Friday Favorites! A new-ish reading accessory, coffee faves, signs from my baby, gifts, the pups & (a lot) more

It's Friday, ya'll! Normally I would be screaming from the rooftops "TGIF!", but I'm on a short term leave from work currently so honestly, everyday feels like the weekend. But still, I always take the time to find the blessings in my everyday life. It's been so important in helping me grieve the loss of our daughter, Isabela. It feels like all these little "positives" are signs from my baby girl, and she's telling me that she's looking out for her mama. Gosh, I just love these weekly posts. So much positivity! Anywho... let's get into this week's favorites, shall we? It's surprisingly a really long one! 

Pillow pad. Ok this one is kind of stupid but I can't help it... haha. I never got to share this earlier, but back at Christmas, my husband gave me the best present ever: a Pillow Pad! It's so silly but it has become one of my new favorite things. I read on my Kindle a lot so it's so nice to have it propped up on my lap. I love this thing! My hubby sure knows the way to his bookworm wife's heart! ❤ I basically use it everyday. 

Dunkin' Donuts coffee. I feel reeeeeaaaally lazy admitting this, but you guys, the Dunkin' ready-made coffee stuff is so dang good. I have also tried the Starbucks one, but the Dunks' version is so much better. I feel like the Starbs coffee tastes watered down. Maybe that means I need to up the roast. I've only tried the blonde and medium roast. It's also really likely that I love the Dunkin' version because it's probably sweetened? Ha. I really need to get back to my good ol' drip coffee from Folgers. I feel silly spending the money once a week on coffee when I am home and could just turn on the coffee maker. 

Whipped coffee. Have ya'll tried the whipped coffee trend yet? Holy moly it is absolutely delicious. It's basically 2 Tbsp of instant coffee, 2 Tbsp of sugar, and 2 Tbsp of hot water, whipped until the mixture forms points and becomes fluffy, and poured over 1 cup of milk and ice. OMG. When I was pregnant with my baby girl, Isabela would dance around like CRAZY after I had that drink! She looooved sweets and carbs, haha. This coffee is INCREDIBLY sweet, so I would maybe half the sugar if you don't like sweet coffee. Another edit I made, to not consume too much caffeine while I was pregnant, was use a wheat-based coffee substitute that did not have any caffeine. It still came out so freakin' good. I forgot to take a picture because I was always too excited to drink it that I never stopped to snap a photo. Ha. 

Spotting cardinals. I never see cardinals in my neighborhood, but this week while walking the dogs I spotted one in a neighbor's tree. Cardinals, in case you don't know, is a sign from a loved one who has passed, and it means that they are visiting you. They usually show up when you need them most or are missing them. I just knew it a was a sign from my sweet girl, letting her know that she sees me and wants to let me know she is OK. I couldn't help but look up and smile. I miss you, my little love. 

New Instagram accounts. After Izzy went to Heaven, I heartbrokenly unfollowed all of the pregnancy accounts, hashtags, and groups I was following on social media. It hurt too much to see constant reminders of the life we are not going to have. A few days later, I started slowly following accounts by and for baby loss mamas. My favorite new follow is Kierra. She is an artist, Etsy shop owner, and fellow angel mama who specializes in art pieces for families who have gone through loss. Everything she posts is so beautiful and meaningful to me, and I will probably purchase some prints and/or products from her in the near future. 


Baby girl's blanket. On Monday, Isabela's monogrammed blanket finally came in from Stork Wares. Opening the package was a bittersweet moment for me. I had optimistically ordered the blanket a week before she was born and had honestly forgotten about it until it finally arrived this week. The blanket is so beautiful. I chose the watercolor dahlia theme with her name printed on it in pink calligraphy. I can't wait to hang it over the side of her crib. Baby girl, I hope you love your blanket. Mommy sure does, and I will keep it forever. 

Happy mail. I am so lucky to have amazing friends and family who have sent us beautiful gifts to commemorate Isabela. I also had purchased a couple of new things for around the house before everything happened. My sister-in-law purchased us a Willow Tree angel, and my other sister-in-law gifted us another beautiful angel. It's so fitting, since we had decided the day Isabela was born that we were going to finish her room with angel accents. Before Isabela was born, I purchased a set of customized books with all of our family members' names stamped on the spines from Jessica at reef rain aria. She sells beautiful customized and collections of books and jewelry. I love our books and will definitely purchase more from her in the future. And finally, one of my closest friends sent me the most beautiful Mother's Day gift, the Always In My Heart necklace. I have worn it every day since receiving it and will treasure it forever. I'm so lucky to have the most amazing people in my life.  
The angel is from my sister-in-law
The customized books are from reef rain aria

The angel is from my sister-in-law. 


Luke Combs' new song. Luke Combs is one of my all-time favorite artists. He released a new song on Facebook last week that he wrote while self-quarantining, called Six Feet Apart. It is perfection, as usual. Check it out here.

New quilt. Guys, I went to Target for the first time in almost three months. I planned to take a leisurely stroll through the home decor aisles (in my mask, of course), but was sorely disappointed to find the aisles EXTREMELY picked through and bare. Such a bummer. I did, however, find an adorable, lightweight quilt for our bed. I love our bedspread, but my husband gets SO hot during the night and always kicks it off the bed. So I thought a lightweight quilt would be a good compromise. It's from Target and Joanna Gaines' Hearth & Hand collection. I'm obsessed with it. I ended up putting our queen size comforter at the foot of the bed as an accent. 


Puppy pictures. It's crazy how much joy these two hooligans bring me. I don't know what I would do without them.





That's all from me today. Hope everyone had a great week. Cheers to the freakin' weekend!

Linking up with Erika and Lindsay.

Comments

  1. Those are some lovely gifts from your friends. And I love your baby's blanket - it's beautiful and something you can keep forever.

    Aw, your dogs are adorable! I'm glad they are bringing you happiness.

    And that pillow pad is awesome!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  2. Oohh, I have one of those pillow wedges in my Amazon cart to read with in bed! So it's totally worth it?!
    I love your stacked books and angels. I have a couple sets of those books too. Love them.
    Sweets and carbs? Your little one had very good taste. I live for sweets and carbs LOL.
    And also... I know you said you're reminded of the life you won't have, but I truly believe you WILL have that life someday. I know this is not the same thing, but I had an ecptopic pregnancy before my youngest son and it was so awful. I kept imagining who that baby would have been and thinking about life without them. About a year later, I finally got pregnant with my youngest son (and it was such a hard and sad wait). I still think about the baby that is gone, but I am so happy to have Holden. He will not replace the baby we lost, but it's so wonderful that he is here now. No one will ever take the place of your first baby, but I hope and pray for you that soon, she will have a brother or sister. <3

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