A month after Clive was born I was getting everyone out the door when I thought, I need to call to reschedule Poppy’s dentist appointment. By the time we were in the car, I jumped on a different call and forgot. I remembered right as I was falling asleep and I thought, shoot, it’s the weekend now and they’re closed! Ugh. Then the gift I kept meaning to order popped in my head and the fence quote Anthony asked me about three days before, and that’s not counting all the content ideas for our business. Everything was on a running to-do list in my notes app and calendar reminders, but that list was so long I was never getting through it in a day, and that night I knew I needed something better, more intuitive.

I’m not the most organized person but I’m VERY creative, so I’ll have all these ideas while I’m driving and then a text or an email comes in and I’ll have to get back to it after, usually writing it down in my notes (with sometimes no context). With so many ideas the decision fatigue of figuring out which one to do first was real. I’d be folding laundry and think, wait, should I really be doing this right now or should I be starting that other project I keep thinking about? Even sitting with the kids I’d catch myself thinking about what I needed to do next, which is the opposite of how I want to spend that time. I read that it takes about 23 minutes to get back into what you were doing after you get interrupted, and in a normal day being a mom to little ones that can happen every few minutes. That was exactly how it felt, and our brains can’t really multitask, we just bounce back and forth and lose a little focus every time.

When we moved from CA to TN it was for many reasons, but downsizing our lifestyle was one of them. I used to have an assistant who managed my calendar and kept track of everything in Monday.com, and a nanny I could hand the kids off to when I needed to jump on my computer. When we moved we decided not to bring that help with us. Their childhood is going to go by so fast, and of all the things to outsource, time with my kids wasn’t one of them (I learned that lesson the hard way with Jadyn (my oldest who is now in college), I felt like I was always too busy for her and on the go which I share more about in previous posts). I figured I had to be a lot more strategic with my time but I still wasn’t the most organized with it. I was winging it half the time!

Around that time Anthony was helping small businesses automate the mundane tasks that keep them running so they could spend more time on the work they love, and I said to him, why can’t we do this for our house and our own routines? What I needed was something like a house manager, with systems that stay a few steps ahead for me. And that’s what he created for me. I’m not techy at all (I joke that I’m IT challenged!), and I wouldn’t be where I am today without Anthony because I come up with the ideas and he figures out how to get it done. That’s how we started the blog back in 2013 when I had the vision for it and he built the website to bring it to life, he’s always been the systems person. So we sat down and talked through everything that was stressing me out. I wanted to be more present mentally with the kids and stop worrying that something was getting forgotten in the background. We started putting it in place before Clive was born, and as I healed and got back into my routine after, I kept adding to it once I realized how much more I needed handled automatically.

I still have my reservations about AI. Will I ever let a robot in our house? Absolutely not and Anthony agrees that’s a hard pass. But if it can take the mundane stuff off my plate so I have more brain space for my kids then yes I’m in! Anthony first built our automations with Claude Code, which is what he uses for his business clients. Last month, Meta (Facebook/IG) came out with an app called Muse, and that’s what we’ll walk you through step by step. The difference is I don’t have to keep prompting it. It’s more like having a house manager who’s already a few steps ahead and brings things to me before I think to ask. You just need to know how to set up the different automations and how to prompt it.

It’s become such a normal part of our routine now that I didn’t think twice about it until I was explaining my setup to a friend who’s also a creator, and she said “HELP, you need to show me how to do this.” She hadn’t heard of Muse or set up any automations and was mostly using ChatGPT to look things up, which is how I used it at first too. And when I told Jadyn what we were working on, she asked me “wait, what’s automation?” With how much we hear about AI now I assumed more people were using it like this, but those conversations made me realize not everyone is using it like this at all. It could help so many moms, especially if you don’t have help at home or someone to think through these systems with you. Anthony has become the go-to for our friends whenever they’re stuck with AI, so we’re teaching it together step by step so you can set it up too.

Here’s the normal things I stopped doing myself:

I stopped trying to remember it all.

Now when something pops into my head I press the action button on the side of my phone and create an actionable voice note. For example “Book Poppy’s dentist for sometime in November.” “Remind me Thursday to pull the frozen meat out for stew.” “Sometime this month I need to research best low tox gift ideas for kids”

From there it takes care of the rest. Each note gets sorted into the right category and any day I mention either goes on my calendar or becomes a reminder. Every morning I see my top three things that NEED to get done that day based on priority. This is super convenient when I’m out with the kids or in the middle of something because I make the voice note and move on with my day knowing it’s being handled in the background.

Anthony put together a how-to guide for this one, so if you want to set it up yourself you can sign up here and we’ll send it to you.

I stopped trying to remember the priorities of the day.

At 6pm every evening my automated routine sends me a short recap showing what got done that day and what’s still open. That includes everything from my voice notes along with reminders from the other automations I’ll explain below. Then at 6:30am the next morning it sends me my top three for the day that have to be completed, already in order so I know which one comes first.

Now I wake up to three things and a clear place to start. You can choose how many priorities you want each morning but three has worked well for me, and I’ll show you my system for it.

I stopped trying to keep up with my inbox.

Not all emails need a reply but there’s still something I want to remember, like a seasonal event I don’t want to forget or a sale coming up that I don’t want to miss. Those little things were easy to lose track of in between everything else.

Now my automated routine goes through my emails as they come in and flags what needs me, without deleting or moving anything. Anything that needs a response gets flagged first, and the ones that just need an action later get turned into a reminder for the right day. If something is waiting on a reply from me it stays on my list until I answer it, and if I emailed someone and never heard back it reminds me to follow up. I can also ask if there’s anything I need to respond to right away.

So in the morning I know which ones need a response and will prioritize by importance. Plus not forget action items for the other things in there (like that sale!).

I stopped losing my ideas.

Anything I say in a voice note that starts with “idea” is automatically saved to its own list. Then every Thursday my automated routine emails me all of that week’s ideas so I can go through them and decide what to keep. I like getting all my ideas out when they come to me and reviewing them later to decide which ones I’ll act on and which ones can wait. Some of them I end up deleting off the list after seeing all of them as an overview. It helps me seeing it all in one place.

I stopped saving IG posts I’d never find again.

I’m a serial saver and SO many of my saves end up buried in a folder I never open again. I even file them into different categories, but when I go back to look I can’t remember which one I put it in. Now my automated routine keeps track of my saves for me. When I need one I just ask something like “what’s the paint color I saved last week?” and it pulls it right up. I still save it, but if it’s not in a perfectly categorized folder, I know I can still find it easily at a later date. I will also during brainstorming use this to grab ideas, like pull any of my saved paint posts. I have the report sent via email with links to the posts.

I stopped running our calendar by hand.

With everyone’s schedules and both our personal and work calendars, it’s easy for things to overlap. My automated routine reads the details of the event or appt and adds to our calendar for me. If it overlaps with something we already have, it lets me know before adding it so I can decide what to do. It also blocks off the drive time so I know exactly when we need to leave. My work blocks and my own time are already on there, so it schedules everything else around them.

Then every Friday EOD I ask it what the following week looks like and it gives me an overview. It tells me which days are too full and flags anything I need to prep ahead, whether that’s a gift for a birthday or the supplies for a recipe I’m baking that week or an appointment I need items for before we go.

I stopped keeping track of seasonal activities myself.

There are so many things to manage and not miss, especially during the busy holiday seasons. My automated routine keeps a running calendar of seasonal activities like all the fall festivities starting here. When I see an IG post or an email about something fun I let my automated routine know. It also searches our local area for events that are a good fit for my kids’ ages.

Two weeks before anything comes up I get an email with what’s coming and a plan for it. For October it sent me the pumpkin patches near us with their hours, which ones are best for little kids and which weekend we had open to go. For birthdays it reminds me to order the gift in time. If your kids are in sports or school activities this would work well for those too. It’s always thinking ahead of schedule.

I stopped the 5pm “what’s for dinner.”

So many of you told me meal planning is your biggest struggle, and it used to be mine too! I want my kids eating nourishing meals but weeknights need to be quick. Once a week I just say “plan my week” and my automated routine picks five easy seasonal dinners from our usual rotation, and I swap out anything that doesn’t sound good that week. It checks against the stock list I update once a month, then gives me one grocery list that marks what to pick up at the farmers market and what goes on our delivery order, plus a reminder when to place it.

Because our dinners come from the same rotation I’m not buying random spices for one-off meals anymore. It also means I can buy our organic staples in bulk, which I’ll share more about in a future post. This system is working really well for us.

I stopped tracking packages in my head.

We order from so many places, and none of those apps talk to each other or tell you when a return window is about to close. My automated routine pulls every order confirmation from my email into one list, whether it’s from Amazon or Target or various shops, so I can see what’s arrived and what we’re still waiting on without checking multiple apps. Sometimes a small package never shows up and I don’t realize it until it’s too late to do anything about it. It flags anything that should have arrived by now and keeps an eye on return windows, so the package that never came doesn’t turn into money we lost.

I’m assuming this will be especially helpful at Christmas with orders coming from so many different shops, excited to have a better system to track it! Last year I was doing it all via notes and marking them as they got delivered (but would forget to mark some when they came!) Not the best system.

I stopped letting subscriptions ride.

Once a month my automated routine scans my email for receipts and renewal notices and pulls every recurring charge into one list, from streaming services to the apps I signed up for once and never used again (the amount of times I do this!). It sends me that list with what each one costs and when it renews next, so I can catch the ones I don’t use and keep paying for what we love. The list shows up on its own so I never have to remember to go looking, and all I have to do is make the decision on what to keep.

I stopped spending hours researching.

When we need to look into something I mention it in a voice note while I’m going about my day, and my automated routine takes it from there. Later there’s a “findings report” in my email with the top pick, pros and cons, customer reviews/ratings and the best price. Most recently we were comparing new family cars, so it pulled together the safety reviews for each one we were considering. It also looked into whether dealerships had end of year offers and whether certified pre owned would be the better choice for us based on how well it holds its value. What I got back was a short summary of what it found, so I could decide on the next step without feeling overwhelmed (and yes it’s best to negotiate end of year! so we’re waiting until then).

It’s just as helpful for house maintenance and anything that needs a quick decision but I don’t want to be on my phone doing the manual typing and want to review at a later date.

I still have days where the kids need me in five directions at once, but I’m not having to remember all the little things that keep our house running smoothly. And this is not all perfect! It’s a work in progress as we continue to learn what works best for us, the cool thing is you can customize it to what works best for you. I would try things for a week and then think, no, this needs a tweak, and Anthony would figure it out for me. Recently it even rescheduled a passport appointment for me. I used a voice note to say “remind me to reschedule my passport appointment,” and later it asked if I wanted it to handle it for me. Could I have done it myself? Of course! But I’d rather let my automated routine do it so I can spend that time on something else.

Anthony put together a step-by-step guide for each of these so you can set them up too, and the first one on voice notes is out now. Sign up here to get it and be notified when the next one drops!

Thank you for being here!

xx Brittany

These are the things I find myself using almost every day. I shared them on Instagram and wanted to add them here too, including the play mat we take everywhere and a few little things that make getting out of the house easier.

Play mat

This is great for the beach too! It folds up, snaps closed easily, and has a handle on top for carrying.

Baby carrier

Double stroller

Single stroller

Changing clutch

Muslin nursing cover

100% cotton dry wipes

Tangerine soap-and-water wipes

No essential oil soap-and-water wipes

These are the same soap and water wipes in two versions. The Free & Clear is unscented which is better for babies or sensitive skin, and the Tangerine has a light, natural citrus scent from essential oils (these are the ones I use).

Organic cotton grip socks

I just got them each a grey pair of these merino wool ones for when it gets colder too.

Everyday sandals

For fall, I just ordered these ones in tan for Elliott and these for Poppy.

Organic cotton Toy Story pajamas

Mulberry silk pillowcases

Toddler pillows

Motion sensor night light

Merino wool sleep sack

Botanical detangling spray

Electrolyte drink

Saline nasal spray

Beef sticks

Stainless steel divided plates or the set here.

Cotton canvas tote insert (in M/L size)

xx Brittany

Since posting last week on Instagram about how old is too old to have a baby, I’ve gotten so many questions about how we conceived Clive. Many were about if we went through IVF (no, we didn’t). And other questions were about what helped me get pregnant naturally at 38? I filmed four videos documenting those months, the two week waits, the negative test, the morning I found out, but nowhere did I have it all listed out in one place for an easy reference. So that’s what I’m doing here… writing out everything I did during those six months, what I did differently the cycle we got pregnant, and what I’d do now if we were trying again.

Some of this came from my functional health doctor, some from my chiropractor and acupuncturist, and some I picked up from researching how to boost my health to not only conceive but have a strong pregnancy. I’m not a doctor, I’m sharing my own personal experience, and hopefully some of these tips could help you if you are in that trying to conceive period or are thinking about it in the future.

As I sit here writing this I have a chonky 4 month old boy on my lap (18 pounds!) and remember the feeling of finding out I was pregnant last Labor day weekend and waking up Anthony at 6am with the test strip saying, it worked!! Everything we had been doing (many daily prayers included) was for this little life, and now he’s here and the biggest joy! I’m the kind of person that likes information to make a decision, so that’s how I approached trying to conceive, I was also 38 so I wasn’t in the mindset of “if it happens it happens” and “wait and see”, no I’m going to not only support myself for optimal health but I wanted to optimize all of it, here’s everything I did:

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I recently took a weekend to complete the areas that were bothering me the most and it felt so good after! As a mom of three little ones working from home (and one in college, but she organized her room before she left thankfully), my house is not in pristine order daily. There are toys usually spilled out to be played with and they get cleaned up before we go to bed. I want my house to feel lived in and my kids to feel it’s a safe space to run around and be kids. But I don’t like clutter and keeping something because I’m not sure where else to put it, what I’ve found is that when there’s LESS in the house to begin with, I feel more at peace and the cleaning up goes faster.

UCLA studied families in their own homes for years, and the moms who called their houses cluttered had higher stress hormones, and it went up as they walked from room to room. So maybe they’re onto something and it isn't just in my head. A house with less in it to me is a calmer house.

Fall is when I like to do this because the holiday season gets pretty busy. This also gives me a good idea for Christmas presents for the kids because we clear out what isn’t useful and can be more mindful of what we get them (I don’t go crazy with Christmas presents for the kids like I used to in previous years, lessons learned but that’s for another post!). I used to get decision fatigue where I wouldn’t know where to start first and would get really stuck on the decluttering part (I would always find some reason to keep something). Here’s what I’ve found to help me get the job done quicker…

I start with whatever area is bothering me most, which is almost always the playroom. Recently it was our entryway too, so I worked on both, and I'll keep going through the other areas this month. Break it up into manageable tasks, like today I do my closet, tomorrow the bathroom drawers. Saying it will all get done in one day isn't practical and hasn't worked for me in the past. Then I follow the same order for every spot in the house: declutter, deep clean, then make it cozy.

Part 1: Declutter

I break up the house into rooms or categories. For the playroom the category was toys, I like putting everything in one pile so I can see it all at once. So for example, here’s the before:

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I'm very picky when it comes to sales, but that wasn't always the case. I used to talk myself into every one, calling it "saving money." Now I’m much more intentional about it, I keep a running list of things I need from brands I already love, and I wait. Labor Day is fun because so many brands have sales. Here's what made my list, and the one question I ask before anything goes in the cart: would I pay full price for this? Most of the home pieces featured are from Lulu and Georgia, they have 25% off sitewide and it’s really good because that doesn’t happen often:

The living room

We haven’t painted the living room yet or hung art on the walls but I love that we moved and all the pieces still work in this house too:

The Merrit sideboard is a little long for where I have it right now, but I love it so much I’m keeping it here for the time being. It might need to go in the entryway but I haven’t styled that area yet. It’s the collab with Sarah Sherman Samuel and I love her interior design, I bought it when we were in San Marino.

The Baird swivel chairs come in so many prints, but I still think they’re so cozy in the brown, and these wool light filtering curtains.

The wool throw in the color rust lives on our chair and we use for movie nights. This one is perfect in brown too. The Olema handwoven wool throw I’ve had since 2023 and it’s still in good shape.

Our round coffee table is sold out, but this one is the one I'd buy now. I love a round table with little ones. When they start walking I’m not worried about sharp corners, we had a square marble coffee table in our first house with Poppy and I was always nervous about her falling into it, so I’d keep her out of the living room. That’s not practical, I want our living room to be cozy and a place for the whole family. And the kids loveee this sheepskin ottoman, especially when we light the fireplace.

Our Chiltern rug is thick and cozy and the quality is great. Mine is the colorway with more pink in it and I wish I’d gone a bit darker like the copper color.

The Kemble woven basket holds our firewood and looks pretty next to the fireplace. It’s from the Heidi Callier collab and her rooms are always so warm and elevated at the same time.

The Deep Silence print is in Anthony’s office waiting to be hung. We’re behind on a few house projects but it will be up hopefully soon! Here’s what it looked like at our previous home:

The dining room

The Raphael sideboard is in our dining room and I love how light it is next to the other furniture. I still need to hang prints and style that area more. I’m borrowing Jay’s lamp from her room, I just ordered this one.

Our bedroom

The lamps, the nightstands, the full length mirror are all from the collaboration with DISC Interiors, who do beautiful work out in LA. We need to paint our room still, not loving the grey walls it has currently, but here’s how they were styled in our previous home:

My bedframe comes in so many prints.

I love this Lee tall dresser I use the inside shelves for folded sweaters and joggers for the fall and it makes it easy to see everything alongside having drawers.

The Vekki bedspread is on our bed now. I originally bought it for Jay’s room last year, but with her new room here the mattress was smaller so it was too big. See Jay’s room before and after here.

Avocado mattresses. Every mattress in our house is an Avocado because the materials are truly clean, organic latex, organic wool, and organic cotton with no foam, no chemical flame retardants, and no fiberglass. Up to 20% off mattresses and 15% off bedding and bath.

The kids’ rooms

The kids both have Lorena Canals washable cotton rugs in their room (see them in this post), these are some of my favorites, dog pillow, checkered rug, line rug.

This dresser and Anastasia mirror are in Poppy’s room. I painted it Incarnadine Red from Farrow & Ball most recently:

It’s adorable in the white too, how it was in her previous room:

In Jay’s room (see them all featured in this post): the Birchly chandelier, the Monroe velvet pillow on her bed, and the Duna organic towels in her bathroom. The bath sheet is huge and so cozy, and the hand towels can be personalized, which gives it that hotel touch.

My kids’ both have avocado toddler pillows and Elliott has the crib mattress and Poppy has the kid mattress. See how I styled Poppy’s room in this post.

Boden is 15% off new kids’ styles. I had to get this jacket and dress for Poppy (thinking would be perfect for Christmas), sooo cute!

I love Hanna Andersson, especially the matching print above. Their site is 40% off and code FUN20 takes another 20% off your order. These toy story PJs in 100% cotton are adorable! I love this dress and this for Poppy, this and this for Elliott, and this and this for Clive.

Elevated closet staples:

Madewell is up to 50% off sale, plus 25% off fall selects with code LONGWEEKEND.

I love this look: my jeans, shirt, belt, shoes. I’m 5’10 and wearing a size 27 Tall in the jeans, if you’re over 5’9 the tall length is perfect. The jeans have a tiny bit of stretch:

Left: Low slung baggy | Right: Low Rise Loose (both in the tall length)

Other items I’m loving from Madewell: woven bag, tank I own in barn red, loafers.

MATE the Label organic cotton basics that hold their shape after washing. Their Long Weekend Event is 20% off sitewide I love their biker shorts and leggings.

Other honorable mentions:

Helmi pendant, the Kalani pendant (we put this in the stairway of our Pasadena house), the Garda sconce, a dried strawflower wreath for fall, the Dori linen placemats, the Pearl stoneware, and wavy dinnerware I use nightly. the Darcia vase, and the Olivia candlesticks. The Villers compote bowls

The KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer is $100 off and Crate and Barrel is giving 20% back in reward dollars on top. I use it every day and it’s worth the money. With the holidays coming it’s nice to catch it on sale.

xx Brittany

We started a pile in the corner of the living room for everything going with Jadyn, and it’s slowly growing as move-in day gets closer. Her doormat is already in there, the one from our Target run last week. When we get back from 30A we’ll repack the car and gather the rest of her things to drive her back to college. The kids have been having so much fun with Jay living in our ADU, and they always want to go out and visit her, so it will be sad when she leaves, because I know she’ll miss them showing up each morning, sometimes waking her up earlier than she planned. And she already mentions how big Clive will look the next time she sees him, of course we’ll be FaceTiming, but it’s never the same as cuddling a baby in person. It feels like summer has flown by (and it’s not over yet!), but it’s getting close.

Most of what’s in that pile isn’t decor. It’s the same swaps we’ve made here at home; her sheets, her detergent, her water, the light in her room. Here’s the thing about a dorm room. It’s a vinyl mattress a hundred other students have slept on, fluorescent tubes overhead until midnight, and everyone else’s dryer sheets and plug-ins drifting down the hallway. We can’t change any of that, and we’re not trying to. What we can change is what’s inside her four walls, the light she reads by, the water she drinks, what her sheets are made of, what her clothes get washed in. I always think that if you can make home the place where her body gets a break, it’s easier to handle everything she can’t control out there. Jadyn recently did an HTMA test and her top stressor was pesticides, which is tough because the college cafeteria isn’t organic, but water is one of the ways pesticides show up, so filtering her water was the first thing I wanted to get right this year. The sophomore dorms are a bit bigger, but she still won’t have a kitchen where she can cook her own meals, so she’ll do what she can and I’ll help where I can.

The first one is the same one we did last year. Dorm lighting is bright and cold and it stays on late, and all that blue-heavy light at 11pm works against the body’s natural wind down, so I got her an amber bulb for her freshman dorm, one that screws into any lamp and is 99.94% free of blue light. I got her roommates one for their lamps too so they could all sleep better. This year she has her own bedroom, so she can keep the overhead lights off completely and just use the lamp at night.

The rest of this one is for my Substack family. I’m sharing the full list zone by zone and why each thing matters, and what she’s bringing. There’s also the swap list and what we’re not sending, plus a plain-language cheat sheet for every certification on these labels and a printable checklist you can take to the store.

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I used to work at Nordstrom. Once in high school, then again for three years starting when I was pregnant with Jadyn, so I worked four or five Anniversary Sales from the other side of the register. Here’s what really cool about these items and why I would get excited for it: it isn’t leftover summer items. It’s brand-new fall product, marked down before the season, that goes up to full price on August 10th. The buyers would come in and talk about the fall items that were going to be on the sale and it was always a good time to buy that fall piece you were thinking about.

I was terrible with money back then, and being at the mall every shift didn’t help. I’d shop the sale before it even opened to the public and I almost always walked out with items I didn’t need, like new flats for Jadyn (I was obsessed with buying her flats for some reason).

It's easy to get caught up in all the good deals, and I tend to spend more money when I think that way. Instead, I'm focusing on items with better quality materials. I went through the sale and pulled out only what's made of natural materials: cotton, linen, wool, silk, leather, suede. I don't mind wearing polyester here and there, like for a special-occasion dress where the style is what I'm after. But for classic pieces I'll reach for again and again, I want natural. I've got 25 core pieces here, plus a few fun accessories at the end that I think are great deals!

Bedding:

If you buy one thing from this sale, buy sheets. Here’s the difference of percale vs. sateen: Both are 100% cotton. The only difference is the weave.

Percale is the classic over-under weave, the crisp, cool, matte one. Think of the sheets on a really good hotel bed, or a freshly pressed white shirt. It breathes beautifully, so it stays cool all night and never feels clingy. The tradeoff is that it wrinkles a little and feels crisp rather than buttery. If you sleep hot, percale is made for you.

Sateen is woven so more of the thread sits on the surface, which is what gives it that soft sheen and silky drape. It feels a touch warmer and cozier against your skin, the kind of sheet you sink into on a cold night. The tradeoff is that it holds a little more heat. If you run cold, go sateen.

Boll & Branch Framed Organic Cotton Percale Sheet Set

The contrast trim is so chic!

Coyuchi Classic Organic Cotton Sateen Sheet Set (in color undyed white)

Coyuchi is amazing deal when it’s on sale. GOTS certified, woven in a Fair Trade certified factory.

Nordstrom 400 Thread Count Organic Cotton Fitted Sheet

We have two sets of sheets for our bed, so when I’m washing one I can put the other one on the bed, this is great for that second set.

Parachute Organic Cotton Twill Quilt

A quilt is the layer that makes a bed look finished. I’ve had our Parachute quilt since our first house in 2020. I love the cinnamon color for making the bedroom cozy for fall, but I have the cream one.

Coyuchi Classic Organic Cotton Blanket

This is great for pulling out for a movie night or when guests come over.

Kitchen

If you've been thinking about making the switch from nonstick, this is the time to invest in cookware that will last.

Our Place 4-Piece Cookware Set

The Always Pan and Perfect Pot, plus the minis. Ceramic instead of the usual nonstick coating: Our Place says it’s made without PFAS, PTFE, PFOA, lead, or cadmium. If you’re currently using non-stick pans they most likely contain forever chemicals, so it’s best to switch to something like this or stainless steel.

Madein Stainless Stainless Clad Frying Pan Set

Madein pans are fully clad 5-ply stainless, five layers of steel and aluminum bonded together and running all the way up the sides, so the whole pan heats evenly instead of just the bottom. The aluminum in the core spreads the heat, the stainless makes it last, and the magnetic stainless exterior means it works on induction and every other cooktop. I love using stainless steel to cook with because there’s no coating to scratch or wear off, nothing leaches into your food, it doesn’t react with a tomato sauce or a splash of wine, and it takes the high heat that gives you a real sear. They also rarely go on sale.

LE CONNOISSEUR 6.6 Qt. Round French Oven

This is perfect if you wanted to get started on making sourdough bread, I also use this to make our stews, I use it many times weekly it’s worth the investment.

For Baby:

These are staple items that aren’t on sale very often so I think are worth it:

Stokke Flexi Bath:

I love ours, it’s what I used for Elliott and now with Clive. It folds up so you can take it on a trip too.

Nuna Rava Next Flame Retardant-Free Convertible Car Seat

$150 off, such a deal! We love Nuna in our house, no added flame retardants, which is pretty tough to find in a car seat.

Nuna PIPA Aire RX + PIPA Relx Base

Nuna TRVL LX Compact Stroller

Both of these are in my non-toxic baby registry guide!

WILDBIRD Aerial Linen Baby Carrier

100% linen for a baby carrier is a really good deal.

Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair with cushion and tray

We love ours, it supports correct sitting position as they grow and it’s rare to see it on sale.

For Kids:

This is also a good time to think about back-to-school items. I'm keeping fall in mind in general as I look at the kids' clothes:

Polo Ralph Lauren Kids’ Cable Stitch Cotton Cardigan

This one is so classy! Cardigans are on repeat for us in the fall.

Mini Boden Kids’ Scallop Trim Cardigan

I love the print of these ones.

Two-Piece Organic Cotton Rib Pajamas

Long sleeve PJs are something they’ll wear again and again.

Pan Polo long sleeve

I love layering a white long-sleeve like this under a cardigan. It's also great if they go to a school with uniforms.

Pan Polo short sleeve

Poppy likes short sleeve under cardigans because she tends to run hot, so this is something she’ll wear more.

What I’m loving for myself:

I tend to look for simple items I can use as classic basics:

Free People Torres Turtleneck Sweater

100% cotton and runs slightly large. I love it in the cream color.

Relaxed Fit Pima Cotton Crewneck T-Shirt

Pima is extra-long-staple cotton, which is a fancy way of saying the fibers are longer, so it's softer, stronger, and doesn't pill or go rough the way cheap cotton does. That's why it costs more, so it’s a good deal when it’s on sale.

Nordstrom Gingham Cotton Pajamas

These are so cute! I love they don’t look like typical PJs. I like the navy color combo.

Ella Rib Lettuce Trim Cotton Pointelle Tank

Such a cute trim detail on a classic tank.

Denim Popover Shirt

Love the style of this, also breastfeeding friendly with the opening.

Free People We The Free Palmer Cuffed Baggy Jeans

Free people always has good fits, their jeans are some of my favorites!

Merino Wool Sweater Jacket

Merino wool is something I’ll invest in because it’s warm and breathable. I love it in the cream color.

Natori Bliss Cotton French Cut Briefs

My favorite underwear, what I switched to when I was looking for cotton underwear. Pima cotton with a cotton-lined gusset, they’re so comfortable!

Handbags:

Lately I've been using two styles: either a smaller shoulder bag or a larger tote with all the kids' items in it:

The Date Night Suede Shoulder Bag

Real suede and perfect 90s style.

Suede Satchel

This is a great size for shoulder bag and I love the dark color of the suede.

The Shopper Tote

This is such a classic, I love the Madewell bags, the leather always feels so nice.

Accessories:

These are fun styles I love!

Pearl Cross Necklace (I got one for me and one for Jay)

Baguette Cross Necklace

Chunky Huggie Hoop Earrings

Kacie Ring Set

Gold Band Ring

Gisele Cat-Eye Polarized Sunglasses

The Suede Statement Belt

Pure Silk 6-Pack Skinny Scrunchies- These are perfect for ponytails, they protect my hair with real silk and don’t hurt when you pull it out.

What I’m skipping

• Barefoot Dreams and the CozyChic blankets. They’re 100% polyester microfiber and something I avoid when looking for blankets.

• Vegan leather.“Vegan leather” is plastic, usually polyurethane. It cracks, it peels, and it’s in a landfill in three years. A real leather bag on sale is the better buy in every way that matters. Some people do it for animal rights, I think that’s different if thats why you want to buy it, but don’t buy it thinking it’s better quality.

• Anything labeled “performance,” “moisture-wicking,” or “wrinkle-free.” Those are finishes. I have this type of material for our couch, but for clothes I try to avoid.

• Faux fur throws. Also plastic.

xx Brittany

Most mornings right now I’m outside with Clive before it gets hot, giving him a few minutes of gentle sun, his “sun snack”, what my midwife Shannon calls it, before it’s strong out. The other two are usually out there too in their pajamas, giving snacks to the chickens, Poppy in her rainboots even though it’s July, and I’ve got my coffee and no shoes on, and it’s become my favorite part of the day.

Clive is my fourth baby and the first one I’ve done this with from the beginning, and it makes me think about how scared of the sun I was when Poppy was born, how covered up I kept her, it feels so different now. I’m particular about summer more than any season, because the kids are outside all day and everything is touching their skin, the sun, the pool, the grass, the bug spray, so over a lot of reading and trial and error these are the items I trust and use, all in one place.

I have my Complete Non-Toxic Baby Registry Guide if you want the baby-specific things, but this one is for the whole family and just for summer.

For Sunscreen

If you change one thing this summer I’d make it this, because standard sunscreen has quite a bit of chemicals in it that I believe are more risky than sun exposure. We rarely use sunblock here, unless we’re going to be in the sun for awhile without shade, which rarely happens. My kids swim and play outside, they’re getting a little sun every day and I can’t remember the last time they got burned because they’ve built up what’s known as their “solar callus”. It’s the same idea as a callus on your hand, a little exposure over and over and your skin adapts, building up melanin and getting more tolerant so it can handle the sun instead of being shocked by it.

I’ve learned so much from Dr. Alexis Cowan, who has her PhD from Princeton and studies light and metabolism, and she’s the reason I started questioning what I previously believed about the sun… I used to be so scared of it! The research that convinced me is about outdoor workers, people who are out in the sun all day for a living turn out to be less prone to melanoma than people who work indoors, which is the opposite of what I’d always assumed. She explains that the real risk isn’t how much sun you get, it’s whether you burn. Skin that’s been covered up all year has nothing built up, so a full day of sun on vacation turns into a burn, and the burns are what do the damage. Those workers are getting more sun than those working indoors and burning less, because they’re adapted to it. A little sun daily is what builds that callus.

She also explains that being sun deficient carries real risk of its own, that when UVB hits your skin it isn't only vitamin D your body makes, it's a whole family of related compounds from that same starting material, plus a hormone cascade that includes the signal telling your skin to make melanin, which is what protects you. The same light that makes the vitamin D is the light that tells your skin how to handle it. And UVB is only around when the sun is high enough, here that's usually 10am to 4pm, so I make sure they're outside for a little in the afternoon too, not just first thing.

The part surprised me is that it starts with your eyes. When UVB reaches your eyes it sets off that hormonal cascade, and part of what that produces is the signal that tells your skin to make melanin. So if you’re outside in sunglasses, you’re blocking the message, your body never gets told to tan, and you burn instead. It doesn’t mean staring at the sun, it’s just letting light reach your eyes, even on cloudy days. She says the same about morning light, getting outside at sunrise, when it’s red and infrared and there’s no UV in it yet, is what preps your skin for the middle of the day. So I don’t wear sunglasses at the beginning of the day when I’m trying to tell my body to get ready for the sun. I still like the way sunglasses look for certain outfits, but by the pool or out in the garden I’ve gotten into the habit of going without. It’s a big part of why the kids are out there right after breakfast, they’ve eased into the day before the sun is ever strong.

So that's what we do. I don't hide my kids from the sun like I used to when Poppy was born, but I'm also not letting them get burned either, so if they've already been out for a a little and they want to stay out longer, that's when the sunscreen goes on, and after that I'll utilize shade. It's so nice not being as stressed about the sun! My vitamin D is in the optimal range now, and I'm not taking a supplement for it anymore.

When I do use sunscreen, I keep it simple, I look for zinc, and the fewer ingredients the better. Zinc works completely differently than the rest of what’s out there, it sits on top of your skin and reflects the light back, and non-nano means the particles are too big to pass through skin at all. The chemical ones do the opposite by design, they absorb the light, and they absorb into your bloodstream right along with it.

These are the ones I always avoid when I’m looking at sunscreen ingredients: homosalate, octisalate, octocrylene, avobenzone, oxybenzone and octinoxate. When they tested all six, every one was in people’s bloodstream after one day of wearing it, and two of them were still showing up three weeks after people stopped, so it isn’t passing through. Several of these are endocrine disruptors, which means your body reads them as hormones and responds to them. All this to say, I thought I was doing the right thing with the spray sunscreen I used to use, and it turns out I was doing my body and my hormones a disservice instead.

My favorite now is:

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If you’ve been wanting to start a garden but have no idea where to begin, this is the guide I wish I’d had our first year. I tend to over-research before I try something, and I like to learn from people who have done it, so I get why so many have been asking me the same thing: “Where do I even start with growing food?” That’s exactly what I’m walking you through here, start to finish, in the order I’d do it. And if you’re reading this in the middle of summer thinking you’ve missed your window, you haven’t!

I'll show you exactly what you can still get in the ground right now for July and August, with specific examples of what to direct sow and what to grab as transplants based on the space you're working with. I'm still learning myself, but this is the method we used to plant our spring garden, and we had a pretty good harvest for how low-maintenance it was (I share what we're currently growing and the mistakes we've learned from in this post)

The biggest thing I want you to hear before anything else: you don’t have to do it all at once. You don’t need a big yard or a dozen beds to grow your own food, you can do it with a relatively small space. If all you do is put a few pots of herbs on your patio, it’s a perfect place to start! So take what’s useful here, leave the rest, and don’t let the idea of doing it perfectly stop you from starting.

Why grow your own in the first place?

If you're wondering whether it's even worth the effort, believe me... it is! Once you've eaten a juicy tomato you picked from the vine, the store-bought ones are ruined for you, they have less flavor and they're so pale compared to the rich red of one you picked yourself. And it's not just taste, they're better for you too, because produce starts losing nutrients the second it's picked, ..so by the time the ones at the store have traveled and sat on a shelf for a week or more, a lot of that is already gone. That's why, if you're not growing your own, a farmers market is the next best thing, the produce isn't traveling as far since it's coming from local vendors.

But nothing beats walking out to your own backyard, and the part I love most is the control it gives you over your food, you know exactly what went into the soil and that there's no pesticides on it. It's changed how we eat too, we end up eating way more vegetables just because they're right there. I'll walk out and pick the chard and bring it in and make it, and it's gotten us eating more seasonally, just using whatever's growing at the time, lately it’s been beet greens, kale, chard, spinach. That ownership over what we're feeding our family feels amazing. We're not at the point where we grow everything we eat, we still shop to fill in the gaps and are figuring out how to store what we grow, but starting small and seeing that we could do it is what's gotten us to where we are now.

Before you start, here’s what to expect

The setup is the biggest part, and it’s a one-time thing. When we built our four beds last summer, Anthony put them together in one morning, we filled them with soil that same day, and we planted the following evening. So give yourself a weekend or a few evenings here and there, to go from nothing to fully planted. If you’re starting with a couple of pots on a patio, it’s even quicker, an afternoon.

After that it’s pretty easy. Most days it’s just watering and a quick check to see how everything’s doing, with a little more on the weekend. The hard part is the beginning, once it’s in the ground it pretty much takes care of itself. When we did our first small garden last summer, we didn’t even know to prune things for a bigger harvest, and we still barely did anything to it and got tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and all our herbs for very little effort. It kind of shocked us, like wow, if we could get more strategic with this, we could probably grow enough to feed our family once we had a system down.

That's exactly what I've put together below, the full step-by-step, including the part I needed help with the most when we first started: what to plant right now and exactly how to lay it out, whether you're starting with a few pots on a patio, one bed, two beds, or a full four-bed setup. I'll walk you through my whole plan, the specific varieties I'd buy, how many of each, and explain what goes where in every bed, so you're not guessing at any of it. I'm only in my second year of this, so I’m still learning too, but it's what worked for us, laid out the way I wish someone had done for me when we started.

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Things are starting to feel very real now. I’m 38 weeks and Elliott came at 38 weeks. I keep having to remind myself that this baby could be any day now. I’m eating in a way to keep this baby in until 40 weeks because those last two weeks matter so much for development, which I talked about more in this post HERE. So hoping we have two more weeks, but we’re prepared now just in case it’s sooner.

We just had our home visit with my midwife and this one was different from our regular appointments. Typically I go to her house but she came here specifically to go over all my supplies, walk through the full plan, and make sure everything’s in place. I always leave my appointments with her having learned something I didn’t know going in and this one was no different. I took notes on everything and I want to share all of it here, what she covered, what’s in my labor kit, and what I’m doing for postpartum recovery. I’m feeling more prepared for this birth than any of my others. Full post continues below for my Substack family:

If you missed my earlier pregnancy posts you can find them here: My Midwife’s Labor Prep Plan and My Complete Non Toxic Baby Registry Guide

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This is my fourth baby so there's no registry this time around. But if I were doing this for the first time, this is everything I'd put on one. It's a pretty comprehensive list and I spent quite a bit of time thinking through each category, what I use and why I use it.

With Jadyn I had a baby shower and the guests were so generous. I had diapers for a year which, as a 19 year old young single mom at the time, was the biggest relief.

That was almost twenty years ago though, and things were simpler then. The baby gear world wasn't what it is today, and my budget made most of the decisions for me anyway (I did splurge on a rhinestone sparkly pacifier, so I wasn't completely practical about it). And I also got into credit card debt at Gap because I would always buy her new flats when I got my paycheck (another story for another time). Being a different era, non-toxic materials weren't something I thought about. It was more about what she needed and what looked cute.

With Poppy, fourteen years after Jadyn, I felt like I was starting over completely. I bought SO much. Things that looked essential on every list I found, things other moms swore by, things that came highly recommended and lived in a drawer for a year before I donated them. With Elliott I got smarter, bought less but better, and did a real deep dive on why non-toxic mattered for what he was eating, wearing, and sleeping on. With this baby I feel much more prepared and clear on what I'll be using the most every day.

When I’m looking at any product for a new baby, the main thing I’m thinking about is what’s touching their skin. Babies absorb so much more than we do and they’re in close contact with everything around them from the moment they’re born. The materials I try to avoid, especially for a newborn, are synthetic fragrances, flame retardants, PFAS, phthalates, and phenoxyethanol. What I opt for instead is organic cotton, glass, solid wood, and stainless steel where I can. GOTS and USDA Organic certifications matter because they mean someone outside the brand verified the claim.

You don't have to be perfect about any of this. Do what works for your budget and your life. But if you're going to prioritize somewhere, start with what your baby is against the most. The mattress, the sleepers they're in around the clock, whatever they spend hours touching every day. We co-sleep and I babywear for naps, so for us that means an organic cotton mattress, organic sheets, and an organic wrap. Every family looks different but the question is the same: where is your baby spending the most time, and what is that thing made of?

Quick note before we get into it: everything here is based on my own research and what I've chosen for my kids. I'm not a doctor or a toxicologist, just a mom who has spent way too many hours reading ingredient labels and falling down research rabbit holes comparing different products and marketing claims. Take what resonates, skip what doesn't:

Baby Gear

Car Seat

The car seat is where I’d tell you to pay the most attention because flame retardants show up in almost everything in this category, often in the foam rather than the fabric, and brands don’t always tell you that. Some will say the textiles are flame retardant-free and leave out what’s happening in the foam underneath.

Flame retardants are good to avoid because they’re linked to hormone disruption, developmental delays, and neurological problems in children. They migrate out of foam over time and accumulate in dust, which babies end up ingesting. They also don’t prevent fires (which is what I originally assumed they would do), they slow the spread by a matter of seconds, which is why more and more manufacturers are finding ways to meet safety standards without them entirely.

We have both the Nuna PIPA infant seat and the Nuna Rava convertible. Nuna's entire car seat line is flame retardant-free and PFAS-free, which is rare in this category and a big reason we chose them. The Rava works from birth so you could start there, but we used the infant seat in the early months because when the baby falls asleep in the car you can snap the whole thing onto the stroller without waking them. Once they outgrew it we moved to the Rava and have used it since. If budget allows for both I'd get both. If you're picking one, the Rava gives you more longevity.

The Chicco KeyFit Max ClearTex is the most accessible flame retardant-free infant seat out there. The ClearTex line covers everything including the fabric, foam, inserts, and even the labels, and it’s Greenguard Gold certified. It’s widely available at Target which makes it easy to add to a registry. Just make sure you’re buying specifically the ClearTex version since Chicco’s other lines are not FR-free.

Brands I’d steer clear of include Cybex, Evenflo, Graco, Joie, Cosco, Axkid, BeSafe, and Diono. Some actively market themselves as cleaner options without being fully transparent about what’s still in the foam. Evenflo’s Green and Gentle line is a good example. The fabric is marketed as FR-free but flame retardants are still disclosed in other parts of the seat, which is exactly the kind of greenwashing that makes this category so hard to navigate without doing the research.

One exception is the Doona. We’ve used it for every trip and it's a great setup. It's a car seat that converts into a stroller, you check it at the plane door, and when you're navigating an airport with a baby it's one of the most convenient things we bring. It contains flame retardants so it's not something I'd use as a daily seat (also not the greatest for added storage), but for occasional travel where the alternative isn't much cleaner I've made my peace with it. Do your best with what your baby is in every day and don't stress the rest.

Stroller

Same reason I trust Nuna for the car seat is the same reason we have their strollers. Their entire line is flame retardant-free, PFAS-free, and OEKO-TEX certified, and they’re one of the only brands that has been independently lab tested and come back non-detect for PFAS. We have the Nuna Flex System Stroller Frame which connects directly with the Nuna PIPA infant seat. We also have the Nuna TRVL single which we loved for a long time, and just got the Nuna TRVL double which has been so good with both kids and it folds up really easily in one motion. If you want the infant seat and the TRVL stroller together, the Nuna TRVL LX + PIPA urbn Travel System is the better buy than getting the stroller frame separately.

Baby Carrier

For the newborn stage, a wrap-style carrier is what I LOVE. Most of Elliott’s naps happened when I was taking a walk or doing something around the house, as long as I was moving and doing something he would be easily rocked to sleep that way.

Last time I used a different baby wrap but this time I just bought this Organic Cotton Baby Wrap. It’s made with 100% GOTS certified cotton.

After the newborn stage, the Artipoppe Zeitgeist is the carrier I've gotten the most use out of and I know I'll be using it constantly with this baby too. Made from natural fibers with no toxic chemicals or dyes. It's a splurge but one of those things that earns every dollar because of how much time you spend in it. The thick strap design gives good lower back support as the kids get heavier, I used it until Elliott was two.

For a more budget-friendly option that’s also clean on materials, the Nuna CUDL CLIK is a great option. It’s OEKO-TEX certified, free of flame retardants, BPA, phthalates, PVC, and PFAS, uses organic jersey fabric on the parts touching baby’s skin, and works from birth to three years in both front and back carry.

Bassinet and Travel Crib

I never ended up using a bassinet or travel crib with Elliott. He slept in our bed with us, and when we stayed in hotels we’d request a crib and bring our own bedding. But if you’re planning to use a bassinet or know you’ll be doing Airbnbs with a little one, it would be more worth it.

For something beautiful that fits a more classic nursery or you want to be able to move it around the house for naps, a Moses basket is what I’d choose. The Design Dua Moses Basket is handwoven from natural elephant grass with an organic kapok fiber mattress and a liner and sheet made from GOTS certified organic cotton. Free of flame retardants, lead, and pesticides. The Finn and Emma Carry Cot is another gorgeous option in crocheted GOTS certified organic cotton and that transitions into toy or blanket storage when baby outgrows it.

If you want something widely available to add to a Nordstrom registry, the Stokke Snoozi is a good option. Beechwood legs, soft oval shape, Greenguard Gold certified, flame retardant-free, PFAS-free, no motion, no wifi. It adjusts from a newborn bassinet position to a lower setting as baby grows.

For a bassinet that doubles as a travel crib, the Nuna Sena Aire is flame retardant-free, PFAS-free, Greenguard Gold certified. Sets up in a bassinet position for the first few months and converts to a lower setting as baby grows. If you don’t want to buy both separately, this is the one to register for…

The full list continues below for my Substack family. Every category, every product, every link, and which ones I have in my home and why I’d choose them again:

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Between having a baby who came so quickly I almost didn't make it to the hospital and a body that seems to go earlier with each pregnancy, these last weeks matter more than ever. My midwife has mapped out a very specific plan for me and I've added a few things on my own that she's signed off on. The herbal formula she put me on, what she told me to start eating soon, the week by week breakdown from here to delivery, and how I'm mentally preparing to show up to this birth completely differently than the last ones… sharing it all in this post for my Substack family:

If you missed my previous pregnancy posts check them out here: Everything’s Different This Time and What I Changed after My Last Midwife Appointment

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In recent years, the war on gluten has led a lot of people to cut out wheat entirely. We were one of them for a while! These days, the main gluten I eat is in sourdough or homemade tortillas, and when we do use wheat, we make sure it’s high quality, organic, and in a form that’s easiest for our bodies to digest.

There’s a big difference between a loaf of sourdough and what you grab off a grocery store shelf. Unlike conventional bread, real sourdough is made through a long, slow fermentation process that uses wild bacteria and yeasts to transform grains into something your body can actually use. That fermentation also produces prebiotics, which feed the good bacteria already living in your gut. I explain more in my starter post, but the short version is that the fermentation breaks down gluten and removes anti-nutrients that block mineral absorption, making the bread easier for your body to process.

If you’re baking your first loaf, I know it can feel like a lot of steps. It looks way more complicated on paper than it actually is. That’s exactly why I filmed a full step-by-step video and included it in this post. Watch that first so you can see what each stage looks like. Seeing the texture of the dough, how I shape it, how it moves, makes such a difference. Then, while you’re actually baking, you can come back here and use the written steps below as a reference so you’re not guessing.

If you don’t have a sourdough starter yet, I have a previous post where I walk you through how to make one from scratch. It’s easier than you’d think. You’ll need an active starter before you begin.

And if you’re thinking, I work full time, there’s no way I can be home all day doing stretch and folds, I included a simple baking schedule at the bottom of this post. The fridge makes everything flexible. You can slow fermentation down and make sourdough work with your schedule instead of rearranging your life around bread.

If this is your first time, just know you don't need to get it perfect. You just need to bake your first one. The more you bake, the more confident you'll feel! And once you have the basics down, sourdough opens up a lot more than just bread.. bagels, pizza dough, focaccia, tortillas, pancakes, discard crackers, the list goes on!

What You’ll Need for Baking Sourdough Bread:

• A dutch oven (the one I have HERE, or this one)

• A banneton proofing basket, the ones I use HERE.

• A mixing bowl. I love this one from Ballerina Farm, the size is perfect for stretch and folds.

• Bread covers for the bowl or tea towels (you could also use a plate over the bowl)

• A bench scraper

• A bread lame (the one I have) or razor blade for scoring

• Parchment paper

• Bread Slicer: optional of course, but I love mine and use it with every loaf, makes it so simple to slice.

Step 1: Feed Your Starter

Feed your starter about 12 hours before you plan to mix your dough.

For example, if you want to mix your dough at 8am, feed your starter around 8pm the night before. That’s what I usually do. I’ll feed it around 8pm so it’s ready and bubbly first thing in the morning.

In colder months, especially if your kitchen runs cool, it may need the full 12 hours to properly rise. In warmer months, it might peak a little sooner.

You want to use your starter at its highest point. It should have doubled in size, look bubbly all the way through, and smell pleasantly tangy. If you see that it has already risen and fallen back down, that just means you missed the peak. No big deal. Feed it again and wait for it to rise before starting your dough.

Step 2: Mix the Dough (Autolyse – No Salt Yet)

In a large bowl, mix:

210g water (1 cup)
60g active starter (¼ cup)

Stir until the starter mostly dissolves.

Then add:

300g flour (2½ cups)

Mix until there’s no dry flour left. It’ll look rough and shaggy. That’s exactly what you want.

Don’t add the salt yet.

In the video, I added the salt at the beginning because that’s how I originally learned. Sometimes I still do it out of habit. It won’t ruin your loaf if you add it now. Salt tightens gluten and slows fermentation slightly, so adding it early just makes the dough develop a bit more slowly and feel slightly tighter during the first rest. It’s not wrong, just not ideal.

It’s better to add the salt after the autolyse. During that 30–60 minute rest, the flour and water are fully absorbing into each other and the gluten is starting to form on its own. If you add salt right away, it tightens the gluten and slows that process down a bit.

Leaving the salt out at first makes the dough more relaxed and stretchy, which makes it easier to work with and shape later.

What I usually do (when I remember!) is measure the salt at the same time as the flour and water, but I put it in a tiny separate cup next to the bowl. That way it’s ready to go and I don’t forget to add it after the rest.

Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plate so it doesn’t dry out and let it rest 30–60 minutes.

Step 3: Add the Salt

After the autolyse, sprinkle: 6g salt (1 teaspoon) over the dough.

Wet your hand and gently squeeze and fold the dough until the salt is fully incorporated.

Step 4: First Stretch and Fold (This Happens After Autolyse + Salt)

Over the next two hours, you’re going to do four sets of stretch and folds. The first one happens now, after the autolyse and after you’ve added the salt.

With wet hands, reach under one side of the dough, gently stretch it up, and fold it over the center. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat. Go around the bowl 4–5 times. That’s one full set.

When you’re done, cover the bowl with a tea towel or a plate so the top doesn’t dry out, and let it rest for 30 minutes before the next set.

Step 5: Continue Stretch and Folds

You’ll do three more sets of stretch and folds, spaced 30 minutes apart.

Each time:

• Wet your hands
• Stretch one side up
• Fold it over
• Turn the bowl and repeat

Cover the bowl after each set and let it rest 30 minutes.

By the fourth set, the dough should feel smoother, stronger, and more elastic.

Step 6: Bulk Rise

After your last stretch and fold, cover the bowl and let the dough keep rising. This stage is called the bulk rise.

Now you’re just letting the dough build air and strength. You’re looking for it to become slightly domed on top, puffier than before, and a little jiggly if you gently shake the bowl. It doesn’t have to fully double, but it should look noticeably fuller and lighter.

For reference, mine is usually ready after about 3 hours total in this stage. If it’s not looking slightly domed and puffy by then, I just let it keep going. Sometimes it needs more time.

Warmer kitchens will move faster. Cooler kitchens will take longer. Try to watch how the dough looks and feels instead of focusing only on the clock.

Step 7: Preshape

Turn the dough out onto your counter. Don’t flour the surface for this step. The slight grip of the counter is what helps you build tension on the outside of the dough.

Gently gather the edges of the dough toward the center. Then flip it over so the smooth side is facing up.

Lightly pat out any very large air bubbles. You’re not pressing all the air out, just evening it out so you don’t end up with one giant hole.

Now place your hands on the counter so your pinkies are touching the surface and you’re gently cupping the dough. Pull the dough toward you in a straight line across the counter. As you pull, the bottom edge will tuck underneath itself.

Rotate the dough slightly and repeat. Each pull tightens the surface a little more. You’re building surface tension so the loaf rises upward in the oven instead of spreading outward.

Once it forms a smooth, round shape, leave it on the counter, cover it with a tea towel, and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Step 8: Final Shape

I use a bench scraper for this step because it makes lifting and moving the dough easier.

Lightly flour the top of the dough. Then use your bench scraper to gently flip it over so the floured side is now facing down on the counter.

Gently stretch the dough out into a rough rectangle. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Fold one side into the center. Fold the opposite side into the center so they meet. Then start at one end and roll it up like a burrito. This helps tighten the structure and build strength inside the loaf.

Now lightly dip the sides of your pinkies in flour so they don’t stick. Place your hands around the dough and gently cup it. Pull it toward you across the counter again to build final tension, just like you did during preshape.

Turn it slightly and repeat. I usually keep turning and pulling for a minute or two until it forms a nice domed shape and the surface looks smooth, with any fold lines tightened underneath.

Step 9: Final Proof

Take your banneton and dust it generously with flour. Rice flour works best because it prevents sticking, but all-purpose flour works just fine if that’s what you have.

Using your bench scraper, gently lift the dough and flip it into the banneton seam side up. I usually give the seam a little squeeze with my fingers to make sure it’s fully sealed.

At this point, the bread is essentially upside down in the banneton. The smooth side is on the bottom, and the seam is facing up. Cover it with a tea towel.

Let it rise until it increases in size by about 30–50 percent. It should look slightly puffier and feel airy when you gently press it with your finger. This can take anywhere from 1½ to 4 hours at room temperature.

Or, you can refrigerate it at this point and bake the next day. I do this often depending on timing. If I don’t have time to bake the same day, or if I want fresh bread ready early the next day, I’ll prep the dough, put it in the fridge overnight, and bake it straight from cold. It’s usually the easiest method for fitting sourdough into real life.

Step 10: Bake

About 1 hour before you plan to bake, preheat your oven to 450°F with your empty dutch oven inside. You want the dutch oven fully hot before the dough goes in. That blast of heat is what gives you a good rise.

When the oven is almost done preheating, flip your dough out of the banneton onto a piece of parchment paper. Make sure the parchment is large enough that you can grab the sides to lower it into the dutch oven.

When you flip it out, the smooth side should now be facing up and the seam should be on the bottom against the parchment.

Use a bread lame or sharp knife to make one deep slash across the top. Don’t be timid here. A confident cut helps control how the bread expands in the oven.

Carefully remove the hot dutch oven from the oven. Using the parchment paper as handles, lift the dough and gently lower it into the hot dutch oven.

Put the lid on and bake covered for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake another 15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Step 11: Cool

Let the loaf cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. I know it’s tempting to cut into it right away, but if you slice it too soon, the inside will be gummy because it’s still finishing cooking.

Once it’s fully baked, the bottom of the loaf should sound hollow when you tap it.

When I’m ready to slice, I like using a bread slicer so the pieces come out even, especially if I’m serving it for dinner or making toast the next morning.

Sample baking schedule:

Option 1: Bake Once a Week (Two Loaves at a Time)

This is perfect if you want fresh bread for the week and don’t want to go through the whole process multiple times.

If you’re making two loaves, just double every ingredient in the recipe. You’ll mix one large batch of dough in one bowl, then divide it in half after the bulk rise before preshaping. You don’t need two separate bowls.

For example, you want to bake Saturday morning:

Thursday Night
8:00pm – Feed your starter so it’s active Friday morning.

Friday Morning
8:00am – Mix your dough (double recipe).
Let it rest 30–60 minutes (autolyse).
Add salt.
Do your first stretch and fold.

8:30am – Second stretch and fold.
9:00am – Third stretch and fold.
9:30am – Fourth stretch and fold.

Then let the dough continue rising until it looks slightly domed and puffy. This usually takes another 2–3 hours depending on your kitchen.

Around 12:00–1:00pm – Divide the dough in half.
Preshape both pieces. Rest 30 minutes.
Final shape both loaves and place them in bannetons.

Cover and refrigerate both overnight.

Saturday Morning
8:00am – Preheat oven with dutch oven inside for 1 hour.
9:00am – Bake straight from the fridge.

You don’t need to bring the dough to room temperature before baking. I bake mine straight from the fridge most of the time.

Bake one loaf, then bake the second right after.

If you’re not eating both loaves right away, let the second loaf cool completely, slice it, and freeze it in a freezer-safe bag. You can toast slices directly from frozen.

You can leave shaped dough in the fridge up to 24–36 hours. The longer it sits (within reason), the more flavor develops. After about 36 hours, it may start to overproof.

If something comes up and you can’t bake when you planned, just leave it in the fridge and bake the next day. It’s very forgiving.

If you bake weekly, keep your starter in the fridge and feed it once a week. The night before you want to bake, pull it out and feed it so it’s active by morning.

Option 2: Full-Time Work Schedule (Minimal Daytime Hands-On)

If you’re not home during the day, use the fridge to slow everything down. The cold replaces some of the daytime stretch and fold timing.

For example, you want to bake Wednesday evening:

Monday Night
8:00pm – Feed your starter.

Tuesday Morning (Before Work)
6:30am – Mix dough.
Rest 30 minutes.
Add salt.
Do one stretch and fold.

7:00am – Do one more stretch and fold.

That’s enough.

Before leaving for work, cover the bowl and put it in the fridge. The dough will rise slowly all day.

Tuesday Evening
6:00pm – Take dough out of fridge.
Let it sit 30–60 minutes if it feels very cold.
Preshape. Rest 30 minutes.
Final shape and place in banneton.

Put it back in the fridge overnight.

Wednesday Evening
6:00pm – Preheat oven.
7:00pm – Bake straight from the fridge.

You can leave the shaped dough in the fridge up to 24–36 hours if your schedule shifts.

If you truly can’t do four stretch and folds, don’t stress. Two solid sets are enough. Just let the bulk rise go a little longer.

If You’re Brand New

If this is your very first loaf, I’d recommend doing it on a day you’re home so you can watch how the dough behaves. Once you’ve seen it once from start to finish, adjusting the schedule to fit your work life becomes much easier.

The biggest thing to remember is this: sourdough doesn’t require perfect timing. The fridge gives you flexibility. If something changes in your day, you can usually slow things down instead of starting over.

Helpful tips:

One of the best pieces of advice I got after I took my sourdough class was simple: bake five loaves. Even if they look ruined. Even if you’re standing there thinking, this isn’t going to work. Just bake them.

It’s so tempting in the beginning to judge the dough before it ever hits the oven. You think it didn’t rise enough, or maybe it rose too much, or it feels stickier than last time. I’ve been there. But the truth is, you don’t really learn until you bake it and see what happens.

After about five loaves, something starts to click. You stop relying only on the clock and start paying attention to what the dough actually looks and feels like. You begin to understand how long bulk rise really takes in your kitchen, not what a recipe says it should take. You notice how different it behaves in the winter versus the summer. You see how your starter peaks a little faster on warm days and takes its time when it’s cold.

And even the loaves that aren’t “perfect” are still fresh bread. A slightly flat loaf still tastes incredible toasted with butter.

So if you’re unsure, bake it anyway. Give yourself five loaves before you start judging your bread. By then, you’ll know way more than you think!

Let me know how it goes, send me a message on here or in the chat and I can help you with any troubleshooting as well! :)

xx Brittany

The first time I walked into one it felt kind of weird. Most of the time you’re in someone’s actual house, walking through everything they own. Sometimes families will hire someone to run it and move everything to a different location, but usually it’s right there in the home. Once you get past that, though, you start looking around and realize some of it is really good. Not everything is worth a second look, but that’s what I enjoy about it. Solid wood well-made furniture built to last, ceramic mixing bowls with real weight to them, unique serve-ware that would be hard to find new. I like scrolling through the photos a few days in advance so I can stay organized and figure out which sales are worth visiting.

I stumbled onto estate sales when I was trying to figure out how to find real antiques without spending a fortune. Every blog I read pointed to the same answer. I wasn’t sure what to expect, I hadn’t been to one when we were living in LA (now I’m kicking myself because I’m sure there are so many good ones there) but I was curious enough to check it out. And now I get excited when I see a new sale posted near me. It reminds me of when Anthony and I were planning our wedding. It was very DIY and very budget friendly, and we would go to yard sales every weekend the entire year and a half we were engaged to source glass bottles for flowers, furniture and old frames that could be painted and hung outdoors. Very 2010s Pinterest wedding. But we looked forward to it every weekend, checking yard sales and thrift stores, and our wedding came together so beautifully (more about it this post HERE).

We saved so much money on all the pieces and they all felt very personal to us!

Gone are the days of me trying to buy all matching furniture because I’m in a rush to get the house furnished. That’s how it was when we sold our first house. The new owners bought all our furniture, so we moved out with basically nothing and felt like we were starting over. I don’t regret it, we needed a home (especially a couch!) and we made it work, but the quick route feels a little more rushed and limited to what’s currently in-stock. This time around I can take my time and enjoy finding each piece as I find them.

The Piece That Got Away

So I lost a really great piece because I waited to buy it, and I’m still kicking myself. I had favorited this gorgeous storage piece in the listing photos before the sale even started and went specifically to see it in person. It had these carved flower designs on the front and the wood was in really good condition- even more beautiful in person! It was late in the day and we did the math. If it was still there tomorrow… it would be half off. The odds seemed pretty good, so we left our number with the woman running the sale and asked her to call us in the morning if it was still available and we’ll buy it (also when we were there no one was looking at it, the kitchen items seemed more popular). She called the next morning and said it was still there, so Anthony drove over with the truck to pick it up. He texted me, “someone else just bought it”. UGH. When he arrived, the piece had his name on it with our agreed price, but someone else had offered more and they sold it to that person instead. I kicked myself for not just buying it the first day when I had the chance. It was right there in front of me and I talked myself out of it over a discount. Lesson learned. If you love something and the price is right for you, just get it. There are other people out there looking too, and antique dealers especially. They know what something can resell for and they won't hesitate. You really can't count on anything being there tomorrow.

The piece I did get was an 1800s pie safe that was still in really great condition! I talked about it more in this post, but I found it on the second day of a different sale, already marked 30% off. It was built in the 1800s and now it’s in our playroom holding art supplies and toys. I think that's pretty cool!

At a different sale, I found an early 1900s wardrobe for the baby's room. There's no closet in that room so we needed something for hanging clothes, and even though it's the only piece in there right now and we haven't figured out the rest of the room yet, it already sets the tone for what I want that space to feel like (pic from the estate sale listing):

The rest of this post is for my Substack family… All the tips I've picked up along the way, the app I use to browse sale photos before visiting, how to tell if a piece is genuinely well made, and what to avoid bringing home.

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(Picture of this mini pocket bible that includes the Psalms that I like to bring with me in my bag, especially when I travel)

I went through a Psalms study at our church recently and wanted to pass it along because it was such a great resource. The way it breaks the book into themes almost gives you these little guideposts depending on what you’re walking through. There are sections for grief, for anxiety, for praise, for feeling far from God.

The other thing that came out of this study was realizing how much I’d undervalued memorizing Scripture. I started using the Versify app to help me learn them and having even a few verses tucked away in my mind has been such an anchor throughout the day. When I’m feeling overwhelmed or my thoughts start spiraling, having something true to come back to makes a real difference.

Anyway, I thought this might be helpful if you’re looking for a way into the Psalms or wanting to be more intentional about Scripture memory. And if you’re new to faith, you can check out my post with resources on where to start.

Week 1: Psalms of Wisdom

Psalm Readings: Psalm 1 to 4, 37
Memory Verse: Psalm 1:1 to 3 (NIV)

Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither,
whatever they do prospers.

Week 2: Psalms of Comfort

Psalm Readings: Psalm 16; 19 to 21; 23; 27
Memory Verse: Psalm 27:4 (NIV)

One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.

Week 3: Psalms of Repentance

Psalm Readings: Psalm 30-32; 38-39; 51
Memory Verse: Psalm 51:10-12 (NIV)

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Week 4: Declaring God’s Strength

Psalm Readings: Psalm 42-44; 46-47
Memory Verse: Psalm 46:1-2 (NIV)

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

Week 5: Psalms of Trust in God

Psalm Readings: Psalm 57-58; 61-63; 66
Memory Verse: Psalm 63:1 (NIV)

You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you.
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.

Week 6: Psalms of God’s Goodness

Psalm Readings: Psalm 73 to 76; 78; 82
Memory Verse: Psalm 73:25-26 (NIV)

Whom have I in heaven but you
and earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

Week 7: The Wonder of God

Psalm Readings: Psalm 84; 88 to 89
Memory Verse: Psalm 89:8 (NIV)

Who is like you, Lord God Almighty
You, Lord, are mighty
and your faithfulness surrounds you.

Week 8: Psalms of God’s Compassion

Psalm Readings: Psalm 90-92; 98-99
Memory Verse: Psalm 90:1-2 (NIV)

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Week 9: Psalms of Praise

Psalm Readings: Psalm 101; 103-104; 106; 109
Memory Verse: Psalm 103:1-2 (NIV)

Praise the Lord, my soul
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul
and forget not all his benefits.

Thank you for being here!

xx Brittany

This year I’m cooking for 10 people with one oven compartment, which means I had to get organized early. Because the turkey will take over my oven for most of Thanksgiving morning, I planned out everything I could make the day before and asked my mother-in-law to bake a couple of the sides. Having a clear plan was the only way this was going to feel smooth. I wanted this year to feel peaceful and enjoyable, so I wrote out my entire schedule in real time and turned it into a step-by-step plan you can follow too.

Inside this post, you’ll get the exact Thanksgiving timeline I’m using for our family this year, including everything I’m making, what my mother-in-law is baking, and how I’m organizing it all so the kitchen stays calm. I break down the entire menu, all the make-ahead dishes and a full three-day plan (starting with the full grocery list on Monday) that tells you exactly what to prep and how to store it. I’m also sharing the Erewhon-inspired pumpkin and apple pies I tested a few times. I used the ingredient lists from their app and adjusted until they tasted right and I think these versions are pretty spot-on!

You’ll also get Wednesday’s full prep day written with timestamps (starting at 10am), plus the complete day-of Thanksgiving schedule so your turkey comes out on time and every side dish is reheated perfectly even with only two shelves in the oven. At the end, I included a full recipe collection so you can screenshot each one without having to scroll through anything.

I’m big on breaking bigger projects into manageable steps, so if you missed my Two-Week Countdown to Thanksgiving Checklist, make sure to check that one too. I’m keeping the rest of this update for my Substack family. The full post continues below:

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This planning approach to Thanksgiving reminds me of my college days when I’d write forty-page research papers after Jadyn went to bed for the night. I knew when the due date was and worked backward so I could commit to writing max two pages each evening. I always turned my papers in early enough to get my professor’s feedback before the final draft was due. This strategy guaranteed A’s every time because I was great about planning ahead and breaking the work into smaller chunks. I had friends who would pull all-nighters and write entire papers in one caffeine-fueled session. They got A’s too. But I knew that approach would guarantee me an F, I love to research and I need time to do it properly. Breaking things into manageable tasks over a longer period keeps everything less overwhelming and actually fun.

Hosting Thanksgiving works for me in the same way. I know the due date and working backwards… inside you’ll find my detailed two-week timeline that breaks down exactly when to tackle each task. I’m also sharing the tablescape inspo I’m loving this year to help with ideas to get you brainstorming. Plus the linen napkin fold that looks like tiny pumpkins and takes less than a minute once you know the trick.

This checklist has evolved through trial and error (and one memorable year when I forgot to turn the oven on for the turkey and it came out way later than the rest of the food). Now it includes the tips that makes hosting actually enjoyable: when to set your table for maximum sanity, why you need twice as much ice as logic suggests, which dishes actually improve when made three days ahead.

Whether you’re hosting two people or twenty, this timeline keeps you from that Thursday morning panic. When everything’s already handled, you can actually be present with the people filling your house instead of stressed about what you forgot.

For me, this is about creating the Thanksgiving memories my kids will carry forever. These moments get imprinted on them and when I’m planning, I’m thinking about them as adults someday, looking back on their childhood Thanksgivings. I want them to remember a house that felt warm and cozy, where mom wasn’t frantic in the kitchen but actually sitting with them, laughing at the table. That’s the whole reason I plan like this!

Two Weeks Out:

I’m keeping the rest of this update for my Substack family. The full post continues below for subscribers…

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When you’re new to Christianity, it can feel like stepping into a whole new world. There’s so much to learn, so many questions to ask, and a lot of voices telling you where to start. About a year and a half ago, Anthony and I decided to fully recommit our lives to God, and that decision changed everything. Our priorities shifted and we started to experience what it really means to walk with Him day by day.

I had always believed in God from when I was little and knew the basics of the Christian faith, but I realized I wasn’t truly living it. When we had little ones, it hit me that I wanted them to know the Bible, but I didn’t really know it myself. That conviction led me to start reading Scripture every day. I grew up going to church, but I had never really opened my Bible on my own, and once I did, it completely transformed my faith. It brought peace, clarity, and a real desire to know God personally, not just know about Him.

Around that time, I also started reading apologetics, which helped me understand the why behind what I believe and gave me even more confidence in God’s Word.

Before diving into the resources or where to start reading the Bible, I want to first share what it really means to be a Christian, so there’s clarity on what the Gospel actually is. I love how my pastor outlines the main points below:

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

Good news. At the heart of it, the Gospel means “good news.” It’s good news because of the very bad news of man’s sinfulness and inability to change himself. It’s good because it’s about God, who is completely good in His character, doing the best act of goodness that has ever been done. In fact, God is where we need to start in order to get a full picture of this good news.

God is the Holy Creator

There is only one true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Samuel 2:2; 2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Kings 8:23). The word we use to describe God’s distinction from everyone and everything else is holy (Isaiah 6:3). When the Bible says God is holy, it means He is unique. He is completely different from us. God’s holiness is also connected to His separation from sin. James 1:13 says that God “cannot be tempted with evil.” Titus 1:2 and Numbers 23:19 both state that it is impossible for God to lie, and Habakkuk 1:13 says that God’s eyes are purer than to even see sin or look at wrong. God is perfect in all His character and in all His ways. He is without flaws, fault, sin, or imperfection of any kind. God is holy.

The God of the good news is not only holy, He is also the one who created you and me and everything else in our world (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). The Bible’s very first words are, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Genesis goes on to detail how God made our entire universe out of nothing, using just His words, in six days before resting on the seventh. While all of God’s creation was amazing, He uniquely made humans in His image. He formed the first man, Adam, out of the ground and then made Eve out of one of Adam’s ribs.

Psalm 96:5 emphasizes the importance of recognizing God as the creator: “For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.” First Chronicles 16:26 makes the same point almost verbatim. When Paul began preaching the Gospel in Athens, he began by describing God as the one who made the world and everything in it, which makes Him the Lord of heaven and earth (Acts 17:22–24; Revelation 4:11). The reason it is crucial to the Gospel to recognize God as Creator is that it puts Him over us. God has the right to rule over us and our world because He made it (Romans 13:1). And after each day of creation, Genesis records that God saw that each day of creation was good. When He was done creating, God said it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31).

So what went wrong? How did we go from a perfect creation that was very good to the mess of the world we have now?

Man is Totally Sinful

Genesis 3 records how Adam and Eve sinned and plunged all of humanity into sin. God had given them just one prohibition in their perfect paradise. They could eat from any tree in the garden, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God warned them that on the day they ate from that tree they would die. In Genesis 3:1–5, Satan came to Eve in the form of a snake and accused God of lying and of keeping something good from Adam and Eve. Eve was tricked into believing Satan and ate from the tree, and then Adam chose to eat from it too. In that moment, all that was perfect in God’s creation was shattered. God put a curse on all of His creation, from the ground to Adam and Eve to the snake. Sin had entered the world, and nothing would remain unstained by it.

Adam and Eve’s sin was not just a distant event for you and me, however. Its direct result for us is that now we are guilty as sinners too. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Romans 3:10–12 paints a bleak picture of who we really are:

as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Romans 3:23 clearly tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin is breaking God’s commands (1 John 3:4). It’s doing what He says not to do, or failing to do what He says we should (Luke 10:27–37). And all of us have done it. There is not a single human alive who has not sinned. Even if we sinned only once, James 2:10 says we would be guilty of all. Once we break God’s commands even one time, we are permanently lawbreakers. The standard is God’s holy, sinless perfection (Matthew 5:48).

And this is an immense problem because God is the Holy Creator. As Creator, God has the right to tell his creation what to do, and because He is holy, God cannot allow sin in His presence or for sin to go unpunished (Nahum 1:3). Romans 6:23 soberingly tells us that the punishment, or the “wages,” of sin is death (Ezekiel 18:4). We will all die, and after that we will all face judgment before the holy and righteous Judge (Hebrews 9:27; 1 Corinthians 6:9). To compound our problems, we cannot get rid of sin on our own. Even the righteous things we try to do are no better than filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6). Even if we tried to obey God’s law, we couldn’t get rid of our sins because “by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20).

So if we all have sinned, and God punishes all sin, and we can’t get rid of our own sin, where’s the good news?

Jesus lived a perfect life, died a substitutionary death, and rose victoriously from the dead.

The good news is that Jesus did for you what you could never do for yourself. He lived perfectly, never committing a single sin, before He died on a cross. First Peter 2:22 and 23 says, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.” Peter had already described Jesus in 1:19 as a lamb “without blemish or spot.” Jesus was perfect because He was fully God and fully man. God has eternally existed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and God’s plan of salvation was always for the Son to come to earth as a baby and then live out a life of perfect holiness. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah who God promised would rescue his people (John 20:31; Matthew 16:16; 1 John 3:23; 1 John 5:1).

Why did Jesus die if He had never sinned? It wasn’t because He had sinned, but because He was taking our place. First Peter 2:24 goes on to say, “He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” Second Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake He (God) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus’ sacrificial death was to take the punishment we all deserved (Colossians 2:13–14).

The good news would not be good, however, if Jesus had merely died. Had He stayed dead, there would be no Christianity. If Jesus didn’t come back from the dead, the apostles’ preaching would be empty, our faith would be empty, we would still be in our sins, those who have already died would be eternally dead, and Christians would be the most pitiful people on the planet (1 Corinthians 15:12–19). “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Paul’s summary of the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1–5 is, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”

How does Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection affect you, though? The good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection comes with an implicit command to you.

You must repent and believe

The Gospel calls you to respond, and that response ought to include repentance and belief. Repentance and belief are two separate actions, but they are two sides of the same coin.

Repentance means “to turn away from sin”, while belief describes us turning to God. Jesus preached repentance regularly (Matthew 4:17; Luke 13:3, 5). At the conclusion of Peter’s sermon on the day the church began, he commanded those who were responding to his message to “repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38). Paul summarized his missionary work as declaring all across the known world that all people should repent and turn to God (Acts 26:20).

Repentance is more than grief over sin (2 Corinthians 7:10). The Gospel does not allow us to say we will embrace our sin and Jesus. While Jesus does not demand that we be sinless, He does demand that we willingly turn from sin to Him. Paul complimented the Thessalonians because they turned from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

While repentance is a necessary part of responding to the Gospel, we must be careful to see it as part of belief. All of us as humans are prone to want to work for our salvation. We want to earn God’s favor, or try to balance out the scales of our good and bad, or at the very least feel like we are contributing to our salvation. But the biblical Gospel is that we are saved by grace, through faith alone in Christ alone.

Ephesians 2:4–9 says:

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

When a scared, awed Philippian jailer came to Paul and Silas at midnight and asked how he could be saved, they replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:30, 31). And while the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23). Gifts are not things you work for or earn, or else they aren’t gifts.

Salvation comes to those who put their trust, their belief, in Jesus, not in their own actions or goodness. “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

The Gospel begins with God and, in the end, brings us back to God. The Holy Creator made the entire world good, but sin ruined man’s relationship to God and the goodness of this world. In His love, however, God planned to send His only Son, Jesus, to fix the sin problem we could never fix on our own. Jesus lived without ever sinning, died to take sinners’ punishment, and rose to conquer sin and death and Satan. The Good News is that you can be rescued from your sin simply by believing this wonderful message.

If you’re new to faith, this is where your walk with God begins. Understanding the Gospel (that Jesus died and rose again to save you) is the foundation. The next step is growing in your relationship with Him through Scripture, prayer, and community. Here are some resources I love that can help you build a strong foundation as you begin your walk with God:

Bible

If you’re new to reading Scripture, start with a translation that’s accurate and clear. The ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible or the NIV Life Application Study Bible are both great options.

Even though it’s convenient to read from your phone, I’ve found that using a physical Bible helps me stay focused and not be distracted by notifications coming in. I like being able to highlight verses and jot down notes as I read. Every morning I spend at least 15 minutes in Scripture, it’s become part of my routine, something I naturally do as I start the day. It clears my mind, centers my heart, and reminds me of my purpose before anything else. I use the Life Application Study Bible and really love the footnotes… they give helpful context to what I’m reading and offer practical ways to apply it to everyday life.

If you’re wondering where to begin, try:

• John- shows us who Jesus truly is, the Son of God and the Savior of the world. His goal is that by reading, you would believe in Jesus and find eternal life through Him.

• Luke- tells the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, showing that God’s salvation has come for everyone. It highlights His compassion for the lost, the outcasts, and those society overlooks.

• Psalms- captures the full range of human emotion such as joy, fear, gratitude, sorrow, and hope, all directed toward God. It reminds us of His faithfulness and serves as a guide for honest prayer and heartfelt worship.

• Proverbs- is filled with practical wisdom for everyday life. It teaches how to live with integrity, make wise choices, and honor God through the fear of the Lord, which means having deep respect, awe, and reverence for Him while recognizing His authority and truth.

• Romans- lays out the foundation of the Christian faith. It clearly explains the gospel, that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by our own works, and that this gift is available to everyone.

I love the Versify app to help me remember scripture as well. You plug in the verse you want to learn and it tests your memory by having you fill in the blanks.

I’m currently reading the book of Ezekiel and plan to continue reading forward from there. Anthony is doing the same, reading each book in order, he wanted to start in Genesis and keep going, so everyday he reads a little in order and now I think he’s almost to the New Testament. However you decide to read, make it a daily habit.

I love using these Bible tabs - they make it so easy to find each book, and just seeing them regularly has helped me memorize the order of the books too.

Podcasts

Dial In Podcast- The pastor at my church, Jonny Ardavanis, hosts this podcast, and I love how he shares his heart for helping people understand and live out God’s Word. As he says, “God’s Word has changed my life, and my passion is that people would understand and obey it. The truth of Scripture has the ability to renew our minds, give us joy, and transform us into the image of Christ.”

For The Gospel Podcast- For the Gospel Podcast provides sound doctrine for everyday people. By discussing practical topics, answering tough questions, and interviewing influential guests, we want to inspire you to live for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Alisa Childers Podcast- Helping you answer Progressive Christianity and skeptical claims against the gospel from a biblical worldview.

Books

I love reading apologetics, which simply means learning how to explain and defend the truth of the Christian faith. Studying apologetics strengthens my own faith and gives me confidence when questions come up, whether from others or in my own mind. It helps connect reason and belief, reminding me that faith in God is both intellectually sound and deeply personal.

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis- Originally a series of radio talks given during World War II, this classic lays out the core beliefs of the Christian faith in a clear and thoughtful way. Lewis explains Christianity with logic, reason, and warmth, making complex ideas simple to grasp. It’s a great place to start if you’re new to faith or want to understand what Christians believe and why.

The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel- Written by Lee Strobel, a Yale Law graduate and former legal journalist for The Chicago Tribune, this book follows his journey from skepticism to faith. As an atheist, he set out to investigate the evidence for Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection- using his background in journalism and law to examine the facts. What he discovered ultimately led him to believe. It reads like a true investigation and is easy to follow even if you’re new to faith.

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek- This book makes a powerful case for why Christianity is both rational and evidence-based. Geisler and Turek walk through history, science, and philosophy to show that it actually takes more faith to deny God’s existence than to believe in Him. It’s written clearly and builds step-by-step, starting with logical proofs for truth and moving all the way to the evidence for Jesus and the resurrection. It’s one of the best books for strengthening your confidence that faith and reason go hand in hand.

Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears- A clear, comprehensive overview of what Christians believe and why it matters. It breaks down big theological ideas, like sin, salvation, and grace, in a way that’s straightforward and rooted in Scripture.

Systematic Theology, Second Edition: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine by Wayne Grudem
This is a great book to keep on hand when you want more clarity on specific areas of the Bible. It explains big biblical themes in a clear and structured way, helping you see how everything connects. I use it like a textbook, referencing it when I’m studying a topic or passage and want to understand what the Bible teaches about it as a whole.

Can I Trust the Bible? (Docuseries by Wes Huff)
Not a book, but a great series if you’ve ever wondered how we know the Bible is reliable and historically accurate. Wes Huff explains how Scripture was written, preserved, and verified over time in a way that’s easy to follow and deeply informative. It’s perfect for new believers who want to understand why we can have complete confidence in God’s Word.

Find a local church

Finding a local church is one of the most important steps you can take as a new believer. Look for a church that actually teaches from the Bible and keeps the focus on Jesus, not trends or opinions. Most churches have a what we believe section on their website, and it’s worth reading through. You want to see that they hold to Scripture as truth, teach repentance and grace clearly, and believe salvation comes through faith in Jesus alone.

When we first moved to Franklin, we visited a church that had amazing worship, but the sermons only pulled a verse here and there without really explaining the passage or giving much depth. I looked into the pastors and saw that none of them had formal theological training. The messages were rooted in Scripture, but they stayed surface-level and didn’t challenge us to dig deeper.

That experience taught me how important it is to find a church that truly walks through God’s Word with depth and clarity. Around that time, I started listening to the Dial In Podcast and later realized the pastor was local to us. We decided to visit, and right away we could tell it was different. Each week we walk through Scripture verse by verse, and I’ve learned more about God’s Word there than anywhere else. It’s helped me grow so much in my understanding of the Bible and how to live it out.

And once you find a church with sound teaching, commit to going each week. You’ll start to meet like-minded people, build real community, and find ways to serve, giving back your time and being part of what God is doing there.

Final thought

Choosing to follow Jesus is the most important decision you’ll ever make. It’s the start of a real relationship that changes everything. Walking with God brings a peace and purpose that nothing else in this world can offer.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:13–14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” I want to be one of those few.

The narrow road isn’t the easy one, but it’s the path that leads to real and eternal life. It’s always easier to go with the flow, to live without conviction, or to follow whatever feels comfortable in the moment. But that’s the wide gate Jesus warns about… the easy, popular path of worldly pleasure and self-reliance that leads to destruction. Following Him might cost more, but it’s so worth it.

Your faith will grow the most in the hard seasons, when you realize that God is still steady and faithful even when life feels uncertain. Keep going and stay close to His Word. As you do, your faith will get stronger and more steady.

One verse I come back to often is Romans 12:12: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” It keeps me grounded and reminds me that real hope only comes from knowing God and trusting that He’s in control. When you belong to Him, you can face anything with peace because you know He’s sovereign over every part of your life, it’s not random chaos. As Corrie Ten Boom once said, “There’s no panic in heaven, only divine plans.” I love that reminder- nothing ever surprises God, and He’s always in control.

This verse also reminds me why I want to stay on the narrow path. It’s not the easy road, but it’s the one that leads to real life. There’s so much peace in knowing your name is written in the Book of Life. You don’t have to wonder what comes after this life because you know the truth. That kind of confidence doesn’t come from blind faith… it comes from both faith and evidence. The Bible has proven itself again and again through history and prophecy, and when you really study it, you see it’s the only truth that stands firm.

It’s an honor to walk with God and to know that what you believe is real. The more you learn, the more your faith grows, and the more you realize that following Jesus isn’t just the right path- it’s the only one that leads to lasting purpose and life that never ends.

Let me know in the comments if you’ve read any other great apologetic books that I should read next!

xx Brittany

Before Poppy was born I was clocking far too few hours of sleep and dragging through the day on coffee alone. Trying to fall asleep earlier was my biggest challenge when I first tried to adjust my sleep habits, so I gave myself a full month of implementing changes before getting discouraged, and it really helped! By the end of two weeks of me really following these tips, I was falling asleep easily at night and waking up feeling refreshed.

I started all these changes about a month before I gave birth to Elliott and kept them up (overall as best as I could) even when I was nursing him throughout the night, and I still was able to have good sleep.

Overall, going to bed by 9:30 pm gives me time to read for a little, and then asleep by 10 pm and waking up at 6am. And when Elliott was born, I moved my bedtime so much earlier (around 8 pm) to give me time to nurse him in the night and still get enough hours of sleep, and that made all the difference. I, of course, was still tired with him, especially when we first brought him home, but NOTHING like the complete exhaustion I experienced with Poppy. I owe a lot of that to getting my sleep in a good place before he was born, so that I had the routine established and it was an easier adjustment to bring him into that.

All that to say, now almost two years later I still track my sleep every night and I get great sleep! Here’s my top five tips:

1. Swap harsh LEDs for warm, blue-light-blocking bulbs
   Light rich in blue wavelengths suppresses melatonin release and pushes your internal clock later, shaving off total and deep sleep. I replaced every cool-white LED in our overheads and lamps with soft incandescent or blue-light-filter bulbs to preserve my natural melatonin rhythm and fall asleep faster and more deeply. If you don’t want to swap everything out just keep all overhead lights off and use a lamp so you only need to swap out that one bulb in the room. I unscrewed any canned lighting that was LED so that way if I went to turn it on by habit, they wouldn’t work. This is another reason not to be on screens before bed. If I have to do something before plugging in my phone I make sure my phone is on full red-mode. Or if we watch a movie I wear red-light glasses to block it out.

   Source: “Blue light has a dark side,” Harvard Health Publishing

2. Go full darkness with blackout curtains and a sleep mask
   Even tiny light leaks (from streetlights or appliance LEDs) can fragment sleep and shorten REM cycles. Installing blackout curtains and wearing a silky sleep mask blocks ambient light entirely, leading to fewer awakenings and higher sleep quality. Black tape works to cover any charging lights.
   Source: Sleep Health (January 2023), “Effects of Dim Light Exposure on Sleep Quality”

3. Chase morning sun- even for 15 minutes
   Bright natural light first thing in the morning advances your circadian clock and strengthens your 24-hour rhythm, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up at consistent times. Stepping outside for at least fifteen minutes flips on my internal wake-up switch better than any alarm tone.
   Source: Figueiro et al., “Modeling the Influence of Daytime Light Exposure on Circadian Rhythms,” Science Advances, 2023

4. Eat early so dinner can digest
   Eating close to bedtime forces your body to juggle digestion when it should be repairing and regenerating, leading to more nighttime awakenings and lighter sleep. Finishing dinner at least two hours before bed lets your body focus on rest and repair, resulting in longer uninterrupted sleep. So because I wanted to get in bed by 9:30 I knew dinner (and/or dessert) would need to be finished by 7:30pm and no more eating after that.
   Source: St-Onge et al., “Meal Timing and Sleep Quality in Adults,” Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2021

5. Brain-dump journaling before lights-out
   Racing thoughts and mental to-dos fuel nighttime anxiety and delay sleep onset. Spending three to four minutes writing down tomorrow’s tasks or worries “closes” those mental tabs, reducing cognitive arousal and cutting the time it takes to fall asleep. I like putting 3 things I was thankful that happened during the day and my top 3 priority to-dos for the next day.
   Source: Kellogg et al., “Putting Worry on Paper: Expressive Writing Reduces Pre-Sleep Arousal,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2018

Bonus tip: Move your body during the day…take walks, chase the kids, or crank out some steps. Higher daytime activity makes your body crave real sleep at night.

Let me know any tips that you have for getting good sleep in the comments- would love to know!

Thanks for being here,

xx Brittany