Friday Favorites {#287}

Hello and happy Friday!

Shew! We made it to the weekend. As much as I dragged my feet going back to school, it’s been good to get back into a routine…and it’s been nice seeing my students again.

As always, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Today, I’m sharing a few favorite Christmas gifts I received.

First and foremost, I don’t need anything, but of course I appreciate all that I received. I give some ideas, but I also have some very thoughtful family members 🙂

I had seen this “I love Diet Coke” sweatshirt at Old Navy, and never purchased it. So, I suggested it to my mom and Gma as an idea, and my Gma got it for me. Honestly, I’d forgotten about it, so once I opened that gift, I immediately put it on. I’ve worn it to school, and so many students commented on how much they like it. Compliments from teens? Can you believe it?

My Gma also gave me some Betty White stamps. I loved using them to send out our Christmas cards this year.

I try to be practical with gift requests sometimes too…I knew we needed a couple new blankets for the living room, so I suggested these Sherpa ones as an idea. My mom got me two, one for each ottoman, and oh my…they are better than I expected.

I’ve never felt one of the popular Lola blankets, and I’m guessing those blankets are heavier, but these are oh so soft and seem like they’d be similar to that brand. Hadley has already claimed one as hers….which is now a constant battle! haha

I give these a 10/10 rating!

My mom is really good about finding perfect random gifts (and I don’t mean “random” in a bad way…I mean it in a thoughtful way)…anyway, she got me some pencils with my name on them! Also, they are “left handed” pencils…meaning when you hold them, the name faces that direction.

These are perfect for school, and I won’t be sharing them with my students. haha

I also got some of my favorite eye gels from her too. I’ve already used up this whole pack since Christmas.

I suggested this fleece when my mother-in-law needed gift ideas, and I have zero regrets. I’ve already worn it quite a few times. It’s the perfect thing to just throw on with leggings, but I’ve also worn it with jeans too.

My niece made some of the girls in the family a few things…like this pretty key chain…

…and this bookmark. I love both so much.

Trav has always been a good gift giver, but having a teen girl really has worked out to my benefit in the gift receiving department.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m loving my new tennis shoes…

Trav and Hadley spent some time in Sephora choosing a few perfumes they thought I’d like. So far, I’ve loved all three.

Hadley went to one of my favorite boutiques and picked out these pretty gold hoop earrings for me. I wear these stud earrings nearly every day, but I’d suggested a pair of hoops because sometimes I do change things up, especially if I’m dressing up a bit.

Truly, I felt the love this holiday season.

Mom Meme:

Tuesday was tough for the kids, but we made it!

Bonus Fave: Go Tigers!

I’m not very popular in my house this week. My MIZZOU Tigers came to Lexington to play the CATS…and they won! Trav and Hayden went to the game, and they came home kind of grumpy! I was invited too, but I had a hair appointment that had me getting home right at game time. Honestly, I don’t love a hostile environment anyway…haha!

I’m proud to be a Tiger!

Weekly Recap:

I’ve kept up my (self-induced) Bloganuary challenge of blogging every day in January.

Share Our Lives:

We have our first Share Our Lives link up of 2026 on Monday!

Our topic is – Ways to Stay Warm in the Winter. Well, we’ve had temps in the 60’s the past ten days, so it’s been pretty easy to stay warm! Anyway, I’m looking forward to the link up, and we hope you’ll join us.

I’m ready to have a great Friday at school and then have some down time this weekend. After this weekend, I feel like we get pretty busy with kids’ activities.

I hope to continue blogging this weekend, so see you back here then!