Friday Favorites (August 24, 2018)

I just looked at the calendar and realized this weekend will be the last one in August. How did THAT happen? Kevin, Maggie, and I have a rather low-key weekend at home ahead of us, and I’m thrilled about that. I adore having downtime with just our little family, and it doesn’t seem to happen often enough.

So. I have quite the list for you this week. Shall we dig right into some favorites?:

• I grabbed a pair of these Ellie In Her Element Skylar earrings in Dark Mauve and love how they look, how well made they are, AND how lightweight they are. (Oh, and the price is great, too. These are a win all around!)

• Two high school friends of mine are both bloggers for Indianapolis Moms Blog, and I always enjoy reading their posts. I especially adored posts from EACH of them from this past week, and just had to include them both here. Bailey Streicher wrote a beautiful piece about advice she has for her daughter as she grows up, and I found myself nodding along throughout, as I share the same hopes for my Maggie-girl. Lauren Palmer shared a story about an interaction she and her daughter had with a differently abled child and his mom this past spring, and what she wished she’d done ahead of time to prepare for such a scenario. I so appreciated this post, and took to heart some of the recommendations she made in it. Since then, I’ve talked about preparing kids to interact with all different kinds of people, and two books that have come up are the graphic novel El Deafo (this is one I knew about thanks to hearing an interview with the author on one of my favorite parenting podcasts, The Longest Shortest Time) and Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship. If you have other books you’d recommend I add to the list for Maggie as she grows up to help facilitate these conversations, please send them my way!

• In working on my first Ask Anna post earlier this week (and digging into some dairy research), I was reminded of this Bloomberg article from last year about the dairy industry. I was shocked to learn just how closely linked the government is to dairy, working to keep it at the forefront of our minds by pushing dairy HARD on menus (think Taco Bell’s Quesalupa) and through nationwide campaigns (Got Milk? ring a bell…?). This is a fascinating (and rather upsetting) read.

• I just got Beautycounter’s new Romantic Eyeshadow Palette, and it’s GORGEOUS! I became an eyeshadow believer after falling for the Ultimate Nudes Eyeshadow Palette last Christmas, and this smaller palette is another awesome option. The colors are so pretty, and you can easily create either a more toned down, everyday look or a bolder look for an event or night out. You can snag the palette on its own or at a discounted price as part of the four-piece Get The Look set, which includes the palette along with an eyeliner, powder bronzer or highlighter, and lipstick.

• I’ll leave you with Marcel the Shell. If you’re not familiar with Marcel, you MUST watch this video. I adore this shell, and we have the book Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: Things About Me at our house and it’s perhaps my favorite book of Maggie’s. (But really — watching this video is guaranteed to make your day juuuust a little better. You can’t help but smile!):

Hope you have a fun weekend ahead!