Hi friends! Popping in with some Friday favorites and things I’m loving lately today.
What are you especially into lately? Feel free to share in the comments!
1) My brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Drew and Morgana, are here visiting!
It’s really fun to have them here – they are great with Riese and it’s always fun to have others around the house.
They got here on Tuesday night and are here through the weekend and we’ve been having some fun adventures together, especially because the weather has been so great this week!
2) Our home gym.
We have always had a small area of the basement dedicated to our home gym, but it recently got a big upgrade: a full set of hand weights!
My parents got them for us for Matt’s birthday + my birthday, which has been awesome since all of our non-running workouts are at home nowadays.
It’s nice to have weight options and also to have more than one heavier set of weights – after using only 5 pound weights for everything since March, I have some serious strength to gain back!
I’m proud of us for being so consistent with the live virtual MauneyFit classes we’ve been doing 2 to 3 times per week since March – the classes are taught by Drew and Morgana – they are both fitness professionals!
3) Gone Rogue High Protein Chips (sponsored)
So nice to have a portable, crunchy, salty snack option that has protein, too! These made great boat snacks last week at Lake Anna.
I’ve also gotten into the habit of keeping a couple (single serve) bags of the chips in the car so I can snack on them while driving home from a run, when I am really craving salt and protein. Each bag packs 17 grams of protein, which buys me some time once I get home to shower and get ready without worrying about having a full meal the second I get back!
In case you missed it, check out my How Much Protein Should You Eat post for more on the specifics of protein needs for runners as well as optimal timing of protein intake.
4) Ken Follett came out with a new book!!
Ken Follett is one of my all-time favorite authors because I’m obsessed with his Kingsbridge book series – they are sooo good. My mom is into the books too, and she let me know last week while we were at the lake that he just came out with a prequel to the series called The Evening and the Morning.
I downloaded it pretty much immediately while we were at Lake Anna and already finished it earlier this week despite it being over 650 pages. I didn’t want it to end! Maybe I’ll try reading some of his other non-Kingsbridge books next… anyone else read those? Are they good?
In the meantime, I just started reading “Me”, Elton John’s autobiography, which was recommended by one of you on my Recent Non-Fiction Reads post from last week. So far I’m really enjoying it!
5) FALL!!
Now that it’s October I feel like there’s no stopping the pumpkin madness… and I’m loving seeing some Halloween decorations pop up around our neighborhood, too. Riese is fascinated by them!
In case you need some fall inspiration, here are a few of my favorite recipes:
- Comforting Pumpkin Quinoa
- Gluten Free Spiced Pumpkin Pancake
- Whole Wheat Pumpkin Biscotti
- Sweet Potato Muffins Recipe with Coconut
- Vegan Oatmeal Cookies with Pumpkin
What are your favorite fall-themed recipes? I’m excited to start making some hearty soups again soon, too!
I hope you guys have a cozy weekend – see you back here on Monday!
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