Friday Favorites: Quarantine Week 23

Hi friends and good morning! We made it to Friday, and I have an eventful one today as I start Day One of IDEA World Virtual 2020.

I absolutely love attending conventions and always come out of them inspired to try something new or pursue something I haven’t had the confidence to do before. I’m looking forward to the sessions and presenters, and I’ll be sure to share the highlights with you next week!

But first, let’s back up and cover this week for a round-up of Friday Favorites. My mom is visiting here in Brooklyn, so we have been out and about more than normal. It’s been fun!

I also have some news on lip glosses, lip sticks, and why I’m loving the new formula with ethically-sourced vanilla, so let’s dive right in. Happy Friday!

LATEST FAVES — QUARANTINE WEEK 23

• Quarantine activities with mom

I know I’m not sharing anything new right now, but quarantine is such a weird time. In the beginning, just getting out for a simple walk around the neighborhood was a big deal. The act of going to the grocery store was the highlight of the week, and now something like dining outdoors is pretty special.

During these weeks of feeling like the world is upside down, I’ve been doing my best to get out (safely) when it makes sense, and to explore our borough and neighborhood as much as possible. There is a rotation of activities that I do with Scott and Skyler, and we try new things when they “open” if it looks safe with the right protocols in place.

That said, we have been taking my mom around all of our go-tos this week, and it makes me laugh that we’ve pretty much hit everything we’ve done during these twenty-three weeks of this loose quarantine in seven days.

We’ve had a blast exploring together, and I’m so glad that she’s here.

Here are some of the highlights …

We took a quick subway ride to Coney Island for an afternoon on the beach and boardwalk.

We spent a lot of quality time with Skyler.

We dined outside in several restaurants around our neighborhood in Park Slope, some which were new-to-me and that felt good.

We took several long walks and runs around the neighborhood.

I’m very grateful for our time together over the past week, and she will be in town to help with Skyler as I spend the next few days glued to the computer on a virtual conference and working on a few projects. I’ll share more on everything soon!

• Kale Chicken Cobb Salad

I shared this salad on Instagram today, and I wanted to include the recipe here, too. I created this monster salad as a project with Annie’s Organic Goddess Dressing and Whole Foods, and you can find the printable version to save and reference on FeedFeed!

I’ve had an obsession this summer, and it’s for hearty, colorful salads, especially when it’s hot out. Anyone else? I absolutely love cobb salads, and this version includes a mix of kale and romaine as the base and is packed with flavor!

You can find this dressing along with other delicious flavors at your local Whole Foods here: http://bit.ly/wf-stores, where Annie’s Dressings are 2/$6 through 8/25. Please let me know if you give this one a try!

• new lip glosses, lipsticks, and the importance of WHY I’m loving them

Okay, so I know we are in the middle of a pandemic and wearing face masks majority of the time in public, but let’s take a pause from that for a minute and talk about lip glosses and lipsticks, because I have some fantastic news for you!

Beautycounter launched two new products last week, and they are replacing the current lip gloss and sheer lipstick. They have new packages, new shades, new formulas, and feel great.

Meet the Beyond Gloss lip gloss and Sheer Genius Conditioning Lipstick.

I’ve been testing them out for a week and truly love everything about both. The lipstick feels conditioning, almost like a balm … which is something that I’ve never experienced before in a lipstick, and the lip gloss delivers bold color (if a bold shade is chosen), without the stickiness. I’m wearing the Sheer Genius lip stick in Terra in the photo above, and I’m holding Black Plum, which can be subtle or very dramatic, depending on how you layer and blot. They’re both amazing in different ways.

What’s even more amazing is that they do good. Fun fact, Beautycounter spent 2.5 years finding a responsibly sourced vanilla scent, and this is a huge deal in the cosmetics industry. In fact, Allure magazine wrote all about it in this article, showing Beautycounter some love for the efforts!

The long of the short of it is these glosses and sticks are now better than ever, thanks to safer ingredients, stringent screening and safety testing, responsible sourcing, and more.

Let me know if you need help picking a shade, and definitely reach out if you’re new to Beautycounter, (use the promo code CLEANFORALL20 through 8/31 for 20% off!) or if you need any help with anything at all. Y’all know I love talking about this stuff!

ALSO. There is a sale happening right now with skincare Regimens and Collections. Anyone who purchases either option from any line will receive a Counter+ No. 1 Brightening Facial Oil for free ($68 value)!

This citrus-scented facial oil is on my list of Top Beautycounter Skincare Products, and quickly absorbs into your skin to awaken and replenish, brighten, and revitalize. It’s super lightweight, silky, and smooth. The blend of oils is designed to help hydrate and improve the appearance of skin radiance, and can be used as a moisturizer. It’s a great addition to have in your routine, and I would love to answer any questions you may have about it.

There are many more exciting things to talk about here, so make sure to to my clean beauty newsletter to get all the details.

• latest workouts

I feel like I’ve said this every few weeks, but it really was a different kind of week for me. With my mom in town, our days were anything but typical, and we were out and about more than we would normally. She is a runner, and I appreciated her asking to run around the neighborhood with me three days while she was here!

Other than that, we didn’t get to many strength circuits, which I will be more focused on next week. I already miss the gym, but I think it’s time to just accept it and channel my energy into creating a killer week of at-home workouts in advance for the week ahead. What a concept, right?

Anyways, this past week included daily walks around the neighborhood, a few runs, and only one strength session with mini bands.

Here’s what I did …

Friday: REST

Saturday: 6 mile run around the park.

Sunday: Full Body Mini Resistance Band Workout via Heather Robertson. I really liked the flow of this one, and recommend you give it a try.

Monday: 6.75 run to the Brooklyn Bridge and back. It was a very casual pace of jogging, and it was beautiful.

Tuesday: REST – we went to the beach!

Wednesday: REST – it was a very rainy day filled with indoor activities with Skyler. I was sad that I never got around to my workout!

Thursday: 2 mile walk + 3.65 mile run with my mom through the park.

I took more rest days than usual, so I will be putting together more of a structured plan for the week ahead. I really do miss the consistency!

• favorite LIL posts

» What It’s (Really) Like To Quarantine in New York City

I shared a bit about what life is like here during the COVID-19 pandemic back in May, so I figured it was time for an update. Here we go!

» 24 Workouts You Can Do At Home

A helpful round up of bodyweight, dumbbell, and workouts using minimal equipment like bands, a stability ball, running, and more from Life In Leggings!

---

All right, it’s time for me to take the boys out for a walk before I get ready for the conference today. Thank you for checking in, and I hope you all have a great weekend ahead!

Stay safe out there!

*Disclaimer: Friday Favorites posts may contain affiliate links. Also, I am a Beautycounter consultant and love what I do with the company. By using the links provided in this post to order products, you are supporting my business. I always appreciate you!