Friday Favorites: Week of 2/19

Hi and hello! We made it to Friday, and I hope you are doing well out there.

My thoughts are with those who have been affected by the crazy and unexpected winter storms, especially to those of you in Texas like some of our friends and family right now. This season of slowly coming out of quarantine just keeps getting more interesting! I’m sending you many virtual hugs and prayers to stay warm and safe.

It’s been a cold and snowy week here in Brooklyn, so let’s warm up and catch up with some light-hearted chatter, shall we?

Today we are covering Valentine’s Day, a fun date night in, a new workout, and more in this edition of Friday Favorites. Thank you for reading!

FRIDAY FAVORITES: WEEK OF 2/19

• Valentine’s Day 2021

Our Valentine’s Day was very low-key this year! We didn’t have anything special planned to celebrate, and that was okay with both of Scott and I. Instead, we took our time waking up, and Skyler and I gave him a homemade card and craft that we made. I walked into a room full of surprises later, and I took a photo because putting anything into a heart shape always makes it a little sweeter.

For those who don’t personally know us, Scott and I love our wine. I prefer to drink wine over any other adult beverage 90% of the time, and one of my favorite things to do is visit wineries to be able to learn more about them while exploring different tastes and varieties.

Happy Valentine’s to me because we had a delivery arrive with twelve new bottles to try! I’ll share more details soon, because we got them all at a steal by trying out different subscription boxes at an extreme discount. I’ll be back to share more once we test them out!

Anyways, our day was very casual and Skyler was the only one who got dressed up to take new photos for me to submit to his casting agency. (Read more about that here.)

I didn’t submit any photos with props, so these were just for me and I couldn’t help but to share them here with you, too. I cannot handle the cuteness!

Our day ended with a sushi delivery for dinner, and Scott and I binge-watched Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel on Netflix after Skyler went to bed. It was all very Valentine’s Day 2021.

• Sur La Table virtual cooking class

I wanted to gift Scott an experience that we could enjoy together for Valentine’s Day this year, and I stumbled upon Sur La Table’s virtual cooking classes page when searching around online.

For $29, you can sign up for a spot in one of their cooking classes, all online, and invite as many people as you’d like into your kitchen. There are a variety of times and themes to the classes, and you can find your favorites according to what would work best for your schedule on their Calendar View.

Classes are offered from morning until night, and you can even request a private event for a higher ticket price. I absolutely loved the idea of this, and I was excited to tell Scott what we were doing!

I strategically picked the “Steakhouse At Home” class for a few reasons. One, I have no idea how to actually cook a steak without a grill (we don’t have access to one in our apartment), and two, the session started at 4 p.m., which allowed us to participate together while Skyler was still at pre-school and double as a much-needed date night.

You can see the ingredients and prep instructions before you select the class you want, so that also swayed my decision. After I purchased access, I downloaded the guide to help me gather groceries, equipment needed, and get ready for the live class.

I was sent a Zoom like 30 minutes before the class started, and we were all ready to go right at 4 p.m. yesterday. I cleared the counters, had all of the ingredients ready, and took this as an opportunity to get slightly more dressed up than my typical leggings to really make it feel special.

Chef Paul was awesome! We were muted throughout the session, but could unmute ourselves and turn our video on/off as we pleased to ask questions. We followed along with the recipe in real time, and I particularly appreciated the professional cooking tips he shared throughout the session.

We both really enjoyed the experience of cooking together (which isn’t always the case, lol), and I would highly recommend you give it a try for a fun date night at home, or even solo time to brush up on your cooking skills.

The meal turned out amazing, and we will definitely be doing this again!

• You’re Invited: Self-Care Soirée

Would you be interested in joining me for a virtual night of self-care talk and pampering? I know I could sure use an hour to chat with a fun group of ladies, and there will be plenty of opportunities for giveaways, free sample packs and more.

If you would like to hear more about clean beauty or easy ways to take care of ourselves, that’s what this chat is all about! It’s going to be very casual, and all you need to bring is your comfortables and your beverage of choice. You can even invite a friend to join with you (at your place or from theirs)!

I would love to have you join the party next Friday, February 26th at 7:30pm EST, so please RSVP by sending me a direct message on social or emailing heather@lifeinleggings.com to get the zoom link. I hope to see you there!

Also, if you’re new to Beautycounter and , use the code CLEANFORALL20 to get 20% off your first order. Get daily tips and more ways to save by joining the Life In Leggings – Beautycounter Page, the and please reach out if you need help with anything at all!

• Skyler’s new big boy haircut

Skyler just got his first haircut back in December, and it was already time to get a trim in order to avoid it growing out to a mullet again. We really want to keep his curls, but decided that it was time for a “big boy” haircut and found the perfect spot in our neighborhood that offered toddler haircuts at a more affordable price than last time.

Skyler knew that he had to sit very still in order to get the cut we all wanted, and we were very proud of his listening skills. They had a movie playing in the background (this helped a ton!), and he loved getting to sit in a firetruck for his special cut.

Just like last time, seeing the curls fall to the floor got me a little emotional. But, I’m realizing that time is flying by in parenthood … and it will only continue to speed up as the years go by.

Skyler adores his “big boy” haircut and asks anyone he talks to if they like it, too. It’s the sweetest thing. Thank you for being so great with him, Slope Cuts!

• total body gym workout

I share some of my original workouts in Instagram Stories (there are over 100 now saved in the “Workouts” highlights), and I almost always follow them up with exercise descriptions and notes shared on the Life In Leggings Community group. From there, I like to share most of them here, but you will always find them in those places first!

This workout has a total body strength focus, and it can be adaptable to what kid of equipment you have access to. The last circuit focuses on ab work, and you will need a stability ball for it. If you don’t have one, do the sit-ups on the floor and mountain climbers instead of the ball knee tucks.

Complete 12-15 reps of each exercise in the circuit (separated in the graphic) for a total of 2-3 rounds before moving on to the next one.

(Use your equipment of choice: machines, dumbbells, whatever you have.)

EXERCISE BREAKDOWNS

chest presses – machine

chest presses – dumbbells

lat pulldowns

(or rows)

leg presses

biceps curls

triceps kickbacks

dumbbell lateral lunges

stability ball sit-ups

x-planks

stability ball knee tucks

(or mountain climbers)

Be mindful in your weight selections. If the workout calls for 12-15 reps, you should be able to complete only 12-15 reps each time. If you could complete more, up the weight.
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As always, please make sure you are cleared by a doctor to start any type of new physical activity and listen to your body for when to rest, and please reach out with any questions!⁣
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• favorite LIL posts

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Okay friends! That wraps things up for today. I’m heading out to go sledding in the park with Scott and Skyler and then partaking in Pizza Fridays for dinner. (We’ve been doing this for a few months now!)

I hope you have a great start to the weekend, and you can find me over on Instagram until we meet again. Happy Weekend!

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