Good times.

This past weekend was quite the fun yet full of DIY. My darling niece/bestie Taylor came and spent 4 days with me and while she was here we worked on Gracie's new big girl room. Taylor and I are such a great team when it comes to DIY, well technically we make a great team in life, but yanno. Best friends. Anyway, we painted, built furniture, played with decor and laughed and joked the whole weekend. I adore having her here! Check out Gracie's room. Keep in mind, we are waiting for Gracie's new floor to get here from Lumber Liquidators, probably a couple weeks till that's here and then we'll be putting that in.

The lighting in these pictures is pretty terrible. I guess it was just the time of day I took the pictures.

This is the view when you walk into her room, from the hallway.









This corner bookshelf was originally white, but I spruced it up and painted it coral and baby pink. It turned out great! The art on either side of the shelf was printed and 3 out of the 4 were hand painted. Taylor did one and I did three. I'll take close ups of those for my next post.







Close up of the dresser. It was originally an old wood looking dresser that we got for free, like the bookshelf. But I knew right from the beginning that I wanted to paint it ombre. I love how it turned out!



The decor above Gracie's bed is probably my favorite part. Here she is enjoying her new room! :)



Aaand that's it! We're currently getting the front of the house repairs underway, by the end of the week fancy new pergola will be going up. I'm so excited! Ahh, the joys of being a homeowner. ;)

Crazy busy & sunburned

Things sure have been busy around here lately! My niece Taylor came to stay with us for about a week, we visited the Zoo, took Gracie (& Taylor) to her first Yankees (minor league) game, had a big 4th of July shindig at my parents & then visited the Florida Aquarium where I got an awful sunburn on my thighs... of all places. So bad in fact that I could barely walk for a good 2 to 3 days because it seriously felt like my skin was ripping off. Yeah. Awesome.

Today, I finally had money in hand to go get the last bit of supplies to finish the kitchen. I'm so thankful for my parents & their constant help when it comes to these things. Mostly, my dad. That man is a boss! Him & I will be getting our boo-tays in gear tomorrow on beadboard installation & whatever else we can cram into one day. I'll be sure to take pictures as progress happens.

Gracie asked to spend the night at my parents house, so I got to work on cleaning, because lord knows when the kids are home, it's HARD... IMPOSSIBLE to clean. Straightening up is about all I can get away with, but seriously CLEANING is just not something that can happen. I got so much accomplished today, I'm pretty proud of myself. I still need to get in Gracie's room and clean it as well but that room is seriously overwhelming. I'll just put it off till Saturday when she'll be with my parents for the entire day. Because I'll need a good 8 hours in that pigsty. Hey, I'm just keepin' it real, people.

One last thing, Pepper our Mama kitty is still pregnant. I have a feeling tho that these little kittens will be here in the next day or so. She's been very clingy and loving and I read online that that is a sign of pre-labor. Fingers crossed for healthy kittens! :)

I'm a Vox Boxer!

Ok, I don't really even know if a Vox Boxer is a real thing but I did get my first VoxBox from Influenster this past week. I was so excited when I checked my mail and saw a little white box waiting for me. Here is what I got in my box...



IVORY BAR SOAP, IMPRESS PRESS-ON MANICURE, STASH TEA SUPERFRUITS TEA SAMPLER, QUAKER SOFT BAKED OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIE, DENTEK FLOSSERS, DINO LINGO LANGUAGE SET FOR KIDS, NEKTAR HONEY CRYSTALS.

Here is a play-by-play of how I rate everything I've tried so far... (can you tell I've been watching LOTS of Yankees baseball? hehe) First up, the Quaker Soft Baked Oatmeal Raisin cookie. Unfortunately, I don't like oatmeal or raisins so this rating isn't coming from me, but from Gracie. I asked Gracie what she thought about while she ate it and her answer was, 'Mmm, it's good! It's so soft and yummy!' So, there you have it, right from the mouth of a 4 year old. It's a win! I did happen to feel how soft the cookie was and it felt like a good cookie, but that's as far as I got. lol. But, hey it's a thumbs up from the kid!

Later that night, Paul & I had a cup of Stash tea. Paul tried the Blueberry Superfruit Herbal tea, which he says was really good but the one I had, Pomegranate Raspberry Green tea was even better. I agree! He has also tried the Acai Berry but says it was not very good. We still need to taste 3 other ones to finish the box taste test. Those ones are; Yumberry Blackcurrent, Goji Berry Green, & Mangosteen Green. We'll probably try more tonight.

For three or so nights in a row I used the Dentek Flossers & I gotta say that my mouth did feel cleaner. I've tried other flossers before mostly just store brand ones and I didn't notice much of a difference. So I'd say these flossers are pretty darn good! I'm going to have to check the price at Publix when we go shopping in a week. I might have to buy more!

I still need to test out the Ivory Soap Bar, the Impress press-on Manicure, Dino Lingo Language Set or the Nektar Honey Crystals. But, in time I'll have everything tested and will make another post about those.

I wanted to quickly mention that I received each product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster. I was not paid, or anything of the like. I just got lucky enough to be selected to test these products. Thanks Influenster!



In other news, we got a new kitty! Her name is Pepper... and she's pregnant. About 4 weeks or so... Cat pregnancies last about 6 weeks. So, we're almost there. We got Pepper in exchange for Niko, our dog. I had to get rid of Niko due to him constantly peeing all over Jordan's room. I don't know if it was a jealous thing or an attention thing but it has been going on for a looong time and I just couldn't deal with it anymore. Since trading pets I found out that Niko is much happier being the only animal in the house and gets lots of love & attention, so it's a win/win!

Hey, anyone want a kitten? ;) I can't wait to see what they look like!! So, about a week or two from now I'll be posting all about kittens!

I've also had my niece Taylor with me since Friday. I love when she comes and visits. She's staying with me till Wednesday for the 4th of July picnic at my parents house. Should be fun! So, if I don't post before Wednesday I hope everyone has a fabulous Independence Day! Stay safe & enjoy lots of great food & fireworks.

We're also hitting up the Tampa Yankees game on Tuesday for hot dogs, baseball & fireworks! Talk about a good time! :)

busy birthday week

Another new layout! I like it, like it. ;)

Phew, this week really flew by, didn't it? I had plans on making a post on my birthday but my day and really my week just kinda got away from me. On Sunday, after my last post, my amazing niece Taylor came to visit me for a couple days during her Spring Break for my birthday.

We're silly together. Love!



Monday we went to get pedicures together with Gracie of course, while Jordan was in school (his Spring Break was the week before).



I got a pretty tealish blue color by Sephora & Tay got hot pink, I think it was O.P.I. It's her favorite color. I also got my hair cut a couple days before Taylor came to visit. It's a little shorter than I originally wanted but it's really growing on me (figuratively speaking). I figure it's only going to grow, right? So, in a month or so it will be perfect length.



Other than that, on the evening of my birthday Paul took me to see 21 Jump Street. It was such a great funny movie! I spotted Johnny Depp looong before most people did. I spotted him within' minutes of the film starting, even tho he was hidden in the back. You can't hide my Johnny from me, people! I love him too much. hahha



After the movie we headed to Carrabba's for dinner. Our waiter was a ball of fun, let me tell you. From the moment we sat down, he was making us laugh & was super playful the entire time. I had shrimp fettucini alfredo, which was so yummy! Paul had steak, like a typical man. Overall it was an aaaamazing night out with my man. Aaand when we got home, both of the kids were asleep! I think Taylor has magic powers or something because I can't even get my kids to sleep that quick! They must of had a lot of fun while mom & dad were away. :)



Yesterday I was home alone again because Jordan went to Opening Day with my MIL to watch the Yankees vs. Rays game. As you can see above, I got all decked out in my Yankees gear. Sadly my Yankees didn't win, but it was only game 1! We've got 161 more games to go. No worries here! I'm a Yankees fan, I know we'll see the playoffs in October. ;) I'm really looking forward to Yankees Opening Day at Yankee Stadium next week. That's something to be excited about... at least in my little world.

That's all for now! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend, Easter & a great week!