Friday Faves

Hi friends! Happy Friday! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the gift guides and sneaky giveaways this weeks. I always love an extra chance to share some love and holiday cheer with ya; thank you so much for being here, and for being so awesome.

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! Here are some of the things I’ve loving this week. Please share what’s making you smile in the comments section, and what you’re up to this weekend.

The first one is by far my fave: I’m heading to Tucson this weekend!! We’ll be there very soon for our temporary stay in the desert, but it’s Meg’s baby shower tomorrow and there was no way I was going to miss it. This holiday season, I’m like, “Let’s just get Christmas over with because I want the baby to be here!” I’m so beyond excited for Kyle and Meg, and to meet that sweet baby girl. We’re going to have a lot of fun celebrating them tomorrow. 

I’m going to miss the girls a lot, but I can’t wait to catch up with the fam, swim in some Mexican food, and get a little burst of energy, because the next 2 weeks are going to be intense.

A little onesie I picked up as part of our shower gift: 

Some more faves from the week and around the web:

This mint cacao smoothie from Nekter Juice Bar.

(I’ve been thinking about this ever since. It had house-made coconut milk, spinach, mint, cacao, and pea protein. It was SO good. I have a mint smoothie recipe here, but this one was a little different.)

The INSTANT POT. Ok, so I know you guys told me it was awesome, but I had no.idea. This can’t be the kind of thing where you tell someone, “Hey, I think you’d like an Instant Pot. They’re pretty cool.” You need to grab them by the shoulders, shake them just a little and say, “You NEED THIS THING. You will never be ordering takeout because the chicken is still frozen AGAIN!” I wish someone would have done this for me. I’ve used the Instant Pot four times already this week, and it has been a game changer. I seriously took a block of frozen chicken breasts, added it to the Instant Pot with fresh rosemary, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, and some chicken broth, and 30 minutes later (15 to preheat, 15 to cook) it was falling apart. The obsession is real. I’m going to be Instant Pot-ting all the things.

10-minute Lagree workout you can do at home.

An trip up to the UTC mall. We rode the train, shopped a bit, and took the girls to see Santa.

(Note P off in the corner. That little goose is constantly on the move. Once she was out of her stroller, she was running around trying to hug everyone and everything.)

Liv was feeling pretty brave about the whole thing, but the second she caught a glimpse of Santa’s boots and red suit from the corner of his little hub, she backed away and was like, “No no nooooooo.” I figured we could just walk by and wave, but Santa saw Liv from a distance, and kindly told her he’d love if she came back to visit and that they had candy canes. Next thing I knew, we were all in there, she was telling him which American Girl doll she’s had her eye on, and asking me if she could take a picture. The UTC mall Santa is a good one, indeed. He was so kind, not too loud, and great with the kiddos. P waved and said “Hiiiiiii” from a distance, and she even sat with Liv for a quick pic. 

How to have a stress-free holiday eating experience.

Productivity tips to crush your to-do list.

Incorporating movement into large holiday meal days.

Liv’s new ivivva hoodie. She had been needing a new warm jacket, and when she tried this one on, she was so pumped, I knew it was the winner. Bonus: they’ve extended their discount for fitness professionals to ivivva (we get 15% off at lululemon) so I got a deal. Boom.

New Erin Condren is here! And it’s beauuuuuuutiful…..

The Holiday Bazaar at Liberty Station

This event was on Sunday, and Brick was packed with local vendors. You could seriously shop local and do all of your holiday shopping under one roof: kids clothes, yoga gear, handmade decor, candles, jewelry, floral arrangements…. It was pretty amazing.

I went to help Betsy out for a few hours at her Beautycounter booth, and loved sharing these incredible products with so many people. The word is still getting out about Beautycounter since it’s relatively new, and I think everyone enjoyed getting to try and see the products in action.

What’s really in your makeup.

We also got free beer.

When I went up to get our beers from the beer truck, I asked for the “blonde roast.” It’s not coffee, you noob, haha. We can all see how often I drink beer (which is pretty much never).

100 squat workout. This looks INTENSE.

This has super strong language, but lol for days.

For all of my fellow blogger friends and business owners, my friend Nicole from Blissful Eats is hosting a planning party for 2017. You can sign up here! The fun starts on Monday, is completely free, and it’s the perfect way to get 2017 off to a strong start. For each day, you’ll get a download to organize your goals for 2017 + videos and tips to find your focus. I’m so excited to join in, because I have a lot of huge goals set for 2017. Click here if you want to join me! 

A great post about having a second child.

13 books you have to read before they become movies in 2017.

Happy happy Friday, friends! I’ll see ya soon with our gift guide for the dudes.

xoxo

Gina

Congratulations to the Rescue Remedy giveaway winner: Charlotte! Check your email, lovely 🙂