On My Radar 11.8.24

Man, it's been quite a week. I'm not sure what to say right now, but I wanted to show up here because I've made a commitment to myself to prioritize this space. My week has been consumed by election news and I've been trying to stay off social media a little bit to drown out the noise. It's been a lot to take in and digest these past few days. I'm thankful for posts like this that have helped me talk to Graham about the election results. But, I wanted to show up here today and keep things light. I know the world feels dark right now, but as Kamala mentioned, without darkness we cannot see the stars. And it feels good to have a little bit of light and casual somewhere this week.

// one // Ina Garten Be Ready When The Luck Happens: A Memoir 

If you love Ina, you must read her book! I finished it on Wednesday and it was just the bright spot I needed. I adore her, and remember watching her cooking show back in high school and being drawn to her. She is so calming, classy, and basically I want to be her when I grow up. Her book outlines her life story, relationship with Geoffrey, and her career. I love her even more after finishing this book. It's one I'll likely read again. It felt so timely for me to read right now. Some of the things she went through in her career, a huge pivot that brought her to where she is now. And of course the message in the title, Be Ready When The Luck Happens. Was my being laid off luck? And another quote from the book, "you never know what the good breaks are". It was an inspiring and fun read. 

// two // Chappy Wrap Blankets

To say I'm obsessed with these blankets is an understatement. I love to give them as gifts! I have about 5 in my cart right now, I just can't decide which print! I'd love another Christmas one, but also having one to leave out year round like this would be nice. If you're looking for a great gift for this coming holiday season, everyone I've gifted one to raves about it. They're the perfect size to keep on the couch for watching a show, I have one on our bed because I'm always cold, and the boys all have a mini size in their rooms. They're machine washable and even the one I've had for 4 years looks brand new. These are a few other of my current favorites one, two, three, four, five. 

// three // Gratitude Journal

Since it's the season of gratitude I was inspired to order this affordable little journal on Amazon to start practicing gratitude daily. It's something I've been curious about trying, but haven't actually sat down to do it yet. I figured now is the perfect time to start. Tis' the season for being grateful for all the things we have in our life. I also think it will help in our current climate to focus on things that bring me joy and happiness, to make the world feel a bit less dark. 

// four // Local Holiday Events

With the holiday season approaching, it's time to start planning our calendars. I love to do as many local things as we can with the kids to celebrate the season and make it festive. I probably over do it, but now we have so many traditions I try to keep up with them all. Try searching your local town or county to see if they have page on their website with local holiday events, you never know you could find your new favorite tradition! I remember when Graham was a baby and we went to our first Auburn Light Parade, I was blown away. Now it's one of our favorite holiday traditions. I'll be working on a post and reel for the local events here in Placer County to share as well.  

// five // Holiday Party Dress

I love Rent The Runway for holiday and event dressing, it's so fun to have so many options to choose from. Plus when I rarely want to re-wear dresses for events, so this is a sustainable (and more affordable) way to 'shop' With that said, I adore this dress from Hill House! Rent the Runway does have Hill House sometimes, but I haven't seen this particular print or style. I am so tempted to buy it, I just love it so much, but without having a job an all, I should probably just continue lusting after it and leave it safely in my cart.

I hope you enjoyed today's post. This casual style of posting reminds me of the original days of blogging. I plan to share these "On My Radar" posts weekly or bi-weekly moving forward. 

Recent Outfits 01

I always love being inspired by what other women are wearing, and a few bloggers I've followed for years share recent outfit posts I always enjoy. So I thought I would start sharing as well. As you probably know if you follow me on Instagram, I do the Rent The Runway membership each month. It has been so fun and helped me try new trends and styles postpartum. I have always struggled with my self confidence, and having such fun pieces to wear through Rent The Runway has been so helpful for me feeling good about myself. 

Here are a few of my recent outfits and rentals. It's finally fall here so now I'm excited for my next shipment, more sweaters and jackets! My favorite thing to rent. 

I loved this Tory Burch dress I rented so much I actually wore it twice! When I was in wine country with my Mom and sister it was still warm, we I wore it with sandals and a jean jacket. But then for our theater date with my girlfriend, I dressed it up with my brown boots. I think I liked it best with the boots, it felt for elevated and perfect for fall. The fabric was lovely fall colors, but the style of the dress felt a bit more summery, I was tempted to buy it. 

This outfit was actually all things I already own. The white jeans are from Target and I've worn them more than I anticipated. I am thinking of cutting the hem, because no matter how much I iron them, it always rolls up. They're so comfortable and looked cute with this fall blouse I got at Nordstrom last year. I paired it with my sude brown boots for Book Club and dinner with friends. 

I've been eyeing this dress and was so excited for an opportunity to rent it this past shipment. I styled it with tall suede boots and brown tights for my birthday celebration with friends over the weekend. If you read my post yesterday, you saw we made dried floral arrangements and had brunch at Park Winters. It was the best way to celebrate my birthday. I paired it with the cutest jacket I also rented, which you can see briefly in this reel. 

This was a dress I had saved in my favorites, but it never quite made the cut until now. It wasn't until mid-October we had fall weather here, so I wanted something that felt like fall but worked in the heat. This dress was the perfect color for that. I wore it a few times and it was one of those rentals that ended up being better than expected. It was comfortable, easy to throw on, and with the ties I could wear it different ways each time. This reel shows a few ways to style it.

It's funny, when I opened my shipment with this top, I was a little disappointed. It just looked a little 'blah.' I had chosen it again, because it was still so hot but I was ready to dress more like fall. The colors were right, but on the hanger it wasn't anything special. I ended up wearing it several times though. It was so comfortable and easy to wear. You can see the floral pattern up close in this reel.

One of my favorite rentals ever, I just loved this dress! The 8 year old version of me would have lusted over it. I was obsessed with sunflowers when I was younger. My room was decked out, including a sunflower welcome mat outside my door in the hallway. I wore this a few times, and if it wasn't so memorable, I would have purchased it. 

Most of these pieces were from the same rental shipment, it was a good one! This top was no exception, I adored it. I always love Ulla Johnson pieces, they're feminine and unique, plus they always fit me well. I loved this top and styled it with jeans and boots for a fall transitional look. 

I wish I had gotten a better photo of this top. I loved this rental and wore it several times. Another one that was easy to wear with jeans for school drop off and other errands, but I could also dress it up a bit if I wanted. I really loved the colors and the pattern, great for transitional fall weather. 

Another one I don't have a good photo of, but I love this jacket. I am considering buying it because I know I'll wear it a lot and it's on sale. It's so cozy with a fun pop of leopard print. This was my school drop off uniform yesterday, comfy and warm for those cold mornings. 

If you're interested in trying Rent The Runway, here is my link for 40% off your first month! 

Park Winters Flower Arranging & Brunch

For my birthday this year, my girlfriends surprised me with a day to celebrate. We had it planned this past weekend, a few days after my birthday. All I knew was that I should plan to be away for most of the day, and that we would be standing/walking around part of the time so dress cute but comfortably. As it got closer, she added that we'd be outside part of the time, so I needed a jacket. Thankfully my friend helped approve my outfits, that was the hardest part with not knowing the plan! 

I knew there would be a really fun day, but I had no idea what to expect. I assumed a winery at first, but then Erica mentioned it wasn't a wine tasting so I was stumped. I remembered two places I had mentioned I wanted to go, but was left guessing. 

We met at my friend Nikki's house who had a spread of pastries and coffee out for us. We hung out there for a little bit, then all drove together to our unknown (to me) destination! After a while, I realized it wasn't the first location I had guessed (The Hive) but it was likely Park Winters! I was excited to see it. I knew from a friend who attended a wedding there that it was a very cute location. I assumed we were having brunch. But when we arrived we walked out to their barn to find it completely full of beautiful dried flowers, with a long table down the center for a flower arranging day! I was so excited! This was so up my ally and I was touched they planned this for me. 

When we arrived the self proclaimed "barn diva" Sharon, gave us a rundown of how it works. She showed us how to arrange our long stems into the provided buckets shaking the gravel so they would stay. We were instructed to pick anything we wanted from around the barn. Starting with tall branches, then moving on to the 'filler' and 'spiller'. There were so many beautiful things to choose from, it was overwhelming. I just started grabbing things that spoke to me. Once we had our longer stems selected, we were ready to get started. 

It was a bit crowded with other groups working in the barn. It happened to be a very blustery day, so we wouldn't be able to work outside. This ended up being a blessing, because she said she was going to set us up in their "tea house." She walked us over to the cutest tiny cottage set up like a sitting room. We had the place to ourselves! Joy quickly got a playlist going, Nikki set out to find us some champagne, and then we got to work. 

It was so fun working together on our arrangements in the little tea house. Once we were happy with our longer stems as the base of our arrangements, we headed back to the main barn to select more flowers to fill in. I was so excited to find dried daffodils, they're such a delicate flower I was surprised to see them. And I also grabbed a few snapdragons for some color. There were so many options I wanted to choose from, but I ended up with a purple, pink and muted yellow palette. In hindsight maybe I should have gone with more fall colors, but this will last so long and look beautiful most of the year! 

After we finished our floral arrangements, Sharon helped us wrap them up to take home. Then we headed back towards the patio for brunch at the restaurant. It was fully outdoors, and a very windy day, but they had canvas curtains that really blocked a lot of the wind. They also offered blankets for us in case we were cold, it was such a cute touch. 

For lunch we shared wine and fries, and I ordered the smoked salmon benedict. It was delicious! I ate my entire plate, it was one of the best benedicts I've had in a long time. The eggs were perfectly poached, no runny white parts (the worst). 

We took our time at brunch visiting and enjoying our day together. It was so fun. I was so touched by the thoughtful planning, surprise, and the fact everyone left their families for a nearly a full day to celebrate me. They got me the most lovely compass pendant necklace for a jeweler we all love. The note in the card made my tear up, it was so thoughtful about always staying true to who I am. 

If you're local to the Foothills or Fog, this would be such a fun day. It's located in Winters, an easy drive from either the Bay Area or the greater Sacramento Area. It was a lovely brunch and the activity was so fun. Plus you go home with a beautiful arrangement! This time of year, they're doing dried flower arrangements. But in the spring and summer it's with fresh flowers from their farm. She also mentioned that they go all out with holiday decorations, and have wood fired pizza nights and wreath making. It would be such a fun tradition to start! 

I am so grateful for my wonderful friends and this fun day celebrating my 39th year. I'm excited to make it the best year yet! This day was such a perfect way to celebrate my birthday, it was so me!

Blog Everyday in October Recap

I can't believe my blogging challenge has already come to and end! I am so proud of myself for accomplishing this! There were definitely days I wanted to skip, and a few that I phoned it in with my posts. But I did it, each day I published something. 

This challenge was for me, very few people read it or even knew I was posting. I have been talking about getting back to blogging basically since the moment I stopped being consistent. Years! And I wanted to prove to myself that with discipline and a plan, I could do it. I wanted to see how it felt to be posting regularly. Could I make it work? Was it realistic to be officially blogging again? And I'm so happy that I was able to stick to my plan, found the time, and enjoyed sharing. 

I have an endless stream of ideas for things to post about here. Mostly all relating to a few main topics: Motherhood, My Style, Interior Design/Decor, Travel, Recipes and local Foothills highlights. My plan is to continue sharing what makes me feel inspired, as well as bits from our life here on the blog. I won't be posting 7 days a week, but I think I'll start with 3 or 5 days. 

Here is a look at all the posts I shared over the past month if you missed any. 

1. October Manifestations
2. Favorite Fall Traditions
3. Fall at Home
4. Recent Reads
5. Share a Moment of Your Day
6. A quote
7. Ocean or Mountains and Why
8. What Does Happiness Mean to You
9. Stress Antidote
10. 10 Things The Make You Really Happy
11. Something You’ve Learned in the Past Year
12. Favorite Place to Write
13. A look back on your favorite blog post (write a follow up)
14. If Fall Were a Person
15. In the Kitchen, Favorite things to cook
16. Current inspiration
17. Most important lessons you want to teach your children
18. What do you want to achieve before the year ends
19. Wanderlust
20. DIY You Want to Try
21. Start Again
22. My perfect day
23. A year ago…
24. Day in the Life Post
25. Write a Letter to Someone
26. Today’s Mood
27. A List
28. A Morning in Tuscany
29. Life Lessons
30. What am I waiting for?
31. Are ghosts real?

Thank you so much for those who have joined along and read my posts during this challenge. 

I'll be back next week!