Lately

I took the girls to Splash Zone last week.  They've got it at 25% capacity so it wasn't overcrowded and it wore us out!

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We did a Trader Joe's run and picked up their Harvest grain blend.  It's a mix of couscous, lentils, orzo, and quinoa and a nice change up to rice or pasta.  I seasoned it pretty heavily, added lima beans and tomatoes, and served with panko chicken tenders.

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Playground Time.  It's gotta be shaded, or WE WILL MELT.

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Roasted okra spears.  I toss them lightly in oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic.  450 for 20 minutes.  They come out crisp, almost like chips.  We had these alongside ribs Saturday night.

That's about it.  Stay cool!

xLaura

Pandemic Side Effects

We've all been affected one way or another by the circumstances of 2020 and the Coronavirus Pandemic.  I've put some thought into sharing my outlook and how it has affected me.

I'll start with the basics: weight gain, tendinitis (aka mommy wrist), anxiety...but it goes a lot deeper than that.

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Parenting Burnout

I have enjoyed being a stay at home mom for years.  I consider myself a FUN mom and genuinely enjoying spending my days with my kids.  I feel like COVID has really robbed me of this.  

You know the saying "It takes a village"... I've always taken it to mean the support of family and friends.  But what I've gleaned during this time of quarantine is that the "village" is really more about the community.  The librarians who we've come to know as friends...the farmers market musicians that interact with our kids...the church nursery worker who you always seem to run into at the grocery store, the lady at the aquarium who asks if you want a family photo...  All of these (and a million more) pieces of the village are gone.  And we NEED the village, just like the saying says.  It's the village that sustains parents from losing our minds.  Without it, we're exhausted, impatient, frustrated, sad...completely and utterly UN-FUN.

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Building my Bubble

I've always appreciated different opinions and perspectives but I feel that 2020 has (temporarily) changed that.

I've built a bubble around my world, shielding from as much heavy and negative information as possible.  This is mostly evident in my lack of social media usage.  Pre-pandemic, I enjoyed social media as a connection to the outside world on days where I didn't interact with adults at all.  Now, it feels like a mine-field of attacks and anger.  I had to shut it down.  I've also felt the need to prune my relationships during this time.  In the normal world, it was easy to overlook/brush certain things off.  But this bubble makes me a lot more fragile, so I'm protecting it.

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Respect the Stress

Throughout my life I have found it hard to understand why some people behave the way they do.  2020 has really taught me a HUGE lesson on this subject.  This is the first experience I've known where every single person is dealing with the same stress.  Perhaps not the same exact circumstances, but we are all feeling it.  And we are ALL maneuvering it in our own ways.  I've learned to respect that everyone is different and is doing what they think is best.  It's obvious that NONE of us know how to handle this situation and therefore NONE of us are right or wrong.  This is such a valuable mindset for me to recognize, one I wish I'd learned sooner.  But I'm grateful for this pandemic side effect.

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How are you holding up?

xLaura

Dog Days

Woof!  It's too hot to do much of anything in Charleston.  We are laying around like lazy pups.

  I realized the other day that I have read more than 60 books since the Coronavirus outbreak began!  It's been a major outlet for me during such uncertainty.  Here's my most recent list:

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I made this for dinner the other night.  Both K and I liked it but I'll say it was a bit heavy for a summer meal.  I will probably file it away for the Fall. 

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Our tie dye project was fun!  It was hard to find precise DIY directions and I think I messed up by not letting them sit overnight before rinsing.  All of the dye sort of bleeded together and the color is pukey looking.  I think I am going to try again in a couple weeks.  

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I got this tiny little blue and white vase at an estate sale this weekend for fifty cents.  I'm convinced I'm going to strike it big on Antiques Roadshow one day.  That is our Monday night tv tradition.

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Have a great week.

Stay hydrated!

xLaura

Humpity Hump

Hump Day, yay!
We have just been trying to beat the heat around here lately.  

EB loves playing with my grandmother's clip on earrings:

Speaking of earrings, I picked these up last week:

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Our sweet Alfie was really sick last week.  Here we are at our second day of vet appointments.  They wouldn't let us come in with him due to COVID, which was heartbreaking, but luckily after a round of antibiotics and eating homemade salmon and rice for dinner, he's is back at it!

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Last night I did a breakfast hash for dinner.  It had roasted potatoes, turkey kielbasa sauteed with peppers and onions, and a sunny side egg on top.  Yum!

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This little girl sure makes a big splash!  She loves the pool.  

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That's a wrap.  We are doing tie dye this afternoon!

TTYL,

Laura

Fourth of July + More

We had a nice 4th hanging around the house.  

K grilled burgers and they were SO delicious.  

My favorite summertime meal.

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One year well check: Happy and Healthy!

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We inherited some old Post and Courier newspapers from K's grandfather and I found a few ads from the 60's to frame.  This is an ad from the hair salon in Belk at South Windermere.  I have SO many vivid memories of shopping here as a child.  It's where we bought our school shoes every year, had my make up done at Clinique for my "8th grade dance", bought my veil for First Holy Communion...very nostalgic for me. 

In other "home" life, we are going to be replacing our counter tops in our kitchen later this year.  This was on the shortlist when we bought our house, but we weren't able to do it, so I'm very excited!

We are also going to replace the sink, cabinet hardware, and window treatments.  I also think I'm going to frame a couple of vintage grocery ads to replace the flower prints that I've literally had for twenty years.  

Speaking of home projects, I feel like I've got a head full of commentary on the ridiculous consumerism filling my social media feeds lately.  Of course I choose to follow these influencers, but I think I may be changing my mind.  I'm a frugal person, so I'm not one to spend money anyways.  But My Gosh!  It seems as if it's growing on trees for some of these people...w don't even have jobs outside of instagram.  Luckily I'm old enough to know that it doesn't, but what about young people just starting out seeing this??  I got into this world of  blogging because of my interest in seeing the things some of my (mostly local) peers liked to do, eat, and yes, buy.  But it seems a few of these girls have since won the lottery!   I'll wrap this up so let me just say: Reality is (for some/most of us) saving up for new counter tops, NOT changing out already beautiful granite to marble because you didn't like a certain color swirl*  

Bye!

Note: I hate that this sounds bitter after reading it back.  I'm not referring to women with real jobs who are wealthy and able to make whatever purchases they want, whether frivolous to me or not.  I mean women who are constantly buying and linking on instagram, portraying a wealthy and carefree life, with no real job. That's what I call FAKE.

xLaura