The Catch-Up | Vol 9
Spring break travels, three generations in Charleston + Palmetto Bluff, beloved children’s books that promote imaginative thinking, Easter treats, and more.
Hello friends! Happy Thursday and welcome to the ninth edition of The Catch-Up, my weekly column that arrives in your inboxes every week. The Catch-Up consists of everything that has caught my eye, heart, imagination, interest, and family throughout the week. I took the last two weeks off from posting as we were traveling for spring break/had friends and family visiting us for their spring break. So, I took the opportunity to really enjoy my family and our beloved company. Now, I’m happy to be back! I shared here, but the last 3 weeks have been particularly batty but not without so many highlights. We went to Arizona for spring break where we met Edwin’s parents and brother + his brother’s sweet family. We had an exceptional time with family who we simply don’t get to see enough. The boys had an absolute blast with their grandparents and darling little cousin. Everyone swam, made lemonade, played pickle ball, had patio lunches, took golf cart rides, and told lots of stories. We then met my family for the wedding of someone so special to me - a friend I have known since birth. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more radiant bride than Elizabeth! She was truly spectacular, beautiful, and so in love. I was energized by their dedication, joyfulness, and obvious love for each other!
The fun didn’t end there as we flew back to Charleston with our best friends from California and spent a week with them in Charleston + Palmetto Bluff for their spring break. They have 3 boys the same ages as our boys and it is absolutely mind blowing to see them all playing together. The boys have no idea how special it is! They can’t wrap their little minds around the fact that their dads used to live together and their moms used to live together. Ohhhh, the glory years. We’re so lucky to have these new kinds of glory years happening right now with our friendships and our children’s friendships. The grandparents came on the trip too as they are also dear friends with my parents so we had an absolute blast with our three generations together - backyard barbecues, beach evenings, nighttime story circles outside under the stars with flashlights. Memories were made. For inquiring minds: we rented this house in Palmetto Bluff and it was fantastic! Perfect for our family of 5 and their family of 5 (the grandparents did their own travels instead of joining the Palmetto Bluff portion of the week). We’ve also rented this house with my family before and loved it too. The rental house options in Palmetto Bluff are great and so easy.
I hope your week has allowed you a few minutes to read my post from Tuesday - Making People Feel Like the Sun. I’d be honored to have you read it if you haven’t already. If you have read it, thank you so incredibly much! It includes some reflective words on how we show love to the people around us. I’m biased but I’m obsessed with the collage that goes along with the post. I can’t get enough of the color combo right now.
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.
what caught my eye
what caught my heart
Who is your favorite influencer, blogger, what-have-you? I always have the same answer and have honestly since the beginning of influencing. Blair Eadie of Atlantic-Pacific. She’s one I don’t know personally but I just think she is sensational. Her sense of style is ingenious, she appears to be a beyond savvy business woman, and she exudes graciousness and humility (even though she is at the top of the game!). She is aspirational yet relatable. I like that I come to her for style and not lifestyle. I know what I’m getting from her and she delivers every single time. She’s just über impressive to me. Anytime she does open up a bit more beyond her outfits, I respect what she has to say. The latest instance of this is her reflection on 15 years of blogging and her list of the 15 biggest lessons she has learned in 15 years. She manages to talk about growing and scaling her business while bringing it back to the heart of it all - kindness, curiosity, knowing yourself, growth, honesty, responsibility, and honoring what you love and what excites you (regardless of a dollar sign). Her lessons are applicable to anyone - not just influencers. There is no one on the internet like Blair, which can make the internet such a beautiful place… there is room for everyone and their unique style/viewpoint/personality. Blair is a shining example of that! Many of her lessons are lingering with me and giving me new little bits of wisdom to chew on. How about you?
what caught my interest
Catching my interest right now: facts around the postpartum experience and reframing “mommy brain” as “the brilliance of the postpartum brain.” I’ve been postpartum 3 times and each time was similar but so different. No one experience is the same as another. I really enjoyed this podcast episode with Nicole Pensak, author of Rattled: How to Calm New Mom Anxiety with the Power of the Postpartum Brain. I wasn’t familiar with Nicole or her book before listening to the episode but I loved her positive spin on “mommy brain” and postpartum brain fog. I’ve felt so overcome with postpartum brain fog at times so this really caught my interest. I loved the breakdown of what is actually happening to our brains when we become mothers - “a complete overhaul of your brain.” I couldn’t help but smile when she declared that, in the immediate postpartum phase, it’s not just the mommy brain stigma but really our brains are “on a path to brilliance” to give us “a leg up in caregiving.” How powerful is that!? She breaks down how our brains reorganize and evolve themselves to better support new babies, she validates postpartum forgetfulness/fogginess, and so much more. Give it a listen if this interests you.
what caught my imagination
Every once in a while, I love a good old fashioned Pinterest moment circa 2012. I saw one on Instagram the other day and thought it was so cute. It was the work of (I’d assume) a Pinterest-loving mom’s imagination at its finest: Easter Rice Krispie Treats. We have a 4-day weekend this weekend with Good Friday and Easter Monday off of school so making these might become a morning activity for us one day. Rice Krispies cereal, marshmallows, butter, shredded coconut, chocolate eggs and you’ve got yourself something easy, silly, and yummy. Plus, I have a feeling making these and the end result of them will stick with kiddos. Healthy? Nope. Fun? Yes! Pick your poison folks. Giving my kids healthy food is a hill I’ll die on but I won’t sacrifice it for childhood joy. Here are a few recipes to choose from: one, two, three.
what caught my kids
The Night Gardner. We got Henry a few books for his 3rd birthday last week and the clear winner in the group is The Night Gardner. My boys have fallen in love with this sweet book. The illustrations are beautiful and incredibly engaging for children, the plot is thoughtful and touching, and I personally love that it is written by two brothers (note: this is not at all a book for boys specifically, I just have boys so I like the brothers connection. However, this book is for everyone!). The book is delightful, magical, and imaginative. We have read it multiple times every day since Henry received the book!
As a parent, I personally gravitate towards books, stories, and illustrations that make my kids’ imaginations run wild. We read every single day so it’s important to me to read quality books with my boys. We read lots of classics and, when I am discovering new books, I lean on helpful indicators like Newberry medals and Caldecott medals. If a book won a Cauldecot, then there’s a good chance I’ll love it!
There are a million children’s books I haven’t read but, in the spirit of the creativity of The Night Gardner, I thought I’d share some of our favorite children’s books that ignite the imagination. Here’s a list of 15+ books that are top of mind, although I know so many are probably escaping me right now. Which are your favorites? These are in no particular order so, if you need some new books for your littles, pick out 3 or 4 from this list and then come back to it again later when you need a few more.
At the end of the day, this is my philosophy: children are not encouraged to use their imaginations as much in modern childhood so I look for books that nurture my boys’ imaginations and fuel their love of books. Rowan is passionate about reading so I love connecting with him in this way! I’m a firm believer that a vibrant imagination will take you far in life. Farther than most other things.
Harold and the Purple Crayon (I really couldn’t love this book more if I tried)
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear
I can’t wait for the next stage of imaginative books with my kids when they are a little bit older and we can dive into The Phantom Tollbooth (the book that inspired the name of my Substack), The Chronicles of Narnia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Little Prince, and so so so many more.
Thank you so very much for reading this week’s edition of The Catch-Up. I’m so grateful you are here. Writing this series brings me a lot of joy so I hope that comes across when reading it. Feel free to drop a comment below and we can chat if any of this strikes a chord with you. If you made it this far and feel so inclined, I’d be grateful to you if you could give the post a heart just below here. It helps others find me on Substack. :) Thank you so very much! I love and appreciate each one of you for reading. See you next Thursday with vol 10!
love your catch-ups!
I’m going to freshen up Arthur’s bookcase with a few of your suggestions. So sweet, thank you!