1. Universal Thread High-Rise Destroyed Midi Jean Shorts
OH. SO. GOOD. The high waist on these jean shorts hits above the belly button and hold everything in, so I don’t feel like my tum-tum is hanging out the sides of my waistband, and the midi-length completely covers the cheeks and the very tops of my thighs. I feel covered up, but yet the shorts are still short enough to keep me cool and elongate my gams.
The material is a blend of 91% cotton, 7% Polyester and 2% Spandex, so it does stretch out a little, but I don’t mind because I don’t like my shorts to cling tightly to my booty. Keep in mind that because the denim stretches, the waistband starts to loosen after a few hours, so the shorts do slip down, but I just wear them with a belt and remind myself that they were only $17.99!
They’re also coated with something that’s supposed to repel stains? Thank goodness, because I need all the help I can get with white shorts.
I’m thinking of grabbing a couple more pairs!
2. Aveeno Baby Continuous Protection Zinc Oxide Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50
I’ve had several friends recommend Aveeno Baby Sunscreen (about $13), and it’s really as good as everyone says it is.
The active ingredient in this physical sunscreen is zinc oxide, which works by sitting on top of the skin to deflect and scatter UV rays. It absorbs quickly, isn’t sticky, doesn’t feel heavy on my skin, and layers well with other skin care products and underneath makeup. It doesn’t sting as I’m rubbing it in and hasn’t broken me out (knocks on wood). There is a white cast at first…but it fades after about a half an hour, so I don’t stress about it. It’s sweat-and water-resistant for up to 80 minutes, too.
3. Stretching
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: Stretching is NOT my forte, as I’m about as naturally flexible as a plank of plywood. MY hamstrings are the WORST, and whenever someone in a fitness class or a workout video says “bend over and touch your toes,” I’m the person with her fingertips at the tops of her knees saying “NOPE! Not gonna happen.” But I’ve just discovered stretching videos on YouTube, and my life is forever changed.
My toes and arches felt SO GOOD after this video.
I’m about to do this one.
I like doing stretching videos because it’s easier for me to have someone lead me through different stretching positions, rather than having to think about what to do next on my own (because why would I put my body into uncomfortable positions on my own?). It also really helps having someone tell me how long to sit or stand in whatever pretzel position I’m currently in; otherwise, I’ll just peace-the-eff-out after 10 seconds.
I’ve been doing a 20-minute stretch video while I watch TV at night before bed, and after less than a week, my body feels better in the morning (and throughout the day, really), and I sleep better at night because my muscles aren’t as sore after my workouts.
YAY FOR STRETCHING!
4. Air fryers
Air fryers mimic deep frying by using hot air and just a minimal amount of oil, so they’re supposed to be great for healthy cooking. I don’t have one (yet), but I reeeeeeally want one, because at my mom and dad’s house a few weekends ago for lunch, they cooked an entire Tilapia in their air fryer, and it was so tender and juicy that I inhaled the entire fish by myself in — I’m not even kidding — less than 15 minutes! (Side note: Don’t mess with a little Filipino lady and her yummy fish, man.)
Only thing holding me back is that the machines tend to be huge and take up lots of counter/cupboard space, which I don’t have at the moment, but is something I’m actively working towards, which leads me to…
5. Going to Goodwill once a day
I’m in the process of de-cluttering my house (we’re prepping for a minor remodel, which is another conversation for another time), and I’ve realized that the least stressful way for me to do it is to chip away at things with bite-sized recycling and disposal tasks, rather than doing a massive, overwhelming purge.
So this is what I do! Every day, I spend five minutes in each room adding items to a large bag of things to donate (the rule for me is if I haven’t used something in two years, I can let it go). Once the bag is full, it goes into the trunk of my car, and then I head to the Goodwill donation station ASAP to drop it off. I aim to do this once a day, and it’s really helped me get a handle on processing the clutter.
What things have you been loving lately?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Kate says
June 25th, 2019 at 9:10 amYes about air fryers! I want one badly but don’t have counter space. You may have pushed me with the tilapia. My friend tells me brussel sprouts are awesome in it too. There’s one on the Costco website that has good reviews, and Costco has a great return policy so I may bite.
Will have to try out the aveeno sunscreen. I also love the vanicream spf 35 for kids. It’s a little too moisturizing for me but I have oily, acne prone skin.
Karen says
June 25th, 2019 at 9:21 amI think my parents got theirs from Costco! If you end up getting one please let me know what you think; I’m trying to do research and gather as many opinions before I commit to one just because they take up so much space in the kitchen.
Thanks for the recommendation for Vanicream. I’ve also heard Elta MD’s Invisible is great too!
Lauri says
June 25th, 2019 at 10:48 pmElta MD is the best!!
Tina says
June 26th, 2019 at 5:09 amElta MD invisible is great, as well as the tinted one! Just enough to even your skin, and is a matte finish. Lovely!
kate says
June 27th, 2019 at 3:44 amlove the airfryer, you won’t look back
been buying more clothing at Target, some nice things but sizing is all over the place, but I have found some great clothing for cheap
Jules says
June 25th, 2019 at 10:16 amYes for the air fryer! I bought one two years ago and it has made life so much easier. Great for most veggies, meat (mostly fish and chicken – you could do beef too, but personally I’d miss that charring you get from cooking it with a pan), toasting bread, heating up leftovers… It’s super flexible, and easy to clean. I’m totally with you on the counter space issue, but to me this baby has earned every square inch it occupies in my tiny, super crammed kitchen!
Also, you look great! I hope you and your family are well, and I’m sending you good vibes for the clutter purge 🙂
Karen says
June 25th, 2019 at 10:24 amHey Jules,
What’s the brand of air fryer? Thank you so much for the mini-review!
Jules says
June 25th, 2019 at 2:21 pmI have the Black and Decker one! It’s on the more affordable side of the spectrum, so I’m sure it’s missing some of the niftier features (e.g. it’s not digital), but so far I have no complaints 🙂
Karen says
June 25th, 2019 at 2:27 pmI have plenty of Black and Decker kitchen appliances and have been happy with them. Thanks for the rec!
Jennifer says
June 25th, 2019 at 11:07 amI don’t understand the appeal of an air fryer but then I haven’t eaten anything that’s been cooked in one.
You can cook tilapia in a skillet on the stove top in just a few minutes. I need more convincing.
Also,the outfit you’re wearing is super cute. Those shorts are adorbs!
Nice job with the donations. I feel better if I immediately drop off the bag of junk instead of letting it sit for a day or two.
Jennifer recently posted … Download This One App to Move More at Work
Karen says
June 25th, 2019 at 2:37 pmI’ve been wanting one but wanted to see how the food tasted, and man… My parent’s can’t cook for sh*t (sad but true), but with the air fryer that fish was freakin’ poetry.
Jaclyn Levy says
June 25th, 2019 at 11:31 amThis post was so fun to read so I’m joining the fun! 5 things in loving lately:
1. My new $5 watch. Ha! I wanted a watch with an asymmetrical design but they are nowhere to be found. Finally found one today and was on sale for five bucks. Win!
2. Fresh flowers. my husband had a vase of fresh flowers waiting for me when I came home from my recent travels.
3. VBS! I signed up my kids for 3 this summer. It’s basically a free Mom’s Day out program. Win! My sanity needs it.
4. Summer storms. I looooove a good storm. Perfect excuse to take it easy. Perfect reminder of our smallness in the world.
5. Reading a book of essays called “Can we all be feminists?” It’s AMAZING and I’ve learned so much wisdom from the diverse essay writers. Highly recommend.
Have a great rest of the week!
Karen says
June 25th, 2019 at 2:36 pmThank you for the book recommendation, Jaclyn! I’m adding it to my list.
Suzanne C says
June 25th, 2019 at 11:38 amWe love our air-fryer! It makes really good french fries and, as the littles say, chicky nuggies.
Good on you for the fearless decluttering. I’m a huge fan of Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”. It really helped me purge a lot of stuff when we moved three years ago. It’s about time to purge the house again, but it’s going to have to wait until the house actually gets fixed. (Still waiting…..)
Karen says
June 25th, 2019 at 2:35 pmI have that book around here somewhere, Suzanne (it’s somewhere amongst the clutter). I can’t believe you guys are still dealing with the house drama! How many months has it been now?
Suzanne C says
June 25th, 2019 at 6:01 pmNine months on July 10th. We’re down to fighting with the mortgage company’s money servicing company over $800 the insurance company was supposed to send directly to us rather than to them, along with waiting for our contractor to be able to start on our house. There was just so much damage; a friend was telling my mom that a contractor friend of his has clients with more minor jobs lined up for the next three years.
Daphne B says
June 25th, 2019 at 11:48 amYou asked what things we have been loving lately? Well, this goes hand in hand with your decluttering project. I checked this book out of the local library called The Home Edit : A guide to organizing and realizing your house goals, by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin. These ladies have a line of containers and gorgeous handwritten labels to organize pantries, refrigerators, and cabinets. Their line is also called The Home Edit (or T.H.E) and it is carried exclusively at The Container Store – where this book is also sold. Their line is fabulous – but pricey, so I just dream about buying all the containers and the fancy script label to redo my kitchen, but the book has fabulous pictures of closets and pantries ( including Gwinneth Paltrow’s kitchen pantry), and it is very inspirational.
Karen says
June 25th, 2019 at 2:35 pmHi Daphne,
I looooove looking at pictures of organized pantries. Why are they so satisfying? I’m saving for some organizational items from Amazon: a spice shelf that you can custom fit into a cabinet; risers for the cans (so I can see them more easily); and lazy susans for the middle of the shelves. Ours are very deep and so there’s a lot of wasted space.
They probably won’t look as pretty as the Container store items but I think it’ll at least be functional.
Tatiana says
June 25th, 2019 at 12:05 pmI wish I could bring myself to wear shorts, especially in this weather. But I’m so used to be covered I can’t stand to see my florescent white, flabby legs.
Yes! Stretching for the win. The key thing is to try and be as consistent as possible with it. I stretch after every workout. I’ll never be ballerina flexible, but at least I can now get my palms on the floor.
I’d love to try an air fryer except for the fact that I’m mostly anti-gadget when it comes to my kitchen.
If you ever get tired of going to Goodwill you could try calling these folks. They pick up and the proceeds benefit the Oakland Museum. https://www.whiteelephantsale.org/donate
Karen says
June 25th, 2019 at 2:32 pmIt’s amazing what a difference stretching makes, even after just a week. I’ve noticed that I recover faster, too, because my muscles ache less.
How long do you usually stretch? I find that 20 minutes is good for me.
Tatiana says
June 25th, 2019 at 4:38 pmI don’t stretch for a particular length of time. I target muscle groups that I know I’ve worked or have persistent tightness in. I usually hold each stretch for at least 90 seconds. I’ll stretch, hold it a bit, ease back and relax into the stretch to see if it will go further. I never force a stretch.
Diana says
June 25th, 2019 at 12:27 pmLove your favorite things posts! Yay for stretching! I didn’t think it would make a difference but doing my Classical Stretch dvds has made me feel taller and leaner. At 5’3″ I’ll take it!
Karen says
June 25th, 2019 at 2:30 pmYes, I’ve noticed that afterwards my posture is so much better! I’ve never heard of Classical Stretch, maybe I can find them on YouTube.
P.S. Hamstrings are the worst!
kellly says
June 25th, 2019 at 12:48 pmI will only use sunscreen with zinc oxide in it. I know what you mean about how it turns your skin a very strange white for a little while, but I can put it on in the morning and forget about it the rest of the day and have never ended up burned. I try to be careful with it around my eyes but it doesn’t seem to burn like “regular” sunscreens do.
Never had an air-fryer and my kitchen is so small and cluttered I’d have to build an extension or hang it on a pulley from the ceiling just to try to find space for one! I don’t cook all that much anyway so it would be sort of a gadget for me.
I get it about the stretching. I’ve always been fairly flexible but there is absolutely no way my legs will ever go out to the sides. Maybe my hips are put together a little different from most but even when I was little, I just could never get my legs to do that kind of thing no matter how hard I tried. Oh well.
Karen says
June 25th, 2019 at 2:30 pmYes, the cast is almost gray on me? It’s super obvious when I first put it on, but eh, whatevs. It works!
Michele DiCola says
June 25th, 2019 at 1:07 pmThe air fryer is tops . My niece borrowed it and loves it too.
I can’t use Aveeno nut Coppertone Waterbabies is ok .
Allergic toAveeno .
Going to get those shorts cause I need shorts.
R u kidding ? I shop at Goodwill . ESP if I need a Halloween 👻 costume .
Happy Tuesday .
Karen says
June 25th, 2019 at 2:28 pmGood luck with the shorts! They come in other colors too!
Chelsea says
June 25th, 2019 at 3:49 pmMy coworker speaks so highly of her air fryer!
I’ll check out the shorts – I am abnormally high waisted so even high waisted things often don’t reach my belly button.
I need to take some stuff to Goodwill but I’ve been procrastinating.
Kim says
June 26th, 2019 at 7:00 amI think your hair looks great and I have to make fun of you a tiny bit because I know you’re growing out your grays but there’s nary a gray in sight! You picked a great time to start – if I grew mine out, I’d look like a calico cat with huge chunks of white and gray. HAHA!
I know many people with air fryers and I think they do a nice job. The folks I know used them a lot when they first got them but not much any more. You’re right about the big and bulky. Unless you eat a lot of “fried” food, you may not get much use out of it.
Great job on the de-cluttering. I can always do more of that. OMG, I forgot to tell you that I did the 50 minute bootcamp vid that you recommended a few weeks ago. Talk about killer for the hamstrings. I was still sore 4 days later! And I do stretch like a crazy person before and after every workout. HAHA! Keep the recs coming! 🙂
Karen says
June 26th, 2019 at 7:05 amIt really depends on the lighting and how I part my hair but trust me, the gray is there. 🙂
Glad you liked the workout! Try one of her stretch videos sometime!
Kim says
June 26th, 2019 at 7:40 amI trust you. 🙂 But I think it’ll be gradual, which is good!!
I will definitely try a stretch video. I liked the HIIT to mix things up; I don’t do enough squats and lunges – and it showed! HAHA!
Karen says
June 26th, 2019 at 10:47 amYeah, lunges are the worst. Especially side lunges, GAHHHH!
Did you use weights?
Kim says
June 27th, 2019 at 9:52 amI did but kind of wussed out at 5 and 8 lbs. At least my arms weren’t sore. HAHA! My dwindling hip flexibility definitely showed in the first few side leg lifts. And I definitely felt the one-leg-back, tricep-press move in my lower back. I’ve done Insanity but, these days, lower impact is really better for my old joints. 🙂 And I’ll be queuing up your hip flexibility stretching rec soon!
Leah says
June 26th, 2019 at 9:36 amWe have the airfryer from Costco and we love it. We have made crispy fish in it, tempura veggies, pizzas for the kids, and a bunch of other things.
Karen says
June 26th, 2019 at 10:39 amWAIT. You can make pizza in an air fryer? MIND BLOWN! Like, a frozen pizza? Or do you make them from scratch?
Trude Calvert says
June 26th, 2019 at 7:50 pmThanks for the tip on the shorts! The older I get the higher the rise I want and that can be extra hard with shorts. 😊 I’m grateful for our membership at the local discovery museum, electric skillets that heat up in two seconds and my girl drinking endless amounts of milk as long as it has some strawberry nesquick in it.
Rachel Runyan says
June 27th, 2019 at 1:02 pmYour shorts are so super-cute! I should totally look into an air fryer. They sound amazing!
Five things I’m loving lately:
1) Volition Strawberry-C Serum. It makes my skin feel soft and isn’t irritating. Win!
2) Vegetable chips. I’ve switched to them from potato chips, which my nutritionist said was a good move. They’re not as oily, and they’re much more tasty and have more fiber than potato chips. So I can still have chips occasionally with a burger or sandwich at home when I get tired of raw veggies.
3) Lipgloss. I’m so into lipgloss this year. I’m sick of all the matte lipsticks from the last few years, and all the pretty shimmery and sparkly lipglosses coming out this year are just what the doctor ordered.
4) Blue and green eyeshadows. I’m so glad they’re “in” right now, and it’s easier than ever to get a variety of good quality shades. Favorites are Ace Beaute’s Oceanic Palette, ColourPop’s Get Lucky and Blue Moon Palettes, Sydney Grace’s Danny’s Dream Collection, and Melt Smoke Sessions.
5) MAC Desert Lightning Palette. It’s cooler, but not too cool-toned (i.e. doesn’t go muddy on me). It’s very fair skin friendly, with its blendable and buildable soft black and dark brown shades, overall shade selection, and Desert being a great base/transition shade for fair skin.