What I Wore Wednesday

This is quickly becoming my favorite day of the week! I need to run to the restroom (for the full-length mirror) and snap a photo of what I wore today, but here is my outfit from Monday -- minus my boots I had already taken off.

My "skinny" jeans are from Old Navy. I told DC that when I get to my 20 pound goal I want to go buy another pair of "skinny" jeans from there. I love them and could wear them every day of the week!

My cardigan is from Old Navy. I wish it was a little longer, but it works.

My shirt is from Forever 21 -- size large! Yes, I bought something from Forever 21 and it was a size large. In fact, everything I tried on from that store was a size large and fit well. I got so many compliments on my shirt at school and one of the other teachers (someone who I totally admire their style) said she had the same shirt. Made me feel cool for a minute.

You can't see it, but I'm wearing a super cute necklace I also bought at Forever 21 for a $1.98. I'll try to take a picture of it later.

***UPDATED***

This picture really doesn't do it justice, but I loved my outfit today. I was wearing skinny jeans from Maurices (I could really use a size smaller!), a red top from Old Navy that is a few years old, a cardigan from Target from last spring and a DownEast basics shirt underneath. My shoes are from Sugar and I bought them a few years ago at Famous Footwear. 

I really need to get better lighting to take these photos!

Golf, anyone?

I'm loving that people are actually reading my blog -- especially my husband!

When I woke up this morning I got this super sweet e-mail from DC after he had read my Friend Making Monday post yesterday:

My cute little bunny heart ... this sentence here made me chuckle: It’s neat to see her star struck like during her interview with George Stephanopoulos when Jack Nicklaus surprised her.

Jack Nicklaus, as in the Golden Bear, the greatest golfer to ever live? :P

You were probably wanting to put Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), who is a Laker fanatic.

I love you bunny!

My mistake! When I was typing up my post I started to type and then wasn't sure how to spell his last name. Nicklaus was the first one who came up so I thought I was good to go.

Just for visual clarification here are photos of the two men:

Golfer

Actor.

Here is a link to the interaction between Jennifer Lawrence and Jack Nicholson that I was talking about :)

Friend Making Monday -- Questions and Answers

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today! I really love Friend Making Monday and I can’t thank Kenlie enough for coming up with such interesting and thought-provoking questions! Go check out her blog and make sure to leave a comment here so I know who is reading this :)

Friend Making Monday –

Questions and Answers

1. Did you watch the Oscars? If so, who did you enjoy seeing most?  Yes, we had the Oscars on, but I wasn’t sitting down the whole time. Actually the only time I was sitting down was during the opening sequence and the in memory part. I really enjoyed Seth McFarlane as the host. He was very easy on the eyes. I didn’t really know who he was before the Oscars and I don’t know that I’m necessarily a fan now, but I don’t mind looking at him. I really liked Jennifer Lawrence. I know it’s kind of cliché and I haven’t seen Silver Linings Playbook yet (but I want to). I just think she handles herself with such class and she is absolutely beautiful and confident. It’s neat to see her star struck like during her interview with George Stephanopoulos when Jack Nicklaus surprised her.

2. Do you drink meal replacement shakes, smoothies, etc?  I don’t. I really like to eat my calories, not drink them so a meal replacement just leaves me wanting more. I used to drink Slim Fast for breakfast/morning snack when I was in high school, but I remember it being kind of chalky. I do want to get into juicing and use protein powder in that, but I’m not into replacing a meal with a drink.

3. Share one thing you have done to help someone in the last week? I wish I had some big awesome story, but I don’t. The thing I have been working on is saying no to other people because I’m so overloaded right now. I had the opportunity to help a couple of different people at work last week, but I said no because I knew it would stress me out more and I couldn’t handle that. One thing I did do was be there (I think) for a friend on Saturday night. I noticed some messages on her Facebook page so I contacted her to see what was going on and we ended up having a good conversation. I hope just talking helped her a little and took her mind off of some things. I have plans of sending her a little something in the mail this week, I just need to stop by Starbucks and pick it up.

4. What is the tastiest thing you ate last week?  On Saturday night for dinner I made some whole grain rice and turkey meatballs (from Costco). I poured some BBQ sauce on the meatballs and they are definitely some of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten! We also had green beans with the meal and some crescent rolls.

5. Think of one fun thing that you could do this week without spending any money to do it.  I really need to pull out the Wii and so some stepping on it. I always have fun doing that and I just haven’t (in a really long time). I also think playing bowling and Just Dance on the Wii with the kids (or at least LD) would be a lot of fun.

6. Share one place that you’ve been to and would like to visit again.  I really want to go back to Paris (which I am in 2014) so I would have to say that I would like to go back to Venice and this time take my hubby. I had a blast going with one of my BFFs, Jami, but I would definitely like to experience the romantic side of the city.

7. Do you prefer Facebook or Twitter?  I don’t really have an option on this one because I only have Facebook. I recently got rid of my Twitter and Instagram accounts because of some issues at work. I don’t really miss it and sometimes I wish I didn’t even have Facebook. It’s a valuable tool, I just think it is a major time sucker.

8. What is your favorite vegetable? I really love green beans! They are delicious. We are having some squash as a side for dinner tonight so I’ll have to come back and let you know how that goes.  

9. Share a goal that you have for the month of March.  I would really like to get to my goal of 20 pounds lost which is my 10% goal. I know that I can do it and I’m excited to know how it will feel to accomplish something I’ve been working toward for a long time. I am also signed up for a half marathon on March 16 and I would like to see an improvement on my time. I don’t really care what my time is, I just want an improvement from the last time I ran.

10. Share a quote that inspires you.  “If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. ” by Anthony Robbins.

What I Wore Wednesday

Another week and another photo of me! I took this one in my daughter's room again. How come she has a full length mirror and I don't?! I guess I do (in the hallway) but it doesn't work well for taking a self-portrait.

With this outfit I was kind of experimenting and I actually like how it turned out. I've been wearing my skinny jeans (can they be called skinny if they are size 18?!) a lot lately, but always with my boots. I know that as we turn to spring I won't want to be wearing my boots anymore so I thought I would try the jeans rolled up a little with some flats.

The green skinny jeans are from Target (I got them on clearance, of course!) and the cardigan is from Old Navy. The flats are Bobs that I bought from shesteals.com and the belt I found on clearance at Maurices. It is actually too big now so I probably need to punch another hole in it.

The floral printed top is from Dress Barn. Yes, you  heard me right -- I bought something from a store called Dress Barn. I always hesitated going in there because I thought, "who wants to buy clothes from a barn?!" but I actually found some really cute stuff there -- including my favorite earrings!

I know the picture is hard to tell, but I'm wearing a new necklace from Forever 21 ($1.98!) and cute earrings from there as well. I also have on a bow ring that DC "bought" me from Kohl's last year for Christmas. And by "bought" I mean I picked it out and paid for it and he gave it to me as a present. :)

Friend Making Monday -- Blogger to Blogger

Thanks for stopping by and checking out Friend Making Monday. If this is the first time you've seen it then go to Kenlie's blog and see what it is all about!

 1.  Does your blog have one overwhelming theme? I think the theme of my blog is just me. It’s about my journey to finding a healthier me, my crafty side and my adventures of being a mom and wife.

2. How did you come up with the theme(s) for your blog? Was it intentional? I initially had three different blogs – a family one, a scrapbooking one and a weight loss one. I stunk at keeping up with doing any of them. I’ve been so much better since I started this one and I’m really happy with it.

3.  Share something cool that has happened in your life as a result of blogging. I don’t know that anything cool has really happened. It has made me re-examine what I’m putting on Facebook and I’ve thought about why I’m really doing a blog. It is for me and if other people read it that is great, but at the end of the day it is kind of like my journal.

4. How much time to do spend reading blogs everyday? I actually use to spend a lot more, but with the two kids now and a million other things going on I just don’t read blogs as much. If they are linked through Facebook, though, I am more likely to check it out.

5.  Do you blog on the weekends? I don’t, but I should. I mostly blog during some of my free moments at work. Shhh … don’t tell the boss! It’s almost like my little getaway for a moment from the craziness of everything going on around me.

6.  Do you keep track of your stats?  Do they matter to you? I don’t think the stats matter to me, like I said before – I’m just blogging for me, but it does make me smile when I see that others are actually checking out my blog and even more so when they leave comments. It makes me feel loved (so leave a stinkin’ comment … will ya?!).

7. How do you decide how much to share about your personal life? I don’t really mind sharing about my personal life, but I’ve made up nicknames for everyone just because the Internet kind of scares me with how much access a person can gain about you. I probably should watermark my photos, but I don’t know how to do that. I’m sure it’s simple and I should look it up, I just haven’t gotten to that yet.

8. Do you aspire to be a writer, or did blogging happen for some other reason? I have a journalism degree so deep down I do love writing. I don’t always think I’m very good, but it is something I enjoy doing. Beyond simple blogging I don’t really have any ambitions of writing a book or anything huge like that.

9. As a blogger, do you think it’s more important to write for yourself, or for your readers? I guess it is my theme for the day – I definitely write for myself, but I do keep the reader in mind, making sure to share necessarily background information if it applies. I write for myself, but having others read it and if I can inspire or help someone else out that is just an added bonus.

10.  What kind of plans do you have for the future of your blog? I would like to just keep my blog going. I would love to have more followers (I think I have two right now!), but I’ll continue to post and just see what happens from here.

What I Wore Wednesday

This is actually a photo from the other day (hence not being in the middle school bathroom!). DC and I went to the movies and dinner so I decided to dress it up a little.

The dress is from Target. I bought it on super cheap clearance toward the end of last summer. The leggings are also from Target.

My cardigan is from Old Navy. I absolutely love it and wish I had more of them! 

My boots are from a shoe store in our mall.

I'm feeling pretty good about myself and I look forward to each Wednesday!

And just for fun -- here is a snapshot of DC from our date. I think he bought the jacket at DI. He kept walking around like he was hot stuff. Silly boy!

Valentine's Treats

I love to make goodies! It's not that I necessarily want to eat the goodies, but I love making them. It's also the feeling I get when I give treats to someone else. I feel all warm and happy inside! It makes me feel great to make someone else happy. Imagine that!

Anyway, I honestly can't remember where I saw these cute little cookies at. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Pinterest, but it was somewhere on the internet. The point is I can't take credit for it all by myself. I went to Target and bought some wafer cookies (they were only like $1.25 for the whole thing!), some cute Valentin's  sprinkles and then I picked up some pink chocolate at Wal-Mart. 

I dipped the cookies in the chocolate, put them on some parchment paper to solidify and added some sprinkles while I was waiting. 

Super cute and super easy! The cookies were gone before lunch time at school. 

I also had some leftover chocolate I didn't want to waste so I decided to make some chocolate covered pretzel rods for the administration at school. It's the same idea, just with a different base. I personally prefer the pretzels to the cookies, but I think most people would be happy with either one. 

I have one more box of cookies at home so I think I might make some neighborhood goodies for my kiddos to take around later this week.