Where Did That Summer Go?

I can't believe we're two weeks into the school year already! Shocking. I don't understand how this happened. It seemed like the shortest summer ever. It was full of fun, but I feel like I would've like to pack so much more into it. I realize it's been a month since my last post, which is poor on my part. Let's catch up!

It seems like it was Memorial Day just a couple of weeks ago and we were celebrating July 4th with visiting friends and so many wonderful friends from here just days ago. Since then we were able to pack in another golf camp for Kiddo and a visit to my family. Kiddo stayed for a week and had all kinds of fun camping and playing golf with my family. Lucky girl. The best part is that my sister brought her home and we had a fun weekend with her here in ABQ, even though it was WAY too short of a visit.

 We ended off the weekend before school started with a fun barbecue dinner on our back patio. Only the second or third we've had all summer. Aunty Tru made copycat Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies which were delicious! Here's the recipe she used. For our dinner we had all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables, chips, barbecue bacon dogs...oh it was so good and such a beautiful night outside. We need to have a few more of those nights before summer's official end.

It's been rainy and overcast here much of the past four weeks, which makes it feel not very summery. I feel like fall hit us towards the end of July and isn't going to let go. I can't complain about the cooler temps and less intensely hot sunshine but it's a bummer to not be swimming in the pool in the afternoons when it's overcast or raining...not to mention that everytime it rains it leaves a huge amount of water on the pool cover that has to be cleaned off before even thinking about uncovering the pool. Needless to say we haven't been in the pool the past few weeks, which is a big drag.

We've had some crazy, amazing torrential downpours and major lightning/thunder storms in the past few weeks. It's fun for a change of pace, but still I feel like summer is cheating us a bit. Autumn is undoubtedly the most completely enjoyable season of the year here in New Mexico. Along with it comes Balloon Fiesta which is such a fun time to be here in the city.

We are gearing up for school and extracurricular activities to get very busy for the next couple of months. I have always been that parent who insisted kids schedules are not overbooked, but despite my best efforts we're going to be a little bit overbooked for about 8 weeks. But by then we'll just about be into the holidays and things will quiet down again until we get into spring. Life in middle school seems to be going okay which I'm happy about. I'm staying plenty busy during the day managing my little empire, squeezing in some service opportunities and catching up with friends now that all the kids are in school again.

I think this will be a nice fall. Looking forward to it. Yesterday while I was driving home from brunch with a friend as I looked up at the mountains I thought I like my life right now. Things are good. This is not to say there aren't life's major challenges, heartbreaks and frustrations, but counting one's blessings makes if apparent that there is more good than bad in life.

How are you feeling about the last month of summer, the beginning of school and the changing of seasons?

Summer Kick-off Trip

School ended near the last full week of May and then we had just the right amount of days to unwind and rest of before we headed off to visit family and attend sports camps. In the aftermath of our trip I will say that I really liked getting away and starting summer off with a bang right away. It was good for the soul to see family, get out of town out and be somewhere different, and start the summer fun of splash pads and picnics right off the bat.

Sometimes I find that if I don't really start summer off with intention for summer fun, suddenly it's late July or early August and we are just getting having our first barbecue, trip, big bike ride, night at the city park or baseball stadium and we've missed the majority of the summer. So jumping right into the spirit of the season the week after school got out was great.

Kiddo attended golf and basketball camps in the mornings and then in the afternoons and on the weekends we had time to spend with immediate and extended family. We met lots of cousins at a local splash pad one day and another day we took a fun evening bike ride around Midway, Utah. It is a wonderful little town that was settled by Swiss immigrants and has the look and feel of a beautiful quaint European village. After  our ride, that we had the best burgers and fries at a local food truck.

It was so good for the soul to be with our people, to see old friends and to be about different things than we generally are on regular days at home. I met up with a fun friend from California who is now an esthetician working in American Fork and had a great facial and chat. Things have changed so much since I lived in the area where I grew up that it's a challenge for me to find my way around anymore. But it is fun to adventure to new places that I often hear about from locals that I haven't been to.

I also had a chance to do a little undisturbed clothing shopping and scored on a few great deals on summer clothes. We enjoyed some great meals at my folks home and out to eat at fun old favorite eating spots and some "new to us" spots too. I think I got a bit of heat exhaustion one day and eating a lot of salads really helped with recovery. Fresh fruits and vegetables just make summer such a happy time for me.

We were sad to leave everyone, but once we were home we were also happy to be back in our own home, beds and routine. Thanks to our fun 10-day trip we came home in full summer mode. Even though we have work, home chores, classes and camps to attend to,we are still making the most of summer by taking some free time every day to relax, swim and watch a little TV or go somewhere fun. Bedtime has also gone out the window, for better or worse. It feels like it's okay so far and I think everyone in the family seems to be benefitting from taking a break from the rigorous and tiring routine of the school year.

It's been insanely hot since we got back and we feel like we're roasting a lot of the time, so that downtime really does help us keep our sanity and stay as cool as possible. Swimming has helped cool down our core body temps in the late afternoons and we stay cool the rest of the day. What a blessing it's been to have a pool, even though we kept telling our realtor we did not want a pool. But there are a lot of houses in the southwest that have a pool so it's not always so easy to find the house you want that doesn't have a pool. In the end I'm so glad we have a pool. Lesson learned. Living in the southwest and having a pool is a good thing.

Summer is in full swing now. Kiddo is in a local golf camp this week and I am working as much as I can while also making time for downtime for myself, with the family and with friends. One thing I still want to work on is getting out with friends to do things. I am not very good at initiating plans but am always so happy when friends call and invite us to do things. This summer I want to plan some mom and kids outings and a few night time family picnics. Better get on that!

Saying Goodbye To May: Patio Outdoor Space Ready

May is pretty much my favorite month of the year and I am always sad to see it end. With Mother's Day, my birthday and Memorial Day weekend it's pretty much a month long party. Not complaining!
I have so many beautiful cards on my mantle along with fresh flowers and potted plants that have come my way the past couple of weeks. It just makes everything feel so festive.

I have been working hard on outdoor living spaces as I have talked about repeatedly here. I am happy to report that for the past several night we have been out on our front patio, with the solar lanterns lit playing games and having fun. Every day it seems I add something new. First it was a couple of tea lights in jars, then I broke open a big box of wicker lanterns like these on the table above.

Story about those wicker lanterns. In December 2011 (!!!!), we had just gotten engaged and I was in full-blown, excited wedding planning dream land. I found these wicker lanterns at TJMaxx and ended up driving all over the Los Angeles metro area buying them out of every store so that I had enough to use them on the long tables for our wedding. You can see my original blog post full of enthusiasm about having found them here. Well fast forward 6 1/2 years (oh my gosh....) and we never had our big wedding thanks to a little detour called Afghanistan.....and these lanterns, along with anything else I purchased for our wedding have been languishing in storage ever since.

I didn't have the heart to get rid of them, thought perhaps someday we might actually have a vow ceremony/reception of some kind that we could share with family and friends. So in boxes they have sat. Finally I brought one box out and opened it. Along with six lanterns I found a couple hundred really cute paper napkins I had purchased for a pre-wedding picnic or rehearsal dinner or something. Wow. Anyway I put three of these lanterns out on the coffee table on the front porch and they look so fun and festive and create such a lovely light in the evenings...and I feel a little sad that they are going to get used and get ruined without every having served their true purpose but whatever. I have to get over that...

I started making a small buffet table for the back deck with two towers of four cinder blocks and a pretty wood top that I built. I spent part of Friday night at Home Depot with my building plans, trying to figure out the best materials to use and pushing one of those gigantic pull carts that was so heavy I had to totally lean my entire body into it to get it to move. Then I packed everything into my little VW Golf (crazy amount of cargo space, even fit 6' wood plants and 10 cinderblocks with room to spare!).

I have been working on this table since Friday night and hoped to have it done Saturday but it's definitely a work in progress and I should have it done by Wednesday. I have the top done, just need to even out the edges on each side and then stain it and polyurethane it for outdoor use. It's a bar height and will fit our new little portable barbecue grill and leave room for serving food too. You can see the example of the table I'm building here. I'm not doing the sides, just one long 6' length. I figured we can add the sides later if we feel we need them but I think the three-sided table is more than we need and doesn't fit out space all that well. We have a fairly narrow patio but it's very long so a long table along one wall makes great sense for us. I'll share more details when I have a finished product to show you. Excited about it! Really makes my soul so happy to have a creative project.

We also got our temporary, but large and fabulous, bi-fold door/sawhorse dining table out of the shed last night. Hooray! throw a giant tablecloth over that and we have a table to eat at outside. I made a makeshift grilling table out of a 3x3 stack of cinderblocks to hold the little portable grill I picked up at Ace Hardware on Friday. I was looking for a different grill which they have on line but apparently don't carry in the stores.

While they didn't have the one I wanted, they had this little grill on sale for $12.99 and how could I beat that?! Some day we plan on having a nice big grill in the back - and are so lucky to already have a gas line from the house out to the patio -- but until we decide what we want and how we'll configure it all, this little grill will work just fine. I probably should've bought two or three and we could've had an awesome little grilling station for $36. I might still do that. That would get us through some fun entertaining and they are so small and easy to deal with. I like the idea of having three of these on a long table and cooking up all kinds of fun things that way.

I couldn't let Memorial Day Weekend pass without a barbecue so that was my big goal for the weekend. I kept the menu easy and light. Burgers with cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion. Here's a link to my hamburger recipe I've been refining for a few years now. I think I've found my groove with the spices in these and they always taste good. I picked up some already cut up pineapple, a big watermelon and chips today and we were in business!

We ate dinner just as the sun was setting with our cafe string lights on, wicker lanterns on the table and a delicious, simple summer feast. We had a great time and after the meal we played with Kiddo's plethora of glow-in-the-dark bracelets, necklaces and other trinkets she's been stashing in a drawer. Nights here in Albuquerque are so perfect for outdoor time. Little to no wind, no bugs, perfect temps so you don't need a sweater. It's just lovely being outside on summer nights here! I hope we'll start eating outside every night we can throughout the summer.

Now that we have everything set up, it should be a cinch to enjoy our outdoor areas as much as we can throughout the summer. Looking forward to having friends over and swimming the summer away. Speaking of which, the pool is up and running as of today --- with just one little challenge. Our heaterless pool is still a little cold. Water temps at 63 degrees. We need some hot sunny days!....or I need to finally order that solar pool heating blanket I kept looking at last year that is supposed to heat pool water up by a good 17 degrees. That would work.

I am so happy we're set for summer finally. Being able to go outside to read, have a cup of tea, relax, take a nap or eat a meal is the best and it just makes our home feel tons bigger when you add these outside rooms where one can go. Hooray for summer. Here are a few more things I am thinking about building for the backyard this summer.

Sectional seating
Dining Table
Outdoor Rugs
Two by Four Bench
Simple Concrete Planters

Buy A Swimsuit That Makes You Happy - Here's Mine

It's a good time to stock on on bathing suits at a great price for the rest of this summer and going into next summer - or hopefully you have a fabulous winter vacation to a warm destination planned. I mentioned this in my last blog post. I wanted to share with you the great suits I got last month that I have really been enjoying. After the arrived, I realized that this style works so well for all sorts of beach and pool activities.

This is the Land's End Blouson Tankini Top in Polkadot. It comes in a lot of different colors and patterns and you can buy your bottoms separately so that you can really mix and match them. The other great thing about these suits is that they come in a variety of size options. I'm thrilled to be able to buy a Long/Tall in any top I can find, especially a bathing suit top! So I was able to get a size that works great for me.

The thing I really love about this suit is that it is so comfortable and you can wear it styled a lot of different ways for outdoor summer parties. I've worn it with a regular skirt for pool parties or after a swim and it works with swim boyshorts, a swim skirt or bikini bottoms. I also got this suit top in all black because I thought it would pair great with anything colorful. Both would be really cute with a sarong or maxi skirt too. This top doesn't scream swimsuit top when it's paired with pants, shorts or skirts. There is an good bra on the interior so you get some support there too. The bottom band stays in place well too. The other great part about it is that it's comfortable and not fitted. You can lounge comfortably without worry about how your midsection looks all the time.

In our new neighborhood there are are a lot of families who have pools. I'm realizing more and more every week that there is a reason people in the southwest have swimming pools -- IT'S HOT. Most of the summer the temps have hovered right around 100 degrees and it's fantastic to have a pool to cool off in during the afternoon or end of day. It's amazing how a nice cool swim in an unheated pool will keep your body temps very comfortable for the rest of the day.

I think the backside of these tops are so cute too with unique straps and I think they just just this suit a little extra bit of fun personality. For one party we went to I paired the polkadot top with my black skirt and a ponytail with a blue and white striped ribbon which gave my pool look an added bit of sophistication.

Swimming and swimming parties have been a big part of our summer. One of the reasons I invested in some swimsuits I really like is because a year or so ago I committed to not being the mom who never puts on a bathing suit, doesn't get wet, who doesn't swim, and who sits at the side of the pool totally dressed watching everyone else have fun and enjoy cooling off. So having swimwear that I like is a huge part of that.

I have worn both of these quite a bit and I have felt pretty, comfortable and happy with them each time I have worn them. For a swimsuit, I consider that a pretty great recommendation. Plus I shopped these on sale so I got a great price and they will carry me through the winter when I hit the gym pool or for any vacations. These are not workout suits so if you're doing some serious lap swimming I would buy a more traditional one-piece lap pool suit, but for just about anything else these work great. I wear them for my aqua workouts all the time and they work well.

I'm so happy to see stores and so many young, new online shops offering more and more options for swimwear. Everyone of all shapes and sizes and ages deserves a good cooling off in a pool and being able to find something that suits many types and personalities is such a great thing. If you're unhappy with your bathing suits or watching your kids from the edge of the pool missing out on all the fun, try finding something new that really fits your style. It's a great time to snag some end of season deals.

I've written several posts of our new life as pool owners and living in a community with a real "pool culture". You can find more pool posts including workout ideas, toys and more here.

End-of-Summer Bargain Shopping Deals

It's a great time to score on lots of end of season bargains you might need for your home and yard. Our bare backyard could definitely use some furniture and other things and we'll work on that little by little.

image via Houzz

Here are a few great items to be watching for here (both instore and online) in the last week of July and beginning of August.

• Beach Towels -- Last year I picked up 10 matching beach towels to have on hand for pool parties for just $6 a piece. They are beautiful striped towels that we keep for when we have guests. We have a huge stack of more worn but plenty serviceable towels for everyday use but it's great to have a stack of guest-ready towels on hand all the time.

• Patio Furniture -- many retails stores have already cleared out most of their summer furniture, so it's good to start looking mid-July. But there are lots of great deals on dining sets, outdoor sofas and sectionals and comfortable seating online and there is still lots of time to enjoy it outdoors before late fall. Maybe you need a replacement umbrella or replacement cushions for furnitures. There are some great options out there at good prices.

• Pool Toys & Equipment -- You can find all kinds of toys and swimming gear on clearance right now. This year we've added quite a bit to our water toys stash but I am hoping to grab some workout fins in the next couple of weeks. Have seen the on clearance online for $12 in a multitude of colors.

• Swim Wear -- Lots of great deals out there right now. It's the perfect time to pick up a new suit for your winter, tropical vacation or to get new sizes for growing kids that will see them through Summer 2017. Think about water shoes and cover-ups if needed too.

• Summer Clothes -- When I lived in a coastal climate, this was a great time to load up on clearance priced sandals and summer wear that would carry me throughout the year. Warm weather shoes were always an especially good deal right now.

 I try to remember to put a little extra money aside each July to purchase some of these items that I know we'll need when I can save a bundle on them. Back to school shopping starts up about now too, so that's another expense to add to the budget.

This year I think we may completely skip school shopping all together because kiddo somehow ended up with so much clothing last year that still fits her that she has barely worn. Since she's just gone through a growth spurt, I imagine there will be another one in a few months so I'm thinking we save our money for mid-year when it's very likely that all the clothing in her closet will suddenly, overnight be too small for her and we'll need new everything.

Workout Equipment For The Pool

The long July 4th holiday weekend really woke me up to the fact that it is summer and I have been missing out! We went to two pool parties on Monday with a 90-minute nap between the two. We were wiped out by the time we got home at 10 p.m. Last week I really started focusing on feeding my family all the good summer foods and making lots of salads. I can't tell you how happy this new summer spirit has made me feel. Last night I was at the kitchen sink preparing dinner feeling so elated that I was enjoying summer and I felt so happy.

After we realized we were buying a house with a pool last year, I  took inspiration from a friend and decided that during the hot summer, working out in the pool sounded a lot better than chugging away in a hot, stuffy gym (although I'm still going to the gym) or outside in the blazing sun and heat (I'm still plannung more hikes and walks too). So last fall I created a pinterest board, called Pool Life, for all things swimming pool including every aqua workout I could find. The next step was to buy some workout gear for the pool.

I was going to buy the same aqua belt that my friend had, which cost about $55-$130 depending on features. But then I did a little more research on Swimoutlet.com and found customer referrals that said the one for $17, from Sporti, worked just was well as the more expensive brand. I was thrilled! I ended up order a belt for both me and a junior belt Kiddo which cost $14.

My husband has purchased sneakers from Swimoutlet.com, their product line isn't just swim gear. He has always been happy with purchases from there so I knew they were a trusted resource.

 I also wanted to get webbed gloves and water dumbbells and found the best prices for both at Swimoutlet as well after comparing major retailers, especially that big one that starts with A. Swimoutlet also has a really robust customer comment link. All the products I looked at had several hundred positive reviews and I read through enough to know that I could trust what I was hearing from the users.

In the end I ended up only spending about $80 for all that water workout equipment for both Kiddo and myself rather than expecting to spend that only for a belt and gloves for myself. Plus shipping was free although it took about 5 days to arrive, which in the day of Amazon Prime feels like an eternity, but it arrived nonetheless and I didn't pay shipping. Such a great deal. I was so glad I did my research instead of just going with what I thought I knew about pool workout belts and gloves. We've already broken a pair of goggles this week so I imagine my next purchase may be a bunch of new goggles.

We've done two days of pool workouts so far and we've used all the equipment and loved it. The belts are great. Yesterday I did about 90 minutes of arms and legs workout in the pool. We have also found that pool noodles make great barbells and other tools to help with our workouts. I continue to add new moves to the routine and to read up on suggestions each day. I can definitely feel the burn. Last night six hours after the workout my arms still felt like noodles. I was feeling it in the core and legs too. The other great part about pool workouts is that it gets us outside in the fresh air for a nice chunk of time and I'm getting a little sun on my cheeks which they needed after the winter and too many hours indoors since we moved.

Once I started getting in the pool every day I realized that my swimsuit situation is in need of attention. After being invited to two pool parties this week, plus daily workouts, it's clear that having a good supply of swimsuits you can rotate through is a good thing. So I ordered some new stuff last weekend and will share it with you soon.

If you're working out in the pool this summer I'd love to hear what you are doing! Please share in the comments.