Oops! I fell off the blogging wagon last week, and today wasn’t looking so great either. I honestly just completely forgot about it. My mind has been so preoccupied with doctor appointments and decisions regarding sending Stevie back to school (along with all the normal preoccupations, of course). After talking to his cardiologist, she gave him the all clear to attend, but we are still nervous about him being high risk. There are so many good reasons to send him, but one really crappy reason not to. Ultimately, we decided to let him go because of a few key factors: 1) there are only 3 other kids in his class, 2) he’s only there for 2 hours a day, 3) his teachers and the other parents from his class are vaccinated, and 4) community spread is low right now. He’s always been good about wearing a mask, so I knew I could count on him there. But wow. I never imagined such a simple decision would bring up so many emotions, fears, and doubts.

buying

I have been on the hunt for some fun sandals — and maybe “fun” isn’t even the right word. I really want ugly dad sandals, as they are lovingly referred to. Why would I want something ugly? I don’t even know. But I am hella in love with them! Haha. Paul says they look like my walking boot from a couple summers back when I fractured my foot. And I can’t even totally disagree. I don’t have any black sandals other than a couple really old flip flops, so that’s been my main criteria while searching. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole and wanted to try on a few options to see which were most comfortable, so I ordered these 4 sandals to try. Maybe I’ll get them and just realize they’re ridiculous, but I had to give it a shot for the sake of my lizard brain!

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eating

The NYT Cooking section has always felt a little too fancy and out of reach for my skill set. But this week, my entire menu is coming from there! I am really drawn to their pasta dishes to change up from the usual spaghetti I am a such pro at. And the more I cook, the more I’m gaining the ittiest bit of confidence to try new things or substitute where necessary. These are the 3 dishes I’m trying: pasta primavera (with broccoli and red pepper instead of asparagus) / spiced salmon with sugar snap peas and red onion / skillet chicken with mushrooms and caramelized onions. Wish me luck!

unlearning

It’s been another really heavy week. Between the Chauvin trial, the Toledo footage, the mass shootings… it honestly feels like we can’t catch a break sometimes. I’m trying to stay balanced, not only with my news sources, but the amount of news I’m consuming. I don’t know that anything could make this type of news easier to digest though. A few resources that I’ve come to appreciate for balanced news are allsides.com and the flip side newsletter. Then for my liberal leaning heart, I really like the no nonsense approach of @soyouwanttotalkabout.

wearing

There was one small thing I did this week that felt like a big accomplishment. I actually got dressed a few times AND posted all the outfits I wore with updated links to the LTK app! Not every outfit is insta-worthy, (and even though I loooove talking clothes, I get weary talking only about clothes for every post) but I will try to keep sharing here for a pretty true-to-life snapshot of my weekly outfits.

going

Paul’s birthday is coming up, and since last year we had the quarantine excuse not to celebrate, this year I wanted to at least try and do something different. He has mentioned a few times over the years how much he loves and misses horseback riding. He was apparently a pretty good rider in his younger days, and it was one of his favorite activities at summer camp. So I looked into some local places and decided to do a guided tour from LA Horse Rentals. I started us off on a beginner trail, since I’ve never been on a horse. And it was so fun! The trail was really nice and we lucked out with beautiful weather. I kind of loved how sassy our horses were too, they’ve probably had just about enough of people in general. Haha. I think we’ll definitely need to do it again, maybe even riding up to some of my favorite hiking spots!

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remembering

Remember when we used to go to museums?? I kinda miss it, and kinda don’t. Stevie always struggled to stay entertained, but I tried anyway. Again and again. I do miss having things to look forward to, and a good excuse to pull out the ol’ camera. But I don’t miss the pressure to go and be fun mom all the time. I can’t say the feeling has gone away completely — I obviously don’t want Stevie just sitting on the iPad all day, so I’m always trying to think of SOMETHING to do. But the effort and the fighting rarely paid off for the tiny amount of joy I got from going out. I suppose since my creative ideas have completely dried up by now, it’ll be nice to have the option again. (Maybe?)

Are your kids back to school? Tell me all about it!

loves,
jaana