10 Things

Hello hello!

I hope you’re having a lovely Thursday afternoon! I’m pushing “publish” on this post and then hoping to tackle my unpacking. 😬 Is there anything worse than unpacking? I’m one of those people that will let my suitcase sit out for a week, whereas Neal has to unpack the second he gets home. I’m trying to be a considerate partner and avoid doing things that make Neal anxious. LOL. So…wish me luck.

Today, it’s another 10 things post, where I share 10 random things in no particular order. Here we go!

Tickets for Atlas Adventures Lisbon launch next TUESDAY! Want to come to Lisbon with me, Whitney, and Victoria!? The next Atlas Adventures trip I’m co-hosting is to Lisbon this October! (If you missed it, see the details in this blog post!) We’ll be opening the doors to purchase tickets this coming Tuesday and we expect them to go fast! If you’ve been itching for a European adventure and want to travel with a great group of likeminded women, we would LOVE to have you on our trip! Hop on the email list ASAP and Whitney will be sending more info out soon on exact launch time so you can set your alarm!

It’s grilling/grain bowl season! One of my favorite easy weeknight meals is a grain bowl with grilled protein and veggies. (Here’s a post on how I build my grain bowls!) Healthy weeknight meals are so much easier in the summer, and I’m THRILLED the warm weather has finally arrived!

Speaking of grilling, do you brine your proteins? We started doing this and it makes SUCH a difference–whether it’s boneless, skinless chicken breasts, bone-in pieces, a whole chicken, pork chops, or even portobello mushrooms, for a veg option–you can brine so many things. You just mix salt and water and let it soak for a couple hours. (I just eyeball the ratio and then taste it before dropping the chicken in–you want it to taste like the ocean). Not sure how long to soak it? Just do a quick google. You’ll want to brine bone-in proteins longer than boneless. For example, let brine about 2 hours for boneless chicken pieces, or 4 hours for bone-in pieces, and 8-24 hours for a whole chicken! You can also add sugar, herbs, freshly sliced citrus–whatever flavors you like! It comes out SO tender and flavorful!

Easy summer outfits for June: I’ve been trying to build June’s everyday summer wardrobe–meaning, easy to get on/off outfits for daycare. (Meaning, they can withstand some beating up!) She’s so squirmy now that anything that takes more than two seconds to get on or off is out the window. I ordered this romper set from Old Navy, these rompers from Hanna Andersson, this ribbed romper set and this little retro ribbed shorts set from Amazon. Love them all!

Jimmy Johns drivers: Neal and I were walking home from somewhere the other day and witnessed two Jimmy John’s drivers approaching a stop sign from both directions. They both HONKED AND WAVED at each other in some kind of Jimmy John’s driver solidarity and it was the most wholesome heartwarming thing to witness. We both looked at each other and agreed it was the cutest thing we’d seen in a long time. 😆

If you’re looking for an amazing (and nontoxic!) stain remover: I bought Puracy stain remover off of Alaina’s recco and it does NOT disappoint. It’s the only stain remover that gets Aquaphor and formula stains out of June’s KYTE jammies–you can use it on anything that can get wet. It’s remarkable. It’s better than any other stain remover I’ve used AND it doesn’t have any toxic chemicals in it!

A great summer read: I just finished One Italian Summer during my Santa Barbara trip because it came so highly recommended from all of you! Now I want to download the audio version to re-listen to it because Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) narrates it! A really great summer read!

We need to start planning our Ireland trip: Neal and I are going to Ireland this July for the opening of Killarney Distilling! Neal’s Uncle is a co-founder (if you’ve been to Killarney, you may know their Killarney Brewing location!) Their new distilling location is right on the ring of Kerry and looks SO cool. Can’t wait to see it in person! Some off the Loftus fam are investors, so we’re all going for a big grand opening weekend! We’ll be doing three nights in Killarney and three nights in Dublin. There are quite a few activities planned in Killarney already but we need to get on planning for Dublin! I’ll be putting up a submission box on stories soon if you have any reccos, and I’ll round up the most popular suggestions for those of you who are also planning an Ireland trip this summer! Stay tuned.

The best dry shampoo: If you missed it on stories yesterday, I shared that I was able to get by not washing my hair the entire Santa Barbara trip–a major feat. Especially now that postpartum my hair does not look NEARLY as great air dried as it used to. The trick was this dry shampoo mist. It’s incredible–really cleans your hair and doesn’t leave any chalky residue. I wet my roots with it and then blow the roots dry and it looks freshly washed!

My Faherty code JESSKEYS20 is still live if you’re shopping for some summer essentials: Speaking of all the summer things, I wore my Willa blouse from Faherty multiple times during my Santa Barbara trip! My code is still live if you want to pick up some breezy summer staples for you or the guy in your life! My code gets you 20% off! (Also highly recommend the softest ever Cloud puff shoulder tee and Gamina dress–two other recent faves–linked here if you scroll down to the bottom of the page, along with some new favorites of Neal’s!)

GoFundMe for those affected in the Buffalo mass shooting: There are no words to describe the horror of the mass shooting that happened in Buffalo. This GoFundMe page has all associated fundraisers listed in one place if you’d like to and are able to donate. Also, contact your senators (especially if you live in a red state) and urge them to support the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act (more on that here!) that aims to address the growing concern of violent domestic (and white supremacist) extremist attacks like this in the future. (ResistBot is a great easy way to do this!) These actions are small, but they can make a difference.

See you tomorrow,

xo Jess