2018 in Review.

Happy New Year, friends!!

It fills me with a mix of unbelievable gratitude and relief, thinking back on 2018. So many wonderful things happened this year, but it wasn’t without its heartache. I am personally excited to move ahead into 2019, armed with the lessons I collected over the past year. I am dreaming a lot right now and brainstorming to freshen up this space (blog, instagram) and breathe some new life and creativity into it! Thank you for being here and being a loyal visitor and friend to this site!

As for 2018, here are the posts you all enjoyed the most!

that non-toxic life

Green Beauty Cheat Sheet.
Let’s Talk About Our Pits.

recipes

White Pork Chili (a Whole30 Meal!)
Turmeric Oat Milk Latte.

Essential Oils:
The 3 DIY Essential Oil Rollerballs I Use on My Kids in the Winter.
Our Family Essential Oils Routine.

family life

6 Kids Books We Are Loving.
Lessons From My Father.

Health:
My Top 50 Favorite Songs to Workout to.
Thoughts on the Postpartum Body.

style, etc.

My Pink Hair.
Building a Fall Capsule Wardrobe.

travel

Santa Barbara for the Weekend!
New England in October!

home life

Potato Print Art DIY.

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I have loved all the content I was able to create this year and I just want to say thank you, from the very bottom of my heart, for being here and making this site worth your time! Thank you for visiting this space and making it such a joy to create fun posts here! I am so grateful for the opportunity this blog grants me to share with you, and I want you to know that you matter to me. This might not be the biggest blog in the world, but I am so smitten with it and I am so happy to have a little corner of the internet that is mine to dream big with! Here’s to even BIGGER dreams for 2019!

xx Kristen

Day Date in Atlanta!

Going out on dates seems really hard to squeeze in these days. Between Stevie’s travel schedule for work, my teaching evening DoTERRA classes, and juggling soccer for Everett, it feels like we just run out of evenings every single week. But I know that date nights are so vitally important, and when we go too long without dates, we both feel it. Like every marriage, we are doing our best to balance pouring our energy into parenthood AND our marriage and implement date nights more often than once every 3 months (seriously.)

Right before we went out of town last week, we had a super fun day date in Atlanta! Because daytime dates means that we will actually stay awake to enjoy our time together (hashtag we tired yall.) I usually never take along the big camera to photograph our every move on date night (because that’s kinda lame) BUT, we did take a lot of pics on this particular day because we were doing some of our favorite Atlanta-ish things and I want to share more about our fine city here on the blog. I usually heap praises on other cities when we travel, but I haven’t dedicated a whole lot of energy towards sharing about Atlanta and I want to do a better job of that! So here are a few things we did and ate in Atlanta the other day ;)

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We started off with a home run meal at Barcelona in Inman Park. It was restaurant week, so we took advantage of the chef’s tasting menu which allowed us to try a million amazing tapas for a great price. My favorites were the burrata, hanger steak and the spiced empanadas. And what are tapas without sangria? Do yourself a favor and order the rose sangria.

We made our way toward Ponce City Market on the Beltline via some Bird and Lime scooters, which are SO fun and really must be tried! I rode these around in Salt Lake City a few weeks ago with friends and knew that I had to find them in Atlanta. They practically litter the Beltline so we scooted until we got to Piedmont Park and then headed back toward Ponce City Market. But Stevie’s battery power died during that jaunt so we hopped on one together and that was kind of like a crazy trust experiment because I basically hung on to him for dear life (!)

After we dropped our scooters off, Stevie found an outdoor piano and did some jamming out for strangers walking by, and since he really worked up an appetite he just had to stop at Lucky Lotus for an acai bowl. He scarfed it and I had a long hard think about getting some gelato, but refrained because those tapas had really put me over the top. We browsed around did a little shopping, and dreamed at all the beautiful Citizens Supply goods (like kilim rugs and leather wallets and fiddle leaf figs and adorable clogs) and then decided it was high time to try out the new brewery.

I saw new, but it’s only new to us. New Realm is right on the Beltline and has a gigantic outdoor seating area, and the food is truly good. Not like, for brewery food, but like for a great meal out! And I’m a big fan of wine flights and beer samplers because I like to try a little of everything, and they had a great beer flight. My favorites were “Hazy Like a Fox” and “Citrus Pucker”.

We watched the sun go down over the Beltline and honestly, it was a strange experience because we hadn’t been on such a long date in a reeeeeally long time. We talked a lot! Day dates are a thing that need to keep being a thing in my book because it was theeeee best day with my sweetheart of 12 years.

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Perhaps everyone feels a significant shift with the seasons, but Fall always feels like the biggest shift for me every single year. I don’t know why, but lately I am feeling older. Not in a bad way, but in a way where I can tell that my mind and my heart are growing and changing and I just feel like more and more of a woman lately. Having the uninterrupted time (meaning, without children around!) with Stevie to really talk about things, our feelings and our life, is such an incredible thing and it shouldn’t be an anomaly. Day time Atlanta dates really need to be more of a thing!

Tell me, what are some of your favorite date spots and date ideas? Have you tried daytime dating? xx

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My New Essential Oil Business Cards with Basic Invite!

Thanks to Basic Invite for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.

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I just got back from Salt Lake City where I attended the 2018 DoTERRA Dream Convention and it was THE BEST. I cannot wait to share more about what I learned and all the exciting products that are launching next month! I’m a little bit freaking out about all the good things I get to share.

As my essential oils business has grown over the past few months (in November it will be 1 year!), one thing I’ve been thinking about is getting a separate business card made just for that. So when Basic Invite reached out to me to try out their custom business cards (and when I saw how adorable their designs and colors are!), I was floored.

Now hear me out when I say that I am a true paper product girl. I really love a beautiful paper product and I’m not afraid to say that I’ve run the gamut, trying out lots of different paper companies over the years for different needs (look out, Dunder Mifflin). The Basic Invite business card designs are really sharp. When I sat down at my desk to order, I thought I might want to customize the color of my business cards, based on the fact that Basic Invite is one of the few paper product websites that allow customers almost unlimited color options with the instant previews online. Once you select a design, you can alter the color of each element on the card with over 180 different options so you can make sure the card is exactly how you like it. I played around with some different mint and turquoise shades for a while but found that I actually loved one of the pre-made designs with a pink marbled look and rose golf foil, so I went with that. And I love how it turned out! Ever since rose gold foil has become a thing in paper products, I hope there’s never a day in the future where it won’t be a thing.

If you’re a little unsure of how your card will look and you need a little good faith policy, you can actually order a custom sample. This way you can see exactly how your card will look and how the paper will feel, before committing to a huge print job. I sort of had buyers remorse after I chose my card design, only because I really wanted to try out the plastic business cards as well! If that sounds intriguing to you, too, check out some of the samples at the bottom of this post. And maybe for the next round I will play around with that option because I honestly love my choice, too - how many business card designs are too many? #dontanswerthat

Since I mail a welcome package to each of my new essential oil customers, now I can include one of these beautiful cards in the package as well. Although we live in the digital age, I am still such a paper lover and I can’t resist a beautiful business card. Especially when I am the boss and I can choose pink and rose gold and totally get away with it!

I’ll be honest with you. As I was ordering these cards a wonderful premonition of Christmas cards swept before my eyes, and I know, I know, IT’S TOO SOON. But all I can say is that I maybe peeked and Basic Invite has a darling suite of merry christmas cards options which also features the custom color option along with over 40 different colored envelope options. And an address capturing service and free recipient address printing on all Christmas card orders, which really takes the headache out of addressing all those holiday cards. So I am being a basic mom and making a plan for my card photo now. Because really, it is too soon? Don’t answer that either.

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I’m linking to a few of my favorite designs below, both in business cards and stationary. Right now Basic Invite is offering all of you 15% off with coupon code: 15FF51

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Let me know if you decide to take advantage of this deal and try out some of the business cards (especially the clear ones!)

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Favorite Summer Posts!

Hello friends! I hope your Labor Day weekend was waaaaaayy better than mine! No seriously though, if you hang out with me on Instagram, you know that this past weekend just wasn't the cup of tea it should have been for me and my people. It's fine, we're fine. I'm demanding that the Universe give me a do over (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, COLUMBUS DAY WEEKEND).

But before I derail my own self here, let me just say that I'm popping in to share this summer's most popular posts! There were so many sweet memories I got to make with my family this summer, and I am so grateful for this space where I get to share a lot of them with you! There are also some fun recipes and DIYs and all that good stuff, so perhaps if you missed something, this will give you a peek at some of this summer's highlights!

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Some Family Things.

DIY Relay Races!

Pineapple Moscato Pops!

Fave Kid's Books.

Biking at the Garden!

In My Pool Bag.

Why I'm Taking a Social Media Sabbath.

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Some Dress Up Things:

White Stripes.

Blading in Blues.

Linen Yellow.

Llama Dress.

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Some Travel Things.

Strolling in Boston.

What to do in Santa Barbara!

Wine Tasting in Santa Ynez.

Like Mother, Like Daughter.

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Some DIY Things.

DIY Bug Spray!

DIY Potato Print.

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Which of these posts were your favorites? What would you like to see more of in the coming months?

I am so excited for Fall because it's just TIME. I have lots of fun things in store for this blog over the next few months. I never ever run out of ideas for things to share here (I simply run out of time to make it all happen! #momlife) - recipes, travel itineraries, my favorite (and most worn!) fall clothing, all kinds of essential oil DIYs and of course, some more green beauty goodness. Soooo many good things to share. I heart you all and I heart you, Fall.

So long to you Summer. I'll be waiting for you again in March when I'm sick of sweaters, I promise.

P.S. - My pink hair from the top pic was from the beginning of the summer and only lasted a weekend, but it was the BEST weekend! The temporary pink was from the Kristin Ess Rose Gold Temporary Tint and it's not really supposed to work on brunettes but I willed it to work on my bleached ends and perhaps left it in a whole lot longer than I was supposed to, so it worked out. Now I'm thinking of going back to super dark hair but we shall see... gosh, Fall makes me want to turn everything burgundy!!

A Morning Stroll in the Boston Public Garden.

We spent the weekend in Boston two weeks ago for Stevie's 5-year class reunion at HBS, and man, was it wonderful being back in Beantown. Living in Cambridge was a really special session in our chapter book, with memories that we often re-visit when we are telling stories, and I honestly can't believe that it's been 5 years since we moved. Until I remember that there are two children in my life now that weren't around back in our cold-weather Boston days. #wakeupcall

It was a whirlwind weekend being back on that immaculate campus seeing friends, and we both kept remarking to each other how normal it felt to be back, and how it felt like absolutely no time had passed. We were back to our old stomping grounds, having dinner with classmates, attending lectures and talking about dreams for the future. Truthfully, it felt like NO TIME HAD PASSED. Isn't that so strange?! A few pics below of our weekend.

This view of the Charles River never gets old.

The dogwoods were in full bloom and were more perfect than I've ever seen before anywhere!

We were frolicking around without kids and it was WILD. Like, I wasn't holding 5 sippy cups and snacks in my bag. I was holding lipstick. What is this life.

The rhododendrons were in full bloom, too! Mental note - I need to plant some of these in my yard.

I used Rent the Runway for a few of the reunion events and was pleasantly surprised! Will definitely be using that service again soon!

Our view from up high. It was 55 degrees one morning when we woke up! with it being 90+ back in Atlanta, I wasn't mad about wearing a few layers.

The block made me think for a mere moment that we were in London ;)

Had to.

Some of our BFFs from our time in Boston! It was the best to catch up.

On the final morning, Stevie and I had a bit of time before our flight so we trekked from our Copley Square hotel to THE cutest little coffee shop Thinking Cup, where we grabbed some to-go breakfast sandwiches and coffee and headed to the loveliest of Boston's parks, The Boston Common.

America's oldest park featuring trees planted from all over the world (an homage to the immigrant nation that we are), this park is very dear to my heart and always the perfect place to stroll, especially in good weather. The manicuring, the flowers, and the swans - its truly the perfect romantic setting for a movie. Mental note - pitch this location for a movie.

Anyway, we strolled. Whilst chomping down some breakfast sandwiches and taking photos of ducks for the boys (because, Make Way for Ducklings). And we took way too much time doing all this slow wandering and ended up having to haul it to make our flight on time. Which we did! But it was a little close.

Since we actually had time to talk without being interrupted on this particular morning, we spent our time in the Garden dreaming about the future. I don't know if anyone else does this, but when I travel I often find myself dreaming about what life would be like to live in that particular location. I wonder about where the good schools are, what people do with their kids for fun on the weekends, where the local cool places are to eat. In cities like this I wonder how people get around (train everywhere? Walk everywhere? Or still need a car?), how they function with 8 months of winter (yikes, bowl a lot??), and how different the life must be from my Atlanta suburb. Since we actually lived here years ago, the dreaming this time around got really specific, and Stevie and I couldn't help but talk about what it would be like to move back to Boston for a few years. There is just something so characteristic about New England, it will always take up some special space in our hearts.

But before we knew it, we were buckling our seat belts while we listened to the Delta safety information, and we were SO glad to be reunited with our boys just a few short hours after this morning in the Garden.

p.s. - that time I was gigantically pregnant in the Boston Public Garden.