Good morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Here’s a bit of what we’ve been up to over the past week or so.
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Home Projects & Updates
After living in our house for nearly ten months, we are finally getting our countertops replaced today! For those that may not have heard the backstory, they’ve been an issue before we even moved in.
We had selected Via Venato Quartzite, a natural stone from Brazil. Prior to moving in, spots were starting to appear throughout the stone that looked like water or glue stains. They continued to grow throughout the building process. The countertop fabrication company didn’t like what was going on, so fully replaced the counters a few days before moving in. However, once the new slabs were installed, slowly over time, the same thing started happening again. Here is how most of the counters look as of yesterday. You can see there is a solid stain along the edges where they mitered the edges but there are also thousands of other little spots showing up everywhere throughout the stone.
We didn’t have tons of options to select from for the new counters, so I basically walked in and picked the only one that really caught my eye. It also has a leathered/honed finish, which was one of my main requests. I really wanted to avoid a polished finish with this large of an island/peninsula and the amount of natural light we get. It’s still a quartzite, but this one is called White Oblivion.
They told me last week they were ready for install today, so we had to spend a few hours emptying our lower cabinets in preparation. Hence, the current state of our dining room shown below 😉
My cute little “helper” filling up the boxes I was using to move things.
Update on the counters: just got a text while wrapping up this post, and they didn’t finish cutting the stone. So install has been moved to tomorrow!
In garden news, I have kumquats growing on my topiaries like crazy! I believe they don’t harvest until fall, so I’m guessing it may be another month or two before they turn orange? And our little lime bush has so much fruit on it! Now I just need to figure out at what point I start picking some! They’re about the size of key limes right now so I’m guessing they’re pretty close!
In Case You Missed It
Following are the posts I shared over the past week, in case you missed some days!
Around Town & For Fun
Our niece was still in town from Iowa all week. She spent Monday and Tuesday working at the local vet clinic and animal refuge during business hours. But we tried to have fun dinners out each night!
Tuesday we headed into Grayton Beach and then Watercolor. We started with a drink at The Red Bar and then had dinner at Fish Out of Water.
Wednesday night, we drove west to the bay side of the area, and had dinner at The Bay. It was our first time there (we had only tried North Beach Social on the opposite side of the road before). It is such a fun vibe and great for groups. There was live music, a dock you could walk out on, games to play set up in the sand, etc. There was also live music that night from Jared Herzog and it was such a great time!
We also ran into our friends Nick and Ashley there, which was so funny because none of us had ever been there before!
The terrain and landscape is always so different on the bay side of the area. Loved the Spanish moss in these trees and the overall vibe of the waiting area at The Bay.
We’ve really been enjoying our nightly golf cart rides with friends and family on the “free” golf cart we got from the rental. It’s convincing us we may actually need one at some point. We’ve had fun exploring parts of our neighborhood we’ve never seen before (or can’t get to as easily walking).
A view of the northwest side of Lake Powell.
Henley loves her night time on the screened-in porch, especially when she can find someone to pet her the whole time 😉 Henley kept rolling because she was so happy and Kate had to keep reaching further and further to pet her.
Thursday morning, Kate and I headed to Grayton Beach to Studio Gallery 30A for a collage class we signed up for! The gallery always has such happy, Florida vibes, and it’s one of my favorite places here!
We took the collage session, which I had previously done with some friends back in February. The studio has a bunch of beautifully painted watercolor pages torn and prepared for you to use to make a collage.
Last time around, most of us made actual collages with the pieces. Meaning, we really didn’t alter them, but instead layered them to create our art. This time around, I opted to tear mine into seashell shapes and then used a pencil to sketch over the shape to bring the shells to life. Kate decided to turn hers into fruit! I didn’t really decide on a layout for mine, so I took the shells and a few pieces of watercolor paper home to decide if I want one big piece of art or a few smaller, grouped by color tones. The class is so fun and I highly recommend going to one if you’re on 30A this summer!
After class, Kate and I grabbed a quick lunch at Bud & Alley’s in Seaside before heading back to the house. That afternoon, Kurtis’ oldest sister and Kate’s other aunt, Janine, flew in from Omaha for a few days! We went to Amigos for dinner followed by a golf cart ride.
Our friend’s mom, Jane, loves to make muffins for us when we have visitors. So we got a batch of Jane’s homemade blueberry muffins and had them gone in no time!
Friday took Janine down to see Hola Beaches Casita, spent a few hours at the beach and then came home to get ready for the farewell dinner. We had dinner at Cuvee (Janine’s all-time favorite) followed by a drink and dessert at Ambrosia.
We’re early eaters even with guests, so it was still plenty light out to take a final golf cart ride around the neighborhood a bit.
Although our time with Janine was really short, it was so great to see her and spend a little time with her for a few days! Kate and Janine hit the road back to Omaha and Iowa bright and early Saturday morning.
Kurtis and I basically vegged out the rest of the weekend. It’s always so fun having visitors, but we tend to be exhausted by the end. Not to mention our eating, drinking, and sleeping habits are terrible when we’re spending time with others who are on vacation. We basically treat it like we’re on vacation too, and it isn’t great for our waistlines! Add in all the work at Hola Beaches Casita the past few weeks, and we just needed some down time!
I’m headed to Atlanta later this week to spend a few days with two of my original blogging besties, Kelley Nan and Kris from Driven by Decor! So excited to spend time with them together! I’ve seen them both several times over the last few years, but we haven’t been together as a group since 2021 for Kris’ 50th birthday party on 30A (before we even moved here)!
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 here.
- AMAZON has a number of deals today! This look-for-less Water Hyacinth Stool is on a Limited Time Deal. Also, our favorite fly traps rarely go on sale but are 26% off today! You can shop their site here.
- ANN TAYLOR is offering 30% off tops and sweaters. You can shop their site here.
- ANTHROPOLOGIE has added items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- BALLARD DESIGNS is offering 25% off sitewide for their Friends & Family event. They also have 40% off all outdoor furniture. You can shop their sale here.
- BODEN is offering up to 50% off sale styles. You can shop their site here.
- COLLEEN ROTHSCHILD is hosting a Hydration Heroes sale with markdowns on all of their favorite moisturizers! I use this cream or this one twice daily! You can shop her site here.
- GAP is offering up to 50% off summer favorites and an extra 50% off sale styles. You can shop their sale here.
- J CREW is offering up to 50% off warm-weather styles. You can shop their site here.
- J CREW FACTORY is offering up to 60% off everything. You can shop their sale here.
- LOFT is offering 40% off your purchase. You can shop their sale here.
- LULULEMON has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- MADEWELL has added a number of new summer items to their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- MARK & GRAHAM is offering an additional 25% off sale styles with code SALE25 plus free shipping on orders $150+ with code SHIPFREE! You can shop their site here.
- MARSHALLS has a number of deals sitewide plus free shipping on orders of $89+ with code SHIP89. You can shop their site here.
- NORDSTROM has a number of limited-time sales in their sale section, with items all marked up to 50% off! You can shop their site here.
- OLD NAVY is offering 40-60% off a number of deals. You can shop their sale here.
- ONE KINGS LANE is offering 30% off one item with code SUNSHINE30 and up to 60% off clearance styles. You can shop their sale here.
- POTTERY BARN is offering up to 60% off during their Summer Savings event as well as an extra 15% off clearance styles with code EXTRA. You can shop their sale here.
- REJUVENATION is offering up to 40% off during their Summer Home Sale plus an extra 20% off clearance styles with code EXTRA20. You can shop their site here.
- RUGS USA is offering up to 70% off everything plus an extra 15% off with code JULY15. You can shop their site here.
- SERENA & LILY is hosting a dining and entertaining sale, plus get up to 70% off 500+ items in their Tent Sale. You can shop their sale here.
- SUMMERSALT, one of my favorite swimsuit brands, is offering 30% off everything with code SPF30. You can shop their site here.
- TARGET has a number of home deals, 50% off patio, garden furniture, and accessories; up to 40% off select home decor, up to 40% off rugs, plus tons more! You can shop their site here.
- TJ MAXX has a number of deals sitewide and is offering free shipping on orders $89+ with code SHIP89! You can shop their site here.
- TORY BURCH is hosting their Semi-Annual Sale with an extra 25% off items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- TUCKERNUCK has a number of new items added to their sale section, as well as free shipping and free returns on everything. You can shop their site here.
- VINEYARD VINES is offering 30-40% off sitewide and up to 70% off sale styles with code SUNSOUT. You can shop their site here.
- WALMART has marked down our favorite budget chair to make it even more affordable! You can shop their site here.
- WEST ELM is offering an additional 40% off select clearance items with code TREAT40. You can shop their site here.
- WILLIAMS SONOMA is offering up to 50% off in their Early 4th of July Sale. You can shop their site here.
I hope you all have a great week!
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