
My first Friday Five of 2020! Woohoo! I started this series a few months ago as a way to share a random collection of thoughts from the week, a favorite product, a new book recommendation, podcast to listen to, beauty tips and more! Let me know if there’s anything you would like me to include in a future post!
Here are today’s Friday Five…
- How to help the Australia wildfire disaster: One of the most devastating current events happening is the Australian wildfires. You probably have seen the images on the news and media and it’s beyond tragic. These fires have been happening since October and over 27 people have died, 20 millions of acres of land burned, and it is estimated that over 1 BILLION animals have been killed. Australia needs our help more then ever and you can help by: assisting firefighter efforts by donating to NSW Rural Fire Service (you can also donate to this Facebook fundraiser setup for NSW if you prefer to donate through the FB platform) , donating to the Australian Red Cross who has emergency teams helping affected communities and supporting wildlife rescue & recovery efforts through organizations like the Australian Koala Foundation and the Aussie Ark.
- Effective goal setting: Did you set New Year’s goals for 2020? Or do you have goals you are working towards? In one of Jay Shetty’s most recent podcast, he covers a 4-tier framework for effective goal setting and covers why you may have failed in the past. I thought this was a great podcast and in a way reminded me of Marie Kondo’s book about the art of tidying up. In her book she talks about us being told to clean our room as kids, but often we are not taught how to actually clean and keep a room tidy. It goes deeper than that, but similar to that mindset for goal setting, we are often told to set goals but we don’t learn how to effectively accomplish them.
- New favorite coffee maker: As a Christmas present to myself last year, I bought this Ninja Coffee Bar. I had been wanting to get an espresso machine for a while, but the high-end ones were just too expensive ($2-5k) so I opted for this Ninja bar instead. I’ve had Ninja products in the past and have been very satisfied with their quality. And at just under $150 at Target, it was a steal in comparison to the luxury espresso machines. What I love about this machine is that it has 5 brews (Classic, Rich, Over Ice, Specialty, or Cafe Forte), a built-in frother which can be tucked away and it comes with a reusable coffee filter!
- Homemade latte: Now that I can make my own latte at home, I’ve cut down on my visits to Starbucks. I love making a latte every morning in this JoyJolt insulated coffee mug using Oatly oak milk and the built-in frother, brewing my coffee with the speciality mode and then adding a splash of Splenda! Delicious!
- 10 minute daily ab workout: One of my 2020 goals is to workout 3x per week again. I fell out of my work out routine a while ago and I have been feeling so week and having back pains. I use the Peloton app so I can create my own workout, and do it whenever and where-ever (and it’s only $13/month!). I found a 10-minute ab workout class on the app that suggested to do it daily to help strengthen your core (which will help with lower back pain among many other things). You can easily fit in 10 minutes in your day and if you don’t have the app, I also recommend this 10 min ab workout by Pamela Reif (don’t be fooled by her cool, beautiful demeanor…it’s a crazy tough workout!!!lol) and no equipment is needed..just you and your motivation to live a stronger, healthier life!
Happy Friday all!

Nice pics! Coffee looks delicious! 🙂
Thank you!!