Mish mash post here today of a few random things…
#1: I finally ordered and received my printed Blog Book from our Costa Rica trip!
I had this one made with my blog post recaps after our New England trip in 2021:
It turned out great, and ever since I have wanted to print books for some of our other recent trips. Especially our bigger Europe Trip in 2022, and Costa Rica 2023, and our big Parents’ 50th Anniversary Cruise last summer.
I still haven’t compiled the others but recently ordered Costa Rica’s! It arrived the other day.
Oh. my. gosh. You guys. IT IS HUGE. Like, ridiculously too big. HAHAHA. I mean, this is not a shock- obviously my travel posts are not, um, short. And it was a 15 night trip, so it’s just a lot of posts.
I wrote them in a very detailed, very photo-heavy fashion, with the intent of printing this as a family keepsake, but I think I went a little too far. 😅😅😅
It is over 300 pages!! omg. Haha. I think I might feel almost embarrassed to show this to anyone in real life. 🤣 It is also really heavy.
The New England book was a perfect size- about 169 pages, easy to hold and flip through, lightweight.
This one is a monster.
Ahh, well. I guess I need to rein it in a little on my travel posts? Or maybe not, who knows. I like looking back on all the small details and random unnecessary photos of things we ate or multiple shots of our family at sunset that are basically the same yet are each uniquely different, too.
I also suppose I don’t actually have to print these; I mean, I do have my Travel page on my blog and I also back these up in Google Docs, so they’re easy for me to look back on on my laptop at any time.
I was envisioning a neat little stack of my travel books under our living room end table, however, but at this rate, I’ll need a forklift to move them if I print more. 😂
*Also, this may seem odd, but I actually find it easier and much faster to just dump a zillion photos into a post. I am so indecisive that otherwise I spend way too long trying to decide which photos to include or exclude. With my way, I don’t really think about it! Just quickly click click click, add practically all, move on. LOL.
#2: Speaking of indecisiveness… not a fan of shopping.
I like having new things; I hate the actual shopping part.
This week I’ve been thinking ahead and trying to get a few things for upcoming events- namely Asher’s graduation and Hawaii. Now, I don’t need anything. I realize this. I have dresses I can wear for graduation, and I have swimsuits, and I have shorts and I have tank tops.
BUT…..I sort of also really like to have at least a couple “new” things for vacation! Not a lot, but just 1-2 items that feel fresh.
I have been debating on Asher’s graduation thing, because I really do own a lot of dresses. And it’s not like this is a huge deal, anyway. We will go to the graduation mass/ceremony, take a few family pictures, and then go to dinner with my parents. No big party or milling around with others, etc. So does it even really matter what I wear? Not really! And like I said, I own plenty of appropriate dresses. However, I feel like I have just worn so many of those dresses to death for multiple events already in the last couple of years (the cruise, Ivan’s work dinners, weddings, etc…). So I kind of just wanted something new…
Last year I did buy a new dress for Ethan’s 8th grade graduation, which worked out very well for the whole “church service” thing; it was a longer style, below the knee, and just felt very church-appropriate (compared to like a shorter cocktail style dress, or a typical sundress). I liked it a lot, but I don’t really own another dress in that similar style. SO, last week I happened to see the same exact dress, but in a different color/ pattern… and I ordered it.
However, being always indecisive, I have still been on the fence if I actually want to wear the exact same dress (in totally different color/pattern)… Is that weird? Lame? Will it annoy me to look back on pictures from Ethan and then Asher’s graduation and see basically the same dress? (I of course texted this question to my mom, and also both Lisa and Elisabeth last night. 😅 Additionally, I asked Ethan, who was the poor lone soul home when I tried the dress on, “Do you think anyone will notice that I wore this same dress last year in a different color?” Ethan, annoyed I’m even asking him: “What? No. I have no idea what you even wore last year, and neither will anyone else. Anyway, WHO CARES.” HAH. ok, thanks.
But then, to further complicate things, I ended up going on a little online shopping binge and ordered a new rash guard, a gauzy button down coverup type shirt, and a new bikini top for Hawaii. 😩
This also turned into a mental production, because I couldn’t decide between the black rashguard and the peach colored rash guard… (I do have a similar rust/orange suit bottom, so I could in theory replicate the model’s look here, which is cute, I think!…)
SHU was the lucky one to get a “help I can’t decide which color to order” text with screenshots of both of these. 😅
Ultimately I went with the black one (though I hope that was the right call?! I do really like the other one too….I like them both…😩😩)
Then I decided to go with light peach in this button down:
This is the suit top I ordered- will match bottoms I own plus I like the sporty style.
After all of that, I was like, gulp, ugh, now I just dropped a bunch of $$ and probably shouldn’t have. (Did not “technically” need any of the above….). SO then this morning I decided- I think I’m going to send the graduation dress back and just wear an old dress I already own- and put that money toward this beach order!!
(Besides, then I don’t have to fret about the whole “same dress as last year” silly thing. I do realize this sounds ridiculous and no one gives a crap what dress I wear to this 8th grade graduation- a prime “Kaelyn you’re way overthinking it” example, #storyofmylife.)
#3: I need a Nutella intervention.
And finally, on an unrelated note, I have a serious Nutella problem. THIS is why I forbade myself from buying Nutella for the longest time… I can’t resist eating it. If it’s in my house, I want to eat it. All the time. With a spoon, from the jar.
It tastes exactly like eating brownie batter to me!!!
I bought this (in my defense, rather small) jar on Sunday night.
Current state on Thursday morning:
I can’t stop!! Did you know that just 2 tablespoons is 200 calories? Granted, I use a little spoon for my scoops, but… I also don’t eat just one scoop. 😬
Guess I’m gonna have to blacklist Nutella again (but after this jar is gone 😉 )
Alright, that’s enough for today.
On a scale of 1-10, how ridiculous is my ginormous blog book? (Don’t answer that. 😅) Are you a decisive shopper? Do you like to buy new stuff before trips or events, or are you cool wearing the same things over and over? Yay or nay on Nutella? If nay, do you have a Nutella equivalent that you can’t resist?
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for birds chirping outside. Love that in the spring/summer.
GRATEFUL KAE 
I think the big Costa Rica boom is great! You aren’t going to be lugging this thing around all over the place so it’s fine that it’s 300 pages! You can flip through it and relive that epic trip. I think it’s brilliant!
I would probably rewear the same dress from last year because I don’t care all that much about rewearing things. Since you don’t wear a lot of dresses in general, it was probably smart to return the dress and focus on purchases you might get more ware out of? I am so not a shopper and a total under buyer so I don’t tend to buy things for trips but I like having a really small amount of clothes to choose from. I should do a post about my closet sometime. It is not nearly as sparse as Elisabeth’s but I think I own less clothes than the average female. But I kind of have a uniform for work and wear the same dresses week after week because no one notices or cares, I think.
I’m kind of indifferent about Nutella. I don’t love it but I don’t hate it. It’s just kind of fine? I do enjoy it in a crepe but it’s hard to find GF crepes so I rarely eat it. For me my Nutella is moose tracks ice cream. I have terrible self control and wish Phil would not buy it. He is a moderator though so will literally eat like 4-5 spoonfuls and then put it away… whereas I will eat a bowl of it… I have tried to get him to buy ice cream with gluten in it, like pretzels or something. Then I would not eat it since I can’t… but he loves moosetracks and feels like I should be able to moderate how much I eat. And as an upholder, I should be able to just not eat it and yet it like calls out to me from the freezer after the kids are in bed….
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Ok, thank you for validating my book! hahah! And yes, I would love to hear about your more minimalistic closet! I can COMPLETELY see how having a small amount of clothing to choose from would be so, so freeing. Everything would just be easier! And yet, I’m nowhere near that. I think for me I have a lot of older clothes that I just no longer “love” love but they are still good, so I keep them… and then I end up with that “I have a million things but nothing to wear” dilemma. I would love it so much if someone could just wave a wand and give me some sort of perfect capsule wardrobe, full only of things I love and that fit me perfectly and it would all mix and match just right. But it seems like a lot of work to even get to that point, since that requires work to build that wardrobe and weed things out and FIND those perfect items… I think that also involves obviously spending out some on quality items, which can just feel overwhelming, too if I’m spending on other things and don’t really want to go drop a fortune on a whole new wardrobe, either. Another issue is that I also don’t love really wearing only the same things over and over (like for vacations, events etc, I sometimes feel a little blah if I never have anything fun and new at all!). This depends on the person, I think. I’m just not really a great shopper in general, either- like this post outlines, I can be very indecisive, and I tend to “like” things a lot in the moment and then later decide that, whoops, actually may I don’t really love it as much as I thought, or actually maybe it doesn’t fit just quite right, but it was “pretty good” and I didn’t want to deal with continuing to search so I just kept the item and then end up sort of regretting it… etc.
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I HAVE THAT CARVE BUTTON DOWN AND I’M WEARING IT RIGHT NOW. I have it in black. I 100% recommend it – great quality, does not need to be ironed, and comfortable.
I have worn the same dress to four family weddings on my husband’s side. The same dress. Every time, his sisters act like it is the first time they’ve seen it. I think Ethan is exactly right that no one will remember what you wore to any particular event!
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OOH! I’m so happy to hear this!!! It looks so nice and has great reviews, so I’m really hoping I love it too!!
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I love your vacation books! I’m decisive but lately everything has to be pretty cheap for me to throw down. I just bought a button down like the peach one in light blue in a different brand. But I also dream of having a capsule wardrobe someday! I haven’t really decided what to wear for this event. I don’t like the hazelnut part of Nutella but I definitely like my share of chocolate and ice cream during the summer. I started buying Yasso pops and Fudgesicles to try and not go ice-cream-crazy.
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I also LOVE the idea of a capsule wardrobe, but the idea of making that happen overwhelms me!! I think it would be fantastic though. Would make life so much easier!!
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This whole post was hilarious and SO RELATABLE! I have all these thoughts regularly. I DONT think anyone would notice the same dress/different colour situation but you would, and if it bothers you then save the money and return! Love your new holiday attire! Much better to buy online than at expensive tourist shops at the destination, which is what I often do on holiday, because I wasn’t organised/willing to buy any new pieces before hand.
I think that blog book is amazing! I did laugh at its thickness but as a family keepsake how wonderful!
And omg the Nutella! My Achilles heal is an Australian type of cheese crisps called Cheezels, or anything else that is salty, cheesy and high in fat haha! Definitely avoid having them in the house or they don’t last long.
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Well, I never usually have to worry about shopping on vacation because given that I am too INDECISIVE this also means that I am typically an OVERPACKER and don’t have any room left in my suitcase anyway for new purchases. haha!!
And ooh, Cheezels! I’ve never heard of those but wonder if they are similar to our Cheez-Its which I love love love! I also love anything salty, cheesy and high in fat!
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It’s weird because I’m actually NOT otherwise a huge chocolate person!! Like I probably won’t choose chocolate ice cream or chocolate cake, etc. (though I do like it). Something about Nutella tasting like brownie batter to me gets me though!
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Alright, I’m laughing at you showing someone IRL- not a blogger- the Costa Rica book and saying “here’s a 300 page book I wrote about our vacation.” WHAT??? But as bloggers, we get it. When you look back at it years from now, I think you’ll be happy you included all the details.
I’m an absolutely terrible shopper. I can never figure out what would look good on me, or what colors to get. I think all the things you chose are great (but keep in mind, maybe I don’t have good taste, ha ha.)
I’m also laughing at you asking Ethan about the dress- his reaction is exactly what I would have expected!
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Your big travel book is FABULOUS. I think there is a lot a value in having a printed copy of your family memories.
I have a few dresses that have lasted forever that I really like, but also I have years and years of family photos where I’m wearing them. So even though I technically don’t “need” more dresses, I do like to refresh the wardrobe once in a while.
I haven’t had Nutella in so long. But I definitely have my stash of snacks that I will eat too much of without even thinking about it. Last week I went to Trader Joe’s and the Asian Market and I got a ton of snacks…so I’ve been eating a ton of snacks just because I have them. I manage this problem by not going to TJ’s or the Asian market very often – so basically exactly the same as you not buying Nutella very often.
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Nutella doesn’t really do anything for me… Chips/pistachios- yessss pleasssseee.
Love the shirt you purchased. I do tend to buy one/two pieces is we are going on vacation. Just for a fresher look and my desire to fit in at that destination. But that’s pretty much it. Graduations/parties I just wear what I have.
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Which company do you use for travel books? Such a brilliant idea! I could choose one big trip per year to make a special book.
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What a great idea to put your travel experiences into a blog book! I’m going to have to look into this for myself. I have so many travel posts on my blog and it would be cool to have them in a book.
Ugh, shopping. I’m right there with you! I always want a few new items for a trip – it’s just nice to have something new to wear! I love what you picked out!
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That suit top is … *hearteyes*. I love it.I also love that you got your vacations printed in book format! It’s so much easier to have something to hold in your hand and to be able to show it to others! 🙂
Funny Nutella story: apparently it’s a stereotype that every German LOVES Nutella, so when I first started dating Jon, his mom bought me a giant jar of Nutella. Well, I am the only Germany who doesn’t like Nutella, I think, but I wasn’t brave enough to tell her.
Then she kept getting me jars of Nutella again and again and I kept hoarding them in my cupboard. Jon doesn’t eat it either, so I finally had to tell her that it was a kind gesture but that I didn’t really like Nutella.
I should have known to send you all the jars that I eventually had to throw out. LOL
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That suit top is … *hearteyes*. I love it.
I also love that you got your vacations printed in book format! It’s so much easier to have something to hold in your hand and to be able to show it to others! 🙂
Funny Nutella story: apparently it’s a stereotype that every German LOVES Nutella, so when I first started dating Jon, his mom bought me a giant jar of Nutella.
Well, I am the only Germany who doesn’t like Nutella, I think, but I wasn’t brave enough to tell her.
Then she kept getting me jars of Nutella again and again and I kept hoarding them in my cupboard. Jon doesn’t eat it either, so I finally had to tell her that it was a kind gesture but that I didn’t really like Nutella.
I should have known to send you all the jars that I eventually had to throw out. LOL
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Nice job on printing a blog book. I have used blog2print but they sadly just closed shop. Might I ask who you used?
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I am looking for a new blog printing company. I used blog2print to print my blog from 2010 to 2023. They did such a good job but they closed. They kept the captions under the photos with the photos. I tried another company to make a friend a book of our vacations together and they separated all of the words on one page and arranged the post’s pictures on the next page in a collage. Does Into Real Pages move stuff around or keep it true to your blog?
Love the peach color!
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Hi there! I felt like Into Real Pages basically left things alone. There are a few times that some slightly awkward blank spots kind of got left, depending on if I had more pictures versus text and space left on the page. But I didn’t notice captions getting separated or anything like that. I feel like it’s good quality overall! I have only ordered the soft cover versions. Maybe you could try ordering a smaller book and see what you think?
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Thanks for the info. I will give them a try for my 2024 book.
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