Life Lately/ Things I'm Loving

Good morning everyone! I didn't mean to take last week off, it was just laziness on my part. Today I'm sharing a little bit about what we've been up to (spoiler alert, it's not much!) and sharing some things I've been loving lately.

For the 4th of July we headed to hang out with friends at an outdoor party. It was nice to get out and visit with people and social distance. I decided to make chocolate covered pretzel rods with sprinkles on them and while they looked messy they turned out to be delicious!

I made milk chocolate, white chocolate and caramel and all were delicious. They were pretty easy to make and I would definitely make them again in the future. 

Sophie has been loving that I'm still working from home and has been enjoying all the time we've been spending with her. I can't imagine life without her!

We had a great time hanging out with everyone but then it was time to head home to our girl!

Clearly, this girl likes hanging out with us! She didn't like the "sky booms" but luckily they weren't really loud in our house and we could only hear them when we took her outside to go to the bathroom. 

Now for some things I've been loving lately!

I deep cleaned our couch yesterday and wanted to share what I've been using to deep clean it.

It looks so much better when it gets deep cleaned but honestly it doesn't stay that nice for long.  But here is what I've been using to keep it clean.

This is the Bissell SpotClean Portable Carpet Cleaner and it's been life changing! The process takes a bit but watching the dirty water collect makes me so glad that I have the ability to get my couch clean with this! I know you might be thinking that your couch isn't dirty but every day that you sit on it you are leaving behind a ton of junk. I love having Sophie on the couch with us and I know the only way we can continue to let her snuggle with us is if we keep up with the couch cleaning. I highly recommend this one because its small and compact and easy to use.

I just finished 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand and it was phenomenal! I loved this story and was so sad when it ended. Even though the book centers around two characters in a "same time next year" relationship where there is some cheating going on I found myself cheering for them to be together! I would highly recommend it. 

For the next three items I'm going to be late to the party but I am totally obsessed with. I am currently on season 6 of Vampire Diaries and I regret not watching it years ago when it was on tv! If you haven't seen it before you can stream it on Netflix. The storyline is super dramatic but I am completely into it and have been watching it almost daily. 

Again, late to the party but I was able to see Hamilton finally on Disney+ and it was fantastic. I now am obsessed with the music and watched the film twice on Friday. Jonathan Groff as King George III is pure gold. If you haven't watched it definitely go check it out!

Tim and I just finished Outer Banks yesterday and it was so great! I really am hoping there is a season two because I need to know what happens next! If you liked the OC then you will definitely enjoy this!

What have you been loving lately?

Life Lately

Good morning and happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and lucky you if you turned it into an extra long weekend!

Today I'm just going to share what we've been up to lately.

Tim's cousin Derek graduated with his masters degree and his girlfriend Ally threw him a graduation party. We had a great time and Tim even got his trophy from his fantasy baseball league. He was clearly excited by it.

We always love hanging out at Ally's parents house as well. They always have a good time there!

Recently we ate at Not Your Average Joes and the steak tips were amazing! We love the bread at NYAJ too, if you ever go it's amazing!

Just the sunset on our ride home. How beautiful was the sky that night?

Yesterday was a ton of fun because we spent most of the day kayaking six miles!

The Gooding family kayak trip was a success! This is the third time we've done a huge kayak trip and  we always have a great time.

I tend to move fast on the river and often end up in the front.  At times it was super peaceful to just float along while I waited for everyone behind me.

Kason and Callan took turns laying on Matt's kayak and loved it!

I spent some time with Marissa and Chy and it was so nice to hang out with them!

I love just drifting around and seeing all the wildlife. I love the turtle sightings!

Can't forget my dear husband! Although we hung out in different areas and with different people most of the day I always love to have my hubby around!

Here's our whole crew! We had a huge group this year!

Such a fun day! I'd also like to point out that my shirt was Tims from our cruise but it shrunk and now it's mine! :)

What have you guys been up to lately?!

Life Lately: Lotus Flowers, Peeka, and Kayaking

I'm back with just a little update on what's been going on in my life lately so let's jump right in!

Locally in Rhode Island there is a small pond that has humongous lotus flowers and I made Tim take me one day so I could snap a few pictures.

The pictures honestly do not do them justice and they are only around for a very short period of time so if you want to see them in person you have to hurry once you hear they are out!

Tim was such a good sport taking selfies and looking at flowers although he did admit that they were pretty cool.

Brittni texted us in the late afternoon that day asking if we wanted to meet them for dinner, which of course we did because when Emma is involved there is always live entertainment! We all laughed as she covered her eyes then uncovered them and yelled "PEEKA!" then we all were expected to yell "BOO!" back at her. She laughed and laughed.

Clearly this kid knows her audience and how much control she has over all of us.

After a yummy dinner at Not Your Average Joes (the bread and oil is AH-MAZING!) we said our goodbyes and Tim and I stopped for some ice cream!

One of my favorite things about summer is getting ice cream in the evenings and we haven't done that nearly enough this year.

Also I recently was able to enjoy my lunch time with this little one at the playground.

The face of pure joy!

Tim's family does a kayaking trip every year and this summer was no exception! You can see recaps of our past kayaking trips here and here.

This year we took a slightly different route since the one we'd been doing the last couple of years was impassible. However the route we took also had its fair share of obstacles and plenty of rocks to get stuck on!

Just waiting for everyone to get into the water and join us!

At one point I was wayyyyyy ahead of everyone else because everyone got stuck and I just slid right past. I think that kayaking can certainly be all luck. If you choose the correct path you can just get really lucky and make it through

Tim and I were actually separated for the majority of the trip which was strange since we normally go in a two person kayak but we just ended up socializing with different groups which  meant we had a lot to share afterwards!

I love getting the chance to hang out with this girl! Danielle is Dans girlfriend (Tim's brother Dan- not to be confused with my brother Dan) and she is one of the nicest people you will ever meet! We kayaked near each other for a good portion of the afternoon and I enjoyed catching up with her.

We were quite the crowd with Tim's parents, Tim and his four siblings, all their significant others, Tim's two nephews, his cousin Derek  and his girlfriend Ally, and his aunt Cindy and cousins Joe and Catherine. It was quite the day!

I was very sore at the end of it all and ready to relax at home! We ended up going to dinner with Derek and Ally at Dan's Place (one of our favorite restaurants in West Greenwich, RI) which was a great way to relax and recap the day. Then I proceeded to be sore for the following three days!

Did you guys get out to see the eclipse?

This is the best picture I got but man was it cool!

We were lucky enough to have a welding mask at work and some safety glass so we could take a look.

Then lastly, look what arrived in the mail...

It's almost time for our trip! :)

That's all for today! Thanks for stopping by!