The first few days of this week absolutely crawled by for me and then BAM on Wednesday afternoon the rest of the week passed by in a flash and here we are – Friday! Woo!
This weekend will be full of baby-related fun and time outside. We have our Childbirth Prep class all day tomorrow and on Sunday we have plans to take the boat out with our friends for a day on the lake. (Surprise, surprise. I told you I want to live in the water right now!)
After work today, I’m meeting with the doctor we hope will be our pediatrician and hoping that goes well! As for tonight? Ordering pizza and spending the evening on the couch sounds miiighty fine to me.
But before the weekend fun begins, it’s time for your weekly Things I’m Loving Friday post! As always, feel free to participate in the comments section and share something that you’re loving with me below. I always love hearing from you guys!
Things I’m Loving Friday
- Using Thawed Frozen Strawberries As “Syrup”
Earlier this week, after I had just made my beloved egg white and oatmeal protein pancake for breakfast, I realized we were out of maple syrup. I don’t mind the pancake on its own and also love it topped with nut butter, but I was in the mood for a pancake topping that was sweet. Hello, frozen strawberries!
I simply heated up a small serving of frozen strawberries in the microwave for just under 90 seconds until the berries burst and released lots of tasty strawberry juice! This became my “syrup” of sorts and tasted great! I know I’m not the first to use fruit as “syrup,” but this week was my first time trying it out. I ended up making the exact same thing for breakfast this morning and think it’s a winner!
- The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins
I started reading this book on Tuesday night (the first book I’ve ever read on a tablet!) and it totally sucked me in. I flew through it and while I didn’t really find it as “suspenseful” as people claim it to be, I did find it incredibly intriguing and loved the twists and turns and the way the author would make you think one thing, only to change your mind completely with a snippet of new information. It’s a page-turner for sure and if you happen to be a little behind on The Girl On The Train bandwagon like I was, I highly recommend it! Time for my next summer read…
- Passionfruit Sparkling Water
My love for sparkling water runs deep and this new-to-me flavor of La Croix is awesome! Pamplemousse (grapefruit) will probably always be my favorite, but the new passionfruit flavor is quite tasty!
- New Stretches To Try
I started working with a new physical therapist yesterday (one who specializes in prenatal care) and left with a bunch of new stretches to try and some work I can do on our exercise ball at home to hopefully alleviate some pain. Over the course of the past three days, I started to notice a slight decrease in pain which makes me so happy and I’m hoping my new physical therapist will only help further! I’m still not able to really walk comfortably, but some of the intense stabbing pain has dissipated a bit. I’ll take it!
- Fuji Apple & Blueberry Clusters
I packed up a bag of this freeze dried fruit snack to bring with us on the boat last weekend and polished off the entire thing myself. (Hey, it’s easy to do and the ingredients are awesome, so no problem there!) I first tried it as part of my partnership with CVS and their (artificial preservative and flavoring-free) Gold Emblem Abound line of snacks and have since bought a bag every time I’ve popped into CVS for various odds and ends. I love this snack and used the bag I bought above as a topping for my Greek yogurt (crumbled up and stirred in!) and as a quick grab-and-go snack when I wanted something sweet this week. Yum!
- Around the Web
20 Minute Total Body Tabata Workout
40-60% Off Final Sale Items At J.Crew with code SHOPNOW
Core Workout You Can Do In The Pool
Question of the Day
- What is one thing you are loving this week?
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Disclaimer: I’m proud to partner with CVS/pharmacy as one of the “Gold Emblem Abound Trail Makers” this year! I am being sponsored by CVS/pharmacy for my Trail Makers posts and activities, but all opinions expressed are my own, and all product claims or program details shared should be verified at CVS.com or with the appropriate manufacturers.
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I made your pancakes this morning for breakfast as well and added in some dark chocolate. Next time I’ll have to add strawberries on top instead of syrup! One thing I am loving is that I’ll be 23 on Sunday! I’ll be having a weekend spent with plenty of family and friends. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Happy almost-birthday!! Hope you have a blast celebrating!
I hope your childbirth prep class goes well and is informative! I am loving that my brother and his fiancee and all of her family are coming in town from Denmark so they can get married!!
Oh that is so exciting!!! Have the BEST time! Weddings are so much fun. <3
Have an awesome class – my BFF and her husband just signed up for theirs, she is due in three months and we are planning her baby shower!
I love the strawberries as a topping trick! I like to add them as a sub for jelly too. Have a wonderful weekend!
I just started to get into Kodiak Cakes, and since they’re already pretty protein heavy, I didn’t feel like I needed to top them with almond/peanut butter like I normally do with pancakes. I started putting fruit spread from Trader Joe’s on them instead and HOLY SMOKES. I really had fairly low expectations, but it’s been delicious! Syrup will probably always be my #1 pancake topping, but that fruit spread has turned out to be a fantastic alternative. I bet frozen strawberries are equally delicious!
I’ve heard the best things about Kodiak Cakes… Still need to try them!
I`ve heard lots of good things about The Girl on the Train. I`ll have to borrow it from the library.
Good luck with your physio. I hope it starts to help.
This could have been my list this week! I just tried the Passionfruit La Croix and have been drinking it all week. I have about 40 pages left of Girl on the Train and I’m loving it! I also had similar hip and lower back pain but it occurred after both of my pregnancies. It’s awful especially when you are used to leading an active lifestyle. I tried chiropractic treatments and physical therapy. I can’t say enough about the physical therapy! My therapist did manipulations on mine and that helped immensely. There were also a few key stretches that were a game changer for me.
I’m with you – I thought Girl on the Train was okay. A quick easy read, but I didn’t fall in love with it like a lot of people. I’m totally loving pancakes. I cannot stop eating them this week – breakfast and dinner! 🙂
I am finally reading The Girl on the Train too, well listening to it. I heard/ have seen all of the rave reviews so I waited 3 months to check the audiobook out of the library (sometimes I commute) and I am over halfway and have been waiting for it to be more suspenseful too. I like it, but it is not what I was expecting. Two books I thought to be pretty suspenseful with a twist are Dark Places and Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, the author of Gone Girl.
My five year wedding anniversary and celebrating with our little one having their first sleepover and grammy and grandads! YAY for getting out of the house past 7pm tonight!
I just finished the girl on the train as well and couldn’t put it down, lots of twists! Excited to try the frozen strawberries on top of protein pancakes, thanks for sharing!
One thing I’m loving this week is a new couch that just got delivered to my boyfriend and my’s new place! We’re really loving the whole living together thing. It feels like we’ve been here so much longer than just two weeks! Have a great weekend.
Hi Julie!
I looove using frozen berries as “syrup” straight out of the microwave too.
If you’re ever in the mood to be adventurous, throw some frozen berries (my favorite is blueberries) AND the maple syrup in a bowl together in the microwave together for about a minute.
The berries burst and release their juices into the syrup and the result is amazing. Like those fancy flavored syrups you see on the tables at pancake houses.
Let me know if you try it and love it at much as me 🙂
Have a great class and enjoy your floaty time on the water! 😉
I’ll be enjoying floaty time as well. We’re going on a little road trip so we can kayak and paddleboard in a new spot!
I LOVE La Croix! I need to try the new flavor!
I loved Girl on a Train too! Such a good book. If you want another thrilling book, check out A Dark Lure by Loreth Anne White..really really good! Have a great weekend Julie 🙂
Can’t wait to hear about your childbirth classes. My husband and I are doing the birthing center tour on Sunday. I’m really looking forward to seeing where our baby boy will be born and where all the action will go down. Haha.
Right now I am loving all of the storms we have been having. Nothing like working on the nursery with the sounds of thunder and rain in the background.
I read Girl On The Train and thought it was pretty good – it certainly kept me wanting to know how it ended – but I can’t say I loooooved it. Maybe I’m too much of a romantic? Have a great weekend, Julie!
enjoy your time on the water this weekend! I hope to be doing the same but in Florida 🙂
I read Girl on the Train and definitely thought it was a page turner, it but I thought the relationships were kinda twisted. Like, is this real life?!
We just bought The Girl On the Train on audio during our last road trip. We’re only a couple of chapters in, but I can see how it can get very twisty. I’m looking forward to finishing it now. Enjoy your movie night and have a great weekend!
Just wanted to say how adorable your nursery turned out. You did an incredible job! As someone with several pregnant friends, I am always on the lookout for great gift ideas and just love the portable diaper bag that was sitting on the changing table!! Where did this come from – great handles, great pattern, great idea 🙂
Have a Great Weekend!! Thanks for sharing
Thank you!!! It was from Amazon –> http://amzn.to/1C2h2nd I added it to my registry after a friend recommended it to me and love the neutral look and all of the pockets!
I was actually pretty disappointed with Girl On The Train. I thought it was predictable and had the ending figured out halfway through the book. It also didn’t help that I didn’t really care about any of the characters. I think it got hyped up after Gone Girl, but it really didn’t stack up. Hope you have a good weekend!
Ah grapefruit Lacroix is my favorite and I generally love passionfruit so I have to find that seltzer! Thanks for the tip – I’ll be looking out for it.
Frozen berries as syrup? That’s a great idea! The past few days, I’ve been mixing a spoonful of raspberry jam into my ice cream…then mashing it up, Coldstone Creamery-style. It’s such a delicious dessert!
I love coming across good book recommendations, will definitely try to give that one a go! I am totally loving Stephen King novels this week ;)!
Hi Julie,
Have you tried rolling on a tennis ball or a racquet ball? I, too, suffer from sciatic nerve pain and am pregnant and this was recommended to me by my physical therapist (or terrorist as I like to call her). It hurts really bad to lay on top of the ball on the floor and then roll around but I have noticed a huge difference and am having significant improvement in my pain levels! Hope this helps you!!
XO
Hi Julie! That’s awesome you’re getting at least a little relief with new stretches. Hope you enjoy your weekend and time on the lake! What am I loving? A Publix care package sent to me recently (I don’t have Publix in San Francisco and miss it so!!)!
I love using frozen fruit as “syrup”! Try it with blueberries; so so good!
My undying love for fresh cherries continues! And I have to try that La Croix flavor. I love the grapefruit and cran-raspberry ones.
I just finished reading Girl on the Train on Monday!! I agree that it was a page turner but I didn’t fall in love with it as much as I expected to based on all the positive recommendations I got. I definitely couldn’t put it down at the end though!
Good luck in your class tomorrow! We just signed up for our newborn cpr and newborn care classes!
Woo! I really like the classes a lot… It’s nice to hear about these things in person rather than just reading books! Hope yours go well, too!
The Girl on The Train is definitely going to need to be my next read. I have heard so many good things about that book. This week, I’m loving the fact that we are starting our house hunting this weekend. We have outgrown our apartment and can’t wait to find a space to really call our own.
Ugh I have had The Girl on the Train on hold at our library for SO LONG – I just want it to be my turn already!!
I love that flavor or la croix water too – it is my favorite!
If you liked Girl on the Train, try The Good Girl by Mary Kubica and The Husband’s Secret; we read all three for book club and they all appeal to the same reader, we loved them all!!
Mashed blueberries! My favorite thing in the summer is to mash berries. It’s a great make-shift jam and I don’t even miss the added sugar because berries this time of year are so sweet on their own! 🙂
Those clusters look awesome! I’m such a snacky mood these days, two meals and lots of snacks, savoury food is not tickling my fancy!
Those clusters sound incredibly tasty – count me in! In terms of what I’m loving this week, it’s been raining all week here in Denver, but we’re going to have a sunny weekend! (Supposedly.) I’ll take any promise of good weather I can get! 🙂
Good luck with your baby goodness tonight & this weekend!
Love the roundup of links and that sparkling water is so good! I’ve had it before!
ooooh share some more of your stretches please! I was just like you with my last pregnancy, I couldn’t walk anywhere without feeling like my hips were going to burst into flames it hurt so badly. I’m hoping to get preggo again sometime soon and am dreading this again!
I listened to the audiobook for Girl on the Train and I absolutely couldn’t stand Rachel, lol. I enjoyed the book though.
Something I’m loving this week, my strawberry infused water. So refreshing!
One thing I like to do is boil down frozen fruit on the stove so it thickens! It’s also great on yogurt! I’m currently listening to The Girl on the Train on audiobook during my runs, although I haven’t run much lately so I’ve been working on it for a while!
i’m loving that my new job is a 15 min drive from my apt meaning i can actually get my work out in before work! went for my first morning run this week and it was awesome.
I hope the physical therapist gets you feeling better super soon! <3 <3 <3
If you’re looking for another good book, I’m about halfway through “Disclaimer” by Renee Knight. Right up the “Girl on the Train” alley!
Hey Julie! I had the exact same debilitating and painful SI joint pain that you are experiencing when I was pregnant with my son (16 months ago). I had to go off work 6 weeks early because the pain was so bad and I could barely walk. By the end of the day, all i could manage was to shuffle from point A to point B. So I feel your pain friend! 🙁 Are you only going to physio for help? I really really think you should look into chiropractic care – I had never been before my pregnancy but I found a very gentle woman practitioner who helped me through the worst times. I also started to see a massage therapist (in the same office) and I have to say, she was the biggest help. And it was nice because the chiro would tell her what was going on and where my problem areas were etc. The massage therapist would massage golf ball sized knots out of my hips! It hurt but would give me the most relief. Of course, as I’m sure you’ve been told, there’s no “cure” until baby is born, and I’m here to tell you that, amazingly, the pain does literally go away as soon as you give birth! It’s pretty crazy when you think about it. Anyway, just wanted to add my two cents 🙂
I love frozen fruit as syrup! I “melt” raspberries, strawberries, and bananas on waffles, pancakes, and toast with nut butter. I had blueberries in Kodiak cakes with a little syrup tonight and realized I need to make pancakes more often 😉 I think I need to try your egg white and oatmeal pancake as part of that resolution. Have a great weekend!