One thing we did manage to do? Purchase furniture for our living room revamp! THANK YOU to those of you who weighed in on the white couch dilemma and highly recommend IKEA’s Ektorp couch to us. You immediately had me sold when you said the white cover is not only removable but you can buy a completely new one for $150 should something ever happen to stain it which, with two kids and a dog in the house, is a strong possibility. We actually ended up buying the two matching chairs as well and I am in love with the look of everything. Thanks for basically outfitting our living room for us, friends!!
And now I’m off to get this Friday rockin’. Some friends are coming over with their little ones this evening for a small Christmas pajama party and some cookie decorating. It should be fun!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend ahead. Now for your usual Things I’m Loving Friday shenanigans…
Things I’m Loving Friday
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Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry (+ More of Our Favorite Holiday Books)
Thank you so much to blog reader Pamela for recommending this adorable book to me when I mentioned my love for holiday books on the blog. Our family’s Elf on the Shelf surprised Chase with Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree earlier this week and it’s quickly become a favorite! The story begins when Mr. Willowby’s Christmas tree arrives but it’s too big to fit in his house. After cutting the top of the tree off, it’s picked up by more people and a bunch of animals, spreading Christmas cheer to a family of foxes, rabbits, bears and more. If you’re looking for an adorable story to add to your holiday book collection, Pamela’s recommendation was a great one!
And since I had a few of you ask about some of our other favorite holiday books, here are a handful of the ones we love: The Sweet Smell of Christmas (the biggest hit with Chase this year thanks to scratch-and-sniff pages), The Mitten (another one of my childhood favorites — this one is more of a winter book and not specific to Christmas), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (a classic for a reason) The Polar Express, The Spirit of Christmas, The Animals’ Christmas Eve (a fun counting book that is also great for talking about the true meaning of Christmas with your little one), Auntie Claus (beautiful illustrations but probably better for slightly older children — this was my sister’s favorite in elementary school)
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Diffusing Holiday Essential Oil Blends
It’s that time of year when I find myself diffusing ALL of the holiday essential blends! I’m loving anything with the scent of pine, cinnamon, peppermint, cloves and orange and have loved creating my own blends based on the above graphic I found on Pinterest. I just makes me feel so Christmasy and cozy! My go-to brand for essential oils these days is Plant Therapy because they seem to have the widest variety of certified organic essential oils and they have an Amazon store, so they’re easy to find and purchase online. (I love their Top 6 Essential Oils kit!)
Also, just as an important aside, I am a firm believer in the power of essential oils and therefore very cautious about diffusing certain oils around the boys. I typically diffuse oils in my office before they’re awake or during naptime. (See this post to see which oils should be avoided around kids.) I also love that Plant Therapy has a Winter Playland line of kid-safe holiday essential oil blends, though I haven’t tried them out myself yet! And on the topic of kid-safe oils, I actually just ordered PlantTherapy’s KidSafe Wellness Sampler for our family (and my sister’s family — Christmas gift!) which includes Germ Destroyer, Immune Boom and Sniffle Stopper blends I hope will help keep all of us healthy during cold and flu season.
I am a weirdo who likes ice cream even MORE during the winter months than I do during the summer months. One caveat: I have to be bundled up and warm and cozy before digging in, but there’s nothing better than digging into a bowl of ice cream when I’m in my pajamas and all wrapped up in blankets at the end of the day. I stumbled upon a creamy frozen treat while shopping at Target earlier this week that tasted like the holidays on a stick: Yasso Peppermint Crunch Frozen Greek Yogurt. It’s peppermint ice cream peppered with crushed cookies and peppermint candies and oh my gosh it’s so good! Pick this one up if you’re a peppermint lover — trust me!
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Biceps / Triceps / Shoulders Workout
On Tuesday morning, I completed this biceps/triceps/shoulders workout at the gym and LOVED it. I was in the mood for strength training but didn’t want to follow the usual 8-15 reps format and switched it up a bit with this tabata-inspired workout. The workout flew by and I timed everything using the Interval Timer app on my phone. I am saving this one to repeat again in the near future because I liked it so much! Oh and just a quick note, I definitely had to decrease the amount of weight I used in this workout from my usual weight for the noted exercises. Eight rounds is no joke! Phew!
Also, just in case you’re ever looking for workout inspiration, in addition to the Workouts page on my blog, I’ve also saved a bunch of the workouts I’ve shared on Instagram to the “Workouts” tab under my IG Highlights.
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Friday Flashbacks
Holiday Pretzel Treats (Sweet and salty and the perfect edible gift to wrap up in a special mug, tin or gift box if you’re looking for a simple way to show someone you’re thinking of them this holiday season! Great for neighbors, coworkers, etc.!)
Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Oatmeal Cookies (Not traditional Christmas cookies but so good! They’re soft and pillowy and the chopped hazelnuts add the perfect amount of crunch!)
Question of the Day
What is one thing you are loving this week?
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That workout seems great! To make sure I’m understanding, you’ll do a tabata-style but rather than rest for the ten seconds you do the second exercise listed? Thanks for sharing!
Yes!! The timing was tabata inspired & I loved the fast pace!
December is flying by super fast, as I knew it would! How is it already halfway over?!? I’m really just loving how into the holidays my 3 year old is this year! It’s so fun!! We’re heading to Target tomorrow- she got a gift card in the mail and I’m strangely excited to see what she picks out. Also loving preparing my almost 6 month old for solids….lately I’ve been giving her a spoon to chew on at dinner time and she loves it (possibly just because I know her second tooth will be cutting through any time now…) Have a great holiday fun-filled weekend!!
Isn’t there something SO AWESOME about the holidays with a three year old!? This really feels like the first year Chase “gets it” which makes Christmas feel even more magical. I cannot WAIT to see him on Christmas morning!
I’m loving that I’m DONE wrapping gifts! No more last minute, late night wrapping for this momma!
I didn’t know yasso had a peppermint holiday flavor! Game changer!
I too am an essential oils lover! However I did want to mention (sensitively, this comes from a caring place) that some essential oils are harmful to dogs. Since I know you love Sadie & are always concerned about her health I wanted to mention this in case you didn’t know. Pine oils can be toxic to dogs as can Melucula, tea tree, oil of wintergreen, and a few others. Again, you may already know this, and if you do – sorry for bringing it up. Really not trying to be one of those negative people and it comes from a good place, just don’t want anyone who may not know the dangers of essential oils to dogs.
I’m envying the snow days!! I’m back to the age where playing in snow is fun and carefree, but it missed us in MD!
Oh wow!!! How did I not think of this!?! I feel like you read all the time about kid safe oils but nothing about pets! Thank you for sharing!! I’d never want to harm her health!
Same for cats. It Can really exacerbate some health conditions, especially in older pets. I just recently learned this and was horrified that no one had mentioned it before knowing that I have pets.
I was totally thinking the ikea couch would be ideal (I had the white one and then the beige one for years) and forgot to comment but happy to see lots of people recommended it! Enjoy. I love a white couch.
Our current fav Christmas books are Snowmen at Night, and Snowmen at Christmas. The illustrations are beautiful and they are both such sweet stories. My dad gifted the kids both books the past two Christmases. There is a third too, “Snowmen All Year”, which I’m crossing my fingers for this year. 😉
Hey Julie! Love seeing how much your kids are enjoying the season- so fun 🙂
What type of diffuser to you have and do you have any recommendations? I’ve been wanting to buy one for myself for some time!
Love Yasso mint chocolate chip bars, so I’ll have to give those peppermint ones a try. Also, thank you SO much for the oils recommendation – I’ve had that exact 6-oil starter kit in my cart for a week now, but have been hesitant to go for it. You just helped me make my decision!
Girl, I totally agree December is flying by!! I’m not even finished buying presents yet, hahahaha. I hope you have a great weekend! Xoxo
We have a small white IKEA couch in our playroom that we bought secondhand from some friends and being able to pull off that slipcover and wash that bad boy has been a lifesaver! With two kids and a BLACK dog, the white couch doesn’t stay white all the time. But, it looks cute! Ha! I’m loving the cooler weather we just got blasted with – finally! Hoping it will actually stick around!
I just wanted to thank you for recommending the Mixpresso in one of your gift guides! I am going to get it for my sister in law for Christmas; it will be perfect for her!
Yay I can’t wait to see the living room revamp when it’s done! I love Ikea…it gets a bad rep for price and quality but I have honestly never had a problem with it and have had furniture, desks, tables, and shelves from there that have lasted me years and year and are in good condition…and I have a toddler! haha! This week I’m loving chocolate banana bread and coffee by the tree!
I’ve been making your holiday pretzels on and off for years, most recently with gluten-free pretzels. Wilton just changed their Candy Melts package to state that they are manufactured on shared equipment with wheat products so I can no longer use them. Ghiradelli’s candy wafers say that they may contain wheat. I tried using baking chips but some of them got weirdly runny and won’t solidify.
Do you (or any readers) have a suggestion for making these gluten-free?
I make them every year and use Hershey Kisses. I use Dark Chocolate kisses and the Hershey Hugs. The Hugs look so fun with the brown and white stripe with a M&M on top!
A Christmas pajama party sounds so fun! My 2 1/2 year old and I decorated gingerbread men this week. They were actually super giant cookies and I was wondering when I was going to cap her cookie eating before she ate the whole giant cookie (did not want a sugar-hyped toddler!!). Turns out I didn’t need to do anything because after eating just the cookie’s head, she moved on to eat raw broccoli! Love the toddler quirkiness!
The holiday pretzel bites are one of my favorites! In fact, the first time I made them years ago is because I initially saw them on your blog! So fun and simple to create!
If you’re looking for another Christmas book, try Mortimer’s Christmas Manger. It’s such a sweet story and I love that it incorporates the Christmas story. My 2.5 year old loves it!
I grew up reading Mr Willowby’s Christmas Tree and absolutely adore it! So exciting to see someone else recommended it since it’s an older book 🙂
yay i’m so glad you reccomend plant therapy! I have oneof their kits on my christmas list!!