Summer reading.
Green curry mahi mahi sounds like a perfect summer dinner.
Best full body dumbbell exercises.
A range of paint color choices.
A little bit Alexis, Fisher Price style.
Bill Nye dropping serious knowledge.
The Baby-Sitters Club is on Netflix. It goes book by book, and my fourth grade self is loving it.
Perfect summer sailor shorts.
Three tigers, one mountain is on my reading list.
Finally, a perfect shelf.
Our study at our old house was many different spaces during the time we lived there. Now that we are working from home for the foreseeable future, in our new home we are creating a true office space that we can use for work. One of our additions was french doors to create a sound barrier for when we are in meetings. The other was working on introducing better functionality instead of it just being a landing space for all of our junk.
One of the things we got rid of before we moved was my college desk in our study. It was a big space of a desk, but was mainly the ply-board, and had become a storage top instead of an actual functional space. We did keep B’s desk (which is large), and we are keeping the curtains we had in our study before. With that in mind, I wanted to layer some prints, but keep a similar color palette and replace the standard light in the study with an upgrade I’ve been eyeing for probably two years.
I love, love this pendant light. I always thought about buying it for our old house, but I’m glad I waited.
Traditional roll around desk chairs make me dizzy, so I’m going with a larger club chair that I can curl my feet up in.
And speaking of desks, this one offers the option of sitting or standing. I love the versatility especially because I’m going to be spending long hours at my desk.
I’m getting two of these sets of drawers for file papers, craft stuff, and work items.
Love this rug, as it pulls in both blues and oranges.
This room gets a lot of light from two directions, so I’m going to jump in with a fiddle leaf fig.
And finally, one of my favorite rituals of work focus is lighting a candle.
Besides drawing all of the Castle Crashers, here is a little of what we’ve been up to around here!
The boys built a robot with my Dad and it may have been their favorite part of the summer (or last four months) so far…
Rounds of basketball once the sun goes down is a summer standard…
I did a 5k 2 minute walk/2 minute run with B on Saturday and I was pumped that I actually didn’t stop! I think my face is still on fire from it, ha!
We’ve spent some time watching the baby geese (who are about all grown up) flight test their wings…
And finally, we celebrated the Fourth with just us, but we got some excellent fireworks…
Oh my, how is it the Fourth of July?! This past week I got my hair (and eyebrows, thank you very much) done after an almost four month hiatus. I wore a mask for over two hours straight and it was worth every minute! So glad to have fresh highlights and layers courtesy of my favorite hair stylist. This weekend we will be doing our norm (hanging out at my parents waiting for our house to get finished), but B is cooking a giant brisket on his Traeger. I’m definitely looking forward to that! Here are some of our favorites of the week!
The most amazing water lily designs.
Quick and easy dinners with rotisserie chicken.
Bringing back the nineties with a scrunchie.
New world sourdough techniques.
How to find the best coffee on Amazon.
Great hiking pants I just bought.
Love this office set-up.
Finally, a bit of ruffle and neon.
In the midst of moving out of our house, one of the things I drove over individually to my parents were my indoor plants. I’m not the best plant lady, but I’ve come to value having air purifying plants in our home. I’ve really needed to repot several of our plants, but I haven’t had a chance to yet this year. I found two larger pots at Target and one at Lowe’s and repotted the four plants that had out grown their homes.
I would’ve had a before picture, but I totally forgot, here are the pots:
And now here they are in their new pots:
They look so much happier! The biggest plant (on the far left) was in the second to left pot, so obviously they all needed bigger spaces. Now I’m just working on them having enough light and proper water amounts until I move them into their new spots. I managed to find pots from Lowe’s (far left), and Target (the other three), but it was not easy! There are weird things in limited supply these days and apparently plant pots are one of them.
Our cabinets are in! As you can tell, I am a little excited. After all the craziness of building during a pandemic, we are still making progress. We have hit a bit of a delay in the countertops and floors, so we are really hoping they get those in soon. Now that we can officially envision things better, I finally settled on counter height chairs, counter stools, and a breakfast table and chairs. I went round and round because we haven’t picked new furniture in quite awhile and we can’t really go see anything in the stores right now (obviously). After measuring heights, depths, and laying a lot of tape measures across the floor:
I came up with this set:
I didn’t want everything to match exactly. I don’t usually hold to one particular style, I go with what I like, and look for colors and tones to coordinate. The cornerstone for all of it was the Serena and Lily counter stools that I have been looking at for months. They were all on sale this week, so I made the giant leap (and measured the kitchen counter one more time), and ordered all four counter stools and the two end chairs for the table. I splurged on those because the table and side chairs are a steal. I’m still waiting on the two backless counter stools (to go under the island in the picture above) to come back into stock. I’m so excited to see it all together!
Some refills and some new items to test out this month! First up, a few of my usual rotations:
Essie no chips ahead topcoat. You will never convince me another topcoat lasts longer than this one. I’ve tried many, and it’s the best.
Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen. This is my current favorite primer for my IT CC cream. If I’m wearing the CC cream, I’m wearing this and I have yet to get burned this summer on my face.
Tarte lip balm in Nude. Love it, wear it almost everyday!.
I switch between Neutrogena and Clinique make up remover. They are pretty similar and I typically only use them for cleaning brushes, so I would go for the steal instead of the splurge.
My boys hate sunblock that smells (is their a kid out there that relishes the smell of sunblock?), so I’m always on the hunt for ones that don’t. Their favorite is the Neutrogena Clear Face, but the SPF on that one is kind of low, especially for being in the pool. I tested out the Sport Face one this month and I feel like it stays better, and no smell.
Ouai air dry foam. Wow does this smell amazing! It makes your hair super soft, and I think if I did double buns it would have had even more of a wave the next day.
Pixie eye patches. Tricky to put on, but they are very cooling, and make a big difference in puffiness under my eyes.
Morphe M105. A narrower countering brush, good for bronzer placement. First saw it on a Lindsey Regan Thorne make-up tutorial and I really like it!
I also picked up a few items for A this month:
Dove deodorant. Good smelling, not super strong.
With the amount of pool time the boys have had this summer, I needed to up their hair care routine. The boys have totally different hair types, so I tested out this shampoo and conditioner with A. It doesn’t have a strong scent and his hair has been super soft and healthy looking!
One of my goals with the boys is that they learn and understand the importance of good skin care and hygiene. This Supergoop moisturizer is for A to put on every morning. He really needs to wear sunscreen everyday, and this one has no scent and NO sticky feeling like most sunblocks. I tested it out and I love it for days when I wear no other makeup. So much so, that I may buy another container for myself.
Handstand for Friday! This weekend we’re….hanging out? Cooking some barbecue? Waiting to hear what’s the plan for schools this fall? Anyway. Here are some of our favorites of the week!
The desk I have my eye on for our office.
Incorporating family photos throughout the house.
Making a popsicle house like the house in Up.
Can’t decide if I should watch this and be terrified like it’s 1992 again.
Buffalo chicken chili. It’s like a combination of summer and fall!
Wardrobe capsule for ZOOM meetings and staying at home.
The most simple of summer dinners, four 7 oz salmon filets, a bunch of asparagus, lemon, salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 425, and line a large foil pan with heavy duty foil. Place all your items on the pan like above and sprinkle everything with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss the asparagus a bit so it’s coated, and place a slice of lemon on each filet. Roast for about 12-14 minutes until the salmon is cooked through. While that’s cooking we make jasmine rice to go on the side. This is one of our favorites!
I’ve read my fair share of books these past two months! Determined to put down my iPad, especially on the weekends, I’ve been completing about a book a week, which is a record for me. Here is a quick review of what I’ve read lately.
The Silent Patient. I read this in two days. It’s an intriguing read, but also very fast moving. Prepare a good block of time to read it, because once you start it, you want to find it how it ends. It is unsettling, but one of the most unique books I’ve read so far this year.
Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe. Driven by a family loss, a young girl at the crossroads of her career returns to the town of her parents. It’s about self-discovery, family ties, and the power of food. A fun read, and I really enjoyed it from beginning to end.
The Bookshop of Yesterdays. This was fine, it was a bit of the same theme as Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe, but more somber in tone. My favorite part of the book was all the classical literature ties the author brought in throughout the story.
Living Forever Chic. A fun read about French culture and their celebration of food and home. These books are some of my favorite before bed reads. Very calming and inspiring for home ideas!
Ramen and Gyoza. The next book (for me) in the Oishinbo series, it’s a celebration of two of our favorite foods. I love how these books provide the history of the food and the cultural perception and etiquette surrounding them.
And lastly, two more Maisie Dobbs books. If you start this series, you really do want to read it in order. The author has done a wonderful job leading the reader through the historical context that is moving from the ending of World War I towards the start of World War II. Each book has a mystery central to the story, but I really find the discussion of the era intriguing.
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