Walk the aisles of a baby store and you’ll likely find diaper bag options with a minimum of 15 pockets. (I’m not even sure that’s an exaggeration.) I’m the first to admit I didn’t know that much about babies before June arrived, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around supplying that many crevices for goldfish to get stuck in.

As with so many things, I was reassured by my sister-in-law Marget, who opted for a Herschel backpack as a diaper bag when my nephew was born. We’ve done the same. Here’s what we’ve packed in it from birth to six months!

— 1 package of wipes
— Skip Hop changing pad
— 2-3 diapers
— nursing cover
— a book
— 1 extra onesie
— small hand sanitizer
— A&A muslin (this serves as a lovey and also a clean surface, if needed!)
— a small toy
— 2 cloths
— 2 plastic grocery bags (for diapers, if we’re not near a trash can, or wet clothes)

I imagine if you’re using bottles for each feeding that might complicate things a bit, and I know we’ll have to add or switch out a few items as June gets older. But for right now, this set-up is perfect! And as I’ve mentioned before, the Herschel packs have the bonus of being gender neutral.

If you’re the mama type, I’d love to hear what you use for a diaper bag! Or can we call it an “on-the-go bag”? Sounds so much nicer than a diaper bag :)

P.S. Six week favorites and five month favorites. Seven month favorites coming soon!

I have had the pleasure of knowing Lisa Kirk for three years. We are each other’s right hand at work, and through endless hours of back-and-forth chatter across our desks and extensive road trips around the South, I’ve gotten to know her pretty well. (Actually, let’s be real: I probably know her better than 90% of the people in my life.) We also happen to be very similar. So, it’s hard to think of an easier assignment than planning a perfectly fitting baby shower for this sweet, dear friend of mine!

I got a little overexcited and dreamed up three concepts, then left the final choice up to Lisa. Before I share the photos from the shower, I thought I’d share the three options I presented her with and y’all can guess which one she chose!

Credits clockwise from top left: unknown, unknown, Serena & Lily, photo by Megan Robinson via 100 Layer Cake

Up first: Stripes and Chambray! This theme celebrated a few of Lisa’s favorite things, with a little denim thrown in as a nod to her baby boy and a little gold to keep things girly. Guests would be encouraged to wear their best stripes :)

100 Layer Cakelet, 100 Layer Cake, unknown, photo by 822 Weddings via Snippet & Ink

Second option: Summer Whites! This shower would have a soft French flair. The color palette would be almost completely white, with small silver accents. Guests would, of course, be invited to wear white!

Oh Happy Day, Tell Love and Party, Cup of Jo, How Sweet It Is, Evelyn Henson

Third option: Fruit Punch! Inspired by Lisa’s main pregnancy craving (fresh fruit!), this shower would be anchored with a monochromatic fruit salad, watercolor details, and a few fruity puns.

I’d love to hear: Which is your favorite? Which one do you think Lisa picked?

Psst… see her actual shower here!

After seven years in the South, I have come to love SO many things about our sweet, sweet adopted homeland (despite what you may have been thinking after my last post!). Some of the 15 I’m sharing today are about the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill), some are specific to North Carolina, and a few are about the South in general, but I’m grateful for all of them. Here goes!

1. Vibrant churches. I’ll start here because though all of these reasons are fun, this one has been truly life changing. It’s amazing to live in a place where the default is that people are actively engaged in living out their faith, and to have access to earnest, active, flourishing church communities. I have learned and grown SO much by being around the Christians I’ve met since moving here.
2. Biscuits and barbecue. Y’all, the food in the South can’t be beat. Biscuits and (Eastern North Carolina) barbecue are two of my favorite examples, but there’s also fried chicken, pimento cheese, deviled eggs, hushpuppies, red velvet cake… the list goes on, and it’s all finger licking good.
3. Amazing restaurants. The Triangle is overflowing with amazing, innovative restaurants that are constantly striving for excellence. (And I’m not the only one who thinks so: Southern Living named Durham the tastiest town in the South a few years ago!) Between the empires of Ashley Christensen (Poole’s Diner, Chuck’s, Beasley’s, Joule, Fox Liquor Bar, Death & Taxes), Andrea Reusing (Lantern, The Durham), and Matt Kelly (Vin Rouge, Mateo Tapas, Mothers & Sons, Lucky’s Deli), you’ve got more quality spots than most towns can claim.

4. Bluegrass and country. I never listened to either genre before moving South, and now they’re two of my favorites! The Triangle is a great place to listen to bluegrass, especially; I got to see Steve Martin and Edie Brickell play with the Steep Canyon Rangers at Wide-Open Bluegrass a few years ago.
5. Warm ocean. This one’s pretty simple, but worth mentioning: the ocean is C-O-L-D in the north, and W-A-R-M in the South. Makes beach days even more pleasant :)
6. Greenways. The Triangle has miles and miles and miles of greenways, which are perfect for bike riding and evening walks. There’s one in our neighborhood, and we also love the American Tobacco Trail – 22+ miles of trails that wind through three counties.
7. Proximity to mountains. There are plenty of mountains in New England, but they’re all pretty far away from where we lived in Connecticut. Here, we can get to Boone in about two hours and Asheville in four — perfect, since hiking is one of our favorite activities!
8. Weekend trips. The Triangle is a fantastic launching pad for weekend trips! Greenville, Asheville, Charlottesville, Atlanta, Beaufort SC and NC, Charleston, Richmond, Wilmington, and so many more destinations are all options for weekend exploring. (Another one of our favorite activities!)
9. Community events. With three world-class universities, enterprising businesses, and awesome arts organizations in the area, our calendar is stocked with fun and often low-cost activities. Festivals, Durham Bulls games, antique fairs, pop-up shops, outdoor concerts, choral performances, and outdoor movies are a few of my favorites.

10. Duke basketball. Speaking of world-class universities :) John has been a Duke fan since middle school, and it’s a pinch-me kind of thing to live so close to Cameron. Tickets are still hard to come by, but we’ve been to several games since moving here!
11. Swimming holes. I’d never been in an honest-to-goodness swimming hole until I got to NC, but they are delightful — the perfect antidote to blisteringly hot summer days.
12. Warmer winters and springs. I think this is the classic reason to love the South, and definitely the one that most convinces John! We have four solid seasons, but cut out the bitterest cold and the rainiest, most depressing days of “spring” that New England gets in March and April. Instead, we might have a 70 degree day in January, and switch on reliably delightful days in mid-March. John is also very proud of the fact that the sun never goes down before 5pm here.
13. Southern architecture. Creaky farmhouses, gracious front porches, snuggly bungalows, plantation drama… yep, the South sizes up pretty well against New England.
14. Great chains. The mall near my house in Connecticut is sad and the butt of many jokes, so the opportunities that come with living in a more metro area still kind of blow my mind. Pretty much every awesome chain you can think of, including Whole Foods, Anthro, Crate & Barrel, J.Crew, Madewell, West Elm, and Sephora, is an easy drive. And of course, NO list of great Southern brands would be complete without mentioning Chick-fil-a — I could write an entire post about all the reasons I love them!
15. Innovation. (Almost) nothing ever changes in my corner of Connecticut, which is both a blessing and a curse. The opposite is true in the Triangle, where things are always changing, growing, trying, failing, building, and experimenting. Sometimes it can feel like a whirlwind, but it’s also exciting, exhilarating, and inspiring. One of my favorite examples? The American Tobacco Campus, which was transformed from urban blight to one of my favorite spaces in Durham a few years ago.

I’d love to hear: What’s your favorite part about the South? Did any of my reasons particularly resonate with you?

I almost never say this, but I’m a little bit glad to see July go. My Mom flew down in the middle of the month to travel with me and June for work, and as soon as she was in the car from the airport I started spilling out all the things that were weighing on me… June being sick (again and then again), John being sick (pretty much all month), being behind with work because of sickness and vacation, being behind with grocery shopping/laundry/cooking/cleaning/Etsy orders/Em for Marvelous/personal emails because I was working on my day job after hours to catch up, one of my teeth randomly hurting every afternoon (??), Lisa’s shower looming over me… it was just a lot.

Since June was born it’s been fairly easy to maintain our balance, but with all the sickness this month, it felt like everything suddenly careened off the rails–which made me extra thankful for our usually healthy household. This month, I’m praying for the germs to stay away, for work to stay at work, and for a little extra time to make some progress on my August goals!

Despite all of the craziness in July, we were thrilled to make it to Cow Appreciation Day — a Thomas family tradition at least five years running!

Revisiting my goals for July:
Finish our will
Master an updo from the Small Things archive
Move forward in our backyard renovation project
Check more things off our summer fun list
Finish planning and host a baby shower for a dear friend
Relish our time in Maine
Email our neighborhood recreation committee about my luminaria idea
Finish our June in June movie
Feed June her first solid food!!

August goals:
— Finish our June in June movie
— Try out a yoga class at the studio near our house
— Go to an outdoor concert or movie
— Relish our time in Connecticut
— Read at least one book (has been a challenge over the last few weeks, so I’m keeping it simple!)
— Book accommodations for our camping and Asheville trips
— Master an updo from the Small Things archive
— Finish our will

As a reminder, here are my 2016 guideposts. If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments!