Happy Friday! This week was a blur wrapping up school with my kids. Addison’s last day was today and Kole and El have one more week! I’m so excited and ready to be done with all things Zoom. I know I’ll most likely lose my mind this summer with nothing on our agenda, but with the unique school at home situation we’ve been in I’m more than ready for a break! Ok.. time for Friday 5! 5 random things going on around here along with 5 things I’ve had my eye on in both home decor and fashion. Fun!
*affiliate links used
1 – C & B faux olive tree 2 – Amazon faux olive tree 3 – WE faux olive tree
4 – PB faux olive tree 5 – SM faux olive tree
1) Kicking things off today with faux olive trees! Olive trees have slowly become the new Fiddle Leaf Fig of design and are popping up everywhere! I’ve wanted one for my formal dining room for months and just haven’t pulled the trigger yet because there are several options that I love and can’t choose between! These are the 5 I’ve narrowed it down to. My #1 favorite is this Mediterranean faux olive tree (gorgeous!) but the price tag isn’t so gorgeous. Ha. A lot more than I want to spend on a faux tree! I’m leaning towards ordering the Amazon option and seeing how I like it in person.
I’ve also been looking at cute pots for summer plants and baskets for faux trees and found so many cute options on Amazon! These are my favorites..
Speaking of plants.. check out my little hydrangea bush! It’s so beautiful! Still small and nothing like you see on the East Coast, but progress from last year so I’ll take it. :)
I snapped this view of our front yard on our way home from our walk tonight. Such a beautiful time of year with all of the flowers in full bloom. I find myself wanting to spend all day outside.
1 – Vuori Lux Performance Tank 2 – Natori Sports Bra 3 – Align Pant ll 25″
4 – Vuori Performance Jogger 5 – NB Accelerate Shorts
2) Because we’re home bound and going on a family walk every evening you can pretty much find me in joggers and workout wear 4-5 days a week. I try to wear my jeans at least once or twice a week just to make sure they still fit. Ha. (The struggle is real with quarantine snacking.. am I right or am I right?) :) I rounded up 5 athletic wear favorites! I’ve mentioned before that my favorite bras are Natori. Seriously once I tried one a few years ago I tossed all of my other bras! Now I have a nice collection of Natori bras for every day, but I had no idea they also made a sports bra! I just ordered #2 and I can’t wait to try it. Vuori performance joggers (#4) are hands down my favorite. And I own a lot of joggers that I love! Trust me they are worth every penny.. you won’t want to take them off. They are usually sold out at Nordstrom so I was thrilled to find them in stock in several colors on their website. I also love their tanks (#1). Lulu Allign pants are so slimming and I love them in the camo multi grey (#3). On my wish list!
{Vuori performance joggers/memory foam flip flops}
3) I might have to make an exception from my workout wardrobe to venture out in this new denim dress I just ordered! It was so funny because 10 minutes after I ordered it I got a text from my friend Vanessa and she said “I just saw a denim dress from the new RP summer collection that is so YOU!” I told her I was one step ahead of her and had already ordered it. We were laughing!
Wonder how she knew I’d love it? Maybe because I have 5 similar denim dresses already that I wear on repeat. Predictability is a good thing right? :) My style with clothes is always little more on the casual side so denim dresses are pretty much perfect in my opinion. You can dress them up with heels or add a pair of boots in the fall OR sneakers/sandals in the summer for a completely different casual look. My friend knows me well!
4) I’m still trying to do my 15 minutes of organizing a day. I have several bigger projects going on, but still try to spend 10-15 min on something small. Most of the things I organize this way never make it to my blog or IG stories because they are just so simple (cleaning out old socks in a sock drawer, sorting through some of Kole’s old books, 15 min to tidy the fridge.) Quick mini bursts of organizing each day. Quick mini bursts don’t seem like much, but if you do it every day it makes all the difference! Here is a recent example..
Messy drawer in my entertainment center below our TV. Don’t even ask me how all of this random stuff accumulated here!
I took everything out, vacuumed the drawer (Dyson linked here) and put it all away. I tossed a lot of it and the rest belonged in my office or other places in the house.
Now I have a clean drawer to store my laptop, lap desk and coasters! My kids have completely taken over my office so it’s nice to have my laptop in a central location.
5) We recently made my sister’s Feta and Tomato dip and I was reminded once again how delicious it is! A quick and easy snack if you want to mix it up this weekend! I shared the simple recipe HERE.
*Recent pic of my sister with her husband. I set the two of them up and take full credit for their happiness. ;)
Speaking of my sister.. I can’t thank you all enough for your thoughtful comments, well wishes and prayers for her over the past few months. I shared this update in IG stories in a recent Q & A, but I wanted to let you all know here too that she recently finished radiation and her x-rays look clear! (Breast cancer if you missed this post.) We are incredibly grateful. She is starting hormone therapy and they are watching her close, but so far things are looking really good and she is feeling a lot better. I have been so worried about her with the recent virus situation (and still am!) but I’m mostly just beyond grateful that things are looking better and not worse. Thank you again for your love and support. It means so much to me and my family.
On that happy note I’m off! Time to wrap up and post this baby since it’s now past 1 am. Friday 5 is going live on Saturday.
Like I said.. predictability is a good thing right?
:)
There’s always something new and exciting to look for, isn’t there? Good luck with your olive tree selection. :) Me, I just added some lights to my deck last night. I’m sure that is a trend that started like 5 years ago. Maybe in a few years I’ll try to add an olive tree. haha! Your front yard is gorgeous! I can imagine that being outdoors is where you’d want to be! That bitty hydrangea is so pretty! I love the pink. Grow, baby, grow! Oh the other lilac bush we have is blooming right now. The side you cannot see from the street is full of blossoms! SO happy to hear you sister is doing so well. I will continue to think good and positive thoughts that she continues to heal! Congrats on almost being done. So close you can taste it. You can do it! Terrific post full of so many good things. Hope you have a lovely weekend. :)
Jeanne I bet your deck lights are gorgeous! Such a fun addition! Especially in the summer. Thank you for such a sweet comment and for your thoughtful words about my sister.. we are so grateful she is doing better! And yes! So close. Ready to wrap up this crazy school year. :) I hope your summer is off to a good start! You have a lovely weekend too sweet friend. :) xo
I was happy to read the good news about your sister. May her health continue to improve. Thank you for your blog, Erin. I look forward to it every week.
That means a lot to me Cheryl! Your sweet words about my sister and that you look forward to my blog. Thank you for making my day! :) xo
I am very happy to hear that your sister is doing well. I am a two time cancer survivor, cervical. Please make sure that your children get the HPV vaccine! Boys need to get it as well.
On another note, how do you maintain your tiny figure? Any good tips? I can see that you are certainly very active!
Stay safe and thank you for a great blog!
Pam
Pamela! I’m so sorry to hear about your cervical cancer. I can only imagine all you have been through. I’m so grateful you survived. Both of my girls have had the HPV vaccine but I didn’t know boys should get it too! Thank you for letting me know! You are so kind to say that about my figure. I don’t have it all figured out by any means, but I do exercise almost every day and then I just try to watch calories. If I know I’m going out for dinner I eat a really light lunch, etc. I also eat a lot of the same things and that helps too. I wrote a post with some of my favorite snacks I’ll link below. I hope that helps! Thank you for your sweet comment and kind words about my sister! xo
https://www.thesunnysideupblog.com/2019/01/5-healthy-snack-ideas/
Thank you for the handy snack ideas! I had sent a similar question for your IG Stories…you’re just so tiny, wondered how you do it! And I’m always up for new ideas that might help me get back on track. This working from home with the proximity to the fridge is not working so well for me. Ugh! Also, happy news about your sister!
You are too kind MaryJo! Thank you! Honestly I don’t have it all figured out.. food and nutrition is not my strong suit! I do try to exercise most days and I eat a lot of the same things. I just put up a new organizing post today and there is a link to a post that includes some of my go-to snacks that are low calorie. Maybe it will give you a few ideas! Thank you again for your sweet comment and take care! xo
https://www.thesunnysideupblog.com/2020/06/weekend-organizing-and-thoughts-on-recent-events/
I’m so glad to read this great news about your sister, Erin! That’s wonderful! I hope she continues to recover well and doesn’t experience any more problems with this illness.
Thank you so much Elizabeth! I really appreciate that. We are praying for the same. xo
Great post!! Thank you!!💗
I have a question for you. I’ve been spending a lot of time in my yard, too. And we need to change out some plants in our front yard. Can you tell me the name of the red, purple, and white flowers in your yard? Also, what tree is that in the picture? Weird question, but 🤷♀️. We all have a lot of time on our hands these day. Thank you!! 😊
Hi Cheryl! Thank you! The purple is Lantana (a great ground cover), red are geraniums, the white is my iceberg roses and the tree is a crepe myrtle (my favorite!). It will get beautiful blossoms all over it soon. Happy planting! :)
So happy to hear about your sister Erin. Praying that she continues to recover. Love your garden, I love this time of year too. Everything’ is so colorful. I’m going to try my hand at Hydrangeas. I don’t think they will grow where I live but I have to try. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Thank you so much Cathy! Definitely let me know how it goes with the Hydrangeas. I’ve had a hard time getting mine to really take off!
I am so happy to hear the update on your sister! That good news just made my day. I’ve been thinking about her and must have missed that IG story, so thank you for sharing here too! xoxo to both of you!
That means so much to me Megan! Thank you!! xo