1.9 Friday Favorites

Hello friends! Happy Friday! How are you? What are you planning this weekend?

We’re just hanging out here and at home and I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend after lots of holiday activities and adventures. It’s suddenly winter here in Tucson – rainy and freezing! – and we enjoy lots of puppy cuddles in between to keep Lola from destroying all the furniture.

(I keep trying to get a picture of Maisey and Lola together, but they always move very fast together)

Liv turned 14 yesterday and I can’t even believe it. Thank you so much to my OG reader friends who have been there since the beginning. Yesterday a few of you had contacted me on Instagram to tell me you were reading the blog while I was shaking it while learning Zumba with hair in my stomach. It really feels like yesterday and at the same time like 14 lifetimes ago.

Her birth story part 1 is here and part 2 is here.

I don’t post as many kids here on the blog – I ask permission before posting – but she is the funniest, sweetest girl with a heart of gold. She’s also obsessed with K Pop, which is a big reason why we’re going to Seoul this summer. We just had cake here at the house since we are going to San Diego and Disney next week to celebrate!

For now, it’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party. Here I share some of my favorite finds of the week and around the web. I always love hearing about your favorites too, so please shout out something you like in the comments below.

Fashion, Beauty, Random:

Always the Rio Farm! They’ve had so many great sales this season, but this one is from Rent the runway. I still use and love the Unlimited membership. It’s great for events and travel, and it also keeps me from going shopping *quite often*.* 😉

Oak Essentials goodies! They gave me one body lotion And candle before the holidays and I loved the products so much that I ended up buying more as gifts. The lotion is super hydrating and has a light scent – it feels a bit piney in a good way – and I love the candle.

Read, watch, listen:

Don’t miss this week’s podcast episode here! I’m sharing some realistic, longevity-based goals for the new year.

It’s always cheese board season.

Sculpt Society now has food and I love the new recipes and meal inspiration. I’m adding so many of their ideas to our meal plan for next week. If you want to try TSS, it’s one of my all-time favorite home workouts. Use the code GINAJAN here to try it out!

Started with this audiobook and I already feel like it has had a huge positive impact on the way I think.

Fitness, health and good nutrition:

– The new food pyramid. Do I think it’s perfect? No. I think there are many people who cannot tolerate or digest large amounts of animal products and dairy products. I’m not sure where the beans are on the pyramid and it misses the nuance when it comes to saturated fat. At the same time, I think it’s a huge step in the right direction. I like the emphasis on clean, unprocessed foods, lots of fruits and vegetables, and a moderate approach to grains (especially here in the US, where many of our grains are tainted).

And while I don’t think refined sugar and processed foods should be part of everyday life, we make room for fun things every now and then (see below lol).

– These gluten-free, dairy-free cones. SO good.

– I also bought some puff pastry from Sweet Loren and it is amazing. It definitely exceeded my expectations, especially since many gluten-free baking options can be flops. I made some Nutella pastries and also some Pop Tart creations with strawberry jam, simple frosting and sprinkles.