I still can’t believe the year is already over and we are well into 2020. Penelope and I have both had croup, the flu and colds this week but we are finally feeling healthier and are officially ready to start this new year.
I am the type of person that honestly loves the New Year. If you know me, you know I love taking time to reflect on my past year and setting goals and resolutions I want to hit in the New Year.
2019 was unforgettable for many reasons.
We tried to savor each moment with Penelope when she was growing bigger right before our eyes.
She started crawling in January, celebrated her first birthday in April and started walking in May!
We purchased our first home that we had been saving up for a really long time for in April.
We both received job promotions at work.
In July we found out we were pregnant with another baby that would be coming to our family in March!
In October we celebrated six years of being married to each other.
We spent so much quality time with our family and friends and traveled to Bear Lake, St. George, Jackson Hole, Hawaii, Boston, New York, and California.
And now I have a feeling that 2020 will be a year that we never ever forget! Especially with this new baby that is coming in a short 9 weeks. Ah!
One perk to being sick is actually having downtime to tackle projects like cleaning up my hard drive which resulted in me putting together a little video of our last ten years together. It was such a neat project for me to sit down and realize how beautiful, messy, and crazy our life is together. I wouldn’t have it any other way and could’ve easily made the video 40 minutes! 😂Hope you enjoy it!
‘Tis the season for FAVORITE THINGS PARTIES! I’ve posted about them a couple of times now and I always get questions asking, “What the heck is a Favorite Things Party, anyways?!”
Maybe they’re a Utah thing? I have no idea haha… but they are so much fun!
Essentially, you get together with a group of friends and/or family and everyone brings one of their ALL-TIME FAVORITE THINGS wrapped to give away!
Something you swear by.
Can’t live without.
Use every day.
Some parties will set a price limit, some don’t mention anything. I would say that most items are around the $30 range!
And then you put all of the gifts in the center, have everyone draw a number (depending on how many guests are there) and then you go in order. Someone picks a present OR they can steal a present. At least this is how we do it… you can steal a present once (or twice) and then after that, the present is locked and that person who stole it last gets to keep it.
They are so much fun and a perfect way to get together and see what everyone is loving and using! I love leaving with a new favorite thing that I can start using too.
I also had a couple of requests to share what people have brought to the parties I’ve been invited to. So, here you go!
If you’ve been here a while, you already know I love things to be organized.. and our garage was no exception! I loved using some of these simple products to make our garage feel a little bit less cluttered.. because let’s be real, garages can get cluttered FAST! ☺️
When you enter the house from the garage, you walk onto carpet so we wanted a place we could take off our shoes so we don’t trudge any dirt or mud inside. I use THESE GYM FLOORING TILES in our basement for my treadmill and workout things and they work perfectly in the garage too! They fit together like puzzle pieces so you can use as many or as little as you want. We also use THIS SHOE RACK for our shoes.
Before we hung the strollers, they were all over the floor in the garage and I felt like we were constantly climbing over them (aaaand almost running over them in the car haha) so now we use THESE HOOKS to hang the strollers. We also have THIS HOOK as well and it works great.
And for my favorite part! The bins! We used to have bins of almost every single color and I felt like it would look so much cleaner/better if I had them all the same color and labeled so that’s what I did. I donated the bins I didn’t need anymore and then used my handy LABEL MAKER and went to work! I love these kinds of projects.
THESE BINS are perfect for this kind of project! Inside of the bins I have all of our holiday decorations, Penelope’s old baby clothes, home decor we’ll use in the future (linens etc.), beach toys and our old keepsakes from childhood.
Hope that helps any of you hoping to tackle a garage organization project this winter break!
For this week’s happiness hack, I hope we can all remember to SHOP SMALL this Saturday! And every day!
I love supporting small shops and have especially loved meeting some of the extremely hard-working, talented women behind these small shops. Here are just 10 of my many favorites!
Sonnet James. Whitney is a single mom who I’ve been following since I first had an Instagram. She makes the most incredible dresses and playsuits that I can’t seem to take off these days. I have the Reese in two different colors and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking for a good everyday dress.
A Banner Day. My mother-in-law Jeni owns A Banner Day (alongside the Jeni Bee Market) and is such an incredible artist and creator. We love having one of her banners out for decoration each holiday!
Blue Lily Candles – Wills aunt Sara is the creator off these candles and they are INCREDIBLE. If you order some, be sure to order Basalm. It is Christmas heaven in a candle! She is undergoing chemotherapy for her breast cancer so the support here means the world 💗
If you are Utah local, these can also be purchased at Downeast in Millcreek or at the Jeni Bee Market which is coming up next week!
Hello Maypole. Aubry is your go-to vendor for felt balls this holiday season! I love putting felt balls around our Christmas tree and love following Hello Maypole’s owner, Aubry.
Cuento Books. I’ve posted about these books for a while but I honestly think they make the perfect Christmas present. They are custom hard books you can make to remember a family member that has passed away. Owned by Steph in San Francisco.
Tubby Todd. I am not exaggerating when I tell you we are OBSESSED with Tubby Todd over here. I feel so much better knowing that I am putting products on Penelope that are made with clean, non-toxic ingredients! Owned by Andrea in San Diego.
Gathre. Gathre is owned by Jess and Marilee and they are truthfully two of the neatest people I have EVER met. I worked with Jess during our Google Fiber days and have loved watching her pursue her dream behind Gathre. We use Gathre products in our home on a daily basis!
The Stockplace. The Stockplace is owned by my two friends Megan and Brynlee. I was actually on Cougarettes with them in college! They started this cute clothing shop and post a small number of pieces they LOVE every launch and the clothes go quick!
The Paper House. Annie does such a good job with this cute online paper goods shop. She has such an incredible eye for all things holiday and I love shopping from her! She also does pop-ups often in Utah so if you are local, follow her on IG!
Seeding & Co. This kid’s shop is one you do NOT want to miss. I love all of the unique pieces and toys for kid’s in their shop and it definitely warms my heart knowing I’m supporting another woman entrepreneur by shopping from this site!
And that’s just 10 out of many, many shops I dearly love. Hope you can support one small shop for me this week!
For this week’s Happiness Hack, I’d love for you to consider doing a Sub for Santa for a family in need this holiday season.
I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but right now really is the best time to start planning to give to someone in need. The holiday season will be over before we know it!
If you haven’t heard of Sub for Santa before, essentially you are gifting Christmas to a family in need. It can be anything from gift cards to toiletries to asking the family what their specific needs are and shopping based off of that.
If you are in Utah, I am helping arrange a Christmas for 100 refugee families and would love for you to be involved!
If you aren’t in Utah, please try to find a family you can give some Christmas gifts to! It really is the best way to get into the Christmas spirit and something you will never forget.
Let me know if you end up doing something! I’d love to see it ❤️
This week’s Happiness Hack (coming at you on a Wednesday instead of Monday hehe sorry!) is about shifting more of your focus towards an “attitude of gratitude”. I know this seems a little cliché and very overused but I REALLY want you to stop and think about it.. hear me out here.
This time of year is already getting SO busy. I am amazed at how many shops are already pushing their Black Friday sales on people, how many events are getting thrown on the calendar, and how rushed and stressed I already feel.
Then last night, I was walking in LAX by myself on my way home and I just felt so down in the dumps.
I was completely exhausted after my work trip, discouraged at how my body was feeling in regards to a growing bump (to everyone who told me the 2nd baby is harder on your body, I now totally understand!), and just overall SAD.
I wanted to be home already. I wanted to be with my daughter and Will. I was feeling guilty that I’m already leaving her again in two days for another trip. Just so many emotions going on!
And then out of nowhere… “JUST BE GRATEFUL!!!” popped into my head. I have no idea where it came from or why but I seriously almost started crying. I was standing there in the middle of the airport and decided that in that exact moment I was going to shift my mindset.
I was grateful I had the financial means to buy Christmas presents this year and grateful shops were giving me the opportunity to get a discount early.
Grateful I have family and friends wanting to get together for the holidays already.
Grateful I have a job that provides for our family and gives me opportunities that push me in my career.
Grateful I was PREGNANT! I am growing a human. Who cares if my body aches during the course of it.
Grateful I had a husband and daughter that I was so excited to get back to after my trip.
Grateful I have such amazing family close by to watch my daughter while Will and I go on one more trip with just the two of us before the next baby comes.
It helped me so much! I immediately didn’t feel sad anymore and felt so grateful for all the opportunities I had in my life.
Even though things can feel stressful at times, I truly believe shifting your attitude more towards gratitude rather than to negativity helps immensely.
That’s it for today! I hope this helps you guys this week ❤️
Today I’m sharing my favorite salad recipe that I use to bring to every event or party! It’s so simple to make and hits the spot every single time.
You can buy almost every ingredient at Costco besides the Brianna’s Creamy Balsamic Dressing. You could always swap out the dressing too if you find another creamy balsamic you like!
Your shopping list is here:
Bacon
Goat cheese (I LOVE Costco’s goat cheese. You’ll only need to use half of it so you can freeze the other half so it will stay good longer)
Spinach
Strawberries
Pecans
Brianna’s Creamy Balsamic Dressing
It really is simple but all you do is:
Cook the bacon and cut it up into pieces (I use kitchen scissors to cut up the bacon after it’s been cooked)
Tear up the goat cheese into little crumbles (I actually usually leave these on the side in case someone doesn’t like goat cheese!)
Candy 3 cups of pecans (use this same recipe here to candy them!) (I cut the pecans in half prior to cooking so they’re easier to eat with the salad)
And then assemble it all together! Easy as that. I don’t use any real measurements… I just eye how much spinach I’ll need, strawberries etc. You can make it as big as or as small as you want depending on how many you’re feeding! If you make it with all of the ingredients you buy at Costco you could easily feed 20-30 people.
I’m back with a short message this Monday morning with something that has really helped me feel happy lately.
A couple months ago I decided to include ‘send a nice message’ as one of my morning daily routine tasks and it’s quickly become a favorite a mine.
This week I want you to try to send a kind message to someone either close to you or not each day. It can be short or long. It can be someone you see every day or someone you haven’t seen in years. Another fun thing I like to do is to check Facebook and see whose birthday it is and text that person specifically. I want to be better at remembering everyone’s birthdays so this is perfect for me to do!
I hope this will be a fun challenge for you this week and that you’ll feel a little happier as you do it!
Today marks six years of marriage and I can’t even believe it!
October 25th will always hold the most special place in my heart. It’s the day that we had our very first kiss in 2007 (which makes today 12 years since that day?!) and the date we were married for time and all eternity.
Every anniversary I love watching our wedding videos and reminiscing on one of the best days of our lives. Yes, I may be still bawling my eyes out right now after watching them this morning but I’m pregnant… give me a break. Oh, what I would do to be able to re-live this day over and over and over again…
I’ve been wanting to do this for a while so here we go…
I feel so much of the content we consume on a daily basis (or at least that I do) doesn’t impact my overall health and well-being in a positive way. Everyone (including myself) usually just posts about outfits, trips, and day to day activities but I want to do something different. I want to create content that actually helps someone feel happier. Content that helps push someone to be a little kinder, go a little out of their comfort zone, and hopefully at the end of the day, a better human being.
We all know the world is a little scary these days. A majority of the news that we consume is disheartening and sometimes we have to sit and wonder if there are any good humans left on the earth… but there are! I just think we just need to shine our lights a little bit brighter and help lighten other people’s lives as well. Am I perfect at this? Heck no! I am imperfect in so many ways but I hope this can be just as much as a challenge for me as it is for you.
For the next 20 weeks, I am hoping you will open up your email inbox every single Monday morning with a happiness hack, tip, service project idea, organization tip, or whatever I try the week prior that contributes to your life in a positive way that I want you to try. For that entire following week, I hope you try these hacks and see if they make an impact on your life.
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Here we go for week #1!
Week #1
Unsubscribe from emails
This week I want you to wake up each morning, go to your computer (or you can do this on your phone) and go to your inbox. Once you get there, you’ll probably have at least 30 new emails that came in while you were sleeping. Annoying, right? I find this so draining to wake up to every morning so I spent each morning last week unsubscribing to every email that didn’t impact my life in an immediate or positive way. Now I receive about 3-5 emails every morning with the information I actually care about/need!
Most of these will be from national retailers that email you numerous times a day because they know emails like this typically lead to the highest conversion in sales… unsubscribe! If you reeeeeeeally want something and are worried it’s going to go on sale, use the Droplist feature on Honey and they will email you when a specific item drops in price.
And what about emails from Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Flipboard etc. Do you really need to be notified every time a person likes someone’s photo? Unsubscribe from ‘all’ and I promise you will feel so much more refreshed each morning when you wake up and tackle the day rather than immediately feeling overwhelmed and/or defeated.
Bonus hack:
If you are feeling like you want to go the extra mile this week, I want you to actually obtain INBOX ZERO in your inbox. Yikes, right? Trust me on this one. Reply to everyone you need but have been avoiding, trash all the emails you don’t need, and maybe even create folders you can drag specific emails into if they pertain to a specific project you can’t necessarily ‘trash’. Obtain INBOX ZERO and see the immense gratification that comes from not feeling so drained by your email inbox. I try to do this every day and it’s so satisfying to just respond or ‘trash’ the emails rather than keep them there lurking around.
If you feel like you need a new email software to give you the kick in the pants you need, I use Airmail on my iPhone and Mac and LOVE IT.
That’s it for next week! Let me know if you try it and if you feel a difference in the stress/happiness level in your life.
Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss next Monday, right here.
Pretty sure I told you guys in JULY that I would share pictures of our living room and here I am finally getting around to it! I took these pictures back in July and love how the space turned out! All we have left to do is get a mantle surrounding our fireplace and then the plan is to get built-ins on each side one day… but one thing at a time! Being a homeowner is so expensive 😅
Here is the before of the space! I took this the week before we moved in while the previous owners were still living here. It was fun for me to envision what I wanted to do with the space and it’s been sooo fun to see it all come to life!
I couldn’t decide if I wanted to tile around the brick or keep it exposed but we decided to paint it! I love how it turned out.
I asked on my Instagram Stories for recommendations for cute pillows from a local shop and so many of you recommended Mae Woven! I love their selection and love how they turned out.
Welp, there it is! I also love how our kitchen is turning out so I’ll be sure to post pictures of that too! Hopefully, it will be before January ☺️
-Liv
(Also, don’t forget that I’m sharing the beginning of a fun project on Monday! Be sure to subscribe to my emails (above) so you don’t miss it!)
Last month, we went to New York City and it was easily my favorite trip to NYC thus far! We were able to hang out with Abby & Ralph (who live there) and do more of the local things vs. the touristy things and I loved it! The last couple of times we came to NYC it was nonstop tourist fun and although I do love that, I was ready to take it a little easy.
It was also so fun to show the city to our daughter too! It was all uphill after that redeye getting there which was a complete nightmare… safe to say I will NEVER do a redeye with a baby (her age) ever again haha. She was so distracted and hyper by everything going on and we ALL only got an hour and a half of sleep. So, it’s safe to say we were all zombies for the rest of the day.
(Also, her cute dress is from Dotti Shop and you can use the discount code OLIVIABETH15 for 15% off on their site!)
We went to the US Open while we were out there and I had no idea I loved tennis as much as I do until I went! Haha. It was so amazing to watch the matches and see the talent these athletes have.. especially Coco Gauff! Boggles my mind she is 15 years old. What the heck was I even doing at 15 years old?!
And mom life = watching my daughter while she napped in a quieter area during the U.S. Open.
My daughter was in HEAVEN playing with her cousin the whole trip. She woke up every morning and immediately looked at me and said “Go? Play?” and we’d have to hurry and walk to his apartment from his hotel. Cutest thing ever!
We also had dinner one night in Sheep Meadow in Central Park and it was beautiful! We seriously lucked out with the BEST weather the entire trip. It seriously couldn’t have been better!
The MET.. always a favorite!
My girl smiling in her cute Bennett & Grae bow. I’m so sad we lost it a couple of minutes later! She looooves throwing things off her stroller when we aren’t looking haha… we’ve lost so many things.
Zombies after getting an hour and a half of sleep…
And that’s a wrap! Seriously best NYC trip ever! I want to make it an annual tradition to go that time of year. Minus the redeye of course…
