Monthly Recap – July 2026

Good morning! I hope you all had a great weekend! Today I’m sharing our July recap, with a look at what we’ve been up to for the last month or so.

This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Home Projects & Updates

As previously shared, we finally closed on our new home the first week of July. Although it wasn’t ready for us yet, we chose to close to keep our rate lock. While we didn’t move in right away, we started bringing stuff over and doing things like hanging window shades, etc. that first week of July. I shared more about that first week here.

We didn’t bring the cats over or start sleeping here until the 13th, and then spent that week bringing over all the remaining items we needed to move. We officially turned the keys over on the 17th, which was bittersweet, but also a relief to just have a hard deadline to have things wrapped up! I shared a few looks around the new house in this post and this post, in case you missed either!

These past two weekends we made really great progress with unpacking and finalizing where we want to store various items.

We’ve been enjoying the occasional mornings or evenings out on the screened-in porch, on days when the heat and humidity weren’t quite as stifling.

SOURCES: Outdoor Swivel Chairs | Coffee Table | Hurricane Vase | Outdoor Sofa | Palm Print Pillows | Striped Jute Style Outdoor Rug | Outdoor Chaise Lounge Chairs

We’ll have a little dining area out there, as well, but the table I ordered is backordered (which I knew when ordering it). My cute chairs are here (color is Coastal Blue), and when they first arrived, the cushions had piping the same color as the seat. I remembered the stock photo showing a white piping, so I gave Serena & Lily a call and they were quick to remedy the situation. So, now we have a back-up set with the tone-on-tone piping, too! You can see the difference below with the chair in the middle on the right being the same color. I’m glad I questioned it because the contrast piping is so much cuter!

A week ago yesterday, Kurtis and I headed up to the carriage house to work on getting some rugs down, a light installed, and the shades up. The bed was arriving for the space later in the week so we needed to get everything set. Before we started, I noticed a bit of water coming out from our laundry closet up there. We got some towels to soak it all up, texted the builder, and he said he’d have someone come out first thing the next morning. In the meantime, Kurtis shut the water off to the unit and we thought it would be a quick fix. But it was pretty clear that the appliance installers had never fully tightened the water line, so it had likely been leaking for two months or so. This was just the first time we ever noticed any water (the unit had never been run before).

That day after we dried everything up, we went about hanging the light and the shades. But opted to leave the rug rolled up just to be safe until they looked at the floors.

SOURCES: Wood Bead Chandelier | Woven Roman Shades (Bonaire Flaxen) | Striped Rug | Nightstand (Smooth White)

When the flooring guy arrived first thing Monday to check out the scope of the leak, things escalated quickly. Not only did it impact the laundry closet, but the water had spread out into the hallway, into the bedroom and the bedroom closet. So quite a bit of flooring was torn out, and then we used fans and dehumidifiers for the week to get it dried out. Kurtis was in Maine most of the week for work, so my usual schedule was completely derailed with people in and out – hence my serious lack of posting last week.

For the sake of being overly cautious, we also had them cut a hole in the garage ceiling (which is directly below that laundry unit) to see if any water had gotten through there. They saw a small puddle so we got that all dried out too.

Because of the scope of the damage, they needed to order a few extra boxes of wood flooring. Thankfully they found some from the same batch in Houston and it is currently en route. Once that gets installed, hopefully later this week, the trim guys and painters will have to come back to replace and paint what was torn out.

The carriage house was starting to look so good, too! I forgot to include this image in my little peek at our new house post, so thought I’d include it here. The little chippendale chairs from my design plans are here too. Actually everything I’ve ordered for the entire space has now arrived (including these two swivel chairs and coffee table I finally decided on), so we’re just waiting for it to all get put back together!

SOURCES: Banquette | Dining Table | Pendant Light

I actually had a difficult time finding reasonably priced outdoor umbrellas that were in stock or shipped fairly quickly. But I’m super happy with these market umbrellas I found! Now I just need some side tables and a few pillows to complete the look. We had actually planned to use the pool for the first time this weekend, but then it rained quite a bit on Saturday and Sunday.

SOURCES: Chaise Lounge Chairs | Umbrellas | Umbrella Stands | Pool Tile (Duck Blue & Snow (6″x3″)

It’s hard to believe but the weekend marked a month since we closed on this house! We obviously didn’t move in fully for another week and a half or so, but time is flying by. With that, the builder has a number of crews coming over all week to wrap up some projects (including my jasmine trellis!). They let us have a few weeks to move in, test spaces out, get furniture moved in, etc. so we could then compile a list of touch-ups and things that need fixed/adjusted. Our generator is also finally getting installed, as well (hopefully today). My jasmine plants have only been in the ground for about six weeks, but you can see they’re already very much ready to start showing off! They’re determined little plants, already taking over the faucet and almost the outlet! I can’t wait to see the diamond trellis take shape this week!

In Case You Missed It

Following are the posts I shared since our last monthly recap, in case you missed some days!

• Monthly Recap – June 2026
• Classic Coastal Entryway Design Plans
• Wednesday Watch List – 7/1/26
• The Best 2026 Fourth of July Weekend Sales
• Officially Closed!
• 2026 Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Picks
• A Peek At Our New Home
• Wednesday Watch List – 7/22/26
• Items in Our New Home Part of Wayfair’s Black Friday in July Sale
• Amazon Finds for Late Summer & Early Fall
• Weekend Sale Alerts

Around Town & For Fun

July was a very busy month, even if you remove the chaos of moving and unpacking. We started the month off on a high note with 4th of July celebrations at neighbor’s barbecues and a firework show at our beach club.

We spent much of the 4th of July moving, but we carved out time to still enjoy the holiday! We headed to Camp Creek with a bunch of friends and enjoyed the music, food trucks, and each other’s company on the driving range until the fireworks started.

The 4th of July is always one of my favorite holidays, so despite being completely exhausted that day, I’m so glad we went to the event!

I found this cute puff-sleeve American flag sweater to wear and got a lot of use out of it in early July! It’s so weird to me that so many are long sleeved when the holiday is the hottest part of the year!

SOURCES: Puff-Sleeve American Flag Sweater | Cut-Off Shorts | Leather Sandals (use code LIFEONVIRGINIASTREET10 for 10% off your purchase) | Lip Gloss (color: All Things Magical)

As mentioned in this post, we ended up keeping the UHaul van we rented for eight or nine days. At $19 a day, it made the move much less stressful to still live our lives but then spend an hour or two here and there moving things over. When we finally turned it in (on probably our most exhausting and longest day of moving things), we celebrated at a new pizza place nearby. If you’re local, we ran into Outcast Pizza on 98 (in the old Macho Taco building) and really enjoyed it. Neither of us drink beer more than a handful of times a year now, but this night felt like the perfect night for beers and pizza. We shared the buffalo chicken pizza and it was fantastic. The service was great too so we’ll definitely be back!

Rachel hosted an evening for the third place World Cup game. Our friends Louise and Guillame are British and French, so it was a pretty intense night! But fun to share in their excitement (and disappointment).

A group of us have been wanting more girls’ craft nights in our lives. So Marissa hosted our first one, making seashell clay art. We ate, chatted, and made little dishes and catchalls. There was a lot more variety than in my picture below but I forgot to take a picture further into the night. Marissa outlines all the steps in this post on her Substack and shows the final product once they were painted and glazed!

Kurtis and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary this month and headed to a new Italian restaurant, Indaco, in Alys Beach.

The vibes are super fun and I wish I got more pictures of some of my favorite areas, but it was so busy!

The food was great and we’ll definitely be back. We were excited to find a spot that has butterscotch budino (which is something we really miss from Dante in Omaha). It wasn’t quite as perfect, but next time I’m going to remember to sprinkle a little salt on top like Dante does!

Our friend Chris celebrated his birthday the next day and Rachel booked a session at Great Big Game Show in PCB for his friends and family. We’re all just a little bit competitive so it was such a fun night! It’s a mix of game show type games and you compete against the other team. We had a variety of ages and everyone was able to participate and really enjoy it! It would make a great rainy day activity if you’re visiting.

Kurtis and I skipped our Friday night Amigos dinner for several weeks because of the move. So it was fun to get back to it once things had quietted down a bit!

A few outfits from the month that I actually remembered to take pictures of:

SOURCES: Embroidered Ruffle Neck Top | Cut-Off Shorts | Floral Top | Bootcut Jeans

The cats are adjusting well to the move and tend to stick pretty close to me throughout the day. Most days I look down from my desk and see this, or Hawkeye in that spot and Henley on the couch beside my desk.

SOURCES: Sofa | Rug | Desk

Rachel gifted me this blanket as a house-warming gift, and Henley spends the bulk of her days on it in my office.

After 20ish years of being a cat mom, I finally bought a cat tree for our cats. It will go in their little room upstairs, and I’m still not sure at 18 that they aren’t too old to use it, but thought I’d give it a try. Totally fits in with my aesthetic 😉

We have a turtle momma that seems to be getting a little confused with the new fences so we keep an eye on her to help her out as needed. We especially don’t want her laying her eggs in an unsafe location! I spotted her in our front yard over the weekend so Kurtis had to do a rescue opp. He set her about ten feet away from the pond and he said she literally sprinted to the water – who knew turtles could move so fast when they wanted to?!

While technically August, we ended the weekend with a golf cart ride through the woods to Shark’s Tooth for dinner. This is the golf club where Kurtis decided he wanted dark and moody plaid for his office. It’s always fun when we don’t have to take a car to dinner!

It was such a busy and exhausting month but we’re still so thrilled to be in our new house! I’m seeing a lot of fall content popping up on Instagram already, but we’re holding on to summer for at least two, if not nearly three, more months around here! I don’t want the season to escape so quickly without being able to enjoy it more.

Kurtis has a work trip in Park City in two weeks, so we’ll be flying out early to visit my parents in Utah. Shortly after that I’m headed to Dallas for a work trip. Despite the travel, it feels like August is our month to get a lot more settled and back to a routine around here. I truly thought that would start happening last week, until the leak disrupted the week quite a bit. But we’re ready for some calm!

Recent Buys & Sales

Following are some sales from the weekend that have carried over and are still going strong! You can see my top picks in this post.

• AMAZON has a number of daily deals sitewide. You can shop their site here.
• AMERICAN EAGLE is offering 30-40% off everything, including jeans. You can shop their site here.
• ANN TAYLOR is offering $30 off pants, jeans and skirts plus an extra 60% off sale styles. You can shop their site here.
• ANNIE SELKE has added a number of new items to their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• ANTHROPOLOGIE has added a number of new items to their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• ARHAUS is offering 30% off orders of $2,000+. You can shop their site here.
• ATHLETA is offering 20-40% off almost everything, plus an additional 10% off at checkout. You can shop their site here.
• ATHOME has added a number of new items to their sale & clearance section. You can shop their site here.
• BALLARD DESIGNS is offering up to 30% off sitewide. You can shop their site here.
• BAUBLE BAR is offering 25% off sitewide for the Big Biannual Event. You can shop their site here.
• BEEK is offering 10% off your purchase with my code LIFEONVIRGINIASTREET10. You can shop their site here.
• BODEN is offering 10% off new womenswear with code WXNW. You can shop their site here.
• CAMP SNAP CAMERAS is offering an additional 7% off their viral cameras with code LIFEONVIRGINIASTREET. You can shop their site here.
• CHICO’S is offering 25% off new arrivals. You can shop their site here.
• COCO & EVE is offering 15% off with my code SARAHST15. You can shop their site here.
• CRATE & BARREL is offering up to 60% off during their summer sale. You can shop their site here.
• CURRENTBODY is offering 10% off your purchase with code CBSAST. You can shop their site here.
• FARM RIO is offering up to 50% off plus an extra 30% off with code EXTRA30! You can shop their site here.
• FRANK & EILEEN is offering 15% off your full-priced order with code FEELGOOD and have a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• FRONTGATE is offering up to 50% off sitewide and free shipping on everything, including furniture with code FSALL0726. You can shop their site here.
• GAP is offering 40-60% off adult styles. You can shop their sale here.
• GEOMETRY is offering 15% off your purchase with my code VIRGINIASTREET. We love their quick-dry dish towels! You can shop their site here.
• J CREW is offering up to 30% off summer styles and an extra 50% off sale styles with code ADDTOBAG. Plus cardmembers can save an extra 20% off their purchase with code CARDLOVE. You can shop their site here.
• J CREW FACTORY is offering 50% off sitewide and an extra 60% off clearance items with code SUNSET60. Cardmembers can also save an additional 20% off everything with code CARDLOVE. You can shop their sale here.
• J MCLAUGHLIN has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• JOSS & MAIN is offering up to 30% off outdoor, along with a number of other sales sitewide! You can shop their site here.
• JENNI KAYNE is offering 40% off curated favorites for a limited time. You can shop their site here.
• KOZAKH jewelry is offering 20% off your purchase with code LIFEONVIRGINIASTREET20. You can shop their site here.
• LANDS’ END is offering 40% off tops and up to 40% off everything else with code BUTTONDOWN. Plus get up to 70% off their clearance items. You can shop their site here.
• LEESA is offering 25% off your purchase thru the end of the day and $75 off your purchase with my code LIFEONVIRGINIASTREET75. You can shop their site here.
• LINEAGE PROVISIONS is offering 15% off your purchase with my code LIFEONVIRGINIASTREET15. We’re legit obsessed with their clean grass-fed beef sticks and grass-fed air-dried steaks (beef jerky essentially). You can shop their site here.
• LOFT is offering 40% off new arrivals. You can shop their sale here.
• LULULEMON has a bunch of new sale finds in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• M. GEMI is offering 15% off your purchase with my code LIFEONVIRGINIASTREET15. You can shop their site here.
• MADEWELL is offering 25% off 3+ t-shirts, and also has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• MARK & GRAHAM is offering up to 50% off select styles and free shipping on $150+ with code SHIPFREE. You can shop their site here.
• MARSHALLS has a number of deals sitewide and $89+ with code SHIP89. You can shop their site here.
• MCGEE & CO. has a number of new clearance items and is also offering free shipping on orders $3,000+. You can shop their site here.
• NORDSTROM is in the final week of their Anniversary Sale! Sizes have started restocking, as people that ordered a bunch of sizes have started to make returns. You can see my top picks from the sale in this post. You can shop their site here.
• NORDSTROM RACK is offering up to 75% off new clearance styles. You can shop their site here.
• OLD NAVY is offering a number of deals sitewide, including a sale on all jeans. Plus get an extra 30% off your purchase at checkout with code EXTRA30. You can shop their sale here.
• POTTERY BARN is offering up to 60% off all sale styles, and free shipping on 1000s of items sitewide. You can shop their sale here.
• REJUVENATION is offering up to 60% off during their end-of-season sale. You can shop their site here.
• RUGGABLE is offering 15% off your purchase with code LIFEONVIRGINIASTREET15. We bought this rug for our back porch and love it so much! You can shop their site here.
• SAKARA is offering 25% off your first order. I recently added these fiber gummies to up my fiber intake and really love them. You can shop their site here.
• SALTYFACE is offering 10% off your purchase with my code LIFEONVIRGINIASTREET10. You can shop their site here.
• SERENA & LILY is offering 20% off custom upholstery and up to 40% off outdoor items. They’ve also added a number of new items to their clearance section. You can shop their sale here.
• SPANX has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• SPARTINA 449 is offering up to 80% off during their Online Warehouse Sale. You can shop their site here.
• SUMMERSALT is offering 30% off during their Annual Summer Sale with code GET30. You can shop their site here.
• TALBOTS is offering 30% off regular priced pants and jeans and an extra 50% off markdowns! You can shop their site here.
• TARGET has a number of home deals like up to 50% off bedding, BOGO 50% off towels, up to 50% off indoor furniture, and more. You can shop their site here.
• TJ MAXX has a number of new arrivals and is offering free shipping on orders $89+ with code SHIP89! You can shop their site here.
• TORY BURCH has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• TUCKERNUCK has added a number of cute new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• TWOPAGES is offering 20% off $600+ with code HOME20. You can shop their site here.
• U BEAUTY is offering 20% off most items sitewide with my code LIFEONVIRGINIASTREET20. You can shop their site here.
• VIVRELLE is offering your first month of membership free with my code LIFEONVIRGINIASTREET. Their selection of designer bags and jewelry you can borrow is stunning! I’ve had their Couture membership for most of this year and love it so much! All the details on how it works can be found here. You can shop their site here.
• WALMART has $100 off our outdoor patio chairs we’ve had for seven seasons now! You can shop their site here.
• WAYFAIR is offering up to 70% off during their 48-hour clearance sale. You can shop their site here.
• WEST ELM is offering up to 60% off their sale and clearance items. You can shop their site here.
• WILLIAMS SONOMA is offering up to 75% off clearance items. You can shop their site here.
• WILLIAMS SONOMA HOME has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• ZIIP is offering 10% off your purchase with my code SARAHXZIIP. You can shop their site here.

I hope you all have a great week and month of August!

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