Hi there! Anyone else thrilled that it’s Friday? I sure am. The weather is gorgeous and the weekend is looking pretty great from where I stand. Let’s kick it off right by looking back at some of my favorites from the past week – the little things that made it a lovely week.
- Pippa
{Photo courtesy of my mom}
I love her all the time, I really do. But my dog has been endlessly sweet and love-y this week and it’s the cutest thing ever. She dances around my feet when I get back from work and comes over to sit by me whenever I’m on the floor. Can I please take her back to school with me?
- Harry Potter weekend
My name is Ellen and I’m (a little bit) addicted to Harry Potter. I’ve read all the books and listened to the audiobook versions (Jim Dale is an incredible reader) 70 million times. I counted. I’ve been to Harry Potter world twice. And while the movies aren’t the books, I’ve seen those plenty of times, too. While I do own all the DVDs, there’s something really nice about when ABC Family decides to play all the movies all weekend. I foresee lots of Harry Potter on in the background this weekend and I can’t wait.
- Whole Foods haul
I don’t go to Whole Foods that often, but I was in the mood for new snacks and wandering around a grocery store on Tuesday, so my mom and I made a trip. I ended up getting some TigerNuts, sea salt Enlightened Crisps, cinnamon & sugar SuperSeedz, Turkish figs, and Deglet dates. I’ve tried them all and I love them all! Good choices 🙂
- Naps
Guys, I’ve napped three times in the last seven days. This is uncharacteristic, but I’ll take any extra rest I can get. Sleep is great.
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard
This was going to be the spot for tacos. And I did have tacos + chips + salsa last night. But honestly, these supposedly amazing tacos were just okay. My dad then suggested we head out for dessert, and we settled on Dairy Queen Blizzards. My standard Reese’s Cup one was intensely peanut butter-y, candy-packed and amazing.
And that’s all for me today! Have a wonderful weekend!
What are you snacking on lately?
Have you ever had a Blizzard? Favorite flavor?
What all are you loving this week?
This picture of you and Pippa is adorable. The look on her face is priceless!
Thank you! She can be pretty cute 🙂
I’m with you on the Harry Potter love! I still haven’t been to HP world, though! I want to go in the next year or so!
Ahh I hope you get to go! It’s so well-done! 🙂
Your dog is adorable!! I have a yellow lab and his ‘cuddly’ and ‘lovey’ usually end with big accidental scratches for everyone. He does like to jump in your arms and be held like a baby though! Also, Harry Potter weekend <33 thanks for the heads up!
I grew up around my grandparents’ labs – they’re so sweet! Enjoy HP 🙂
So cute!!! <3
Good choice with the tigernuts! They rock…so does tigernut flour!
I love them! I’ll have to keep an eye out for tigernut flour – sounds interesting 😀
Yes on the Harry Potter! I am currently rereading the series actually and I am falling n love with the story and characters more and more everyday. I often find myself thinking, ‘its LEVI-OOOSA not LEVIOS-AAAW’ ;). I have been snacking on chocolate chip pb cookies and have been loving adding chocolate chips to every food. Even eggplant. I am a tad bit obsessed!
I definitely think you get more out of the series every time you read it, especially if you read it when you’re a bit older.
Adding chocolate is always the way to go! Gotta admit I’m a little curious how it worked with the eggplant 😉 But I’d try it!
i’ve been snacking on bread so much lately, its just so addictive hah!
I wish wish wish we had a dairy cream blizzard in the UK, I have been wanting to try one for so long and yours looks beyond amazing.
I have been loving the weather but then it started raining haha, oh dear my luck isn’t always great
Have a lovely weekend xo
Bread IS addictive. A loaf isn’t safe around me 😛
Oh, I hope you get to try a Blizzard sometime… and if not, just take some vanilla ice cream, soften it, and mix it with your fave candy. The effect is probably similar 🙂
Have a great weekend, Amy! I hope the rain clears up!
Harry Potter is a great series! Which is your favorite book?
I have also been snacking on those Enlightened crisps. They are so so good. I want to go back and try the other flavors (I just bought the sea salt).
Blizzards are my favorite! 😀 I really enjoy the Heath and the Turtle Cluster blizzards. I’m craving one right now!
Have a great weekend, Ellen!
I think I like Prisoner of Azkaban best overall, though there are some nuances and chapters that I absolutely loved in Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows…
They are good! I can’t wait to try others.
I’ve never had those Blizzards before, but I’d totally try them. They sound fabulous.
Thanks, Alison, I hope you’re having a great weekend, too!
I used to adore the Midnight Truffle Blizzard. It was my absolute FAVE and nothing else could compare! But then they changed the recipe, took out a lot of the chocolate, reduced the add-ins (whaaa??? The add-ins are half the Blizzard!!) and removed the espresso powder that made it taste extra-chocolate-y, and now it’s just not the same. It’s still pretty good, especially if you’d never had it the old way ( 😛 ), but I’d be just as likely to order cookie dough now.
One of my favorite snacks is dried cherries + pistachios + TJ’s coconut chips…also sometimes with chocolate. <- THEE Best!!! Lately, though, I've mostly been snacking on fresh fruit, jerky, some sort of rice protein powder snack (yes, that is about as weird as it sounds!)… Your snacks have me intrigued, though, especially the TigerNuts…now I want to go back to Whole Foods! 😉
Favorites for this week…
1) The Blush blog (joinblush.com/blog). They are a group of ladies who do life coaching for young ladies/girls, and their blog is full of inspirational posts and encouraging and challenging articles. I was spent so much time reading post after post, and each one was gave me something to think about and reinforced a different truth with which I've been struggling.
2) Freshly shredded carrots on salad. In trying to use up leftover shredded carrots recently, I put them on my salad, and I've been craving them on every salad since. 😉 They add that perfect extra moisture and a slightly sweet flavor.
3) Researching/discovering Barre classes (in my area!!). In looking for different workout options, I ran into Barre classes and DVDs. I am not a good researcher and get easily overwhelmed, but the more I looked into this, the more excited I got. Trouble was, I wasn't sure how well I could learn from a DVD, and I could find any classes nearby. My mom is super-good at research, and she very quickly found a class quite close. Now I am really excited to try it sometime!!
4) Cooking recipes from both Against All Grain cookbooks. Making dinner for my family full of different dietary restrictions makes finding creative recipe ideas difficult. I found tons of inspiration from Danielle Walker's books, and have made several of the recipes (some massively adapted, because I'm tend to be that kind of cook 😛 ), and now I don't want to return then to the library! 😉
5) Podcasts and The Lively Show. Here I was, thinking podcasts basically died out years ago, but in the last couple of years, I've been hearing about them more and more. Now, with then being so in, I recently started listening to a few and am totally hooked!! I've particularly enjoyed going through and listening to various episodes of The Lively Show, picking the interviews Jess Lively does with bloggers or authors I know. So fun and informative!
Hope your weekend is great, Ellen! Thanks, as always, for the opportunity to take a moment to be thankful for the last week!
It’s not cool when your old faves get changed. Lame. But cookie dough also is pretty great 🙂
Love the sound of your trail mix-y snack! Yummm.
1.) I’ll have to check it out! Thanks for the recommendation.
2.) I <3 carrots. That is all.
3.) I'd love to know what you think of barre! I think it sounds really interesting and uniquely challenging.
4.) Trying out cool new recipes is the bessst. Don't blame you at all for wanting to keep that book 🙂
5.) I. Love. Podcasts. I'll have to check out the Lively Show.
Of course! Thanks for reading and responding, Hannah 🙂 Hope you're having a nice weekend!
I just tried my first Blizzard last week— mint oreo— and it was so tasty! That photo of you and Pippa is ADORABLE. What a look of love in her eyes ♥
Mint and chocolate is one of my favorite combos – that sounds delicious. Thanks, Alison! You’re so sweet 🙂
Your blizzard looks incredible! The heath or reese’s blizzard used to be my go-to, but now I get the chocolate truffle one whenever I go. It’s like chocolate overload.
And someone actually told me about Tiger Nuts today for the first time- they sound yummy!
Ooh I’ll have to try that! Chocolate overload sounds like my kind of dessert 🙂
I’d never heard of them, but I was curious – and I sure like ’em!
Puppies are seriously the best – I can’t blame you for wanting to take Pippa back with you!
I’ve never had a Blizzard (though we were thinking about investigating whether they were GF last time we were in Louisiana… but I guess we forgot ha!) but that combination sounds AMAZING! I am definitely a PB and chocolate girl <3
Haha I’d imagine the ones made with GF mix-ins are… but who knows – gluten is in crazy things 😛 But peanut butter and chocolate is the best <3 Thanks for reading, Kristy! Have a wonderful day!