7.18.2019

SUMMER FAVORITES

Summer is here and we've been enjoying all things outdoors with our little ones! Playing outdoors and making mud pies, sitting out in the sunshine, picking flowers and going for walks, lake days... it's just the best! I'm already looking forward to so many more fun things that we'll cram in before summer ends... and of course more time spent with my favorite people. I always love to share some of my favorites and it's been a hot minute since I've shared any, so here are some new favorites below!


TEA COLLECTION
I recently picked out a few new items for Bella and Bodhi from our ever favorite, Tea Collection. I chose this beautiful dress for Bella, which she actually wore for Easter! It's super pretty on the website, but even prettier in person and the raised multicolored threads make it so fun, Bella calls it her "confetti dress" and I have a feeling it's going to get a lot of wear this year! For Bodhi I grabbed this adorable little ocean inspired tee shirt that's perfect for summer, can you imagine it paired with a little pair of shorts for a trip to the aquarium? So cute! I've recently discovered that I LOVE dressing Bell and Bodhi to match, so when I spied these adorable beyond words matching sea turtle dress for Bella and romper for Bodhi, well, they immediately jumped into my cart. Make sure to head on over to Tea Collection and check out all of their new arrivals!


ONE DELIGHTFUL SHOP
Small shops will always be my favorite. Most people don't know this, but I actually used to own an etsy shop way back when, so I know first hand how much hard work and love goes into each item, and how exciting it feels to get that notification for a sale. That's why small shops have such a special place in my heart. I recently was introduced to the most delightful little shop, no really, it's called One Delightful Shop, and all of the items they offer are speaking my language for sure. Since I'd consider myself an honorary Narnian (haha, I mean, I've read and re-read the books enough times) this shirt immediately caught my eye and I knew I pretty much needed it. I mean, not only does it have wise words from Aslan, but a mama can never have too many comfy tees. This one is no exception, in fact, I'd actually say I'm happily surprised at how soft and comfortable it is, buttery soft is a slight under-exaggeration. Of course when I found her custom leather key-chains I grabbed a couple of those too. These "MAMA" and "HOMEBODY" key-chains are perfect for me, simple and minimal but so beautiful all at the same time.


VITAL PROTEINS
I'm all about finding ways to help our little family live a healthier, natural lifestyle and recently we added collagen from Vital Proteins into our daily routine and we're loving the results we've been seeing so far! Collagen is known for helping hair shine, nails grow strong and skin glow, and it's also great for muscle recovery, bone and joint health and even gut health! We all know this mama needs it while losing alllll the hair during this postpartum time (pretty sure I'm currently going bald hahaha, it feels like it at least), it's nice to know this strawberry lemon beauty collagen can help support healthy hair, skin and nails for my body! Frank was most interested in collagen for it's bone and join benefits, so I got him this collagen coconut coffee creamer for his coffee, and he said he could tell a difference for the better, in the way he felt even a day after drinking it!


We use Full Circle products in our home not only on a daily basis, but multiple times a day, I love how functional and useful they are. The modern and minimal look call my name every time and they actually look nice sitting by our kitchen sink which is so nice!  I've mentioned this bottle brush before, but I think it needs mentioning again, out of all of the bottle brushes I've used over the years, this one is by far my most favorite. Fun fact, they also have reusable storage bags... and they're amazing! Heavy duty bags with reusable zipper tops, these "ziptuck" bags are the best and we've been using them for so many things lately: toy storage, crayons and notebooks for the car, snacks, pantry items... the list of uses is pretty much endless! Anything you would use a zippered storage storage bag for, you can use these for, except with zero waste and you save money since you don't have to keep buying new ones after one use.


You guys, we're so obsessed with alllll of the SOMA products. I've had my eye on this stunning water filter pitcher for the longest time and it's just the best now that we own it. It's simple, modern and minimal looking and it holds 10 cups of water! That means no more constantly refilling after pouring one glass of water haha, it's pretty awesome. They also sent over a couple of extra water filters for it so we should be set for filters for the next 6 months so that's pretty cool too. And have I mentioned how much I love their glass water bottles? Their new 17 ounce water bottle might just be my favorite so far and definitely helps me with my water intake every day! They also just released these new ceramic mugs! The double wall ceramic design keeps your beverage hot or cold and is super sleek, grab one and take your coffee on the go when you're in a rush!


Switching up the artwork and decor in our home is something I really enjoy, it freshens up a space without too much effort and Smallwood Home signs are not only pretty but so affordable as well! I recently grabbed this one as a few others and I'm so excited about them, and how unique is this world map scroll?! So many designs to choose from and their custom signs have my heart too, love, love them.


Let's just say Bodhi is all about toys. He'll spend the longest time laying on his play mat and swatting away at his little hanging planet rattles above him, playing with his rattle ball or chewing on it, snuggling with and chewing on his stuffed knit puppy, you name it, he just loves toys. I spied this fun activity gym from Skip Hop a few months before he was born and just knew he would love it once he got old enough. We had one similar for Bella when she was an infant and she simply loved it, jumping was so much fun for her and she loved playing with all of the little toys around the seat too. I'm such a huge fan of activity gyms like this because little ones can have so much fun playing with and in them while mama has her hands full cooking dinner or vacuuming. I'm SO excited at how much Bodhi loves this Skip Hop Activity Gym already!


PRIMARY
I'm sure by now you've noticed that I tend to not dress Bella or Bodhi in a ton of loud prints or character clothing. I mean, some of it is cute yes, but it's just not really my thing if I'm completely honest. I'm more of a simple design, neutrals, muted colors or earth tones kinda gal, so naturally I dress my little ones the same way most of the time (not to say that they don't ever wear bright clothing or clothing with characters on them, because they do on occasion). Unfortunately it's not always easy finding things like that, but fortunately, Primary makes it simple. In fact, the first outfit Bodhi ever wore was actually from Primary: this sweet and simple footed snap overall in white. It is still one of my absolute favorite outfits he has ever worn to date, and you can bet I already have it put away for his baby box, that's an outfit I'm never parting with. Their clothing is so soft, and so simple and just so perfect. We've owned their footed snap overalls, regular long sleeve bodysuits (the spruce color is so good), and their thermal knit long sleeve body suits and I've been so impressed with everything. Stains wash out fairly easy (even the white outfit he had) too which I love! Definitely going to be grabbing both of the kiddos a few items for the summer from Primary.


DR. BRONNER'S CASTILE SOAP
Hands down our most loved and used soap in our home is the Dr. Bronner's brand. I tried their lavender castile soap on a whim one day when I found it on sale in the clearance bins at our local grocery store, well that was 5 years ago, and we haven't looked back. We all have sensitive skin in our family, so one of the main reasons we kept coming back to this soap is because  it didn't irritate our skin, no more unexplained rashes or itching right after showering, the scent wasn't overpowering so no headaches from artificial fragrance. When I started switching our products to more natural options this one stayed around because thankfully it's made from organic and fair trade ingredients, plus it has one of the best rating on the Think Dirty app that I use to see how good (or bad) a product's ingredients are before purchasing. While I do love their lightly scented products (they're scented with natural ingredients like essential oils) I'm the biggest fan of their unscented baby line and that's he one that I've been mostly purchasing for the past couple of years. I also recently got this unscented baby balm I'm excited to try, and this Sal Suds biodegradable cleaner that is gonna make spring cleaning a breeze!