Happy Wednesday!  We’re almost done with this week and looking forward to another weekend!  I started out being super productive this week, but just like most weeks, Netflix wins somewhere in the middle and I end up wasting time on things I shouldn’t be watching.  At least I’ve been diligent with blogging this week and hopefully it’ll stay that way!  I’ve been loving this consistency and I hope you have too!  Today I’m bringing you my first Favorite Things post of 2015.  I mentioned in my blogging Resolutions that I wanted to do 2 Favorite Things post a month.  I love sharing what I’ve discovered or what moments have brought me joy.  I couldn’t think of a much clever name than “Favorite Things”.  I love Julie’s Things I’m Loving Friday posts, but I didn’t want to just steal the name, it’s not a name I’ve seen around frequently, but these 2 posts a month will basically be just that – Things I’m currently loving.  I co-hosted the Bliss link-up not too long ago which was another Favorite Things/Things I’m loving type post, but our participation dwindled down and we discontinued the link-up.  I still had a desire to share what I was loving, but to do it more frequently than every now and than when the mood struck.  So I’m being completely unoriginal and calling this my Favorite Things #1 post – I’m completely at a loss for a unique name and I’m just not going to worry about it too much.

So here are a few of my favorite things so far in 2015!

• Hillary’s Eat Well: The “World’s Best” Veggie Burger

My friend Mary Lindsey from Whole Foods introduced me to this veggie burger when she gave me a “Shopping on a Budget Tour” recently.  She said they literally were her favorite veggie burger.  I bought some that day to try and they did not disappoint.  They have this quinoa crusting that creates a perfect crispiness to the burger on the outside, while remaining soft on the inside.  I don’t eat veggie burgers in the form of an actual burger usually, so I heat this up on a skillet and dip it in some A-1 sauce.  It’s now my new favorite Veggie Burger brand and I buy a few when I stop by Whole Foods now so I’m stocked up for an easy dinner when I need one.  Another thing I love about this burger is that it’s vegan and sometimes it’s difficult to find a vegan veggie burger, a lot of them actually contain some milk or egg.

• Aveeno Positively Radiant Brightening Cleanser

My skin care routine lately has gotten pretty basic.  I’ll have to do a whole post about it, but this Aveeno cleanser has been my go-to cleanser lately.  I’ll be honest, I haven’t done much research on the product yet, I bought it because I needed a new cleanser and wanted something more earthy and inexpensive.  Either Aveeno really is a good brand with earth friendly qualities or they have a really good Marketing team with great packaging.  This cleanser is very light and it doesn’t get extremely sudsy, I feel like it does enough to wash away the dirt on my face without using harsh chemicals to do that – again, I haven’t actually done my research on this.  I’m loving this simple cleanser though and I feel like it’s worked well with my skin!

• Our Fire Place

My dad purchased a lot of fire wood last weekend and since then, we’ve been having wonderful fires every single night.  It’s actually gotten pretty chilly in Mississippi this week and we’re suppose to get down in the teens, which is rare, but does occasionally happen.  Nick helped teach us how to actually build a fire that will last (props to my Eagle Scout!) and now we are loving our fires each night!  They have been a relaxing part of our evenings.

• 365 Vegan Lasagna

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this at some point, but this Vegan Lasagna is rocking my world!  I always pick up one or two when I go to Whole Foods because they are a simple lunch when I don’t have time to pack something in the morning, they’re full of protein which is everyone’s concern when you tell them you don’t eat meat (20 g! Holla!), it’s also a great source of Fiber, the Sodium is less than a 1:1 ratio which is amazing for a Frozen Entrée, and it’s the Whole Foods generic brand so it’s not as pricey as other Vegan Frozen Entrée options and they will have sales pretty frequently for a $1 off!  I don’t stock up on them too much though because I certainly don’t want to be dependent on a Frozen Entrée for my lunch every day and I would probably resort to that if I could!  One last thing to mention – it really does taste delicious!

• The Prius & Gas Prices

It’s not surprise that Nick and I love traveling, which is why when I started looking for a car, we knew that I wanted to get something with good gas mileage to help cut our costs on gas.  Top that with our drastically low gas prices and we’re up for any adventure!  We have a big trip planned for MLK weekend that I look forward to sharing with y’all and we have made numerous trips down to Florida to visit Nick’s brother & sister-in-law.  The Prius has been one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.  I absolutely LOVE this car!  And let’s talk about gas prices for a minute… when I bought this car back in August, gas was around 3.50 or more!  My first fill-up seemed remarkable at right around $30!  Now, our gas in Mississippi has fallen to $1.99 and I just filled up last weekend for $15.50!  You can bet that gas is not stopping us from doing what we want to do!  Let’s hope it stays this way for a while or at least until we get through our MLK day trip because it’s going to be another long one like Florida is!

• What are some of your current favorite things?
• I’m extremely curious, what are gas prices like in your area?
• What is your favorite face wash?