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Well, I've had this post all ready to go for over a week, but sadly, I had to come back in and change the intro last night because we've had a crazy week. I had a post go live Wednesday morning, but that one had been scheduled for quite some time, and I obviously wasn't able to update it before it went live. I also owe the blog a weekly recap from the previous week, and I'll just have to get that up whenever I have some time.
Anyway, as most of you have probably already seen from social media, Olivia fell on the playground Tuesday morning and broke her elbow. It was a very nasty break, one that I wish I could unsee, and it was a big ordeal, as you can probably imagine – ambulance ride, emergency surgery, four pins in her elbow, and an overnight hospital stay. The silver lining - she broke her left arm which is NOT her dominant arm, so we are very grateful for that! And she is HOME now, too, and we are happy she's on the road to recovery!
Recovery is going to be a long one – splint for a couple of weeks, pins out, hard cast for at least four more weeks, and then physical therapy, so probably all of summer and then some. She was THE MOST excited for summer and swimming and playing in the ocean, so she has been heartbroken these past few days, which in turn, has broken all of our hearts as well. It is now my main mission in life to give her a wonderful summer despite the circumstances, and I'm going to make sure she's smiling again very soon!
Please keep her in your prayers for speedy and complete healing, and please pray for her to return to her jolly self soon... she is NEVER sad or mad or irritable, and we just can't stand seeing her this way.
Now that that's out of the way, let's get to a whole bunch of superficial favorites that I had already posted about prior to the arm break that don't really even matter anymore. Hahahaha.
O N E – New Accent Rugs
I’ve been searching high and low for some nice, neutral 2x3’ rugs for our kitchen for a couple of years now, and I haven’t been able to find any I like. I did find these at Anthropologie that I included on my birthday wish list, but they were just too pricey. I was THRILLED to see that Target recently came out with these beauties, and I couldn’t add them to my cart fast enough. They’re only $15, y’all, so they’re not only gorgeous, they’re super affordable, too! I grabbed three for our kitchen – one to go in front of the sink, one to go in front of the back door, and one to go in front of the garage door, and I couldn’t love them more. They’re soft, not scratchy at all, the quality is fantastic, and they look way more expensive than they actually were.
T W O – Perfect Masks
Mask-wearing is on the decline since the CDC recently said that vaccinated people no longer have to wear them in public, but I thought I’d share these anyway for those of you who are planning on sticking with it for a little while longer. During this last year of mask-wearing, I tried several different brands of masks, and while I did find a couple of that were pretty comfortable, I never could find any that were super comfortable and cute.
These masks have been on my wish list for a while now, and B ended up getting them for me for Mother’s Day, and y’all, after a year, I finally found the perfect mask… just in time for everyone to start lifting mask mandates. Haha. These masks are comfortable, they don’t slide up and down on my nose when I talk, they’re breathable and don’t make your face sweat, the ear loops are comfortable, and they have the best nose piece that I’ve seen on any mask. The nose piece is much longer than most, and therefore, you can mold it across your entire face (nose and cheeks) for the perfect fit. Plus, they’re SO CUTE!! I wore them for hours on end during Olivia’s recital weekend, and I barely even noticed that they were there. They’re a little pricey as far as masks go, but they’re well worth the money if you have to wear masks frequently or for long periods of time. They come in a three-pack, a five-pack, or you can just buy them one-by-one if you don’t want to spend a lot of money.
I’m fully vaccinated but will be continuing my mask-wearing when indoors in public for a little while longer as a personal choice. Our kiddos aren’t vaccinated at all since the vaccine isn’t available for their age group, so they’ll still be wearing theirs in public indoor spaces, and I’ll be wearing mine in solidarity with them. It’s not so bad when you find some that are actually comfortable!
T H R E E – Dance
Recital Garment Bag
If you’re a dance mom, then you know just how much stuff has to be hauled to and from rehearsals and recitals. It is a LOT, y’all. For Olivia’s first recital, we packed everything into a large bag, but that just didn’t work well since it was harder to find things in the bag. I found this garment bag on Amazon (where else?) and it is the absolute perfect bag to hold aaaallll the things… and be able to see everything!!
The bag opens fully on one side to hang all costumes and clothes, and then the other side has five pockets (some large and some smaller) to hold ballet shoes, tap shoes, jazz shoes, hair pieces, accessories, makeup, etc. Unfortunately, I didn’t grab this one in time for her recital this year, but now we have it on hand for next year! It’ll be so nice to have everything organized and in plain sight! Those clear pockets make aaaallll the difference, y’all!
F O U R – New Oil
Young Living finally released a vanilla essential oil a few months ago, and it’s been sold out ever since. I was finally able to get my hands on some in my last order, and it smells so delicious!! I’ve diffused it with lime for a refreshing fruity/cream scent and I’ve diffused it with peppermint for a sweet/minty combo, and both have made the house smell so dang good! I can’t wait to try it with some other oils – maybe orange or tangerine next for a creamcicle scent! – and this will be one that I keep in stock all the time.
F I V E – Wedding
Planner Soundtrack
As I’ve mentioned on the blog recently, I’ve been watching The Wedding Planner on repeat, and it’s been serving as my happy background noise while I work. It’s right on up there with Love Actually as my favorite movie of all-time, and I’ve loved it since it came out in theaters in 2001. I was the soundtrack queen when I was a teenager, and I owned tons of soundtracks for movies, especially the rom-coms and teen movies (Can’t Hardly Wait, Clueless, etc.), but for some reason I never got this one.
I popped onto Amazon and a few other websites a few months ago to download it and found that it doesn’t exist for digital download… how strange is that?! These days I thought everything was on the internet! Haha. So, my next step was to find a used CD on eBay and buy it for $3-$5 and then rip it myself (remember ripping CDs to transfer your music to your iPod years ago?!). Well, a quick look on eBay, Amazon, and a few other websites let me know that this CD must be really rare, because they’re all listed for $25+ EACH, some for $100+. What?! I wasn’t about to pay that much so I’ve just been checking every now and then to see if anything cheaper becomes available.
Amazon finally had one pop up for just $5.99 + free shipping last week, so I grabbed it and ripped it, and I’m so excited to have all of these cheesy songs from the movie in my music library now! Haha. The prices for all of the other CDs are still really high everywhere, so I must have just lucked out when I bought mine. I guess I need to sell my CD now and make some money on it?? Haha.
Friday Funnies
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| Totally used to do this when I was little. Lol. |
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| It's funny because it's true! Hahahaha. |
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| Y'all better be crying because you miss me so much! Haha. |
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| Totally had a whole wall like this when I was little! Y'all Bop magazine lovers know what I'm talking about! |
On the Blog This Week
Adore the accent rug, the gingham masks and the funnies. I am still wearing my mask too in some establishments as choice. I don’t mind a bit. Hope you have a sweet holiday weekend.
ReplyDeleteSo sad about Olivia...I hope she has a "speedy recovery," I know she liked that choice of words! I've slowly begun to be more comfortable not wearing a mask, but in stores and such it seems like about half and half are still doing it and my kids want me to for now. It's kind of hard to just stop something like that I think!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about Olivia's arm! we've had a summer in the past with one boy in a cast. It was tough at first but kids are resilient and with waterproof casts and new inventions it was manageable. Hope she's back to her old self soon and heals quickly.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, thank goodness kids are so resilient! Unfortunately, Olivia didn't qualify for the waterproof cast. Her pins have to stay in for the duration so her arm is an open wound. If it gets wet, we could run the risk of infection, so doc said absolutely no water play. Fortunately, it's only for three weeks!
DeleteSo sorry to hear about Olivia's arm! we've had a summer in the past with one boy in a cast. It was tough at first but kids are resilient and with waterproof casts and new inventions it was manageable. Hope she's back to her old self soon and heals quickly.
ReplyDeleteI just can't stop thinking about your sweet girl. I hope she is smiling again soon. Jack broke his arm at age 4 while playing at Little Gym. It required a surgery to reset the arm, but not pins or anything as extensive as what y'all are going through. I know you'll find ways for her to have summer fun despite the circumstances. Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteI love everything vanilla so that oil would be a favorite. I’m just so sad for Olivia. But she is rocking her cast and looks like she is in good spirits. Thanks for sharing an update on her!
ReplyDeleteThat garment bag seems SO handy. Definitely perfect for dance!
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