Letter from TeriLyn – July 2023

I can’t believe it’s already been a month since I published the last letter. I told Hannah when the reminder popped up on our content calendar that I don’t even know what happened in the last month. But, that’s kind of good because it means it’s just been some normalcy, which was much needed after a very busy May and June with lots of travel.

Family

We did go to Boone for the 4th of July and that was really fun. My brother came up for a couple days with his family and it was great to hang out with them during the day. That night, we got pizza and all went to Tommy’s parents house to watch the fireworks (you can see 4-5 firework shows from their deck!) and made s’mores in the fire pit that Tommy’s brother just built. It was such a perfect 4th of July!

Aside from family time and work stuff, we had a bunch of random life stuff, like car repairs, HVAC repairs, eye appointments, a couple OBGYN appointments, a brow appointment, etc.

The next few weeks will be busy as well. I’m in Charlotte for 4-5 days for a work conference and then our nanny is going on a mission trip to Brazil for a week after that. While she is gone, we’re going to go to Boone so we’ll have in-law help and to escape the heat a bit!

Then a couple weeks after that, Thomas starts preschool a few days a week. I’m so nervous but I also think he’ll really like it. I think what I’m nervous about is that he’ll be really upset when I leave and I’m also sad about not having that time with him. But I remind myself that a few days a week, Bree takes him on field trips so he’s not at the house with me anyway. We talk about homeschooling a lot so sending him to preschool seems like a step in the opposite direction, but I keep reminding myself that if preschool isn’t a good fit for our family, I can always pull him out.

Work

The other big thing that happened in July is is the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale! That’s always a big event in my business and it’s honestly so fun! This year I went to Charlotte to shop in person with a friend and that was really fun and helpful so I didn’t have to buy as much (and return as much) online! It has gotten me SO excited for fall – I’m ready for cooler weather, fall fashion and some coziness. See ya later summer. I’m over you.

The Nordstrom sale honestly takes a month of consistent work. One week before the sale opens, we are prepping Nordstrom Sale content for the blog and in newsletters so people can save items to their wishlist. Then, once the sale opens, since it’s a rolling opening, I’m updating the blog post with details on how things fit as my own orders arrive. We update the blog post almost daily and I film lots of try-on and styling content for Instagram stories and reels. I also film YouTube Nsale try-ons with everything I got, whether I keep it or not, to help people do their own shopping. It’s intense — especially because Hannah was on a well-deserved vacation for part of the sale — with long hours, but it’s really fun.

I hired some organizers for my office and that was super helpful, especially right before the Nordstrom sale with some much inventory coming and going! They helped create better systems in my office and organized all my files and such (and bought all the bins that would fit the space, so it was nice I didn’t have to measure and shop for those!). If you are local, I highly recommend The Mindful Organizers. I want to have them come back and organize some of Thomas’ things and maybe the garage.

Pregnancy

As I’m drafting this, I’m 13 weeks along! Honestly, I feel like I should be so much further along, I’m sure because I had so many doctors appointments and medications that made me feel awful for 5 months before I even got pregnant. But I’m hoping things start to turn a corner with my all-day nausea and sleep woes as I get further into my second trimester! If you want to read more pregnancy updates, I wrote a full blog post about my first trimester.

I hope you are enjoying the last of your summer days!