Friday Favorites

Oh Friday I am so happy to see you! Im not complaining because things could be SO much worse but putting a house on the market with two small kids is ridiculously difficult. The kitchennnnn...so many meals to be made so many snacks asked for and drink cups poured. Keeping it clean has become a full time job. I know that this is a small period of time and I will look back and find it mildly funny, right now however it is a headache. Happily Husband Js parents are coming to town tomorrow to give us a chance to take a night away. This is our FIRST  night away as a couple since Pippa was born so we are both really looking forward to it. Our 5 year anniversary is at the end of September and since we will be about to move right around then, we figured we would celebrate a little early. On a totally different note I changed my instagram name, it is now @jenwithjustonen . I have been wanting to change it for a while, when I first signed up for Instagram years ago before it was really popular I just quickly typed in my email address as my name and that was that. I didn't love having my main email address as my name so I finally got around to changing it.  I will post pictures from our night away on Monday, today I am leaving you with my Friday Favorites! Happy { Long } Weekend Guys!!

I would happily sit with a cocktail and look at the view all afternoon..

Shopbop is having a HUGE summer sale! Love this dress you could transition it into fall with a great jacket and booties like these below from Sole Society 

crying over these tiny floral vans.

The older I get  and more self confidence I gain the more I am living this quote..

This clutch instantly brightens up a simple outfit, I found this image on my pinterest but couldnt find where its from ..anyone know?

Family Pictures

Typhoid Fever, Malaria, Hepatitis A, travelers diaherra .. these are all words that have been thrown around casually with me the last couple of weeks while we have been getting our vaccines for our move to China. As if I didn't already have anxiety before... FINALLY we are all ready to go in terms of our vaccines and I could not be happier to have all of that past me. My photographer sent me all of our family pictures. I wish I would have put some makeup on for them. As I have said here before I am not great with makeup and rarely rarely wear it. I need a little something in these to lift my face up a little bit but lesson learned and the kids and Jay look great! Here are some of my favorite ones! Hope you guys have a great hump day! 

Blowing Kisses 

Pippa is Wearing Stella McCartney Kids & Freshly Picked and Kael is Wearing Zara Kids

 Pippas headband is from A Tiny Arrow 

I am wearing a dress from Ace & Jig, Paper Crown Top, Blank NYC jean shorts and  Free People hat!

All Dressed Up With Kael

To know Kael is to love him. His gigantic personality and loud loud voice is impossible to ignore. He is my entertainment most days, just this morning he snuck a fortune cookie from last nights meal and about 5 min later I asked to see what the fortune said and he happily pointed to his mouth, I guess he didn't have time to fish out the paper #aintnobodygotimeforthat. His new favorite thing to do is dance, he will break into a dance in the middle of the store to his own little song. He is obsessed with family dynamics, who is his uncle who is his aunt is Poppy my grandfather too? He also is obsessed with babies he asks me often if I have a baby in my tummy and I explain to him that I don't and ask him if he remember when Pippa was in my stomach. He says " oh yes I do " and then turns to Pippa and says " hey Pippa do you want to get into my tummy ". 3 year old are truly hilarious little beings. He starts preschool next week and I am so excited for him.  I just know that he will make fast friends. 

Kaels Outfit Details : Hat H&M/ Shirt Crewcuts / Shorts Zara Kids / Adidas Sambas Nordstrom 

Had to include these sweet pictures of Pippa who is SOOO busy these days. Her Dress is from Splendid Kids and her Shoes are Freshly Picked 

On My Bedside Table

Hope you all had a great weekend! On Mondays I normally do a weekend recap buttttt I didnt think you guys would think pictures of me piling up crap to throw out would be that interesting. Instead I thought I would do a quick on " On My Bedside Table " I just finished Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and it was really good if not as good as the first book of hers that I read Husbands Secret. I am in love with her writing, very suspenseful yet at times light and fun made me look forwards to my bath every night. 

Next up on my nightstand : This One Is Mine by Maria Semple  I LOVED her book Where'd You Go Bernadette so I am hoping to get just as lost in this one. 

One a TOTALLY different note for those of you who have been watching the Jersey Housewives..can we talk about the BOMB that Victoria Gotti Dropped yesterday. I was giggling like a school girl she laid that bomb on the table with such poise. It was pretty amazing. Can't wait to see how the twins react to this one. I will see you guys tomorrow with a " All Dressed Up with Kael " 

Friday Favorites

 Happy Friday! This week has been really long for some reason. After camp and vacation and being busy all summer long a week of having not much planned seemed to CREEP by so slow. So I reached an all time new reality tv show low and have started watching Rich Kids of Beverly Hill { I know I need to be medicated } In my defense someone told me that they went to Shanghai so obviously I had to watch that episode and it was downhill from there. I am now invested and crying and shouting at the tv with them ({ kinda Kidding } I will say this line made me laugh out loud because I know that I am not always the easiest person to handle on a day to day. Lets just say I have a large personality lol. Anyway, Shanghai looked amazing on the show and made me a teeni bit more excited. 

Here are some of my favorite things across the web this week! Hope you guys have a great weekend we will be organizing and purging and I will be avoiding Husband J and attempting to explain how and why I accumulate so many things.

 These Jen's Pirate Booty Pants are so cute and look so comfortable! They would be a perfect pair of pants to wear on my long travels coming up! Comfortable and stylish! 

Im in the market for a cute pair of everyday sneaks to wear to the park with the kids and on errands and while traveling. These Nikes from Nordstrom are calling my name

Loving the rich deep colors of this room done by Amber Interiors. It makes me want to take a big ol nap..I also am a huge sucker for a window seat. A perfect spot to snuggle up on and read a book.

Perfect Quote

This picture is beautiful, I love you Summer! Why is everyone trying to rush Summer? Do we not remember how utterly BRUTAL the winter was? I am trying to soak in each and every last 80 degree sun filled day my body can take. 

I have a new favorite blog its called Home With Her and it is Stunning! All of the pictures are terrific but this one below really struck a cord with me. How stylish is this Mother? Most days I am in my nike shorts and tshirt looking like a bat out of hell to be honest, but this is what I am striving to be. I love that now becoming a Mother does not mean you have to lose your sense of style. 

Sugarboo Shirts + Life Lately

So I have mentioned on here before my LOVE for Sugarboo Designs art work. So I was so excited when I saw that they have started making little t-shirts for the kiddos. I used to love dressing Kael in cute little button ups and nice shorts but the older he is getting the harder he is on his clothes and that just can't fly day to day anymore. So I love finding cute t-shirts to put him in for a more relaxed vibe.

 An update with our Shanghai move, it is looking like we will be leaving for Shanghai at the end of September. We are trying to figure out a place to stop for a day or two so that we can stretch our legs a little and the kids can get their wiggles out. As of right now we are thinking London would be a good location. We have been scrambling to get the house organized to put it on the market right after labor day. I have been donating and throwing out like a mad woman me and purple heart are besties now, bracelets and all. On top of all the craziness that is happening. Husband J got into a little car accident IN our neighborhood and it ended up totaling his car. #IMEAN ( just a quick side note if this was ME that totaled the car on our street the amount of side eyes that I would be receiving would be absurd ) SOOOOO what do you do when you are about to sell your car and it gets totaled? We didn't want to buy another one because that would just be silly so he is currently renting a car for the remainder of the time that we are in the US. Oyi..it just keeps on coming. I will be back tomorrow with my Friday Favorites! Have a great Thursday!

Cook Mommy Cook...

Hi guys!! Happy Happy Hump Day! I want to start a new little series here on the my blog called Cook Mommy Cook. I absolutely love being a Mom, I love staying home with my kids, I absolutely don't love cooking. I have noticed that with the arrival of Pippa most of my time however is spent in the kitchen. I am now making 3 meals a day and at dinner I am usually making two separate meals because the kids just wont eat enough of what Jay and I eat to fill up their stomachs, so I make them something of their own.  I thought I can't be the only woman that lives in their kitchen and isn't exactly thrilled about it. So why not start this series on easy quick meals that cut down your time in the kitchen while also making a healthy meal. The name of the series comes from a saying my Mom { who had 4 children } used to say when we were asking her to do something or take us somewhere or make us something " run mommy run, do mommy do, cook mommy cook " It was usually said in an exasperated voice which at the time used to confuse me completely but now with two children of my own I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND. I mean can we just sit down?? NOPE! Now Let me be clear I AM NO COOK most of the recipes I have pulled from my Pinterest and will provide for you the link. Yesterday while the kids napped I decided to try this Lemon Orzo Chicken Soup. It wasn't supposed to be a crock pot recipe but Since I knew once the kids got up it would hard for me to tend to it I decided to throw it all in the crockpot and pray ( that pretty much how I get thru most of my meals a steady prayers lol ) 

I basically tossed everything on high for about 3 hours and then added in the Orzo at the end. My Husband LOVED it. Kael even tried some and liked it ! 

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 3/4 cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 1 sprig rosemary
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Beach Week

We are back from a fantastic beach week with my side of the family. While its good to be back home with all of our stuff and into our routine. I cant help but miss the past week we had that was filled with laughs sun and sand. We stayed in a gorgeous house right on the beach in Hilton Head Island and woke up to coffee and this view every morning

 We spent lots of time in the pool

In the afternoons the tide was so far out that the kids had tons and tons of beach to run around on which was perfect for Pippa

 Serious hole digging happening

Lots of cousin time aka eating sand time...

 We rented bikes for the week and rode them all over. I love the idea of living in a town that you can bike to get your coffee every morning..

" What Mom? I didn't eat any sand " 

 Nothing like a stroll with your Poppy

 The whole gang minus my sister and her husband who had already left the restuarant  before we took this picture.

 Lots of paddle board and beach games

 Early morning strolls on the beach with coffee while Husband J threw the football to the boys

 Lots of sun soaking too..

 My favorite thing about Hilton Head aside from the beach are the beautiful spanish moss trees..

 The Ice Bucket Challenge went threw the house as well..this is a great shot I got of my Dad completing his challege..

It was a great week! Love spending so much time with the people that matter the most. Will miss them terribly while we are in China..