So my organized kitchen part two post is taking me FOREVER to finish. Too many organized drawers.. too many pictures of said organized drawers. ;) While I’m finishing it up I thought we’d talk about something else fun. Mother’s Day gift ideas! And lilacs! I found these lilacs at the grocery store (first time I’ve seen them there!) and they have been such a pick me up this week. Well worth the $12 they cost me! I put them in a favorite vase and they made my whole kitchen feel summer ready.
The vase they are in is a favorite that’s on sale and looks good with so many different types of flowers. Gorgeous with tulips!
Mother’s Day is right around the corner and I’m so excited about my round-up of gift ideas this year because they are all things I would absolutely LOVE! I didn’t include my new summer slippers I shared yesterday in my cozy at home fashion post, but they would also make a fun gift for any mom. I was so happy to hear from several of you that you splurged on a pair for yourself! Your feet will thank you and I hope you love them as much as I have. :)
1 – Alphabet Jewelry Catchall – Ellie bought me this cute jewelry tray for Christmas and I’ve loved it! I actually keep it on my office desk to hold random office supplies. It looks so stylish with the gold trim and I love that you can personalize it.
2 – Artificial Vase and Flowers – Real flowers are always a thoughtful gift, but this cute and inexpensive vase and faux flowers would last a lot longer!
4 – Cookbook Stand – With all of us home and cooking more I thought this cookbook stand would make such a cute gift! I looked at so many options but loved this one the most because it has a clear acrylic panel that protects your cookbook from spills and splashes. Would be so cute to give as a gift with a favorite cookbook or recipe!
5 – Knitted Sofa Throw – Ok.. seriously so excited about landing on this cute throw! It comes in 2 sizes and LOTS of colors and is only $24! Throws always make nice gifts and this is a beautiful option for summer!
6 – Rose Deep Hydration Ritual Set – I would love this! I love Fresh and this deep hydration set would be a perfect way to pamper any mom for Mother’s Day! (hint hint kids and Kenny..) :)
12 – Soft Cotton Short Robe – This robe looks so perfect for summer! I love thin, lightweight robes like this to toss on after the shower while I do my hair and get ready. Comes in lots of colors and would make a perfect Mother’s Day gift with a pair of my favorite house shoes. Pajamas also make a fun gift and I shared some cute sets in yesterday’s fashion post. It’s a good time to be comfy! :)
So is it just me or do you want everything on this list!? Shopping for my mom is so easy because I always just pick out things I would love. Then I hope she’ll be in the mood to share. ;)
Happy Mother’s Day shopping everyone! I hope my post gave you a few fun ideas! Remind the dads in your life that kids won’t be in school making cute cards for mom this year.
Happy Monday friends! Taking a quick break from my organized kitchen tour to share some pics of what I’ve been wearing lately. While this whole stay at home situation has been challenging in so many ways I can’t say that I’ve minded my wardrobe! Casual and athletic wear are my favorite and if I could pick one thing to wear every day it would be joggers. So wish granted there. ;) So many stores are having crazy good sales on comfy clothes and I am here for it! I’m sharing a few of my recent favorites today and if it helps you find something cozy to wear that you love too then mission accomplished. :)
This tie-dye sweatshirt is the comfiest! Really cute fit. It kind of makes me laugh that tie-dye is all the rage right now. I feel like I’m back in middle school! My feet were getting so sore walking around on my wood floors all day (my Ugg slippers I’ve been wearing since November are too hot for Spring!) I did some research and ordered two new pairs of slippers that would work for cooler temps and oh my word.. my feet are now in heaven! The first pair are these cute Koolaburra slippers (also by Ugg) that come in 3 colors and are so comfy! They have a thick sole so they would also be perfect to wear out in the yard. You can find them here or here.
The second pair are these memory foam flip flops. Oh my word! I’m seriously walking on a cloud in these all day! These are different from the first pair because the soles aren’t as hard.. just honestly the softest thing your feet will ever feel. They also come in lots of colors are are perfect for warmer temps! (They fit true to size.. I’m a 7 1/2 and am wearing the 7/8) I’ve also been living in all of my graphic tees (because what compliments joggers better than a good graphic tee!?). This cute pineapple top from Anthro sold out, but below are other graphic tees I love and most of them are on sale!
My flip flop slippers are so good that they kept disappearing because a certain someone was stealing them all day. I finally just bought her her own pair so I could have mine back!
I think I wore this be comfy Be Free graphic tee two days in a row last week but nobody seemed to mind. Anything goes right now right? I will say that while I love dressing in comfy clothes I do feel better when I do my hair and make-up. I’ll skip a day or two and then I just start to feel lousy. I’m learning a lot about myself through this situation and how easily my mood is effected by certain things. Getting ready for the day (even if I just spend 10-15 minutes on hair/makeup) just makes me happier and more productive. When I look better I FEEL better and right now with all of the uncertainty we are all facing I just want to feel as good as I possibly can. I want to be my best self for my husband and for my kids. And for me. I owe that to myself too. :)
Have any of you noticed that? Or other things that are triggering your mood and either making you feel worse or helping you feel better?
I was wearing it this weekend when I made my first attempt at cutting Kole’s hair. I just couldn’t let it go one more day! He was skeptical and had every right to be. Let’s just say that while his hair is now out of his eyes I wouldn’t say it looks any better.
Hoodies are another favorite go-to for me. Even in the summer when it’s hot during the day our evenings are cool on the coast so I always have a hoodie or jacket with me! Here are a few favorites I’ve been looking at from several different places at different price points.. all so cute!
I’ve been dressed in “real clothes” twice the past two weeks (both times for a huge outing to the grocery store.. ha). I wanted to wear my new wedges. They are such a great price right now! Plus it felt good to put on jeans too. Although I took them off and put my joggers back on as soon as I got home. :)
For my next big outing I wore this cute mock neck puff sleeve green sweater I just got in the mail. It’s darling for Spring and on sale for just $25! My earrings (that are hidden by my hair!) are a recent purchase too and so cute. They are these large textured tear drop earrings. I wear tear drop gold earrings like this almost daily (when things are normal!). I’ve found they are perfect for every day casual wear when you want to look put together but you aren’t getting too dressed up.
This jacket is lightweight so perfect for Spring/Summer and fitted but not tight. A lot of Vuori clothes have stripes on the drawstring. (You can see it on the joggers I was wearing in the first few pics!) Love that. :)
Of course pjs are on repeat around here too. Nothing like a cute set that you can feel justified wearing all day. Or is it just me who has no problem doing my hair and make-up and then getting “dressed” in pajamas?
Just me?
I guess I can live with that. :)
Linking a few favorite pj sets (any of them would make a perfect gift for Mother’s Day!), favorite joggers and all post sources below. I’ll be back soon with more organized drawers! We’re going to have fun this week. :)
Happy Friday everyone! I’m sharing part 1 of my organized kitchen today. Woot woot! A few things! First, I’m breaking this up into two posts (just like I did with my organized office) because I’m sharing so many pictures! I don’t want to break the internet or put you to sleep. ;) Part 2 is coming soon! Second, if you’ve been with me a while you’ve already seen a lot of these organized drawers and cupboards so I’m apologizing in advance for some repeats. I’ve wanted to put this post together for a long time so that when people ask about how I organize my kitchen I have everything together in these 2 posts. I recognize that we have a lot of storage space in this kitchen (something I worked into the design when we built our home after years of living in small kitchens with limited storage!) so items are more spread out and organized differently than I would organize them if that weren’t the case. My hope is that regardless of the size of your current kitchen it will give you some ideas on how you can organize and make the most of your space. I also hope this post better shares where things are located for those of you looking for ideas if you are building or remodeling a kitchen.
Let’s start with my little butler’s pantry in the back left corner of my kitchen! It’s feeling happy for Spring. :)
I had a lot of miscellaneous kitchen items I wasn’t sure what to do with (KitchenAid and dishwasher components, lids of jars, etc.) so I put them in this left drawer and corralled them in a tray. (Trays work great in drawers for this sort of thing! I find most of my trays here.) I put my flower food packets in two small bowls. The right drawer holds my nice seasonal kitchen towels.
In the cupboards below I store larger baking items and all of the lids to my pots and pans. These pot lid organizers were a major game changer for me! So nice to free up space for my pans in the pull outs I use to store them, especially since I only use the lids once in a while.
Everything open!
And everything closed. :) You can see there is a door to the right of these cupboards and that opens up to our pantry.
I’ve loved having cork boards in our pantry! A perfect place to hang my kids’ school work and art and all of the invites, cards, and other miscellaneous items I love seeing daily.
This was a recent cell pic I snapped quickly of how our pantry is looking today. I use the top shelves to store miscellaneous kitchen items and food is on the left and below. These seagrass baskets are long time favorites of mine for organization and I have them in my bathroom too. (You can see how my entire bathroom is organized here.) I also love the OXO containers and have always used them in my various kitchen pantries through the years.
Moving on to this section of my kitchen! I packed a lot of storage on this wall. The cabinets on the far left are actually our fridge/freezer and then we have our double ovens on the far right. I also put our micro drawer in this section and have absolutely LOVED having it lower vs. a standard microwave. I wasn’t sure when I made that decision building but I haven’t regretted it! It’s perfect for the kids to reach and so easy to just lean over to stir things and then cook them a little longer.
I store dishes we don’t use every day in the top cabinets and then we have appliance garages below that slide up and back into the wall. I keep our most used appliances here and have plug outlets behind them so I can pull things out and just use them right where they are on this counter.
Below that I store other miscellaneous appliances.
Below our micro drawer I store our garbage bags and reusable grocery bags. I found this drawer divider for deep drawers and love it in this space!
Everything closed looking sleek and clean..
And everything open.. still sleek and clean!
I store my baking sheets in this organized cupboard with dividers above my ovens. (You can see the molding we added to the hallway to the right of this pic.. can’t wait until I can get it painted!)
Below my ovens are items we use when we grill and other miscellaneous kitchen items I use but not every day. (I corralled these items in a tray again.)
Organizing this section of my kitchen was one of my most recent projects and I’m so happy to finally have it done! Now I smile every time I open these cupboards and drawers. It took me a while to figure out how to make this space work for us and now that I have I know it will be easy to keep organized. Organization is so much more than just making items look pretty in drawers. You have to figure out how to make your spaces work for you. Finding locations for items and setting them up in a way that will make your life easier every day. THAT’S the trick! Once you figure that out, keeping a space organized is easy.
Everything closed! Nothing scary lurking behind these cupboards and drawers anymore. :)
Moving on to this corner of my kitchen near the cooktop!
I keep our medicine, bandaids, first aid items, etc. in this top kitchen cabinet. Once I bought this 3-tier expandable shelf organizer it was easy to keep our medicine organized! I labeled bowls at the top to hold smaller items.
The bottom drawer holds food storage containers. I used another clear expandable deep drawer divider to keep my lids separated from their containers in this drawer. Game changer! I’m a huge fan of drawer dividers in case you haven’t figured that out yet. :)
I store all of our pots and pans below our cooktop in these pull-out drawers. So nice to have the lids out of the way! These drawers were always so cluttered before I moved the lids.
Then the pull-outs to the sides hold my baking/party supplies and spices. I was so excited about finally getting these cleaned out I felt like they deserved a post of their own. ;)
Another section nice and organized. Feels so good! Everything open.
Everything closed!
We still need to move around the perimeter of my kitchen and then there is all of the storage happening in my double islands so stay tuned for part 2 of my organized kitchen!
One more space down! More than a few more to go. ;)
*UPDATE – HEAD TO THE POSTS BELOW TO SEE THE REST OF MY ORGANIZED KITCHEN!
I’ve been looking for some fun new art or something to put on the shelf over my range, but this long time favorite sign just sort of called my name and ended up there instead. We started off the week all feeling a little down (relating a tad too much to Bill Murray in Groundhog Day!) so I thought this reminder might help. It’s so good to be home. :) I normally wouldn’t put flowers up so high (even though they are fake and don’t need to be watered!) but I was craving a pop of color. This little display cheered me up immensely!
Want to know something else that is cheering me up immensely? My kitchen is completely organized. I repeat! My kitchen is completely organized! Every cupboard. Every drawer. I’m pretty sure this is the first time since we moved into this house over six years ago that everything in my kitchen has been organized ALL AT ONCE. Turns out I can get a lot done around here when I’m not spending six hours a day in my car driving my kids around.
Who knew? ;)
I took pictures of how everything is organized and will be sharing it all soon, but first I wanted to share my organized spices because it felt so good to get that little project checked off my list!
One of my favorite features in our kitchen are these pull-out spice cabinets. It’s so nice to have this extra storage right by the cooktop!
Maybe if I was a major chef both cupboards would be full of spices, but since I’m just a major chef in training (ha) I use one of them to hold baking supplies. My flour, sugar and main baking ingredients are all in my pantry, but I use this pull-out cupboard for the fun little stuff like cupcake sprinkles and liners, food coloring, candles and cake mix. It’s kind of the party spot of the kitchen. :)
The other cupboard holds all of my spices, cooking spray, EVOO, etc. I bought this chrome bottle spice rack years ago just to use the little bottles and I still love them for most of my commonly used spices. I used my trusty label maker to label them! (I’ve had my label maker for years but the price on it has gone up and if I was getting a new one I’ve heard great things about this label maker for just $20!) Some spices I prefer to keep in their original packaging because they have instructions or things written on them I want to be able to refer to.
These weren’t too messy to begin with but I needed to wipe down the shelves and I was hanging on to a lot of things that had expired! A few spices dated back to 2017.. oops! Ha. I replaced the spices I reach for often and just tossed the ones we don’t really use anymore. So nice to have only what we use in these cupboards and everything up to date!
As a major chef in training this was a critical step.
In my previous house (which was short on space) I used this expandable spice organizer in one of my kitchen cupboards to store and organize my spices. I’ve linked some other fun options below if you’re ready to take on this fun and easy project too. Since I’ve been watching Julie & Julia on repeat (one of my all time favorites because I relate so much as a blogger AND a major chef in training) I’ll leave you with..
Happy Saturday! How are you feeling today? This quarantine situation is so strange isn’t it? Some days I wake up feeling motivated and energized and other days feel a little more heavy and sad because of everything going on. On harder days I’ve found a few things that always help me feel better. Exercise (I especially feel better being outside!), talking to friends on house party and of course.. completing something. My best days are always days that I feel productive! I’ve always been that way. Even if it’s something small, I feel better when I check an item off of my list that I’ve been wanting to accomplish. Laundry and every day cleaning doesn’t count for me because that stuff is never ending. Organizing a spot that has been driving me crazy? Now THAT makes me feel good. :) Lately I’m organizing things so fast and furious around here that I’m getting behind sharing my progress on the blog! I’m sharing a lot of organizing on IG stories which is so fun, but if I haven’t shared it on my blog.. did it ever really happen?
I think not. ;)
So for those of you who missed this fun closet makeover on IG, let’s catch up!
When we were building our house I realized that the closet under our staircase was going to be very large and deep and kind of a pain to walk into so I had my builder make two smaller closets instead. They both fit under my stairs, but one closet door is next to my stairs and the other closet entry is through this little door in my mudroom. Most of you already know that I lovingly call this my hobbit door. :)
Here’s a fun “before” of what has been lurking behind my hobbit closet door. I was using this space to store lots of things – rugs I’m not using at the moment, outdoor pool towels and pillows when we aren’t using them, luggage, my kids school work bins and other miscellaneous bags.
I have cleaned and organized this closet COUNTLESS times and it it always just ends up looking like a hot mess. You can see that at one point I tried corralling all of our extra bags in a laundry hamper thinking that would help.
It didn’t help.
Every time I needed a bag it was a pain to find and then I’d end up with bags all over the floor because I had to dig for the one I wanted. No matter what I tried, this closet has never stayed organized. Until now!
I finally realized two things: 1) I was trying to store too much in this small space. 2) I needed a better solution for all of the extra bags.
When my carpenter was here putting up our hall molding I had him install some hooks in this closet. (Our hall molding has been done for awhile but isn’t painted.. and ahh! I still need to share that on the blog too!) I bought these hooks a long time ago at a local hardware store when I bought some for my girls’ closets and just hadn’t got around to hanging them. I had him install 4 hooks on the right side of the wall when you walk in the door.
Here’s a look at them head on.
Then I also had him install 6 hooks on the other wall to the left of the door as high as possible. I’m going to have my painters quickly paint the wood the hooks are on when they come to paint my molding (once this stay at home order is behind us!).
“After!” I pulled everything out of this closet and cleaned the floor and then re-evaluated what to put back inside. I donated things we weren’t using anymore, moved the extra rugs to my attic and put our camping bags in the garage with all of our camping gear. I put back our pool towels and pillows, all of our luggage and my kids school work bins (updating their school work bins is another project on my list!). It felt so good to move some of the items OUT of this closet so that I have room to walk in this space!
In our previous home and apartments when I’ve been short on space I’ve always stored small luggage inside of large luggage. But at the stage we are in now, someone in our family seems to be traveling somewhere every month (when things are “normal” that is!) and it’s a pain to pull everything apart to get our carry on bags. We have this space for luggage so I really wanted to find a way to make room for ALL of our luggage individually. Moving some things to other better spots freed up so much space!
But guess what made an even bigger difference!?
The hooks up on the wall! Oh my word! Do you hear the angels? How could you not!? They are LOUD. ;)
Getting our beach bags and smaller travel bags up off the floor was a HUGE game changer! Now they are out of the way and so easy to access. No more digging through bags to find the one I need!
The other side holds our backpacks! My kids keep their backpacks for school in their mudroom lockers but Kenny and I have always just kept our backpacks (that we use for travel and hiking) in a messy pile in this closet. Not anymore! They now have their own home! There’s even a nice spot for Kole’s saxophone along the wall. Oh the joy I feel when everything has its own place. :)
In a few weeks when it’s warming up and time to pull out our outdoor pillows and towels it will be a breeze! No more clutter. This was such a simple makeover that felt like a HUGE win for me. This closet has always been a struggle for me to keep organized. Not anymore! If you have a spot like this that you just CAN’T keep clean, try the 2 things I did to turn this space around. Clear out more of the clutter AND re-think how you are storing things.
When I shared this makeover on IG I got lots of questions about my rose gold luggage! I LOVE this luggage set and it’s what I use the most when I travel.
It’s lightweight, easy to spot at the airport and has lots of room inside. I love the way it’s organized with a place for shoes and extra zipper compartments!
We also use them over tables for shade every time we entertain.
These pictures make me miss having people over so much! I’m really missing extended family and friends right now. Anyone else? So excited for when we can all be together again.
Here is a closer look at my rug! So cute. I wish our outdoor area looked like this right now. We’ve had so much rain lately. I need to go outside and move things back in place and clean everything off!
It sill looks like this today! EASY to keep clean now. I eventually want to add shelves up high on the wall for the boogie boards and other pool floaties. Vertical storage is such a great solution! Hopefully that will happen this summer, but I have a lot of other priorities I want to tackle first.
I need to slow my roll and not get TOO ahead of myself over here. ;)
If you are ready to organize your outdoor toys for the kids this summer these stackable baskets are an easy solution! They come in other colors and work so well for kids’ toys – inside or outside!
I’ll link other outdoor favorites below. Everything is on sale this weekend! I have a feeling our yards are going to be more important than ever during the next month or so. I know I’ve been so grateful for ours this month with Kole. Most afternoons when it isn’t raining I take him outside and have him just run laps! I don’t think little boys were meant to be on zoom and inside all day. Too much energy that needs to be burned off. We all have anxious energy we need to burn off with everything going on lately!
Laps for him.. organizing for me. ;)
Enjoy your Saturday friends! Stay healthy and safe and if you’re also organizing this weekend let me know what you’re working on! :)
Hello friends! I hope you’re all having a good week so far! And that you enjoyed Easter weekend. I can’t believe it’s already Thursday.. where did this week go? I feel a little silly saying it has felt busy but it kind of has.. just a different kind of busy! I feel like we are really getting into a rhythm and routine with this whole stay at home gig. This is a sad and hard time in general, but there are definitely aspects of it that I will miss when it’s all behind us. I’m trying to focus on the positive which is getting to spend more time with my family. This was our Easter dinner table this year. Cozy and simple with just the five of us. :)
I’ve had a lot of questions about sources after sharing my table on IG and most of the exact items I used have sold out, but I found almost identical options and linked them all above! Aren’t these similar pink scalloped plates cute!? I love them paired with gingham plates for Spring and Summer dining. We had such a nice day together as a family. I’ve always dreamed about church in pj’s and finally got my wish. ;)
Now my table is back to normal and ready for Spring! I thought I’d share a quick design tip with you because it’s something I find myself repeating all the time! Especially in my kitchen. It’s a simple combo of pairing a vase with flowers next to a wooden bowl (often with fruit!). Nothing revolutionary but I repeat this ALL the time and it always looks good! I love a pretty vase next to a wooden bowl and fruit is easy, inexpensive (and practical!) decor.
This is my cute new Target vase! Loving it in my kitchen right now next to.. wait for it.. a wooden bowl full of fruit! :) These hydrangeas are real (white hydrangeas are my favorite flower so I snatch them up at the grocery store when they have pretty options!) but I also have these faux hydrangeas in my bedroom and they are a great option if you don’t want to have to keep replacing them.
No fruit this time but I’ve done basically the same thing here in my family room. Vase, flowers, wooden tray. Beads are a great option in bowls/trays in the living and family room! These are some of my favorite decor beads..
I love pairing this small dough bowl with tall clear vases. And fruit! Green apples are so fun for this time of year and my kids love them. :)
More clear vases paired with a wooden tray. Ok.. you get the picture! I do this combo all the time. Easy decorating that always works. A happy little design tip to cheer up our kitchens while we are all hanging out in them so much!
Speaking of happy things in the kitchen.. I just got this beautiful marble tray and love it with a little plant and salt & pepper shakers!
I ordered it in January and totally forgot I had ordered it.. ha! Not sure why it was delayed so long but as soon as I saw it in person I got on-line and ordered the large size too (on sale!). SO beautiful. I love it in my kitchen but think it would also be beautiful in a bathroom. Now I’m going to try to forget I ordered it because that was so fun getting happy unexpected mail. ;)
I’ll be back soon with some fun organizing progress going on around here! In the meantime.. stay safe, stay healthy, wear your mask and buy some fruit.
Happy Saturday everyone! It is Saturday right? I don’t know.. feels an awful lot like Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday did. ;) I’m popping in quickly today to answer a few questions I’ve been getting and to share some favorites from my home that are on sale this weekend! First up.. my new mudroom rug! I shared some different things about this room in IG stories and got so many questions about this rug. It reminded me I never shared it with all of you! I’ve had it for months and absolutely love it!
It’s the Mumbai Woven Rug from McGee & Co. Aside from the obvious fact that I adore stripes of any kind, I also love how durable this rug has been. We track the most dirt through this room (especially lately with all of our walks in mud from the rain!). My kids wipe their shoes on it and it really hides the dirt well. It comes in larger sizes and I would absolutely recommend it!
I actually bought it because it worked so well with these cute baskets I put on my wall at the beginning of the year. Perfect match! I already had the cute little stripe doormat in front of my dutch door so now I’m over striping in this room and might need to move the mat to the outside, but whatever. Rolling with it for now!
When I shared some pics of our porch in my kids’ Spring Fashion post Thursday I had lots of questions coming in about my rugs and lemon trees! My porch isn’t styled yet, but I started it by pulling out the navy stripe rug I had on my porch last Spring/Summer. I LOVE this rug because it’s plastic! It doesn’t look like it, but it is and it’s SO easy to keep clean. You can sweep dirt off easily or just spray it down with a hose and it looks brand new again! The hello mat is another long time favorite. I’ve wanted some real lemon trees on my porch for years but couldn’t plant them because they need sun and my porch is shaded all day so I did the next best thing and bought faux lemon trees. So cute. They were from McGee and Co. last year and sold out but PB has some that are almost identical here (and on sale!). I still need to find baskets for them and plant some other flowers.
After my kids’ Spring Fashion post yesterday I had lots of questions coming in about this Let’s Stay Home sign. There are so many cute versions of this! Most of them are from Etsy and you can see them all here if you want something similar for your home. I’ve always loved signs about being HOME and they mean even more to me now.
At Anthro this weekend all of their tops and jewelry are 30% off including this beautiful Philippa Blouse I recently bought. I picked up a few other fun tops tonight that I’ll share at the end of this post with other favorites I loved! SO many cute tops on sale.. I had a hard time picking which few to get! Also Anthro monogram necklaces are my favorite and I order them all the time for special, personalized gifts for family/friends.
In other news, I went on a little trip down memory lane the other night going through past Easter pictures. I still have my girls’ watermelon pj’s I gave them this year! My favorites. :)
This is still one of my all time favorite pictures. They were waiting for the egg hunt to start and I remember Ad resting her little head on El’s shoulder and El putting her arm around her little sister. I snapped this pic quickly and then got a huge lump in my throat.
It was Kole’s first Easter egg hunt!
The girls kept trying to get him to pick up eggs but he just wanted to pull the grass out of his basket. :)
My babies! I remember this year like it was last week.
They are growing up on me. Sharing last year’s Easter Sunday picture to wish you all a happy Easter because I have a feeling this year we’ll be in sweats on the couch. :) It will be different this year for all of us for sure, but hopefully just as special. Thank you for sticking with me for so many Easters throughout the years. It means so much! I love you all and pray that you will all be comforted and safe at home with loved ones this year while we celebrate our Savior.
*This post is sponsored by Nordstrom and affiliate links are used
Is anyone else ready for the sun right about now!? We definitely are at our house! We’ve had so much rain the past two months. Every time the sun finally peaks out for a day I notice my mood improves immensely! I’m so excited to be partnering with Nordstrom today to share some fun ideas for kids’ Spring fashion! It’s my favorite season to shop for new clothes for my kids. So many bright colors and fun patterns that remind me of happy times in warm weather with family and friends. I know that is in our future and I need the reminder right now!
Nordstrom is having a HUGE Spring sale (up to 50% off!) and the selection for kids’ clothes is honestly the best I’ve seen. I got these two so many cute things! *If it helps with sizes I buy 10-12 for Kole (he’s 10 years old so a bit large with room to grow) and Addison (even though she’s 13) also wears size 10-12. She’s the shortest student at her middle school and is now wearing the same size as her brother who is 4 years younger. (Sorry Ad.. when you feel mad at me for passing on the short gene remember that you like your thick hair.. we can’t win them all.) ;) First let’s talk swim suits! I’ve learned to get new suits for my kids in April because by May/June when it’s really warming up most of the cute suits in their sizes are sold out. Addison tried this suit on in my closet and my jaw dropped. We both fell in LOVE! The pattern, the flattering fit.. it’s seriously our favorite swim suit she has ever worn. I wish I would have taken a pic of the back because it’s just as cute as the front. Kole’s suit ran a little big on him (an 8 would have been perfect in this one) but it will work this summer and be perfect for next summer. Love this rash guard too!
There we go.. that’s the warm weather smile and laugh I was looking for. :)
What do you know.. Kole’s hair matches his swim suit. *Thanks again Kenny. I owe you a fun surprise that you’ll love just as much as I’ve loved Kole’s hair.
Same happy 4th grader. Same rash guard. Same blue hair. Different swim shorts. :) These shorts were a perfect fit!
This is a pic of Kole a couple of years ago wearing this All Day Unity Rashguard. It’s a long time favorite of ours and also fits great. I buy him a new one just like it every year!
This floral cap sleeve suit is another favorite Ad and I loved! These two are so ready for the sun. They’ve been getting in the pool since February even though the water has been freezing! I always have to hurry and turn on the hot tub before their lips turn blue. :)
Isn’t the back cute!? The swimsuits at Nordstrom are adorable this year! Here is a round-up of my favorites. So hard to pick just one!
You can’t have a cute suit without a cute cover-up! This red sheer ruffle cover-up is darling! Lightweight and feminine and perfect to throw on over a suit. Ad loves it. :) Havaiana Flip Flops are also long time favorites.
These are the fun Spring sandals Addison and I picked out for her this year. Both so cute! Here are a few other cute options for girls. So adorable this year!
Now on to the clothes! This blue floral romper is too much fun for Spring/Summer. Such a comfortable cute fit and perfect to go out or for lazy days relaxing at home.
When I put this outfit together in our on-line cart Ad wasn’t so sure. She said “mom.. I don’t know if I love that.. it looks like something you would wear.” Ha. It does! I have a thing for army green and I was secretly hoping the Eagle Rock graphic tee would run big and accidentally end up in my closet. :) But then she tried it on. And guess what outfit she absolutely loves!? So much she has decided it’s a contender for her first day of high school in the Fall.
These shorts are so flattering and the tee can be worn multiple ways. It’s a little long and she had it tied with jean shorts yesterday – darling! We had a nice chat about how she needs to trust her mother’s instinct ALWAYS about EVERYTHING. Choices, boys, school, clothes. Mom knows best.
These cute cargo pants are another mom favorite that Ad now loves too. :) Really flattering! The Nike top can be dressed up or worn with a sports bra and leggings to exercise. It comes in a hot pink too and Ad has both. Really cute top you can wear lots of ways!
Love this cozy knit jumpsuit! I knew it would be perfect for lounging at home this Spring and then cute to wear out about about. As soon as it’s ok to be out and about.
Me and my mini. Gaining muscles by the hour! Not really but it’s fun to pretend. :) I’ve been a tad obsessed with Nike lately! I’ve loved my crop fleece sweatshirt so much that when I came across this similar crop hoodie for Ad I couldn’t pass it up! So cute and it has been perfect for all of our evening family walks when it’s cool outside.
On a walk yesterday and Kole is wearing those same shorts in white. He was cracking me up with his umbrella! There was a small chance of rain and he wanted to be prepared. Ha. Did you notice Kenny has a friend on his shoulder again? :)
So is this black tee! And this knot tank Ad is wearing is darling. I said “smile” and got this instead. Pretty much sums these two up! (Sorry for the double jointed gene Ad. The bad news is it comes with knee issues and strange looking “straight” arms.. the good news is it’s the reason you’re so crazy flexible. We can’t win them all.) ;)
Last beautiful Spring top for this post.. isn’t it darling!? These jean shorts are so cute too. They run a little small – we could have sized up to a 14 in them so I’d go up a size in these! (I’ll share more porch details soon when it’s done.. just starting to spruce it up for Spring!)
Proud of this sweet girl. And her sister. Who sadly has grown out of kids’ clothes! We were just about to chop Ad’s hair for a fun change right before the stay home order. It’s getting so long!
So for being quarantined with these two monkeys hasn’t been too bad! They each get along so well with Ellie, but Ad and Kole can be best friends or mortal enemies depending on the time of day. I was a little worried about them spending so much time together. Let me re-phrase that. I was a little worried about my sanity with them having to spend so much time together! While we’ve certainly had our moments, for the most part they have been getting along so well and we’ve all been having a lot of fun together. I know it’s not easy for my kids right now. They are all 3 really missing their friends! But we are making the most of it and really enjoying this slower pace. With plenty of time to take pictures for mom! Ad was thrilled about this post and happy to be in pictures because she loves the clothes! Kole I had to bribe with a little iPad time, but he was a good sport. ;)
That’s a wrap! I wore these two right out. ;)
I hope this post gave you some fun ideas for kids’ Spring clothes this year! Such a great selection at Nordstrom and their recent sales have been crazy good. I love shopping for our whole family at Nordstrom because you just can’t beat the service and quality. I’ve also been so impressed with all they are doing to help sew masks and give back during this difficult time. Proud to partner with them!
Enjoy the rest of your day! We have rain in our forecast again but we’re hoping to sneak in a walk.
Kole has his umbrella ready so we should be set. ;)
The time has come! (The walrus said.. to talk of many things.. of shoes and ships and sealing wax..) Sorry! Alice in Wonderland has been on repeat at our house. Thank goodness for Disney Plus these days. Let’s try this again.
The time has come! Time to finally share my organized bathroom drawers with you all! (Much better the second time around.) ;) Oh my word.. this project took on a life of its own as you can see from the picture above. I decided to just “straighten one drawer” one afternoon and before I knew it I had pulled everything out of every single drawer in my bathroom. Kenny walked in and was like.. “um.. what just happened!?” ha.
Things always get worse before they get better at my house. :) I do have a basic method to my madness when I organize. I pull everything out and get rid of as much as I can (anything at all that I’m not using/loving.) Then I categorize things in like piles. Next I put them back in the drawer semi organized and this gives me an idea of what type of organizer (if any!) would work best.
I definitely wanted some dividers for these drawers! I did some research and decided to use the Linus Shallow Drawer Organizers from the Container Store for my bathroom drawers (LOVE THEM). Based off of the items I wanted in each drawer I sketched out a few drawer configurations. I know. I’m such a nerd! Stuff like this seriously makes me giddy. I sketched out something I thought would work for each drawer, but then picked up a few extra containers in certain sizes so that I could switch things around if I wanted to when I was putting everything back.
A little planning goes a long way! I was so in my happy place with this project. :)
Ahhh. Nice and clean again! Let’s look inside those drawers! *For those of you who are interested I’ve also linked all of my favorite make-up and beauty products below and best timing because Nordstrom is having a one day sale on all things beauty! Woot woot! I’ll be stocking up on favorites listed below. :)
The top left is a small drawer that holds all of my make-up. I don’t have a lot! My make-up routine is pretty simple. I love trying new products (and do often!) but I tend to always come back to my long time favorites. This drawer also holds my contacts, glasses and some elastics.
The drawer below holds some often used items like hair spray, deodorant and wash cloths. I love using drawer dividers to separate things like this! Simple organizing but it’s so effective. I didn’t photograph the drawer below this one because it just holds one curling wand I only use once in a while.
Then we have this nicely organized cupboard below my sink I recently shared! It holds extras and larger items.
The top middle drawer holds brushes and all of my night-time routine stuff. Tooth paste/brush, face cleansers and moisturizers. I love having everything I need for my night time routine all in one place! (*Quick tip! I always take off my make-up, wash my face and put on my skin products right after I put Kole to bed around 9:00. Then I sit down for the night and watch TV/work and go to bed late. If I wait to take off my make-up right before I go to bed I’m always too tired and lazy to do my whole skin routine. I made myself do it right after I put Kole to bed for months even though I didn’t want to so that it would become a habit and now I don’t even have to think about it!)
This middle drawer is where I keep all of my extras! We shop at Costco so I always have extras on hand. I used the Linus DEEP drawer organizers for this drawer. (You can buy the starter kit OR select the pieces you want and make your own configuration like I did.) Notice I have more elastics in this drawer.. they’re in every drawer! Elastics and Cherry Ice Chapstick are in drawers throughout my whole house. And in my purse. And in my car. ha. I also keep a small notepad in this drawer because I ALWAYS think of little things I need to remember when I’m getting ready for bed and I like to jot them down on paper. I just prefer paper over my phone for reminders and to-dos. Sidenote: if you haven’t used Tinkle razors before they are game changers for getting rid of unwanted facial hair!
In the middle bottom drawer I used the Linus Clear Storage bins. (Two large and one narrow fit perfectly!) On the left I have small samples I want to try. Extras like soap, deodorant, mascara and face masks are in the middle and then Q-tips on the right. And a phone charger! I always listen to podcasts when I get ready in the morning and like to charge my phone so I don’t run it out for the day before 10 am. :)
These three middle drawers were such a mess before! I’m LOVING the way they look now and they’ve been so easy to keep clean! Every single thing now has a place to go! The first week they were like this I kept opening them just to stare inside.
Angels sang. More than once. :)
I gave our side cabinets a quick clean out and donated old towels.
I like to keep our towels folded together in sets because I always have two matching bath towels and hand towels out. Easy to grab a clean set when I’m washing others!
In the baskets on the bottom I keep wash cloths I use when I clean. (You can find some of my favorite towels on my SHOP MY FAVORITES page.)
Best feeling having everything in this space so organized! Kenny’s drawers are the 3 on the far right. They are clean and organized too but I didn’t take pics because they are kind of boring and this post is already a book. ;)
I was on such a roll I decided to give my vanity drawers a quick re-fresh too.
And more make-up bags in the bottom. (This little laundry bag comes in so handy when I travel!)
My top two drawers hold more travel supplies. These are very shallow drawers so I tried these expandable make-up organizers and they fit perfectly! I love the way they expand to fit your drawer.
Happy April everyone! Spring is finally here! Looks like it will be a Spring spent at home but I’m ok with that. I did a huge brain dump today on my April to-do list (I have cute monthly to-do lists in my printable library!) and wrote down ALL THE THINGS I want to accomplish this month. The situation we are all in is hard, but I’m going to do my best to enjoy the positive sides of it. More time with my family and more time to get to those things I always want to do and never have time for! I’m determined to have my garage and closet ORGANIZED and DONE by the end of April. As well as 10,000 a few other projects in-between too. My list might be just a tad too ambitious but I’m going to give it my best shot. :)
I also started thinking about Easter because it’s next weekend! Ahh! It snuck up so quickly this year didn’t it!? My kids have been great about staying home but there have definitely been some hard moments with fun things they were looking forward to being canceled and of course not being able to see their friends. (Face time used to drive me crazy but now I’m beyond grateful for it!) I’m going to try to make Easter as special as I can with a small at home church service, some fun family activities, a nice dinner (ahh.. send help!) and fun Easter surprises to wake up to.
This was our living room last year on Easter Sunday. If you look close you can see a lot of colorful eggs hidden in this space! The Easter bunny always scatters plastic eggs full of candy (and a few special eggs that hold money) in our living room and then my kids’ baskets are always sitting out on the coffee table.
Then there is always one more surprise that is hidden somewhere in the house. Each of the kids’ surprises are hidden in a different spot and they each have their own clues that lead them to their gift. My kids LOVE our traditional Easter treasure hunt each year. It’s way more about the hunt than the actual surprise! Ad said to me last week.. “mom.. can you let the Easter bunny know that even though El and I are teens we aren’t getting too old for the treasure hunt?” Ha. :) I told her I’d make sure he got the news. Guess the Easter Bunny better get moving!
Last year I got some questions about what I put in my kids’ baskets now that they are getting older. Always candy of course (so I can eat half of it). For my girls I add some small things like nail polish, lip gloss, earrings or a necklace, a Starbucks gift card, phone chargers, pens, notepads, etc. For Kole I’ll add things like markers, small toys, a stuffed animal, flip flops, a book or a card game, a hat, small legos, etc.
If you are looking for more fun ideas for kids for Easter I’ve rounded up some of my favorites below! Then below the Easter ideas I’m sharing my favorites from the new Target line by Studio McGee! Ahhh! It’s seriously SO good and you can order it all on-line starting today! So many fun things for your home at Target prices. I also rounded up a few Madewell favorites because they are having a big sale right now and you all know how I feel about Madewell. (Please put your hand over your heart.) Studio McGee at Target AND a Madewell sale? Sounds like a happy Easter for mom too! :)
1 – Bashful Bunny Stuffed Animal – these bunnies are the softest! I always give them as baby gifts and my kids each have one. Perfect for Easter.
3 – Waterproof Phone Pouch – Getting these for my teens and I’m excited to have one too! So nice to have your phone protected during summer activities.
7 – Skyjo – I ordered this for our family because people love it in the reviews. Looking for a few new family games for this month at home!
8 – Hydro Flask – Long time favorites that would make a fun Easter surprise.
9 – Garden Party Notebooks – Cutest notebook! I’ll take all 3 please! You can never have too many notebooks. :)
10 – Inflatable Splash Sprinkler – How perfect is this splash sprinkler!? It would entertain kids for hours in the backyard! Perfect for a month of staying at home.
11 – Ahi Boys Flip Flops – Flip flops are another Eater staple at our house and these are CUTE for boys.
12 – Marble Run – Kole got this for Christmas and we just pulled it out yesterday! Perfect time to build it for him to play with.
13 – Cornhole Toss Game – This is another fun game my kids love. I’m sure we’ll be pulling this out often in the backyard this month too!
14 – Mac Lipgloss – My favorite. This mini size is perfect for teen girls’ Easter baskets!
15 – Karaoke Microphone – This looks like a fun way to keep the kids’ entertained too. And my husband. He never passes up a chance to do some Karaoke.
16 – Wave Rider Ride-On – My kids are too big for this but if you have a little one.. ahh! I’m dying at how cute and fun this is for summer!
17 – Ahi Girls Flip Flops – Cutest flip flops for girls! My favorite are the Cheetah print or the pink dots!
19 – Mesh Beach Bag – This beach bag looks so perfect. Large, fits ALL the things, one that you won’t mind getting sandy and dirty. I think I’m getting it for myself. :)
20 – Spill & Splash Seaway Water Table – My kids all would have LOVED this when they were younger. I used to fill up buckets and bowls with water in our backyard and they would be entertained for hours playing with their little toys in the water. Perfect if you need to entertain little kids at home this month!
I hope that gave you a few fun ideas for kids! Now for the Studio Mcgee Target line. I honesty love everything in this collection, but below are my #1 picks and things I’m looking at for my home!
SO good right!? I’m seriously so excited about this collection.
And here are a few fun things I am loving on sale at Madewell right now. These prices were too good not to share!
Happy weekend everyone! Come back tomorrow for some fun organizing. :)
My baby boy turned 10 Monday! So we threw a huge party for him! The invite list was crazy! So many people we couldn’t fit them all in the house. So we sent them all home and decided to just invite his mom and dad and sisters. And Peaches. Our pet lizard. Because who needs party guests when you can invite a lizard? ;)
I heard from so many of you after sharing Kole’s birthday on IG that you remember when he was born! Some of you have been with me for the long haul and have been reading for years. 10 years for some of you and you remember pics like this one.
And this one.
And a personal favorite. This one. :) This is what happens when you are raised by 3 girls!
It honestly means the world to me that many of you have been with me so long. Once you’ve been reading for over a year consider yourself family. I’ll invite you all to Kole’s next birthday party!
Unless we’re all still quarantined.
Which is why his guest of honor this year was Addison’s lizard. Ha. ;)
I snapped this with my phone the morning of his birthday right after his 4th grade class sang happy birthday to him on zoom. So sweet of them! He is living his best life going to school every day in his beloved robe. He begged me to not make him shower and do his hair the morning of his birthday and I thought.. why not? Live it up buddy! We threw on a hat and his first day of being a 10 year old was off to a great start. :)
Of course after that I had to get a little creative since we couldn’t throw a fun party with friends for him like we did last year. We got to work decorating our table and Kenny made a cake.
Ad wrote the sweetest poster – 10 things she loves about Kole. Number 4, 5 and 9 are my personal favorites. “You are one of the best dancers I know – moves like Jagger!” (Kole’s favorite song). “You have style! I love your blue hair and robe!” (ha!) and “You are the best godfather to Peaches.”
Then I scoured Pinterest to find a fun gift for him. He is at that age that is a little tricky. Growing out of toys but not really into teen things yet. He loves food so I had considered getting several gift cards to food places and then I found this darling gift idea and they have the printable and everything! (Thanks girls!) I bought gift cards to all of his favorite places and just attached them with colorful clothespins I had at the house. Such a simple and fun idea and Kole loved it!
Then we played a fun game. I wanted to share it here because my kids had so much fun playing this. It would be fun for a Friday night family tradition during this quarantine when we are all home together so much more. You buy a lot of candy (like I said.. kids love this) and every item is different. This is what I bought because this is the stuff my kids love. There was a Recess too but that was eaten before I could take this pic. ;) Then you need 2 dice.
You all sit in a circle with the candy in the middle and set a timer for 5 minutes (we used my phone). The first person rolls the dice and if you get doubles OR your two dice add up to 7 (so a 5 and a 2 or a 3 and a 4, etc.) you get to take one of the treats. If you don’t get doubles or 7 total you just pass the dice to the next person.
Now.. the fun part! You can choose an item from the middle of the pile OR you can steal something from someone else! That’s what makes the game so fun. You are moving fast (only 5 minutes to get as much candy as you can) and everyone is stealing candy from each other. Kole and Ellie kept taking the Recess from each other. Ad and I were fighting over the gummy bears. Kenny was loving it because nobody wanted the candy he kept choosing. We all got laughing so hard. When the timer goes off you get to keep whatever you have! We ended up putting all the candy back in the middle and playing it a few times just because it was so fun. If you try playing it with your family let me know! Also feel free to share any other fun game suggestions in the comments. I know we can all use ideas like this right now with kids home!
After our game we ate dinner (Kole’s favorite) and then sat down on the couch for Ellie’s gift. She spent the last two weeks working on a slideshow with pictures and videos of Kole growing up. We played it on our big TV and by the end of it I was in tears and we were all laughing (lots of it was clips of him dancing.. he is always cracking us up with his dance moves!). Seriously the sweetest gift ever. I’ve watched it over 10 times! My kids are so funny. They always judge their gifts by “if we can make mom cry.” Apparently it doesn’t take much so if I don’t cry, their gift is a bust. Ha. You could say that Ellie knocked this one out of the park. :)
We had the best night celebrating our sweet 10 year old boy and while I know it was hard for him not having a traditional party with all of his friends, he was such a good sport and told me later that he loved his birthday party and could I please put his gift cards somewhere safe so that the sisters don’t get them. I always have to suppress a laugh when he refers to them as “the sisters.”
Ok.. TOTALLY switching gears. Because why not? We are living in a time where clearly anything goes so I’m rolling with it. ;) I’ve been organizing up a storm (as you all know) and am finally ready to share my bathroom drawers with you all.. but first! A quick clean out of under my bathroom sink. I tackled this space early this year and shared it on IG stories but never got around to posting it here. Things were such a hot mess in this cupboard.
I pulled everything out on my large rug and made three piles – KEEP, TRASH, GIVE TO MY GIRLS.
Before long I was making major progress.
Then much quicker than I thought I was done! This was all trash to recycle! Products that were gone or packaging I just hadn’t tossed.
And the AFTER! SO much better right!? I gave my girls some products I knew I’d never use (they love trying new things) and then after scrubbing out my cupboard I put back all of my tried and true go-to’s. This honestly only took 20 minutes and I couldn’t believe I had put it off for so long! Just getting started is always the hardest part isn’t it?
While everyone else is stocking up on toilet paper I’m stocking up on my MOROCCANOIL hair products! Ha. #truestory
Feels so good to have that messy cupboard nice and clean! I know I’ll keep it that way now. Once I’ve really organized something I work hard to put things back where they go. When I have no system set up all bets are off and things get messy quickly. Anyone else like that? I’ll be back soon to share the rest of these drawers!
Take care everyone. Stay healthy and safe! I’m heading out on our evening family walk. Something I look forward to every day.
Happy Sunday! Having a good weekend so far? I spent a few hours working on my garage today. Man.. did I ever open a can of worms on that little whim! If you need me next week I’ll be organizing tools, bikes, sports equipment and camping gear. It’ll be a party for sure. I know you’re all dying to join me. ;) Today I’m taking a mini break to talk about Spring sandals! I need a distraction from the heaviness of this virus and (because my day in the garage wore me out) I need a break from my obsessive organizing. Spring sandals are a very happy distraction! I’ve always loved having a March birthday for lots of reasons but one of them is that it’s the month when all of the fun Spring clothes and sandals come out. The two sandals above were a little birthday present to me from me and I love both pairs! The Sam Edelman slides are so comfy and perfect for every day running around. I also love the buckle and they come in lots of fun colors/patterns. The Noor Espadrille sandals are honestly perfection. Also very comfortable and just the perfect wedge that will go with anything and everything. Trust me.. you can’t go wrong with either!
Of course things are looking a little more casual around here these days. A cute camo tee is about as dressed up as I’ve been the past two weeks! Good thing my comfy new slides work with pjs and sweats too. :) (Other fun camo options here!)
I’ve rounded up all of my favorite Spring sandals below. Seriously so many fun options this year and a lot of them are on sale right now! Most of them come in a variety of colors/patterns.
Looking forward happy days ahead filled with loved ones, togetherness and ALL the cute shoes. :)
*I’ve updated my favorites page if you want to see other favorite items in my closet and from my home that are on sale!
Enjoy the rest of you weekend friends. :)
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xoxo, Erin
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