A Few Good Things
Including PJ's 40th birthday, the new app we're obsessed with, and what real life looks like at our house
Happy Saturday!
How was your week? I’m so happy to be saying this: we’re sending this dispatch from the beach!!! School is officially out for summer, so we packed everything (and everyone—we brought all three of our dogs and our cat for the first time ever) and drove down to our little beach shack for a week to celebrate PJ’s birthday like we do every year. However, this year is an extra special trip because…
We’re celebrating PJ’s 40TH BIRTHDAY!!!
Can you believe it?! It feels like such a milestone birthday in all the best ways. He was 23 when I met him and 24 when we got together, and now here he is, all these years later, and I find myself even more in love with him than I did back then. Funny how life works like that.
However, our trip got off to a very, very rocky start (our dogs got food poisoning and it wasn’t a pretty drive down), and PJ is still recovering from a sickness he picked up this past week, so it’s hasn’t been the grand trip we’ve been planning for the last 6 months just yet. It can only go up from here, right?
Lastly, I wanted to thank you for all of the sweet comments on our letter from last week about our trip to Cancun re: the private photos we shared. Posting those felt extremely vulnerable and your sweet comments softened that landing for me. If you missed that post, click here to check it out.
Hope you have a magical weekend, and here are a few good things from the week.
1. Real Life
As I was folding clothes in the living room yesterday and packing up the kids in preparation to leave for the beach, I looked around our front room and was like WOW. No one ever gets to see this side of our life on social media. And then I thought, why not? We should all be posting more things like this so our perception of other people’s lives are not so warped. This is real life. This is what life looks like on any given day: clothes everywhere, a new deep freezer (because we’re a family of five and have never had one before for some reason) in the middle of the room that needs to be set up, baskets everywhere, piles of stuff in the corners. This is what life in action looks like and I don’t think it should be hidden away. I think it should be posted and shared and shouted because it’s what makes us US!
2. Project Hail Mary
Have you seen Project Hail Mary yet? It’s the highest-grossing film in Amazon MGM history and currently has a 95% approval rating. With all the good press, we decided to watch it last weekend at the farm as a family, and we all LOVED it. It’s about a science teacher turned scientist who wakes up in deep space with amnesia on a top secret mission to save earth from total destruction because of our dying sun. It’s thrilling, funny, and has a ton of heart. The only problem is, and it’s one all five of us agreed on: it was way too long. But still, it was so good!
3. Last Day of School
We walked our kids to school for the last time this school year! There wasn’t a big send off, and it was a bit anti-climactic if I’m being honest. It felt like any other day. But in reality, it was the last time we’ll walk our 5th grader to school probably ever. He’s going to 6th grade next year, and his school is across town, so we won’t be walking him to drop him off anymore, which is kind of heartbreaking. It’s the end of an era. He didn’t seem to mind much, but it’s sinking in for me. It’ll just be us and our younger two next year after I finish dropping our oldest off at his new school. But for now, school is out for the summer and we’re all ready for some beach time!!!
4. Rec League
Have you heard of Rec League? We recently joined after reading Joanna’s recommendation over on Cup of Jo and are already obsessed. It’s kind of like if Pinterest, Substack, and your coolest friend’s Notes app all had a baby. Think: a calmer corner of the internet where people share recommendations, inspiration, random thoughts, and all the little things that are making their life feel good lately. Honestly it feels like the old internet again in the best way. We’re sharing cozy finds, home inspiration, recipes, super specific recommendations, little life musings, and all the random things currently living rent-free in our heads. Feel free to give us a follow over there, if you want. We’re having a ton of fun already!
5. PJ’s 40th Birthday
You know I had to save the best for last. My guy is turning 40 tomorrow, and we made a funny video to celebrate. It made me laugh. If you follow our daily journal on Substack, Keep & Delete, this video was the Delete I mentioned the other day. It actually turned out better than either of us remembered, thankfully, so we decided to post it. We’re down here at the beach celebrating it with our family, which is what we do every year, and it’s our favorite place in the world to be for birthdays. We come down in March for mine every year, too. I can’t wait to squeeze him so tight tomorrow, give him his presents, and celebrate the man I’ve loved for almost half my life. PJ McKay, what would I do without you? What would we all do without you?
This Week’s YouTube Video
In this week’s vlog, we’re taking you to Cancun with us! We vlogged our entire trip, from every meal we ate to every drink we drank. This is just part one, so join us this Sunday on our YouTube for the premiere of part two!
Tuesday’s Letter
If you want to start receiving emails for Keep & Delete, our daily journal, you can do so by following the instructions below:
1. Go to your Substack account
2. Click on the publication you want to subscribe to (Okay McKay)
3. Click Manage Subscription
4. Find the Subscriptions section
5. Slide the toggle next to each section you want to receive notifications about (Keep & Delete)
6. Save your changes
If you want to see all the Keep & Delete’s so far, you can tap the link below. We also end each one by asking you to share your own Keep & Delete for the day, if you feel up to it.
What about you? What have you been up to recently?
PS: last week’s good things
Easy road trips make for boring stories. Let the birthday good times begin! 🎉
Rocky start but you’re at the beach with your loves! 💜Have the best birthday ever PJ!! 🎂🎂🥳🥳🎂🎂