Weekly Roundup

I'm back! I took a blog break during vacation, and I've been slow to catch back up on things. I'm only human, and I'm making it up as I go, so thanks for bearing with me!

I was away on a vacation to Australia and New Zealand and boy oh boy is it good to be home. It's funny how much you look forward to a trip, but while you're on it, you look forward to coming home. I guess I'm a true homebody. We covered a lot of ground and wore a hole in the sole of my favorite shoes so big that I had to toss them out in NZ. They are now out of stock, but here's a v similar pair  - yes, I wear men's shoes, and that's cool! When I wasn't creating a giant hole in my favorite everyday shoes, I had my oh-so-comfy Allbirds to rely on.

Now that I'm back, I'm excited about cooking meals at home. We're still getting our trusty Hello Fresh boxes, but I just started my every-two-years-health-kick and might try Whole30. Has anyone had luck with Whole30 as a pescatarian?

Emily Jeffords painted pretty monograms for Anthropologie's trinket dishes, but she also released the originals for sale in her shop yesterday. Some of the letters are still available - but they are going fast!

My orbital sander uses the velcro sanding pads, but I accidentally bought a pack with the adhesive backing and I never knew what to do with them until now.

Cathy's post gets real about renovation costs which highlights the power of DIY.

Emily's bathroom makeover has me swooning over board & batten lately. I even started a Pinterest board just to admire this kind of wall paneling. (hey, are you following me on Pinterest yet?)

Remember when I painted a mural in my home office? Laci painted a beautiful original painting on her kitchen walls.

Jennifer Aniston's bedside decor is not what I expected!

Are you ready for the Oscars? Are you ready for me to talk about my love for Get Out again??

A local coffee shop went out of business and the neighborhood freaked out with worries that a chain would come in and overtake the corner among mom-and-pop business. In a beautiful turn of events, another locally-owned business is going use the vacant space to create a non-profit bakery with all proceeds benefiting San Diego elementary schools. They are going to teach kids to cook, as well as donate profits to arts programs. I could cry just thinking about how sweet it is to have a business giving back this way. I think I'm due for sharing my favorite San Diego eateries - stay tuned!

With the end of February, I give you my finished monthly playlist:

If you don't have Spotify, you'll only be able to preview those tracks, but you can make a free account easy peasy to hear the full-length tracks. Follow me on Spotify to listen to each month's playlist as I add to it every week - don't wait for me to share it on the blog!

Happy beginning of March!