Prioritizing relationships in a busy life.

October 18, 2018

Life is currently as full as it gets (and I don’t think that will be changing anytime soon!), so we are always looking for ways to make time for the things that matter most to us. We are excited to partner with Signature by Levi Strauss & Co. to share a closer look at our week, and the ways we are carving time for the most important things.

As our children grow, we have added new events to our week like sports, art, or music practice. Then of course there are birthday parties, school projects due, and community service projects on Sundays. Since we are now managing so many different activities in addition to our business, Gabe and I started using a mutual calendar this year (took us long enough!), which has definitely helped us with weekly flow and *attempting* to balance life. In order to make sure we find quality time with each of our kids, we find pockets of time where we can and make the most of it. We find ways to spend time as a family, but also look for one on one time if possible. Sometimes it’s as simple as reading books with the babies before nap time or a bike ride with the oldest. Dinner time is our all together family time, as well as low key rest days on Sundays.

Our business continues to evolve and change, and any extra time we have is put back into home projects, communication with readers, and content creation. We are always exploding with ideas, and wondering when we will find the time to actually do them! Because of this, it would be easy to put aside friendships and date nights, but we know how vital it is to stay connected with these relationships. We will schedule a sitter twice a month for dates, even if it is just coffee in the morning or dinner on a Friday night. Gabe is really good about braving the bedtime hour solo so I can sneak out for a few hours with good friends or sisters. I try to do the same for him. We fight for time in our week for these relationships because we know just how positively it can impact our day to day life.

I pretty much have a uniform for day to day life now because I am constantly moving and on the go whether that is chasing little ones, running out the door for a meeting, or a date out with Gabe. You can usually find me in jeans and a tee or button down shirt….extra bonus points if the jeans are comfortable. I’ve been living in the Women’s Low-Rise Jegging from Signature by Levi Strauss & Co line. It has really good stretch, is true to size, and for once aren’t too long! I RARELY find a pair with that combo under $100, let alone under $20, so it’s a welcome relief to find an affordable pair that fit so well. Gabe also has a really hard time finding jeans he likes, and the Mens Regular Taper Jean got his full approval…..and his wife’s. (wink)

It can be all to easy to go through life on high speed and lose focus on what truly matters in life. It can make all the difference to start setting aside intentional pockets of time that are uncompromisable! A good shared calendar and comfy jeans doesn’t hurt either;) What are some of the ways you work time for relationships and family into your week?

*Swiss dot shirt: Marie Zelie, Hair scarf, boots (similar)

*Thank you to Signature by Levi Strauss & Co. for partnering with us on this post.

A Guide to Building a Capsule Wardrobe.

October 17, 2018

It is so easy to get stuck in a cycle of purchasing what we think we “need” or impulse buy if we feel it is something that will make us happy to own. However, the collection of things very rarely leads to contentment. 80 billion pieces of clothing are consumed every year globally. (source) What?! Average Americans throw away over 70 lbs of textiles every year! (source)

I myself found that I had little control over my clothing spending, and had a closet full of clothes that I wasn’t even all that crazy about. After trying my first capsule wardrobe, my spending halted altogether. I also felt a freedom from the heaviness that excess and materialism tend to leave in our impulsive paths. It not only slimmed down the visual clutter, but freed up all the clutter mentally. It doesn’t have to be boring either! This was my bold color summer capsule. I knew the items I chose to use were ones that fit me well and made me feel myself! They were pieces I could use all season long, and I didn’t have to spend any time trying to find things that paired together.

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Husky Chili Recipe

October 14, 2018

We keep getting requests for what we feed our big family, so we thought it was time to bring back recipe posts! We are always experimenting with clean ingredient recipes, and finding things that are relatively low cost that everyone will actually eat. Gabe is a master at working with flavors, so today his is sharing his husky and hearty chili recipe we used this weekend that fed over 25 people! We had a bunch of family over for dinner, so we doubled this recipe for an extra large batch. Scroll to the bottom to copy the recipe!

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Family Halloween Costume Ideas.

October 12, 2018

We know many of our readers don’t have facebook or instagram, so here is a compilation of all of our past family costumes, and a plea to help us figure out this year’s! Any votes?? My mom and dad always made every holiday come alive for us, and I hope to continue this with my own family. I don’t know how long they will be on board for family costumes, but so far they have loved it…..

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8 Pieces, 8 Fall Looks (+ Video)

October 10, 2018

As the mornings get cooler here in Atlanta, I am starting to slowly swap out my wardrobe for more transitional pieces I can mix and match. The afternoons are still really warm so it is the trickiest time of year to figure out what to wear! I asked my stylist Amanda from Trunk Club to help find some good options for the fall season, and she hit the nail on the head! These are 8 looks I created with 8 pieces of clothing (and two pairs of boots!)
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10 Couples Costume Ideas.

October 5, 2018

Gabe was always a good sport in college for theme parties, and we just kept finding ways to keep the humor going over the years. We rounded up 10 relatively easy couples costume ideas for you today, and I am super impressed with how legit some of these look! Read on for all 10 ideas.

Luke and Leia – For our family costume last year we did a Star Wars theme (more on family costumes soon!), so after all the kids chose their characters we ended up as Luke and Leia. (Gabe switched to Hans for trick or treat night – ha!) I couldn’t find a costume so ended up wearing a robe backwards with a pair of boots. Gabe decided to do the look from the Yoda and Luke training scene, and sweat stained an old tee to pair with some Khakis. If you have a little one, we used an Ergo Baby carrier to put yoda on his back.
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Easy and affordable ways to decorate for fall.

October 1, 2018

I tend to over do it with Christmas decor, but I keep it pretty minimal for Halloween! Because my children get SO enthused if I so much as put out a pumpkin, I try to at least put a little in each room for October and November:) Here are a few easy and affordable ways to decorate for fall.

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