Do You Have A Signature Scent?

We’ve been wearing the same two colognes all summer.

When it comes to scents and colognes and sprays, PJ and I tend to gravitate towards a certain smell, and it usually includes cedarwood as one of the key notes. It’s no surprise then that the two colognes we’ve been wearing for the past few months both have cedar wood in them. There’s something about that scent that is sensual, masculine, and timeless, don’t you think?

Here are the two we can’t get enough of right now:

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My favorite: Y LE PARFUM by Yves Saint Laurent

A yummy, woody scent that smells sophisticated and sexy. I have been looking for a signature scent for a while and I can confidently say I’ve finally found it in this. The cedarwood, lavender, and geranium give this fragrance an intoxicating aroma that lasts all day.

Key notes:

• Geranium

• Cedarwood

• Lavender

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PJ’s favorite: Ralph's Club Eau de Parfum by Ralph Lauren

The definition of a classic, timeless scent from Ralph Lauren. It smells like a department store at Christmas time (in a good way). The woody scent is sensual and elegant, and immediately conjures up images of being worn in a dimly lit, cozy room with a big fire and worn leather chairs. Can you picture it? I would be lying if I said I haven’t been stealing a few sprays from PJ every now and then.

Key notes:

• Top - Lavandin, Clary Sage

• Middle - Virginia Cedarwood

• Base - Vetiver

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What about you? Do you have a signature scent? What do you wear? Our all time favorites are Santal 33 and, back in the day, Fierce by Abercrombie!

My Brother's Beautiful Wedding (and My Best Man Speech)

Good morning, friends!

This past weekend, we celebrated my brother Taylor’s wedding to his beautiful wife Mariah. I was the Best Man and PJ was a groomsmen, while sis was the flower girl and the boys were her escorts (!). It was the cutest thing ever. I can’t wait to see all the photos the photographer took.

Meanwhile, you can check out how the entire wedding-weekend went down (including my Best Man Speech) in our newest vlog, if you’d like to see.

Happy Wednesday, y’all!

Do You Enjoy Making Small Talk?

A very common thing where we live in the south is to make small talk with complete strangers. Or co-workers in the elevator. Or anywhere, with anyone, really.

It usually starts off with something along the lines of: “It’s cold out there today.” or “How was your weekend?” or simply, “How’s it going?” and then, like clockwork, they completely tune out because they never really cared in the first place, they just asked because, well, that’s just what you do.

I hate small talk. Loathe it. Despise it. Dread it. In fact, it’s one of the things I miss the least about working in an office setting. These days, the only small talk I make is with our animals and I quite enjoy that. They respond to me with loving glances and big puppy dog eyes, so I could small talk with them all day.

But if I’m in line at the store and someone tries to talk to me about the weather, count me out. I immediately don’t know what to say other than to awkwardly laugh and shake my head yes. I would rather do pretty much anything else or be anywhere else than participate in it. Do you know what I mean?

But why do I get so uncomfortable with small talk? Am I actually an introvert at heart?

Psychologist Laurie Helgoe says that “Introverts hate small talk because it creates a barrier between people.” She also explains that small talk can feel “superficial” and that “polite discussion prevents openness, so people don't learn about each other.”

I suppose that’s why I don’t enjoy it so much? I love deeper, more interesting conversations with meaning, or even if they’re of no substance, at least pointless conversations with people I know and care about. But pointless conversations, no matter how polite they may be, with complete strangers? No thank you very much.

What about you? Do you like small talk? Or do you loathe it like I do, too?

My Brother Is Getting Married Tomorrow & Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, y’all.

How was your week? If you’ve been reading the blog this week, you know ours was a lot. A lot of firsts and a lot of excitement and I know I speak for all of us when I say we’re so looking forward to this weekend!!

My brother is getting married tomorrow to the love of his life, Mariah, who has felt like a part of the family for what feels like forever. We’ve all been waiting for this day for a long time and, after over a year of it being delayed because of COVID, it’s hard to believe it’s finally here.

A bunch of our family came in from out of town (New York, Ohio, Georgia) and we all had dinner at my brother’s house last night. It felt so good to see them, even if we made the decision as a family not to hug anyone :).

The kids had fun sliding down the hill on cardboard and we all ate the most delicious food and just relaxed for a few hours. It felt refreshing to see family we haven’t seen in years and for everyone to meet the kids (finally!).

Also, did I mention we’re all in the wedding? I’m the best man and PJ is a groomsmen, and sis is the flower girl!! She looks absolutely beautiful in her little white dress and flower crown that PJ made for her a few nights back. He bought some supplies at a local art store and busted out the hot glue gun and an hour later he had this gorgeous headpiece for sis to wear. It completes her whole look perfectly. I’m telling you: The man can do anything he puts his mind to.

It’s going to be a jam-packed weekend, so time to get to it!! Hope you have a good one, friend.

xoxo

Hi From the Beach

Hi friends!

We’re at the beach this week soaking up the sun and waves with our friends and kids and will be back here on the blog next week with some fun new posts!

Have a good one xoxo

Heading to The Beach & Happy Friday!

And we’re off!

Happy Friday, y’all! How was your week? We’re hitting the road today on our second and last beach trip of the summer and the kids are so excited. After not going anywhere with them for the last year and a half, we couldn’t think of a better way to end the summer than with a trip to our favorite part of Florida: 30A!

We’re heading down to meet some of our best friends (while our friend Dixie watches over the house and the animals) and plan to spend a few days relaxing in the sand and watching the kids soak up as much fun as possible before school starts the next week we get back. Summer is officially over!

Also, don’t forget: today we will be sending out our first email newsletter in over a year! Be sure to sign up for it below, even if you’ve done it in the past, you’ll have to re-enter your info as we’re using a new platform this time around. Oh, and warning: the newsletters may get flagged and show up in your junk folder if you have Gmail, so you may want to check that if you signed up for one and don’t see it by tomorrow morning.

Thank you all so much for being here with us! We’re immensely grateful for you. Have a lovely weekend, friends!! xoxo

Have You Signed Up For Our New Email Newsletter?

The first one goes out tomorrow!

We’re so excited to be starting our newsletters again, and if you sign up, you can expect to receive one once every week or so (but definitely no more than one in a week!).

Even if you were signed up for our old newsletter, you will have to re-enter your email address to be added to the list that the new one will go out to. Heads up: if you have a Gmail account, be sure to check your junk folder if you signed up and don’t see our email by Saturday morning; sometimes Gmail places newsletter emails into ‘junk’ by mistake.

You can sign up below, if you want, and thank y’all so much!!

Happy Friday Eve xoxo