Happy Parade of Homes to all who celebrate. We have been squeezing in home tours whenever we can. With kids at home we won't be able to see all the homes in person, but it has been a fun and inspiring way to spend a few evenings when we can get away.
My health is beginning to feel more manageable day-to-day. I still need to get in to see a specialist to maybe get on some medication for POTS, but after doubling up on my electrolytes/sodium again this week, I was able to start curbing more of my fatigue in addition to the brain fog. It's a hopeful and refreshing feeling.
Jack set up and invited me to a sleepover in our basement. After several days of putting it off, I agreed. Unfortunately this happened to fall on the night Savvy ate something strange up in the mountains and spent the ENTIRE night, every hour, scratching on the basement exterior door to go outside and vomit, then scratch to come back in. I would have just left the door open, but allergies. It was worse than a night with a newborn baby. But Jack never woke until the morning when he had a huge grin plastered to his face about our sleepover "success," so . . . worth it? Worth it one time a year.
I did a decent job of capturing this week in pictures, so we will get to those now with more details in the captions:
^^Father's Day was sweet. I wish I had taken a picture at my parents' home in the evening. We had a wonderful time chatting with my parents and siblings about memories of Dad. At home, Jared opened presents from the kids and I and Alice performed a ballet recital for Jared that was
extremely adorable. One of my favorite Alice memories yet.
^^Lots of time spent at parks and splash pads again this week. We have a community pool that Jack wishes we would go to every day. I like the idea, but sometimes the prep work feels like too much, with the swimsuits and sunscreen and bag packing. I need to get our pool routine more streamlined so we can go more often.
^^Jared's mom got Alice this little glowing newt as a gift a few holidays back. It is brilliant because Alice can tap it to make it brighter, dimmer, or turn it off. She loves this newt and it's sweet to spy on her sleeping by the glow. "I wuv mine newt!"
^^My sister-in-law Caitlin invited me to a girls night at the home of a friends of hers who happens to live on my street, but I had never met her yet. It was a wonderful chance to meet lots of neighbors, make some new friends, and enjoy this strawberry moon from her back deck.
^^Here's a Father's Day picture at my parents! Alice did another dance "recital" for grandpa.
^^On Saturday, we did a babysitting swap with two of my siblings so we could all see a few Parade Homes. It was a lot of work but worth it. Our niece Ellie is in a strong separation anxiety phase, but Jared won her over because they seem to have the same taste in music.
And now for some Parade of Homes pictures, if you're into that:
^^We loved the feel of this primary suite. Felt very cozy.
^^My favorite powder bathroom so far this year. All clad in pretty vertical wood paneling, with this lovely mauvey wallpaper on the ceiling.
^^WOW. I know this is highly improbably but I suddenly find myself in need of a semi-enclosed zen garden in our future yard.
^^This home was in our favorite location so far, possibly because we didn't even know this location existed and it's maybe 20 minutes from our house. In Alpine, there is a winding uphill road that takes you up behind some gorgeous hills into an Alpine landscape that is completely hidden from the rest of Utah Valley. You feel like you are alone up here, with only a handful of neighbors and stunning Alpine vistas on all sides. I also don't hate this infinite pool. p.s. this picture doesn't do the scenery justice. This is one of the least scenic angles. (#16 in the parade)
^^The rest of the pictures will be the inside of this house, which has been our overall favorite home so far. (#13 in the parade). The style was "southern cottage" or something like that. It was SO charming and just felt cozy and peaceful--refreshing after so many hugely grand, often sterile-feeling modern mansions. They did a great job with the landscaping. My phone dies before I could get any pictures of the backyard, but the back had probably a hundred trees planted all around the border, so they will grow and have the backyard feeling like a completely private park. The gardens were full of flowers, the patio furniture was scalloped white wrought iron and felt like a step back in time. There was a little pool with striped cabana umbrellas on the side.
^^The study right off the entry
^^The house was staged entirely with original oil paintings from a nearby art gallery, and WOW. Jared has always loved oil painting, so he was in awe. These are all very much Jared's style and color palette preference. The home walls felt like a cozy gallery and was very nicely curated. I've always thought I'd prefer mixed art media throughout my home, but having everything be a vibrant oil painting felt surprisingly wonderful and cohesive. Better get painting, Jared! Oil paintings ain't cheap.
^^The laundry room cabinetry was painted buttercream yellow. The floors were stained in this diamond-check two-tone stain. The tiles were delft and felt like a cozy step back in time. Yes, yes, yes. We love a cozy cottage house. This house felt real and achievable in a way the others didn't. Obviously the scale of this home is still fairly grand so we'd have to take it down several notches, but we are taking notes. I was a big fun of so many rooms paneled with vertical paneling.
