Accessorize this. Accessorize that.

I may not be a fashionista but I'm a firm believer in accessorizing every aspect of your life for every outfit of your life. From your wrists and your ears to your eyes and, yes, even your cell phone...boring accessories just don't do it for me.

Speaking of, I'm pretty sure I hit the cell phone cover jackpot with the new Jonathan Adler iPhone case from Lifeguard Press.  I've had my fair share of phone cases (6, in the past 14 months) and this is, by far, my favorite. Don't get me wrong, I loved my Lilly phone case but this one is SO much more durable and fits like a glove! Not to mention, it's bright floral pattern makes me wishing it was spring like yesterday. 

Also swooning over...

JA dog bowl mat.

Our new pup needs this in her life. Yes?!

Moving right along...lets talk sunnies.

I feel like I've spent the last 10 years of my life wearing the complete wrong sunglasses for my face. That is, until I found aviators this past year. (Seriously? Am I the last one to every party?!) I bought my first legit pair of Rayban aviators last summer and just recently received a silver pair of Roxy aviators from Sunglass Shop and holy love! Don't get me wrong...I love my Raybans...but the Roxys fit my face SO well. Plus-are perfect for the days I wear all silver. See? Accessorize this. Accessorize that.

Not gonna lie...if someone secretly put these gems in my mailbox, 

I wouldn't be hating it.

I die. Gold. Aviators. Hearts. T&Co...yes, yes, yes and YES.

Surely you didn't think I'd forget to cover your wrist, did you?

Meet Alex, the tortoise.

Okay, kidding. Kinda...because this fine piece of arm candy is really called the "Alex Tortoise" and you need it on your wrist stat. I love me a good watch, I really do. However, I haven't yet had the juevos to drop $300+ on one. (That's like 3rd base in my relationship with watches and right now, I'm stuck on first.) The Alex collection from Wristology is so perfectly reasonable. Big face, 5 finishes, waterproof, surrounded in crystals, and free custom sizing. (No trip to the watch repair guy = a win in my book!) Did I mention a portion of every purchase goes to a charitable cause of your choice? Pretty sure that's like 6 wins people.

And because y'all all know by now I saved the best part for last, are you ready for a total game changer when it comes to your accessories?

I'm sorry? Was that a "yes"?

BAM.

That's www.sammoon.com...got that?

I swear, every time I leave there, I walk out with baggggs full of accessories for less than $50 and a TON of their stuff is the EXACT same schtuff as what I've seen at Francesca's, but for a fraction of the price. (Sorry, Franny's.) More than just jewelry, they have purses, clutches, shoes, scarves, knitted headbands, sunnies, watches,  iPhone cases, you name it...they have it. 

Everything you see pictured above...less than $10.

You're welcome.

And though their stores are only in Texas, you can shop online...or just make a trip down to the Lonestar State.

Oh ya. You're welcome again.

And on that note, I'm gonna go ahead and leave now. I'm pretty sure I'm about to have some UPset husbands after their wives max out their credit cards from online shopping.

Whoops.

My bad.

Ruffles. Omelets. Booties.

Also known as...my weekend in a nutshell.

 

one. My Friday morning, which consisted of ruffles, pink and kisses. Just the way I like it!
two. Sister finally got the new purse she's been DYING for. Thanks, Beau! #whatbabywantsbabygets :)
three. Organic garlic growing underneath our baby grapefruit tree! Grow babies, GROW!
four. Egg & almond cheese omelet with a side of OJ & fresh fruit. YUM in my friggin' TUM!
five. Baby shower plannin'
six. Bath time = my kinda heaven
seven. Obligatory girl's night photo...collection of bling on my girl, Chelsea's hand :)
eight. What NOT to eat. #ramannoodles #ithappened
nine. New pretties for my little ears. So. In. Love.

You know what else I'm in love with?

The fact that Katie will be here...in my hometown...IN MY HOME...in less than 3 weeks!! So so SO excited to have her and Billy here and show them all around the H!

Seriously. What did we do before emoticons?

Ok just ONE more thing...if you're looking for a good....and I mean goooooooood  booty workout, this one does NOT disappoint. I was absolutely, positively, without a doubt feeling the pain halfway through and I am absolutely, positively, without a doubt hurting this morning. Love me a good burn! (See below for complete workout.)

***

Hope your weekend was equally full of ruffles, omelets & Brazilian booties. :)

Link up with Sami & share your weekend!

That Time Massage Heights RUINED My Valentine's Day

We all know the many perks of blogging and social media...getting your message out there for the world to know about it, good or bad.

When something great happens...we blog about it.
When we fall head over heels in love with a product...we blog about.
Heck, if we actually get dressed for the day...we blog about it.
Finally, when someone or some company downright PISSES us off AND ruins our Valentine's Day...

YUP...you bet your sweet cheeks...

WE BLOG ABOUT IT.

Let me take a minute to preface this post by filling you in a few very important details...

A new Massage Heights just opened within 2 miles of our house so Beau and I were SO excited to have a nice salon so close to us.

We had never tried MH before so we were anxious to give them a shot. I Google mapped them, called 'em up and made our appointments last week. I gave them my credit card info to reserve the time slots and was told that if I needed to cancel, I needed to call within 24 hours and if I didn't, they were going to charge me anyways. Fine by me. I wasn't cancelling so there was no need to call...I just needed to show up the day of our appointment, which was 2/14 at 6pm.

Beau and I haven't treated ourselves to massages in well over 2 years so to say they were much needed is a total understatement. We were excited ALL day...we hadn't gotten each other Valentine's Day gifts because our massages were our gifts to each other. I rush home from work, exhausted as all get out and SO ready for this hour long session to do absolutely nothing but lay there. It's 5:45pm and we walk in to check in for our appointments only to find out we are nowhere to be found in their system. Awesome.

She searches every name possible in her system and finally finds us...AT ANOTHER SALON. Yep...our appointments were scheduled at a different salon on the complete other side of town. Perfect.

  

It's now 5 minutes before our massages are supposed to begin and it's rush hour. There's no way in HELL we'd be able to make it to a salon that I had NEVER even heard or, nor did I even KNOW they had a location there. Why in God's name would I have made an appointment at a salon I didn't know existed?

The lady at the front counter tells me they're going to have to charge my card anyways since they had to pay their masseuses no matter what.

Face drops. Not "no"...but "HELL NO".

  

The fiesty little Italian inside me was RAGING at this point. (Thanks, mom.) Over my dead body would I be charged fot TWO massages I wasn't going to be getting when THEY were the ones that booked it at the wrong location. She tells me I need to call the manager to fight that battle so I do. She's "busy"...of course...and will have to "call me back".

I'm smarter than the average idiot so I call Capital One and cancel my credit card to ensure they, indeed, would NOT be charging me for a service I did not receive. Card put on hold. Muahahahahahaaaaaa...joke's on YOU Massage Heights.

  

The manager at Massage Heights calls me back and there was no budging with this chick. She was pure "this is our policy" mode. BS. I work in customer service and I know damn good and well you can get around "the policy" to provide your customers with just that..SERVICE.

 I tried to give her a chance. I even TOOK THE BLAME and proceeded to ask her if charging a potential customer $100 for two massages she was NOT receiving was worth losing a customer for life and SHE FLAT OUT SAID "YES".

  

I just giggled and in the sweetest little voice told her to "go ahad...charge my card allllll you want honey. Happy Valentine's Day to you too." And hung up the phone.

Moral of the story:  No payment from this chick and you're about to lose hundreds of customers by the time they get done reading this. Massage on THAT.

***
Rant = over.

To ensure our Valentine's wasn't a complete fail, we ended the night getting mani's and pedi's (gotta love a man who enjoys them as much as you do), eating crock pot taco chili (de-lish by the way!), drinking red wine and enjoying the movie, Friends With Benefits! Perfectly imperfect. Just the way I like it.



Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. - Valentine's Mani

First things first...happy LOVE day, y'all!! 

You should all be WELL aware of the fact that today's project is nothing short of something Valentine's Day related. I mean, hello? Do you know me?! 

You should also know that this is BY FAR one of the simplest "projects" I've done, to date. Besides my awkward looking fingers (let's just say I'll never be a hand model...), this is quite possibly my favorite pin to recreate. 

Original pin via Sami:

Pink. Nail polish. Hearts.

Need I say more?!

What you'll need:

*previously painted & thoroughly dried nails in whatever base color you prefer. (I chose Essie "Mod Square")

*painters tape

*another nail polish contrasting from your base color. (I chose white.)

*a top coat...nothing short of Essie "Good to Go". I SWEAR by this stuff. 5 minute dry-time...TOPS!

1. Tear off a piece of painters tape.

2. Fold it in half, careful to not seal the end pieces.

3. Cut out a half-heart along the fold line. Remember when we learned how to do this in, ohhh, say 1st grade?!

4. Un-fold/un-stick your piece of painters tape and make sure your heart is the correct size/shape.

5. Wrap your heart template around whichever nail you'd like to paint. Make sure all edges are sealed to see that no nail polish leaks through.
6. Apply white polish to heart template. (You'll probably need at least 2 coats.)

Peel your tape off and...

VOILA!

Simply adorable, right?!

I'm so festive...I know.

Happy Valentine's Day lovers!! Don't forget to tell someone you love 'em today!
***

What'd you make this week?! Link up, y'all!

On How to Stay in Love...

Let's just begin this by saying I am in no way, shape or form any type of marriage counselor. I have no fancy credentials and, in fact, you may be surprised to know I am not any kind of counselor. Actually, I haven't even been married for 2 years yet so if you don't accept the advice I'm about to provide you with, I totally get it. If you do, however, appreciate my advice, just call me Dr. Drew and feel free to stick a check in the mail to the address below.

Kidding.

There is no address. And I'd prefer to be called Dr. Howard. Mmmmkay?

I should also say my marriage is FAR from perfect.  Like, real far. We're only 22 months into this whole marriage biz and just like anything else, it takes a lot of hard work, compromise, good communication and wine. Lots of wine.

Slight warning: this gets mushy. (Don't say I didn't warn you!)

My take on...how to STAY in love:

1. Separate the problems between the tensions.

Problems are things like your spouse being abusive or addicted to porn. (I think we can all agree these are both HUGE problems.)

Tensions, on the other hand, are little things; leaving the toilet seat up, not picking up his shoes when you've asked him 16 times, or leaving dirty dishes in the sink for 2 days straight. (Hmmm...does that sound familiar, Beau Howard?) ;)

The difference between the two is that tensions aren't worth losing any sleep over. Problems ARE. Know the difference between something so measly as a tension in an effort to not create more problems. Pick your battles and fight fair.

Are those dishes in the sink really worth another stupid argument?

I mean, who can stay mad at that face?! ;)

2. Offer and accept daily affections.

This is HUGE in our house. Something as small as holding hands when you're on the couch or in the car, playing with each other's hair or a quick brush up against one another when he's washing said dishes. Sometimes it's as simple as a kiss on the cheek or even a flirty text! Flirting with each other is important. Scratch that...it's essential. You did it before you got married and there's no reason you shouldn't continue to do it after you get married. Let your guy know you still want him...and only him. ;)

3. Have some fun!

A happy heart is contagious! When you smile, your spouse smiles. When you laugh, your spouse laughs. Laughter is the best medicine so even in the toughest times, make sure you keep each other smiling as much as possible. Be spontaneous and make an honest effort to genuinely enjoy each other's company. Marriage is forever and in my humble opinion, I'd like to have fun forever.

4. Establish positive rituals.

I LOVE this one. When you go to bed, kiss each other goodnight. When you wake up, grab their hand and tell them good morning. When you leave for the day or even just to run to the grocery store, tell each other "goodbye" with a sweet, simple kiss and a hug. Most couples do this and don't even realize it so if that's you, give yourself a pat on the back. If you need help in this arena, it's ok! Just try it! I promise your man will be pleasantly surprised with your newfound habit!

The good news is that it's never too late to establish any of these into your relationship! And with tomorrow being Valentine's Day, what a more perfect time to start staying in love?!

Relationships are work, a LOT of work, so when you look around at other people's marriages/relationships and start to think "They have more sex than we do, make more money than we make, have more fun than we have, etc...", remind yourself that the grass is always greener where you water it.

Take time to water your relationship.

***

And because I love you ALL (yes...ALL of you!) and because I couldn't possibly mail out 1,700+ Valentine's Day cards...I hope you'll except my small gift:

Well...not my small gift because I didn't create it but I did, indeed, find it here.
***
Now get out there and love someone, wouldya!?

3 Years & 3 Months

So before this whole new year, 2013 thing happened, I decided I would share with you all my list of 30 before 30. For those of you on the slow train this morning (don't worry...I'm right there with ya)...30 things I'd like to complete before I'm 30 years old. I'll be 27 in 3 months (April 30th...write that down.) which means I've got 3 years and 3 months to complete all 30. {Gasp.}

I shared my list with you as a way to hold myself accountable for actually completing all 30. (Perhaps I should start posting my weekly chores and workouts so you all could hold me accountable there too? Just an idea...)

So anywho...since I've started working towards some of my goals, I realized I've actually made quite a bit of progress! (Pats self on back.) Granted, there's still a lot to do, but hey, at least we're not starting with a blank canvas here people. Give me some credit, k? K!

Some things I'm currently working on, some I've completely accomplished, and some, well, I haven't even thought about yet...

Without further adieu...my 30 before 30 update:

1. Pay for someone else's meal anonymously: still looking for that perfect person/family!
2. Witness a proposal: check & check! This should count as two things, yes?
3. Be a maid of honor
4. Learn graphic design: LONG way to go here... 
5. Drink wine in Napa 
6. Learn how to shoot in manual (& be semi-decent at it): EXTRA long way to go here...
7. Make double mortgage payments once/year: possibly happening next month?! 
8. Pack only in a carry on for a trip: DONE! My recent trips to both Pittsburgh AND Vegas were only packed in a carry on! And yes, one night trips totally count when the other people you're with checked bags! 
9. Eat a raw diet for 3 days straight: ya...so about that...
10. Turn my blog into a book 
11. Write a gratitude for a full year: currently in progress! It's amazing the things you're thankful for when you know you have to write something different every single day for an entire year! I highly recommend this!
12. Find a church and go regularly: DONE! Beau and I both recently found a church less than a mile from our house and we are really loving it! We actually get excited on Sunday mornings and look forward to the message for once! The fact that you can literally wear anything (and I mean ANYTHING) you want and our pastor is hysterical makes going to church THAT much better. 
13. Swim in Lake Michigan: possibly this summer?! We shall see! 
14. Grow blog to 6,500 followers: always a work in progress! And YES! Some bloggers may say they don't pay attention to/care about the followers. I'm pulling the BS card... 
15. Send handwritten cards once/week 
16. Renew our vows in April 2016: can we do this, like, tomorrow?! ;)
17. Have a baby: no set plans as of now but who knows?!
18. Go an entire week without social media: wahhhhh!! I don't wanna!! 
19. Host a party all on my own 
20. Start a new family tradition 
21. Take a vacation with just Beau and myself: planning one for next year! Hallelujah! 
22. Visit my family in Tennessee 
23. Send my mom on a vacation 
24. Get a puppy: Check! Check! Check! Well, almost! Our new baby girl will be home in 6-8 weeks! 
25. Be a leader in my company: always a work in progress! 
26. Buy Beau a Ford Raptor...in cash 
27. Wake up at 5am every week day 
28. Work out 3 times per week before work 
29. Rebuild savings account to at least $25,000 
30. Pay it forward in a really BIG way

My goal for 2013 is to complete 11 of the 30 to keep myself on track. It's only February and I've already knocked out 5. Can I get a hell ya?!

Proof yo:

{not pictured is #12, for obvious reasons...}

How are you doing on your 2013 goals? 

You DID set some, didn't you???

Remember...

Weekend & Puppy Update



Raise your hand if you want to go back and pretend it's Friday again?

 

{Raises hand.}

 

Unfortunately, I don't have any control over that and I'm pretty sure you don't either so it looks like we're stuck with Monday whether we like it or not. Boo.

 

And since we can't go back to the weekend, we can at least revisit it. Can't we?

one. Big beautiful sun on my Saturday morning run. (Y'all know me...I'm a sunrise/sunset chaser for life...)

two. Core challenge I've been doing from Pinterest. Amazing workout! I was definitely feeling it the next day...

three. Getting a little work in...playing catch up from the past couple of weeks.

four. Sneaky peek of this week's SPD link up project! ;)

five. Fresh highlights and a simple spring-inspired outfit! 

six. New spring time pretties from Sam Moon. So cheap...your life will be forever changed! I swear.

seven. New stools for our bar!

eight. Juicing for the week. (Sidenote: I recently discovered that you can freeze juice w/o losing all the nutrients! Who knew?!)

nine. Sunday night movie time with a drug-free Linds Lo. Who knew sweet Hallie from Parent Trap would turn out to be such a tramp?

And, per usual, I saved the best for last...

On late Friday night I got a call from our breeder letting us know our sweet baby girl had been born!!! We weren't expecting the mom to go into labor until late February so you can only imagine how excited we were to find out we'd be getting her 3 weeks sooner! 

Excuse the poor quality pic...this is all the breeder has sent us so far but aren't those little worms just precious?! My heart is so full! (& happy & excited & anxious!)

At 4 weeks old, we'll get to pick out ours and around 7-8 weeks, we get to bring her home so we're looking to have her by early April!

As for the name, well...that's in Beau's hands since it's his pup. While I'd love to call her "Oaklea", Beau is really liking the name "June"...or "Reba" (since she'll have red hair) but this is absolutely without a doubt NOT happening. Period. We're open to options so if you have any non-common, preferably one syllable girl dog names, feel free to leave them in the comments below! I mean, how cool would it be if one of my lucky followers got to name our pup?! Just sayin'...

Link up!

 

Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. - Tissue Paper Garland

Y'all...my trip to Vegas and tour of the Zappos headquarters was nothing short of incredible! Something I've never experienced before so I'm excited to share more about it later!! If you ever have the opportunity to visit Zappos...GO! 

I mean...I only got to sit at the CEO's desk...err-cubicle. Yes. Tony Hsieh has a cubicle! (And a very messy one, at that!)

But like I said...more on that later! 

Today we're all biznass for the weekly Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. link up yo!

Now that we're in our new home, I've quickly found out that if there's one thing in this life I absolutely love it's hosting parties, dinners, showers, you name it. There's just something about running around like a mad woman cleaning, cooking and decorating that totally puts me in my happy place. Weird. I know.

With a potential housewarming party plus lots-o-babies and weddings on the way...I was so inspired when I found this pin for DIY tissue paper tassel garland (say that five times fast...):

via

 Aaaand here's the version I created!

Simple, inexpensive and totally makes a statement. Precious, right?!

Here are the easy peasy steps:

::make your own::

1. To begin, fold your tissue paper in half and then in half again, making a square. Start cutting strips towards the fold to create the fringe, leaving about 1 inch uncut from the fold line. (My strips were about 1/2 inch thick.) FYI - one piece of tissue paper makes one tassel.

2. After all your strips are cut, unfold your tissue paper (careful not to rip it!) and begin tightly rolling your tissue paper down the middle.

3. Continue rolling down the middle, untangling your fridge as needed.

4. Fold in half and then twist creating the loop for hanging.

5. Repeat to create more tassels in various colors. Hang from string (or ribbon) and fall in love with your new DIY mantle decor!

Baby colors, wedding colors, team colors...you name it! Ooooh the possibilites! Feel free to pin this tutorial and use it for your next party or shower. I mean, I wouldn't totally hate that! ;)

Link up, y'all! There's nothing I love more than to plop my happy butt on the couch with a glass of wine and read about everyone's projects! Oh-and don't forget to head over to Katie's blog to see the adorable shelves her husby just built for her! Such a handyman that Billy is... ;)

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i LOVE love

Iono about y'all but there's just something that immediately fills my soul when I walk into every store in America this time of year to find it lined in everything from lips and hearts to pink and red. I think I speak for millions when I say Valentine's Day is definitely a woman's holiday...even if it was created by none other than Hallmark. ;)

If it were appropriate for a 26-year old woman to hand out Valentine's day cards...I would. Specifically the kind with Channing Tatum on the front...

WHEW! Now that we're all hot and bothered...

I just love love. Who am I kidding? I also love any reason to buy gifts. With Valentine's Day coming up, I wanted to share some gift ideas for anyone in your life...from your co-workers and furchildren, to your in-laws and even yourself. Because treating yourself to something nice every once in a while is a total necessity, right? Right.


While wine and presents are fun and all, I must say one of my absolute favorite Valentine's I ever spent with Beau was waking up that morning with a shiny little rock on my left hand and someone to call "my fiance". And to think that was THREE years ago already. Where the hay does the time go?!

I'm still not 100% sure what I'm getting my Valentine since I kinda spoiled him for his birthday, which, I might add, was less than a month ago. Any creative ideas are welcome!

What has been your favorite Valentine's gift to give to your guy?!

Hi weekend. Bye weekend.

Is it just me or is anyone else counting down 'til the next 3 day weekend? I mean, really. Two days is not long enough...

one. Let the triplet spoiling begin!
two. Casey & I @ Top Golf. She kicked butt while I cheered her on...err-boozed.
three. This happened and I'm not ashamed of it. #rememberedeveryword
four. Added to our Sbucks collection last week. Shout out to all my Charlotte girls!
five. My newest obsession...Essie Mod Square. Holy love, y'all!
six. Sunday OOTD. Maxis in February? I think yes!
seven. New all-natural soda called "Honest Fizz"...sweetened with organic stevia and erythritol. Heck to the yes!
eight. Super Bowl chili cookoff. Not to mention Beyonce totally KILLED the stage! You can't say she didn't rock it!
nine. Winner winner chicken dinner!

PSA to all my non-dairy peeps...I found out this weekend that Lisanatti makes a soy-free, dairy-free almond cheese and you can find it at your local Whole Foods! For any of you who can't have dairy...prepare to have your life changed forever!

Who's ready for The Bachelor tonight?! Don't forget this week is a two-episode special so we have the pleasure of seeing Sean work out and shower 2 nights in a row. High fives!

*Also happening this week: a trip to Vegas and a tour/training session at the Zappo's headquarters! I'll be posing updates on Instagram so if you don't follow me, get with it! (@MrsStephHoward)

How was your weekend?! Link up and share!