Friday Favorites

It’s Friday, so y’all know what that means!  It’s time to link up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci to let everybody know what some of my favorite things are right now!

Going to get Santa pics is always on the top of my list of favorite things for the year. We’ve been going to the same Santa every year since Carter was born, and we just love him.  I mean, HE IS SANTA.  None of those other impostors out there measure up!  🙂  And just fyi, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT how old Carter looks.

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I put this on instagram over the weekend, but wanted to put it on the blog too!  I know lots of you out there are all about Hallmark Christmas movies.  If any of you caught A Nutcracker Christmas this past week, the lead was one of my high school besties!  Amy and I were in theater together all 3 years of high school and were the best of friends!   She went on to major in theater at SMU, and she’s been a successful working actress ever since.  Just some of her credits include:  Angel, Alias, Person of Interest, several Hallmark movies, and countless other projects.  Her hubby, James Carpinello, is also an actor.  And they have several well known friends.  I mean, like REALLY WELL KNOWN friends.  When they got married, their ceremony was at a small winery venue in Napa.  It was gorgeous (and featured in Town and Country).  And I might have shared the dance floor with Neil Patrick Harris.  #okayidid #doogieforever

Here we are last year at our high school reunion with our other friends Allison and Jill.  Sorry for the blurry picture, but it was pitch black outside.   We had the Uber driver take us by some of our high school houses!  It was such a fun night!

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Carter started playing indoor soccer this winter, and he is LOVING it.  We are so proud of the progress he’s made over just his first 3 games.  This past weekend my parents headed up to watch the game.

And so did Papo.  Mimi was out of town (and you’ll get to see a picture of why she was out of town next Wednesday)!

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So most of the time on Friday Favorites, I share cute outfits that I’ve worn during the week.  Well, apparently as I wrap up 2016, I’m all about COMFORT.   Good thing I have several things in my closet that allow me to leave the house comfortably.  🙂

OUTFIT#1:  Nike jacket, Jeans, and Converse

I first showed this jacket last week with my work out errand gear, but I’ve also found myself wearing it with jeans quite a bit!  And great news, there are several sizes of the grey that are back in stock!!!!!  Click HERE to see the same jacket on me with work out errand gear.  😉

jacket /loren hope stud earrings / similar white tee / similar jeans / shoreline converse

Get The Look For Yourself Here:

 

Outfit #2:  Baby Blardigan, Jeans, and Converse

I wore this outfit the very next day.  And all I did was switch out the jacket for my baby blardigan.   Cuz that’s how I roll.  I call that a laundry WIN.

baby blardigan / loren hope stud earrings / similar white tee / similar jeans / shoreline converse

Get The Look For Yourself Here:

 

Outfit #3:  Baby Blardigan, Camo tee, and UGGs

This was several days later.  I switched out my short sleeve white tee for a 3/4 sleeve camo tee (neck and sleeves are camo), and I switched out my Converse for UGGs.

baby blardigan / loren hope stud earrings / camo tee sold out  :(/ similar jeans / slim profile UGGs

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Pretty much every time you see me on this blog, I’m probably wearing THIS bra.  (Although THIS one from Third Love is now in the rotation as well.)  I love them both.  But the one pictured happens to be ON SALE right now! The bra is comfy, it holds the girls in, and I love the cup shape (rounded, and not pointy at all).  And although it definitey has molded cups, I do not consider it to be padded.

But here’s the thing, as much as I love the bra (I even named it a MUST HAVE last year!)….I love their Bliss line of underwear even more.  If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know I used to be ALL ABOUT the Hanky Panky original rise thong.  And I do still wear them.  HOWEVER, I find myself reaching for the Bliss even more.  YEP.  Move over HP, there are some new panties in town. (I’m laughing, because I have several friends that literally just either shivered or gagged a bit because I said the word “panties”.)  Hahahahahaha!!!!  #panties

Anyhoo, I know many of you now agree with me and are DEVOTED (and I’m not even being dramatic) to the Bliss bikinis.  And they make a great stocking stuffer!!! Not for your mother in law…..but maybe for a sister or daughter! 😉

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After hearing a friend rave about theirs, I knew I was going to get the echo dot for my brother-in-law for Christmas.  (Don’t worry, he doesn’t read the blog!) This is a very economical gift (ONLY $39.99!) that still has a WOW FACTOR!!!!!  So, what is it?  Echo Dot (2nd Generation) is a hands-free, voice-controlled device that uses Alexa to play music, control smart home devices, provide information, read the news, set alarms, and more.  

From site:

• Connects to speakers or headphones through Bluetooth or 3.5 mm stereo cable to play music from Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn
• Controls lights, fans, switches, thermostats, garage doors, sprinklers, and more with compatible connected devices from WeMo, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Nest, ecobee, and others

I’m so excited for him to open it!  Click HERE for the echo dot!

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UPDATE:  Added Friday morning!  LOFT just went 50% OFF EVERYTHING!  And I mean EVERYTHING, including LOU AND GREY!  You know their Signaturesoft line is my absolute favorite.

Conner’ had her 5th WORK WEAR post on Monday with almost everything from LOFT!  Click HERE for that post now that EVERYTHING IS 50% OFF,including the gorgeous blouse below.

Here’s what she had to say about it:  This outfit is my absolute favorite.  The pictures don’t do it justice. This blouse is to DIE for.  The teal, black, and gold colors are GORGEOUS.  I received no less than 10 compliments on the blouse the first time I wore it.  The details are just perfect…you can’t see it in the picture, but the sleeves have pleats/ruffles around the wrists.  I die.  The quality is amazing and the blouse looks really expensive, but don’t worry, it’s not!  ???? Plus, you can’t go wrong with the Marisa ankle pants.  Trust me, you need a pair in EVERY color.  I’m wearing a pair of Accessory Concierge copper druzy drop earrings that are no longer available (they still have them in gold), but THESE earrings are the same copper color and match the blouse PERFECTLY! Get them, hurry!  I’m wearing the Sam Edelman Hazel black suede shoes in a 5.5, the blouse is an XXS, and the pants are a 00 petite.  Both the pants and blouse are machine washable.

floral pintucked blouse / pants /similar earrings /  heels

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I’ve also got some fun games (all very inexpensive) that we ordered off of Amazon for Carter for Christmas morning (although we will definitely open at least one on Christmas Eve so we can have fun playing with it)!   I have friends that go crazy over Watch Ya Mouth (they say it is absolutely hysterical), and all of the other games had a large number of FANTASTIC reviews.  If you are lacking a couple of presents for one of your kids, these could be a great choice!  And remember, you can still get FREE SHIPPING in the Nordstrom toy department HERE.

suspend family game / watch ya mouth game /  brain builders / kanoodle 

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Last thing for today, ladies!  I’m not a crafty person.  I don’t enjoy doing crafts, and I’m not typically good at them.  HOWEVER.  For a couple of years in a row I got my Chistmas craft on big time.  And they are without a doubt my favorite Christmas decorations that I pull out every year.  The Christmas tree is probably my favorite.  I love all of Carter’s little 3 year old hands stacked on top of each other.

How to do the Christmas Tree:  I used a pencil to do a rough sketch about what size I wanted the tree to be.  The two bottom rows are both made up of 5 hand prints, I just overlapped them more on the 2nd row  I then had him do 4 hand prints, then 3, then 2, then 1.  I painted the tree trunk and the star.  I drew the light string with a sharpie marker, and the colored lights are…wait for it….fingerprints.  PRESH.

How to do the Snowmen Family:  I painted the entire canvas with a mixture of blue and white paint for a nice light blue.  (The canvas needs to be a color so the white snowmen will show up.)  I painted the eyes, mouths, and noses.  It was cute, but they still needed something. So, I used scrapbook paper for the hats, the earmuffs, and the scarves!!!!!  I attached them with Mod Podge, and then I painted Mod Podge (with a foam brush) over the entire canvas a couple of times.  (It goes on white, but it dries clear.) And yes, that’s my foot, Carter’s foot, and Chris’s foot.  Let’s all imagine Carter pulling these out when he has kids of his own!  Please take a minute to ooh and ahhh appropriately.

Carter loves these so much, and much to my surprise, his little 8 year old self requested that we do another one this year.  So, we are going to be getting our craft on this weekend, and I’ll hopefully have a new canvas to show you next week on What’s Up Wednesday (December 21st)!

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Have a wonderful weekend!  I hope you get everything crossed off your TO DO list and lots of quality time with your people!

 

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