Dry January: Yay or Nay?

Have you ever done a “Dry January” before?

It’s when you don’t drink any alcohol for the entire month of January, in an attempt to reset for the new year. I’ve heard of people doing it for years, but I’ve never actually tried it myself.

According to some experts, there are major health benefits associated with going alcohol-free for a month:

• You'll get a mood boost.

• You'll sleep more soundly.

• You might feel less bloated or even drop a few pounds.

• You'll save money.

• You'll have a stronger immune system.

• You'll feel better in the morning.

• You'll have a new relationship with alcohol.

I think I am going to try it. I love new year’s resolutions and resets and starting fresh every year, and after the holidays (where recreational drinking seems to ramp up), I could use a break. A month seems like the perfect amount of time, and who knows? It may be the start of something knew.

You can read more about Dry January and all the health benefits that come with it here.

A Fun Gift Idea: Goat Poop

A sweet subscriber sent us the most delicious, if not the most creative gift in the mail the other day: little chocolate covered balls from our friends at Beekman 1802, appropriately called Goat Poop.

John’s note said when he saw these, he immediately thought to send them to us, and I’m glad he did. They’re so good! The container has a bunch of different varieties of chocolates and fillings based on the name of the goats in the herd.

For example, the one called “Hazel” is an artisanal producer of roasted hazelnuts covered in milk chocolate; the one named “Shadow” is made from toasted almond covered in dark chocolate; and one called “Talea” is made of sea salt caramel dipped in milk chocolate.

These things are so addicting and would make an unexpected, cheeky little gift this Christmas, don’t you think? Thank you so much, John!! These definitely put a few smiles on our faces.

The Holiday

While I picked up the house yesterday, I put on one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time: The Holiday. Anna and I watched it and ooo’d and ahhhh’d over Cameron Diaz and the little girls’ cool fort in their room. Of course, I fast forwarded through the parts that weren’t appropriate for a 4 year old, but overall it was so cute to watch her get into the movie.

I love introducing them to my favorite films. Most of the time they roll their eyes and say “Not again! Do we have to watch The Family Stone today?” but yesterday was actually a winner! She loved it. And I can’t think of a more perfect film to watch over and over again on repeat this time of year.

Blessed is the Season Which Engages the Whole World in a Conspiracy of Love

It’s quiet and cold this morning. The kitchen is somewhat messy, signs of life and fun from last night still all over the countertops. Our friends Matt and Beau are leaving today to go back to New Orleans for the holidays so we had a goodbye dinner last night and I made this recipe. It turned out well! Perfect for a cold winter night.

I looked at the calendar yesterday and realized we have less than two weeks until Christmas and we haven’t done any of our actual shopping yet. Why do we wait so long every year? Christmas has a way of sneaking up on me, I suppose because we’re so consumed with the craziness of the end of the year, and I seem to lose track of time this time of year. The plan is to get all of the shopping completed this weekend and to do what we can to relax and have a smooth rest of the season. We’ll see if it actually happens that way.

As the holidays are setting in, I hope they feel like the photo above: warm, cozy, relaxing. I want them to be filled with joy and laughter and kids playing and family time and cozy Christmas movies and pasta and wine and blankets and lots of hunkering down at home. Of course, there’s much more to life than warm and cozy feelings, and the chaos of the holidays are a great reminder of that, but I think the best we can all hope for is to have those moments sprinkled in with the rest of what life has to offer

That’s my wish this year: To appreciate all the moments that this season brings, the cozy and the crazy (which can sometimes be one in the same). Hamilton Wright Mabie said it best:

“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.”

From Where I Sit

I haven’t written in a bit.

We just got back from Breckenridge, CO a few days ago which is the main reason for being too busy to update anything on here. Right now all five of us are sitting at the dining room table and the kids are coloring and PJ is, too. Christmas music is playing in the background while the kids are bursting out laughing at something silly Anna said.

If it sounds like a Hallmark Christmas movie, that’s because it feels like one. Life has been nowhere near perfect lately, and it’s actually been quite difficult in different ways, but right here, right now, it feels pretty damn good. I think that’s what I love to write about most: Those little moments that zoom in on the parts of life that seem mundane and uninteresting, but are in fact what makes it whole.

I enjoy focusing on those moments, especially in written form. I always have. I have kept some form of journal, either online or on pen and paper, for as long as I can remember and it feels especially appropriate now that we have kids so that I can remember these times for as long as possible and relive them again and again.

The new year always brings a sense of wonder to me, and a sense of a fresh start. A renewal or sorts. I think in the new year I will use this blog differently. Maybe it will come more personal; a place to jot down the days’ best and worst moments and make it more of a habit so that one day when we’re gray and old I can look back on our life with ease. Sometimes, for me at least, writing things down helps process life differently than almost any other medium does. It’s therapeutic on many levels and it’s something I look forward to when the day comes to end.

We’re getting ready to go to our first holiday party of the season so I am off for the night. Have a lovely weekend, friends. xo

A Quiet Moment of Gratitude for the Last Few Days

Last night we were lying on the couch watching a new show and I couldn’t help but feel so full from the last few days.

Physically full, yes, because I think I ate more this past week than I have in my entire life, but also full of love and gratitude. PJ was lying in my lap as I ran my fingers through his hair over and over again, feeling his thick, soft curls glide past my hands and it was so still, so quiet, besides the sound of the TV, and I just felt so content.

This past week with Thanksgiving, a more or less second Thanksgiving the next night, and then Matt and Beau’s wedding on Saturday, we were constantly surrounded by wonderful people and incredible food, two of my favorite things in the world. I can’t remember if I have ever felt the way I have this weekend. Matt and Beau had people from all over come here to our little corner of Tennessee and it was so neat to see so many unique and bold and lovely people in an area that isn’t known for any of those adjectives on a regular basis. What a treat it was to experience it all first hand.

After all the hustle and bustle of the last few days, I was grateful it was just me and my guy ending the weekend on the couch before passing out from exhaustion an hour or so later.

It’s Monday morning now and the house is quiet and slowly waking up. I will be taking the boys to school in a bit and getting back to reality this week, so it feels good to squeeze this time in first thing in the morning before the chaos of the day begins.

I hope you had a good weekend, too, friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving today, friends!!! Thank you so much for being here with us this year. We’re so thankful for you and all the love and support you’ve sent our way. It means more to us than you’ll ever know.

xoxo

A Low Key Night Out

Last night, we dropped the kids off at PJ’s mom’s house and decided to have a little night to ourselves.

We packed the car and headed out to the farm to hang the new TV we bought for the tiny house (the first TV we’ve bought in like seven years!) and install a few other little things to make life in there easier. Now that Dixie lives in the camper, we’ve been staying out there as a family more, which has been a nice return to form after almost a year of not spending the night out there. We especially love this time of year at the farm: cold, crisp, windy. It’s a totally different experience than the warmer months.

After we tidied up a bit while sipping on some wine, we made the half-mile journey to Matt and Beau’s house with a crockpot chicken I had made earlier that day. They supplied the wine and the cozy atmosphere. How lovely is the scene in the picture above? We listened to Taylor Swift’s Evermore and Folklore on vinyl which was a completely different sounding record (in the best way). We’re now sold on buying a record player ASAP.

It was a low-key night out, which, of course, meant we spent it tucked away inside an old, warm house. But still, it was a night away for these two dads who missed their kids desperately. Today when we picked them up, we all went out to lunch and got a new outfit for Anna for Thanksgiving.

Have I mentioned how much I love this time of year?

What the Holidays are All About

The holidays are officially here. When did that happen?

Yesterday we went to PJ’s mamaw’s Thanksgiving lunch and it was so nice to be there with everyone and see the kids run and play in her huge backyard. Her house is on the river, which makes the whole experience and view even more wonderful. It was fun to catch up with people we haven’t seen in a while in what felt like the official start of the holiday season (our favorite time of the year).

It’s suddenly so cold here in Tennessee, which everyone around us seems to be complaining about but we welcome with open arms. To me, it doesn’t start feeling like the holidays until you can see your breath outside. Where is the fun in celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas in hot weather?

Speaking of the holidays, I feel like we have so much to do and never enough time to do it. The days are getting away from us faster than I can say Christmas presents, and that leaves little time for anything extra (like writing, which I have missed doing the last few weeks!). If I was a better planner, I would have taken care a lot of what needs to be done months ago, but alas, here we are. We’re all just doing the best we can, aren’t we?

This week is another crazy busy one, with campaigns to shoot, food to make, cleaning to do, basketball practices to attend, and the normal chaos of every day life. It’s an exciting time though, friends!! I love this time of year more than anything and I am so looking forward to the next few weeks. I am just leaving this here: I will do my best to take in every moment and appreciate all the family time coming, because these days are so precious and you can never get them back.

That’s what the holidays are all about, aren’t they? Precious moments you want to relive over and over again. So, with that being said, I would like to kick off this season by saying happy holidays, friends!! Let’s make the most of them.

We Were on The TODAY Show!

I can’t believe I just typed those words.

We were extremely honored to be interviewed by the wonderful Sheinelle Jones about our marriage and relationship, family, design and renovation, and living life as openly gay men in a small town.

If you didn’t catch it, you can click here to watch the full segment. We want to give a huge thank you to Sheinelle Jones for interviewing us and being so personable and down to earth, and to Kevin, the extremely sweet producer who reached out to us and pitched the idea!

Such a fun way to end the week. Have a lovely weekend, friends!!