favorite things friday

Sooooo.... it's Friday.  Thank goodness.  It's been a long week, but I'm determined not to abandon my poor ole blog.  Truth is, I have post ideas all throughout the week, but I never seem to muster the energy or find the time.  I want to make a better point of remembering anything that made an impression on Emma, anything that made my life a little easier, or anything just makes me feel like writing.

I guess I've started a little Favorite Things Friday tradition, so I'll go with it.  This list is composed of my week's top favorite things:

1)  Paychecks!  Nuff said.  :)

2)  MoroccanOil Hair Treatment.  This stuff really is amazing.  I mean, yes, $16 for not-even-an-ounce-amazing.  I went with the small bottle to make sure I would even use it.  I have very fine hair, so most products end up weighing my hair down.  I don't really use anything except shampoo & conditioner, and the occasional flat iron.   First of all, I loooooove the smell.  I can't even describe it.  It's not quite 'exotic' because I'm not really an 'exotic smell' kinda person.  It's kinda flowery and feminine, but yet, a little sumthin' sumthin'.   I put it on right after the shower, and only on the ends.  It's made a world of difference in the health of my hair!  Go out and try some!

3)  Melissa & Doug's Super Heroine Costume.   Cute story:  Emma spotted this at the Children's Museum we went to in Florida over Easter, and became obsessed with it.  I told her we couldn't buy it, but that the Easter Bunny would be visiting us soon, and maybe it would come later.  I was just vetting to see if she really had her heart set on it, or if it was a fleeting desire.

Well, she talked about it non-stop for days.  Lucky for her, the Easter Bunny was VERY generous this year, and left her dollar bills inside some of her Easter eggs!  Long story short, it came in the mail a few days after we got back from her trip and she was beside herself with excitement.  She wore it to bed at night, she wore it to school the next day.  The cape, the mask, everything.  She even picked out the right pair of jeans to match the girl on the packaging (see below).  I can't possibly protest a little girl who wants to be a super heroine.  :)

 4) The Goodwill store - where scored a BigWheel for $5. Best $5 we've spent in a long time.  Emma calls it her "Big Wheeler" and she turns into a madman on this thing!  I'll never forget my Strawberry Shortcake Big Wheel, so I know she's buidling crazy memories right now. 

5) Instagram.  Because I'm not as good about shlepping my giant camera all over the place, most of my life documentation is happening in Instagram.  Follow me!  (I'm @twopopsicles)  Here's a smattering of what we've been up to lately: 

first time bowling! 

never a day goes by without some flower-pickin'

mini heirloom tomato bruschetta

 blackberry-lime infused water

airline travel  - it still amazes me

 

 

 

 

 

 

favorite things friday

Changes abound us here at Two Popsicles.  I have just completed my first full week of work.  I haven't worked full-time in 4.5 years and it's been a big adjustment for all of us.  I have a great job, with a great group of people, (I have my own office!) and I have a huge support network making it all possible.  In preparation (and to quell my own anxiety), we read a lot of this book:

We're still getting used to the early mornings, and the (necessary) evening rituals, but we'll find our rhythm eventually.  Like my friend Kate said, Trader Joe is a good cook.  Healthy, quick shortcuts are our friend.  Like bags of frozen vegetables that you pop in the microwave, hearty soups and nachos (with loads of beans!) for dinner.  I'm giving myself time and grace to find out what's worth my time and what's not. 
 
 So without further ado, here are my Friday Favorites:

 1.  My little friend, who has taken our recent transitions in stride.  She continues to amaze me with her sense of humor, unbelievable observations and resiliency.  She can now, rather smugly, recite the entire Pledge of Allegiance.  My favorite part?  "I pledge allegiance....to the flag....of the United Steaks of America.".   Thank you, Emma, for letting me be your mom.  You are boss. 

childhood imagination

she will FINALLY let me do something with her hair

it was a long day.  she fell asleep on my shoulder.  i didn't want to move.  ever.  or take off our matching 'rock star' stickers, courtesy of dad.  :)

being the over-achiever that she is, laying out her clothes for one day isn't enough.  it's 3 days or bust. she even offered (rather, insisted) on laying out MY clothes too.  :)  

 
2.  FiOS Remote App for the iPhone.  This guy is great!  I can schedule recordings on my DVR from my iPhone.  This way, I'll never miss an episode of Real Housewives of Orange County Face the Nation!   :)

 
3.  My office.  They sent me flowers on my first day! 
 

4.  My camera.  Because it allows me to participate in people's lives in a way I couldn't do otherwise. Congratuations Steph and Cliff!   

 

 

 

 5.  A beautiful vintage mason jar I found at a thrift store eons ago. It now houses my emergency candy stash at work.  And looks pretty doing it.

6.  Draw something App!  It's like Words with Friends married Pictionary.  I am totally loving it!  If you play, look me up:  "Erika_Berika"

7.   My Village.  Because they are amazing.  You know who you are.

Favorite Things Friday

I've seen other bloggers do this, and it really is fun.  This is just a little group of things that I've/we've been loving recently.

1).  Target girls Jeggings.  These things are the BOMB!  My sis turned me onto them.  Emma is built just like me - long waisted with short legs.  Even with adjustable waist jeans, pants just never fit her right.  Well, helllllooooo ladiessss.  These are fantasic.  They pull right up, and go with practically everything.  She tucks them into boots or wears them with her twinkle toes.  We picked up two pairs the other day and wore one to school today.  She came home ranting and raving about them being the best pants she's ever worn.  Done.  And done.

2)  Kashi frozen pizza.  I always stock up on a few frozen pizzas for our usual Friday night pizza night.  Usually the basic ones are fine, and I throw on some veggies and extra tomatoes.  But then I discovered Kashi brand frozen pizzas.  If you're a Kashi fan, you know how GOOD their stuff is.  The pizzas are great too!   The three of us can split one pizza, and I feel good knowing that we're eating a decently healthy meal.  My favorite part is their Flax Seed Meal crust.  We usually get the Mediterranean ones, but the others are fab too.  Dinner in 10 minutes?  Um, okay!

3)  My black and tan boots.  They rock.  They're the only boots I've owned that did NOT gap at the top of the calf.  Minor detail, but I am anal retentive about boots fitting me properly.  Plus, they go with everything!

4)  The Cooking Light's Way to Cook Vegetarian cookbook.  Cooking Light has a series of Way to Cook cookbooks and they are all visual guides to cooking.  This?  Is for me.  I need pictures - lots of them.  I happened to pick this one up at the library, and I've already tagged it up.  This could be revolutionary for me. We eat pretty well, but I always want to find a way to incorporate more vegetables - especially into breakfast and lunch.  We're not going to go full bore vegetarian, but I like to have a couple nights a week where dinner is meatless.   It's recession chic.  :)  Roger enjoys a good protein, but Emma doesn't eat much, and I could take it or leave it.  So this is a good compromise for all of us.  I LOVE visual guides when cooking.  Definitely a favorite for us, give it a try!

5)  Spinach smoothies.  Ok, before you get all turn-up-your-nosey at me, just hear me out.  It's JUST like any other smoothie you would have, except it's green.  I'll give you that.  For this one, I threw some bananas, frozen berries, frozen mangos, a little orange juice, a little water and a handful of baby spinach in a blender.  That's it.  The raw baby spinach doesn't taste like much (the strong flavor comes when cooked) and everything else is sweet.  I topped it with whipped cream for fun.  I've been getting a request for this daily, so I'm clearly not forcing anyone to do anything they don't want to do :)

6)  Sundown Naturals Vitamin D3 caplets.  There's been a lot of talk recently about Vitamin D deficiency.  I didn't worry about this as much in San Diego, but according to some research most people living in the Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast USA are not getting enough Vitamin D.  I started taking these a few months ago (as soon as the days threatened to get shorter) and I definitely think it's improved my mood.  I take 1000 IU of Vitamin D3 a day, along with a Calcium supplement, Cod Liver oil and Folic Acid.  I am always interested to hearing people's vitamin stories.  What do you take?

Happy Friday!