Despite the circumstances, we had a really lovely Easter Sunday at home yesterday. Amalia was beyond excited about the Easter Bunny and every time she found an egg on her egg hunt, she’d jump up and down and scream with delight. It was so pure and joyful. The sugar crash, however, was anything but. We turned it around for a great evening outside on scooters and bikes and flying her new mini kite that the EB randomly found at Whole Foods. All in all, the day was filled with lots of laughs and smiles.

At dinner, we always go around and say our favorite part of the day and I’m always the one to ask her first. But last night as soon as we took our first bite of food, she said, “Mommy, what was ya favorite today?” and I felt more in love with her than ever. Although it’s been difficult as parents, Amalia is somehow thriving more than ever during this extra time at home. She loves being with us (and Bootsie) all day long and while she sometimes asks to go to school or CVS or the beach or see her friends, she’s totally fine when I tell her we can’t.

She vaguely understands the concept of the virus which I realized when we were reading a book set in Paris the other day and I asked if she wanted to go see the Eiffel Tower one day. She said, “No mommy, we can’t go there. We don’t want to get the people sick!”

So that made me cry, but it also made me realize even more what an understanding and empathetic little girl we have on our hands. This extra time with her has been beyond special.

On a much much lighter note, here are 5 things (plus a book, podcast, and TV show) that I’m loving right now.

My Dress / Amalia’s Dress

1. Kitsch wet-hair scrunchies: I definitely got served an Instagram ad for them… and went for it. I’ve turned into my husband, apparently. But in my defense, it was exactly what I was looking for. I shower at night and half the time I don’t dry my hair because I’m too lazy (especially now) but I hate sleeping with wet hair because of my silk pillowcase. After I towel dry, these scrunchies soak up the excess water while Anel and I watch an episode of something and by the time I go to bed, my hair is a lot dryer than it used to be without them. I put the top half of my hair in one and the bottom half in another. They also come in leopard print if you’re an extra cool cat/kitten.

2. Coupe glasses: Whenever I order a cocktail and get it in a coupe glass I feel so elegant. Now that all of our cocktails are being had at home, I decided to buy a set for myself. They make cocktail hour infinitely fancier and I can’t wait to use them all at once with friends one day hopefully sooner rather than later. I also love these gold-rimmed ones ($39 for a set of 2)

3. Tretorn sneakers: Remember when my friend came over to help me style outfits from my closet? She also made a list of a few items to add to my wardrobe to round it out. That included a pair of white denim Tretorn sneakers (only $65!). I had no idea how much of a staple they’d become. They’re so cute and easy to throw on because the back is elastic which means you don’t have to lace up every time you wear them. I highly highly recommend these sneaks for summer.

Tip: Size down a full size when you order. I’m usually an 8.5 in shoes, but I bought 7.5 and they fit perfectly.

4. Rattan bathroom accessories: I randomly stumbled across this brand on Amazon while looking for a rattan tissue box cover and toilet paper stand for our powder room because we’re always running out of TP there Anel’s idea of storing back up is piling it up on the toilet. Not only did I find and buy them, but I also marked a ton of other rattan accessories that I love for future reference.

I added them along with a lot of other great finds to the home section of my Amazon shop. If you haven’t visited it yet, check it out!

5. My favorite lounge-y tee: I’ve been wearing this tee shirt/sweatshirt crossover quite a lot lately. My version has multi-colored stripes but I love the navy and white.  It’s the perfect thickness and weight and I love how it drapes. I tuck in the front with jeans usually but leggings lately. I actually like pretty much everything from this brand.

Bonus. Foot peel: The state of my feet right now is pretty horrific. I decided to start with a foot peel which I usually do 2x/year. It says on the box for intense calluses to do it again the next week so I did peel number two last night. This is my go-to peel but I think they’re all pretty much the same. If you’ve never done one, you should know that they smell disgusting and the actual peel part (3-5 days after you do the mask part) is pretty gross. But in the end, your feet are baby soft!

My two tips are to do a 10-minute foot bath every day for a week after you do it and moisturize your feet every night before bed. Once the peeling is all done, make that moisturizing a habit.

In other foot/hand news, I bought this buffer/file system so I can give myself a mani/pedi this week. I figure this is a perfect time to give my nails a breather, so I’m not doing any polish on either, but I want to keep everything clean and hydrated. I also highly recommend this cuticle oil if you, like me, have cracked or ridged nails from wearing polish or gel too often.

Podcast– Skimm This: I have been reading The Skimm newsletter every morning for years because they make the daily news digestible and fun to read. After reading about it in the emails, I decided to finally try our their podcast, Skimm This, a quick 15-minute news story on one important topic from the day. I listen to it while I take my solo walk with Boots and feel like I learned something without walking away feeling too heavy.

Book – City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert: My mom has been recommending this work of fiction from Elizabeth Gilbert, of Eat, Pray, Love fame, for over a year so I finally bit and started it last night. Set in the 1940s, it’s told from the perspective of an older woman looking back at her life. I was immediately hooked and can’t wait to pick it up again tonight. Thanks for the rec, ma 🙂

TV Show– Ozark Season 3: Last week we started season 3 of Ozark, one of our favorite-ever Netflix originals.  I have a very large crush on Jason Bateman but that isn’t (the only reason) why we love it. It’s dark and twisty and smart and creepy and funny at times. If you’ve never watched the show, it’s the perfect time to binge from the beginning. It’s about an accountant, Marty (Jason Bateman), who gets caught up in money laundering for a Mexican drug cartel and has to move his family to the Ozarks to start a fresh life… which doesn’t exactly work out the way they’d like it to.

Marty reminds me of Walter White from Breaking Bad. You assume he’s this straight-laced nerdy guy, but he ends up having a dark and wild side to him.

We’ve also been watching Top Chef All-Stars: LA live and it’s the best season I’ve seen in a while. In case you didn’t know, I’m a Top Chef superfan. It’s awkward how much I love it. I’m rooting for Melissa and Gregory!

Check out the 5 random things I was loving in:
July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February, and March.

Tell me one thing you’re loving this month!