What I'm Loving Wednesday

Or, you know, What I'm Loving Early Thursday :)

My Fitness Pal. I've been using this site to log my workouts and daily food intake for the last few weeks. I like the supportive community and the ease of use - tracking calories on the site reminds me a lot of counting points when I was on Weight Watchers. Anything that makes losing weight/toning up/being a bit healthier a better, more positive experience is a plus in my book.

Talenti gelato. This stuff is amazing. Also, expensive. But! For the cost of a DQ Blizzard, we get 3-4 servings (you know, unless we finish off the container in one sitting, which sometimes never happens) and it occasionally goes on sale. There are often coupons on the Talenti Facebook page as well. I am pretty sure we've tried everything flavor at least once. We love the Caramel Cookie Crunch. When we're not sharing, though, I love the Sea Salt Caramel, and Tim loves the Roman Raspberry.

Ruffles. This makes me think of potato chips. Mmmmm ... But no. I mean ruffles, like on clothes. Tops, specifically. I'm not one to be stylish or pick up on fashion trends, but I love that ruffles add a touch of classed-up style to my comfy, casual tops (I'm looking at you, Ann Taylor and Old Navy), making it easy to wear for work or play. Bonus points go to the fact that they're flattering, too, for my I-had-a-baby-and-my-belly-has-always-been-a-fat-globbing-magnet insecurities. Instead, they say "Look at these pretty ruffles! Pretty, pretty ruffles! I can be worn with jeans, shorts or slacks! Pretty ruffles!" 

The FAO Schwarz Elephant Walker. A friend has this walker for her daughter (her daughter is two weeks older than Elle and is quite the proficient walker). We knew that Elle would need something to help steady her whenever she decides to start walking, and I just wasn't sold on any of the musical, plastic products that I was researching. And, as Tim pointed out, we have toys that play music, light up, have multiple activities, etc. My biggest concern was that the plastic ones might not be sturdy enough to support the weight of a truly fledgling walker, and I didn't want Elle to face plant just because the walker slipped out from under her. We had originally planned to borrow the walker from my friend, but we were out shopping for Elle's birthday on Sunday and found it at Toys 'R Us ... for $30-40 cheaper than what I'd seen online. Sooooo ... we bought it. And love it. Elle likes to "knee walk" with it, but she's also tried to shuffle behind it a few times. I like that it's cute (elle-phant!), sturdy (will last for this kid, future kids and beyond), educational (fun little blocks on the front) and has a little storage area. We have carpeted floor, and it's worked extremely well for us.

Cherry Chomper. My sister introduced this cherry pit remover to my youngest brother in early July, and when we were in Ohio a few weeks ago, my mom insisted that I have one, too. I've never been big on cherries, mostly because I don't like fruit that requires work. This has been fun, though, and Tim, our designated Cherry Chomper, likes to explain to me to me how it works, step-by-step, as he "makes cherries." We discovered that Elle loves cherries, too, so it's nice that we don't have to worry about pits for her.

Seeing old friends. The trip to Ohio started it - the reuniting with friends I have known for decades. Friends who have seen my through some of my most formative times. I love that I still have a close circle of friends from high school, college and past jobs, and tomorrow (well, later today) I get to see a friend that I haven't seen since my wedding 2.5 years ago. He'll get to meet Elle, too. I heart seeing old friends.