Weekend Reading #50
Where we stayed and ate in LA, our garage refresh, and Kate's 5th birthday plans and gifts.
Happy weekend! I’m slowly getting back in a groove after spending a few days in California. Disney always wipes me out, but it’s just so much fun with little kids. There’s something so special about watching the wave at the characters in a parade. It’s been a million degrees, and I spent the last two days working on partnerships, organizing the garage, and celebrating Kate’s birthday.
LA Recap
We spent two nights at the L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills, and always have the best experience there. The girls loved getting room service for breakfast, and had the best time at the rooftop pool. I got my La Scala chopped salad and Coffee Bean, and took the girls to Jon and Vinnys with friends, and to X’ian (a favorite Chinese spot).
It feels really good to be in a place where I felt comfortable enough to travel alone with my girls, and it was all quite manageable. So if you’re not there yet, know that it’s coming. I never would have taken the two girls alone even a year ago. Kate’s surgery made such a big difference in her sleep and stamina, and we had a great trip! I got them up early and surprised the girls by taking them to Disneyland a day early.
We stayed for the fireworks both nights, and then had an almost 3 hour flight delay, getting us in just before midnight. The girls did great (thanks to their iPads). It was so fun having a day with just the girls. Exhausting but fun.
I ordered a few new things for the trip and love this dress. If you’re in between sizes, size down.
Summer Birthdays
Kate turned 5 yesterday! She woke up to donuts, streamers, and paper garlands, and I took her downtown for lunch and a trip to the American Girl Store. She requested a special dinner at home and both a birthday cake and key lime pie (her favorite). One of her best friends is getting dropped off today and we’re going to go out for ice cream, and our good friends are coming over Sunday.
I got her this Lego set, a science kit, this doll, and this outfit, too.
Then we’ll do it all again in less than a week for Margot.
Work
Work has felt really good lately. I’ve been able to slow down a little bit and still get everything done, and am in such a good place with all of it. I’m not doing as much as I could be doing, but it’s summer, and I’m doing enough. I keep reminding myself that I spent years saying I didn’t need to be on Slack all day to get it all done, and I was right.
I had a few partnerships due before and after the trip, so I spent the flight to LA finishing a blog post, and edited this reel. I shot another partnership right before we left that I wrapped up yesterday. It’s the best when the feedback is just “They loved, all approved!” especially since it goes live Monday.
My Nordstrom Substack post needed to get turned around the day the sale preview went live, but it was fine since it just took a few hours to scour the site and make graphics. I have one more partnership going live right after the 4th, another for the Nordstrom Anniversary sale, and one more that will involve a day at the beach which should be a lot of fun to shoot. It’s been good, and not too busy which feels nice right now.
