Friday Favorites

It’s been a WHILE since my last Friday Favorites. So long that I don’t even remember when it was or what products I mentioned. But hear me out. I have a good reason for not posting my favs lately. It’s because the majority of the stuff that I’ve been buying has been baby related – clothes, bottles, toys – and those things I usually mention in my bump dates. But the time has come and I’m back today to share with you the four products that I’ve been absolutely loving. Oddly enough, none of them are for the baby. Shocker!

Don’t forget that I love reading about your favorites too! Drop me a comment or tweet and let me know what products I should try out next.

1. NCLA So Rich Vitamin-E Cuticle Oil

I go through phases when I’m all about my nails. This might sound weird to some of you, but if you’re a nail biter like me, you know what I’m talking about. It’s a terrible habit to have, but it is what it is. About 4 or 5 months ago, I decided that I wanted to stop biting my nails {yet again} and really try to take care of them. I discovered that if my nails were painted, I didn’t bite or pick at them, but all bets were off if they were bare. I’m so happy that my nails have grown significantly and nail polish actually looks nice when I put it on. Too bad that pregnancy has made my hands super swollen, but that’s another story.

Along with painting my nails, I’m also trimming my cuticles once a week and treating them with oil. My favorite right now is the NCLA So Rich Vitamin-E Cuticle Oil. I wanted to share this with you guys sooner, but I wanted to make sure I really really loved it. Good news – I do! It smells really good and definitely hydrates my dry skin. Here’s what I do… After I trim my cuticles, I rub a dot of oil on each nail for about 1-2 minutes. I then let it soak in for another 1-2 minutes, and then wash with warm water and soap. I guess you could keep the oil on, but I usually do this at night and I don’t want oil all over my sheets.

2. Nikon Nikkor Lens 35mm f/1.8G

I’ve been wanting a new lens for my Nikon camera for years now, so I was thrilled when Bryan bought me the Nikkor Lens 35mm f/1.8G for my birthday. I’d been using a stock lens that came with the camera and it worked fine for years, but I’m really trying to up my photography game this year and this new lens will help me achieve that goal. If you like photos where the subject is in focus but the background is blurry, this is the lens you should get. It has a low f-stop (1.8) which helps achieve that look easily.

It’s reasonably priced in comparison to other lenses on the market, so I highly recommend you look into this one if you have a Nikon camera. The lens does auto-focus, but it is not zoomable. So keep that in mind. It’s meant for up-close product shots and portaits. I’ve used it for a few weeks now and I absolutely love it.

3. The Oh She Glows Cookbook

Angela Liddon is a popular vegan food blogger who has been around for a while. I’ve always been a huge fan of her site, so when I found out she wrote cookbooks I had to get my hands on one – specifically The Oh She Glows Cookbook. {Thank you Leslee for the Christmas present!} I’ve tried a few of her smoothie recipes so far and they were so so good. I’ve bookmarked a dozen more recipes that I want to make in the coming weeks, including some soups. They’ll be great to have on hand in our freezer for when baby arrives and I don’t want takeout yet again. Even better is that all of her recipes are vegan!

You need this book in your life, especially if one of your goals this year is to eat healthier. I love that all of her recipes come with full page photos so you know EXACTLY what the dish should look like at the end. There’s no guessing!

4. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite & Case

I’ve wrote about this in my 2018 resolution post, but I’ll mention it here too. This year, I’m trying really hard to read at least one book each month. It shouldn’t be a tough goal to achieve, but I figured I’d start small. I’m currently reading “What Happened” by Hillary Clinton {sooo good}, and have a few other books already loaded on my Kindle Paperwhite to read next.

My biggest road block when it comes to reading consistently is that I’m always exhausted by the end of the day. Instead of reading a few chapters each night, I wind up falling asleep. Since I’ve figured this out, I’ve been carrying my Kindle around with me so I can read during the day whenever I have time – usually it’s during my lunch break. My friend Danica bought me a gorgeous rose gold colored case for my Kindle, which couldn’t have come at a better time. Now I can carry it around with me without worrying about completely scratching the screen.

// What are some of your favorites from this week? Do you have a favorite cookbook or nail product? Let me know!

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