Friday Favorites

Last weekend kicked off my travel season for work and speaking, so I’ve spent the majority of this week preparing for the Declare Conference! I’ll be teaching a social media graphics lab and speaking Saturday afternoon about intentional social media – if you’re going, will you let me know in the comments so we can connect?

A lot of these favorites came out of last weekend’s trip to Charlotte and I couldn’t wait to share with you! {affiliate links included}

Fun

Coloring Books – I stuck my markers & a coloring book in my carry on before I left, thinking they would be great after I arrived in Charlotte. I had almost two hours to wait before heading to the hotel, but I totally forgot to get them out. Instead, I ended up picking up yet ANOTHER color book at Paper Source with Nester, who then convinced me it would be totally normal for us to sit at a table and color before dinner. Not anti-social at all. Nope. In fact, as the other gals came in they grabbed a coloring page and some markers and joined us! It was the perfect game-free ice breaker that gave us all something to do while we chatted. I have this one, this one, and this one – and these markers, which I adore.

Signature Style Cards from Hallmark – I love a good greeting card, and the new #SignatureStyle line from Hallmark is so super fun. They sent me three to check out, and two were super sparkly (love!) and one was actually a journal you could mail to someone! How fun is that? Snail mail + glitter + journal = WIN!

Read

(in)courage Writer’s Retreat Recaps – Once a year the writers at (in)courage get together for a small retreat. Sometimes it’s more business than retreat, but this year? It was so lovely to go and relax at Nester’s barn with these amazing women. We sometimes see one another in real life at conferences, but it’s very, very rare that we all end up at the same place, at the same time, with no outside agendas. Did I feel totally out of my element? Yep. But God is so gracious and gave me little moments to see Him and His goodness through it all. I love these recaps by Lisa Leonard & Nester!

Wild In The Hollow – You’ve grabbed your copy, right? So you can join in on Monday with my Periscope book club? Here’s the schedule:

July 27th – Intro/Discuss Chapters 1-3
August 3 – Discuss Chapters 4-6
August 10 – Discuss Chapters 7-9
August 17 – Discuss Chapters 10-12
August 24 – Discuss Chapters 13 -16
August 31 – Wrap up/ Recap

Cook

Fixate – I’ve been doing the 21 Day Fix (and now 21 Day Fix Extreme) program now for 4 months. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love it, how much healthier & stronger I feel, or how it’s changed our family. Finding interesting recipes that we all love has been a little bit of a challenge – and the “food math” required to figure out the containers doesn’t exactly come easily to me. Enter “Fixate” – 101 recipes created specifically with the 21 Day Fix meal plan in mind (and now it will work with Cize! Yay!). I challenged myself to make at least one new recipe from the cookbook every day this week and they have all been amazing. Do they take time to prepare? Yes – because you’re cooking with whole foods, not processed or pre-made foods – but so completely, totally worth it. The recipes also make enough to feed a small army, so you can stretch each one out over a few days, or make & take to a potluck! You can grab a copy here!

Wear

Fair Trade Global Layered Bracelet Set – I wear my Fitbit. A lot. 99% of the time. But it’s not cute and it’s chunky and it’s hard to rock an arm party because most bracelets just don’t fit with it. Oh except these lovelies! Between the gorgeous blue, the beautiful gold, and the super fun tassel, I’m pretty much never taking these off. Grab yours today! 

Lisa Leonard Passage Ring – I can’t even tell you what a blessing it is to own this ring. It was a gift. A very, very generous gift and it brings me such joy when I see it. Lisa creates from the heart and produces the most beautiful pieces. This isn’t meaningless jewelry – these are pieces that tell stories, that create legacy.

Persian Garden Fragrance Oil – So I was really awkward last weekend and totally followed someone around because I just loved how they smelled. Fortunately I knew her and she was kind enough to tell me what she was wearing, but it still had lots of awkward involved. Especially when I sent her a text Monday to tell her I kept waiting for her to walk in the room because I could smell her perfume…but it was just me. Because I was that girl who went and purchased it immediately. The best part? It’s this little tiny bottle they sell at Whole Foods – and on Amazon! It smells so warm and wonderful.

eCandy Wireless Headphones – I found these on sale right before my trip and impulse bought them, thinking they would be great to wear in the fitness center at the hotel while I worked out. Well sadly, the fitness “center” consisted of two ellipticals, some weights, a wall-sized television and an odd smell of cat pee. So I didn’t work out. But they were AMAZING headphones for the plane – and I love that they sync via bluetooth to my phone so I didn’t have to stay attached to it the whole time. And guess what? They’re still on sale at Amazon for just $20 (normally $90!).

Watch

Killjoys – I kind of like sci-fi shows. And I tend to follow actors I really like from one show to the next. So when I saw that Aaron Ashmore from Warehouse 13 was on a new show, I had to try it. It’s cheesy and ridiculous and sometimes a little icky but I really enjoy it because it features a strong female lead, snappy dialogue and interesting back stories.

Hollywood Game Night – I might have mentioned my love for this show before. I can’t remember. But it seriously cracks me up every time I watch. To be fair, I hate actually playing the kinds of games they play, but watching extroverts who are actually good at these things is super entertaining. I usually have to watch it the next day On Demand because I’ve been known to wake the kiddo up laughing too loudly if I watch it at night. Now, let’s be clear though – it’s HOLLYWOOD game night, not family game night, so there are totally innuendoes and conversation you might not want your littles to overhear. I’m not easily offended, so I think it’s pretty funny.

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That’s the round up this week! Oh! And I found those black wedges I was looking for, on Zulily of all places. I’ll be sure to share those once I’ve actually worn them and decide if they fall into the “favorite” or “fail” category. What have you found this week that you love?