A Few Fun Things
Like a haircut, my brother's baby shower, and a shirtless photo of where I'm at on my fitness journey (eeeeek)
Happy Friday, friends.
I wanted to switch up the Friday post today and kind of go back to the basics of what has always been fun to me about newsletters and blogs in general (since, let’s be honest, that’s what these newsletters kind of are anyway: glorified blogs). I love sharing off-the-cuff posts; writing whatever comes to mind and not being so rigid or structured with the format. I have had it in my mind, as our subscriber count on Substack has grown over the years, that every newsletter needs to be and look perfect or be extremely deep to engage readers or just a million other things. But at the end of the day, social media is for sharing, connecting, and feeling a little less alone, so let’s connect tonight on this chilly Friday evening.
This week has been another doozy for us and our family as we adjust to our new routine of basketball games and practices every night, which has meant extremely late nights (we didn’t get in bed until almost 1am last night) and still very early mornings. It’s been an adjustment, but we’re doing our best!
To have a little bit of a lighter lift this week, but still deliver something to your inboxes because I genuinely love talking with y’all whenever I can, I’m sharing a few fun things that happened this week at the McKay house as a little catch up. If you enjoy this format, please give this post a like and leave a comment letting me know! It helps our newsletter so much and lets other people see what we’re putting out into the world. Thank you, friends.
Okay, here we go!
PJ gave me a haircut in the middle of our kitchen this week, and I have to say, it’s my favorite haircut I have ever received. I don’t say like to speak in absolutes very often, but I truly mean it. He understands the slightly-off shape of my head and how my hair falls on it, and gave me a proportionate haircut that feels completely like me. The only problem is, now that my hair is shorter, all of my grays are coming through loud and clear. Should I color them or leave them natural? PJ really likes the look of the grays, but I’m not so sure. Thoughts?
Even though it’s not really strawberry season, I picked up a bunch of them at the store so PJ could make more of his delicious strawberry jam. We finally ran out of the batch he made this summer, and we all absolutely love it, so he made a big batch of it with plans to give some out to family. It’s seriously so good, and our favorite way to eat it is on top of his homemade buttermilk biscuits.
Our favorite time of the year is here! There is something so festive and fun about gift guide season, and we just released our Annual Holiday Gift Guides, with a little something for everyone on your list this year. These were fun to put together, and they will hopefully take all the hard parts out of looking for that perfect gift for someone you’re shopping for. Our favorites? the Gift Guide for Him, the Gift Guide for Stocking Stuffers, and the Intimate Gift Guide. Happy holidays!
My brother Taylor is expecting his first baby (!) with his wife (and my college classmate) Mariah, and we are all so damn excited for them! My older sister has six kids, and we have three, but it’s been almost a decade since we’ve had an actual newborn baby in the family, so you can imagine how much we’re looking forward to him being born. His name is extremely special, especially to me (hint: his first name is my middle name). We celebrated them last weekend at their baby shower, and it was just really fun to all get together, eat some yummy food, and all get excited about the baby coming early next year.
And finally, a little update behind the paywall of my fitness journey. It still feels a little too vulnerable for the entire internet to see, but maybe in time it won’t feel that way? Anyway, after taking working out more seriously this year, here’s what I currently look like as of this week:
