As for our weekend plans, I’m not sure what is on the agenda for Saturday with a sick husband in the house but on Sunday I have plans to see one of my best friends from college who will be in town for a conference! Ashley arrives Sunday afternoon and I’m so excited to spend time with her and have her meet Chase for the first time! That’s sure to be the highlight of my weekend but let’s focus on some of the highlights from this past week in your usual Things I’m Loving Friday post! Feel free to join in the fun in the comments section, as always!
Have a lovely weekend!
Things I’m Loving Friday
- House of Cards
When I arrived home from NYC and put Chase to bed on Tuesday night, it took me and Ryan 2.5 seconds to plop down on the couch and put on the first episode of the latest season of House of Cards on Netflix. Ryan and I are huge fans of the show and though we were a little disappointed by the last season, so far I feel like this season is on point. Every episode is tense and intriguing which makes me remember why I first fell in love with this show in the first place. I’m hoping this season continues to be a good one as we dive further into it, but so far I am back on the House of Cards super fan train!
- Snapchat
I resisted Shapchat for so long. I feel like there are already too many forms of social media so I really didn’t want to bring another one into the mix. I finally caved when a friend convinced me to give it a shot and quickly realized why people love it. It somehow seems more casual and way less curated than other forms of social media which I loooove. It’s a neat way to get a tiny glimpse into someone’s life in a way that feels less filtered than Instagram. I don’t feel like it’s the most user friendly form of social media though and am still learning a lot as I go. (It took me a solid five days to figure out there are filters on Snapchat. I kept wondering how people were adding the darn temperature or time of day to their photos!)
- Facebook’s Turn Off Notifications Feature
I think most people know that you can adjust your Facebook settings so you don’t have to see updates from certain people but did you know you can also elect to turn off notifications on someone’s status after you comment so you don’t receive a million updates? I love using this feature after I comment on someone’s Facebook status that is obviously going to get a lot of comments, such as an engagement announcement, etc. For a while there, I just wasn’t commenting because I didn’t want to get a million notifications, so this little tool is a handy one since it allows me to comment without receiving all of the annoying notifications that typically follow.
- The Honest Company’s Calming Lavender Body Wash
There is something about the spa-like scent of The Honest Company’s lavender body wash that truly does seem to calm me down during my morning shower. I’ve been using soap for months now and forgot just how lovely it is to take a little extra time to lather up some lavender body wash on a loofah to cleanse my skin. It feels a little extra special and the smell cannot be beat!
- Outfit Details
A handful of you guys asked for more details about the outfit I am wearing in the above photo and Chase’s moccasins in the comments section of my Monday blog post and on Instagram, so heeeere ya go!
On me –> Shoes: Lucky Brand (via RueLaLa) // Sweater: Apparently I ripped off the tag because I cannot find one but I bought it on RueLaLa a few years ago // Distressed Jeans: Just USA (Only $12 via Nordstrom Rack) // Top: Wendy Bellissimo (via Motherhood Maternity – Yes, this is a maternity tank! I bought it last year when I was pregnant, but this one is similar.)
On Chase –> Outfit: Splendid (via ThredUp), Moccasins: Freshly Picked
- Pampered Mommy Box (March 2016)
My friends over at Pampered Mommy Box sent me their latest box of goodies and it was such a fun treat to receive in the mail. This box included Acure body lotion (I first discovered this brand when I was looking for a facial scrub when I was pregnant and love it), pale pink nail polish, lip balm and a lemonade lip scrub (loveee this, especially since I returned to Charlotte from NYC with chapped lips) and the softest infinity scarf. (There was also chocolate in there but that was inhaled the minute I opened the box.) If there’s a mom in your life who could use a little extra pampering one month (or maybe that mom is YOU), this box really is such a neat way to send someone a thoughtful little pick-me-up in the mail! They passed along a coupon code for me to share, so if you use the code PBFINGERS, you’ll receive 10 percent off a purchase.
- Around the Web
Interesting Reads: My Dog: The Paradox (Hilarious!!) // On Being A Single Mom (Love Janae so much!) // Splenda Is Officially Bad For You
Fitness: Gina’s Post Baby Bod Plan is now live! The plan includes 12 weeks of detailed training in an easy-to-follow format and takes all of the guesswork out of developing a fitness routine post-baby, safely progressing from one 4-week module to the next. So proud of one of my blogging BFFs for putting this one together!
Food: Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread // Three Delicious No Bake Energy Bars // 10 Healthy Desserts with Chia Seeds (Thank you to Fitness Magazine for featuring my recipe!)
- Friday Flashbacks
Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies (I love Katie’s recipe so much and made these cookies Wednesday evening for a mid-week treat. So tasty!)
20 Minute Treadmill HIIT Workout (There are quite a few fast-paced walking breaks in this workout, but the super-fast running intervals will get your heart pumping!)
Question of the Day
- What is one thing you are loving this week?
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Over here a lot of people have the flue too. I hope Ryan feels better soon. I agree I didn’t like the previous season of House of Cards, but this season is so much better. We also can’t stop watching it.
I immediately opened the pampered mommy link only to remember I live in Europe and they probably don’t ship here 🙁 BUT! I will scroll through the pages for some inspiration for my 36 week pregnant friend! 😀 Such a nice idea 🙂
Happy Friday! I’m so ready to get the weekend started…mostly because I get to see my baby sister in t-minus 16 hours and counting.
I love all things lavender, so it looks like I’ll be picking up some new body wash.
I am such a huge fan of the “turn off notifications” feature; although, I tend to forget to use it.
I hope Ryan feels better soon! Enjoy your weekend!
I was sick last weekend but it seems that my husband avoided it! I hope you can too! We just finished Game of Thrones… I’ve tried to watch House of Cards, but never found the time. Perhaps I need to give it another chance.
Glad you are feeling better!! <3 If you decide to give House of Cards a shot, I feel like the first episode or two is a little slow but then it REALLY picks up!! We love it!
I wish those lucky brand flats were in stock somewhere! I assume at this point they just don’t make them anymore… Sad! Happy Friday to you – hope you guys avoid what Ryan has!
I have a similar pair from Banana Republic and I am able to comfortably wear them all day.
http://m.bananarepublic.gap.com/product.html?dn=bp230422022&dv=0&shopid=2&pdn=bc31203&outlet=false
I stopped watching HOC halfway through last season, but if this one is so good I might have to start watching. I did see the one scene when he got out of the car and was shaking everyone’s hands..don’t want to give anything away 😉 That might be a plan for the weekend! I’m so happy that you got snapchat!
House of Cards is SO GOOD. I watched all of the seasons on Netflix too and it was so addicting. I feel how you used to feel about Snapchat…I just don’t want another form of social media but I know it’s most peoples’ favorite one.
OH man something is definitely going around. I caught something crazy in California and am finally starting to feel human again. I hope Ryan gets better soon! Also, I’m onto Episode 2 of HOC (started forever ago) and haven’t picked it back up yet. It sounds like I need to get back into it!
Poor Ryan! There’s definitely something nasty going around…hopefully you & Chase can stay clear of it!
My husband and I also just started the new season of house of cards. We were both disappointed in last season too so I’m hoping this one will be better!
This week I’m loving the warmer weather and no snow and ice! 😀
hope ryan gets well soon – there’s definitely something going around! this weekend should be a fun and busy one for us – a sleepover with my niece and a birthday party for one of william’s friends tomorrow and meeting my best friend’s brand new baby on sunday!!
I am loving Talenti gelato! I randomly picked up a pint of the Caramel Cookie Crunch flavor last night — along with tater tots, bread, and beer, so really getting my sugar and carbs in this weekend 😉 — and it was hard to keep myself and my boyfriend from eating the whole jar! Definitely going to have to pick up some more while it’s still on sale!
Talenti is so, so good! I haven’t tried that flavor but now it’s definitely on my radar!
Now that I am done with House of Cards I have no idea what to do with my life!
Thanks to you, I am loving my new Rosehip Oil (They should give you a kick back LOL!). Makes my face super soft and apparently very good for dry hair which I am also plagued with.
So glad you’re loving the rosehip oil! I can’t get enough of it!
I’ve been loving snapchat as well — it’s definitely NOT the most intuitive platform out there, but it’s fun to follow your closest friends and see what they’re up to! Also loving a new set of fun pens I bought recently for work!! I think the smallest details can make your work day a little bit brighter! Have a great weekend, Julie!
I’m loving that my husband gets to go to San Francisco for a conference next week which will open up a lot of job opportunities for him! His goal is to come home with a job offer which, while not super realistic, is almost not impossible!
Totally LOVING snapchat too! So cute to see Chase in action. Also loving on prosecco this week, TGIF! I hope Ryan feels better and you guys manage to avoid it!
The “turn off notifications” feature is great! It saves my phone from basically blowing up 🙂 And thanks for sharing that Oatmeal comic. I love The Oatmeal and that was a nice, smiley way to start the day!
The Oatmeal ALWAYS cracks me up!!! That one made me laugh out loud a few times. 🙂
The turn off notifications feature is awesome! Ever since I discovered it I’ve been loving it.
Get well soon Ryan!
I’m obsessed with the Acure Brightening Facial Scrub! It works so well and lasts forever. It’s one of the only things I use on my skin.
There’s also a ‘Turn on Notifications’ feature on Facebook as well in case you want to see comments on a particular post without having to actually comment or having to comment with ‘Following’!
I’ve never watched House of Cards but all of my friends are raving over it. I am loving the fact that Daylight Savings is this weekend and we’ll get an extra hour of light at night! I will gladly sacrifice an hour of sleep for that haha.
I love Acure lotion!! It’s so cool to switch over to natural beauty products, it makes such a difference. Happy Friday!
Haven’t seen HOC yet, but I hear how great it is all the time, really should take some time and check it out. I also have a blog and would love to get some feed back 🙂 Get well soon Ryan! XOXO
Oh yay you have Snapchat! I need to add you!
Ha my husband and I got through the whole season by Sunday. We prob would have finished it on Saturday except that we forced ourselves to go outside and then I fell asleep on the couch at night. Good season!
It took me a while to jump on the snapchat bandwagon too, but now I prefer it over other forms of social media!
I haven’t watched House of Cards but I’ve heard great things about that show. Right now I’m obsessed with The Voice and The People vs. OJ!
Just made those choc chip cookies. I got about 10 small cookies, maybe I could’ve stretched it to 12. But nowhere close to 24 cookies. Let’s hope those 10 cookies are delicious.
I’m am loving that I finally get to start House of Cards this weekend!
Happy weekend! Hope you avoid the sickness 🙂
Poor Ryan!! I’m praying you and Chase stay well. The flu is going around really bad here in KY, so we are sanitizing like crazy here too. I love the FB turn off notifications too… my phone was going insane there for a while! Today I’m loving the spring like weather we have been having! Bring on the HEAT! Have a great weekend girl!
I’m looking forward to shopping for spring clothes this weekend!!
Hope Ryan feels better soon.
I am going to use your endorsement to convince my hubby to start this season of House of Cards soon. He really wasn’t feeling last season and was ready to call it quits!
I feel it’s worth mentioning that I checked the results of the Splenda/sucralose study and I see some flaws. They only found significant difference in male mice, not females. They also saw a significant difference in the 2,000 ppm and 16,000 ppm groups but not the 8,000 ppm group – that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Also, the lowest dose they found significant was 2,000 ppm which would be equivalent to a 130 lb person consuming more than 1/4 lb of sucralose every single day. I’m certainly not arguing that Splenda is without a doubt safe, but I like to encourage reading things with a careful eye…I can’t help it!
I scrolled right past your House of Cards update because I haven’t started watching this season yet and I’m terrified of spoilers..not that I think you included any, I’m just insane.
I just discovered the ‘turn off notifications’ option on fb too. I used to do the same thing: not comment on statuses bc it’s SO annoying to get 5 million notifications about comments that aren’t directed at you.
That lavender body wash looks so nice! Will have to look for it!
House of Cards was pretty fantastic this season. Back to their roots, CLASSIC Francis and Clair. Binged the entire season in 4 days. I’ve even watched the ending multiple times. Enjoy, I can’t wait to hear your feedback!
I recently started using Snapchat too. I’m slightly addicted. Ha ha. Some younger girls at work showed me how to do the different face filters. Have you tried those? Kinda fun. You hold down over your face on the phone for a couple seconds and it gives you a few options to play with. Kinda entertaining ?
Responding to this on a Saturday but…I also love Snapchat! It’s hard to find a lot of interesting things to capture but I like that it’s raw, easy to record and quick!
please please PLEASE PBF tell me how you managed to get Chase in to such good sleep habits! My poor little guy is a few days younger than Chase and he struggles so much. He cries when he goes in his cot at night and it takes half an hour for him to settle but during the night he wakes and can’t go back to sleep. He never got on with dummies so never had one sadly so can’t be comforted by that. I just want him to get more sleep so he is happy and healthy. Tell me your secret!
I hope Ryan feels better. I had a temperature and vomiting virus last week and it did take a few days to get back to normal. I also hope you and Chase don’t catch it. have a lovely weekend.xxx
I have never been able to get into House of Cards, but I love your enthusiasm! Here is what I’m loving lately: https://reflectionsonleadershipandlearning.wordpress.com/2016/03/11/things-im-loving-friday-volume-17/
I don’t use Snapchat a ton, but do love it! I like being able to watch celeb’s Snapchat stories. It feels like the most “real” social media for sure. And I’ll have to try that lavender body wash! I’ve been on spring break all week, so I’ve been loving that!
Totally agree!
Oh my god I feel the exact same. Didn’t gel with last season on HOC but I am obsessed with this season! The Underwoods are back to their best!
http://www.ablondeinanairport.com
Such a fun update this week.
But hold up… there’s TURN OFF NOTIFICATIONS?! Genius.
I very much appreciate the info about the facebook opt out of notifications setting because I NEVER knew about this and never commented on things because I despised getting a million fb alerts! Such a game changer, thank you for sharing!
Ditto for me! I had no idea! So happy to be “in the know” now!!! Thanks Julie!