Staycation

More Rainy Day Fun + A Few Favorites in Threes

We had another rainy day here in the ‘Burgh, so we decided to get outside and have some fun. We pulled on our rain boots and rain jackets and hung out outside for a bit!

Mother and daughter rain boots

Mom and daughter walking in rain

I’ve been working on teaching Sadie the colors of the rainbow, so we collected leaves for a little project.

She was so excited to show Jimmy her craft when he got home from work! The second he walked in the door, she took his hand and dragged him to the fridge and signed leaf. So sweet!

Toddler leaf craft for fall

Onto some of my recent favorites in lists of threes because I love a good list!

Favorite Moments Lately

  1. Playing Elefun with Sadie and Jimmy. Did anyone play this game growing up?!
  2. Working on Christmas crafts. I’ve been making wreaths and upcycled a mini Christmas tree this week.
  3. Hanging out with our church family. I love spending time after services just watching all the kids play and catching up with everyone!

Recipes I’ve Been Cooking and Baking

  1. Chickpea Soup
  2. Apple Cider Pork Chops
  3. Pumpkin Spice Ginger Cookies

Pumpkin Spice Ginger Cookies

Cookbooks I’ve Been Using Nonstop

  1. The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion
  2. Artisan Sourdough Made Simple 
  3. Modern Jewish Baker

Things I’m Excited For

  1. Jimmy and I are doing a staycation this weekend!
  2. Thanksgiving–I have no clue what we’re doing but I’m pumped.
  3. Decorating for and celebrating Christmas.

Pet Products We’ve Been Using On Repeat

  1. Waterless Shampoo. This has been a lifesaver with the rainy weather we’ve been having and Niva smells amazing after I put this on her. 
  2. Car Harness. It’s perfect for keeping Niva secure when we drive her to and from doggy daycare.
  3. Cat Toothbrush Toy. That’s right… a cat toothbrush, haha. 

Cat toothbrush

Tell me some of your favorites!

A Relaxing Staycation

Jimmy and I took Thursday and Friday off of work last week and sent Lola and Mavis to my parents’ so we could have a little staycation! We weren’t sure if we would be out of the house for long stretches of time, so we figured it’d be good to have the girls stay with my mom and dad. Plus dogs = extra responsibility and we wanted our time together to feel like a vacation.

I was definitely starting to feel burnt out from the busyness of life lately, so it was wonderful to take some time to relax and rejuvenate with my main man.

Husband and wife black and white picture smiling in car

I missed the girls so much and literally felt guilty for having them stay with my parents (even though I knew they were having a blast and were in good hands). Jimmy and I had such a wonderful time, though!

At first, we had these grand plans to go to a hunting and fishing store in West Virginia, or to visit the National Aviary here in Pittsburgh, but we didn’t do much of anything and it was honestly perfect.

What we actually did

  • Slept in until sometime between 7:30 and 8:30 each morning
  • Got coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks each day
  • Walked/rode bikes on a local trail
  • Did a little Christmas shopping for Shiloh Christian Children’s Ranch
  • Washed Jimmy’s truck
  • Cooked HomeChef meals

Starbucks holiday cups 2017

I’m usually team Dunkin’ when it comes to plain coffee, but I tried the Starbucks Christmas Blonde Roast coffee and was a big fan. Jimmy got the salted caramel mocha and said he highly recommends it!

HomeChef pork tenderloin

We had fun testing out three meals from HomeChef as part of our little experiment with meal delivery kits! Spoiler alert: we liked HelloFresh more than HomeChef. I’ll definitely blog more about this as we try other companies. We are looking into Plated and Sun Basket next!

May Designs planner for BlueSky with accessories and coffee

I also grabbed some accessories for the planner I bought for 2018! Is anyone else obsessed with all things planner-related? For 2017, I had an Erin Condren planner and liked it, but wasn’t a fan of the price tag. I decided to go with a planner from Target for 2018 and bought some binder clips with tabs, washi tape, page flags, and color coding labels to gussy it up!

My sister and I always talk about how much we love looking for the perfect planner. My mom used to get annoyed with us during back to school shopping because we would spend at least 30 minutes looking at planners. We have yet to find the perfect planner and agree it’s because we are destined to create our own. Someday 😉

Brown and white cocker spaniel puppy

After a restful staycation, Jimmy and I met my parents to pick up Lola and Mavis this afternoon (Saturday) and we’re all back home. Mavis fell asleep on the way home and is currently crashed out on our bathroom rug (aka the only patch of carpet-like material in our all hardwood flooring house). It’s safe to say she and Lola had a great time with my parents and Jimmy and I had a great staycation!

Two questions today:

If you use a planner, are you loyal to a certain brand?

Have you ever done a staycation?