The Catch-Up | Vol 13

Joys of summer travel, creativity in motherhood, & spots to save for your next trip to Charleston

Hello friends!

Happy Thursday and welcome to the thirteenth edition of The Catch-Up, my weekly column that arrives in your inboxes every Thursday. The Catch-Up consists of everything that has caught my eye, heart, imagination, interest, and family throughout the week. So much has caught my eye lately and I’ve been filled with inspiration as the summer season has set in. I live for a changing of the seasons and am embracing summer with arms wide open! My boys have officially been on summer break for two whole weeks and it is already flying by! We’ve made the days special with lots of trips to the pool, homecooked meals, scooter rides to the ocean, playdates, and outings to the beach. I have to say, the two weeks have also flown by because I’ve been in the Bahamas for both of the weekends (more on that here). I have lots more to share from the two trips (one and two) but I’ll be basking in the friendship joy from them for a long while. It was also really wonderful to get away with Edwin on the second of the two trips. We left our kids back at the beginning of October for a wedding in Montecito (read my mini Montecito guide here) but haven’t flown the coop since then and it was very welcomed. We’ve been ships passing in the night since February because of Edwin’s work so the time together was good for the soul.

After being away the past two weekends, I’m thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to be home with my boys this weekend. This was the first time I’ve been away from the kids two weekends in a row since becoming a mother and there’s no where I want to be more in the world than in Charleston with them now. The end of May and the month of June are sensational in Charleston - everyone so enjoys this time of summer before the really heavy, hot, still air sets in so smiles around town are aplenty. The boys, Edwin, and I are marking this upcoming weekend with a trip to one of my most favorite historic homes, a morning at the beach, a barbeque, and a pool party. It’s good to be a kid in Charleston in May. No reason not to celebrate that. Really though, I’m just over here reliving the magic of childhood summertime each and every day through my kids.

If there is anything in particular that you like seeing from me, please don’t hesitate to drop me a comment and let me know! Thank you for being here and for reading my thoughts, inspirations, and obsessions.

P.S. If this post is ever too long for email, simply click through to read it in Substack.

A few quick things:

I have BIG NEWS! If you discovered me here on Substack, then you might not known that I write an old fashioned traditional blog as well. In truth, I’ve been sporadic on it since becoming a mother 4.5 years ago; however, I’m in my groove now with 3 kids (busy but grooving!) so I am excited to be embracing that rhythm and to be a regular blog writer again. I launched this Substack at the beginning of the year and simultaneously started re-designing my blog. I stepped back from writing on my blog to focus on other things (including launching my Substack and redesigning my blog) but the re-design is now ready to share so I AM BACK! Stay tuned for the completely refreshed JillianEversole.com coming NEXT WEEK! I cannot wait. I hope to see you there. It will launch with 4 brand new blog posts too including a very special Charleston post!

The summer collection from La Maregold is here and it might be their cutest collection to date! I love her.

Hill House dropped summer and it is flyyyyyyinggggg. My favorites: pastel crochet, white caftan, navy gingham.

Let’s take a minute to appreciate how adorable Minnow’s summer collection is…! Here’s my perfect outfit from the collection for women: bikini top, high waisted bikini bottom, breezy cotton coverup dress, raffia bucket hat, and the blue and white overnight tote for those sporadic summer sleepovers. For boys: I’m obsessed with the blue primrose swimsuit + the poppy red rashguard. For girls: it’s the poppy gingham for me in the smocked halter style and the one piece style.

I’m really excited to see what this collab is all about.

Carley Fortune has become one of my most favorite (if not my favorite?) beach read authors the last few years. I just started her summer release for this year, One Golden Summer, and am devouring it!

what caught my eye

what caught my heart

On my flight home from the Bahamas, I cracked open issue 10 of In Kind, the newest issue that was released earlier this spring. It had been sitting in a stack on my bedside table since it arrived in the mail, yet to be opened let alone read. I stashed it in my carry-on right before I left for the airport hoping to dive into it instead of convincing myself to answer emails for the entirety of my flights. I’m so glad I did because, upon reading it, I was taken with the essay called, “The Good-Life Diary: Heather Davey Fusco of Priss & Vinegar.” I was not previously familiar with Heather but couldn’t wait to look her up after reading her words. She so beautifully and concisely captured so much of what I think about with motherhood and my family for the decade I/we are in right now and the decade waiting next - the decade I hear time and time again is simply the best.

Heather wrote something in particular that immediately pulled at my heart strings. I read her words back two more times because it was a powerful sentiment and reminder for myself and, I think, so many mothers of young children. When speaking about the early years of motherhood with young babies and children at home, she mused, “I also wish I’d appreciated how richly creative my life was during those early days. I was cooking nourishing organic meals, hosting daily tea parties, dreaming up educational projects, and planning unconventional outings. It was a lot like building a content calendar, except it was for my kids. Maybe I didn’t have a thriving business or a book deal to show for it, but I was creating every single day.” Most of my days look like this - I’m thinking of activities to do with my boys, I’m cooking healthy recipes for our whole family, I’m thinking about what books they’ve grown into that I can read to them next, I’m baking with them, I’m building with them. There is so much creativity in the minutia of motherhood. How beautiful to acknowledge, appreciate, and celebrate that.

what caught my interest

Garden & Gun’s style director, Haskell Harris, recently did a mini feature on everything she loves about the little slice of heaven she calls home, John’s Island (Charleston’s neighbor). It sparked my interest because it served as a lovely little reminder of how fantastic our Charleston backyard is. We love living downtown because we walk everywhere and go days without getting in the car but, when we do drive, we have such an oasis at our fingertips of different beach towns, sea islands, water ways, and space and land to explore. John’s Island is one such place with a vibrant yet oh-so-laid-back community, farm fresh food, and literally endless opportunities to be outdoors. Haskell’s quick guide is a must-read. I also wrote a little about John’s Island here including my favorite spots out there so save it for your next trip to Charleston if you come frequently and want to explore a bit or if you come visit and stay out on Kiawah or at The Dunlin.

Note: If you’re not following along with Haskell’s substack, Gander, you’re missing out! I love the discoveries she shares on there. She also has a beautiful coffee table book – I have it and highly recommend it for reading + for the top of your coffee table book stack because the cover is so punchy fun.

what caught my imagination

Summer shoe styling to start the new season! It’s the perfect summer sandal for me. I loved styling all my Harbour Island outfits (shop them here) for my trip last weekend and was struck by the fact that multiple of us women had the same standout summer sandal MVP - THE Wrap Sandal. It just doesn’t get better than this sandal. I like the sandal so much because it doesn’t follow any trend and isn’t trying to make a statement. Instead, it is just quietly perfect in every way, it’s comfortable, and will be in-style every single year. I’ve said my piece, it’s the best! My top three colorways: rose napa, saddle napa, and champagne napa.

For more summer shoe inspo to get your wardrobe imaginations going: I adore these sandals as a WAY more affordable alternative to the Hermès Oran sandals ($245 versus $840).

These are my favorite gold sandals I’ve seen for vacation dressing this year! Plus, it is a brand spanking new style from the brand. They are Chic with a capital C.

My two other crushes for summer shoes are raffia shoes and denim shoes. You have heard me wax poetic about these denim flats before but I will die on this hill - I love mine. Such a gorgeous affordable alternative to the denim Chanel flats that Chanel can’t seem to keep in stock. These new denim slightly heeled sandals are the shoe to wear to last minute drinks with the gals. Trust me.

And for my raffia babes, these are my obsession. Really though, as you can see, I’m convinced the brand can do no wrong these days. They get better every season.

what caught my kids

Special Days. I told my boys we were going to kick off summer with a bang - each of them would get a special day alone with me. Rowan and I did our special day a week ago and my cup is still full, full, full, running over from how downright wonderful the day was. When you parent multiple children, seeing their sibling relationships is the dream; however, sibling relationships also come with whining, bicker, and the sort. It just comes with the territory. Getting one-on-one time with my kids is so incredible because they thrive having all of my sunlight shine exclusively on them and them alone – they feel extra special.

For Rowan’s special day, we started out with a visit to our little neighborhood toy store where Rowan got to pick out one thing. It was honestly so fun watching him walk around and weigh the pros and cons of all his choices. His final choice was a science project that we did later that night. It was a great choice because we got to hypothesize all day about what we thought would happen! “I want to be a scientist!” is something I hear ringing up and down the floors of our house all the time so I loved his toy selection! Next, we drove to Sullivan’s Island where Rowan got to pick between a few lunch restaurants and, as a child after my own heart, he went with door #3, “the spot with a basket of shrimp!” He ate his whole basket. Proud mama. When we arrived at the finger licking part of the meal, I told him I had a surprise for him… an ice cream shop just down the way. Rowan screamed and continued his proclamations that this was the best day of his life! Ice cream in hand, mint chocolate for Rowan and coconut lemon pie for me, we sat on a bench under the shade of a tree enjoying our sweet treat and talking about why we love summertime so much. Our final stop was the beach. We spent hours on the beach and could have stayed until the sun went down if Edwin and I hadn’t had plans to take the kids to my parents’ house that night. We swam, jumped in the waves, dug holes, built castles, chased the gulls, ate blackberries, talked about sharks (Rowan loves sharks!), and enjoyed the time together, just the two of us. I want to do this every week!

Thank you so very much for reading this week’s edition of The Catch-Up. I’m so grateful you are here. Feel free to drop a comment below - I love to chat! Also, if you like what you read, would you consider heart-ing this post, just below here? It helps Substack know people like my writing. See you next Thursday with vol 14! x