WHAT WE’RE EATING

I don’t know that I can say WE … but I’ve been loving this spicy chicken andouille sausage from Trader Joe’s!

It’s an easy way to add some protein to my lunch and I love that it has a slight kick to it! I’ve also been super into making homemade avocado toast; I’m one of those people that once I find something I like to eat, I eat it over and over EVERYDAY until I just get completely sick of it. The way I make mine is with some homemade pesto spread over a piece of Ezekiel bread, obviously avocado, and then a fried egg and some hot sauce on top and girrrrrl … it is BOMB DOT COM.

WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT

Because of COVID restrictions, our FAVORITE pumpkin patch that we’ve been going to annually since E was 6 months old decided not to open for this season. It’s literally the first year since 2011 that we have not been able to go to this pumpkin patch and I’m totally bummed out. We made do this year with our own pumpkin fun by carving pumpkins in our backyard but the pumpkins weren’t sourced from our favorite patch 🙁 So I’m reminiscing on years past when we were able to go.

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WHAT I’M LOVING

I just bought this cushion from Korean makeup brand JungSaemMool and giiiiiirl, it is fire. I don’t usually wear foundation and definitely don’t gravitate towards anything that is considered full or medium coverage on my face even when I do. I prefer to focus on skincare and light concealer to cover redness but I bought this on a whim to try for our Christmas photos and I have to admit, the finish on this cushion is so beautiful.

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If you saw my post from last week then you’ll already know that I am also obsessed with Olive & June nail polish! You can click on the link to read more about it and why I love it.

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO

Lots of random things like Beyblade battles with D …

Our littlest one started piano lessons …

J & I have also been entertaining lots of talk about moving/migrating out of the Bay Area. To be honest, this one is more bark than bite as it would take a LOT (like, a LOT) for us to leave our home but overall, we’re just sick of things like annual wildfires, bad air quality because of said fires, planned power shut offs because of said fires, etc. There’s a real exodus of the Bay Area happening right now so it’s just had J & I thinking about if there is a true possibility of this happening for our family. More realistically we’d just install some solar or something like the Tesla Power Wall to help power our home when there are outages but it’s fun to half pretend 🙂

WHAT I’M DREADING

So our school finally approved a plan for returning to hybrid learning in January 2021 and .. I wouldn’t exactly say I’m dreading it but it’s going to be a lot more change for our family/kids in figuring out logistics with the new hybrid learning schedule. I’m excited for them to get to be back on campus but can’t say I’m excited about figuring out all the details of how we’re going to make that work out practically speaking.

WHAT I’M WORKING ON

I’m still heavily involved in my passion project of running the Pen & Page Gals podcast with Jensine. We’re working on some exciting new updates … hint: maybe a website and giveaway coming soon! But you didn’t hear it from me -shhh- If you haven’t given it a listen yet, our October episode also dropped over the weekend so give it a download! It’s about Enneagrams and it’s a good one!

WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT

I’m excited that this weekend we not only get an extra hour (hello daylight savings) but it will officially be the HOLIDAY SEASON! I always start listening to Christmas music on November 1 and I CANNOT CANNOT WAIT!!!!

WHAT I’M WATCHING/READING

I’ve recently started watching The Home Edit on Netflix and I can see why these guys were trending not too long ago. If you’re into organization shows and want something that’s sort of mindless in that you don’t have to pay attention to a plot or anything but isn’t completely vapid, then I highly recommend this show! Their aesthetic is on POINT.

I also really want to watch Emily in Paris and Record of Youth on Netflix but those both look like shows that I could easily get sucked into and I really want to break the habit of binge watching shows. I’ve sort of made a promise with myself that I can only watch an episode of those types of shows if I’m actively working out on our TreadClimber while I’m watching and … well, I haven’t motivated myself enough to get on the machine yet so I also haven’t started watching hahah.

As for what I’m reading, I am actually slowly going through a book called Is It Abuse by Darby Strickland. One day I have hopes that I can talk more openly about what’s going on behind the scenes for me and why I feel it’s necessary to read this book but for now, just know that there’s a lot that I’m processing in my personal life and I always want to make sure I’m thinking through things in a biblical framework. Also just as a side note – it has nothing to do with my husband, like, this is not a domestic situation occurring in my own home. J has actually been such a source of encouragement to me through this whole trial and if anything, our marriage is stronger because of it. I just want to put that out there in case anyone thinks this is a cry for help from me LOL.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO

I recently discovered a girl named Blake on Instagram (@agirlnamedblake) and her Crappy Christian podcast. OBSESSED. She speaks unapologetically about her faith and convictions and I’m having the best time listening through her podcast episodes right now.

WHAT I’M WEARING

Wahoo!! The California weather has finally dipped down cool enough for cute sweaters! I totally forgot to take outfit selfies for the past few days but here are product images (and links) for items I’ve been reaching for again and again this past week.

Rylee & Cru Aspen Sweater

Free People Easy Street Tunic

Paul Green Bobbi Moto Boot (They don’t sell this anymore unfortunately but you could get a similar black moto boot – tons of different brands make them!)

Rachel Parcell Leather Moto Jacket in Tan Biscuit

I don’t have product images of this but I’ve also been wearing a lot of my sweaters from previous seasons of CJLA collections. I have a feeling they’re going to start dropping their sweaters and cozier items for the 2020 Fall/Winter season soon so make sure to follow their socials if you want to be in the know for when new collections go live!

WHAT IM DOING THIS WEEKEND

Saturday is HALLOWEEN! Obviously, neighborhood trick or treating will not be happening this year but I know my kids will be bummed to not be going door to door so we’re having a Halloween party at a friend’s place instead. I imagine my weekend will be filled with lots of candy and pizza 😉

WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH

Like I mentioned, with the holiday season officially here next month I can’t wait to get started on all the family holiday traditions we have. Thanksgiving Prime Rib (I hate turkey), Christmas tree cutting, decking the halls, North Pole Breakfast, annual family Christmas card … all of it is coming in November and I’m so ready for it. Speaking of family Christmas card, I got a tiny sneak peek from our photographer of the images she got from our photo session a few weeks ago and swooooon! So dreamy, I am so looking forward to seeing the full gallery soon!

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WHAT ELSE IS NEW

So I haven’t really given an update on Kylo lately… the truth of the matter is, we’re actually having a really hard time with the little pooch. He’s friggin adorable and that’s pretty much where the positive stuff stops (I’m half kidding, he’s also super smart!). The reason why I chose his breed was because Bernedoodles are notorious for being lazy LAZY lazy dogs. Like lay on the floor all day and don’t want to even come over for a cuddle kind of laziness. They’re also supposed to be kid-friendly/family-friendly (as doodle mixes are touted as being the best family dogs). Kylo … is neither of those things. He’s not only high energy, which I can deal with to a certain extent (especially considering that he’s still a puppy), but he’s got some serious aggression issues that we’re struggling with. He guards resources like his bone or food and he does it with my kids. That’s the biggest issue if I really get to the root of the problem. We had an incident when he literally lunged for A with his teeth. I don’t know if he would have gone as far as biting her but I didn’t get to find out because I literally flew in between them and tackled him to the ground before he could reach her. It was an aggressive, snarling, barking, growling, attacking type of lunge and he went for her simply because she walked by too close to him when he was eating (she didn’t bother him, didn’t touch his food, etc). It was a big shock for us because after having Spartan (our Goldendoodle who died last year) for almost a decade, and him pretty much letting the kids ride on him, pull his ears, poke his nose and calmly accepting ALL of it, I wasn’t used to a dog who might actually want to act … well, like an animal. In any case, J & I did have a really serious discussion about rehoming him but we feel really strongly that Kylo is part of the family for better or for worse. We made a commitment to him and until we really feel like we’ve exhausted all resources, we’re not ready to give up. SO, all that to say that we found a new trainer who specializes in aggressive dogs and runs a board & train program. Basically, you send your dog TO them for a few weeks (3 weeks minimum) and they get returned to you with hopefully their behavior corrected or at least manageable. I have my fingers crossed that doing this will help reign in our canine terror a tad because if I have to walk on eggshells around him for the rest of his life, it’s going to be a long 10-15 years in the future.