A Sweet Beginning: July 2015

Monday, July 27, 2015

Summer Books

I read quite a few books this summer! I like to read in the evenings before bed or sometimes in the morning before Ava wakes up. Some books were serious, some were fun, and I enjoyed them all!

This book was awesome! It is about a woman who was tired of excess and eliminated something each month for 7 months (clothes, spending, etc.). The goal was to live simply and generously.

This was just a fun book that encourages identifying your passions and talents and choosing to live a simple and fulfilling life.

I read this book in 1 day while in bed with the flu. I watched The Girls Next Door and Holly's World so I was very interested in finding out what Holly had to say about life at the Playboy Mansion.

Ever After was a great read about marriage and motherhood. It was funny and full of great lessons/stories. I loved this book!

Sophie Hudson is a great storyteller and reminds us that home is about the people inside and our journey through life and with God, not the actual house.

This book was by the hilarious comedian Aziz Ansari (from Parks and Recreation). He teamed up with social scientists and they conducted research on romance today. I am very interested in people's behaviors and think he is super funny so I loved this book.

The author of this book moved to the Upper East Side of NYC and struggled to fit in. She tells funny stories about this elite world that most of us can't relate to but also finds many times where these women just want the same thing for their children that all mothers do.

Friday, July 24, 2015

Friday Favorites

I am linking up with Erika today to share my Friday Favorites!

- ONE -

Ava and I have both loved cuddling up with Brady lately! Ellen posted this picture the other day on Instagram and it reminded me of Brady curled up in his favorite blanket so I recreated it :)

- TWO -

Ava can swim without her swim-float now and we are all so excited!!!

- THREE -

We get rain most afternoons/evenings in the summer here in Florida. We have had nice weather for two evening swims this week and had so much fun as a family!

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

House Updates!

We have done a few small house projects this summer that I wanted to share.

We finally painted our house!! We have lived here almost 4 years, but the house is much older and was still the original color when we moved in and had faded and needed some fresh paint. We love it!

We have been looking at plans to build a DIY wooden swing on the front porch. We have room for these chairs out on the back lanai where they would get more use :)

It has taken me a few years, but I got some curtains for the front room this summer. I also scored that rug on major clearance to pull the area together.

This area was originally set up as a formal dining space but we decided to just put our kitchen table next to the kitchen so we use it as an office area. We have had all our furniture for many years and didn't like how this area had a few different colors of wood. I spray-painted both filing cabinets with metallic gold spray paint and then spray painted all of the hardware oil rubbed bronze for a quick fix until we come up with a plan for this room.

We recently added these canvas prints above the bed and I put a charging station on each nightstand to organize our cords and have a safe place to charge everything at night.

Ava's room got a few updates this summer! The changing table is gone and we shifted her furniture around to make room for a desk! I also spray-painted some black frames I had in a tote from our previous house and hung some prints around her room :)

We are still working on decorations for the guest room but I recently painted it a lighter color and spray-painted this night stand satin nickel.

We still have many things we want to update in the house - but each summer while I am off we make a few changes and still love our home :)

Monday, July 6, 2015

Happy Fourth of July

We had the best Fourth of July weekend! It was pretty low-key but our goal was to have fun and spend time together just us :) Goal accomplished!

We swam Thursday evening and Friday afternoon!

Ava was super excited about her red, white, and blue nails!

We went on the boat for a few hours Saturday!

We had showers and baths when we got home and just relaxed for a few hours. We had a yummy dinner and then headed outside in our pjs to watch some fireworks! Ava was super excited when she saw more but thought they were a little loud.