Good morning! Happy Friday to YOU! I hope your week was a good one. This week passed by in a flash and I feel like it should be Wednesday or something but I’ll take it.
About the weekend ahead… We have a special visitor in town!
Ryan’s dad arrived at our house around noon yesterday and we hope to show him a good time while he’s here! The high on both Saturday and Sunday is 81 degrees which is a nice departure from the mid-90s we’ve been seeing lately, so I’m hoping we can spend some time outside without dripping in sweat for the first time in a while!
And now, in true Friday tradition around here, it’s time to dive into my weekly Things I’m Loving Friday blog post and chat a little bit about some things that are making us smile this week. Please feel free to join in the fun and have a GREAT weekend!
Things I’m Loving Friday
Last week I was all about neon yellow nail polish in an effort to soak up the last of summer but something switched this week and I found myself feeling way too psyched about the transition to deeper, richer colors for the fall. During a random trip to CVS earlier this week, I browsed around some of the new fall colors and ended up leaving with Sally Hansen’s Leaf Me Be Miracle Gel polish. I did the ol’ thumbnail test and love the creamy gray-green color and think this polish will quickly become an autumn and wintertime go-to for me. (Quick side note: The first picture on Amazon makes this polish look WAY too green. Click through to the next few pics for a more accurate representation. The polish looks much more like the picture above and is a moody gray-green color.)
- Green & Black’s 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate
My sugar consumption lately has been out of control and while I was giving myself a bit of a pass there for a while, I feel like I should probably reign it in… at least a little bit. In an effort to do so, I bought a pack of individually-wrapped pieces of dark chocolate (<— individually wrapped is key because if you think I’m the kind of person who can break a single square or two off a chocolate bar you are seriously mistaken) and I’m hoping that eating a piece or two of the dark chocolate after lunch or dinner will help me satisfy my sweet tooth in a way that doesn’t involve multiple bowls of ice cream. I got this grand idea on Wednesday night and so far it’s semi-working! Green & Black’s dark chocolate is incredibly tasty and I think the 70% cacao gets to the heart of my chocolate cravings quicker than milkier chocolate. If I can make it through next week without eating ice cream every night, I’ll consider this little experiment a success.
- Handmade Blanket
My mom is amazing at knitting (she’s also incredibly speedy!) and knit an entire blanket for us when she was in town visiting early last week. I didn’t know the blanket was for us and was surprised to find it draped over my desk chair after she left. So sweet, right!? It’s a beautiful, large blanket and the colors perfectly match both my home office and our living room, so it’s been going back and forth a lot, though Sadie clearly wants it to say on the couch where she can cuddle up in it all day long.
- Yes Please by Amy Poehler
My best friends from high school sent this my way when they knew I could use some laughter a couple of weeks ago and I just got around to reading it this week. The book is just what I was looking for at the moment – something funny, entertaining, not-too-intense and a perfect way to unwind before bed. Yes Please is a compilation of short stories, many of which made me laugh but also surprised me with more substance than I expected. I’m about halfway through at the moment and really look forward to picking it up every night. In the same breath, I will nudge you toward Mindy Kaling’s two books as well if you’re looking for books that will make you laugh out loud as you flip through the pages. They are seriously hysterical!
- Hidden Figures
I have been dying to see Hidden Figures since it came out in theatres last year but Ryan and I haven’t really loved the idea of paying a babysitter and then paying a bunch of money to grab dinner and see a movie, so we haven’t seen many movies in the theatre in the past two years. (Truthfully, I cannot think of ONE movie I’ve seen in the theatre since Chase was born other than the $1 movie Chase and I saw as part of the summer movie series for kids in our area!) Anyway, I was quite excited when I saw Hidden Figures available on RedBox and snagged it to watch at home. I thought it was great! The three main actresses – Taraji Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe – are all so talented and did a wonderful job in their respective roles. Definitely add this one to your must-watch list if you are like me and didn’t get a chance to see it when it first came out!
- Around the Web
Food: 5 Minute Breakfast Hash / Mix & Match Healthy Sandwich Recipes / Cashew Coffee / Gluten-Free Quiche with Hash Brown Crust
Fitness: Happy Hips Yoga Sequence / Yoga Strength Workout / 10-Minute Booty Workout /
Weekend Sales: 40% off new arrivals at J.Crew Factory (including cute flannels for fall!) / Extra 30% off sale at Anthropologie / Extra 40% off clearance at Express / Up to 75% off at LOFT (love this dress to transition from summer to fall) / 50% off activewear at Forever21 /
- Friday Flashbacks
Banana Bread Protein Pancakes (I LOVE this recipe and made it again for myself for breakfast for the first time in probably two months yesterday morning. It’s a hit every time and even Chase loves this one!)
Upper Body Plyo Workout (I first created this workout to complete during Chase’s naptime and it only requires one set of dumbbells. It’s a quick workout but seriously challenging thanks to plyometric exercises that made me sweat like crazy and challenging upper body exercises!)
Question of the Day
What is one thing making you smile this week?
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