Things I’m Loving Friday #494

Good morning! It’s feeling a little jollier than usual over here because Mae is in town! My mom arrived on Wednesday because we had an extra ticket for The Polar Express on Thursday night and she joined us for a cold and cozy and festive train ride yesterday evening. (More on that below!) She’ll be staying with us through Sunday morning so you know we’ll be taking advantage of all the extra time with her that we can right now!

Before I log off to soak up time with my mom and our family, I wanted to pop in this morning to share a quick rundown of weekly favorites, Things I’m Loving Friday style. Please feel free to join in the fun in the comments section of this post. Have a great weekend, my friends!

Things I’m Loving Friday

• The Polar Express (North Carolina Transportation Museum)

Nabbing tickets to The Polar Express in our area is insane. Getting 5+ tickets together on the train is next to impossible unless you scope out tickets in the summertime and buy them in June. I finally had my act together enough this year to do just that and oh my gosh I now understand why tickets on this festive train are so coveted.

We drove an hour to Spencer, North Carolina to board the 4:45 p.m. train of The Polar Express at the North Carolina Transportation Museum last night and it was one of the best holiday activities we’ve done together as a family. Our boys’ ages were perfect (3, 5 and 8) and on the way to school this morning Chase asked if we could go every single year. Rhett was full of 3-year-old wonder, Ryder was in soak-it-all-up mode and Chase was all about the hot cocoa, train dance party and holiday sing-a-long.

My mom, Ryan and I agreed the whole experience felt like a gift for all of us. Everyone working on The Polar Express seemed full of genuine holiday cheer (truly, we all commented on how happy and joyful everyone working on the train seemed) and everything from the completely decked-out train cars to a visit from Santa who gave each child a jingle bell made the entire evening magical. I cannot say enough good things about our experience and encourage any local readers to check it out next year if you can get ahead of the craziness and buy tickets a few months in advance. When I tell you this experience will be seared into my heart forever, I mean it.

• NodPod Gentle Pressure Sleep Mask

More than a year ago I lost the eye mask of my dreams. I think it was one of those gift-with-purchase eye masks but I loved it so much because it had this little strip of fabric inside the eye mask that put light pressure on my eyes that felt incredibly soothing and relaxing. I haven’t been able to find anything similar but recently when I was creating my Gift Guide for Her, I stumbled upon the NodPod Gentle Pressure Sleep Mask. I was instantly intrigued and ordered one, hoping it might be a decent replacement.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and it’s safe to say I love this thing. I know this might sound dramatic, but I truly believe it is changing my sleep for the better. When I’m done reading at night, I lay this eye mask over my eyes and something about the light pressure on my eyes and temples is incredibly soothing. I’m a slide sleeper so the design of the eye mask concerned me but it stays in place enough for me to fall asleep and must just slip off on its own when I toss and turn in my sleep, though I’ve never woken up in the night when it falls off. While it’s great for falling asleep at night initially, I really fell in love with it for middle-of-the-night or way-too-early wakeups. The pressure seems to be some kind of wonderful magic that rests gently enough on my eyes to feel relaxing and help me fall back asleep. I’m not claiming it’s some wonderful cure for insomnia (I’m not sure anything could’ve helped me when I was struggling so bad with sleep during pregnancy) but it has been one of the best discoveries for my personal relaxation and nighttime sleep in a long, long time.

• Large-Picture Holiday Coloring Book

My mom gets all the credit for this discovery because years ago, when Chase was a toddler, she gave him a large-picture coloring book. I didn’t know such a thing existed but it quickly became his favorite coloring book because the pictures were large, playful and fun and easier to color than more intricate pictures in other coloring books. I recently ordered a large-picture holiday coloring book for the boys and I’m fairly certain they’re going to color every single picture in this one before Christmas is here. It’s been a go-to quiet activity for them every single day and, as someone who also enjoys coloring, it’s been a nice family activity for us to do together, too! (Note: I know the coloring book says it’s for ages 2-4 but even Chase at age 8 likes this one a lot!)

• The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand

My rating: B

Elin Hilderbrand’s books never steer me wrong and I went back to her lengthy arsenal of Nantucket-based novels and checked out The Identicals from my local library this week. This book was okay. That’s really all there is too it. It was entertaining enough to look forward to reading before bed every night but I didn’t really love any of the characters nor did I find myself full invested in the story the entire time I read it. That being said, it’s a book that still has the intrigue typical of Elin Hilderband’s work. While it’s a decent book, I do not believe it’s one of her best but that’s only because she’s set the bar so high for herself! If you’re new to Elin Hilderband, I highly recommend the Winter Street series this time of year. It roped me in big-time last winter!

The Identicals follows estranged identical twins Harper and Tabitha Frost. Though close as children, as young adults, a huge rift formed and their relationship was never the same. Following the death of their father, the twins are forced to come face-to-face again. Will their reunion help them overcome years of hurt or will they remain just as cold toward each other as ever?

• November 2023 Top 10

A while back I began sharing a top 10 list at the end of every month as a way to give you guys a glimpse back into some of the blog posts you may have missed or some of my favorite finds you may have had on your radar that got lost in blogging and social media mayhem. See below for November’s top 10!

BLOG POSTS

• Ryan is an Ironman!!! (A recap of Ryan’s first full Ironman triathlon)
• Gift Guide for Big Kids (A gift guide for kids ages 5 to early elementary school)
• Gift Guide for Toddlers and Little Kids (For toddlers and kids ages 5 and under)
• Gift Guide for Her
• Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
• My Skincare Routine
• Lazy 5, Christmas Trees and My Black Friday Buys
• Winning Cornbread Recipe
• My Mom’s Stuffing Recipe
• Simple Shrimp Dip

YOUR TOP 10 FAVORITES

• Colgate HUM Kid Toothbrush (I cannot rave about this enough! It’s extended our boys’ brushing time, made them more thorough brushers and has them genuinely excited to brush their teeth.)
• Quarter Crew Socks (A gem of a find if you like the socks-over-leggings look! Comfy, flattering and not too thick.)
• Target Crew Neck Sweater (When you own something in four colors, you know it’s good. Love this one!)
• Ornament Storage Box (Hugely helpful for easy ornament storage and organized tree decorating)
• Target Kid Joggers (Unisex joggers we love for our boys — great for slim kids)
• Pottery Barn Faux Leather Lounger (The kid-friendly loungers we have in our living room and play loft. So comfy!)
• Snap Circuits Electronic Exploration Kit (Chase’s newest obsession. Great for kids who like to tinker!)
• Ultimate Pokémon Handbook (Our big kids reference this book regularly and pour over it for hours. Truly, hours.)
• Kids’ Crocs (Clearly a bunch of us took advantage of this Black Friday sale! Aaand most colors are still on super sale!)
• NOW Solutions Vitamin C Serum (A must in my daily skincare routine)

 

Question of the Day

What is one thing you’re loving this week? Any fun holiday plans on the agenda for the weekend or coming weeks?