Weekend Recap

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.

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

Home Projects & Updates

There was so much activity over at our new build this week! Most of the water lines and electrical lines have all been run, as you can see in this shot from our garage where the electrical panels will go.

It felt like major progress when we saw the bathtub go in in an upstairs bedroom!

Early in the week, they added the remaining roof trusses to our covered porch and started building the fireplace wall.

And by the end of the weekend, the covered porch is officially covered! Admittedly, we both kind of loved the blue skies and sunlight we could see before. But we also know from a practical side, we’re really going to love having this space covered! Not to mention, the cats will be obsessed that they’ll be able to get that close to the treeline out back.

Here you can see the space from Kurtis’ garage gym.

I haven’t really shown the backyard before, so here’s the view standing from the covered porch. The pool will be right down from the porch steps and then we’ll likely put chairs and umbrellas straight ahead. It’s nice that our neighbors have the privacy screens on their outdoor kitchen and fireplace area, so it provides us with privacy too. We’ll likely put some columnar trees or shrubs along that lot line to add some green to all the white.

Speaking of covered porches, that brings me to the next part of our weekend. One thing we did not expect when moving to Florida was how often we’d have to have our house pressure washed (usually twice a year minimum). When it gets bad, it’s bad and our house is currently at that stage. I called the crew we usually use and they couldn’t get us in until mid-September. So I asked Kurtis if we could jointly tackle the back covered porch over the weekend. Just that job alone reminds us why we hire out the remainder of the house 😉 It’s usually a full day project for 4-6 guys by the time they do the second story and carriage house! We knew our furniture needed a cleaning, but we didn’t realize just how badly it needed it. Wow!! The pressure washer works so much better than taking the covers off and throwing them in the wash. Just make sure you don’t have it on too high of a setting or get too close to the fabric.

You can see the difference on the rug too, where we had done one half and not the other. I’ve raved about this brand of rugs before, and I’m telling you, they are worth every single penny. This rug is now six or seven years old and still looks like new when we wash it. I actually have good luck with these in the washing machine too (I throw our matching kitchen runner in) but this one is larger so the pressure washer is great!

We also pressure wash these Serena & Lily chairs! These started out in our pool house back in Omaha but have lived outside ever since our move to Florida almost three years ago. They literally still look brand new too. Our fabric is the Perennials Coastal Blue.

Around Town & For Fun

Our neighbors, friends and local Facebook groups have been abuzz with all the wildlife activity over the past week or so. Lots of baby snakes, frogs, lizards and wild hogs are all over the neighborhood. Thankfully I’ve only seen the baby frogs and lizards 😉

Kurtis sent me this pic one morning while he was on his walk. We had never seen an egret up in a tree before.

A few minutes later I got this picture, and realized maybe that’s why the egret was up so high 😉 You can see him up in the tree in the background.

If you saw my Instagram stories, Kurtis got a video of this gator passing him on the bridge. At one point, the gator made a huge splash and went under the water. Kurtis was so focused on his phone, it scared him and he dropped a quiet expletive. If it were me, my phone would have been in the pond and I’d be screaming like a lunatic. Ha!

Lots of random rain bursts led to a lot of rainbow sightings this week!

The deer have been active across our pond.

This is one of the few guys with antlers we’ve seen before!

Friday night, Kurtis and I had a date night in Alys Beach. We’re pretty sure neither of us had been down there in months, despite it being a few minute drive away for us.

We had reservations at O-Ku after having tried to get in since our anniversary. Now that the busy season has mostly ended around here, we were finally able to get in!

We arrived a bit early, so I had to pop into SummerStory, one of my favorite shops on 30A. It’s a high-end furniture store but it always smells heavenly (I’ve bought so many candles here) and they have a cute little section with kitchen finds, books, and various trinkets. It’s rare I leave without buying anything!

I took a photo of these sconces because we both really like them. I told Kurtis I was pretty sure it was a Palecek knowing the store we were in and pricepoint. After a quick Google search, I was correct, and it’s the Palecek Lassiter. I can’t find it currently online at any retailers so if you’re local, Summer Story can order it for you, I’m sure. And if you’re not, check with a local lighting boutique that carries Palecek. It was so beautiful! The little discs appeared to be coconut shells.

Sunday, Kurtis and I went to Camp Creek to get some sun and pool time. It was nice to just veg out for an hour or two!

Sunday we had dinner with friends at Chris and Rachel’s to celebrate our friend Mary Louise’s birthday. It was followed by another round of bocce. If you wonder what one wears to a bocce game, I went with this Varley top (size Large) and Varley shorts (size XL). I had showered after hitting the pool, but didn’t wash my hair (since I knew I’d need to after bocce) so I added a quick braid and this wave spray.

Kurtis is traveling for work the bulk of the week but I have a few fun things planned. I’m looking forward to meeting our friend Marissa’s new baby girl! I’m also starting week three of Faster Way to Fat Loss so I feel like my days revolve around when I can get my workout in and planning my macros for my meals. Ha! We realized we’re only about two weeks out from our Vegas trip and have literally planned nothing other than securing our Eagles tickets. So if you have any restaurant or activity recommendations, we’d love to hear!

Recent Buys & Sales

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

• ABERCROMBIE is offering 25% off purchases of $125+! You can shop their site here.
• AFLORAL is offering 25% off holiday items with code HOLIDAY. You can shop their site here.
• AMAZON has a number of daily deals. You can shop their site here.
• ANN TAYLOR is offering 25% off tops and sweaters and an extra 50% off sale styles. You can shop their site here.
• ANTHROPOLOGIE is offering free shipping on furniture, rugs, and more home items, and have added a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• BODEN is offering 10% off new styles with code T3D7. You can shop their site here.
• CRATE & BARREL is offering up to 60% off steals of the season. You can shop their site here.
• DUDLEY STEPHENS has a number of great items in their end of season 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% off everything during their Friends & Family Sale. You can shop their sale here.
• J CREW is offering up to 50% off late summer styles and up to 60% off sale styles. You can shop their site here.
• J CREW FACTORY is offering up to 60% off everything and an extra 60% off clearance items. You can shop their sale here.
• LOFT is offering 30% off your full-priced purchase and an extra 60% off sale styles. 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 a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• MARK & GRAHAM is offering up to 50% off end of summer sale items and free shipping on orders $150+ with code SHIPFREE. You can shop their site here.
• MARSHALLS is offering 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 has some new markdowns in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• OLD NAVY is offering 40% off everything and 50% off back to school styles. You can shop their sale here.
• POTTERY BARN is offering up to 60% off furniture, outdoor, bedding and more. You can shop their sale here.
• REJUVENATION is offering up to 60% 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 offering up to 30% off dining and has a lot of great new items in their clearance section. You can shop their sale here.
• SOMA is hosting their $30 bra sale (including my favorite bra I wear daily) and free shipping and returns! You can shop their site here.
• TARGET is offering multiple home deals like up to 40% off select Hearth & Hand items, up to 50% off indoor and outdoor furniture, up to 50% off rugs, 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 a 24-hour flash deals sale. You can shop their sale here.
• WEST ELM is offering up to 50% off during their end of season sale. 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!

If you would like to follow along on more of my home decor, DIY, lifestyle, travel and other posts, I’d love to have you join me on any of the below channels:

Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | LTK