To know Nancy Ray is to love her. She is one of the most faithful, encouraging, insightful, and delightful people I have ever known, and her friendship has meant so much to me over the last few years (as I know it has to so many others!). When the opportunity arose to co-host a baby shower for her this spring, I jumped at the chance! I considered it a small opportunity to repay her the love she’s showed me over the years… and, let’s be honest, to throw a party where I could actually put my larger-than-normal collection of cake stands to use!*

Nancy had requested a “spring and woodland and baby animals” theme, which was perfect for our March party and her May due date. Since there were many hands helping, I put together an inspiration board to keep everyone on the same page. Our palette was mint, shades of green, creamy white, and tan.

Clockwise from top left: nursery photo by Brooke Palmer from SMP Living, fairy lights terrarium photo by Dulcet Creative via 100 Layer Cake, cheese platter from Martha Stewart, Minted fabric, fern backdrop by Dulcet Creative via 100LC, terrarium decor from Martha Stewart, leafy greens photo by Liz Banfield via Southern Weddings, spring tablescape from Creatively Yours

Check back in tomorrow to see photos from Nancy’s shower!

*Most of the other showers and parties I’ve hosted have been a plane ride away, making prop transportation problematic :)

Granted, this playlist might have been appreciated more on Friday instead of after this most celebratory weekend, but there’s still so much of summer left to enjoy! I hope my newest seasonal playlist will help you do just that. This one is definitely more eclectic than my spring or fall offerings — there’s some old stuff, some new stuff, some rock, some pop, some country — but the unifying factor is that every song is fun to dance around your kitchen or backyard to. Trust me, we tested them this weekend.

Click here to listen to my summer playlist.

You do need a Spotify account to listen, but, well, Spotify is wonderful, so go ahead and take the plunge!

There is a season for everything. You can do it all, just not all at once. I don’t typically think in profound statements like those, but if I had to sum up my general philosophy about leading a full, happy life, they pretty accurately fit the bill. The last few months have been a season of major travel in the Thomas household, and to fit it all in while not quitting my job, letting our house fall into complete disarray, abandoning my Etsy store, forgoing friends and family, or becoming an unhealthy noodle, I wrote fewer blog posts in the last few months.

And I’m okay with that! I’ve said before that I’m not interested in “building” this blog to the point where I have to write a post before going to bed or going on a walk or spending time with John. But I love writing here and I love y’all, and I’m sad when we’re apart! So as you’ll see, one of my goals for July is to write eight blog posts. I may or may not get all the way there, but I’m excited to try! There’s a season for everything, after all.

Revisiting my goals for June:
Enjoy our France trip to the fullest! Yes! So good! Much more to come!
More travel: Virginia, Connecticut, and Kentucky! Flying home from Kentucky today… see above!
Celebrate Father’s Day, older sister’s birthday, and younger sister’s graduation with my family Yes! Despite those things we were celebrating, it was one of the rare times we were home together without a major event (Christmas, wedding, etc.) on the calendar, and it was wonderful and relaxed.
Have lunch dates with two dear friends Yes!! So happy I was able to squeeze these in while in CT!
Replace my everyday bag while in France (no. 40!) Yes! I replaced my small black Longchamp bag with… the exact same small black Longchamp bag. I was waffling between black, navy, and charcoal, but in the end my “revealed preferences” (as John would say – econ term) won out. Bonus: Longchamps are significantly less expensive to buy in France!

July goals:
— Pick blueberries at our favorite local farm
— Plan and co-host a sweet summer co-ed baby shower for Natalie + Joe!
— Eat in and eat healthy. (Our dining out budget is a bit busted at the moment after a harried month of travel. I also really want to focus on enjoying all of the delicious (healthy!) produce this time of year!)
— Write eight blog posts.

If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!

Two years ago I wrote a post sharing seven things I love about my Mom. I intended to write a companion post for my Dad that same year, and then the next year, but for some reason it never happened. As you’ll see, it’s not for lack of reasons. So in 2015, here are eight things I love about my Dad (in no particular order):

1. He is full of wisdom. This fact has always impressed me, apparently, because when I was in elementary school I designed and printed him a poster entitled “Everything I Need to Know About Life I Learned From My Dad” (sorry, Mom). You can click here to see a photo of this gem :) I could fill an entire blog post with his nuggets of wisdom that were imprinted upon me after being repeated over and over and over throughout my childhood, but one of my favorites is, “If you’re going to give, give graciously.” He knows that what you do is not always as important as how you do it.

2. He always takes the scenic route. Literally. He thinks the world is a beautiful place and doesn’t mind taking the longer way to see more of it. He’ll also take any excuse for a road trip, especially if a daughter is at the other end. He and I drove from Maine to Chicago once to help my older sister move, and driving through those picturesque New England towns with him is one of our fondest memories together.

3. He is a diplomat. He studied international law and diplomacy for his PhD, and instead of taking his skills around the world, he deployed them in our home and community. He is the one you want leading a meeting as well as refereeing at the dinner table. He is calm, patient, and fair, always. He votes in every election and is informed about every issue. He can strike up a conversation with anyone and put them at ease, even though at heart he’s an introvert like me. As one more example, when my family drove across the country for two weeks, he wrote up a family contract of behavior and made everyone (including parents) sign it, then laminated it and displayed it in the car on the drive.

4. I learned my punny humor from him. No opportunity is ever wasted to make a play on words.

5. He loves reading, writing, and learning, and he taught me to love them, too. For more than thirty years, my Dad was a college professor. He is SO smart, but he’s still intensely curious to learn, most often through reading. He is always reading. My sisters and I love to read, too, and I could not be more grateful that he instilled that love in me at a young age – it has shaped my life in every way. He also taught me almost everything I know about grammar and editing. Even after correcting dozens of student papers, he would always read through mine for school. Instead of correcting them for me, however, he would mark each line that had an error, and then we would go line by line together, and I would have to figure out what it was. He did this even if I brought him the paper at 10pm the night before it was due. No short cuts.

6. He is a dedicated servant. To his church, our country, our family cottages, civic groups, teams he coached, and more. When you’re a good leader (see no. 3), people tend to ask you to lead, and any position he accepts, he executes with graciousness and diligence.

7. He is a music maker. He has the most beautiful voice, he loves to sing harmony, and he is an amazing whistler. He regularly breaks out into song, most often while doing after dinner dishes.

8. He truly cherishes his children. In the end, this is my Dad’s defining characteristic. He will talk to anyone about his daughters – what we’re up to, what we did the last time we were together, when he’s going to visit us next. He has saved (and displayed) the most ridiculous grade school gifts we made him – his old office was full of them. Some of you may remember the books of drawings he gave Kate and I at our rehearsal dinners. When we were younger, he was NEVER too busy to read with us, ever. He is an example to me every day in how to treasure my closest relationships — and to show them that through my actions.

Bonus reason no. 9: He is one of my most faithful blog readers. If you see Rob commenting, that’s him :)

I love you, Dad. Happy Father’s Day!

All photos by Tanja Lippert from our wedding