Denim Daisies

 Hello, When I was in college I heard of this concept called the gray period. It’s essentially that time between Christmas and March when everything feels cold and gray. It’s also the perfect time to perfect coziness or winter hygge as I love the Scandinavian concept.  Here are five ways that I’m practicing hygge in this season: 1. Custom Candles. I love candles in general, but it was especially fun as a date over the holidays for Grant and I to customize our scents for candles at the candle lab. My favorite of our concoctions is a hazelnut and honey one with a hint of fresh bread for the kitchen. It is the epitome of cozy. 2. Coffee. There’s nothing like a cup of hot coffee, especially a latte, or even americano with some brown sugar oat milk creamer, to make you feel warm and happy inside.  3. Fireplace. Our fireplace in non-operational and so I found this electric stove to use as an insert for $20 that has a space heater feature as well. It’s safe around the kids which...

Hello, I’m going to try to keep up with this concept/challenge/link-up (seriously I need to figure out how to do that properly) from Mixandmatcama.com and alittlebitofeverythingblog.com for this year. It’s a once a month post about different things in each persons life and I love reading it on their blogs so it might be fun to look back on later in life about my own life. 🙂 I already shared my “resolutions” which are essentially these goals but here’s a recap a couple of weeks in of what is actually going to happen… I think. 1. Mailing a letter or card once a month to a friend I don’t talk to regularly. I still love this concept and it’s fun to try to keep connected with a couple of my sweet friends in a way that feels more personal but still doesn’t add too much to an already busy schedule. This will be the last week of the month and I can easily grab a card from the zoo or Trader Joe’s or just write a letter and it’ll still be fun. 2. Family Bible time. Originally I thought a nightl...

 Hello, Winter Market for the Hyde Park farmer’s market is an amazing resource. We go pretty much every week as that’s our compost drop off site but it’s also a great place to get fresh fancy bread or ravioli or even local winter or greenhouse produce! I didn’t even air any pictures this week as I was solo with the kids and needed both hands but winter market takes place in MadTree’s brewery annex and it’s absolutely amazing! (And would be totally worth grabbing a pint if we didn’t have two energetic kids. 🤪) Short post for today, now onto our morning school routine!!! 🥰🥰🥰 💛 Jessie

 Hello, So the kids are back in school today!!! 🥳 I’m so excited for them to see their friends and teachers and to have our normal school year routine back! Today I’m covering an insanely easy dinner, Trader Joe’s has veggie fried rice that if you heat up stove top with some olive oil, add a few eggs to scramble in it (and cook a bit longer to ensure the eggs are fully cooked, and then top with a salad is an absolute win! Jamie liked it, Grant and I liked it, and Arnis was unsure but I think he’ll eventually get behind it.  It was a great easy meal and we will do that again… often! That’s it for today, off to get ready for our morning school routine! 💛 Jessie

 Hello, So two things this week that I want to highlight that I’m grateful for. The first is that I had a very strange encounter yesterday that was full of barbs and just very mean comments that probably weren’t meant to be mean but frankly were. Unsoliticted advice is usually criticism and that’s what it felt like. I came away from that hot and angry that I hadn’t just walked a at at the start, but I was grateful that I had several friends and family who I could reach out to and work through why it upset me even though I knew everything rude was factually incorrect. I’m so grateful that I have my people and my community. Now for the fun thing, I’m also so grateful this week that I got to ski on Monday!!! Actually ski!!!! It was on the roads but my skate skis worked where the cars had been but the plows hadn’t reached. It felt like breathing clear air and I felt my body just relax into the rhythm. I’m so grateful for that opportunity and for Grant watching the kids as soon as he go...

 Hello, Here’s a weekly rolls up… news alert there’s a lot of snow related activities due to four snow days this week. 🥰🙄 Lisa borrowed Grant’s skis and came out with me for a tour of the neighborhood. We met so many of our further down neighbors because everyone was out shoveling and playing at the same time. It was so sweet! My little shoveler. Jamie love shoveling and breaking ice though we may have had to take the shovel away after a while so the boys didn’t decide to sword fight. 🙄 And my beautiful hibiscus glowered like crazy over the past couple of weeks!!! I’m so proud of her!!! 🥰🥰🥰 That’s it for this Saturday. More snow last night so I got up early to shovel while the kids were still asleep. Hopefully swim won’t be cancelled because we really need to get out and do something.  💛Jessie