But before the weekend kicks into high gear, I want to take a moment to share a roundup of some things that are making me smile this week in my usual Things I’m Loving Friday fashion. As always, please feel free to play along and tell me about something you’re loving right now in the comments section.
Have a great Friday and an even better weekend, my friends!
Thing I’m Loving Friday
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Kitchen Backsplash Dreaming
After our living room refresh we did at the end of last year, I’ve found myself tempted to tackle other small home updates that have been on our household to-do list ever since we bought our home nearly five years ago. I’m really hoping to swap out the backsplash in our kitchen for something a little more updated and I’m having a little too much fun Pinteresting my heart out.
I have a few self-imposed boundaries I’m following as I’m searching for the perfect backsplash and they mainly center around two things: 1.) The backsplash must go with our current granite (it’s a sandy color with lots of beige) because I have zero desire to replace granite 2.) It must go with our white cabinets and, ideally, also include white to brighten up our kitchen a bit. That leaves me with a TON of options which is a blessing… and a hindrance because I’m feeling a bit frozen about what to select moving forward! (The lantern mosaic style — the top left picture in the above image — is currently appealing to me the most.) Anyone out there with a knack for interior design and home renovations have some advice for me? I’d love your input and advice!
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Summer Birthday Celebration
Outfit details: Hat: Wallaroo (I have a feeling this faux-straw hat will be a summertime staple for me!) / Shorts: High-Waisted Ruffle Shorts (on sale for $20 ) / Top: Mcguire via StitchFix
Next week is the last week of 3-year-old preschool for Chase and his teachers invited the parents of the kids who have summer birthdays to the school for a little summer birthday celebration! Whenever it is someone’s birthday in Chase’s class, they have a dance party with a disco ball and all of the lights in the classroom turned off. To say Chase was into the summer birthday dance party is a serious understatement and I’m not quite sure where his hip swivels and pseudo-cartwheel dance moves came from but they were PASSIONATE. I loved the opportunity to see Chase in his classroom interacting with his classmates and am so incredibly grateful for our preschool and the fabulous teachers who care for our children and put so much time and energy into creating such an upbeat, educational and playful environment!
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Mother’s Day Craft
Speaking of Chase’s preschool, I completely forgot to share a peek at the Mother’s Day craft he made for me at school last week! I always get the biggest kick out of the fill-in-the-blank questions kids answer about their moms on Mother’s Day and had to laugh at the pink dinosaur jacket Chase apparently wants to give me and the fact that he thinks I look pretty with a hat on. When I asked him what hat he was talking about, he said my “crazy hat,” aka the fascinator I wore at the Queen’s Cup and my parents’ Kentucky Derby party. Maybe I need to bust out that bad boy a little more often!?
My mom made a mega-batch of bourbon pecans for my parents’ Kentucky Derby party and they may be the most addicting nuts on the planet. They’re slightly sweet and a little spicy and I’ve been doing my best to pace myself through the giant bag of nuts that my mom sent home with us but it’s basically impossible because they’re so, so good.
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Cardio Stack Workout
Okay cardio queens, I have a workout to share with you today that I think you will love! I completed this workout during Wednesday’s Burn Boot Camp class and I was shocked when I found myself actually enjoying a stack workout which is almost always my least favorite kind of workout. I think I liked it so much because the running broke up the stacked exercises and kept the workout moving in a way that made it fly by. It’s definitely worth a try during your next cardio session! (Note: I know get up lunges might be a little confusing so if they’re unfamiliar to you, check out a picture tutorial of that exercise here.)
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Around the Web
Food: The Truth About Meat + Inflammation / Farro and Kale Salad / The Best Carrot Cake / Turkey Sweet Potato Meatballs
Fitness: Exactly What to Say to Motivate Someone to Exercise and Stick With It / Diastasis Recti Exercise Substitutes / 15 Minute Bodyweight HIIT Cardio Workout (+ Video)
Weekend Sales: Up to 40% off summer favs at Urban Outfitters (love this straw circle shoulder bag) / 25% off purchases $125+ at Express with code 8960 (valid through 5/23 — love these side-tie shorts and this high-waisted linen maxi skirt)
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Friday Flashbacks
10 Recipes to Make For Your Next Summer Cookout (Everything from appetizers and side dishes to drinks and desserts)
Total Body Circuit Workout (A superset total body strength workout with a core + cardio bonus)
Question of the Day
What is one thing making you smile this week?
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Thanks for sharing my meatballs. And aren’t mother’s day crafts just the cutest? Totally melted over the #1 mom keychain and coffee filter flower i got last week!
Of course — always love your recipes!
Love your blog! Would you ever consider doing workout videos? I love the workouts you post but I struggle with if I’m doing the moves properly, if I know how to do them at all! Haha.
Thanks for the great content!
A pink dinosaur jacket, lol!, that is too sweet 😀 What an adorable craft as well! Sounds like you all picked an amazing preschool. I’m excited to hang out with my mom, go to a graduation party, and a birthday party! I’m reading Atomic Habits and Gretchen Rubin’s newest book, Outer Order Inner Calm, highly recommend both!
I love that Chase said you are so beautiful. Heart melt! My son wrote that I weigh as much as a train. I blame the teacher for picking an interview that asked about weight, haha! One thing that is making me smile this week, is I am having a baby girl in 6 days! Looking forward to being off work for the summer and bonding with my kids!
“So beautiful” omgsh! Boys are so sweet. (I have 2 under 2)
I did a complete kitchen remodel about a year ago. My suggestion, steer away from chevron print tile. It does not appeal to everyone and will not stay “in style” as long as other more traditional tile. Also, check out glass tiles. They come in lots of colors and are absolutely gorgeous! We ended up going with a very light teal glass and it is a winner
I’m not an interior designer but I am an appraiser so I see a LOT of houses (and dream of all the renovations I’d love to do to my own. Ha!). I’m currently wanting to redo our kitchen backsplash too and one thing I’ve noticed in homes is if the backsplash is too busy (kind of like the second option down on the right side), your eye goes immediately there and doesn’t take in the room as a whole. I’ve seen the lantern one in person in a variety of colors and it looks really nice each time I’ve seen it. Best of luck!
Ok I think the middle tile above is glass front. If you have a lot of natural light in your house, it reflects beautifully. Go to Lowes or HD (Lowes has more options in store) and buy several sheets and try to prop them up against the current backsplash. You will be surprised on what actually looks good in person vs what you thought would look good.
Julie, are you familiar with Young House Love? Definitely check out their blogs and tips about backsplash. I can’t wait to see the before and after! I love making changes in my house here and there. I recently changed my family room from shades of gray to shades of beige!
i love that blog!!!
I would go as timeless and classic as possible on anything when renovating. Yes, it is your house, but you want to make it appealing to future buyers. Something that is trendy or in style right now might not go over well when you are trying to sell. I am right in the midst of selling a home, so it’s amazing what feedback we are getting and what I have learned.
Have a great weekend!
thanks for sharing!! we went to lowe’s yesterday and the man helping us not-so-subtly steered us away from a trendier backsplash for this very reason and when we brought the samples home, i immediately knew he was right. i’m hoping we have a winner!!
Hi Julie! My husband and I just built our house and while we’re very fortunate to have done so, it was a decision-making nightmare for me. I’m so glad that year is over!
My advice to you regarding your reno: please consider grout color at the same time as you consider tile. I did not and had to make the decision later, on-the-fly, and wound up with a grout color disaster in one of our bathrooms (which we then had completely replaced–that’s how much I didn’t like the grout color I haphazardly picked out!)
Tile/backsplash can look COMPLETELY different once installed with different grout colors, so consider the rainbow of colors there, too, as you’re making your decision.
Good luck!
I have been staring at backsplashes for our bathroom for weeks now…so many options. So far, we love the Mir Mosaics Cloud 9 collection, especially the hex pattern. Good luck!
Could you explain briefly the jump rope rotation?
it’s just one jump on the jump rope!! 🙂
I have to ask, is Ryan planning to tackle the new backsplash project? I also need to update mine, but wasn’t sure how involved it is to remove the old backsplash. I wasn’t sure if you had researched that part yet. 🙂
Those homemade cards/gifts from the kids is something to cherish always! My parents recently did their backsplash and the installer recommended white subway tile because it never goes out of style and looks great with just about every kind of granite. Good luck, can’t wait to see what you pick!
i love that look!!
So fun to be thinking about new backsplash! I know it can be such a tough decision when there are so many cute options. I recently redid the backsplash in our kitchen (to better match our existing counter tops and cabinets). It ended up being a little more involved of a project than I anticipated (I thought it would be a single weekend kind of project). I wrote a blog post with details on everything I learned if you’re thinking about going the DIY direction. http://thelittlefitpuppydoc.com/index.php/2019/04/22/diy-kitchen-backsplash/ Happy Friday!
oh my gosh your update looks FABULOUS!!!! i love it! definitely looks like a lot of work but soooo worth it in the end!
Thank you! <3 It's definitely worth it in the end. It's a fun update because for a (relatively) little project it has such a big impact on the overall look of the kitchen. Good luck!
I always love these round ups — a great way to stay up to date with you and so many great resources! Thanks so much for including my 15 Minute HIIT Cardio Workout!
If you’re doing the backsplash yourself, think about how intricate the pattern is and how many cuts you would have to make! We almost did a herringbone pattern and switched to horizontal subway tiles instead – and it still took forever! It makes you notice how many outlets you really have!
We installed a new backsplash last year when we bought our house and I found this super helpful online simulator! You select the color of your cabinets and counters, then can ‘try on’ different backsplashes. After we found what looked best (which surprisingly was NOT what I expected/was originally wanting) we found a similar tile at Lowe’s. We get so many compliments on how well it goes with our kitchen/ties everything together.
Here’s a link to the simulator 🙂 https://backsplash.com/designer/
And here’s one of my IG posts that shows before/after we got it installed: https://www.instagram.com/p/BuP9b4xnwG_eiqKWP0mFxSaLwhpS25rjUqqNw80/
this is AWESOME!!!! THANK YOU for sharing!
Hi! What is your opinion on Stitch Fix??
i have been doing it for years and really like it!! i have the most success when i am VERY specific with my requests and usually keep 1 or 2 things from every fix!
SAME with replacing the backsplash and not the granite! I went the safe option and chose white subway tile with white grout and love how it brightened up the kitchen. My suggestion would be to go to Floor and Decor, buy some sample tiles, and lay them out on your countertops. I don’t have an eye for these things so I had to have it literally in the house first.
Hey Julie! How often do you go to Burn Boot Camp a week? You are looking AMAZING!
You’re so sweet to say this!! I am currently going to boot camp 3-4x a week and do my own thing 1-2x a week (so 4-5 days of workouts a week right now).
I need to see Chase’s epic dance moves! 🙂
I like that circuit workout, thanks!
The Mother’s Day craft from Chase is adorable! My niece always makes me the most beautiful handmade gifts at her school! Those are always the best kinds of gifts to receive.
I love the Wallaroo hat. Thanks for sharing! I think it will be a summer staple for me as well! Wilmington, DE