Races, pianos, herbs, and concealer

...a frantic Friday post.

I got back to Texas on Monday after spending the weekend in Florida with my grandfather and a couple of my cousins. My grandmother used to love the Daytona 500 and with it being the same week as her passing a couple of years ago, it was absolutely the thing to do to write her name on the finish line of the track and spend the weekend laughing with family.

We dove right into a busy week of school, piano, tennis, and art lessons for the girls. I really don’t enjoy being overscheduled and I try to give the girls plenty of downtime to just relax and be kids, so they are each limited to two activities at any given time. Their piano lessons are virtual (the way this saves us time) and while I had my doubts about how well they could learn over FaceTime, it’s amazing how well they’re doing and I love having that live music in the house in the afternoons.

I’ve had lots of q’s about who does their lessons - it’s the former music teacher at our elementary school. She takes new students though, so shoot me a message on insta if you’d like her info.

I haven’t shut up about this marketplace piano I found - and I can’t imagine I will anytime soon. The fact that it was $135 delivered is something that I want to yap about constantly. It’s so beautiful and this wood polish was an amazing way to smooth the knicks, scratches, and spots and get it looking brand new. Can you believe they included the lamp? It’s vintage and perfect.

Ryan was traveling this week and I didn’t have a menu planned before I left for my trip, so we made “no dad dinners” which include lots of rotisserie chickens, make your own sandwiches, and sheetpan nachos.

An herb update:

These little guys are growing as fast as Isabel’s feet. In a month or so I’m planning to move them into some big black planters I have stashed away and create (I hope) something similar to this.

I planted cucumbers, jalapenos, mint, dill, rosemary, cilantro, and parsley. The cucumbers are show offs and already need to be moved to a bigger pot.

I’ve been struggling with concealer over the last few months. I really think as I age, my undereye area has been less and less tolerant (aka looks horrible) of thicker concealers. I kept getting served ads for this skincare laden undereye concealer, finally tried it, and I love it. Yes, it’s thin. I think that’s why my skin likes it. Even if I set with powder, it’s not caking, not creasing, and blends super well with a damp beauty sponge. I got the shade fair.

I’m so ready for a do-nothing weekend at home this weekend. Between Ryan and I both traveling, it feels like we have to catch up with each other and the girls, so we have *zero* plans. It’s going to be great.

- MB