Things I’m Loving Friday #577

Friday is here and it’s Polar Express day for our family!! We grabbed tickets for this festive holiday train ride back in June (yes, it’s complete insanity) and we cannot wait to throw on our Christmas jammies, bundle up and board the fully decorated train as it chugs along to the North Pole… located less than 5 miles from the station. Woop!

My parents are joining us this year which will make it all the more fun and we’ve also thoroughly enjoyed having them in town for an extended stay (they arrived the day before Thanksgiving). Living far from family when you’re raising kids isn’t always easy but it absolutely makes us all the more appreciative of any visits we get with Mae and Pop! (And heeey I’ll always accept the extra help they offer when they’re here — everything from making meals to thoroughly entertaining the kids — it’s a gift!)

As for today though let’s keep things rockin’ and dive right into this week’s roundup of favorites, shall we!?

Things I’m Loving Friday

• The Return of Fisbee

I know the whole Elf on the Shelf thing is a little polarizing and I’ll always encourage everyone out there to only take on the things that bring them joy during the holiday season but hot dang I swear I get just as excited for the return of our family’s elf, Fisbee, as the boys do! Ryan and I take a very laid back approach to Elf on the Shelf and mostly just move the boys’ elf around the house but a few times a week Fisbee brings the heat and will do something extra fun like set up a Floor is Lava course for the boys or zip line across our family room.

A couple of years ago we also started a little journal Fisbee brings along with him on December 1 every year and the boys write back and forth to him, draw him pictures, etc. It’s such a blast for me to write them little notes and draw fun little pictures for them under the ruse of Fisbee and definitely adds to the holiday magic in our house! (And yes, yes I do YouTube drawing tutorials for my little pictures because my talents are very limited.) Plus, once all this Elf on the Shelf stuff has run its course in our house, I think we’ll love looking back on this sweet little filled-up journal for years to come.

• A New “Contour” Method (Cream Bronzer!)

The quotations I put around the word “contour” above are very much intentional because, let’s be real, when it comes to contouring makeup, I’m a novice with a capital “N.” But hey, I’m always open to learning and I recently tried a new contour method I’ve been loving! Rather than using a darker contour stick to apply lines all over my face (a process that has always intimidated me), I use a cream bronzer (I like this one by Refy beauty in the shade sand) to apply the bronzer using light pats with an angled makeup brush slightly above my cheekbones, the top of my forehead and right above and below my lip. It’s a MUCH more subtle sun-kissed look that adds a little definition to my face in a flattering way.

• Little Holiday Extras

(My fav vanilla matcha protein latte in an open mug because I like to live on the wild side — JULIE15 saves 15% on the protein powder I use) 

Anyone else out there get a little burst of joy from the small little holiday “extras” this time of year? I’m talking about super simple things like making a favorite family holiday recipe, attending a local holiday event, filling up an old favorite Christmas mug, lighting a holiday candle (this balsam & fir candle + this evergreen eucalyptus candle = my personal favs), reading a page from my Simply Christmas devotional (the one I re-read ever year), etc.

On Wednesday night, we planned a holiday game night complete with some favorite holiday games, hot chocolate and warm apple cider and it brought me so much joy. This time of year can easily feel overwhelming and frazzled but taking a moment to enjoy and appreciate some of the little things that add magic to the holiday season for me always helps me feel the Christmas spirit a little bit more this time of year. I don’t want to get so wrapped up in obligations and commitments that I miss it!

• The First Gentleman by James Patterson and Bill Clinton

Genre: Mystery/Thriller / My rating: B-

I loved The President is Missing by author-duo years ago so my expectations for The First Gentleman were admittedly rather high. While the premise of this book was definitely thrilling — the husband of the President of the United States is on trial for the murder of an NFL cheerleader that happened nearly 2 decades ago — the writing fell a little flat for me. It all felt almost surface-level and lacked some depth and emotion, though it still managed to keep my attention from start to finish. I also occasionally find myself annoyed by male authors who write as females in a way that feels far from how a woman would actually think/speak and felt that way through this novel for one of the characters in this novel. (I’m sure men might feel this way if they read a women’s romance and saw how some women authors capture a man’s thoughts/feelings.) I do thoroughly enjoy a political thriller though and this one was certainly packed with intrigue even if it wasn’t a shocking or particularly twisty read to me.

• November 2025 Top 10

Here are your top favorites from November this year!

Blog Posts

• Gift Guide for Her
• Cottage Cheese Baked Pasta
• Gift Guide for Little Kids (ages 3 – 5)
• Gift Guide for Big Kids (ages 8-10)
• Lasagna Recipe Using Cottage Cheese
• Gift Guide for Kids (ages 5 – 7) 
• How to Make German Pancakes
• Our Camping MVPs
• My Mom’s Stuffing Recipe
• My Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Your Top Favorites

• Clare V. Moyen Messenger Bag (Whether you ordered this for yourself or as a gift I hope this bag will be as treasured by you as it has been by me! The size, quality and gorgeous leather easily makes this bag the nicest bag I’ve ever owned.)
• Craft Storage Bins (The best way we’ve found to store the boys’ art supplies, specifically markers, colored pencils, etc. The bins in these containers are deep and removable — a nice change from other bins I’ve found that aren’t deep enough to store markers with the lid on.)
• No Makeup Makeup (The name says it all. The ultimate makeup for a low-maintenance, natural look. It does the best job covering my pinky undertones and age spots with only a light dusting. Note: I DO think the brush is important to use with this one for it work its best! I wear shade “light.” Code PBFINGERS15 saves 15%)
• Toddler Target Sherpa Slippers + Target Kid Sherpa Slippers (Our boys love theirs!)
• Amazon Kids’ Slim Fit Sweatpants (Dream sweats for slim kids!!! Finding sweats that don’t fall down or look super sloppy when your kids are slim is a challenge and these are some of the best we’ve found for our boys. They say girl’s sweats but they’re very much gender neutral.)
• Rechargeable Rocket Launcher (The rechargeable rocket that launches crazy high and blows our boys’ minds)
• NodPod Weighted Sleep Mask (The gentle pressure from this eye mask helps so much with my middle-of-the-night wakeups. One of my top gifting recommendations! )
• Parallelle Makeup Bag (The makeup bag I adore because it lets you store your makeup vertically, making it a million times easier to find what you need. It also has plenty of sections so you can organize your beauty products well.)
• PUR Minerals Mascara Primer (I’ve truly been looking for a decent clean beauty mascara primer for years and this one blew me away. It does the best job making my lashes look fuller and longer when I apply it, let it dry for a couple of minutes and then swipe on my mascara.)
• BaubleBar Tennis Bracelet (The gorgeous, delicate tennis bracelet I haven’t taken off my wrist since I got it several months ago. I love the 1.5mm stones for a more subtle, dainty look.)
• Brain Flakes (One of my top kid gift recommendations because it’s an open-ended play kind of toy that will continue to entertain them for years)

• Friday Flashbacks

Instant Pot Butternut Squash Beef Stew (The ultimate comfort food but healthy! The broth is thick flavorful and velvety but you’d never know it’s all because of butternut squash!)

Holiday Pretzels (The easy holiday treat we’ve been making for years! So delicious and also a hit when it comes to homemade sweet and salty treat gifting!)