First Friday Faves – November 2020

I have to apologize for posting this First Friday Faves post a week late. I along with half the country was absolutely glued to the television watching the whole election drama play out. Typing up a post was the last thing on my list of things to do. Well, I’ve finally fallen back into everyday life so here it is!

November’s faves are:

1. Verdi Spumante
2. Sexy Hair Root Pump
3. Happy, Nice, Kind People

My first fave for November is Verdi Sparkling Wine or Verdi Spumante. It’s a light, bubbly wine that’s made in Italy. The sweet, fruity taste goes great with spicy dishes. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite meals to eat with Verdi is white pizza. We get our white pizza from a local pizza shop and the cheese and garlic sauce is perfectly complemented by the Verdi.

You know what else I love about Verdi? It’s cheap! A small bottle (750ml) runs around $9.99 while the large bottle (1.5L) runs $16.99. And, it comes in different flavors, known as Sparkletini! You can choose from Peach, Raspberry, Watermelon, Strawberry, Green Apple and Rosé. I like Peach and Raspberry though the regular Verdi Spumante is my personal fave.

Verdi Spumante comes in both sizes mentioned earlier, a 750ml bottle and a 1.5L bottle plus you can also find it in 187ml bottles and 250ml cans though I have not been able to find them where I live. I did see a case of the mini bottles at one of our local beer distributors but I was not looking to purchase a case at the time.

If you’re looking for a light, sparkling wine this holiday season I would recommend trying Verdi Spumante. Especially if you like a sweet, fruity wine. Stay away if you like a dry wine and don’t like bubbles. And make sure you serve it chilled for best taste.

November’s second fave…

I know I say this a lot but I didn’t find this product wonderful at first. But, I’ll admit that it wasn’t because the product wasn’t doing its job. I had just gotten a horrendous haircut and this product wasn’t going to be a miracle worker. Fast forward a couple of weeks and now that I’ve gotten used to my new ‘do I really, really like this spray mousse.

Root Pump is a mousse that you spray directly onto your roots. After you’ve sprayed it onto your roots blow dry you hair and style as usual. The volume Root Pump creates is A-MAZING! But the best part is that I haven’t noticed any product build-up and it never makes my hair feel greasy or tacky.. As a matter of fact, I can’t even tell that there is product in my hair. You just get tons of volume.

You can find Root Pump pretty much anywhere, from Walmart and Target to Ulta or Walgreens. It runs between $14 – $20 depending on where you buy it. I’ve seen it at TJ Maxx for as little as $10.99 but they don’t have it every time I go there. There are a couple different versions of Root Pump, too.

I’m a huge fan of the regular Root Pump but they have another version called Sexy Hair’s Root Pump Plus. It does the same thing but works better for medium to thick hair types. Both help resist humidity. That’s a huge plus for me. I haven’t found any other hair product that helps keep my hair from caving in on itself when it’s humid outside.

My third and final November fave…

I consider myself a happy person. Yes, I do suffer from depression and anxiety but overall I have a lot in my life to feel happy about. I was raised to be kind and respectful to others and I try to be for the most part. Of course I have my days where I don’t want to take crap from anyone about anything. I can be a bitch but I usually have to be pushed to resort to that kind of behavior publicly.

I’m not a serious person, though people who don’t know me well may think I am. Sometimes I can come across as uptight but those who really know me know that I’m a go with the flow type of person. I always try to take other people’s feelings into account when I do things. I am empathetic and genuinely dislike people who spout negative, hateful things about others. As a matter of fact I have a HUGE problem with bitter, hateful, negative people.

I’m a firm believer in ‘you get what you give’ or ‘if you put out negative energy you’ll always attract more negativity’. Want to feel happiness? Try exuding happiness. I’m sure everyone knows someone who never has a nice word to say about anyone. They act nice but will always have a snide remark to say about any and everyone. These are miserable people. I don’t want to associate with miserable people because their negativity only brings me down.

I like interacting with people who are genuinely happy, positive people. Not robots but folks who you can tell actually like other people. Do you want your groceries rung up by a grumpy, irritated person who can’t smile and say hello? No. While I understand everyone has a bad day here and there, sometimes you just have to push things aside and realize that you’re not the only one with problems. Everyone is fighting a battle that you do not know about. This is why I try to be polite and helpful to people no matter who they are. I’m no saint but I try to be a decent person.

I have to tell you about an incident that weighed heavily on me and was witnessed by my youngest daughter. We were on our way to work/school and we stopped by McDonald’s drive thru. I ordered a breakfast sandwich and when I pulled up to the second window the bag was sitting there and no one would hand it out. We were in a hurry but the workers kept walking by our bag. A woman finally handed it out to me and I snapped at her. I drove off and felt horrible about what had happened. My daughter saw this.

The next morning we went through the drive thru again and this time the same woman took my money. I apologized to her for how I behaved the day before. She didn’t know I was in a hurry. Yes, I was mad but I shouldn’t have acted that way to her. My daughter was with me on this day as well and heard me apologize to the lady. I felt sorry and knew I had to make things right. I’m glad my daughter was with me to see this come full circle. I want my kids to feel empathy towards others which seems to be something that some folks lack.

Can you honestly say that you made someone feel important today? Did you smile and say thank you to the person at the drive thru window last week? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I’m always Mister Rogers but I try to treat others the way I want to be treated. This is why happy, positive people are my favorite people.