This week was back to work after a nice long Thanksgiving vacation. It was a fun weekend to spend time with the family watching Hallmark Christmas movies, doing some shopping with my mom on Black Friday, and enjoying turkey leftovers as much as possible! We wanted to enjoy a mid-week date night so we walked downtown to watch the tree lighting at City Hall and walked around to see the little pop-up shops. With the large crowds, we decided to come back another day to fully enjoy it because this year the Christmas Village set up is bigger than ever! Since it can’t be date night without a meal, we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants, Pub & Kitchen for dinner. We both got a cocktail to celebrate almost getting through the work week! Going into the week, we knew our work schedules were going to be super busy so to give us something to look forward to on the weekend, we made plans to decorate our house for Christmas this weekend. And if you cannot tell… I AM SO EXCITED!

So let’s get started and talk about my favorite things this week.

I’ve been enjoying 30 minutes of “alone time’ after work before J gets home. I usually curl up on the couch and watch an episode of Paris in Love or Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip on Peacock. It’s the perfect show to watch because it requires zero brain energy and is very entertaining. SPEAKING of Housewives, you must watch Housewive & Shah Shocker on Hulu if you follow the Jen Shah drama. I binge-watched Catherine the Great on Hulu one weekend because I love this show so much.

I love wearing a full face of makeup but I hate taking it off at night. Ugh, it is a struggle! I recently just finished using Maybelline Satin Liquid Foundation which I have used on and off for years. Luckily, I had a bottle of Maybelline Super Stay in my vanity that I’ve been using ever since. Wearing a mask most of the day because of work, I’ve found that using a full coverage foundation stays on the face better than a sheer foundation. Also I have been using this moisturizer every morning under my makeup and I notice my face looks brighter with daily use. At night I’m still using my retinol and dab a few spots of this moisturizer around my eyes since that area can be sensitive.

When we got back home from my parents house we came back home to an empty fridge and not much in the pantry. So on Monday after work I had to walk to the grocery store so we could eat dinner that night. This week I made barbeque chicken, stuffed peppers and quesadillas for dinner. Not that fascinating I know but it’s so nice to have options again!

I love visiting my parents because of how close they live to some of my favorite stores! We stopped in at Hobby Lobby and picked up a few things for the house before stopping at Homegoods and it’s dangerous when I walk in the front door! Hobby Lobby has an entire aisle dedicated to Grinch decor and I want all of it! Our Christmas plans are still up in the air so I delivered my parents Christmas presents when we were visiting at Thanksgiving to be on the safe side. I got my mom a butter ornament as a joke gift that I let her open early because we always joke about how much butter we use when we cook.

• I keep a semi-full closet full of clothes at my parents house as well as a bottle of my favorite perfume so I don’t have to bring it back and forth.
• My favorite Tarte eyeshadow palettes were on sale with Black Friday deals. Now is the time to stock up!
• The windows at Macy’s are all decorated for Christmas!
• The gin and tonic cocktail I had at Pub & Kitchen on our date night. Just thinking about it makes me want to have another!
• Shared some festive stocking stuffer ideas here.
• Last week I shared some gift ideas on the Blonde Rosie Facebook page. Keep an eye out because I’ll be adding more.