The Break Room No. 18


The break room no. 1 May 2019

Pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee, get cozy, and letโ€™s take a well-deserved break and catch up about January 2021.

My Recent BuysJanuary 2021, buying socks for the new year

  • For Christmas, all I asked from Finn, were socks (we are practical like that!) and boy, did he deliver! I was sick of searching my sock drawer for “good” socks without any holes, so he took a look at my drawer and ordered me so many new pairs. I got these wool socks, these workout socks, and these no-show socks. I am set for life!! I have to say, it feels good to have one aspect of my wardrobe simplified.
  • I started a new workout routine focused on strength and I needed to get a few new bands for the program.  (I’m doing this online program.)  I got these mini bands and these resistance bands and they’ve been great. I haven’t worked my muscles this hard in a while. I highly recommend joining the February program if you’re looking to increase your strength!Organizing my athleisure drawer
  • I did some closet purging and organizing over winter break. Since we don’t go anywhere, I find that I don’t wear many of the clothes in my closet anymore. I got rid of a lot of items and organized the things that I do wear constantly, which is mostly my athleisure drawer. I ended up getting these drawer organizers, which are similar to the ones we use in Rory’s nursery dresser, for my athletic wear and it has been so nice to have everything separated and within reach.
  • I’ve mentioned it before, but the one thing I miss about pre-COVID life was getting my nails done each month. I haven’t gotten them done in about a year. I ended up getting these press-on nails in a few colors and I’m actually really liking them. I cut them really short and they last for about two weeks. It’s a nice way to feel kinda put together.

Finn’s Favorites

 

Our kitchen renovation reveal and renovation regrets

Photo by Margaret Rajic

This month, Finn’s diving into his favorite products that make his mornings a little bit easier…

  • Making pancakes is now a Saturday tradition with Rory and this little gadget easily creates consistent sized pancakes, while keeping the countertop clean. Granted, Rory makes a huge mess anyway, but at least I’m not contributing to it with batter everywhere!
  • I always struggled with wrapping a towel around my waist. I mean, how the heck is it supposed to stay up?! But this towel solved my problem and the Turkish fabrics from The Company Store are the best! (Side note from Casey: I think every girl had one of these in college, right? I think Finn is just figuring out the velcro towel trend). 
  • I use a few Kiehl’s products, but this eye cream is the best for me. It makes my face look refreshed and keeps the wrinkles at bay! Perhaps a good Valentine’s Day gift for the man in your life?
  • I use an electric razor and cleaning up the clippings is a constant pain, so I caved and bought this. While it looks silly, it really keeps our bathroom so much cleaner, which I know Casey certainly appreciates. 

The Click List

Finn Family Updates – January 2021Christmas with Rory

I didn’t do a December Break Room post because I was on winter break, but I did share our 2020 Holiday recap video on Instagram and I wanted to share it here too! You can view it over on YouTube or below. I love that we’re capturing Rory growing up via video. There’s just something about seeing her moving and wiggling around that captures her much better than a still photo can.

Speaking of Rory, she is already nine months old. What the heck?! Where did the time go? I feel like she has changed the most in the past month and she is turning into a little person. She loves waving, clapping (alllll day long), saying “Dada” (yes, it is now her new favorite word, much to her father’s delight!), and she even started army crawling all over the place! Don’t worry, I’ve got baby proofing posts planned for next month!

Rory's 9 monthWe had our nine-month doctor’s appointment this month and she is growing like a champ. She weighed in at a little over 18 pounds, which is big for her considering she wasn’t even six pounds at birth. She still doesn’t have any teeth (where are those little chompers?!), but that certainly doesn’t stop her from eating just about everything. (You can read more about her eating habits in this blog post.) It’s safe to say we are in love with this little girl and it’s hard to believe she will be one in just a few short months.January 2021 with our family

Earlier this month, we had the talented photographer Margaret Rajic come shoot the kitchen. I’ll be sharing her photos next week on the blog, but wanted to share a sneak peek. While I shoot photos just about every day for the blog, I really wanted a professional to capture the new kitchen and she did a fantastic job. I loved watching her in action and learned a lot from our time together. More coming next week!

Behind-the-scenes, Finn and I have been hard at work making a plan for our new backyard. We’re hoping to get it finished before summertime, which means January was the time to start planning. As I mentioned in my home goals post, we’re working with Yardzen on the design and it has been such a cool experience. They’re total pros and we’re excited to see the design plan they come up with. All of the talk about hanging out outdoors is really making us eager for warm weather. It’s been cold and icy here in Chicago, but spring will be here before we know it! Onto February…

Casey


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.