GIVEAWAY (Short and sweet post)

Happy Wednesday!! Yesterday was a crazy busy day so I didn't get around to writing a post for today. However, I have some exciting news! I have teamed up with a fabulous group of bloggers to celebrate the 2 year blogiversary of Medicine and Manicures. We are giving away a gorgeous Kate Spade watch! The giveaway begins today and continues through next Tuesday, June 30th. The winner will be announced next Wednesday, July 1st. You don't want to miss your chance at winning this awesome accessory!

Hosted by:

Medicine & Manicures
The lovely co-hosts:

The New Mrs. // Katie Elizabeth // Life on Myers // Girl Meets Bow

 Champagne & Suburbs // Meet at the Barre // Sequins & Seabreezes    Sell Eat Love // Home of Malones // Davis Duo // Playdates & Prescriptions
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easter Basket Ideas +++ SALE ALERT!!

I can't believe Easter is next weekend!! Luckily I have already shopped for all of my Easter basket fillers. But if you still need some ideas, here are just a few!

**Also, be sure to scroll to the bottom for an awesome sale!!

And as I've mentioned before, I tend to put more "real" items and less candy in the baskets for my kids. As they get older, I'm sure I'll move to more candy. But right now, this seems to work for us!

Nail Polish / Sandals / Sunglasses / Lip Balm / Sidewalk Chalk (This is cute too) / Book / Book / Headbands

Oh, and we bought kites to put beside the kids' baskets too! There's a local kite festival every April in our town that we enjoy attending. The kids will be thrilled with their kites.

Other suggestions for children would be a DVD, games, coloring books, crayons, pens.

Sunglasses / Matchbox Cars / Book / Book / Fedora / Playdoh / Shoes / Bow Tie

And just in case you enjoy doing something for that special guy in your life, here are some ideas! My hubs and I typically just buy each other a card (we are REALLY big on cards for every holiday) and a bag of our favorite candy. But I think sometimes once you have kids, the shift focuses more to them. Nonetheless, I did purchase him a few fun things this year. I'll probably post pics of the 3 baskets AFTER Easter. ;)

Gum / Golf balls / Flashlight / DVD / Beef Jerky / Golf tees / Jelly beans / K Cups

Some other ideas could be: alcohol (mini airplane bottles, beer), his favorite candy, earbuds



Have you finished your baskets yet? Do you fill them more with candy or other things?

And now for the sale!!! 

 FAVORITE KATE SPADE STUDS are 25% today at Nordstrom.

16 COLORS

$28.50

Plus my favorite gold sparkly ones are on sale too!!! Same price - $28.50

Happy Shopping! I hope I don't end up buying all of the colors!

It's Friday, Y'all!

Happy Friday!! Today's post is a very random brain dump!

~ONE~

I'm not a huge fan of January, so I usually immediately start thinking about Valentine's Day (and my son's birthday which is the day after Vday). And I love making all of the holidays special for the kids. These plates are just adorable! PBK never disappoints!

~TWO~

My Christmas wishes came true and I received these coasters and immediately LOVED them even more in person!

Along with the coasters, I received the Kate Spade Gold Dot Tumblers. I sure do love these too! I've been using the tumbler and coaster on a daily basis. Love!

~THREE~

My sweet baby boy has been very clingy lately. He constantly says he wants to sit on my lap and I have been enjoying every second of it. At times, I do hesitate b/c it's hard for me to sit with my forever long "to-do" list in my mind, but then I realize it won't be long before he will NEVER want to sit on my lap. He's always been my cuddler and I do hope he stays that way!

~FOUR~

I'm not a huge ice cream person, but over the weekend I was shopping (with my daughter) for ingredients to make ice cream sundaes. B/c I knew I wouldn't be eating any of them, I decided to indulge in my own kind. Oh my word, y'all, it was sooo good. And after putting the pic on instagram, I was told to try the Salted Caramel flavor too! I'm not a huge caramel person but just from so many recommendations, I may have to give it a try! Have you tried this brand before? It was my first time and it did NOT disappoint!

~FIVE~

It's no secret, I'm a huge Bachelor/Bachelorette fan. And I have to admit, I was pretty shocked to learn of the break up between Andi and Josh. I know that most couples don't end up making it, but I just thought they really clicked. 

So there ya have it, my random Friday brain dump! Hope you have a great weekend! It'll be a 3 day weekend for my entire family - hubs is off and Cate has Monday off from school. Wahoo!

And don't forget to check out the awesome hostesses of the link up; Darci, Liz, Natasha, and Christina.

And also my Friday Favorites (favorite "happenings" throughout the week) with Erika, Narci, and Andrea.  

And new this week, I'm linking up with Astleigh, from Hill Collection.

It's Friday, Y'all! (NYC Edition)

TGIF!!! It's been one heck of a week! Both kiddos have taking turns passing a nasty cold back and forth. I've been trying to fight back from getting sick as well.  And I've been trying to pack for our trip, make arrangements for Christmas parties at school, Cate's dance recital, Cate's church Christmas program, etc. Needless to say, I am more than excited to be slipping away for a few days with my hubs and mom/step-dad to NYC.

I figured since I have NYC on the brain, I'd do my "5 on Friday" (and a new link - Favorite Things") post based on my trip.

~ONE~

On our first morning, we are driving to the next town over and taking the train to Penn Station. Despite the fact that we will be leaving our house by 6am and facing an 8+ hour train ride, I'm pretty pumped about it. I've never ridden a train for a long period of time. Since it will be such an early start to a LONG day, I thought I'd travel in comfort. :)

Leggings, /  Sweater (old but similar here), / Boots, / Boot socks (etsy) / Scarf (can't remember)


~TWO~

We're staying right in Times Square at the Marriott Marquis. This hotel looks insane!

 ~THREE~

Our first night we have reservations at Serendipity. I am over the moon excited for some Frozen Hot Chocolate! :)

*Not sure what I will wear for this event.

photo cred: Serendipity/Facebook

~FOUR~

On our (only) full day there, we plan to cram as much in as possible. I hope to go ice skating in Rockefeller Center.

And will probably where something similar to below, just haven't decided on what color jeans and booties.

Jeans / Gloves / Vest (old) / Black jeans / beanie / leopard booties / shirt / black booties / ring / bracelet / earrings


~FIVE~

We have tickets to see The Rockettes. (This show is the actual entire reason for why we are taking this trip. My mom and I have wanted to see The Rockettes perform for as long as I can remember. I was tired of "waiting" until the time was perfect and our kids were old enough. Hence the reason we're going sans kids and for such a short period of time. We do plan to return in a few years to see them again WITH the kids when the trip won't be so hard on them. )

I am really excited to finally be able to wear the dress I bought awhile back during our trip to Charlotte.  I'm not 100% sure of which jewelry I'll wear (or which coat b/c my bestie bought me an adorable pink one for Christmas), but I am definitely wearing my new dress!

Leopard Coat (Forever 21) / Dress / Ring / Pearl Bracelet &  Earrings old / Pink Coat (gift)  / pumps (old but similar here)


We might also try to squeeze in a Broadway show that night, but we're leaving our options open so we can decide when we get there.

So now that I've realized I'm not 100% prepared with my clothes options, I better go work on my list! I'll leave you with a pic from the other night. It had been a rough day and I couldn't wait to lounge in my new favorite leggings with a cookie and some "reindeer juice". ;)

I hope y'all have a great weekend! Ours will certainly be a busy one! OOH, and less than TWO WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!! EEEKK!!

  

It's Friday, Y'all!

Today I'm linking up with Leslie, from A Blonde Ambition Blog, and sharing some confessions!

~ I confess that I'm having a really hard time believing that my first born, baby girl, turns 7 years old today! Why does the time have to fly so fast when you have kids???

 ~ I confess that I'm still unsure about my dark hair. I recently had it darkened (very close to my natural color) b/c I'd been talking about "going darker" for almost 2 years (as my hubs likes to remind me). I finally decided to take the plunge last week and I'm still undecided about whether or not I am satisfied. I do think it's a great color for the Fall/Winter but I'm not promising to keep it once the Spring rolls around. Have I mentioned that my hubs is a "blonde" guy. lol

~ I confess that I am suffering from baby fever! And while I don't think it will happen, I would love to have another one. In fact, I've always wanted four children, but sometimes life doesn't always work out the way we'd like it to. That doesn't mean I still don't browse the Pottery Barn Kids nursery section every time a new catalog appears in my mailbox.

~ I confess that I would love to have a new desk. We currently have a desk in our playroom/office but it always seems to get taken over by the kids' things. It's constantly cluttered and it has our computer on it (so it's always playing music for the kids). I'd love to have a small little desk area in a different part of the house for JUST ME. Nothing fancy, just a desk that I can use for my laptop, planner, lists,  meal charts, blogging, etc. I love this desk area below (not sure of it's source so feel free to share if you know) and am using it for some inspiration.

I'm envisioning a clean white surface, Kate spade office accessories, and fresh flowers. Oh and of course PINK/GOLD accents.

~ I confess that I have a huge secret to share with my hubs in 2 weeks but I just hope I can make it that long. It involves something I bought for him for his anniversary/Christmas gift. I LOVE giving people presents and this one should make him REALLY happy! :)

~ I confess that our Christmas cards have already been printed and shipped to me!! I decided after having our family pics taken in Oct that I should go ahead and order, why wait?? So I did and I have never been this ahead of the game!

That's all for now! Be sure to visit Leslie's page for her confessions today! Have a great weekend!

Mustard Madness

Mustard is hands down my favorite color this Fall. I purchased a fun mustard colored scarf about a month ago that I love wearing, but really wanted a mustard cardigan. I recently purchased one from Anthropologie, but ended up returning it b/c it just didn't seem to fit right. Thankfully I ended up finding one through Instagram from Jane Divine Boutique. (**not sure why it won't link but it's http://janedivine.com/)  I was beyond excited to find it but even happier to discover the price. It was super affordable with free shipping! And believe it or not, I love it even more in person! I'm wishing we hadn't already taken our family photos this Fall b/c I would love to have worn this sweater!

I paired it with jeans and my favorite Tom's Booties. 

I also wore the new Kate Spade Earrings that I received for my wedding anniversary. 

I own a lot of clothes but rarely feel 100% comfortable in them. I am more of a "t-shirt/yoga pant" wearing girl. So the fact that this sweater was not only my favorite Fall color but also super comfortable was too good not to share with y'all!

And one more quick pic of my family before church last week. I can promise you this sweater will be on repeat for me this Fall.