To us, Happy Hour is a time to sit back, relax, and catch up with friends. It’s a time to chat about everything and anything, and that’s exactly what we bring to DIY Playbook’s monthly Happy Hour.These monthly posts are a chance to catch up with friends and bring just a little extra happy to your day. So grab your coffee (or champagne) and let’s catch up about our September 2018!

Casey

• For Christmas, I got these black sunglasses from my dad and I absolutely loved them…that is until they mysteriously disappeared! I didn’t want to spend the money to get new ones and just wore some cheap black ones this summer. But I kept missing those sunglasses, so I decided to buy another pair. I’m so happy I did. They’re so glam and I wear them on repeat (especially when I’m not rocking any eye makeup).
• Ever since I started fertility treatments my hair has been falling out a bit (I keep telling Bridget I feel like I’ve aged a decade in the last year. Ugh). They equate it to how women lose hair after having a baby (like little baby hairs around the face). I’ve been a little self-conscious about it, so I decided to get a few clip-in extensions to wear for special occasions. I got these ones in the color “butterscotch.” I wore them to a wedding recently and they definitely made my hair look fuller and more voluminous. Speaking of which…
• I’m on a new hair product kick! I used to just buy cheap dry shampoo, but I tried out a travel size of this dry shampoo from Drybar and it is sooooo much better than the cheap stuff! I feel like I use a lot less and I don’t need to respray at all. I’m trying to wash my hair less and my new dry shampoo and this volume blast are really coming in handy on day 2 and day 3 old hair!
• Just finished the third book in the Crazy Rich Asians series and saw the movie too. I loved reading this series, especially because Finn is heading to Singapore for work next week! I keep trying to get him to read the series, but I suppose he will experience the culture first-hand when he gets there (well, maybe not the extreme wealth. But the food!). I also finished My Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty. Loved them both. Now onto another pick from this list of favorites…

Bridget

• I own this SUPER cozy pulloverthis SUPER cozy pullover, but I saw this look alike on sale for $23 (!!!) and I immediately added it to my cart. It hasn’t arrived yet, but I’ll keep you posted!
• I bought this onesie (in nude) for Ben’s Halloween costume. Finding a nude onesie proved way harder than I expected it to be! Any guesses what he’s going to be?
• This blazer is one of my favorite fall pieces and I saw that a lot of your purchased it after I shared this post. Anyone else wearing it on repeat lately?! I feel like I’ve ALREADY gotten my money’s worth and it’s only September!
• I’m looking for new work to weekend flats. Any recommendations? I like these, these and these but want to make sure they’re extra comfy so I can rock them all day long at work.
• I’m still in pursuit of the perfect skincare routine (update coming soon!) and was intrigued by this natural cleanser. But it’s a cleansing oil, which scares me because I’m naturally a little oily. And I actually like how dried out my face feels after a good wash, although I do know that can contribute to the production of more oil. Does anyone use oil cleanser? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Link Love

• What 90-somethings regret the most. A great read.
• Love this trick for finding good restaurants when traveling to a new city.
• The military secret to falling asleep in 2-minutes. Definitely need to try this!
• Our friend Nicole recently launched a paint company named Clare and the paint color names are spot on (not to mention the colors are gorgeous!) Avocado toast…dirty chai…fresh kicks…LOVE THEM ALL!
• Enjoyed reading these tips for a small bedroom.
• One of our favorite bloggers is back after over 2 years of not blogging & we are SO excited to catch up!
• Ballard Designs lists some of their design mistakes from over the years.

Casey Updates

Finn and I are both big fall lovers. I love the chillier weather and all the things that come with the new season. Whereas I’m pretty sure his love for fall comes from the fact that football season is back. Ha! This year we decided to make a fall bucket list to squeeze in as much fun as possible into the next few months. 

I’m sharing the entire bucket list next week on the blog (a lot of you guys asked to check it out!), and we actually already crossed a few things off our list. Most notably, we went apple picking in Wisconsin to this orchard. It was such a fun day and we ended up with so many good apples.

Another task on our list was to make an apple pie. We did our best, but after a crushed crust we ended up transforming it into an apple cobbler. Still absolutely delicious and so much fun to make together. I also ended up making applesauce and a stovetop potpourri from the crazy amount of apples we picked. I’m planning to share the stovetop potpourri on the blog in the coming weeks. So good!

We also had a wedding mid-September for good friends of ours (which I chatted about in Wednesday’s post). It was at the coolest venue (Savage Smyth). The ceremony was held outside with a gorgeous backdrop of the Chicago skyline. Then we headed inside for lots of dancing & champagne. A fun night for sure!

Holiday Photo Shoot

If you guys watched our Insta Stories over the weekend, then you may have seen a glimpse into our holiday content. Yes, we know we’re crazy type-A but we wanted to get it all done before we start Bridget’s kitchen renovation (which kicks off tomorrow!).

We’ll be shooting our annual Dream Tree in the coming weeks too. Blogging life is crazy, you’ve gotta work 2-3 months ahead of time. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bridget Updates

This month we’ve been settling into our new routine with Matt being home on paternity leave, which has been an amazing adjustment for all of us.

Matt and Ben get to spend so much time together, Matt is literally on Cloud 9. Plus, Matt has also taken on A LOT of the responsibilities around the house, which has made our nights and weekends a lot less hectic and stressful.

Because of this, I was able to spend time prepping for the kitchen renovation (demo starts TONIGHT!), prepping for our holiday shoot, and even spending almost an entire day downtown with the Finns reviewing Playbook finances, plans, goals, etc.

So although we don’t have a ton of “fun” to share from this past month, it’s been a very productive one behind the scenes because we have a little extra time on our hands.

Now we’re gearing up for our kitchen renovation, which I know is going to be pure craziness. Make sure you are following along on instaStories for live updates, but of course, I will be sharing them here on the blog too!

I’m feeling just about every emotion as the hours pass by. I’m so happy to get home and start demo-ing tonight, but also SO nervous about what’s in store.

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