Good morning! How is everyone? Word on the street is that it’s Galentine’s Day! If you watch Parks and Rec you’ll know what that is. It’s an amazing excuse to hang with your gal pals the day before Valentine’s Day. I am always a fan of taking some time out to foster those special friendships so I am all for it. To all of you who take a moment to stop in and read A Thoughtful Place, I am so grateful and toasting you from my champagne brunch. Ok. So maybe it’s coffee and a mad dash to get the kiddos to school, but you get the idea. Cheers to supporting one another and appreciating special women in our lives. Here is our Monday Morning Wrap-Up.

SHOP LOCAL

I am always in favor of spreading some cheer with fresh flowers. I have always picked them up at my local grocery store but lately I am trying to support our local floral shop. Did you know you can pop into your local flower shop and let them know how much you want to spend and they will make an arrangement at that price? Truly not much more than buying them yourself and the do such a pretty job wrapping them up. My daughter took a bouquet to her friend who performed in a play this weekend and I dropped a bouquet off for another special gal pal.

CONFESSION

Ok, listen. I have to confess the mess. We moved into this home roughly six months ago and the downstairs is pretty pulled together. The upstairs. Totally different story but we are slowly chipping away. I am very comfortable taking our time but I must say that our master bedroom has gotten out of control. If you have ever moved you know that there is inevitably a bunch of “stuff’ you don’t know what to do with. That “stuff” found its way into our master bedroom ( I refused to shove it in the garage) and for six months I had this pile of Lord knows what covered with a comforter. Some how not seeing it made me feel better. Ha. So at long last, while the kids were out playing baseball with their dad, I took 2 hours and went through EVERYTHING. I cranked the music and sorted into donate, trash, and put away. It’s like this huge weight has been lifted off of me. It feels so good. So this is your push. Do you have a pile? Multiple piles? There is something so liberating about finally going through it. And cut yourself some slack if you’re not in the mood. It took me over six months!

COMFY AND COZY

Just a note to say this sweatshirt has been a great addition to my wardrobe. I wear it with everything. It looks cute with these sweats (which I put on every day around dinner time), distressed jeans, and white pants. Also very cute with the sleeves rolled up.

OUT AND ABOUT

If you’re thinking this grass is awfully green, it is. First of all we have had sooooooo much rain that the hills and grasses are stunningly gorgeous around here. But the rain has caused all of our games and practices to be canceled. So my hubby found this great spot with artificial grass and clocked some serious time practicing with the kids. They had so much fun that they begged daddy to take them back the next day.

The weather yesterday was just too lovely not to hit the beach. While it’s still chilly, the sun was shining and it was a great way to wrap up the weekend. I did everything I could to keep out of the water (way to cold) but these two were all about it. I love how children just go for it. They raced in and out of the water for over an hour and then played in the sand. Thank you, Mother Nature, for the very best playground there is.

Thankful for a very nice weekend. Tonight we will be wrapping up finishing touches on Valentines (the kids LOVE putting them together) and I’ll secretly be planning their surprise breakfast for the morning. It’s the one day out of the year that I actually get up before my early risers.

Happy Galentine’s Day to all of you! Let’s do this Monday!