I realize there’s only a few days left in May, but it was a jam-packed month (professionally and personally). We kicked off the month with our move, had lots of heavy client projects, there were personal celebrations, surprises and a trip to Napa. And as I said in my post title…so far…there’s still more to come this week. Just a ton going on and couldn’t wait until the end of the month to share. For this post I will mostly focus on what happened personally, but I do have a couple little organizing projects to share with you.
May is always a big month every year because of Mother’s Day, my birthday and the school year wrapping up. For the last three years, we have had a major milestone for one of my kids in May. In May 2023, my oldest graduated from high school. In May 2024, my youngest graduated from 8th grade. And this May, my middle guy graduated from high school. So you can say this month has been a lot…and all good things!
MOVE
I shared our move in a previous post but to update, things are going well. I’m slowly working my way through some decor updates that fit this footprint better. Our home is smaller than the last one and there’s not much storage. Good thing I know how to remedy that. 😉 I’ve recently been working on our entry and the bathroom I share with my daughter. Look forward to sharing more of an update on the entry, but here’s the current point in our bathroom…
( bathroom shelf + containment )
Our vanity doesn’t provide much storage and the countertop is lacking surface space. I added this shelf and have the products organized, but am waiting on the decor I ordered for the top. I’ll share an update when this wall is complete, but I am really happy with how it’s coming together.
The garage is my next target! After a move, this is the last space to get organized. My garage is currently loaded with organizing material, extra decor bins, my photo project, a few pieces of furniture I’m debating on, gym equipment, etc. I may invest in some shelving and then get it all organized out there…will update of course when that’s completed. Have big plans for that space.
MOTHER’S DAY
For Mother’s Day, my oldest completely surprised me by showing up at my door one night leading into the weekend. I was not expecting it because the following weekend he would be coming home for his brother’s graduation. To have him home for the weekend was a gift itself and would have been all I wanted, but they made plans for me and it was a very nice day. They always get me peonies, my favorite flower…
On Mother’s Day, I slept in and then went to the gym for a bit…I’m back on my Barre kick and my body is feeling pretty good. I was heavy into weight-lifting, which I am still doing each week but now less than usual…
I’m also VERY into a daily step goal – minimum of 10k steps. I know this isn’t new to the World, but it’s something I’ve added into my life for the last several weeks. And I’m feeling great hitting that goal each day. To add more of a challenge, I purchased a weighted vest and have been wearing it a few days a week during my walks…
( weighted vest )
This one is so comfortable (especially if you have a larger bust) and is available in many different weights.
After the gym, we did a one hour family walk on our local trail…
And that evening we went to an early dinner. It was a perfect day, but again…just having all three of my kids with me was the best gift!
GRADUATION!
We celebrated my son for the entire weekend of his graduation. The baccalaureate mass was on Friday evening and the graduation was Sunday morning. After the mass on Friday we went to a family nice dinner…
Sitting through his graduation ceremony was a surreal experience. I wasn’t emotional at the mass or during the graduation, but it hit me pretty hard Sunday afternoon. Unexpectedly. And the feeling has stuck around since. Being a mom brings on some serious bittersweet emotions.
Really proud of him and excited to drive him to college later this summer, but NOT YET. For now, he’s here with me all summer – thankfully!
Knowing the ceremony was on the football field, and that it would be warm, I found a beautiful dress that was on sale at Anthropologie. I LOVE this dress! Also ordered it in blue, but it won’t arrive until sometime in June. Very cute!
( dress )
Oh! You can see the entry behind me in that photo. Since taking this, I have added a tall olive tree and I have a small entry table being delivered later this week. The landing at the base of the stairs is pretty narrow so I need to move the current table sitting there to free up the walkway. I ordered something a little different that I can add decor to the top of. Hope it all comes together nicely.
GIANTS GAME
I have never in my life, but this was my 5th game of the season! A record for me.
One of my oldest friends also has a birthday in May and we try to go to at least one game a year together. We went to high school together and our parents did as well. We chose a Monday night game and the tickets were a steal for the amazing seats we had…
A loss, unfortunately…but so fun to be there. AGAIN…lol!
MY BIRTHDAY
We went to the game the evening before my birthday and with my birthday being on a Tuesday, it was pretty low key. I planned to take the day off and scheduled a facial AND a massage…and a few other things.
I started the day with a hydrafacial at my favorite med spa, then I grabbed my free bday Starbucks coffee and hit the car wash and gas station. Nothing better than a clean car as a gift to yourself.
Stopped at home to change into gym clothes and found these on my porch…beautiful!
I went to the gym for a couple hours and then to my favorite spa for a 90-minute massage. That evening I went to dinner with 2 of my kids. A very relaxing day and I heard from so many friends and family members all day long. Took me two days to respond to everyone.
NAPA GETAWAY
I will never take for granted that Napa is only 40 minutes away. Grateful to occasionally jet up there to enjoy wine tasting or a nice dinner. This last weekend I headed there for two nights, drank amazing wine and ate incredible food. The food in wine country is unmatched.
Everything is bright green and fresh in Napa right now. It’s not quite that hot up there yet so the weather was a perfect mid-70s.
On the first night I had dinner at Bottega – amazing food and service…
On Saturday I went wine tasting and had dinner later that evening at Solbar, which is on the property of Solage. Amazing drinks, wine and food!
Napa was the perfect ending to my birthday week. Need to plan more time there this summer. Well, both there and at Giants games. lol!!
ORGANIZING
May was a busy month of organizing. We did a fair amount of unpacking, to be honest. With my move going on at the front end of the month, I was beyond grateful to have my team step up to manage those projects so I could focus on my own unpacking.
We’ve also been helping families declutter, design spaces and install a new Elfa systems. One of my favorites this month was this closet which was also a bit of a challenge…
It may look straight forward, but it was anything but.
This family demo’d a small hall linen closet which was jutting into the left side of this bedroom closet. They closed off the hallway closet which left their daughter with about 15″ of new space. That was great, but they wanted to re-install their existing Elfa closet system…which meant I had to add on to the system and this it is the old Elfa material. Not the current material. It took some brain power to get through this one and wasn’t a simple install for me. I also had to manually account for what she had because it was dismantled and in pieces everywhere. This meant I had to essentially place an a la carte order with The Container Store.
Did I say challenging? 😉
In the end, it did turn out beautifully and she was excited to have her room and closet pulled back together. Half of her clothing was on the bedroom floor, the other half was in the garage. haha!
Cliche, I know…but how is it almost June 2025??? I sincerely hope you are having a wonderful month and year so far as well. And that you have great summer plans.
Much more to share and will be back soon!
xo,
Sam
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