30th Birthday Wish List // Spring & Summer Gift Guide

I haven’t written a wish list/gift guide in awhile, but with my thirtieth birthday coming up in a couple of months, I thought it was high time! In the past I’ve written my personal wish lists as general gift guides because (a) it feels weird to write an entire post just about things I want, and (b) I like to think my tastes would appeal to people in a similar phase of life :) So, if you’re reading this and you happen to be looking for a thirtieth birthday present for me, here are some ideas. And if you’re shopping for your wife/sister/girlfriend/mom/bestie/etc., I hope this will give you some inspiration! A lot of these would be great for Mother’s Day (May 9) and for your Taurus/Gemini/Cancer/Leo babes with upcoming birthdays.

Here’s what’s been catching my eye lately (not in any particular order):

1. Set of Wine Glasses

We got a beautiful set of wine glasses as a wedding gift, and to be honest we’ve already broken half of them. I realize that might not be the biggest endorsement toward giving me MORE wine glasses, but I think breaking things is just part of life and they are replaceable :) So I would really love to upgrade with a set of six nice wine glasses. This set from Williams-Sonoma looks perfect ($84 for 6).

2. Gold Jewelry Staples

The older I get, the more I like to simplify my jewelry based around nice staple pieces. In general, I only wear gold (rather than platinum, silver, etc.). My engagement and wedding ring are gold and I just think yellow gold is so pretty and classic. For my thirtieth birthday I would love to add some simple gold jewelry that I’ll keep forever (I think this is a great gift for a lot of people for big birthdays, graduations, and life milestones). Here are a few pieces I love:

White Sapphire Trio Necklace

Three stones for three decades?! Love. (Mejuri, $295)

Crescent Necklace

Slightly more affordable but lovely, simple staple necklace (Mejuri, $70)

Pearl Hoops

I absolutely love these, and pearl is my birthstone! These would be a great gift for any June babies with pierced ears. (Mejuri, $90)

Crescent Moon Ear Climbers

These are so fun! (Sequin Jewelry, $68)

“Emma” Hoops

These seem like the perfect combination of chunky yet lightweight. (Shop Ange, $38)

“Jordan” Chain Choker Necklace

I’ve been looking for something like this for awhile, and this one seems like the perfect weight/length. (Sequin Jewelry, $118)

3. Classic White Sheets

I am a big lover of crisp white sheets, which obviously need to be replaced every few years. I would love to get another set—these Brooklinen sheets (in white, King size) would be absolutely perfect. ($160 for a King set)

4. My Favorite Underwear

I have a bunch of these pairs of underwear and they are ALL I wear! I can never get enough! They have so many super pretty colors. This is an easy gift where you can get one pair ($22) or a whole set, for either a “stocking stuffer” type gift or a whole array. Also, I personally do not think it’s weird to give underwear to people as gifts… my sister and I give each other these pairs all the time because we love them so much! These are a “one-size-fits-all” situation, which I realize is not going to be 100% accurate, but they happen to fit me really well and are a very stretchy material.

5. Candles

I go through phases of being really into candles. Well let me tell you… I am VERY INTO them right now. But I don’t have many. It’s the kind of thing that I find hard to treat myself on, but would love to receive as a gift. I bet a lot of people feel the same way, so unless you know the person you’re buying a gift for doesn’t like scented candles, this is a pretty safe one to make someone smile!

Pic by Ashley Hosmer on Instagram

I’m kind of picky about candles. Here are a few that I love and/or have read great reviews of that I trust:

Diptyque - the gold standard; you cannot go wrong with this. My favorite scents are BAIES, TUBEROSE, and ROSES. ($68 each)

Boy Smells - Slow Burn. This is a perpetual favorite of a lot of people. ($39)

Matte Gallery - Sun Burn. My godmother often has this burning in her house, and it’s just so good! Ethereal. ($45)

Otherland - Canopy. I’ve not smelled this one yet, but I’ve heard enough people talk about it that I would love to try it! It has fig notes, which is a big plus for me. ($36)

Roen Candles - Ojai Nuit. I REALLY want to try this one! It is named after Ojai, my favorite town (and where I will be spending my thirtieth birthday), so this would be a perfect gift. They have a bunch of candles named after different areas in Southern California, so pick the one that matches a place you (or the recipient of your gift) love. ($28)

Also, as a side note, I would love to get a wick trimmer (this one is sold by Boy Smells, but they’re sold pretty much everywhere). I think a wick trimmer would be a really nice add-on to a gift if you are giving someone a candle.

6. Super Plush Dog Bed

I guess this is kind of a gift for my pets, but seeing them happy makes me happy! And I bet many pet lovers feel the same way. I have one 15-pound dog and one 65-pound dog, but they both really like to lie in big dog beds. The ones I have are a few years old at this point and feeling a bit deflated. I love these options:

Casper (size large, $229)

Jax & Bones (size large, $178)

Orvis (size large, $189)

7. Gummies!

In terms of a birthday treat, gummies are one of my favorite things to get as a gift. I am definitely that girl that wants gummies, Swedish fish, jelly beans, etc. on Valentine’s Day instead of chocolate. I have always loved gummies and fruit candies more than any other candy, so this is a “last but not least” item on my list!

I am in love with this rainbow “bento box” gummy set from Sugarfina, which includes rainbow bears, heavenly sours and baby butterflies.

Also, Dylan’s Candy Bar has bulk gummies you can order online and my mouth is watering reading through the list.

I hope this list gives you some gift-giving inspiration for the upcoming birthdays and special occasions in your life!

A Letter from the Pandemic to The Children I Hope To Have In the Future

I was recently organizing some files on my hard drive and I found a Word document titled simply, “A Letter To You.” I was momentarily mystified. A letter to me? Then, opening it, I realized it was a letter I wrote back in May of 2020. We were two months into the pandemic at the time, and I’d finally been able to catch my breath and desperately wanted to capture some of the feelings of the moment. I wrote a letter to my “future children,” hit save, and promptly forgot all about the letter.

Reading it back now almost a year later, it’s surreal to think about all that has changed (and all that hasn’t -we’re very much still in lockdown). I’m glad I took the time back in May to write down my thoughts, and I decided that (although I do hope future children read it one day), I wanted to share it here, as well. Maybe someone can relate. So here it is! And here’s to believing that the best is always yet to come.

May 12, 2020

To my future child(ren):

In some ways I feel less ready and farther away from being a mother now than I felt five years ago.  I was twenty-three then, and I hadn’t done a lot of things I would eventually do: get married. Finish school and face reality as an adult. Become a lawyer. Dream up goals and longings for the future—some completely unexpected. Live through a pandemic. Grow a different, truer faith than the one I was raised with.

I still haven’t fully done some of those things. I haven’t lived through a pandemic—I am living in one as I write this. But at twenty-three, I knew I wanted babies. Wanted you. And I still do. If you are reading this, then you’re a dream-come-true in more ways than you could ever know.

At twenty-eight, I don’t want to be a mother any less than I did five years ago. But the things I’ve seen and learned in those intervening years has made me feel more unsure of the future than I ever realized up until now. I have thought of you my whole life. So when life as I knew it changed forever on or about March 13, 2020, my thoughts immediately flew to you. When the news was pouring in so fast and frightening it left me shivering uncontrollably at the end of each day, I’ll never forget what Grace said to me as she wrapped her arms around me. “I don’t want it to be the end of the world. We never got to have kids.”

But we quickly realized that this probably wasn’t the end of the world. A virus ripping across the globe and killing millions of people would have been unthinkable to me six months ago—it would have truly sounded like the end of the world. Since then, we’ve all found out that life finds a way, and though everything looks different now, there’s joy all around.

As that joy gets stronger and more confident in spite of the horror stories and death tolls, I’ve been thinking about what I want to write to you. I’ve wanted to journal about what I’m going through during this time since day one. Will you learn in school about the COVID-19 pandemic and wonder what your parents felt? But journaling has been harder now than it has been at other stage of my life. At the beginning, I was too shaken up to hold a pen steady for long enough to explore my feelings through words.

I also think I subconsciously knew that journaling to you wouldn’t be as simple as “we stocked the freezer with food to last us weeks at a time” and “we were afraid.” What’s going on with this virus is a piece in a larger picture of my life and everything that’s swirling around in it right now. I want to tell you all about it—in person one day, I hope, and also through the journaling I’m going to start doing more regularly to remember what this feels like. But I wanted to start with this letter, because a chapter of life this wild really needs a prologue.

I’ll close by telling you something Grace and I have thought about for a long time. We’ve always wanted you, individually and as a couple. And even though we can’t know exactly what you’ll be like, we feel strongly that you’re going to be part of our lives. So we often picture ourselves sitting at a table. It’s a long, sturdy table, set in a garden. The table is covered with good food and drinks, set with flowers and candles and all kinds of beautiful things. I picture it like a Renoir painting. It’s early evening—or maybe late afternoon—and Grace and I are sitting at the table. We’re waiting for everyone else to arrive, and we might be enjoying a glass of wine or an Aperol Spritz in the meantime. It’s a casual, sprawling, family-style setting, not meticulously set with forks and napkins and name cards. We don’t know exactly how many places there will be, but we know we’re just relaxing and waiting for our family to sit down at the table with us. We’re not anxious about when everyone we’ll get here; we’re having fun just us for now.

But even though I try to hold those table settings loosely in my heart rather than with clenched fists, let me tell you straight up: I cannot wait for the day you arrive. Sometimes it’s hard to believe you’re real—or will be, one day—but at the same time, the love I already feel for you is one of the only things I’m certain of in this crazy world.

Until we meet, I love you.

Goals in the Time of COVID-19

Long time no see, Have Dog Will Drive. I don’t think I’ve ever abandoned my blog for this long before, but I haven’t been myself.

Has anyone?

Ugh. Deep breath. I’m feeling pretty good today, but the last two weeks have been the most surreal of my entire life. Part of what makes them the most surreal is that most other people around me would say the same thing. How often is it that EVERYONE is going through something hard together? Going through a period of grieving and loss is often a solitary process. Now, I think we’re all grieving the loss of what normal life looked like a month ago. It’s powerful and comforting to be going through it with my whole city, state, country, and planet (some of whom started this a bit earlier). But it is also disorienting in a way to be sad and hopeless at times, yet simultaneously feel heartbreak over the fact that others have it so much harder.

Grace and I have certainly felt overwhelming gratitude for so many things in the past couple of weeks that we’ve been in self-isolation to protect ourselves and others from the spread of this horrible virus. But I’ve also cried, worried endlessly on the phone to loved ones, and in the first few days of reality setting in, found myself shivering uncontrollably by the end of each day.

Two weeks in, I’m adjusting. I don’t want to call it a “new normal,” even though in many ways the daily life I took as “normal” is now over. Possibly forever, in some respects. You also won’t find me ever referring to this as the “apocalypse” or the “end of the world.” I don’t think those things are true or worth catastrophizing about, but it is a scary time.

At the end of February, I set a few goals for the month of March. I had every intention of blogging them. Then my mom and sister came to California and we took a girls’ trip to Paso Robles. The day after they left, Grace and I started quarantining. I don’t even remember what those goals were at this point, and I don’t think many of them are still applicable to my life.

But believe it or not, I still think setting some goals is worth doing. Actually, they might be the thing that keeps me level-headed and grounded during this time. March feels out-the-window, but I’ll be back in a few days to blog my goals for April. In the meantime, here are a few overarching things I want to keep in mind as goals during this quarantine:

• Keep blogging. More than usual!

• Keep the house our happy little nest, our sanctuary, as much as possible. There’s never been a better time to be into homemaking.

• Once the dust is feeling like it’s settling and I’m “used” to life in quarantine, return to creative pursuits. Other than this little blog post, I’m not quite there yet, but I look forward to having more time, eventually.

• Write down how I’m feeling often.

• Pray for the people most affected.

I think this is going to be a season of simple, humble, goals, and I think that’s a good thing. I’ll never call this virus a “blessing in disguise” or act like it’s not as terrifying as it is. But I will keep going in every way I can, and keep laughing and finding joy in each day.

If you need to talk to someone during this time, you can always contact me through this blog or on Instagram.

Sending love & wishes for good health.

My 2019 Christmas Wish List

Merry merry! I’ve been meaning to write a Christmas Wish List for a couple of weeks now, so I’m a little late for Black Friday sales (though this is going live on Cyber Monday . . .) but better late than never! I keep getting questions from family and Grace about what’s on my Christmas List this year, and I’ve been kind of stumped. I think as I get older it gets a little harder to think of Christmas gifts I want. But I think for me the best gifts are things that would be really nice to have (or to upgrade something I already have), but I’m unlikely to buy it for myself. My list below is a mix of stocking stuffers, things I need to replace and would love to get as a gift, and little treats and goodies I’ve seen online. I hope this is helpful if you are looking for a gift for a special lady in your life—especially if that Lady is me! Hehe :)

1. Cute Doormat

The pic above is of an adorable Anthropologie doormat that I love. I also think this semi-circle doormat and this hi/bye message doormat, both from West Elm, are darling. Our doormat is a little worn out, so I’d love to add some fresh charm to our front walkway with a new one.

2. Ice Cream Scoop

Image via Williams-Sonoma

This is one of those random items I wish I’d put on our wedding gift registry, but at the time thought it was kind of unnecessary: an ice cream scoop. We love ice cream and generally just use a big spoon to scoop it out of the carton. But an actual scoop would feel like an everyday luxury :) This would be a good stocking stuffer for anyone who doesn’t have an ice cream scoop or wants an upgrade! This anti-freeze scoop from Crate and Barrel is genius, and I also love the look of this copper scoop from Williams-Sonoma (we have a lot of copper in our kitchen so that would fit beautifully).

3. Hair Straightener

Image via CHI

I fried my hair straightener on our Europe trip this past summer using an outlet adapter without a voltage converter, so I’m currently without one. I had a pretty basic one before and have always wanted a CHI straightener, so this is probably my top “bigger” gift on my wish list.

4. Plant Watering Measurer

Image via Amazon

This is another stocking stuffer-type item—I have seen them for $5-$10 online—but such a smart idea! This is a little meter that you stick in the soil of your houseplants to see how dry the soil is and whether they need to be watered. I would LOVE to have one of these because I have a bunch of plants and it would make life easier. I think this would be a cute idea for any “plant ladies” on your Christmas list :)

5. Cute Alarm Clock

Image via Pottery Barn

I’d love to start a goal of not having my cell phone in our bedroom in 2020—I’m always hearing about how beneficial it is to keep devices out of bed. The biggest obstacle is that my phone is my alarm clock, on the days I set an alarm. A cute clock for my nightstand would solve the issue! I absolutely love this vintage-inspired bunny ear alarm clock, and this pink alarm clock is also super cute.

6. Pajama/Lounge Sets

Image via Summer Salt

I don’t know what exactly this says about me, but I can never seem to get enough of PJs and lounge sets. I have loved this PJ set from afar for so long that I should probably just buy it for myself, but I’ll put it on my wish list for now . . . I love the pink sand & lava color combo and would want it monogrammed with EHB! I am also crushing on this top and bottom together in the Ecru color to make a set, both from Lett Clothing. Lastly, I will always and forever love Lake Pajamas—this set is a dream and I love it in the Twilight colorway.

7. Gift Cards

I know some family/friends like to give gift cards, so my top two picks for gift cards this year would be:

• RugsUSA.com, to go toward upgrading our living room rug

• Artifact Uprising, my favorite place to have photos printed, to get some of my favorite shots recently on paper

That’s all I can think of this year! Family, if you’re reading this, talk among yourselves so you don’t accidentally overlap on the same gifts from this list :) Love you!

Everyone else, I hope this gives you some ideas for the people on your shopping lists. I am hoping to finish all my shopping by the end of next week so then I can turn to one of my favorite activities—wrapping!

Two Years of HDWD!

Guess what? I've been blogging on Have Dog, Will Drive for over two years! I bought the domain name in April of 2017, launched the blog publicly in May of 2017, and really got in the swing of blogging that summer. Keeping up with this blog is one of my favorite hobbies, and I'm so thankful for those of you following along. This blog has had some different stages within that time frame, going from being strictly focused on camping and dog-related posts to now being more about everyday lifestyle. I love them equally—some of those early posts were so lovingly/painstakingly crafted, and they’re cool to look back on, but I also love the simplicity of many of my blogs now. They also fit with my life at this stage and make it easier to post frequently when I’m not necessarily going camping every month like we used to.

Probably my favorite type of post to write is recaps of trips! Just recently I went back and read all of my honeymoon recap posts, and it was so fun to remember little details I 100% would have forgotten by now if I hadn’t blogged/journaled about them. I like to think of my blog as like a “journal plus.” I love paper journals and have kept them for years, but it’s nice to blog because I can weave pictures, links, and more depth into my stories and share them for others to connect with.

Which brings me to my absolute favorite part of blogging—the people I e-meet and connect with! In the two+ years I’ve been blogging I’ve had people read my blog from every US state and over 100 countries. I’ve emailed with dozens if not hundreds of readers, shared happy and sad times with people, given trip advice, and just gotten to hear the stories of so many interesting people. I’m so grateful to everyone who has written to me over these two years! Other than weird spam messages (sorry), I have responded to every single inquiry on my contact page, and I love to hear from people :)

I like to think that the common thread running through my blog, no matter the type of post, is just to embrace the sweetness of life. To reflect on how a getaway, big or small, can refresh your soul. To remember to love on our people and pets every chance we get. That’s my goal, at least!

To wrap this up, I want to link a few favorite oldie-but-goodie posts that you might not have read if you only recently started reading my blog:

The Life of Casper - our first dog (the original dog in “Have Dog, Will Drive”) who passed away a couple of months after I started the blog

Engaged in Alaska (and really my whole Alaska series)

The stories of how we ended up adopting Willie and then Bean

How to Make your Camping Experience a Little More Martha Stewart (this one isn't necessarily one of my most-read, but it's SO me, and I personally love it)

My best photography advice

Our Santa Cruz Mountains getaway - a special trip that ended up being exactly our one year to the day pre-wedding anniversary (but we didn’t know it yet, since we weren’t even engaged yet much less had planned our wedding!)

A recap of making Grace’s Red Rover music video

Last but not least, A Heart to Heart

Whether this is your first time reading my blog or you’ve been reading since 2017, thank you so so much for your time. In a world of emoji Instagram captions (which, don’t get me wrong, I love), long-form, old-school blogging is where my heart is in terms of sharing on the internet. It means a lot that anyone reads, let alone all the sweet people I have gotten the privilege of hearing from.

Here’s to the next few years of Have Dog, Will Drive!

Grace Appreciation Post

Friends, since this is my little corner of the internet, allow me to get real sappy for one post. Lately, I’ve been feeling so proud of and grateful for Grace, and in the 2+ years I’ve been blogging, I haven’t ever written a post just bragging on her a bit.

Grace is the most multi-talented person I know. I am biased, but I love her music so much and am so proud of how she’s pushed herself to make more of it in the past couple of years! When we met in college, mutual friends of ours would occasionally convince Grace to play us covers of songs on her guitar late at night at college parties. But it wasn’t until a few years later that she really poured more of herself into music, and I’ve loved getting to see that. Some favorites:

• Her newest demo, “Drifting,” which is honestly one of my fav songs of hers ever!

• My song :)

• Red Rover, that I got to be in the music video for wayyyy back before we were even engaged

• The lyrics to Grace’s song “When I Go” from her album Six Feet Under All the Same are probably my favorite that she’s written

And lots more. But moving on—I am SO incredibly proud of the content Grace and our best friend Tina are making for Refinery29 in the web series State of Grace. The first episode (on identifying as queer and Christian) is linked here, the second episode (on sex ed in abortion-ban states) is linked here, and the latest episode was released today! It explores faith and commercialism in the context of Los Angeles megachurches. This series is so well done (I can say that because I’ve had absolutely no part in it, haha) and is touching lives, which is the coolest thing.

I’m not one to hype up online like “big things are coming”—so that’s not what I’m doing here—but I WILL say that Grace always has a million ideas and irons in the fire, and I’m so excited for all that is to come.

Recently, I got sick (only a little virus) for the first time since getting married, and Grace was so sweet in taking care of me. That’s what gave me the idea to write this post about her. Grace has such a heart for serving others, no questions asked, and it’s the best quality I can think of in a person. She is the first person to offer you a ride home, a shoulder to cry on, or promote your new creative project to the world. She is too humble sometimes so I’m here to ramble about how great she is! Chances are, if you found my blog, you probably found it through Grace and already know all of this. But if not, check out her music and/or documentary work. I’m so proud!!

Thanks for reading :)

Lessons from Dad

Happy (almost) Father’s Day! My dad isn’t much of a recreational internet user, but if he reads this post because my mom tells him to, hi dad!

This year, my birthday is the day after Father’s Day, which is exactly how it was the day I was born! I was supposed to be born the day before Father’s Day, but I was born the day after, so my dad had to wait a whole year to “officially” have his first Father’s Day (since I was his first child). Sometimes through the years my birthday falls on Father’s Day itself too, and I like to think this among many things contributes to the special relationship I have with my dad. This time of the year is always a happy one, with my dad’s birthday and the Fourth of July falling just a day apart a few weeks later. Summers were always the best times growing up. Lots of holidays, birthdays, and time spent at our favorite place on earth.

I know Father’s Day is also a bittersweet time for a lot of people, and in my family (now including Grace’s side), we have lost a lot of our fathers or father-figures. So we remember them this weekend too. It’s also kind of strange to think that Father’s Day won’t be “typical” for my future children, if I am lucky enough to have them, but I know their lives will be filled with the best father-figures AND two amazing grand-dads.

So in that spirit, I wanted to share some of the best fatherly wisdom I have gotten from my dad through the years, and that I know as a grandfather he will teach too. I was about to type “fatherly advice,” but I don’t really feel like my dad doles out advice from an armchair the way I imagine dads in movies do. Instead, he has taught me so much by the way he just lives his life. I think he teaches by example rather than by lecture, which I personally think is the best way to learn! Here goes:

1. Be prepared. Yes, this is the Boy Scout motto, and yes my dad is proudly an Eagle Scout (both Grace’s and my brothers are Eagle Scouts too!). One of the “legends and lore” of my dad is that when he was a little kid, he packed one glove on a family trip—just one—in case he “needed to pick up a turtle.” While I think my dad would NOT advocate for overpacking, he does advocate for thinking things through and being prepared for every situation, to the extent possible. I think most who know me would agree I tend to be this way as well, and my dad was a major influence in this way of thinking (which I believe has gotten me pretty far in life!).

2. “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”. This is definitely among my dad’s favorite sayings, and it’s just true (though I’d change it to “makes a person healthy, wealthy, and wise” :)). My dad is the hardest worker I know, and although a LOT goes into that, waking up early and going to bed early always sets you on course for a productive and meaningful day. I don’t always do this, but I know my dad is right about it so I try to!

3. Home cooking is the best food there is. Growing up, my dad always preferred my mom’s cooking to restaurant food. And my mom’s cooking is very very good. But more than just that, it’s a recognition that our bodies and minds will feel best when we make our own food from scratch. I love Trader Joe’s frozen mac and cheese more than I care to say, but the older Grace and I get, the more we do really just crave home cooked food above anything else. Being on the road a lot this spring reinforced that even more, and I got so sick of eating at restaurants.

4. Save as much money as possible. This is one where I don’t really remember my dad telling this to me, but it is so evident in the way he lives, and the life he has been able to give our family. Becoming an adult has crystallized this for me more than ever, and I can only hope to be as good at saving money as my dad! But I’m on the right path knowing the deep and inherent value in saving from a young age because of him.

5. My dad has made the same New Year’s resolution every single year: grow in his faith. In a world where goals and resolutions (including mine!) tend to be about reaching career milestones, looking a certain way, or “achieving” something tangible, my dad has kept it real with the same goal (and the only goal that really matters) year after year. It inspires me so much!

Thanks for these lessons, dad! Love you. I’d love to hear what others have learned from their fathers or father-figures!

Birthday Wish List (Gift Ideas for Friends, Girlfriends, Wives, Etc.!)

Recently Grace asked me what I wanted as a birthday gift for my birthday coming up next month, and I was stumped! For Christmas this past year, I made an old-fashioned Christmas list for Grace, and she asked me to make something like that again for my birthday. I ended up finding some SUPER cute things, so I decided to share the love and make my birthday wish list a blog post so others can get ideas. For June and July babies, or a just-because gift, I hope these inspire you:

I have been dreaming about these PJs (pictured above) ever since I saw them. I love that you can add a monogram - EHB for me! The pink and red is so cute.

Speaking of cozy, everyone has been saying I need to read Where the Crawdads Sing! I would love to settle into a new book this summer.

Also high on my list: a new pair of sunnies for our big summer trip in August/September. I love these, these, and these. Tortoise shell in classic shapes is always my go-to.

Another summer accessory I’ve been admiring: hair scarves! This set of two is so pretty.

Image via Anthropologie.

I have been thinking about treating myself to a new blush (mine is in crumbles, but I’m making it last for now), and this one looks so summery and sweet!

Diptyque’s candles have to be my favorite ever, although they are a splurge. I’d add the Roses and Tuberose scents to my wish list.

Image via Diptyque.

I don’t wear a ton of jewelry, but I actually love fun pieces. Lately I’ve been admiring this cool crescent moon necklace, and also this cool moon and star necklace.

Image via Sequin Jewelry.

Last but not at all least, I have been in such a mood of adding plants to our house, so a plant as a birthday gift would be a dream! This monstera plant has my name written all over it.

Image via The Sill.

I hope this gives you some ideas for gifts for your loved ones! Or, if you’re Grace Baldridge, for me!!

Best Podcasts for Road Trips 2019

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote this blog post about my favorite podcasts for road trips. I feel like the podcast universe has exploded even exponentially MORE since then, and there are so many great ones that are either new in 2019 or new to me! So I decided it was high time for an updated list.

I’m not listing these in any particular order, but here are some of my favorites lately! Also, if you haven’t read my original post, be sure to check it out because there are some gems that I don’t repeat here.

And as one caveat, this list is kind of true crime-heavy, but I would say true crime in and of itself is not really my favorite podcast genre. I tend to really enjoy true crime podcasts that explore some interesting aspect of society, science, or new technology in connection with true crime (for example, the Bear Brook podcast I talk about below). I don’t think every single one of these podcasts will interest everyone, but overall these are super bingeable, well-done podcasts that I highly recommend. I listen to a lot of podcasts, and the majority of the ones I’ve listened to didn’t make the cut for this list! So you know they’re good :)

Bear Brook - skeletal remains of four people (one woman and three young girls under 10) are found in barrels in Bear Brook state park in New Hampshire.  No one knows who they are and there were never any missing persons reports matching their descriptions.  Using genetic genealogy, researchers who normally help adoptees find their birth parents are able to track down the killer and some information about the victims. In the process they discover a whole web of crimes stretching across the country. This genetic genealogy process is later used to find the Golden State killer. Best for: anyone who loves a good story. The gruesome/spooky factor is actually not as high as it sounds from the description—I listened to this podcast while going on runs by myself and wasn’t freaked out. It’s told by the New Hampshire Public Radio in a very scientific, straightforward storytelling way.

Uncover: Escaping NXIVM - podcast about the cult NXIVM that was recently disbanded (or at least some arrests were made). Lots of people, including semi-famous actresses, got sucked into it and it's fascinating hearing about how that happened.  Best for: anyone with a curiosity about NXIVM. You’ll learn everything you could ever want to know about it and more. Even if you haven’t heard of NXIVM, I think you would find it fascinating. Bonus: Uncover also has two more seasons, about totally different topics. Season 2 is titled Bomb on Board and Season 3 is titled The Village. Both are really good, I think Season 2 is slightly better than 3. But Season 3 is still currently being released as I’m writing this, so I’ll keep an open mind.

Cultivate Your Life - this is probably the most inspiring podcast I have ever listened to. If you’re interested in goal setting and living an intentional life, I could not recommend this podcast more. I look forward to it every week. Best for: it’s definitely geared toward women and anyone interested in a Christian perspective on setting goals.

In the Dark - really good podcast about understanding how wrongful convictions happen (about the death of Jacob Wetterling who was abducted and killed as a kid). Journalistically, I think this is one of the best podcasts out there. That said, the gruesome and scary factor for this one was high for me. It involves a child, and sexual abuse, and is just really disturbing. So please keep that in mind; for some people it might be better for you to not listen to that kind of podcast. Best for: true crime junkies who also love hearing about how the legal system works and factors into cases.

Broken Harts - podcast about a family of 8 (the Harts) that drove over a cliff, killing all of them.  At first believed to be an accident, but now believed to be intentional.  All 6 of the kids were adopted and it explores how a family with documented child abuse was able to adopt so many children, also has themes of understanding interracial adoption. This one was riveting. Best for: anyone with a particular curiosity about this case, or if you just want a very bingeable podcast for a long car ride. I’d never heard of the case before finding the podcast and I could not stop listening to it.

What We Said - this podcast is two best friends talking about anything and everything. I normally don’t love this style of podcast, but this one is just cute, fun, and lighthearted to listen to while driving or cleaning the house. I look forward to this one every Tuesday when it comes out. Best for: women (and girls) ages high school through twenties. Being 27 I feel like I’m almost too old for it, but nonetheless I love the fluff and fun “girl talk” aspect of it. The hosts are around 24 or so.

The Dream - podcast about multilevel marketing (companies like Amway, Mary Kay, etc) and how they are scams and how people fall for it. This might sound less scandalous than some of these other ones, but it is just as riveting if not more. Best for: anyone interested in learning more about a very murky but huge industry.

The Dropout - this podcast is about Elizabeth Holmes and the crazy Theranos scandal. I listened to it before the HBO documentary came out and it made the documentary a lot more interesting, I think. If you are fascinated by this scandal (or even have never heard of it), this podcast is sooo good. Best for: anyone interested in the Theranos scandal, pathological lying, or anyone who wants a bingeable podcast without any gruesome crime details.

Dr. Death - a doctor who got away with using possibly sadistic (or at least grossly incompetent) surgical techniques; the podcast also explores the way the medical profession is set up to allow this kind of thing to continue happening. Best for: anyone interested in the medical profession and medical ethics; probably bad for anyone who has to have surgery anytime soon because it’s SCARY!

Believed - podcast exploring how Larry Nassar (the Olympic coach) got away with his abuse for so long. Hard to listen to but I always wondered how no one stopped him sooner; this explores the psychology behind it and how the universities and Olympic associations failed. Best for: anyone interested in the Larry Nassar case and/or anyone wanting a bingeable podcast that also has some really inspiring and uplifting moments about survivors’ courage. Probably best not to listen if it would be difficult for you to hear some graphic descriptions of abuse.

The Habitat - I just recently started this one and have almost listened to 7 episodes in 2 days! This is about a recent experiment where NASA put 6 people in a space-like “habitat” for a whole year, in total isolation. The purpose of the experiment was to see how people would cope, because if there is ever a mission to Mars with humans, they will have to be cooped up together in a habitat on the red planet for at least that long. The participants in the experiment had tape recorders and recorded interviews about their time in the habitat. It’s so interesting! Best for: anyone interested in space exploration (the podcast producers also talk with people who have actually been to space), or anyone who has heard about this experiment and wants to know more. I actually wouldn’t necessarily consider myself in either of those camps, but I still loved it!

Who the Hell is Hamish? - this is another one I just recently listened to. I actually went back to edit this post after I had already drafted it and scheduled it to go up to add this one. I personally am fascinated by white collar crime and how people scheme and get away with so much. This podcast is about a guy named Hamish (yes… that’s his first name haha) and his fraud and crimes. Parts are sad, parts are funny, and it’s so intriguing. I flew through it. Also, if you like the sound of Australian accents, this podcast is full of them because it takes place mostly in AUS and is produced by the newspaper The Australian.

I hope this list is helpful to you—happy listening!

My out-the-window pics at the top and bottom of this post are from our 2017 road trip from California to Alaska.

What are some of your favorite podcasts not included on this list?

My Morning Routine

Depending on how closely you follow this blog/my Instagram, you might have noticed that in the past six months I’ve started working primarily from home. I still go into the office once or twice a week, which I appreciate the ability to do, but my job allows me to work remotely and I truly believe ALL aspects of my life are so much better for it. I have been thinking about doing an updated version of my day in the life post from last year to show what an average day is like working from home, but in the meantime, here’s a glimpse of what my morning routine looks like!

Is it just me, or is 2019 the year of really caring about morning/evening routines? I have read a few other blog posts about morning routines and how important it is to have a set rhythm and I find them fascinating.

I have finally gotten into a consistent routine and to a place in my life where I can appreciate taking mornings slowly rather than rushing to get to work. The other day, I decided to boil it down to a science and make a list in my phone of the basic steps:

(WFH stands for work from home, if you were wondering. I have a slightly different routine on days I go into the office).

One of my April goals was to actually wake up with my first alarm instead of hitting snooze a few times. That said, I often don’t set an alarm! I know that might sound totally crazy to people. But I probably only set an alarm 2 or 3 days a week, when I really need to make sure I wake up at a specific time. The reason? The dogs will make sure I’m awake at a certain point anyway :) Between the two of them there is literally no way I will sleep past 7:30 or so. And most days I naturally wake up before that. On the rare occasion I need to wake up at 6am or something, I’ll set an alarm.

The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is take care of Bean. Usually Bean and I get up first, and Grace and Willie sleep in a little later. But actually on this particular morning, Grace and Willie wanted to wake up with us so we all went on a walk together.

But first, I put on dog-walking clothes (aka sweats) and mix Bean’s food. Bean’s food is raw dehydrated dog food so I mix it with warm water and let it sit while we’re on our morning walk.

I love how bright it is in the morning at this time of year. It definitely makes our a.m. dog walks nicer!

After our walk (we only do about a 10-15 minute walk in the mornings), I come back in and feed Bean his re-hydrated food. He LOVES it! Willie gets fed too of course, but normally Grace handles that so it’s not really part of “my” morning routine.

Then I go around and turn on everything I need in the mornings. I press start on the coffee maker (I grind the beans and set up the water and everything the night before).

And I also turn on my essential oil diffuser to diffuse for three hours. Lately I have been adding drops of lavender and grapefruit essential oils for the morning, and then sometimes at night I’ll diffuse just lavender.

I also usually start a load of laundry in the morning. Here’ s a little homemaker-y tip for you: do laundry every day or every other day! This has been AMAZING for me once I realized how great it is. We have one of those washing machines that automatically senses how much water to use, so it might not be the most eco-friendly choice if your washer doesn’t do that, but it’s life changing in terms of household management. With two people and two dogs, we definitely have enough laundry every 2 days to do a small load, and it just makes it so I’m never stressed out doing 4 loads of laundry on a Sunday night. I start the laundry machine in the morning, change over to the dryer when I get up to refill my water or get a second cup of coffee, and fold the laundry at lunch. It’s so easy and is the best!!

Next up: freshening up and getting ready for the day. Here’s a fun fact about me, I only use coconut oil to “wash” my face. In the past six months I’ve only let soap or any kind of face wash touch my face maybe 5-6 times total.

And my skin in sooo happy about it! My skin is far from perfect, but this is an amazing solution for me right now. First I splash my face with warm water. Then I take a wash cloth soaked in hot water, squeeze the water out, and smooth a small amount (maybe 1/2 a tablespoon) of coconut oil all over my face. Then I take the hot washcloth and slightly exfoliate/steam my face with it. I do this at night too, coconut oil is the best makeup remover! Kind of like not setting an alarm, this might seem very crazy to some people. But I love it :)

After my coconut oil routine (and brushing my teeth), I put on makeup. Putting on makeup is one of those things that makes me feel productive and polished even though I’m working from home. On days I skip it, I just don’t feel as fresh. Here’s a pic of me with half my face with makeup (the left half below), and the other half none (the right half below), to give you an idea. It’s pretty basic/simple for days I’m working from home.

Also, how cute is my little necklace? My best friend Tina gave it to me right before my wedding. It has our wedding date in roman numerals, I love it so much.

Another important thing to me when I work from home: I HAVE to put on actual clothes. I still keep it comfy, and way more casual than if I were going into the office, but it cannot be PJs or I’ll feel sluggish all day. On this day, I opted for a soft comfy striped dress with a thin black pullover on top.

After I’m dressed I make some breakfast and drink coffee. A year ago, I would have thought that was so strange-I was not a coffee drinker at all. But it’s such a love language for Grace that I’ve gotten into it. A game changer for me has been putting butter in my coffee. I think I thought the butter coffee trend was just that-a trend-but I tried it and am totally sold. I like the taste and it helps my body process the coffee 100% better. I don’t get jittery. The extra fat is a good thing in the morning! (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, there are a bunch of articles about the benefits of putting butter in coffee, like this one).

I just put a little pat of butter in the bottom of my coffee cup and then pour the hot coffee over it so it melts.

I also usually have some Greek yogurt and toast in the morning.

Sidenote - I’ve always loved the little vintage-y painted fruit tiles in our kitchen and it just really sunk in that some of them are lemons (like in the pic above) which is so perfect for our little house! You can read all about my love for my lemon tree here.

This is the best part of my morning routine-sitting, eating breakfast and drinking butter coffee, and getting kisses from Willie (who really wants a piece of the bread). See the picture at the top of this post, haha.

I also have some quiet time reading and journaling before really starting my day.

At this point I feel ready to take on the day! I head into my little home office where my office dog (Bean) is waiting for me. Grace and I joke that he “clocks in” to work because he’s always waiting for me under my desk and it’s the cutest, most loyal thing. I love little Beanie so much!

Do you have a set morning routine?