Saturday Night Plans

I’ve been reading Spare, the new memoir by Prince Harry every morning with my coffee, which many of you had a lot of opinions about over on Instagram (but it’s so good! Are you reading it, too?).

I also recently rewatched The Princess on HBO Max about Princess Diana, so it only makes sense that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to buy these People Magazines from 1997 that I found when we went to our favorite antique store today.

A glass of wine while cozied up on the couch reading about Di? I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday night than being whisked away by nostalgia and vino.

Hope you have a cozy weekend, too!!

Dry January: Here We Go

Last month, I mentioned how I was thinking of doing Dry January for the first time, and now, I have officially decided to do it.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s really not a big deal when you think about it, is it? I am choosing not to pick up a drink for an entire month, not trying some new diet or exercise routine. To some, though, it is a big deal, and is a lot harder to put into practice than it sounds. As I’m sitting here writing this, I’m wondering how hard it’ll actually be for me.

I usually drink 5-6 times a week, 1-2 glasses of wine per night. Maybe that’s a lot to some and not so much to others. I enjoy a glass of wine while cooking and then another after the kids go to bed, usually with popcorn and a TV show, so it’ll be interesting to see how the nights unfold throughout the month.

Either way, I am looking forward to starting the year off with a refresh of sorts and trying something I’ve never done before in my adult life. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!!

New Year’s Eve

Spending the new year in New Orleans celebrating with friends that feel like family and showing the kids the magic of this city. Happy New Year’s Eve, friends xoxo.

Christmas Eve-Eve

Christmas Eve-Eve is, to me, almost as fun and exciting as Christmas Eve. This year, like year’s past, we made Christmas Fettuccine a la The Holiday and gathered around the dining room table to eat it.

The kids stayed with their aunt and nana that night, so it was just us and my mom and younger sister and her fiancé. It was a nice, adults-only evening where we listened to Christmas music and drank wine and cooked. My favorite kind of night

Alex, my best friend from high school and his wife and one-year old daughter were in town, so he stopped by after dinner to say hi for a few hours, and it was so nice to catch up after not seeing him in a few years.

I can’t think of anything better than spending the evening with good food and the people you love.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Wanted to pop in and say, from our family to yours, that we hope you have a lovely holiday. Stay safe, stay warm, and enjoy the most wonderful time of the year.

The Sounds of Home

Maybe it’s the cold weather or the fact that it gets dark at 6p now, but lately I have been loving being home even more than usual.

Home is my happy place, my safe haven. A place where my family can run wild and just be ourselves, free of judgement from the outside world. Where the way we look doesn’t matter so much as the way we treat each other, and where three new childhood memories are made in the same place mine were made. I hope yours feels like that, too.

A big part of my love for our family home are the sounds within it. I was telling PJ the other day, as the washing machine was spinning in circles in the laundry room and the dishwasher was gently humming in the kitchen and the kids were laughing upstairs and our dog’s paws were tapping the floor as she walked, how much I love the every day, seemingly mundane sounds around our house. They’re something I think I used to take for granted but now focus heavily on.

I love the sound our 100 year old floors make in certain parts of our house when you walk across them. I love to listen to our cat Alyster purr when he’s happy (currently happening as I type). I love how loud of air conditioning is when it kicks on; it’s so loud, in fact, that when it stops blowing out air or heat, it feels like someone turned the loud music off at a dance party and suddenly the entire place is still and quiet. It kind of catches you off guard if you’re not used to it.

Even the sounds I complain about when they’re happening, like our oldest jumping off his bunkbed ladder and landing on the ground, making a loud THUD when his feet hit the floor and sounding like the entire ceiling is about to fall through above us, I would miss if it never happened again.

I think I just love the sounds of life happening in our house. It’s home, and it’s my favorite place in the world to be.

Christmas Cards Are Sent!

I just put the last few in the mail two days ago! I hope they make it to their individual destinations on time, but if not, it’ll be a nice after-Christmas surprise.

I love the act of sending out Christmas/holiday cards. My mom was always very big on them when we were growing up, and I think a little bit of that has rubbed off on me. It’s especially fun to do now that we have children, and I can’t wait to look back at all our various cards through the years and see how much the kids have changed.

I can’t tell you how much I loved opening our mail box and finding an envelope that very clearly is not a bill or junk mail just sitting inside and waiting to be opened. It’s a reminder that not everything is digital these days, that snail mail still exists and is a much more charming way of communicating, if I do say so myself. Knowing that someone thought enough of you to take the time to write out your name and address and send whatever it is to you is such a warm and comforting feeling in today’s world of quick emails and fast text messages.

And if you’ve sent us a Christmas card to our PO Box, thank you!!! They’re currently hung in the doorway leading to our dining room and they frame the house beautifully.

Happy holidays, loves!