Category: Everything Else

Categories
Everything Else

Loveable Labels Sale

I’m embarrassingly behind on posts. My draft is full of books reviews including one with an author interview! Also to come are photos of last weekend’s making-summer-last family weekend in Pawley’s Island, SC.

But when this came across my email, I had to let y’all know. I partnered up with Lovable Labels years ago for a giveaway right after BlogHer ’11. The labels I received then were the ones I used on Zach & Lucy’s first daycare bottles {I cut the Suz’s off & just used our last name}. Thousands of hand washings later, all those labels are still on there strong.

Now that L & Z are using toddler sippy cups, it’d be nice to have new labels with their names for our favorite sippys. I’d also like clothing labels as I forget what exactly I’ve taken to daycare sometimes.

If you’re looking for great long lasting labels for you or your littles, here’s a great weekend coupon just in time!

Lovable Labels
 

In full disclosure, I will receive a Halloween pack of Lovable Labels for letting y’all know about the sale. But all my opinions are genuine & unbiased. 

Categories
Reading

11/22/63

Oh my! Stephen King’s 11/22/63 novel is technically my local book club’s Nov pick. When I saw how big it was, I ditched the library book & borrowed it off my husband’s kindle, & since it’s a doozie, I went ahead & read it in August for Nov while I had a lull in my TBR stack. I’ve debated waiting til after book club to post, but I don’t want to accidentally forget.

I can’t wait to talk about it with my friends. So much happens on 11/22/63 that it’s hard to write a review without giving away any spoilers or too much inside information.

This is the first Stephen King book I ever read. I don’t do suspense books often & can’t even think about watching a scary movie & going to sleep that night. So I didn’t leap at the thought of this one at first.

I recalled the husband obsessing over this book to my annoyance last Christmas. Now I get it. {Sorry J!} 11/22/63 is a page turner & I was left repeating ‘holy shit’ more times than I can count from beginning to end.

All the connections to other King novels I thought were really cool. I like when writers casually link their books as a little gift to loyal readers {my Dad & husband filled me in on a lot of these nuances}.

The premise of 11/22/63 intrigued me: if you could go back in time & change the course of history, would you? Could you?

I don’t/didn’t know much about John Kennedy’s assignnation & the events leading up to it, but Stephen King did his research. I loved that while reading 11/22/63, I was so emotionally into this book. I was completely hooked.

I fell in love with Jake/George’s character. I cheered for fellow tall girl Sadie. I learned to see Lee Harvey Oswald & his family like I’d never known them before.

I’ll be honest & say I didn’t love the ending. But after discussing with a coworker & my family, I agree it had to be that way. {Hope that’s not too spoilerish.}

Everyone from my dad, to my SIL to my younger coworker to myself has loved this book. It’s a bit of a time investment {especially if you’re a slower reader}, but I think it’s definitely worth it. 11/22/63 isn’t a story I’m going to forget anytime soon.

Categories
Everything Else

Woolizes Dryer Balls

I’ve eyed Woolzies dryer balls online & again at my local cloth diaper store. But something always held me back. {Typically my hands are full & pockets pretty empty!}

Our dryer is older, & we’ve tested it to the limits with a year of cloth diapering plus the added laundry of 2 babies. {Hello, 2 loads a night!}

We stopped using a bounce bar or dryer sheets when I started washing tiny newborn clothes. I’ve noticed recently, it takes an extra cycle to get it all dry & we’re getting some static issues.

So I was thrilled at the chance to receive a set of 6 XL Woolzies balls.
Woolzies Dryer Balls

I added them first into a dryer full load of our clothes {while I had post-tubes recovering Lucy at home all day}. And boom, 1 dry cycle later, they were done.

In case that was a fluke, I did a small load of cloth diapers that night & was thrilled to find they were 99% dry in 1 cycle {1 insert stuck in a cover was damp}.

We’ve kept the Woolzies in the dryer continuously since then & I’m hooked. Anything that makes my life easier {& a dreaded task quicker} is a win in my book.

In case you’re wondering, you can hear the balls if you’re listening for them. But they don’t make a significant noise over normal dryer noises & certainly not enough to outweigh their benefits.

Woolzies provided 6 XL dryer balls for purposes of this review. But all thoughts/opinions/photos shared are honestly my own.

Categories
Everything Else Motherhood

What I’m Loving {first world mom edition}

It’s been a while since I’ve done a shopping post. Well it’s rare I’m shopping much at all except online these days!

But I love seeing what other bloggers are digging & thought I’d join in. This is completely unsponsored.

My new Lilly Pulitzer Chi Omega bracelet. lilly-chi-o-bracelet.JPGI was unable to pass it up during their summer sale. And I’m so glad I didn’t! I’ve found reasons to wear red/yellow/mint green since it arrived Thursday.

I’ve been going to the same salon for a couple times now, & they recommended {& had on sale} KMS Free Shape shampoo & conditioner. It was more expensive than my usual Target brand, but it feels like a delicious smelling luxury & makes my curls & color shine.

I’ve been loving a few moms of multiples resale Facebook pages recently. I’ve bought most of Lucy’s 18-24 mo & Zach’s 12-18 mo clothes from other MoMs. Including a new lot of Trumpette 12-24 mo socks. I’m obsessed & love that they’re gender neutral!

I haven’t hit purchase as I currently refuse to spent $25 for an outfit for Lucy when she has a closet full of 18 mo clothes I’ve super sale or consignment shopped for her. But oh my goodness I love the current owl line at Gymboree! Look at these ruffle leggings.wpid-IMG_20130823_113627.jpg

 

Lemonade. Random? Yes. But I think since I couldn’t handle lemonade while pregnant due to heart burn, I’m making up for it this summer. I like it pink, homemade, store bought &/or mixed with sweet tea. My current favorite is from Panera.

I am loving my current read: Stephen King’s 11/22/63. I’m also loving that my cubemate, dad & husband have all read it. So in addition to September’s book club chat, I’ve been one-sided {no spoilers!} chatting as I read along. I’m getting close to the end & can’t wait to see how it wraps up!

Whole Foods: it’s nicknamed Whole Paycheck for a reason, but if you’re in a rush & need a quick meal that you know is going to taste great, you can’t beat it. This week I went to Whole Foods for a to go dinner for a new mom friend & also left with breakfast muffins & a bean & cheese burrito lunch for myself. Loved every bite.

What’s your current obsession? Be it food, drink, clothes? I am missing something I will ‘need’ for fall?!

Categories
Reading

Blog Design for Dummies

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Melissa from Momcomm & adventuroo while hanging out with her at Raleigh bloggers nights multiple times in the last few years. I was an e-supporter while she wrote a book! & then I was thrilled when I got the chance to be one of the first to receive a copy to read & review.

Blog Design for Dummies

I’ve taken my time writing & posting this one as I wanted to let Blog Design for Dummies sink in. I devoured it within a week or two while pumping. I love, love, loved that the entire book is done in full color.

It was an easy read even though some of the content delves into more difficult design ideas. But as a ‘for Dummies’ book, this comes across in a way that makes even more complex design ideas doable for even a dummy like myself!

As you can see, I started just turning down pages I wanted to re-review or put in action on here. I quickly realized I needed to add in post its & highlighting as I started to open it up again at night.

Inside Blog Design for Dummies

And yes, within a week of reading, I was inspired to attempt a blog redesign of my own. I’m still not 100% sure of this blog layout/template & haven’t figure out how to switch up the font for my title headings, but I’ve been too busy with sick littles to dig back into coding. Thanks to Blog Design for Dummies, I was able to easily update pages, create & update navigation bars, add footer info, drop some unnecessary plugins, add some better ones & use HTML to do a few of my own side bar widgets!

Blog Design for Dummies is split into sections & chapters that easily flow for someone who wants to read it cover to cover. But if you’re only interested in certain design ideas, the headings & index make it easy to skip around too.

Melissa’s sections of colors/backgrounds, fonts, & using headings caught me first. & they had me rethinking what I’ve been doing. I highlighted & underlined everything on HTML & CSS coding that I should probably know after blogging for 5 years. And yes, I took the photo & shared the page on why & when to save .PNG vs .jpg {sheepishly admitted I didn’t know this!}.

I loved seeing examples throughout Blog Design for Dummies {link to Dummies site} of great blogs who were incorporating the design idea Melissa was highlighting. I loved it even more when I “knew” the author of that particular site.

Blog Design for Dummies {unaffiliated Amazon link} takes the fabulous information Melissa generously shares on Momcomm & takes it up a 1000 notches. In case you don’t love & respect her blog/marketing/design knowledge before, you will after reading it. Anyone interest in blog design {from newbies to old pros} should check it out. Be sure not to miss the last chapter showing full color photos of fabulous blog designs & explaining what helps make them fabulous!

I was thrilled when Melissa offered to send me a copy of Blog Design for Dummies for purpose of this review. My opinions & bad cell photos shared are all my own. But I am hunting Melissa down for an autograph now! ::Fan girl alert::