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 February 2019!

What Casey Loved This Month

• I bought this eye cream at the end of January and started using it every day this month. I ran out of my Kiehl’s eye cream and figured I’d try a new one out. I’m really loving it, especially how it’s applied with a cold applicator that feels so damn good on your eyes. Still a little early to tell if I’m seeing “results” but the skin around my eyes is hydrated and it feels really nice.  I’m actually planning to do a big skincare blog post in March, so be on the lookout for that!
• I’ve gotten into a few new TV shows this month. First, Grace & Frankie. OMG, I cry with laughter I love them so much. I watched the first season years ago, but kinda forgot about it. I’ve since caught up and I’m on season 5. It’s sooooo good.
• Has anyone been watching Windy City Rehab? My mom and I watch it together every week and we are obsessed. Most of the properties she tackles are in our neighborhood which is really cool to see. While I don’t always love her design choices (enough with the barnwood already…), I do love seeing these historic homes transformed into something unbelievable. It’s also giving me major inspiration as we look for our future home this spring.

What Bridget Loved This Month

• See that art in the frame to the left?! I actually DIY-ed in like 15 minutes thanks to this brilliant tutorial from our friend Emily. She actually tackled this same design (but on a much larger scale) making DIY art for above her fireplace! Genius!! The original piece, which inspired her “knock-off” tutorial, was over $1,000… so recreating this look saved her so. much. money. yet looks just as great as the original.
• We are heading to Florida next month and so I’ve been on the lookout for maternity bathing suits. I found this site had the biggest selection of maternity swimsuits… and lots of other cute basics too!
• Ben got this amazing learning tower for his birthday so he can start watching/”helping” in the kitchen. He LOVES it and so do Matt and I. I especially love that it folds up and can easily be stored away in our hall closet. Such a useful gift for little ones!

Link Love

• How to write a sympathy card (very insightful)
• Renting your home out for movies. What a fascinating way to make some extra income! This woman’s take is so interesting!
• Did you see the new American Girl doll is a food blogger? That cracked us up!
• Wow…loving this black + white kitchen!
• Really enjoyed reading this blogger’s journey of self-love.
• How to give yourself an at-home manicure (definitely came in handy during Frugal Feb!)
• Everything about this mudroom built-in bench is STUNNING!! And what’s even more impressive is that the entire project was DIY-ed!!
• A dying mother’s letter to her daughters. So many tears reading this one, it’s incredibly powerful.
• Fellow blogging duo Chris & Julia recently lost their cabin to a fire. It’s heartbreaking and tragic, but as Julia mentions in her post you shouldn’t wait until your home is “finished” to make memories in it.

Casey’s February 2019

Finn and I spent a good chunk of the month working on making over our fireplace. I’ve been giving you guys a behind-the-scenes look on Insta Stories, but I have big blog posts planned over the next few weeks to share all of the details and our design plan. So hang tight for that.

A few people piped in asking why we were doing another project if we are planning to sell. And it’s a valid question. The truth is, our house hunting is off to a slow start and the market has only just started to pick up. We figured we would do another DIY project while we wait (and I honestly can’t believe we’ve waited this long to tackle this eyesore. Yeesh).

Our plan is to get the fireplace done, get photos of our house taken, and then be ready to sell the moment we find a property. I want to take you guys along for the ride as we look at homes, but I also want to protect the privacy of the homes we’re seeing and the people selling. If you have any good ideas for how I can authentically share (without being rude), I’m all ears!We also spent a long weekend in Houston visiting Finn’s family! Finn’s sister, Kelly and her husband live there, and his mom moved down there a couple years ago too. They’ve been up to visit us quite a few times lately, so we figured it was time to head down south.

It felt AMAZING to be outside and in the warmth and sunshine (as you can see in the picture above!). It’s been a horrible winter in Chicago and escaping the cold was the best idea ever. Plus, we got to spend some time with our favorite people. 

We went to the Houston zoo (which was awesome btw), ate lots of great food, and had tons of laughs during our 3-day trip. 

Finn and Kelly are really close (and don’t they look alike? It’s crazy!) and I know he was so happy to spend time with his sister. I sometimes take for granted that all of my siblings live here in Chicago and I know he was thrilled to see her. Hopefully, we’ll make another trip there soon.

Bridget’s February 2019

I still can’t believe it, but Ben turned ONE this month! Although thinking back to the first few days/months with Ben seems like SO long ago, the year also feels like it passed in a blink of an eye. How?!

We celebrated this sweet, happy, and busy boy with a small dinner party at our house with each of our immediate families. Although we would have loved to celebrate in a big way, Matt and I both come from really big extended families. If we invited both sides, we would have been hosting a party for almost 100 people, which felt more like the size of a wedding than a 1st bday party! (sorry, Ben)

So we kept the party small and had the best time chatting about all of our favorite Ben memories this past year. Ben celebrated with his first cupcake (!!), a room full of balloons (the kid loves balloons), and walking (yes, he’s on a mission!) around loving on his favorite people.

We feel so grateful for #ourperfectgentleBen and can’t wait to continue to watch this little guy grow!

Bridget&Casey