A few of my favorite things...right now

I'm kind of a toiletry/beauty/body product junkie. I could spend hours at Target picking out new body wash, shampoo, etc. Get me in a specialty store, like MAC and I'd spend even longer. 
I love getting special info about products too (I'm a sale's person's dream!)...I'll ask questions, try it out, probably even take it back if it doesn't even perform as promised. ;-)
So I thought I'd share a few of my favorite products...right now. (I say "right now" because I rarely buy the same product twice. I really enjoy trying new things and having something "new" to be excited about. I know, kind of lame, but oh well).

First up is my new body wash! It is St. Ives "Purifying Sea Salt". It's an exofoliating body wash with sea salt and pumice in it. And it smells really good...even after you get out of the shower!
This is perfect for the summer to wash off dirt and chlorine. I love it!

Next is body butter from "bliss". Bliss is a great brand with tons of great products. This particular body butter is lemon+sage...perfect for summer, leaving your skin smelling fresh and clean!

(little hint...Nordstrom Rack sells Bliss products for MUCH cheaper than you can normally find. For example, this body butter is normally $49, but I found it for $12.97!)

My next favorite product is Neutrogena's Pore Refining Toner. Just sweep it over your face after washing and before moisturizing. It really grabs the last bits of dirt and leaves a clean feeling. 

Last, but definitely not least is MAC's...well, I'm not really sure what it's called because the label on the back rubbed off! haha. So...this probably isn't very helpful, but the label on the front says "mineralize skinfinish". I think the color/shade on the back used to say "glow" or something like that. Basically, it works as a highlighter. Sweep it with a big brush on your cheek bones or a little bit on the bridge of your nose.  You can also apply it as a highlighter around the eyes, on the brow bone or in the corner of your eyes. It's fabulous and I've had it for quite awhile...I might even consider buying this twice in a row! ;-)

That's all for now! Do you have any favorite body/beauty products I should try??

Iced coffee!

One of the highlights of my day (yes, sad but true), is enjoying a nice iced coffee! When it starts warming up here, I pack away my coffee maker and go into ICED COFFEE MODE! 
I used to brew my iced coffee double strong and keep it in a pitcher in the fridge. But then, my friend Samantha, told me about a wonderful iced coffee recipe from the Pioneer Woman....found here. It's great, super easy and I only have to make it about once a week.

Follow the link above for the step by step directions, but basically, you pour half a bag of coffee grounds in a big bowl, fill it with water, cover it and let it sit over night. Then pour the coffee through cheese cloth and a strainer (I use a mesh one) into whatever pitcher you want to use to dispense your coffee. 
Keep in the fridge and help yourself whenever! I used flavored creamer so I don't have to add additional sugar (which doesn't dissolve well in cold drinks anyway).

Here's my set up in the fridge...

Yum....makes me want some right now! 

Go Greek!

So I get these random recipe postcards in the mail every couple months. They are addressed to the previous owner of our home, and they come from a car dealership. I have no idea why a car dealership sends recipes, but I like to take a peek and check out the recipes. This one, for Grilled Greek Marinated Pitas, caught my attention, since Greek is one of our favorite cuisines!
This is really yummy, restaurant quality, in my opinion!

I thought I'd share it for a couple reasons...1) I think you'd love this recipe and 2) I'm afraid I'll lose the postcard and the recipe will be lost forever...now it will be documented!

This picture is from the post card.
 I kept eating my pita before I could get a picture. ;-)

Now, the first part is for the marinade..don't be afraid, it involves a blender (you can use a hand/immersion blender too). I say "don't be afraid" because I tend to avoid any recipe that requires small appliances...the simpler the better. But this is really not difficult, so give it a shot!
You could also make the marinade on it's own for a yummy Greek dressing, it's very tasty.

Marinade:
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
1/4 c white vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp season salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp dry oregano
4 cloves garlic peeled
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup feta cheese

Marinade: In a blender, combine all ingredients except the canola oil and the feta. Blend until smooth. While the blender is running, add the oil in a steady stream. Add the feta and pulse the blender a few times just to blend.

Pitas:
2 boneless chicken breasts
hummus
feta cheese
cucumber, chopped
tomatoes, diced
red onion, thinly sliced
pita bread

Pitas:
Marinade the chicken in the 3/4 cup of the marinade for at least 2 hours. Grill and then cut into slices. Spread inside of the pitas with hummus. Fill pitas with grilled chicken, cucumber, tomatoes and red onion. Drizzle the remaining marinade (that you did not use for the chicken) on top of each pita. Sprinkle with Feta cheese!

Easy Pita Chips

I recently found fresh pitas at the $.99 Only Store (you never know what you will find there!). I didn't end up using them all as quickly as I had anticipated, so I ended up with a very serious situation on my hands...some pitas about to expire. ;)
Around the same time my pitas were starting to get crusty, I bought a giant tub of hummus at Costco (on sale too!). 
Once I got home, I realized I would need more than veggies to successfully eat all the hummus, which gave me an idea.......To turn my pitas into pita chips! I know, I know, serious epiphanies happening in my kitchen.
(and yes, I had to look up how to spell epiphany)

I followed this recipe loosely, if you want measurements and fancy things like that. ;-)

Here's what I did.
First, I cut my pitas into small triangles. Then I peeled them apart so that they'd be a single layer. 

I heated the oven to 350 degrees. Then I mixed olive oil with a dash of salt, pepper, garlic powder and italian seasoning. I tossed the pita chips in the olive oil then put them on a baking sheet. 

I brushed any dry spots with the remaining olive oil. (in hindsight, I think I put a little too much olive oil on them. So you may want to choose to "just toss" or "just brush").
I sprinkled one batch with kosher salt...which was very tasty!

The result was crunchy, yummy chips. Enjoy!

DIY Pillow Covers

My husband has never been fond of the throw pillows I bought for our couch years ago. So since they've been getting kind of dingy (they do not have removable covers, thus never been washed...ewwww), I figured it was time to give in to Matt and look for new throw pillows. ;-)
I found some really cute ones at HomeGoods recently but I wanted more than two. I had a couple old throw pillows with ugly covers hidden away in one of those vacuum storage bags. So I pulled them out and removed the covers...and surprise! They were actually pretty nice feather pillow underneath. 
Here are the pillows with no covers on them...

I had material from old white curtains (Ikea, hem-your-own ones), so I decided this would be the most budget-friendly way of making new pillow covers. I followed this tutorial  from my dear friend, Katie's AMAZING blog! See her step by step instructions for these pillow covers (her fabric is super cute...and I don't have to type out the instructions...win-win!).

Here are the curtains before I cut them up (notice my little kitty helper, Miles).

I was able to finish the first one during Evelyn's nap and the second one during an episode of 30 Rock...see, these truly ARE simple to make!

Here are some pictures of the finished product!

Okay, so not the most flashy pillows ever, but I needed 
something neutral, inexpensive and easy to wash.

Set of three for the couch

Set of two for the chair and a half

Reusable Fruit Pouch

Evelyn LOVES those fruit pouches (applesauce, berry, etc.) that you can buy at the store. Whoever invented these must be laughing all the way to the bank--they're filled with about $.05 worth of applesauce and are sold for like $.88 (at least!). Seriously though, why didn't I think of this?!
Evelyn sucks them down in about 2.3 seconds and is always left wanting more.

I've been meaning to purchase some reusable/refillable fruit pouches because Evvy devours them and I'm tired of wasting my money on them!
Debating between these options: Any suggestions??

Anyway, in the meantime, my husband came up with such a genius idea while I was out for a girls' night!

He simply snipped the bottom off one of the fruit pouches, filled it with our own applesauce, clamped it with an Ikea chip clip and...voila! Evelyn loves it just the same and we just keep refilling it for her. So awesome!

I've done a number of different combinations..applesauce/banana/oatmeal; applesauce/strawberry/blueberry; applesauce/banana/sweet potato/carrot...you get the picture. :-)

Evelyn loves them and it's a great way for her to eat some things she wouldn't normally eat!

I'm still planning on purchasing some real reusable pouches, and definitely bigger than 4oz! But for now, this is working while I choose which ones to buy. 

Evvy enjoying her homemade refillable fruit pouch!

Sandbox!

I really really wanted to build a sandbox for Evelyn.
I had dreams of pinterest creations...similar to these...

 

But alas, all of these take time and money. And with Matt's growing list of projects to complete, I decided to take matters into my own hands and go on a quest to make the cheapest, easiest sandbox around!

First task was to think of something I could easily cover (to keep out bugs, dirt, rain, and most of all lurking neighborhood cats). I decided on using a large, shallow rubbermaid container (one intended for under-the-bed storage). 
Then I was on a search for sand. I really wanted white sand, but apparently that can only be special ordered. And considering I wanted instant gratification (and something budget friendly), I opted for regular/natural colored sand. I found 50 lb. bags for less than $5 at Home Depot! (I bought two bags, although I only needed one to fill the bin. But I'm expecting quite a bit of "loss", so I'll probably need it for refill)
I had Matt prop the sand box up on extra stone stepping tiles we had so it would be at Evelyn's waist height.

I only bought one sand toy (wheel spinny thing) for $2.99 at Target, all the other toys, we had at home. (kitchen utensils work great too!)
Since I had the rubbermaid bin at home, I really only paid for the sand. Score! 
This has definitely been a favorite outdoor activity. :-)

Like mother, like daughter?

Well, decide for yourself, but Matt and I think that Evelyn has some similarities to myself as a baby. The hairline, cheeks, lips and nose particularly. :-) Both of these pictures were taken around 1 year of age. I'm on the left, Evelyn on the right. I love that we can see different parts of both Matt and me in her. Definitely a strange feeling to see someone that has your DNA. We love this little girl!

Finally getting crafty...

Since Evelyn is over a year old, I thought it was finally time to actually make a headband for her.

I had some extra tulle leftover from her curtains in her room, so I used that to make flowers on the headband. I just cut 8 circles of slightly different sizes (for each flower), then sewed them together. Then I used a couple buttons I had to put in the center of the flower.
I sewed both the flowers to some elastic I had and voila! Adorable headband!

I think I'll have her wear this with her Easter outfit on Sunday. Yay for crafting!

yeah, can't figure out how to flip this picture the right way

Modeling in her pj's ;-)

Get Cracklin'

Thought I'd try OPI's new "shatter" nail polish. 

I used it with Ulta's "14k" gold colored nail polish.

You can use the shatter nail polish over any nail color or brand that you'd like.

First, I applied the gold and let it completely dry.

Then I just brushed on the "shatter" polish and it immediately starts crackling!

Thought it came out kind of cool....I can't wait to try it with more colors.

Shave and a Haircut...I quit!

Getting my hair cut (and colored for that matter) is a bittersweet topic for my life.  On one hand, I love the change, the excitement and the newness.  On the other hand, I always seem to have bad experiences, anxiety, stress and sometimes regret. 

Before I get into the story of the most recent event...I wanted to share my personal list of  "things your hair stylist should never say":
--"Do you color your hair at home?!"
--"Wow, when was the last time you got your hair cut?"
--"Is it hot in here?" (while nervously wiping sweat from their brow)
--"And, you need your bangs trimmed too, riiiggghhtt??" (when you are there to get highlights)
--"I know, our swatch book isn't very good, most of these colors are pretty ugly."
--"Your so pale that this color wouldn't look good on you."
--"No, there's nothing I can do about the "choppy" appearance."
--"Have you ever thought about growing your hair out?" (when your hair is extremely short--is that a hint?)

I believe there should be some sort of  "code of conduct" for Hair Stylists across the nation.  Here are some things I would cover:
--Lesson 1: Most people have ears.  Now, the dummy you practiced on in beauty school might not have, but real people do.  So when you are combing their hair, you should lift your comb as you approach an ear! 
--Lesson 2: How to blow dry someone's hair without scalding their scalp.
--Lesson 3: How to ask appropriate questions.  When I sit down in a stylist chair, I shouldn't feel like I'm being interrogated "downtown".  I do not wish to share the personal details of my life with you.
--Lesson 4: Answering your cell phone during a hair cut is definitely frowned upon.
--Lesson 5: Whispering gossip about other hair stylists or other customers to your client is unprofessional...and uncomfortable.
--Lesson 6: Let the client know what you are doing next.  If you've decided to cut some of the hair wet, blow dry it and cut the rest dry--let them know.  That way the client isn't left sitting in fear through the whole blow dry.

It's probably obvious from everything above that I have had several unpleasant salon experiences.  And my last one was no exception. 
Now, I finally found a hair stylist I liked...she's the one who cut my hair from kind of short to really short...found here.  But, just my luck, she left on a leave of absence for 3 months...and those with short hair know that I'd definitely be needing a haircut during a 3 month's time. So the salon booked me with someone else.
I specified that I'd be needing someone who is good at cutting short hair and the lady on the phone quickly assured me it'd be fine.  So I tried to feel positive about the experience and even came prepared with a picture of my hair right after my original stylist did it.
The experience began with lack luster shampoo and I knew I was doomed.  Once he began cutting, I began to get nervous due to a combination of things going on...the first being the amount he was sweating, then the number of times he was dropping combs (3 in total), and then the amount of time it was taking him to cut my already short hair.  Then it dawned on me..."if he screws this up, I don't have much hair to work with!!  How would they fix it?  Shave my head??"
I knew once he asked, "is it hot in here or is just me?" that I wasn't imagining the sweat beads pouring off his forehead.  All I wanted to do was jump up and run out.  Or actually, more realistically, I wanted to say, "do you think you could get another stylist to finish me up?"  But I couldn't. Instead I settled for staring in horror at the mirror while white-knuckling it in the salon chair.  (Keep in mind, that I'm skipping the part about him giving me the 3rd degree about my life...quesions including, "are you a college student?", "wow, you're married?!", and "you work in retail?")
After a pain-stakingly long time, the hair cut was over.  As I examined the haircut, I knew something was wrong.  it looked like he took a weed wacker to the sides of my head while also leaving a baby mullet as a surprise in the back...eegats!  What do I say!?  I politely asked if he could "blend" the sides better, to which he told me..."that's just how it's going to look with your highlights...that's why you should always get your hair cut and colored at the same time".
I left feeling very sad but hopeful I could "work with it" when I got home.  After about a week of showing everyone I knew and saying, "see?? see?? That's pretty bad, right?"...I finally called the salon and complained.  They gladly agreed to fix it, which they did and it looked great afterward.
So there is a happy end to this story...my hairstylist has returned from her leave of absence.  I just might hug her at my next appointment!

10 adults, 4 babies, 2 toddlers, and a partridge in a pear tree!

Last weekend we had our friends over for a Christmas Party. 
We enjoyed lots of great food, conversation, hot chocolate, and as always, lots of laughs.
We are very thankful to have such great friends who we really enjoy spending time with.  And it's just a bonus that all of their kids are just as fabulous.  :-)
Enjoy some pictures...

From left to right (oldest to youngest) Estrella, Dominic, Ezra, Josiah, Moses and Calvin.

Lovin' little Moses.  :-)

Estrella, me and the "gato"

Merry Christmas!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

Christmas is definitely my favorite time of year (surprising, since I work in retail!!). 

I love everything from decorating the house, to Christmas music, to Christmas scented candles, to baking, you name it!!

(Even the cats join in the fun--okay, they're kind of forced to.)

So I thought I'd post some pictures of Christmas in our home

(I was inspired by Abby G's blog to share some pics!). 



Our Tree!



The baby tree

The stockings hung by the fire with care...
And our nativity set, complete with a new stable built by Matt!

I think Mazy needs to work on having a better attitude about the holidays.



Miel is not much more cooperative.
Oh well!

Merry Christmas to your family from ours!



Adventures in Dublin...

As many of you know, I was just recently in Dublin, Ireland for work.  I was supporting a new store, one of two locations now in Europe.  The other is in Birmingham, England.
I've never been to Europe, so this was my first time "across the pond".
I wish I could have blogged while I was there, but between very long work days and after-work shopping (every day--oops!), crashing into bed was about all I could accomplish at the end of the day!
So I will share a few highlights of my trip now...

Arriving in Dublin:
My company gave me specific directions to follow to find my way to the hotel once I arrived in Dublin.  I was to take the city bus to a bus stop near the hotel, once I exited the bus and turned to my right, I would see my hotel.  Sounds simple, right?? 
Well, first of all, the weather was not very accomodating to travel.  It was snowing and VERY cold (at least to me--I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to cold weather).  First of all, once I finally located the bus stop at the airport, I had to stand in the cold for about 40 minutes waiting for the right bus.  Once I was on, I realized that this is an actual city bus where the people on the bus clearly know where they're going and just press a button when their stop is approaching.  The directions I was given were, "since there will be no signs or announcements about upcoming stops, you must constantly remind the driver of what stop you'd like to get off at"--What?! 
But I followed the directions and probably was about to get thrown off the bus if I "reminded" the driver one more time.
Finally my stop came, so I lugged all my belongings off the bus into the snowy street, eagerly turned to my right aaaannnndddddd....NO HOTEL!  Okay, let's be optimistic...maybe it's my other right?  Nope.
My thought process is: ok, it's night time, it's snowing, I have more luggage than I can handle, I'm in the middle of Dublin with no clue where I am and my cell phone doesn't work...don't panic.
So I picked a direction and began walking and dragging my luggage.  I say "dragging" because due to the snowy conditions, my luggage wheels would no longer roll--wonderful!
After seeing several pubs, many stumbling drunks (it is Dublin, you know), I found someone who looked nice, sober and possibly directionally inclined.  I was given entirely new directions and continued on.  So there I was, trudging through the snow, hoping I'm headed in the right direction, when a kind Irish woman (or who I believe to be an angel), came up beside me and said in the most endearing Irish accent, "I'm walking along and I see this poor girl dragging her luggage through the snow and here I am just passing you by!  Can I help you?"  I was politely reluctant, then gladly handed her one of my bags. She was nice enought to assist me all the way to the hotel door.

The weather...
The first few days we were there, England and Ireland were experiencing what the new stations called, "the big freeze".  Apparently, it's pretty unusual for it to snow in Ireland and especially unusual for it to snow this early in the winter season.  But boy did it snow!  It was absolutely beautiful watching the snow fall on the streets of Dublin--especially with all the Christmas decorations!
Unfortunately, the whole city shuts down because it doesn't deal well with snow.  So stores, restaurants, etc. closed early for a couple of days because of the adverse weather conditions.  Which, to this midwest girl, that snow was nothin'!
I thoroughly enjoyed the snow, and wish that it had snowed a little more...although we did get a few surprise flurries throughout the rest of our stay.

The shopping...
It's not that Dublin offers the most amazing shopping, but they do offer stores that I don't have here.  There were also several stores that we found to be really interesting and a few really fabulous...so we shopped...EVERY DAY!  Unfortunately, stores were only open until about 6:00pm or "half 6".  Luckily for us, they were offering their December "trading hours" (extended holiday hours), so things were open "late", which meant some were open until 8:00pm or even (gasp) 9:00pm!!

The people...
One of the things I love the most about traveling abroad for work, is that I get to spend all my time with the local people.  I always learn a lot about the culture and in this case, their Irish "lingo"!  Obviously they are known for fabulous accents, which are SO fun to listen to, but I had no idea how much could be lost in translation when everyone is speaking English!
Here's some vocabulary I learned: (remember, I only heard these, so I have no idea how some are spelled)
"What's the crack?" --meaning, "what's up" or "what's the story"
"How are you getting on?"--How's it going?
We were told that nobody says "cute", and we'd sound very American if we did, so we asked what would be proper substitutions in the context of telling someone their outfit was cute.  Here were their suggestions "massive", "deadly" or "savage". 
There were a lot of other sayings or phrases that I found very hilarious, but mostly I just enjoyed their extensive vocabulary.  For instance, how many of you know a young person to use "gaunt" in an every day sentence??  My point exactly.  :-)