Brass Duck Bookends / Framed Canvas / White Duck / Limestone Knot / Chanel / Made for Living / Live Beautiful / Wicker Bag / Coral / Candles: Craft & Kin “Leather” / “Soft Cashmere Amber” / “Meditate”
Office bookshelves in progress ^
Hello! Jumping right in today:
- Get vaccinated! And please read this heartbreaking article, which features my brother Patrick’s hospital outside of New Orleans. This is preventable.
- Mitch and I had the best weekend with my brother- and sister-in-law. They flew in from Virginia with their kids to drop them off for “Camp Gammy,” and then stayed in Chicago with us for a few days. It was wonderful. I shut my computer down and left my phone at the bottom of my bag the whole time, and we biked (with Lucy in tow!) and ate our way through the city. We stayed up late on the patio every night and slept in every morning. (Luckily for us, Lucy loves sleeping in. 😉) We were saying that the last time the four of us really got to hang out alone was back in New York, before we were even married! I think Mitch and I are both a bit bummed today that John and Sarah no longer live here—John was transferred for work a few years ago—because we know we’d be best friends and spend a ton of time together. But we’re hoping we can make this long weekend an August tradition! And fingers crossed that they retire in Chicago as planned. ;)
- We have one kid for the next two weeks because Emma is at Camp Gammy! It’s kind of hard to wrap my mind around. While I don’t think the jump from one to two kids was extraordinarily difficult (and I obviously miss Emma to the moon and back), I’m in awe as to how much easier things are with just one. 😆 So much less stuff. Fewer meltdowns. Smaller stroller. Shorter bedtime routines. Less coordination. It’s wild! This morning before peewee, for example, we walked to a local coffee shop and sat down and enjoyed our drinks. (WHAT?!) My goal for this little stretch is to spend a lot of quality time with Lucy and relish in the slowness. But also I’m a psycho and want to take advantage of the city and to get ahead on some work/home stuff, too.
- Speaking of slowness, I’m reading The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. It follows the lives of four sisters, and is set in Oak Park, Illinois, which is right outside of Chicago. (We have a lot of friends who are from there or who’ve moved there recently!) A nice easy read for summer that I’ve been enjoying.
- Has anyone had lasik eye surgery? My contacts prescription is -8.0, so I’m pretty blind, haha. Have always been terrified by the thought of surgery, but lately I’ve found myself considering it because I know it would make life with little kids a lot easier. (Wake up and go? I really can’t imagine!) If you did it, what was your experience like? Have the results been lasting? If you did it in Chicago, do you recommend your doctor? I’ll probably chicken out, but many thanks for any advice! ;)
- I bought a new bike! I am EXTREMELY excited. I’ve been using my beautiful old cruiser nearly every day this summer, but I’m struggling to keep up with Mitch because of its weight. I finally pulled the trigger on a much lighter city bike, though! I don’t know much about bikes, so I didn’t want to drop a lot of money on one. But the company that makes my helmet—Retrospec—has some wonderfully affordably rides. I will be, however, supporting local and having Heritage Bikes put it together!
- I’m creating a new content calendar for the blog. I sat down at my computer this morning feeling recharged and excited about blogging. I struggle with keeping up with my site in the summer; life is busier than ever, especially with young children. But I’m mapping out a plan as we speak to bring you some fresh content as we near the end of the season and transition into fall. I’m excited about home decor, but anything in particular you’d like to see?
- Lucy has been saying some adorable things as of late. She’s been waving at gray cars and saying “Hi Nicki!” because our neighbor Nicki has a gray car. She attempts to tell knock knock jokes, which always has the entire family in stitches. She randomly walks into a room and says, “I want more fries, too.” (Though I mean, who doesn’t?) And when I say, “I love you, Lucy,” she says, “I love you, Mama.” ♥️
- I’m taking Emma to NYC in October! It’s my sister-cousin Sammy’s wedding shower, and it’s going to be an amazing girls’ weekend! I want to take Emma to the Plaza, Central Park, the Museum of Natural History (to see the dinosaurs, obviously), FAO Schwarz, the top of the Empire State Building and some fun restaurants. (Ideas include the American Girl Cafe, Alice’s Tea Cup, Kellogg’s NYC, Max Brenner’s, and Serendipity III.) Maybe a show, too?!
- Is it weird that I’m contemplating starting and finishing my Christmas shopping in August? I do not want to be stressed about it this year. I’d say there’s a 10 percent chance I actually follow through, though. ;)
- “One Home Project Every Day” updates:
- Mitch’s inventory was moved out of the garage. THE END OF AN ERA! I can’t believe we have use of our garage again. Tonight, Mitch and I are going to go out there and organize/clean the heck out of it. What a huge life improvement!
- I organized the laundry room cabinets. These were the last cabinets that needed organizing in our home! It was a pretty simple job, and took no more than 15 minutes. Hilarious how I make tasks out to be wildly more time-consuming than they actually are.
- I tightened the screws on our kitchen stools. They’ve been wobbly for a while now.
- I put lightbulbs in my office lamps. Not sure why this took me so long.
- I started digitally organizing my desktop computer. The state of my computer is always directly correlated with how busy I am. It also always looks its worst in August. ;)
- I hung a schoolhouse clock in the kitchen. I’m so happy with it! Of course, it’s permanently 10:10, as I’ve yet to put batteries in it. But looks fantastic. And both 10:10 a.m. and 10:10 p.m. are pretty great times of the day, so…
- I donated more toys after Emma’s birthday. Highly recommend doing this before littles’ birthdays!
- I started decorating my office shelves. As I mentioned last week, very much into calming neutrals right now. So I’ve been bringing some older brightly colored decor down to the playroom, where it works extremely well… and embracing wood, brass, white, black and natural tones elsewhere in the house. Maybe I’m just subconsciously getting ready for fall over here!
- How beautiful is this v-neck dress from Emerson Fry? It would probably be too low-cut for my comfort level, but it’s a stunner, for sure.
- Because of how often “Romeo and Juliet” comes up songs, Emma is very concerned that Taylor Swift is not real. Honestly, she’s in panic mode over it. “If Romeo and Juliet are just characters, IS TAYLOR SWIFT JUST A CHARACTER, TOO?!” I die.
- I’m loving green wallpaper right now. Specifically this one. So soothing!
- Gorjana has arrived in Lincoln Park! Armitage Avenue is on fire right now. I plan on going this week with Lucy, but I’m already in love with the Ana Coin Necklace and the Compass Coin Necklace.
- This gorgeous t-shirt wrap dress is back in stock at Tuckernuck. Easy breezy and beautiful for this time of year.
