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Friday Favorites – The Last Friday of Summer Vacation

10 Aug by Leave a Comment

Well, that went fast. Our last Friday before school starts, and my little is officially in Pre-K. We headed to his open house last week to learn more about the program and what was to be expected. He is staying at the same daycare we moved to earlier this year, so it isn’t too much of a change. Dylan is actually going to miss his first day of VPK. I know, mother of the year, but tickets were much cheaper flying home on Monday instead of Sunday. We are currently on our last vacation of the summer. We flew out to visit the bestie in Oklahoma and are going take the kids to Great Wolfe Lodge for the weekend in Kansas. We leave for Great Wolfe Lodge tomorrow, and we can’t wait.

We are loving all things summer and here are 5 of our favorite things this week.

ONE

We are loving this states map, a friend of mine has it for her families traveling adventures, and I’ve been wanting to get one for a while now. So what better time than when we are headed to Dylan’s 5thstate! I’m excited to start marking off where he has been, talk about what we did, and to plan our trips trying out new locations. I’ve already ordered it, and I’m excited to hang it in our hallway.

TWO

I always use my stainless steal tumblers at home. They are the best for going anywhere in Florida because it keeps your drinks cool all. day. long. We have a handful of them, but my favorites, by far, are the Corkcicle. They also just came out with some super cute cooler backpacks I am dying to get. A stainless steal tumbler is a must have when packing and traveling, for me and the little.


THREE

I wasn’t a believer in these packing cubes. I thought why bother, I can fit all of Dylan’s and my things in 1 suitcase just fine. I found a few on sale at our local Marshalls and got them. I just thought it would be good since we are headed to 2 different places and can spilt up our clothes without pulling everything out. They are a total game changer! Everything in my suitcase is nicely organized, I’ve labeled them with what’s in them, and I had so much more room left in my suit case.

FOUR

I’m obsessing over this new Kenneth Cole suitcase I got. I really can’t get enough of a good navy and black combo. It’s super lightweight, wheels are perfect for moving through the airport with a toddler, and its bigger than it looks.

FIVE

I know so many people are into Audible, but I couldn’t get into paying for audio books. And, let’s be honest, I don’t need another monthly subscription to anything. While I was searching for apps similar to Audible, I came across Libby. It links to your local library card, and you can check out both digital and audiobooks from the library. Best part, its free! Most libraries now even let you sign up online for a library card, so if you don’t have one yet, just head over to your counties library site and get one.I just listened to When Life Gives you LuLu Lemons by Lauren Weisberger.

What are your summer must haves? 

**This post contains affiliate links** 

Last Minute Road Trip Packing

26 Jul by Leave a Comment

We are back from our last minute road trip! We made the decision on a Friday night and we left on Monday morning. Robby is pretty much traveling Monday-Friday since his promotion which has been a big transition for our family. So when he told me he was headed to Jacksonville and then Charleston and would be gone Monday-Saturday we decided to make it a family affair!
We drove from Orlando to Jacksonville on Monday morning and stayed there until Tuesday night when we drove to Charleston, and came home on Friday.

I really tried to get this post out before we left, and to give updates on the way, but that didn’t happen, and to be completely honest, I’m glad it didn’t. I spent as much time “in the moment” as I could, and didn’t worry about too much work along the way. It’s not often I get to take a road trip with my boys and spend the days in exploring new places with the little. There will be posts to follow on our time, what we did, and what we would/wouldn’t recommend, but for now this is all on preparing.

I am not a huge planner. I like to do things last minute. However, with a kid, some times that makes things a little more challenging. So while I don’t feel the need to plan months in advance, I do like to be prepared. I follow Emily Ley (almost too much), and she has some amazing tips, tricks, and checklists, for simplifying EVERYTHING! So, of course, this is where I turned to make sure I was prepared for our trip! I downloaded her packing checklist which was a great way for me to make sure I had everything we needed without going (too much) overboard.

You can download this perfect printable, and so many more here: https://www.emilyley.com/pages/printables

One weird fact about me is that I cannot pack until ALL of my laundry is done! Anyone else with me on this? I’m not really sure why, but whatever. So luckily I’ve been trying to simplify my life and one task I do to make sure my weekends are “chore free” as much as possible, is to do a complete load of laundry Monday-Thursday. This has really helped the stress of laundry piling up on the weekends to a minimum, and would suggest this to anyone trying to simplify your week. But, since this is something I try to apply to my week I only had a few small loads to do before I was ready to pack.

On my to-do list this summer is to clean house! We moved a few months ago, and even with us in a bigger space I feel like it is so easy to fall back into clutter habits. So I took this last minute week long trip to clean out and use up beauty items that are just sitting in my cabinets, and to pack up all of these half eaten bags of snacks.

My pantry and bathroom look so much better after packing! I’ve cleaned out all of the unnecessary, expired, and items I’m never going to use, and brought with me and organized all of the items that I need to use up.

We had an amazing time out and about, and it was so nice to be able to pack up and leave, and come back to a clean and organized space. I promise these tasks don’t take long, and if you just break them up, or are forced to take everything out of your cabinet to get that 1 travel size lotion bottle, clean it out as you put everything back in. It is SO worth it. I may just “reward” myself with another overnight stay somewhere once I organize something else. It really is the best motivation 😎

What are some tips and tricks for packing?

Do you have any road trip or traveling dos and don’ts with the littles?

2018 Summer Bucket List

15 Jun by Leave a Comment

Summer is here! Well, almost for us. I have been working A LOT lately, and I’ve decided it is more important for me to live in the moment with the little guy. My schedule is going to have to be switched around a little, and I might have to work some early mornings  or late nights, but I know it will be totally worth it. I am taking Dylan out of daycare for 6 weeks. His last day will be next Friday until he starts VPK in August. EEK! – V.P.K. I’m having a hard time accepting that he will be on more of a set schedule and is a step closer to starting school! I will do what I need to, to soak up all the time I can with him now.

I don’t really have an exact plan of how this is all going to work, or set dates that we will be doing anything, I’m more of a lets see where the day, or week, takes us, kinda mom. But I have put together our 2018 summer bucket list, and I am super excited to share it with you! I’ve filled it with places we have been wanting to go, and fun summer activities I to keep us entertained. There is a good amount of outdoor and indoor activities for when it rains or it’s just too hot to be outside, along with making use of some annual passes we already have.

I got this free Summer Bucket List download from Designer Blogs. I was originally going to make my own, but, why? There are a few different color patters and sizes to choose from, and they are so cute! I saved mine as a PDF and then added our info in preview, but you could totally just write yours in, or stick it in a frame and write/check off with a dry erase marker. I am getting ours printed on a 12” x 18” poster to hang on the wall.

On the bottom of our bucket list I left some space open for us to fill in. There are some traveling plans I’d love to incorporate, but nothing is set in stone yet. I almost didn’t do the bucket list this year, but instead a “summer memories” list. I saw this idea on Emily Ley’s instagram story, and loved it! This is where you write down all of the fun things you did instead of checking them off. Then if you miss something, or don’t get to it, you don’t feel bad about it. I didn’t go this route because I feel like since I don’t have an actual schedule, or any set travel plans, I might miss out on some of the things I want to do. I have been saying I am going to start a little garden, so to hold myself accountable, it’s on the bucket list! There are also items I want to remember, and want to fill in as we do them, like a random act of kindness, or learning something new. What exactly did we learn? To ride his bike? To build a birdhouse? To dive down and pick up dive sticks in the pool? All things I wanted to add to our bucket list, but didn’t want too much pressure. I can’t wait to get started! Just 1 more week, let our countdown begin.

What’s on you summer bucket list?

Anything else you would recommend to add?

Last Minute Fathers Day Gifts

13 Jun by Leave a Comment

*This post contains affiliate links*

Fathers Day is less than a week away! Our family has been going full speed the last month, and it doesn’t look like it is slowing down anytime soon. June is a busy month for us because it includes Robby’s birthday, Fathers Day, and our annual family vacation to Pompano Beach.

This year Robby turns the big 30, so on top of his normal birthday festivities we took an adult only cruise earlier this month and we thre a big party at our house with the kids to celebrate the twins turning 30 (Robby’s a twin J).  Robby was also promoted this month which means a lot of traveling and finding the new normal in our at home family dynamic.

So if your life has been anything like mine lately, or you are just a last minute gift giver (no judgement here), I have the perfect list of quick gifts for you – and don’t worry, you don’t have to be too crafty.

We did this a few years ago, and I think it is my favorite Father’s Day gift ever! I really don’t know how I will top this one. We did a quick photoshoot at our local park with Daddy’s hat and shoes and put it together with a poem. 📷: Desirea DeBerry (my super awesome BFF who takes all of our family pics and help me put this last minute gift together).

The Man Bouquet! I love this idea – and using something a little more “manly” or something different that fits their personality for the vase (beer mug, stainless steel koozie, tin pale, mason jar) and then filling it with their favorite things. I found this super easy DIY over at One Creative Mommy.

man bouquet

Bacon Roses – I mean, how cool is that! I found this tutorial over at The Wandering Gypsy

bacon rose bouquet

Tickets – to a game, a movie, a concert, or amusement park. Check your local listings to see whats coming up. All you need to do is print them out and stick them in a card.

A playlist – of all of your favorite songs, or ones that have special meaning.

Of course there is always Amazon if you need something shipped quick! Here are a few of my favorites:

Simple Modern Tumbler Vacuum Insulated 30oz Cruiser with Lid – Double Walled Stainless Steel Travel Mug – Sweat Free Coffee Cup – Simple Stainless

BESPMOSP World’s Best Dad Stainless Steel Cash Money Clip Card Holder Jewelry Gift for Father

Magnetic Wristband, BLENDX Magnetic Wrist Band Tool Belt with Super Strong Magnets for Holding Screws, Nails, Drill Bits Father Day Gift Tool Band for him, men, handyman, Husband, Father, Guys, DIY-er

Fitz and Floyd Daphne 5 Piece Whiskey Set, Silver

JSVER Inflatable Lounger Air Sofa with Portable Package for Travelling, Camping, Hiking, Pool and Beach Parties, Blue

Is there a Fathers Day gift (DIY or store bought) where you did a little dance because you were totally #winning?

What is your go to for gift giving?

Do you have any tips for last minute Father’s Day ideas?

DIY 1: Painting

4 Apr by Leave a Comment

So the house is officially ours, and all of my Pinterest boards are about to come to life! I mean obviously I’m going to be the #nailedit type. The first thing I do when we get the keys to our home is take a ride over to Home Depot. I am completely giddy and over the top to take this first trip and buy as much as I can so that when Robby is off the next day we are ready to go. With my list in my hand, my first stop is paint – I am in charge of picking out all of the colors. We had originally discussed going with a greige (brown greige) for our modern farmhouse style we were going for. And since we weren’t replacing the floors, and have a stone fire place, we needed something to go with that feel. As I looked at all of the paint colors and all of the choices my heart started to beat really fast. I was getting so nervous! There are SO MANY CHOICES! I mean come on, how many colors do you really need? And how do you know which type of paint is going to be best for your space? After about 30 minutes of freak out I decide to move on to outlet covers, because that should (key word, should) be a no brainer.

Before I move on, let me remind you I have NEVER done this before. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever even been in a home improvement store by myself before. Robby had gone around the house and drew what we needed – single, double, outlets, or light switches – and the amount of what we needed. Then I saw how many different outlet covers there were, and I immediately drew a blank. Are the ones we have square or round? Are they with screws or without? Do we have the small light switch or the large rectangle? I mean how am I suppose to remember all of these things? Why didn’t Robby tell me there were 500 choices instead of just 1? Why don’t we learn these things in school?

Needless to say, I was in the store for almost 2 hours and didn’t buy a thing. This day was a wash. I could not do this by myself. Anxiety: 1 Tiffany: 0

The very next day, Robby and I go into Home Depot, and within 10 minutes we have chosen our color and have 5 gallons of paint. Well that was much easier. We run around, grab a few other items and head off to get started. We designate each room so of course, I start on the guest (currently storage) room as my first room to paint. I don’t want to mess up other main areas of the house first, I need to get all of my ahh moments in this room. super excited, I start painting. As I get half way through we realize we don’t like the color, you know, the color we bought 5 gallons of. Maybe its just the lighting in the room, so I finish painting and do a few samples around the house. Nope, still don’t like it, no matter what lighting its in. How did our perfect greige in the store become this purple gray on our walls?

I went ahead and finished the guest bedroom with the color we didn’t love, but we learned our lesson (kind of), paint samples going forward. I went back and forth to our new neighborhood Home Depot at least twice a day for a week. I was determined to find a paint that was perfect! Even after I had brought home books, swatches, and color wheels, and thought we had found the perfect colors they looked completely different! It really does not make any sense to me! How is finding the perfect paint color so hard?!

(Update: It took me 14 paint sample colors to find my perfect gray!) Who knew that finding a paint color would be so stressful? My perfect gray was finally Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray

Once I got in the swing of things, I enjoyed painting. It took me way longer to paint the whole house than I originally thought, but I’m sure thats how most of this is going to go. Edging is the WORST! It takes so long, and most of the time that is where I had to do touchups. The painting tape didn’t really work for me, I won’t say the brands because it definitely could have been user error, but I stopped using it after the first room. If you happen to make it over you may see a few spots I need to touch up, but if you point them out I will hand you a paint brush 🤣.

I painted the whole house the same color – there was no way I was going through that again! With the exception of our bedroom and the 2 bathrooms. They are the same gray, just a few shades darker. The very nice men at Home Depot who saw me every day (sometimes two or three times) told me to bring in the 5 gallon paint and they would see what they could do. They did awesome! They put in a lot of effort in trying to make the greige I hated into a gray I loved. I felt so much better about not wasting so much paint. Eventually I may go back and repaint the guest (currently storage) room, but that is the last thing on my to-do list right now.

I have to say that going through and taking the time to pick out the exact color I wanted and painting the whole house was 100% worth it! I absolutely love the outcome and I get a huge sense of accomplishment when I look at it every day.

 

 

Our New Home

28 Mar by 1 Comment

New Home Owners! 🍾🎉

Ok, so I know I am about a month late on this, BUT.. there has been A LOT going on. We are currently moved in to our new home, but that doesn’t mean we are done renovating/decorating/DIYing the farm life. I started writing this and well, trying to get in our new home took precedence. I am now putting it all together, so you can follow our journey to the farm life, and all of the ups, downs, and learning experiences that come along with it. I’m currently running on a lot of coffee to get through the day, and cocktails to enjoy at night, where I can see every star in the sky!

Well it finally happened, after just short of 6 months of going through a crazy buying process, we closed on our first home! This process has been nothing short of an emotional roller coaster ride. There were times we thought we were closing in a few days and times we thought it was a lost cause. Robby found this house, went to see it, and secretly put an offer in before I had even seen it. He was a little nervous on what I would think because it was a manufactured home on 5 acres. (I think he forgot I lived in the front of a horse trailer on and off for 9 years when I worked with the circus 🤣).

We both really wanted to get something with land, but didn’t think it was going to be possible in our current price range. Everything we found that we liked was double or triple what we could currently afford. Our solution was just going to be to buy something in a neighborhood in our budget (we were running out of space in our 2 bedroom condo) and then sell it later when we could afford our dream home. When I went to see the property, I instantly fell in love. We saw all of the potential, and knew that we could make this plot of land our forever home. A place where we could grow our family, and eventually, build the home of our dreams. The mobile home needed some work, but nothing major, and we knew it would be worth it in the long run! The property was what stole our hearts. The whole plot is just under 5 acres, with about 2.5 of it cleared. There is an old run down barn on the side where I immediately envisioned my horses and whatever other farm animal I may come home with (I’m not really sure Robby knows what he’s gotten himself into here). All of this space for Dylan to play outside was exactly what we were looking for!

This also gives us the opportunity to try all of our DIY projects now – lets first practice on the mobile home! Robby gets to use all of his new tools, I get to paint, pick out the decor, and FINALLY get an office! I’ve made our current dining room table my work space and we are ALL ready to have a dining room table again.

Take a look at the inside:

 

Here’s whats on our to-do list: (Condensed version)

-Paint EVERYTHING

-New kitchen

-New showers/tubs

-Water filter and softener system (bye bye rotten egg smell!)

-Put up a fence

-Tear down old barn

-Build a new barn

-Fix porch overhang

-Buy rocking chairs for our new porch

If you have any suggestions for first time home buyers, new property owners, DIYers, bring ’em on! We are open to hearing anything and everything.

 

Bye Bye 2017 – A year in review

30 Dec by Leave a Comment

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Wow! 2017 is just days away from being over.I feel like this past year was a whirlwind, so many amazing things and changes have happened for our family this year, and I am so excited for what 2018 has to bring.

MILESTONE #1

One of my goals for 2017 was to find a new career doing what I love. It was one of the most difficult decisions to leave a comfortable job that I loved, but I knew that it wasn’t for me in the long run. I couldn’t be happier with the decision to start my own business and grow my blog. I officially left my full time, corporate job and the end of March. Even though I didn’t get where I wanted to with my blog this year, I hit new milestones, and grew my marketing business more then I could have imagined! Now don’t get me wrong, I have a slight anxiety attack about once a week wondering if I made the right choice, if I can manage it all, if I am good enough to do all of this. But then I give myself a motivational kick in the ass and get back to work.

MILESTONE #2

We got engaged! I have known for a long time that Robby is the person that I want to spend the rest of my life with, but formalities just aren’t that important to us. First comes love, then comes baby.. wait thats not right. On Mothers Day our little guy wore a shirt that said “Mommy, will you marry my Daddy?” By the time I read the shirt Robby was on one knee with a beautiful diamond ring. After 5 1/2 years I said about damn time! We popped champagne, and have decided that I will be in charge of all things wedding (I knew he was a keeper!). We have not done anything to plan the wedding, I have a few visions, but nothing planned so far. We decided that we wanted to buy a house first. I mean living in a 2 bedroom condo was perfect when we started dating, but throwing a toddler into the mix leaves us with a slide, basketball hoop, and more dinosaurs then I can count all in the living room.

MILESTONE #3

We have found an amazing home, that we are working on buying, but we have hit a few road blocks. At first the process was going so fast and almost too good to be true – it was. The original plan was to close late November, but we are currently working on some rezoning issues, an it doesn’t look like it will be happening for a minimum of another month. And even then, it is still a maybe. (Prayers are much appreciated with this). Currently I am just excited to have this process started, and at least be on the right path to move into a larger space sooner rather than later.

I have been able to spend more time with my little guy this year. Making my own schedule has given me the opportunity to take offa random Tuesday and go to the park, or pick him up early from day care to get ice cream and see a movie. I know I am working more, and there are many late nights (I’m writing this at 11:30 pm), but it is so worth being able to get up in the morning and make breakfast together or play dinosaurs before I start my day. My mornings that I spend with Dylan before I take him to day care set the tone for my day. My mom guilt drops (slightly) when I drop him off because I know that I was able to have an hour or two of uninterrupted quality time. It has become my favorite part of the day.

I am still working on my goals for 2018, but I am so excited for what God has planned for me and my family.

How do you feel about 2017?

What are some of your peaks of the year?

Friday Favorites – Halloween

3 Nov by Leave a Comment

It’s the first Friday of November, and my first Friday Favorites – Halloween edition. This week was filled with so much fun! Unfortunately, the little one was sick last weekend, so we missed the family Halloween party, but we were able to visit our local Church’s pumpkin patch and paint pumpkins with just 2 days until Halloween.Nothing like putting it off until the last minute, but hey – it was great! Dylan was so excited to pick out pumpkins and was even willing to take pictures – as long as he could wear his t-rex shirt and bring Butch the t-rex of course.

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Orlando Date Night Guide had their 10th anniversary party Sunday Night at Reyes Mezcaleria and it was great! If you aren’t familiar with the site, you have to check it out! There are so many amazing date night ideas for us local to Orlando, but if you aren’t make sure to visit their national site Date Night Guide. Tons of out of the box date nights for you and your special someone, or that much needed girls night out.

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Halloween was a blast this year! It was Dylan’s first year really dressing up, and getting excited about trick n treat (as he called it). He picked out his own costume this year; a T-Rex of course! He has been asking to wear his costume to school for weeks, and on Tuesday, I was finally able to say YES! Watching his face light us with excitement was priceless!

Our night was awesome! Dylan loved seeing most of the costumes (he’s still not a fan of the scary ones), and getting candy at every house. He tried so hard to keep up with  his older cousins yelling “hey wait for me kids” when they got to far. Eventually his legs gave up from his constant steady jog, and he was falling at every house. We ended the night with candy for dinner with cousins. Our best Halloween yet!

What fun things did you do for Halloween?

What festive plans do you have for November?

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Oh, Hello November!

2 Nov by Leave a Comment

With the cooler Florida weather there is no doubt that it is fall y’all! I feel that our life has been going on 100 mph the past month! We have had a lot of weekend trips, Halloween festivities, and potentially getting ready to close on our new home! The home buying process is a roller coaster. When we started we were so busy that I didn’t really notice. Now we feel that this is going at a snails pace since we are home and playing the waiting game.

We have so much to be thankful for regardless if the house comes through or not, and I think that it has really put me in a frustrated funk. We are living in a 2 bedroom condo that we outgrew, oh I don’t know, when our son was born 3 years ago! I mean, we have slides, basketball hoops, and more dinosaurs then I can count in our living room! But even though we outgrew it, we needed to do what was best for our family, and wait on buying something we loved, at at time that was financially right for us. Working from home and starting my business hasn’t helped the frustration either. I am home way more than ever before, and the accumulation of more items in our already tight space is difficult to keep organized. Not to mention the lighting at the desk in our room isn’t great, so I have made the dinning room table my office.

Hopefully soon, I will have great news regarding our new home, but until then.. I really wanted to participate in the #30daysofthanks. What a great way to start off the month of Thanksgiving by reflecting on each day what we have to be thankful for. During this time keep in mind it just doesn’t have to be the big things – but the little moments, or the things that keep you going – its ok to be thankful for coffee, or left over Halloween candy you steal from your kids (don’t judge me, you do it too!).

Make sure to share your photos by using #30daysofthanks – I can’t wait to see what you all are thankful for!

 

Mommy Moment #4

24 Oct by Leave a Comment

Dylan: Mommy, you are my mommy now because I am little, but when I grow up to the sky and turn into a T-Rex you aren’t my mom anymore.

Me: I will always be your mommy, no matter how big you are.

Dylan: Even when I grow to the sky like T-Rex?

Me: Of course, no matter what, I will always be your mommy!

Dylan: Wow, thats cool.

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