Friday Finds || Vol. 4, Week 9

Happy Friday! It was a pretty uneventful week over here, as I’m still battling a head cold left over from the flu. I’m trying to take my own tips, but man, it seems never ending!

I grabbed a salad with a girlfriend on Wednesday before the snow started and it became clear that it’s “that time of year” again. After being sick, a snow storm on the way, and the temperatures dropping back down to the teens, I’ve been in my annual WAIT, WHY DO WE LIVE HERE?! mood. Do people in California know how good they have it weather-wise?? 😂 As much as we love Chicago, my girlfriend and I were tossing out places that seem so much better to live — Palm Beach, Santa Barbara, Sonoma County. Ugh, if only I could pack up all of my friends and convince them all to move somewhere warmer!

Yesterday, I finally left the house for more than a quick errand for some appointments I didn’t want to reschedule, and while it was so nice to get some fresh air and get some steps in (even though it was ~*FrEeZiNg*~), it was so annoying having to blow my nose every two minutes that I finally left the coffee shop I was working at in the afternoon. 😂 I felt like everyone was staring at me like, “Lady, you better not f*cking get me sick.”

I feel like my body is in knots from being sick and I’m craving a good yoga class, but seeing as there’s no way I could make it through class without a box of tissues next to me, much less comfortably put my head upside down, that’s going to have to wait until next week, haha. I’m going to try to venture to a spin class today as I haven’t worked out in ten days, so wish me luck!

Other than that, I’m going out for an early dinner tomorrow night for a girlfriend’s birthday and that’s about all I’ve got on the calendar so far. Hoping some more R&R will kick this cold for good! Hope you have a great weekend ahead of you, too!

PS: Turns out this week’s Friday Finds is more so just me crowdsourcing for info and recommendations, haha. I’m kidding, but I do have two requests for info if you have it. (See below in bold!)

Here are this week’s finds…

This article spoke to me on a deep level — Hi From Your Childless Friend. I started to write more about my experience with this, but I moved that to a draft for a different day, not sandwiched into a Friday Finds post. But if you’re sometimes struggling with those feelings of being left behind, just know that you’re not alone. 😊

My favorite tote now comes in a “Deluxe” version that makes it even more perfect for travel.

You guys know that I’ve had these slippers in black for a few years now, but I just got a new tri-colored pair and I AM OBSESSED. These slippers make me so dang happy every time I look at them, it’s almost alarming, haha. If you, too, are feeling a little tired of winter weather, do yourself a favor and get yourself a happy little spring present to yourself.

I absolutely tore through Jessica Simpon’s new book, Open Book. (3 days, LOL.) I’ve heard it’s incredible on Audible because Jessica narrates, but I read the hard copy and still absolutely LOVED IT. Even as a big Jessica Simpson fan back in the day, I was shocked by how great the book was! Highly, highly recommend reading it.

I absolutely love this Royal Check print from Mackenzie Childs! I have this tea kettle on my kitchen wish list to match my Serena & Lily counter stools and my blue Kitchen-Aid Artisan mixer.

I’ve mentioned this on IG Stories a few times, but a health-conscious friend recently recommend that I check out Bobby Parrish’s IG TV Grocery Store Videos (they’re also onYouTube!) and I’ve learned SO DANG MUCH about ingredients and clean eating. Highly recommend!

Bookmark this Etsy shop for any and all of your hilarious card needs. So good!

This dress came in the mail this week and I can’t wait until we get a warm-ish day where I can bust it out without tights! Figured I’d share it now in case it sells out before it’s warm enough to wear and blog about.

I found a few cute summer bags on Shopbop this week, all under $100!

Just ordered every color of these $15 sandals for summer. I’m not a big fan of traditional “flip flops,” so I always scoop up some pairs of inexpensive slides for the beach and pool that I won’t care about getting wet. (But they look so much more elevated than rubber flip flops!)

How gorgeous is this floral jumpsuit? Pretty affordable, too!

This flutter-sleeve eyelet dress is STUNNING! I can’t get enough of that color, so good.

Somehow saw something about astrocartography last week and went down the m’f’ing rabbit hole of research… I find it very fascinating! You can read more about it here and here. (You can run your own map here… If this link gives you my map, just input your own date, time, and place of birth.) — My main takeaways: My Jupiter line is right through LA, specifically Long Beach. 😳 (As well as Hamburg, Germany, Prague, and Belgrade, Serbia, and Cairo, Egypt.) My Uranus line is just north of Santa Barbara and also goes through Vis, Croatia and Frankfurt, Germany. My North Node goes through the Hamptons (specifically Amaganset, which is kind of odd because that was always my favorite town to stay in), Luxembourg, and also straight through France (how f*cking crazy is that!). And my Chiron line goes through Melbourne, Australia.  ||  My Sun line goes through Hanoi, Budapest, and Cape Town. My moon line goes through Helsinki and Anguilla. My Saturn line goes through VEGAS, Palm Springs, San Diego, and Berlin. My Pluto line goes through Christchurch, New Zealand, Rabat, Morocco, Derry, Ireland, as well as Dallas, Houston, and Tulsa. If anyone knows of any other resources for interpreting all of this, I’m all ears! (All of my small circles are over water, and my major intersections are in Greenland 🤯)

And lastly — this might be TMI, but I feel like I’m a pretty open book with most things when it comes to health and wellness. I’ve recently started looking into freezing my eggs. (Literally never thought those words would come out of my mouth, but here we are.) Not right now in the immedate future, but probably this fall. If you or any of your friends know of any specific places here in Chicago, or have any other advice or recommendations, I’d really appreciate it! Feel free to email me if you don’t feel comfortable commenting below.