Friday Favorites: Shopping with my bestie!

Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by—I’m so glad you’re here! 😁

When my bffl Sophie was in town a few weeks ago, we certainly shopped till we dropped! There’s something about shopping with friends that makes everything seem like a good idea—which is simultaneously very fun annnd very bad for my bank account! 😂💸🙈

Here are some of the goodies Soph and I got while she was here:

(FYI: I make a small commission for purchases or clicks made through links in this post.)

Lululemon Scuba Oversized Half-Zip Hoodie

Do I need another sweatshirt? No. Do I need another expensive sweatshirt? Definitely not. But when your best friend is gushing about how great they are, I mean…?! The Lulu Scuba is undeniably soft and cozy. It also worked out well that I bought it on day 2, and the whole next week of Soph’s visit was significantly cooler, so I’ve already worn the heck out of it! (…and I’m currently wearing it while writing this post!) 😁

Aimee Kestenberg Alia wallet

Boring but necessary. I do very much enjoy black with gold accents—and spending $18 for something that looks much fancier! Also, I got this at Nordstrom Rack, a very “Sophie” store, so it’s fitting that we ended up there. 🫶

Altar’d State jeans

Speaking of deals, these were on the sale rack for FIVE DOLLARS. What?! I do not feel cool enough for them, but the look is growing on me, and they’re v stretchy and soft. Without the low, low price, Soph would not have been able to talk me into this! 😂

Really embracing my Sad Beige Child era. 🥲👍

Squishable Cinnamon bun

Are you even on vacation if you haven’t bought something that delights your inner child?? 😁 (I actually got the cinnamon bun in the smaller “Snacker” size, but I can’t seem to find it on their site… just know that it’s pretty much the perfect size. 🫶)

Maybelline Lifter gloss

I didn’t want to believe the hype, but for $10, the Lifter gloss is pretty great. I actually already had it, in the shade Stone, but I wanted to get a clear version because I’m boring. Target always seems to be just about sold out, so when we ran into that issue, Sophie suggested hitting up the Ulta in the same shopping complex. 🎶That’s what friends are for🎶 Ulta had a much bigger selection, and I got the shade “Ice,” which is such a pale pink that it’s basically clear. The non-sticky consistency is great, but the scent is really the best part. It’s a wonderful mix of coconut and vanilla (that also disappears fairly quickly, so it’s not annoying).

“Sports” hat

I love this so much. GO SPORTS! 😂 This was a Soph purchase, in anticipation of outdoor activities—like going to a AAA baseball game where she knew no one on either team. 😂👍

The Creme Shop How Do Eye Look under-eye patches

I find that it’s not a true friend reunion until you’ve done some sort of face mask (or used Biore strips LOL)! These looked super cute and felt very nice—what more does one need?

And is this me now? Yes. 😂😩

Have you made any fun purchases lately? ✨

Happy Friday! xoxo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika over at Friday Favorites!

Friday Favorites: Reunited!

Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by—I’m so glad you’re here! 😁

How have you all been?! I hope you’ve had a great last few weeks! Personally, I’m going to need about six months to recover from 8 days of doing All The Things with my bffl, Sophie, while she was in town! As Pops put it, “It was good that you had a partner in crime again,” and it really was! 🫶

Back on campus together for the first time since, well, the pic below!

But, to be honest, I was kind of nervous going into it, just from a mental health perspective. How would my anxiety respond to A.) being off from work and out of my routine, and B.) having delightful companionship for a Limited Time Only?

You know what? Pretty darn well. The vibe was entirely this, just like in college:

just less begrudgingly 😂

And it’s not like we did anything wild. We went to Target and the mall (and random stores, and the outlets...). I dragged took her to the botanical garden and an AAA baseball game. We hung out with my mom and doted on Pudge (who was over the moon with all the extra attention). We ate junk food, and she got me (and Pops LOL) hooked on Below Deck: Sailing Yacht. 

It was all so normal and so wonderful. To have company doing the “fun” things I usually do by myself (hi Target and Ulta) was such a delight.

Literally sitting in the Target parking lot LOL.

And, hey, I drove us to all of those places! The last time Sophie was here, I hadn’t even done exposure therapy yet. I think I drove exactly one time in college. She kept marveling about how calm I was behind the wheel, which I guess is pretty darn miraculous if you’re jumping directly from 2013 into 2023!

Another miraculous thing? That I’ve been doing okay since Sophie went back home. Historically, separation from her has been rough. Legitimately panic-inducing and heartbreaking. It is so bizarre to live with someone in college and then graduate and live 3,000 miles apart. But this time around, the joy of connection has overshadowed any pain of separation. As uncertain as I was about my mental health going into her visit, quality time with her enhanced my life way more than avoiding potential triggers could. What a concept!

It seems I’m in a very different place than I was 10 years ago. Growth can seriously sneak up on you. 💖

What put the sparkle in your week(s)? ✨ 

Happy Friday! xoxo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika over at Friday Favorites!

High Five for Friday: April 14

Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by—I’m so glad you’re here! 😁

This is actually my last post for a little bit because my bffl is coming to town! She lives in CA, and we haven’t seen each other in almost 10 years. But in college, she used to stay with us for the shorter holiday breaks, and she was basically my family’s adopted other child. 🫶

Things have been a little chaotic trying to prep for her visit, but every time I freak out about all the cleaning I still haven’t done, I try to remind myself that our house was in rough shape the first time she ever came over in college. At least we now have all the amenities of a normal house—like ceilings and sinks! (True story! 🙈🙈)

On that note, let’s see what brought the sparkle this week!

• Easter! I hope you had a lovely Easter, Passover, or Ramadan last week—wild how they all converged this year. Once again, I had to document the rare occasion of making An Effort™️. Miraculously, I actually got my lion’s mane to stay up in a jaw clip (after watching only one YouTube video!), and I like the look! Sophisticated from the front and god-knows-what from the back—I can live with that! 😂👏

• You know what Easter also means: time to take down the Christmas decorations. Except that we FAILED this year, ugh. It’s always that dang Christmas tablecloth! We did take it off on Easter Monday, though, so maybe that counts for something.

• Signs of spring! I’m hoping to drag take my bffl to the botanical garden next week since she’ll be here during Peak Spring Majesty. 🌷🌸🌺🌻

Picture quality would have been better, but I was getting dive-bombed by bees and jumping out of my skin. 😰

• Love me a new planner/planning system. (Keeping the chaos organized always feels juuust out of reach, haha.) Thanks to those stupid, spot-on IG ads, I ordered the “Dashboard Deskpad” from Ink + Volt. I already use Asana, so I have tasks sorted by “projects” on there, and I wonder if it will be helpful to organize things similarly on paper. (I always have a paper planner, in addition to any apps, because, sure. 🤷🏼‍♀️) Work tasks and non-work tasks always felt jumbled in my old planner… and in most planners… so I’m curious to see how this goes!

HIGHLY recommend using a unicorn donut pen to cross off the items on your to-do list. 10/10.

• Lastly, when Pudge is a whole vibe:

What put the sparkle in your week? ✨ 

Happy Friday! xoxo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika over at Friday Favorites!

High Five for Friday: April 7

Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by—I’m so glad you’re here! 😁

Where did this week even go? TGIF for sure, this week just feels like a total blur! Let’s see what brought the sparkle:

(FYI: I make a small commission for purchases or clicks made through links in this post.)

• Wearing a cute outfit + walking around Target, always! Until I start putting things in that basket, ha! I needed some OTC meds and supplements, so I spent quite a bit on boring stuff, BUT this Well People lip mask was a nice treat!

I use this sling, an Amazon impulse buy, way more than I thought I would!

• A reunion with one of my first video game loves: Earthbound! What a wacky, charming, adorable Super Nintendo game. I don’t know when they added Earthbound (and Ocarina of Time?!) to Nintendo Switch Online, but I was immediately in. I wish I could just buy these games outright, but it’s better than not having them at all, I suppose. Earthbound has been a lovely, familiar hug after Breath of the Wild (…but before Tears of the Kingdom and whatever godawful mechanical spidery things await us there! 😩😩).

My inner child can HEAR this picture. 😂😂

I mean, sounds good to me!

• Unfortunately, this next thing is a subscription too, but did you know that you can access Google’s “Magic Eraser” feature on iOS (via the Google Photos app)?! Learned that this week! The subscription part is annoying, but I do take and edit a lot of pictures, so I’ve been very curious about the Magic Eraser!

Can confirm that it worked excellently for getting rid of one million people at the botanical gardens in a single tap! 🔥

It was less helpful with baseball photos because it would usually identify players as the “in the way” background people. 🤔😞

Kind of the opposite of what I’m going for….

I do think it could be useful for sports pics once I’m better at manual erasing. Like, this one turned out pretty well!

Sir! Get out of the Cy Young’s way!

Had some fun with the Google Photos portrait mode too! Even though I hate it on iOS. 🤷🏼‍♀️

My mom’s bday dinner was Saturday, so I had to document the rare occasion of making An Effort™️.

• Though I like sports, March Madness is a complete blind spot for me (Villanova notwithstanding). But nothing makes me happier than immediately recognizing a song out of nowhere, and that happened toward the end of the Women’s March Madness Finals game. I was delighted to catch the LSU marching band playing “Right Above It” by Lil Wayne. 10/10!! I had no idea marching band versions of rap songs from the early 2010s (aka grad school) were missing from my life, but now we know! 😂🔥💃🏼

• Lastly, of course my ‘90s GH-loving heart was delighted by this IG video from Amber Tamblyn. She’s the only Emily Quartermaine I ever knew, and the Four Musketeers were so iconic! 🫶

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Amber Tamblyn (@amberrosetamblyn)

What put the sparkle in your week? ✨ 

Happy Friday! xoxo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika over at Friday Favorites!

Friday Favorites: Cute reminders!

Hi friends! Thanks for stopping by—I’m so glad you’re here! 😁

So, how do get through the week when it’s kind of a meh struggle? Because that’s been my week. I’ve been… bleh. Hormonal, sad, and out of it.

But I can say that my bevy of cute reminders and affirmations have helped (…as has having a Friday Favorites theme on a bleh week 😁)!

Of course, you have to find the messages and imagery that resonate with you, but here are a few of my faves:

(FYI: I make a small commission for purchases or clicks made through links in this post.)

• Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, for when laughter is the best medicine:

This should be the millennial logo of life.

• This adorable one needs to be in my face all the time, so it sits on my work desk. “Negative” feelings are only sort of sometimes okay to me now (😂), so this is a big one. Pairs nicely with my therapist’s calm messaging that “It’s okay to feel [fill-in-the-blank emotion].”

• When I am really in the grip of panic and anxiety, I have to actively remind myself of the message on this sticker; that, while I may feel scared, I’m actually not in danger. My body and the present moment haven’t always felt like safe places to be, so I have found reminders of current safety—and agency—to be very comforting.

Pairs well with this fake plant from Target!

• I recently added this Calm Strip to my laptop, and it has been a lovely little grounding tool to rub/pick at/fiddle with. (The fact that it’s not a traditional sticker, i.e. you can easily remove and reposition it, is the only reason I allowed it to grace my pristine laptop, ha!)

• Guys, I am still so tired. I may not be okay until I get that hour back in the fall! 😂😬 But I also, once again, feel a lot of guilt around resting, so, vicious circle. This darling sticker just arrived this week, and I put it on my nightstand, so maybe I won’t spring out of bed in a panic just because I’m awake. (It’s kind of similar to the guilt/panic I had around rest back when I had covid in the fall. 🙃) Lack of sleep and my anxiety just do not mix.

What reminders help you when it’s just not your day (your week, your month, or even your year)? ✨ 

Happy Friday! xoxo

Linking up with Andrea and Erika over at Friday Favorites!