From the Front Porch
Happy Thursday from the front porch you guys! How was your week? We hope it finds you ready to say goodbye to May and begin celebrating all that June has to offer.
I know for most of us it’s been a bit of a short week with Memorial Day being on Monday. We love long weekends and have thankfully learned how to navigate the days following them. I swear it is so easy to get off track and stay off track if we don’t have a to-do list at the ready on Tuesday morning!
As I mentioned last week, we spent a good portion of the weekend traveling to various events. My baby sis snapped this picture of all of us in the car one night after graduation. We were so tired but had tons of fun.
While my Mom was in Isreal, I asked her to bring home some Ahava skincare products since she was traveling to the Dead Sea. One of my big goals for the summer is to create a healthy morning and nighttime skincare routine. I’ve only been using these products for a few days, but I’m already obsessed with the cleansing toner. I’ll report back with the results later this summer once I’ve had a chance to use them more.
The window for planting flowers in the flower beds has already closed for the summer but I saw this colorful combination and thought I would share because it would be great for a container garden or window boxes. They’re called SunPatiens and are said to tolerate high heat and humidity, rain and adverse weather conditions.
I also found pineapple plants for sale at Lowes this week which I had never seen them offer before. I’ve tried to grow my own from the top of a pineapple several times without any luck, so I was excited to see these in the garden center.
Reading this week…
Someone asked me if I was going “French Country” because of some of the decorative choices we’ve recently made to the house. While I can assure you, my heart will always adore farmhouse charm, I also think your home will evolve over time and let you know how it wants to be decorated. I mean, there was once a time I tried to make everything coastal because we live on an island and it was a total disaster!
A few of our favorite posts from around the web this week…
* This romantic lakeside schoolhouse in Sweden looks like the perfect place for summer holidays.
* 11 of the Best English Country Hotels
*This Fire Island Cottage looks like a gorgeous place to relax and unwind.
* How this 3rd Grade Teacher Founded Boll & Branch
*Discover the installations and floral sculptures created for this year’s RHS Chelsea Garden Show
* This post is filled with colorful container garden inspiration.
* As someone who struggles with sleep, this TED Talk from sleep scientist Matt Walker was eye opening.
* 6 Reasons to Make the Shift to Mineral Sunscreen
* The 65 Best Anti-Aging Products of All Time according to Harper’s Bazaar.
* This post The Best Piece of Advice You’ve Ever Received was an interesting read.
***ATTENTION TARGET SHOPPERS – Build your own first aid kit and get a FREE bag when you use Order Pickup to buy 3 first aid products. Both bags are super cute and now is a great time to stock up on items like these for all sorts of summer activities, to include in a college dorm care package and to put in your hurricane kit too!
Quote of the week & Free Printable…
On the Menu this Week…
**(Just as a sweet reminder the person that makes the menu doesn’t eat beef or pork so keep that in mind when you see this feature each week, wink wink)**
*Week of June 3 – June 9
Monday– Garlic Butter Creamed Spinach Salmon with side of sautéed veggies.
Tuesday–Vegetarian Enchiladas
Wednesday– Grilled Chicken Mango Salad with Mango Cilantro Dressing
Thursday –Weeknight Vegetable Stir Fry
Friday – Buffalo Chicken Pizza with side salad.
Saturday – Sheet Pan Chipotle Lime Shrimp Bake
Sunday – Healthy Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
Sweet Treat to Try this Week…
These No-Bake Carrot Cake Bites are naturally sweetened and grain free and they look really easy to make!
Here are a few summer inspired finds we spotted on Amazon this week…
**(Affiliate links have been provided for your convenience. You can read our full disclosure policy here)
Extra Large Waterproof Picnic Blanket
Peeper Keeper Eye Balm (this eye balm has almost 1, 000 customer reviews)
Sunscreen (this sunscreen has over 3,200 customer reviews)
If you’ve missed anything on the blog lately, here’s a peek at what we’ve been up to…
48 of the Best Books to Read This Summer
DIY Jadeite Inspired Cupcake Stand(from the archives)
Laundry Room Buffet Makeover(from the archives)
52 Weeks to a Simplified & Organized Home Challenge
If you’re part of our 52 Weeks to a Simplified and Organized Home Challenge, we’re completing Week 22 Summer Bucket List and looking forward to working on Week 23 Bills/Mail/Paper Clutter.
*** Keep in mind, if you’re new to this challenge or have gotten behind for whatever reason, simply pick up on the current week and start again. You don’t have to be perfect, just don’t stay stuck! This challenge is all about making progress no matter how big or small. ***
***A bit of housekeeping…as I shared in our summer bucket list post, we’ll be on a summer sabbatical of sorts starting the second week of June, but I wanted to give you a heads up about it now. We were supposed to start next week but there was a scheduling conflict with the blog hop we’ll be participating in on Monday and I wanted to make sure it got the attention it deserves. All the ladies in that group are fantastic! Below is a sneak peek of our summer front porch…
Our plan is to post on Tuesday, Thursdays and maybe Saturdays depending on how things are going during the week. I’ll be headed back to school to finish up my continuing education hours for my counseling degree and while it will be a great diversion from all things DIY, it’s going to take a lot of extra concentration.
That said, I promise not to blog about the influence of opioids on pain receptor sites in the brain, the lasting effects of PTSD or the stigma of living with a disability – all of which are part of the curriculum ?
Believe me, I have plenty of DIY, home décor and home keeping posts to share because there are still makeovers you haven’t even seen yet!
Anyway, I hope you all have a peace filled and happy weekend. After a whirlwind week, I’m beyond excited to be at home and fingers crossed working on the office! My Dad was super sweet to cut all the boards for us last week which was a huge timesaver. Installing board and batten does take a bit of time but it’s nothing like installing shiplap so we should be good to go.
Once the board and batten goes up, it should be pretty smooth sailing. This is the last weekend we’ll be in town for the rest of the month so I am laser focused on getting as much as I can get done, done.
Whatever you have planned I hope it’s something you’re excited about too. I can’t wait to see you back here next week. Until next time, I’ll see you on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
Many blessings,
CoCo
Another great week Coco. Its fun to see what your sisters look like and all the stuff you find each week. I dont know when you sleep. Cant wait to hear more about the office, your school and try these recipes. I know you’re cutting back on posts but please dont cut this series out. Thanks