(more than) Five Friday Faves - 2.2

My friends favorite things from our inaugural Favorite Things Dinner

We did it, friends. We’ve made it through January. This week has been a tough one for me, and my anxiety the past few weeks has been pretty high because my daughter had to get a second round of ear tubes, and her adenoids out on Monday. Ear tubes are an easy peasy procedure (for most kids), but the anesthesia and the slightly more invasive adenoidectomy had me on edge. Our kids are so precious, and putting them in someone else’s hands is a really terrifying feeling. Thankfully everything went smoothly, but she’s home with us all week and her sleep has been all off. We’ve had some great help from my mother-in-law and my mom, but it’s been a lot, and I don’t function well on little sleep.

This week’s five favorites are actually my friends’ favorite things!

We did a favorite things dinner earlier this week and everyone brought something under $50 then similar to a Yankee Swap, we each picked a number and a gift and could swap. Everything was so great, there wasn’t much swapping!

(more than) Five Friday Favorites:

1. Goop GTox Himalayan Sea Salt Shampoo - This was my contribution, and probably close to one of my most used products of 2023. I bought my first jar in September, and I am not even halfway through. I don’t use much, but dang you Gwyneth, this product is gold.

2. Merit Eyeshadow in Studio, Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream, Patchology Rose Eye Patches - This was the gift I got, and I am so pleased with it. You know I love the Merit Eyeshadow, as I had the Vachetta and Social as my favorite things a few weeks back, and I am so excited to have this new color. A small sample of the Tatcha Dewy Cream has already been added to my daily routine. It is so great! I put the Patchology in the fridge, and I can’t wait to use those sometime soon.

3. Anrabess Lounge Set - This was a recommendation from a friend who called 2023 her cozy year. This set looks chic for a fraction of the cost of other similar sets.

4. Pickleball Set - Pickleball has been such a fun game for my whole family to play together, and I loved that one of my friends brought this as a favorite thing. It also means that now as more of us have our own sets, we can get some good tournaments going when we eventually find someone to watch our 25kids (🤪) If you haven’t tried pickleball, it truly is a universal game, and everyone can have fun!

5. Merit Mascara and Glossier Perfume - I hadn’t heard of this perfume before, but it’s tempting me to get back into perfume. It supposedly smells different on each person based on your own individual chemistry, which is fascinating to me. This mascara is one of my personal favorites, I used to use the Trish McEvoy Tubing Mascara a long time ago, and this feels really similar.

6. Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen - Sun protection is cool, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Our friend swears that this goes on feeling smooth and powdery and you can even put it on over makeup.

7. Moroccan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner and Sugar Swizzle Sticks - Inspired by a trip to the spa and a local fancy coffee shop, I loved these little indulgences. The Sugar Swizzle sticks add sweetness to a coffee and look super cute. Such a cute idea, and apparently the smell of these shampoos and conditioners is so so good.

8. Osea Body Oil, Osea Scrub, Lavender Pillow Spray - This is SUCH a great body oil! I used this all through my pregnancies. I am going to purchase this lavender pillow spray which was inspired by our group spa trip to Miraval a few years ago, feels like such a luxury for a really reasonable price.

9. Tatcha Serum Stick, Laderach Chocolate - First off, chocolate is a fantastic favorite thing, and this stuff looked so good. My friend, with dry skin raved about this serum. She said she puts it wherever she gets dry throughout the day on her face, and it immediately hydrates.

What’s for Dinner

This week was a lot as I mentioned above, but we had a good plan for food that we mostly stuck to. We got home midday on Sunday, and I immediately went to the grocery store and then picked up my Mother-in-law. I spent Sunday preparing food for the week, and planned some easier meals to make when we had extra hands around watching our daughter.

One thing I’ve started doing recently is using my phone to plan meals instead of a piece of paper. When we’re discussing meals, any meals we don’t choose for the week, I add to a list at the bottom, which has made it easier each week to survey the list of ideas we didn’t use the previous week instead of starting from scratch.

Sunday - Roast Chicken - Few things smell better than a chicken roasting in the oven on a cold winter’s night. I didn’t really use a recipe, just threw in a ton of veggies and roasted everything at 400/425 until registered done.

Monday - Ground Pork with Celery Noodles from Cook This Book by Molly Baz - easily one of my most used cookbooks, this is a great pantry staple meal because we usually get ground pork from our meat share, and all I have to purchase at the store is celery. I loved how Kate Taylor shared how she made a recipe more budget-friendly this week on Instagram, and one way I make this a pantry meal instead of a more expensive one, is by having the Dorot cubes of garlic and ginger in the freezer, so I avoid buying the single-use ingredient like fresh ginger.

Tuesday - Honey Chipotle Chicken Tacos - I was out, so picked this recipe a co-worker recommended because it is an easy crockpot recipe, for my husband and mother-in-law. It calls for 4-5 chipotles, and I used less to feed our family because the kids don’t love spice.

Wednesday - Simmer Sauce Chicken Tikka Masala - I bought this simmer sauce on sale at Whole Foods, and I had Trader Joe’s Naan in the freezer. This meal comes together super fast. I added peas from the freezer to it too.

Thursday - Hunter’s Minestrone and Leftovers - I made 6qts of this on Sunday, froze it all, and took out one for dinner midday. We all love this soup.

Friday - Pizza Night

More A Day In Her Life:

• ICYMI this week Andrea Faulkner Williams, Head Mama and Co-Founder of Tubby Todd, and mom of four kiddos was on the podcast this week! This conversation was so fun, from how Tubby Todd got started, to how Andrea handles extracurricular activities and homework for her kids.

• Two of the books I read this month were recs from Nora Massey from her episode! I couldn’t get Maestro out of my head!

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