Sorry

Just would like to say I am sorry for the crazy spacing with my post. When I edit them they look great and when I publish them they go crazy. I am working to see what the issue is...SORRY.

My #1 Fashion Lesson...and it is FREE you already own it

Let me start off by saying I LOVE FASHION & ACCESSORIES. I am NOT a name brand girl, if I love it and think it is a great piece at a great price I am going to buy it. This means I enjoy shopping everywhere, thrift stores, salvation army, sales racks at Target, Wal-Mart, TJ Maxx, Marshall's, etc. I do believe you can splurge on great staple pieces such as shoes, great jeans, and handbags. But just because it has a famous name I am not going to buy it. Actually, a few months ago I was shopping with a great sak bag that I had bought at TJ Maxx for I think $55 and a store clerk caught me off guard by asking "Is that sak?". After a few seconds of trying to figure what she was talking about I responded yes with a smile. When in my mind I am thinking...how does she notice that over the great color, design, style, etc.

Also, while we are talking style. My #1 advice when it comes to style and fashion is PRIDE & CONFIDENCE. When stepping out and even staying in take a little pride in how you look. I love watching old shows from the 1950's and 1960's because they dressed up for the simple things. Mothers were always in a nice dress at home. If they went into town they wore a nice hat, gloves, and dress. They had PRIDE. You still see this in our grandparents...I very rarely see my 80+ year old grandparents in jeans and a old t-shirt...actually I don't think they own t-shirts. Take note in this. But no matter what you wear, wear it with CONFIDENCE. If you are confident people will automatically be drawn to you.

This is one of my favorite quotes. It reminds me of my wonderful Mother. She always had this little saying to described ladies that always looked nice. (I am just going to use a random name) "Sylvia always looks like she stepped out of a powder puff". Many of my friends have asked me what this means when I say it. My best description would be ladies that always look like "they just stepped out of a powder puff". Think of the following ladies....










Of course, Jackie Kennedy. A huge style icon known for her pearls, hair, and sunglasses. Let's not forget gorgeous husband and son.












Princess Diana, shy yet very confindent. Always seen with a ladies hemline. My grandmother would never have to ask her if she needed to sew some lace or a ruffle on her skirt.















Kate Middleton, new to the powder puff club but we just can't get enough of her style. I love that she dresses herself and does her own hair...as far as we know. Once again, notice the hemline.




















Last but not least, my favorite Reese Witherspoon. Not only is she a young mother and from the south, but she just seems like a girlfriend you could go shopping with and do lunch. LOVE HER. I love her classic and preppy style.

















So my challenge to you ladies is next time you are stepping out ask yourself "Do I look like I just stepped out of a powder puff"? Also, step out with Pride & Confidence and I am sure everyone will think "She looks amazing".

P.S. Yes, I have been known to go to the grocery store, doctor office with sick kids, etc. with gym clothes, no makeup, & baseball cap. Somedays I feel like dressing like a celeb in hiding, but only if I am going to be out for a few mins.

Stay tuned this weekend is family fall pictures. I can't wait to share my new haircut and color along with my wonderful outfit for under $100.

My new face wash

Yes, can you believe it? I am using a bar soap. About a month back I was reading an article in the October Redbook called "The anti-aging plan for your exact skin tone". I may only be 30, but the past couple of years I have really been paying attention to taking care of my skin. No more tanning beds and no more time in the sun without sunscreen. I have very dry skin and one thing I do not enjoy is my skin feeling tight and dry.

So I found myself reading what Dr. Ranelia Hirsch, MD a dermatologist from Boston recommended for my caucasian skin. Can you believe it....twice a day she recommends cleansing your face with Dove Sensitive Skin Unscented Beauty Bar. So of course I thought I would try it and see if it would work on my dry skin. I found mine at Publix 2 bars for $2.49. I keep one bar in the shower for my a.m. wash and one by the sink for my p.m. wash. Well I must say I have found my new face wash. I have been using it for about a month and I love the way my face looks and feels. Even better I recommended it to my sister who has oily skin, and recently started breaking out again like a teenager. (By the way this made her very upset.) So she decided to try it as well. Guess what, she loves it too. I can't believe it a simple bar soap works perfect for my dry skin and her oily skin.

Ummmm, if this simple bar does amazing work on my face I wonder what it could do for my body? So I am going old school and trying this bar on my entire body for a week. So stay tuned for the results.

Bless It

I must share this, and as my sister Amanda and I say often say "Bless it". My wonderful nephew Levi will be turning 8 in a few weeks. Love this guy, something about your sister having a baby makes you realize you can actually be a mother one day yourself. Anyway, Levi and my cousin Casen are only 3 weeks apart...and this year they are going to have sleepovers as their birthday parties. Such big guys, meaning we will have a separate family birthday party. FYI, I come from a large family and we do everything together I am proud to say. My nephew Levi loves cookie cake just like me. So being a new baker I wanted to make him & Casen a cookie cake for their party. Bonus: Casen asked for a cookie cake, "Yay". I don't think there is anything better than a yummy thick cookie cake...not the mall cookie cake "YUCK". When Jonathan and I got married his groom cake was actually a cookie cake.

Not wanting to disappoint the boys I decided to practice making and decorating their cookie cake. Keep in mind I have made this cookie cake a few times, just never to show off to anyone. I use the recipe on the back of the Nestle semi-sweet morsels package without the nuts. Back to the cake, I wanted to try to make the boys a cute layered cake. So I decided to bake it on a cookie sheet and add wax paper like I do when I bake my pumpkin roll to make it easy to remove it from the pan. Reminder: new to this baking business so it is all about trial and error. Half way through baking the cake I smell burning, I open the oven to find.....

GREAT, now I have to clean the oven.....but the practicing must continue. I have never decorated a cake other than frosting one. I don't even own anything to decorate a cake with. Once again my wonderful sister Amanda did, so she let me borrow her decorating kits to practice. And no, she has never used them.

I was very excited about playing with food coloring to make beautiful blue icing. I haven't played with food coloring since I was a little girl. So I started mixing a few drops of coloring with the icing and I got the perfect country blue. YUCK. Not wanting to waste all my blue food coloring on the practice cake I decided to jump into the decorating. I ice the bottom layer and attempt to add the top layer with no luck. The yummy top layer just ripped apart. I decided to jump into decorating and seeing what each little tip would do. I did find my favorite tips to use. So here it is....all I can say is "Bless It". As my friend Lolly said when I sent her a picture of it. "Wow, that's a beauty".

Notice, Hart liked so much he had to have a little piece. Don't worry, I will be practicing again before the big party. Bless It.

I'm back...but things are changing a little!

So I have been missing for a good time around here. Quite a bit has happened since my last post. I am now a mother of two..which means the purse strings have tightened up. I am also a new SAHM since Miss Haylen has been born, so we are living off just my husbands income which means the purse strings have almost been tied all together. I am sure you moms know what I mean. But I am here to tell ya, it is so worth it all.

I have had a few friends request I start back to posting to my blog, so I am going to try my best to find time to do this. As usual I will share my favorite items that I find to be great bargains and very useful. I will also be adding to the blog my new found passion of cooking for my family and my new adventures of DIY and crafting. I have discovered I can actually cook and I really enjoy it so I will be sharing some of my favorite recipes. Now as far as the crafts and DIY projects....I am very nervous about this. My wonderful mother who was very crafty passed this gene to my sister Amanda not to me. I just come up with the idea and they have always done it for me. But with my new found interest in pinterest.com I have a ton of projects I want to try. So we will see how this goes. So stay tuned.....