summer in texas is trying, to say the least.

investing in a few good summer essentials helps immensely.

and, in this season of mine, having good summer essentials that work while chasing a toddler (and would also work in future seasons of pregnancy + postpartum), is worth its weight in gold.

A round-up of our weekly routines!

my skin is a huge priority for me.

because yeah, my mom has taken impeccable care of her skin, and she looks fantastic. so there’s motivation right there.

but also? my skin easily becomes very dry and red when I’m not taking care of it. and I consider myself a pretty confident person, very comfortable in my own skin, but I detest when my skin becomes dry and red, as it’s very obvious and makes me feel a bit embarrassed.

and I don’t wear makeup - more on this in a second - so if my skin is unhappy, there’s no hiding it.

so all that to say, I try to take very good care of my skin.

and it’s taken years of trial and error, but lately I’ve really found a rhythm that has my skin super happy.

if you’ve been around longer than two minutes, you know that we keep a few of kk’s toys and activities immersed in our main living space.

while in the future we definitely have the option of transforming our front room or our dining room into a separate playroom, right now the toys in the main living space work really well for us - I can do whatever it is I need to do and KK can play nearby.

and to minimize the amount of stuff taking over our den, we do a toy rotation and a book rotation. (not to mention the toy and book rotation keeps things super exciting for KK, and I swear it’s a big reason she plays so well independently. I also swear by the course How To Create a Home that Encourages Independent Play in All Ages.)

to keep it all super simple (and fun!) for me, we have themes for each month of the year. see my post on Our Monthly Play Themes: Our Favorite Books, Toys, Activities, and Sensory Bins for Each Month of the Year.

but we have a few bigger toys that stay our all the time. these things get so much use.

if/when we hit a point where KK loses interest in an item, we’ll tuck it away or move it to a different room for a hot minute to give it a break + to make it seem new and shiny again. but until then, these things get used daily.

and to me, I try to invest in toys that’ll grow with us through the years - and all of these definitely fit the bill.

but my disclaimer also is this: there are lots of great bigger toys out there. and I’m not saying these are the best of the best by any means. more accurately, KK loves them immensely, they inspire lots of play, and, above all, I don’t mind them staring me in the face in the main area of my home.

But first, here’s the full post on how we celebrate Valentine’s Day, if you’re curious of our other traditions, like our Waffle Bar.

Mr. Valentine visits!!!! When my sisters and I were growing up, Mr. Valentine would deliver a small gift basket for each of us by our front door while we were at school…or while my mom took the trash out. ;) We LOVED it and I want to continue this with KK and her siblings.

let’s start with a list

many many years ago, I made a list of all the things I truly loved for our living space. (so this list has served us both in our teeny, tiny apartments, as well as our current home.)

according to my list, I love whites, creams, beiges, navys, blues, pinks, oranges, golds, bamboos, wickers, rattans, leopards. I love displaying sentimental pieces and happy memories in our home - photos, maps, magazine clippings, pieces of art, whatever. I love cozy seating, lots of blankets, and plenty of books. etc, etc etc.

first of all, The List makes it INCREDIBLY easy to shop and decorate. i am never tempted by things not meant for me - even if they’re a great price or even if they’re super trendy on Pinterest or even if they just look so cute in that girl’s photo. my list pinpointed what I truly loved. and really, I believe your home should only be filled with things you love. and I believe that’s still possible to do, even with little people running amuck.

a big faq on my instagram!

as I mentioned in my list of my favorite systems and routines, I love using subscriptions whenever we can on products we use often. because the mental load of running a household can be overwhelming, and automating what I can works reallyyyy well for me - subscriptions automate a big part of our household, especially since there are many items that we use on a predictable, regular basis to run said household.

and as one of my favorite books says, “creating structure creates freedom.” I couldn’t agree more. subscriptions can be such an easy way to add some structure to a household.

on a side note, for the same reason I love utilizing subscriptions, I also love to assign household tasks to certain days of the week and certain months of the year. arguably one of the most calming, freeing things I’ve ever done.

and to tie it all together, one of my October tasks is to reflect to see if anything in our life could benefit from being set to a subscription (or, alternatively, taken off a subscription) - whether that be Amazon Subscribe and Save, our skincare line auto replenishment, a carwash membership, a coffee bean subscription, a meat delivery subscription, etc.

and when I shared on Instagram stories that it was Subscribe and Save day for us, and showed a photo of a biggg box on our doorstep, DMs flooded in. what do you get??

so i thought I’d share a peek into what we have added to our Amazon Subscribe & Save.

and let me say this - sometimes items via Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program is cheaper, yes. but sometimes, I’m paying for the convenience of automation. meaning, it may be similar in price to my grocery store, but I prefer to have it set to Subscribe and Save, rather than remember to add it to my grocery list. and I only go to the grocery store once a week, and Costco once a month (and I hardly ever go to any other stores), so sometimes I’d just rather an item arrive on my doorstep via Amazon, than seek out a separate store, online or in-person. (because a separate store takes more energy, and oftentimes that separate store tempts me to spend more.) while saving money can be a perk of subscriptions, my main goal here is automation and simplification. lighten that mental load of mine.

as always, just sharing what works for us - you do whatever works for you!

I recently started juicing in the evenings. Years ago, I loved the occasional fresh juice. Those that have been around know that when I was pregnant with KK, I craved green juice and citrus-laden juices constantly. Even now, I love a good, fresh juice - it’s one of those things that makes me feel really good and it makes me feel like I’m really caring for my body. However, I could never get the routine to stick.

But! Fast forward to now and with a few small tweaks, I finally got a juicing routine that I’ve able to consistently prioritize. I thought I’d also use this as an opportunity to model my process for creating routines, and answer a whole slew of FAQs.

Let’s do this! Here’s how I created + implemented my new juicing routine.

Below is what we take as a family - I purposely didn’t add my reasons for choosing the vitamins we did, as everyone has different needs, and doing research is the best path to see if any of these products would be a good fit for you and your family.

But I will say, our current vitamins and supplements have us feeling so good. It does cost some money, and we prioritize this in our budget - we try to remember it’s important to invest in our health.

And, and! We have all our vitamins, etc set to Amazon Subscribe and Save. One less thing to think about. (There is some debate whether Amazon is a good source, but so far it has worked for us. We will tweak this if need be in the future!)

Here’s what we each take!