtinis) and I left Lauren’s house with a very full heart (and stomach)! I sure did luck out when I met these women!
- Brookside Crunchy Clusters
Have you guys tried Brookside Crunchy Clusters? Oh my gosh they are so good. Crunchy, sweet and waaay too addicting. Truthfully when I saw the packaging at the grocery store a while back, they didn’t appeal to me at all. “Crispy multigrains and soft fruit pieces tumbled in smooth dark chocolate” sounded pretty darn meh to me, but when I tried them at my friend’s house a month or so ago, an obsession was born. The chocolaty clusters are a perfectly popable snack (or, let’s be real, candy) that I cannot get enough of lately! Purchase this stuff with caution, my fellow chocolate-loving friends.
- Best Mom Ever Spoon Birthday Gift
Chase gave me quite the special birthday gift yesterday! (I have a feeling he had a teeny bit of help from his dad on this one.) This “Best Mom Ever” spoon definitely made me smile! I love the way it combines my love for fun kitchenware in a sweet and meaningful way with my love for eating!
- Wednesday Night Cookout
On Wednesday night, Ryan and I had our new neighbors over for a casual cookout! After three rainy days in a row in Charlotte, it was wonderful to be able to gill outside and spent some time in our backyard. Plus, there’s not much I love more than digging into delicious BBQ food! Bring on the summertime cookouts!
- Friday Flashbacks
Since I’m off to Savannah today, I thought it might be fun to center today’s flashbacks around some of our prior trips to Savannah!
Kaitlyn and Kailon’s Savannah Wedding + Halloween Rehearsal Party
My Sister’s Savannah Bachelorette Party (Part One + Part Two)
Savannah Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon
Question of the Day
What is one thing that is making you smile this week?
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Your birthday looked so fun yesterday! What great friends you have! I’ve always wanted to visit savannah, I’m hoping we can in the next few years!
Good morning! 🙂 Your weekend sounds so fun!! Glad you had a good birthday yesterday – I’m also turning 32 this year haha!
Unfortunately my husband and one of my girls have been under the weather most of this week. However, we’re hoping today that everyone is feeling better so we can enjoy the weekend! Should be beautiful here in Charlotte assuming the rain stays away!!
Enjoy Savannah!!
-Sarah http://www.thefrugalmillionaireblog.com
I love rereading your flashbacks. It’s a little creepy how I remember most of them happening! The week’s highlight was daintily my birthday yesterday, and looking forward to continuing the celebration this weekend 🙂 Safe travels! Beautiful..hot…weather in the capital this weekend!
Love that you remember them! Thank you for reading for so long!! <3
Have so much fun in Savannah for your girls weekend. And I can’t wait to read where you head in DC since I live pretty close. And yay for cookouts! I meal planned a few grilled meals for next week and can’t wait, everything tastes better on the grill in my opinion 😉
Thats so cute your friends threw you that playdate! Bundt cakes are largely underrated and so delicious! This week I’m loving warm weather and sunshine the past few days after 4-5 days of rain and gloom! Safe travels this weekend!
One thing that made me smile this week is a bird outside my living room window. He sings the prettiest song all morning long. I was curious what kind of bird sang like that. Yesterday I was outside and heard it again, and realized it is…a robin. An ordinary, everyday robin. That surprised me.
I’ve been a blog lurker for years, reading and not commenting, but I came here to say don’t feel bad about killing basil plants! They are really very finicky; my husband (who generally has a green thumb) and I (who have killed a cactus…) have killed our fair share of basil plants. BUT we discovered that the grocery store near us (in MD) carries hydroponic basil plants, all you have to do is put it in a little bowl of water and remember to refill the water when it gets low. It’s been alive for WEEKS, in spite of us forgetting to refill its water more than once. If you can’t find any hydroponic basil near you, try rosemary for a confidence booster. It is actually hard to kill and since it’s a Mediterranean plant, will do well in your climate 🙂
This sounds perfect!!! Thank you for letting me know!
My feelings are always hurt when people tell me how easy it is to grow basil-rosemary-amaryllis-succulents. I manage to kill all of them, but everyone keeps trying! My boyfriend’s mom gives me at least one plant (what feels like) every time I see her! I have killed tens of her plants! I always tell her not to give me the only one of whatever she’s giving me. A few years ago my boyfriend, trying to be sweet, said that flowers die too quickly and bought me a plant. It lasted no longer than flowers. (I only receive flowers now!)
So don’t feel alone and just appreciate the work that probably went into the flowers in your yard. =)
I JUST looked up flights to Savannah for this summer because I’ve heard it’s such a wonderful place to visit. I can’t wait to read your recap!! Enjoy!
How awesome to have a fun birthday and then spend the weekend with more friends! Hope it’s fantastic!
Nice! Make sure to grab drinks at Rocks on the Roof at the Bohemian Hotel. Overlooks the water, gorgeous views!
I made huckleberry hand pies this week and something about a tiny little pie that fits in your palm just makes me smile.
Just purchased the facial cleanser along with their retinol serum! Amazon one-click makes it too easy, haha. Thanks for the rec!
That spoon is so cute! So on that note, a friend of mine gives all of her friend’s kids a ‘birthday knife’ on their first birthday. I know that sounds weird, but it’s like a silver, cake cutting knife with this really sweet poem engraved on it, something along the lines of how this knife will grow with me through every birthday, then my graduation cake, wedding cake, etc. It’s adorable!
That face wash looks great – and has some of my favorite things in it. I’ll have to try it once my current one runs out! Your cookout looked like so much fun. I love the convenience of having neighbors over.
I am smiling this week about the fact that all of my sisters are home for the summer now from college. Have a great weekend!
Love the face wash rec — I’m in the market for a new face wash myself. And I LOVE Savannah! I went once with my Mom on a girls trip years ago and always wanted to return. Have a fabulous time! 🙂
The robins are making me smile, too. The sun is out after several days of rain, and the flowers and trees are bursting. I’ve been watching the robins gathering twigs and grasses for nesting!!!
I am also very thankful for all of the gardening and landscaping our previous owners did and love watching all of the flowers bloom this time of year. I’m with you- I can kill everything!
Yay enjoy Savannah!!
Btw I was thrilled to see you use Beautycounter Cream Cleanser! Such a good feeling knowing skincare products exist that are super effective AND free of harmful ingredients. Just FYI, they have a new line that is full of Vitamin C, in case you’re interested! The mask is incredible 🙂
http://www.beautycounter.com/skin-care/shop-by-sets/no-1-brightening-spa-set.html
Happy belated Birthday! It looks like you had a great time.
I also love the Brookside clusters (and all of their products!)
https://jonandaudadventure.wordpress.com/
I’m glad you’re having such a wonderful birthday week, Julie! The previous owners of our home also planted a gorgeous garden and I agree it’s so fun to watch what pops up! I also have to say that I’m continuously amazed at how fast plants can grow & bloom (especially after a big rain here in Michigan).
What I’m loving most this week is being on my honeymoon in Oahu! This time with my husband feel so special.
Have a great weekend!
What a fun Birthday week!
that birthday playdate idea is the cutest!!! and i love that you guys had a cookout mid-week, seeing friends not just on the weekends makes the weeks so much better i think! also i cannot wait to have a house that has flowers outside. my favorite thing is going for walks in the neighborhood and seeing all the gorgeous flowers and plants are outside. someday…
have a great weekend!
Definitely want to try that face wash when I run out of my current one. I think something with vitamin C will help brighten my skin up. Also, I’m curious if you use a special wash/cleanser or wipe to remove your makeup?
Have a great trip 🙂
Oh my gosh, if you don’t have a green thumb don’t start with basil! Basil is such a needy princess. Try tomatos 🙂
This made me LOL! Thanks for the tomato tip!
I’ll have to give that cleanser a try. I have sensitive skin and have been dealing with an allergy to something (I’m still not sure what it is). I’ve been trying to find something that doesn’t make my skin react. Thanks for the suggestion!
Is Think Dirty like the EWG’s Skin Deep database? It also ranks products for how toxic they are. They have even started issuing companies a verification badge for those that meet their standards so that you can easily identify it on a product’s packaging. It amazes how many toxic chemicals are in common products we use every day! I’ve been working on switching my stuff over to the less toxic versions based on EWG’s recommendation but I’m curious to see how Think Dirty compares!
I found your blog through Healthy Living’s Best Blogs of the Year, and that’s making me smile. I’m definitely going to try the Brookside Crunchy Clusters. My biggest smiles this week came from my grandchildren. In particular our 11-year-old Tessa wrote Papa a formal letter requesting that his company (he’s self-employed) sponsor her in the school fun run. She signed it “Warmly, Tessa Carrell.” I’m also loving my Brooks Adrenaline running shoes!
Happy belated birthday again! It sounds like you’re having the BEST birthday week – love that you were able to make friends easily in your new town. They sound so sweet! I want to go to Savannah someday, it’s on the list! (It’s much further for me than for you). Hope you’re having a great time as I type this! Thanks for all the great tips, per usual – I’m gonna have to try out that vitamin – c cleanser! Thanks!
I am grateful that I am not the only plant killer — I one killed a silk plant by leaving it in a window and it rotted out.
Happy Birthday again — 🙂
The brookside dark chocolate acai with blueberry get me every time!
Hey Julie – I have never tried Brookside Crunchy Clusters, but the way you speak about these, I have to try them with my two girls. So I will test these and aim to confirm/re-afirm your ‘Oh my gosh they are so good.’ statement.
If they are so crunchy, sweet and addicting, then it is for us. We love these, but we love fitness too, so eating is a must at our end, and eating healthily is key. So hope that they are healthy at the same time.