Life Lately + 6 Thoughts & Things
Good morning! This is certainly the earliest I've ever woken up and written a blog post. Currently my arms are covered in a poison ivy rash from my impromptu weeding session on Saturday and they itch SO bad I couldn't sleep all night. I couldn't tell what the plants were because it's February and they don't have any leaves. Anyways, I've had enough of tossing and turning under the covers so why not put this time to good use??
Today I thought I'd share some recent places we've been and some random thoughts and things we've got going on!
Life Lately...
Harlow and I went to Duck Donuts for the first time yesterday and it was amaaazing! You custom order each donut and they've got all kinds of flavors and toppings you can choose from, even bacon! The donuts themselves are like pillowy vanilla cake. The cashier looked at Harlow and said "you look like a Strawberry Icing with Rainbow Sprinkles kind of girl" and guess what -- that's the very first donut Harlow yanked out of the box and ate it ALL by herself!
You know you enjoyed your donut when you find a rogue pink sprinkle in your bangs an hour later!
Harlow's unicorn dress is Zara Kids (sold out)
Saturday morning we loaded up the entire family -- all the two- and four-legged-babies -- into the car to go on a walk and to the playground. We got a new SUV in December and one of the reasons we wanted one so much was so we could all fit in the same car to go do outdoorsy things together. Harlow loved walking along the edge of the trail and "climbing uphill" which is her new thing right now. She rode on Mike's shoulders for a bit and I could hear them singing songs from Frozen together, just so stinking cute! We ended with a trip to the playground and I am excited to report that for the first time since Jones Elementary School I made it away across ll the monkey bars without falling off haha! Major upper body strength over here :)
Harlow thinks she's such big stuff now sitting in the booth with us when we go out to eat. Most of the time it's hard to get her to actually sit down; she just wants to run around inside the booth. I mean check out that plank move! Also -- we've found a few family restaurants that don't have colors for kids to play with. WHY for the love of all that's good can't you provide a couple Crayolas and some printer paper?? I rely on that 10 minutes of coloring fun when we're out to eat!!!
This girl loves her daddy! Every morning when she wakes up she checks to see if daddy's at home or at work. When he gets home at night, she bounces over to him and gives him a huge hug! We went to cheer him on at his flag football game last week and the whole time she kept asking to go see daddy while he was out on the field! She was so cute mimicking the stretches and moves the players were making on the sidelines. Afterwards we went out for a mommy-daughter pizza date to Brixx. The whole thing reminded me of of when I was a kid but only I'm in the mama role now. It made me happy :D
Mike and I went out on a rare date night the other weekend -- look at us go! (We need babysitters so, sooo badly.) We started with drinks at the Biltmore Inn with two of our dearest friends who were in town to celebrate her birthday, and then we had dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. O.M.G. I am STILL feening for that steak! I have had many many nice steaks in my life -- Hall's Chophouse, STK, craftsteak in Vegas, to name a few -- and this steak I just had was definitely in the top three. I've had Ruth's Chris steaks before but something about this one was perfection. Maybe when we go out on another date in three months I can get it again LOL (*cries a little bit*)
Random Things...
Harlow's school is doing a fundraiser and the minute I saw the form I went into anxious turtle mode. I HATE asking people for money! Like even my own husband or parents. I definitely want to help out the school (which we love) and we're selling Poppy Popcorn which is actually the best thing ever and worth every dime, but I just get sooooo uncomfortable. I'll probably try and get orders from our immediate family and call it a day. I'm already wondering if the other moms will be walking their kids around the neighborhood to raise money. What's your feelings/style when it comes to school fundraisers?
I'm in the biggest cooking rut ever. Like I have zero interest in it, yet my wallet and my waistline are like get your shit together and make a homemade meal lady! Our schedules have been all over the place during the month of February and I legit can't remember the last thing I cooked with the exception of a Ramen Bowl, and reheating pizza and tossing a bagged salad in a bowl. Which obviously doesn't count. This weather isn't doing me any favors either! I just want to sit on patios, have a beer, and eat guacamole haha! I picked out some new recipes to try this week that I saved on my recipe Pinterest board.
I'm obsessed with all things floral right now! I took some flowers from my Blooms On Tap bouquet and used them to decorate (i.e. disguise) my first attempt at a wrap-around braid crown. The side you can see looked pretty good, but the other side...shoo mercy! I need some practice to say the least. When the same bouquet started wilting I collected the flowers and had fun writing words with them. I was inspired by this IG account I just followed and can't get enough of!
How good are y'all at knowing your plants and flower types? I love the snowy white blossoms on this tree but I don't know what kind of tree it is!
Also I'm starting to get more confident in my braiding (wrap-around braid crowns aside) and was pretty happy with this half-up, half-down braid style I came up with randomly on Sunday. I need to figure out how to make my braids thicker without pulling them apart.
Every night before bed, Mike brings Harlow to me to say goodnight after her bath and she loves to put her arms around the two of us and bring us in for a group hug! I think it's my favorite time of the day. I mean what beats that?! The other day she was hugging us and said "Harlow happy, Mommy happy, Daddy happy. Love you!" You know I cried.
TV shows I'm into...well...I never have a lot. I don't watch much TV, like actually sit down to focus on and watch a show. But there are a few I like a lot right now!
1 | My very favorite show right now is Victoria. I LOVE LOVE LOVE period pieces and this one is so well done. The costumes and sets are just exquisite, and I adore Victoria and Albert's relationship. If you liked Downton Abbey you should watch this one, too. It's on Prime Video I'm pretty sure....
2 | Mike and I started The Americans a few weeks back and we're already on season three! Clearly I love it enough to power through it but there are some things that drive me crazy. The first being Keri Russell's character, Elizabeth. Gah she makes me insane!!!! It's like she has no soul, like she's an empty robot. And she's a shit mom even though she thinks she "knows what's best for (her) kids." I like Phillip though...this show makes it hard to know who or what you're really rooting for.
3 | I watched the first episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and omgggg it's adorable! I always think of House of Cards when I think of Rachel Brosnahan but not anymore! She kills it in this role! Something about her New York accent makes me think of Edie Falco's Carmela from The Sopranos. Gah it took me forever to place it but that's who it is :)
Speaking of House of Cards, do y'all think it will have the same feel without Kevin Spacey's character? (I only mean to discuss the character, not the actor or his sordid past.) I mean we all know Claire is the HBIC but I feel like her and Francis were two sides of the same coin. I'm not current on the show, though, so that could very well have changed.
And what about all the TV reboots? I've been watching Will & Grace and while I LOVED the original I think the reboot is just meh. There have been a few really funny episodes but mostly it's just...okay. And I never watched Roseanne while it was on the first time, but I may see what happening with it this go-round. Also, how are they going to have both Beckys???
Okay, that's enough for today! The sun is up now and I've got a date with the coffee pot and some hydrocortisone cream. PLEASE forward all known treatments for poison ivy and how to get rid of the itching!
Hope you have a fabulous day to kick start your week!
xxBrooke