Things I’m Loving Friday #583

Hello, hello! Friday is here! We’ve had a decent week filled with the usual weekday commitments, including something a little new in the form of flag football for Chase. He’s excited to play on a team with some of his friends and classmates and so far the rec league he joined seems like a decent one. He is obsessed with football and plays every day at recess so a flag football league seems like a decent intro into the sport.

We’re also all looking forward to seeing Ryan — he arrives home from his work conference in Las Vegas today — and we’re planning on a relatively chill weekend ahead.

As for now, let’s cruise right on into this week’s roundup of favorites, shall we?

Things I’m Loving

• Annual Galentine’s Favorite Things Night

(Outfit details here! Amazon sweatpants fit similar to my beloved Ruti pants but are a thicker, warmer sweatpant material. I still love my Ruti pants above all but these are super cozy.)  

Every year, a group of my girlfriends and I get together around Valentine’s Day for our own little Galentine’s celebration. We do a favorite things gift exchange and it’s always so much fun to get together, chat and share some things we’re all loving! This year we got a little crafty and last Tuesday we went to The Outpost, a new local coffee/gift shop in the area for a pressed flowers craft night. The woman who ran the event said she got everything off Amazon if you’d like to recreate it at home! (We used these frames, a selection of pressed flowers and modge-podge on the back of the flowers to make them stay in place.)

As for what we exchanged, we stuck to a budget and each brought 4 of the same gifts. (There are 8 of us involved in the exchange, but we each pass our 4 gifts in a circle to our right so it works and helps keep costs down. Trading at the end is encouraged if you want to swap!) This year, I brought the following goodies: A Geometry kitchen towel (code PBFINGERS15 saves 15%), icon pink + red bow juice glass (I love a fun glass so much, especially for kombucha, sparkling water or a mocktail) and a thin stitched notebook because I swear I rely on these kind of notebooks for everythinggg.

I was bummed because I ordered two things to include — a bar of Jukebox soap aka my faaavorite natural soap  or years (code PBFINGERS15 saves 15%) and sample packs of the matcha protein powder I use every day (code JULIE15 saves 15%) — but they didn’t arrive in time. Thankfully the juice glasses shipped fast and saved the day so I swapped them in and they worked great!

As for what others gifted, here’s a little roundup: Retractable cord car charger (genius!! I was so psyched for this one!!), electric candle warming lamp (it lets you use your candles without fire/a flame), lavender body butter, TruFru (loved the snack-size pack — I ate mine on the drive home!), heart icon juice glass (my friend Carrie and I had the same idea!), bow hair claw clips, e.l.f. lip balm (this was a past TILF fav of mine), note cards with blank insides, body butter and more snacky treats!

I also created a roundup of this year’s favorites + some past favorite things here if you’d like to check them out in one place: Galentine’s Favorite Things

• ROZ Salt Scalp Scrub

Ya know a hair product is a good one when even your husband comments on it! I am on the road to becoming a ROZ hair product super fan because I’ve loved everything I’ve tried by this brand. I initially fell in love with their root lift spray (it’s incredibly helpful when sprayed on my lifeless hair right before blow drying) and shampoo + conditioner (I received that duo in a PR mailer and truly felt like it made my hair feel stronger and healthier) so I had high expectations for their salt scalp scrub.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a product leave my hair feeling cleaner, lighter and softer. When I say this scrub makes my hair and scalp feel clean I mean deeply clean. Like to the CORE. It’s fantastic for removing build-up and if you’re someone like me who can occasionally get a little bit of a flaky scalp, it exfoliates your scalp and washes those pesky flakes and product build-up away. Ryan used it when we were out of shampoo in the shower one day and got out saying, “I have no idea what that stuff is but I like it” and talked about how truly clean his hair felt. It’s a true luxury hair product and one I’ve been loving so much! I use it about 2x a month so it lasts me a long time!

• Jupiter Scalp Brush

While we’re talking scalp health, I must also sing the praises of this Jupiter scalp brush. I had a different scalp brush I previously used but dropped it in the shower and it cracked (it was cheap plastic) and a few months ago, I replaced it with the Jupiter scalp brush. I love it for a myriad of reasons but mainly to help exfoliate the scalp, stimulate hair follicles to help encourage hair growth and distribute hair oils when I use it on dry hair. (I actually have a scalp brush in my shower and on my vanity now.) Ryan also uses the one I keep in the shower and especially loves it on his thick hair for a deeper clean. (I will forever be jealous of his thick, wavy locks.)

• These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

Genre: Contemporary Romance + Family Drama / My rating: A-

What a FUN read. I enjoyed this book so much from the very beginning to the very last page. It’s an intriguing family drama that centers around Alice Storm, the estranged daughter of an incredibly wealthy tech billionaire. Alice had a falling out with her father and family years ago but following the unexpected death of her dad, she returns to Storm Island, the private family island where her mother is planning a “celebration” (NOT a funeral) to honor her late father. Alice’s return to the island becomes more than she bargained for when her eccentric and difficult father surprises the entire family with a post-mortem game they must play if they have any hope of inheriting the billions he has wrapped up in his will. The game is made all the more interesting when secrets surface and the person in charge of overseeing everything is the handsome man Alice met and spent the night with, assuming she’d never see him again, during her travels to the island.

• Weekend Sales

A few sales to check out this weekend!

Activewear sale at Old Navy (prices from $10!): Sale includes their new super-soft Studio Smooth line. / These pants are supposed to be a semi-close RUTI dupe and they’re available in tall sizes which may be helpful if you are taller and found the RUTI pants too short. / I love their activewear dresses for spring/summer and appreciate that they’re available in tall sizes that work well for my long torso.

Stackable additional 20% off at aerie with code SHOPMY20: I just got this coral sweatshirt (sizes down!) and love it! / I also adore their matching setsmatching sets. / Their swimwearswimwear has been a favorite of mine for years.

Up to 40% off + 60% off sale at Lands’ End with code LILY: I recently got this long packable rain jacket and it’s fantastic. High quality, waterproof, wind resistant and it has a really flattering fit thanks to a cinchable waist. I also use end of seasons sales like this to get winter gear for the boys for the next year and the kids’ sale section has a good selection right now! I got a pair of snow pants, winter boots and a jacket for the boys.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

What is one thing making you smile this week?