10 Things I Love Sunday

Happy Sunday! This week, I am hanging out in Pennsylvania with my family and we are planning on taking a trip up to Lake Erie to do some beach time at the lake, and maybe hit up the local waterpark nearby (I know some people think waterparks are kind of gross but I love them!!). Having a family that’s several states away makes anytime we can get with them special, so I can’t wait to hang out with them and catch up a bit. Here’s what else I’m into this week:

1. How fun are those wide leg jeans?! They are great because they come up super high (which is what I wanted) and the legs are cropped so you can show off your shoes when you wear them (unlike wide leg pants that are full length, which usually swallow up your shoes). I’ve been wearing them a lot lately and I think they will be cool with ankle boots in the fall/winter too.

2. I love seeing what our pal Mandi is planning to do with her DIY deck makeover! As someone who would love to do more with our outdoor space and expand or screen in our patio space, it’s so fun to see someone else carry out elaborate plans at their house and live my dream a little bit through them.

3. I keep thinking if I ever move or totally redo my house it would be fun to do more of a ’70s vibe next time (pastel ’70s, of course!!) and this chair would fit right in.

4. I’m trying to let more “phone-free” moments happen when we have family time with our daughter Lola and it can be hard, but I feel like it’s so healthy and necessary. It’s not that I feel like I have to document every moment of our lives for the Internet necessarily, but I have that “gotta capture this cute baby moment for posterity” fever that I’m sure most modern moms have when a camera/video recorder is always within reach through our phones. Every moment and every little thing kids do feels so precious that you want to take a photo so you can remember it forever, but apparently you actually remember less about events when you take photos than if you just remain present in the experience without technology. It only took a few times of me refusing to document a moment to realize how much more present I am without a phone in my hand. Of course I’ll still take lots of photos and videos, but being more picky about where and when I do that is actually a very freeing feeling overall.

5. Definitely ordering this set for Lola and I this week—too cute!

6. I’ve been trying to use less plastic bags and choose reusable items (like glass mason jars, etc.) to hold food/leftovers, but sometimes a glass jar is a little harder to throw in a purse or diaper bag (especially when taking multiple snack things), so I got a few of these and they are awesome! They are super easy to clean, stay closed really well, and you can also use them in the microwave/freezer/dishwasher/boiling water as well. This size is perfect for toddler snack food on the go.

7. We’ve been using this to make Lola popsicles out of green smoothies lately and she loves them! It’s great because it does double duty of getting her greens in for the day and it helps to soothe her teething gums—double win!

8. OMG, THIS DRESS!!!

9. I was hunting for some natural weed control ideas for our large front flower beds where we’ve been growing cacti and banana leaf trees, and I may have found the right solution! I asked about this at a local plant store this week and they suggested looking into the “lasagna” method where you layer newspaper or plain cardboard on top of the dirt (you just don’t want colored ink or waxed paper/boxes for this) and wet the paper/cardboard frequently, adding dirt and mulch on top of the paper layer. You can do several layers of this composition (thus the “lasagna” name) and it acts as a barrier for the weeds so they become less and less over time (you reapply the cardboard each year) as they are deprived of oxygen and smothered. Our main problem is Bermuda grass that grows like crazy (with super strong roots and really long trails) so that it can overtake the entire flower bed, making it indistinguishable from the lawn in just a month or so if left alone. It’s the worst and so hard to pull out once it gets started! Anyway, it’s kind of a nerdy thing to be excited about, but I like trying natural solutions and if it ends up being less work over the rest of the year and helps keep my yard look nice, I’m all for it!

10. Love this little dainty necklace—so pretty!

Technically, this is Lola’s first trip to a beach where she’s old enough to run around and be more aware of the fun that she can have (we took her to the beach in San Diego in the fall when she was only 5 months old), so I’m looking forward to seeing her play in the sand and run along the shore. We also discovered she LOVES splash pads this week, so I think she’ll give the water park experience a big thumb’s up, too! xo. Laura