Friday Favorites 7.10

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Hi friends! I am writing this weeks Friday Favorites post while I am sitting by the pool and sipping on my morning cup of coffee. The last few weeks at my parents house have felt like a vacation I didn’t know I needed. For months I was sitting around my house in Philadelphia in quarantine going a little stir crazy. I was so fortunate to have a house and enough money in the bank to pay rent each month but I still felt stuck. I don’t like to sit still and as a coping mechanism for my anxiety I have always been on the move. Working more than one job, long list of errands after work or even a long workout helped keep me focused. Quarantine gave me too much time with not much to do so I’m happy I took my parents offer to stay with them for a bit. Not only has it been beneficial socially because I am around more people but because I am able to move more. My parents have a large property with lots of gardens and landscaping to take care of. It’s not like my parents just invited me down to help them work, but my mom knows how I like to stay busy.

With this in mind, we all work for an hour outside in the morning. Between weeding, sweeping, painting or landscaping projects – there is plenty to do to keep you busy! After a jump in the pool to cool down, we all head inside to work for an hour. With rooms straightened, laundry going and floors cleaned we will make lunch and head back outside to enjoy the pool. My afternoons are spent working on a project of my own or out running errands. Back in Philadelphia I wouldn’t dare go to stores because of the congested streets and high number of people not wearing masks. Down here in my parents small town, running errands during the week means empty stores and everyone wearing a mask. I’ve gone a little shopping crazy after not being able to get essential items for a few months. In my planner I keep a sticky note of things we need for the house which has kept getting longer and longer in 2020. Also it’s hard to beat the prices down here since we are not paying city prices for items. While out grocery shopping with my dad I went a little crazy in the cereal aisle because it was $6.99 a box back at our market in the city, so I was shocked to see the $1.99 price tag.

This is the first week I’ve started to see changes in my body as I work off that quarantine weight and the weight I put on before that because of stress and depression. Those morning chores are a great way to get my steps in and are honestly a work out. With lots of stairs, heavy lifting and out in the sun it is helping me gain some muscle. At night, I will take a long walk around the property while the sun is setting. The air is still hot but is starting to cool, the sky lights up in cotton candy skies and I am just in awe with all of the greenery around me. I go to bed most nights with my feet throbbing and legs all wobbly because I was working so hard.

Funny how with all the time in the day right now the last thing I want to do is sit inside and watch television? I spend every minute that I can outside either working or in the pool to enjoy the sun on my face and work on that summer glow. At night I spend an hour reading in the back screened in porch and taking a long walk before bed. I’ll occasionally watch something on my laptop before bed but I am not that invested. I think since I know I am only down here for a few more weeks and summer will be over before I am ready, I want to enjoy every single minute that I can.

I’m currently reading Jennifer Weiner’s Who Do You Love at night before bed. It’s longer than I thought it would be but I am really invested in the characters making it an easy read.
My mom and I get the same magazines (Southern Living and Better Homes and Gardens) so I’ve been able to catch up while I am visiting. If you want a way to do stuff with your mom who lives far away, getting the same magazines allows us to talk about them on the phone and read them together. She will text me if I saw the recipe on a certain page and how cute curtains looked in the beach room in another magazine. Even though we were 10 hours away from each other, it felt like we were closer since we were doing stuff together.
I went to Ollie’s again, a store that has a lot of things for low prices and got some more books that will look nice on a shelf and will be fun to read.

I’m spending a lot of time in the pool so I’m letting my hair air dry every day. Not only has it been great for my hair but with a new shampoo I’ve noticed that it’s less frizzy. I can go to bed with it damp and wake up with cute bed head instead of my usual frizzy big hair.

I’m also using a leave in conditioner in my hair and I think that has helped me lay off the heat tools to style it lately.

Because of the heat, it is the South afterall, I usually wake up feeling a bit sweaty and then I put on sunscreen and bug spray. By the end of the day my face is feeling bumpy and oily so this week I’ve been using this face mask. After my shower I will put hair up in a towel and wear the mask while I straighten my room or something. I think the face mask has helped keep my skin looking brighter and not as oily.

Oh boy! Where do I begin!? I first need to point out that the county where my parents live has a very low number of COVID cases. We are taking all of the necessary steps to keep ourselves and others safe when we go out. My parents live in a small suburb surrounded by farmland, seriously lots of horses and field of corn and tobacco. All of this allows us to go to stores that are practically empty and everyone is wearing masks. Since I haven’t had a car in December and Philadelphia really was in lockdown, there are things we needed but could not get because of logistics.

  • Pier1 has their going out of business sale so I bought these plates for $3 for a set of 4. I got two sets because at that price I had to take advantage of that price. My mom then had me go back to get her two sets and my aunt two sets as well. They thought I had a lot of friends when I really just got asked to buy plates for people.
  • I went to the store to get plastic bins and had to have this dinnerware set when I bought it! I ended up getting matching pasta bowls as well since we never had them. Also had to get this canister for our kitchen because it matched perfectly!
  • The Homegoods near my parents recently opened so when we went the entire store was on major clearance. If you feel safe, definitely go to TJ Maxx and Homegoods now while they try to get rid of their inventory. I bought a few things for our house that you can only buy at Homegoods and a few Christmas presents to give people.

Walks at night.
Bike rides through town.
Organizing a cabinet.
Redesigning my moms laundry room.
Reading outside in the screened in back porch.
Making flower arrangements with greenery from the gardens.
The marina being so close.
Being able to drive to towns nearby to walk around.
Going out to eat.
My dad cooking dinner for me every night.
Sweet tea.

Fun in the Sun with Dermalogica

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Summer is officially here so it’s time to make sure that you have the right sunscreen to keep your skin healthy and safe from the sun. Luckily Dermalogica sent me some sunscreen so I’ve been using it during my enjoying my time in the sun. The Invisible Physical Defense Sunscreen is lightweight and sheer when you rub it in. My biggest annoyance with sunscreen is feeling sticky and I immediately fell in love with this one because I couldn’t even tell I was wearing it. Now I can lay out in the sun without getting a sunburn! It’s also lightweight enough for daily use and great for wearing under makeup!

Thank you to Dermalogica and Bzzagent for working for me on this post. Products were complimentary and as always, all opinions are my own.

Hello July! 👋

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I blinked and now we are starting another month of quarantine. When 2020 began we all had so many plans and things we wanted to do before the pandemic made the world stop. I’ve been having good weeks and bad weeks like many other people. Mid-June I packed up a suitcase and rented a car to stay at my parents house for the summer. I’m currently not working so I wanted to give myself a summer vacation I will never be able to have again at my parents house in North Carolina. My parents recently moved to their dream home to retire in a cute historic neighborhood on the water. Not only is the house gorgeous, it has a big backyard with a pool where I spend every morning getting some laps in and a screened in back porch where I can read at night. One thing that was really getting to me was sitting idle the last few months. My dad keeps joking that it takes a lot of work to maintain a house like this but it’s been great for me because I can spend a few hours a day working on a project.

Last week my dad and I went on a long bike ride through the neighborhood and I didn’t realize how much I missed the suburbs! We rode around the marina to see the boats and stopped to get a scoop of ice cream as a sweet treat. We wore masks and were able to socially distance but for a few hours, it felt like everything was normal again. It’s little moments like this that bring me so much joy! I’m looking forward to a lot more days like this during the summer. I’m really proud of my parent’s town because whenever we have to run errands, everyone is wearing a mask. It makes grocery shopping or walking through town a lot safer.

My mom and I have a few house projects planned during my visit which is a great way to stay busy while at home. There is a great hiking trail near my parent’s house which we like to visit to get a long walk in while staying safe since it’s pretty empty. I can’t wait to share photos when we are done! We already started working on turning a storage room into a proper craft room which has been a lot of fun.

The popular holiday that truly kicks off summer, the 4th of July is going to look different for everyone this year. We still plan on a cookout in the backyard and stopping by a neighbors house to safely socially distance for a drink. I still plan on wearing my red, white and blue! One thing I love about staying at my parent’s house is being able to wear my summer wardrobe and get out of my pajamas! It has definitely helped my mood and it’s great to get dressed up every day even if it’s just to stay in the house.

I hope everyone is able to make the most of July with picnics, bike rides or long walks to enjoy the summer sun!

What Quarantine Has Taught Me

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As I write this post, I am currently in North Carolina visiting with my parents to get a change of scenery for a bit. There are a lot of perks that come with staying at home: no pants, makeup-free, some extra free time in my day. If anything quarantine has taught us a lot about how we spend our time and what we want to do with our time. The last time I saw my parents was during Thanksgiving and it’s the longest we have ever gone without seeing each other. Summer has always been my favorite season because of growing up at the beach, eating outside for every meal by the pool, and sitting on our front porch while we read together on the weekends. Summertime reminds me of my family and the first few weeks of June made me miss family because of the two decades (almost 3!) of traditions with my family. I tried to stay busy but this time of quarantine has hit all of us in different ways, and I needed my family more than ever. I called my mom daily to cry, talk about my fears, talk things out and tell her about the squirrel that I saw because some days that was as exciting as things got from my living room. Living in a city has a lot of amazing qualities and those qualities make it a little more dangerous and scary during a pandemic. I couldn’t walk anywhere, go to any stores for basic needs, or spend time outside because of the heat.

My parents, cousins, and aunt decided to plan a get together in late August with the whole family at my parent’s house because it has space to safely socially distance and has great amenities. That trip kept me looking forward from a break from the isolated city life for a bit but after a few long talks with my mom, I thought it would be best to make my trip down South a bit longer. Luckily I have a very understanding boyfriend who was very sad to see me go but understand that I needed time with my family. With his work schedule and home renter responsibilities, he had to stay in Philly while I rented a car and drove 9 hours to my parent’s house. It was hard to say goodbye but I love him even more for letting me go even though he could not join me.

Right now I am not working and I haven’t for a while. It’s everyone’s dream not to have to work right? But what no one explained is the lack of structure and economic stress that comes with it. Luckily I was very good at saving and I have a good amount of money in my savings account for rent and other small purchases. Living at my parents right now means that my meals are covered and they will help out with other essential purchases. I’m very lucky that I have my parents to give me another summer free of responsibilities and just be a kid under their roof. In a sense, I’m crawling back home to mom and dad because I needed a break from the stresses of quarantine.

Where my parents live in North Carolina is a mix of suburbia and farmland so there are hiking trails, stores big enough to socially distance in and my parents have a big backyard with a pool to spend all day in. I needed a change of pace for my mental health and it made me think about how I want to invest my time and energy moving forward once I go back to Philly. Jake, if you are reading this I promise I’m coming back!! 🙂 I made a list of ways I want to live my life post- quarantine because life is too short not to enjoy it.

  • work/play 50/50
    I used to revolve everything about work but I am changing that. Right now I have some flexibility to look for a job that I am excited to go to and allows for a life outside of work.
  • be intentional with my time and how I spend it
    I live in a city and want to do more exploring, go to museums, go to local stores. For a while, we were trying out new restaurants during the week but then I would stay at work late to get stuff done or just be too tired to go out.
  • hire house cleaner
    We have already talked about budgeting to get a house cleaner. I used to spend so much time cleaning on the weekends that we could have spent doing fun things instead.
  • daily walks
    You don’t realize how much you miss them until you can’t leave the house! My quarantine 10 has come from my lack of walking recently and it’s something I hope to get back to soon!
  • working out
    I’ve been doing 10-minute workouts and I have zero excuses to not stick to it. I’m hoping to join a yoga studio as a way to make friends and stay committed. During quarantine, I am building up my strength and want to tone so I’m ready for classes.
  • make plans with friends
    We always say we will make plans but this time, I am scheduling them! My previous work schedule prevented me from making plans after work because I never knew if I would be working late or not. On the weekends I was too tired to be social but now I want to focus more on living life than revolving my life around work.
  • snail mail
    My family and I have been sending cards to each other and it’s made me actually use the card sets that were collecting dust in my office. To keep this going, I made a list of everyone’s birthday in my planner so I can be ready with a card next year. It’s something so simple but can bring a lot of joy to someone instead of posting on social media.
  • plan vacations
    Jake and I are making a list of places we want to visit when we can travel again. Since a lot of places will be offering big discounts to bounce back we added those to our list along with their promotion rates. Since we get a few 3 days weekends throughout the year, I hope to start planning trips during those weekends for 2021 so we don’t have to use vacation days even.
  • meditate
    As an American Express cardmember, I was able to download the Calm App for free for a year. I don’t use it as often as I should but I’ve enjoyed the meditations before bed.
  • well-stocked kitchen
    My dad and I did a grocery run a few days ago and I cannot tell you how excited I was to be able to put whatever I needed/wanted in the cart because 1) I wasn’t paying for it and 2) we had a car to take everything home with us. I think we are going to continue with our fresh produce delivery and shop more at Costco to get stuff in bulk. I wasted too much time going to the grocery store each week.
  • make time to cook
    I used to live off of frozen Trader Joe’s meals and other frozen packaged dinners but the food shortage has really made me make a meal plan and get creative with what I can make. We used our crockpot for a lot of meals and had more of a vegetable-based diet since we got a weekly produce box delivery. I’m excited to keep this new hobby of cooking going!
  • read more
    I think I am so used to running around that sitting down to read is the last thing I have time for. Moving forward, I want to be more intentional with my time by taking shortcuts when possible so I can spend more time doing what I enjoy.
  • go to bed early
    I know I’m not alone with a sleep schedule that suffered the last few months. I’ve been getting better because I’ve given myself a bedtime where I need to be in bed even if I just lay there unable to fall asleep. I feel so much better going to bed at a reasonable time and enjoying my morning the next day.

Friday Favorites 6.26

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I’ll admit I had to look up the date and day of the week while writing this post. I’ve been at my parents house in North Carolina for a week now and finally took out my laptop to get some writing in. I took some time to just settle in and unpack, enjoy the pool and grocery shop. My visit was a surprise for my dad for Father’s Day which he loved and was very surprised. We had to do some grocery shopping and such so I could get my favorite snacks. It’s something silly but my dad and I would always go grocery shopping together at Wegmans and we would act shocked when the other person added something to the cart that was not on the list my mom made for us. It was fun to do it with my dad because he got to take me to his grocery store down here and complain that they always move everything and can never find what he needs. You don’t realize how much you miss being home until you’ve been away for a long time. My mom and I are spending time together by the pool chatting and catching up. My parents gave me a few projects around the house because they know I like to stay busy and I’m young so I can do some heavy lifting. Earlier this week, we went to Walmart to buy plastic bins to put all of my stuff that has been sitting in all of the guest room closets since the move to put in the basement. I’m starting to make my room here a little more cozy. While we were out, we bought a few things to turn a previous play room into a craft room for my mom. It was where the movers put all of the boxes during the move so now that most of their stuff has been unpacked, I spent two days deep cleaning and building furniture to make it a practical craft room for my mom.

After months of just sitting, I’m excited to get busy with projects around the house and take a quick dip in the pool to cool down. I’ve been spending my mornings drinking coffee outside by the pool and then spending my nights in the screened in porch at night watching tv or relaxing. It’s definitely been a nice change of scenery even though I miss my two boys back home in Philadelphia!

I’ve enjoyed the break from tv since I’ve been down here. I’ll watch some Real Housewives for some noise in the background while I clean or work on a project. My parents finally watched Frozen I and II with me and now my mom understands my obsession with all things Olaf! She even surprised me with an Olaf loofa the other day which I am obsessed with! My dad has the news on 24/7 so I’m back to sitting with him watching what is going on in the world. I already stay informed with The New York Times on Twitter and Huffpost news alerts on my phone but it’s nice to sit on the couch with my dad and complain about morons denying the existence of the coronavirus.

I brought a ton of books and magazines to read while I’m here so I’m excited to lay out by the pool and read. My dad took me to Ollie’s, a store down here that is like a Big Lots to get some pool floats and such. They have a huge book section with books for under $5 so I was able to buy all of Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbooks and Goop books. I’ve officially turned into my mother with collecting cookbooks because they are pretty!

Since I knew I would be in North Carolina for more than two months, I over packed on things I may need while I am down here. My goal is to use up everything I own so I brought every face mask, half used lotion and hair product I have. I’m taking my vitamins each day – hair vitamin, b-12, daily and melatonin. I’m also really committed to using a moisturizer while I’m down here to keep my face hydrated even with all of the time in the sun. At night after I shower, I like to use this face mask set while I tidy up the kitchen and run the dishwasher. I’ve noticed a big change in my skin texture since I a doing masks more often.

Drinking coffee outside in the backyard, front porch or screened in back porch
Dad making dinner every night
Having a car
Safely shopping at stores while staying far from other shoppers and wearing a mask
Visited my brother in Raleigh for the first time in more than a year
Long walks with mom
Pool days
Making my new parents house a home
Designing a craft room for my mom
Cocktails
Hanging with my parents
Change of scenery
Getting a daily work out in because of all of the steps at my parents house

I hope you are doing well during these challenging times that seem to be longer than we all thought. Take care of yourselves, friends!

Hair Washing Day Just Got Easier With New My Hair Drying Brush

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Holy humidity! It has been a hot couple of days so I am thankful that one of my recent quarantine projects was putting away winter clothes an taking out my shorts out of storage! It feels like Spring flew by because we were all inside while the seasons changed. Now that it is getting warmer, I am spending as much time as I can (safely) outside! Right now I am visiting my parents in North Carolina spending most of my day in the backyard by the pool. In Philly, we have a really nice size backyard so we were eating our meals outside whenever the weather cooperated. I’m now looking forward to my daily shower as a way to cool off but one thing I dreaded was drying my hair. Letting it air dry with the humidity makes my hair big, puffy and super frizzy. I didn’t want to spend 30 minutes with a hair straightener so I needed something that could dry my hair quickly and leave it looking styled without much fuss.

Luckily I was offered to work with Conair and try out their new Knot Dr. Detangling Hot Air Brush. It’s like the similar round brush hair dryers that were very popular a few months ago. After doing some research I read a lot of complaints about hair getting damaged because of the heat and the brush causing a lot of knots. I loved the idea of the product but knew they would not work for me. I’m happy to report that the new Conair version dries my hair quickly and since you can control the heat settings, I haven’t noticed any hair damage. The shape of the brush allows you to dry your hair straight or curled at the end making it easy to change up hair styles. For my girls with thick hair, this hair dryer works on your hair too! I prefer to let my hair air dry a bit before using the hair dryer but when I am pressed for time, I only need to spend around 10 minutes brushing my hair to get it dry and somewhat styled. It only takes me a 6 minutes total to curl my hair when it’s partially dry which is a lot faster than using my round brushes and normal hair dryer!

On my non hair wash days, I have been using the round brush hair dryer in the morning to curl my hair and use heat to tame the frizz caused by the humidity. During the summer months I want to look put together but don’t want to spend time in the heat doing it. Another great feature is how light it is! I’ve heard that other versions are heavy and bulky, the last thing I want is to get an arm workout while I try to dry my hair!

My normal hair dryer is collecting dust on a shelf right now because this hot air brush is all I need to easily and quickly dry my hair! I always use a heat protectant spray before using any hot tools and since switching to a Wet Brush I don’t have any knots in my hair. After waiting for my hair to air dry as long as I can, I’ll spray it with a heat protectant spray and section off my hair in sections to brush dry. I love it! It’s a perfect alternative to straightening your hair and using less heat.