Tuesday Recapping

People, I'm still of the mind there should be a "Tuesday Weekending" link up!! We need something for those of us who can't get their recapping act together on a Monday morning. Which more popular blog (that can harness far more participation than I can haha) wants to partner up?! ;)

This past weekend was a whirlwind. Dinner plans on Friday, two birthdays on Saturday, and a bridal shower on Sunday. All good stuff but I'm already looking forward to a break in these jam packed weekends.

Friday

We had plans after work to meet Sammy's coworker and his girlfriend for dinner. I had already met his coworker and loved him, so I was excited to find his girlfriend was every bit as sweet as I thought she'd be. So thrilled to have another police girlfriend friend. 

We headed over to Woodstock to go to D. C. Cobbs for dinner, but before eating, I really wanted to stop into their bookstore in town, Read Between the Lynes. I don't know why I even went in when we only had five minutes to spare because I needed at least twenty. It was SO cute. I definitely want to go back and scour the shelves. 

I got the fish fry at D. C. Cobbs and decided I should have gone with a burger which is what they're known for. Their fries were excellent though. Still thinking about them.

We came home around 8:30 and I painted my nails, put stamps on our "new address" cards, and wrapped our niece's birthday gift, while we watched The Empire Strikes Back. Star Wars has never been my thing, like I've actively avoided it, but since Solo came out, I've been intrigued primarily because I have such a thing for Harrison Ford. SO we're attempting to watch all the Star Wars movies just so I can go see Solo.

Saturday 

Theoretically, I should have been able to sleep in on Saturday but of course I woke up at 7 a.m. Ugh. I read Wild in bed while Sammy went to go workout, and then we had to get ready for our niece's first birthday.

It was "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" themed and SO cute. They had it at Maretti's in Hoffman Estates and we were all surprised by just how good the food was. 

Yep, that's a real Mercedes this kid received from Sammy's parents ;) 

Only picture I can include of the birthday girl 'cause you can't see her face haha (parents have a no social media rule in regard to posting about her)

Sammy and I split up at this point so he could stay with his family while I left early with my family to head to another party on my side. My cousin in the Navy was in town before her and her husband headed to Florida on vacation, so we stopped by my uncle's to see them and celebrate her birthday.

We hung out there until around 11 p.m., (I eventually fell asleep on the couch for a little while haha I was SO tired!) and then I went back home with my mom to sleep there because we'd both be going to my cousin's bridal shower the next morning. I've only lived in another house for a few weeks, but I love sleeping in my bed at my moms' house when I get the chance haha. Sometime at the end of July we'll be moving my bedroom furniture from her house to our new house, but I knew I'd be spending several Saturday nights there this summer just because of how my weekend plans have turned out and I'd need a place to sleep, so we've left a lot of that furniture alone for now.

Sunday

My mom, grandma, and I went to my cousin Mallary's bridal shower at Venuti's on Sunday morning and it was a gorgeous day and shower. 

There was a fruit punch and Bellini punch station, an appetizer station, and dessert station for later. 

We got the cutest favors: white ceramic berry dishes from Crate & Barrel. So gorge. 

My mom got to meet her godson's new daughter, River Rose. She's absolutely the sweetest little doll there ever was.

That face cracks me up. She's so chill.

Me and the gorgeous bride. Another bridal shower, another opportunity for the SJP floral dress ;) 

It was a really lovely day and I can't wait for the bachelorette party in a few weeks and then the big day in July!

After the shower, we dropped my grandma off and hit Old Navy because I had gotten an email about their linen pants being on sale for $10 for one day only. My mom was just talking about how she wanted another pair of linen pants, so we took the opportunity to do a little shopping. 

I realized while in the dressing room just how much of neutral gal I am ;)

We went back to my mom's house and hung out with my dad and brother who were doing some yard work outside. They helped me haul my bike and hammock into my mom's car so we could take it back to my house later that night. I placed a quick Instacart order while we sat outside talking and then my brother and mom and I headed back to CL.

We dropped off my stuff, unpacked the groceries, and then went back out to Duke's for a quick dinner.

I know I wax poetic about my family all the time, but they're seriously the greatest humans I know. After spending all day doing yard work, my brother and dad filled the tires in my bike, took my hammock apart, and loaded everything in the trunk for me without even being asked (I would have done it myself!). My mom drove me back to CL on a Sunday night (after doing a ton of driving that weekend) and paid for dinner. She and my brother unloaded the car for me and helped me put away the groceries. They're the best. I honestly don't know what I would do without them. Life certainly wouldn't be as comfortable or fun, that's for sure.

The weekend went by quickly, but I'm looking forward to a long weekend coming up. Summer hours have started at work and my first Friday off (we get every other off) is this Friday. Super excited about it because Sammy is off Friday as well, and he's off Thursday so I'm looking forward to coming home Thursday night and hanging out without any plans for Friday except (hopefully!) sleeping in :)

Hope everyone is having a good start to their week! xo

Summer Lovin' - TBB Asks

Happy Monday, friends! I've been wanting to join the TBB ladies in one of their link ups for a while now but can never get my act together. Not today though! 

Even though I'm a long time lover of the milder seasons aka spring and fall, I'm still excited to be talking all things summer this morning :)

1. Definitely a walker at heart although today was the first morning I rode my bike to the train station--ha! Sammy has been telling me all about the bike trails around our new house, so I'm hoping to spend some time this summer (and fall!) exploring those with him.

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2. Crusty bread, brie, and some jam. Could eat it all day, every day.

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3. Pool! Which is ironic now that we live near a lake in a town named after it haha. I love being near the lake and would actually prefer to spend time on a lake rather than by a pool, but if I'm getting in... definitely a pool girl. I need to be able to see the bottom... is that weird?! haha 

Our pretty Crystal Lake I know I'm going to just love over the years, even if it's just from the shore ;)

4. I'm not a huge ice cream girl (I know, I know), but I do love Ben & Jerry's S'mores ice cream a stupid amount. Otherwise, I'd almost always choose a sorbet over ice cream. 

5. Definitely depends on my mood. I used to strictly be a dish girl (less messy--I'm so fun, right? haha), but now I would say I lean more toward cone especially in the summer.

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6. I've turned a new leaf and am SUCH a slide girl. Just love them.

I love these ones I have from Old Navy and I want every other pair of slides they make.

7. Cropped denim, for sure. Denim shorts have to be super loose for me to be comfortable but then they usually don't look super flattering, so I'll stick with cropped length pants until I can find a great pair of shorts ;) I do love a linen short though. And I'm really digging a flared crop right now too.

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8. Berries or peaches! Not a huge fan of watermelon which is obviously super popular this time of year, so I'll stick to fruits like berries and peaches when they're most in season.

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9. On the cob! I don't love eating it in front of people 'cause I'm such a mess when eating it but ya gotta have it on the cob during summer. If there's leftovers, I love cutting it off the cob and using it in other dishes.

Corn on the cob was part of our first home cooked meal for our family! & we happily used the leftovers throughout the week.

10. Hard q! Anything by Sugar Ray because it reminds me of being a kid at the pool haha. Or "Summer Girls" by LFO because I'm a 90s chick.

11. Laying out in the hammock, for sure for sure. Second favorite would be taking a walk or sitting outside on a patio in the evening. I would much rather be outside in the summer when it's cooled down a bit ;)

12. UGH, that's so hard haha. I love all of them. Have to go strawberries but blackberries are a very close second.

Loved picking these fresh from a nearby farm last summer. Definitely have to add that to our summer bucket list now that we live in town.

13. One pieces 'cause ya girl hasn't worn a bikini in about ten years haha. That's been a body-issue related choice, but now I actually think they're really pretty and less maintenance. However, Andrea posted about a tankini looking bathing suit (the top was more flowy than a traditional tankini) she found on Amazon and I'm dying for her review on it because I would love to try something like that out.

Can't see a lot of it haha but one of my favorite black one pieces. Amazon find, per usual.

14. Dresses. Definitely love a skirt, especially a long flowy one, but dresses are perfectly low maintenance for summertime and ya gotta dig that.

15. Carefree. I love how the beginning of each season makes me feel some type of nostalgia and summertime always reminds me of how carefree I felt as a kid. Definitely try to harness that every year as adulthood is really good at creeping in and stealing that from us. 

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Can't wait to read about everyone's summer favorites! I'll be recapping the weekend tomorrow :) xo

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Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! Even though it was a shorter week, it felt like it creeped by. Definitely happy we've reached the weekend. Before we get to the weekend plans, on to the favorites...

I swear the only pictures on my phone are of house related stuff, so sorry for the overload, but that's my life currently!

Our tv stand was delivered last week and we're really loving how it looks. Sammy built it one day before his shift and insisted some of the shelves were scratched, so he called customer service and they offered to send an entire new piece which was awesome. If ever I needed a reason to continue shopping with Wayfair...

I spent a lot of time loving on these hydrangeas this week. They make the house feel a lot more complete. 

Was finally able to display the book my momma got me. 

Our rug was delivered Wednesday night and we love the way it looks (and this picture is further reminder of how I can't wait until that back wall is painted haha).

Very excited that almost our entire first floor is done in terms of cosmetic updates and furniture purchases. We need some floating shelves for the wall the couch is on, a runner in the entryway, new blinds, new light fixtures in the kitchen, entryway, and hall bath, and a few more decorative touches throughout.

I've been indulging the urge I have to document every meal we cook in the house haha. On Tuesday night I threw together some meal prepped chicken with sweet corn, black beans, tomatoes, a little greek yogurt, and some chili powder for taco filling and threw some corn tortillas onto the oven rack to make curved shells. 

Wednesday night I used the other half of the meal prepped chicken and mixed it with broccoli and a teriyaki sauce I bought at Aldi and served it with rice. Our meals have all turned out decently well so far! It's been fun (which I doubt will last super long haha but I hope it does!) to get into a routine with it. I handle dinner on the days when Sammy works as he can only come home for a half hour to eat, and he handles dinner on days during the week when he's off. It's a benefit to his work schedule that it forces us to split the responsibility without even thinking about it so one person doesn't get stuck doing the cooking all the time. I look forward to my days when I know I'm cooking but also look forward to coming home knowing dinner will already be done or started ;)

And last night was leftover night haha which conveniently fell on one of Sammy's nights to cook ;)

We had some leftover apple pie from Monday night but no ice cream, so Sammy ran out before dinner to grab some and he came back with some angel food cake cups and cool whip as well. I threw some strawberries in and we had a random dessert night. 

Last night was one of the first nights we were both home and got to spend a leisurely night together since we bought the house and I was so happy to just lounge around. I read while he watched the NBA Finals and it was lovely.

This is probably going to sound weird (and, per usual, very dramatic) but I had a hard time reading or listening to music last week when I was having a harder time (than I had hoped) adjusting to our new house, town, and routine. I have an anxious mind and reading and listening to music weren't stimulating enough for my brain. I had to be constantly watching something or talking on the phone in order to distract myself from my own thoughts. But this week I've been playing music in the house while cooking and cleaning and on my (slightly longer) morning commute. I've been loving Bailey's (@balancedmissbailey on Insta) "morning coffee" playlist on Spotify. I've also been playing "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 and Cardi B on REPEAT.

Our niece's first birthday is this weekend and we picked up some very summery items for her gift.

Sammy's brother and SIL have a big backyard that's perfect for an inflatable pool and we felt like this was one she could definitely grow into over the next few years.

In other (non house/kid...) purchase news, I grabbed these rain boots from Target a few weeks ago. I needed something new for my commute (I walk and plan to bike to and from the train station) when the weather isn't great, and I loved that these were ankle length 'cause ya girl has some meatier calfs that don't always fit into "regular" sized boots. They don't look like much here, but they're so cute on and I feel like a badass walking around in them. They're no longer available apparently, but if you're in need and ever see them in the store, grab them. Can't beat the $24.99 price tag either.

I also grabbed this backpack from Amazon because I wanted something that's easier to carry while I'm biking but didn't look athletic or too utilitarian. It's convertible so you can wear it like a backpack, hold it like a tote from the top loop, or wear it as a cross body by pulling on the straps. It delivered yesterday and I really like it, but the zipper is a little wonky. Hoping someone can fix it for me so I don't have to return and wait for a new one.

That's all for me!

I'm excited for some slightly cooler temps this weekend (and hopefully sleeping with the windows open!) since it's been so hot lately. We have dinner plans tonight with some of Sammy's coworkers and their girlfriends, two birthday parties on Saturday, and I have my cousin's bridal shower on Sunday, so lots to celebrate! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

xo

Linking up with April and Andrea!