Hello! Happy Friday!  I am so thankful that I am on track with my schooling right now.  That means Brian and I have a pretty relaxed weekend ahead and I can’t wait!

In lieu of the traditionally scheduled Five Things Friday post, I thought I would share my favorite things about January today.

Can you believe the first month of the new year is over?  Hopefully, your year is off to an amazing start and if you have decided that your life needs some adjustments, then I hope you were able to use this week (or maybe this weekend) to put a plan in place to get yourself to where you want to be 🙂

Products/Services I Am Loving:

• The Triumphant Chef Hot Pads and Mitts

I don’t think it matters how much experience I will ever have in the kitchen, I am constantly burning my hands on something.  I seem to forget that hot things are hot, or I think that I can pull a piping hot pan out of the oven with a thin dish towel (oops!).  Luckily, The Triumphant Chef  sent me a few of their Super Flex Silicone Oven Mitts and their Heavy Duty Silicone Hot Pad Trivets.  Seriously guys, these things are amazing!! No burning of the hands or the counter with these tools 🙂

• NOW Solutions Skin Care

I’ve never been the girl to have a ton of acne, but in the past few years (hello, twenties!) I typically have one or two blemishes right around my mouth.  It’s so frustrating because I try to manage my stress, eat healthfully, wash my face, etc but I can’t get these zits to go away.  Since downloading the Think Dirty app a few months ago, I made the decision to really clean up my skin care routine. I switched to unscented face wipes, NOW Solutions Green Tea Pomegranate Toner and Cleanser, and Vitamin C & Oryza Sativa Gentle Scrub and my face has really been loving it!  I honestly didn’t think the switch would make that much of a visible difference in my skin, but those problem blemishes are nearly gone.  I am really loving the results of these cleaner products!

Workouts I’ve Been Loving:

• Yoga

Last fall, I heard of a challenge through a local yoga studio (Yoga Pod) where the goal is to complete 21 days of yoga within a month.  As soon as I heard of the challenge, I knew I wanted to give it a try!  Last month, I completed more yoga than EVER before in my life (I actually made it to 21!) and I really loved it. I typically pick workouts with blaring music and lots of jumping around so to switch to workouts that had me focusing on the mind body connection was a big change.  I’ll admit, there were times when I wanted to skip a class or when I did more childs poses than what the teacher recommended, but I think that was part of the learning process and the challenge.

• SoulCycle

I wrote a more detailed post about this on Monday, but basically SoulCycle is hosting pop-up classes in cities that don’t have SoulCycle studios and last week they were in Denver.  It was such a FUN workout! I hope I have the change to do it again.

Foods I’ve Been Loving:

• Crunchies Freeze Dried Fruit Dried Fruit 

Not too long ago, I received a giant package from Crunchies full of freeze-dried fruit and quickly developed a new obsession with this stuff!  Freeze-dried fruit is different than dried fruit because there are ZERO added ingredients and the fruit has a crunchy rather than chewy texture.  Seriously guys this stuff is amazing.  I love mixing it with nuts and seeds for a quick trail mix, topping smoothie bowl, or just eating it straight out of the bag.  It’s SO good 🙂

• Vega Protein

Honestly, I typically don’t use protein powders or supplements of any kind but the folks over at Vega sent me their most recent Sport Performance Protein and I really wanted to give it a try.  The flavor is sweet, the texture is smooth and creamy and it’s perfect for blending into smoothies.  That beings said, this protein powder is not something I use every day or on some sort of a regular basis.  To me, whole foods always come first and powders like this are great in a “Plan B” type of situation.  Example:  I was going straight from the gym to an appointment and forgot to make anything for breakfast.  Quickly before heading to the gym, I mixed half a scoop of this Vega protein powder with some oats, water, and fruit for a quick batch of overnight (sort of) oats!  Of course, at the end of the day, what’s most important is what works for you to make you feel your best and healthiest and for me using protein powders sparingly (treats, and Plan B) works best!

• Acai Bowl

While in Breckenridge last weekend, I spotted an acai bowl on the menu and HAD to have it.  So yes, while it was snowing and everyone was sipping hot cocoa I was freezing while enjoying my delicious and cold acai bowl.

Personal Favorites:

• Weekend in Breckenridge with Friends and Skiing with Friends

Brian and I have headed to the mountains quite a few times this winter for skiing and it’s been absolutely great! Typically, we will just go for a half day or leave around 3pm and get home by dinner time on Saturday, but last weekend we actually arrived on Friday night and stayed with friends in Breck until Sunday morning.  It was super fun, and I LOVED not having to drive back after a long day of skiing.  Soaking in the hot tub is a much better option.

• Date Night at Upstairs Circus

Brian and I had a blast crafting away while sipping on delicious cocktails at Upstairs Circus.  I wrote a more detailed post about our experience here if you want to check it out!

• Snowshoeing

This year, Brian and I are really trying to soak up the Colorado lifestyle by doing more “out of the box” things on the weekends.  Snowshoeing is something we have seen people do, and it’s definitely something we have never seen in Indiana.  We added it to our bucket list and quickly checked it off when we tried out this winter sport for ourselves early in the month.  It was SO fun, Bernie loved it and we cannot wait to go again 🙂

Podcasts and Shows I’ve Been Loving:

• GMO OMG

Brian and I started this documentary about GMOs earlier this week and I am finding it SO fascinating.  I think it does a great job educating on the subject of GMOs in regards to what they are and the lack of information that is out there.  Personally, I think it’s important to be an informed consumer and since we are all eating food (of any kind!) I think it’s a good documentary for anyone to watch.

• Friends

YES! I’m still working on Friends and I feel like I never want it to end.  I’m in the second to last season and really trying to make it stretch 🙂

January has been a great month for us and I hope it’s been wonderful for you too!!

Have a great weekend!

Question of the Day:

• Share something with me about your month!
• Any shows I should watch from the beginning once Friends is over?