Pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee, get cozy, and let’s take a well-deserved break and catch up about October 2020.

My Recent Buys

• I show my face on Instagram stories just about every day and I get asked a lot about what I put on my skin. (Thank you, by the way!) Most days, this is my 3-minute makeup routine…this cc cream (it even has sunscreen), this concealer (it’s magical), this new-to-me mascara (so far, I’m loving it!), this bronzer (just switched to this and it’s great!), and this tinted lip balm ( it’s hydrating, but with a tiny bit of color). I can swipe all of this on in a few minutes and I’m ready for the day!

Sneakers // Leggings // Athleisure Top // Coat // Necklace

• I just bought this sherpa faux-fur jacket and it’s the coziest piece in my wardrobe. I’ve been wearing it a lot with the cooler temps!
• We took photos for our 5th annual gift guide that debuts next month and I ended up buying a few sweaters for the shoot. This one is so cute from Madewell, and I also love this olive sweater from the Gap. Both are great buys, but you’ll have to see which one I ended up wearing for the photos in a few weeks!
• I added solar lights to our backyard and it is now so magical out there. I bought two boxes of these in the warm white and attached them using this outdoor mounting tape.

Finn’s Favorites

As you may know, Finn handles all of the shopping for Rory, which I greatly appreciate. He is always doing research on what to get her to make eating, sleeping and playing better. Here are some of his recent buys for our little girl…

• This spoon might double as her favorite chew toy. It’s so safe and it works so well at cleaning up the food ALL OVER HER FACE.
• If you don’t know why these waste bags are crucial and you have a baby, you might be a bad house guest. Bring these with your diaper bag, so when you leave, the scent of your baby leaves too!
• These are the pacifiers Rory uses and loves! She can easily grab the big handle to pop it in and out of her mouth and they come in lots of cute colors. 
• Now that it’s getting cooler, we put Rory in these Wondersuits all the time. The feet transition to being open or closed, depending on how cold it is. They take a few weeks to come in because they’re shipped from Australia, but it’s well worth it. Oh, and we also bought this knit hat, these velcro booties, and these boots for the cooler temps.

The Click List

• • • I love scoping out the celebrity interiors from this year’s Emmy awards. It’s cool to see the inside of everyone’s homes!
    • Why you should take “kid-friendly” out of your vocabulary. Wow, loved this read as we navigate our home with Rory.
    • This colorful planked wall makes such a statement.
    • The election is days away and if you’re voting in-person you can use ballotready.org to help! It’s a non-partisan website, devoted to helping you analyze each local candidate. (I’ve also heard good things about votesaveamerica.com.) You can even print your choices and bring them with you to the voting booth. We had so many judges on our local ballot and this helped me figure out which ones aligned with my values.
    • There are so many fun surprise moments in this cute bungalow.

Finn Family Updates – October 2020

Early in the month, we visited my dad’s house in Beverly Shores, Indiana. It was nice to see all of the fall leaves, hang out with him, and get away from our dusty house. Doesn’t Rory look so cute in her little bear suit? He lives in a gorgeous area and Rory loved looking at all of the trees and wildlife.

We also went to a local pumpkin patch to get Rory’s first pumpkin! Rory loved watching people (she was smiling the whole time just looking around at all of the action), but we didn’t stay very long because it was a tad crowded and we’re trying to be as safe as possible.

Baby Bjorn // Rory Hat // Rory Sweater //Rory Jeans // Rory Booties

We also had a little carving party at my brother’s house. Rory loooooves hanging with her cousins. It’s fun for her to watch them run around and she likes to act like a big girl when she is with them. (Look at her sitting there like a big kid!)

Birthday Girl Onesie

Rory also turned six months old, which kinda blew our minds. Where did the last six months go? She is now sitting on her own (although sometimes she will tumble on over!), babbling like crazy, and eating anything we put in front of her. She isn’t crawling just yet, but she is ready to be on the move!

And as you read in this post, Finn and I celebrated our six-year wedding anniversary on October 11th. We went to dinner for the first time since January!!! I think our last real meal at a restaurant was on our Babymoon to Palm Springs because then we did Frugal February, COVID started in March, and Rory came in April. We went to RPM Steak, wore our masks, and sat outside. The food was incredible and it was so nice to relax and reconnect. Jan even took Rory for the night so we were able to sleep in in the morning. It was the best gift to us!

All of the big work in the kitchen is complete and we were able to move back upstairs. We’re still waiting on quite a few things though…the shelves, the butcher block, the dining bench cushions, and the appliances. (Yeah, that last one is pretty essential.) It’s nice to no longer have workers in our house every single day and I was even able to deep clean everything. I’ll be sure to keep you posted as things progress.

Finally, here are a few bloopers from our recent gift guide photo shoot. My friend, Bridget, came over to take the photos on a Sunday morning this month and we got some great ones! Rory wasn’t happy when I took her bottle away a tad early and she enjoyed munching on every prop in sight! The gift guide will debut on Monday, November 23rd, so be on the lookout for that! It’s crazy to think that the holidays are just around the corner…

Casey