How lucky was I to have my family visit for the weekend?? My mom and sister drove out to see us. When we did the math, we realized it had been 18+ months since we’d been together! Too long, that’s for sure. There was much to catch up on, and I was so grateful they made the trek and took time away from their own families to spend time here. I didn’t do much to entertain, but we had a nice afternoon in Long Beach (where it was a good 10 degrees cooler). And of course they put in plenty of play time and got their fill of Stevie and his Hot Wheels! Now to visit my 4 other siblings and their families — maybe a family reunion is in order! Since we are all spread out across 4 states, it’s easy to miss them!

After the family visit concluded, we had some friends over for dinner and a dip in the ugly pool. It was really nice and we couldn’t help but feel like we’re making up for lost time. Cramming so much fun into one weekend. We were so pooped after our busy-ness, we all slept hard last night — and were almost late for summer school this morning! Hashtag worth it.

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watching

We are about halfway through Underground Railroad and it is equal parts difficult to watch and deeply enthralling. The cinematography is both haunting and incredibly beautiful, much like the story-telling. No surprise that I’ve never read the book, but I love the liberties they took with a literal railroad. Throughout the show I often find myself referencing Google for little history lessons and reminders, and while I know there can be no real happy ending, I remain hopeful that some good things will happen soon. And speaking of good things happening soon, Handmaid’s Tale is keeping me on my toes too! I’m gonna need a comedy after all this.

making

I can’t remember the last time we had corn on the cob, but today was kind of a mish-mash dinner of leftovers, so I wanted to make the corn as a side. I wasn’t sure if it was air-fryable, and after a couple blog searches, I found a 10+ paragraph blog post for the recipe; which was ultimately just to put some oil on it and air-fry at 375° for 15 mins. Will there ever be a food blog post that just gets to the point?

shopping addiction

It’s official! I am starting my #spendfreesummer on June 21st. I kind of don’t want to do it, if I’m being very honest. I’ve been having fun loosening up on my rules and experimenting with some different styles. We can all use that little bit of fun and joy right now. But on the other hand I’m excited for another challenge. It always feels good to reset and a spending freeze is generally a great reminder of how little I actually need.

I’m always on the hunt for perfect warm-weather clothes, since it’s generally warm most of the year. But for some reason, when it gets extra hot, I start to feel desperate for new stuff. Deep down I know that no new clothes will fix this. So especially during these next couple months — where most of my days are spent watching Stevie swim or watching Stevie play hot wheels or watching Stevie ride his bike or watching Stevie on his iPad — I can get away with just a few lazy outfits and fill in the rest with what I already have. Worst case scenario, I can whip up a homemade linen outfit and call it a day!

If you’d like to join me, I’m running the challenge from June 21st through September 22nd. There are not really any rules, but my personal focus will be not buying any clothes or shoes (since they are my biggest, most constant temptation!) I want to free up that money for some summer activities and maybe a new pair of roller skates when the challenge is over. I did set exceptions for myself; if I find the perfect black fanny pack, I can get that. And some new cotton undies would be nice. But even those things can wait.

I’d like to add that it doesn’t even have to be about clothes. I would suggest focusing on any areas you wish to cut back on for yourself and start there. And maybe you don’t want to do a full spending freeze, but it’s also a good opportunity to re-evaluate or set some smaller goals for yourself — perhaps a wardrobe inventory or fresh budget. If you use the hashtag #spendfreesummer, I’ll be checking in! Can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Do you think you’ll join the challenge in some capacity? What questions can I answer? If you have any suggestions for content you’d like to see along the way, I’m all ears (eyes)!

loves,
jaana