Happy Saturday, friends!  We just got home from a quick trip to my parents house in my hometown of Corsicana.  I took the boys to spend an early Father’s Day with my dad (their Cappy) and to send my sisters’ family off for a few weeks.  (My brother-in-law is from Austrailia so they visit his family every summer.)  It was a quick trip for us, but we got to see the whole Harper crew, swim, ride horses and drive a tractor… pretty much everything on the boys to-do list when we are at ‘Camp Harper’. 😉

Our weekend plans don’t consist of much this weekend.  The boy’s have a friend’s birthday party today, Fred and I have a dinner party tonight at a neighbors and then it will be a lot of pool time (if weather permits) and hopefully relaxing. Fred and I are both traveling for work a few days next week so we will be getting as much quality time as possible with the family!

As always, here is my Weekend Reading list of my Top Five reads from around the web.
Houston’s Hotel Scene is Getting a Major Upgrade: The previously lacking hotel scene in Houston is making changes and fast.  Last year the trendy boutique hotel, Hotel Alessandra, opened downtown and right after the doors to uber luxurious Post Oak Hotel opened it is official that another Houston billionaire is making a big splash into the scene.

Garden Planters 3 Ways: Let’s be honest, we want to bake everything Monika whips up and replicate all her beautiful home decor.  I loved her post on three different ways to style your garden planters this summer.  It is amazing what adding some beautiful landscaping or planters can do to your curb appeal.

The Misguided Desire of Wanting Our Kids to be Happy: This is such a wonderful and cautionary article about parents desire to “just want their kids to be happy”.  If you don’t read the entire article, here is the most important take away: “Here’s the secret: To have happy kids, you must teach them to tolerate being unhappy. I would tell Veruca’s dad he would have been better served to teach her to work through her big emotions—feelings like anger, frustration, and, yes, disappointment—rather than trying to protect her from them.”

How to Cure Brain Fog: Anyone else suffer from Brain Fog?  Mine was especially bad after having the boys, but I still find myself wanting to say “baby brain” even though I am pretty sure I have passed the window of being able to use that excuse anymore (Andrew is 2.5).  I loved this insight from Grace about helpful tips to cure this sometimes embarrassing ailment.

Women Who Are Changing the World: This special project by Time (sponsored by Ford) is so beautifully done.  It celebrates women who are breaking through glass ceilings and overcoming sexism and double standards.  They dig into how they stay motivated and even do it while balancing family.  There are so many wonderful stories and insights to learn from these short stories.