Category: Weekly Obsessions

Happy Friday! How was your week? The weather was pretty good, we have a working ice maker again and there was a midweek date night. I have to say I had a good week and really hope you did too.

In Friday fashion, I’m sharing the things I’ve been obsessed with this week. Have a wonderful day!

Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate

Earlier this week, a coworker asked if I liked dark chocolate out of the blue. I said yes and she goes here have this chocolate bar because I bought dark instead of milk chocolate. When I broke a piece off, I was expecting to have the caramel be more liquid in it which I don’t love. Boy was I wrong! The caramel was hard with tiny pieces throughout the chocolate so it’s not an intense caramel flavor. It’s the perfect mix of salty, caramel and chocolate. She bought it at Walmart but it appears to be out of stock online. If there’s a Walmart near you then you should pick it up.

Spindrift

When we were at my parent’s house over Memorial Day, my mom and I popped into Costco to pick up some veggies for the weekend. While walking around we came across a case of Spindrift. I had been seeing it all over social media and asked my mom if she had tried it. We ended up buying the case and I brought it back to New Jersey (thanks mom 🙂 I’ve been drinking them during lunch this week as a break since I can’t drink a giant seltzer during lunch. So good!! It’s flavored with real fruit juice and it tastes fresh. Sparkling water is less carbonated than seltzer so it makes it’s easier to go down during my lunch break. The Costco pack had lemon, grapefruit and raspberry lime flavored. Grapefruit is my favorite but I like all of them a lot. Spindrift’s website has a store locator function so you can see stores that carry it near you.

The Lucky Ones

The Lucky Ones is the story of Allison. She was orphaned after her mother died and placed in foster care. A well known brain surgeon and philanthropist brought her and six other children into his home, known as The Dragon, to live with him. Allison loved her life and newfound family until she almost died one night and her great aunt took her in. Thirteen years later, Allison’s “brother” writes that their “Dad” is ill and will die soon if she wants to say goodbye. Allison is torn of leaving her past behind her or going back to find out what really happened to her on that fateful night.

Tiffany Reisz wrote a good one you guys! It hooked me in from the beginning and I was dying to figure out what happened. Reisz throws a few twists into the story that throw you off from the path you think the story will follow. It’s a quick read and I didn’t want to put it down.

Question of the day: What’s one thing you’ve been obsessed with this week?

Happy Friday! I want to check in before a slightly short workday. Alex’s brother is getting married tomorrow so I may be a bit sporadic in posts this weekend. Before we head out, I want to share a few things I’ve been obsessed with this week. Have a great day 🙂

Resistance Bands

I want to get back into some strength training since I stopped doing Kayla Itsine’s BBG. It was good but I got bored of the workouts. Living in a one bedroom apart with Alex and Bailey doesn’t yield a ton of space to have weights stored. I wanted something to add difficulty to the strength exercises and decided to pick up some resistance bands off Amazon. These are awesome! They are from the brand Limm and there are 5 included in the pack that have varying resistances in them. I just started using them but I can’t wait to make some different workouts with them.

Peanut Butter Blondies

You’re probably sick of me talking about these blondies from Joy Food Sunshine, but you have to make them. First of all, the work is all done by the food processor so you just press a button to mix the ingredients. They can’t be any simpler to make and since they have chickpeas, they’re basically a healthy dessert. I want to note that I made two changes to the recipe. Instead of coconut sugar which I don’t have, I used brown sugar and 2% milk instead of almond milk. I’ve been eating at least one a day since I whipped them up on Sunday. Let’s be real though, most nights I have two. #NoRagrets not even a letter 😉

Food Processor

Speaking of how easy those blondies are to make because they’re mixed in a food processor, that’s another one of my obsessions. When we were at my parents house over Memorial Day, I noticed a new food processor box sitting on their counter. Being the oh so wonderful daughter that I am, I asked if I could take the old one. They said yes so back to New Jersey it came! To be honest, they might not even make this exact model food processor anymore. It’s been used for as long as I can remember, and I’m almost 23, so I’m sure if the exact model is made anymore. This one from Cuisinart looks to be an update version (i.e in silver instead of white) though! So shout out to my parents for letting me take the old one. You guys rock 🙂

Mamma Mia! Soundtrack

Since there’s a second Mamma Mia! movie coming out and I’ve seen so many trailers recently, I started listening to the first movie’s soundtrack. Every song is so catchy and it takes so much restraint to not sing along if I’m listening to it at work haha. I found a YouTube video that has the entire soundtrack on it so you best believe it’s been played multiple times this past week. Bailey and I even had a little dance party last night while Alex was at work. That’s a normal thing to do with your puppy right?!

Question of the day: What’s one thing you’ve been obsessed with this week?

Happy Friday! How is it already Friday? The week absolutely flew by but no complaints on that. I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Also can we take a moment to recognize that it’s June 1st today. How is that possible?! May flew by for sure.

Today I want to share a few things that I have been obsessed with this week. Let me know something you’ve been obsessed with in the comments below. Have a great day 🙂

Simple Sterling Silver Ring

While shopping with my mom at a local boutique in my hometown, I came across a display of a bunch of simple sterling silver rings. Usually rings like this tend to be gold in my opinion and I prefer silver jewelry so it was nice to see them in silver. I tried them on for fun and what do you know, one magically ended up in  my hand and an unknown force pulled me to the register to buy it. To be honest I don’t even know what happened. Even though I didn’t go into shopping with the intention of buying anything I’m obsessed with this ring! It’s so simple but so pretty and I absolutely love it. Unfortunately I don’t know the brand that this exact ring is but this one looks almost identical to the one I have. For those interested, my nail color is O.P.I’s Mod About You.

The Wife Between Us

Due to the nature of this book, I can’t get too much into the plot without spoiling parts. I don’t want to be that person so I’m going to use the synopsis available because it should do a great job of hooking you in. “When you read this book, you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle. Assume nothing. Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen’s The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage – and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love. Read between the lies.”

I can honestly say I did not see the one plot twist coming. Once it happened, I could not wait to finish it. The authors did a fantastic job of keeping readers on their toes and I highly recommend picking this book up.

Brooks Juno Sports Bra

I was having issues with my old sports bras and decided to order one of these on a whim a few months ago. It became my go to sports bra and I needed to order a second one. It holds your chest in place and they don’t move. Amazing for any sort of high impact and intense workouts you have. One of my favorite things about it is that it’s based on your normal bra size. I find that it is true to size with the regular bra I wear so I recommend trying that size first. Brooks actually has an amazing return policy. You have 365 days to return anything with the tags on. In addition you are able to try it out for a workout to see how it performs for you or if it bothers you at all and are still able to return it after a 90 day trial run. Honestly you can’t beat that and I do not see myself straying to another brand or style sports bra.

Alex

You guys, I must give this special person a shout out. Alex was absolutely amazing this past week and just beyond sweet while I was feeling sick. Find the person who listens to you complain about how sick you feel for hours in the car, drives almost the entire way home while you take multiple naps, takes sole care of the puppy for two days and puts up with your crappy mood while feeling like you’re going to die. Seriously that’s how you know you’re with the right person.

Question of the day: What’s one thing you’ve been obsessed with this week?

Happy Friday friends! It’s Memorial Day weekend and I’m pretty excited. I took the day off of work and we’re road tripping to my parents in Chicago. We actually drove halfway last night and stayed in a pet friendly hotel since Bailey is with us. Another 6 hours today and then we’ll be in Chicago. Have a great weekend 🙂

The winner of the gift card is Ally! Thank you all so much for entering. I’ll send you an email to get your prize on the way.

Needlepoint Keychain

Alex’s mom loves to needlepoint so for Christmas she gave me a few patterns to pick from for a keychain. This is the one I went with and I love it! The colors are some of my favorites and I love this style keychain. It’s so easy to throw in my bag and I can always find my keys. Etsy has a bunch of different shops that offer needlepoint keychains if you’re interested.

Just Fruit Bars

I’ve mentioned these on the blog before but I stocked up when I was at Trader Joe’s on Sunday. There are a few flavors but the apple-strawberry is my favorite. Apple-mango is pretty good as well. There’s also an apple-coconut bar and apple-banana one. The ingredients are just apples and strawberries so it’s one of the cleanest bars in my opinion. I keep one in my desk at work as an emergency snack and I definitely packed a few for the drive.

The Great British Baking Show

I feel like I’m incredibly late to the game on this show but oh my goodness. So good and entertaining! Bailey and I watched a slightly embarrassing amount when Alex was out of town earlier this week. Netflix has the show starting with the season in 2014 so not every episode is on there. It’s just so good! Each week, the bakers have 3 challenges – a signature challenge where they get something like bread and then they can flavor it how they want, a technical challenge where the judges give them a short and vague recipe to recreate, and then the showstopper challenge where they have guidance but still freedom to use whatever flavors they would like. Just go watch it because I think you’ll enjoy it.

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunscreen

This product is one I have used for years thanks to my mom. I have no idea why she decided to pick it up but I’m so glad she did. With the sun and warm weather we’ve been having, I had to break out my bottle for runs. The main reason I love this specific sunscreen is because it doesn’t leave the greasy feeling like some sunscreen can. I put it on my face and arms before runs and I don’t feel it sitting on my skin plus it rubs in incredibly easily. This stuff is a staple in my bathroom.

Question of the day: What’s one thing you’ve been obsessed with this week?

Happy Friday! It’s going to be a wet weekend here in New Jersey but I honestly don’t mind. I feel like it’ll force me to get things done. Hopefully the sun will be shining near you though!

I want to share a few items that I’ve been obsessed with this week. Let me know something you’ve been obsessed with too.

The Script

I’ve been a fan of The Script for years and just adore their music. This past week I’ve been listening to all of their albums on shuffle. It’s soft enough that I don’t focus on it while I’m working but at the same time it’s not instrumental music and has a nice beat. One of my favorites has been Superheros. All of their music is good though and you should definitely check them out if you haven’t.

up & up Micellar Cleansing Water

Now that the weather is warming up, I want to take care of my skin a little extra. Running in the heat leads to more sweating which mixes in with the sunscreen I put on my face. Since I don’t want all that junk stuck in my skin, I’ve been using this micellar cleansing water from Up & Up that I picked up at Target. This stuff works! I haven’t had a pimple at all since I started using it. I remove my makeup and use my normal cleanser before drying my face. After shaking the bottle up, I put the product on a cotton ball and wipe all over my face. It gets any residual oil, dirt and makeup off without drying my skin. For under $5 you can’t beat it to make it feel like your face is fully clean.

Fresh Basil

I’m happy to report that the basil plant I bought a few weeks ago is going strong. Not only is it still alive but it’s grown, woohoo! I’ve been adding it to as many dishes as possible recently. Dried basil is good but fresh is just next level. I may start cutting the leaves off the plant and save them to try homemade pesto. Have you ever done that? On one hand, I don’t want to cut off too many leaves that the plant dies but on the other hand fresh pesto sounds amazing.

Bananas

I’ll bet someone that my parents are shocked that I’m saying I’ve been obsessed with bananas this week. For as long as I can remember, I never hate bananas because, and I quote, “the texture freaked me out”. Well my taste buds have changed you guys because I now like bananas. Mom and Dad that’s probably the little quake you felt 😉 I noticed that I prefer when they’re a little brown, slightly mushier and they seem sweeter to me too.

Question of the day: What’s one thing you’ve been obsessed with this week?y