Hey friends! How are you? How was your weekend? We spent the vast majority of the weekend outside, either at the pool or in the lake, and were blessed with some beautiful weather for most of the weekend. Rainstorms held off until the late evening every day which worked well for everyone in our area hoping to grill out and swim! As for this week, it’s an odd one as two of our three boys are out of school so we’re a little bit in limbo mode at the moment. The end of the school year is in sight for Chase though and by Friday we’ll all be in Florida kicking off our summer break! Today I figured I ..read more

Arriving home from our long weekend away in Chattanooga, Tennessee on a Monday threw me for a loop on the blog and personal life front. We had such a wonderful weekend but I’m used to a Sunday buffer day to get ahead on work, settle back into real life and get myself organized for the week ahead. Without that day, and with the insanity and obligations that come with the end of the school year, I’m just now getting the chance to sit down and chat with you guys. So, HI! How are you!? Stepping away from the blog for only a few days only serves to remind me how much I love this space and connectin ..read more

Salad season is upon us and what better way to kick of the warmer months of the year than with a fresh and vibrant simple summer chopped salad recipe!? This is the summer salad recipe that received rave reviews at my baby shower and the photos recently got a little refresh. I hope this one makes it on your “must make” list for a summertime cookout, baby or bridal shower or fun gathering with family and friends because I assure you it will be a sweet and savory slam dunk!  Confession: I like salads when I make them but I LOVE salads when someone else makes them for me. I swear I could mak ..read more

Feeling hungry today? If so, I have a blog post to share to hopefully get your tastebuds extra excited for dinner tonight! I managed to snap pictures of our weeknight meals last week to share with you guys today as part of my Week of Weeknight Meals series. This series began as a way for me to bring back the old days of the blog when I’d share photos of my food to share on the blog in the morning, afternoon and evening every single day. That is no longer a feasible blog schedule for me with three kids in the mix, so it’s my hope that this blog post still gives you guys a little bit of an idea ..read more

I saw a funny video floating around social media where a husband asks his wife what she wants for Mother’s Day and she goes on and on about how she doesn’t want much but ends up listing a million different things, many of which are out of his control. One such thing: The weather. But really, why is it that the weather has such an impact on our moods!? Thankfully Charlotte could not have cooked up a better Mother’s Day weekend weather-wise so we majorly lucked out. I felt like the full-fledged adult that I am when I could not stop commenting on the perfect mid-70s temperatures and sunshine. Tha ..read more

If you’re in the mood for a produce-packed salad recipe with a Mediterranean flare, today’s chicken and chickpea salad is one I think you will love. It is protein-packed, filled with satiating fiber and is a beautifully vibrant salad thanks to lots of colorful veggies. There’s something about the onset of spring that has me craving salads. They’re the perfect blank canvas you can customize however you like to satisfy many different cravings. Want something slightly sweet? This simple summer chopped salad is a favorite! Craving something with grains as the base? My black bean and brown rice sa ..read more

Hiii! It’s been a hot second — 5 months! — since I’ve shared a Recent Looks blog post with you guys. Thank you for keeping me accountable because I had a few of you chime in to tell me this blog post was overdue! I’ll try to be better about sharing these blog posts a little more regularly when I realize I have a collection of outfit photos accumulating in my phone. The outfit pictures in today’s post reflect North Carolina weather in the spring — some days it’s hot and we’ve had some days where it still feels like winter! There are a few pictures in this recap that are throwbacks I found in my ..read more

Friday is here! Any fun weekend plans? Anyone with no weekend plans and every intent to relax? Sometimes no plans are the best plans! We’re kicking off our weekend with a house full of kids — our boys are all having playdates here today — and are anxiously awaiting Ryan’s arrival back home. Ryan was in San Antonio for work last week and Philadelphia for work this week but thankfully both trips were fairly short and no more work travel is on the horizon for him until June. As for our weekend plans, we are pet-sitting our friends’ bearded dragon (a huge highlight for our boys) and have tickets t ..read more

Over the weekend we drove a little less than two hours from Charlotte to Little Switzerland, North Carolina for a wilderness retreat at Wildacres. Little Switzerland is a small mountain village (truly tiny) located off the Blue Ridge Parkway in western North Carolina. Wildacres Retreat was our reason for visiting the mountain town but we spent a little time meandering through the general store and the cutest coffee shop (Books and Beans — highly recommend!) before leaving on Sunday and were glad we did because both places were so wonderfully charming with a lot of character. We left with latt ..read more

Hi friends! How are you? How was your weekend? Our weekend was fantastic as we spent most of it on a wilderness retreat soaking up unplugged time together as a family. I hope to get my act together enough to type up a recap of everything to share with you guys on the blog later this week but until then, I have my Week of Workouts post to share with you guys for the month of April. I’ve fallen into a groove of at-home and in-person workouts lately and like the variety but really love the way combining at-home and group workouts allows for ultimate flexibility in my schedule each week. The days ..read more