Easy, Print Yourself, Downloadable Art
So you want some cute art in your home for little dough – no problem, I’ve got you covered 
I have been working in photoshop for many years and wanted to share with you the fabulous print I made for my nursery to be. It’s not occupied yet, but hopefully soon! You can also make your own art if you are handy OR you can check out the blog Dear Lillie and download some of hers for FREE. Who doesn’t love free right?? She also has some other designs for purchase and a REALLY great large chalkboard download too. Check out her shop HERE But, if you want to download my creation for free and print your own you can do so HERE Happy decorating all and Happy Monday – hope your week is fabulous!
HEALTHY Meal Planning & Organized Smart Phone Shopping Lists
Image Source: Martha Stewart.com
Happy Monday all -I hope your weekend was splendid! Mine was, although I am desperately awaiting spring and warmer weather! Although, I will settle for some sunshine for now
I thought I would share with you all how and what I prepare for meals. My husband and I are what you might call Flexitarian….what is that you ask?? Well, we eat meat very rarely and it’s usually turkey or fish, and we almost always are vegetarian. I also try to stick to Organic items. With spring around the corner and (ehem) bathing suit season, it doesn’t hurt to cut some calories and trim some fat from your meals.
I know a lot of people think that eating healthy is time consuming. This is totally and completely wrong – it is just a different lifestyle, I actually think it takes the same amount of time to prepare meals. I recently started using a grocery shopping app for my smart phone called, Out of Milk, that saves me lots of time and scratch paper. It makes shopping so easy! It has all your local ads and you can easily browse through and add items to your list as well as being able to type in your own items. You can share it with anyone you like, so that way my husband or myself can stop at the store and there is no worry whether we forgot the list or he can’t read my hand writing.
I also love using Pinterest for meal ideas and I sure many of you do this as well! If you want tons of healthy options – check out my Pinterest recipe pins HERE. It makes finding recipes so easy and pretty much makes cook books a thing of the past! If you aren’t using this as a meal planning tool you are missing out!
I also thought I would share what I plan on making this week with links to the recipes so you can give them a try yourself. Also, keep in mind to it’s ok to try your own twist on meals – I know I do If I am missing and ingredient I may substitute something else. Luckily – there are no rules! Happy eating everyone!!
Monday: Mushroom & Scallion Frittata
Tuesday: Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos
Wednesday: Portobello, Broccoli and Red Pepper Melts
Thursday: Spinach linguine ( I will probably add more veggies to this than the recipe calls for just to spice it up 
Friday: Spinach & Mushroom Quesadillas
EASY 5 Minute Beachy Wave Tutorial is HERE!!
Hey everybody, it is finally here – my quick and easy beachy wave tutorial! This is where I show you how to achieve that beachy, sexy, full of body look in 5 minutes with very minimal blow-drying. Iwill show you how I do it and what products I use! All you moms out there or those of you (like me) who always seem to be running late this is perfect for you
Kitchen Updates That Go a Long Way
Over that last few years, my kitchen has been the one thing I have wanted to update within my home. I’ve toyed with the idea of painting the cabinets, over and over. Sometimes, I think white – but it seems so, so overdone. Or then there’s an olive green or possibly a gray. I don’t love the maple clear coat we have on our cabinets, but they are such nice quality, that I just hate to paint them. I’t's been a dilemma of mine, sure to continue for a while until I make a decision.
But, that being said I still wanted to give our kitchen a face lift as our home will be 10 years old this fall. So, my husband and I finally decided that we would get a new back splash. Of course, that turned in to new cabinet hardware, a new faucet, and a new pendant light! All of this delighted my husband so much…..no, no not really lol. But, I love all of the updates and they were easy for us to do quickly (I have no patience!) . And to top it off, I think they can update your kitchen immensely without spending thousands of dollars getting new cabinets, or spending tons of time painting.
We did hire out the back splash installation because the glass subway tiles are tricky to do yourself, and unless you are extremely handy don’t attempt! I replaced all the knobs myself and even installed the pendant light because it is the kind you simply screw into an existing can light. I love these as an alternative to hiring an electrician to re-wire your home and it’s a quick and relatively inexpensive change. You can check out the one I have HERE.
Even if you have just a small budget, changing out the knobs can make a big impact and give your space and entirely different feel. Happy decorating all!!
Studio Onyx SYX Makeup Party
This weekend I had so much fun checking out a new private makeup line carried by some friends at their salon, Studio Onyx (Check them out on facebook HERE). Their makeup brand SYX is fantastic! I have been kind of obsessed with makeup looks since I was a little girl and it just never gets old, so I was having a hay day! Ashley and Kristen are both hair stylists and makeup artists and they gave us all amazing tips from highlighting and contouring, to why you absolutely NEED to have an eye shadow primer, and what types of brushes to use. They will also be hopefully helping me out with some video tutorials for you all in the future too! I bought the eye shadow primer and also the blush they use to do highlighting and contouring. Ashley also recommended a go to brush – MAC’s 216, which is a double ended brush that she says is perfect for doing a smokey eye. I’ll probably be getting one of these too! I loved capturing all of the images from the party below as everyone got all glammed up! So stinkin’ pretty – enjoy!!
5 Minute Air Dry Beachy Hair :)
Beachy hair today ya’ll! This is my go to lazy Friday style Seriously, this takes me a grand total of 3-5 minutes and I let it air dry on my drive to work. Easy, right!! All you moms out there this is a perfect style for you -or those of us like me who are always running a few mintues late , you know who you are I am working on a video tutorial of how I do this for next week so stay tuned…
Have an amazing weekend everyone, I hope to get some snowboarding in – we just recorded about 8 inches last night at our local ski area – can’t wait! Whatever you’re doing be safe – and have fun! Cya!
Winter Hair Care
Winter can be SO harsh on your hair. But, there is one big bonus (my favorite)- no humidity! Despite not having to deal with frizzy-ness from humidity, your hair can start to get too dry and brittle. Here are my best tips to share with you all
1. Don’t over-wash your hair. You do need that pesky oil to keep your locks looking shiny and healthy. Sometimes, I have the urge to wash my hair too much but it is ok to let your hair go for a day and try to train your scalp to even out its oil production. The reason my hair seems to get oily so quickly is because frequent washing strips your scalp of it’s natural oils and in turn it overcompensates to try balance out. Don’t play with your hair too much either, it will get greasy the more you touch it so – hands off! I use the weekends to let my hair washings spread out a bit and I can tell my hair feels better afterwards! I also just invested in a good dry shampoo. I haven’t had a chance to try it as much as I would like but I will fill you in! If you have light or blonde hair, baby powder works great as well.
2. Don’t bleach too much. Frequent processing on your hair makes it extremely brittle and it will break. Thank goodness that ombre hair is in right! Now it’s totally in style to let those roots grow out and have that natural “I just let my sun-kissed hair grow out from the summer look”. If this just isn’t your style try an all over color or go for some low lights Want more darker hair inspiration?? Check out my Pinterest boards HERE, and look through my “Locks and Looks” or “Dress Me” boards.
3. Let your blow dryer and flattening iron take a little hiatus. It’s ok to let your hair air dry once in a while. If you have naturally curly hair like mine I simply throw some product in and let it go. I actually like to use a pomade. Ha! Believe it or not I steal from my hubby’s hair products. The Got2B pomade (HERE) gives you a non-frizzy wave that isn’t crunchy, and you don’t need to use a lot. Those beachy natural waves are in people! If you do often blow dry your hair check out the split-end treatment I shared on my Must Have Products post HERE. I have already had one reader of the blog share that they absolutely loved this product!
4. Schedule a trip to your stylist. Getting a frequent trim will keep your hair healthier and they can suggest the best products to deal with every type of hair. They have the best expertise and knowledge and you should take advantage of that.
Good luck, hope these tips help!
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