Winding Down

Heels, Pants, Top: Marshalls (similar)

Tuesday nights are always late ones for me.  I don't get home until after 10, and I almost never have my blog post done for the next day.  (I need to get better about that!!)  

After teaching, I need a little bit of down time, and that usually involves getting my Pinterest and Facebook fix for the week.  All things that distract me from doing what actually needs to be done (finishing up my post and getting some sleep!)  

So, now it's after 11pm, but I've laughed at a few Youtube clips of Billy on the Street (so funny), swooned over Emma Stone's bangs (do NOT let me cut my bangs again, people! they're almost fully grown!), and have on my to-do list to get a group together to make quiet bags for kids (an idea via Pinterest.) All super random things.

Next Tuesday, I really do need to just stick to reading my book!

What do you do when you need to wind down?!

Linking up with Shanna and The Pleated Poppy 

Perfect Picnics

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Wet-Nap but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #showusyourmess http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

We had non-stop sunshine last week, which meant the spring clothes finally came out for lots of park days and picnics outside.

This past weekend, the boys and I headed off to the Farmer's Market to pick up some yummy blueberry and raspberry scones, beautiful flowers, and lots of fruit to take to our picnic breakfast.

Ohhh...and THE most amazing orangeade ever made.

Picnics with little ones are fun because everything is exciting to them.  A piece of grass, an ant crawling around, a motorcycle driving by...little boys really are the best.  But to avoid any potential melt downs like, "strawberry juice on my shortssssss, Mommmaaa!!!!",  I bring a Wet-Nap container to wash our hands before, and to clean up any and all messes afterwards.

(PS.  Walmart has amazingly low prices on the Wet-Nap products, and here's a fantastic coupon for future shopping.)

^I do love a wipe, so I get the individual packets for school lunches, and the tube for my purse when I'm on the go.

With an easy clean-up and with full and happy boys, we enjoyed reading books, snuggling (which is more like wrestling with them), and of course, dancing. :)

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Oh!  There is a contest running for Wet-Nap called the Most Original Mess Contest.  Participants can upload a photo entry of their messy kids and share the link across social media.  The photo with the most votes wins a $1,000 giftcard to Walmart and a year's supply of product. Voting will close on June 16.  You can see more at: http://contest.wetnap.com/

Explore a Story

This past week, Walker boy and I went to an Explore a Story program at a local park.  The kids listened to a story and then went for a nature walk.  It was such a neat program, and we had a great morning in the sunshine.

^Putting on their bunny ears to listen to birds.

Please stay like this forever, my adorable, little boy.  You are the sweetest!

I hope you have an amazing weekend!!

A few things...

Pants, Shoes, Top

So...a few things. 

I found this top at Old Navy for 50% off.  Setarra, I know you're laughing!...(she knows that most of my clothes come from there.)  I seriously find the best deals on their clearance rack. Someone bought this top online, didn't like it, returned it to the store, and I got the 50% off. Yay!  I also really like it with white pants.  I can dress it down a bit with flats or wear colorful flats with neutral jewelry.  

I just caught up with Once Upon a Time.  (And I, embarrassingly, started Season 1 Episode 1 only about a month ago.)  I'm so sad that I'm all caught up, because I realllyyyyy love it.  I even texted Noel one day and apologized in advance for my leaving him for Captain Hook.  That's totally normal, right?! ;)

I would absolutely love for you to take a reader survey for me.  (You can click here to get the survey.)  There are only a few questions, and it won't take you long at all.  I would really appreciate the feedback!  Thank you so much in advance! (It's completely anonymous!)

I hope you're having a great week!

PS.  Make sure to enter to win this beautiful monogrammed necklace!

Linking up with Shanna and The Pleated Poppy

The List

2/3/4/5

Currently, in my imaginary shopping cart....

1.  A cruiser bike.  The Easter Bunny left me a gift card, so I might just use it towards getting a bike of my own.

2.  A new hat.  I have this one (bottom picture) and really love wearing it, so a darker, rounder one would be fun as well, I think.

3.  A white blazer.  I've had mine for almost fifteen years, so it's time for a new one!

4.  Blue nail polish.  Loving this one!

5.  A spring purse.  A girl can dream with this Kate Spade one, right?! 

Monica from Moda by Monika is also a lover of beautiful things, and I'm so excited to introduce you to her today! 

Monica recently participated in my Spring Fashion Series, and not only did I fell head over heels for her outfit, I have really enjoyed working with her.  (Another great outfit of hers is this nautical chic one...that blazer!)  Monica also makes beautiful jars, and sells them in her Etsy shop!

Monica and I are both huge fans of beautiful necklaces, and today, Monica is giving one lucky reader a personalized necklace of their choice.

Just use the Rafflecopter below to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway ends this Sunday, and the winner will be notified via email.

Comments turned off so you can go show Monica some love!

6 favorite pictures

I've watched this video a million times it seems, and it gets better and better each time.  I love Easter, spending time with my family, and the happiness that comes from knowing that my Savior lives and loves each of us!

Here are 6 of my favorite pictures from this past weekend.  (We spent the weekend at my parents' house.)

Easter breakfast and egg hunt at the Country Club on Saturday morning.  Walker reminds me of Prince Charming in this picture. :)  

Eating all the candy.  ALL the candy.

I do love babies in oversized tshirts for night time. I grabbed 2 shirts from my sisters drawers after the boys' bath on Saturday night. Walker is wearing her Usher concert shirt :) and Charlie is wearing a West Side Story shirt, (I knew he would think it was a Wolfpack shirt because it was red and had a "W" on it.) 

Noel couldn't come with us because he's studying for finals. :( This was the best of our family pictures on Easter morning.  Remember this picture?! Walker didn't like that it was sprinkling outside (why is it still so cold in April?!?).

Decorating eggs. And they actually turned out to be really beautiful.

Charlie was making me laugh so hard yesterday morning. I've been group texting my brother and sisters all the hilarious pictures.  He is such a ham (I don't know where he got that from) and looked so handsome in his Easter outfit.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!

Presentation

Shoes: Vestique, Blazer: Kohls, Bracelet: Che Bella , Tshirt: Old Navy

I wore this outfit last week for a presentation I gave the Young Women at church.  I gave a similar presentation on fashion and beauty back in November to another group. I wanted my outfit to be classic, and my black blazer never fails me.

The basis of my thoughts was that the better you feel about yourself, the more confidence you have, and with more confidence comes better actions.  We talked about trends and style tips...all sorts of fun things.

I tried to take a picture of my outfit with my phone last week for Instagram, but it was way too hard...wayyyy too hard.  (Shanna, please do a tutorial on that...I'm so serious!)

My sweet assistants helped me take photos a little later, though, so everything worked out. :)

PS.  At the end of my presentation, I asked if any one had any questions, and a girl said, "Yes, where are your shoes from?!"  I do love these shoes!

Linking up with Shanna and The Pleated Poppy

The thing about social media....

A few weeks ago, during Spring Break, we had one of those perfect days.  

The boys and I had a nice breakfast, we went on a long walk with my dad, we visited my sister and went to her campus, and then we ate at my favorite bagel place.  We then met my parents at Tryon Palace, went to my brother and sister in law's house to visit, and ate a nice dinner with them downtown.  The weather was perfect.  Everything was so nice.

I put the boys down for bed, and got out my computer to do a few minutes of work before I crashed myself.  I was in such a great mood...what a wonderful day we had!

It took about 5.5 minutes on Facebook to change my mood.  Ughhh...social media!!  

A birth announcement (why does the stork keep missing my house?!), people coming up in my newsfeed that I was sure I blocked on all forms of social media, and people just being too much. 

There are some good days on social media... People telling about nice things others did for them, or great opportunities they recently came across, or a trip that they took....all nice things that I enjoy seeing.  I think FB tends to be more annoying because it's more of the people you know in real life...and you know they don't act the same on the internet as they do in real life. 

We just need a manual for each form of social media...things you should and should not do!

I love seeing inspiring things on the internet....creative things....even heated things if there's some thought put into it.  

I love seeing people accomplish new things and receive awards. I love reading a good Buzzfeed article. :)  And I really do, for the most part, enjoy social media.  I am a blogger after all.  (And who doesn't love a good outfit of the day, or a good quote, or a good Pinterest find?!)

It's just interesting that all day I was living life...loving every second of it.  And I feel like when we limit social media to a certain time (I try to limit mine to when the boys are asleep) ..or certain times of the day, (instead of scrolling through it whenever we have a second of free time), we'll all love our own lives a little more. 

So...let's live life.  Get outside.  Play with our kids.  Read a book.  Have a face to face conversation with a friend.  Let's enjoy it!

Head to Toe Workout

Some days, it's impossible to make it to the gym.  I was having several of those days the other week, and needed something to counteract all the Reese's eggs I was eating.

I decided to come up with a quick head to toe workout.  I tried it myself, and then tried it out on my students, and it.works.  Like, big time works.

^(8) Burpees

^Hold the last burpee down in a plank, open up to side plank.  

Hold side plank for 8 counts. (or seconds for non-dance people) :)

Take top arm and cross underneath, then take arm up to starting position. Do this (8) times.

^Drop top arm to this position.  Do (8) tricep dips.

^Open back up to the opposite side plank and repeat 2A and 2B on opposite side.

^Repeat triceps dips (3A and 3B)

^Hop up to a squat position.  Cross hand over to opposite foot while in squat, jump together, repeat opposite side. (8 times)

And then do the whole thing all over again!

So, in review:

*1a, 1b: 8 times

*2a, 2b: 8 times

*3a, 3b: 8 times

*2a, 2b (opposite side): 8 times 

*3a, 3b: 8 times

*4a, 4b: 8 times

Repeat.  And then again.

Have fun!  (muah ha ha) Let me know if you have any questions.

PS.  If you're just wanting a leg workout, you'll love this one!

Spring Outfits

When I'm in need of a little fashion inspiration, I shop my own closet, browse through Pinterest, and sometimes, I go back through my old posts. (I forget so quickly!)

Here are a few of my favorite outfits from last Spring with links to the original posts. Spring weather in NC is so unpredictable...one day you're in short-sleeves and the next in a sweater! 

One/Two/Three

One/Two/Three

I'm going to have fun taking these outfits and putting a new spin on them this year!

Linking up with Shanna and The Pleated Poppy

Enjoying and Simplifying

^Cutest little suitcases that Personal Creations sent the boys.

^Grandpa with the boys at the circus

Last Thursday, my parents and I took the boys to Tryon Palace, and it was such a neat experience. Charlie especially loved the kitchen, and as we were walking to another part of the house, he turned around to the tour guide (who let him grind the pepper and turn the stove), and said, "I like this kitchen!"

My mom and I were talking after the tour, while the boys played in the gardens out back, about how people used to live so simply...and how wonderful that was.  They really enjoyed...life. Talking to each other face to face, enjoying the beauty of the nature around them, taking time to do the things that made them happy.  

Enjoying life is exactly what the boys and I did last week.  We packed up and headed out to my parent's house for the week, since the boys were on Spring Break.  We went to the circus (which was kinda gross as circuses are, but kinda fun), visited Auntie Jessie at school, played and played some more. Mimi and Grandpa's house is my boys' favorite place to be.

This week is back to real life...cooking, teaching, getting out of the house on time for school(!)...but I'm going to try to apply this quote (by Elder Perry from General Conference) throughout the week. Such a strong quote and reminder of what's important.

I hope you have a fantastic week!