The Striped Flamingo

Wanderlust

2021-07-26T14:09:00.005-04:00

A photo I snapped on our 2016 trip to Banff.

Chalk it up to a "stay at home" 2020 to conjure up feelings of wanderlust in this homebody. I wouldn't necessarily consider myself to be well-traveled. But I am someone who enjoys traveling to specific places I want to go. I'm not one of those people who tags along on trips or goes to a place just to say I've been there. I'm very intentional with my travel...which is why my list of previous travel destinations is pretty short.

However, because I'm a selective traveler, my list of places I want to visit is also fairly short. To me, this is attainable in my lifetime pretty easily.

~~Gulf Coast Beaches (Florida, USA)~~

Grand Tetons/Sawtooth Mountains (Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, USA)

Scotland/Ireland (the motherland :) )

Switzerland (the fatherland :) )

Seoul (South Korea)

Alaska

~~Banff (Alberta, Canada)~~

Big Bend National Park (Texas, USA)

~~The Caribbean (Ocho Rios, Jamaica)~~

Norway

Iceland

Since 5 of my remaining 8 are international, it sounds like I better start saving more! Where are some of your must-have travel locations?

Summer Goals 2021

2021-06-15T10:34:00.005-04:00

Ah yes, the temperatures have started climbing into the 90s and the humidity is in the 80s. It must be summer in the Carolinas. Every summer I typically have a few goals I try to achieve. Sometimes, I do achieve them. Most times I fail miserably. But hey, I wouldn't be a true Enneagram 1 if I didn't set high standards for myself and then later berate myself for not living up to them...right?

Right.

One. Take one "unplugged" vacation. I'm very busy at work...um all the time. Over the last 4 years in this role, I've taken on more responsibility and so, it's very difficult for me to truly get away from work for a vacation. My goal for this summer is to take a trip with M that will allow me to be off-grid and unreachable by work. I don't want to have the option to check email or answer messages so that my mind can relax and refresh. We've booked a trip in a farmhouse in late August that may just fit the bill. More on that later.

Two. Save enough money to have our kitchen cabinets painted. This has been a goal of mine for a couple of years now. I want to use the summer as my time to save extra income so this can happen.

Three. Get better at piano. I've long said that I'm a jack of all trades but master of none. Meaning, I'm a little good at a lot of things but I've never really taken time to get really good at many of them. I've known how to "play" the piano since I was a child but I stopped taking lessons and just never taught myself how to play accompaniment. This is an area that I think I could easily get much better at with more dedication and practice. So, I vow to beef up my piano accompaniment skills this summer.

Four. Perfect my sangria recipe. For a few years I've had a basic recipe that I just kind of add to each year. This summer, I want to focus on perfecting it. My goal is July 4th.

Five. Finish our backyard landscaping. This is a pretty lofty goal, to be honest. We are about halfway there but still have lots of mulch to spread, weeds to kill, plants to plant. Maybe this should be my fall goal too? :D

Flooring Update - Luxury Vinyl Plank

2021-05-31T21:51:00.004-04:00

If 2020 taught us anything, it was that it's worth the time and money to invest in your home. We spent so much of our time last year inside these walls, so splurging on updating some of the things we didn't love about our home made a lot of sense.

From when we purchased the house, we knew we eventually wanted to update the flooring. The upstairs is carpet (yet to be updated) and the downstairs had hardwoods. While they weren't in terrible, they were a reddish wood stain and very, very shiny. They were also super soft and every scratch, ding, dropped fork and dog scratch showed on them. We wanted to invest in flooring that could withstand dropped utensils and dog claws and high heels AND match our style a little better.

Here are some before photos that show the flooring:

And now some of the after photos:

We are so pleased with the flooring we chose for the downstairs. After many weeks of research and comparison, we decided on Lifeproof Luxury Vinyl Plank in Choice Oak. I'm pretty sure it's a Home Depot exclusive. And no, this isn't a sponsored post in any way. We just heard such great things about Lifeproof flooring that we ended up choosing it.

We've had these floors now for a few months and we are so happy we did it. It makes a huge difference in the look of the downstairs and I can drop a knife or plate and not worry about creating a huge gouge in the flooring. When Bear (who has a beard) drinks water and drips from his water bowl into the living room, I'm not worried about water stains. Lifeproof flooring is waterproof and scratch resistant. It's also Floorscore Certified, has low VOCs and is formaldehyde-free for air quality purposes.

Have you done any home updates during the last year?

On Grief and Love

2021-05-24T11:36:00.001-04:00

I don't know if you have seen Wandavision yet on Disney Plus? It's a tv show and one of the more recent installments in the Marvel Comic Universe. If you haven't, I think you should.

Here's the deal, I am not a Marvel person. I've only seen a few of the movies but M convinced me to watch it and I'm glad I did. The entire plot centers around grief and it is SO GOOD. Seriously. It's so good.

I don't want to spoil anything if you haven't watched it, but there's a point when the main character (Wanda) is dealing with the fact that her husband/soul mate is dying and he said this quote.

At first when I heard it, it didn't register. But then I thought about it more and more and it completely rocked me. I'm no stranger to grief...especially grief over someone I so dearly loved. So, I decided to make a simple quote graphic while doodling on my iPad. It reminds me that grief and love are entwined. They never truly go away...even when a person has. Sometimes grief is like a sucker-punch and other times it's a sweet memory. But in every way that grief resurfaces, it's continued proof that love endures and perseveres.

Brands You Probably Forgot About, But Shouldn't Anymore

2021-05-10T16:26:00.012-04:00

I'm partially brand loyal.

I'd say maybe 70/30 non-loyal and loyal.

For most things, the brand isn't relevant or priority. I'll buy what I like or what is on sale. For other things, I'm a total brand snob. Some of my favorite brands are very mainstream (Diet Coke, Kate Spade, Apple, Chaco, Duke's Mayo, Cheerios, etc.) Some of my favorite brands...you might not have heard of...or you've at least not heard of them in awhile.

Time & Tru

This is a house brand from Walmart and it's only been around for a couple of years. Y'all, I am obsessed with so many things from this line including these shift dresses, these sandals and these leggings.

Zenana

This is a brand I've only been able to find on Zulily, but it's affordable and a great place for basics like cardigans, leggings, tops, tunics and more. See Zenana on Zulily.

Cupshe

I have been singing Cupshe's praises for a few years now and have almost exclusively made my entire swimsuit wardrobe from this brand. The quality is excellent. (I've had many suits for multiple seasons.) The sizing is inclusive (HOORAY!) and the styles offer something for the more modest (like myself) or the more daring. I just bought my 5th Cupshe suit for this season. See Cupshe.

American Eagle

The caveat with this one is you've probably forgotten about American Eagle if you're a man or woman of a certain age. I used to shop at AE when I was a teenager and now as an established woman in her mid-30s it's not typically somewhere I'd look but they are killing it with a few things in general: denim, inclusive sizing and fits, basics and Aerie boyfriend tees. I'm obsessed with the boyfriend tees and actually have 9 of them. :)

Are there any other brands you're loyal to but I might not know about?