Friday, January 17, 2014

5 LOVES ON FRIDAY // Bath & Body Works Haul, Post-Christmas Goodness, & Food Finds!


Happy Friday, friends!  Today I have family fun, foodie finds, and a shopping haul to share!  Let's get right to it...


1.  Post-Christmas Celebration
That nasty flu bug hit our family just in time for Christmas!  The gift that kept on giving.... unmentionable unpleasantries. So, we had our "makeup Christmas" get together at Jason's parents house over the weekend.  It was such a nice time together celebrating!  This was my sweet lit'l niece's 1st Christmas so that made it all the more special!  Aren't those chubby cheeks the cutest thing you've ever seen?!  

My favorite snapshots from our family Christmas 2013 ...celebrated in 2014 ;)  Princess adores her baby cousin and normally has her on her lap or hip every possible chance.  Sweet girls!    LOVE those gift opening expressions!  {Middle Left}  Little One's jaw dropped when she saw a $20 bill from her uncle ... just after receiving Christmas money from her aunt, uncle, & cousins.  She felt pretty rich! ;)   I adore the priceless shot just to the right of that! I can still hear that, "Oh! Wow!", when my nephew opened our gift of a Mickey & Donald play mat & vehicles play set, which you can see in action at the bottom right.  We all received such thoughtful and generous gifts, but {as cheesy as it sounds} the best one of all was the time together!




2.  Whimsical Warmth
This week we haven't had any more -33 wind chills, but we were under a high wind warning yesterday with winds 30 - 40 mph and gusts up to 55-60.  As that wind howled outside my door, this little beauty was my constant companion!  Isn't it the coolest blanket you've ever seen?!  {Ok, you may need to be a Disney fanatic like me to answer, "YES!", but seriously ... LOVE. it. SO. MUCH!!}


A BIG THANKS again to my cousin's hubby, Brandon, who had my name in our family drawing this year and gifted me this awesomeness!!  ...& to my cousin Emily for possibly helping him shop for it {as she loves Disney goodness as much as I do}!  

Check out how Emily gift wrapped it!!

This {DISNEY} cuteness made my heart skip a beat!  I saved it and plan to frame it soon!

Brandon, your gift is keeping me warm ...& smiling through these gloomy winter days!! Thank you!




3.  My Taste Buds were Dazzled!



USDA Choice beef brisket smoked for 16+ hours, cheddar, mayo, Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce

We eat at Firehouse Subs for the first time ....& oh my goodness!  SoOo GOOD!  If you have one in your area, do yourself a favor, go!  You don't feel like cooking tonight anyway, right? ;)  I also highly recommend their New York Steamer, with corned beef brisket, pastrami, melted provolone, mustard, mayo, and Italian dressing.  How would I know how that tastes too?  Well, Jason ordered it when we had Firehouse the first time.  {Yep, I said "first time".}  We both loved these sammies so much that on Wednesday night while our girls were in class & youth group at church, Jason and I had a dinner date there! We ordered the beef & cheddar brisket and the NY steamer, split each in half and enjoyed both ...so much so that I'm drooling as I type this! Seriously, delicious eats!!  



4.  Family Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt Par-tay!
Meaning we hit the $10/10 freezer aisle personal sized yumminess & each chose what tickled our fancies. :)  Mango & peach are two of my faves so I was giddy when I noticed this and had to try it!  I'm so glad I did!!  That dollar was very well spent! ;)  If you enjoy these flavors too, I highly recommend giving it a try! 

*PS:  This is a guilt-free treat at just 180 calories and 1 g fat for the entire container!

So, iPhone food snapshots are never the best....but who's got time for grabbing an actual camera when this meltable yumminess is before them?! ;)  




Wrapping up this Five Loves with a fun HAUL for y'all! ;) ...
5.  Bath & Body Works Big Semi-Annual Sale!



I hit up Bath & Body Works' 75% off sale!  This meant $80 worth of goodies for just $20!  Yes, please & thank you!!  

I walked into B&BW with the intention of just picking up one lotion, but when prices are that cheap it's nearly impossible to resist stocking up on goodies!  I HAD to snag a Market Peach candle after hearing amarixe carry on continually about it's wondrousness!  So glad that I did!  It smells amazing!!  Another thing I picked up based on a {YouTube} recommendation was the Winter Candle Apple lotion.  Missglamorazzi could not get enough of it this year, and after trying it I share her admiration of this yummy scent!  I got a lit'l mini size of that so that I could toss it in my purse and use on the go.  A friend gifted me Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin body wash for my birthday and I loved it so much that I had to grab another at that price!  Warm Vanilla Sugar always calls to me so this Intense Moisture Body Butter looked like a must-try ...especially during this dry/itchy skin months!  I'd also never tried a B&BW sugar scrub {who doesn't love those?!} so I picked up a Golden Sugar Scrub from the Paris Amour line.  The Iced Gingerbread hand soap looked perfect for this time of year {& was only $1.38}!  Side Effect:  Upon use you may feel an overwhelming urge to cover something in icing and add candy embellishments to it. ;)  But, no worries, gingerbread houses don't have to be only for Christmas!  I think a Valentine themed one would be every bit as "sweet"!  ...I have to share a funny story about this product.  When my hubby saw this he said, "Ah, man!"  I asked what was wrong.  He replied, "I thought for a minute that said Iced Tea!"  So, Dear B&BW, please get on creating some Iced Tea scented soap A.S.A.P.! LOL!  Ok, last but certainly not least {in my book anyway}, I restocked on lit'l PocketBac anti-bacterial hand gels in some incredible scents:  Pumpkin Cupcake, Pumpkin Caramel Latte, Lemon Meringue Cheer, and Crisp Golden Pear.  I'm a bit {or a LOT} of a germophobe so I get a lit'l excited over the simple things, like having a way to get my hands clean & smelling lovely at the same time! ;)  I also have an incredibly hard time resisting things that are pink or glittery, so I couldn't walk out of there without that PocketBac holder too!  ...besides it's pretty, useful, &  was 75% off!! How could I go wrong with that?!

Do you have a favorite Bath & Body Works item you love & highly recommend?  If so, please share in the comments!  I'll keep an eye out for it to hit a clearance table soon too! ;)  {Psst... I'll let you in on a little secret, I never ever pay full price for anything there!  It all goes on sale eventually.  Patience allows me to enjoy great products & the excitement of snagging a bargain too!}



Thanks for visiting today!  Wishing you a lovely weekend!


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5 comments:

  1. I love firehouse, and that sub looks amazing! I usually get the italian! Also I need to check in at bath and body works and see if they have any more good sales like that! I love the warm vanilla sugar! Smells so yummy !
    Looks like you had a great week! Thanks for linking up with me today!

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  2. Visiting you back from the linkup! :)

    Love those B&BW clearance deals! I went the day after Christmas and loaded up on the warm vanilla sugar body lotion and several different kinds of hand soaps. I don't ever pay full price, either. Fun stuff!

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  3. Say whaaaaaa 75%off??!! I need to make my way to Bath & Body Works ASAP!!!! xx

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  4. I recently hit up the Bath & Body Works sale too - it's amazing how much great stuff you can get there at this time of year! My favorite is the Pumpkin Cupcake...love that scent!

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  5. I so need that sale at Bath and Body Works. That is a killer deal.

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