17 Apart

Found & Favorited: Back to School on Etsy

2025-08-11T22:06:00.003-04:00

We’re still about two weeks out from the first day of school, but my mind’s bouncing between “this is going to be such a fun year” and “how are they already this big?” I’ve been keeping an eye on what’s fresh and new on Etsy, and a few finds made it straight into my cart to make the girls’ morning feel memorable (and maybe help me feel more organized in the chaos). Here’s what I’m loving:

First Day signs – I love a classic first day photo and these have a fresh, modern look that feels new. They’re downloadable and printing at home is just my speed.

Custom water bottle name plates – The girls had so much fun choosing their colors, and I love that we’ll avoid the “lost and found."

Personalized hair bows – Their school colors, perfectly stitched. I know I only have so many years before they start picking their own accessories, so I’m soaking it up.

Violin keychain – Our oldest has been asking for violin lessons, so this little personalized keychain will be waiting to clip onto her backpack as a first-day surprise.

Scalloped ceramic travel mug – For me, because coffee on the way to drop-off should be just as special.

Shop all these finds through the links here, then come hang out on Instagram to see them in action.

A few affiliate links — helping keep my cart full. 🛒✨

Recipe: How to Make Simple 3-Ingredient Snow Cream

2022-02-01T14:31:00.001-05:00

This snow cream recipe requires just 3 ingredients and is nearly foolproof to make. The key is full fat sweetened condensed milk and a splash of vanilla extract that give the snow that extra creamy taste. Freshly fallen snow that's powdery in texture works best and don't worry — the snow won't melt once you bring it inside to work with. It actually holds it's shape well and stays nice and cold.

The first time I had snow cream was at my Aunt & Uncle's house in the mountains of Charlottesville, VA. I still remember it vividly because as a child, "snow ice cream" was a magical concept and one I've been looking forward to passing down to our kids. Luckily, when the weather called for 7 inches of snow last weekend, we whipped up our first batch with Etta and relived that same wonder in her eyes.

Ingredients:
8-10 cups fresh snow (enough to fill a large mixing bowl)
1 (14 oz) can of full fat sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine ingredients in a large mixing bowl. The snow will reduce as you begin to mix; if it gets watery just add more snow to thicken back up to your desired consistency. Scoop and serve right away. This snow cream keeps frozen in an airtight freezer container for up to 1 week.

Discover More: All food & recipes

On Changing Seasons

2021-10-23T12:05:00.003-04:00

Isn't it amazing how quickly things can change in the matter of a year, or in the matter of a minute?

Our focus for the better portion of this year has been dedicated to family. Back in March we learned we were expecting again. Many of you know the complexities we carried in trying to start a family, ultimately meeting our daughter after multiple rounds of IVF. Given those challenges and our original plan for one child, it was a surreal moment when we learned we were spontaneously pregnant and are very excited to be welcoming another little girl in just a few weeks.

In what seems like the blink of an eye, we have a busy preschooler with enough energy to keep us continually on our toes and seeing the world in new ways.

In haste, we snapped the porch photo above on her first day of preschool this year, which also marked the first day Tim would start a 6 week routine of daily radiation treatments. Looking back, I'm so happy we took the time to capture this slice in time. Early in the summer Tim was diagnosed with tonsil cancer — another life journey we hadn't anticipated confronting.

After two surgeries and coming face to face with the realities of radiation, I have never been more in awe of my husband's strength and grateful for our family. We are relieved to have discovered his cancer in an early stage and are optimistic that we're nearing the end of this part of the story. Most days I've felt filled with gratitude at all we have to be thankful for and in that same breath, some days I just want to collapse under it all.

We've also continued to spend a lot of time at the river, which has been a welcome escape and retreat.

We're just coming into our third fall season since finding the house, and over the winter we completed a full renovation that opened up 360 views of the water. We reached a good pause point between the house renovations and turning attention to the outdoor hardscaping we'd planned to tackle before this year's unexpected twists and turns of life revealed themselves — so we'll look forward to working on the outside more come springtime.

At home, we're in full-on nesting mode — trying our best to clean out, get organized and prepared as best we can for the baby to arrive. Our city row house is beginning to feel smaller and figuring out kids' rooms has been like putting a puzzle together (What will work best for the newborn stage? How will we navigate creaking floors while one is asleep and we're up with the other, etc...). At the same time, we've never shied away from a good puzzle and are in full acceptance of the new baby haze and chaos ahead.

Thank you for taking a moment to check in on us today and for many of your kind words over the last several months. We hope you and yours are keeping well!

Spring Rituals: Opening the River House

2020-06-11T07:54:00.000-04:00

Today's post is in partnership with STIHL.

The regular change of pace between the city and the river over the last few months has been a welcome escape. Now into our second year with this home, we’re quickly learning what it takes to officially “open it up” for the season in terms of maintenance.

Earlier this spring we addressed the indoor areas and more recently turned our focus outdoors, where an annual power washing on the siding & window washing become a weekend’s project. We’ve also learned that the yard and surrounding landscape benefit from a more substantial annual pruning and clearing to allow for new growth and the resulting beauty that comes with spring in full bloom.

In our experience, part of getting to know a home’s landscape is living with it for an entire season to watch what blooms and where. In the last year we learned we have daffodils and lilies, also wisteria and honeysuckle cover the ravine down to the river this time of year. There was a grouping of established and overgrown bright pink azaleas lining the front area of the house and in our side yard, a line of crepe myrtle trees covered in ivy that creates a touch of privacy between the neighboring house.

To kick start the season, we decided a heavy pruning back on the azaleas would open up the front of the house and lighter maintenance to address the crowded areas on the perimeter trees would create some much needed breathing room.

We’re starting to build our tool collection for the river house, and STIHL gave us an early peek at a new product that will be in wider release later this summer. Their GTA 26 is a battery powered garden pruner to help with light gardening and landscape maintenance around the home.

If a power tool were ever to be described as “cute,” this is it. The size makes it lightweight, a cinch to hold and there’s a lot of power packed within the battery, which makes tougher pruning projects a quick and easy undertaking.

The pruner works like a mini chainsaw and zips right through branches without breaking a sweat. It took all of 15 minutes for Tim to cut back the entire front area of azaleas.

The best time to prune azaleas is when the flowers begin to shrivel after blooming, like ours were here. Because the bushes were overgrown, we cut them all the way back to about 14” as a way to reestablish their growth. Ultimately, we may go with other plantings in this space all together, but are excited to see how these azaleas come back over the next year.

One of our favorite parts about the property are the established trees. We have a combination of hollies and oaks that provide nice shade on hotter days, but with large trees come falling leaves. STIHL's BGA 100 handheld battery blower makes leaf cleanup across the 1.3 acres a quick (and fun!) task. It’s nice not keeping a gas can in the shed and compared to an electric version, the backpack battery Tim uses with it allows for easy navigation throughout the entire property.

It takes a heavier annual blowing to prep for the season around here and the spots along the walk and fence-line with built up leaves from the winter were no match for the boost mode on this blower.

It's also a quick go-to for lighter touch ups as we come and go. Tim’s favorite part? Using the blower to clear off the porch, patio and even areas of the siding in seconds. No more broom!

In less than an hour, the front space, back patio and surrounding yard was cleared & cleaned. In the coming weeks, we’ll be eager to weed the walkways, mulch the beds and have already planted a window box just under the kitchen window to polish things up further.

To wrap up the afternoon’s work, a heavy spray down on the Adirondack chairs was all it took before it was finally time to roll out the hammock, bring out the chaise cushions and call it a day!

The ideas for updating this little space of ours are endless; the peace of mind that annual maintenance is less daunting with the right tools makes it easier to focus on the creative projects we want to take on instead of worrying about the time it takes to care for the property.

Other things we’re excited to update this year include a mini front porch makeover, swapping out plantings on the back patio and creating a fire pit area. Most of all, enjoying the change of pace and the chance to spend time together top the list.

Today's post is in collaboration with STIHL, the world’s biggest selling chainsaw brand known for their craftsmanship and ease of use across a full range of outdoor tools. The images in today's post were captured by our talented friend and photographer, Ali Williamson of Alisandra Photography.

Meet Me at Joe's?

2020-05-09T11:32:00.000-04:00

Just the other day, Tim and I joked about how nice it would be to walk to Joe's Inn for breakfast — and it was in that moment I realized just how quickly our "normal" can change.

Back in early March we'd decided to keep our annual trip to Mexico amidst the growing speculation of the virus. It was Etta's first plane ride, first time in a pool, eating crackers — it felt like our own little bubble of relaxation and fun in tandem with fears of the unknown as daily news updates started to escalate. Mid-week when sports were cancelled and travel restrictions announced, we were ready to be home and plan for what was in store ahead. I vividly remember it was the first time I'd experienced vocal disapproval on my parenting decisions from strangers, when allowing Etta to crawl on the carpeted airport floor to blow off energy after being limited to sitting still in our laps for the duration of the plane ride. Now a good 8 weeks into staying at home, it's almost surreal thinking back on that trip and how quickly we've evolved into a new normal.

Due to the nature of working from home, Tim and I have both been able to keep up a sense of normalcy, for which we are grateful. And, only a few months after winterizing the river house we decided to slowly open it back up ahead of schedule as way to change up the scenery from week to week while hunkered down as a family unit. Over the last month we've happily discovered Etta's joy for wagon rides, and that the Easter Bunny knows his way around the Rappahannock River. In fact, it was the week before Easter that she took her very first steps on the tile floor in the kitchen there.

It will be our second year with this little retreat and we're excited for what this season holds. In terms of projects, we've made a few simpler updates indoors like changing out light fixtures, bringing in new furniture and addressing the outstanding plumbing issues leftover from last year's purchase. Outside, we've learned the exterior benefits from an annual power washing (hello, airborne algae!), window washing and general landscape clean-up to officially call it "open for the season." Down the road, there are endless ideas for projects and improvements we'd like to make. This year we're gonna continue to take it slow as we learn the house and each-other in it.

In our bubble of safety, Tim misses sports; I'm pining for a pedicure. Sometimes to pass the time, we like to ask one another questions like, "what are the first 3 restaurants you want to go to when we can go out again?" or "which park will we take Etta to first?" We know we are lucky, and from this side of the quarantine, we hope you're keeping safe and well too.