I have been trying to come up with some new ideas for A New Kind of Normal and as I’ve been combing through the blogosphere and the land of YouTube, I discovered how much I love Favorites posts or videos. I cannot begin to count how many products/recipes/ideas I have fallen in love with after checking out a favorites post or video by one of my favorite bloggers or YouTubers.
Out of this concept came Five Friday Favorites.
Every Friday I will be sharing my weekly favorites in the following categories: Beauty Product Love, Fashion Find, Gluten-Free Goodness, Pin I’ve Completed, and Most Awesome Blog Post. Of course there is an optional “bonus” favorite because who knows when there may be the need to share a sixth favorite?
Let’s kick off the inaugural Five Friday Favorites:
Beauty Product Love
I cannot begin to put into words my love of the Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer. I use the brightening shade under my eyes and the fair shade to help cover redness on my cheeks and the center of my forehead. This product is amazing. If I don’t want to wear a full face of makeup, I can pair this concealer up with a BB cream and a little powder and can have a nice, even skin tone without wearing a lot of product. I always thought I had to wear a full coverage foundation in order to cover the redness until now. Hands down this is my holy grail concealer and a must-have in my makeup bag!
Fashion Find
I am almost always wearing flats as the combination of fibromyalgia and being less than graceful doesn’t usually mix well with heels. The problem is that I love heels. I love the way heels look. I love the way I feel in heels. I feel more feminine and more spunky. I just love it so I hate that I can’t wear them on a regular basis. Abby and I were out shopping one afternoon at Kmart (yes, I live in the sticks and still shop at Kmart) and we happened to walk by the shoe section and I spotted these Jaclyn Smith Arial Wedges.
I loved the color options and the heel height looked somewhat manageable so I tried them on. The wedge was the perfect height and they were so comfortable! I was actually shocked by how great they felt. I scooped them up in red but I may have to check back to see if they have the green still available!
Gluten-Free Goodness
When I was visiting my parents in Virginia, their Food Lion had just put in a new and well-stocked gluten-free section so I got excited thinking that I may have similar luck at our Food Lion in town. Its kind of out of the way but I thought if I could find some great gluten-free products, it would be worth it. Nope. I couldn’t even get the store manager to understand what “gluten-free” meant. He kept referring to gluten-free as “diabetic food.” I can only assume that he was having a hard time distinguishing gluten-free from sugar-free but I would think at this day in age and as the store manager of a national grocery store chain, you would be a little more aware as Celiac disease is becoming more recognized and as following a gluten-free diet has become “trendy.” Don’t get me started on that one but hey, if it means more product options, I’ll take it. Anyways, I walked out of Food Lion empty-handed but went straight to my regular grocery store and was excited to find that they had actually expanded their gluten-free products! I think I’ll be sticking with them! Sorry about the side story but onto the good stuff.
My awesome find of the week: Immaculate Double Chocolate Cookie Dough. I had previously tried the Chocolate Chunk cookies by the same company (also amazing!) so I was excited to try this out! All in the name of gluten-free research of course 🙂 These cookies turned out as good as they sounded and will most definitely be repurchased in the future. Abby & I had a special mommy-daughter day yesterday that included a trip to the pool, tie-dying t-shirts, and baking cookies and all three were a success! Immaculate Baking Company offers gluten-free break apart cookies in Chocolate Chunk, Peanut Butter, and Fudge Brownie. Convenience, gluten-free, and delicious? Count me in!
Pin I’ve Completed
This may sound dumb for this week but my success on Pinterest this week has actually been going back to Pinterest and focusing on utilizing the wealth of information available to breathe some new life into A New Kind of Normal and my life in general. I’ve been floating adrift for . . . well . . . too long. I’m finally beginning to feel anchored again so I am excited to be able to share steps forward I’ll be able to make from this point on. I am feeling more energized and passionate and I feel like I have a refreshed spirit and purpose so I am really pumped about the future of A New Kind of Normal. New things are on the horizon!
Most Awesome Blog Post
One of first YouTube channels I have ever followed and one of most favorite is Vintageortacky. Cora is hilarious and amazingly talented so I recommend you check her channel out! One of the first things you may notice is her fabulous hair. I am a bit partial to lovely ladies with awesome hair color 🙂 I have been on a quest to find the perfect shade of purple (I am getting close! Blog post to come) so while I’ve been on the hunt, Cora’s tips and tutorials have been extremely helpful! Her post this week Dye Another Day: How to Dye Your Hair Vibrant Pink, Purple, and Black is a great resource if you are considering trying out a vibrant hair color or are already rockin’ it and just looking for some tips.
There are a few of my favorite things for this week! I would love to hear about your favorites so let me know in the comments if you guys would be interested in making this a weekly linkup!
Do you have any favorites this week that I need to check out?Â