Monthly Archives

June 2017

Family

Lake Michigan Beach Weekend Getaway

Last weekend we decided to get out of town and head to my husband’s hometown of St. Joseph, Michigan for a quick getaway.  There are so many great memories in this little town, and we couldn’t wait to take our little lady there for her first dip in the lake!

We got into town Friday night, and crashed – we were all tired from a long week.  Saturday morning Isla had us up bright and early at 7AM, so I decided to go for a run while Jeremy grabbed donuts & coffee and had some daddy + daughter time on the bluff.  It was such a nice way to start the day!



The temps were reaching 90 degrees that afternoon, so we headed to a friend’s pool to cool off .  Isla was styling in her babiators and swimsuit, we seriously could not get over how cute she looked.

We were really curious to see how she would do in the pool, since most babies scream the first time they go swimming.  As it turns out, Isla is a total water baby and LOVED it from the first second her toes touched the water.  She was smiling so big, and just kept kicking her little legs!  I think my face broke from smiling so hard at her having fun.

The next morning, we decided to head out for a walk on the bluff, and then to the beach.  We were excited for Isla to see the sand and put her feet in the water – Lake Michigan was pretty cold so I was a little concerned she would get upset, but that wasn’t the case at all.  Once she had her feet in, she sort of looked at us like “is this okay?”, but as soon as she saw our smiles, she was jumping and kicking away.

It was a sweet moment in a special place, because this was the beach we walked on when we were dating, where we had our wedding ceremony, and where we took our pregnancy announcement photo.

All-in-all, it was a nice weekend away – we left sunkissed and happy to have shared this time as a family.

DIY Decor

Porch Updates + New Indoor/Outdoor Rug

Happy June!

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything.

Our little baby monster recently decided that she doesn’t need sleep to survive, and sleep training has been difficult.  This combined with changes at daycare, and Jeremy starting a new job left us all feeling pretty tired.  So I decided to put the blog on hold for a month, and just survive.

Now we’re adjusting to our new routines, and getting back into the swing of things…mostly.  The long holiday weekend was so needed.  I took an extra day off on Friday to spend with Isla, she had her 6 month checkup and shots which are never fun – but she was a trooper!

On Saturday, we had a cookout with family and friends.  Now that it’s warming up outside, we’ve been spending more time on our three season porch.

It’s one of my favorite “rooms” in the house, a relaxing little window-lined space to hangout.  Last year, Jeremy and I painted the walls, and added some seating by refurbishing Jeremy’s grandma’s old wicker furniture.  We also refinished my grandpa’s canoe paddles and hung those on the wall.

This summer, we wanted to make it an even more inviting space.  One of our neighbors gave us an old mini fridge last year, so Jeremy cleaned it up and found a place for it.  Now when we have friends over, we have a convenient little spot for drinks, no running back and forth to the kitchen.

He also hung this oversized marquee letter that he made for our wedding 5 years ago.  It adds a lot of curb appeal in such a special, meaningful way.

Marquee letter S lit up at night

Finally, I found the perfect rug!  The Marina Rug from Ballard Designs.

Ballard Designs Marina Indoor/Outdoor Rug

Source: Ballard Designs

Smiling baby girl

Isla (and her two little teeth) approves!

Ballard Designs Marina Rug

Source: Ballard Designs

We purchased their Chevron Stripe rug a few years ago for our dining room, and it has held up SO well.  I knew that the Marina rug was made from the same indoor/outdoor material, so it was a safe bet for the porch.

It makes the space so cozy, but I also know that if we spill something on it (or the baby/murphy gets something on it), we can just take it outside and hose it off.  That’s a SERIOUS win.  I learned the hard way with one of my jute rugs last year that if you plan on living around a rug, it needs to be easily cleaned.

Ballard Designs Marina Rug

Ballard Designs Marina Rug on Porch

Wall color: Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee

Ballard Designs Marina Rug on porchI’m hoping sometime soon we’ll be able to redo the bead board ceiling, and add an outdoor ceiling fan.  This porch is what sold me on the house when we were hunting, so I’m really excited to see it start coming together as the space I was hoping for.

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend, and thanks for sticking with me while I took a little break!