friday favorites

Never ever have I felt more TGIF than I do today!!! This first week of daycare has been rough on this mama. Monday morning when I dropped Zoe off, I pretty much cried in the car on the way there, sobbed in the hallway after I dropped her off….and didn’t stop until I got to work. Zoe didn’t nap her first day, and she hasn’t really been napping well all week. She comes home exhausted and she has only been there four days and already has a super stuffy nose. Dirty daycare babies. I am thankful that her teachers love on her and have been super awesome. It has made the transition a little easier. One of them literally tells her that she loves her everyday when we leave. It is the sweetest. I also like how when we walk in the building and every single person who works there knows her name and says good morning to her.

Favorite Moments: Making the most out of every second I get to spend with my baby during the week.She has been extra snuggly in the evenings and that has been awesome. Also, can we talk about how she looks so grown up in that first picture??? Stop it!!!

Laura is the bestest friend ever, and grabbed lunch with me at Soho Social Monday. She knew I was going to have a hard day since she has already been through all of this and sacrificed herself for delicious beer, sweet potato fries and gorgonzola dip…and listening to me. Thanks Laura, you are the best!!!!!

Favorite Recipe: We are getting really close to football season!!! It is time to start pinning all the apps again. I want to find a good balance of splurge and healthier options. This avocado crack dip looks so good!

Favorite Lust: I shared my birthday wish list with you guys earlier this week. So basically all of that!!! I need to find a bag for Zoe to take back and forth to daycare everyday. She is the only kid in her class who doesn’t have one. Basically it will just hold her bottles, food and snacks and her paci. And the teachers may throw in anything that needs to go home. Should I do a shoulder bag or backpack??? I cant decide!!!

Favorite Funnies:

Linking up with Amanda. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!

I looked at the calendar and I can’t believe it, Zoe is eight months old today!!! What???? Didn’t I just post her 7 month pictures? This week (and month) has just flown on by and August is already all up on us. School starts back up here next week, and Zoe also starts daycare. I have been in denial all week and on the verge of tears just about every five minutes soooo it’s been an interesting one. I am not sure what our plans are this weekend. I know the backyard needs to be cut. At least I will get a good sweat in. What are your plans?

Favorite Moments: This week, Zoe started army crawling!!! She had started pulling up on things a week or two ago, and has mastered that skill as you can see from the evidence above. She’s holding her bottles and sippy cups like a pro and basically all grown up now. We got to spend some time with two of her cousins this week, Zoe loves getting to hang out with them.

Favorite Delivery:I had won Kate’s SOAK giveaway a few weeks ago, and my shoes came in this week! They are super comfortable and perfect for a hot summer day. I really like that they aren’t completely flat and provide a little arch support. That is hard to find in a summer shoe. I love that these shoes are vegan, recyclable, eco-friendly and made right here in the good USA! You can find them on sale here. Kate had a code GREEN15 to save from their direct site. Not sure if it still works or not.

Favorite Recipe: These Zucchini Taco Roll Ups sounds fun! I am always looking for different recipes to switch things up in the kitchen while trying to stay healthy.

Favorite Funnies:

Linking up with Amanda. Have a great weekend!

Favorite Moments:

–My most favorite moment this week was watching Zoe wave!!! We have been trying to get her to wave for months now and one morning I said “wave bye bye to daddy” like I do every morning and she actually did it!!! She has done it every morning since. She also waves at you when she wants your attention.

–I bought these Boon teething spoons last week and put some frozen strawberries in them for Zoe to try. I think she liked it but was a little confused. I also have this mesh feeder that I put watermelon in the other day and she really seemed to like that!

–I knocked two things off my list that have been nagging at me for a very long time. One was my eye doctor appointment. I have been saying for the last four years that I need to go back to the eye doctor. I hadn’t been since 2011 and I knew my glasses needed to be updated to a stronger prescription. After my appointment, I ran over to the car wash real quick while I was sans Zoe. I have been meaning to do that since last July when I bought it. Oops. Thankfully my MIL watched Zoe while I did all that and I felt so accomplished!!! She got to play with her cousin while she was over there, so she didn’t seem to miss me.

–It’s back. My workout mojo is finally back you guys!!! I like to keep it real around here and be as honest with you as I can. I struggled so hard for months after having Zoe with the way I looked and felt about myself. I know I just had a baby and my body did this most incredible thing. And I had major surgery where my ab muscles were literally cut apart and I have a healthy, amazing baby and blah blah blah. But that doesn’t change the fact that I feel like I am carrying around a sack of flour on my midsection. A saggy sack. A mommy pouch. I hate it. But I was too tired and overwhelmed to do anything about it for months. Sure my eating was alright, definitely could be better…but that sack wasn’t going anywhere without the workouts. I knew that, and yet I couldn’t force myself to get up early enough to do them before my day started.

I don’t know what happened, I suppose it was the realization that I have been working from home 90% of the time over the last 8 months and I could have been taking advantage of not having to get ready and have that dreaded commute and really focus on my workouts in the mornings. But when Zoe finally started sleeping through the night, I opted for sleep too. But now that I am closing in on rocking our whole schedule that we have going in another week, I decided to start practicing my new schedule and that included adding my workouts back to my mornings. I have to wake up earlier than I can even discuss right now. UGHHHH. But, I have faithfully done it this week and it feels so good to be back!!! We have started sending sweaty selfies in the ahole bro group that I am in and I remind myself that in the mornings when I want to hit snooze. I know if I don’t send them a picture of my workout, they are going to think I went off the deep end again.

Favorite Recipe: I tried making cinnamon butter keto cookies yesterday, and I wasn’t a fan. They don’t really have much flavor and sort of had a weird after taste. I am going to try to make these instead.

Favorite Lust: I have a thing for Y necklaces and lariats lately. I really have a simple collection of timeless pieces right now, and there are a few that I want to add to be complete. I have a birthday wish list started, and I am adding this one to it! How fun is this layered look??? Perfect to add a little dimension to any outfit.

Favorite Funnies:

Linking up with Amanda. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

I was so sad to hear about Chester Bennington yesterday. It is a sad reminder that mental illness and addiction is a thing that people struggle with every day. It is also a reminder that mental illness knows no social status. It doesn’t care if you are incredibly famous or just a regular every day person. Linkin Park is one of my favorite bands and has been consistent over the years for me. Sharing one of my favorites from them. Can you believe In the End came out 17 years ago???

Zoe and I stopped by my neighbors consignment sale to look at toys yesterday afternoon. I wont buy used clothes, but I am all about a good deal on toys. We scored some great finds! I cleaned them up and we got straight to playing. I think Zoe likes them, what do you think? I got everything for less than the full price of the yellow chair.

Somehow I picked up a huge bolt in my tire Monday on my way home from work. You don’t really think about how different life is with a kid until you have to run a simple errand like getting your tire fixed. Ummm a seven month old does not want to sit at a tire place for hours waiting around. I have been putting it off all week, but I need to just get it over with. Sorry to anyone who is at the tire place today when we go. I apologize in advance.

Favorite Recipe: This bacon, corn and avacado salad looks wonderful, doesn’t it???

Favorite Funnies:

Linking up with Amanda. Have a great weekend!

You guys!!!! The first five days after vacation are the worst, right? I am trying desperately to catch up on everything from work, to house chores to blogging. I think I finally answered all my emails from this past week and am slowly working on my Bloglovin’ list so bare with me! It is my favorite time of the year!!! The NORDSTROM ANNIVERSARY SALE!!! I have some of my favorites that are sitting in my wish cart below. Let me know what you are getting or if you posted your favorites. I would love to see!

Not sure what we have going on this weekend. I know our jungle needs to be tamed, again. And by jungle I mean the yard. I swear the rain this year has us looking like we live in the damn Amazon or something! I would like to get together with Laura at some point too because her little S turned TWO and Zoe needs to give him his birthday presents! And those two need a date for real.

Favorite Moments: A year ago from July 12, Chris and I found out that Zoe was a girl!!! It was pretty cool thinking back to that day. I remember making sure we had an early morning appointment because I didn’t want to sit around the office all day anxious to know. I had a strong feeling that I was carrying a girl….but it was great to have confirmation that my first intuition as a mother was right. Staring at her beautiful face a year later is so amazing.

My mom and I got to hang out for a little while this week. She brought Chris and I some Pepperoni Cheese from Delallo’s in my hometown. I don’t understand why they don’t sell this stuff all over the country???

We also made a trip to Nordstrom Rack where I accidentally spent lots of money. I am so happy we went though. There was so much awesome stuff there and I really needed some pieces that look good on my body right now. I got a pair of jeans,(the best kind when you dont want to look like a busted can of biscuits) a gorgeous navy shift dress with a ruffle 3/4 sleeve, a classic black tank with the perfect flow-y fit and tie back and two other tops. Apparently I like dark colors and neutrals. This should come as no surprise. I am most proud of the fact that I put back a black and white striped dress that fit super cute. Probably because I have three striped dresses already. Oops.

I treated my mom to a lunch at Macaroni Grill, and we both enjoyed salads and the bread. The Bibb and Blue is always a favorite of mine and I questioned why it had been like two years since I had last been there. 

Not having my life together enough to remember my lunch on Monday meant a solo trip to Whole Foods for some sushi. I cant tell you the last time I ate a meal alone in total silence with no interuptions. It was delicious!

Favorite Purchase: Other than the Nordstrom finds, I really am in love with the Mom Knows Best Kate Spade necklace I ordered during their 40% off sale on the 4th. The mama and baby elephants are so sweet and can double for a Game Day necklace come football season. It is even cheaper right now at Macy’s if you want to scoop one up!!!

Favorite Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Picks: Are you guys tired of seeing Nordstrom picks?? The truth is, I love it! The sale can be so overwhelming because there are SO MANY items!!! I like seeing what everyone else is adding to their carts. It gives me good ideas. Besides Black Friday/Cyber Monday, this is my favorite sale of the year!

I love the Halogen brand. I just bought that gorgeous dress and I have a few other pieces over the years and they always hold up nice. I love the cut of this sleeveless top!

I can’t wear dangling earrings anymore and am all about a stud. How gorgeous are these???

This tie knot sweatshirt looks so cute and cozy!!! The white laced sleeve sweatshirt in my first picture is this same brand and they feel SO NICE. I really would love to add this to my collection as well.

I really want to get a pair of the coveted Spanx faux leather leggings. Anyone have them? What are your opinions??

A classic….

And these…

Favorite Funnies:

Linking up with Amanda, who also has a great Nordstrom Sale post up!!! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Happy shopping!