Hey everybody! Things are so wild right now in the world. Last month, I just couldn’t manage to finish my February favorites draft. This is partly due to the fact that I didn’t really have too many different favorite products. My main focus was on fitness and grocery shopping as I overhauled our grocery budget and shopping methods. This has changed again substantially due to the virus and impacts on our local grocery stores.
To catch you up: the girls turn 2 this weekend, and I haven’t yet gotten emotional or sentimental. I think because they act like such classic 2 year olds anyways that I feel like we’ve already passed that milestone! We originally planned for an epic party at their gymnastics center with bouncy houses and all their baby friends. I was looking forward to seeing people I haven’t seen in forever, and I know they would have been so excited to see everyone they love in one place. Unfortunately, we had to cancel and I’ve been scrambling to come up with a backup plan. I think we’ll follow the trends and do a Zoom birthday meeting and perhaps a social distance parade? Either way, we’re so lucky to have support and love from so many people.
Personally, I have been working every day with no days off. It’s not as bad as it seems since I’m only working for 2 hours at a time. But it can be tough to continuously get up at 4:30am every day. Luckily my job is still in tact so I’m not complaining. I have also been continuing with another program through Fitness Blender and I’ve been seeing some great results. I’m very close to my pre-pregnancy weight and I’ve lost 4 inches in my hips in just 4 weeks from the most recent program. My goals are strength, endurance and fitness. But the scale victories are a nice bonus!
Okay! On to the favorites:
Toddler Favorites:
- These Magna-doodle boards from Amazon:
The girls love to color, but it’s so hard to keep them from coloring on walls, windows, etc. and even harder to keep an eye on both without ruining their fun. This is the perfect solution because they can walk around with it and plop down anywhere, but still get to draw. They were also cheap and they’re compact enough that the girls can use them in the car (when we used to leave the house.)
- This awesome folding Tunnel that we received from our good friends the Gray’s:
The girls request this tunnel every day and usually will put pillows and blankets in there and read books, or dump their whole bag of blocks in there. The cats love it too!
- They are also loving veggie straws, animal crackers, going on walks, jumping on their trampoline, and getting sweeter with the cats.
My Favorites!
In an effort to update my skincare routine, I’ve switched to using a cleansing oil for makeup removal instead of my normal products. I’m never going back! This is gentle, doesn’t sting the eye, emulsifies, and does an effortless job of removing makeup. I follow up with a water based cleanser to make sure I get all the oil off.
I wanted to try and replace my Thayer’s witch hazel toner with something gentler. Apparently witch hazel can be a bit stripping, even alcohol free versions. And I wanted my toner to also act as a treatment. This niacinamide toner is amazing for redness and skin texture. I’m having the best skin of my life right now (even during typical hormonal breakouts) and I think that adding in more niacinamide has really helped things overall.
- This Niacinamide Supplement!
Haha, see what I mean? I’m obsessed with niacinamide. This supplement is great for brain health and some people have seen it having a positive impact in their weight loss. It supposedly also helps with skin when taken orally. I am taking it and am choosing to buy into the hype. I am not a registered dietician, nor a doctor though, and there haven’t been sufficient studies on this to conclude a correlation with this supplement and weight loss that I know of! Consult a doctor before adding this to your diet.
- This Brighten, Correct & Boost Set from Good Molecules
I’m really loving these products together. I use the daily brightening serum during the day as well and it’s instant results. I like the Vitamin C treatment powder especially.
Random Favorites
- I’ve been obsessed with shopping at Aldi and we get the majority of our groceries from there with the exception of some larger items that we need from Kroger. I highly recommend checking it out (although make sure you’re being responsible with your shopping!)
- Youtube: yes I’m still on a kick, check out these channels:
- Doctor Mike (the real McDreamy)
- Brad Mondo (an amazing stylist that does fun reaction videos)
- Some Good News (John Krasinski’s new channel focusing on only positive news stories)
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (She’s reading daily bedtime stories to kids!!!)
- Favorite Shows:
- Picard | CBS All Access (If you’ve ever watched Star Trek, this show seems to really give closure to multiple storylines. It is more action packed than Enterprise while remaining witty.)
- Brooklyn 99 | Hulu (we finally got caught up on the latest season. This is one of my favorite shows of all time!)
- Younger | Hulu (Got caught up on this season as well. It’s a quirky show, where the characters annoy me sometimes, but I still find myself rooting for them.)
I hope you have a wonderful week, and wish you good health. I’ll be back hopefully with some Birthday updates to share! Talk to you soon!
-Eva
Domestic Musings 