I must be honest, I’m feeling a bit bummed going into the weekend because I was supposed to be a bridesmaid in one of my best friends’ weddings tomorrow.
(Throwback pic to shopping for Carrie’s wedding dress in October!)
A while back, I spoke with my doctor about flying out west for Carrie’s wedding at nearly 36 weeks pregnant. My doctor ultimately left the decision up to me but said it “wouldn’t be her preference” for me for a myriad of reasons, including my early delivery with Chase. I struggled with this one so much but ultimately wanted to make the best decision for the health of our baby and my pregnancy and while I feel confident I made the right one, I still hate missing such a special day in Carrie and Aaron’s lives. I’ll be thinking of them all weekend, that’s for sure!
As for our weekend plans, we don’t have anything too crazy on the agenda. It’s supposed to be a rainy one but I’m crossing my fingers for some sunshine in Charlotte, too. If it rains, a trip to a local children’s museum or aquarium is on our radar but if the weather improves, I’d love to visit the zoo with Chase and Ryan. We’ll see! For now, let’s dive into your usual Things I’m Loving Friday post and chat about what we’re loving most this week, shall we!?
Things I’m Loving Friday
- Thank You Cards via Amazon Prime
I was in desperate need of a big box of thank you cards after my aunt and friends hosted two wonderful sprinkles for our baby-on-the-way. I turned to Amazon (where else!?) to help fulfill this need and realized Amazon is a great resource for some super cute and affordable stationary! Who knew!? I ordered a box of 48 floral thank you cards for less than $15 and love the pretty design and the brown craft envelopes included in the box.
I first bookmarked Dr. Greger’s book, How Not To Die, when I saw Brittany blog about it last fall. The book highlights a whole food, plant-based diet as the one diet universally proven to reverse many of the most common diseases. The book is fascinating and packed with scientific evidence and seems to fall in line with the article I previously shared in a TILF roundup: The Last Conversation You’ll Ever Need to Have About Eating Right. Dr. Greger’s book quickly led me to check out both the How Not To Die Cookbook and Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen app. Both are fantastic resources for anyone interested in adhering to a more plant-based diet.
While I don’t ever see myself completely eliminating anything from my diet (I don’t have the desire nor do I think this is my healthiest way to live), I am ALL about adding certain foods to my diet and love looking for healthier recipes to make to feed my family, especially if they’re packed with disease-fighting nutrients and help our family take a proactive approach to our health. Since reading How Not To Die, the corresponding cookbook and downloading the free Daily Dozen app, I’ve found myself feeling more aware of the foods I’m choosing to eat. The app, in particular, is so darn handy and offers a checklist of foods to try to eat every day, including cruciferous vegetables, berries, nuts, spices and more. There’s no calorie counting involved at all, just a focus on choosing whole foods to nourish your body in the healthiest way possible.
Also, if any of these resources interest you, I’d check out the How Not To Die Cookbook first, as it concisely highlights important information from the original How Not To Die book and breaks down the “whys” of the Daily Dozen foods Dr. Greger says we should try to eat as often as possible for optimal health.
- Borrowed Maternity Clothes
I feel like I hit the maternity clothing jackpot on Wednesday! I brought dinner over to my friend Danielle’s house because she recently gave birth to the sweetest little baby girl and she sent me home with a ton of maternity clothes she wore during her pregnancy. Now that I’m in the final weeks of pregnancy, I really don’t want to spend a ton of money on maternity clothing so this felt like the biggest gift! I paired my new Birkenstock waterproof slides with Danielle’s under-the-belly maternity joggers, a v-neck tee and a denim jacket when I was out and about in yesterday’s rainy weather and they felt like glorified pajamas. Heaven!
Oh what a delightfully springy scent! I bought this candle on sale at the end of the summer last year and have been saving it for spring/summertime. It’s so bright and fresh and I’ve been loving the happy citrus scent!
- Friday Flashbacks
Favorite Beauty Shortcuts (I wrote this post when Chase was 7 weeks old to share the beauty shortcuts I used and continue to use to make my routine easier and faster!)
Easy No Bake Recipes (A collection of simple, healthy no bake recipes to keep in your back pocket as the temperatures warm up and the thought of turning your oven on makes you break out into an instant sweat!)
Question of the Day
What is one thing that is making you smile this week?
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Reading your blog makes me smile. I feel blessed when I want to start eating healthier and viola right there on your blog is a way to make it happen! Thanks for all you do! Have a blessed weekend.
What a nice comment to start my Friday! Thank you, Sue!! I hope you have a fantastic weekend as well <3
Congrats to your friend! Sorry you can’t be there, but sometimes you have to error on the side of caution, I can’t believe it’s so close already. Hope you have a great weekend.
I’m so sorry you have to miss your friend’s wedding but I think you are definitely making the right decision, Julie!! Maybe you could plan a special day with your friend (which will be especially easy when you have a newborn who likes to sleep a lot during the day and could tag along!) where you look at all of the wedding pictures with your friend and hear all about the wedding day details. 🙂
That must have been a tough decision to make, but if you’re happy with the one you made, then it was the right one. Hope you have a great weekend.
Hand me down clothes are the best! Sorry you’re missing your friends wedding but you just never know when babies want to make their grand entrances 🙂
We can all agree that the book title is a bit extreme though…right?
oh totally!!! ha! i have a feeling a marketing/sales team was behind that one!
YES . Insert eye roll emoji here…
Sounds like you made the right choice, but I would hate to miss out too! I’m sure your friends understand!
I have got to get my hands on one of those candles! Enjoy your weekend!
Borrowed pregnancy and baby stuff is the best! We missed a wedding in CA when I was pregnancy.. you know you made the right choice but it’s still hard to not be there for someone you care about <3
Oh I’m so bummed on your behalf about missing the wedding – you’ve talked about these cherished friends on the blog since the get go, so I know how much this meant to you! BUT, I also know that your friends are so close to you that they totally understand – since you said it’s “out west” it must be way too long to drive to! The silver lining is you’ll be missing all the normal hullabaloo of airport check ins! Woo hoo! Take those silver linings where you can get ’em!
Speaking of weddings – are you watching any of the Royal Wedding? Catching glimpses? I can’t wait to see the dress!
Your food philosophy and attitude exactly matches mine, so I’m here for it! I’m all about “adding” rather than “removing”. Will have to check out this book.
I LOVE the thank you cards you got from Amazon! Totally ordering them! Thanks for your awesome blog updates, as always!
The same wedding situation happened to my friend in January. We were bridesmaids together, but she went into labor a month early and was two weeks PP when the wedding occurred. Between a premie, flu season, and her own recovery, she made the decision to not go. It was definitely the right one for her, but she was still super sad. I kept in touch with her on the day–sent getting ready photos, snapchats, etc. We found a time for her to FaceTime with the bride during the day. Is there another bridesmaid that can be your proxy for things like that?
yes!! i have plans to facetime with everyone while they’re getting ready tomorrow. thankfully carrie’s other two bridesmaids are my two other BFFs from elementary school so we’re all really close and they’re all being so sweet and kind about keeping me in the loop throughout the day! of course, i don’t want keeping me involved to take away from anything/be a distraction so i’ll just be happy with whatever pics/texts/FaceTime calls i can get tomorrow! 🙂 thanks for sharing a little bit about your friend’s situation with me as well!!
That’s too bad about the wedding, but you need a doctor’s note to fly once you are far enough along for the airlines to question you (I found this out when researching travel at 31 weeks pregnant when I went to Florida for a baby shower, which was still allowed) — so you’ve got to listen to the advice, it’s probably the safest route. Hope you don’t get too bad of FOMO. Happy Friday, Julie! Enjoy your weekend!
I can absolutely empathize with the feeling of missing! My husband and I specifically planned around my sisters wedding that was supposed to be Labor Day wknd 2 years ago—the wknd she announced they had found a venue and were moving up the date was the same wknd I found out I was pregnant!
Since she doesn’t have children yet it was very hard for her to perspective take how I could miss her out of town wedding because I couldn’t travel at 37 weeks.
Doubly hard was that we missed my brother in law’s wedding 2 years prior because I had a baby the day before their wedding—so we knew allllll too well how much it stunk and we’re actively avoiding it the second time around!! My husband FaceTimed the best man speech from our hospital room!
All this to say—mommin’ ain’t easy, especially when awesome life events overlap!!
I am so sorry about the wedding situation. However, your health ALWAYS comes first and your friends are sure to understand that! I also love the Daily Dozen app! I’ve been trying to eat a lot more beans and grains thanks to it. Lentils work like a charm! <3 The no bake recipes look fabulous too. I have to check out that post!
The Royal Wedding!
First, I’m so sorry you’re missing your friends wedding. That totally stinks regardless of the fact that it’s the best decision for your situation.
On a positive note… I LOVE those thank you’s! We’re having a co-ed garden party baby shower and these will be perfect thank you’s! Thank you! Ordering them now… 🙂