{Do Your Part | Making Sense of Pandemic Restrictions | Murder On Middle Beach Docu-Series | Dear Zachary Documentary | Pumpkin Spice Sauce (Copycat) Recipe for the Perfect PSL!}
Continue reading “Five Things to Tell You… {November 22nd, 2020}”
{Fall Shifts & Our First Day of School, Soaking in the Daylight, Currently Reading & Listening, Kindle Book Deals & Pinterest Therapy}
We have done a lot of swapping kids with our “quarantine crew” since the end of August which meant there was A LOT of boy energy around here…even the dogs were wild! Although the end of summer is bittersweet, everyone is definitely ready for a change of pace.
Continue reading “Five Things to Tell You {September 10th, 2020}”
Hello there! Yesterday I wrapped up one of my busiest weeks work-wise, and I have to say, it feels good to be back in the swing of things. There is so much unknown going into the winter months that Kristy and I are trying to get as much done as possible during the next few months. She has been juggling a lot and I love being able to support her behind the computer screen…It’s senior portrait season which is my favorite editing wise and I love seeing how much all the families she photographs each year have grown! 
{My mask pictured above is from this Etsy shop – no affiliation, I just love it!}
Continue reading “Life Lately…{Work Identity, Fitting in Reading, Audiobooks and Soaking in Summer}”
Just like with my reading tastes, what I am listening to has changed a bit over the last few weeks. I have found that my ability to focus has shifted with my podcasts and I am seeing that I either need some small helpful bits of information, relatable banter, some inspiring messages, or maybe a quick distraction.
Previously podcasts made up a good part of my workday whether it was when I was editing on the computer or during my commute. Photos above are back in the “good old days”.
Now that I don’t have either of those things, both my amount of time and attention to detail has changed. I am now listening while quickly getting ready for the day, while I am doing tasks around the house, on a walk to the mailbox…and sometimes when I just need to block out the decibel level from the kids.
It’s been a WHILE since I have shared a Currently Loving post. December always feels like a blur and then January is a transition into a new year and into all our regular routines again. This last week was the boy’s first full week back at school which meant it was my first full week back at work.
This past weekend Kristy and I taught our first 2020 workshop of the year, our Your Life Your Camera Intermediate photography class.
We loved being reunited with participants from our past beginner workshops and it is amazing to see how much they have grown!
This week we are teaching Your Life Your Memories, our photo organization class and next week we are welcoming a whole new group of photographers into our Your Life Your Camera Beginner workshop!
I recapped what our workshops looked like in this blog post HERE and how we make a more seasonal job like portrait photography in Vermont work for us!
Speaking of learning, we have also been busy working on something NEW! Kristy and I taught our very first photography workshops in 2014 and we have loved not only growing the workshops we offer but also being a part of building a local photography community.
Recently we have felt a pull toward wanting to reach a wider audience and while we have had people travel to our classes, (hello our favorite New Hampshire ladies!) we would love to also offer a way to learn from the time and place that works best for YOU!
We are working away on a new series of online workshops and we can’t wait to share more about them soon! We have put ourselves on a tight deadline for the first class (which has called for a lot of learning on our side as we make our way through templates, Keynote and Powerpoint, hence the Williston Coffee Shop chocolate chip cookies…) and we will be announcing the release in just a few weeks. Stay tuned!
While we are definitely getting back in the swing of things, I thought it would be fun to recap a little bit of what we were up to our holiday break. Over the holiday break, there were many moments of frustration and together time AND a lot of fun were mixed in too.
Parenting is a rollercoaster of emotions and just when you think you have it figured out, it changes! Our boys are at a great age for doing so many things and they are also in a stage of a lot of sibling rivalry. I know this is a totally normal thing kids go through and it is definitely keeping Lucas and me on our toes.
We have found that doing things OUTSIDE of our house helps a lot with this so we like to be out and about as much as we can. Whether it is doing errands together, playing outside or going the movies, keeping busy is key.
(*I bought this stemless wine glass for our younger son’s teacher as one of her holiday gifts, isn’t it great?!)
It also helps getting out of the house with your friend and our holiday book club was amazing! We exchanged some bookish gifts, caught up and recapped our reading highs and lows of 2019! And how amazing are these socks?! My friend Emily found them on Etsy HERE (*I am not affiliated with this shop, I just love them!)
Thank goodness for our friends who helped make the holiday break feel a little less long. My friend Kari and I did a bit of switching kids on and off so we could get some work things done or just breathe for a second.
She also is the master of setting up anything tricky or icing your child’s birthday cake…ha! I had the game Mousetrap as a kid but I don’t think I ever actually played it because setting it up was the true challenge.
And what’s better than a playdate for your kids? Catching up with your parent friends over coffee. I am doing a no coffee after breakfast challenge for the month of January (tea only after my morning coffee allotment from home!) but back in December, it was anything goes!
While we didn’t have a white Christmas as we had hoped for, we did have weather that allowed us to get outside quite a bit. Two years ago our holiday break was filled with record-setting low temperatures which made for a busy couple of weeks for Lucas at work and a lot of cabin fever setting in for the rest of us!
We did finally get some snow before the New Year and we were excited to break out the new sleds that Santa brought at Christmas and also get out for some backyard skiing. While this looks picturesque, let me tell you, it was anything but peaceful!
Parker has been skiing for a few years now but I have been trying to teach Flynn and as someone who isn’t’ very good at it herself, I am probably not the best teacher! I am going to bring the boys to a local x-country skiing place soon and I am thinking this will probably be better for everyone! 😉
Towards the end of the break, we were ready to mix it up so we were thrilled to join some friends for a couple of games of bowling. Of course, that means we also had to visit the arcade game room which is one of my least favorite parts of parenting for sure. Olivia was a much better sport about it than me!
If I could summarize our parenting life right now, I would say there’s a big emphasis on getting together with friends, sports (both participating and watching), playing ALL the games, still lots of LEGOs, bickering with each other and Buzz is the happiest to be photographed now…hence all the dog photos! We will have a middle schooler next year which is kind of hard to believe!
I am a homebody for sure and while it isn’t always calm and peaceful here these days, sometimes the stars align and our evenings are filled with reading in our lounge clothes. We tend to head upstairs about an hour before the kid’s bedtime (also ours, ha) and everyone is supposed to do more quiet(ish) activities.
This doesn’t always happen but we are working on it! It has been great for us being able to have some downtime now that they stay up almost as late as we do and it is has been great for encouraging independent reading time for the boys.
Buzz is a big cuddler and he is the best reading buddy. A lot of you asked me what I thought of my Kindle pillow stand (pictured above) when I shared about it on my Bookworm Favorite Things blog post. I use it every night and it makes it so you can read pretty much hands-free (just turning the pages…) It feels kind of like a big bean bag so you can prop up your kindle all different ways and It is also a multipurpose pillow so you can use pretty much any tablet-sized item on it.
Winter is hard in Vermont because it is long and you want(and really need) cold-weather accessories that are durable (which often means they are a bit pricier), but that also means it is extra scary to send them off to school because things get misplaced all the time. I don’t think I have ever walked by the school’s lost and found table without seeing at least three things from our family on it.
We do our best to label EVERYTHING because of this and I was super excited when I saw that their loves from Burton have a super-easy way to personalize them! We have had the best luck with gloves from Burton and Head (the ones they sell in the fall at Costco!) and the worst luck with LlBean gloves(I love everything from LLbean but the gloves fall apart so quickly).
We have been using Mabel’s Labels (*not affiliated just love them) since our older son started preschool way back in 2012. I have tried a few other brands over the years but have always gone right back to these because they are the best!
Also, if you have a less common last name, try simplifying and instead of getting a bunch of individual stickers for all your family members and just one with the last name that you can use for everyone.
Last week we had our first Better Together book club of 2020 and we discussed The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey. Not only did we have an animated discussion but author Jessica Lahey joined us! It was amazing to hear the backyard of her own work and also how her book came to be. If you haven’t read The Gift of Failure yet, it is a must! Whether you are a parent yourself or work with kids, you will get so much out of it.
I have a lot of fun things in store for Gen The Bookworm in 2020. I am especially excited about welcoming some new guest posters who will be sharing on topics related to reading.
In a couple of weeks, my friend Kelly who is a reading specialist will be sharing about How to Raise A Lifelong Reader. My reading friend Michelle will be sharing the first What’s On Your Nightstand post of 2020 this week and I have own Reading Highs & Lows of 2019 recap coming along with the 2020 books I am most excited about!
Thank you for stopping by being a part of this reading community, I appreciate each and everyone one of you! <3
Disclosure: Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
Good morning!! I am trying to become more efficient (and not overthink these posts) because you guys were so great when I asked for more feedback over on Instagram. I too love reading random daily life updates and so I am going to try and commit to sharing these once a week! I am very externally motivated so when I know someone is expecting something of me I am all in, ha.
(image from Reddit)
The last couple of weeks have had some ups and downs. My life has so many wonderful things, and it also has some painful and sad parts. I do try to be real on here, but also keeping in mind that this is a very public space. I love the image above so much because it is so very true and it is something that I try very hard to keep in mind when interacting with the world around me.
I am a glass half full person. I think because I have such great supports and self-care practices in place, it helps me focus on the good parts BECAUSE I am able to process the tougher stuff when it comes up. This is a work in progress of course, but I think it is important to mention as these posts are definitely more of the “highlight reel” kind of recaps. Okay, moving on!
I am a little off schedule today because Lucas was away for the night at his family’s deer camp. He isn’t a hunter but going to camp is one of his very favorite things to do this time of year. He ends up bringing the kids with him a lot because we try and coordinate it with when Kristy and I are teaching on the weekends so this was a nice adult only visit for him!
Normally Sunday mornings are my barre and grocery shopping time, sometimes mixed in with a visit to Target to peruse the bookshelves. Last weekend I got together with one of my reading buddies and we had a great Pure Empower workout with Lauren and then walked around Target and caught up. My friendships are so very important to me, and there are certain times when you just need them a lot more and this is definitely one of those times.
By mid-month, the boys already had TWO snow days. I think they are much easier to take this time of year than in say, late March but I was still a bit surprised. The boys were super excited of course and it was a reminder for us that it was time to pull out (and FIND) all the winter gear.
We have built up quite the collection of Skida accessories over the year and especially love hitting up their Summer Sidewalk Sale in August to replenish anything that gets lost at school.
It doesn’t matter how much you label the crap out of your kid’s stuff, some of it WILL go missing and it hurts a bit less when at least you know you got a good deal on them! We have also had great luck with LL Bean gloves for the kids!
For socks, we LOVE Darn Tough socks and they are guaranteed for life! I love the Women’s Stripe Micro Crew Cushion style that is the perfect height and feel snug enough without feeling like they are cutting off your circulation on your ankles!
We are big Bogs fans around here. Bogs Boots are our go-to footwear for our whole family from late October until the end of April. I updated mine this year after having my pair for 5+ years and I went with the Women’s Whiteout Bogs that are super easy to slip on and off (A MUST for me with winter boots) are so warm and cozy and waterproof. I loved my Plimsoll Bogs but these have even better traction for better grip on ice and snow. I am ladies size 8.5 in most shoes and I size up to a 9 in Bogs. I find that having a bit of extra room is super helpful, especially when wearing heavier socks this time of year.
While I could never be a fashion blogger (LOL) I can talk for days about winter outwear and basically anything from LL Bean or Talbotts…
You can find the Kids Rain and Winter Boot Bogs HERE.
You can find the Women’s Whiteout Bogs HERE.
You can find the Men’s Classic Bogs HERE.
When you have the right winter clothing, getting outside this time of year is the best! One of my favorite ways to get together with friends is to go for a walk. Kristy and do this on our lunch break at work because she has some great trails right behind her house.
I have been trying to prioritize this lately as I have a bit more flexibility during the work week now that photography season is slowing down a bit and it is so good for our mental health…there really is nothing like some fresh air and sunshine.
This week Buzz and I met my friend Elisa for a walk at Shelburne Bay and went on a lunch hour walk with Kari up Mt. Philo. All of these walks take less than from start to finish so they are perfect to add in during our day when we don’t have a long block of time available.
We are also embracing the slower-paced time of this year on the weekends. Being cooped up with kids is not for the faint of heart so getting everyone outside at least once a day is necessary no matter what the weather conditions are. While we love to walk in the woods around our house, it is hunting season now so we stick to parks and places that off-limits for that until it is over in December.
It is rare that I do something at night (besides our Better Together Book Club!) because I am not a night owl, and especially this time of year when it gets dark out at 4pm. But when Sonja at Owl Feet Studio announced she was having her first Ladie’s Night Out, I was going to be there!
When I told Lucas I was going to attend a Shibori night, he definitely chuckled. Shibori is a cloth dyeing method originating in Japan in the 18th century and utilizes the incredible properties of the indigo plant (This is Sonja’s great description, not mine!) It is a similar process to tie-dying but because you use indigo, it results in beautiful shades of deep blue.
As a photographer, I am definitely a creative person, but I also like things just so(hence why I spend my work life in Lightroom and Photoshop, ha)
So going with the flow isn’t the most comfortable thing for me. I like having a concrete plan and detailed instructions! It ended up being such a fun night and it was also great to get a little out of my comfort zone. I can’t wait for her next Art Night Out!
I know I talk about barre all the time, but it is just such a positive part of my life (and one of my biggest forms of regular self-care). The Pure Barre community is definitely the number one reason why. I am a group exerciser for many reasons (motivation because of signing up ahead of time is one of them) but I also love how it brings me together regularly with such a wonderful group of (mostly) women.
I love arriving a bit early to have time to catch up and love that we now have an (unofficial) Barre Book Club! In addition to chatting about all sorts of random things, our local studio has become an awesome place to share recommendations and also to exchange books!
And whenever I post a photo with my barre socks, I get asked what kind they are! A barre studio opened near my friend Sarah’s house recently and she asked me if I had recommendations for my favorite sticky socks and these are it! If you haven’t been to a barre class before, most barre studios have you wear socks (no shoe) that help you grip the floor, which especially comes in handy during planks and pushups.
The Tavi Noir Chloe ones are my current favorite. We started having them in our studio last spring and the pair I bought them have held us amazingly well and are still super sticky and grippy! They are super comfortable and the criss-cross straps stay put and don’t dig in at all like I worried about when I first saw them.
The other weekend, Flynn and I hit up Homegoods to browse the aisles, and we walked away with this Quilted Eddie Bauer Dog Pullover for Buzz! Pullovers are necessary when you have winter weather for 6 months of the year (they are pretty much all I wear…) and I couldn’t resist this one for him when it was under $15…and now we can match!!
I mean, is there anything better than twinning with your dog? I don’t think so!
I have to admit, I have never read the Harry Potter series…and I don’t know that I really want to…
A few years ago my friend Kari recommended the Illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to get our family going on the Harry Potter train. Well three years later, our 9-year-old decided to dive in…better late than never right?
He is loving this version so much that has taken to reading right after school which isn’t the norm around, that’s for sure. Both of our boys have really grown to love reading but it is normally something they do in the evening before bed.
They have a boxed set right now of books 1-3 that is a great deal and would make a great holiday gift!
After much apprehension, I started The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes this week! I often get a little wary of books that are SUPER HYPED UP but this one really is amazing. I have been alternating listening to it on Audible and reading Kristy’s hard copy Book of the Month copy and am just loving it.
While this time of the year can be tough with the lack of daylight, it is also such a wonderfully cozy time of year. There is nothing like cuddling up next to the fire and reading an engrossing novel or taking a nap on the couch. After Thanksgiving next week the full rush of the holiday season will be upon on us so I am trying to soak in the quiet moments like this.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend! I have some great book reviews in the blog line up and another What’s On Your Nightstand? post coming your way soon!
Disclosure: Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
Hello! These posts always are one of my last priorities here, not because I don’t like sharing them, but because they are so random. I do still love that old journal type blog sharing of 10 years ago..but I wonder, does anyone like reading these but me?
Now that I share a lot of book content, I wonder how much I should step outside of that…I love getting to know the person and interest of the Bookstagrammers I follow myself, and because this is my space, I suppose I can post whatever I like…but I do think about that…and if you know me you know I love to overthink things like this! Alright…moving on!
I am my best self first thing in the morning. Over the years I naturally have fallen into waking up early. Now that the kids are older they stay up later and so the early mornings are my sacred quiet time. It’s when I do most of my book blogging, emailing, etc. I work over a big mug (or two) of coffee and my current audiobook, it’s lovely!
Lucas leaves for work early so we have a daily rhythm that works well for this (getting in bed at 8pm for instance, ha). I can hang for a bit if we aren’t home at night but if we are here, I can barely keep my eyes open past 9pm.
Speaking of being out past 9pm (I think we got home around 10!) we had a much needed night out the other weekend with some of our favorite friends. This gettogether was a long time coming. With the coordination of everyone’s schedules (and babysitters) finding a date that works for everyone isn’t easy. We finally made it happen and headed down to Middlebury. We had a drink at Two Brothers and then had an amazing dinner at The Arcadian. I hope it isn’t another 4 years until we make it happen again…ha!
I actually really love November, but it can be a hard time with the lack of daylight. I can easily get a little down this time of year with the time change and just the amount of darkness. I know this about myself so I try to be proactive and implement the things I know that help. Getting outside every day, even if it is just to walk to meet the kids at the bus with Buzz is something I really try to prioritize.
Speaking of Buzz, there is nothing he likes more than when he hears the school bus coming up the hill. He likes me a lot, but he LOVES the kids.
There is also some relief with the slowness of November. October is always a hectic month with the kid’s schedules, my work schedule, and all the festivities that month includes. It’s all great stuff but it can get a little exhausting. I am a creature of habit and enjoy the slower pace of “everyday” life. By the end of the month, I am ready for a little break before the pace of the holidays picks up again at Thanksgiving.
A couple of weeks ago I celebrated my 35th birthday. I have mixed feelings about my own birthday as it has always brought out a bit of sadness for me. I don’t like to have a big celebration about it, but it is fun to use it as an excuse to get your kids to take a selfie with you at school drop off, drink a maple latte, take extra fun photos at Pure Barre and have lunch with your BFF. Lucas picked up a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cake which really ended it all perfectly…
We also have another birthday in our family this time of year…our younger son turned 7! He celebrated the day before by having a low key birthday party with three of his friends. It was really more of a playdate with cake but he was thrilled! On his actual birthday, he had his favorite afterschool art class at Owl Feet (Sonja is THE BEST!) and then we went to dinner as a family at his location of choice, Asiana Noodle House…followed by ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s.
It has been nice to realize that doing lowkey things can be just as special. The longer we parent, the more we have realized how simplifying things can make life feel a lot more manageable and enjoyable.
Speaking of keeping it simple, is there anything better than Funfetti cake with rainbow chip frosting?? NO! And even better, my wonderful friend Kari (of the Lucky Clover Bakery!) helped me frost this boxed and not vegan cake…she tried watching me do it but just couldn’t’ handle it…I am no perfectionist, but she is, ha! She’s a good friend…
One of my favorite things about reading is sharing books with friends. Sometimes this means doing a book giveaway with a partnering publisher, and other times it means leaving a book on someone’s doorstep on my way to work. Although I love my Kindle so much, I will never stop getting hard copy books for this very reason.
Our second Better Together Book Club meeting is this week and I am super excited to be discussing Small Animals by Kim Brooks. I met with Librarian Susannah last week for some book club extended planning (we can’t wait to discuss Fair Play by Eve Rodsky in early 2020!) and I also took home these books with me…
After asking on Instagram, I decided to listen to Quiet and Talking to Strangers and read the hardcopy of The Giver of Stars.
Quiet was available right away on the Libby App (you can learn more about borrowing ebooks from the library through Libby HERE) and so far it is just fascinating! I love the detailed look at introversion as I often think it can be quite understood. I am quite social in many ways but have always fallen into the introvert category and this book really makes me feel understood!
I am especially loving her discussion on how if we can better understand personality types we can work better together in both work and personal relationships. The topic of how introverts can be much more prone to overstimulation makes so much sense and I am finding myself nodding along with so much of it. I am excited to share my full review soon!
I know some people get into decorating for the holidays right now but we always wait until after Thanksgiving. I have been very into organizing and decluttering though! Now that my work season is slowing down a bit at Kristy’s I am working more from home and I have a hard time concentrating if things are a mess. So I have been trying to be proactive and cleaning things out, donating what we don’t need and going shopping in my own house. Do you do that?
I love finding things I have stashed away or was using in another space and finding a new way to use them. I also decided 10 years was a good time to start using the silverware we registered for at our wedding…I had initially thought I would just save them for special occasions, but WHY? We host something like once a year and use our silverware every day…So I decided to take these out of the top cupboard in our kitchen and put them to everyday use, and it feels so good!
I am also way too excited about my new spin mop. I had seen way too many Facebook videos sharing this type of mop and am easily influenced by those things…When I saw it in person I knew it was a sign. So far it’s amazingly satisfying and works so well! I like that the shapes can really get into all the nooks and crannies and it is super easy to use.
I have been using this cleaner for months after seeing it at Kristy’s house way too many times and it is awesome! It cleans so well, doesn’t streak and smells amazing!! It is a concentrate and a little goes a long way so it lasts forever.
We recently put together an organization station on the back of our pantry door in our kitchen. I picked up the whiteboard at Home Goods but found everything else in my home office and repurposed them. The boys are at an age where they are becoming more independent in a lot of ways but we often have the last-minute drama of “where is that folder you need today for school?!?” right as we are leaving. Having this right in the kitchen, but also where it is hidden when you shut the door, is working so well for us so far!
I also have been doing a little decluttering which feels great, but it also means that when I go to drop things off to donate, I come back with some more books. One of my favorite weekend hobbies is roaming around used book sections and finding old books I loved to add to my collection. It is the ultimate treasure hunt and brings back so many reading memories for me.
Now that photography season is winded down a bit here in Vermont, our photography workshop season has begun again! We taught our last workshop of 2019 this past weekend and are excited to get back into things full swing come January! We taught our first Your Life, Your Camera workshop back in January of 2014 and we have come a long way since then! You can read more about what that class looks like HERE, or see what else we offer HERE on Kristy’s website.
After our class, we had a much-needed dinner out together and it was fun to reflect this past work season and also talk about what is coming up! And we were home by 6:30pm which is pretty much my ideal night out…ha!
While we were teaching the boys went to “deer camp” with Buzz, Lucas, his dad, and his brother. Their camp is up near Jay Peak so it is always a lot chillier and they get a lot more snow! The boys had a sneak peek of all the snow we will be getting (tonight!) and had fun playing outside, shooting the BB gun(at a target!) and eating lots of deer camp food. They always have the best time and I love that they get to make these memories like Lucas did when he was their age.
While the daylight is short this time of year, it is such a cozy time of year in so many ways. I love that the pace of life slows down a bit in the winter and we have more time to just “be’. We have our woodstove going all the time now and I am embracing all my favorite sweaters and pullovers.
I also like that I will have a bit more time to share on my blog and I have been working hard on getting my editorial calendar in place! I am planning on bringing back the Nightstand Series and I also have some interviews lined up with some really amazing people in my life so stay tuned!
Thanks for stopping by. <3
Genevieve
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, it helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
Good morning and happy Tuesday! I am working from home today so I thought I would prioritize checking in here. September has been jam-packed and it has taken a bit to get back into a routine. The boys are happy at school and Kristy and I are adjusting to our regular work hours again which has been nice!
This time of year, work is filled with editing lots of school photos, high school senior portraits and lots and lots of family sessions! It feels nice to have our longer workdays back again as this is definitely our most hectic work season. Our family has also made a big transition that has added 30 minutes to my own workday…the boys are now taking the bus home from school!
Our kids started at a new school last year so it was a lot of new things all at once so we took our time making all of the changes at once. This year they were ready and it has been wonderful and also a time saver.
Buzz and our neighbor dog Mason love meeting them at the end of the driveway. I am trying to prioritize walking to the bus stop instead of just grabbing them in my car on the way home if I have the extra time. It is nice to have that quiet transition period between my workday and full-on family mode again and the weather has just been amazing. I even grabbed an iced latte one day for my walk and it was pretty much perfection.
We have had an amazing month of weather and I am hoping fall hangs on a little longer than last year! Fall in Vermont is amazing when the stars align, but often it ends up being super warm or freezing! We have had that perfect September sweatshirt weather for the most part which is my very favorite.
I grabbed this fleece pullover from Abercrombie the other week for $25 (I used the Honey plugin and the sale codes stacked!) and it is so cozy! It also makes me giggle to think about shopping there because I remember when we got an Abercrombie store when I was in high school and I haven’t shopped there since. We don’t have one of these stores anymore but I will never forget how you could smell it from a mile away…yikes!
While I don’t plan on doing my regular clothing shopping there (don’t worry Talbots, I still love you the most!) this fleece pullover is awesome! I ordered a size large and it is a roomy and comfortable fit.
A couple of weeks ago we went peach picking. It was fun and we just picked enough to eat. We didn’t make anything creative with them but they were amazing sliced and also on top of overnight oats. I have been trying to be better about having a filling breakfast and these are great. I soak the oats with some milk and chia seeds overnight in our fridge and I have been using these reusable beeswax food storage wraps to cover the bowl instead of saran wrap. I thought this 6 pack was a great deal and we use them for covering everything!
So we didn’t bake anything with our peaches but we did have great luck with this Carrot Apple Bread! Me actually baking is a lot like capturing a butterfly with your iPhone, it doesn’t happen a lot! I find it incredibly frustrating because you have to measure everything so accurately and I always make the biggest mess. But after some inspiration from The Kitchen Table restaurant, I knew I needed to try and recreate their dessert bread from their Fall Harvest Dinner. This was a great duplicate and was super moist and include the perfect flavors of fall.
Speaking of more eco-friendly options, I was so excited to see that they having Ursa Major products at The Lodge at Spruce Peak. I loved that they have reusable containers and are featuring a great Vermont product!
I normally use my own shampoo and conditioner when we travel because I am picky, but I couldn’t wait to use this! The Daily Shampoo & Conditioner are amazing. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Body Wash but the body lotion was awesome! It makes me happy that so many hotels are continuing to get rid of single-use containers too!
Speaking of favorites…I will never stop loving anything with stripes. The other week I shared about my love for the Striped Funnelneck Pullover from LLBean on IG stories because it was on sale. So many people DMed me back and said they loved it so much too! Then a few days later I ran into my buddy Katherine who was wearing it at the grocery store! It’s the best, seriously.
I love being able to support my friend’s small businesses when I can and my Bookstagram friend Tancy recently opened a book sleeve shop on Etsy! It has been a great way to safely transport both my paperback and hardcopy books around and I especially love the Rifle Paper Co. fabric choices!
I love bringing my books just about everywhere and a few weeks ago they visited the Pure Barre Pop Up class at Perkins Pier. I have never taken an exercise class outside before and it was the perfect cooler weather and cloud coverage for doing Pure Barre in the wild.
Fall soccer is in full swing and our younger son still isn’t sure about actually playing soccer but he loves running around with his buddies…If you have ever seen a 1st-grade soccer game, it is something else!
I am not super competitive and I wasn’t ever great at sports myself, but I always loved being part of the team and community of the sports teams I was a part of. It makes me happy they love this part of it too.
Speaking of communities, a few weeks ago I celebrated 750 Pure Barre classes since I joined the Pure Barre community in August of 2015. While I love the workouts, I love my friends there even more. It has been such an incredible source of support and a great way to make adult friends.
I still find the classes incredibly difficult but I love seeing how much progress I have made, personally. When I first began my core strength was zilch and now I can (usually) do a plank for 90 seconds, which is huge for me. Like many people, I have certainly had body image and eating issues in my life and I love that there is a wonderful focus there about being your best self and working out to be healthy and strong.
I also have found my new FAVORITE barre socks. They just started having them in our local studio as well but I found one of my pairs on Amazon HERE. I wasn’t sure if I would like the criss-cross straps but they are super comfortable and they stay sticky month after month! I am size 8.5 in women’s shoes and I have the size small socks.
Last week I finished The Dearly Beloved on Audible and I highly recommend it!! I am little behind on my book reviews on here but if you are looking for an audiobook suggestion, this one was fabulous! And hopefully, my full review will be up soon.
On my Kindle, I have been catching up with some of my NetGalley & Edelweiss advanced reader books because there are so many books that will be published in October!
Alright, I think I have chatted on long enough here but I hope you enjoyed this random assortment of things I am currently loving!
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small percentage that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you for your support.
Hello and happy Thursday. How is your week going? As many wonderful things that have happened during the last few weeks, it has also had its fair share of challenges and sadness. I often struggle with how to balance sharing a lot of my life on a public platform while also bearing in mind that we all have harder realities of everyday life that are more private.
It is a hectic time in general with work and family life and I am thankful to have so many great support systems in place that really make such a big difference with the harder parts of life. Alright, I think that was important to say, as I tend to share some of our “highlight reel” in photos on these Currently Loving posts.
So here is a little of what we have been up to…
Our family wrapped up the swim meet season last week and our practices will be winding down soon too. It has been such a wonderful part of our summer. Having something that is daily works really well for us because it gets us out of the house by a certain time each day and gives us some structure that can be really hard to find this time of year.
Our boys made so much progress this summer. The swim team has been a great reminder and conversation starter about doing our best and being kind and supportive to both our teammates, competitors and ourselves. I will miss our swimming community so much but there is always next year!
Daily swimming means we are at the pool all the time. It isn’t a bad place to be and with great wifi, it makes it a great place to catch up on work. The boys practice at the same time now which if you have ever had kids on different team schedules you know what is a gift this is!
We are lucky to live near so many wonderful family farms and that means this time of year we are picking all the berries. We were excited to drive down the road to opening day at Adam’s Berry Farm and the berries were incredible! We didn’t last too long because it was during our brief summer heatwave so we will be back!
After berry picking, we headed to the annual town library book sale! I love supporting the library(and it’s upcoming renovation!) stocking up on past favorites and also grabbing some to share with friends! 💓
Between the kids and me we brought three totes bags and it wasn’t enough! Next year we need a duffle bag. 🤣
We arrived early and waited in line for about 10 minutes and it was worth sweating through our clothes. We picked up so many picture books including a bunch of golden books. Flynn also added some super informative books to our collection…first words in Italian and a guide to venomous animals, ha!
We headed out on the boat and it was the best way to cool down. Although with the intense heat it also means there can be fast approaching summer storms. This one snuck in and surprised us and while it was very interesting to see from the boat, we were eager to get back to dry land.
You know I love to discuss the random and obscure and I thought it was a great time to share about my shellac nails experience. I almost never paint my nails but I do always have shellac on my toenails. I get a shellac pedicure every 4-5 weeks and it is a great and long-lasting way to keep them looking nice when I am quite rough on regular nail polish.
For the wedding a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to get my nails done and so I ended up getting a shellac manicure two days before the wedding. It lasted a good 10 days or so before they started to look a little rough and I needed to get it off ASAP. They were also starting to get longer which I don’t like the feeling of…I do a lot of computer work and it was driving me crazy! Anyway, I knew I could go in and have it removed but it really wasn’t something I could easily fit into our schedule.
So off I went to the pharmacy… I grabbed a container of full-on acetone and some cotton balls. At first, I tried the wrapping method with soaked cotton balls and tin foil, similar to the way they remove it at the nail salon. Then I changed tactics and did the soaking method on my other hand…as suggested by the Pioneer Woman of all people…
I found that the soaking method worked better and because I don’t have a lot of nail tools, I used the end of a measuring spoon to have push off the remaining polish which was quite effective…I am nothing if not resourceful, ha!
So I am not saying this is the most non-toxic method, but I think if you are going the shellac route you know that isn’t either…I was very pleased with how easy it was and I am super happy to have short and naked nails once again! I didn’t find that it damaged them in any way and I would definitely do shellac again for a special event, I just don’t have the patience to keep up with something like that in my everyday life.
It’s totally normal to take a photo to send to your kids when you have a creemee without them right?! Don’t worry, they were off having a special dinner and having ice cream after but we couldn’t resist. Buzz spent a lot of time indoors during the heatwave because it is just so hard to keep dogs cool. We are thankful to have AC and lots of ceiling fans.
Someone in our family turned NINE! For some reason, this number is hitting me hard. Maybe it is because it is halfway to 18 or maybe it is just because I can remember when I was nine so vividly…I know he is still so young but he really is growing up so quickly.
The past nine years have been filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Parenting is such a gift and it is also the hardest thing I have ever done. I am so grateful to have a child that is kind, understanding and helps us learn and grow every day.
And when you turn nine you have cinnamon rolls for breakfast and sushi and hibachi for dinner…seems pretty perfect to me!
Alright, that is all for now. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. <3
*I was all set to publish this post on Friday and life got in the way. I wanted to share it before I post updates from our family wedding so if it sounds a little like it was written last week…it was! Thanks for understanding. 🙂
Hello and happy Friday! The week after 4th of July always feels like a long one, especially when you had a day off during the middle of the previous week. We have a lot going on this week because we have a family wedding this weekend! We have lots of family in town for the event and so we have been spending lots of time altogether and also doing a lot of prep for the weekend ahead! It’s going to be a fun one.
While there is always this idea that summer will be a change of pace, it really is just as hectic but just in a different way. Now that our kids are getting older the activities they participate in are more frequent so the intensity for anything they are doing really ramps up. We are a “one activity at a time” family but it still adds up and there have been a lot of late nights.
It is actually quite enjoyable and they love being part of a team but there just aren’t those lazy summer evenings like I always anticipate when we are in the thick of the end of the school year rush. It is so wonderful to watch your kids participate in an activity that they practice hard at and enjoy so much and it is also a chance to socialize with other parents which I am always a fan of.
I am always trying to find the right balance and once the most helpful things for has been realizing that we don’t have to do it all. I often have to remind myself of this not only with this blogging part of my life but also with family activities.
There is this pressure during the summer to do it all. On the 4th of July, there are fireworks and BBQs and parades, matching outfits and more. After having a pretty hectic last few weeks we decided to skip it all and head out for a day on the lake, with a picnic lunch, our bathing suits, and a book.
After many years of these kinds of things pretty quite stressful with younger kids, we really soaked in it. We lucked out with the perfect weather and ended up staying out from before lunchtime until the sunset. The kids ended up running into some friend from school on the beach and so everyone was happy and entertained. Even Buzz met some new friends and one was a black and white springer spaniel named Dixie, so cute!
And it isn’t a summer day without having ice cream for dinner sometimes right? My creemee order is coffee with rainbow sprinkles, in a cone. We are lucky to live close to Cookie Love which has the most amazing treats!
I am lucky to work somewhere that also has an incredible garden. Kristy has a green thumb and I reap the benefits! We also went picking again because the berries just keep on coming. We picked 11 pounds in about 20 minutes…and they were all gone within 2 days thanks to all our visitors. 🙂
There is something so special about things that you can only get for a couple of weeks every year. My favorite summer vegetable harvest is definitely sugar snap peas…followed by cherry tomatoes!
while we are very happy with Buzz being our only dog child, we do love having new additions join our neighborhood! We got to meet Piper and we are so excited that she lives right across the cornfield! I can’t wait for lost of dog and kid playdates with her family. Isn’t she the sweetest?
Finally, we celebrated three family birthdays while everyone was in town and what is a better way to do it than a BBQ and an ice cream cake from, you guessed it, Cookie Love! The cookie crumbles that were outside and in between the layers of chocolate and vanilla ice were amazing. Lucas’ brother and his family live outside of Atlanta so we don’t get to see them a lot so this time together has been so special.
Alright, that is it for now, see you soon!
