My biggest house project this month was beadboard install and so much paint. As I have mentioned a few times, Piper moved rooms and we are turning her old (giant!) closet into an office for Paul who will be able to work from home a few days a week later this fall. We are having California Closets install a desk setup and storage in their “deep pond” finish and I color matched it with paint to hopefully drench the whole room in blue. We will see how it goes, but I am excited to get this room (and this house!) finished soon.

It’s late August but still very hot around here. We don’t like to run the oven when the AC is on and so I have been making a one pot pasta salad on the stove for the past few weeks. I follow this recipe for the dressing and add in whatever we have in the fridge (olives, leftover chicken, bell pepper, pickled onions, Parmesan cheese, tomatoes) for the toppings. It’s great and if you cook the pasta in a large pot, you can just mix up the whole salad right in it after straining.

Another late summer recommendation — we got these reusable water balloons for the girls’ Easter baskets last fall and they were an absolute hit in the pool around here for the past four months. The package claims they are “reusable 10k+ times” and I can confirm that is correct. They are made of silicone and seal easily with a magnetic closure. We didn’t have one break all summer long and everyone who used them loved them. I am sure they are available many places, but the 4 packs are currently 50% off at Target.

Since learning my official color season in May, I have switched exclusively to “soft autumn” nail polish shades and I am loving them. Three were already in my rotation — Cockatoo, Plaza and Lipstick Stain — but new to me faves are LD & Patron of the Arts. I’ve been and Olive & June fan for six years and the more complicated nail trends I see, the more content I become with my very basic DIY manicures that last seven days.

I am making good progress on my Flock pullover. Knitting with a worsted weight yarn makes things move quickly! I added more stripes than the pattern called for; one every eight rows instead of twelve, and I am loving the colors. I am currently knitting the sleeves using a tip from a friend — to keep the sweater from constantly getting twisted around, you place it in a bowl. Then you can spin the whole bowl as you knit the sleeves in the round instead of trying to turn the sweater. It’s a game changer.

I am certain I shared this news last August, but my favorite online small flower biz just launched their bulb sale. This shop is where I order the bulk of my ranunculus and anemone corms for each year. I save and separate my corms to replant but I am hoping for two beds in 2027 so I purchased a few more ranunculus packs: the Amandine Pastel Mix and the French Half Clone Wedding Pastels. (The flowers in the graphic above are Anemone Galilee White with Black Center and Anemone Italian Levante Rosa.)

I’m still chipping away at my creative collage project. The official last day of my 100 days will be September 8 but there is a tiny part of me that wants to keep going for a full year. It’s been wild to see how my crafts have evolved over the past three months and I know it would be so cool to have this record through all four seasons. We’ll see. Unlike past 100 day projects, I don’t feel ready for this one to end.