Weekend Recap

Good morning! I hope you all had a nice 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

Our new build is moving right along! The framers have been wrapping up all the detail work and I feel like they’re nearing completion! They started (and subsequently nearly finished) this little covered deck we’ll have over the front door. Our bedroom is to the left and then the carriage house over the garage is what you see on the right.

They also started framing in our covered porch out back!

Here is the view from the side of the house. It’s a fairly large space and we know we’ll get so much use out of it! The cats will definitely appreciate this new “catio” too.

Here’s a pic of the same structure at Chris and Rachel’s house when it was still under construction. It’s one of the features that made us all really fall in love with the home! You enter the space off of sliding doors in the kitchen. There’s an outdoor kitchen to the left (just behind that opening) and then there are doors that open down to the pool. Ours will mostly back a solid wall of trees so the view will be a bit different, but I’m so excited for this space!

We also had an onsite meeting on Friday to talk to the project manager. We got a bunch of outstanding questions answered, and he said they hope to have the home dry sealed (I think that’s what it’s called?) later this week. Meaning, the roof will get the roofing paper that prevents water from getting in. With the random rain storms last week, the inside kept getting so wet, so it will be nice to have it all closed up!

Top Sellers Of The Week

Following are the top sellers from the past week across all of my channels. Links to each item are below the graphic.

BEST SELLERS (each number is clickable): #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5

In Case You Missed It

Following are the posts I shared over the past week, in case you missed some days!

• Weekend Recap
• How To Use AI to Create 3D Room Designs
• Wednesday Watch List

Around Town & For Fun

We started the week with a gorgeous sunset! The sky was glowing so beautifully.

Tuesday was our 20th anniversary, which was hard to believe! We hadn’t prepped much for what to do and most reservations were full at local restaurants because it was the last crazy busy week of summer here. We ended up at Ambrosia and were so happy we did. The food and service were excellent! During dinner a quick thunderstorm passed through and as we left, it had all passed and left the most beautiful sunset. It looked like the sky was on fire.

Wednesday was our friend Chris’ birthday. Rachel hosted a party for him down at their old house (which is now one of their vacation rentals here).

It’s the house they moved into shortly after we purchased Hola Beaches and it’s still one of my favorite homes on 30A. The home and views are breathtaking. It was actually built by the same builder we’re using on our new home, which is what gave us so much confidence in using them! You can take the full tour here on our property manager’s site.

I hit 600 straight days of doing my Spanish lessons on Duolingo. I’m still a bit shocked I’ve managed to not miss a single day! But I have already learned so much. I’m definitely far from fluent but I have seen major progress.

The rest of the week was pretty chill other than this piece of excitement. Your eyes do not deceive you. That is a BLACK BEAR five doors down from our house. We had hopped in the golf cart one evening to go check progress at the new house. We had just started our drive, when something caught the corner of my eye. It was a black bear walking between our neighbors’ houses. It then turned right behind all the fences and walked the length of our street. We saw it again by our mailbox and then it headed down the next street and basically crossed the road a few doors down from our new house. Needless to say, I made Kurtis take the llloooonnnngggg way home that night. I was so excited to finally see a bear after living here for three years, but then also really scared and didn’t want to die. Ha! It was trash day so I think he was just wandering around looking for scraps somewhere.

Love these little cuties, chilling in some of their favorite spots.

Friday Rachel asked if I would trim her hair. I had done it once before (actually on my birthday last year). When she decides she wants it cut, she wants it now. So, we headed to her driveway and I took off about three inches. Is it even? I think so – ish. But my math, statistics and business degrees didn’t come with cosmetology certificates too 😉

I requested two meetings with Kurtis this weekend to finalize more house selections. Earlier in the week I finalized all of our plumbing fixtures and got those submitted. But we really need to focus on tile and flooring. So, I scheduled time, made a bunch of renderings for him to look at, and I think we’re in pretty good shape for tile now! He doesn’t get quite the joy that I do out of these decisions so if I narrow things down, give him a visual to what I’m thinking, have a Pinterest board ready with other alternatives, etc. it seems to go much more smoothly! All that to say, I have quite a few design boards I plan to share soon!

We hadn’t been down to the beach since the 4th of July weekend, I believe, and it was time! July is typically the busiest month, so we usually avoid the high tourist areas if possible. The beach was busy yesterday but definitely not chaotic. And the water did not disappoint! It was so beautiful! I tried searching for more shells (I still need to finish my second seashell art!) but it was a slow day shelling. We had lunch and then parked under an umbrella for a few hours and it was so nice!

We also saw our first sea turtle nesting site since moving here! It’s so funny how these mamas choose where to leave the eggs. I don’t know 100% of the details, but there is a team that finds these all along our beaches (based on tracks or sitings) and then rope off the entire area until they hatch. This is why our area mandates that all beaches must be emptied 100% at night (you can’t leave umbrellas, chairs, etc.) and you should only use red-lights/filters at night. Everyone wants to ensure the turtles can make it to the sea! I believe it takes about two months for them to hatch.

Last night when we did a little golf cart visit to our new build, I found this giant oyster shell in the sand! We have always seen little shells here and there when we visit, but this one was really large and the color was so pretty! So, I of course took it home to add to my collection. This one might deserve its own little shadow box since it came from our new lot!

This week marks one of the first in a while where we have little to no plans which sounds really nice! Kurtis starts traveling for work again next week so it will be nice to have a week at home to get caught up on various things and not have a packed agenda!

Recent Buys & Sales

Following are some sales from the weekend that have carried over and are still going strong!

• ABERCROMBIE is offering $25 off $100+ or $50 off $150+ orders. You can shop their site here.
• AMAZON has a number of daily deals. Our cordless table lamp set is an item we use way more than we ever thought we would. So great for al fresco dining or ambient light in the kitchen and other spaces. You can shop their site here.
• ANN TAYLOR is offering 25% of your purchase and up to 60% off sale styles. You can shop their site here.
• ANTHROPOLOGIE has added a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• AVARA is offering 15% off your regular-priced purchase with my code STEWART15. You can shop their site here.
• BODEN is offering 10% off new styles with code W7CX. You can shop their site here.
• CRATE & BARREL is offering up to 60% off during their summer in-stock sale. You can shop their site here.
• FRANK & EILEEN is hosting a sale with items marked up to 50% off. You can shop their site here.
• GAP is offering 40-60% off deals for kids and adults. You can shop their sale here.
• J CREW is offering up to 50% off summer styles. You can shop their site here.
• J CREW FACTORY is offering up to 60% off everything as well as an additional 70% off clearance with code SCORE70. You can shop their sale here.
• LOFT is offering up to 40% off your full-price purchase and an extra 70% off select clearance. You can shop their sale here.
• LULULEMON has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• MARK & GRAHAM is offering up to 50% off on their end of summer sale and free shipping on orders $150+ with code SHIPFREE. You can shop their site here.
• MARSHALLS is offering up to 70% off clearance sale and free shipping on orders of $89+ with code SHIP89. You can shop their site here.
• MCGEE & CO. has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• NORDSTROM is hosting their Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. You can see all of my top picks in this post. You can shop their site here.
• OLD NAVY is offering 40% off everything and 50% off back-to-school picks. You can shop their sale here.
• POTTERY BARN is hosting an end of season sale with up to 60% off. You can shop their sale here.
• REJUVENATION is offering up to 70% off during their end of summer sale. You can shop their site here.
• SAKS FIFTH AVENUE is hosting a huge designer sale with items up to 60% off. You can shop their sale here.
• SALT & STONE is offering 15% of your purchase with my custom code SARAHS15. I have really been loving their clean deodorant! You can shop their site here.
• SERENA & LILY is hosting their Living Room Event with up to 25% off savings on living room furniture, coffee and side tables, throw blankets, pillows, lighting, rugs, and more! You can shop their sale here.
• SOMA is offering an extra 40% off markdowns! You can shop their site here.
• TARGET is offering multiple home deals like up to 40% off lamps & lighting, 30% off kitchen and dining items, and more. You can shop their site here.
• TJ MAXX 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 a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• WAYFAIR is hosting Black Friday in July with tons of sales sitewide. You can shop their sale here.
• WEST ELM is offering up to 60% off sale and clearance finds. You can shop their site here.
• WILLIAMS SONOMA is offering up to 75% off clearance styles. You can shop their site here.

I hope you all have a great week!

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