Monday, April 30, 2018

Girls in gingham

I CANNOT believe today is the LAST day of April! And if you remember back when I said my new years resolutions... well I wanted to do at least four posts a month! I was ONE post short last month so I am NOT going to fail this month! lol

For today's post I am showing a truly classic spring/summer print on me and my girls. You can truly not go wrong with these dresses and skirt. They are so flattering and the ties in the front give them interest and volume. 

Mama's look
Booties (similar)

Stella and Evelette's Look








Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Brunching with the family, and how I keep us all "matching"

When the weather turns nice, we tend to do a lot more "brunching". Which just so happens to be one of my favorite things to do! I mean who doesn't like to go to cute places, sit around and be served the most important meal of the day?! 

So for this blog post I wanted to share my secret for keeping us all "matching". Does this sound unusual for a family of six to be coordinating on a regular basis?! lol probably! But I love it. I love being a "polished" bunch just as much as I love wearing a "polished" outfit myself. Like I heard one time, "dressing well is a form of good manners". And I plan on having my family very well mannered! 

So my big trick on keeping us all in sync? Simple! I only buy clothes of a certain color scheme! I have my fav colors and I stick to them and viola we always match! The colors I love for our family are, pink(duh), white, grey, blue, and tan. Turns out all these colors work really well together so we always end up looking like we intentionally dressed that way (which in a way we did) Do they have to be those colors? Of course not! Choose any colors you like but try choosing colors that all work well together and you'll end up looking like you walked off a styled shoot! 

We seriously get stopped all the time by people complimenting us and I am so proud! I think in a way dressing well has gone away a bit, and I am totally up for inspiring people to bring it back! Links for our looks below!


Mama's look
Sweater (similar) Sweater (similar)
Clear Sandal (my FAV shoe right now)

Stella and Evelette's look

Holt's look








 




Tuesday, April 17, 2018

My new favorite self tanner!

I am so excited to share my new favorite sunless tanner with you! I love that it's made with only natural ingredients and it's soo effective! I am pictured down below with only one application! 

How I apply:
After I take a shower I apply this self tanning lotion all over my body with a tanning mitt. I try to be sparing on areas that have looser skin, i.e. elbows, and knees. Then I let dry WHILE I blow dry my hair (sans clothes). After I am done with drying my hair I apply a regular lotion over the top of my tanner (I find this makes the lotion more blended and streak free) and then I get dressed. That's it! Your skin gradually becomes darker throughout the day and turns to this beautiful golden tan! I usually apply once a week and this keeps me that golden tan, which is especially nice this time of year! 



Jumpsuit (similar)

Saturday, April 7, 2018

My top 10 healthy "go to" snacks

Since I have dropped over 40 lbs, I have had so many questions on what I have done to do so. So today I thought I would share my snack secrets and to be honest these are the things that really get me through, because lets be real I LOVE to snack. A big part of keeping me on track, is making sure I have these snacks on hand, so I'm not tempted to make unhealthy choices. 

Below I am sharing my top ten healthy snacks and when in a day I would eat them. I am completely kicking myself though because I forgot to take a picture of my protein balls which are my number ONE go-to snack. I have a protein ball everyday after I wake up and do my morning devotions (usually around 6:30) and then I have a second one at 9:30. Why 9:30? because routine is key for me, even if I'm not that terribly hungry then, I still eat it. It's the perfect amount of time between breakfast and lunch. I have found having these snacks during the day helps me to have something to look forward to so I don't feel like I'm going without. 


This popcorn is my absolute fav! Richard isn't even that crazy for popcorn but he loves this stuff. The flavor is so good and we get big bags of it from costco. I will have this every night (around 8pm), and about a cereal bowl full. 
 We love these crispy ranch chickpeas from Trader joes. I don't have these as often but when I really just need something different I'll try a handful of these along with my nighttime popcorn.
 These coconut clusters are sooo yummy from trader joes! I eat these about the same as the chickpeas. Very rarely along with my popcorn. So that means I have my popcorn every night but maybe once a week I'll have some chickpeas or the coconut clusters to go with it. 
 If you love peanut butter you'll love these bamba snacks from trader joes. They remind me of a cheese puff but peanut butter flavored instead. I'll eat these about as much as the chickpeas and coconut clusters. So once a week i'll have one of these "extra" snacks at night. 
 I have one of these rx bars everyday at around 3pm. This is about when I pick up the kids from school, so I eat it in the carpool lane. I also have it along with an almond milk latte and it totally tides me over for dinner. 
 The vegetables and gauc and the apples and peanut butter below, are what I have if I'm home and I really want something different besides an rx bar for my afternoon snack. 

I am including these three drinks below as a snack because I will have these along with my snacks during the day if I'm needing a little something extra. Especially if I'm still hungry after lunch, the kumbucha really curbs my sweet tooth. 
 These last two snacks I'll have one or the other every single night along with my popcorn. When I have the kosher pickles I will eat 3-4. When I have the kimchi I have about a quarter of the jar. Not sure what it is about these guys but it somehow curbs my urge to binge eat at night. lol! 

I really hope this gives you guys some fresh ideas for healthy snacks. If you try some of these that you haven't before, let me know what you think!