Wednesday, May 31, 2017

White Pants and Stripe Shirts

Happy Hump Day! I love short weeks, mine is even shorter as I don't have to work on Friday, yay! Today is the last week of the Fashion Files theme, but don't worry The Blended Blog is going to continue the fashion link up each Wednesday, link up what you've been wearing, whether you copied Pinterest or came up with it on your own. I'm also linking up with  Shay, Mel and Sheaffer for What's Up Wednesday.

What I'm wearing:

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I got my new white jeans (similar) and knew that I immediately wanted to start wearing them. They are so comfy, it's unbelievable. Seriously everyone needs a pair. I got them at Nordsrom Rack for half the price, so look there first. Anyway, off to Pinterest I went to find a look I could do with my new white jeans. I found the perfect outfit, I had everything in my closet, what luck!



I didn't have a necklace that quite look like that, but I really love this blue one with the outfit. This was actually going to be an outfit I wore to Toronto, but changed it up, when I realized I have 4 outfits and they were all the same, so I had to switch some colors out.

 
Jeans (similar) // Shirt (similar) // Jacket (similar here and here) // Shoes (similar here and here) // Necklace (similar here and here)




What we're eating this week:

Yesterday Mr. smoked some brisket and it turned out pretty darn good. Next time we do have some tweeks, but it was really good, and best thing I didn't have to do anything! Mom made the potato salad, I did make angel food cake and a creme brulee, but that was a necessity because the eggs were going to expire...FYI, angel food cake takes 12 egg whites and creme burlee takes 10 egg yolks, so they are a perfect match. Oh wait I did try corn on the cob on the BBQ and it turned out fantastic, I definitely will be making that on repeat this summer.




Mom also brought the watermelon, I think my kids might turn into a watermelon.



What I'm reminiscing about:

Reminiscing about my cousin.  She fought the hard fight, 8 years to be exact. She never gave up, not even in the end she thought she could beat it. She always remained optimistic, even in the bleakest of days and news, she never lost her smile, sense of humor and love for live. She's out of pain, joining our grandparents, aunts and uncles up there in heaven.



So glad that I got to see her one last time in April.



What I'm loving:

The fact that Mini Fox's hair is long enough to put in curlers, my love for sponge curlers as a kid was deep. Now I get to share that love with Mini and I am loving every second of it.



This was taken on the same day, I have no idea why she is wearing two different outfits #threeanger.



What we've been up to:

Hanging out with friends and enjoying the kids being slightly older and not having to get home for nap time. 






What I'm dreading:

Currently nothing, but talk to me come August when my baby starts 1st grade. I feel like that is "real" school, because it's all day and probably has real homework.

What I'm working on:

On Baby Fox's Minion Party. Invitations sent, now to think of decorations and food. I am pretty sure that we are going to order food from here. Other then that I have no idea what else I'm going to do. Off to Pinterest I go!

Haha, he was acting upset because he was in jail, he's such a cutie.


Then this one has to be exactly like big brother, I think she pretty much nailed it.



What I'm excited about:

Lot's of swimming this summer. We signed the kids up for swim lessons, this summer is going to be way better than last summer as Mini Fox is water safe, we think by the end of the summer, we won't have to be in the pool the whole time, more like outside with them, but not necessarily in the water.



What I'm watching/reading:

I'm actually reading a book! I'm reading Before I Fall and am really liking it. I know it was a movie and when I can read a book before watching the movie I do. I think it comes out on video today, but I knew I wasn't going to watch it in the theater, so reading the book I am. I have no idea how it's going to end.

 

What I'm listening to:

Currently listening to Tyler Ward as I write this.

 

Before that I was listening to/discovered today Samantha Harvey. Seriously there are so many talented people out there. I am so happy that they have a way to make a living off without having to find someone to sign them.

What I'm looking forward to next month:  

Mini Fox's dance performance, we just picked up her costume on Friday and I can tell you it's is probably the cutest thing I've ever seen!  Need to get some good photos of her in her costume. I'm dying...dying! Her teacher put on some glitter lotion at the end of class on Friday and now she wants some, anyone know where to find that? I tried Target and didn't see anything. Help this Mama out!

  
Bonus question: What is your favorite Vacation Spot:

My favorite vacation spot is anywhere my family is, but added bonus if someone is bringing me drinks the kids are happy and swimming and we get to lounge around all day and do nothing. Currently that spot is Cabo, only because that is the last place we went we did this at. OH man those tacos were so good at poolside...dreaming of that tonight for sure.






Linking up here

Monday, May 29, 2017

Summer Plans Blog Hop

Hello Foxy Friends! Today I'm joining The Blended Blog ladies for some Summer planning talk. If you're coming over here from Andrea's blog, welcome!

Last year we took a trip to Cabo...I didn't do a full recap, but mentioned it here and here. With that trip and then we're trying to save up to go to Hawaii in 2018 for a couple of weeks, we decided to not take a big trip this summer. Instead we're doing a few long weekend getaways.

First trip we have is a trip with one of my bridesmaids and their family. They were living in D.C. area and finally made the move to Cali, only probably is we are about 7 hours away from each other, so we decided to meet in the middle and go to San  Luis Obispo. Curtis and I spent our 5 year anniversary there and had so much fun. Excited to take the kids here and go to the beach and hang out with good friends. The last time we went was for our 5 year anniversary. We had so much fun, knowing it was going to be one of our last trips before kids.



Second trip is another long weekend and we're going to Sequoia National Park with my brother and sister-in-law. They are hiking aficionados so, I'm doing none of the planning and going to follow their lead and do what they want. I assume we'll take some hikes, see some nature and try not to get eaten alive by the mosquito. This time we're staying in a hotel.  I've never been here, so I'm excited to explore and hike around.

Third Trip is the last weekend before school starts, and we're going with some friends up to Yosemite (about a 7 hour drive with no stops) to do a little camping and hiking. The kids keep asking when this is going to happen, they are so stinkin' excited to camp in a tent and do the whole thing. I'm nervous to say the least, but I'll just go in knowing that none of us are going to get any sleep. Monday morning is going to be rough for Baby Fox as he starts his first 8-2:30 day of school...fingers crossed he stays awake!

The last time we were in Yosemite, Mr. and I hiked Half Dome, long day, but worth it! We won't be doing half dome, but hopefully we'll be doing a lot of small hikes with the kids.




Those are the only trips we have on the books right now, and then we plan on doing a lot of swimming and hanging out with friends!



Now stop on over to Christy's blog to see what her summer plans are!




Friday, May 26, 2017

The Blended Blog Favorites

Happy Friday! Man it is hard coming back to work after such a great long weekend! Glad it is Friday and a long weekend, woo hoo! I thought today I would share some more Toronto stuff and tell you my favorite from each of the ladies from The Blended Blog.

In order of how we all met up.


Alison -

I was so happy that the first person I saw was Alison. Waiting for at the airport, wondering if it was going to be all awkward and stuff...it wasn't and I am so glad that we got to see each other first. Sort of eased my nerves knowing someone before going to meet the rest. Although Alison is on the quiet side, she is super funny and randomly comes up with these one liners that make your sides hurt from laughing so hard.



Katie -

Oh goodness, Katie I'm pretty sure is never sad, she always has this smile on her face like what she just did was the best thing that has ever happened to you. She lights up the room and her laugh is contagious. Plus she's a really good shopping partner, thanks for helping me shop till I dropped!


Andrea -

Reading Andrea's blog you can read how excited she is about life, and you wonder can someone be that happy all the time? Yep you can, and Andrea is. She is one to make you feel so loved upon meeting you and really gives the BEST hugs that makes you feel like no matter what is wrong with life, her hug, smile and laugh can make the most unhappy day wonderful. I cannot wait to get to know her better and share all of the desserts with her. Plus her wardrobe? Better in person than seeing it on the blog.



Lisa -

I feel like I didn't get enough time with Lisa!  She is gorgeous and her clothes, man can I just say I want everything? She is a go with the flow kind of lady who made me feel not so crazy when I said it was cold out. She is the one who will listen to you and makes you feel like you are the most important thing at that moment.Thanks for trying all that food at dinner first before I even took a bite, I appreciate that.



Shaunacey -

My roomie this year and I am so glad that I did. She is one of the funniest people and keeps it real all the time, she says what everyone is thinking and I love her even more for that. I loved our mornings getting ready and talking make up and living real life, instead of online. Like we have been friends forever and are not just meeting for the second time. I cannot wait to see pictures of your newest addition!



Nicole -

My other roomie this year. I have been following her weight loss journey and man does she motivate. She is the one that took all of the photos and can I say how thankful I am for that? In my family no one brings a camera any more because they know I always have mine. It was nice to sort of relax and enjoy myself. She is hilarious and I loved every second of our mornings together. Talking make up, sharing what we each brought and coveting each others' make up stash, and then helping her to rationalize the reason she made VIB status. Also all the desserts, thanks for indulging with me on late night chocolate snacks and ice cream before lunch.



Deena -

What can I say about Deena that I have not already? She is one of the most caring people I know. She makes you feel like you have been friends forever. Her spirit and warmth is contagious. She loves to give hugs and wears her heart on her sleeve. I love when she gets her Deena thinking look, I'm always wondering what thoughts are swirling around in her head. She has the best ideas and makes The Blended Blog tick, thank you friend. I am forever grateful for all that you do!



Christy -

I knew that we would have so much in common. I could tell by our short interactions, and I was getting so excited before the trip to meet you as we were texting back and forth. I knew we would get along and pretty much feel like we have been friends forever. You have the cutest hair cut and can I say head shape without sounding weird, hehe. You are one of my favorite shopping partners and love that we fueled each others shopping habits.



Whitney -

You are are just as cute in real life as you are on your blog. Your smile and personality are so bubbly, you make me want to be around you all the time, soaking up everything you have to say. I loved getting to know you better and hearing all of your stories, I could have listening to you for days. That sounded weird, but it's true. Can we talk about your perfect hair for a second? Your curls, perfection.



Lana -

Last but certainly not least, Lana. My friend from the PNW. I am so sad that your flight got delayed and I got a few less hours with you. You give the best hugs and I look forward to them. Though this is only our second time meeting in person,  I feel like you are an old friend that I can tell anything to. You make it so easy to talk to you and not feel judged by what I say. I look forward to many more trips with you.



Thank you ladies for accepting me for me and not judging and only supporting. I could never have imagined when I started this blog 3 years ago to find such a great group of woman. I look forward to what our future holds both together and within our own lives. I will be cheering along with you. Love you all and now I can really call you really good friends.

Honorable Mention: While these girls were not there, I do want to mention them because they are after all a part of The Blended Blog.

Photo taken last year when we went to Vegas
Carrie: I met her last year and she is just the sweetest lady. She has a way of when you are talking to her makes you feel like you are the most important person there. I hope that next year she will be able to make it as well!

Photo taken last year in Vegas
Sheila: I also met her last year, we actually shared a bed, and sharing a bed with a stranger, well you bond after that, haha. She is the one to get you out of bed to go running at o'dark thirty, she motivates like no other. and then teaches you snapchat and you laugh for hours about nothing.

Linking up here

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Swing Dress and Chambray

Happy Wednesday Foxy Friends! Today is another week of Fashion Files with The Blended Blog, where we find inspiration in everyday life, or something I like to call Pinterest. This week I decided I wanted to find a new way to style my swing dress I got from Nordstrom. When I saw Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy I knew I had to recreate that look. She has such a great down to earth style that I love. Of course I would find a look I like from her on Pinterest.



Dress (similar) // Chambray (similar) // Shoes



I'm wearing two bracelets here. The bangle and then the middle almost puzzle looking bracelet. Which my grandmother gave to me just before she passed away. I just love it and that she picked out this bracelet for me to wear and remember her by.



I used this palette to create the eyeshadow look, and this lipstick/lipgloss.



So what have you be recreating lately?






Linking up here

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

The Blended Blog Does Toronto

Back again linking up with Andrea for Show and Tell, this time we're talking traveling. I thought it would be fitting to talk about my trip this weekend to Toronto with The Blended Blog ladies. I'm going to follow Christy's lead and do a recap today and then Friday I'll share what I love about each one of the ladies. *Warning this is going to be a long post, but I want to remember it all.

We started planning over a year ago and finally the weekend had come! I packed, unpacked and repacked my bags too many times to count. Laying out all of the clothes, man talk about nerve wracking! I left Thursday morning, super early, got there with plenty of time to spare and had breakfast at a grill cheese truck, it was cute, they made it look like a food truck in the airport. Then off to catch my flight, Deena had asked everyone to take an outfit selfie, so in the middle of the floor with tons of people around I took one of the team and took a selfie.


To my surprise I didn't have anyone sitting next to me on the flight there, that was a nice added bonus.

The lipstick I am wearing is the Kylie Cosmetics Velvet Lip Kit in Rosie

When I arrived and I waited for both Alison and Katie to get there so we could share a ride to the hotel. Once we found each other we took a 2 trains and a taxi, and adventure but no one else I would rather navigate Toronto with.



When we finally got to the hotel Lisa, Andrea, Deena and Christy were waiting at the restaurant, holding down the fort while people slowly started to arrive. We were all starving and we all ordered the burger it did not disappoint.


Andrea was the sweetest thing and brought us all little packages to enjoy, one of them being our very own TBB tank top! Plus some personalize M&M's.


We said our goodnights and went to our rooms. Lana got in the latest because of delays and I couldn't not see her, so I went over there and hung out for a bit and caught up.



Saturday morning we all met for a free breakfast, nothing is better than getting a free hot breakfast. We stayed at the Grand Hotel and Suites in Toronto, highly recommend, we stayed in the two bedroom suites.



Then we hopped on a bus for what seemed like hours...oh wait it was hours.


Dying of boredom, why not take some more selfies.



First we waited an hour for other people to get on the bus, then we drove around for a long while and randomly dropped off 2 people at the outlets (random fact when we picked them up 7 hours later, they only had 3 bags, who shops for 7 hours and get three small bags?), moving on, then we stopped at the cutest town for a quick break and look around.


 
The others got coffee...at the cutest coffee shop. Don't think I didn't go around and make all those bags line up...
 
 
Nicole and I got ice cream...thank you Nicole for not making me feel like a freak and getting ice cream with me. Ice cream is always a good idea in my book.
 
 
Then what do you do when multiple people are wearing the same shoes? This picture makes me want to buy a pair...
 

Then a picture of the converse girls.


 
Next up was wine tasting and I tried Ice Wine for the first time, so delicious and something we've never had, so I got a bottle to take home.




Then, finally we got to Niagara Falls, seriously, the pictures just do not do it justice! I think everyone should see it once. I cannot wait to take my family back to see it. We only went to the Canadian side, so I would want to go to both sides. First up was lunch, so delicious, or it could have been we hadn't eaten since 7:30am and it was now 1:30pm.


After lunch was our boat tour, yep we got up close and personal with the water. See that boat there...yep we were about to go there.



They gave us these lovely red ponchos to wear.




Lisa enjoyed the falls from inside, it was pretty windy and wet, hehe.


The falls were absolutely stunning. Here is a video I took, yep was willing to sacrifice my phone for this video...luckily no phones were harmed in the making of this video.


 

 
After the boat tour we did a little walking around the town, but buying lots of sweets. Have you heard of these, I'm still not sure how to say it. I thought it was a little too sweet for my liking, but a few bites were really good.



After a bazillion hours (or 2) we arrived back at our hotel and got ready for dinner/surprise shower for Shaunacey.


We went to El Catrin and had an awesome 7 course meal. It was Tapas style so we got to taste a bit of everything. Everyones favorite was a corn dish that I could have eaten gallons of.



Sunday was a leisure day and we met for breakfast at 10am and then braved the cold (for me) weather and walked 9 miles  around Toronto seeing all that it had to offer. See that wind in our hair? Yep it was cold and at this point I was doubting my outfit choice. In the end it turned out okay, when in the sun it was perfectly almost warm.






There were so many colorful buildings and some great graffiti walls.


We were getting a bit hungry so we stopped to eat at The Lakeview, really good. Thank you Andrea for sharing a meal with me, it was picture perfect sharing my first Poutine with you.



speaking of graffiti walls, we did a whole photoshoot in an well known ally, and it was definitely an experience. As most of you know taking pictures is sort of embarrassing at times, but in this alley, everyone there was taking outfit pictures/artistic ones, it was so cool to see so many people using the same background and doing their thing, those picture to be disclosed at a later date. But here is one that we took in that alley.


and another, cause what's a photoshoot without at least one group selfie.


Some other fun stuff around town.




We ended up doing some shopping, and then went straight to dinner. No breaks for us, so what we left in at 10am is what we ate dinner in at 8pm. It was sad, we felt like we had just all arrived and now we're sharing our last meal together.


We had lots of laughs, talking, sharing and everything in between. Sunday was a sad day, after over a year of planning it was all ending, too soon! Let's make it a day longer next time ladies shall we? We all wore Andrea's shirts she got us to breakfast for one last meal and of course pictures and a selfie, duh.


You would be surprised at how hard it was to find someone to take a picture of us...people seriously don't know how to take pictures, there were only so many people we could ask before it started to get awkward, Oh well this one will have to do.


Note: If you've been asked to take a picture, don't a)think that putting the camera at your waist and then taking the picture is going to make anyone look good b)get a bunch of ceiling and no feet in the picture, who wants ceiling in their picture? No one. That's who. c)take one picture and hand camera back...it's digital buddy, take a few in quick succession.

A few of the girls left and then it was just us, who wanted to do some more shopping and had 8 hours before their flights.


Roomie picture! What better place than with a Nordies right behind us.


Speaking of which, me and Christy bought the same purse, I knew I was going to like her in real life, I just knew it!

 
We headed to the airport 3.5 hours early and then I almost end up missing my flight, well sort of, they changed the gate last minute, and loaded everyone 30 minute before they said they were and were calling last calls when they should have just started loading, say what? At least I made it and there was no turbulence and I had a window seat with a gorgeous view.
 
 
Until next time ladies!

Linking up here