Weekend Recap

Happy July 1st! I’m always a huge fan of holiday weeks. Kurtis is actually taking today though Wednesday off since his office is closed Thursday and Friday. My family is all coming into town later this week and we’re looking forward to the extra time with family and friends!

For the next two days, we’re going to be cranking out random things on our to-do list (clean the garage, hang the hallway sconce lights, make a Costco run). It will be great to get all of it finally off our list!

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Home Projects & Updates

I spent a lot of time working in the yard again last week. Which was probably a horrible idea since it was crazy hot and humid and likely not the best time to be planting 😉 But, I’m really happy with the updates. Now I’ll just be spending this week watering non-stop so nothing dies!

My oldeander are blooming like crazy and they might be my favorite flower in our yard right now!

I added a few of these bold pink Summer Crush hydrangeas along our fence line. We were needing some color in that spot, and I’m excited to see these get bigger down the road!

I also added a few hydrangeas around our pool equipment to replace two of roses that died over the summer. Clearly I have a hydrangea obsession and I’m not ashamed of it one bit! We’re also experimenting with a small fence panel for around the pool equipment that you can see. We still have two giant rose bushes back there too, but the pines are hiding them at this angle.

We’ve been wanting to add some landscaping lights to our backyard, but honestly, just haven’t want to invest the money it takes to have them hard-wired. We decided to give some solar powered lights I found for $10 each at Lowe’s a try. They actually look really good! So, we may see how long these last before we consider anything more permanent. So far I’m super impressed with them!

Around Town & For Fun

My friend Nancy (an interior designer here in Omaha) is building a new home. Last week, she did a Facebook sale and open house for her friends to come buy items in their home. I thought it was a totally genius concept since they’re having to move into an apartment until their house is done. So much less packing for them and great deals for all her friends! I went a bit wild (I only went to buy the shutter). I got two fig trees, the shutter, the pouf, topiaries and all those Dash & Albert rugs. I’m in love! You can take her home tour here if you’re interested.

Our niece Katie asked to spend the weekend with us and it was so fun to have her come down. She goes to college at SDSU but is home in Iowa for the summer. We spent a lot of time hanging out in the pool, eating, talking, and laughing! It was one of the hottest and most humid weekends we remember in a long time, so it was perfect pool weather!

Later on Saturday afternoon, Jill, Nick and Zoe swung up for a quick swim. Zoe’s face lit up when she got in the pool. So cute! This photo was before she rocked her sunglasses and sun hat.

They came back up for dinner after Zoe got her nap. She has only been inside a few times since she’s learned to walk. She was absolutely hilarious with the cats. At first she was terrified of them but then she couldn’t stop looking at them and ultimately decided to pet Bailey.

I was determined to do something cool with our drone and sparklers but let’s just say it was a massive fail! But it was fun to have a photo from our failed photoshoot on Saturday night 😉 Don’t count me out yet though on this working. I have a week to figure it out!

Sunday morning was pretty chill. It’s not uncommon for Hawkeye to be a permanent fixture in my inbox when I’m in the office. I have no idea how or why he finds this comfortable!

A little before lunch time, we headed to the outlet malls with Katie.

I thought this art display at J. Crew Factory was really cute! It could easily (and very inexpensively) be recreated at home!

After an hour or two of shopping, we grabbed lunch at LOCAL right at the outlets. The food was excellent and we always love trying new local beers!

We headed home and got in a few hours of swimming before Katie had to head back to Iowa. We had such a fun weekend with her!

We keep finding Henley resting or sleeping on this pile of rugs I got from Nancy’s sale. The pile has been moved a few times to get into the cupboards, and yet she always finds a new way to sleep on it. Such a goofball!

Recent Buys & Sales

I’ll likely do another full sale post later this week for the 4th of July sales! However, several stores started their sales for the holiday already – and others have carried over their sales from the weekend!

• ANTHROPOLOGIE is offering an additional 50% off sale items. No code required – prices update at checkout. You can shop the sale here.
• BANANA REPUBLIC is offering 40% off your purchase (no code required). I’m in love with this colorblock maxi dress! You can shop their sale here.
• BODEN is offering up to 60% off at their big summer sale. You can shop their sale here.
• GAP is offering 40% off everything with code GREAT (and get an extra 10% off with code PLUS10), plus up to 75% off markdowns. You can shop their sale here.
• J CREW is offering up to an extra 50% off sale items with code BIGGEST. You can shop their sales here.
• J CREW FACTORY is offering 50-70% off everything! Prices as marked. You can shop their sale here.
• NORDSTROM has just launched new summer markdowns with up to 50% off. Plus, now through July 2nd, cardholders can earn extra Notes with purchase! Perfect for the upcoming Nordstrom Anniversary Sale! My favorite wedges are also marked down under $50 now! You can shop their sale items here.
• OLD NAVY is offering 20% off your purchase at checkout (no code required). You can shop their sale here.
• ONE KINGS LANE is offering an additional 20% off, with markdowns up to 60% off with code OKL20YES. You can shop their sale here.
• POTTERY BARN is hosting their buy more, save more sale with 15-30% off your purchase with code SAVEMORE. You can shop their sale here.
• SERENA & LILY added 100+ new items to their sale section and they all ship for free with code JUMPIN. You can shop their sales here.
• TARGET is offering up to 30% off patio and home items + an extra 15% off online on furniture, rugs, wall decor and more with code AMERICA. You can shop their sale here.
• TJ MAXX has tons of markdowns for home right now. You can shop their sale here.
• TORY BURCH is offering an extra 30% off markdowns with code EXTRA30! You can shop their sale here.
• WILLIAMS SONOMA HOME is hosting their buy more, save more sale, with 15-30% off your purchase with code SAVENOW. You can shop their sale here.

I hope you all have a great holiday week!

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