The Most Beautiful Home I've Ever Been In & Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

How was your week?

We toured a house yesterday and it’s official: it’s the most beautiful home I’ve ever been in. The wallpaper! The kitchen! The historic details! We both agreed we wouldn’t change a thing about it; the furniture, the finishings, the design choices, all of it was completely our style and so very beautiful. It’s one of those houses that you dream about living in one day. Sigh. Maybe one day.

In other news, our weekend newsletter is going out tonight! Make sure you’re subscribed (below) and you will receive an email from us this evening. If you’ve already signed up and haven’t received one in the past, check your junk folder; sometimes they go there by mistake.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!! xoxo

18 Addictions That Society Treats As Normal

The truth always hits the hardest, doesn’t it?

After coming across this list on Buzzfeed the other day, in which people shared what real addictions they think society treats as totally normal, my mind was buzzing. I couldn’t help but wonder: How many of these do I do on a regular basis, without giving them a second thought? And why have I never thought about these as being addictions before now?

Here are some of the real-life addictions submissions that stuck out to me the most:

• Caffeine

• Phones

• Materialism

• Working too much

• Sugar

• Hustle culture

• Health & weight obsession

• Approval

When you stop and think about each of them, it’s the damn truth, isn’t it? And a sad one at that. But reading these, and the accompanying explanations, gave me some perspective and allowed me to take a look at myself and see what I can change and work on, for myself and for my family.

I could always spend less time on my phone (can’t we all?). I could absolutely without a doubt cut down on my sugar intake, and maybe stop stressing so much about how much weight I’ve gained this past year. I’ve started drinking 3 cups of coffee a day because I’m so damn tired all the time, so cutting down on that would be nice (but I would need to make other changes, like going to bed earlier and eating healthier foods that don’t make me sleepy).

Just thinking out loud today. We can always make small (or big) changes here and there, can’t we?

Click here to see the entire list.

5 Fall Flannels to Stay Cozy in All Season

It’s just more fun getting dressed during the fall isn’t it? One of life’s greatest little pleasures is putting on a warm flannel as the weather starts getting cooler.

I’ve been into oversized flannels the last few years (I love how big and cozy they feel), so I usually order a size or two up. Here are 5 that caught our attention this season:

How comfy does this scotch plaid flannel from LL Bean look? It gets bonus points because the name of this color is “MacBeth Old Colours”. $49

This traditional flannel shirt from Land’s End is currently on sale for only $29 (!).

The question currently on my mind: can you ever go wrong with a classic J. Crew flannel? Especially when it’s on sale? $74.50

It’s almost more of a light jacket, but this might be my favorite of the season. This check wool-blend overshirt from Mango makes a strong case for neutrals as a fall color palette. $119

Speaking of color palettes, is this stretch flannel from Bonobos the most perfect fall flannel of all time? $99

Stay warm, friends!! xo

An Afternoon at the Chattanooga Zoo

While Anna was visiting my sister and her family in Georgia this weekend, we took the boys to the Chattanooga Zoo for a fun family day out.

Last week was a doozy. The boys were on fall break, so they were home all week, which meant plenty of time to hang out and catch up (though, side note: Riah was home the entire week before because someone in his class tested positive for covid so they all have to quarantine for 10 days). Anyway, the only problem was that it rained every single day last week. I’m talking cats and dogs. And normally I love nothing more than a cozy rainy day at home, but when you have three kids sitting inside all day every day, suddenly a cozy rainy day at home turns into a challenging, uphill battle that no one wins.

On top of that, we had two huge deadlines with very big dream brands of ours that we absolutely love working with, so we were swamped with those the entire week. In fact, we’re still working on them in some form today, so yes, very very time consuming but very very fun and exciting.

For all of the reasons mentioned above, we thought it would be so fun to take the boys to the zoo for something different and to get them out of the house! Allan had been before with his aunt and grandma, but we’re 99% sure this was Riah’s first time.

They had the whole zoo decked out in Halloween decor, which of course the boys loved. It was a beautiful, sunny day with a nice breeze. It was a little hotter than I would have preferred but overall it was gorgeous!

We all agreed giraffes and magical and mythical and fairy-tale like. There’s just no other way to describe them.

The boys kept saying “Ew! Look at their butts” when they saw the primates, which made us laugh maybe way more than it should have.

If you haven’t been, I highly recommend checking out the Chattanooga Zoo if you’re local or passing through. Such a fun day!!! Only next time, we’ll make sure sis is with us when we go. She would have gone crazy over the little monkeys :).

Just the Four of Us & Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, y’all.

How was your week? Our kids were on fall break this week and we tentatively had all these big plans to do something fun, but instead we were swamped with work. Plus it rained every. single. day. so instead, we stayed inside and worked. Riveting stuff for a fall break, isn’t it? Allan was somewhat bummed, but we’re trying to get all of our work done todays so we can do something fun tomorrow and/or Sunday. Maybe the zoo? The aquarium?

In other news, Anna is visiting my older sister and her family in Georgia, so it’s just the four of us guys here at the house! My mom drove her down and they’re all spending a few days together doing all of her favorite things: nails, hair, makeup 😂. We don’t force anything on any of them, but she’s been drawn to all of those things for as long as we can remember.

We’re both so excited she has all of her cousins to play with (six of them!) and that she’s getting to spend quality time with my sister and my mom, but man do we sure miss her. It’s so different with two kids than with three! She’ll be home tomorrow night and we’ll give her the bigger hug, along with a special surprise (we’ll show you, too, next week!).

There will be no weekend newsletter this week unfortunately! Too much going on and super tight deadlines, but I’m hoping to be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming.

Lastly, I was going through an old SD card and found the photo above from 2017!! How was this four years ago? Anna wasn’t even born then! So crazy to think about how quickly time goes by. So crazy to also think about how much older we look now 😂. Not that I mind that part so much. I’m excited to grow older with my family.

Have a lovely weekend, friends. xoxo

The Best Destinations for Fall Foliage

I came across this article from Architectural Digest the other day and it immediately caught my attention. Remember when I shared the peak fall foliage map a few weeks back? Well, apparently these are the top fall foliage destinations in the country!

As expected, most of these places are in New England, an area of the country I’ve wanted to visit (or live?!) for as long as I can remember. Still trying to talk PJ into all of us taking a family trip there one day, but I think he’s on board! Doesn’t New England in the fall sound so dreamy? I can’t think of a more magical place.

Anyway, the list is filled with gorgeous, dreamy towns like the Catskills in New York, Stowe in Vermont, North Conway in New Hampshire, and Asheville, North Carolina. However, I was sad to see Ocoee, Tennessee didn’t make the list! The photo above is from a few years back (look how little Anna was!) when the colors were absolutely bursting in all their autumn glory. It’s such a beautiful area this time of year, but maybe the problem is just not as many people know about it?

Would love to visit any of the cities on this list one day!!