A Glimpse into Daily Life, 2/2/22

I thought I’d start a new series where I share little real life tidbits about what’s going on in our daily lives.  Things that we’re eating, drinking, reading, watching, etc.  I always think it’s interesting to see what others are doing in their lives outside of the internet, so I figured I’d try to start a weekly series where I share those types of things too.

This past weekend I attended a baby “sprinkle” for a friend that I run with at Lena’s in Alexandria.  It was fun to get a little dressed up (outfit above) and have a reason to get out on my own on the weekend, something that doesn’t happen often.  Dress is old from J.Crew but these are my boots (true to size) and these are the current version of earrings.

Jack didn’t have school on Monday but the girls did, so I took him to the Long Bridge Aquatics Center, which is a new Arlington Parks and Rec center that recently opened up near the Pentagon.  There is an indoor lap pool and an indoor leisure pool, and the leisure pool is amazing!  So great for families, with a play structure, water slide, splash pad area, a lazy river, a larger pool with basketball goals, and some other little pool areas too.  We played in the lazy river for an hour and had the best time.  He’s happiest when he’s in the water so it was nice to get this one on one time with him.  I can’t wait to take the girls!

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Here are some other details from the past few days:

Eating:  I bought an air fryer a few weeks back, so basically anything that I can throw in there gets cooked in the air fryer.  A recent favorite was throwing seasoned cauliflower in it and then toasting some naan bread, spreading hummus on it, then topping it with the roasted cauliflower, feta cheese, and other random toppings like cucumber, raw tomatoes, raw onion and raw carrots.  It’s such a filling and delicious meal that is a great way to get in a whole lot of veggies!

Drinking:  We are not bougie when it comes to alcohol, haha.  Barefoot Pinot Grigio in the magnum (lol) is our white wine of choice and Coors Light in the bottle cans is our beer of choice.  Every once in a while I’ll grab some Kona Brewing Longboard Lager to remind us of our years in Hawaii, and Tom occasionally comes home with a nice bottle of red wine for me.

Watching:  Tom and I started rewatching the Harry Potter movies since we haven’t seen them in years.  We don’t have cable and used to catch them on Freeform when they’d do Harry Potter weekends but we “cut the cord” in 2017 so haven’t randomly caught the movies on TV since then.  I decided to buy the full set and we’re currently on the 5th movie.  We decided to take a little break for some levity though and now we’re rewatching Cougar Town, which we both believe is one of the most underrated shows.  It’s so funny and it takes a lot to make Tom crack up but he laughs out loud every episode.  This is probably our 4th time watching the series from start to finish.  I promise it’s so fun if you’re looking for something random to watch!

Reading:  I recently finished reading People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.  It’s such a fun read.  Not heavy but not so light it just seems silly.  Next up will be Business Minded by blogger Carly Riordan and The Book of Lost Names by Kristen Harmel.  I’ve been reading the Magic Tree House series to Jack and Caroline (ages 6 and 4) before they go to bed and they love it.  It’s their first experience with chapter books and we’re currently on the 8th book in the series (Midnight on the Moon).  It’s a great introduction to chapter books because there is a drawing every 5 or so pages and it’s written well enough for them to be able to follow along and use their imaginations.  Most chapters end with a little cliffhanger and it makes them so excited to read!  Highly recommend this series if you have kids around Kindergarten age.

Listening:  My kids’ most requested songs are Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen and Simple (which Caroline calls the 1, 2, 3 song) by Florida Georgia Line.  A few evenings a week we have a dance party before bed and Don’t Stop Me Now is always in the lineup.  Simple is more of a car song and it’s so upbeat and happy I don’t mind listening to it on repeat.

Wearing:  It’s been absolutely freezing lately (well actually, below freezing), so I’ve been living in my Dudley Stephens fleeces (this bubble gum pink one is one I wore last week and it’s great for Valentine’s Day) and long puffer coats (this coat runs small, size up a size).

Loving:  I’ve been saving lots of home images on Instagram and many of those saves come from Amy Studebaker and Ariel Okin.  Both have beautiful modern traditional/Grand Millennial style (Amy’s style is a bit more colorful than Ariel’s) and I’m filing away their great ideas to use when I get to decorate our new home.  I definitely have decorating on the brain!

Shopping:  Now that we’re buying a house my mind is constantly on decorating mode.  We’ll be using 90% of what we have, but there will be a few updates here and there.  I’ve never really splurged on home decor (aside from my marble dining table) but now that we’ll be furnishing a home we actually own I want to invest in some pieces that I’ve had my eye on for a long time.  I’m waiting on the next Serena and Lily sale so I can buy 4 of these Riviera counter stools.  I’d love the light blue sunwashed rattan ones but I need to be realistic about how messy my kids are…so I think I’m going to get the navy and white counter stools that are made of synthetic rattan so they they can wipe clean.  Our kitchen will be mostly white so I figure that option is a great way to bring in a little bit of color, but not too much.  I do also love the white stools but maybe that’ll be too much white in a kitchen?  Changing topics, I did just buy these popper bracelets to include in the kids’ valentines for school.  Jack has had one for a while and he loves it so I figured it might be fun to give all of their friends.

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Katie Vail

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