Our Weekend

{mug from Homegoods}

I don't want to bore you with too many of the dull and uneventful details of our weekend.  It went pretty much the same as most...

Lots of lounging, snacking, coffee, and football.  We noshed on TONS of Thanksgiving leftovers, snuggled by the tree in our Christmas pj's, and sipped on peppermint mocha flavored coffee.  It was fabulous.

{Ornaments, all from Target}

We did, however, manage to get in some holiday decorating.  Our main tree; a 12 footer that we cut down, and then had to give a major trim in order to fit in our living room, is totally traditional. White lights and family ornaments are scattered all about its massive branches.  

Max was really into helping this year, and was fascinated as he watched me pull out all of our decor... It made me super happy to see his excitement over Christmas, and gave me great anxiety as I watched him hang ornaments, and had to patiently wait until he wasn't looking to rearrange them.

We decided to have a much smaller tree in our playroom this year, and went a little rogue with that one.  Colored lights, strung popcorn, and whimsical colorful ornaments cover it from top to bottom.

{Snowflake stocking holders, glitter deer, and bottle brush trees from Target | Gold candle holder from Michael's | Anthropologie-Inspired pom pom garland can be found under the DIY section of this blog}

{coat, boots, cowl}

A quick trip to the local farmer's market, and then to Trader Joe's capped off the long holiday weekend, and now we're (very) slowly easing our way into the week ahead.

{sheets}

Hoping yours is a good one!

Cape Cod Weekend Rewind

This past weekend can be best summed up in the following photos.  Peaceful, relaxing, serene, and full of laughs, great company, amazing food, and lots of wine (for everyone but me, of course!)

I literally never go away with out my husband and kids... really and truly, NEVER!  So a few months ago, when all of the women in my family began planning a weekend away together at my Aunt and Uncle's summer home in Cape Cod, I was both excited and hesitant.

Naturally, I was thrilled at the idea of spending time with all of the wonderful women in my family, and at the notion of a few days worth of "me time", but hesitant, because just the thought of leaving Max and Ella for a full 2 days and nights had me feeling immediately anxious.

Low and behold though, I put on my big girl pants, and hit the road for a few days with my family near the beach.

Cape Cod is insanely beautiful, and I had such a blast exploring, shopping, snacking, and just hanging around with my family.

It was a great trip, and a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my sister, cousins, and aunts.

It felt so amazing to be instantly bombarded by M&E yelling "MOMMY!!!" the moment I walked through the door.

I'm still not sure that I feel great about leaving them for solo trips often, but a few days away was just what this mama needed to feel a little refreshed and totally appreciated upon returning home!

I hope you're all having a great week!

Our Weekend

Happy Monday, friends!  I live for fall weekends, and although I know it isn't "officially" fall yet, this weekend, it sure felt like it was.

After a week with temperatures in the high 80's, it finally cooled off on Sunday, giving the air that autumn crispness that I wait all summer for.

So, with my PSL in hand, we headed out to enjoy Farm Fest... complete with hayride, piglet sightings, and fresh apple cider!

M&E had an absolute blast, and to be honest, so did Mike and I.

After all of that fun, it was back home for an afternoon full of football and lounging on the couch.

I cooked our favorite brisket, and we had sandwiches for dinner, which was followed by a nice early bedtime!

We kicked off Monday with our usual trip to Target (shocker, I know), where we picked up the ingredients to make our favorite ranch pretzels, and perused their amazing fall decor line!

I thought I would share our recipe for the ranch pretzels... I know there are about a million of these on Pinterest, and they all vary slightly, but this is how I make them.  We like them extra ranch-y, and these usually don't last more than a day around here!

Ranch Pretzels

1, 1 pound bag of pretzels (mini, sticks, nuggets, whichever you choose)

1 packet of ranch salad dressing mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp dry dill weed

1 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients, but pretzels.

Pour pretzels into a gallon-sized ziplock bag, and pour seasoning and oil mixture into bag, moving around so that all pretzels get coated in seasoning (you can certainly do this in a large bowl, but I'm a big fan of any method that results in less dishes).

Spread pretzels into an even layer onto large baking sheet.

Bake for 40 minutes, stirring around every 15 minutes or so.

Allow to cool, and try not to eat them all in one sitting!

Have a great week!

Weekend Recap

Perfectly uneventful. Totally lazy. Zero agenda.  That about sums up the past weekend.

We spent a boatload of time outdoors. Lounging on the deck, splashing in the pool, and we even made another trip to the lake on Saturday.

Dinner was grilled, naps were taken, and ice cold white wine was sipped in the sun.  The weather was amazing. It was perfect in every way.

Aside from the expected occasional toddler meltdown, it was a weekend well spent... and now it's on to the week ahead.

                                                     

Our Weekend in Pictures

There's not a whole lot to be said about our weekend.  It was pretty uneventful... which is why it is best summed up in photos.

On Friday we made ornaments. Because... handmade ornaments are the best kind of decorations.

{headband}

On Friday night, we rocked pigtails.

On Saturday, we spent the day in pajamas and played in the playroom.

{scarf}

And I consumed copious amounts of coffee.

On Saturday evening, we had a fire... and big surprise, we ate raclette... again.

We also began our 12 Books of Christmas tradition.

Somebody was way more into the paper!

On Sunday morning, we noshed on gingerbread pancakes (thanks Trader Joes), with smoothies on the side, because it's all about balance people.

{cowl}

On Sunday afternoon, we braved Target.  2 weeks before Christmas... and we will never do it again.  We'll stick to weekdays, thanks! I'm pretty sure Max's face sums up how he felt about the experience.

On Sunday evening, I admired Ella's beautiful eyelashes while she slept.  Both of my kids have the best lashes, and I... well, I have mascara.

We also grocery shopped.

and baked cookies.

{hat | book}

and worked on orders... and took breaks to read our new Christmas books.

we worked on gifts too.

That's really about it friends.  Nothing exciting.  Just a nice little weekend spent snuggled up at home together.  This season is flying by just a little too quickly for my liking, so I am trying my hardest to soak it all in.  Hope your weekend was a good one. Happy Monday!

-J

Weekend Recap

I generally like to write a little post that recaps our weekend every Monday. This week it just so happens to be coming to you on a Tuesday.

Mike was traveling this past weekend, and it took me a whole extra day to get my stuff together and attempt to get back to our somewhat normal routine.

If you are a single parent with little ones and you are reading this, I am in awe of you... That gig is no joke.

All was fine and good around here the first few days.

I told Max that he was the man of the house, and he was thrilled to take on the role. Both him and Ella were amazingly well behaved on Thursday and Friday. I felt like super mom as I effortlessly juggled both of my children without my husband's assistance.

By Saturday evening, "sh*# got real"! Max was bouncing off the walls, and Ella was whiny. M insisted upon climbing all over me every time I sat to nurse E. Tantrums were thrown when needs weren't immediately met, and I found myself wanting to climb into bed to hide under the covers. These tiny people were literally owning me!

But... Low and behold, with some earlier-than-normal bedtimes and an extra large glass of red wine in hand, I forged through and we made it to Sunday evening.

I have never been so happy to see Mike, and couldn't be more thankful that his having to travel for work is a rarity.

Despite the occasional chaos, M, E and I did still manage to have a pretty good weekend (for the most part).

I have been up to my ears in Etsy orders lately, which I couldn't be more thrilled about, so a trip to the yarn store with my lovely assistants was a must. 

During naptime, I worked on orders and took the opportunity to watch a "chick flick" while Mike wasn't here. The Fault in Our Stars left me a sobbing mess, frantically trying to put myself back together before my kids woke up for fear that Max might think something truly awful had happened. If you're in the mood for a good tearjerker, I highly recommend it, just be prepared with tissues in hand.

On Saturday morning, after we made some lightened up donuts topped with spider-infested sprinkles, we took a great fall stroll. The weather was perfect and I think we all really needed the fresh air, and it was so nice to get out and take in the beauty of fall while it lasts.

We also decided that this weekend was the perfect time to paint our pumpkins. I covered our picnic table with newspaper, dug out our washable paints, and we headed out to the deck, where I let Max go to town. My little artist created the most beautiful pumpkin complete with blobs of blue and black all over, and only freaked a couple of times when I insisted on washing off his paintbrush mid-project. It was sunny and in the 70's here yesterday, so it felt great to be outside making a huge mess, rather than inside for once.

I suppose that about wraps it up. I have about a billion loads of laundry to tend to, a trashed house to clean, orders to fulfill, and costumes to complete. Happy Halloween week!

-J