February Faves
my favorite things from February, and the month in review
You can read all previous editions of my monthly digest of favorite things here.
FEBRUARY YOU WERE A DOOZY HOLY CRAP.
For a short month, we were served a lot of curveballs (shoutout to the vacation that was not a vacation at all & our nanny getting extremely sick while visiting family in Brazil and having to spend over a week recovering). In the grand scheme, we are healthy and happy, but, as I said to my son on our walk home from school on Friday afternoon, “This time of year is very hard, because we’re ready for winter to be over, but winter is not quite over yet.” I am excited for warmer weather, and to be back in our routine for a long stretch in front of us (more on that soon)!
This month started strong! We went to New Hampshire with friends for a ski weekend and had a blast. My big kids were in heaven to hang out with one of their besties, and all the parents had a lot of fun. Casual late-into-the-night hangouts with drinks, food, snacks, games, and laughing, in the comfort of a home (and not a restaurant) are some of the hardest things to find time for and make happen as a parent. It’s hard to find a babysitter who wants to stay late, and you have to navigate how you’re getting home from someone’s house late at night (Ubers are available, but require planning around us!) This is just something I miss about being younger in general — having the full evening and night experience with your friends — getting ready together, going out, and then coming back for late night (A Bar, one might call it if one was also of my generation?) Truly just hanging out. So, those parts of weekends away with friends are a big highlight for me. It’s worth the exhaustion the next day, it fills my cup! And, the weekend itself was beautiful - we were so grateful to our friends who took care of our baby the whole weekend (she hung out with her other baby besties - three summer 2023 buds) while we skied with our older two. Many walks, trips to an arcade, all the kids experiencing a photo booth for the first time, and also learning about the scam that is the arcade claw machine.
We were home for just a couple of days before we went right into our trip to Mexico which I am still not fully over, but you can read details about here. The next curveball was served the morning we were heading home. We were eating breakfast and as I said, “At least we go home to a week with our nanny,” like we were in a movie, I got the ping of a WhatsApp on my phone. It was a message from our nanny informing us she was unexpectedly ill and hospitalized (thankfully she is okay and home now, but it was very scary!) and she would be in Brazil recovering until she could travel.
Cue the scramble to figure out childcare, which we did manage to cobble together, but it was still very tricky. Did I mention it was also Winter break for my oldest, so all 3 kids were home? Fun times! Thankfully, before our trip I had the foresight to ask our normal babysitter to come hang with the kids for the weekend mornings after we got home from Mexico. This was a lifesaver - both to get organized and unpacked coming home from our trip and to give us a little break coming out of our trip and going into a tough week. I’m taking note of that move and will be doing it for all future trips!
I also had a quick work trip to Florida to meet with a new client. A big work event, which kind of felt like my actual vacation (a three-hour flight by myself???), but was also my first time away from the kids overnight since having Willa. Thankfully, it went off without a hitch, and it was great to get some in-person time with clients and talk big picture about future opportunities. And, I got to feel like the queen of the world when I got out of my Uber on Thursday afternoon and was greeted by my kids waiting for me on the front porch.
It was a busy month, filled with SO MUCH out of the ordinary for us - and despite it being very busy and fast-paced, it still felt long. Funny how that can happen. Our highly abnormal schedule gave me a renewed appreciation for our normal routine. I am feeling more grateful than ever for our weekday mornings where we get up and eat breakfast together and chaotically get everyone ready for their days, and sometimes when I sit down for work around 8:30 it feels like I’ve lived a full day even though my work day is just getting started. I appreciate that I can organize my schedule so that I can get a quick workout in mid-morning a couple of days a week. I appreciate being able to pop out and run an errand in the middle of the day so that I don’t have to save them all for the weekend. I appreciate our nanny’s help with laundry and meals for my kids, and keeping track of the things we need to restock/re-fill in our home. I am feeling a lot of gratitude for our normal, and am so glad to be back in our schedule.
I have a few things to highlight that have made my life better and easier this month — many of which were things that made my travels easier, but also some beauty things, some fashion things, and some miscellanea as always!
So, let’s dive in.
Captain Blankenship Scalp Serum - Well, postpartum hair loss has come for me. Joy. I’ve never really done any sort of major intervention to address this, but it was a reminder to make sure I’m taking really good care of my hair, which includes replacing my wet hair brush since it was pulling out so much hair every time I brushed and using this scalp serum once a week. I’ve shared this serum before - I’ve purchased it myself via Ashley Spivey’s recommendation, and the brand recently gifted me another bottle, and I love it. It helps with scalp health and hair growth, and it smells heavenly. I use it at night, rub it through my hair and into my scalp, and then wash my hair in the morning. Use code CHRISTINAT20 for 20% off at Captain Blankenship!
NYX Lip Liners - I am on a big Lip Liner kick. I think this started around the Sephora sale in the fall when I watched Courtney Grow’s (of
) makeup application videos. The way she applies her makeup and the natural but glowy and slightly-sexy vibe that she achieves is seriously incredible. She used a lip liner that got me on the lip-liner train. And then I did a light stalking of Katie Casper who also has a makeup aesthetic that I am very jealous of, and found the NYX lip liners via Ulta. And I’m hooked! For $5 a pop, you can’t beat the price, and I tried out several colors (including Natural, Sand Pink & Nude Pink). Add aquaphor on top and it’s a dream!Brown Mascara - Also on the makeup front, I decided to give brown mascara a try, and I’m super into it. It makes me look awake, and alive, and like myself but better, but also like I’m not wearing any makeup! Also an ulta find! I really, really like the applicator wand.
Cosmetic Bag - I have had a calpak toiletry case on my wishlist for awhile, but have been hemming and hawing over whether I really need it. But, when we went to Mexico, I was so annoyed that I didn’t have a better case to hold all my toiletries. I have a very nice one from Cuyana, and I do love it, but I find that despite being quite sizable, it’s not very efficient with the space that is has, and my toiletries don’t fit. So, I turned toAamazon for my work trip and got this cutie little bag and I’m obsessed! TSA approved, fit everything I needed (and more), and cute to boot!
Willow Go - I have been pumping with my Spectra S1 and S9, both holdovers from previous pregnancies, and have held out on purchasing a new pump this time around. But, a friend of mine was finished with her Willow Go and sent it to me. And, in anticipation of my work trip, I finally got it all ready to go and HOLY CRAP. Being not just hands-free but cords free is really a gamechanger. I pumped on the plane in both directions & it was the easiest thing in the world. I used the standard Willow pump (I think it was the 2.0) with my first daughter, and I had issues with the output & getting the hang of it, but I had no issues with this one!
Reformation Gigi Cardigan - I wrote about all of my favorite pieces from Reformation earlier this month, but this cardigan especially has been a real standout. I’ve been going out of my way to find ways to wear it, and put it to good use in a variety of outfits over the past month. I really love it. Lady jacket vibes, but slightly more casual because it’s a cardigan!
Levis’s Ribcage Straight Patch Pocket Jeans - I got my favorite jeans in a new wash & slightly different style, and…I’m obsessed. These jeans feel great, I love the darker wash and the exposed button on the waistband, and they are a true straight-leg jean with the perfect length. I’ve been wearing them on repeat - with sweaters, with a crisp white button down, with a white t-shirt.
A New Chair - Last fall, I found this chair for free on FB marketplace. I made plans to get it re-upholstered and this past month it was finished and finally made it’s way home. She’s a beaut (I mean, the skirt!!!). And, getting the chair is the first step in our effort to make our bedroom feel a little bit more like home this year, so I am very excited. Our primary bedroom is the whole third floor of our home which is amazing, because it’s huge, but also tricky because it’s pretty much just one large open space. Also, for some reason, I feel like we always leave our bedroom for last. So, lots of work to still be done, but for now, I feel highly sophisticated upgrading my pile of clothes on the floor to my pile of clothes on a chair! Also, a reminder to always check out FB Marketplace!!! So many gems, and re-upholsterers work MAGIC!
Our American Friend & The Things We Leave Unfinished - I didn’t get as much reading done this much as I usually do. Especially on vacation, where I had big plans to read a ton, and didn’t read much at all. But, these two books were favorites from this month. I’d had Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak on my list for ages, and I really love it - fast paced and fun. And then The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros (yes, that Rebecca Yarros!) was AMAZING. I loved it so much! Highly recommend both!
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