June Around The Web

June kicked off with Dale and I celebrating our 8 year wedding anniversary! My parents offered to babysit so that we could head to The Campground for drinks followed by a delicious dinner at Novel. That Sunday Grant was baptized and we had a great lunch after to celebrate! The rest of the month included more celebrations for our friend’s daughter Ruthie, Alex turned 30, we spent time with the Chicago Smiths, and saw Grace preform at her aerial show and at The Folly! Grace also turned 19 on the 26th and we had cupcakes at our house the night before her Folly performance. Grant is now three months old (how does time go so fast!) and has grown so much! He’s officially in mostly 3-6 month clothes and is giggling and smiling which is the BEST.

  • I was blown away by how beautiful Mackenzie’s instant hedges turned out! I’ve always admired her beautiful back yard but the hedges really brought it to a whole new level!

  • Like the rest of the internet, I am excited for the Barbie movie

  • An interesting history of the tote, we sure use Grant’s a lot!

  • I’m taking lots of early morning walks with my little guy and need a new hat

  • Bittersweet news from one of my favorite sites, Wit & Delight

  • Adding the ingredients for this recipe to our grocery list

  • Obsessed with this mirror (and little bathroom in general)

  • Bookmarking for future summer date nights

  • I love all blooms and these chairs are no exception. So beautiful!

  • The Magic Merlin is saving our sleep as Grant transitions out of his beloved Ollie!

happy summer!

January Around The Web

The first month of a new year is always an exciting fresh start — especially this year! Between unfathomable lows leading up to inauguration day and the joy of seeing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris sworn in, this month was a rollercoaster for our country. Personally, I got back into the swing of working from home after a holiday break, embarked on my first ever Whole30 with my parents, and celebrated Dale’s immunity day after his second Covid-19 vaccine!! I’ve also been analyzing and organizing my house — basically a New Year’s tradition. Around the web I loved seeing this sustainable DIY:

  • I’m also really loving browsing for antiques online. I love this piece Mackenzie found for her home!

  • After my Whole30 month is officially over (just a few more days!) I know I’ll have to do at least a little baking. Maybe these cookies? Or my weird recent craving, key lime pie?

  • On a healthier note, two of my favorite Whole30 approved recipes: Jambalaya and Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

  • Feeling much more patriotic as this month comes to a close!

  • And I LOVED the inauguration fashion. Fancy coats are my favorite, I wear my bright red J.Crew one all winter long.

  • Not so patiently waiting for these lamps to arrive for our bedroom.

  • And I’ve been loving our new humidifier, and so have my dry eyes.

  • Someday I would love to upgrade my IKEA desk I’ve had for years. This one is a contender…

Here’s to Peace and Health in 2021!

101 in 1001 (Round Two)

Happy Wednesday! Once again I’ve decided to make a 101 in 1001 list inspired by Mackenzie Horan! (You can take a peek at my last list here.) While I only checked off 64 items I still really enjoyed having it to reference. Now that I’m settled in KC this felt like the perfect time to create another list that felt more relevant to what I’m interested in and want to focus my time on now. I will update this post with my progress over the next 1001 days!

Letters Are Lovely | 101 in 1001 (Round Two)

January 1st, 2019 – September 28, 2021 (72 Completed)

CREATIVE CAREER/LETTERING

1 Update Portfolio (January 2019)
2 Attend a new conference
3 Work on calligraphy for envelope addressing (2021 Mentoring Olivia)
4 Participate in Hallmarket
5 Create an illustration focused piece (January 2019)
6 Collaborate on a second font at work (Collaborating with Josh on Font in 2020)
7 Take a work trip (Almost! Letter West July 2020)
8 Letter a return address stamp
9 Set up home studio (November 2019, Set up Second Bedroom as Studio)
10 Continue mentoring (Mentorship with Leslie in 2019)

DALE AND ALLIE

11 Write anniversary notes in our guest book each year (2019, 2020, 2021)
12 Go camping (Devil’s Den in Arkansas October 2019)
13 Make a weekend trip to a winery (Wine Tasting California, Sept 2021)
14 Celebrate our 10 years of dating anniversary (Dallie Disco April 2019)
15 Volunteer somewhere together (Limited by Pandemic, but made large Harvesters Donation in 2021)
16 Send out Christmas cards each year (2019, 2020, 2021)
17 Surprise Dale with a date night (Minsky’s Nights, Gift Card to Rye)
18 Try three new restaurants (Plate, Thai Orchid, Bamboo Penny’s)
19 Go hiking together (Devil’s Den in Arkansas October 2019)
20 Walk to Brookside shops for date night (All the time in 2019!)

FITNESS/HEALTH

21 Try a new Fusion class (Drenched: January 17, 2019)
22 Try a yoga class in KC (Virtual Yoga: March 2020)
23 Hit water goal every day for two weeks straight
24 Try five new recipes (Greek Bowls, Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup, Turkey Meatball and Kale Soup, Salmon Avocado Toast, Pita Tostadas with Butternut Squash, January–March 2019)
25 Try Be Well smoothies every day for a week
26 Update our recipe book (February 2019)
27 Treat myself to a massage
28 Treat myself to a facial
29 Buy new glasses (April 2019)
30 Switch to silk pillowcases (December 2020)

TRAVEL

31 Take a family vacation (Costa Rica March 2020)
32 Visit two new states
33 Go to the beach (Alex and Adam’s Wedding June 2021)
34 Dale & Allie trip on one of his vacation weeks (Booked Cali Trip, April 2019)
35 College friends reunion trip
36 Travel to Thailand
37 Visit friends in Charleston
38 Visit friends in NYC
39 Travel to Iceland
40 Travel to Europe

ENTERTAINMENT

41 Go to the Kansas City Symphony
42 Go to a concert (Boulevardia with Megan and Matt June 2019)
43 Go to a KU game at Allen Fieldhouse (Dale with Austin 2021)
44 Take a trip to the Nelson (Napoleon Exhibit with Sophie & Dale, March 2019)
45 Take a flower arranging class (#My5Days Flower Arranging Workshop May 2019)
46 Go blueberry picking (July 2019 with Dianne, Mike & Graham)
47 Take a cooking class
48 Bake a fancy cake or dessert (Baked Derby Pie, January 2019)
49 Take Sophie and Grace to dinner
50 Watch Victoria (January 2019)

Get Organized

51 Go through clothes (January 2019)
52 Get TSA Pre-Check and Possibly Global Entry
53 Unsubscribe from emails (January 2019)
54 Instagram clean up (January 2019)
55 Go through phone and organize/delete contacts
56 Take broken china to be repaired
57 Organize Basement Shelves (January 2019)
58 Organize 2018 photos (February 2019)
59 2018 photo album (2020)
60 Fix security system/get doorbell

FAMILY/FRIENDS

61 Host a dinner party
62 Record Grammy and Pop telling childhood stories (Storyworth, 2020)
63 Help mom organize family photos (February 2021)
64 Spend a weekend at Turkey Hill (Pumpkin Carving October 2019)
65 Send hand-written letters to five friends
66 Finish college t-shirt quilt with Sophie
67 Join a book club (Internal Medicine Book Club 2019)
68 Host a movie night at our house (Watched The Shining with Grace October 2019)
69 Host a murder mystery party (Mom hosted for my 28th Birthday February 2020)
70 Mail birthday cards to 10 friends

BOOKS

71 Read an memoir (Becoming by Michelle Obama: November 2020)
72 Read a fiction novel (The Wedding Date: January 2019)
73 Read a non-fiction book (The More of Less: March 2019)
74 Read a historical book
75 Read a book (Fruit of the Drunken Tree: January 2019)
76 Read a book (The Woman in the Window: February 2019)
77 Read a book (Educated: March 2019)
78 Read a book (Red, White & Royal Blue: July 2019)
79 Read a book (The Only Woman in the Room: October 2019)
80 Re-read all the Harry Potter books

FINANCIAL

81 Cook our own food for two weeks
82 No extra purchases for a month (clothes/jewelry/books…) (February 2020, not perfect but close!)
83 Put money into a savings account each month for a year (2019)
84 Increase retirement savings percentage (Set up to increase yearly, 2020)
85 Follow up with student loan debt advisor (March 2019)
86 Reach savings goal (2020)
87 Start investing monthly after reaching savings goal (2020/2021)
88 Write things to buy in list for the next month for four months (2020)
89 Make a donation to charity (Harvesters January 1, 2021)
90 Plan long term financial goals (2020, Ongoing)

KC House

91 Buy a TV for the living room
92 Get a rug for our bedroom (February 2020)
93 New house numbers (2019)
94 Plant grass seed in the front yard (2019)
95 Paint stairway (December 2019)
96 Update bathroom (one room challenge?) (Spring 2020)
97 Get larger dining room table and more chairs (Fall 2021)
98 Hang up porch swing (2019)
99 Hang wallpaper in the sunroom (November 2019)
100 Replace kitchen, hallway, and sunroom lights (December 2019)

GRAND FINALE

101 Try something outside my comfort zone (Led Ability KC Mural Painting with Meredith, January 2019)