July Love List

This is my version of a month review… but just my favorites in July. Whether you are here for DIY Projects, family life, traveling, books or something else; I think you’ll find something that sparks your interest in these monthly recaps!

July Love List 

DIY’d

• Did you catch my Foyer Reveal? I smile every time I walk by the space! I really love how it turned out. If you’d like to listen to more about the space, I talked about it on a recent Your Home Story Podcast episode as well. 
• Want to learn how to wallpaper? Luke and I both agree that it wasn’t hard and is definitely something that can be DIY’d! I’m still pretty smitten with it in our dining room. 
• We used to live in a cookie cutter house and I know that, at first, it can seem hard to figure out how to make it your own. You CAN do it though! Suzannah and I chatted, on the Your Home Story Podcast, all about how to transform cookie cutter houses! 
• A treehouse addition that won’t break the bank. Make how to make a bucket and pulley, it’s easy!  

FUN

• What to Pack for Iceland. I got my act together and published a post all about it; what we packed, what we wore, what worked well and more. 
• Luke and I went to Malibu for our anniversary earlier this month. I’ll do a post about it in a few weeks! The hotel we stayed at was just gorgeous.
• I finally wore a jumpsuit that I bought earlier this year. Jumpsuits are my favorite because they are so easy to wear (it feels like you are wearing pajamas) yet they look so pulled together. 

Shoes and Jumpsuit are both on the Shop My Closet page. 

READ

• I just love to read and it seems like I read quite a bit this past month. Going on vacation helps with that too! Here’s what I just finished.
  • Habitat: The Field Guide To Decorating, by Lauren Liess : I LOVED this book. Probably the best home decor book I’ve ever picked up. 
  • Exit West by Mohsin Hamid : This book made me think about relationships but I didn’t love it. It was an easy read and one that has won quite a few awards but it didn’t do much for me. 
  • The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For and Believe by Richard Rohr: This was my bookclub’s pick for last month. I couldn’t go to the night where they were discussing the book so I never finished it last month. I finally finished it this month and it was a struggle. I found parts of the book really interesting and other parts, just over my head and dry. Maybe it was just too much over my head? I’m not sure. 
  • The Voyage of The Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis : Greyson and I are continuing to read together and this is the book we finished this month. It’s part of the Chronicles of Narnia series. We both enjoyed it, it was his favorite of the series to date. 
  • Surf Shacks: An Eclectic Compilation of Surfers’ Homes from Coast To Coast by Indoek: I LOVED this. If you are looking for a design book, this is NOT it. If you are looking for insight into how surfers, or people who are inspired by the water, think then this is for you. I personally loved reading about each person in the book; what they do for a living and why they live in or have homes that could be considered “shacks.” All to live by or on the water. So inspiring.
  • An American Marriage by Tayari Jones: I randomly picked this up at the library and enjoyed it. The storyline caught my attention, it’s about newlyweds and how a big change in circumstance can change relationships forever. I didn’t love the ending of the book, but the whole book kept my attention. 
  • Educated : A Memoir by Tara Westover: This book has been a NYT Bestseller for quite awhile and I see why. For me, it’s so un-relatable YET I couldn’t put it down. Tara grows up raised by survivalists, not attending school and completely off the grid. I found it fascinating to know that these types of households are still out there today. It’s just mind blowing. Read this, it’s definitely worth your time. 
  • When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger: A friend at swim team gave me this to read and, at first, I was not keen on getting into it. A light, funny summer read usually isn’t what I tend to gravitate to but this was so funny. I died laughing at two different parts in the book. I needed a change of pace with my reading and I’m happy that I ended up giving this one a try. 

Comfiest shoes ever. Linked on the shop my closet page. 

BOUGHT

• I went jeans shopping with my mom to help her find some great jeans and you know going shopping with someone means that you never come home empty-handed. Oops. I bought the cutest slides (shown above) and they are seriously the most comfy pair of shoes I’ve ever had on. 
• Other than that, I did buy a cute hair tie. I love when I see them on other people so I’m going to try my hand at wearing them. 

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my favorites in July. If you want to see more of things that I recently enjoyed, check out: January Loves, February Loves,  March Loves and April-June Loves.