Category: friday favorites

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.

Happy Friday! Is it Friday? Fridays are always a celebration that the week is over and we can start the weekend. A little difficult when you start your Friday in pajamas with no reason to get out of them. Since the quarantine has been going on for a few weeks I’ve started to find my new normal. I have been really committed to creating a routine and staying busy with productivity and fun. I thought it would be a good time to do a round up of my favorite things recently. I’m not buying much and if I do, it has to bring me joy or be a once in a lifetime sale! Now is the time to lay on the couch catching up on emails or watching a show all day. Try to do something fun today to celebrate that another week is over and we did it!

What I’m Watching

Since we have a lot of free time on our hands, I’ve been browsing all of the streaming services we have and catching up on shows that I either started or just never got around to watching. I like to have background noise while I write or get stuff done around the house so I’ve been finally watching the Real Housewives franchise. I’m finally starting to understand the hype and especially the memes. Also recommend: The Mindy Project, Friday Night Lights, Parks and Rec, and New Girl.

What I’m Listening To

I have been avoiding the news because it’s not healthy to be monitoring everything going on so closely. In the morning while I empty the dishwasher I’ll listen to the New York Times daily so I get a good briefing of the news quickly without any fluff. A few months ago I created a note on my phone with a long list of songs I like that I discovered watching a movie or tv show or heard while listening to someones Instagram story. This week I went through the list and added them to a playlist on Spotify so I can listen to them now. Highly recommend listening to the music they use on the tv show, The Bold Type. So good!

What I’m Loving

Happy Hand Lettering : If you are looking for a hobby during this quarantine I would recommend this hand handwriting book! I’ve been an Instagram follower ( @allshewrotenotes) for a few years now and thought now was a great time to buy her book to practice my handwriting. Also a great way to support a small business!

Matching Pajama Sets : Something I have been doing is really making an effort to wear a matching pajama set to bed at night. Even if I am wearing leggings all day with a comfy shirt, I change so I can put on matching pajamas before I go to bed. It helps remind me that it’s time for bed and helps my mental health just to change clothes during the day. I’d recommend not waiting to buy anything because they are selling out very quickly!

Watering Can Basket : I just ordered this for my mom and had it sent to her house as a Mother’s Day present because they are selling out quickly! I signed up to have them notify me when it comes back in stock so I scooped it up right away when I got the notification. So cute! I’m waiting for it to come back in stock so I can order one for myself.

Unsubscribe & Delete : Okay, so this actually brought me so much joy this week. I successfully went through my entire inbox and deleted junk and hit unsubscribe to about every single nonessential email I had in there. (See what I did there?) If there were any blogs or content I wanted to keep up with, I made sure I was following them on Instagram and then followed them on Bloglovin. Bloglovin is a great way to follow blogs in one place without a crowded inbox.

New Shoes : Of course they are sitting in my closet untouched right now, but I am excited for when I can go outside and wear them. DSW is having amazing sales right now so definitely take advantage of the low prices to stock up on work shoes or summer sandals.

Grove Collaborative Box : Now is when I am thanking myself for signing up for a cleaning supply subscription service! I go in more detail about the service and my cleaning practices in this new blog post so you should definitely check it out.

I started off this week with a relaxing weekend with a good amount of cleaning and organizing. It’s amazing what a good nights rest on Sunday can do for your whole week! It’s been a busy few months with work and getting settled in the new house. Jake and I decided to make a dinner reservation on Monday night to start our week off right. It’s not something we normally do and while we were on our date we realized we haven’t been on an actual date since our anniversary trip in August. Geez, it’s been a crazy few months!

I’ve been making an effort to do more after work so my week doesn’t feel like a blur. We organized the basement, did our laundry and I worked on tidying up each room every day. These tasks may seem like the last thing I would want to do after work but it is so nice to come home to a clean house and not that much housework to do during the weekend. At work I am constantly on the go and can sometimes be a little too tempted to sit on the couch after work and not move for the night. I don’t talk about my job here on the job but each day is different and I’m always juggling multiple things at one time. Someone asked a few of my coworkers from my previous team what I did now and both of them were silent for a minute and then replied “everything” at the same time! It’s nice when the people around you see how much effort you put into a job. At times, it can feel like only the things we do wrong are seen by others and not the things we do right. This week I had a few different people thank me or say that they notice how much I do and it meant so much!

I’ve been watching The Crown this week and I’ll watch one episode at night before bed. I’ll straighten my hair at my vanity or flip through a magazine in bed while drinking tea. These new habits at night are definitely helping me unwind at night and more importantly get to bed at a more reasonable hour! At night I will get everything done quickly so I can crawl into bed and treat myself to an episode.

On Thursday, Jake got us tickets to see Frozen II and seeing a movie during the week is something we rarely do. At first I was dreading it because I knew it would be a long night but I am so happy that we went! Frozen II was SO good and I want to say that it may be better than the first one. It was a late night but so worth it because it was fun to make plans during the week. It can get difficult to do things in the winter because of how dark and cold it is when I get out of work.

I definitely treated myself to a coffee on my way into work on Friday. I knew it was going to be a long day and I needed all of the caffeine I could get. Even though we have a nice long weekend coming up because of Thanksgiving, it just means that I have an entire week’s worth of work to get done in a few short days. I worked on charts, emails, confirmed details for next week’s meetings and organized my calendar. After work I rushed home to shower and put on cozy pajamas so Jake and I could order dinner and watch The Mandalorian together. I’m looking forward to a productive weekend with lots of coffee and sleeping late.

A while ago, I binge watched all 4 seasons of Outlander and immediately became obsessed after the first episode. The first two seasons are on Netflix and when I got through them in one weekend, we added Starz to our Hulu account so we could keep watching the show. I was really torn what to do with my life after we finished the show so I needed something good to watch. Luckily The Crown just released another season so it’s been my nightly treat this week. Has anyone else been watching all of the movies on Disney+? I keep saying I will just watch one movie and then I keep finding another classic to watch.

I talked about my new night cream and a new eyeshadow palette I’ve been loving recently! If you didn’t read my blog post about natural deodorant I highly encourage that you do because it’s an easy product to swap out for a cleaner version. I just made another Target order which I’m excited to share but for now, you can see what I recently purchased for fall. Every time I wear one of the pieces to work I get so many compliments and I get so excited to say “thanks, I got it at Target!”

These weeks are just flying by lately! With the sun being out longer and the warmer temperatures, I am filling my days with things to do. Suddenly, the temperatures are above 50 degrees and everyone is wanting to make plans again! I admit that I turn into a bit of a hermit during the winter because of the cold and dark weather. But now I am waking up early on the weekends so I can enjoy my days off again.

Two weeks ago, Jake’s mom came to Philly to visit. It was her first time here so we spent the weekend walking around Philly being tour guides. I love when people come to visit or I make plans with friends in the city because it gives you an excuse to try something new or just enjoy the city that I forget to take advantage of.

While we walked around the entire city Jake and I kept making a list of things we wanted to do and see in Philly. What is it when the warmer weather hits we all get inspired to do everything and see everything. We are looking forward to lots of outdoor dining, trips to museums and finding every rooftop bar we can find in the city. I keep joking that one of the nicest parts about having a boyfriend is having a friend to do things with and I got lucky because Jake is always happy to go on an adventure. I’m doing my research now and finding out what events are going on this summer to add to my planner because I am so ready to take advantage of these warmer months in the city!

I haven’t shared this with many people, but I recently got promoted at work. A job opening came up and I applied and interviewed but didn’t get my hopes up. It was the same week we had a death in the family so I wasn’t in the best mental state but interviewed anyway as a distraction. A few weeks later, I got the call that they were happy to have me join the team. This new role is a lot more work and more responsibility, but I am soo excited to start this new chapter. Did I mention the best part? I will no longer be working the evening shift and will have a normal 9-5 job. Work has been busy because I am working on finishing some of my reports and wrapping things up so the next person. With a lot going on, I decided to treat myself to a mental health day in the middle of the week. The last time I took a day off was for the day after Christmas so I could use it as a travel day so this girl really needed a day off!

My weekends have been super busy lately but I have been able to dedicate a few hours here and there to the blog. Lots of new content is coming out each week so I hope you are able to enjoy the steady flow of new posts. With the warmer weather, I like waking up early and having a slow morning before I do my weekly errands. Trader Joe’s is a bit of a walk so I haven’t been in a while but last Saturday was so nice out that we didn’t mind the walk.

I wish my weekdays were more exciting than the same old routine each week. Now onto my favorite things this week…

What I’m Loving

A friend of a friend’s wedding was featured in Vogue magazine recently. Her dress is beyond beautiful and it was cool to get texts of photos that didn’t make it into the article. I’m already trying to find where I can a veil like her’s!

Taylor Swift was seen wearing new merch around New York City and I am loving the new look!

Lots of gingham is on sale at this retailer.

I recently did a round up of my favorite things at Old Navy and J. Crew Factory.

Hopefully you have been enjoying my skincare series on the blog. I took a bit of a break but started to love reviewing products again on Sundays. Check out my review on a Sunday Riley product here.

Speaking of product reviews, I am sharing this Sephora post from the archives if you want some inspiration while shopping the Sephora sale. In the post I explain what products I purchase at Target and the ones I splurge on. Not all mascaras are made the same! Remember to check out my beauty tab for dozens of makeup and hair product reviews!

What I’m Watching

I’ve been watching Blindspot and The Black List at the same time the last few weeks. And of course I am watching Game of Thrones every week. Let me know what shows you are watching so I can add it to my list!