5 Friday Favorites: April 17, 2020

It's time for my Friday link up with A Little Bit of Everything and Momfessionals. 

On Fridays I share things that made me happy from the week - a photo, a song, a quote or Bible verse, a beauty product, a recipe, a pair of cute shoes, etc. If it's a product, sometimes it's something I actually own and sometimes something I just saw online that gave me a smile. Sometimes it's serious and sometimes it's silly. I suppose I believe that God is in the simple details of life and yes, I can even find Him in a tube of lipstick.

Hey, it's getting old, yes? As I write this I am supposed to be at a baseball game watching my freshman play. With his friends. With my friends. It would be too cold for baseball tonight and we would be bundled up together with blankets and gloves. We'd be wiggling our toes in our boots to keep them from going numb. We'd be too whiny about it and we'd beg for the last inning to be quick.

Sometimes I avert my eyes from the calendar on the fridge, so that I don't have to see where we should be. And then sometimes I catch a glimpse of the schedule I wrote down so obliviously back in February, never imagining that the whole darn thing would disappear. And despite the cold and wind outside tonight, I'd hop onto those cold metal bleachers in a second if I could. I miss it so much right now that my heart aches.

Some days - or even hours - are harder than others, aren't they? These days are filled with the whole spectrum of feelings. On any given day I can go from real deep talks with the Lord about suffering and poring over Scripture looking for comfort straight into searching the internet for a list of the best Vitamin C brightening serums and comparing prices on deep conditioning hair masques.

Last week was a bummer and I cried buckets on Easter. I mean, I wore an old Red Sox tshirt of my husband's to listen to our pastor's sermon on the holiest of days. UGH. So, this week I'm going full steam ahead on sharing the favorite things I've used this week to push away all the sadness and grief and worry. You ready for some shallowness and some vanity? Let's goooooooo!

1. Ardell Naked Lashes #422

I ordered these fake lashes because what else am I going to do. I also ordered this lash adhesive. It was as hard as I thought it would be trying to get them lined up on my lash line. I was frustrated looking for the right light and I might have risked my salvation with some of the words I was saying. After way too many minutes, I was victorious.

Also, in full disclosure, there's a filter on this photo. My skin is not that smooth. Although, it is not through lack of effort, which brings me to the next favorite.

2. The Ordinary 30% AHA BHA Peeling Solution

I have seen this product recommended by a ton of beauty bloggers. And I do mean a ton because one of my Quarantine hobbies is watching Instagram stories for hours at a time. What a life this is, right?

The Ordinary brand has a lot of different skin care products and none of them are terribly expensive. I ordered this peeling solution a couple of weeks ago after reading a bunch of great reviews about it. It actually looks like blood or beet juice - choose whichever makes you gag less. Hear me on this: you CANNOT leave this stuff on your face for more than 10 minutes and you can only use it once or twice a week. Why? Because those are the directions and also, as my grandmother would say, "IT BURNS LIKE THE DICKENS." See?

I know you're shocked that I'm not a super famous beauty blogger and that The Ordinary has not hired me to promote their products. I do feel like this peel made my skin smoother and more glowing. And honestly, if you set fire to something, it's gonna glow, right? No pain, no gain, sister.

3. Pixi DetoxifEYE Undereye Patches

I also ordered these DetoxifEye Undereye Patches which are to help with dark circles and puffiness. (See also: to cancel out the increase in wine consumption that happens during quarantine. Ahem.) I don't have any idea yet if they really work, but what else am I supposed to do when I live with a bunch of guys who watch dumb movies where someone gets shot every three minutes? (Please see Monday night: Olympus Has Fallen; Tuesday night: Angel Has Fallen, Wednesday Night: London Has Fallen.)

These patches are perfect to wear while you watch Little Women on your iPad by yourself in your bedroom.

4. Of Mice and Men

Now I'm going to make a very sharp left turn and try to convince you that I'm not as shallow as you thought I was when I tell you that while we were at Lake Anna this weekend, I read Of Mice and Men in one day. (It's not that long.) Drew was reading it for his Freshman English class last month. I realized that I had never read it, even though Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was one of my favorite books in high school. I picked it up on Saturday and sat on the deck to read and never put it down. What a tragically beautiful story. It broke my heart and I cried my eyes out at the end. 

5. My Guys

I miss having the house to myself some days. I was used to a kitchen that stayed clean most of the day. I was used to not being woken up by big feet going down the stairs at 1:00 am to make chocolate milk. I was used to eating lunch by myself with my dog. And sometimes I miss that.

But mostly, I understand that having all of these guys in my house for this amount of time was likely never to happen again. And I'm understanding that the Lord has given me a gift in this. We are eating together almost every night. We've gone hiking together and played card games and laughed a whole lot. I can turn my phone off at night because I know where everyone is and I don't have to worry about missing a middle of the night phone call. I sleep very well these days.

Whenever the boyness gets to be too much, I can escape to my room with a Chick Flick and a Hyaluronic Acid Peel on my face. But mostly I like hanging out with these jokers. They're a bunch of weirdos and I wouldn't trade them for the whole wide world.

Have a blessed weekend, Friends. We're gonna make it. :-)

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