Being stuck at home for months has inspired us to plan some big changes for our house. And apparently we aren't the only ones. After a lot of thought we have decided to dedicate a significant chunk of money to some big changes that will make our home even more functional and beautiful – we're excited! We are planning a backyard update including a studio space, a kitchen renovation, and new floors throughout the house. Let me tell you a bit about how we came to this decision. This summer our 1,776 square foot house, which normally feels like a... Read more →

I'm fascinated to know how other people handle day to day household management. Laundry, meal planning, cleaning routines and the like can seem boring on the surface but most people have something to say about them. I also find it interesting to know what stresses people out about these chores and what solutions they've come up with. Maybe they've solved a challenge that I also have! If this topic also fascinates you there is a a recent episode of Friendlier about laundry and dishes plus Erica and I have done episodes about cleaning bathrooms and laundry although my laundry system... Read more →

Houseplants are beginning to be a casual obsession of mine. Perhaps especially now that we're spending so much time at home. Seeing greenery around the house and checking on my plants are simple sources of joy. I love learning about how to best grow a new type of plant and keeping mental notes on what's working or not. Plus it's not a terribly expensive habit and is relatively low risk: if a plant dies it's a bummer but certainly not the end of the world. Now that the boys are old enough to leave plants (mostly) alone I've been wanting... Read more →

Lately I've been loving my evening routine. I haven't always had such a structured evening routine or intentionally spent so much time on myself before getting into bed, but now that my routine has evolved I find myself looking forward to it every night. The parts that include getting the boys ready for bed are pretty easy and enjoyable but I especially enjoy my evening habits that are just to help me wind down and relax. I know our evening routine will change so much once our baby arrives so I wanted to capture what my evenings look like right... Read more →

We have a baby to get ready for! We're excited to set up a room and make a space for our baby girl I loved the nursery we set up for the boys. It was genuinely a space where I loved to be and we spent a lot of time in there. That's what I want to create in this nursery too: an inviting and functional space where we enjoy being. I'm finding myself drawn to decor that is clean, bright, and colorful. I want the feeling to be cheerful. I'd love to share the ideas and inspiration that I've... Read more →

Sundays are a beginning and an end: the end of the weekend, the start of a new week. After several days of being out in the world and feeling the influence of so much input I love to make Sundays a day to reset; to exist only in the world that includes our home and family. I wrote about the concept of the Sunday home that I love so much years ago (look how little the boys are!) and I still think about creating a Sunday home. I find it comforting to look for the rituals in our life and... Read more →

Something I've learned from meticulous budgeting with Chris is to question everything in the budget. That way you ensure that you're spending your money on the things you actually want to spend money on. It's alarmingly easy for wants to creep into a budget and then establish themselves as needs. So we go through each line item: Do we need electricity? Yes. How about those expensive gym memberships? Yes, we really use and love them. But sometimes asking these questions revealed things we were willing to let go of. Especially if living without something might actually make us happier while... Read more →

Little things I'm so glad to have done. Clockwise from top left: fixing a broken picture frame, organizing my makeup, simplifying our key ring, hanging a jewelry organizer, installing a flagpole bracket. Does fixing a broken photo frame have anything to do with overall happiness? I'm starting to think it might, at least for me. Little to-do list items tend to clutter in my mind. I think this is a result of being a details person and from my love of efficiency. I notice the little things as I go about my day: I see that the door out to... Read more →

After years of dreaming about it we finally have a modern and water-wise desert front yard! Here's what our front yard looked like before: Not terrible but to me there was no personality. Although we've been wanting to replace our grass and get trees for just about as long as we've owned the house (almost 10 years!), the cost of the project kept it from being on our priority list. But a couple of years ago we decided we were tired of watering grass that wasn't even that healthy looking and paying someone to maintain it. Plus, we felt eager... Read more →

On Thursday we'll drop the boys off at our neighborhood school for the first time – a new chapter for our family. And with that my brain is switching out of summer mode and into school mode. It's hard to call it "fall" since temperatures will still sit comfortably above 100 degrees for a while but it won't feel quite like summer any more. Especially once the university students return in mid August and Chris's work starts to ramp up for the year. We had a great summer and packed in a lot. We traveled for three weeks to Texas... Read more →