It’s Friday and I’m so ready for the weekend. Ryan and I have a road trip planned and will be leaving Saturday morning for North Carolina! I am really looking forward to a short weekend away!
I hope you guys have some fun things on the agenda this weekend… but no plans can be just as fabulous as lots of plans!
To kick off the weekend fun, let’s get right into this week’s Things I’m Loving Friday post where I share a roundup of the things that are making me smile this week. As always, I’d love to hear about what you’ve been loving this week in the comments section of this post!
Things I’m Loving Friday
- Super Nintendo
On Sunday night, Ryan broke his old Super Nintendo out of storage and the two of us had an absolute blast playing Donkey Kong Country, my all-time favorite Super Nintendo game. I haven’t played in years and Ryan and I made quite the rusty duo. (I think we scared Sadie with our yelling!) We haven’t put our Super Nintendo away just yet and plan to revisit the game we started when we have more downtime one evening next week. We are determined to improve our skills! <—Serious life goals right there.
A few of you guys have asked what I put in my morning cup of coffee and I usually add almond milk (sometimes regular milk) and three drops of liquid vanilla stevia. It’s not cheap (I buy mine on Amazon), but I’ve had my teeny bottle of NuNaturals liquid stevia for months and months since the littlest bit goes a long way. It adds the perfect amount of sweetness (one drop packs a serious punch!) and I think it may be time for me to explore additional flavors. (The peppermint intrigues me!) I’ve also added a few drops of the liquid vanilla stevia to plain Greek yogurt or a smoothie before when I felt like it has needed a little extra sweetness and it was great.
- Wait But Why’s How to Name a Baby
Thanks to Monica for bringing this article to my attention! Name trends have always fascinated me and this article takes a seriously in-depth look at names and links to some neat recourses where you can type in your name to check when it peaked in popularity. It’s worth a read! (And no, I’m not pregnant.)
- Gardenias
My mother-in-law has a beautiful, booming gardenia plant in her yard and I couldn’t get over the incredible fragrance of the flowers last weekend. They smell incredible and I’m hoping my black thumb turns green before Ryan and I own a house so I can try to maintain some beautiful plants that smell this amazing one day!
- Your Nut Butter + Chocolate Chips on a Spoon Pictures
You guys cracked me up this week when you tagged me on Instagram with pictures of your favorite nut butter and chocolate chips on a spoon. After I shared my nightly tradition with you guys during last week’s Things I’m Loving Friday post, I began to see your photos of this simple and simply delicious treat pop up on Instagram and had to smile. Thanks for the tag!! I’m so glad we can all bond over our intense love of chocolate chips and nut butter! Another fabulous combination? Animal crackers and almond butter.
If you’re looking for a quality hard sunglasses case that’s actually BIG enough for your sunglasses, I cannot recommend the Vera Bradley sunglasses case enough. I’ve had mine for years and it fits two pairs of fairly large sunglasses without a problem. It’s durable and easily protects my sunglasses when I’m not wearing them. It’s a winner!
Past Things I’m Loving Friday Posts
Question of the Day
- Super Nintendo fans: What is your favorite Super Nintendo game?
- What is one thing you’ve been loving this week?
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Whoa I’m so jealous of that Super Nintendo right now! I *tried* playing Call of Duty with my husband and it ended badly. I need to play games where everything is 2 dimensional again!
Oh and I just spent way too much time on that “How to Name a Baby” site.
Isn’t that article so interesting!?
A good laugh is to google what you can’t name your baby. Mexico has an awesome list of illegal names like Christmas Day, Burger King, Lady Di and lot of inappropriate ones.
Just to add to your nut butter obsession…. you totally need to try dried figs dipped in almond butter. Heaven, I tell ya! I love Vera Bradley, so I definitely need to look into the sunglass case. Thanks for the suggestion and safe travels, this weekend!
I like my dates with maple almond butter! YUM!
Greetings from NC! Hope you have a great trip,
Thanks Arie!
I’ve been loving Sleepytime tea this week!
I’m totally going to have to have peanut butter and chocolate chips this week now! YUM
Oh cool, I definitely have to check out that website for naming babies! Now that I’m pregnant with twins, we have to pick out two names – I have no idea where to start! This will be helpful!
I love super nintendo! We had a nintendo 64 at my apartment when I lived with my sister and it was a favorite! Although I am quite horrible at it, we always had tournaments!
From an amateur gardener, gardening has a bit of a learning curve. I used to think I couldn’t take care of plants until I started playing Farmville on Facebook, and decided I wanted to try. I had a decent garden last year, but the two years before, I was a miserable failure. Takes time, trial and error. I can’t wait until I can plant flowers (we’re in the process of moving). Flowers bring the bees that pollinate the veggie garden!
And gardenias are the most beautiful flowers in the entire world, IMO.
Have a great weekend away! We’ve got a four day weekend AND it’s my birthday on Sunday, so this weekend is looking like it’s going to be a good one!
I am a classic Nintendo NES girl! Super Mario was my game! This week, I’m totally loving my crockpot. Such a timesaver!
The crockpot is a lifesaver!!
lol, that nut butter and chocolate chips on a spoon tag is hilarious! It’s undeniably delicious though 🙂
super ninendo – how fun!!!! i loooove all the super mario games!!! and vanilla nunaturals is my fav- i use it in everything!
I feel like it’s a super odd thing to list, but I’ve been loving hard boiled eggs. I woke up in the middle of the night last night absolutely famished, and it turned out to be the perfect snack. I love that they are portable, bite-sized, and protein-packed! (And I’m also loving hyphens, apparently)
OMG I LOVED Donkey Kong!!!! I wish I still had my Super Nintendo now!!!!
That almond butter + chocolate chips is a delicious treat!!! I can’t stop eating it!
I’m SO happy it’s the weekend! I hope you guys have a great trip! My Sunday ended up being SUPER busy with a 10 mile run, running/endurance seminar, and 2 baby showers (all before 2pm!) I’m already tired…. 😉
I’ve been loving crunch pb and choc chips on toast for breakfast this week! with a little honey drizzle cuz why not!
Did you play the second Donkey Kong Country, too? I think it might be my very favorite. I don’t have a Super Nintendo anymore, but my husband has emulators on his computer with USB remotes for both NES and SNES, so it pretty much feels like I’m playing the real thing.
I haven’t but I clearly need to!
Oh how I miss Nintendo!! I will never forget the many hours my brother and I spent over at my grandma’s house playing Donkey Kong :). And holy moley, that baby name website is crazy! The article went on and on, and they kept looking at the popularity based on different things. It’s just crazy how many things can influence what people name their children.
Super Nintendo was awesome. Probably Super Mario Bros or Mario Kart. We broke out the Wii this weekend (not terribly outdated yet) and played some Smash Bros and Mario Kart. It was great!
Also, I love gardenias too and wanted them lavishly spread all around at my wedding until I saw how much they were. Holy cow! I’d love to be able to plant some in a yard and enjoy their delicious smell all the time!
Old school Nintendo is the best. It’s probably a good thing that I don’t have one of those – they are addicting! Because of the warmer weather as of late, I have been loving maxi dresses. I received a couple in my Stitch Fix and love accessorizing them differently.
Street Fighter! Me and my bro would play forever! But I have to say I’m more of a Nintendo 64 girl 🙂
I loved that How to Name a Baby article! And the site that shows if your name is/was a trend! I also sent it along to a pregnant friend…just for fun haha.
Happy Friday! Long weekend for any Canadian’s here!
I cannot even tell you how much of a BEAST I was at DK Country! I could throw bananas, swing from vines, and helicopter with my monkey pony tail like nobody’s business!!
LOL!!
Love it! I’m totally checking out the name trends article, though I feel like Sarah will have a pretty steady rate of popularity across the board!
Also, have you ever tried melting the almond butter and chocolate chips together? It’s summer now so it might be a little too hot for a “warm dessert” but in the winter, it takes the chocolate/nut butter combo to a whole new high!
Oh my gosh Super Nintendo. When I saw your picture of that on Instagram, I was instantly jealous. I used to LOVE those games.
Super Nintendo’s Mario Kart was one of my favorite games growing up!
Have a great time in North Carolina!
That’s funny that you posted about NuNaturals vanilla stevia. I always do that with my Starbucks lattes! My mom is actually bringing one over for me today (because it’s my birthday), and I need to find where I put my little stevia bottle!! haha
I love classic nintendo too. I also really loved my N64, but I think it’s long gone. Too bad, cause I could really go for some Diddy Kong racing or Donkey Kong right now!
I’m loving the test results we got back that my unborn baby is 100% healthy! After two weeks of waiting for results, ultimately causing my breakdown at work Monday, we got the wonderful news. Now to pick a name for our little boy…not sure if that Baby Name site helped or confused me even more! Have a great weekend!
Oh my gosh, I don’t know how long it’s been since I played a video game (outside of dance games of course), but Super Mario Kart was definitely my favorite back in the day.
I also use stevia to sweeten my morning cup of tea, as well as my smoothies but have always used the packets. Thanks for the tip on the liquid stevia. Have you ever tried using agave syrup? I hear that’s a good option too.
Have an awesome weekend!
I love Gardenia’s . I had them at my wedding, and the smell always brings back sweet memories.
Baby names are so interesting!
LOVE that Vera Bradley case. I need to get one, I always break my sunglasses!
I haven’t thought of Nintendo in a long, long time. My brother & I used to play Mario Bros. for hours. By the way, I have started my own nut butter & chocolate chip spoonful ritual every night since I saw your Instagram. So so yum!
It is supposed to be a BEAUTIFUL weekend here in Raleigh! You picked a great time to visit NC! Enjoy your time here!
LOVE the scent of gardenias – I wish I could find a perfume that smells exactly like them.
I just had waaaaay too much fun researching my name on baby wizard! Good stuff 🙂
omg that super nintendo brings back so many memories! We broke out the nintendo at my parents house over christmas and had a blast. We always played mario kart- the best game ever!!
The baby names are SO interesting! I’ve always been really fascinated by baby names. This is going to sound SUPER WEIRD but looking up my name and reading about it for about three minutes I started to feel REALLY removed from it and seriously thought “Is my name really Brittany?” for a solid minute. Am I totally weird? Haha.
I randomly know exactly what you mean…and that happens to me when I see my name on paper sometimes or when someone else named Michele is around 🙂
I’ve been looking for a sunglasses case…thanks for the tip! I used to be addicted to Dr. Mario on Nintendo…such good memories. 🙂
I have the lemon flavored NuNaturals stevia (in addition to the vanilla) and it’s fabulous in fruit smoothies for a little extra sweetness! Also my mom has two gardenia bushes in her garden, and I just bought her a third potted version for Mother’s Day. They smell so good!
I’m OBSESSED with stevia and had NO idea there was liquid stevia! I’ll definitely need to try!
Kim
http://trendkeeper.me
http://youtubecom/thetrendkeeper
Peppermint is awesome in anything chocolate..muffins, hot chocolate/cocoa, chocolate smoothie!!! Definitely worth trying!
If you are coming to Western North Carolina, you better bring a sweater! It has turned cool here but I love it because I know it is short lived. Have a safe trip!
Dude. Super Mario Brothers. Hands down.
Mario Kart too!
I have been loving our veggie garden GROW! We will have zucchini, tomatoes and cucumbers before we know it!
I’ve been loving the leaves that have sprouted on the trees this week. Here we call it green up and each day as I drive in to work I love to see how the leaves grow more and more.
Trader Joe’s has liquid stevia, you might find it cheaper there. There’s a store in Gainesville, and we’re getting one in Winter Park on June 27th 🙂
Super Nintendo is my prized possession (granted I haven’t plugged it in for a few years). I saved for what seemed like YEARS in the 4th grade to get it. My all time favorite game ever is Super Mario World (the first game with Yoshi). If someone ever deletes my saved game that has everything unlocked I might lose it. I also love Donkey Kong. My favorite DK is probably the Donkey Kong Country 3 with the baby. Now that I think about.. I don’t think I’ve ever beaten it…. My weekend has suddenly been re-prioritized!!
I’m LOVING our hammock. We got it out a couple of weeks ago and there’s something so perfectly soothing about lying in the hammock in the afternoon/evening and winding down after a long day.
That baby name thing reminds me of something I saw earlier this week that I’m loving. It’s on Time’s website and measures when a name last peaked in popularity and when it will peak again: http://time.com/93911/baby-name-predictor/
That spoon full of nut butter w/chocolate chips looks awesome!
I am loving my fitbit flex right now! It is super motivating trying to reach my goal of 10,000 steps each day.
Also LOVE the flower picture…beautiful. I have found that I can’t keep anything alive inside but when you plant outside it is much more forgiving! Mother nature helps you out 🙂