Lincoln Park, Chicago in September
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On my mind today:
- I missed out on Nashville because I was sick but got some quality time with Noodle at home. Honestly, I feel like we spent the whole summer sick. And Lucy was the carrier. 😆 Luckily, she only gave this past illness to me; Mitch and Emma were spared. But man, I was hit hard… yet again. It ended up turning into a sinus infection, and so I had to stay behind. But Mitch and the girls had a wonderful time visiting their cousins, Mitch is Dad of the Year, and I’m finally out of the woods.
- I’m the class mom of sorts for Lucy’s class this year and I’m a little nervous about it but off to a good start! I’m definitely more of an introvert, so when Mitch heard the news, he was like, “WHAT?” 😜 But I read up on my responsibilities over the weekend, got everything very organized, and even figured out how to send little surveys and forms to parents to get the ball rolling. I’m feeling good about it! And I hope that Lucy makes some new friends in the process. :) She missed out on a lot of friend-making time due to the pandemic, and I feel like it’s time!
- Weekly Amazon Finds:
- Home: Still loving these scalloped frames, and this scalloped serving bowl is a must. This is such a nice coffee table book that works well as fall decor, too.
- Fashion: I started rounding up my favorite little girls’ fall clothing here, and I fell in love with this stylish weekender bag. My favorite dress in this fun fall print is on sale, and how perfect is this Stewart tartan swing dress?
- Beauty: This made a big difference in my nails, and I recently filled up my empty wash pump with this incredibly affordable face wash, haha. It’s honestly just as good, but the Fresh bottle looks nicer on a shelf I’m nuts.
- We’ve decided to stay put for the girls’ fall break in October. Flights are astronomical, and fall is amazing in Chicago anyway! Kind of want to stop the travel-travel-travel mindset we’ve been in for so long and just be. We plan on making a little itinerary. Ideas include hiking, visiting a farm, going to the Farmer’s Market, and painting pumpkins. You know: All the October stuff. ;)
- I’ve made some real progress with my painting hobby. I’ve been turning off my brain at night and giving the girls’ wooden play kitchen toys a little TLC. It’s been so nice. And while I’m not the best at it, I think the toys do look a lot better! I use these very affordable satin acrylic paints, by the way.
- J.Crew’s new fall arrivals are on sale, and they have me excited about cooler temperatures! First of all, THIS WRINKLE-FREE STRIPED RUFFLED TOP. And these Demi boot cords. My favorite fall coat is on sale—size down—and so are my cropped quilted jacket, my wide-leg pull-on pants, my high-waisted wide-leg pants that I own in both white and black because I adore them so much, my favorite transitional sandals (suede!) and this cute poncho.
- Did you catch our basement bathroom renovation with Studio41? I can’t get over what an exceptional job they did! Get all the details here.
- Have you heard of the kids’ brand WHEAT? They’re a Danish company, and I love the beautiful florals! The girls needed new raincoats so I decided to try these. Crossing my fingers they fit because they’re adorable. (Use code “15ARCHIVE” to take another 15 percent off.)
- Noodle was a bad dog and ripped up the girls’ gymnastics mat and balance beam. Oh my gosh. Okay, so dachshunds like to dig. They can’t help themselves. They were bred for it. So Noodle dug into the mat and beam, and that was that. (Very happy she has such shorts legs and can’t get up onto couches and chairs.) I ended up replacing them with this Amazon mat and this Amazon beam but I was NOT thrilled about it. (Remember the time she ate my Jack Rogers when we first got her?! Oh dear.)
- One Home Project Every Day:
- I fixed Noodle’s dog crate and came up with a great way to eventually get rid of it. It’s a great crate. But it takes up a lot of room in our kitchen. The other day, though, it occurred to me me that Noodle’s favorite place—the shelf under the kitchen desk area—could easily be made into a crate if we just put a door on it! She would be thrilled to be snug in there, and we would be thrilled with the extra space. I found this company on Etsy that will do it, too!
- I worked on the garage. It has never looked this empty. I will say, though, that the bones of our garage are back. Like, it’s a sound garage—no structural issues—but it’s really, really dirty and ugly. And even once I bleach and clean it all, I know it’s not going to look great. But hey. It’s a garage. And a decluttered and organized garage is a happy one!
- Emma and I went through the American Girl stuff and donated some of it. I’m so proud of her. She has been doing so well with parting with toys that no longer get played with, and giving them to kids who could love and actually use them. This is one habit I will always keep up; the lessons in generosity and gratitude are so important!
- I moved the very last of the toys from the living room cabinet to the basement. The end of an era! Lucy no longer plays in the living room; it’s playroom or bust. So now we just keep games in the living room cabinet, as she really can’t be trusted with those, haha. (Literally dumps out all the games and mixes up the pieces and then hides them around the house. Super fun.)
- I finally framed some special things: I am the queen of just leaving art and other special things in drawers, saying I’m going to frame them but then never actually doing it. So I framed the last of that stuff!
- Custom silhouettes: Oh my gosh. I’m in love. I’m going to put them by the front door and keep them there forever and ever and ever. I used these frames.
- “Will you be our flower girl?” cards: Sammy and Carls sent the girls these last year, and I knew they’d always be keepsakes. So special. I used these frames.
- Sonograms: I had piles of them in my desk. Literally piles. So I picked my favorite one of each girl—sounds so silly—and said goodbye to the rest. ;) Love that I’ll actually LOOK at them now! I used these frames.
- I did all the laundry but lost one uniform jumper to an explosive paint accident. Emma was apparently walking out of the bathroom at school when she ran into a little boy carrying a ton of paint. It didn’t end well. She handled it pretty well, though, haha.
- I made some huge progress with my kids’ artwork albums and I’m so excited about it. I have been so good about photographing and digitizing my kids’ art, but truth be told, I often forget to put the photos in the correct folders, and therefore the project had become a digital mess. Went through everything—dating back to Emma’s baby years!—and got it all where it’s supposed to go. Next step is brightening and printing in albums. (The plan is to print one album for each stage: preschool, kindergarten, first grade, etc. I only include favorites, and I keep no physical copies of the art. Sounds heartless but we never, ever went through the storage bins filled with kiddie art. I know that if we keep these albums on shelf or coffee table, though, that our family will actually enjoy them!)
- I digitized EVERY last bit of paper in my desk. It feels great! Literally have nothing left in there. I do have one “to do” notepad, which I use throughout the day, but I toss the paper when I clock out. I make a new to-do list the following morning and start fresh. This would surely drive a lot of people insane but it works very well for me, as I tend to get overwhelmed and discouraged easily!
