Carrie requested a super-casual, kid-friendly affair which sounded perfect to me. Everyone is arriving around 10 a.m. and while I cannot wait to celebrate Carrie and her little one, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly intimidated by the fact that we’ll have a bunch of toddlers (13!) running around our house! While I love hosting play dates, we haven’t had more than six kids or so over at once since Chase’s birthday party and now that our little ones are a lot more mobile, I hope I’m not in over my head!
I stationed a bunch of Chase’s toys in different rooms downstairs to hopefully disperse the chaos a bit. Fingers crossed it’s not complete madness over here but even if it is, I know my girlfriends and I kind of expect that by now with our toddlers in tow, so hopefully it will be fun regardless.
Other than Carrie’s baby sprinkle, Ryan and I have a date night planned for this evening (WOOHOO!) and then our friend Ben is arriving in town on Sunday (he’s moving to the area and will be inspecting his new house) so we have some fun things to look forward to over the next few days.
I hope you guys enjoy today’s Things I’m Loving Friday post and have a great weekend as well!
Things I’m Loving Friday
- $1 Summer Movies
Earlier this week, one of my girlfriends texted me about Birkdale Village’s Summer Movie Series featuring $1 movies on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings all summer long. A group of four of us met up at the theatre on Wednesday for our toddlers’ first REAL movie experience! We bought $1 tickets to see Sing!, hoping that the combination of a movie with lots of animals, singing and dancing would work in our favor.
I thought Chase would last all of 20 minutes so imagine my surprise when he made it through the whole thing! It felt like such a special treat and I think singing animals and a bunch of other enamored kids around him deserve ALL the credit for our success. (The movie also truly seemed like the PERFECT choice and was not scary at all which definitely helped!) Chase could jump and dance in the aisles with the other kids and no one cared because everyone had little ones doing the exact same thing… Plus, it was only a dollar per ticket so if the experience didn’t work out, we were only out $2! While I don’t see taking Chase to the movies becoming a regular thing anytime in the near future, Wednesday’s movie experience was such a fun one!
I’m still making my way through this year’s Summer Reading List (I’m about halfway through) and began reading The Marriage Lie on Tuesday and it immediately hooked me! I have no idea where the book will end up but I sure am enjoying the ride so far. If you like mysteries with plenty of suspense and intrigue, from what I’m read so far, this is a book I’d recommend. It’s a page-turner for sure and one I find myself looking forward to reading every night when I crawl into bed.
- Big Easy Bucha Pineapple + Elderflower Kombucha
Something about the summertime makes me crave kombucha and I discovered a new-to-me brand and flavor that deserves a shout out in today’s post! Big Easy Bucha’s pineapple + elderflower kombucha called to me at the grocery store since I love ordering cocktails with elderflower syrup when we go out to eat if I ever see them on the menu. I figured this was a nice way to feel fancy at home when I wanted a little pick-me-up at 3 p.m. The flavor and fizz of the kombucha is mild but refreshing thanks to the base of black and green tea. I can’t wait to try more of Big Easy Bucha’s flavors in the future! The Louisiana strawberry + honeysuckle is next on my list.
- Enlightened Ice Cream
Annnnd for the 10,000th ice cream shout out you’ve seen in my weekly TILF posts, I’m featuring Enightened ice cream! The Enlightened team caught wind of my ice cream obsession and sent me a bunch of their new flavors to try and you guys they are SO GOOD. We’re talking CREAMY and satisfying and not at all icy. (I’m lookin’ at you, Arctic Zero… <— Aka the “ice cream” tastes like feet.) Enlightened ice cream is higher in protein per serving that traditional ice cream and much lower in calories. You have to leave it out for 10 minutes or so before you want to dig in (difficult, I know) but it’s so worth the wait. I polished off 3/4 of the above pint of Caramel Oatmeal Cookie Crunch by myself on the couch on Wednesday night when Ryan and I were watching Big Brother. No shame. That stuff is the jam!
- Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (Early Access)
It’s that time of year again!!! The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is here and it’s majorly hyped all over the internet for a good reason. The deals are great and the items featured aren’t just junky clearance goodies and outdated apparel… We’re talking high-quality stuff!!!
Yesterday marked the beginning of Early Access to the sale (open to Nordstrom card holders) so I wanted to share a super short roundup of some things that caught my eye (and a few that I’ve already purchased!) and will include more goodies in next week’s Friday post when the sale is open to the public as well. Happy shopping, my friends!
FITNESS:
Zella Live In High-Waist Leggings (Perfect for slimming the belly.)
Nike Free Run Distance (My current go-to shoe for boot camp workouts.)
Nike Muscle Tank (I’m such a sucker for flowy muscle tanks these days!)
Nike Free Focus Flyknit Sneakers (Nike Flyknits are THE BEST. I have three pairs and LOVE them so darn much.)
Adidas Relaxed Logo Tank (LOVE this throwback style! Only $21.90!)
Zella High-Waist Midi Leggings
Nike Juvenate Sneakers (I’m super into black sneakers right now and love the lightweight look of this pair! I bought a floral print of Nike Juvenate sneakers during last year’s Nordstrom sale and they’re SO comfy!)
WOMEN’S APPAREL:
Leith Cold Shoulder Dress (So feminine and breezy!)
Cutaway Bootie (I ordered these booties for the fall because I hate the way most booties make me look like I have cankles and I have a feeling THIS pair will be flattering due to the cross-foot cutaway style.)
Sole Society Foldover Clutch (Such a gorgeous bag.)
Longchamp LePliage Expandable Tote (I’ve had my Longchamp LePliage tote for years and especially love it for travel!)
Nordstrom Moonlight Lingerie Pajamas (The fabric of these pajamas = Heavenly!!)
- Dollar Tree Balloons
I’m sharing this one here for any of you out there who may have been in the dark about Dollar Tree’s fantastic balloon selections! Local party stores are not very close to our house so I usually pick up balloons at the grocery store but after a friend told me about Dollar Tree’s affordable foil and latex balloons I was a little too excited! I picked up a handful of foil balloons for today’s baby sprinkle and they look great and only cost a buck! (The above pic is from Lily’s birthday party play date last week when Laura bought the balloons at Dollar Tree. I want to keep the sprinkle décor a surprise for Carrie until she gets here this morning!) I’ll be keeping this option on my radar for future parties for sure!
- Friday Flashbacks
12 Inexpensive Date Ideas (Because fun and memorable dates don’t have to cost an arm and a leg!)
Traveling with a Baby for the First Time (I typed up this post after my first experience flying with Chase – solo! – and shared tips and tricks for what worked for us and what didn’t.)
Question of the Day
What is one thing you are loving this week?
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