It’s time for everybody’s favorite numerical breakdown of all the things we did in March! I cannot believe how fast we plowed through this month, but given that I pretty much say that after every single one of them, I should probably just assume that life will continue to move at lightning speed whether I like it or not. I had so many things on my my “by the numbers post-it note” that I barely fit it all into my infographic!
I’m also linking up with Anne in Residence, so keep on scrolling to find out what we’re up to currently!
Eating is still going very, very well. It’s hard to believe I am already a quarter of the way through my year of whole foods, but it is getting easier every day. I shared an FAQ post last month that I think helps to explain where my head is right now. It gets easier to avoid foods that I know will upset my stomach (I’m talking to you, wheat. Oh, and your friend dairy.), but it doesn’t keep me from thinking about when I didn’t realize what was going on in there. I haven’t exactly stuck to my “off-day” calendar, but I am still holding steady at a 90% paleo ratio. Man, it feels good to say that. I’m finally in a good groove when it comes to running and working out, too, so I’m looking forward to seeing how many changes take place during this second quarter of the year.
We danced a LOT last month and this month will be a repeat. The girls swept awards at both of our March competitions and they have been working on a little something extra for our last competition of the season. I shared about our trip to Chattanooga (part 1 / part 2) and walked you through the typical competition experience. And because I think it is super funny, I’m sharing that the number of people who unfollow me on Instagram during competition season is staggering. Trust me when I tell you that my feelings aren’t hurt at all. I get that heavy makeup and bared bellies on nine year olds can get a little weird.
We had planned to order tickets for the Hangout Festival this month, despite the crazy price of festival tickets. The closer we got to the deadline, the more wishy washy Josh got about going. There are some bands I’m going to miss seeing and we all know how I feel about the beach, but we decided to hold of that for now. Instead, we picked up tickets to see our favorite band in Nashville later this month and are currently trying to find a place to stay (hey, hotel prices are ridonkulous). I’m thinking we’ll grab another AirBnB for the weekend instead. Who here is a fan of Nashville?! Give me all of your food recommendations in the comments today. I’m going to eat my way across Tennessee. We’ve also got tickets to see Mumford & Sons THIS SUNDAY, so I’m kind of crazy excited about that. Josh isn’t a fan of their most recent album, but he’s agreed to indulge me a bit. I snagged floor seats (general admission) last month, so we’ll be waiting in line for a few hours to get as close to the stage as possible.
I only read five books this month and I’ll be sharing a review on Friday with all of the details. Just know that two of those books were super easy reads (I mean listens), one of them was a book of Ella’s that she insisted I read first, another was recommended by my mother and another was the best book I’ve read all year. I’ll let you try and figure out which is which! We were still rolling through the Oscar nominees for Best Picture in March and added Brooklyn and The Big Short to our list. We loved them both, but I’m guessing you can figure out which one Josh preferred. The 5th Wave was meh. I haven’t read the book and I didn’t really want to finish the movie. So I didn’t.
I got in the habit of taking daily outfit posts for our Wednesday style series sometime during the second week of the month and managed to capture twenty-three consecutive days of what I was wearing. I think moving forward, I’ll capture the entire month and then share all 30ish photos at once. March’s “What I Wore” will be up on Wednesday, so be sure you come back to visit. And for those of you who are first-time visitors, Jennifer and I would really LOVE it if you’d consider linking up from time to time. We really wanted to share a weekly post and give all of our internet friends the opportunity to join us. So do. Okay? Okay.
I reviewed my Stitch Fix box several weeks ago and it was a good one. So good, in fact, that I’ll be over at the Stitch Fix Review blog on Sunday with a little recap and I might make it onto their social media feeds. We’ll just have to see about that. I am loving my monthly fixes and my April box should be here by the weekend!
I’m watching less and less television these days, but there are a few favorites that will make it back onto my screen this month (Game of Thrones and Outlander to name a few). I was kind of bored with Thursday night television, so I’m glad those shows are coming to a close, but I did love seeing how they pulled HTGAWM together for the season finale. Talk about a nail-biter! We also plowed through the 8 part mini-series based on Stephen King’s novel 11.22.63 and now I kinda want to read it for myself (the last episode comes on tonight!). Also of note, I finally finished my binge watch of Felicity on the last morning of March and I remembered all of the reasons why I loved it so much in college. The last half of season four is just plain weird, but the last episode more than makes up for it. I am kind of sad it’s all over.
Hey did you see the mention of a spontaneous road-trip up there? I’m not sure that I ever mentioned that on the blog, but my mom convinced me to drive to Gulf Shores for 24 hours at the beginning of the girls’ spring break. We couldn’t manage to get away for the entire week since Josh and I both had to work and we’re taking a long vacation in June. I opted to work from home on Monday and Tuesday to keep the girls, but my mom convinced me I would work harder with some shrimp in my belly and some sand between my toes. It turns out she was right. We left on Sunday after Easter lunch and drove back on Monday night. It was just enough time for the girls to play really hard and get pink cheeks. Man, we can’t wait to be back there for the summer.
March was pretty stinking fabulous, but I’m banking on April being even better. Sure it’s only a few days in, but why don’t we chat about what’s going on currently?
Making \\ I’m making everything “unicorn sixth birthday party” related. I’m trying my hand at some super cute cookies and making custom unicorn horn party favors. I say this every year and it’s true every single time, but this might be my favorite birthday ever. Stay tuned for a full recap in a few more weeks!
Wishlisting \\ I’m trolling the internet at all times looking for a few new things for our festival trip next month. Sure, I’m 36 and while I don’t want to look like a grandma, I also don’t want to seem like I’m trying too hard. I’m relying on Jodi to wow me with my Stitch Fix box this month since I requested a few casual and inexpensive items perfect for our weekend getaway. I’ve also ordered a gazillion bathing suits and will be sharing a round-up of all my favorites later this month.
Cleaning \\ Remember that unicorn birthday party? Yeah, Sophie has requested to party at home this year. We haven’t done that since her first birthday and I think she’s nervous this might be her last birthday in the Rockin’ House. We ordered an inflatable and we’ll be moving the trampoline to the front yard and partying hard. I’m scrubbing the baseboards like a mad woman and hoping I can convince Josh to clean the toilet. Maybe.
Posting \\ For the first time in forever, I am finally in a groove when it comes to blogging. I’ve been sharing three days a week for almost a year now and the abbreviated schedule has been a game changer. Sure, I pop in on a random Tuesday or Thursday occasionally, but for the most part MWF it is. I also have a year-long blog calendar that helps hold me accountable and I try to keep my eye on it a few weeks out so that nothing falls through the cracks. I seem to be posting more lifestyle posts these days and less family stuff, but I can’t decide how I feel about that. For you regular readers, can you leave me a little feedback in the comments today? It’s hard to gauge what works by numbers alone, so some actual “Hey, how are ya’s” would really help me out! I will say that I have Tuesday and Thursday posts scheduled for this week, since I have plenty of holiday shenanigans to share.
Tasting \\ All the whole foods and not much else. Mid-March, Josh and I had a food pow-wow and came to the conclusion that with only 9 weeks between us and a three day beach excursion we needed to really buckle down on our eating. We were already eating a paleo diet, but we’ve cut out some carb heavy items and are eating more and more veggies. We also picked up a food scale (finally) to be more precise in logging our foods and being accountable for our macros. He has been super encouraging the last several weeks and it’s really helping me stay on track. Not only is the scale moving in the right direction, but I feel so much better and my body keeps on changing. It is crazy when you actually start to see your accomplishments in the mirror!
This week really turned into a monthly recap sort of week! On Wednesday, I’ll be sharing every single thing I wore in March and Friday’s post will be full of book recommendations. As always, thanks for reading, commenting and following along. Chatting with you all is one of my favorite parts of every day. Happy Monday!
