Archives for August 2020

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A few weeks ago, my family and I traveled to Florida for our one summer vacation that didn’t get cancelled due to Covid-19. After spending 5 long months in Dallas, we were itching to get out of town. We chose Florida for it’s warm weather, clear water beaches and relatively close location to Dallas {aka – we could drive. Or atleast the husbands could with all the gear ;P}

The first house we rented back in early May was near Seaside and spectacular. It was a brand new build, had a pool, was right on the beach and was plenty spacious for our big group. We were so excited. That is until we got an email from the rental company in late June telling us that the home had unexpectedly sold and that there was nothing they could do. We received this email from our agent: “60 Mako Drive has just sold and will be under contract starting this week, making the home unavailable for your upcoming August stay. First, I want to take the time to apologize for this terrible situation and let you know that we are here to help in any way that we can. We know that this puts you in a bad position and I am so sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause. Article #17 in our contract states that if the home becomes unavailable in a situation such as this, that we will refund you in full or do everything that we can to put you in a comparable home, at no additional cost to you. Unfortunately our Inventory for the remainder of summer is very low due to the extremely high demand that we are experiencing this year, so we have no comparable properties to move you to.“

As you can imagine, we were extremely dissapointed. Just our luck! The house hadn’t even been on the market but apparently the owner received an offer he couldn’t refuse. Anyway, it was late June, and we were up a creek with no paddle. As the agent mentioned, it was going to be near impossible to find another house that fit our criteria: big, on the beach, and with a pool.

With that being said, within a week or two there was a house that fit our needs that became available due to a cancellation and we jumped on it. This is the house you all saw in my instagram posts and stories and the house we stayed in and enjoyed for a week. It was a little farther down the beach than we were wanting, but we were so excited nonetheless.

The house itself was huge, right on the beach and had a very kid friendly pool. We loved it. Henning would literally wake up squealing with excitement because he knew his cousins would be downstairs waiting for him and that was so much fun to see. I loved everyone waking up in the same house together, making breakfast and heading down to the beach or pool. Our days were so relaxed and easy and the kids had a blast. As far as how the house was set up, it worked perfectly for us.

With that being said, I wanted to share some of the downsides of the rental that I would have wanted to know before booking. The house shares a wall with the public entrance to the beach {which is not advertised at all}. This would be fine if the wall or landscaping shielded passerby from peering in all day, but it didn’t. There were huge gaps in both and we often times felt like we were in a fish bowl with people staring at us all day, everyday. We also had a group of people jump the fence on the first night, swim in the pool and steal our very expensive Yeti cooler. I’m not kidding! We assume it was a bunch of harmless kids because they left bottles of alcohol everywhere but still – it was invasive and irritating nonetheless.

On top of that, there were also A/C issues {we had to have the repairman come out 4 days in a row}, the ice machine in the freezer didn’t work, several of the showers and tubs didn’t drain and the kitchen sink had a massive leak. Also, we were there from August 1st-August 8th and our trash wasn’t picked up a single time {even after calling and requesting it!} Imagine 8 days worth of trash from 20 people. It wasn’t pretty. I just wish, for the price we paid, that we could have avoided some of these unpleasantries.

Anyway, although the house was really well set up, and had everything we needed, it wasn’t perfect either. So I just wanted to share all of that in full transparency! We really did have the best time because we were together and honestly that was all we cared about.

Lastly, I know a bunch of you sent me questions about the restaurants in the area but to be honest, we always ate at home. We were pretty concerned with the spiking numbers in Florida at the time so the only time we left was to go to the grocery store. In non-Covid times we hope to return and stay in Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach or Seaside to spend time riding bikes and trying out some of the amazing restaurants those areas have to offer.

Hope you all are having a wonderful and safe end to your summer! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! x

The Nordstrom Anniversary sale is truly like Christmas in July. One of my favorite retailers, Nordstrom releases thousands of brand new fall items and puts them on major sale. As always, Nordstrom card members get to shop the sale first with ‘Icon’ level members getting to shop starting tomorrow! If you aren’t a Nordstrom card holder, don’t fret – you can shop the sale starting August 19th!

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My uniform in the Fall + Winter is blue jeans and a long sleeve top or sweater. I keep it easy. But if I go anywhere, I like to throw on a beautiful coat. It makes me feel more crisp + put together. Also, if you pick a fun color {#2} or pattern {#4}, it also adds a little pizzazz.

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A crucial part of any uniform is a great staple. These tops could all be worn a million times and in a million different ways. My absolute favorite of the bunch above is #4 – I love a good color-block and the colors are two of my favorites – that soft blue is so gorgeous! Another classic is #6 – I own this cashmere crewneck in atleast 6 colors. It’s so incredibly versatile, comfortable and maybe most importantly – a great deal. At under $60 this is going to go fast!

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There is nothing better than a good pair of jeans and the above are my picks for classics you can wear all year, and year after year. #1 is a pair I own and wear all the time {seen here & here} and #2 is just like a pair I wear all the time too {I love a good crop flare}. The only outlier of the bunch is #3 which I don’t own anything like but have always really wanted . Love this soft green color and I think they would be so versatile come fall.

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#1 is my favorite bra of all time. I’ve gotten all my friends and family hooked on it! It’s soft, supportive cups are soooo comfortable and the material is so soft. I own it in several colors and sizes {had to size up when pregnant!} #5 is made by Spanx and I’ve always heard great things about their bras. Love this shape so buying one to try out! #2 and #4 are classics – you can’t go wrong with either of these. I especially love the soft pink stripes {have the shirtdress on my wishlist too!}

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Shoes – arguably my favorite category every year {maybe only second to beauty} had a few great items. I am loving the lower block heel on #1, and the color of #4 {will go with everything this Fall!} #3 look just like the Golden Goose pair that I’ve wanted for ages but at a fraction of the cost and of course, who can forget ONs? These are THE ‘it’ tennis shoe right now. Even my husband has a pair and swears they are the most comfortable shoe he owns. I’m loving the funky colors.

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Baby!!! A section I haven’t even paid attention to before is now the first one I checked out. Oh how time flies. #1 is the carseat I’m wanting to splurge on for Henning once he grows out of his Doona {which will happen any day now} and #4 is the stroller we own and love. It’s almost $250 off. Can’t get over that insane deal!! We love EZPZ, so this little food starter set is a must have. I love that it comes with a little silicone cup too! Henning isn’t drinking out of cups yet but this will surely help him learn how to. LAst but not least, I am very intrigued by this baby bathtub. I love that it collapses and can be stored so easily! So many baby bathtubs are huge and are a pain to store.

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Not much to say here except that I love blankets! Especially since having Henning. I feel like we are always snuggling in one or laying one out and crawling all over it. Barefoot Dreams makes our favorite one {#1 & #2}, but for a lot less you can get this one which is also very soft. I actually buy them in bulk when they go on sale and give them as gifts during the holidays. Can’t beat the price, and I love how they come in a ton of colors! You can really customize the gift to the specific person 🙂 Although not a blanket, I am completely in love with #3 – I have it favorited so I can hopefully buy 4 for my guest bathroom. I love the soft blue pattern so much.

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Oh gosh – where do I even begin?! Beauty is always the best purchase for me during the NSALE. The deals to be had are insane! I’ve narrowed it down to some of my absolute favorites, but really I would take one of everything included if I could. Every brand from Charlotte Tilbury, Kiehl’s, Sunday Riley, La Mer, Oribe, Cle de Peau, Supergoop and many many more are included! Will go into detail about why I love each product above in the coming week or so – head to my instagram to see more in stories!

I wanted to go ahead and share my favorite sale picks just in case you are getting to shop starting tomorrow {I have to wait until the 7th!} I went through the entire sale and favorited my absolute must-haves. To favorite, you simple click the ”add to wishlist’ button and save! I created an ‘NSALE” list so I can easily check out when I’m able to start shopping. The sale is so popular that items often sell out very quickly so if you want to make sure you snag your picks – favorite them so you can check out as quickly as possible!

Good luck and let me know in the comments what your favorite picks are!