The return of coffee

The rumors are all too true, friends: I'm back on the coffee again.

After two whole months of a caffeine-free existence, my precious coffee has found its way back into my life and my mornings. (Spoiler alert: I'm sorta loving it.)

I reclaimed my old habit in a weak moment; I was in the throws of that awful eye fiasco, and truth be told I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. One little latte purchased in earnest at the cafe (as a treat to cheer myself up) turned into buying a whole bag of beans to take home for the French press. At that moment, I knew I was done for. And now that our mornings are starting up extra early, I can't say that I'm feeling particularly regretful about this whole deal.

Yessiree, coffee is back in a big way. I'm down the rabbit hole now.

A family of reluctant early birds

Yesterday, we got our first taste of the fall schedule to come. After a whole year of the luxuriously slow mornings afforded us by our afternoon preschool program, Monday found us quite unprepared to rush off before 8:00am in order to get Maya to her week-long summer day camp.

It's good practice for us; come September, Maya's new school will begin bright and early, and Henry will be in a morning program as well. Dennis' work schedule is changing too, and with fall around the corner, we will soon be family of reluctant early birds. Poor Henry has had his breakfast in the stroller for two mornings in a row now.

That said, despite the early morning scramble, I've been amazingly productive. It's only Tuesday and I've already done the grocery shopping, took care of some HOA business, balanced our budget, cleaned the house, finished all the laundry, returned a million emails, and even booked a dryer vent cleaning. Because you know my life is glamorous like that. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The earlier I wake up, the more I accomplish. Simple as that.

Also, full disclosure: I'm back on the coffee. More on that tomorrow. 

Quick & easy homemade coconut oil body scrub

I had this recipe posted elsewhere, but it's so darn good it definitely merits a repost. 

When I heard about Cristin’s recipe for quick and easy homemade coconut oil body scrub, I got pretty dang excited. Because, girlfriend, you had me at “coconut.”

I took her recipe one step further and made two versions: A body scrub made with course sea salt and a facial scrub made with extra fine sea salt. And I used lavender and tea tree essential oils for the scent. 

Ladies, I am obsessed with this scrub. Obsessed, I tells ya! I use it at least twice a week and pretty much every day on my hands. This stuff is miles better than any store-bought scrub I've ever tried and I cannot recommend it highly enough. 

Here’s Cristin’s recipe and how-to video. That girl is as cute as a button, is she not!?

Dad's day

Happy Father's Day to the guy who I can never get to smile in a photo:

...and also to the guy who I can never get NOT to smile in a photo:

And to all the dad's out there: Enjoy your day! Hope you get a nice long nap in.