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Why does Clement look old enough to strut right into a kindergarten classroom?

1. Greetings from our first official day of summer break (!!!!) ... I don't think I realized how excited I was until the day actually came but here we are. The kids did a great job considering their temporary teacher's lack of decent teaching skills but I know they'll be excited to go back to school. They can't wait to see their friends, learn from actual teachers (now that they know how good they formerly had it ha), restart sports and activities etc etc etc - there seems to be so much information floating around about what the fall will look like but I'm going to wait and see what officially comes to light.

2. Of course the forecast shows heavy rain for the next 10 days but we're not letting it get us down - yet. Simon keeps saying its perfect weather to have a baby/newborn around but he hasn't seen my to-do list and all that "needs" to get done. Important things like ... rehanging pictures in their third location of the month, maybe actually narrow down some potential baby names, and deep clean until the proverbial cows come home :).

3. I'm not quite 38 weeks and just for fun my OB said she thinks the baby will be here by 38 weeks and 2 days (I think I've got some weekS to go!) so the waiting game shall begin in earnest then. Even Abe who isn't quite three is starting to ask when that big baby is going to come out so we shall SEE. All things considered, I feel fine. I started going to a chiropractor to try to avoid having a fifth sunny side up baby in an effort to not go through hours of pushing this time around and I have to admit the adjustments have helped me sleep so well and completely eliminated my last bit of sciatica. I'm optimistic (as is my doctor) about the prospect of a vbac but since Clement was a c-section I obviously haven't ruled the possibility of a repeat on that front but if only for the sake of recovery - I would love to avoid going that route again. I feel like this paragraph is making little to no sense and I think we should just end it here. Ended!

4. Simon and I started watching Mrs. America and it reminds us a bit of a politically focused Mad Men? It's fun to see DC "back in the day" and watch a story unfold that I honestly knew very little about as far as the details went. I keep reminding myself a lot of it is fictionalized but it's definitely entertaining. We flew through Waco and while heartbreaking and honestly disturbing - it was really well done. I think enough people warned me about the final episode that while it was really tough to watch - the warnings helped to ease the shock factor, I think.

5. I'm listening to Verity (a little too scary for my very wimpy taste but perfect if you enjoy almost thrillers) while I finish up my last minute projects and reading Beach Read when I can to balance out the former. I'm enjoying both aside from the scare factor but reading anything puts me right to sleep these days which I don't mind because Beach Read is light and pleasant and I'm fine sticking to that fluffy genre for the time being.

6. I rounded up some fun gold mirrors over here (dupes for this mirror, if you will) and some impressive Amazon rugs over here and am side eying all of the sales going on this weekend. I'm hoping this rug goes on sale and wouldn't mind if this one dropped a little more either .... let a dreamer dream. You know you're a real good time when you're scouring the patio furniture sales like a hungry hawk but I am and I'm okay with it. Patio furniture has come a long way, that's for sure!

7. I never thought LOFT could outdo itself on the sale front but somehow they are this weekend and I'll always find it hard to resist their perfect selection of sunglasses. Always. I'm also loving this dress, this top, and of course my favorite joggers of ALL time. Lots of pretty espadrilles on sale over here which might be one of my favorite parts of summer - second only to the weather ;) And I ordered the toiletry bag taking the ig world by storm and I have to say that it is as amazing as everyone claims. Mom's honor.

Have a great 3 day weekend!!!

xoxo, gp

May flowers

1. Re: title -- April didn't have many showers so I'm hoping May doesn't either but we'll see ... we shall see. As shared on IG but I did finally finish this wall and am glad I decided to wait until I found (what I thought) was the perfect wallpaper. Our house doesn't have any stark white (mostly because the trim is very yellowy-beige) so it was tough to find a design that didn't incorporate a super cool/crisp white but Target, of all places, to the off white rescue. The design is SUPER forgiving and if I didn't line the panels up perfectly it's almost impossible to tell (to my design blind eye) and in the event that we have a girl and she eventually gets this room I think it's pretty darn gender neutral. Alright, enough about THAT forever, alright? Alright.

2. We're closing in on a little over 2 weeks (or actually 12 days as a dear friend texted me this morning) left of distance learning (remote learning? home schooling?) and while I wouldn't say our routine is exhaustive or rigorous I think we'll all be a little bit relieved when we cross the finish line. I'm hopeless at teaching the kids new concepts (thankfully Simon is quite a bit more skilled in this arena) and am trying not to imagine a fall semester at home for this reason alone but - let's get through the summer first, G.

3. I got Jen Fulwiler's new book, Your Blue Flame in the mail last week and blew threw it. I'm normally a fiction gal and steer clear of any sort of self-help books (I don't think this would qualify as one, actually but it's not my preferred genre) and now want to casually give a copy to everyone I know because it was so GOOD. Inspiring without trying to be and super entertaining/hilarious to boot. Recommend x 10.

4. Just one day shy of 35 weeks (because that sounds SO much better than 34 weeks - you know? you do) and feeling better than I have in previous weeks? I'm thinking maybe the baby dropped since my heartburn is down to a dull roar vs the bonfire that had been blaring before. My sciatica is also feeling a lot more bearable and I'm sleeping through the night which hasn't always been the case. Party emoji. I'm making mental lists of things I can get done before my due date and hoping some name inspiration strikes soon as we're still coming up sort of short. We do need a new infant car seat so if you have any recommendations (we'd previously always needed a super slim model to fit all the car seats in the car but with a much bigger van now - the car seat world is my oyster!) - I'm all eyes!

5. I know I've blogged about this site before (no way, shape, or form sponsored) but was shocked to log-in and find that I had racked up hundreds of dollars of gift cards (I generally only use it on my laptop but am realizing I should be using it on my phone too) so if you don't use it to find coupon and discount codes (which it does quite well!) - I highly recommend you do! It pays off.

6. These shorts were (still are!) a favorite of mine a few summers ago so took advantage of the sale and bought them a couple sizes up for the postpartum summer. I was intrigued by the old school look of these shoes until I realized they are actually mens but ... that shouldn't stop me? Right? Even though it's warming up I've been living in these jeans and these pants (not at the same time - ha Ha HA) despite not loving maternity pants in general - they're both comfortable and as flattering as things can be in the home stretch.

7. Julia has been asking for denim overall shorts and I finally found a pair that isn't frayed to shreds (says she who just bought frayed shorts for herself) and are a super play-friendly length. She loves them too - win/win. I've been mixing this primer with this illuminating lotion in place of any sort of foundation or tinted moisturizer and etc and it's a super duper winning combo (in my book!). Giving these sandals a try for the little boys this summer - the velcro sold me and so far so good but hopefully they don't break in a matter of days :)

Alright, we're in tackling project mode so back I go!

Happy Saturday!