*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.
Happy Friday! And happy first Friday of the new year! I can't believe we are already into 2023. I hope this year brings happiness, good health, love and new beginnings. I feel like we could all use that about now.
Onto Friday Favorites and Happenings.
ONE. I didn't get to share a few snaps from the days before Christmas, so I thought I would share them now since they were a favorite of mine and I want to remember them!
We always go Christmas light looking and this year we didn't do it until the 23rd. We did a bit around our house, but not the big look. And the day we did it was a Friday, so everyone was out looking. But we saw some amazing houses, had a great taco dinner out and made our way around the city.
TWO. During the last week, we also celebrated our little ladies turning 8. They have their birthday party on the 14th, but we wanted to treat them to a day to all about them. We went to breakfast at their favorite place, then we did some shopping, went home and opened gifts, prepped one of their gifts (the foot spa), went shopping again, went out to dinner and just spent the day with them. We offered to take them to the trampoline park but they weren't about it since we went two days before their birthday with their cousins.
They also got the Orbeez Foot Spas, the 49ers shirts, their personalized name necklaces and a pair of Vans.
THREE. My in-laws offered to watch the girls on New Year's Eve so we could go out, but then we got about 8 or so inches of snow during NYE, so we didn't go all big for NYE. We had planned to go to dinner and then drinks after, but we just went to dinner. We went to a place downtown and it did not disappoint. I had only been there once before and it was just as good.
Rory got the special which was a glass of prosecco, crab legs, prime rib with mashed potatoes, asparagus, Yorkshire pudding and creme brulee. I had the hamachi crudo and short ribs with polenta and broccolini.
After dinner, we carefully drove home, had a glass of wine (for me) and bourbon (for Rory). Rory fell asleep watching White Lotus about 30 minutes before midnight. I watched Defending Jacob (on Apple TV) after the new year started.
FOUR. I finally caved and bought the beloved Stanley 40 oz tumbler with handle. I bought mine local on the girls birthday since Scheels had a large stock of them. I also saw that Target is now selling them and I will be picking up a second one for at home. I took the blue one into my office.
I was skeptical because of the hype, but they are awesome. They keep my water cold all day long, keep me drinking more water (I am so bad at this), have me getting up from my desk more often to use the bathroom and fill my cup up and my water doesn't taste like plastic (I was using a large plastic jug or cup and it tasted so bad).
And here is the one I want from Target.
FIVE. Weekly funnies.
Have a great weekend. I am linking up with A Little Bit of Everything.
Happy 8th birthday! I wonder if I need one of those tumblers. Mine is just a bit smaller at 32 oz.
ReplyDeleteI like the 40 oz one. I just bought my second one today. I didn't want to give into the hype but it is worth it. I am trying to drink 2 to 3 of these a day to get all my water intake in.
DeleteWhat a fun day for the girls for their birthday. I can't believe they turned down the trampoline park, though! My kids wouldn't have even if they'd just been! Haha. They can't get enough of those places. And LOL to all of those memes. I literally just had a convo with Olivia the other day about how being a grownup isn't quite all it's cracked up to be. Hahahaha.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't either. But I tried to do something fun and they love to shop. Ha. My girls always say can I have x or do x when I get this big? They are in such a hurry to grow up.
DeleteHappy new year! I can't believe the girls are 8! Hope they had an amazing birthday. That's crazy about the snow. We haven't gotten anything other than a dusting yet. Your hair looks so pretty by the way!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you too. I can't believe we have had this much snow. It is insane. But we need the water after a huge drought year last year. And thank you so much!
DeleteI wore that same sweater you wore on NYE to our Christmas Eve celebration at my mother's. I love the glittery bow detail! It looks like you found some really amazing light displays to check out. I love how you make the girl's birthdays so very extra special as I'm sure that can be a struggle with December birthdays.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. It is a great sweater! I love the bow detail too. It is so soft and comfy too. It is a struggle with their birthday around Christmas. I want it to be separate and therefore we try to not wrap anything in Christmas wrap and do everything that is all about them.
DeleteThe decorations for the girls' birthday are so cute! We are always so bad about doing outdoor Christmas lights. We have a light-up wreath in the front window, and that's about it! Luckily, our attached neighbors make more of an effort, haha, but nothing on the scale of what you guys saw--that's exciting!
ReplyDeleteWe are getting better with ours. We used to just put some lights up on the roof line, but now we have added things each year. I do love going and seeing the lights. I wish we had the effort others do when doing the lights. Thank you. Dollar store for their decorations.
DeleteHappy birthday to your daughters! Looks like you had so much fun seeing all the pretty Christmas lights, and it's nice you got to go out for NYE dinner too! I was fast asleep for the new year, I don't even try to stay up any more, haha!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! We did have a great time on both things. I am usually in bed pretty early on NYE too. I was home early, but stayed up watching shows.
DeleteThat bow sweater is beautiful! We haven't had a date night in far too long lol I'm hoping we can get one soon! Happy New Year, Danielle!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I love it. It is so soft and I have already worn it a ton. You totally need a date night. We don't have them often enough, but we do try.
Delete