Before I log off for the weekend, I wanted to share a quick roundup of some favorites from this week, Things I’m Loving Friday style. Enjoy your weekend and I hope to see ya back here next week!
Things I’m Loving Friday
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Free People Finds: The Way Home Shorts + Windy Meadow Pocket Joggers
Confession: I ordered these Free People shorts after seeing them on our babysitter! Madison watched the boys for a few hours this past Saturday and I thought her shorts were so darn cute that I immediately ordered a pair for myself. I adore the fit of these shorts because they’re truly high waisted (like hit above the belly button) and flow out over my hips and booty. They’re cute and comfy and check all of my boxes for great shorts for both working out and walking around the neighborhood with the boys. (Note: If you aren’t as picky about color, you can get the shorts with free shipping through Nordstrom. I ordered the candy apple color and love it.)
I am also a big fan of another Free People find I nabbed from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. I bought these Windy Meadow Pocket Joggers because they looked like they had a lot of potential and instantly LOVED them. Fellow long torso girls, these are the joggers for you! They’re another legitimately high waisted find and fit slim through the waist while feeling nice and breezy through the butt and hips. The material is so soft and lightweight but not cheap feeling in the least. I’ve been pairing the joggers with cropped tanks and a pair of adidas slides and also a knotted tank and denim jacket. They’re great for lounging around the house or running errands when you want to wear sweatpants out and about but don’t want to look sloppy.
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Meet The Teacher at Chase’s School
Yesterday afternoon was meet-the-teacher at Chase’s new school. I cannot believe we have a kindergartener on our hands! Chase is beyond psyched for kindergarten so thankfully I’m not too concerned about how he’ll adjust but it still feels like such a big milestone. I am sure I’ll be a basket of emotions on his first day but his school seems amazing and I enjoyed the time I spent talking with his teacher yesterday. I’m also incredibly impressed by Chase’s new school and the fact that his teacher scheduled 30-minute one-on-one conferences with each parent. I don’t remember any of my schools doing that as a kid and now, as a parent, I am just blown away and so grateful for the interest Chase’s teacher and school seems to be taking in him.
There are moments in raising a child that just seem really BIG and, for me, Chase entering kindergarten is one of them. It’s another poignant reminder that there’s no turning back time with our little ones. Chase is off to elementary school and it feels like a really big, really amazing chapter of his “little kid life” is coming to a close. It’s hard for me not to feel incredibly emotional about this, especially when it just feels like life is barreling forward at a million miles an hour. I can still so vividly remember 2-year-old Chase bashfully sitting on our front steps, clutching his little dog toy as I snapped his picture before his first day of preschool and now kindergarten is HERE. Time with our kids flies and my heart is really feeling this hard right now.
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Cheesecake Ice Cream
Ohhh man our ice cream obsession is going strong in our house right now. I would love to say that we’ve been on a kick with using our ice cream maker this summer but, truth be told, this thing is used regularly all year long. When every single person in our house loves ice cream as intensely as we all do, it’s hard to put it away for too long! This week I made a new-to-us flavor from The Perfect Scoop, an ice cream cookbook a bunch of you recommended to me that I’ve fallen in love with over the course of the past year and a half. I tried my hand at cheesecake ice cream (inspired by Ben & Jerry’s Caramel Chocolate Cookie Cheesecake) and it was so unbelievably delicious. Now I’m on a mission to make it again and include crushed Oreo pieces and real bites of cheesecake to see if I can come close to a homemade version of the Ben & Jerry’s flavor. I still have yet to nail my beloved Oatmeal Cookie Chunk recipe attempt so I’ll give it my best shot but know it’s pretty darn hard to match Ben & Jerry’s!
I picked one of these Nike scrunchies up at DICK’S Sporting Goods at the end of spring because I loved the terrycloth material and thought it would be great for summer. It ended up becoming my go-to scrunchie and I bought it in two more colors (black and neon green) because I loved it so much! I have very fine but long hair and wear my hair up in a top knot almost every single day during the week. I love that this scrunchie is HUGE (seriously do NOT order it unless you want a big scrunchie!) and its large size seems to help make my top knots look bigger and more voluminous because the scrunchie itself is so big. I love a big, messy look for top knots and this scrunchie makes it so easy!
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July 2021 Top 10
In an effort to be better at taking the time to analyze some of my analytics, a few months ago I told you guys I’m going to share a monthly recap in my Friday posts that highlights my top 10 blog posts and your top 10 favorite finds from the blog + Instagram. (And then I missed June — Oops!) Hopefully this will also help you check out some blog posts you might have missed or help you easily locate an item I’ve mentioned in the past that got buried in blog/social media mayhem.
Here’s a peek at was you guys liked in July 2021!
Blog Posts
- Easy Orange Juice Marinated Chicken Thighs
- 10 Books I Recently Read and Loved
- Amazon Haul: Recent Amazon Finds
- From FL to NC
- Family Beach Time
- Week of Weeknight Meals: July 2021
- Transition from 2 to 3 Kids: Q&A
- How to Keep a Toddler Entertained on a Long Road Trip
- Everything Bagel Seared Tuna
- Chase’s Sixth Birthday Party
Your Favorite Finds
- 6-Inch Biker Shorts – The perfect length. Never did I ever think I’d embrace the biker shorts trend until this pair!
- Lounge Set – I own this set in two colors. My favorite for lounging when we have guests in town and I don’t want to be in my pajamas.
- Flat-Top Kabuki Makeup Brush – I use this to apply my ILIA Super Serum. A great makeup brush at a great price point.
- NKD Skin Organic Sunless Tanner – My favorite sunless tanner for yearsss.
- Cole Haan Calgary Over-the-Knee Boots – A Nordstrom Anniversary sale find!
- adidas Pure Motion Sneakers – I bought these when I was after a lightweight pair of white sneakers. Love the pop of rainbow.
- Cut-Out One Piece Swimsuit – I’ve worn this swimsuit a million times this summer. Pretty pastel colors and a fun little cutout design.
- Guess in 10 (Animal Planet) Game – One of our family’s favorite road trip games!
- Catch and Release Aquarium – Our boys brought this to the beach every single day when we were in Florida.
- Barefoot Dreams Blanket – Super hyped for a reason. My favorite blanket!
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Friday Flashbacks
10 Healthy Oatmeal Recipes (This recipe roundup has a bit of everything — smoothies, overnight oats, protein oats and more!)
Pesto Grilled Cheese (Our dinner on Tuesday night! Love this one for a simple weeknight meal.)
Question of the Day
What is one thing making you smile this week?
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You put it so perfectly about Kindergarten. My heart just feels a weight and complicated weird emotions I can’t fully describe! Such a huge milestone and like you, just do feel somewhat sad that this younger years chapter is coming to a close. Amazing adventures ahead for sure! But just want to hang on, you know?! Sending you a hug!
Exactly! <3 <3
I have loved your blog for a very long time! You have such a sunny, warm personality and your kindness comes through the page. Thank you for so often bringing a smile to my day!
I have noticed more and more through the years the amount of consumer products mentioned on the blog, for yourself and the kids. I would like to ask you to do a bit of research on climate change and our individual impact. I don’t want to shame you at all, I used to be mostly ignorant on the topic until someone pointed out to me my own choices that were contributing to climate change and the true impact that this would have on the future. But I do want to bring this up as i believe it is crucially important for the survival of our humanity. Once I had children, I became overly aware of the fragile earth I would be leaving them and it terrifies me that they or their children might not have a future. I am now very conservative about what I purchase, synthetic versus natural, but even more so just trying to greatly limit my consumption.
Sending this with love and good intentions. :
Thank you for reading for so long, Talia and for wording your feedback in a way that felt kind and constructive. <3
Totally understand about kindergarten and time going by so fast! Our oldest (6) is starting 1st grade and I still feel this! When he started K schools couldn’t have parents inside, temp checks at drop off, a quick have a nice day and I was in tears driving away that first day. But he did so well and loved K! Chase will come home with lots of cute stories and little arts/crafts you won’t want to throw away. Lol Have a great weekend!
I’m so so glad your son had a great year! What a year to begin kindergarten — phew! I really cannot wait to hear all about Chase’s first day!
I literally just came across this article on How Sweet Eats email. My youngest (3) is starting preschool, can’t believe my little guy is growing up. This article is great for any grade 😥
https://herviewfromhome.com/dear-kindergartner-i-could-not-love-you-more/
My youngest son starts kindergarten this fall too!!
One thing I have been loving this week is watching the Olympics! The only sport I am entirely caught up with is gymnastics and the US women’s team was so amazing!
We’ve been watching the Olympics, too!! I LOVE the diving!
Hi Julie. May I ask what size you got in the shorts?
Hi Hilary! I got a large — I kept them but I actually ordered a second pair (yet to arrive) in a medium because they could be a little tighter on my waist. I just opted for a large initially because I didn’t want them to be TOO short. I’ll return the medium if they’re too short because I do like the way the large fits. I hope this helps!
My son is starting his last year of daycare and just the thought of him starting kindergarten gets me upset. That picture of chases classroom made my heart start beating fast. I’ll have to take PTO the day he starts real school. I’ll be a wreck all day. 😩
<3 Totally understand. Some of these bigger moments just feel like really hard reminders that they won't be little forever.
My youngest is going into Kindergarten this year. She’s way more excited about it than I am!
My oldest is turning 10 in less than two weeks so I’m really feeling the time slip away.
I have fine, straight, long hair too and it’s so hard to find something that will hold it in place. I’ll have to try those scrunchies.
Also, since you seem to have similar style preferences and great at shopping 🙂 maybe you could help me out. I’m looking for a purse or backpack that could be used as a purse so not too huge but big enough to carry daily essentials.
Julie, may I ask if you guys decided that Chase will go to Kindergarten a year later than he is eligible to? Or are the age requirements different in NC? I have a 5 y/o son (also born in July) and I’m facing the same decision. Your input would be so, so helpful!
Thank you so much!
Lea (a mom of 3 boys 💙💙💙)
Hi Lea! Yes! I spoke with a LOT of teachers about this — I kept hearing one sentiment that really stuck with me and that was, “You’ll never regret holding them back, but you may regret pushing them forward.” Ryan was always the youngest as a kid (he has an Oct bday and went forward early) and said he always felt a little developmentally behind the other kids so that really factored into our decision as well. Plus, I noticed Chase had a tendency to follow others last year and I thought he could use an extra year for confidence, etc. That’s the short version of what played into our decision but we will likely keep all of our boys on the same timeline (they all have summer bdays).
Thank you so much for your response and sharing your opinion! That sentiment you wrote really is some food for thought! I’m still so unsure. I’ve been literally thinking about it all Summer long. My other boys’ birthdays are in Fall, so it’s just this July birthday that makes me so anxious.. If I can ask you one more question – what school program was Chase doing this past school year? Was it Junior Kindergarten? My 5 y/o son finished Junior K in June, so a natural progress would be to send him to K next. I don’t really want him to attend Junior K twice, but I’m not sure he’s ready for a full day Kindergarten either… Tough decision!
He was in a 5-day 5-year-old Pre-K class at his preschool last year. He did the 2s, 3s, 4s and then 5s at his preschool along with a group of kids (most of which had summer birthdays) and it was wonderful!
Oh! And NC may be a little different — you can start kindergarten at 5 but it isn’t mandatory until 7 so some people keep their kids back even longer in this area. After speaking with Chase’s teacher it sounds like many of the kids in his class are young six-year-old with a few 5s and a few 7s.
What kind of ice cream maker do you use?
I use a 2 qt Cuisinart ice cream maker and love it!! https://bit.ly/3xuTBAz
Julie, first off: I have been reading your blog for a long time and it was such a valuable resource for me during my pregnancy and those newborn days. I really admire how you do it all and how you manage to appear in such a happy and relaxed mood through it all! Also, how do you find the time to look so put together all the time? How do you do your messy bun? We have a similar hair structure and my bun keeps looking flat and sad. I’d love it if you could do a future post on how you do your hair. Please, please tell us what products you use, how you do your bun and how you curl your hair 🙂