Loft Comfy Casual

Loft is having a 50% off tops sale today! I was stoked since I had just missed their 50% off everything last weekend!

I snagged this super comfy Lou & Grey top! Perfect for dressing up or down! My kind of top! Not to mention Lou & Grey hardly goes on sale for 50%! 

         

     

Summer Reading 2018

I've read a few more books than this picture actually shows, so to hear more about those you can find me on Goodreads! 

First up: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Ugh. This book is really overly hyped and recommended in my opinion. The fact that Oprah pushed so much for people to read it should of been a red flag for me to stop while I was ahead! 

Biggest problem with this book: The story completely dragged out. Should of easily been rapped up in the first half of the book but no the author drug the very long and flat story line throughout the book. 

I'd like to say more but I'd be giving away spoilers! Let's just say Roy as a man disgusts me. I'll leave it right there. 



Next up:

All the Little Lights by Jamie McGuire

Many years ago I read Beautiful Disaster by Jamie and was hooked on her writing. It's been several years since I had read anything by her, and so when this new book got released I was hoping to find the same magic! 

Okay to be fair, I think this overall was a decent read but there were a few things that were just not clear in the book leaving me feeling confused with what the heck was going on with Catherine, the house she lived in and her mother. I did feel like the spark betwen Catherine and Elliott was very "G" rated not as "hot and steamy" as reading previous books by Jamie. I'll let you decide!


Next up: To The Moon And Back by Karen Kingsbury
I bought this on a total whim when I was on Amazon. It was my first time reading anything by this author. The main reason why I picked it up was for purely because the story line of the Oklahoma City Bombing completely sucked me in. 

If you are someone who doesn't like "religious" themes or characters talking about God and religion then this book isn't for you. 


And I saved the best for last: "Then She Was Gone" by Lisa Jewell
WOWZERS! This book knocked my socks off! It's very rare I rate books 5 stars anymore. The last time I gave a 5 star rating was when I read Kristin Hannah's The Nightengale! 

This book was a page turner. The kind where when you have to take a break and stop reading (to go to bed or leave the house you are secretly wishing you were at home reading more!) The ending was the best part. It completely wrapped up the whole book, and breaks your heart at the same time. I highly recommend you read this one! 

KETO DIET

All About Keto! 


As promised, I was surprised at how many of you messaged me asking for recipes and or a little more information on the Keto diet! 

If you haven't already watched, be sure to start by watching "The Magic Pill." It's on Netflix and super informative as to why Keto is so beneficial for your health! 

You can watch the trailer on Amazon here if you want...

Download app called CARB MANAGER

you'll need to imput your weight and goals to help calculate your Marcos (Scary word I know)

The biggest thing I took away from the app was that more often than not I was consuming to much protien and not enough of the "fats" part. DO NOT be afraid to eat more of what we have been trained to think is bad for you (the eggs bacon etc etc) eat as much as you want! That's the point of KETO! 

As promised here is a helpful cookbook to get you going! 

Simply Keto by Suzanne Ryan 

If you are looking to just learn simple basic Keto recipes this cookbook is for you! 

There are many other books via amazon or in store or the libary to give you ideas, I also searched people in instagram #ketodiet or #ketofood to help give me fresh ideas on what to make! 

So what does a typical day of eating look like for me?

I am a creature of habit, it's rare I get sick of things, in time I will switch it up, but for the last 2 months or so this has been it! 

Breakfast:

 3 Eggs scrambled either add cheddar cheese, ham, turkey, tomato or avacado or all to eggs each day to change it up.

or

Avacado (NO BREAD!) just sliced add "everything but the bagel" seasoning (gotta purchase it from Trader Joes) and you're golden! yum um! 

or

PLAIN Greek Yogurt with lemon juice added and 2-3 packets of TRUVIA sweetener

 (KETO DIET APPROVED)

or BACON (I have no shame in saying for breakfast on more than one occasion I eat a whole pound of bacon by myself.) That's all though. 

Or

FAST till lunch. I have no set schedule saying I have to eat. Some mornings I am more hungry and other mornings I can wait till lunch to eat. 

Lunch:

ground beef. 

saute mushrooms

Tomato sauce 

parmesean cheese on top.

or

LUNCH MEAT

TURKEY OR HAM

add cooked asparagus to it if you need a little more! 

Dinner:

Garlic Butter Shrimp. 

or if I didn't eat ground beef or ground lamb for lunch, I will have ground beef or lamb for dinner.

Fish: Usually Salmon served with asparagus or broccoli. 

Snacks:

Pepperoni and mozzarella cheese together. 

Avacado sliced 
CASHEWS from costco! they need to be unsalted and unroasted

Sometimes I am full from eating late lunch and skip dinner. This falls into my "Fast" time frame. I do not keep a set schedule as to when I Must fast. I listen to my body telling me when I am hungry and when I am not.

Drinks: 

Water can get REALLY boring day in and day out esp with no alcohol allowed (This is where people tend to fail at Keto.) they can't give up the drinking. 

Crystal Light PURE

I add these to my water every single day. Again they are sweetened with stevia leaf so it's ok! 

How does Keto work with having a husband/spouse not on it or with children?

I cannot speak for others, but my husband is the cook in our home, and he doesn't mind making separate things for our son and or him. Both my son and my husband consume fruit, breads, and pastas with moderation. 

My diet may be to borning and bland for some. This is just what works for ME. you have to figure out what works for you. Search around for recipes on Pinterest, Instagram and in cookbooks! Helps keep it from getting boring or trite. 

I hope I have helped answer some of your questions! As always, message me, comment or DM me if you have anything else you want to ask! 

Summer "work" apparel

Wore this for a district training with my new school district and these shorts were a hit with fellow lady teachers! :) Lots of compliments all the way around! 

     

Vacay Mode

 

In a few short weeks we will be headed to California for a long weekend getaway! I am very excited as we haven't make the trek over there in over a year! Here's one of my beach looks that I will be rocking once we are there! 

     

Ciao!

Y'all gotta snag this super cute Tee from Loft while it's on sale! Outfit linked below!

 

     

Weekend Casual

 

     

Mothers Day Outfit

The dress I wore for Mothers Day is on sale! Snag it while you can!

         

     

Weekending

       

Anthro is having a 20% off Mothers Day Weekend only sale. (They never offer more than 15% off for sales through the year so now is the time to strike!) I was able to snag this fun tee for the weekend perfect for "weekending" if you catch my drift! 

     

Casual Saturday

     

Loft back to school outfit!

     

Shop pic below!      

     

Must Have Baby items 6-9 Months

Today my son turns 10 months old, so I figured it was time to make my 6-9 months post of our must have items!

Quiet Book. Absolute must to take along to anywhere you need your kid to be actively engaged in something that doesn't make noise. For us, this is what keeps our son happy and entertained in church for an hour! 

Felt Books Also one of my son's favorites. These are like Peek-a-boo books but they can't rip any of the pages because it's a board book with felt flaps. Genius! 

Bright Starts around we go activity center. This we have used since he was 6 months old. He absolutely loves it. One of his favorite things is when we pile toys all over the table and he goes around and pulls them off! 

OXO Bib. Once you start introducing "real" foods other than Purees these bibs are a must--so much better than having to launder cloth bibs after every meal--just rinse wipe and reuse! 

Boon pulp feeder Once you introduce solids and teeth happen, this silcone feeder has been a life saver. We fill it with puree, then freeze it in the freezer and offer it to my son when he is having hard teething days. He loves chomping on it and helps take the pain away. 

Nose Frida. We've had this since he was born, but didn't use it really till he got his first cold around 5 months again again around 9 months. It's disgusting yes, but I can 100% assure that by doing it, it has prevented unnecessary trips to the doctor! 

Little Tikes walker. Must have for when they are pulling up on everything and ready to start taking steps assisted! Didn't use this till he was 9/1/2 months but a must have for sure! 

Sunday Best

Today's top and jeans were both from Target of all places! :)

Click link to shop!

http://shopstyle.it/l/FV4u

http://shopstyle.it/l/FV3W

         

Sandals are old but I wear them with EVERYTHING



and the earrings I had on are gold but here they are

http://shopstyle.it/l/FV7c

        

I am currently loving...

If you follow me on instastories I recently shared a few things I am loving, all of which are very inexpensive! I always like to try things for a while before sharing too!

         

     

Baby Must Have Items 3-6 Months

Perusual mom life has really kept me busy these last few weeks! I had been meaning to blog about my 3-6 month old must have baby items but every time I had a little bit of time, I would end up going to bed or catching up on the never ending loads of laundry!

So without further adieu here are my top 10 items!

1 Dockatot My son is now 7 months old and this is my MUST HAVE ITEM since we transitioned him out of his Rock N Play at 4 months and into sleeping in this at night and for naps. 

2 4 Moms Breeze bassinet I actually place the dockatot in the top part of this bassinet and that is how he sleeps. Of course it's game over once he is able to sit up on his own! I'll have to drop him down to the bigger part of the 4 Breeze playyard! 

3. Fisher Price High Chair. I am all about less cumbersome clutter, and I really wanted a high chair that didn't take up more space. This is our go to high chair as it sits on our current chairs around our kitchen table! 

4. Fisher Price sit me up floor chair Took a few tries for my son to get the hang of liking sitting up in this. Once he was able to hold his head up more and more he began to be able to watch mommy or cartoons or anything going on around him in this chair! 

5. Crane Cool Mist I run this humidfier every night. Winter is harsh on the nasal passages causing everyone in our room to feel dry. This helps everyone retain moisture. 

6. Jumper. We didn't introduce the jumper till he was 6 months old and his feet could touch the ground. Once he learned he could jump, it's been non stop entertainment in the jumper! 

7.  Baby Einstein toy. This lights up and plays music. It's easy to slip in your purse or take along wedged in the carseat to entertain any baby!

8. Eric Carle Floor Mat. This was used pretty much from day 1 tummy time started till he could roll front to back. Around 5 months we stopped using it! 

9. Baby Spoons. Once you introduce baby food at 6 months these work great! 

10. Infantino Toys My sons favorite are toys that rattle, crinkle, spin and vibrate. Infantino makes so many to choose from! 

11. I forgot to label #11 (mom brain for ya) it's the Bright Starts Bouncer Chair. Until my son could sit up, he sat in this a lot! loved to spin the toys and have me manually bounce him in it! 

 

        

2018 Hits and misses!

Hello 2018!

I'd thought I'd share some hits and misses with products I've been using the last Month or so! Some were hits and some were misses! If you follow me on instastories you know I often quickly review products on there! 

Okay so first up

this was or is a miss for me....

Dr. Brant's No More Baggage under eye cream. I got suckered into trying it. (It was all over social media esp since it's normally $40 and it was on sale for $23 plus free shipping)

I will preface and say I have REALLY bad under eye puffiness. So at this point, I feel like I've tried every under eye cream under the sun and not much really deflates them at this point. If you are more into using this for masking dark circles then it may be a better fit for you. 

Second, 

Y'all saw the crazy ads for the Pen Mole Remover right? I mean it was like all over Facebook and instagram ads! On Facebook I read lots of good reviews from people (on instagram it was more like people crying out saying NO! It's not safe to remove a mole! Cancer! Etc etc!) 

I bought the pen and I can promise you it does work. You will smell burning flesh just as you would at the Dematologist office. I'd like to preface and say that I've been getting moles removed for many years now. Often removing them just to remove them, regardless of them looking suspicious or not. In my mind, I figure why wait for something to turn bad? Just remove it now rather than later! As always, I would encourage anyone NOT to do this if you have a mole you are "worried" or "suspicious" about. I pretty much check my moles daily and because I have had so many removed I am very comfortable in knowing that most I am choosing to remove at this point are completely fine to remove on my own. 

Another hit for me was this Big Sexy Hair Silk Finish  

         

I got my hair cut a month ago and I honestly haven't changed any new hair products in like the last 2 years because I've been such a fan of my Color Proof Line. Well the girl that trimmed my hair used this (no detangler just this on my wet hair) and I was a goner. Totally sold. My hair feels AMAZING after using this! 

I've also been loving this Mascara Primer by Lacome. 

I had been using the Dior Mascara primer but I honestly don't love it as one should for it's price tag! The Lancome primer was a total hit for me I love it! 

I also have been trying the Lancome mascara 

This is a hit and a miss for me. (A product you can love but not love right?) Okay so I'm an avid mascara collector. I love to try new ones. This is a nice mascara but it didn't give me as much depth/length as people rave that it does. For a year or so all I used was this one by lancome

Grandiose 

Both to me are great mascaras. I really like IT Cosmetics Telescopic Mascara for length (my only quam with that one is that you can't apply it in a hurry otherwise clump city!)


Alrighty crazy kids that's it for now!