Friday Faves + Wild Friends giveaway
Hi friends! Happy Friday! Hope you’ve had a wonderful week. I’m SO excited for this weekend. We have nothing officially planned, the Del Mar fair is in full swing (happening), and I feel like I can get caught up on life a little. As I mentioned, we had some rough sleep/nap days, so fingers crossed that we’re back in the game. Our house is a disaster, we’ve eaten a lot of takeout, and my inbox is giving me the sweats. But, FRIDAY! You’re here. It’s so nice to see you again.
It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! It’s fun to share some of my favorite eats, wears, reads, and adventures from the week, and I always enjoy hearing what you’re loving, too. Please shout it out in the comments section if you’d like to join in the fun, and also enter this week’s Wild Friends giveaway.
Summer is officially here, since Livi goose is out of school for the summer. She’s going to be doing a couple of camps, we have some family vaations planned, and in the meantime, we’ll all be heading to the beach, Kid Ventures, the museum, zoo, cooking, and playing together here at home. I can’t wait. I can’t believe how much she’s grown this year.
Ok time, you can slow down a little.
The Pilot and I enjoyed a date night at the new LOT in Liberty Station the other night. We had the opportunity to check out the La Jolla location when it first opened, and were so excited that they brought it to Liberty Station. It’s the perfect spot for date night as it’s a restaurant, bar, and swankypants movie theater in one spot.
They have an outdoor patio overlooking Liberty Station, with bonfires, tables and lounge chairs.
We shared a margherita flatbread and for my entree, I had an incredible salad with salmon, kale, quinoa, goat cheese, strawberries, and almonds.
I’ll definitely be recreating this combo at home.
We had originally planned to see a late showing of Neighbors 2 (has anyone seen it?) at 9:30, but when we went to buy our tickets, we found out that it was 9:30 AM. The only thing playing was Jungle Book, so instead, went to Target to pick up some essentials, including wine and tiny pajamas. #parentsgonewild
A fun highlight of the week was when Liv and I were invited to check out the ivivva store in UTC.
If you haven’t heard of it, ivivva is owned by lululemon and they make activewear for girls. I swooned over the catalogue when we received it in the mail over a year ago, and am so excited that Livi is old enough to wear it now. (The smallest they go is size 4, but many styles begin at size 6.) It’s everything you’d find in a lululemon, in brighter colors and smaller sizes. Each piece has a functional design for the girls’ sport of choice, whether it’s swim, gymnastics, dance, running, or tennis. A lot of the pieces were in UPF protective fabric, lightweight, wicking material, and all of the fun classic designs. It was SO CUTE to see Liv in the kids’ version of a Power Y and Run swiftly shorts.
Thank you again to ivivva for the fun visit and for Liv’s new gear; she loves it!
After our shopping trip, we grabbed lunch and rode the train. Not a bad afternoon girls’ date. 🙂
On a more personal note, a huge favorite for this week was finding a new pediatrician for P. I kind of mentioned this on the Family page, but we haven’t had a lot of luck with her peds. We saw a new pediatrician and he was kind, caring, knowledgeable, and genuinely wants to figure out what’s going on with her reflux and the choking incidents. He’s everything a doctor should be. We’re seeing an ENT, and are also getting some testing done. FINALLY.
Always smiling:
Trader Joe’s, back at it again. I go crazy for the new crinkle cut butternut squash fries, and they came out with SWEET POTATO NOODLES. YASSSS. I lightly boiled them and then sautéed with olive oil, salt and pepper. Topped with turkey meatballs and marinara sauce, and they were fantastic. I’m excited to play with these a bit more!
Anthony Bourdain, I like you a lot.
WILD FRIENDS nut butters! (I’ve partnered with them for the remainder of this post.) As we all know, I’m a huge fan of all things nut butter and have tried so many brands over the years. I was recently introduced to Wild Friends.
You guys. It is my new favorite, hands down. The texture is super smooth, and the flavors are delicious.
They also have Protein + nut butters, which are the Pilot’s favorite. They took their delicious flavors and added high-quality whey protein (non-GMO and hormone free). These nut butters have 50% more protein, which make it a great clean protein option with a dose of healthy fats.
The chocolate coconut peanut butter (it tastes like coconut Nutella) is my very fave, and Liv loves it too. It’s what she wanted for dessert last night! The jar is almost gone….
Oops. hahah.
Some more info about Wild Friends:
Wild Friends was started by two peanut butter loving college roommates. They were looking for ways to spice up their favorite food, and Wild Friends was born. They are based out of Portland, Oregon.
All of the ingredients are things you can pronounce, without any additives or preservatives. They use organic and non-GMO options whenever possible, and are produced and packaged with the planet in mind.
You can check out their store locator here to find some near you! They’re located in many natural health food stores including Whole Foods and Sprout’s, TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Marshall’s, and now in select Target stores.
The Wild Friends nut butter fairly kindly offered to hook up two very lucky readers each with 2 jars and a pack of 10 single serve packets in the flavors of their choice. All you have to do is leave a comment below with something that’s making you happy this week. 🙂 I’ll announce the winner in Monday morning’s post!
Cheers to the weekend,
G
You might also like:
440 Comments
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
It makes me happy that I’m flying down to Miami to visit my family tomorrow morning!
Happy to have spent a great Friday evening in the park and eating pizza!
I’m happy that its almost summer and I get to spend it at home with my 2 and 4 year old!!
Watching my sweet girl graduate from preschool. Ok, it’s a little sad but mostly happy. She’s grown so much and it was such a wonderful year for her. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for her future.
I wanted to comment on Miss P too. I’m glad you found a new pedi. Has she ever had a barium swallow study done? That was the first step both my kids had done for their reflux. Hope you get things figured out. She’s just as cute as can be.
They’re doing it on Wednesday! I’m so happy that this ped has the ball rolling
Having family come visit us in Singapore this week!
It is finally HOT in MN! I love this weather!
I’m happy that I have almost no plans this weekend and that it is supposed to be beautiful and sunny! I’m excited to spend lots of time outside.
A new relationship is is making me me happy this week! Love at first sight.
It made me very happy that my daughter Sarah graduated from high school and my daughter Tessa was promoted from 5th grade to Middle School! Big week around our house!
It makes me SO happy that my little boy (almost 1) took his first few steps!!
I’m happy to spend the weekend with my husband (we are currently long distance ).
The great weather is making me happy this week!
finally feeling like summer!
A special date night with my boyfriend!
My hubby and I have been married almost one year! It’s flown by…I can’t wait for many many more! I know that may sound cheesy, but it’s what is making me happy/joyful!
I hope you’re weekend is full of relaxation and FUN!
I love Wild Friends. All of their peanut butters are amazing. I am happy because the other day I took my toddler to the aquarium and she got to feed the turtles. I am also happy because yesterday I had a day date alone with my husband to celebrate our five year anniversary!
We booked flights home!!
The weather has FINALLY been beautiful this week and I was able to wear some fun new summer clothes!
My almost 2 year old smooching his new girlfriend
I got to have dinner with one of my best friends and her new boyfriend who I really liked, so it was a fun evening!
I’m happy to be going to yoga again after a long post-baby hiatus!
Paddle boarding date nights are making me giddy this week 🙂
LOVE the chocolate one! Yum. Haven’t had their other flavors yet.
I’m happy to be in the home stretch of my pregnancy. 36 weeks and sipping red raspberry leaf tea like it’s my job.
Happy Weekend!
Something that makes me happy is being with my kids – we have had some great quality time lately, and there is nothing better!
The fact that the weekend is here and we have zero plans but to relax! 🙂
Getting to spend time with my friends!
I’m happy summer is here 🙂
Things that make me happy this week: out of town visitors and baseball games!!
Grilling out for the first time this summer made me happy this week!
Having so much time now that it’s summer so I can cook and create new recipes!
I’m happy for the gorgeous weather we had all week!
I’m a teacher so I’m really enjoying these last couple of weeks with my kids, it has been a great year!
I’m happy that it finally feels like summer and getting to enjoy the sunshine this weekend! Even though I have work to do, at least I can do it outside!
School’s out,
Summer’s here,
Backyard’s blooming . . .
Currently getting ready for a 25 mile bike ride with my husband! Perfect Saturday
Picking up my kids after they spent a few days at their grandparents. I sure did miss them!
Swimming in the olympic-sized pool at my hotel every morning (was on work travel) made me SO happy!
Weekend trip with my husband!
Going to the Keith Urban concert!
Love seeing the beginning of school year and end of the school year picture of Liv — she has grown so much!! This weekend I am enjoying a weekend with no plans, which is making me so happy after quite a few busy weekends 🙂
I am happy to have a break from the rain in this humid Houston weather!
Excited to see my family next weekend!
I’m excited to get organized this weekend! We just moved across the country to the Bay Area two weeks ago and we have a bunch of boxes to unpack, which will definitely help us settle in (as would some new peanut butter…)
What’s making me happy is the summer weather! Perfect to relax by the pool this weekend!
Hi Gina,
I just saw your comment about P having reflux and choking issues. My daughter was diagnosed with Eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE) at 2 1/2. One of the signs for this is choking. It might just be worth it to mention to her doctor. I hope you find answers soon.
thank you- me too. i just googled that. what was the treatment like for you? how did they diagnose it? did they have to do an endoscopy and biopsy?
They did an endoscopy and took a biopsy bc they were checking for celiac. She was negative for celiac but they found eosinophils in her esophagus. We had to put her on an oral liquid steroid and they did further allergy testing. So after 3 months of steroids and an elimination diet of the 3 foods she tested positive for, they did another scope and she has 0 eosinophils.
Getting back into running and enjoying the perfect running weather!
I’m so excited to have a date ugly with my hubby this weekend!
OMG date NIGHT!!!
Last weekend of maternity leave- back to full time this week so I am definitely not looking forward to that! But we are having a great weekend so that’s what I will focus on!!
Something that’s making me happy this week is being back home for a bit (I just graduated college and am moving to Boston to start my job after July 4th) and spending lots of time with my family and high school friends!