Hi friends!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted so I wanted to pop in and give some quick updates. I love my blog so much even though maintaining it takes up more time than I seem to have these days, but every time I think about letting it go, I just can’t do it. Life feels pretty routine lately and I doubt anyone is interested in hearing about the monotony of our days, weeks, months, etc. so I haven’t had much to write about–although I have toyed with the idea of doing a day-in-the-life post. What do y’all think?

Anyway, through the monotony, we’ve still had some cool things happen so I’ll share what we’ve been up to lately for those who are interested.

Hi, friends!

It’s been a hot minute but we’re finally all moved in. The boxes are unpacked and almost everything has a found a place in the new house. We’re well on our way to being completely settled. We’ve had a chance to meet our super nice neighbors, and we’re looking forward to when we can all safely gather and be more social. We’re excited to get to know them better and really become part of the community.

Welcome home!

Hi everyone,

I realize I’ve been a little MIA this month but that’s because we’ve been very busy with house hunting!

At the beginning of the year, we decided we had outgrown our little place and it was time to start the process of finding something a little bigger. We met with our realtors, started looking at the market, and started fixing up our little house to make it appealing to a new family. That whole process takes up so much time but throw in the coronavirus wrench and you’re looking at double the amount of time!

We finally put our house on the market on Mother’s Day weekend, which we spent in a hotel. The house was only up for about three days before we accepted an offer. Then the pressure was on to find our new house! We had been looking at everything from older homes to new construction in several neighborhoods around Durham until we finally found a beautiful, light-filled house on a cul de sac in a great neighborhood. We submitted a ridiculously generous offer and I wrote a sweet little letter explaining why the home was perfect for us and out of the many offers they received, THEY ACCEPTED OURS!

Time to start packing!

The house has everything we’ve been wanting: a 2-car garage, tons of natural light, a nice backyard, a neighborhood pool, a great school district for Sebastian, AND perhaps the best part in my opinion: it’s not very far from our current house so we won’t have to change up our routines that much! We can go to the same grocery store, doctors, vet, etc. When you live with anxiety, change is very difficult so not having to change much will make the transition so much better.

The buying part of the process is almost over and we still have a few weeks before we close and move, but we’re really excited about everything. Wish us luck that the rest of the process and the move go smoothly!

Hi, everyone! These last few weeks (months?) have been a bit of a whirlwind with lots of changes and new routines to get used to. I’m here with an update on all of the newness in our lives including a new job, Invisalign, new daycares, and a new furbaby!

Beauty

I cut my hair and I started Invisalign!

You can’t even see them!

In middle school, I wore braces for two and a half years. Over these last few years I could tell that my teeth have been shifting. I was becoming increasingly unhappy with my smile and finally decided to do something about it – Invisalign! I started mid-November and wear a special set of trays for one week and then change to the next special set. Each set applies the right amount of force to move my teeth to where they need to be. I’ll be wearing them for about 9 months, which is a piece of cake compared to the years I spent in metal braces. I’m slowly acclimating to them but the best part is I’ll be done before you know it!

Work

In November, I started a new job at Duke University as a program coordinator for the Center for AIDS Research and I’m housed within the Department of Population Health Sciences. I coordinate the social and behavioral sciences program for investigators who research HIV/AIDS, so I’m still working in the field of sexual health – my passion – but in a slightly different capacity. I’ve been with this job for a little over a month now and I’m loving it so far. My team is amazing, my office is bright and happy, and I really like the work I’m doing it. It was a much needed change of pace and a great step up in my career.

My sweet digs at the new office.

Home & Family

As if a new job and new teeth (sort of) weren’t enough, we decided to move Sebastian to a new daycare and then we adopted another dog!

New School

Santa visited Sebastian at his new school. He was so excited! He told Santa he wanted cars for Christmas.

Seb’s new daycare is about 10 minutes from my new office and I like being so close by in case anything happens. It’s located farther away from our house than his previous daycare (about 20 mins vs. 7 minutes) so we’ve had to create a new morning routine to make sure we’re ready and out the door without being late. It has been worth it, though, because in the short time that he’s been at this new daycare he has flourished! He’s happier, speaking more, and singing songs. At his old daycare, he was having a bathroom “accident” almost every day but at this new daycare he hasn’t had a single one. I had had some suspicions about his former teachers not paying enough attention to the kids and this kind of confirms it. But the important thing is that he’s thriving now!

New Puppy

Meet Milo, our new puppy!

Milo Pilo

He’s a 1.5-year-old Chihuahua mix, and he’s quite the snuggle bug. We adopted him at the beginning of December and fell in love immediately. He’s such a sweet, wiggly little guy and we’re so happy to have him. We had a few early hiccups but he’s settling in quite nicely! We chose his name because we thought it sounded good with our other dog, Mia. Mia and Milo… kind of rolls off the tongue! His full name is Milo Pilo with ‘Pilo’ being a subtle nod to Nick’s and my favorite TV show in the whole world, Parks and Recreation per the clip below…

…and also because we make our dogs’ names rhyme! Chico Antonio, Mia Sophia, and Milo Pilo. It’s just what we do 🙂 I mean, look at how cute they are!

Mia & Milo

Anyway, I think that’s it for now. With the holidays coming up, we’ll be even busier but I have a few things in the works for the new year so I hope you’ll stick with me. Wishing you all the best!

Xo, Nicole

Hi, dear readers! I didn’t mean to disappear for a month, but life has been hectic. Between travel, work, toddler needs, and life, time just got away from me. Let’s catch up, shall we?

Travel

At the end of September, Nick and I traveled to California. It was a dual-purpose trip: My best friend was getting married in Carmel-by-the-Sea and asked me to be in the wedding on September 29th, to which I couldn’t say yes fast enough, and then, because her wedding was two days before our own wedding anniversary on October 1st, Nick and I decided to head up to San Francisco for a few days to celebrate our own wedded bliss.

The wedding was stunningly gorgeous. I’m so jealous of how beautiful everything was but I’m honestly not surprised because it simply matched the beauty that is my best friend, both inside and out. I was so busy helping with and prepping for the wedding that I didn’t get to take many photos, but I can’t wait to see the photos that the photographer took. I have a feeling they’re going to be top notch. In the meantime, here are a few that I managed to snap when in the little bit of downtown we had.

Big Sur, California. This was basically the background of my friend’s wedding!

Happy bridesmaid!

Obligatory Golden Gate Bridge picture

Fashion

In North Carolina, we had about a week of “false” fall in mid-September where the temperature cooled down to a beautiful 68-75 degrees, but then quickly heated up again. In California, it was “true” fall with temps in the 60s-70s every day. I think that was my favorite thing about California aside from the wedding. Anyway, NC’s false fall allowed me to wear a few fall-like outfits, which was exciting. You can find them on my Instagram and I shared them on Nikki by example’s Facebook page, but here’s a recap.

Fall outfits, finally!

Outfit 1: Blouse: Loft Outlet | Cardigan: via Stitch Fix | Jeans: LOFT | Shoes: H&M | Necklace: Old Navy 
Outfit 2: Sweater: ModCloth | Jeans: Wit & Wisdom via Stitch Fix | Shoes: Banana Republic (old) | Necklace: J. Crew Factory
Outfit 3: Sweater & Trousers: Banana Republic (old) | Shoes: H&M | Jewelry: Target | see outfit post here.
Outfit 4: Sweater: ModCloth | Jeans: LOFT | Shoes: Madden Girl | Necklace: J. Crew Factory | Belt: Target

Family

In mid-August, Sebastian started potty training and he’s really been rocking it! We’ve gotten super lucky in that many of his friends at preschool are also potty training so I think he picked up on it really quickly from seeing them go to the potty at school. He’s very good about peeing on the toilet on his own and is slowly overcoming his fear of pooping on the toilet. This is pretty common with kids from what I’ve read and heard. I feel like it has been incredibly easy learning/training process, and that for that I am eternally grateful! This kid is truly the best.

The “baby potty” as Sebastian calls it.

Work

I just accepted an offer to work as a research coordinator in the Department of Population Health at one of the large universities in the area and I start next month. It’s a welcomed change that will come with more responsibilities and more pay, so I’m really excited to start this new career journey. I will miss working in adolescent sexual health but the time has come for me to move on and move up in my career. And don’t worry – the building also has a big mirror in the restroom so you’ll still get regular outfit updates 😉

I will soon be a university employee

I think that’s it for now. Lots of stuff going on and many changes to work through, but overall, life is great! I hope all is going well for you, too.