Weekly Obsessions XXIV

Happy Friday! I was honestly surprised that this week went by as fast as it did. I thought it would drag after being off last week but luckily it didn’t. What do you have planned for this weekend? Tomorrow I’m getting an early lunch with a friend in Princeton which will be perfect after a 12 mile run haha. The rest of the weekend is a little up in the air. Bailey is getting spayed today so I expect a low key weekend giving our girl extra love and cuddles.

Before the weekend starts, I want to share some things I’ve been obsessed with this week. Let me know something you’ve been obsessed with in the comments! Have a great weekend 🙂

Peanuts and Cashews

I prefer unsalted or lightly salted nuts while Alex tends to go for salted nuts. Thus why we have a bag of salted peanuts and a bag of unsalted cashews in our cabinet. This week I’ve been mixing them together to get the right mix of nut and salt. It’s been perfect to add to my snacks at work. I put them in a container, shake it up and throw it in my bag.

The Keepers

This show is awesome! I had seen a trailer when it first came out but kind of forgot about it. When we were visiting my family, someone mentioned that it was good so Alex and I tried it out. It does not disappoint! It’s a seven part docu-series that digs into the death of a nun, Sister Cathy, who was murdered in Baltimore. It goes into a potential cover up, the murder of another young women just days after Sister Cathy’s and interviews her former students. If you like true crime then watch this show.

Peanut Butter Cup Halo Top

Bailey wants in on this stuff too!

Peanut butter and chocolate is my all time favorite flavor combination. You just can’t beat it in my opinion so I was a little nervous to try out this ice cream. Personally I only buy Halo Top when it’s on sale because I can’t justify $5 on a pint of ice cream. They were on sale last week so I grabbed this at the grocery store and it was a fantastic decision. There’s swirls of peanut butter in the ice cream and the flavor is on point.

Question of the day: What’s one thing you’ve been obsessed with this week?

 

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Top 3 Moments From Chicago And July 4th

Hi everyone! Since I was gone from the blog last week I wanted to share my top 3 moments from our trip to Chicago. Have a great day 🙂

Hopsmith With Friends

Since Alex and I were going to be in Chicago over a weekend, I thought it would be perfect to meet up with friends in the city to get drinks. Most of the time when we’re at my parents it’s for a holiday so most people are busy with their own families. Luckily that wasn’t the case so we got to meet up with about 10 people total and it was a blast!! Alex and I took the train to the city on Saturday afternoon then went to my friend Alison’s new apartment for drinks with her boyfriend Corey before we headed to Hopsmith which is a bar that Alison recommended. We drank the night away and I got to see some of my best friends which was awesome. Corey ordered us nachos and they were tasty. Alex even made a cute little speech since we were calling it birthday drinks.

Incredibles 2 With Alex, Mom and Brendan

 

My older brother Brian, Dad and sister Megan were actually in China for the first half of the trip so it was just Alex, my younger brother Brendan, my mom and I at my parent’s house. Mom was thinking of something fun for us to do so we went and saw The Incredibles 2. Majority of the people in the audience were over the age of 15 which was kind of surprising. The movie was so good though! If you haven’t seen it, you should definitely go. The 14 year wait was worth it.

Time At The Lake

On Monday afternoon, Alex and I drove to my grandparents house in Indiana. They live on the lake and I grew up going there all the time in the summer. It was such a relaxing and slow paced few days. My entire family went as well as an aunt and uncle. We celebrated some birthdays, had fireworks on July 4th, went boating, read a bunch and spent time with family. It was the perfect little refresher that I felt was needed for both Alex and I. Apparently Mike Pence’s brother lives on the same lake as my grandparents and the VP was there while we were. Alex thinks he saw the secret service on a random boat while we were out one morning too.

Question of the day: American friends, what’s the highlight from your July 4th activities?

Weekly Obsession XXIII

Happy Friday! I’m pretty excited that the weekend is tomorrow because Alex and I leave bright and early to head to Chicago. I’m not kidding about bright and early y’all, we’ll be at the airport before the sun is up haha. We’re heading to my parents house for a few days then going to one of my favorite places to visit my grandparents and spend a few days at their house on a lake. I’ll check in when I can next week but I apologize if the blog takes a bit of a back seat.

Before I can even get home to finish packing, let’s share a few things I’ve been obsessed with this week. Let me know what your plans are for July 4th next week and something you’ve been obsessed with in the comments below. Have a great day 🙂

Blueberries

I picked up two pints of blueberries since they were on sale at the grocery store and it was a great decision. Most of this week (minus today since the blueberries are gone) I’ve been bringing a full snack size bag of them to work with me. They’ve been the perfect midmorning snack. The berries come from New Jersey so they’re about as close to fresh from the farm as I can get since the farm near us doesn’t have any. Some have been really tart while others are more mild. I’ve been loving them and have to prevent myself from snacking on them at home. No joke, I would eat the whole pint if I could.

No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

On the opposite of the health spectrum have been these no bake cookies. I made them last week and have been snacking on them nonstop. Full disclosure I ate 3 of them in one day earlier this week. No regrets either. The texture makes it feel like you’re eating straight cookie dough but it’s actually healthy. Some of them were straight peanut butter while I added a few dark chocolate chips to the top of others. If you are looking for an easy dessert for any cookouts you may have, try these out.

Paul McCartney Carpool Karoke

If you like the Beatles, watch this. If you don’t like the Beatles, watch this. Carpool karoke is one of my favorite segments that James Corden does but this one is probably my favorite! Alex and I watched it the other night and we were both singing along to the songs. Some of them have been stuck in my head since then and I’m not complaining. This video is such a feel good one and a perfect way to say goodbye to work and hello to the weekend.

Question of the day: What’s one thing you’ve been obsessed with this week?

Weekly Obsessions XXII

Happy Friday! Today is a good Friday because I get out of work a little early. Gotta love free hours to use whenever I want. I hope you had a great week and something fun on the agenda for the weekend.

Before the weekend starts, I want to share a few things that I’ve been obsessed with this week. Let me know something you’ve been obsessed with in the comments below. Have a great day 🙂

Ice Tea Maker

A few years ago, my sister gifted me this little ice tea maker. Apparently I said I wanted one and honestly I don’t remember that but I’m so glad she did! With the hot temperatures we had at the beginning of the week, I was using this bad boy to make a ton of it. Sometimes I’ll fill it with tea bags and others I use loose tea. It’s easy to clean and it dispenses from the bottom so there’s no pouring involved. Unfortunately I don’t remember the exact brand of the one gifted me but this one looks pretty identical!

Little Fires Everywhere

Celeste Ng’s novel has been getting so much attention recently so I was excited to see it available to rent for my Nook. It’s the story of the Richardson’s who have four children that live in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. Shaker Heights is a progressive and very planned spot, something that Elena Richardson loves. She owns a rental property that was her parents and rents the top apartment to Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl. Pearl starts to hang out with 3 of the 4 Richardson children while Izzy, the youngest Richardson, starts to spend more time with Mia. When a custody battle between family friends of the Richardson starts to divide the town, the members of the Richardson and Warren families start to divide as well. Mia’s past comes into play as well once Elena starts to discover more about her.

The story almost starts at the end when you discover that Izzy has set little fires in multiple spots of the Richardson house and then runs away. The rest of the story is from when the Warren’s move in until the house is burned down. The characters may appear to be simple but as the story develops, they develop as well. It was a really good read that wasn’t intense or anything but you had ideas throughout on what would happen but had no idea how it would play out. I think it would be a great pool or beach read for the summer!

Knockarounds

I got these sunglasses for free years ago at a Rutgers football tailgate and forgot about them. With summer and the sun beating down, I wanted to have something to help prevent squinting on my runs. I dug around some storage bins and found my Knockarounds. They work so well! When I have them over the headband that I wear on runs, they don’t slip around my nose and stay in place. They’re lightweight as well which I love and are incredibly cheap. The classics, which I have, are $10. Yes you read that right, just ten dollars. Perfect for summer so you don’t have to worry about them breaking or misplacing them. Ralph from Run, Eat, Ralph has the polarized version and wrote a review if you want to hear about those.

Summer Hits of the 2000s Playlist

If you have Spotify, stop what you are doing and go listen to this playlist. The mix of genres on this playlist is perfect. There’s some rap, pop, top 40s and everything in between. I’ve been throwing this playlist on constantly the past week. It’s been on in the car, at home, during runs. Just so good! All of the songs are absolute jams in my opinion and I love singing along to them.

Question of the day: What’s one thing you’ve been obsessed with this week?

Weekly Obsessions XXI

Happy Friday! How was your week? The weather was pretty good, we have a working ice maker again and there was a midweek date night. I have to say I had a good week and really hope you did too.

In Friday fashion, I’m sharing the things I’ve been obsessed with this week. Have a wonderful day!

Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate

Earlier this week, a coworker asked if I liked dark chocolate out of the blue. I said yes and she goes here have this chocolate bar because I bought dark instead of milk chocolate. When I broke a piece off, I was expecting to have the caramel be more liquid in it which I don’t love. Boy was I wrong! The caramel was hard with tiny pieces throughout the chocolate so it’s not an intense caramel flavor. It’s the perfect mix of salty, caramel and chocolate. She bought it at Walmart but it appears to be out of stock online. If there’s a Walmart near you then you should pick it up.

Spindrift

When we were at my parent’s house over Memorial Day, my mom and I popped into Costco to pick up some veggies for the weekend. While walking around we came across a case of Spindrift. I had been seeing it all over social media and asked my mom if she had tried it. We ended up buying the case and I brought it back to New Jersey (thanks mom 🙂 I’ve been drinking them during lunch this week as a break since I can’t drink a giant seltzer during lunch. So good!! It’s flavored with real fruit juice and it tastes fresh. Sparkling water is less carbonated than seltzer so it makes it’s easier to go down during my lunch break. The Costco pack had lemon, grapefruit and raspberry lime flavored. Grapefruit is my favorite but I like all of them a lot. Spindrift’s website has a store locator function so you can see stores that carry it near you.

The Lucky Ones

The Lucky Ones is the story of Allison. She was orphaned after her mother died and placed in foster care. A well known brain surgeon and philanthropist brought her and six other children into his home, known as The Dragon, to live with him. Allison loved her life and newfound family until she almost died one night and her great aunt took her in. Thirteen years later, Allison’s “brother” writes that their “Dad” is ill and will die soon if she wants to say goodbye. Allison is torn of leaving her past behind her or going back to find out what really happened to her on that fateful night.

Tiffany Reisz wrote a good one you guys! It hooked me in from the beginning and I was dying to figure out what happened. Reisz throws a few twists into the story that throw you off from the path you think the story will follow. It’s a quick read and I didn’t want to put it down.

Question of the day: What’s one thing you’ve been obsessed with this week?