I love my...

...new cognac boots!

I've been searching for the perfect pair of cognac boots for a while now. My requirements were this:

1) Must be flat...I hate wearing boots with heels.

2) Must be big enough around the calf for my giant calves....seriously they are huge and I hate that it's so hard to find boots that allow wiggle room in the calf.

I stumbled upon these boots at Kohl's this past weekend and almost squealed with joy when I tried them on and realized there was plenty of room in the calf. SUCCESS!!!

I got them on sale for $45 plus an additional 15% coupon. Heck yeah!

Here's a link to their online listing, if you're interested.

Paired with a charcoal sweater dress and grey tights, I felt like quite the fashionista today!

(Please excuse the randomly placed computer chair in the background....we were doing some organizing in the study and needed to move it out for extra moving room.)

Jackpot Grocery Trip

I'm pretty excited about a few of my grocery store finds today! I feel like I hit the jackpot!

I know it's weird that I get so excited about food, but that's just the way I am! I managed to find some things that I had been searching for for a while now and that made me super happy! I also just stumbled upon a couple of really cool things.

Thought I'd share a couple of my fave purchases from today with you guys...

First up, DATES!!

I swear I had been looking for these things in my store for MONTHS now and never had any luck. I looked in all the obvious spots like with the other dried fruit (prunes, raisins, etc.) and with the weird "international" food but nothing.

Finally it struck me today as I was getting ready to give up forever to check one more place. Turns out, they were THERE! I seriously about squealed with delight when I found them.

For all you HEB shoppers like me, these dates can be found in the produce section on those shelves where they have a bunch of bagged nuts and dried fruit. (Should have figured this out a lot sooner.)

As soon as I got home I enjoyed one (or two) smeared in peanut butter:

Such a good, healthy, filling little snack! I know a lot of people in the blog world who eat this as a pre-workout snack. It's delicious!

Next up was a random stumble-upon item:
COCONUT OIL!!!

This is another one that I had been searching for but was never able to locate. Unfortunately I'm actually still not sure where it's home is in the grocery store because I actually found this one sitting misplaced on an end cap. Ha! It was like it was put there by God for me to find. :) :) :)

Coconut oil is a great substitute for oil or butter when cooking or baking because it can aid in maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone strength. (Source)

I'm so excited to start using it!

As I was walking through the produce department I spotted this ADORABLE little spaghetti squash:

Couldn't resist that one! It was so cute and compact...perfect for a family of two!

I also spotted these giant Honeycrisp apples in the produce department...
I'm not the biggest fan of apples in the world so they have to be REALLY good apples for me to buy them. Honeycrisp are delicious though and they were on sale so I went for it! I just wish these were available year-round.

The final exciting purchase was La Croix flavored sparkling water:

I'd seen these floating around the health blogger world a lot lately so I figured I'd give it a shot. I got the berry flavor and I really like it! When I first took a sip I was thinking it would be sweet but it's not...it's literally just sparkling water with a slight hint of flavor.

I like that it's refreshing and has the bubbles and flavor for a more fun drinking experience than just plain water. I'm hoping these will help me up my daily water intake, since I'm pretty horrible about drinking enough water everyday.

Have you tried any of the above items? What did you think?

Houston we have a Dinner

I'm still not completely back to my normal cooking self, but I did finally take the time to cook a little something tonight. Not something ready made from the freezer. That's a step forward! :)



This is really just Cod drizzled in a bit of olive oil and lemon juice and sprinkled with Mrs. Dash baked in the oven until cooked through.


I'm not going to lie, it wasn't great, but oh well. It was a spur of the moment type thing.


The potato/green bean side dish was one of the Green Giant Steam Bag things. They're the BEST for quick and easy side dishes!


In other news, yesterday was our 3rd anniversary!


It's been the most wonderful 3 years of my life (even despite a year long deployment thrown in the middle) and I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life.


I don't have any photos from the wedding to share right now BECAUSE I'M TYPING THIS ON MY BRAND NEW MACBOOK PRO LAPTOP (!!!) and I haven't finished moving all my pictures to it yet.


The MacBook was an anniversary gift of sorts from the hubs...but really he was just tired of me stealing his laptop all.the.time so he broke down and bought me my own.


I was semi-expecting to get a laptop sometime in the near future but I was NOT expecting a Mac. I was shocked when I opened it!


See? I told you I was lucky!


I was messing around with the cool photobooth and video recording capabilities this evening and being EXTREMELY silly recording some "test videos".


I never planned on sharing these but they make me laugh at myself really hard (and laughing is something I need to do more of these days). Don't judge the dorkiness or the workout attire! :)





(Sorry about the chest shot there....I was turning the computer over so I could read the back of it. I had a blonde moment!! :)


And the silliness didn't stop there...





:)

Edited to Add: Apparently the videos aren't working now. They seemed to be working fine last night so I don't know what happened. Oh well! It will probably save me some embarrassment that way.

Summer Bedspread

With the temps getting up in the 100's these days, I realized we needed a lightweight, summer bedspread. I was also growing tired of our neutral comforter and wishing for a little more color in our bedroom.

When I was at Target the other day I browsed the bedspread section and found a great candy apple green quilt-like bedspread that I really loved. I figured it would go perfectly with the throw pillows that we already had so I snatched it up. {Side note: Why are King size bed linens SO expensive?!?!}

Here is the BEFORE:

Nice, but neutral.

Here is the AFTER:

I couldn't seem to get photos that properly represented the color but trust me, it's a bright and punchy green!

I'm really liking the color change and I'm loving how lightweight the quilt is too. Perfect for summer!

Do you change out of your bedspreads for the seasons? This is the first time I have done this but I definitely think it will be a habit I will continue from now on.

Merry {Belated} Christmas!

Merry belated Christmas to everyone! I'm having a VERY merry one thanks to this guy:

Isn't he HANDSOME?!?! He makes my Christmas merry and fulfilled. Having him home is the best Christmas present I could have asked for.

The second best Christmas present is the one he got me: a Canon Rebel digital SLR camera!!! I've been wanting one for years now so I was so excited when I opened it on Christmas day. I've been having a blast taking pictures of everyone and everything....

Libby giving me the stink-eye.

Libby watching Alex's dad shovel snow...I love this one.

The close-up, detail pictures are my favorite!

I can't wait to take pictures of my food...this camera makes everything look delicious!!


Snow + Christmas + Husband = Best.Christmas.Ever.

It has also been a very...eventful...couple of days, but that's a whole new blog post that I'll have to take time to write out later. Let's just say it involved a blizzard and a LOT of time on an interstate. :)

Playing Dress Up

Last night I attended a Mary Kay party at my good friend Kate's house. It was lots of fun and I purchased some new makeup that I'm super excited about! While we were there, the Mary Kay consultant told us that the Mary Kay website has a feature where you can give yourself a virtual makeover.

So today, as I was avoiding edging the lawn {one of my most hated husband jobs}, I checked it out. And I got totally addicted! I have always loved playing dress up and apparently I'm still a little girl at heart. :)

All you have to do is upload a picture of your face and then you can go to town with hair, makeup, and even accessories. Here is one of my looks that I put together:
I was especially enjoying playing with the different hair styles since I've been debating on cutting my long hair lately. Hmmmm....still can't decide! What do you think? Should I cut my hair like that?

Oh and if you're interested, here's what I purchased:

Limited Edition Loose Eye Shadow in Lilac Lace

Creme Lipstick in Whipped Berries

Mineral Bronzing Powder in Desert Sun

Full Coverage Foundation in Ivory 200





Mineral Powder Foundation in Ivory 2




Concealer in Ivory 1 {this stuff is so much better than the drugstore concealer I had been using.}

Fall Decor on a Budget

Fall officially began a couple of days ago, which means I can now display my Fall decor proudly {without getting the side eye anymore since I've had most of it up for weeks already}. And in a miraculous turn of events, the weather here in Texas actually cooled off by about 40 degrees since the beginning of Fall this week. Sometimes I really do think God has a sense of humor....Like as if he said "Haha it's been 100+ degrees for months but the DAY Fall officially begins I'm gonna drop that sucker down 40 degrees!! That'll get their heads spinning!" Welp, thanks God. I'll take cooler weather, despite the fact that I think you're laughing at us up there.

Anyway, on to the Fall decor! I love decorating for holidays but I don't like to spend a lot of $$$ on it. There are some things you can do to save money on holiday decor.

Use items you already have. For example, in the above photo I decided to pull a Fall-colored cookbook from my collection to put on display. I just love the extra pop of Fall-ness that it gives my little nook on the kitchen counter.

I also pulled that glass vase off of a shelf in my closet where it had been sitting for months. It was actually one of those vases that you get when you receive a flower arrangement {not that I get many of those...love you hubby!} The filler in the vase I found at Tuesday Morning for cheap. I just love this little Fall nook now!

Buy holiday decor out of season. This is hard for me because I don't really get "in the mood" to buy holiday decor until it's the season but I try to still keep my eyes open for anything that's just too incredible of a deal to pass up.

I bought the above Fall leaves table runner {which I adore} on super sale from Crate & Barrel last December for {I think} around $10. The plate I bought for 50% off at Hobby Lobby and the candles I already had. Granted, the table decor definitely is a work in progress but I still like it a lot.

Shop for holiday decor at super cheap places, like the dollar store. I bought the strand of Fall leaves for $1 at the Dollar Tree. {And I'm thinking about going back and buying 4-5 more strands of them for the mantle, dining table. etc.} The pumpkins were gifts from people I think. I got the candle & little wreath {on the lower shelf} from Hobby Lobby on sale last year.

Finally, spread your holiday decor out throughout your house {kitchen, dining, & living room mostly}. Little pops of decor here and there are better than a ton of stuff piled in one place.

Now for a couple of Halloween items:

Dollar Tree find

Dollar Tree "Haunted House" sign & Trick or Treat sign bought from Hobby Lobby on sale.

Dollar Tree "Witches Way" sign

Ugly Ducklings

Recently, I've developed a bit of an obsession with the Dollar Tree. How come no one ever told me all the great finds they have at that store for ONE DOLLAR?!?! I almost feel like I shouldn't tell anyone about how great the Dollar Tree is so I can keep first dibs on everything. Just in the past few weeks I've found everything from Halloween decor to glassware to home improvement supplies. As I was getting ready to check out, these little ugly ducklings (or birdies) caught my eye:

Who would think that sand glued on to them was a good look for these things?!? I mean, really? But I saw the potential and knew they would look great with a coat or two of my secret weapon:

That's right. The ridiculously popular (in blog world, at least) spray paint color called "Heirloom White". Not too white, not too yellow. Just right for a nice creamy color.

I first attempted to sand off the...er...well...sand! But that crap was stuck on there and not budging much so I just decided to paint over it. Here they are with the first coat (notice my super amazing "drop cloth"...also known as an empty bag of dog food):

After a couple more coats and a little drying time they transformed into beautiful swans:

It's really amazing how much cuter they are now! And the paint really brings out the detail on the wings, which I love.

I love my little "nest" that I created for one of them. The glass container was also from Dollar Tree and the moss I already had from a previous project. So total cost for that little bird's nest was less than $3!

This picture is way too dark but you can get the idea. I am in love with my little birds now!! I want to buy more and put them all over the house.

Bought with the Best of Intentions

So I MIGHT have made an impulse purchase today. You see, the past couple days I've had the itch to make a valance to go over the kitchen window. I don't know why the urge hit me so suddenly, given that I've been living without a window treatment on the kitchen window for a year and half now but....it just did okay?!?

So as I began thinking about valances/window treatments I realized that I needed a sewing machine to make them.
Don't even give me that crap about how there are no-sew options for window treatments out there...I'm trying to justify a purchase here!!

As I was saying, I realized I needed a sewing machine to not only make the valance but also to make things like curtains, pillows, our future offspring's clothing, etc. The possibilities are endless! I may not be an expert sewer but I took a Home Ec class in junior high and I can follow directions...that's good enough right?!

I talked to my mom about my need for a sewing machine but she told me I didn't need one because I could borrow hers that she hardly ever uses. But she lives 3 hours away from me so I ignored her advice. Sorry, Mom!

Then things just downright started to fall into place. WalMart.com had a large selection of sewing machines, one of which is a Project Runway special edition sewing machine....!!! I effing love Project Runway! Not to mention, it was affordable ($150...but only $125 once I used my Walmart gift card) and got great ratings...clearly, that had to be my sewing machine!

So I bought it. I can feel you rolling your eyes and judging me right now so STOP IT. It's an investment, people! You will eat your words when you see my beautiful finished valance and future offspring's adorable homemade clothing!

Here she is:
It arrives in the mail in a few days! ***squeal***