Sharing a roundup of the books I’ve read lately and if they’re worth adding to your collection. 

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you had an amazing weekend!

Today, I wanted to share the books I read lately and share my ratings with you. I haven’t made reading as much of a priority lately – admitedly, I’ve been doomscrolling a lot – but there have been some real winners in the mix.

Here’s what I’ve read lately:

Books from lately

The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

Kristin Harmel is one of my all-time favorite historical fiction authors and her latest book did not disappoint. I devourved it on the flight home from Orlando and couldn’t read it fast enough. This is the story of Colette Marceau, a woman in her 90s who has spent her entire life as a jewel thief. It alternates between the early 2000s and WW2, and as the events of her childhood unravel, we learn more about her family, why and how she started stealing jewels, the details involving her sister’s disappearance, and a very special bracelet.

Historical fiction is one of the genres that immediately captures my attention and holds it for the entire book. These stories are always heartbreaking, but I was talking with a friend about it and she agreed that they’re beautiful stories of resilience and they always seem to have exquisite writing and rich character development. 5/5 – highly recommend this one

From Amazon:

Colette Marceau has been stealing jewels for nearly as long as she can remember, following the centuries-old code of honor instilled in her by her mother, Annabel: take only from the cruel and unkind, and give to those in need. Never was their family tradition more important than seven decades earlier, during the Second World War, when Annabel and Colette worked side by side in Paris to fund the French Resistance.

But one night in 1942, it all went wrong. Annabel was arrested by the Germans, and Colette’s four-year-old sister, Liliane, disappeared in the chaos of the raid, along with an exquisite diamond bracelet sewn into the hem of her nightgown for safekeeping. Soon after, Annabel was executed, and Liliane’s body was found floating in the Seine—but the bracelet was nowhere to be found.

Seventy years later, Colette – who has “redistributed” $30 million in jewels over the decades to fund many worthy organizations – has done her best to put her tragic past behind her, but her life begins to unravel when the long-missing bracelet suddenly turns up in a museum exhibit in Boston. If Colette can discover where it has been all this time—and who owns it now—she may finally learn the truth about what happened to her sister. But she isn’t the only one for whom the bracelet holds answers, and when someone from her childhood lays claim to the diamonds, she’s forced to confront the ghosts of her past as never before. Against all od

Hiiii! Happy Friday! How are you? What’s going on this weekend?

The kids are back in school (WILD) and thankfully had a great week at their new schools. We’re back into the full routine around here and this weekend we have dinner with friends to celebrate the first week of school, two NCL events, and getting things finally ready for our mold remediation and bathroom remodel.

It’s taken us forever to get started with travel and summer stuff, but I’m so so ready to get this chapter completed. I’ll definitely share more about the whole process!

(Maisey loves the PEMF Go Mat)

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves roundup! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love hearing about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

(Friendly reminder that affiliate links are included in Friday Faves! Thank you so much for supporting the blog)

8.7 Friday Faves

Fashion, beauty, random:

Pool day with the Pilot. The kids were back at school, we both had an open day, and we decided to head to the gym and then spend the rest of the afternoon at the pool.

Hiiii! Happy Friday! What do you have going on?? This week has been packed with back to school events (orientation, meet the teacher, parents’ night) and the kids go back next week. I’m bummed that summer went by so quickly, but have tried to really make the most of it. This week has been filled with swimming, driving teenagers around to the mall, Chick Fil A, and Liv having friends over until bedtime most nights, movies, sleeping in, and being all in my feels that we have a freshman in high school.

We brought her home from the hospital as a newborn yesterday. High school seemed impossibly far away. It’s here, it’s wild, and I just hope she has a good experience. High school was not my high point in life, but the school that she’s attending has incredible teachers and a great community, so I’m feeling cautiously optimistic.

P is also starting a new school – the teachers and homework load were a huge source of the anxiety she dealt with a couple of years ago at her previous school- and I’m hopeful that it will be better for her. If it’s not, I mean at this point, we’re just going to pack it up and move lol.

(Hot yoga wisdom)

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves roundup! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love hearing about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

(Friendly reminder that affiliate links are included in Friday Faves! Thank you so much for supporting the blog)

7.31 Friday Faves

Fashion, beauty, random:

These shoes! I ordered them from the Nordstrom sale when I saw that my favorite flats brand was there. (It honestly it was made me look at the sale in the first place since it was such a disappointment the past couple of years.) I have two pairs from Spain that I got last summer and they still look brand new, they have zero break-in time, they’re supportive, classy, cute.

These ones are a little bit furry (?) which was a surprise to me, but I love them. They run small, so definitely size up one full size. If you’re in between sizes, size up a size and a half. I’m usually a 38 and wear

Hiiii! Happy Friday! What are you up to this weekend? We’re enjoying some pool time after lots of rain this week, the Pilot is home (wahoo!), and we have an NCL event. I hope that you have a fun and relaxing weekend ahead! When do your kiddos go back to school? We have a little over a week left and I can’t even believe it. Liv is going to be in HIGH SCHOOL. How?!

(this week’s gorgeous flowers from Trader Joe’s. The whole bouquet was only $15 to put together.)

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves roundup! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love hearing about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

7.24 Friday Faves

Fashion, beauty, random:

A trip to Orlando! We headed to Orlando last weekend to visit our friends who live in Sevilla. They’re in Florida for the month, so it was our only chance to meet up with them before school starts. The crazy thing about pilot family life is that you can decide to take a trip at the very last minute if there’s availability. We went back and forth on options and figured out we could make it happen maybe 36 hours before landing in Orlando.

(so grateful our kiddos picked each other as best buddy soulmates when they were 2 1/2 years old)

Whenever we see them, we pick up where we left off, and the girls had the BEST time together. We stayed at a hotel with an awesome pool and lazy river, did a day at Epcot, Disney Springs, dinner at Medieval Times, and just enjoyed hanging out together. It was a 5 day trip and we packed so much fun into that time; it was perfect.

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Sharing my top picks from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. Affiliate links are included below – thank you so much for your support. 

Hi friends! How are you? I hope that you’re enjoying the week so far. We’re trying to squeeze out the last bit of summer fun. The kids start school in a couple of weeks and we’re NOT ready.

For today’s post, I wanted to share a roundup of picks from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. I’ve shared this on the blog for so many years, but the last few years have kind of been duds and lots of repeats from previous years. Do we all need the Spanx faux leather leggings… the ones from 2018… again?? I think no.

But, while we were flying back from Orlando, I decided to just take a little peek, and was pleasantly surprised by *some* of the offerings this year.

I wanted to include them in today’s post if you’re shopping the sale, which ends on August 10. It’s always a great chance to stock up on back-to-school finds, things you love for fall before they hit full-price, and essentials, like bras, socks, and pajamas. The best of the best is linked below; as usual, I’m not wasting your time on things that I don’t think are worth it.

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Picks

For women:

These are a repeat from every year I’ve shared the sale, but I still get at least one or two new sets each year because it’s the best price.

Love these Zella leggings

If you have any fall weddings or events, this dress is GORGEOUS

Obsessed with these sweat sets.

Baggy jeans for $46.

These sneakers are adorable and great transition sneakers into fall

Always stock up on Bombas socks during the sale

Women’s shoes, beauty, and accessories:

Saw so many of this handbag style last summer in Spain.

Phlur is one of my clean frangrance faves.

These look so much more expensive than they are.

Classic curling iron.

Ordered these! This is my favorite flats brand – just size one full size up. (I’m always a 38 and wear a 39 in these)

Always st