Field Notes: August
Welcome to my Live Journal: August highlights (delivered in September), including: a dinosaur birthday celebration, my husband's famous martini recipe, & deodorant I'm passionate about
August is one of my favorite months — the length of the days, the warm weather, there is a luxurious laziness to the month that can be a little bit of a tease since the last little bit of August gets caught in the crosshairs of back-to-school and the return of routine, but there is still that joy of summer, the reminder to need to savor it, and last chances to soak it all up.
We started the month with a bang as my oldest son turned 6 on August 5th. Kid summer birthdays are hard — so many people are away and there are so many weekends filled with plans, it’s really hard to figure out how to have a celebration with friends, and I haven’t quite cracked that code. BUT. We do go big as a family to do something special to celebrate the birthday kiddo. This year, that meant a road trip to Connecticut to visit The Dinosaur Place which a friend discovered on instagram and made a dino-obsessed birthday boy’s dream come true. It was approximately 10000 degrees, but that did not slow my kids down at all. We made the 2-hour drive first thing on Saturday morning, spent the majority of the day exploring all the dinosaurs, the climbing structures and playgrounds, ate lunch and wrapped our day at the epic splash pad that they have on site.
To break up the drive home, we drove to Providence, RI, and had dinner at Pizza Marvin, where we scarfed down pies & fries with very exhausted children, and then proceeded to get monsoon-ed on while searching for a place to get ice cream nearby. We really pushed it with the amount of stuff and car time we could get away with in a day, but it worked out in the end. Everyone zoned out listening to kids stories on the ride home and we melted into bed. The Dinosaur Place is definitely worth a trek if you are in the area!
On Ellis’s actual day, we celebrated with a family dinner, complete with a cake that I scrambled to piece together when I learned our local bakery now has a 7-day pre-order window for a customized cake. I don’t know though, maybe I missed my cake-decorating calling?
Immediately after his birthday I was off to a work offsite in New Hampshire for a few days, my husband had a work trip immediately after, and we were in that weird part of summer where there are no more camps or kids activities because all the college kids go back to school, so we headed to the Cape for the last little bit of the month before school started up for my two older kiddos.
I ended up having to work a good amount while we were away which was really tricky. I knew it was going to happen, my husband and I talked about it a lot ahead of time, my dad and sister were there to help share the load and it was still a lot to juggle. Primarily for my husband because he was primary for all three kids for a number of days and he got basically nothing vacation-like during those days, a lot for me because I was busy, had a lot of work to get through and was sad to not participate in all the fun family activities, and hard for my kids because they were confused as to why I was there but not. We made it through, but it was tricky. Luckily, it’s a pretty rare occurrence, and hopefully won’t happen again anytime soon.
We still managed to have a great trip, filled with long days on the beach, collecting hermit crabs, a bike ride to get ice cream and french fries nearly every day (honestly still weaning my kids off considering this a “meal”), playing mini golf, swinging in the hammock and reading our books. I finished several books while we were away (I’ll detail everything I read in August a bit later), thanks in large part to the fact that all the adults lay on the couch and read books/enjoyed a cocktail after dinner most nights with the exception of watching the convention and a few nights of sports.
Speaking of cocktails, my husband was on deck to mix many a martini, and he really has it nailed down. A couple people have asked, so here is his recipe:
Chill glass in freezer
1/4 oz dry vermouth
3.5 oz gin (or vodka)
2oz olive brine (this is the best)
shake for 30 secs over heavy ice
strain into glass, serve with 3 olives (preferably blue cheese)
enjoy
It was the type of vacation where you wear a bathing suit all day, everyday, and have that glorious outdoor shower at the end of a long day at the beach and then change right into your comfiest sweats. So good. I reached frequently for the Crown Affair leave-in conditioner - it was soo good for post ocean + pond water, I even used it on my daughter’s hair which is extremely curly and needs adult-level conditioner to stay tamed! I also brought my Hanni Fatty Stick and parked it in the outdoor shower and used it every night. It is amazing! (thank you to Hanni for gifting me this new product to try!) It was a product-light trip, although this deodorant, The Rio Deo from Sol de Janeiro, (a recommendation from
) is my new deodorant and I’m so happy to not be wearing my husband’s anymore (which I have been doing for approximately 12 months). It works AND smells nice. It’s also available on Amazon.I was super excited to try Merit’s new eyebrow products (not gifted!) — (I do my eyebrows basically every single day, so always looking for my “hero” product) - I like and have been using the Brow Pomade, but was under-whelmed by the brow pencil. I ended up with two because I wanted to give it to my sister for her birthday, but my pencil broke immediately - the pencil portion broke so fast, and the spoolie end completely broke up. Because it was so disappointing I didn’t give the second to my sis, and tried testing it to see if it was a dud, and am sorry to report that I had the nearly the experience with the second pencil. I think the breaking pencil is addressable and takes some getting used to (you have to twist it out the tiniest amount), but the spoolie popped out on this one too.
As soon as we got back from the Cape, we entered back-to-school mode. Gloriously, our PTG offered a program where they purchase school supplies for you, so we were spared the task of having to frantically make sure we had all the supplies necessary, so the lift to be physically prepared was low. Mentally, more work to get everyone clued into what new routines would be, how everyone is getting to school and what the morning drop-off schedule looks like. My middle daughter, who is three, started pre-school - so now two kids are headed to school in the morning, and we are still adjusting to the preparation of multiple backpacks and completing all tasks that need to be completed in order to be ready when our nanny comes and ready to go out the door when it’s time to catch the bus and then walk to preschool.
All great things, but, with anything, transitions are hard. Even though I know this, I always seem to underestimate how much time they take — especially in terms of how much time they might take for me (and my husband) to get adjusted to them! We’ll get there, and it’s gonna feel good, but it’s a lot of change!!!
On the getting dressed front, our time on the cape was not exciting, but sometimes you need a trip like that - as much as I love to get dressed, and I think it’s really important to how I feel, how I make my way through the day and my own mental health, it’s also really nice to just wear the same cozy things on repeat. I wore my favorite gap sweatpants A LOT.
My sister wore these sunglasses which I immediately made her send me a link for and had delivered to our house on the cape. Very into them, I’ve been wearing them a lot - a very good $15 treat!
On the getting dressed front, I continue to go into my office a few days a week, and I love it. So, most of my getting dressed has revolved around getting dressed for the office. Summer dressing for the office is always tricky, but as the summer is winding down, I know that I will miss some of my favorite summer pieces when the weather cools down, so I always try to wear them as much as possible. This meant lots of linen and dresses with lightweight sweaters on top.
August was, a GREAT month of reading!
This Summer Will be Different - Carley Fortune - Happy. Feel Good. Perfect summer read. I did wish the main character would have just had a simple conversation with her friend - would have saved a lot of heartache, but, nevertheless. Really enjoyed.
Maybe Once, Maybe Twice - Alison Rose Greenberg - Lots of romance this month. I loved this. I felt like the ending was a little rushed, I would have loved to see other parts of the book edited to get more in the last 15% or so, but still liked and would recommend.
Getaway Girl - Tessa Bailey - High on the steam scale, our girl Tessa never disappoints. Her books are like candy for your spirit.
Our Share of Night - Mariana Enriquez - This is excellence. Different, and mysterious, and a little supernatural.
The Wedding People - Alison Espach - I got a little bit into this and was so confused as to why so many people were saying this was their favorite book of the summer, but I kept going and I’m so glad I did. This was so real, but not in a depressing way, in a hopeful and optimistic one. It was a beautiful portrayal of life and real people, and I laughed out loud a lot.
The Women - Kristen Hannah - Wow. I know there has been so much buzz around this book, and I am afraid that I too, loved it! Kristen Hannah has such a way of weaving history lessons with the human experience, and I finished this feeling like I have some better understanding of the complexities of this war and the way that it impacted so many different people.
The most popular things I shared in August included…
These Pistola Jeans that are the PERFECT barrel leg (I wear my true size but think these run a teensy bit big)
This J.Crew Pointelle T-shirt (I’m obsessed with this shirt, I wear it constantly!)
These Greatness Wins Bike Shorts - so good for running, walking, lifting
Earlybird CBD Gummies that have become a critical part of my regular routine!
Banana Republic Denim Chore Jacket - this is so good!!
ICYMI:
Some recent pieces that you might enjoy…
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All products highlighted are chosen by me, and some may be affiliate links. Your support is appreciated!
Omg the Dinosaur Place was the highlight of our summer trip to Mystic, but waiting for the “volcano show” in 100 degree heat almost sent me into a panic attack 😭 and thank you for the reminder- I need to order more Earlybird!
Our Share of Night is magical! Always excited to see someone else raving about it :)