Happy Friday! I know it’s not technically summer yet, but for all intents and purposes, we’re diving headlong into the season: the temps are already in the high 90s and the public schools just wrapped up for the break, so it definitely feels like summertime around here. We spent the Memorial Day weekend kicking back and initiating some of our favorite summer activities (a quick, last-minute beach trip with a friend for C, uninterrupted reading and home projects for me, then a family BBQ on Monday) and enjoyed a short work week after the holiday. Here are a handful of highlights from my week, as told through snaps from my iPhone.

I went to the library last Saturday and picked three new releases based purely on their pretty covers. I finished Trying by Emily Phillips over the holiday weekend and really enjoyed it; it reads like a fun Sophie Kinsella novel, but with more grit and gumption. Whether or not you relate to the struggle of trying to conceive, which is the central theme of the book, there’s plenty of substance in the story that all of us *cough* older millennial women can appreciate.
I started Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi last night, and there’s already some magic brewing in the first couple chapters. I’m looking forward to spending some time with it this weekend.

While I was downtown, I spotted this hand-woven, fair trade tote from a market vendor in the park and couldn’t resist grabbing it to carry all those books; I know I’ll get lots of use from it as a colorful summer carryall, too. Then I stopped into m.marie for a quick visit with my friend, Meg, and treated myself to a fresh Capri Blue ‘Blue Jean’ candle while I was there. (I burned my last one to the final millimeter of wax.)

When I popped into the shop afterwards to pick up my deliveries, I grabbed a big bundle of leftover Mother’s Day tulips from the cooler. They were well past their prime for selling, but perfect to enjoy at home through the long weekend. As a professional florist, it’s shameful how rarely we have fresh flowers in our home… I’m trying to make it a habit to bring a few stems home on the weekends, because it really is so lovely to have them scattered around your space!
(Wearing: LOFT cotton tank + Everlane skinnies + Ray-Ban sunglasses)

One of the best things about summer in our house is ‘mandatory’ cocktail hour outside every evening after work. For years, we propped up a couple of golf chairs in the grass and called it a day, but last month, I gave myself a weekend project to spruce up our tiny patio area by the front door so we’d be properly ready for the season. I found these ‘Parisian bistro’ patio chairs in the Garden Center at Walmart — they’re on sale now for $48 but the stock is really limited, so snag them fast! — and snagged the wood table for less than $40 at TJ Maxx. I added some woven outdoor throw pillows and petite plants to make it cozy, and now it’s the perfect place for C and I to unwind with a drink at the end of the day, or have coffee and read on weekend mornings.

Can’t stop/won’t stop taking afternoon strolls through the garden center and impulse-buying more houseplants. I think C is going to stage an intervention if I come home with one more plant for our space, so now I’m hoarding collecting them to sell at the flower shop, paired with great decorative pots. It scratches the itch of my #crazyplantlady addiction, and helps stock our storefront with great houseplants for our clients. Win-win!
(If you’re local, stay tuned; we have a big shipment of assorted planters coming our way real soon!)

Finally, finishing things off with Doak, because he’s the actual cutest; even when he’s staring me down to take him on a walk just as I’m settling in on the couch to catch up on my Real Housewives. (Please ignore the assorted rawhides, antlers, and tennis balls that we have to fish out from under the tv stand daily.)