Hi friends! Happy Friday to you. How has your week been out there?
It’s been a good one here with a lot of things to chat about. And that feels great to say! I decided to take the “Quarantine Week __” out of the title of these weekly round-ups because life is actually starting to feel slightly more normalized … whatever that means.
Skyler started his first week at preschool, I took an in-person CPR class, and we’re slowly but surely finding our way into a groove of being productive during this crazy time. Scott went away for a few days and has a few work-related gigs on his calendar (yay!), so we’re just doing our best to stay put and enjoy living in New York City as much as possible right now.

(I shared an update on what life is currently like here back in August.)
Things certainly aren’t magically back to the way they used to be, but there has been a lot of progress all around. Let’s just dive right in and kick things off, shall we?
Thank you for checking in!
Friday Favorites: Week of 10/2

- Skyler’s first week of preschool
This was a big week for our family, as Skyler attended his first two days of preschool! After ruling out the idea of any type of child care over the last seven months, Scott and I decided that it would be really good for him to socialize with other kids, play, learn, and be around other people than just his parents every day.
I was initially intimidated by the thought of sending him to preschool in our area, as I heard that wait lists are typical and the application process isn’t always easy. Also, I left my full-time job in February to be able to be Skyler’s daytime caretaker, so the thought of paying for preschool didn’t seem like the best route to go. After living in this extended period of quarantine and isolation, however, it’s clear that the longer he’s cooped up and away from his “normal” life of being out and about with people, the more he acts up, throws tantrums, cries, and is just not as happy overall. (I mean, I feel ya little guy.)
Anyways, after weighing out a long list of pros and cons of keeping him home or sending him off to preschool two days a week, we decided to place him in a daycare very close to our apartment. It has the highest ratings of the neighborhood and rave reviews from parent forums along with personal friends of ours. We were lucky enough to get him onto the roster for Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we feel safe with all of the extra safety protocols taken by the program that includes all staff in masks, cleaning the facility top to bottom three times a day, daily temperature checks, and more.

(This photo was from his first day of drop-off, and he was nervous!)
He does a variety of activities there including outside play, reading circles, yoga, and teaching lessons on top of play, eating meals and snacks, and nap time. We have a running WhatsApp with the staff that sends us tons of pictures and videos of what he’s doing all day.

When I asked Skyler what his favorite part of school is, he said “toys, games, kids, and milk!” Haha. He’s only been two days so far, but he comes home with a mouthful of things to say, singing new songs, and saying things that he obviously picked up from the lesson of the day.
I sure do miss him, but it is so nice to have some time to myself after years of not having that! I’m really looking forward to dedicating more focused time on things like running this blog, growing my online businesses, and hopefully start training again (maybe in person?!) sometime in the near future. It’s an all around win for everyone!
- CPR/AED recertification
It’s that time of year (well, every other year) where I attend a CPR/AED class as part of my CPT recertification. It’s always nice to brush up on the skills needed to effectively save someone’s life, and I enjoyed the process yesterday.

This time around was very different, however, as I was the only person in class! I purposely waited until my certificate was about to expire to sign up for an in-person session, due to the pandemic, so I totally get why. That said, there were extra measures taken to ensure my safety like stations set up at least six feet apart. I also wore a mask the entire time, gloves to practice on the practice dummies, and went over extra procedures in helping someone in need of CPR with a mask on.
This was my third time taking the course, and I was in and out in under two hours as the only student present. It was my second time taking the class in Manhattan, and I highly recommend the Frontline Health programs.

I always enjoy the refresher, and it’s nice to walk out of the room feeling like I could confidently help someone in need!
- walking around Midtown
I took my time getting home after class yesterday, which enabled me to explore and walk around the Midtown area. I hadn’t made a visit to the Times Square area, or the Broadway district since February, which is where Scott used to work nights at a high-end steakhouse.
Things certainly look a lot different around here.

For one, the streets are not flooded with tourists, or a ton of people. There are people roaming about, but all are in masks and seem to be out for limited amounts of time.
With most people able to still work at home right now and the temporary closure of all shows, this is what I expected to see. It was nice, however, to see that a lot of businesses were still open, including retail shops, restaurants, and some small businesses.

I called Scott before heading back to Brooklyn, and he insisted that I stop by the new Krispy Kreme flagship store in Times Square. It’s located on 48th Street and Broadway and just opened a few weeks ago!
This specific location has lots of bells and whistles, including a glaze waterfall and a production line capable of making close to 400 dozen doughnuts per hour. Whoa! There is also a 24-hour walk-up window, where customers can order boxes of doughnuts for takeout, although I found out that is for ordering glazed-flavored only.
The doughnut that Scott asked for was the famous Big Apple Doughnut!

This is a must-purchase if you visit the flagship store, as it is only sold at this exclusive location. It’s inspired by the candy apples sold all the way out at Coney Island and is made with red delicious-flavored Kreme filling. It’s dipped in red-colored Candied Green Apple icing, which is where the shiny mirror glaze comes from, and then it’s topped with a green leaf icing and a pretzel stick stem and is served up in a fancy green box.
It’s a sophisticated doughnut, and comes at an expensive price at $10.99. It hurt when I saw the total to bring home two of them for Scott, Skyler and I to share, but it’s all in the experience of living here, am I right?
And for what it’s worth, it was really, really good. If you ever get the chance to visit, definitely walk over to the store and try it out for yourself!
- toddler arts & crafts with handprints
Skyler going to preschool might have inspired me to get more creative with his arts and crafts projects at home. This week, I asked what he wanted to make and his answers were a giraffe on Monday and a big pumpkin on Wednesday. With a quick search on google, I found ideas of what I could easily recreate and make with him!

These specific crafts trace his hands and use his hand prints, so they’re fabulous keepsakes for us and to send out to family. They only require a pack of construction paper, glue, scissors, and the addition of orange and green paint for the pumpkins. We added some sparkle puffy paint and buttons that we had to the giraffe, too.

I don’t plan projects like this every day, but we have both been enjoying them on the regular when we can get to them!
- tie dye loopy case
I’ve been a sucker for tie dye lately (I know, very basic post-quarantine move), and one of my favorite purchases lately has been this new loopy case!

I’ve used loopy cases in the past, and I absolutely love the extra security I have when holding my phone by placing my fingers inside of the loop handle. It’s totally adjustable and interchangeable, and I ordered the clear strap for my case, as it also came with one in bright pink.
I’m a big fan of loopy cases, so if you’re looking to purchase one for yourself, you can take 10% off by using the code “foundya10” or take 15% off two or more loopys by using the code “foundya15” at checkout. Woo hoo!
- fall themed Trader Joe’s finds
It’s no secret that fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. It feels like it only lasts a solid few weeks here in New York, as the transition from hot summer days into cold winter nights jumps quickly.
We are in the crisp-but-perfect time of the season right now, and it inspires me to open our windows, try some new soup recipes, and even bake! Add some fall-inspired ingredients into the mix and I am a very happy girl.

Trader Joe’s is known to have a lot of great fall finds out right now, and here are just a few that I saw and put into my cart on my haul yesterday.
I’ll make sure to let you know about anything notable, and I cannot wait dive in to everything, especially the honey-roasted pumpkin ravioli. Yum!
- NEW clean beauty page!
I’m excited to share that I’ve finally created a landing page just for constant clean beauty news and chatter, and you can join to be a part of it for free !

This has been a long time coming, and having the time at home without needing to “mom” all day has pushed me to finally just do it. The beauty of a private opt-end page is that everyone genuinely wants to chat about it, so I’m looking forward to the conversations had by all on customer favorites, questions, tips, and more!
The giveaway I was running to kick things off is now closed, but I will be hosting many, many more on a regular basis through this forum. If you’re a fan of Beautycounter products, you definitely don’t want to miss out. I’ll be sharing (almost) daily content and discussing way more than you could ever get just through my public pages and newsletters. It’s going to be so much fun!
- latest workout faves
I’ve been horrible about documenting my workouts over the past couple of weeks! Ahh, I’ll be better about it in the weeks to come because I always appreciate when others share their fitness schedules and thoughts on what they tried if something new popped into the mix.
That said, here are a handful of workouts that I’ve really, really liked lately, all by Heather Robertson. She creates all follow-along workouts that go by quickly, but – heads up – she doesn’t include any form cues or modifications.
Here are a few that I’ve been loving on repeat:
- Intense Full Body Strength Workout
- Low Impact Cardio + Abs Workout
- Pilates Fusion // Full Body HIIT Workout (No Equipment, No Jumping)
- Full Body HIIT Workout With Weights
- favorite LIL posts
» Full Body Strength Bodyweight Workout
Save this total body workout for any time you need a quick circuit in 30 minutes or less. No equipment is needed, but grab a mat, a water bottle, and a towel because you are going to get sweaty with sneaky bouts of cardio!

» My Tips 10 Years Into the “Season of the Unknown”
This one goes out to all of you who feel a little bit lost living in unforeseen times right now. Here’s a glimpse into the past decade of our lives, along with what I’ve learned through everything that we couldn’t have seen coming.

All right. I hope you have a great rest of the day and weekend ahead. I’m looking forward to spending some low-key time with the family and a possible rooftop hang.
Stay safe out there and chat soon!
*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!

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