Category: friday favorites

Wow. What a week it’s been in quarantine. Some weeks go by quickly and others, like this one, are slow so Friday was very welcomed. I think we all have a heavy heart with the recent events and the aftermath of them.

Even with a long holiday weekend to start the week, I will admit that this week was a tough one. It was hard to see so many people with their families or out doing stuff. I’ve been calling my mom a lot lately to just talk and have a good cry when needed. The Philadelphia Magazine had a great article that was about how different people in Philadelphia are dealing with quarantine. It’s pretty much our new normal now and we have all adapted to it. One of the women who shared her experience was working from home prior to the quarantine so now she is home with her husband and their son. She said that she never had anyone watch her work before and now she feels like someone is watching her. When I hear states are starting to open up again I feel like there is going to be a comparison game of who accomplished more, who worked from home and remodeled their home best? It’s one thing having to compete with others outside of the home, but no one is talking about comparing experiences with the people we live with. I keep reminding myself to give myself grace during this time but I see some weight I’ve put on with quarantine (I’m no longer getting my 10,000 steps in a day), my roots that desperately need some blonde and house projects I may not get to. When you go to work every day, you have an excuse to be too tired not to get household chores done or have a clean home. However, right now there is the mindset for some that there are no excuses. I’m tired of living like groundhog day. Jake and I joke that we used to run the dishwasher maybe twice a week because we were never home to use our kitchen. Now with homemade breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we’ve run it twice a day to keep up with the dishes. I’d love to know your experiences with quarantine now that we are going into summer and it’s going to look a lot different than it has in the past. I didn’t mean to write such a long introduction to today’s post but I thought I would share.

With the rainy weather on Memorial Day Weekend, I put on comfy clothes and got on the couch for a weekend full of rom-com movies on Hulu. It felt so good to eat cookies and binge movies watching the rain come down because I didn’t feel bad about missing a typical MDW with my family. During the week I watched the limited series WACO and Unorthodox which were both very good. For date night this week, we ordered Taco Bell and watched Secret Life of Pets 2 because we haven’t seen it yet. So cute!! I’m looking for some new shows to watch so leave your suggestions in the comments, please!

As I mentioned above, I read this month’s Philadelphia Magazine while laying out in my backyard and they did a great job covering how the coronavirus is impacting different people within Philadelphia. Earlier this week I finished reading Goodnight Nobody and have moved onto Good in Bed. I’ve been getting more reading done with the nicer weather because I can sit on a bench or layout on a towel to enjoy the sun.

I recently ran out of my usual Neutrogena face wash but instead of buying a new one, I am going to use up all of the face products I have in my bathroom instead. A goal of mine is to use what I have before I buy anything else for quarantine. A nice blogger perk is that I get a good amount of free products in the mail so I want to use them all up because I have a lot! This cleanser that I’ve had for a while has been my new morning face wash. I usually just used it with a cleanser brush but now with the warmer weather, I like using a cleanser that gently exfoliates.

I’ve been getting asked “what did you order?” a lot lately but honestly I haven’t personally ordered much! I’ve been investing more time and energy on the blog and getting more “blogger mail” than usual. I’m so excited to bring some great content to the blog to share some new products with you. I bribed my live-in photographer with brownies this week to do some photoshoots for le blog. HA!

I finally got my new vase that I ordered a few weeks ago because the first one was sent back because it was crushed in delivery. It encouraged me to clean up our dining room table to do a room refresh for the summer. I love how it looks now and the only thing we did was add an affordable centerpiece.

Spending time in the kitchen is something I’ve been loving a lot! I shared on the blog this past week where I’ve been finding recipes and how we plan meals for the week.

Reading outside. Honestly, I needed a break from tv this week so I’ve been running out to read whenever I get the chance.

We got a harness and a leash so we can let Ed hang out in the backyard. He’s such a scaredy-cat so he doesn’t go far so we can let go of the leash most of the time. I’ll let him out in the morning while I sit on our back steps drinking coffee. I love to watch him explore and then get scared of the wind.

I made vodka sauce from scratch again this week. It was a last minute thing because we had the ingredients and it’s so good and easy to throw together.

Snail mail. I got a lot of cards from my family this week and I love having them on display in the living room.

I think this is the first week of quarantine that has really affected me in a deep way. Leading up to Memorial Day Weekend is tough because for my whole life it meant that the beaches were opening and it was summer time, my favorite time of the year. This MDW is going to be different but I am trying to enjoy it as much as I can. Earlier this week we spent a lot of time in the backyard weeding, planting and cleaning up the backyard. Our hard work has paid off because the flowers have started to bloom and the backyard is our little oasis in the city. On Thursday night we made pulled chicken barbecue sandwiches in the crockpot to have our own version of a barbecue dinner. I made homemade french fries and heated up some canned corn – it was delicious!

Philly is allowing carry out cocktails this weekend so maybe we will treat ourselves to a few. Luckily we live a few blocks away from a food store that has a big alcohol section so we have plenty of White Claw in our fridge. The weather forecast says plenty of rain but I’m not letting that ruin my long weekend.

This week I tried to balance watching tv and getting stuff done so I treated myself to an episode of The Great on Hulu at night after a productive day. I’m not sure if I should be embarrassed or proud but I watched the entire first season of Sweet Magnolias on Netflix. It was so good and as Jake called it, “It’s a Hallmark movie that never ends!’ Honestly, it the type of fun, light television we all need to watch right now. Jake and I were watching The Last Ship together the last few weeks and finished the show this week. The show had plenty of suspense and we liked how they ended the show perfectly. If you are looking for a show to watch with your significant other this is a good one.

In the backyard there is a little patio set where I like to have my morning coffee and get some reading done. This week I read the current issue of Vogue Magazine and I was very impressed by the creative direction they took. It explored how the fashion, art, retail and industries will be changed forever because of COVID. In a way, this pause in time will move these industries to the digital age and will make them change and adapt or be left behind pre-COVID. I highly suggest grabbing a copy of this issue because it does a good job looking at how everyone has been impacted by this.

One of my goals for quarantine is to use up all of the products I have in my cabinet because let’s be honest, it’s a lot! One thing I have plenty of is lotions so I’m really committed to applying lotion to my entire body after the shower and at night before sleep.

A lot of my recent purchases this week were at the grocery store honestly. With the extra time while staying safe at home, I’ve been having fun looking up new recipes to try. I’ll plan my meals out on Sunday for the week and I’ll do a grocery run to get the ingredients. Pre-quarantine I had all of the basics but now that we cook all of our meals from scratch, I’ve been needing some more spices and basics.

The Loft sale is still going so check out this previous post where I shared some of my recent haul.

We ran out of toilet paper and could not find it in stock anywhere! Luckily GoPuff was selling it so we stocked up on TP and snacks. I swear, this experience is going to make me hoard toilet paper for life! It makes my toilet paper holder come in handy because it keeps it neat and tidy!

I recently created a Facebook page for Ed since my phone is filled with pictures of him. His personality is adorable and he’s become more friendly since I’m home all day. If you need a good laugh please follow along!

Hi friends! I am so excited to write this post because I am outside enjoying the warm sunny weather drinking my coffee in our backyard. Earlier in the day I took a shower and washed my hair so I’m letting it air dry in the sun. I forgot how nice this feels! Jake is taking some time off next week so I ‘m excited to have time to work in the backyard. We are so lucky to have a big backyard but now we need to do some work to make it functional! I hope you are enjoying the nice weather we have been having. I’ve been safely with a mask and staying distant taking walks every day. I used to hate walking to do errands but this nice weather makes me want to carry groceries home 10 blocks! This weeks post was a lot of fun to write and has a ton of my favorite things that I hope you enjoy!

I just started to watch The Great on Hulu and I am in love with this show! It’s a great modern take on 18th century Russia royalty. Expect modern day humor and a playful look at gender roles in 18th century. Highly recommend this show!

I’m also almost done binge watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills series. Wondering which franchise I will binge next. Please send me your recommendations! It’s a great go to show to get lost in during these weird times because it’s petty drama and a nice break from the pandemic going on.

If you are looking for a show to watch with your significant other, I suggest watching The Last Ship on Hulu. It was a TNT drama that is about a pandemic that takes over the world. Okay, so it’s a bit relevant to our current times but the story line is amazing! Jake also likes it because he comes from a Navy family and the show is very accurate when it comes to procedures and story lines.

My family and I are doing a book club over Zoom which has been a lot of fun. My cousin picked the first book, The Charm Bracelet, and it was cutesy quick read to get us started. Now this time we are reading Alice in Wonderland because it’s a classic that is worth rereading. On my own free time I am reading Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner. After unpacking our guest room a few months ago I realized how many books I have that I haven’t had the chance to read it. Now with this warm sunny weather I’m excited to spend as much time as I can outdoors and read!

This staying home thing has encouraged me to only wash my hair once a week because I want to make my hair really healthy since we can’t get it cut anytime soon. I’ve been loving to use a a leave in conditioner every time I wash it because it leaves my hair frizz free and smooth so I’ll use less heat to straighten it.

If anyone has to Zoom for work and doesn’t want to make that much of an effort but doesn’t want to look like a mess on camera, I highly suggest this under eye concealer! All of us have under eye circles that are very obvious right now and this concealer does a great job at covering them. My aunt recently joked about trying to get better lighting in our Sunday Zoom call to hide them so I suggested this product for her. I got my mom one a few years ago and she’s been a fan for years now. It’s also a great blendable concealer for other imperfections you may want to hide!

I did some shopping recently and I’m excited to share my finds! I ordered this Taylor Swift Lover tee that keeps selling out so be sure to sign up for restock alerts! I got inspired by Pop of Pippi on Instagram and ordered the vase and flowers she shared. Still waiting on the vase and can’t wait to share the final look!

I also ordered a few things from Loft because the sales are so good right now. Most of the time I only shop for work clothes but I’m excited to treat myself to some new fun casual tops. I have my haul and some other favorites in my Loft finds blog post.

Earlier this week, I shared our new Keurig and finally after many years I finally learned how to make a pot of coffee. I guess I did learn how to do something new during this whole stay at home thing!

During one of my walks this week I went to Target to get some snacks since the little market near our house is out of most snacks. It was a bit of a hike but worth to get my steps in and I was able to get really cute cups that were in the dollar bin. I don’t encourage anyone to leave their home right now but it was nice to find them because it felt like a normal day again shopping at Target finding cute things.

I mentioned last week that Mother’s Day this year was going to look a little different because we were having a Bring Your Own Tea and Crumpets Tea Party with my mom, aunt and cousins. We were dressed in our best and had tea while we chatted and honestly it was so much fun!

One of the perks of being at home so much is that we no longer commute to and from work. This means that I’ve been having a lot of fun spending time in the kitchen making dinner almost every night. We still order in once or twice a week to support local businesses but on the other nights I’m making dinner. Since moving to Philly I have relied on Trader Joe’s frozen meals and right now it’s a very long walk to get there and back so we haven’t gone in a few months. I’ve been shopping at the local market or tiny Giant near my house every week to get ingredients to make dinner. It’s not that I couldn’t cook but I just never had it in me to cook a big dinner after a long day of work. Most nights I’ll start cooking at 5 and dinner will be ready to eat when Jake gets off of work or we can take advantage of him working from home and he’ll be in the kitchen with me while monitoring emails coming in. I swear we never ran our dishwasher this many times pre-quarantine!

I hope you all are staying busy, whatever that may look like, during this weird time for all of us and most importantly taking care of yourselves. I’ve loved to work on this weekly Friday Favorites post because it makes me reflect on the past week and find things I am grateful for. I’ll go through my recent pictures of the week and talk about the ones that brought me joy. You do not need to be busy constantly and use this time to accomplish a million things. Some people are using it to become better versions of themselves by picking up working out or finding new hobbies. Take one day at a time and do what brings you happy – not what works for others because everyone is different. Right now my goal is to walk more even if that is walking to the fridge more often to get snacks or down to the basement to catch up on laundry.

Baby steps, friends, baby steps.

I am proud to say that I have been productive every day this week. Even if it’s a little laundry on one day or completely reorganizing a cabinet, something got done. I’ve been avoiding saying that I am bored because of the extra time on my hands. Instead, I tell myself that I have some free time and find ways to enjoy it. From watching the Real Housewives series to organizing and cleaning floors, I want to be able to list some achievements when this pandemic is over. It’s also been a great way to cope with my anxiety because it keeps me busy. I talked a little but about this productivity goal on the blog earlier this week.

This Mother’s Day will be a little different but I am excited that my mom, aunt and cousins will be doing a Zoom tea party so we can all be together. It’s definitely different but it gives us a reason to dress up and spend time with each other.

I’m going to link a previous blog post that covers some show recommendations to watch right now. I’m watching the shows that I never got to watch so I’m watching them from the beginning to catch up.

As a special treat, I have been doing a face mask every night before bed. My goal right now is to use all of the products collecting dust in my cabinet. It’s going to take a while but it’s a fun goal!

Some exciting news is that we got a new Keurig! My Keurig was my parents first Keurig that is very very old and it finally brewed its last cup of coffee! I planned on buying another one for myself as a Christmas present because I just didn’t want to spend that much money right now. The next day the doorbell rang and a new Keurig showed up on our doorstep! I am so lucky that Jake ordered me a new one as a present. We like this model because we can make a pot of coffee which is great for us since we are home all day now.

I caved and ordered Entertaining with Disney because it was so cute! It has definitely encouraged me to start planning a party once this quarantine is over! It is so cute and has a ton of great ideas.

In the mornings I have been making smoothies with my cup of coffee. I found an easy way to make them with these frozen fruit and veggie blend kits and yogurt. So easy and super quick! And they taste delicious!

Oh wow, is it May already? March seemed to drag on forever and April flew by. I’ve been more intentional how I spend my time lately and it’s definitely helping my mood. The warmer weather and sunshine are a nice treat so I’ve been spending time in the backyard cleaning up. It gives me hope that the end of quarantine is almost here. This week I have spent a lot of time talking to my family. We had to virtually sit Shiva since we could not be all together in person. It was different but it kept us laughing as all generations were trying to set up Zoom. It was nice to see everyone and share memories. Now more than ever I have been reaching out to friends and family just to chat. Reach out and check in with your friends and family this week. Also snail mail is also really fun to get in the mail! I’ve been having fun getting handmade cards from my family every week.

This Mother’s Day is also a great way to send a gift to show appreciation for everything our moms do for us. I’ve been calling my mom to talk about the weather or about the laundry that needs to be folded to procrastinate. It’s a weird time right now and I like having someone to talk to when I’m bored. I put together a few gift ideas that can easily be shipped straight to the door since we can’t leave our homes to shop.

Just started watching The Last Ship and already on season 3! It’s about a pandemic taking over the world… how fitting for our current pandemic!
I like to have the tv on in the background so I’ve moved on from the Real Housewives of NYC to the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
The Parks and Rec Special is also a must watch!

Melatonin to help me sleep.
I’ve been really good about using a moisturizer before bed every night.
These headbands are so fun and great for washing your face.

I’m using my candles as a nice treat to myself at night while I make dinner.
We finally went grocery shopping and it’s so nice to have food in the house again.
A new favorite tradition is watching a classic Disney movie on Sunday morning while eating breakfast.
It took some work but I am loving my new living room setup.
Snuggles with Ed.

Happy Friday! This week flew by for me so I hope it was the same for you! One thing that has really helped me this week was creating a plan. Set yourself up for success and make sure you have everything you need for the week ahead.

I’ve gotten a few texts about recommendations on what to watch on Netflix/Hulu so I put all of my suggestions in a blog post here. This week I started to watch Mrs. America on Hulu that is about the women’s movement. Gives a lot of insight of what the world was for our parents growing up and how hard it was to get equal rights for women.

A Clean Kitchen // I make it a rule to have a clean kitchen before going to bed because I love waking up to it all clean! I keep cleaner under the sink so I can easily spray the counter tops down after I run the dishwasher. Since I do it every day it helps it from building up to a big mess! We keep joking why there are so many dishes since we are home for every meal and the dishes are multiplying.

Grocery Delivery // There are so many of us who are avoiding going outside when we can so that makes grocery shopping difficult. This week I ordered a produce box for $35 that had veggies, fruit, eggs, milk and butter from Giordano Garden Groceries with free delivery. If you are in the Philadelphia area, I highly encourage you to order a box now. There are a ton of produce distributors that usually deliver to the grocery stores that have extra produce so they are selling it to people directly. Do some Googling to see if grocers are delivering. Also a great way to support local businesses!

SALES // There are so many sales right now at all of the stores so if you can, shop!

Dyson Vacuum // Now that we are home all the time I’m noticing the dirt and dust on our floors. I’ve been really using the vacuum more than ever because it’s so easy to grab and do a quick clean. A friend recently asked for a vacuum recommendation so I thought I’d share this link. This retailer does payment plans and often goes on sale.

Amazon // I ordered a few things from Amazon so I wanted to remind everyone that I keep this page updated on my blog of all of my Amazon finds.