Hey there & Happy Friday! I hope all of you are staying nice and warm today- it’s supposed to be quite the cold snap- brrr! I’m WFH today which worked out very nicely 😉 Speaking of work, the other day I was having a conversation with some coworkers in the kitchen and it hit me that Christmas is NEXT WEEKEND- how did that sneak up so fast?! I have a few gifts left to get this weekend for Christmas and for RM’s birthday (next Friday) so I feel mostly prepared on that front, but it’s still feels crazy that it’s so soon. Speaking of Christmas, let’s get into the Five on Friday’s for the week!

• Christmas spirit- I’ve been having so much fun getting into the Christmas spirit this season. It started off with the Seaport tree lighting and continued on with getting our Christmas tree and decorating the apartment. I LOVEEEE having all of the lights and decorations up, and I must say, our tree is pretty darn perfect this year 🙂

• Beating the Holiday Hustle- My friend Athena is leading a really great “challenge” throughout the month of December, all about helping us “Beat the holiday hustle”. There’s no denying that the holidays, while so fun and wonderful, also bring about extra stress, commitments and general “hustle & bustle”, right? What I love about this challenge is how it urging us to look at ways to BEAT the holiday hustle. I was really proud of myself on Wednesday for beating the holiday hustle when I chose to skip out on an event I RSVP’d to, I didn’t do laundry or clean or anything else on my “should do” list, and instead I poured myself some wine, listened to Christmas music, wrapped presents, made a nice dinner and watched a sappy Hallmark Christmas movie. With everything I’ve had on my schedule lately, I feel like it allows very little time for nights like that, so I was especially appreciative of my decision to forgo my “plans” and instead refill my energy cup by slowing down and doing things that make me happy.

• Warby Parker’s new line- I was recently inspired by Warby Parker to take a look at their new stylish sunglasses line, and in turn, I ended up signing up for their free at-home glasses try on program. I will share more about those later once I’ve had time to check them all out, but in the meantime I wanted to share some details and photos from their new line! I’m always jealous of people who are able to have multiple pairs of sunglesses- as a glasses wearer, that’s just not really a feasible option for me financially since prescription sunglasses can be really expensive. What I love about Warby Parker is that the glasses- both regular and sunglasses- are unique in their design-each pair I’ve seen has some little extra piece of detail that makes it stand out. I especially love the rose color and shape of the ones in the pictures below. If you’re in the need of new glasses or sunglasses and want to try something new, I suggest you check out Warby Parker’s Home Try-On program and pick out 5 styles to try at home for free!

• Air BNB– It’s so crazy that the first East Boston apartment that I rented- and where I met RM- is officially on Air BNB. RM had an interior decorator/shopper help with getting it ready to be rented- I think it came out amazing! If you know of anyone looking for an affordable, spacious, clean apartment to rent that’s close to the airport and just a short walk to the T (which gets you into downton Boston in just 2 stops!), please let me know or check it out on Air BNB for yourself! We are hoping this becomes a successful adventure, so any support from all you wonderful readers is so greatly appreciated 🙂

And that does it for me today! I’m hosting my work book club tonight and I can’t wait to have the girls over. I’m making a nice roast chicken meal, which is perfect for a cold day like today! Tomorrow I’m going to the 9:30 bags & strength class at EBF (if anyone wants to join!!) and then finishing up my shopping. I hope whatever you do, you have a wonderful, “beat the holiday hustle” type of weekend!

Questions for you: What’s been up with you?! I feel so disconnected since I haven’t been blogging! What do you have going on this weekend? Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? Did you decorate?