August 2025
August In Review
August came and went in the blink of an eye. The month kicked off with a trip to my parents’ vineyard in southwest Michigan for their annual harvest party, followed by an onsite with my team in downtown Chicago, and then back to New Buffalo, Michigan for my sister-in-law’s bachelorette party (best ever, by the way!!!). By the time I returned home from all that travel, I was more than a little relieved when my doctor ordered me to stay local—baby girl could make her debut any day.
While Ronnie headed to Kentucky for his brother’s wedding (with me at home following doc’s orders), my parents and Tasha came to stay with me and help me nest hard. Tasha and I stocked the freezer with eight meals for those first newborn weeks, and my parents helped transform the house—hanging curtains, a bookshelf, and a mirror in the baby’s room, plus rolling out new rugs in the living room, dining room, and master bedroom. And of course, in the middle of all this prep, a huge summer storm knocked out our power. Not ideal timing, but we made the most of it. Tasha, Charlie, and I had a sleepover at my parents’ house where we stayed up late trading travel stories and laughing as we teased them about their uncanny knack for stumbling into nudists on vacation.
Other highlights from the month included a trip to the zoo with Charlie’s best friend Ella and an afternoon at the 90th annual horse show at Dunham Woods, where the girls were mesmerized by horses jumping, getting baths, and parading around looking fancy.
Looking back, I’m always surprised by how much life we manage to pack into a single month—August was no exception, full of fun, family, and a whole lot of preparation for what’s to come.
With September approaching, and baby girl’s due date (September 2nd) just a few days away, I am feeling incredibly excited for the chapter ahead, and incredibly grateful for the continued support of our family, friends, and my colleagues at work who will be holding down the fort while I have the wonderful privilege of taking time off to be at home with baby girl... and finally, incredibly nostalgic for the last two years of our family of three, what a wonderful time it’s been. Since I won’t be out much in September, I will have to live vicariously through all of you… so tell me: What are you looking forward to in September?
Favs From the Month
Fav Book: I’ve been making my way through Almost 30 on Audible, and I’m loving it. The book is written by two best friends and podcast co-hosts, Lindsey and Krista, who have lived very different lives yet found common ground in the topics I can’t get enough of—ambition, wellness, and spirituality. Their perspectives feel both relatable and inspiring, and it’s been such an enjoyable listen so far. I’m especially looking forward to diving into more books like this during my maternity leave.
Fav Podcast Episodes: Lori Harder’s series on “The Audacity” really struck a chord, she’s actually kicking off a free Audacity challenge alongside the series.
Fav Streams: Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Parent Trap, and Zootopia all hit the big screen (in my basement) and the little screen (my iPad in bed) this month.
Fav Chat GPT Prompt: I’m obsessed with personality assessments / astrology / etc. so I asked Chat GPT to analyze all my results and come up with a soul dossier and soul operating system for me. Absolutely brilliant! 10/10 recommend you do this.
Fav Recipes: Tash and I cooked up a storm the weekend that she came to stay with us, the meals I have frozen in my freezer for when baby arrives include: Sausage and Peppers, Tuscan Kale Soup, Spinach Enchilada Casserole, Green Chile Enchilada Bake, Chicken Parm Bake, Chicken Pot Pie Bake, and my Grandma Gen’s Lasagna (not yet on the blog, forgive me, but also is there anything better than a hand-written recipe card that’s been tarnished with food splatters from all the love from your Grandma?!).
Finds
Fav Pantry / Fridge Item What’s in my hospital bag: Just Iced Tea, Leisure, Coco 5, Siete Tortilla Chips, Lesser Evil Popcorn, Smartsweets, and Justin’s Nut Butter Cups. All delish, all very exciting selections for this pregger lady.
Fav Thing I Finally Caved and Bought: This sofa and coffee table for my master bedroom. Plus this art for my dining room, and this art for the master bathroom, when I think about some of the other art (this, this) I’ve bought recently, I am realizing there is a definite cowboy motif happening… which is kind of amazing considering we live down the street from about 10 different riding stables.
From my iPhone
It was truly hard to pick only a few tops from this month, so much fun packed into the final month of summer. Outside of the super cute pics of Charlie (how about the one with her hand on my belly?!), and my BIL with his new wife, the one of the curtains hanging in my bedroom with honey-colored light filtering through is probably my favorite — waking up at the new house is truly divine.
