Greetings from Ocoee Farm, where, according to the weather report, the clouds are supposed to be rolling in and a thunderstorm is headed our way. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday night than curled up on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn, a glass of wine, a good movie, and the rain pouring down outside. Unfortunately, there are currently only sunny skies outside our windows, so it looks like it’s going to be a clear night after all.
What are you up to tonight?
In other news, if you have ever been interested in becoming a foster parent, we wrote a big ole’ post for you on the blog answering a ton of questions. The answers and steps in this post only apply to foster parents in TN, so be sure to check out your state for local rules, but we also go into detail about why we chose foster care to begin with and a little about our adoption journey. There are over 300,000 children in the foster care system in the U.S. right now who are in great need of good, loving foster parents. You could be exactly who they are looking for.
Hope you have a splendid weekend, and here are a few good things from the week.
When do you decorate for fall? Or do you even decorate for the season at all? After the less than stellar month we’ve had around here, PJ decided to decorate our front porch for the upcoming season because it brings us joy and gives us all the cozy feelings, two things we desperately need right now. I can’t tell you the comfort I feel when I pull up to our little bungalow and see all the pumpkins and gourds and mums welcoming us home. I know it’s a bit early, but I couldn’t care less because it’s our home and it’s what we like. In about a month, the Halloween decorations will be up!
To get the same look, we rounded up everything we used in one place for you.
Our dear friends Stephen and David St. Russel just released their first design book, Good Character, and oh my goodness, it’s absolutely beautiful. It features a room-by-room breakdown of how to add character to your home, whether you live in an older home or not. We just adore these two so much and are so incredibly proud of all they’ve accomplished. They’re insanely talented and hardworking and if you love design, pretty interiors, and good-looking husbands ;), you’re going to love this book!!
Who isn’t a fan of a Nancy Meyers-designed movie set? She’s currently working on a new movie, so we’re hopefully in for a treat next year with whatever she gives us, but in the meantime, how about we enjoy her daughter Annie Meyers-Shyer’s house? Do you follow Annie on Instagram? If not, you absolutely MUST. She’s been renovating her mother-in-law’s old home for the last five years, turning it into her family’s dream home, and it’s gorgeous in that perfectly laid-back, all-white-but-still-cozy California way. Every room is casual, elegant, and looks like it came out of one of her mother’s films. Architectural Digest just published an interview with Nancy and Annie, along with a bunch of photos in celebration of Annie’s new book coming out next month, and it was such a treat to read over my coffee this morning.
We celebrated our assistant Ethan’s birthday party at home this week, and invited family over for dinner and drinks and cake. By far the most stylish one there? My nephew, Garrett (who’s named after my middle name!), who wore a navy shirt with white stripes and khaki shorts. So, naturally, I immediately changed what I was wearing and put on the same shirt so we could match. If you can’t tell, I am obsessed with him and his facial expressions and his squishy arms and pretty much everything about him.
Have you ever walked into a bakery and just lingered there because of the smell? They’re so comforting! Well, apparently you can make your house smell just like one by coating your lightbulbs with vanilla extract. When you place a single drop of vanilla extract onto the bulb, and turn the lamp on, the heat activates the scent and makes your whole house smell like the inside of your favorite bake shop. Genius! You could also use maple extract or almond or any other flavor, really. I can’t wait to try this this fall!
Every Friday on the blog, we share the 14 items we linked from the week that you loved, and you can shop this week’s Friday Fourteen (which includes two MLM romance novels, fast chargers, our favorite facial serum, a self-tanner kit and more) below!
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 lately?
PS: last week’s good things
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