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Taking expensive ideas & turning them into my own ideas!

Archives for February 2013

{ Dresses, Just for You! }

by Filed Under: bridal, dresses, Easter dress, eShakti, product review 5 Comments

Spring is near and Easter is less than a month away! Have you chosen your Easter dress yet? If not, I would love  to introduce you to a fabulous company, eShakti. eShakti provides a variety of dress styles, from casual to formal, including bridal! These dresses can be personally customized just for YOU! By simply entering your measurements, your choice of dress will be made to fit you perfectly! And of course you can simply choose from your standard sizing chart if your prefer.

I ordered a darling knee-length dress with warm neutral tones. I was so excited when it arrived, I just couldn’t wait to try it on! I played around with a few different looks. First pairing it with an ivory peep-toe heel, next with a black suit coat and strappy black pumps and even my favorite leopard loafers. The versatility of this dress is great! One of my favorite things about this dress is it has pockets!! I plan on wearing mine for Easter with my ivory heels, but I love the look of the black accessories for a girls night out! What do you think?
As if you aren’t already excited enough, here is a special discount code GLMRSBRDE exclusively created for my readers to get 20% OFF when you shop at eShakti – valid today thru 03/20/13.

* Disclosure: This is a product review and all opinions are my own!

Fresh Veggie Grilled Cheese

by Filed Under: fresh veggie grilled cheese, fresh veggies, grilled cheese, healthy dinner, quick dinner, vegetables 38 Comments

Looking for something healthy, quick and delicious for dinner? You’re going to love this sandwich, it’s full of flavor! This is one I’ll be making again, and again!

Here’s what you’re going to need:

  • fresh spinach
  • ripe avocado
  • sliced red onion
  • rinsed and sliced baby bella mushrooms
  • thinly sliced mozzarella cheese
  • lightly buttered bread slices
Pre-heat your skillet on low heat, rinse and slice your veggies. Lightly butter each slice of bread and cut thin slices of mozzarella cheese. Begin with layering cheese then layering veggies ( I did, mushrooms, red onion, spinach and topped with avocado) and remaining slice of bread. Turn the heat up to a low-medium heat. I have a gas range so I tend to keep it lower. Flip only once, browning to your liking for each side. Slice and EN-JOY!!! Even the kids loved this sandwich (minus the onions!)
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Homemade Dishwasher Tablets

by Filed Under: all natural cleaning, diy, homemade, homemade dishwasher tabs 59 Comments

Have you ever thought about making your own dishwasher tablets? If so, I encourage you to! I made my own for the first time the other day and they’re awesome! Previously, I would use Cascade liquid gels which run about $12 for 60. For all the ingredients needed for homemade tablets, it cost me around $10 for 300.

Here’s what you’re going to need:

  • 2 gallon bucket
  • tablespoon measuring spoon
  • measuring cup
  • glass bowl
  • 2 ice cube trays
  • 1 55 oz box of all natural super washing soda
  • 1 76 oz box of borax detergent booster
  • 1 two pound carton epsom salt
  • 1 bottle 100% lemon juice
Grab your two gallon bucket and pour in the washing soda, detergent booster and espom salt, mix well. I used a two cup- measuring cup to measure out my dry ingredients into a glass bowl. Begin pouring in small amounts of lemon juice and stirring. You will want a smooth, but slightly clumpy consistency. For every 2 cups of dry powder, I used about 4 tablespoons of lemon juice. Begin filling your ice cube trays and pushing down the mixture until full. I sat mine on top of the microwave, and it took less than two days for them to dry. I then popped them out of the trays and placed them into my dishwasher tab box I already had from before. If you find that your mixture is breaking easily, or crumbly, you haven’t added enough lemon juice. I encourage you to also use lemon juice in the rinse aid section of your dishwasher to prevent spotting on dishes.
You will have a lot extra to make as you need it! I placed mine in a plastic storage container. This is also great to add a small amount down the disposal, it smells wonderful!!
** Update: A good suggestion since doing these would be to fill the ice tray half way full, they will fit better in the dispenser!
** Also, if you’re having trouble with spotting and the lemon juice doesn’t help, try vinegar in the rinse aid department of your dishwasher.
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{ Fab Pins of the Week }

by Filed Under: blog love, fab pins of the week, flowers, Pinterest, Spring 2 Comments

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1. We will be re-doing our formal dining room furniture this Spring, and it closely resembles this large piece in this photo. I ADORE the two tone, yet sophisticated look of this entire design!!
2. This tub, oh my goodness!!! How absolutely incredible is it? Sure way to add class to any bathroom style! 
3. Really loving this combination of mint green, gray and gold! The accessories really make it for me! Love the chunky gold bracelet and necklace! 
4. My favorite part about Spring is the gorgeous flowers it entails! What a stunning bouquet of dahlias  ranunculus, lisianthus and brunia berries.
Are you following me on Pinterest yet? Click HERE!

{ iPad Mini Giveaway!!! }

by Filed Under: blog love, free, freebies, giveaway, ipad, ipad giveaway, ipad mini 2 Comments

1 // 2 // 3 // 4
5 // 6 // 7 // 8
9 // 10 // 11 // 12
13 // 14 // 15 // 16
17 // 18 // 19 // Me

Just a few rules before we get this par-tay started

*You must complete all the mandatory entries or you will be disqualified.
*Please make sure you give additional info where asked- it makes it easier to verify when you win 🙂
*Please see all the terms and conditions on the Rafflecopter.
*It’s not mandatory, but you may want to thank some of the lovely ladies above for hosting this awesome giveaway!

And of course do all the entries you can to increase your chances, I won an iPad mini in December from a blog giveaway so it really is possible!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


{ What I Wore… }

by Filed Under: boots, fashion, ootd, skinny jeans, stripes, style, what i wore, what I wore Wednesday 256 Comments

I’m loving all things striped right now! It’s such a fun way to add some spunk to your wardrobe! It’s easy to dress up, wear casually or even for running errands in! For today’s outfit, I paired my black and white striped shirt with gray skinnies, a skinny polka dot belt, gray boots and silver accessories.

{ Shirt: Old Navy, Gray Skinny Jeans: Gap, Boots: Go Jane, Skinny Polka Dot Belt: Old Navy }

pleated poppy

STYLELIXIR Style Sessions

{ Nothing “Sweeter” }

by Filed Under: cupcakes, ombre, ombre icing, Valentines, Valentines day 23 Comments

What’s “sweeter” than making something sweet for the ones you love?! How about some healthier, Valentines cupcakes! By healthier, I mean omitting the oil used for 1/3 cup of apple sauce. Prepare your cake according to the box for the remaining. Another fun tip, pour the cake batter into a measuring cup to perfectly dispense into your cupcake liners! Easy- peasy.. I did this with the baby on my hip 😉 The cupcakes came out perfect! Also, came up with using a butter knife to remove the hot- out-of- the oven cupcakes without burning your fingertips! I know, I’m full of tips today, ha!

For the icing, I attempted an ombre frosting, as well as, chocolate. Here’s what I did for the ombre: I put vanilla frosting and vanilla frosting I added food color to, to make it a pink-ish color, to a snack-size ziploc and lightly “squished” together. Cut a very small hole in the corner of the bag, this is now your piping bag! The icing isn’t completely mixed, this causes it to create the ombre effect! The first cupcake turned out perfect!! With a cranky baby on my hip, it was a little hard for me to continue with the others, so I simply mixed the icing creating a pink. I sprinkled on some heart candies and voila, something sweet for the kids and hubby 🙂

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{ Spring Porch Inspiration }

by Filed Under: flowers, porch decor, Spring, Spring 2013, spring porch inspiration 10 Comments

I am so ready for Spring, how about you? Since we got the house in late Spring, I didn’t get the chance to plant in my flower beds last year, so I’m dying to add some color to my yard this year! Not only do I want my yard to be in tip-top shape, I want to create an inviting porch for my guests to enjoy when they arrive! Here’s what I’ve came up with for a little inspiration…

Some of the flowers I plan on planting this year will be dahlias, hydrangeas, and ranunculus. What are your favorite flowers?

{ Fun- Kid Valentines }

by Filed Under: DIY crafts, diy valentines, kids craft, kids valentines, Valentines, Valentines day

Valentines Day is a fun day to show those you love, just how special they are to you! Usually we just buy and prepare store-bought Valentines for Christian to pass out at school. But, this year I wanted to make it a little more personal and make our own 🙂

I found the perfect “tag” cards, $1 for 8 of them, at Michaels. I bought two packs since my son has about 20 kids in his class. Each pack of tags came as a dual card, so I simply cut them in half to create two cards! I had also ordered the cutest heart washi tape from PYP, but you can order a similar one here. I created a personalized design using PicMonkey and printed them onto the cards. Each card says ” You rock!! Happy Valentines Day, From Christian”. I love all the different, funky fonts you can use!! Christian has decided to give pop rocks as the candy! Perfect for our “theme”! I cut a small piece of washi tape and fish-tailed each end and added it to the bottom of each card.

These were around $2 for the 20, you can’t beat that!!

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