Hello friends! Happy Friday! How is your week going? Friends celebrating this week: how was your holiday?
Before we start today’s post, a HUGE congratulations to this year’s Favorite Things giveaway winner: Mary Anne C. Stay tuned for more giveaways to come in the new year!
It’s been an amazing week. We spent a few nights at the Scottsdale Princess, which is one of our favorite winter traditions. They have so many great light displays, Santa, ice skating, rides and the atmosphere is so festive and fun.
(They also have a ridiculous hot cocoa cocktail called the Nutcracker that is SO good.) We met up with friends and enjoyed all the activities on property, plus dinner at the new Toca Madera.
We were blown away by the food and service. Everything was cooked perfectly – we shared guacamole, chips, oysters and Pilot and I enjoyed margaritas. For entrees, the kids got truffle mac and cheese and a shredded chicken salad, while Pilot and I enjoyed steaks and entrees. We ordered three desserts (we want to try everything when we go out to eat lol) and the presentation was so unique – everything was on a board adorned with a lit sparkler.
While in Scottsdale we also saw Ballet Arizona Nutcracker; one of my all time favorites!
The rest of the week was in Winterhaven and a party with friends, Christmas Eve at my dad’s and Christmas at our house. This week was filled with everything I love: family time, relaxation and amazing food.
(All our pajamas are from Hannah Anderson)
We had the usual nana egg casserole, tamales, beans and whatnotfrosted cinnamon rolls.
The pilot made his famous egg:
and for dinner, we had a giant charcuterie board, caviar + sides, shrimp cocktail and for dinner, beef tenderloin with horseradish mustard sauce, smoked turkey, brussels sprouts and mashed sweet potatoes.
Dessert was a yule log from dedicated,
homemade pumpkin pie,
various macarons and a million cookies that Madre and I baked 😉 Here are some of the cookie cutters we received from our neighbors:
We played the saran wrap ball game and a few other games, and the pilot and I closed out the evening sitting by the fire pit by the pool. It was perfect 🙂
It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! Here I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your favorites too, so please shout out something you like in the comments section below.
12.27 Friday Faves
Fashion + Beauty + Random:
One of my friends said this was her favorite Christmas present, so I ordered one for myself. I’m excited to use it for our next get together to keep the food warm.
This sweatshirt is so cute for Valentine’s Day!
A perfect classic sweater dress
Read, watch, listen:
Are you doing Dry January this year?
Fitness, health, life and good nutrition:
While we were in Scottsdale, I was able to take a Pvolve class at their new studio in Scottsdale. It was one of the best group fitness classes I’ve taken in a long time. The instructor had fantastic pointers and energy, and I really like the Pvolve workout and format. It incorporates functional strength training with unique positioning – lots of internal and external rotation – balance components and tools are effective at adding an extra challenge. It was HARD and pleasantly sore afterwards! My full review of the blog post is here.
So many sales on some of my favorite health and wellness brands. If you’re looking to deplete your FSA/HSA funds as we wind down the year, check out this post.
– EquiLife is having huge sales on tests and supplements this week. If you want to try as we head into the new year, I recommend you start the big 5 or the Starter kit. (If you want me to be the one to go through the tests with you, send me your confirmation number to gina@fitnessista.com subject TEST and I can make sure the results are tracked to me.)
– Last chance for 20% off HigherDOSE with code FITNESSISTA20. If you want a sauna blanket, PEMF mat or red light masknow is the chance.
The January detox starts on January 13th if you want to plan ahead! My code is FITNESSITA10 if you want to join.
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today! Have a great weekend and see you soon!
xoxo
Gina
