This is my FOUR HUNDREDTH Things I’m Loving Friday post. What in the wooorld!? I can’t believe I’ve typed up 400 posts that share my weekly favorites but in another breath, I can barely remember life before this blog so it also kind of makes sense. My Friday posts are still some of my favorites to write because they always feel like a low-key, lighthearted way to focus on small things that make me smile every week. I hope you guys continue to enjoy them, too!
One thing I’m majorly loving this week is all of your advice for our new home build! Your comments have already proven so helpful and have prompted a few conversations with our builder that have led to additions and changes. Examples: Exterior outlets on the roof for Christmas lights, interior outlet conversations (in the floor, discreetly under cabinets, in closets for vacuums, etc.), raised vanities, rethinking white grout in bathrooms because of the upkeep and so many more! (Also, are heated bathroom floors really worth it? They sound amazing and a few of you recommended them but I’d love some elaboration on this one!) I’m sure a lot of our weekend will be spent doing more house stuff since it feels like we’re inundated with a lot of decisions at once right now but we always manage to focus on family fun, too.
I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy and appreciate you making my blog a part of your Friday!
Things I’m Loving Friday
My sister knocked it out of the park with Rhett’s Christmas gift this year! Leslie and I are admittedly obsessed with Etsy when it comes to finding unique gifts for each other’s children (we gave Callie this personalized stepping stool this year which was also a hit!) and Rhett’s personalized busy board was her latest find.
It was truly the hit of Christmas morning for Rhett and has proven to be a toy I’ll find him fiddling with over and over again. We also packed it in the car during our road trip to Florida and it kept him entertained for nearly 20 minutes which is an eternity in Baby Land.
This is a tip that some of you may already know but since it was new to me, I’m thinking some of you may be in the dark about it as well. It has been a GAME CHANGER for me, especially as someone who is constantly screen-shotting images and then opening up Microsoft Paint to crop and save them. NO MORE! If you do the same, you must try this shortcut!
Hold down Shift + the Windows icon + the letter S at the same time and then you can crop around an image and transfer it directly into a document or save it to your computer. This has been a gigantic time saver for me when it comes to making collages for the blog but also for organizing images for the new house in one place since I need to SEE things together feel like they’ll work well from a design perspective. I love this shortcut so much!
The one liners coming out of Ryder’s mouth lately have our whole family cracking up. It feels like every single day he says something that makes us laugh out loud and some of his one-liners have now become family jokes we say on repeat. A few recent favs:
- I asked Ryder if he wanted to do a puzzle with me and he enthusiastically yelled, “Right on, Chief!” (I know this came from the Rudolph’s Christmas Party CD we listened to last month and it cracked me up.)
- Ryder was eating an ice cream cone that had a little piece of candy in the middle of it. He pointed to it and said, “Mom! There’s candy in there. I’m goin’ for it!” And then he took the world’s biggest bite.
- Ryder is a sweatpants-loving kid, but one day Ryan laid out jeans for him to wear and when he picked them up to put them on in the morning he said, “Ooooh! Cowboy pants!” Jeans are now forever “cowboy pants” in our house.
- Standing all by himself in the hall, I overheard Ryder saying aloud, “I like picking my nose.” Cool, cool.
After reading and enjoying In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren, I added the author (actually a two-woman team!) to my list of authors to check out again in the future. They seem to have really honed in on the lighthearted funny romance genre and have been a go-to for me lately because I’ve had NO desire to read anything heavy right now.
The second Christina Lauren book I selected was My Favorite Half-Night Stand and it was great! I am now about halfway through The Soulmate Equation and enjoying it a ton, too. But more about My Favorite Half-Night Stand…
The book flip-flops back and forth from the perspectives of Millie Morris and Reid Campbell, academic thirty-somethings who are platonic best friends and run in the small, tight-knit five-person social circle. Friends for years, the pair are equally shocked when one night a never-before-considered sexy line is crossed.
When Millie and Reid’s friends decide to make a pact about finding dates for an upcoming university gala, they all agree to try their hand at online dating, something the pair is okay with because they agree their hook up was a fluke and their friendship is better off staying in a platonic space.
As their foray into online dating takes off, Millie is frustrated by the creepy messages she’s receiving and creates “Catherine” an alter-ego that allows her to be more vulnerable than she would be in real life. When “Catherine” and Reid match online and begin exchanging messages, Millie finds herself increasingly open and conflicted… an worried about what will happen if Reid ever puts two and two together. Is their friendship — or the possibility of a relationship — worth the risk?
Favorite Books for Four Year Olds (A roundup of books we always look forward to reading that our boys absolutely love!)
Four 30-Minute Workouts (Great to keep on hand for a sweat session when you’re limited on time.)
Question of the Day
What is one thing you’re smiling about this week?
Source by www.pbfingers.com
