“What’s Galentine’s Day? Oh, it’s only the best day of the year.” Leslie Knope said it best. Made popular by Amy Poehler’s character on Parks and Recreation, Galentine’s Day is observed on February 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day. It’s an occasion to get your girlfriends together and celebrate each other and the special bond of female friendship. It’s about “ladies celebrating ladies.” I personally love the idea of Galentine’s Day, and I’ve made a point to celebrate it in one way or another for the last few years. (For instance, if you’re looking for some fun little gifts for the bad ass ..read more

January is the strangest month. You start out with lots of energy around the new year, filling in crisp, empty planners and setting goals for yourself. Then by the end of it, you’re cursing the lack of daylight hours and making bets on how many more days you’ll have to endure before the thermometer bumps back above freezing. Or is that just me? Maybe it was going back to work after being on maternity leave since September, but I’ve been in a real dichotomy of feelings lately. I’m happy to be back at work, contributing to an organization that I believe in. I’m also finding it difficult to be s ..read more

It’s a little wild to look back at my yearly review for 2021 and consider how completely everything has changed since then. I published that post on January 3, and I didn’t take a pregnancy test to let us know Milo was on the way until four days later. His arrival and the nine months leading up to it completely turned my world upside down, which is why I’m excited to reflect on 2022, set goals for 2023, and settle into our new normal as a family of three (plus Zoey). Mantra for 2023 Sometimes I choose a word to guide me throughout the year. This time, only a phrase will do to fully encompass ..read more

On the final Friday of each month, I take a look back at all the things I loved and put together this list of recommendations for you: the Friday Finale. It might include the best book I read, a particularly impressive recipe I tried, or the best thing I streamed. I hope these standout moments from my month inspire you moving forward! Congratulations! You survived the holiday season. This year was a particularly rough one for us that involved missing half of our presents, finding out Milo had his first cold on Christmas Day, and driving six hours back home to discover that our pipes had ..read more

What’s a holiday get together without board games to play as a family? As I was rounding up the different games we’ll take with us to Georgia this year, I thought I’d make a list of my favorites for you. Do you also save trunk space for games beside all the luggage and presents? Then you need this rundown of the best board games for the holidays! I’ve included dedicated deck card games, strategy games, and a few games that the whole family can play, too. Card Games Not a lot of trunk space to spare for your road trip home? Or maybe you’re flying and only packing a carryon? These self-containe ..read more

On the final Friday of each month, I take a look back at all the things I loved and put together this list of recommendations for you: the Friday Finale. It might include the best book I read, a particularly impressive recipe I tried, or the best thing I streamed. I hope these standout moments from my month inspire you moving forward! Let’s be honest. This past month included one of those moments for our family. The “life will never be the same,” forever categorizing time as either before or after moments. On September 15, we welcomed our son Milo into the family! Needless to say, it’s b ..read more

On the final Friday of each month, I take a look back at all the things I loved and put together this list of recommendations for you: the Friday Finale. It might include the best book I read, a particularly impressive recipe I tried, or the best thing I streamed. I hope these standout moments from my month inspire you moving forward! I’m about a week late getting this post out, but since it’s literally the first monthly favorites post I’ve written this year, I hope you’ll forgive me. If I’m being completely honest, getting pregnant put me in such an odd mental space compared to where I ..read more

This past weekend, I trekked out to Newport, Rhode Island, to celebrate my college friend Meredith for her upcoming nuptials. It feels like the older we all get, the more we rely on big events like weddings to get together, and despite being 31 weeks pregnant, I was not going to miss Meredith’s big weekend! Not to mention I’d never been to Newport, so I had double the FOMO. Here’s everything we did over a perfect bachelorette weekend in Newport! So I masked up, pulled on my (incredibly attractive) compression socks, and took two flights to get me from Cincinnati to Newport. Before we get into ..read more

I’m not going to lie: last week was a doozy. As seems to be the case with just about everyone I know who hadn’t gotten the virus yet, Spencer and I finally tested positive for Covid over Fourth of July weekend. Mostly I’m annoyed that we made it two+ years without having to deal with it, only to get it now when I’m seven months pregnant. My symptoms haven’t been too bad, thankfully, but I do expect this cough to linger. (Also, I feel like poor Zoey may have picked it up from us, too? She’s been to the vet and seems to be fine, but I swear I don’t know what else could’ve had her feeling the wa ..read more