In keeping with tradition, I’ve got five new things that I have to share with you this week.

But before I get into my five favorite things this week – Today is an exciting day over here. My best friend from college is flying in for a jam-packed four-day girls’ weekend!

We lived right across from each other all four years of college, constantly together. Remember our Grand Canyon Adventure or that random day in Sedona? So after graduation we moved to separate states. We went from hanging out for hours a day (we literally didn’t even go grocery shopping without each other) to an entire year apart – until this afternoon!

No doubt I’ll have an overload of pictures and recap to share with ya on Monday. But until then, I’ve got 5 things to share with you!

My five favorite finds of the week in no particular:

1.) Homemade Smoothie Bowls

Trendy Acai Bowls got nothin’ on Kenzie & Chelsea’s Creations:

Clearly we have waaaay too much time on our hands, but we were inspired by the aesthetic smoothie creations. Spending a little extra time setting up our smoothie bowls and snapping a few pictures was #worthit.

2.) The Intern

This new-ish movie was a last-minute Redbox decision over the weekend with my parents and we all liked it! I don’t want to give away any spoilers but the storyline was cute and surprisingly not as predictable as you would think. Super relevant for today’s generation :)

3.) “Open Your Eyes” by Bea Miller

New running song alert! Honestly there isn’t any Bea Miller song that isn’t great for running. “Fire & Gold” and “Young Blood” were my go-to’s but Spotify surprised me with this new random addition and I’m loving it’s intense beat for the workout playlist.

  4.) Another Inspirational Pinterest Reminder:

5.) My Fitness Pal App

Okay I’m sure everyone with a smart phone has heard of this one and I’m not introducing you to anything new here. But I’ve actually spent the time to enter my daily meals and exercise for 20 consecutive days now and was really fascinated with it’s average nutritional breakdowns.

A typical protein intake should fall between 20-30% of our daily calories, and I’ve just learned that I average about 15%. FAIL. I’ve also been able to see how many grams of sugar I consume on average, as well as major vitamins and nutrients. Calorie tracking is a huge tool for weight loss or maintenance and now that I see the little pie charts with my macronutrient ratios each day, I’m more and more addicted to the app. I also like using the recipe-creator tool to calculate the exact nutritional information for homemade recipes like my Healthy Honey Nut Banana Muffins and upcoming Oven-Baked Falafel.

Apparently this girl needs some more of Kelly’s Famous Protein Bites in her life! ;)

Okay I’m going to cut this one short because I have one EPIC Girl’s Weekend to kick off! I can’t even imagine how long Monday’s recap blog post will be.

XOXO Kenz.

I’m just now easing back into a normal week after an extended weekend with my two favorite people, and it included a ridiculous amount of walking and a necessary amount of wine ;)

Since we live in different states now, I only see my mom about once a month and it’s even more rare that the three of us are together at the same time. Enjoying these moments!

One of the (many) upsides of being an only child: my parents have become two of my best friends. We are so close, and I’m so thankful that now our weekends together are like hanging out with friends. This weekend was divided between relaxing with a little wine and a lot of new healthy recipes, and lots of quality time outside walking MANY miles.

On Saturday morning, we needed to vacate our house for 5-ish hours while our realtor held an open house. We gladly escaped to one of our favorite local coffee shops and walked around the more scenic parks in our area. We grabbed a late lunch and ate outside at my dad’s favorite Italian deli and picked up some snacks and drinks at my second home a.k.a. Target. :)

“Golden Hour,” or the period of time after sunset but before it’s totally dark out, is my favorite time to walk. I mentioned on Instagram last week that I’m prone to mid-run photoshoot breaks because the lighting is too flattering. This barn is one of my favorites:

We finished up our Golden Hour walk and headed home to make a healthy dinner and watch the new movie The Intern. Loved it and it just might make the top 5 for this week’s Thursday Things…

Sunday morning was a usual mix of tidying up, grocery shopping and random chores before we stopped for brunch at The Soup Shoppe, a cute local breakfast and lunch spot. We were fueling up for another full day out and about while our house was on display for other realtors so we took our time enjoying plenty of coffee, scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes and hash browns. :)

Mt. Rubidoux is one of the most popular “hiking” trails in our area and we were among several hundred other people who decided to kick Sunday off with a hike. It was gorgeous outside with blue sky, white clouds, and a slight breeze. We hung out on top for a while with a view of downtown Riverside before heading back down for a trip to the only remaining book store in Riverside (so sad) and, you guessed it, iced coffees. ;)

Once we were finally settled at home for a while after a long day of walking and sunshine, we made an amazing smorgasbord of healthy and not-so-healthy treats – grapes, apples, bell peppers, baby carrots, hummus, cheese, crackers, chocolate and wine. My mom and I played some card games while my dad watched his Nascar race, just relaxing and resting our legs!

Introducing my mom to Snapchat filters after 1.5 bottles of wine….a very entertaining idea.

This was a much-needed weekend for our family. My parents are right in the thick of relocating, finally able to pursue their dream of leaving Southern California behind for a slower pace of life in Idaho. However there are a couple major hurdles to get through before relaxing in potato fields, most of which they have successfully conquered. Selling our house (where I was brought home from the hospital 23 years ago!) is one of the last major tasks, and I’m sure many of you know how stressful and long that process can feel. My parents have worked hard and earned everything they have; they have made our house into such an amazing home for me – now they finally get to start focusing on their own goals, and I don’t know anyone else more deserving of a fun new fresh start adventure! These two have taught me about work ethic, generosity, and character – I’m so excited to follow them on their Idaho adventure. :)

Aaaand now we’re moving on from wine and chocolate to Boot Camp class and laundry – reality! :)

P.S. Yesterday my mom helped me make a brand-new healthified baked falafel recipe for pita pockets and they were an instant success. Be on the look out for that soon!

On Friday Eve around here, we like to share the Top 5 Things I’ve Heard, Seen, Read and Tasted this week. :)

1.) This New York Times Article about the ‘Naked and Afraid’ Behind-the-Scenes Staff

We’re starting off on an interesting note….potentially TMI territory. Even if you’ve never seen the Discovery Channel TV Show ‘Naked and Afraid,’ you probably have some idea of the premise behind the series. But have you ever thought about the people whose entire job is to blur the body parts that need to be blurred?! Apparently it is a 5-person full-time job to censor the unmentionables and the ridiculousness of their daily duties will make you appreciate your own office environment a little more.

2.) Powerful Personal Trainer Podcast

Last week I wrote about my latest addiction to podcasts while walking AND my personal training certification. This “Thursday Thing” covers both – the best podcast related to personal training that I have found (and I went through a lot!). The two guys who run the podcast as well as the guests they bring in to interview each episode are so engaging and the time literally flies by while I’m listening and walkin’. If I wasn’t inspired to put my certification to use before, I am now!

3.) “Underdogs” from Chris Young

Regardless of your feelings towards country music, you should add this one to your workout playlist. A.) Christ Young’s sexy voice will distract you from your physical pain and B.) it has one of those adrenaline-inducing powerful beats that drives you to instantly pick up the pace. I loved playing this song during last week’s hill repeats!

4.) Healthy Honey Nut Banana Muffins

A little shameless self-promotion here, but hey! How do you know a recipe you found on the internet is a good one? When the picky blogger who wrote it consumes a whole batch in less than a week, that’s how. ;)

And if it’s the food processor that is keeping you from making this super simple recipe yourself (I get it, I get it. Dishes suck.), then just grab the 99-cent ground oats and ground almonds at your local grocery store and mix in a bowl instead. On the other hand, if it’s a nut allergy that’s deterring you, welllllll I can’t help you there.

5.) Inspirational Quotes from Pinterest

My Pinterest board topics span from apartment DIY projects to random pictures of baby piglets licking ice cream cones. (Google “piglet + ice cream cone” and you will not be disappointed.) But one board that I continually build is my “Inspiration” board because there are so many truth-telling, heart-hitting quotes on there! If you ever need a pep talk, just head to the quotes category on Pinterest and you’ll go from Debbie Downer to Beyonce in no time.

This doesn’t really need any of my own commentary…it pretty much speaks for itself! Maybe it will be applicable to you too, whether it be fitness goals, career goals, relationship goals, or even just hair style goals. One day I WILL master that damn fishtail braid.  ;)

And now it’s your turn! Share a Thursday Thing that you enjoyed hearing/reading/watching this week in the comments. Enjoy your Thursday! Xo.