Weekend Reading #37

A breakfast hack, what I bought this week, a dream partnership, spring decor, an affordable tote, top sellers, what's on sale, and what's new.

Hi friends. I hope you all had a nice week and that you get some time to relax this weekend. I’m taking the girls to my friend’s house today. She lives 40 minutes away and we don’t get to see her very often, so it should be a nice day.

Conor has been getting a lot busier with work which is great and to be expected with real estate. He was gone a few nights this week so I was solo with the kids. The girls also started two new classes, so we now have activities Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday after school which I swore I’d never do, but they’re alternating days, and it’s a mix of art and creative stuff. They are loving it. I dropped Margot off at her first drop-off party (big step for me!) and had all three kids with me when I did it so naturally we were late, but it went smoothly.

Things feel pretty good. My biggest struggle right now is feeling like I can’t keep up which feels reasonable. There are things I want to do (broken record but podcast) that I can’t make happen without more childcare. Then there’s feeling like I’m not enough which I talked about in therapy – that message sort of bleeds into everything (does anyone else feel that way?). I have a lot more to say on that soon, and will be doing some work on that, which I’ll share here, too.

I love our new sitter, and the kids do, too. She’s able to come twice a week during the week through the middle of April, and offered weekends when needed, so she’s coming tomorrow. I would like to get a few things done around the house and take an hour to lay in bed and watch Younger.

I had another eye-opening call with Destini, which resulted in me realizing I have some serious work to do on myself and past trauma. And it’s not like I didn’t know this, but it goes beyond talk therapy. I promise to share more soon. Destini and I talked for a bit after and now she’s on Substack! I couldn’t subscribe fast enough and recommend that all parents do the same.

My Breakfast Hack

Mornings can be tough for us. My kids aren’t big breakfast eaters, but I spent years hearing “we’d love to see Margot gain some weight” every time we went to clinic, which did wonders for my anxiety. So when they eat very little, I feel anxious.

But–in an effort to make things go more smoothly, and because I am tired of feeling anxious about breakfast, I offered to let the girls watch a show on their iPad if they agreed to eat breakfast. They were so excited since they don’t get any screen time on school days. You’re either with me in solidarity and rolling your eyes and that’s fine. I know it’s not great to eat and watch TV, but it was 15 minutes of screen time, and they ate more than they ever have at breakfast. Not sure how this will play out, but my anxious mind needs them to eat, and I thought this might make other parents feel better about screen time.

What’s New This Week

Spring and Easter Decor
Shop Serena and Lily’s Spring Sale
Spring and Easter Pajamas
And I updated The Best Toys for Two Year Olds

Sales and Deals

If you have a Nordstrom card, you can get 3x points on beauty right now. I put together a list of all my favorite clean beauty products here, and restocked my body wash and favorite serum. If you need a new hair dryer, now would be a great time to get this one. I love mine.

Boden tops and bottoms are 30% off right now, so I placed my third Boden order for the girls in the last few weeks since they both need new clothes for spring and summer. I added all my favorites here. We have everything except the floral top and sweatshirt. This dress isn’t on sale, but it’s darling. I had to.

Recent Partnerships

I just got an email about a paid partnership with Nordstrom right after writing about Nordstrom’s 3x beauty points. And I found this out while working on Substack because my ADHD is on 🔥 and there are always 30 tabs open in my brain at once. There are a few brands I’ve never worked with that I’ve always wanted to work with, and Nordstrom is one of them. This will also be my first paid Substack post, which, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but it will go out to all subscribers and not just paid, and it’s something I’d do anyway. I literally just linked to the brand above.

I was also pitched a potential partnership with a brand I worked with in 2023, so fingers crossed that I get it. It would be a good one.

A reminder that if you use the code DANIELLE you’ll get 25% off my red light panel. I was not paid to include this here, but did have a partnership with the brand, and love my red light panel, so I wanted to share this with you.

Recent Finds and Purchases

My new dress arrived and I couldn’t love it more. It runs TTS and is so flattering on. I got this jacket, too. And I found the perfect spring flats.

I am debating ordering this chair for Margot’s desk and would plan to reupholster it to match her room.

Varley sent me this half-zip. It’s the perfect shade of blue.

This clean self tanner is amazing. Use MOSS20 for 20% off. Here are my arms before and legs after. Crazy, right?

My MIL ordered these giant magnetic fort tiles for the kids for Christmas, but they were insanely backordered and just arrived this week. They love them, but we kept running out of squares, so I ordered this. Anything to keep the kids busy and happy while we’re short on childcare.

Recent Links and Restocks

My girls both have these in white and they were sold out but are back in stock.

My favorite flats sold out last year, but are back in stock in every color.

The coolest toy ever (that all three of my kids love) has been restocked for the first time since December.

My favorite high-waist stretchy jeans were restocked in every size. They run TTS and are so, so comfortable.

How cute is this tote? It’s under $200!