Life Lately

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! It’s been awhile since I did a Life Lately post so here we are… basically a ‘summer so far’ recap. We’ve logged a lot of at home family time!

First of all – if you follow me on Instagram this is NO NEWS to you! Ha! I started Grey’s Anatomy when quarantine hit! March 15th was my first episode… and I finished all 16 seasons/363 total episodes (NO JUDGING PLEASE!) a few weeks ago! I’ve never cried so hard, fell head over heels in love with characters, had dreams that I was a surgical intern… I’ve never fallen for a TV show the way I have for Grey’s!

I love the complexity of the characters, I especially like the thrill and blood, I like the drama and the ridiculous plot lines that throw you for the twist… the sining ghost series (remember that), I especially love the romance thrill! The patient storylines touch me and as hard as they are to watch, some hit home. I’ve never had more of a love/ hate relationship with a cast like I have with Grey’s!

Some seasons can lose you a bit, but I hung on with dear life and by the next episode I was fumbling for a tissue in a puddle of tears!

I’ve never, ever been a TV person… I’d rather do chores, read blogs/ the news, read a book and scroll the internet… I guess sitting in front of a TV has never been something that I’ve enjoyed…. UNTIL GREY’S! My gosh. I would wake up with a heavy heart and one night John was out of town and I found myself up at 5am still watching (part of that is that I don’t sleep when he travels).

So I asked Instagram what show I should watch next and many suggested Private Practice. I started that and watched 4 episodes before taking the deep dive and rewartching Grey’s again! Ha! So here I am… on season 3 of Grey’s! It’s just as good as the first time around! And this might make me as basic as they come… but Meredith and Derek – I love them! The first time through the series, Meredith really got on my nerves and now after falling in love with her character and the way she managed through hardships, loss, grief, children, friendships… I have a soft spot for her – one that I didn’t have after watching it the first time through. It’s fun rewatching with a new set of eyes and heart!

I’m ridiculous. I know this! If I had to redo my life all over again, maybe I would go to med school! Like I said… I’m ridiculous! Don’t take me too serious!

A few weeks back we ventured to the first restaurant that we’ve eaten at since COVID. We drove up to the lake and sat outside at one of our favorite spots, North Harbor Club. It was delicious and they did a great job of social distancing (the tables were very spaced out) and all of the servers wore masks. We felt safe and it felt so good to eat somewhere other than our home!

Oli’s dress is from one of my favorite stores, Cecil and Lou. Her candles are by Salt Water Sandals.

On June 9th we celebrated the last day of school… and really, what I mean is we celebrated the survival of school! Homeschooling was hard. I think most parents/ guardians can agree. Henry had his best friend spend the night and we celebrated with balloons and donuts.

Last Kindergarten class Zoom call!

I made him get dressed up for one last picture!

I cannot believe how much he’s grown in one school year! Still wants to be a Lego Man when he grows up! 😉

Olive’s dance recital was supposed to be in May, but it was cancelled! We still dressed up and twirled around the house!

My summer cocktail consists of: Tito’s Vodka, soda water, splash of grapefruit juice and lime! It’s SO GOOD!

And folks… this is Oli Girl “hiding”.

Henry’s attending an outdoor golf, tennis and swim camp this summer. My husband is still working from home and I started back seeing clients on June 1st (I was out of work for almost 3 whole months.) We were so torn with what to do… we don’t have grandparents in town, we don’t have a nanny or many sitter options and to be honest I needed to get back to work. I know times are different and we’re doing our very best navigating through childcare, work and keeping our family and everyone else safe. We try to limit our exposure in large crowds, we wear masks, religiously wash our hands, etc. I debated on posting this picture out of fear of what others would think, but this is where we are and really our only option as far as childcare goes at the moment. We like that this particular camp is small, all outside and the camp counselors and anyone over the age of 12 all wear masks.

Henry is SO happy going to camp! He loves it and everyday he thanks us for signing him up for camp! He’s having a blast and has made so many new friends!

His sweet little room is coming together too! I like to take my time with the rooms in our house. He has daily chores – raises his blinds, makes his bed, takes his dirty clothes/ pajamas from the night before to the laundry room, and lines up his Lego figures. We got him a small Amazon Echo for his bedroom and it’s pretty cute how he listens to music of his choice while doing his chores.

Father’s Day landed on a Sunday and my hubby’s birthday was that next Monday! I hired my girlfriend to paint these adorable paintings of the kiddos. I took two of my husbands favorite pictures of the kiddos and she recreated them! Made for a great Father’s Day present!

Here’s a side by side – actual picture on the left and painting on the right.

On Father’s Day we spent the day with our friends (Rich and Brandy) who live in our neighborhood. They’ve been dear friends of ours since before I met John all of those many moons ago! They have children a few years older who attend Henry’s elementary school. It’s fun doing life with friends turned neighbors and BONUS – THEY HAVE A POOL!

Happy 43rd birthday to my husband!! 🙂 We had plans to go to Restoration Hardware for dinner (had a sitter and everything), but we canceled. The thought of getting ready on a Monday wasn’t appealing (hahahaha) and we’ve never celebrated an actual birthday without the kiddos. Henry was especially happy that we celebrated together!

Nothing cuter than a toddler in a pair of donut goggles! Logging lots of evening swims over at our neighbors pool.

I shared this image on stories over the weekend because my favorite sunglasses that I’ve had since 2017 are BOGO and you can mix and match styles. I also have this style as well.

I gave Oli a blowout the other day and it makes her look so much older.

The kiddos all dressed up to get their pictures taken!

Obsessed with the size of this $8 scrunchie! I like how voluminous it is! Here’s a better view at those new sunglasses I just recently purchased.

Feels so good to be doing weddings again! Different, but good. We’ve had plenty of weddings postpone and/ or cancel, but the few that we’ve done post quarantine have been small and sweet!

Sweet Oli and her choice of clothes, shoes that are too small and socks! Girlfriend cracks me up! Henry’s the best big brother to her!

Our dining room is slowly coming together!

I’m so in love with these cabbage plates – I used these hangers to hang them on the walls!

My favorite little sidekick! I got our masks from The Fabric Girls!

I’ve been using Framebridge a lot since moving to frame pieces. It’s super easy…. you can either upload photos to their website or you can request a mail in package. I’ve mailed in photos and actual artwork! I just got these two pieces back for Olive’s room!

Morning coffee chats with my best girl! She’s getting so big! She’s my early bird riser so on the weekends we let the boys snooze and we’ve been going downstairs and sipping coffee (oj for Oli) and listen to music together in our front sitting room. After living in our home (typical 1990’s floor plan) or a year, I finally figured out what to do with the front room… I think it’s considered a formal living room (?!?!)

Since we’ve spent more time at home, I’ve LOVED waking up and having my coffee there. I’ll sometimes plug up my computer and start my emails, etc. It feels peaceful and I love that Oli now knows that’s where we have coffee in the mornings. I don’t have an office in this home, but I was thinking of turning this just into a sitting room – calling it, “the coffee room” (according to Oli) and adding a small writing desk where I can plug up and work.

Speaking of getting so big! He’s loving summer camp and golf! I cannot believe how much he’s grown as a person since last summer! He’s becoming such a little man!

These are my favorite lightweight hoop earrings from Anthropologie. They come in silver and gold.

My go-to makeup sponges. My favorite Beauty Blender dupe from Amazon… you get 5 for $9! I use one per client and then do a deep clean/ sanitation between each use. They’ll last forever!

Lots of slow nights… Henry is really into Starwars so I take Oli into our room and we watch something together so the boys can watch Starwars!

We are doing our best to not only educate ourselves, but our kiddos as well and bringing the awareness to Black Lives Matter.

Nothing to note here other than Target denim shorts that I’m living in… they were $15 and now I can’t find them online. They’ve been the best buy of the summer because they’re so soft and completely broken in.

Thanks for making it this far! I always wonder if people enjoy these kind of posts about really nothing other than a journal of pictures from our life and purchases lately! I love reading blogs… like old school blogs where it’s not all about sponsored posts and more about how people live their lives!

Hope y’all have a wonderful week!

xx