One of our favorite Christmas traditions is Christmas Tree shopping the weekend of (or the weekend after, this year) Thanksgiving. Then, we come home, put on a Christmas movie while we wait for the branches to fall… and put on movie #2 or a bangin’ Michael Blubé Christmas playlist while decorating. Our movies of choice? […]

I have a snoring pup on my lap who had the BEST time at camp this holiday weekend. Sam’s parents like to say “we’re all aired out” and that is exactly how we all feel on this sleepy, Sunday afternoon. Sam’s family shares a camp in middle-of-nowhere northern Vermont and it was the perfect place […]

We are SUPER excited about these DIY wedding signs because they are near and dear to our hearts. Today, we’re sharing the behind the scenes making of our wedding signage but this will work for any occassion. Birthday? Home Decore? Shower? You name it, you can build a sign for that. Check out the video […]

Thanksgiving is around the corner and even mid-pandemic, this time of year can be tough if you’re focused on your nutrition. Having a “healthy Thanksgiving” feels and sounds like an oxymoron, don’t you think? So, I’m republishing (read: copy and pasting from my own blog – so it’s allowed, people!) an article I wrote for […]

A few things before I hit you with some inspiration for home workouts! First, when I started Life Outside the Shop, I really wanted to document just that – the things Sam and I get up to when he isn’t head down in his scroll saw. I also started LOTS because I was previously blogging […]

I would say “sorry it has been a few weeks” but I’m not really that sorry;) We’ve been spending every second with our brand new pup, Blue (or, Blue Boy), since bringing him home just about a week ago. It has been quite the transition back into puppy-parenting (the last time we did this was […]

Are you ready for the official Life Outside the Shop COVID wedding recap?! “Do you feel so different!?”“Do you have a bit of post-wedding letdown?!” One week and three days after “I do” I can give the same answer to both questions: “No!” A glorious, abundantly happy, extremely grateful, “no!”. Okay – maybe that is […]

Here it is! Finally! Learn how to make a pallet wood decoration – step by step. In other words, you get to learn alongside me while Sam teaches us to build something. I’ve promised this video at least I don’t know… 30 times… in our past Behind the Scenes post and video, on Instagram, and […]

The Sunday before our wedding, we dusted off the old (and Sam’s brand new!) pew pews and went skeet shooting with his parents, family friends, and our friend, Chuck! Is there a better way to let off some steam and stress the weekend before your wedding? The only rules we had while skeet shooting were […]

I almost started this post with, “this is long overdue” but I don’t think that is actually true. First, Life Outside the Shop hasn’t been around for long so “overdue” doesn’t really exist yet. Next, loss feels almost impossible to verbalize when you’re in the thick of it. And, writing things down feels vulnerable, permanent, […]