High Five for Friday!

It's Friday AND a long weekend! Life doesn't get much better than this. Oh wait, it does! We are going to Disney in less than a week! I am so looking forward to a long relaxing weekend followed by a short work week that leads to another long weekend in Disney. Life is good.

1. Over the weekend I had both machines running at the same time. I was so worried that while I was tending to one machine would mess up, so needless to say this lasted a whole five minutes.
2. Tomorrow is Notre Dame's first game of the season so of course, Charlotte needed a shirt to show her team spirit!
3. Charlotte got all dressed up to have dinner with her Mimi and PopPop
4. Candy corn is here!!! The girls I work with and I can crush bags upon bags of candy corn during the fall months. It's so bad but oh so good!
5. Since we are going to Disney next week, I have been pulling out Disney outfits to help make packing easier. Of course, sometimes we have to play dress up, like when I found this adorable Tigger outfit complete with a Tigger hat and tail!

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!

WIWW - Team Spirit

Football is back and I couldn't be happier! Even though my team (The Washington Redskins) breaks my heart season after season and causes unnecessary anxiety in my life, I still love them. I am a fan through and through, and will represent the burgundy and gold week in and week out, win or lose.

With tomorrow being the last preseason game before it starts to count, I decided to show my team spirit all while maintaining a semi business casual look. 

I'm obsessed with this Redskins scarf. I found it at Walmart last season and it is the perfect alternative to wearing a jersey or a team t-shirt.

I went with an edgier look for me by pairing my scarf with skinny ankle zip pants, gold heels and a leather cuff (notice the bow?) Of course my "edgy" look still has a preppy side. For a more conservative look, simply pair with your favorite cardigan.

Are you a football fan just dying to show off your team spirit at work? If your company has a dress code, get creative with ways to sport your team colors or accessorize with your team's logo like I did with the Redskins scarf. If you don't need to worry about a dress code or being work appropriate, think of fun new alternatives to the standard jersey and jeans game day look, because let's face it, who wants to show up to a party wearing the same thing as everyone else?!

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy for WIWW

High Five for Friday

I have no idea where this week went. Last time I checked it was Monday, now all of a sudden it's Friday?! I'm definitely not complaining, but I because of this I seemed to have very few pictures from this past week, so I apologize in advance for the lack luster high fives.

1. In case you missed it from my Instagram or yesterday's post. I had a little flash sale on Wednesday night featuring a few things I made using my leftover Lilly fabric. There are still fun things left, so stop by Instagram to check it out!
2. Charlotte and I played dress up with some tutus that she can finally fit into. Of course our little photo sesh was Disney themed to practice for our trip in two weeks!
3. I LOVE getting my Darby Smart DIY boxes. These little chandelier earrings are super fun and super easy to make too.
4. If you know me, then you know I'm a huge diet coke fan. So of course when Coke launched their Share A Coke campaign, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a DC with my name on it! I was quickly disappointed when I found out they didn't make them with my name. However, while I was at Target, I saw a Mel and right behind it was a Chris. Day. Made.
5. The Redskins played on Monday night and we went over to a friend's house to watch the game. Always love an opportunity to dress Charlotte up in her football leggings.

We have a busy but fun month ahead of us and even though summer is on its way out, I welcome fall with open arms. It's my favorite time of the year! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!

Flash Sale!

Anyone snag some great deals from the Lilly Pulitzer End of Season Sale? In case you missed out on something in your favorite print, or if you're looking for the perfect accessory to match that shift you just bought for either yourself or your Minnie, then be sure to check out my flash sale! Head over to my Instagram account to see all the prints and purchase a read-to-ship bow!

If you're looking for Lilly bow bracelets, non Lilly bows or anything monogrammed, check out my Etsy shop for some other great finds as well! Happy shopping!

DIY Chandelier Earrings

I had a credit from Darby Smart, so I decided to grab a DIY project I've had my eye on - Chandelier Earrings! I just love that everything I need gets shipped right to my front door! No need to waste time and money by going to the craft store and hunting for all the necessary supplies.

Of course, if you don't order the DIY box, you can still get everything you need from your local craft store to make these awesome earrings. My kit came with pliers, but I had no need for them, so I guess that was just a bonus!

What you'll need:

E6000 Adhesive

Earring posts and backs

Wooden stick

Clear piece of plastic

Selection of jewels

This project takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. All you do is arrange your gems on the clear plastic exactly how you want them to look, spacing and everything. 

Then you glue each piece down individually to the plastic using the wooden stick so you don't have a lot of glue overflow. Once everything is glued down and you're happy with it, let it dry. 

Next, you simply cut the earrings fro the plastic making sure to get as close as possible so you won't see the plastic when you are wearing them.

Using the same glue from before, just glue the earring posts to the backs of each earring and let dry. There you have it, super cute chandelier earrings!

High Five!

Super late today, but better late than never! This week has been such a whirlwind with tons of ups and downs, but I always love Fridays because it's a time to celebrate the ups and forget the downs. Have a great weekend, everyone!

1. Probably one of my favorite pictures of Charlotte to date. We HAD to go back to Burnside in her Lilly again to get some more pictures before they closed for the season. I mean really, how cute is this baby Adirondack chair?!
2. Milo's life in a nutshell. He loves just lounging around and still seems to be adjusting fairly well to Charlotte. He now likes to rub heads with her (his way of showing affection).
3. While at the farm I couldn't' resist such a sweet father/daughter moment. This is how she always is with her Daddy. She is such a Daddy's girl, it's not even funny!
4. I was super busy over the weekend fulfilling orders. I'm pretty much in love with all of these. Now I just need to find some time to make some stuff for Charlie's upcoming Disney trips!
5. Charlotte turned 7 months over the weekend and apparently it's very tiring growing up so fast so she took a nap with her Dumbo so Mommy could sew.

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!

Thinspiration Thursday

It's been 7 months since my whole world changed, both physically and mentally. I am now a mom. My priorities have shifted; my body has shifted, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. The pressure to lose the baby weight right away can be unbearable and I find myself constantly beating myself up for not being able to fit back into my wardrobe by now. I mean it's been 7 months! How am I still 10 lbs away from my starting weight?! Oh that's right, my whole life changed and I'm still figuring this whole "mom" thing out. But can we take a minute and celebrate that I already took off 45 lbs (yes, I gained 55 lbs, don't judge) since the day before I gave birth?

I keep telling myself, "Just put your head down, make it a priority and it will happen". Of course that's easier said than done. Before I got pregnant, all I had to do was meal plan during the week and run after work. I could even have cheat days and skip runs! My biggest excuse would be, "I just washed my hair, so I'll have to run tomorrow". Now, I have new obstacles excuses that center around my baby. I come home from work, she needs to be changed, fed, bathed, then changed again and put to bed. By the time that's done, it's 7:30 and I haven't even thought about dinner. Well, since nothing has been started and I don't want to eat at 8:30, one of us will walk to Subway or drive through somewhere. Now it's 8:00 and I definitely can't run now because I have a full stomach and it will be dark soon. Not only am I not running, but I just ate fast food! So alas another day comes and goes, and I did nothing to forward my progress. Not to mention, my wallet is taking a hit from all these quick meals because I'm not cooking or grocery shopping.

No better time than now for a good dose of "Thinspiration". What better way to get motivated than to bust out all my favorite Lilly dresses that I haven't been able to wear in 2 years? I even took it one step further and decided to try them all on. It actually wasn't as bad as I had feared, but the reality is half my wardrobe still doesn't' fit me. And as much as I would like an excuse to buy new clothes, I need to make these ones work (remember the whole budget thing I just finished talking about?!). 

So what am I going to do about it? I'm going to start by taking it one pound at a time. Every 5 lbs will be a new goal. I'm going to make the time to run. I signed up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon (my second time running it) so now I have something to train for that will force me to run. And lastly, I'm working really hard on drinking tons of water during the day, not eating out for lunches and cooking more at home.

Now I need your help. I'm going to start my weekly weigh-ins again and post my progress AND struggles right here. If a Thursday has come and gone and there has been no update, please please please call me out. I need to be held accountable! After all, nothing worth having is easy. I CAN DO THIS! 

Charlotte's 7 Month Update

Eating - Charlotte eats a vegetable AND a fruit for lunch and dinner. She drinks water with her solid foods which isn't her favorite, but she tolerates it. She can even hold her bottle all on her own! We started practicing motor skills with puffs and she has already come a long way in just a few short weeks. She can pick them up one by one and feed herself, which comes in super handy to tide her over between meals.

Sleeping - We are so blessed in this department. Charlotte goes down between 7 and 8 without much of a fuss (last month she had to cry it out, but now she goes right down). She gets a bath then a little bottle and down she goes. We won't hear from her again until around 6 the next morning!

Charlotte loves to talk and make noise as much as possible. She doesn't like being hungry or dirty diapers. In fact, that is really the only time she fusses. She is so close to crawling and gets frustrated after a while when she can't reach the things she wants to. She can scoot, roll around and get up in the crawling position, but not quite ready to crawl. 

Still curious about Minnie, but not as perplexed as she used to be!

We are loving every minute of this sweet baby and I can't wait to see what the next few months bring. My favorite time of the year is just around the corner and I can't wait to celebrate all of Charlotte's firsts! Not to mention we have two more Disney trips planned for the remainder of the year, so being excited about the next 4 months is an understatement by far!

Check out her other month updates here:

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

Linking up with Molly for Let it Shine Monday!

High Five, Y'all

1. Gymboree was having an awesome sale so I couldn't resist picking up this little sailor outfit for Charlotte. I've decided she looks like a little Donald Duck and will have to wear this in Disney next month!
2. I am the worst about refilling my water bottle at work during the day, so I got this awesome pitcher to keep at my desk. I definitely drink more water but have yet to drink the entire thing in one day....it's 148 ounces!
3. Football season is finally here!!!!! My friend and I went to the preseason game last night against the Patriots and we won! Even better news - since we scored more than 20 points and it was a home game, you can get a free sub at Subway today! Get the coupon and enjoy an almost free lunch (still have to purchase a drink and chips).
4. My weakness....a giant chocolate chip cookie! Ordered pizza with my family earlier in the week and somehow was convinced this was a good idea. ooops, oh well, it was delicious!
5. I spent a few late nights this week implementing a new blog design! I love change and was itching for something different....what do you think? 

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!

DIY Ring Holder

We all do it, we take our jewelry off in random places around the house in an attempt to protect it, but in reality we end up misplacing our favorite pieces! Ring holders are a necessity in my house. In fact, I realized I needed more than just the one I had (I need one at every sink in my house), so I set out to make my own - with the help of Darby Smart, of course.

What you'll need:

Plastic figurine - those small plastic critters or monuments you can find at craft stores

Gold paint pen

Ceramic dish - you can use a saucer or petri dish

Glue

Simply take your paint pen and paint your figurine all one color to give it a classic look. Then paint your dish. You can do geometric shapes, sayings, your wedding anniversary or anything you can think of. All that's left is to simply glue your figurine to the dish and wait for it to dry! Voila!

In other news, notice anything different?! I have spent the last few nights working on my blog template, so hopefully you can forgive me for being a little MIA on the posts this week. Let me know your thoughts on the redesign!

Disney Inspired Jamberry Nails

I kept hearing a lot about Jamberry Nails so I thought it was time to see what the big deal was about. I perused their website and thought the patterns were cute, but nothing to write home about (a lot of them just weren't my style and I had a hard time imagining all 10 of my nails with an intricate pattern). That is until I did a little googling and stumbled across Disney inspired Jamberry nails! I found a consultant via Pinterest that had all sorts of custom designs that I could totally see myself rocking during a Disney trip. I HAD to give these a try!

After exchanging a few emails with the consultant, I had placed my first order! Even though she lives across the country, within a few days they were in my mailbox. I quickly saw that I could easily get two manicures and two pedicures out of the one sheet....totally worth it!

Now the hard part, figuring out how to apply these things. I wanted to practice so when it was time to do them for Disney, I was a seasoned veteran. I will admit, the first go at it was a HUGE learning experience and didn't even last 24 hours before I peeled them off. The second time, I did some research and watched a few videos online to master the technique. I'm still no pro, but I'm definitely getting better.

I found the key was in the prep. Make sure to push down your cuticles, clean your nails with an alcohol pad and file the tops of your nails to make them rough which will help the adhesive adhere better. That last step is super important and one that isn't advertised.

I chose not to heat the wraps before placing them on my nail as I saw that you can omit this step via Jamberry's tips and tricks video. I also learned from my first experience that fitting them to your nail is super important and you should always chose the wrap that is slightly smaller over the wrap that is slightly too big. The reason being is that you don't want the wrap to touch your skin at all as this breaks up the adhesive and makes it more likely to lift up.

Once you place them on your fingers, you will want to press down firmly and make sure you have no wrinkles or bubbles. Using the cuticle pusher is handy during this step. Then I heat each nail wrap and pressed firmly again. I waited until they were cool before I began trimming. Now that they are adhered and trimmed, I went over them again with the heat to ensure a tight bond. Now all that's left is to file them down to smooth out the tips.

Overall I found these to be a refreshing change from the standard nail polish routine, but just be prepared for a learning curve if you've never done them before. I must say, I LOVE all the options you can get including designing your own via the Nail Art Studio! 

What do you think? Will you give Jamberry a try?

High Five for Friday!

I seriously have no idea where this week went. I've been so busy getting stuff done and yet I still feel super behind on stuff. The work days are flying by and I find myself wishing I had at least two more hours a night to work on blogging and crafting. The truth is, I don't have that kind of time, so I'm working on prioritizing and learning to let some things go. It's ok if my house isn't clean and if I didn't have a blog post written for the next day. What is important is that I'm putting my family first and taking time out of each day to do something for myself. So in a nutshell, that's why posts have been a little thin lately.

Regardless of all that nonsense, I will always have my five highlights from the week to share because I find that even if life is crazy and not all the time good, it's important to dig down (sometimes really deep) and find the things that made you happy. And suddenly the rest of the stuff seems to not be so bad.

1. Part of being so busy this week was because my friend and I made 80 koozies for our company team day! I thought we would never finish! It was super nice to take a day off work and team build with our our company as we hosted our first ever Olympics! 
2. Ulta haul - I may or may not have gotten a little carried away but I was way overdue for a makeup revamp. I spent a few hours over the weekend watching various makeup tutorials to see what I could do differently. It of course lead me to my closest Ulta to pick up a few necessities. ;) 
3. By far the highlight of my week was getting to see Billy Joel in concert! My friend invited me along and we had a blast. Our pictures aren't the greatest, but I have some pretty awesome memories that will be hard to forget.
4. I love watching Charlotte grow every single day. She gets sweeter and sweeter as her little personality develops. I finally found an outfit and a use for my Ariel bow that I've had for 4 years! 
5. I was perusing Pinterest and stumbled across this little gem; Disney Jamberry nails! I have been hearing a lot about Jamberry these days and decided these would be the perfect ones to try. Melissa over at Jamberry designs and sells these ones in particular. She also customizes so many other patterns that you won't find on the basic website.

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!