Things I’m Loving Friday #495

Hey friends! How are ya? How is your week going? Our week passed by in a blur of pediatrician visits (for Ryder — he’s thankfully better now), school performances (so cute), holiday and work-related to-dos and all of the other random commitments that seem to pop up this time of year. It’s a swirling mix of chaotic and wonderful and I cannot believe Christmas is only 10 days away. While 10 days feels like nothing to me, I can so vividly remember feeling like the month of December crawled by as Christmas approached when I was a kid. The anticipation definitely added to the excitement!

As for the weekend ahead, it will be filled with holiday fun as we have a couple of holiday parties on the agenda as well as a festive 5K, a cookie decorating celebration and more. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Keep on scrolling for this week’s roundup of holiday favorites, Things I’m Loving Friday style!

Things I’m Loving Friday

• Republic of Tea Peppermint Bark Tea

Sometimes impulse buys pay off in a major way and that has certainly been the case with this Republic of Tea Peppermint Bark Tea. I added it to my cart at Whole Foods a few weeks ago and it quickly became my favorite tea of the holiday season. It’s delightfully minty but with the slightest touch of cocoa to make it feel a little special this time of year. Even Chase loves it!

• Keeping My Phone Across the Bedroom

I used to keep my phone away from our bed but ever since we moved into our new house, I’ve been keeping my phone on the nightstand right next to our bed. I read before bed at night so mindless scrolling before bed isn’t an issue for me but I noticed the very first thing I would do in the morning after I woke up was grab my phone. I realized I was spending a solid 10 minutes or so checking email, scrolling Instagram, responding to texts, etc. I’m not sure why it took me nearly a year to realize this but beginning my day on my phone just kind of sucked.

A few weeks ago, I moved my phone across the bedroom so I have to get out of bed before I grab it and it’s been a game changer. I don’t look at my phone until after I let Pepper out, after I’ve made myself a cup of coffee and after I have some time to sit with my daily devotional. My day feels more intentional, more peaceful and more prayerful and I love it so much.

• Hair Accessories

I wear my hair pulled back most days and even on the days when I wear my hair down, I end up pulling it back in some capacity after a couple of hours. I like my hair out of my face and am all about keeping hair ties and clips around at all times. I’ve found a few hair accessories I’m loving a little extra lately and figured I’d highlight them here for anyone who might be in the same boat or for those who may be shopping for some fun stocking stuffers for friends and family who also appreciate hair accessories.

Amazon Fuzzy Claw Clip: A fun, wintery clip, this claw clip is one I use to pull back all of my hair or wear my hair half-up. According to anyone who has ever done my hair, I have very fine, soft hair but a lot of it and this means it often slides right through claw clips. This one is strong and holds my hair in place really well — so well I even wore it to Burn Boot Camp during a leg day once when my hair tie snapped!

Target Satin Bow Barrette: You know you love something when you order it in three colors. I am all about the bow trend lately and love the way clipping a bow into my hair adds a lovely feminine touch to any outfit. These are best for wearing hair half up as they don’t hold a ton of hair but they do stay in place, especially when I pull my hair back and and spray it with my favorite hairspray.

Target Velvet Ribbon Bow Barrette: I love the long length of this bow barrette and think it looks so romantic clipped into loosely curled hair.

• Mama Pea’s Mmmm Sauce

Are there any long-time blog readers out there who used to be into reading alllllll the healthy living blogs (ya know, in the pre-social media days)? This is so random but earlier this week, I found myself thinking about former healthy living blogger Mama Pea and her amazing Mmmm Sauce. I remembered it being a delicious way to jazz up lunches and dinners and knew the base included nutritional yeast, chickpeas and nuts of some kind but beyond that, my mind went blank. Thankfully Google lead me to exactly the recipe I was looking for and I am so happy to have this recipe back in my life! I used it on top of grain bowls for dinner one night but also found myself dipping everything from carrots and rotisserie chicken to shrimp and cucumber slices into it all week long.

• Friday Flashbacks

Oreo Peppermint Ice Cream Dessert (So easy — only 3 ingredients! — and a family favorite in our house this time of year!)

Easy Holiday Breakfast Recipes (A crowd-pleasing roundup of our favorites, perfect for enjoying this holiday season)

Question of the Day

What is one thing that made you smile this week?