Erin Akin Carroll

Why is it that there is so much pressure to be everything to everyone who needs us? Disappointing my family and friends is one of my biggest fears. I’ve heard that as I get older I’ll forget about this and get over that fear. But right now, it gets to me.

I’m a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, a church member, a volunteer, a cook, an organizer, and a planner.

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I struggled post-grad school with finding great friendships. So I prayed for friendships and God blessed me with amazing friendships. I have my wonderful, supportive husband. I have my beautiful, sweet children. I have my generous parents and in-laws. But I have expectations and they all have expectations. And I don’t want to let anyone down.

My kids need to be loved and fed and paid constant attention. My husband needs my love and attention more than anyone and deserves a good meal every day. My parents and in-laws want to see their kids and grand kids to spend time with all of us. And we want to see them, too!

But there aren’t enough days in the week or hours in the day. Between work for TC and responsibilities for me at home, we’re already swamped. But I have a couple of days a week when I have meetings in the evening. So does my husband.

My friendships are important to me. My church is important to me. I get a lot of fulfillment from the activities that the church provides and the relationships that I have there. I am fulfilled by the voluntarism from being in the Junior League. I am able to give back while still using some of my skills that I don’t get to use on a daily basis.

But every day, I seem to go through my check list of the people in my life that I need to contact to stay in touch and I get overwhelmed. And then I go through my checklist of extra responsibilities that aren’t in my home. Some days I just feel stretched thin.

I want to want to do it all! I want to have great time with my family and great girl time with my friends. And I also want my kids to spend time with other kids while I spend time with other moms. And we want to spend time with our families.

I guess I’m just using my blog as a little therapy session today. I don’t want to be overwhelmed. But I also want a great balance in my life. I want to find a way to balance the relationships in my life that mean so much to me. And still find time for our little family of four to get lots of quality time together. And still have time for amazing friendships and trips to visit my family and our out-of-town friends. I’m not willing to quit the things that are just for me and I’m not willing to just let relationships go. But I also want the management of all of it to come easily.

I went to America’s Mart in Atlanta this past weekend. It has become an annual trip for me. I meet up with my mom, sometimes my dad, and my mom’s best friends every year in Atlanta while my mom shops for her clients and I tag along. As a kid, my mom allowed me to go as long as I never complained about being tired, hungry, or bored. She let me keep coming back, so I must have followed “the rules.”

On this particular trip, I was on a specific mission. I’m the Decorations Chair for the Junior League of Columbia’s Holiday Market this year. I can’t believe I’m doing this big job, but I’m hopeful our committee can put together a gorgeous, fun, whimsical market! I had my eye on things like this. Love the colors!

I was fortunate enough to meet up with two of my favorite friends that I’ve met through blogging. They also happen to be sponsors of my blog. Sarah from The Monogram Chick is just about the cutest person I’ve ever met. She is also so creative and easy to work with. I was so happy that she emailed me to let me know she was also at the Mart this weekend, so we got to chat a couple of times. I love her!

I also stopped by the stationery temporaries to see the extremely talented Ashley Brooke Designs girls. Ashley and Betsy have been so much fun to work with over the past few years and I couldn’t believe I was going to finally meet them in person. They have done so much for my family and for me and I’ve even given their goodies to friends of mine as gifts. Ashley has an incredible eye and tons of talent. I’m so excited that they made their big America’s Mart debut this year!

Hayes came on the trip with me and I carried him around in the Baby Bjorn. I thought he seemed pretty comfortable because he slept most of the time, but then I saw this picture and couldn’t believe how crooked he was! We straightened up the Bjorn for the next day. Poor guy.

I had to get a special Market pass for Hayes. The pass said “Baby Pass” on it and I joked that someone was going to see it and ask if my name was “Baby Pass.” I wasn’t far off because in one of the showrooms, a man laughed and said “Oh, you have a baby and the name of your shop is ‘Baby Pass.'” I looked at him kind of confused at first and then I realized he was seeing the nametag and didn’t understand that the badge was just Hayes’s Market pass. So funny.

It was a fun little trip. I loved having an excuse to see my parents again this summer and I always love getting together with my mom’s friends. These friendships span 20-30 years and I love them like they’re family.

I also got to meet up with Callie and Lyndsey for dinner and we had a blast. My friendships with both of these girls have come to be so special to me. I got back to the hotel really late because we just didn’t realize how late it was and we just kept on talking. I’m so thankful for blogging and the friendships that I’ve made through it. I love the ideas that all of the commenters leave and the people I’ve come in contact with. It is such a wonderful piece of my life and I’m just so thankful for the opportunities and friendships that have come as a result of this little blog. A big huge thank you to everyone who reads!

I feel like summer time is a time to be a minimalist if there ever was one. You play outside, you read books, you watch less TV, you wear less makeup, and kids can be entertained with simple things instead of toys.

I wanted to share my summer essentials with you!

Makeup

I don’t like wearing much makeup in the summer time. I don’t have much time these days to apply makeup and I sweat a lot and I don’t like the feeling that I have on tons of makeup and then it’s covered in sweat. It makes me feel like a big break out waiting to happen. I also like to be able to wash my face as much as possible after being outside. So I just don’t wear a ton of makeup. These are the essentials. (I always always always wear eye liner, but feel like it’s too heavy looking on a sweaty, hot day, so I haven’t been wearing it this summer.)

Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturizer with SPF– This goes on after my regular moisturizer. It has SPF and just enough tint to even out my skin tone. But it feels light.

Clinique Super Rescue Antioxidant Night Moisturizer– I use this in the morning and at night after I wash my face.

Smashbox Soft Lights in Shimmer– I brush this over my face for some shimmer and to get a little bit of a summer glow.

Diorshow Mascara– My favorite!

Urban Decay Naked Palette– All of these colors are so natural and beautiful. I think they add just enough color in the summer time without looking too “done.”

Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow in Blonde– I use this color to give my eyebrows some help. I have the lightest eyebrows you’ve ever seen!

Neutrogena Makeup Remover Towelettes– These are perfect for removing eye makeup. I still use all my Bliss products for washing my face.

Hair Stuff

I have a lot of hair and it takes forever to dry. And then I go outside and things get all frizzy because I have naturally wavy hair. So in the summer, I just use these products, let my hair air dry, and then do the curl down. I also use my Olivia Garden round brush to dry my bangs or they’d be ca-razy! Nina first told me about Olivia Garden brushes a couple of years ago and I bought a couple of different sizes. Then she recently told me about the Olivia Garden bamboo brushes. I love mine!

Olivia Garden Bamboo Brush in 3.5 inch– It makes my hair dry so fast. When I do dry all of my hair it  cuts the time down by so much!

Aveda Brilliant Damage Control– This is a great detangler and heat protectant.

Aveda Phomollient– I put this on last and scrunch. Then I let it air dry. It is very light!

Conair Ceramic Curling Iron– It’s my favorite. It’s a great price and it lasts forever. Here’s the link to Amy’s post with the curl down video again.

Books

I read the most in the summer time. There aren’t may great things on TV, so I would prefer to just read. This is what’s left of my summer reading list! I kind of fell off the reading wagon at the end of my pregnancy and when Hayes was first born. I’m getting back on track though.

TV on DVD

Again, there’s nothing great on TV, so I’ve been using my Netflix Instant to watch all of Friday Night Lights this summer. I’m obsessed. TC and I just love every single character– well, almost all of them! My mom watched this show from the beginning and I’d catch the occasional episode with her. But I’m weird about TV shows. If I’m going to watch them, I have to watch them from the very first episode.

What are your summer essentials? Make up and hair routine? What are you watching this summer? If you say you spend every day at the pool with no one around, I’m going to be extremely jealous and ask if we can trade places for a day. I’m just kidding…