like a lamb

1. Walking into a night at the children's museum for a family friendly work dinner (thanks Simon!). The kids LOVED it and there were a bevy of adult beverages so the adults loved it too. Phoebe has declared that we should go on everyone's birthday from here on out -- we shall see, party planner P, we shall see.

2. Simon sprained his ankle playing basketball and is on "crunches" as Julia thought they were called (?! how we have failed her) for the foreseeable future. Abe is loving that Dad is forever in the perfect book reading position -- seated with an elevated foot and the rest of us are hoping it miraculously heals soon!

3. I finally started listening to Where the Crawdads Sing (am I the last person to do so? probably) and just wish I'd done so earlier because it is GOOD. I'm SO thrilled that Reese Witherspoon bought the rights to take it to the big screen and can't wait to see who gets cast and watch it come to life (trite as that may sound - ha).

4. I'm loving Rachael's little series of guest writers she's posting during her maternity leave. Rachael's blog is a wordsmith's delight and she's manage to curate quite the treat of a lineup that I'm sure you'll enjoy.

5. If you're looking for a little something to stick in your toddler/preschooler's Easter basket ... Abe (and Bosco - but Abe especially) is OBSESSED with this little set my mom gave him. Kids LOVE a good non-toy toy.

6. I was actually excited to tell you about a few things I bought and kept (a rarity) this week so here I go ...

+ it's not often that the steal beats the splurge but these Everlane knockoffs (the originals - which I have and like) but Old Navy .... you done good. They are lighter weight and so much better for summer/spring temps.

+ I've read and read and read how much people love this midnight recovery concentrate so I got a sample and kind of hate to say how much I love it too because it's not cheap. I'm going to be prudent and finish off the various oils I have first but - it's amazing.

+ These earrings are so cute and great quality for the price!

+ And finally this mist I mentioned last week is just as good as I'd hoped. Super natural looking, impossible to screw up, and doesn't smell like death (as they can).

7. It's been a long time since LOFT has done a 50% + free shipping sale (use code: CYBER) ... and they're doing one! Always lots to love but especially when it's all half off.

Boden is having a big spring sale plus an additional 20% off (only until tonight) with code: 4B9J. These are my favorite shirts for the boys because they last forever and look great right out of the dryer (even if they sat in said dryer for a few days, ahem). 

Alright, that's ALL. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!!

Read More

clicklist

1. If he looks like he's suddenly doubled in weight it's because he has. Almost. Almostish. He's in his happiest habitat that is his ... bedtime ruining catnap. It's becoming a bad habit that we'll have to sort out soon but for now - it's forgivable. Heart emoji.

2. The kids had their spring break last week and nothing like a little spring break time to realize I need to get my summer time plan in gear. Simon took some time off which was SO nice and overall we enjoyed the downtime but the Y membership we used almost daily back in Tampa is starting to sound like a smart summer move.

3. The weather is starting to turn and I don't use this word lightly so know that I mean it when I say it has been nothing short of GLORIOUS. Getting the little boys out for walks in the morning, thinking (thinking!) about replacing all the dead vegetation in our pots and planters (any easy flower recs very welcome), and trading out bulky coats for um - slightly less bulky outerwear has been real nice.

4. I'm not sure if you remember my little melanoma scare (well, not so much a scare as an actual diagnosis since cut out and left a nasty neck scar) last year? Probably not - as you shouldn't BUT I'm going to be turning into even more of a sunscreen/hat/long sleeve swimsuit freak than I was before but you know what? I still want a little (safe!) color and after hearing about it and reading many-a-review ... I grabbed this stuff and then saw that this primer is on super sale and talked myself into that too. This was a long paragraph to tell you those minor little details. I'll keep you posted what I think about them both!

5. I'm sad to say I've got no book recommendations this week because I've been a big fat slacker with absolute no excuse. I think I'm going to try listening to a book this next week because I do miss getting lost in a good or mediocre or even below average book!

6. If you're in the market for an Easter Basket (or two or more) - I always love World Market's selection. A lot of them don't look especially Easter-y (but plenty of them do!) and can be used to decorate in the off season which is always nice.

7. On the sale front -

a lot of LOFT's new arrivals are 40% off (also these 1/2 off sunglasses!!)

Old Navy continues to kill it (this jumpsuit is right up my alley) and ALL shorts are 50% off today (ordered these!)

Target's Who What Wear line is is 30% off and this cardigan looks and feels so much pricier than it is (button detail on the sleeves)!

Okay, that's all for now!!

Have a great Friday + weekend!!

Read More

Taking Care Of Mom

The postpartum period is always a tricky time. It's natural for all of the focus and attention to be on the much anticipated, adorable, and wonderful newborn baby and easy to forget Mom's recovery time and healing necessitated by delivering said adorable baby.  I'm always focused on finding our new rhythm and routine as quickly as possible postpartum which sometimes means cutting sleeping corners when I should be resting and stressing about silly things that shouldn't matter at 9 days/2 weeks/etc postpartum. I'm sure you can relate. I always remind myself that I've never looked back and wished I would've gotten my act together soon - I always wish I'd taken it easier and enjoyed the fleeting newborn days a little bit more. 

My OBs have always stressed the importance of keeping up with my prenatal vitamin regimen at my postpartum visits and I'll admit that sometimes I do and sometimes it falls off the priority list and ... I don't. So! The timing of the opportunity to try out and share about Care/of Vitamin's genius personalized service felt very fortuitous. 

I took a quick five minute quiz to determine the best vitamins for my needs and a few days later my 30 day supply arrived at the ready! The quiz was easy but in depth and asked exactly the right questions about my current health needs and goals (how much sleep am I getting? how often do I feel stressed? am I looking for healthier hair, skin, and nails? am I nursing? etc ... )

Each packet has a new quote on it ranging from funny to inspirational and the first one I read gave me a little cackle, "You can't be the kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute." - Tina Fey (always a great way to start my day!).

With Spring right around the corner (hallelujah) and being cleared to exercise post c-section I'm slowly dipping my feet back into the figurative exercise pool for both my mental and physical health. Healthy living is a domino effect for me and if I'm making the time to take vitamins and make healthier food choices I'm more likely to be motivated to be more active and make the time to exercise. I've noticed a significant change in my energy levels and mood ever since starting my Care/of regimen and wish I'd started sooner.

I love that Care/of is flexible and your packets can be switched up month to month. Next month I'm going to request some vitamin D and down the road when I don't need my prenatal vitamin anymore - switch to an appropriate multivitamin.

What's in my current packets ...

Everything was explained in detail and I appreciate that if I choose to stop taking something next month - I don't have a 1/2 (or more!) empty bottle of whatever left to expire and go to waste leftover.

The kids and I all reap the benefits of my healthier routine and mornings go a lot smoother around here too!

If you're curious, take the quiz, get your personalized vitamin recommendation, and use my code CAMP50 for a whopping 50% off (!!!) this month only - click here!

Many thanks to Care/of for sponsoring this post!

Read More

like a lion

the daytime crew + I've never thought Abe and Bosco look all that alike until this photo.

1. March made good on her seasonal promise last week bringing the most snow the most we've seen this winter and now I'm counting on her lamb-like exit. Big time.

2. My sister gave my brother a bunch of packets of mushroom coffee (hear me out) for Christmas but he left them here and then said I could have them. SO I've been drinking it and as someone who hates instant coffee and mushrooms I have to say that I love the coffee. I just use the hot water from our coffee maker and add an unreasonable amount of frothed oat milk (same amount I add to regular coffee) and get the energy without the weird buzz, if that makes sense? I'm hoping that as it (likely?) spreads in popularity it will become a little more affordable too.

3. I'm reading Otherwise Engaged and I thought I'd love it after reading so many people rave about it but I just kind of like it - so far. Time will tell though! Abe has become completely enamored with this monstrosity of a book and while I love it too -- it's LONG. So, I found this less fragile and much more compact version that he can take to bed and (hopefully) not tear to shreds. Win/win.

4. Alright, I have to say that even though we saw the Fence Jump (capitalization necessary) 230948294 times in previews ... I was actually pretty surprised by the actual episode and feel bad for Colton (but don't vilify Cassie like a lot of people seem to be doing) and cannot wait for the finale next week. There were so many hilarious memes that had me very literally LOLing on Tuesday too. I'm not super sold on anyone for Bachelorette but if the rumors are true - I'm neutral positive on that development.

5. Oh! Thank you thank you thank you for all of your wonderful First Communion dress recs last week. It's surprisingly tough to find a dress that doesn't look like a miniature wedding dress but I'm feeling more confident we'll find something that fits the seemingly simple bill. If you're in a similar boat check the comments on this post.

6. Not a sale but I took a chance on an Amazon skirt and love it. If in between sizes - size down. And speaking of Amazon - I made a little storefront uh well, I'm working on a storefront but here's what it's looking like so far! 

7. 40% off full price items at J.Crew and an additional 50% off sale styles -- yee haw. I'm glad I waited on this sweater and if you don't have some version of these slippers yet - GET THEM. So worth it at this price, I promise. Oh! And I can't believe I'm saying this but I was having a hard time finding a pair of 7/8 length navy leggings that are high waisted and stay up and Old Navy - of all places - pulled through in the best way.

Alright - have a wonderful week!

Read More

the pink bathroom (with a side of floor painting)

ALRIGHT.

Where to begin? The kids' bathroom is very pink (right down to the toilet paper holder) and honestly - I don't hate it. Would I love it if the pink was a little more muted (dare I say millennial?) and a little less pepto? Of course! But, the tile is in great shape and the tub is weirdly long and the shower has great water pressure and while it's dated - its functional and could be SO much worse. We'd love to remodel it down the road but for now it's perfect for lots of kids to smear toothpaste and splash ocean sized waves out the side of the tub. I'd also like to think they'll share, "remember our pink bathroom?!" stories of yon when they're older - let me dream.

Here's the before ...

(my one regret is not getting a million better before pictures - I snagged this from the listing)

However - I know people disagree with me on this but the barky wallpaper just wasn't my cup of tea and the curtains left the bathroom feeling too BUSY - to my untrained eye. The hallway just outside the bathroom is super dark because it gets almost no natural light so I wanted to brighten this up and let the tile have her time to shine so we (Simon) stripped the wallpaper (fabric softener and warm water in a spray bottle seemed to be the best method) and gave the walls a few coats of Simply White. I tackled the trim and the radiator cover with the same color and even painted then stenciled the floor.

stool // rug // light fixture

{all sources also listed/linked here!)

I read somewhere that it's important to have some element of wood in a room to "warm it up" (I honestly probably saw this in an Instagram caption, took it as Gospel Truth, and ran with it during a Labor Day Sale) which is why I thought the stool was the perfect addition. I can throw the rug (bathmat?) in the washer and dryer which keeps it looking ~new and I appreciate that fact quite a bit. 

Let's talk about the floor for a not-so-brief minute. I think I'm being generous when I give the look of the final product a 4 on a scale of 1-10. I think the painting and stenciling on a floor that wasn't perfect squares (our master bathroom floor was a million times easier to tackle on actual squares) as my first foray into floor stenciling was stupid but how was I supposed to know? I'd do things differently (and am hoping to repaint this floor soon) and I do mourn the weeks of hours I'll never get back but, it was a great learning experience - cry/laughing emoji. 

Briefly: 

1. I scrubbed the floor and took a bottle of Goof Off (worked so much better than Goo Gone, for some reason) to the leftover + stubborn adhesive around the border of the floor (guessing they have stick on tiles at some point?). 

2. I primed it once just using a regular paint brush to "cut in" around the room's perimeter and then rolled it with a standard paint roller which went super fast. 

3. After letting that dry I did three (maybe overkill) coats of garage floor epoxy that I (bought at Lowes and had them tint it the only white that they could - they have a little brochure behind the paint counter with the tiny selection of epoxy tint colors) using the same brush/roller method which also went pretty fast!

4. I used this stencil and followed the directions on the Cutting Edge website and found the process to be easy but tedious. I wish I hadn't followed the "use adhesive" directions because it built up super quickly on the stencil and I spent a lot of time peeling and cleaning and drying the stencil and I think it made the floor look and feel kind of tacky before I was able to steam mop it several times. So - I didn't use the adhesive when I did the master bathroom it and it went SO much better!

5. I brought a bunch of paint chips home and tried to match that thin line of grey tile and bought a quart of flat paint in the best match. Maybe that was too much of a matchy/match mentality but ... what's done is done and when I restencil I'll use the same color. 

6. To finish/seal it off I did three coats (with ample drying time between) of polycrylic in clear satin. It's only been a little over five months since I painted the floor but it's held up just fine. I steam mop it a lot (not as much as I should) and it hasn't chipped even with that stool being dragged all over the floor c/o Abe. 

I was a little stumped over what kind of art to hang up and I wanted to contrast the pink with some sort of greenery so I went with these mounted vases. I only put a few up to start but lots of people (on Instagram) said I should hang more and I'm pretty sure that was the right route to take? I reserve the right to change my mind and take a few down though - ha.

I found some of the vases at West Elm and this one and the smaller/skinnier ones on Amazon but to give them the same matte finish as the West Elm vases I did paint the Amazon vases with primer which took about 45 seconds per vase and was well worth the extra step for the uniformity - I think. I found the plants at Hobby Lobby and on Amazon.

I still need to find a little something to hang over the towel rack over here, I think. It's LOW on my priority list, though!

And that's all she typed! Overall - I'm pretty pleased with how the whole things turned out. I walk by the bathroom several times a day and so far don't have any regrets (other than the floor issues I talked about)! I hate to end blog posts with questions because it feels disingenuous but I would love to hear if you have a pink bathroom and if you kept it or gave it the axe!

TGIFF(inally)!!

Read More