Slow Mornings & Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, friends!!

I woke up early on this rainy Friday, before anyone else, to drink my coffee and enjoy some quiet time before the house wakes up. The other day I was thinking about our mornings and how much we relish in them being slow; we have a hard time getting out of the house before 12p no matter what we have going on that day.

We have the luxury of being able to work from home and we often take full advantage of that- multiple cups of coffee, not changing out of our pajamas until after lunch, picking up around the house while sending emails and watching The View. I crave our slow mornings and I know we’re both soooo grateful for them. Things will look a lot different come August when the kids go back to school and we’re running around the house in the morning trying to get everyone out the door, but for now, they’re probably my favorite part of the day.

I keep forgetting this weekend is the 4th of July, but to be honest, we never do anything for the 4th anyway. Do you? Every year people ask us what our plans are and every year we say absolutely nothing except spend the night trying to calm our dogs down as fireworks blast off every few seconds.

In other news, we’re heading to pick up some flooring today for a fun project!! It is going to completely change the look and feel of the space (a space we’ve wanted to change the look and feel of for a while now), but we can’t reveal too much yet since it’s for an upcoming collaboration. It’s going to be a good one, y’all.

I thought I would try something fun and different for today’s Happy Friday post and include a few links that have been catching my interest lately. Have a good one, y’all!!

These natural wonders from around the world no longer exist.

The trans history you weren’t taught in school.

This is what the future of the American house looks like (we do, and agree with, a lot of these already!)

Did you ever read the creepy story on The Cut about “The Watcher?” Well now it’s being turned into a limited series on Netflix by Ryan Murphy and will star Naomi Watts. BEYOND excited about it!!!

Portraits of gay fatherhood.

This might be my favorite room of all time.

How good does this easy pasta sound?

10 beautiful places in Florida you didn’t know existed.

Loved all of your responses on our Instagram post from last week!!

I’ve been following along with the #FreeBritney movement that is literally unfolding before our eyes for the past few weeks. It’s so heartbreaking, and information seems to be coming out every few hours about what a nightmare her life has been for the last so many years. Jessica from @houseinhabit on Instagram does a good job of breaking everything down and her IG stories are compelling to read. I’ve been addicted to them for an in-depth look at what’s going on in Britney’s conservatorship.

I’ve been obsessed with this farmhouse all week and can’t get it out of my mind. So beautiful.

The Busiest Week in History

It’s already Friday Eve! Where have the days (weeks, months) gone?

It was another crazy busy week here at the McKay house and it feels we’re playing catch up once again. I haven’t had time to write lately, which I always hate because I enjoy writing and documenting so much. It’s a creative outlet for me and helps us to remember certain parts in our life that are always fun to go back and revisit from time to time.

Right now we’re splitting our time between our house in town and working at the farm pretty much every day. We recently finished the pavilion at the front of the farm for a collaboration with Lowe’s and it turned out even better than we had hoped! PJ worked day and night on it last week to finish in time, and we had a little get together with family this past weekend to break it in. Can’t wait for more nights like that 🥰.

Our schedule last week was all over the place and it felt reminiscent of when we were filming the pilot for HGTV 4 years ago: long days and long nights with little time for anything else. But it was so worth it because now we plan on enjoying the pavilion as much as possible and spending loads of time there. Nothing like a tight deadline to make you accomplish the things you need to, right?

We have some exciting partnerships coming up with brands and companies we’ve always dreamed of working with and we’re so excited to share once they’re completed!! It’s going to be a busy few months ahead so the posting here may be a little more sparse.

Happy Friday Eve, friends!!

Some Pretty Flowers Around the House

Remember how I said I was feeling sick and hoped it would pass soon? Well, it hasn’t. In fact, I’m progressively feeling worse. I’m currently blowing my nose 10 times a minute with a horrible headache most likely due to all the drainage (that word) that is also making my throat feel like it’s on fire.

Getting sick sucks, especially with kids and especially when you have a million things to do before Friday. It’s always the worst when I first wake up in the morning and late at night right before bed. During the day I feel a lot better. Not good, but definitely better. Why is that?

ANYWAYS. All that to say, how about some pretty flowers to brighten things up a bit?

One of my favorite things ever is when PJ makes a small change in our house, like rearranging furniture, hanging new art, or even bringing in fresh flowers from the backyard. The last one was the case the other day when I looked up and suddenly noticed hydrangea arrangements placed in various rooms around our house. PJ had whipped up several seriously gorgeous arrangements in like 5 minutes and I had no choice but to literally stop and smell the flowers. It’s little things like this that I appreciate about him so much.

And aren’t they pretty? Flowers brighten up a room and instantly make a space feel happier. The fun part was discovering all of the places he put the flowers (it almost felt like a scavenger hunt).

PJ McKay, what would we do without you to make our life more beautiful? Please never change (though I don’t think I have to worry about that ;).

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Playing Catch Up

Happy Monday, friends!. Didn’t mean to go this long without posting. 

Last week was one of those weeks where we didn’t feel like doing anything but had a million things to do. Our middle kiddo was sick last weekend, and then a few days ago little sis had a fever and then I did, too. What’s strange about all of us getting sick is that we only had fevers for a few hours; none of it lasted for over a day, which thank goodness, of course. But still, I think we’ve both learned over the last few years that it’s absolutely awful to see your child in any kind of pain or discomfort, and there’s a feeling of helplessness when they’re sick sometimes because you can only do so much to make them feel better. Now that we’re slowly easing our way back into society, I have a feeling we’re going to all be sick more often (we got spoiled last year with not going anywhere or seeing anything because none of us were sick for pretty much the entire year).

But, it’s a new week! And the kids are feeling better now. Still, as I write this, my head is in the clouds from congestion and my throat is killing me. Should be gone in a few days, though (I hope).

PJ has been working on the pavilion every day to get it ready for our cousin’s baby shower next month (and for a fun collaboration with a company that’s been a dream of ours to work with for years!! We can’t wait to show you!! Can you guess who?) and y’all, it looks so dang good. Every day we both get more and more excited to see it come together because now it feels real, like all the dreams and visions we’ve had over the last few years are finally coming to life and it’s so neat to see them fully realized. PJ can do anything with just his hands and a whole lotta determination, and I’ve said it before: it’s incredible to watch him work. I always feel so proud to call him mine.

Also! We officially signed little sis up for school, so come August, all three kids will be in some sort of schooling, giving them the tools they need to learn and be creative and play, and giving us some time and space to work more efficiently. We have loved having the last two years with them at home catching up on the years when they weren’t with us, but we’ve realized they’re missing out on things we just can’t give them right now, like space to run and play when we’re not at the farm and an actual education. PJ has done wonders catching them up to where they should be, and I did what I could for our oldest with virtual kindergarten last year, but they crave crafts and friends (oh my gosh friends!) and we’re excited for them to have a change of pace after the last few years. I think it’ll be good for all!

What else? One of our ewes, Diana, had a baby! Ocoee Farm grew by one lamb and she’s absolutely adorable. I’ve never seen a baby sheep in person before and I don’t really know what I expected? But she is the cutest thing ever. She hops around, tripping over her skinny, lanky little legs and has the sweetest baaaaaa. Diana is extremely protective of her and is already such a good mom. Way to go, Diana!!!

That’s about it for now!! To catch up on some things in video form, you can check out our newest vlog here.

Chicken Soup For the Soul & Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, friends.

Our middle kiddo got sick last night and threw up all over the couch (what a way to start out this post 😂) so today was for making homemade chicken noodle soup and cleaning the slip covers on the cushions.

It seems like we’ve been busier than ever lately, with little time to catch our breaths. I keep thinking things will slow down with work, or that things will somehow get easier in the next few months or when the kids are in school, but who knows? Maybe this is just life right now for a while ❤️.

I’m keeping today’s happy Friday post short and sweet and wishing you a lovely weekend, friends! xo

Our Favorite Leather Bags (With A Good Cause)

We did a fun interview the other day with Parker Clay, who produce our favorite leather bags ever, for their Community Voices series. In it, we discuss our favorite parts about being parents, our definition of community, and our one hope for the future (deep stuff!).

If you’re not familiar, Parker Clay makes the most beautiful and functional bags, totes, accessories, backpacks, and more, and they do it while also helping women in Ethiopia. They “hire at-risk women, pay living wages and benefits, and provide skills training, career advancement, and financial literacy opportunities to all of our employees.” You can learn more about the amazing work they’ve done here.

We’ve been using their bags for over a year now and we always get so many compliments on them, and they were kind enough to gift us with some bags from their new collection! You can see PJ wearing one of his favorites: the Desta Belt Bag. Isn’t it so cute??

Other favorites of ours are the Atlas Backpack, the Rincon Backpack, the Omo Overnight Bag, and the Entoto Zip Tote (pictured above).

The best part of all of this is that Parker Clay made a donation to an organization of our choice, with The Trevor Project releasing the below statement:

“We are proud to share, to honor our Community Voices feature, Parker Clay has made a donation to The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people."

Thank you for not only making beautiful products, but for doing so much good in this world, Parker Clay! So beyond proud to be part of your community.

xoxo

So We Did a Thing Today

After talking about it and searching for years, we finally settled on a newer family car that we’re both happy with, and one that we plan on keeping for the next 20 years.

We loved our old 99’ Land Cruiser (and still do!), but after driving around with the kiddos back and forth to the farm, and even on our first road trip to Florida a few weeks back, we realized we wanted a newer, more up-to-date car that would get us through the next decade or so. We purchased the new one based on how good of an investment it would be for our family because we like to keep cars for as long as possible.

I’m happy to say we basically found our dream car and got an amazing deal on it (PJ always does, doesn’t he?). Now that the kids are starting school in the fall, it’ll be perfect for driving them back and forth, and now that we’re traveling again, it’ll also be great for road trips!

It’s one of the biggest investments we’ve ever made, but we feel confident about it and what it means for our family!