Einy and Duke are back!

1. I was so excited to see these two fluffy fellas on Sunday morning! Missed their sweet faces :)

2. We met this poor little Duck towards the end of our vacation (we named him/her Daffy).

Duck!

We saw him laying on the beach towards the end of our stay during one of our walks and, long story short, saw him in the same spot for two days straight. He would get up and walk around, and once swam out into the ocean and dove for food, but he was clearly misplaced. When we saw him in the same spot for the second morning in a row, I called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, thinking they could rescue the poor guy. They tried connecting me to two different local rescues, but was never able to get a hold of anyone, although I did leave a detailed message with one.

Later that day, my mom was walking the beach and ran across a lady who was scooping up the duck in a big towel. She told my mom that she lives there and had rescued two other ducks before and taken them to the animal hospital. They each had maimed wings and couldn’t fly to fresh water, so the animal hospital rehabilitates them and then releases them. I was so happy that our little duck buddy was going to be taken care of!

3. I don’t know about you, but as awesome as vacation is, there are just some things that I start to crave towards the end. The four things I miss most when I’m away from home: (1) My pups (of course!); (2) My SHOWER! To me, few things feel better than standing in your own shower after being away; (3) My pillow – I really need to start traveling with it!; and (4) My bed – when I collapsed into bed on Saturday night I totally appreciated how unbelievably comfortable it is!

4. The other awesome thing about coming back from vacation? DVR catch-up and binge-watching all of my favorite TV shows! I was waning on Game of Thrones at the beginning of the season, but I’m ALL IN now… it’s getting good!

5. Thank you to everyone for the Athleta recommendations a few weeks ago. I ended up ordering a few things from them and have been extremely happy! I got two tankinis for vacation (this one and this one in black) and they were perfect – very flattering, totally comfortable and didn’t shift around. I also picked up a couple of capris and tanks and loved those as well. The ladies who told me that the bottoms were true to size and tops run small were absolutely right on – thank you all for the great advice!

6. I have become recently obsessed with Alba Botanica products. I first stumbled upon their shaving cream when I was looking for a replacement after realizing that the one I had been using pretty much for-ev-er was full of crap and color dyes. I mean, whyyyyy does shaving cream need to be a certain color?! All of their products are formulated with natural ingredients and none of the not-so-good-for-you stuff that I’ve found can creep into beauty products (for a full list, see their about page).

On vacation, my sister showed up with their sunscreen and after-sun lotion. I have been feeling a little “meh” about my shampoo and conditioner, so when I got back I was browsing for something new and saw that they also make hair products. I bought the mango body builder shampoo and conditioner and have been loving it so far! I can’t wait to try out some of their other products and swap out more of my not-so-natural personal care products.

7. I am DYING for a soft serve ice cream cone, but it’s been raining every.single.day. since we got back from vacation, which isn’t exactly ice cream cone weather. I need a sunny window of time so I can enjoy a vanilla/chocolate twist with sprinkles!

8. I tried to do some reading at the beach, but I read exactly one chapter. I gave in to just closing my eyes, letting the sun hit me, and listening to the waves. Now that I’m home, though, I need to get back into a reading habit. Give me your book recommendations!

9. I love this list of 50 Healthy Habits Every Girl Should Have…

10. TGIF! All of this rain has me missing these sunsets…

sunset at the beach