Are You Tired of Being Cooped Up, Too?

The other night we snuck off to the playground at older brother’s school to let the kiddos run around and get out some of their energy that’s been building up lately. We have a big local park that underwent an almost 2 year renovation and it just opened at the end of last year, but we haven’t played at it since March, at the start of the pandemic here in the U.S. It was fun while it lasted, though, and the kiddos absolutely loved going there.

Needless to say, we’ve had to get creative in how we let the kids play outside. Our yard is pretty small, so they can only run around so much in the back yard, and we don’t feel safe going to the new park (even though it’s open) and have them be around all the other kids, potentially putting their health at risk. We weigh the pros and cons of it all the time, of exposing them to others during this pandemic, and it’s just not worth it to us in the long run. We know this isn’t forever, it’s just for a season or two. We want them to be as safe as they can be right now so that they have a long life to live and make up for all the fun that’s being missed right now.

Of course, that presents many challenges right now in the middle of summer, which is why we’re so grateful for our land during this time so they (and us) can run wild and free. Our house is in town and doesn’t give us a lot of room to stretch our legs, so we need that release every now and then (read: as often as we can get it).

Maybe you’re not social distancing as much or maybe you don’t have kiddos to look after, or maybe you’re staying in as much as we are to be as safe as you can be? It’s crazy how we’re all going through this together yet experiencing it all so differently. Such wild times we’re in. And on top of everything, older brother starts school next week, or is supposed to, so we’ll see how that goes. Hoping for a virtual option, but it’s still not 100% in the clear.

Regardless of all of the above, we’re fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity and the choice to stay home and social distance ourselves and the kiddos. We know so many people around the world are going through such a tough time right now and are being put in unimaginable situations for various reasons, and our hearts break for them. We think about it often, how much life has changed for us over the last 5 months and how much more it could change for all of us.

However you’re dealing with it or whatever you’re going through, we sincerely hope you’re staying as safe as possible and doing what you can to stay healthy, both physically and mentally.

Sending love and virtual hugs, friends xx.

Our Online Store is Back Up!

After taking a few months off from selling our apparel and CBD oil, the store is back online and we’re offering those items again! We took a break at the start of the pandemic and quarantine (so many questions about it being safe to ship and receive product, worrying about our family, etc.).

We’re not sure how long we’re going to be selling the products after this, but we’ll see. For now though, you can click the little “shop” tab at the top of our blog to browse and see what we have. We’re still currently only shipping in the United States (sorry!) but again, we’ll see what he future holds for our little store. Maybe more products? Maybe we’ll start shipping internationally once we get more inventory? Maybe this is the end for now (without sounding dramatic!!)? Not sure!

xoxo

Have a Lovely Friday Night

TGIF friends. We really mean that tonight. Pizza is ordered, wine is poured, and we’re looking forward to couch & Netflix time. Maybe the new Charlize Theron movie? We just finished season 2 of The Order and if you haven’t seen it, we highly recommend it! If you liked Sabrina, it’s similar but a little edgier.

This week has been one of those weeks, the kind that never seems to end and where, by the end of it, we want to put forth the most minimal effort possible to enjoy ourselves and relax. That’s what’s happening tonight and we’re so looking forward to it.

Happy Friday night, friends, and have a lovely weekend xo.

PS: wear a mask, please. 🙏🏼

A Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe

Here’s the story: we had a lot of bananas. We had a taste for something chocolatey. We knew what we had to do.

We had to make chocolate banana bread, naturally. Actually, we had originally planned to make a banana pound cake that Thomas’ sister made and had sent him the recipe for, but PJ got a taste for chocolate (always) so we decided to make this one first. And we gotta say, we don’t regret it. It’s the perfect mix of banana and chocolate and it’s so moist, almost tasting cake-ish, in all the best ways of course.

Here’s what you’re going to need, taken directly from Two Peas and Their Pod:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

• 3 large brown bananas   (1 1/2 cups mashed)

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

• 1/4 cup canola vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil

• 3/4 cup  packed light brown sugar

• 1 large egg, at room temperature

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup  semisweet chocolate chips, divided

Directions:

1. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork. Add the melted butter and oil and stir until combined. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.

4. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don’t overmix. Stir in 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the top of the bread. Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don’t want a lot of gooey batter. Check at 50 minutes, just to be safe. Oven times vary.

6. Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve.

7. Note-the bread will keep on the counter, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 4 days. This bread also freezes well. To freeze, cool the bread completely and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before slicing.

Enjoy friends! :)

The Boy Downstairs

We watched the movie “The Boy Downstairs” this weekend and it was really, really cute. We’d never heard of it before and came across it while aimlessly scrolling. It’s about a writer who moves back to New York City and, by complete accident, moves into the same building as her ex boyfriend who lives (you guessed it) just downstairs. It’s an intimate indie film that feels incredibly real, with all the real-life, awkward conversations & situations that come with new relationships, breakups, and the back and forth of getting back together.

The film gets bonus points for being set in a beautiful Brooklyn brownstone, meaning it’s extremely easy on the eyes in that -makes you wish it was winter time in NYC so you can cozy up in your favorite sweater as the snow falls outside your window instead of the reality of 95 degrees of straight humidity in Tennessee- kind of way. You know what we mean? ;)

You can stream “The Boy Downstairs” on Hulu. Happy viewing, and happy Monday friends! xx