Pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee, get cozy, and let’s take a well-deserved break and catch up about May 2021.

My Recent Buys

This month’s recent buys feel pretty random to me, but now that I’m pregnant, it just doesn’t make sense for me to buy a bunch of new clothes! I did stock up on a few maternity basics (I share more below), but other than that, I wouldn’t look to me to be the most fashionable gal over the next few months. Ha!

• Now that I’m back on a pretty intense medication and vitamin regimen, I upgraded my pillbox to a new one. I ended up getting this one and it’s great. I also use one of these hydration packs in my big water bottle every morning so I can get all those pills down and start my day extra hydrated.
• Unfortunately, my pregnancy seasons are the complete opposite…with Rory born in the spring and our son to be born in the fall. So I needed to stock up on some warm weather maternity gear. I ended up getting these white jeans. I also got some nice basic tank tops. Luckily, I already had lots of good maternity jeans from before (I like the Articles of Society brand) so there was no need to buy too many pants.
• For Mother’s Day, we ended up gifting our absolute favorite blanket. I talked all about my love for this blanket in this post about our household essentials and it really is just so good. When Finn’s mom came to visit in April, she remarked about how soft it was and how much she liked it, so we knew it was the perfect gift for her.
• Even though Rory is only 13 months old, I think it’s never too early to figure out how to best communicate and set boundaries with your child. I ended up buying a few books on discipline and I really like them. This one is a nice resource that I’ll use for each age and stage and this one I will use when she is a bit older, but I loved the messaging behind it. I also took the Big Little Feelings course and highly recommend it.

Finn’s Favorites

We all know Finn is “Mr. Fashion” around here. I actually wrangled him into writing an entire blog post with his “best of the best” for clothing that I’ll be sharing on the blog next week, just in time for Father’s Day. But here are a few items he recently bought for the summertime…

• I’ve had so much trouble finding a casual button-down to wear with jeans or shorts. Well, I finally found it. This one is perfect.
• Our old hose kinked like crazy which would drive me crazy. This lighter and kink-free hose is so much easier to use and makes watering the plants a breeze. Plus, almost 19,000 5-star reviews!
• I’ve turned into a bit of a shoe junkie and I’m all about sneakers that are light and comfortable. Just got these in gray and they’re awesome. 
• I needed some new swim trunks for our trip to Scottsdale and ended up getting these. Good length and a soft inside liner. 

The Click List

• Tips for raising travel-obsessed kids.
• Wow, this hit hard.
• Did you see the new faux plant line at Target? Some of these are really good.
• A once-in-a-lifetime chance to start over. How to prepare for a better normal than your pre-pandemic life.
• Love this entire home tour…but especially that bathroom.

The DIY Playbook is Hiring!

**Update: This job listing is now closed. Thank you for all of your submissions.

Now that we have another baby on the way, I need more help with The DIY Playbook than ever before. I’m looking to add a virtual assistant to our team starting this July. Here’s more information about the job and how to apply…

This paid position will remotely support the day-to-day business operations of the website and assist in managing brand partnerships. The role will not be involved in content creation or developing blog posts for the website. This is a behind-the-scenes business operations role. The initial role responsibilities will require a part-time commitment of 8-12 hours a week with the potential for more opportunity in the near future if desired.

The ideal candidate would already have a familiarity with the DIY Playbook and the type of business we operate, but this is not a requirement.  However, a passion and interest in DIY and design will be a prerequisite for the role. Because this will be a remote role with minimal supervision, I am seeking someone with strong communication and organizational skills that has experience managing themselves in a professional setting.

Role Responsibilities & Required Experience:

• Strong communication and organization skills.
• Excellent time management skills.
• Familiarity with The DIY Playbook brand.
• Interest in home and DIY projects.
• Experience coordinating calendars & handling external communication.
• Familiarity with our key social media platforms (Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook).

Additional Experience to Note:

• Experience with digital marketing tools (i.e. Tailwind, Mailchimp).
• Comfortable speaking with brands and managing initial stages of partnership communication.
• Understanding of graphic design software, mood boards, graphic templates, etc. (Canva, InDesign)
• Background in SEO, web development, and familiarity with WordPress.

Please send an email introducing yourself, along with your resume, to [email protected] with the subject line “Virtual Assistant”.

I’m so excited to take this step and grow the Playbook team. Looking forward to hearing from those who are interested!

Finn Family Updates – May 2021

The biggest news this month was sharing that we’re expecting our second child. I was blown away by the love and support from all of you and can’t thank you enough for all of your kind words. We are overwhelmed with gratitude.

I don’t plan to write many pregnancy posts this time around, so figured I would share my weekly bump photos via each month’s Break Room post. Here’s a look at weeks 9-18. I’ve gotta say, my belly is feeling a lot bigger this time around! It should be interesting to see this body grow and grow…

Now that the weather is finally warmer, we’ve spent lots of time outdoors as a family. Rory got a few big gifts from her grandparents for her first birthday…including this push car and this water table. If it’s a nice day, you better believe we’ll be outside using these items. She loves them!

Here are a few sneak peeks from last week’s babymoon to Scottsdale. I’m planning an entire recap of our vacay on the blog next week but I figured I could share a few pictures here. We had an absolute blast!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. A big thank you to all our servicemen and women, especially those who gave their lives for our country. I’ll see you back here on the blog on Tuesday.

Casey