Monday, August 28, 2017

Weekend Rewind || Tom's 1st Hair Cut & Eye Update

I am in denial that our summer weekends are dwindling. I am going to miss pool days, shorts & tank tops, Popsicles and glasses of rosé as the cooler temps arrive. We've already seen a preview of fall this past week with a few cool days and as enjoyable as they are I am just not ready! Anyway, a few scenes from our weekend...

Friday morning Thomas had an eye appointment. It was a long one but we were lucky that our doctor was able to dilate his eyes over his contacts so we didn't have the added stress of removing and inserting his contacts during the exam (that usually tacks on an additional hour at least). Dr. D did a thorough exam and gave him an A+ in alignment (hallelujah for continued strabismus surgery success) and shocked us both when he informed us that his contact prescription did not need to be changed. This was his first appointment ever that his vision hadn't changed. It's not necessarily a good or a bad thing because we aren't 100% positive what his current vision even in. Our doctor explained that oftentimes aphakic kids (kids that have had their eye lens surgically removed) learn to navigate their world with terrible vision so it appears they can see well from our perspective when in reality it's all they know! Anywaaaaaay, we also received some big news that Thomas is now eligible for his next surgery -- the Intraocular Lens (IOL) implant. Now that his eyes have reached their full maturity in size (fun fact: eyes reach full adult size at 2 years of age) we need to be thinking about having the permanent lens surgically implanted within a year. After this surgery he will still need contacts but will then have the option for glasses too.

During our visit we also gave our doctor a gift -- a bow tie (his favorite accessory) and a scrapbook featuring Tom's eye journey since he's been under his care. He loved this so much and thought it was the most thoughtful gift ever. But what we didn't expect was his idea to show the book to his patients who show up in his office with a newborn baby scared to learn all about their child's cataract diagnosis. He can flip through the pages with them to ease their fears and show them what an extremely successful outcome looks like and all the steps and procedures along the way (patching, contacts, surgeries, recoveries, etc.). For readers stumbling on this page looking for cataract answers and support, here is a digital version!

On Friday evening we joined our friends, the Edwards (Caroline's best friend Austin), and a few other families, for a super fun pizza & pool play date. The kids splashed around for hours and ate their weight in pizza before crashing hard into bed.

Early Saturday morning we visited Matt's office to grab some files before stopping for cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The kids had a blast running through the halls, climbing the reception desk and nosing around a few of the attorney offices (sorry Jen & Rachel). And this is why they rarely get to visit during business hours.

I see you, stack of lunch boxes that haven't found their way home!!!!

Sunglasses ($12) | Top ($22) | Shorts ($17)

Side note: I am obsessed with these $12 sunglasses and have received so many compliments on this embroidered top that is 40% off!

Later that morning our longtime handyman, Hector, arrived to make my to-do list dreams come true. He fixed and replaced so many things around the house that we haven't had time to address. Matt is one hell of a lawyer but definitely does not pretend to be a handyman -- especially when it comes to wires! Anyway, Hector repaired our broken garbage disposal, replaced all the weather stripping in the house, removed a super old door chime and a few broken fire detectors then patched & painted the holes in the walls, repaired our broken gate in the backyard, fixed our front door (it's been jammed shut and we couldn't open it) and fixed the kids' bathroom ceiling water damage from a recent roof leak. He is amazing!

The yellowed fire detectors looked like alien spaceships to me. Since we've moved in these things have creeped me out and I couldn't have been happier to say goodbye to them!

T-Shirts | Makeup Kit

Meanwhile, Caroline gave Thomas makeup lessons to distract him from interrupting allll the projects around the house.

After naps we joined the Samuelsons at McKinsey's parents' house for another pizza + pool play date! McKinsey's parents just finished a major pool renovation and had us over to enjoy the new pool! We also got to see just how NOT scared of the pool Thomas is. He is so wild and fearless.

On Sunday we took Thomas to get his first hair cut!

We asked Caroline if she wanted to get hers cut too but she felt strongly against it (& daddy wasn't quite ready either). However, Tom did fantastic and was hilarious the entire appointment. He was so excited about sitting in an airplane that he didn't even notice he got a trim.

He looks so dang cute I can hardly stand it!

Last stop of the weekend was Cowfish at Caroline's request. She is so obsessed. And because both kids ate well and behaved themselves they cashed in (literally) on my penny bribe for the fountain!

Friday, August 25, 2017

Five on Friday!

It feels SO good to write a 5 on Friday post! Over the past few weeks random thoughts and ideas have been swirling around in my head and now I'm mad I didn't write any of them down. But don't worry because I still have 5 really fun things to share today. But first, I have to share that today is a BIG day for us. This morning we have a super important eye exam for Thomas. This is the longest time we've ever gone in between eye exams -- and that's a good thing! Our last appointment was in March and we have officially gone through all our contacts. So before we order 6 more very expensive sets of contacts we need an eye exam to see if we need to tweak Tom's prescription. Wish us luck that our little man will tolerate his exam well today!

one. I love this little moment I captured a few mornings ago of Caroline buckling her baby doll up at daycare drop-off.

two. A few weeks ago we hosted Sara's family over for dinner and she brought probably the best appetizer I've ever had in my life -- Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta. OMG I am not even kidding, these were absolutely incredible. My picture does NOT do them justice. And a few of you asked me to post the recipe from my insta-stories post. You 100% need to make these for your next party!

Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta

From Barefoot Contessa by Ina Garten

    6 ounces good feta, crumbled
    2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
    2/3 cup good olive oil, divided
    2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
    Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
    2 tablespoons minced shallots (2 shallots)
    2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
    2 tablespoons good red wine vinegar
    2 pounds ripe heirloom or cherry tomatoes, ½-inch-diced
    3 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves, plus extra for serving
    20 to 25 (½-inch-thick) diagonal baguette slices, toasted
    2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

For the whipped feta, place the feta and cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse until the cheeses are mixed. Add 1/3 cup of the olive oil, the lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and process until smooth.

For the tomatoes, up to an hour before you’re serving, combine the shallots, garlic, and vinegar in a medium bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and - teaspoon pepper. Add the tomatoes, stir gently, and set aside for 10 minutes. Stir in the basil and taste for seasonings.

To assemble the crostini, spread each slice of bread with a generous amount of whipped feta. With a slotted spoon, place the tomatoes on top. Put the crostini on plates and scatter with the pine nuts. Sprinkle with extra basil and serve.

[Revision Skincare Black Mask]

three. At least once a week my sister and I send each other snaps of ourselves with our Black Mask on. We both purchased it a few months ago and have been loooooviiiiiiinnngggg it. It's a little more expensive than I usually like to spend on masks so I was hesitant to buy it at first but it's lasted me a very long time and it is worth the hype and money!

[When God Doesn't Fix It]

four. I received one of the very best book recommendations from one of my lovely readers -- When God Doesn't Fix It by one of my favorite Christian music artists, Laura Story. After reading the reviews I primed a copy to myself, my mom and my sister. This book is so so so perfect for anyone whose life has taken an unexpected turn. I highly recommend scooping up a copy for yourself or gifting one to a friend going through a hard season in life.

five. It's been tough leaving Charlie at home while we've been traveling to Florida since he is so sick. However, we've felt SO good about the care he receives from Barks & Bloom while we're away. We started using these amazing ladies a few years ago when Charlie was getting a little too old for boarding and we couldn't be happier. Several times a day they stop by our house to walk him, throw his ball around, refresh his water, and take care of random house things like bring in the mail, turn porch lights on, take our trash cans to the curb, etc. And after ever visit we receive an email with a very detailed report card and pictures from the visit. I swear Charlie is so much happier when we're gone and in the care of Barks & Bloom. Anyway, sorry for getting carried away...what I was going to share is the sweetest surprises they left him during our last trip away after finding out about his lymphoma diagnosis -- a chuck-it ball (his favorite), treats, stuffed animal and a dog beer (hilarious)! This is not a sponsored post in any way, but if you live in Charlotte or Baltimore, I can't recommend them enough!!! They are so wonderful!

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Master Bathroom Renovation | The Shower

Finally, I know! I actually had this post written 99% of the way a few weeks ago and had planned to post all of our master bathroom projects all at once, but nope, didn't happen. However, I finally have part 2 ready for ya today...

As the master bathroom floor was being renovated we simultaneously began on the next project -- the shower! This was actually one of my favorite parts of the renovation because I knew exactly what I wanted my dream shower to look like -- white subway tile to the ceiling, dual shower heads, roomy shower bench, seamless glass and marble hexagon flooring.

But let's start from the beginning! The worst of the wood rot was located under the shower. Not only did the shower leak destroy the floor, the shower pan was cracked and the fiberglass shower walls had begun to pull away from the drywall. So we definitely had to rip out the entire shower and start over, which was music to my ears because the original beige fiberglass shower was pretty nasty.

As a reminder, here is what we were originally working with...

And here was my inspiration behind my dream shower...

I seriously love every single thing about this shower. It is perfection.

Once the fiberglass walls were removed you could see the all of the moisture underneath!

During demo I received an extremely helpful warning that our shower glass was going to cost us a fortune due to the number of angles of the shower. So after the floor was rebuilt we asked the crew to rebuild the shower curb without the additional angle and just make it a right angle. This saved us a tremendous amount of money!!!

Boom -- shower gone. Next we had to get a plumber out to plumb for the second shower head. This was not expensive AT ALL but was such a huge feature on my wish list. We had a dual shower head in our last master bathroom and it was definitely something I didn't want to live without in our new home. I wanted one large rainfall shower head above and then a second hand-held shower on the wall. I use them both equally, at the same time, every shower. It is SO nice to have a hand-held for shaving, cleaning and squeezing two showers in at once (ya know, for the kids).

I amazon primed all of the hardware a few days before the plumber arrived. I didn't love the options at Home Depot or Lowes and the upscale bath places were so grossly overpriced in my opinion. Amazon had a TON of options and I was able to read lots of reviews when selecting each item. I also was able to remove the flow restrictors before installation which was key for the water fall shower head!

Once the shower was plumbed it was time to frame out the shower bench and wall niche. Then came the tile! As I mentioned, I wanted floor to ceiling white subway tile installed with grey grout. For the floor I splurged on Carrara marble hexagon tile. I really didn't want to use marble because of the maintenance but we sealed it after it was installed and will have to do so annually. But it's worth it because the hexagon tile is absolutely gorgeous. I was too impatient to wait until the shower was fully dried to snap my pictures so you can see on the left what it looks like wet and on the right what it looks like dry...

I followed the same ordering process for all my shower tile as I did with my floor tile. I ordered it all online for in-store pickup, used a 20% off coupon that I purchased for $1.99 on eBay and made sure to go through ebates to receive a check for 5% cash back!

Once the tile work was completed the shower fixtures and valves were installed. Then we had the shower glass company to come out to measure and order our seamless shower glass. I still can't get over how much glass costs, it was certainly a sticker shock to me. Oh, and it took a little over 3 weeks to arrive. We eventually got so impatient to use our new shower that for the last 2 weeks we just laid towels all over the floor and took showers anyway!