Surprise!! It’s been a while since I’ve shared the Monday love, hasn’t it?! One of my goals for the summer is to get back into documenting our days — and this has always been the perfect venue to do so :)

I was so thankful to spend time with my college roommates this past weekend for the first time in TWO years! There’s something special about friendships that pick up right where they left off no matter the distance, and I loved our time to laugh together, encourage each other, and catch up in general!! We explored Mass Ave, walked on the Monon, ate lots of good meals, and enjoyed the pool! Oh, and for the record, there’s officially nothing better than seeing your friends fall in love and care for your kiddo :) Ryan is one lucky dude!!!

Love these girls!!

And, in the true Monday Love spirit, a few things I’ve been loving/learning this past week…

1) Mile IQ! I finally bit the bullet and invested in Mile IQ this last month. I am terrible at keeping mileage records (as in, I normally don’t do it and then spend an entire day google map-ing my sessions / meetings from the past year and recording the miles before taxes….#oops), so I am loving this app for providing a consistent and reliable record. Also, this married girl is definitely enjoying an app where she gets to #swiperight too! ???? Haha!!!

2) THIS POST by my sweet friend Melanie! You may recognize her from our session a few months ago :) Melanie is a hand-lettering artist who does AMAZING work, and I was so honored to see her post about the value behind our session. The title of the piece says it all: “Should You Hire a Professional Photographer for your Blog?”. You’ll have to read it for yourself to find out the answer…although you can probably guess what direction she takes it :)

3) Trader Joe’s Mango Coconut Popcorn …and while we’re at it, the Chile Lime Chicken Burgers, too!!! There’s something about these tasty purchase ms that just scream SUMMER to me, and you should all go try them :) Oh, and tossing some avocado on the burgers is always a good idea, too! Chris and I have had several great patio nights out back after Ryan goes down, and these are our new go-to.

4) Lunch/Dinner time with Ryan!!! We’ve officially started baby food around here, and I’m having so much fun seeing my little dude light up and kick his little feet with joy as he tries new textures and flavors!! We still are primarily breastfeeding, but I’ve been adding in some sweet potatoes, avocados, or oat cereal to his diet too, and he’s loving it!!! More importantly, he’s started sleeping through the night again these last two nights (and all the mommas and dads said “Amen!!”)!

5) And, last but not least, my awesome DIY industrial shelf that Chris built us last weekend!! Our living room wall has been naked for the last almost-year, and, while there is still nothing really on it, it adds so much character and pizzaz to the room!!! We were inspired by this pin :) One of these days I will have to put together a house post…Chris has done some amazing work to our home, and I am so so thankful!!

And that’s about it! Hope your Monday is off to a great start and you are ready to take on the week! I am so excited to kick off wedding season this Saturday with Brooke & Luke — be prepared for lots of sneak peeks :) Happy Monday!

Love love love,

Sami