I have fallen out of my usual blog routine due to moving last week! At least I have a good excuse, right?
I’m obsessed with my new home — the high ceilings, bright natural light, and that everything NEW feeling is very exciting.
I’ve been really busy organizing cabinets, closets, and rooms, and really love how clean, neat, and functional it all is!
With all of this natural light, I really should amp up my sharing of my meals. Not sure that will happen, but here’s a picture of the first salad I made in my new home:
Can we talk a few Friday Favorites?
Watch for the spring launch tomorrow from Stoney Clover — I already want every item coming out because the patterns, new styles, and prettiness is just so my style.
This week totally got away from me but I wanted to pop in today with some favorites worth discussing!
Glossier at Sephora!
Glossier is now available at Sephora! I’ve been writing about my favorites from Glossier for a few years now so it’s really nice to have it available in-person at Sephora.
If you are new to Glossier, here are my top picks:
Also from Sephora, I recently bought the Ilia Lip Oil. It feels really nice on the lips and the color stays put. I’ve been alternating this lip oil with my favorite Tarte Maracuja Juicy Lip Plumps. I never loved a gloss as much as I love these from Tarte!
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Fashion Favorites
I think I like these shorts with the matching top from Aerie for summer days at the beach, or after the beach.
I don’t know how it’s Friday already but I will take it! All week I was on call for jurty duty but each day at 5:00 PM when I called in, I was told by the recording to call back the next day. Well here we are at the end of the week and I didn’t have to appear and have been released from “duty” — I’m a very happy person!
I have a few favorites to share from the week, let’s take a look…
Glow Bar
I had my monthly 30-minute facial at GlowBar a few days ago — I these appointments so much! It’s just 30 minutes during which the esthetician decides which treatments your skin needs at that moment. Every appointment at Glowbar follows a format but looks a little different in terms of treatments and products used because your skin may require more or less hydration or exfoliation — I love the personalized attention.
Glossier Lip Balm
I placed a new Glossier order to restock what I think is the best lip balm – Glossier’s Balm dotcom.
I like to have several tubes available to me at all times. One for my gym bag, one for my makeup bag, one in my bathroom, and at least one unopened on reserve.
I ordered the Balm Dotcom trio which lets you pick three types while saving a few dollars. I chose two more unscented plus a birthday cake version for the light scent and sparkle.
These two tubes below were actually both in my makeup bag at once – in winter espcially, I can never have enough.
Oh! And I also ordered a Body Hero Exfoliating Bar for the shower! I will let you know what I think of it – I’ve heard great reviews but never bought it to try for myself until now.
Now is the time to shop lululemon’s We Made Too Much section for winter running accessories. Grab them on sale and use them this year or put away for next winter!
Okay first, Stoney Clover. The fuchsia launch last week has me viewing the site every day trying to decide which pouch I might need. The open top with the mirror is a style I do not have – yet. But the classic small is always so useful to have in my Stoney Clover collection.
I do like the keychain wallet even though I have one in another color — the bright pink is so pretty.
Also! Stoney Clover brought back the classic clear mirror open top now too! I’m debating between the bubblegum and the flamingo pink.
Shopbop has many items from Stoney Clover including the fuchsia collection too.
Do I need another water bottle from lululemon? I like this color combo a lot. The amount of compliments I get on my lulu water bottle at the gym isn’t even normal at this point. People love mine so much and how it always matches my outfits. I like that these water bottles look nice but they also wash really well – considering I use it every day, they are really worth the investment.
I did recently buy the Lawless Forget the Filler Overnight Lip Plumping Mask. I definitely like it and recommend it but I still really like the lip mask from Tatcha too. The Tatcha lip mask is a little thicker – which I like at night! I put the Lawless one on in the morning before leaving for the gym, so I do use it as more than an overnight lip mask. I like the cooling sensation it offers while also hydrating the lips. The Tatcha mask does not have a cooling sensation.
I’m considering the Makeup By Mario Plumping Lip Serum because I tried on the petal shade and it looked pretty. But still not sure — I like the Tarte gloss and I think it stays on longer. And It’s not like I need a new lip gloss right now!
I’m back from Florida with a recap highlighting some of the things I did and ate.
I was in Florida for basically five days, which felt like a day and a half. Wow, how time flies!
Love the baby palm trees!
I think that because I’ve been going down to South Florida so often again, it doesn’t even feel like a vacation, more like I’m just going down to see Heather and we have things to do in an area I know pretty well.
Love and Hip Hop Baby Shower Set Up
So remember that Heather and I both work in the events industry? While I’m still sorting out my next steps after leaving my company, Heather is busy with rental decor 24/7, designing the most beautiful tables all over South Florida.
I chose this past weekend to go down to Florida so that I could help her set up a baby shower for reality stars on Love and Hip Hop Miami.
set up crew
Heather has such an eye for tabletop design. The layout was beautiful. The mix of liquid velvet and sequin linens were to die for and totally what I would choose for my own event!
Once set up was done, we had some fun posing with the balloon decor. The shower will be in an episode on VH1 this summer! I can’t wait to see it.
What I Ate (Highlights)
I never capture everything I eat but here are some highlights!
Pizza and salad are always a favorite combo for me — Sicilian Oven is a really good restaurant, even if it’s not New York pizza.
We had a delicious lunch at Prime Catch in Boynton Beach. This eggplant dip and pita bread were really good for sharing.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’m trying to eat more wild salmon for the health benefits which is why I had it added to my salad for lunch. Normally I would order without the added protein but I went for the salmon and I think it was the best salmon I’ve ever had.
Crumbl is right near Prime Catch so we preplanned a stop for cookies after lunch.
I went with the classic chocolate chip cookie and it did not disappoint. I did take bites from a few of the other cookies but come on, chocolate chip is the best. We all know that.
This greek salad with a side of hummus was very satisfying after we spent hours setting up the baby shower layout.
If you saw my instagram stories earlier this week, you saw that I went to Lifetime one day. I took a heated Warrior Sculpt class and was so super excited about it! I will talk about it more in Monday’s workout recap but from the Lifetime Cafe, I had a PB&B Smoothie and a Southwest Bowl (I think that’s what it was called) which I ate a few hours later for lunch.
I loaded a box from the Whole Foods food bar one day too. Don’t ask me what was in it! I don’t really know but I chose a lot of roasted vegetables and a few different grain salads I think.
One night we had dinner at Lulu’s in Delray.
We shared a hummus appetizer and then I had some sort of bowl. I wanted the Buddha Bowl but they were out of it.
Candy! I need a candy bag after dinner.
I always pack a peanut butter sandwich for the airport and as an emergency snack!
And finally, I can’t close out a trip to Florida post without mentioning Stoney Clover. While I didn’t take pictures of all of the pouches I used, here’s a picture of the pouches in my tote on the plane. That’s one clear travel pouch and a mini pouch.
And that’s about it! See you Monday to discuss my workouts from this week.
It was easier to get a table this week so I was very excited. My friend and I both had the veggie bowl (shocker) – it was delicious. I could see by looking around at what everyone else was eating why the restaurant is so popular – the pancake stacks, waffles, various bowls, and burgers really looked so so delicious.
Favorite Fitness
This week feels like a blur to me. I know I took a barre class on Monday and ran both Monday and Tuesday, but it all feels blended together.
I did get to the Thursday morning yoga class yesterday which is such a good one — her flows are a little more challenging but I can keep up which makes me happy.
Favorite Fashion
This isn’t the best time of year for shopping because it’s a bit early to think about spring and I already have the winter clothes I need. I am going to Florida soon but I really don’t need to buy anything for the trip.
Bloomingdale’s is running a long weekend sale with an extra 40% off a lot of already-on-sale items.
J.Crew has a long weekend, Epic sale with lots of discounts to take advantage of — use code EPIC.
Stoney Clover launched their Valentine’s Day collection yesterday – some pieces are already sold out but grab what you can while you can!
Favorite Find
I’ve talked about Olive & June nail polish products in the past (and you can get a lot of them at Target!) but right now, my favorite finds from Olive & June are the hand serum and hand/foot scrub. Both products are made with quality, clean ingredients and get the job done. The scrub is not harsh and leaves my skin so soft and smooth. And the hand serum – I love it! It adds a fragrance-free silkiness to my skin before I add moisturizer on top — no dry skin for me, that’s for sure!
I have a quick round of favorites to share so let’s jump right into things.
Barre
I took two barre classes this week and love them so much. While I said last week that I just cannot pick a favorite Equinox class, I’m always so happy during barre — really brings me back to my Pure Barre days.
Both classes used 2 lb weights and a ball, along with bands, blocks, and straps. So much variety for those little isometric movements!
Big sales going on at Shopbop. I’m a sucker for skirts like this. You really have to dig around and sort the sale to find what you may like. A few Stoney Clover items are included in the sale – always worth checking out.
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Beauty
I bought this facial roller at Target recently and really like it. I was using a Gua Sha but I dropped it on the floor and it cracked in half.
I get monthly facials at Glow Bar for the last six months and really love the results and experienced. I asked the esthetician the other day if she feels facial rollers/gua sha tools are really worth the hype and she said YES. It’s a really small investment of time and money so it’s worth trying if you haven’t.
There’s no denying that 2022 was the most turbulent year of work I’ve ever had in my life.
Literally beginning January 1, up until last month, work wasn’t the same as in the past.
It was a wild year but an incredible 8-year career at the company. For someone like me who never cared AT ALL about having a career, I learned so much over the years, became a director of marketing, and managed worldwide teams — many who are now lifelong friends.
Even though work really took center stage for me in 2022, I did have favorites throughout the year that are worth highlighting!
3 Trips To Florida
I can’t believe I made it to Florida three times this year! Two of those trips were solely vacations to see Heather while one was work-related and coincided with Heather because we work in the same industry. You just can’t make it up that we both ended up working in the events industry — life works in mysterious ways for sure.
I’m already planning my next trip to Florida for early in the new year. Stay tuned!
Joining Equinox
I said this in Monday’s post — joining Equinox was the best decision I made all year. I love how it all worked out too. With the change to my job, I actually have the time to try all the classes at various class times vs only the classes early in the morning. I’m a lady of leisure for now and loving every second!
But don’t ask me to pick a favorite class, because I can’t.
5 Favorite Beauty Products
I narrowed down my top 5 favorite beauty product finds from 2022 — not easy to do and this is in no particular order!
I continue to use what I bought during that collaboration but really took advantage over the summer at the beach by using the Stoney Clover beach towel, pouches, and beach bag!
In addition to the Target collaboration purchases, my favorite Stoney Clover purchase of the year was the pink terry hat with embroidered pearl letter M that I got for my birthday. I lived in it all summer!
Favorite Food
I can’t end this post without picking a favorite food from the year. My quick response is a bagel with vegetable cream cheese. Definitely my favorite post-run meal!
Have a great holiday weekend and a very happy new year. 🙂
P.S. – my blog turns 10 in January, it’s crazy how time flies!
I put my favorites together on this very rainy Friday in New York in an old format where I focus on a favorite food, fitness, fashion, and find from the week. Let’s take a look!
Favorite Food
I ate something totally random and out of character — you will notice right away that it was definitely not a routine meal for me!
I toasted a whole wheat English muffin and top it with the following:
Mashed avocado
Tomatoes
Onion
Everything But The Bagel Seasoning
Egg
This combo was so delicious! I really enjoyed it. And while I can’t say I will be eating it on repeat, I will say that it’s now on my radar as another meal possibility. Maybe. It’s so not my style! But I liked it.
Favorite Fitness
I really wanted to finally try yoga at Equinox and really thought yesterday would be the day but then I was up and ready much earlier than the class time so there went that plan.
My favorite fitness from the week however has definitely been barre. I took two barre classes this week and really felt in my element.
Yesterday’s one-hour barre class was SO GOOD but also really challenging! We used 2-lb weights, a ball, and a resistance band. Using the resistance band while at the barre is really next-level hard. But I love it!
Favorite Fashion
It’s suddenly feeling like winter and COLD. I’m living in my mittens, especially my big floppy faux fur mittens first thing in the morning.
In case you need faux fur mittens, I found you a full selection to choose from…
I love the color, the material is super soft, the long sleeve top and pants fit true to size, and it’s very comfortable for around the house. Definitely recommend!
Victoria’s Secret has a similar style set but I don’t think it’s as thick or as nice as the one I ordered from Aqua. I did feel it in the store though so I would say it’s “good” — but if I had to choose, I would go with the Aqua set.
I don’t know where this week went for it to suddenly be Friday!
I tried that TRX Max class yesterday at Equinox which I mentioned in Monday’s post. We can discuss it further on Monday because for now, I have so many things to share for Friday Favorites.
Lululemon just came out with the Everywhere Belt Bag in sonic pink! And, if you wanted the fleece belt bag version, it was back in stock the last time I looked. By the time you may look however, it could be gone. These belt bags are selling out SO FAST. I can’t believe how trending the lululemon belt bags are this year.
I like the Mini Velour pouch too. Of course, I do, because I love any type of pouch.
Z Supply makes a Sherpa Fanny Pack that is still in stock and priced well too for a belt bag.
I’m sure Stoney Clover will launch a sherpa fanny pack again at some point during the winter. In the meantime, you can customize one of their many classic options.
Also from lululemon, this Ribbed Merino Wool Knit Cozy set features a hat and mittens in Pink Peony. It looks like it’s only available online. I love the pink peony colorway.
I’m a huge fan of Olive & June nail products. Check out this cute Olive & June holiday Mani Maintenance Mini set available at Target. It features essential products in mini sizes. LOVE!
Also, my favorite Olive & June nail polish for my toes is Hot Strawberry and it’s available at Target.
The Cookie ChRUNicles 