Recent Favorites + Must Haves

As always, TGIF. This Friday brings us the end of a week of a traveling dad/husband, so it will be especially sweet. I decided to post today about a few things that have been making the "baby is into every damn thing" phase of our life a little easier. And a couple of other things that I would love no matter what the stage of life. Lets get to it.

1. This "The Original Flap Happy" flap hat. My in-laws brought it back from Hawaii for N, and we haven't looked back since putting it on her little noggin. At first I thought it would look silly, but it's absolutely adorable, stays on, and gives great face and neck coverage. This baby will keep NOTHING on her head, except this hat. I think I'm going to order more! N has a flamingo style not featured online, but I've got my eyes on these prints for the future.

2. Anthropologie candles. I recently picked up two candles from Anthro, and I can't stop burning them. I feel like they're scents that would go well in any room in any season. They were 50% off in my store, making them way cheaper than the Bath and Body or Yankee variety. I highly recommend!

Modern Muse Candle - Vanilla Vine | Faceted Ceramic Candle - Mandarin Mint

3. Madewell Transport Tote

I love our diaper bag (here), but it is so big sometimes it just doesn't make sense to use it. W got me this tote for an anniversary gift (per my request) and I haven't carried another bag since. I have this black version with brown handles, but I was this close to getting the frosted willow or english saddle. It's the perfect size to be pulled off as a purse, but actually hold everything for mom and baby. I love it! Mine also has a monogram which makes it that much more special. Madewell will do the monogram for you, and it still was shipped very quickly.

4. Whitney English Day Designer.

I've been super busy and super forgetful, so a planner is a must. I think just like a lot of bloggers, I can't do just an iPhone calendar for all my appointments and reminders. I need to write things down. It was hard to decide between this planner and the Emily Ley Simplified Planner (which also has an app now). I think I would have been happy with either honestly. The EL planner is a bit smaller, but that wasn't really important to me. If you want to give Whitney a try, she offers free printables that mimic the planner setup. Try those out here.

5. Blue Apron

I suck at meal planning, and I love eating out because I want quality dinners that I don't have to think about. Since we've yet to win the lottery and be able to afford to eat our every meal, this leaves me struggling constantly on what to cook. When my friend Christie offered me up a week of free Blue Apron meals, I couldn't wait. We've since ordered another week and will be ordering more maybe in a few weeks.

Basically you get online, select your meals, and that's it. All the ingredients and very detailed, clear instructions show up at your house. So far I've made 4 recipes and they were all delicious. A couple of them I wasn't sure about, and they were definitely things I didn't see myself ever cooking, but we loved them! It isn't the quickest, but it sure takes the guess work out of dinner.

And that's it! Happy weekend!

Linking up today with April for Five on Friday, Momfessionals for Friday Favorites, and September Farm for Oh Hey Friday.

currently

This face.

Making: Plans for Peanut's first birthday party. Insert sappy "Where does the time go?" comment. But seriously. Can't believe we're about to have a TODDLER.

Drinking: Water and red wine. Pretty typical.

Reading: Nothing unfortunately, but I do have plans to read some light hearted "chic lit" while on vacation. Any good recommendations?

Wanting: A mani/pedi. I am so hard on my hands, and always run around outside barefoot, so the tootsies have seen better days too. Definitely not on the priority list with how busy we have been though.

Looking: At the Teen Mom OG reunion on my TV screen. I can't quite those girls. And at the Stitch Fix box in the kitchen. I so far have yet to fall in love with anything. And they keep sending me stuff that is NOT worth the price. I will pay for nice clothes when they're worth it, but for the love enough with the $50 t shirts!

Playing: The game where I pretend the sink full of dishes isn't there.

Wishing: That N goes back to sleeping through the night. I said it once, I'll say it again: Babies are crazy.

Enjoying: See "Drinking" above.

Missing: My Mom. Nanny, if you're reading this, N says "Move to Ohio!".

Waiting: For the weekend! I heart family time.

Wondering: If I will get any sleep tonight.

Needing: To exercise. I got winded walking up the stairs with the baby today. Bleh. Pretty sure we are going to join the Nature Center, so maybe long walks will be my summer workout.

Noticing: I am slowly getting closer to fitting in all my pre pregnancy clothes, yet my stomach is still a ball of mush.

Thinking: I cannot believe I'm taking a girls trip to Vegas at the end of the summer. Am I going to survive without my baby? Can I hang like I used to? Spoiler alert: NO. Regardless, I can't wait! What do I need to do while we're there?

all the crazy

Things are kind of ridiculous right now. I feel like I am never in a state of just being. We're always finishing something, starting something, changing something, doing SOMETHING. Honestly though, that's the way I like it. My days are bananas, even though most of the time I don't even leave the house. What have we been up to you ask?

About a month ago, I accepted a part-time PRN job. PRN=as needed. I work from home 80% of the time, so it doesn't effect the amount of time I spend with the baby very much. What it does effect is the amount of time I spend just laying on the floor playing with N, and what I do on nap times. Every time she is good and occupied or asleep it's like an episode of supermarket sweepstakes to see how fast I can get things done. Thankfully I have been able to get a babysitter here and there, and my sister will be visiting us for a huge chunk of the summer to help out. The verdict is still out on whether or not this will be a long term situation, but for now, I am enjoying the extra cash and ability to learn new skills and put back on my human resources hat.

My Rodan+Fields business has also been rocking and rolling. Adding consultants, growing my customers, and managing those I already have also keeps me busy throughout the day. The amazing thing about this business is I do not HAVE to devote any certain amount of time to it. I of course want to devote time though, so I try to keep it high on the priority list. It is such an amazing source of pride and residual income, I don't want to let my business slack. When I do things, I like to do them well. I've been on the Top 10 list of my team for the past two months, and I hope to keep that up. The verdict is NOT out on whether or not this will be a long term "thing" for us. As long as people have skin, I hope to be selling skincare!

W's job has been pretty intense lately and he is working a crazy amount of hours. That means I have been doing all of the above without much help at home. Throw in lots of parties and summer celebrations, and three upcoming vacations, and potentially joining a new club, a dog being diagnosed with epilepsy, anniversary, birthdays, and you've about got what's been going on with me.

My days looks something like this:

diaper. bottle. dog food. make w's lunch. brush teeth. now n's teeth. dog meds. shower? breakfast. baby breakfast. walk? nap. work. phone call. meeting. organize. clean. have the dogs been out? nap's over. fill this out. drop that off. pick that up. shower?play time. god i love this baby. take a walk. do we have wine for later? i'm going to need wine later. baby won't sleep. please go to sleep. dinner? takeout? no- cook brittany, cook. did i let the dogs in? a little more work. crash.

I am bound and determined to keep this baby updated though, despite all the crazy. Until next time!