Hey all! It’s 2021! YAYY- happy happy New Year! I know some people say it’s just another day, but I feel extra optimistic this time around that the future is brighter (although it may the third cup of coffee talking, idk). I start back up with my clinicals on Monday, so I am trying to get as much blogging done as possible today. The weekend is dedicated to more intensive review, but for now I am giving myself this block of time to dive into these posts. I have been having just a blast working on recaps. I also realize this may be the last Friday Fav I can do for a while, so I want to take advantage! Enjoy!
- Kitsch Women’s Hair Coils. I was so unsure about hair coils when they became a thing a few years ago. They looked like hard non-malleable, uncomfortable plastic. However, once I started using them I never returned to the original hair ties. They keep your hair in place, are comfortable and don’t rip hair out the same way the original hair ties do. Highly recommend!
2. New Jeans. I have the hardest time finding jeans I like, so when I find a pair that works, I wear them for years and years. This is one of my favorite pairs I have found in a long time, so I bought two pairs in “Indigo Atlas” and “Black Squared”. My mom recently asked where I got them so she could get a pair too! I love love love. Oh, and just another note- they soften up quite a bit when you wash them, especially the Indigo Atlas pair!
3. The Guest List. I actually read this book months ago, but I don’t think it ever made it onto the blog, and it should have! It’s an easy read that keeps you guessing the whole time with so many twists!
4. But I Could Never Go Vegan! While we don’t eat totally vegan, we do love trying vegan recipes and eating plant-based food. Recently we have started picking out a couple recipes per week to try from this cookbook, and we have overall loved them! The premise uses an ‘excuse’ per chapter of why someone wouldn’t go vegan, and then makes recipes that would counter that excuse. For example, one excuse is “But I could never give up cheese!” and then the whole chapter is “Cheesy” vegan dishes. Pretty fun, and it forced me out of a cooking rut.
5. The Curbsiders Internal Medicine Podcast. With graduation around the corner, I have been inhaling as much clinical knowledge as possible. This is by far the best podcast I have come across yet- I try to listen to at least two episodes per day and keep notes on my phone as I listen. If you are a medical professional seeking out a solid medical podcast, I highly recommend this!
6. Veggie Lover’s Sweet Earth Pizza. Oh. my. goodness. I think this is my favorite vegan pizza I have ever had! Funnily enough, we discovered this pizza at a CVS of all places. I think they sell them at Target and probably other grocery stores too though.
7. 2021 Planner. Ahhh, I lovee a fresh planner! DJ finds it funny I still use a paper planner, but I just have to write everything out. Anyone else?!
8. Edamame Pasta!!! My Aunt Terry recommended this to us and we love it! I think it’s one of the best pasta substitutes we have tried, and it’s really high in protein. Yum!
9. Nite Swim by The Band Perry. DJ actually discovered this song and knew I would love it. I have it on. repeat. !
10. Schitt’s Creek. We are late to the party, but we are finally watching through Schitt’s Creek! I started it earlier in the year, but I prefer watching comedies with someone else, so I waited for when DJ and I could watch together. The first couple episodes are so-so, but then it gets really good.
What are you loving lately?
**Disclaimer: There are Amazon affiliate links in this post. All ideas and opinions are my own. I may receive a small compensation if you choose to purchase the products linked**.
Yay! I feel optimistic too! Rick gave me a long wool sweater for Christmas and I love it. It keeps me warm and toasty. 🙂🎄
Hi Kathy!! Ohh that sounds so nice and cozy! Perfect for winter ☺️
I love using a physical planner too! My brain just can’t engage with a digital one as well tbh. Also those jeans sound fabulous! We’re trying to give up meat this year so that vegan cookbook sounds perfect xx
I am soo glad I’m not alone in feeling that way!!
I hope you enjoy the new recipes you try in the vegetarian realm! Thanks for stopping in, Mia ☺️
Hi Mackenzie. I got an ice cream maker for Christmas and made homemade ice cream yesterday. OOOH so good!!!
Happy New Year to you!
Oh that sounds so wonderful! 🍦 😍 happy new year to you too, Ruth !
Love your Faves List!
Happy New Year, Mack! Wishing you a safe and joyful year ahead!
Thanks, Ju Lyn! Happy New Year to you too ☺️ Hope it has been wonderful for you so far!
I just started watching Virgin River. Late to the game is better than never
Ohhhh I need to watch that! I have had many people recommend. That may be on our watch list next. How do you like it so far?
I just finished the first season today and can’t wait to download the second tomorrow!
Yes paper planner all the way! Love love love!! Yours is so pretty! I’m for sure going to have to read The Guest List now and wow that vegan recipe book sounds incredible! Saved the pic so I can purchase hehe thanks so much gorgeous for the recommendation 😍 have a beautiful 2021!
I hope you enjoy the Guest List! It is really a great thriller read. And you are so welcome 🙂 Thank youuu for stopping in and reading. Have a great 2021 too, love <3
Happy 2021, Mackenzie! I’ve seen the hair coils all over, but haven’t tried them yet. I have thick hair and most hair ties don’t maintain the tightness. I’m always on the hunt for a good jean. Thanks for sharing your faves. I read The Guest List when we were at the beach this summer. It was so good! I’m going to have to check out that recipe book. I usually spend the entire month of January as a vegetarian to try to set up the year with healthier choices and am always looking for ways to incorporate some vegan meals in there too. I’m paper planner all the way!! I’m picky about how the pages are laid out since I want plenty of room to write. For the past two years I’ve used a Kate Spade one that I found at Barnes and Noble. Best of luck with your clinicals!!
Hi Amy! Happy 2021 to you too- even though I’m about a month behind! I think you will love these hair ties- they are so strong without causing tangles!
I hope your vegetarian January went well ☺️
Yayy! So glad you are on the paper planner train tooo. I am the same way about needing that room to write!
I loveee Kate spade! I may need to check out those planners next year 😍 I hope your year is off to a great start so far!
Hi Mackenzie – enjoy this last day of free time for a while. I Googled those hair coils – interesting and I just use scrunchies and in the Summer, when it’s hot, for walking I have a fabric-wrapped wire that I twist my hair into a bun to keep cool. I bought it at a craft show and wish I bought more than two of them. I just got Amazon Prime in the Fall and since I have not had cable TV since cancelling it in 2010, I’ve not seen movies or TV in ten years. However, Christmas Day I started “Mad Men” which is available and I’m hooked. Now to find time for watching TV and blogging into my life. I watched the whole first season so far over last weekend and this weekend. I got far behind in Reader and social media by indulging myself. I saw Amazon Prime has “Schitt$ Creek” and I asked around, no one I knew had seen it, so it will be next on my list of shows to watch, after I finish six more seasons of “Mad Men” – thanks for the recommendation. Best to you in 2021 – good luck with this last leg of school.
That fabric-wrapped wire sounds nice! I bet it has a similar mechanism- where it doesn’t cause the “kinks” in the hair!
Schitt’s Creek takes a few episodes to get into, and it’s a very specific type of humor- but you just grow to love the characters! We love it the more we watch it. We still need to watch Mad Men! I have heard great things.
Thank you so much, Linda! I hope you are having a nice start to this year!
Yes, no kinks in the hair which is good … it is kind to your hair as well and doesn’t pull it out.
That’s good to know about Schitt’s Creek – it will be my next series to watch then. I am only 1/3 through the third season of Mad Men and like it so far. I watch just two episodes every Friday night. I’m off to watch it on Amazon Prime after I respond to you.
The weather has been horrid the last week and the upcoming week will be worse – we’d had a wonderful Winter so far and my walking regimen has taken a hit unfortunately.
Hope all is well with you Mackenzie.
Oh no!!!! I am glad you had a good winter up until now, and hopefully this insane weather calms down soon. Stay safe and warm, friend!
Thanks Mackenzie – I hope things get back to normal soon weather-wise. Been really busy at work as well and without that restorative walk every morning, it feels a little like eat, sleep, work and shovel! You stay safe and warm too Mackenzie.
Me too!! And I so get that with the walk. It was a particularly beautiful morning today, and DJ and I went for a walk first thing- it set the tone for a great day. We said we should make Saturday morning walks a weekly thing!
I think you should too Mackenzie. We have had a very cold last few days but it is zooming up to the 60s tomorrow. The weather is crazy as it was 20 degrees when I left on my walk this morning!
The Guest List is high up on my to read list! I’ve heard nothing but great things about it. Edamame pasta is sooo yummy! We found it a year or so ago at Aldi and now it’s in our meal rotation! I just started Schitt’s Creek last week! John and I needed a new show to binge and this one was recommended so many times! I agree that the first few episodes are so-so, but we’re finally hooked!
Lately I’ve been loving sleep! It sounds so lame, but school really kicks my butt so I’ve really let myself relax this week off! I’m sure I’ll regret it tomorrow when my alarm goes off bright and early hahah.
Hey, Em! Ohhh it is such a great read- just keeps you guessing the whole time!
That reminds me I need to stock up on the edamame pasta- going to add to the grocery list now 🙂 Glad you love it too!
Oh trust me I getttt it with the love for sleep. I slept in this morning, and I feel like a different person, lol. It makes all the difference! I hope you are having a great start to this year!!
You were quiet for a while, but it looks like you’re back at it!
Schitts Creek was the BEST. You’re never too late to show up to that party. 🙂
Heck yessss! It is the best! We are on season 3 and it just keeps getting better and better!
Happy New Year, Friend!!
I am totally the same way. Yes, January 1st is just another day; BUT – like you – I embrace the fresh start. It’s a great time to evaluate goals, look back on the past year, and just face the future with hope. I love it. AND I also need a paper planner, because there’s nothing like writing down things in a fresh new planner and keeping it updated throughout the year. Nothing online cuts it. Ha, ha.
I saved the book on my Goodreads list AND made a note of the cookbook. My brother is vegan, so I have a handful of good recipes to make when he comes visiting. Ha, ha. But I do want to eat less meat this year, so I need inspiration as well. That cookbook looks great!
Lately I’m loving journaling (which I haven’t done in forever), running (the bum knee is behaving right now), blogging (got bit by the writing bug again), and photography! 🙂
Happy (belated) New Year to youuu, Nicole!! I hope it’s off to a great start for you 🙂 And yes yes, glad you get it about the fresh start feelin’! I love it too. AMEN to paper planners!!! haha.
Oh yes, I hope you love these recipes when he visits! some of them are more involved than others, but most everything we have tried has been tasty. (Except for the soup — i’d skip that, lol!).
yesss, journaling and photography are so therapeutic! You take such amazing photos too- can’t wait to see your latest 🙂 Hope your knee is still feeling okay! And it is so fun when the blogging bug bites! I have it too- I just hope school can let up a little these next couple weeks so I can lean into it more!
Happy new year lovely, I hope you had an amazing Christmas also! I can’t believe how fast the festive season came and went. The guest list sounds right up my street, I love an easy read thriller/crime book! I’m yet to watch Schitts Creek but it is defo on my to watch list, thank you for sharing! xx
Happy (belated) New year to you, love!!! I think you would lovee The Guest List- it is an easy thriller that will keep you guessing the whole way through (with lots of twists!). Hope you are doing so well, Chloe!! <3
Happy New Year, Mackenzie! I hope your holidays were wonderful! The planner is so cute, and I use a paper planner as well! I prefer it over a virtual one any day. I just love writing in general and I have so many pens that it’s fun to alternate colors!
That’s so funny that you listed Nite Swim by The Band Perry. I listened to that song whenever it first released and I was thinking about it a couple of days ago! It sounds so different to their older music but I was a fan on this song!
Stephen and I just finished Schitt’s Creek and we loved it! I’m so sad to have finished it already.
I’m currently loving [obsessed, actually] my succulents collection! I got some a few months back and now I have over 20 of them! I turned into a huge plant lady as of September, haha.
It’s so neat to see what you’re loving. I am wishing you well as graduation is approaching! It’s nice hearing from you! ♡
Hi, Steph!!! Thank you! I hope your start to the year has been great too ☺️ yesss- team paper planner! I’m so glad I’m not alone, hahah.
How funny! It is soo different than their old sound- I am impressed with their new music!
Ahhh I am going to be so sad when we finish too! We are on season 3 and savoring every second!
Oh my gosh, girl! Over 20 succulents?! That’s incredible!! 😍😍 absolutely nothing wrong with being a plant lady lol!!
Thanks for stopping in, hope you are doing so well!!
Sooo thrilled to receive a blog post from you after such a long time. I’ve always loved your posts. Hope I don’t ever miss your blogs again. Since you are in the medical profession, I’m sure you will have lots to share about your experiences on Covid19. Strangely enough Pakistan has had a relatively easier time. Though it has had its horror filled moments too.
Do check out my website whenever you get a few moments. I started out food drives for the jobless persons in our community Due to Covid19. Especially so, in the hope of giving them a better immunity.
May God help us all through these tough times. Loved your Vegan bit. I also love animals, so hate the fact that I love meat! So, some nice vegan alternatives are always welcome.
All the best.
Do stay in touch.
Shireen Gheba.
Hi Shireen! Thank you for your comment. It means soo much that you enjoy my posts. I’m glad to hear you are doing well.
I will absolutely check out your blog! That’s amazing about the food drives- thank you, thank you for all you do!!
All the best back to you, friend.
YAY for a new planner! I always love the feeling of a fresh planner for a new year. I hope 2021 is going well for you!
Yes!! It really is such a great feeling. Thanks, Allie! I hope it going well for you too, friend!