summer – the Whitney Michaels blog

Summer Weekend Recap

August 28, 2017August 28, 2017kids, motherhood, UncategorizedLeave a Comment

A full weekend brings with it so many memories – friends, laughs, and the occasional tired kid meltdown. Last weekend we had two birthday parties for the girls’ friends, one birthday BBQ for my dad, ran some errands, and got to spend Sunday afternoon swimming and having dinner with family.

Before all of the festivities, I started off on Friday afternoon with my amazingly talented friend Meadow (@MeadowStarLA) getting the prettiest set of lash extensions. I don’t often wear a full face of makeup, but it is rare that I leave the house without mascara. It just makes me feel like I look alive and awake! No need anymore! I literally woke up Saturday morning feeling like I was ready for the day. I literally cannot feel anything different on my eyes, but I look in the mirror and have so much volume and curl. Honestly amazing!!

We got to experience a fun kids place on Friday night for a friends’ birthday. Scooters Jungle was so fun and SO exhausting! My kids LOVED to jump, climb, and go down the incredibly fast slide! We were out a bit late but they slept soooo good that night! Despite Aubrey’s pouty face in this photo she literally had the time of her life!

Saturday morning was spent at Underwood Farms celebrating another toddler friend. The farm is a place that we love on any day, but add in a horse drawn wagon ride and some barnyard animal cake pops and we got ourselves a winning destination!

Saturday afternoon we had my parents over to celebrate my dad’s birthday. The girls looked adorable in their new June & January outfits…I cannot wait for their fall line to come out!

Now that Aubrey’s been doing swimming lessons, afternoons in the pool are so much fun! She loves to show us the new things she is learning and practice her new skills! This is how Blake spent the majority of her Sunday. Double fisting sweet watermelon and making a juicy mess!

Hope you all had a fun filled weekend. For those being affected by Hurricane Harvey we are thinking about you all.

Happy Monday! Have a great week!

xoxo

Whitney

Summer Essentials

July 10, 2017July 11, 2017essentials, kids, motherhood, products, Uncategorized1 Comment

Summer in So Cal brings longer days and so much sunshine! It used to mean spending weekends floating on a raft with a cocktail in hand, BBQing with friends and family every week, and staying up late to enjoy the warm summer nights. Fast forward a couple of years and adding 2 young kids to the mix, and our ideas of a summer day and night have changed a bit! We spend more time figuring out how to avoid the direct sun as we used to preparing cocktails and even though its still light out, our bedtime routine must stay consistent because tired kids are cranky kids!

Here’s a few things that are getting us through the summer!

Going to Grandma’s pool has been a favorite activity this summer! Pool time tip: wait until the afternoon! We’ve been going after nap time to help us get through those last couple of hours before dad gets home, and also to avoid that prime time sun! Even so, I love that the float we have has a shade and we also use UV protecting bucket hats for the girls. They don’t always keep them on, but we try! Aubrey LOVES to get out and go to the side to jump to us! But the 100 degree heat gets any type of floor way hot! Having on these non slip water shoes makes it so easy to transition from concrete to pool without worrying about burnt toes! They’re great at the splash pad or in our own yard when playing with the water table too! Speaking of – the water table is a genius idea! Small enough for it not to be such an ordeal to set up, but fun enough to provide hours of entertainment! We keep ours under the patio by a drain because this just screams “splash in me!” and “scoop it up and dump it out!” to our toddler apparently. But we love it! So easy to add sand toys, cups, rubber ducks, paint brushes (to “paint” the concrete with water) and the girls both have so much fun.

The last few items make my life so much easier! That striped bag is from Initials, Inc and literally can hold EVERYTHING you could possibly need on a summer day! Changes of clothes, towels, snacks, diapers & wipes, camera…you name it! I had mine personalized with WM because I also am using it when I travel with my essential oils set up, but they have all sorts of fun graphics or fonts to make it a perfect summer bag – and personalization is FREE! Packing up, making sure kids stay safe from the sun and in the water, and fed can be exhausting for this mom and you know what I usually forget? All of those things for myself! A large stainless steel cup is perfect because it will stay cold for so long and I love to add some combo of citrus essential oils, so I avoid plastic. The other savior this summer has been my Young Living after sun spray! I’ve unfortunately passed on my sensitive skin to my girls and even when taking precautions, the sun and chlorine are not so nice to us! I feel good using this spray on myself and the kids because its so clean and it brings a cool and refreshing relief whether we just feel hot or if the sun kissed us a little too hard! This is a brand new product this year and we are obsessed! (If you have no idea what I’m talking about with my citrus essential oils or Young Living, you can read up here or scroll around on my Instagram!)

Do you have any Summer Essentials that you can’t live without? I’d love for you to share!

Have a wonderful Summer!

Whitney

Five on Friday

June 29, 2017June 30, 2017five on friday, Uncategorized2 Comments

I love linking up with women whom I follow and am inspired by – it is a great way to connect! 5 on Friday is a fun way to share a few things we are doing, places we’re loving, recipes we are eating, or things I’m finding inspiring! Happy FriYAY!

one| Just in case you haven’t heard, I’m a gal who loves her some office supplies! Planners, pens, notebooks, sticky notes, books – basically anything that helps me feel organized. It’s also a major bonus when it looks pretty and ends up being functional! You don’t want to know the amount of planners or journals I’ve purchased that I end up putting in a drawer after the first couple weeks! Enter Erin Condren. She and I have been in the longest committed planner relationship I’ve ever been in and I’m in love! I currently use 2 planners, one for everyday/personal/family things (neutral hourly) and one for my essential oils and blogging (neutral deluxe monthly). I’m so excited to have ordered my NEW one for next year (although let’s be real, I may move into it earlier!). I got a different format – the neutral vertical – and I’m hoping to combine both my personal and “business” books!

two| For a girl who loves to plan so much you’d think I’d be a meal planning machine, right? Nope. This is something I try so hard to be good at, but it always falls to the end of the list. I tend to be the type that runs to the store every-every other day or starts scouring the freezer for something easy at 5:00! A super easy meal that I always have on hand is tamales with beans and rice and/or salad! I always have beans and rice in the pantry, and the girls are always down for a quesadilla or bean and cheese burrito! These tamales are fresh, but freeze so well and are super yummy! I’ve found them at Pavillions and Costco! Perfect last minute meal!

three|Water Play! Summer has been in full effect for the past couple of weeks in So Cal, and the only way we’ve been making it outside is with a little H2O! The pool at Grandma’s, the splash pad with friends (love hanging with Sharon from Mama Chit Chat), or the water table under the patio have been our go-to’s! I’m loving the swimsuits I got for the girls a couple of months ago! Aubrey’s one shoulder is from the Gap outlet and Blake’s striped one is Babies r Us.

four|even though summer is not so different from the rest of the year for us (I don’t drop off the girls anywhere), the days are still longer and the heat seems to make them crazier and me more exhausted! The regularly scheduled things we do together (gymnastics and mommy and me) take a break so its up to me to get us up, out, and moving! A friend invited us on a little field trip this morning and we had so much fun feeding and learning about Alpacas at Alpacas and Beyond! If you’re in the area I highly recommend contacting Kim for a fun group outing!

five| I did some shopping in the LC by Lauren Conrad and juniors sections at Kohls the other day, and I’m loving the off the shoulder trend finds I picked up! Chambray, Coral, Gingham

Have a wonderful weekend!

Be sure to catch April, Christina, and Natasha!

Summer Bucket List 2014 {progress}

July 28, 2014November 7, 2014UncategorizedLeave a Comment

summer is already {more than} halfway over and it has flown by! we’ve checked off a couple items from my bucket list for this year, but still have a lot to cover in the next few weeks!

{progress}

{one. go camping at least 3 times.} almost there with this one! we have a reservation for this weekend which will be our third camping trip this summer – also the third trip for the new trailer!

{two. make these yummy grilled shortcake kebabs.} not yet…still look SO good though.

{three. make sangria.} nope, but there’s still time!

{four. celebrate forth of July at home for the first time. maybe even make some festive goodies.} yes! well, not our home but at a friends house for a bbq during the day and then met up with our besties for a little night hiking and a beautiful view of the fireworks!

4th of July fruit 4th of July fireworks

{five. take a trip to laughlin, nv to go boating.} almost. we did have a reservation and a plan to make this happen, this week actually! but unfortunately my husband’s work and some other things came up and we had to cancel! we’ll try again next year!

{six. master the mocktail for those all day pool adventures that alcohol doesn’t make an appearance!} not quite…maybe I’ll try a version of a sangria and knock two out at once!

{seven. go to a farmers market.} still on the list…

{eight. go to the beach.} also on the list!

{nine. do one major house project.} uh oh! running out of time!

{ten. acquire a {no tan line} glow for the wedding I’m in at the end of summer!} eh, not so much! but hopefully I can work on that camping this weekend and at the bachelorette party for said wedding next month!

I guess the progress isn’t looking so good! {2/10?!} the end of summer is going to be full!

hope everyone is having a great summer!

Summer Bucket List 2014

June 16, 2014June 13, 2014UncategorizedLeave a Comment

as the first day of summer approaches, I am dreaming of pool days, tan legs and cocktails on the rocks!

the days are longer and the nights are hotter and I thought it would be fun to put together a bucket list of trips we’ve been meaning to take, recipes I’ve been meaning to make and other fun stuff to make summer 2014 awesome!

one. go camping at least 3 times.

two. make these yummy grilled shortcake kebabs. perfect for a summer bbq!

three. make sangria. if you’ve seen my board dedicated to drinks on pinterest , you would think I’m an expert. wrong. I’ve never made sangria! this recipe from gimme some oven is for the BEST sangria – I’m thinking its a good place to start! it looks pretty too!

four. celebrate forth of july at home for the first time. maybe even make some festive goodies – including these drinks made by jessica at little baby garvin that are equal parts yummy and beautiful!

five. take a trip to laughlin, nv to go boating. (I’ve been doing this twice a summer since I was a kid – but the past couple years we haven’t made it out)

six. master the mocktail for those all day pool adventures that alcohol doesn’t make an appearance! I found these lovely recipes on a beautiful mess that I can’t wait to try!

seven. go to a farmers market.

eight. go to the beach.

who wouldn’t want to spend the day on the sand in malibu? I love paradise cove for its perfect beach area and cafe and bar close by!

nine. do one major house project.

ten. acquire a {no tan line} glow for the wedding I’m in at the end of summer!

looks like we will be doing a lot of drinking, beaching and hanging outside this summer! hopefully we can fit in some productivity at some point and get to that house project!

what are your plans for summertime? I’ll be documenting my progress on instagram – #summerbucketlist2014