As you may have seen/noticed, I gave up Instagram for Lent. It has mostly been a great thing for me and I’m so glad I’m doing it, but one con I’ve noticed is that not thinking about Instagram, to me, means I don’t think as much about taking pictures in general. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been trying to be better about that, especially because I can still share what we’ve been up to here on the blog! I’m not sure if I’ve ever done a “life lately” type of post, so let me know if you like it and maybe I’ll make it a regular thing around here. Here we go!

My friend Stephanie and I have instituted a standing play date (her nine-month-old son and Charlie are best friends :)) every week and it has been SO nice. I heard a fascinating thought on a podcast a few weeks ago that one big difference between being a mom in our generation versus generations past is that in the past, moms were usually either home full-time or working full-time. I LOVE the fact that now, women can piece together amazing at-home/working part-time set-ups…literally, every single one of my local mom friends works in some capacity, mostly part-time like I do. The one drawback to this, though, is that people’s availability for things like play dates can be very limited, whereas it used to be more of a given that if you wanted to get out of the house, friends would be “around.” I’d be curious to hear from other moms if this has been your experience too! Anyway, we were very glad to find we had the same window of time open each week, and have been coming up with fun little adventures…some more for the boys, and some, like a trip to The Flourish Market, more for us :) I’ve been investigating some more ethical clothing options lately, which makes Flourish a total gold mine–they carry brands from all over the world that “provide dignified jobs and fair wages to inspiring artisans and makers in vulnerable communities.” If you’re not local, good news: they carry everything online too!

After daily Mass one day a few weeks ago, I wasn’t ready to head home quite yet, so I brought Charlie back to the Marian grotto, where our old church has statues of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette. I sat on the bench and let Charlie explore a little, and then captured this precious moment! It’s times like this when chasing him around during family prayer and trying to keep him quiet during church feel like they really do matter. Such sweet encouragement.

Okay, file this one under things I wanted to Instagram Story in order to get sympathy, ha! Someone in our house, not naming any names, accidentally shook a bottle of Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce when the cap wasn’t all the way on, and this happened! We found sesame seeds around our house for over a week because they blend in perfectly with our floors, and we haven’t been able to get the stain out of our ceiling. I think we’re going to have to paint over it, which I am not looking forward to!

We celebrated Dave’s 29th birthday! He was a week away from his first CPA exam, so he spent the first half of his birthday studying, but then we headed to his favorite restaurant, Trophy Pizza. It was just barely warm enough to sit outside but we did it and it felt so good! As you can see below, “cheers” is one of Charlie’s new favorite things, so we offered up a birthday toast for dada :)

We spent the rest of his birthday hanging out at home and topped off the evening with a slice of carrot cake from Nantucket Grill and The Return of the King (fun fact: that’s the movie we were watching when I went into labor with Charlie).

The next weekend, right after Dave’s test, we took a day trip to Wilmington. Unfortunately, few things about our trip went as planned (toddler tantrums, bad weather, expired parking meters…), but I was proud of Dave and myself for staying in good spirits! The highlight of the day was finally making it to Bitty & Beau’s, a coffee shop that employs people with Down’s syndrome and developmental disabilities. In a Southern Living feature last year, the owner said “It may not be the quickest cup of coffee, but it’s definitely the happiest,” and we can certainly attest to that! If you’re in Wilmington or Charleston, please do swing by and support them :)

My sister and her fiancé came to visit for all of last week! A few highlights included lots of quality aunt and soon-to-be uncle time for Charlie, all my favorite coffee shops, a double date night at Capital Club 16 on free macaroni and cheese day (!!), the Raleigh St. Patrick’s Day parade, and a surprise mini engagement party complete with s’more and Moscow mules with our best childhood friends who drove down from Virginia for a night. Living far away from family makes the time we have together so special, and it meant the world that Dana and Ian spent their spring break/leave time with us. You’d better believe we squeezed in a tiny bit of wedding planning too…I wouldn’t have let them leave without it!

Finally snagged a photo with Charlie at Sola’s I Believe in Raleigh mural, thanks to aforementioned coffee shop visits :)

I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to lately too–let me know some March highlights below!

P.S. Have you signed up for The Beauty Pages yet? I’ll be hosting a giveaway there soon!