Last night we had our little parent orientation night for Maxi’s MDO program, we have a FOOTBALL game this weekend, and we will only hit 97 today. It’s almost fall, y’all. 😉 ha! But in all seriousness, today we are recapping August and talking about some August favorites. From your favorite blog posts to my favorite podcast I listened to, I’m listing it all out!

Top Blog Posts

• Drugstore Lipsticks
• Sephora Sale
• NYC Sister Trip

Favorite Amazon Purchases

• Busy Book– This busy book has been so much fun for Maxi. It has kept her occupied at any restaurant, doctor’s waiting room, etc. We had a lot of busy books around 18 months and then the ones we had I guess she kind of outgrew, but this one is great for toddlers.
• Duchess Kate Coloring Book– I feel a little silly since this is far more for mom than tot, but I got Maxi this Duchess of Cambridge coloring book and we have been coloring in it together in the afternoons. I am embarrassed at how into it I am! She will be finished coloring and I’m still sitting there perfecting Kate’s brooch. ha! But it makes a really cute gift for a little girl’s birthday party, etc.
• Tie-Dye Dress– This $22 tie-dye dress is the one featured above. I talked a lot about tie-dye on the blog this week, and this is another one I’m absolutely loving. It fits TTS and will look great in transitional weather with a hat.
• Pink Marble Phone Case– Lots of DMs about my phone case and you can shop it here! There is also a blog post here for some more photos.

Don’t forget, you can also always shop all my Amazon finds I mention here.

Most Shopped

NAME NECKLACE

I have the gold with crystals!

TULA SENSITIVE DUO

See the blog post here. My Tula code is “KATEY” for 20% off. 

LEOPARD TOP

Wearing a size small.

WHITE DRESS

Wearing Regular XS. Should have done petite, but regardless, I would just size down from your normal size!

Top Questions:

What’s next for your home projects?

Oh, I’m so happy you asked! I think home projects are always evolving, whether it’s landscaping, or cleaning, or disposing of japanese knotweed. We are still in the decorating phase. We’ve got an empty dining room and empty bedrooms, but I’m a firm believer that this stuff takes years. I really enjoy the process and think it’s fun when you space things out. Plus, it’s just far more practical budget-wise. You may have seen on Insta Stories, but we changed the carpet in Maxi’s room. I don’t adore the carpet we have in this house, but it’s brand new, so I can’t complain. However, I wanted a rug for Maxi’s room and what we found was that new carpet was more cost-efficient than a new rug. Maxi has the old master {our room was an add on} and so it’s far larger than the other bedrooms {sorry future children!}, and so I wanted a rug or something to just pull everything together. Due to the size, the rugs we found with Maddie were just silly in cost. I didn’t want to spend that for a TODDLER and we hope to be here many, many, many years- if not forever. A toddler that turns into a teenager one day will spill many things on a rug, so that seemed ridiculous. Maddie found this carpet, it’s so soft, and ranked very cleaning friendly. It looks far more “white” in the photos, but it’s not, and I already tested a spill or two and Folex got it out like a dream.

We had some plumbing work done all last weekend and soon it will be time to do some work on the master bath. This isn’t anything really decorating, but just since we are here talking about it. We have to seal some tile and caulk some things and hired a plumber that provided water heater replacement in Sammamish, WA. Exciting stuff, y’all. But I have been on the hunt for new bathroom mirrors and might check Homegoods. I actually found the mirrors I want on a real estate listing. Fun fact, I STALK realtor apps because I think it’s one of the best ways to get home inspiration. Is that creepy of me? I love Pinterest, but it’s not always realistic. Where are the toys?! I feel like real estate photos show controlled clutter, but homes that have been lived in and not just styled for a shoot. I found a bathroom with the mirrors I want and I’m 14 seconds away from posting it to IG Stories and asking y’all, because I just know you all would know where it’s from. But this home is local and I just am far too embarrassed to do that. We also will be swapping out the black counters in our bathroom because we don’t have windows in our bathroom and that combined with black counters makes it quite dark. Thoughts on marble in a bathroom? Our counters are SMALL, so the cost would be easier than a kitchen. I didn’t do marble in my kitchen for a few reasons, but one reason being I’m not ultra careful with my kitchen counters and I knew I’d stain them despite sealing. But if I accept the staining for the bathroom counters, would it be okay? Do you have them in your bathroom? Thoughts?! We installed hardware in them this week, too.

I got hardware for Maxi’s bathroom and can’t wait to install that with my dad this weekend. AND we are doing wallpaper in our master on the accent wall! Our ceilings are very high in the master and I just wanted a little color or warmth. Our favorite artists, Jenn Thatcher, is actually doing grasscloth wallpaper now! It should launch soon on her website. She brought a piece I commissioned for my office over last week and showed me the samples. I was so thrilled and have someone coming to measure next week so we can get it priced out. The pink euro shams we have in our master will actually be going on Maxi’s big girl bed {y’all know I move pillows around my house 24/7} and then we’ll do all neutral bedding like we have and just let the wallpaper pop. Our new nightstands also came last week, which I’ve included a picture of above.

WHEW! Sorry for the ramble, y’all probably feel like I talked your ear off at lunch- but you know I think about these things far too often.

What are the baskets in your Ikea table?

You can see in the photo above with my leopard shirt my new Ikea find! I’m going to do an entire blog post on the toy storage situation, but basically, I wanted something in the living room to store some toys so that I wasn’t always going back and forth with Maxi to get items and clean up. We play in her room in the mornings and in the evenings, but in the afternoons we are always in the living room. I found this Ikea sofa table and knew it would be the perfect solution. The baskets are also Ikea! These are the baskets.

What did you get from the Julie Vos fall collection?

While in NY, I went up to see the Julie Vos team and we chatted about what they have planned for fall, launches, sales, campaigns, and the ideas behind each collection so I can better help y’all! I also picked up a few pieces for fall and you’ve seen me wear it just about daily. I couldn’t link before they launched, but you’ll notice they’ve been in all my blog posts! ha. I’ll link below what I am wearing from the fall collection.

Random Favorite

I listened to this podcast with Emily Maynard and I could listen to it again and again! I’m totally in the minority, but I get sick of podcasts that preach “hustle” and working better, etc. I feel that we as a culture obsess over it. In this podcast, Emily is talking about her life and kids, but at the middle mark she really leans into this. She talks about how she’s probably the only ex- Bachelor contestant that isn’t really focusing on a product or brand and WHY she is okay with that. It was so refreshing to hear. She was just saying how she knows her lane and she leans into THAT instead. She’s so positive and content and it was something that I needed to hear. I think so often we get on Instagram and look at other people’s lanes and think, “Why am I not ahead in that lane?” But guess what? It isn’t our lane. We can’t run our race if we are looking at the lane next to us. So even if you don’t watch The Bachelor or you aren’t a mom, I think it’s a healthy podcast for any woman to listen to. It just gives you this spirit of contentment afterward!

Alright, y’all. I’ve probably talked your ear off- so I want to know, what are YOUR favorite things from August?!