I am so ready for the weekend ahead because we will have a house full of visitors. My sister, brother-in-law, their chocolate lab and our friend Pete will be staying with us for the next three days and I am really looking forward to quality time with some of our favorite people!
We don’t have too much planned just yet – we want to gauge our guests’ interest in a few things first – but I’d be happy just hanging at home and ordering pizza with this crew, so I know it will be a fun few days no matter what we do.
Before we get into holiday weekend craziness, I wanted to be sure to share my weekly Things I’m Loving Friday blog post with all of you. As usual, below you will find a short roundup of some thing that are making me smile this week. And please chime in and share a little bit about something your loving in the comments section!
Have a great weekend!
Things I’m Loving Friday
- Burn Boot Camp Stack Workout
I’m sharing this workout here not because I loved the workout (it was brutal!) but because I loved the way I felt after it was done. Stack workouts are my absolute least favorite and absolutely crush me. To complete this workout, we began by doing the first two exercises in the stack back-to-back. We then started back at the top and completed exercises one, two and three. Then, we went back to the top again and completed exercises one, two, three and four… and so on. We also had little “breaks” thrown in there with 30 second sprints to change things up and I do not remember the last time I worked so hard at the gym. It was such a tough workout but one that left me feeling very accomplished once I was done.
With nearly 600,000 followers on Instagram, I’m clearly late to the party on discovering Mari Andrew’s talent but her account has quickly become one of my absolute favorites to follow. She’s a writer and illustrator based in New York City and while many of her Instagram pictures are sweet, relatable, lighthearted and nostalgic just as many are though-provoking, vulnerable and real.
- The Lion Sleeps Tonight (On Repeat)
Chase is in a DJ request phase of music loving these days and becomes 100 percent obsessed with a song for a couple of weeks before moving onto the next. First it was “Baby Beluga” (appropriate) followed by “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor (not so appropriate but don’t judge – at least we listened to the clean version and he just loved repeating “bout da bass” over and over again). Well Chase’s current obsession is The Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and YOU GUYS he cannot get enough. He was literally singing “Weeeeeeeee Um Bum Ba Waaaaay” in his crib when he woke up yesterday morning! He calls the song “um bum ba way” and requests it over and over again in the car. And then he asks me to sing it to him before bed and I’m surprised his ears don’t start bleeding every time I break into my falsetto. Also, I find it odd that he’s not into the “a-weema-wehs” AT ALL and is only interested in singing the “weeeee um bum ba ways.” Whatever floats your boat, bud.
I am honestly a little shocked I’m mentioning this pen in today’s post because I was very skeptical that it would work at all. I was initially sent this light therapy pen several months ago by the Neutrogena team and threw it in the back of a drawer because it wasn’t tested on pregnant women yet and at the time I was pregnant. Since a complete skin freak out is one of the side effects my body seems to go through post-miscarriage, I found myself feeling more upset than usual at the number of pimples that kept popping up on my face a couple of weeks ago. I remembered this pen and figured it was worth a shot and used it on two hard, large zits that were both quite painful. (Is this grossing you out yet?) Anyway, after two days of using this pen and using all of my willpower not to go to town on these zits, I noticed them looking SO much better! And these are the kind of zits (cystic acne) that will linger for daysss at a time. I was sold!
The best part? The pen is incredibly easy to use. You simply hold it on top of your pimple for two minutes at a time up to three times per day. That’s it! It’s not hot and didn’t cause my skin to burn or peel or anything. Truly it felt like nothing! The pen uses red and blue light to treat acne and the blue light penetrates just beneath the surface, while red light goes deeper into the skin using dermatologist-approved technology. It’s not a pen I use everyday, but I’m glad I have it, especially if I have a big zit pop up in the future before an important event.
- Labor Day Weekend Sales
Below you will find a short roundup of some Labor Day Weekend sales that caught my eye!
Nordstrom: Up to 40% off
Bloomingdales: Save 40 to 60% on sale items
Macy’s: Extra 20% off plus free shipping with $49 purchase.
Old Navy: 50% off all jeans, dresses and tees
Express: 40% off everything
J.Crew Factory: 50% off everything+ an additional 50% off clearance
Target: Up to 30% off furniture + extra 10% off with code HOME
Sweaty Betty: Save 25% with code LABORDAY
- Friday Flashbacks
Berry Frozen Yogurt Pie (A festive and tasty dessert for your weekend cookout!)
60 Minute Boot Camp (A challenging total body workout!)
Questions of the Day
Who are some of your favorite people to follow on Instagram?
What is one thing you are loving this week?
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The stack workout sounds intense! I’ve actually never done one and am curious to give it a try and see if I survive. Have a great weekend with all of your friends and family! Our weekend is packed and I’m. Counting down to the end of the work day – hooray!
Talk about a workout! That sounds so intense! And on the other end of the spectrum, that pie sounds amazing 🙂 Going to check it out now!
My butt is so sore today!!! Those jumping lunges killed me!
I would be skeptical of that pen too! It’s great to hear it helped on cystic acne since that’s what seems to be popping up on my face now.
How fun so many people are staying with you this weekend! I bet Chase will love the extra attention and dog that will be around him. Have a great weekend Julie 🙂
We keep laughing because every time we tell him about our visitors he just keeps asking for “Koner” = Kona, Leslie and Ross’ chocolate lab! He’s definitely pumped for another dog in the house!
I should look into one of those pens. I get cystic acne right before my period, and the scarring is BAD. I hate it so much. :’-(
It’s miserable because on top of looking big they’re also painful! This pen really did help with them a lot! And YES to scarring! I feel like that only started happening to me once I hit 30 years old and it’s so annoying.
Hope y’all have a great weekend – it’s always the BEST when family is in town 🙂
Thanks for sharing that berry pie recipe! It’s on my list of recipes to try!
That workout looks intense…I would be huffing and puffing I’m sure. Lately I’ve been working on running pretty much exclusively and actually ran 91 miles for the month of August! I was shocked.
I’m loving the three day weekend up ahead – it’s our first day off since we started school (we have already been through 4 weeks!) and I could really use the break. Plus I am doing a lab in my science class on Tuesday – we’re making slime – so I’m really excited for that!
Enjoy your weekend 🙂
that workout looks killer! As do those bars! My favorite IG person to follow is Kaitlyn Bristowe! Happy Friday, Julie 🙂
That workout looks KILLER. I love how you often add your favorite online deals to your blog posts for us, but do you ever get overwhelmed by online shopping? If so, what are some tips? I’m not a fan of shopping. Period. But I feel like I should take advantage of the deals while they’re available, but even online shopping is hard for me!
I love following Kate (Small Things Blog) on IG because her IG stories are so honest and hilarious!
She’s awesome!! I wasn’t following her before I met her at an event earlier this year and she was so fun! Now that I follow her I can say she’s 100 percent the same online as she is in person and is such a blast to follow!
They just re-released The Lion King “out of the vault” & I’m so tempted to buy it to show my niece & nephew it, hopefully to get them our of their Frozen phase! LOL, Frozen is cute & all…but The Lion King is such a TRUE classic!!!
Her Instagram account looks awesome, I just followed her. A week or two ago I started following Thoughts of Dog (@dog_feelings) and it’s now one of my favorite accounts. I think you’d like it too since you’re a dog person.
For dog accounts, I also follow Kids with Dogs (super cute) and We Rate Dogs (hilarious). I also really like following NASA and Nat Geo because the photographs are just so awe inspiring. You might also like Mimosa Handcrafted – she’s a jeweler out of Baton Rouge and does really simple but gorgeous, southern-inspired pieces (also some that are not southern inspired, but just pretty).
I have the Talika Free Skin version of the therapy pen. I got it primarily to help with my acne scars as it said it can stimulate collagen, help with skin renewal and decrease the bacteria that cause black heads. It works and I swear it lessened my wrinkles/fine lines. However I’ve gradually stopped using as the blue light can potentially cause eye damage even blindness. This little warning was right on the bottom of the box and no where in the instruction leaflet. I found if I use it under my eyes or the pores on my eyes my eyes ached a little afterwards even if I made sure I didn’t directly shine it in, so please please be careful! It got to the point I even got my eyes checked to make sure they were okay. Apologies if I sound like a kill joy. Eyes are important! I was thinking of getting sun bed googles to use with it, but now it’s just every 2 weeks or so I use it as also I don’t know the long term effects of the lights.
Have a great Labour nope, Labor it’s USA English not UK English Day/Weekend!
Please excuse my grammar! That’s what you get when commenting on an iPhone in a rush! And it’s the pores under on my cheeks not on my eyes. It also helped lessen the appearance of my acne scars but again the blue light I’m wary of.
Okay so apparently you’re only second to last on Mari Andrew but holy crap I’m following her asap! It’s a little weird but I really enjoy following Sigma Aldrich on Instagram. They’re a vendor that sells lab stuff to scientists and whoever runs their IG has the best sense of humor. As a scientist I seriously dig it, haha.
That Stack Workout looks awesome! Do you save all the photos of the Burn Boot Camp workouts to Pinterest or on your Fitness page? I’m really looking to start trying some new workouts next week, feeling in a bit of a rut.
I think many of them are pinned to my Fitness board or the PBF Workouts board on Pinterest!
Staying home and ordering pizza sounds like the perfect weekend plans 😉 Have fun with your sister!
That’s so cute how much Chase likes to sing The Lion Sleeps Tonight! And it cracked me up about your falsetto. Sometimes when I sing to my son I start laughing at how off-key I’ve gotten but he loves when I sing to him so I just keep doing it. 🙂 Those are all great, catchy songs he is into now. My son loves Baby Beluga too, but what kid doesn’t, it’s a great song! Gotta love Raffi. Thanks for sharing, have a nice weekend.
Okay, that stack workout looks like a mental workout, too! haha. I love following Kirsty Godso for fitness inspiration! Also, random puppy instagrams! haha. Can’t beat cute puppies on your feed!
Okay, that stack workout looks like a mental workout, too! haha. I love following Kirsty Godso for fitness inspiration! Also, random puppy instagrams! haha. Can’t beat cute puppies on your feed!
I have a Ridgeback so I follow all Rhodesian ridgeback accounts including ridgeback puppies (they look like bigger Vizslas) stack workouts, never heard that term but it looks mentally tough to get through all those workouts!
Sounds like you guys will definitely have a fun weekend ahead of you. I’m driving to visit friends and family in IL, then flying out to Salt Lake City on Tuesday. I’m looking forward to the next week off. Right now I’m most looking forward to paddle boarding after work today, it’ll be my first time trying it!
I am loving the thought of next week being a short week with the long weekend!!! Enjoy your Labor Day weekend with your guests!!!!
That stack workout looks killer! Hope you have a great weekend!
I’m actually really excited that you mentioned the acne and the Neutrogena pen – I’m going to check it out! I’ve had several unpleasant breakouts RIGHT at a time where a very huge important event was happening. My health insurance used to cover visits to the dermatologist (which is an expensive 3rd option for anyone reading this) – they can inject a bad pimple with a solution and it makes it almost immediately disappear. I did this before a wedding and giant public event before. Now my insurance doesn’t cover it if it’s deemed too close to cosmetic. But it’s worth it if you’re having a very important event! Going to get this pen stat!
Btw, loved this post and ALL your posts this week. Looking forward to your weekend recap next week. Thank you for recommending the cartoonist – I am literally always trying to find cartoonists to follow (true story! I’m wayyyy into that genre). This single frame has me hooked already!
My husband and I have The Lion Sleeps Tonight on our road trip playlist. lol So cute that Chase loves it and sings his own little words. lol Have a great weekend!
Just checked out her Instagram account and immediately started following her. @HarlowandSage is the cutest dog Instagram account of a dog family of three dogs. You can’t help but smile every time you look at one of their Instagram posts. Have a great weekend!
Is this Pete, Merri’s husband or another Pete boating you guys?
It’s the same Pete. They are no longer together but remain good friends and we’re still close with both of them.
That makes me so sad even though I do not know them personally. Loved their wedding pics and recaps that you did ?.
I know. 🙁 It was definitely sad to see their relationship end. Thankfully they both seem to be doing well and genuinely still care for each other.
I am going to give that bootcamp workout a try this week! Looks great! 🙂