Friday Faves + an Eat Smarter giveaway

Hi friends! Happy Friday! I hope you’ve had a lovely week. What do you have going on this weekend? I’m looking forward to some adventures with the Pilot and also spending Valentine’s Day with the girls.

(From our girls’ night last weekend. We went to the park, got takeout from Bear Canyon pizza, and ate dinner and brownies while watching Zombies 2 and having a glow stick dance party.)

Valentine’s baskets for our little love bugs:

(Many of these items are from Mildred & Dildred! If you’re local and looking for gifts, I’ll often email them, tell them what I’m looking for, and pay in advance so I just have to swoop and pick them up! They also wrap and ship gifts and have the best selection!! The girls each got stuffed plants, stained glass coloring books, a couple of new books, candy, and I picked up nail decals and bathtub paint from Target and these sweet little name bracelets from Etsy.)

Something else I love doing for the girls: leaving love notes on their doors each night while they’re sleeping from Feb 1st until Valentine’s day. I’ll cut out a heart and the Pilot or I will write something we love about them.

Valentine’s Day is always a holiday I enjoy so much and I was trying to figure out why I’ve been dreading it this year… and it hit me. Bell. She was my original Valentine. She was a Valentine’s gift from the Pilot and it’s our first year without that sassy chicken crazy wise little soul by our sides. I miss her with my whole heart and still put my hoodie at the base of our bed each night. (She used to snuggle up in my hoodie before completely burrowing herself next to me or the Pilot during the night.)

Sweet Bellerton.

On a happier note, I received my second copy of Eat Smarter this week. I pre-ordered the book because Shaun Stevenson is my favorite podcast guy and couldn’t wait to receive my copy. The book launched, but mine didn’t arrive in the mail. I was happy to wait it out, but I eventually received an email from his team to let me know that the publishing company wasn’t able to meet demands due to Rona-related delays. They ended up buying their book from retailers that still had them in stock to send to the people who preordered. Yes, they went and bought their own book!

My first copy arrived last week and I’m already 1/3 of the way through. They let me know I’d still get my original copy and told me to share with a friend, so I’d love to share with one of you! Simply leave a comment with something that’s making you smile this week. I’ll pick a random winner Sunday night and get the book shipped out on Monday morning.

Now it’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments (and also get your giveaway entry)!

Fitness + good eats:

Can we talk about burger salad? I think I like burger salad even more than I like actual burgers. It’s so satisfying and I love all of the flavors and textures. (Originally got the idea from my friend Lexi! I don’t make the dressing but assemble it very similarly. You’ll love it!)

For my variation, I make ground beef in a skillet and season the heck out of it with salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, and garlic powder. Next, I serve it up with romaine, tomatoes, purple onion, sliced pickles, avocado, and ketchup and mustard on top. SO so good.

It’s also easy to serve for the kiddos because I just put the meat on a brioche bun with cheese and ketchup, pickles on the side, and make them salads to go with it.

C-section recovery tips and exercises.

Childhood diet has lifelong impact.

Went on another walk-run this week (just 3 miles) and it felt AMAZING. I even woke up early (early = 7:15 lol) to do it. I realized how much I’d missed running as a small part of my weekly routine – my last Orangetheory class was a year ago – so I decided to start doing walk runs to get back in the hang of it.

Read, watch, listen:

A new evening reading activity.

Check out my latest podcast episode with Erin from Bad Yogi.

So excited to be featured in this Blue Apron blog post. Also, you can use my link for $80 off your first four boxes!

My latest post for WebMD is here. 

Just for lolz:

Fashion + beauty:

This camo dress! It’s felt positively springlike this past week and I’m living it up! (Sorry to all of the friends out there covered in a layer of snow.) I also wear this dress a lot; it’s so comfortable and looks really cute with low-top sneakers and a denim jacket.

Happy Friday, friends!

xo

Gina