Friday Favorites

This weekend, my family and I are looking forward to a weekend of nothing specific. By that I mean, we have no agenda for the entire weekend! Which also means, I’ll be looking for a new book to read. So if you have any recommendations, please let me know in the comments.

While I’m prepping for our schedule free weekend, I thought I’d pop in and share some of my favorite random stuff I’m loving this week.

1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – The best book I have read in such a long time, I still can’t stop thinking about the ending. I immediately downloaded and read her other two books, Dark Placesand Sharp Objects. Both excellent reads as well.

2. Chevron Maxi Skirt from Mindy Mae’s Market - How cute and comfy do these look? I ordered the black and white one and can’t wait to get it. It can be hard to find cute trendy pieces in bigger sizes, so I was thrilled to find these at such a great price! These are available for pre order right now, so get ready for spring!

3. Stainless steel cleaner – A few readers have asked about a solution for cleaning stainless steel that doesn’t leave streaks. I’ve tried speciality cleaners and found that Pledge furniture polish works the best for me. Just regular formula Pledge you would use for dusting. I do however have a special Microfiber Towel I use only on the stainless and I think that is the real secret to a streak free finish.

Apparently it’s for quickly drying your hair, but I keep it in my cleaning stash. It glides right over the stainless steel and doesn’t drag like other microfiber towels, and it doesn’t leave lint behind like cotton.

4. Red Velvet Monkey Bread from Ashton at Something Swanky – I was so excited to click over and read this recipe, and I was even more thrilled that she was inspired by the yeast dough from my Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls. You have to see this recipe!

5. Canon 50mm f/1.8 Camera Lens - This is the lens that I use for almost all my photography. It was the only lens I took on our last trip to Disneyland, and it’s the lens I use for all my food and craft photography. It only costs around $100, and it will give you that soft blurry background that so many people ask about.

You don’t have to be a photography expert, or even have learned manual mode to enjoy using this lens to take pictures. Plus, it’s compact and lightweight.

Here is one of my favorite pics from our Disneyland trip using the 50mm lens. My little guy on his 7th birthday!

If you missed my Friday favorites last week, you can check them out here.

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Comments

Kristina @ spabettie says:

January 25, 2013 at 2:40 pm

oooh, Melissa!! why did you have to show me that cute skirt when … they are all gone now! I’m going to keep my eye on it, perhaps they’ll come back. enjoy yours!

I am in the middle of a book right now, but Gone Girl is next in the stack – I am SO looking forward to it!

Happy Friday!

- Melissa @ No. 2 Pencil says:
  
  January 25, 2013 at 4:35 pm
  
  Mindy Mae’s Market says they will have more soon, and in all sizes. I’ll keep you updated! xoxo
  
- Melissa @ No. 2 Pencil says:
  
  January 25, 2013 at 4:51 pm
  
  UPDATE: Mindy Mae’s has opened these for pre order!
  
Mindy Mae says:

January 25, 2013 at 4:15 pm

Melissa, thanks so much for the shoutout! We love you, and your blog!! xoxo

Kari at A Grace Full Life says:

January 25, 2013 at 6:54 pm

I just downloaded Gone Girl last night to my Kindle. I think I read 9 chapters just last night. They are making a movie of this book!

SallyAnne says:

January 26, 2013 at 12:18 am

I really enjoyed Gone Girl too, you just have to keep reading it!

Diane says:

January 26, 2013 at 1:45 am

Gone Girl = Amazing….I read “The Expats” last weekend…didn’t get a lot of my projects done, but the book was good! Check it out!

Suzze says:

January 27, 2013 at 3:50 pm

A wonderful book that I HIGHLY recommend – The Painted Girls by Cathy Buchanan. I wasn’t sure that I would like a book involving ballet and painting, but it was amazing! My book group is reading Gone Girl in a couple of months, so I am waiting to read it so it will be fresh in my mind.