Just the Four of Us & Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, y’all.

How was your week? Our kids were on fall break this week and we tentatively had all these big plans to do something fun, but instead we were swamped with work. Plus it rained every. single. day. so instead, we stayed inside and worked. Riveting stuff for a fall break, isn’t it? Allan was somewhat bummed, but we’re trying to get all of our work done todays so we can do something fun tomorrow and/or Sunday. Maybe the zoo? The aquarium?

In other news, Anna is visiting my older sister and her family in Georgia, so it’s just the four of us guys here at the house! My mom drove her down and they’re all spending a few days together doing all of her favorite things: nails, hair, makeup 😂. We don’t force anything on any of them, but she’s been drawn to all of those things for as long as we can remember.

We’re both so excited she has all of her cousins to play with (six of them!) and that she’s getting to spend quality time with my sister and my mom, but man do we sure miss her. It’s so different with two kids than with three! She’ll be home tomorrow night and we’ll give her the bigger hug, along with a special surprise (we’ll show you, too, next week!).

There will be no weekend newsletter this week unfortunately! Too much going on and super tight deadlines, but I’m hoping to be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming.

Lastly, I was going through an old SD card and found the photo above from 2017!! How was this four years ago? Anna wasn’t even born then! So crazy to think about how quickly time goes by. So crazy to also think about how much older we look now 😂. Not that I mind that part so much. I’m excited to grow older with my family.

Have a lovely weekend, friends. xoxo

The Best Destinations for Fall Foliage

I came across this article from Architectural Digest the other day and it immediately caught my attention. Remember when I shared the peak fall foliage map a few weeks back? Well, apparently these are the top fall foliage destinations in the country!

As expected, most of these places are in New England, an area of the country I’ve wanted to visit (or live?!) for as long as I can remember. Still trying to talk PJ into all of us taking a family trip there one day, but I think he’s on board! Doesn’t New England in the fall sound so dreamy? I can’t think of a more magical place.

Anyway, the list is filled with gorgeous, dreamy towns like the Catskills in New York, Stowe in Vermont, North Conway in New Hampshire, and Asheville, North Carolina. However, I was sad to see Ocoee, Tennessee didn’t make the list! The photo above is from a few years back (look how little Anna was!) when the colors were absolutely bursting in all their autumn glory. It’s such a beautiful area this time of year, but maybe the problem is just not as many people know about it?

Would love to visit any of the cities on this list one day!!

Happy October & Happy Friday!

Our favorite month has arrived!

With each passing year, I seem to look forward to and welcome October more and more. Today I ordered an apple crisp macchiato from Starbucks while the kids and I ran errands, we’ve been lighting a new fall candle almost every night, and I’m baking some yummy goodies.

And something new I’m adding to the unofficial and nonexistent “fall to-do list”: walking in the mornings! I took a walk this morning with my mom after dropping Allan off at school and we walked two miles! It felt so delicious outside; the perfect fall morning. The conversation was good, the air was fresh, and we ooo’d and ahhhh’d at all the old houses we passed. We’re going to try and make walking a more regular occurrence going forward.

In other news, we found Halloween costumes for the kids! It was surprisingly easy and painless. They’ve all had certain, very specific costumes picked out in their heads all year, but as soon as we got to the store, all of that went out the window and they chose completely different ones. There’s a sort of theme going on with all three of the ones they chose, so PJ and I are going to see if we can find similar costumes that kind of go along theirs. Our family loves the Halloween season so much- how fun would it be if we all dressed up together?

Also! I almost forgot to mention: we have new life on Ocoee Farm!! One of our sheep, Maud, had triplets yesterday! They’re so tiny and so cute and their little baaaaa’s make my heart burst. The kids and I haven’t seen them in person yet, only from videos and pictures PJ has sent us while he’s been there working, but we’re hoping to all go out there this weekend or early next week to see them.

Lastly, on Instagram I asked what hobbies you have and you sent in a ton of ideas!! I will be posting them here on the blog next week so that, if you’re like me, you’ll find a little inspiration and maybe even take up a new hobby.

Hope you have a cozy weekend!!!!

PS: click here to sign up for our weekend newsletter. The next one goes out tonight!

PJ Started Decorating for Fall!

Just a few things here and there. I can’t wait to show you all of it, but we’re saving the big reveal for an upcoming collaboration we’re doing with a dream company of ours (one that we’ve wanted to work with for years), so it’ll just have to wait.

We’re a little late this year on getting our fall decor out; usually we start at the beginning of September so we can enjoy them for as long as possible since we start decorating for Christmas at the beginning of November (I don’t want to hear it!!). Nonetheless, they’re out now, and so are all the warm, cozy feelings they bring with them.

xoxo

This Time of Year Always Brings Feelings of Nostalgia; Even More So Now with Kids

The last week I’ve felt great, all but fully recovered from my covid diagnosis. It’s a beautiful day today after it rained cats and dogs last week, and the fall light is shining through the windows the same way it used to when I was growing up in this house. There are many reasons why autumn is my favorite season, but I think a big one, one that I’m just now realizing, is that it brings feelings of nostalgia for my childhood spent in our home.

Back then the house wasn’t in the best shape, and even though my parents renovated it from top to bottom in the 80’s, it was already considered dated, with tears in the wallpaper and cracks in the tile floors. My friends all had newer, prettier houses (in my opinion) and if I’m being honest, I was always a bit jealous of them. But not in the fall. In the fall our house seemed to come alive. The 1924 oak floors shined in the afternoon light that was pouring through the old windows as the dust settled on them, making our already old house feel even older in the most charming way.

My mom would go all out for fall, decorating our house with decorations both handmade and store-bought. We would watch Halloween movies for two months straight and eat chili and spaghetti and other foods that I now associate with this time of year. The coolness of the air around this time (that we’re all still patiently waiting for) also always gets me excited for what’s to come.

I think raising kids in this house has a lot to do with the nostalgia I feel lately. We’re raising three kids (two older boys and a younger sister), the same way my mom raised me, my brother and my younger sister, in the same house, on the same street, that I grew up in. Of course I would feel this way, right? How could I not?

I relish in the fact that our kids will have warm, comforting memories in our family home as they get older the same way I do now. At least, I hope they do. It wasn’t perfect then (goodness it wasn’t perfect) and it’s not perfect now, but it’s home. You know what I mean?

I love that PJ loves to decorate for seasons, too. We lay out our fall garland and our wreaths. PJ displays pumpkins (both real and fake) on various tables throughout the house. We incorporate pops of orange here and there. It feels like home to us: safe, inviting, lived-in and comfortable. Our house was always a mess growing up; not dirty, but definitely messy, like you could 100% tell that a single mom with three young kids lived there. There would be piles of laundry all over the couches and stacks of papers on the dining room table. Details. Little things.

And even though there’s two of us, and even though we work from home, our house is also messy, cluttered and easily identifiable as to how many kids live here. And I absolutely love it.

As we walked to school the other morning, we had to bundle up to stay warm. Fall is here, at least for this week (it will most likely be back in the mid 80’s next week because that’s how weather in Tennessee rolls), and all the nostalgia is rushing back with it. And I welcome it every year.

How could I not?

Hello Old Friend

We look forward to September 22nd all year long.

Our favorite time of the year is here! Though, of course, it doesn’t truly feel like it just yet, as it never does at first. It will still be in the 80’s for most of the week, and the leaves won’t begin to change for a few more weeks. But we already knew that, didn’t we?

I will say, however, that it is currently 55 degrees outside as I sip my coffee, and the high today is only going to be 70, so in fact, it seems like we’re starting the season off just right. This might as well be a blog dedicated to all things fall now, huh? Would you really mind if it was?

Happy fall, friends!!

We’re Traveling for the First Time in Over a Year and a Half (!)

Well. This was unexpected.

A very last minute travel opportunity came up and we decided to say yes to it! The last time we were on a plane was in January of 2020, right before the pandemic shut everything down. It feels weird to be traveling on a plane again, and especially weird to be away from the kids, but it’s a super short trip and we’ll be home by tomorrow night.

The funny thing is that the last trip we took before everything came to a screeching halt was to Utah and now, our first trip in forever is also to Utah! I almost forgot how beautiful Utah is, with the looming mountains hovering over us everywhere we look. It’s a magical, if not a little mysterious, place.

We miss the kids pretty bad, but we keep telling ourselves it’s good to get a break every now and then, especially after over a year and a half of being together every day. We will see them tomorrow night when we get home and when we do, we plan to give them the biggest, squishiest hugs ever.