I do one of these every year. While I wish I could put things like end COVID and unite our country on here for birthday wishes, we know it isn’t that simple…so let’s have some fun!
Victoria Emerson Bracelet – I think that Victoria Emerson has some gorgeous pieces. I really love how she has different stacked looks as one piece. It makes dressing any outfit super easy. This one is so pretty!
I have heard great things about Herbivore body oils. My skin is always so dry, I think that a lux body oil would work better than my every day lotions.
I have a collection of antique character glasses. Some are from when I was little, many are from my weekends antiquing with my parents when I was in my early 20’s. I love the glasses so much, and I have never really had anywhere to display them. Currently, they are packed away in our attic. I think a curio cabinet like this would be perfect for storing them all!
I have my eye on several things for the Nsale, with insider access that just happens to fall right around my birthday! I don’t plan to go crazy, since we probably wont be out and about much this fall. I have always wanted a barefoot dreams cardigan, and when I saw that they have a leopard print one this year?! I have to have it! I will probably live in it all fall/winter. I also need a new pair of zella leggings (wore the crap out of mine the last two years), some Adidas shoes, a few basic tshirts, and some skin and hair care items. A little happy birthday to me! Are you shopping the sale? What are you looking at?
I have found a few really good things on Amazon recently that I wanted to share! Linking up with Tanya for Prime Purchases.
Our pantry drives me crazy sometimes. These stack-able bins are perfect and EXACTLY what we needed. They are a great size for snacks (for whatever reason most places I found them, they were tiny!!!!) And for the set of four, a great deal!
Speaking of organizing, the master bathroom needed to be tackled. At our old house, I had bought a pretty 3-tiered metal tray to house our everyday items. But in reality, several things didn’t fit on it, and after over a year of use…its started to not look that great. I searched high and low for something to put my skincare on, (because of all the amazing storage areas in this house, the master bath is the only place lacking) and I think I finally found the perfect thing! I love the look of this one, and it is quite sturdy and easy to clean. My tall hair treatment spray bottles fit on the bottom shelf with room to move.
I am an oil person now. Nothing crazy, but I have become a huge fan of diffusing some while I work! I absolutely love this pineapple diffuser. It is big enough to last the day while I work, and it lights up! Who doesn’t love a pineapple? I grabbed a few oils to start with. I knew I wanted peppermint for headaches, and lavender for relaxing. I pinned a bunch of scents to mix and try. I will report back on those after thorough testing.
I have been working on a lot of sensory bins and other fun activities for Zoe. I ordered these non-toxic water beads that come with scoop, tweezers and spoon for play and working on hand eye coordination and other motor skills. As an adult, I find this super calming to run my hands through.
I also got this magnetic wand (it comes in several colors) and these bingo chips to work on some lessons with magnetism. And Zoe just thinks this is plain fun! We are talking over a solid of hour of play in one day between the two sessions she used them. (I dumped shell noodles in the container, but you can use anything!)
Thanks to this Instagram account, I made some paint out of little pieces of sidewalk chalk that were really too small to draw with. These paint brushes work perfect for rougher services (drive way) since they are bigger and super comfortable to hold on to with the shape of the handles.
These dot stickers come with so many colors, and a nice reusable zip pouch to store them in. These are perfect for toddler activities, planners, garage sales, labeling electronic wires, so many uses.
For a simple letter activity, I wrote capital letters on a paper towel roll, and did lower case letters on the dot stickers. Zoe matched them by placing the dot stickers over the capital letters. It was a lot more fun than just staring at index cards to match, and she played with the paper towel roll after.
Happy Monday! Cant believe it is the last one for the month. August is birthday month for me! It is crazy, because at the beginning of quarantine, I never dreamed we would still be home for Chris’s birthday in May. And now here we are cruising into mine and we still haven’t been anywhere.
Friday morning, I surprised Zoe with this Cry Babies Doll/House and she loved it. We are talking about hours of play since she has had it. And the little cry baby doll it comes with sleeps on her nightstand next to her bed now. She has the full size Pegasus cry baby that she has been carrying around for the last month, so I figured it was a safe bet.
Saturday morning we had some play time, and then Tomorrowland 2020 started! Every year we look forward to streaming the festival on our projector and listening to the music all day. This year it was a little different, as the festival was virtual. They did an amazing job with all the effects and I was really impressed with how seamless it all was. I still like the real thing though, as the crowd really gives it a different vibe. Hopefully it will be back to normal next year! Zoe is always down for a dance party and cried when it was over.
We also put together a lot of puzzles, painted lots of pictures, played in the sand, changed outfits about ten times, and stayed up way too late.
We ordered Cracker Barrel breakfast Sunday morning, a new tradition we are making a thing. It is always sooooo good. We hung around the house and played Sunday morning. Then ordered chinese for lunch, which Zoe wasn’t a fan of…but I was!
And then we had an ice cream party! Zoe and I made brownies, and I had gotten a lot of fun sprinkles, toppings and hot fudge syrup to go on top. Zoe was such a fan that we did it twice in one day!
After our first ice cream party, Zoe and I took a ride around town and then Facetimed with one of our friends we haven’t seen in way too long!!! We spent a lot of the afternoon in our backyard hanging out. It was in the low 80s and a little overcast, so I didn’t feel like I was going to melt. Zoe had so much fun in the sprinkler and with her water table.
Neither one of us wanted to come inside for dinner, it was just so nice out there. But reality called and the weekend ended. Back to the grind today!!
I spent a lot of time this weekend looking up interactive lesson ideas and sensory play for Zoe. I have been slacking majorly in that department over the last month or two. I mean, it is summer. But we both function better with structure. I want to really invest the time to make it an enjoyable experience though since it looks like we are in this for the long haul right now. I may put together a post of our successful activities.
Have you previewed the Nordstrom Sale yet?? I do get excited for it every year. I never go crazy, but I love picking up a few staple pieces. This year, I am looking at the Barefoot Dreams cardigan, lounge wear and skincare/hair care items. Since I plan to stay at home for who knows how long, I want to be comfy!
I felt like a good currently post instead of my usual Friday Favorites.
Reading – I started When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole, and am already hooked. Can’t wait to see where it goes. This is a Netgalley ARC. I believe the book will come out September 1.
Speaking of books, Erin Hahn’s book More Than Maybe came out this week. (It was supposed to come out in May but the release got pushed back.) I read this one several months back from Netgalley and it was real cute! I loved the characters and there were a lot of music references in the book. Highly recommend.
Working Out – Still getting in at least 30 minutes a day five days a week. I mostly do Madfit, Heather Roberston or Popsugar Fitness workouts. I really liked this full body one. She uses heavier weights in the beginning and I am here for it! I also try to get in a walk around the neighborhood with Zoe in the morning, and we have been taking family walks in the evenings as well.
Watching – We haven’t really been watching any new shows lately. Just re-watching How I Met Your Mother since we finished Friends. We tend to go back and forth between the two at night before bed.
Loving – I ordered a few things from Biossance a few weeks ago and have been using them regularly. I love that these products are clean, non-toxic and in sustainable packaging. Full disclaimer, not all of my beauty products are clean. But if I find something clean that I like and it works, I tend to stick to that. Here are a few of the products I really like…
Rose Vegan Lip Balm – This stuff goes on like a dream, isn’t too sticky and really does feel nourishing. I have been using pretty much this and my Summer Friday Lip Balms exclusively, and my lips are in the best shape in years. I use the Biossance Balm at night, and the Summer Friday stuff first thing in the morning.
Squalane Cleansing Oil – My skin has been super dry in certain areas lately. This stuff takes off waterproof makeup without stripping the skin of moisture.
Squalane Marine Algae Eye Cream – The skin under my eyes is a straight up mess. I don’t expect any product to be a miracle worker for me. I have dark circles, bags, wrinkles and my skin peels like crazy. I have noticed the last several eye creams I have used have done nothing to improve any of my issues, and most cause the peeling to worsen. I will say that so far this stuff has not caused me to peel at all. That is a win for me! My eye area does feel more moisturized too. Plus the price isn’t stupid ridiculous like other brands.
I also got the Peptide eye gel, but I have only used it a handful of times. As I was trying to see how the eye cream would work first for a few weeks. I haven’t had any bad reactions or peeling yet. I play to use this for day, and the cream for night.
Ranting – I am sick of people being intolerant to others that may have different views than them. The beautiful thing about this country is we are free and get to think for ourselves. Though, it is rare that anyone actually does that anymore. Do your own research. I don’t trust the news and social media. Some influencers/bloggers have come out and said that they have been approached by organizations to push their political agendas and get paid to act enraged that schools are opening back up, push certain types of vaccinations, etc. I find this disgusting. Let me tell you something, it is hard enough to make decisions about your kid without people acting like the damn authority on everything.
So I don’t need some influencer to get paid to tell me that she thinks it is terrible that some parents are sending their kids back to school. Some people don’t have a choice, they have to work. Especially those parents that have essential jobs and can’t afford childcare or to stay home with their kids if the schools don’t open. Some kids have special needs that they get from classes or licensed professionals at the school. Some kids learn better in the school structured environment, and are not doing so well mentally at home without socialization. There is no right way to do this. I know I am “COVID privileged” that I get to work from home right now and keep my kid at home with me if I chose. Not everyone is. And you are an asshole if you want to judge a mom for having to make that difficult decision.
I could go on several more rants right now, but I won’t.
Eating – I made these BBQ mini meatloaves last week, and they were so good! I did a homemade sauce, but obviously using a bottle like the recipe calls for would be even easier. This comes together real fast with minimal ingredients. Zoe approved.
Learning – I would really like to brush up on my graphic design skills. Like I have any. What do you all use to create images, instagram story backgrounds, collages, etc? I have used picmonkey and canva in the past. Curious if there are different, better options out there now.
Excited – This weekend is Tomorrowland!!! Every year we stream the festival on our projector and just relax and listen to music. I am sad that Laura and her crew wont be over. COVID ruins everything. But Chris and I will still make it fun, Zoe loves a dance party. You can purchase your tickets here for the digital stream. Obviously, this is going to be a lot different than other years. They are supposed to have eight stages set up and I am excited for Armin Van Buuren, Klingande, Tiesto, David Guetta, Martin Garrix and everyone else!
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand And now she’s in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand
It breaks my heart that Zoe’s first year of dance ended so abruptly. We wont get to wear these adorable costumes to recital this year, so I wanted to take some pictures to commemorate her first year of ballet, tap and jazz. I hope her love for dance continues. She really lights up when we put on her dance outfits and head to class. Week after week she leaves class with a huge smile on her face. Dance parties a regular thing at our house. Forever my tiny dancer.
