Erin, Author at The Sunny Side Up Blog

Organization

04.10.18

Current Projects (a printable to help you get things done!)

So in my last post we cried all the tears together. (Loved hearing from so many of you… thank you for your kind and understanding comments/e-mails! It’s so comforting to know moms are all in this feeling the same things together isn’t it?) But today we are switching gears completely. Because I’m tricky like that. Time to dry those eyes and get things done! While we’re squeezing our kids tight and enjoying every minute.. ;)

Do you ever feel like you have so many current projects and things you’d like to get done but you just can’t find the time? Or maybe you can carve out the time but the project just feels so overwhelming you don’t know where to start? Or maybe you started a project at some point, but lost focus and direction and just can’t seem to get it finished?

Raise your hand if you have ever felt this way before! Or nod. Or smile. I guess I can’t see any of that.. (ha) but I’m guessing you’ve felt this way before! I used to feel this way daily. I often struggled to finish projects after I started them and then there were projects that every time I thought about starting them I would immediately feel so much overwhelm I would instead just walk away and continue to put them off.

Last year I was feeling especially overwhelmed with all of the projects that I couldn’t seem to check off of my list so I finally started to analyze the problem (time, direction, follow through) and came up with a solution that has been such a huge game changer for me! I’m so excited to share it with all of you. I hope it helps you to start and complete projects as much as it has helped me!

This is my “Current Projects” system.. if you choose to accept it. ;)

1 – Spend some time doing a major brain dump (I like to start everything with major brain dumps that lead to list making of some sort). :) Write down every project you’d love tackle. Maybe you want to organize your garage this Spring. Or clean out all of your kitchen cupboards. Or decorate that bedroom that has been sitting empty for years. Get all of the projects swirling around in your brain down on paper.

2 – THEN.. and this is the difficult part.. choose your top 3. I know it’s hard! You want to do them all! And you can. Just not all at once. (That’s one of my main problems.. I get too many things going on at the same time and then I never complete anything! Can I just tell you all that I have 33 blog posts that are half way done right now? Isn’t that INSANE? 33! Started, but not finished. Ha! Like I said.. it’s a problem. Admitting it is always the first step.) If you’re having a hard time choosing your top 3, think about what projects will have the biggest overall impact in your life. For example.. by organizing your pantry you will not only enjoy the clean space, but you will also be able to cut grocery costs by not buying things you don’t need and help your kids easily find after school snacks on their own. Some projects have a ripple effect making other things easier for you. Those are the projects to start with first!

3 – After you have chosen the top 3 projects you want to work on it’s time to break each one down into manageable pieces. Here’s where the magic happens! I created a “CURRENT PROJECTS” printable that has become a lifesaver and go to for me. I made one for all of you too and just added it to my printable library!

(Get access to my Printable Library HERE. Once you’re in, click on the CURRENT PROJECTS printable to print your own.)

*If you don’t get access to my printable library soon after you enter your e-mail, check your junk mail!

This printable has room for 3 projects on one page because I’ve found that 3 is a manageable number for me. I can have 3 projects going at the same time and still be chipping away at each of them without getting too scattered. If you want to just focus on one project at a time until it’s finished that works too! Title the project/projects you want to work on and then break your project down into smaller steps. I filled this one out as an example to show you how I use this printable.

My first project is “organize kitchen.” You can see that I went through my kitchen, found all of the trouble spots that I wanted to organize and listed them next to each check mark. Suddenly organizing my entire kitchen doesn’t feel so overwhelming anymore! And I don’t need an entire free day to get it done because who has an entire day to spend on just organizing the kitchen? (Don’t answer that mom.. I’m already jealous enough of your hard earned retirement..) ;)

Now when an extra 20 minutes pops up during my day I have some direction! By breaking this project down into simple steps I can easily choose just one thing to work on. It’s totally up to you if you want to go in order! Most of the time I don’t write things down in the best order because I’m just brainstorming everything that needs to get done so I complete whatever step I want to complete regardless of the order I wrote it down.

Each thing on your list should be something simple that can easily be done in 20-30 minutes. If it’s not, break it down into an even smaller step! For example, my Project 2 is to finish up our theatre room (I got a little sidetracked with the holidays and then knee surgery!). One of the things I need to do is find a rug for that space. You’ll see that one step to check off is to simply “measure for rug.” I might not have time to scour the internet for new rugs one afternoon, but I should be able to find 15 minutes to measure my space and determine the size of rug I’m looking for. Then when I do have a little more time one evening to look for rugs I’ll know what size I need. Make this checklist as easy for yourself as possible. If you break your project down into bite sized pieces it’s so much easier to tackle! And harder to procrastinate.

A project like organizing your kids’ school work can seem so daunting! You can see how I broke that project down into smaller jobs that can be done in less time. One item on my list was to just “round up all of the the kids’ papers.” I went around the house and rounded up everything I wanted to go through. Easy! Next time I have 20-30 minutes to work on this I’ll “divide in 3 piles” – just separating my kids work so I have a pile for each child. Then I can organize each pile individually during another 20 minute time slot, and then decide what to keep and what to toss the next time.

Breaking down projects like this works wonders in SO many ways!

It makes your project feel less intimidating. You feel a sense of direction instead of overwhelm!
You no longer feel like you’ll never have time to finish a project. You don’t have to do it all at once! Just work on each step when you can find small pockets of time.
Checking things off of your list and seeing progress creates motivation and momentum. Once you can see you are making progress it motivates you to keep working on your project and to finally GET IT DONE. #goals

This printable I made is simple but has helped me complete projects time and time again! I use it mostly for organizing and decorating (because that’s what I do for fun and for a living) :) but you could use it for ANY type of project. Planning a party, learning a new skill.. any project can be broken down into smaller steps that are easier to complete. It has been such a game changer for me when it comes to getting things done. I hope it is for you too!

I’d love to hear what project you’re currently working on (or dreaming about completing!).

And please tell me I’m not the only one who needs a system when it comes to completing projects. Off to work on those 33 unfinished blog posts..

;)

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

Fashion

04.08.18

Kauai and thoughts on parenting

We just got back from a trip to Kauai for Spring Break. One of our favorite vacation spots! I know I owe you all a post on both Kauai and Maui. They are in the works! They will be posts full of fun things to do, places to eat and just general tips for traveling to Hawaii. So while I’m working on those posts (and on about 15 other things I’m excited to share with you all!) here are a quick few pics from our trip this year including some fun things I wore. Also sharing some thoughts at the end of this post about parenting. I don’t know what happened but I starting sharing some thoughts that have been weighing on me lately and by the end of this post I was in tears! Maybe some of you are feeling the same and can relate? If not.. sorry in advance. ;)

Early morning at the airport with my favorite traveling companions. :)

My kids still love seeing the fish at the resort.

Kole and his cousin. Good memories. :)

{Blue flutter sleeve top/Zella copped pants (just ordered these in grey!)/Earrings – found my exact rose gold pair!}

Getting more Shave Ice.. probably trip 32.

View from our room of the grills and Kenny cooking! Not a bad view. :) He always cooks when we travel (or we eat out) so it’s a true break for me! One of my favorite things about vacations.

Night lights at the resort. We really lucked out this year – so many nights we’d take the kids night swimming and be the only ones at the pool! (I’ll talk more about where we always stay in my Kauai tips post!)

The kids lived in the water.

{swimsuit/black skirt cover-up/sunglasses}

We love traveling with my sister and her family! She has two kids the same ages as mine and the kids have a blast together. We love having uninterrupted time to catch up and our husbands can take off adventuring together early in the morning while we sleep in and hit the pool. :)

Seriously love this swimsuit! Aren’t vacations the best? I always feel so carefree and happy and rested. I wish I could bottle that feeling up and sprinkle it on me daily when real life hits again. :)

One of Ad’s close friends happened to be there the same week as us so we planned a zip lining trip together. My kids have always loved zip lining!

They went together a few times..

and alone! So much fun. I love zip lining too but had to sit it out this trip because of my knee.

Kenny and Kole sailing through the trees. :)

Our favorite activity this trip was tubing!

I was on-line looking for low key activities in Kauai we hadn’t done yet that I knew I could handle with my knee not being 100% (most of the hiking and adventure activities were out). I stumbled on tubing and it looked pretty chill so I booked it for us and my kids ended up loving it more than anything we’ve done before! You put on helmets with lamps and just float down a river on a tube!

We all had so much fun! The river was moving fast so it felt a little thrilling, but not scary.

You go through caves and turn on your head lamp. We were with a group of around 15 people and did this activity on the morning of Kole’s birthday. We were just starting to go through a cave when a woman told Kole he was brave and asked him how old he was and he told her he was turning 8 today. She said “Oh it’s his birthday today! Let’s all sing!” So we all sang happy birthday to him going through a cave. The smile on his face was priceless! Highlight of the trip for his mom. :)

We especially enjoyed spending Easter in Kauai this year! The bunny showed up at the resort for a fun egg hunt and I think my sister and I were more excited than the kids. :) (The top I’m wearing is a new favorite! So cute.. I love the embroidered detail on the sleeves!)

We didn’t have Easter baskets so we improvised with our beach bags. :) I didn’t get a pic of it but I bought this cute purse for the trip and it’s darling! So cute for Spring/Summer. I love it with or w/o the tassel.

Organizing their loot. :)

The stage we are in with our kids right now is so busy that this week felt like such a gift. I loved having un-interrupted quality time with my kids. No school, no homework, no work, no activities, no cell phones. Those things are all great, but it felt so nice to take a break from it all and just spend quality time together as a family. We were due!

{Tie front tee/Zella crop pants}

Travel is getting easier now that my kids are older and this trip felt like a major shift to me. I was noticing so many things. Like how I didn’t have to entertain Kole during the whole flight with constant snacks, movies, coloring, etc. He didn’t wiggle around in his seat. He didn’t start fights with his sisters just to see their reaction.

He didn’t need 10 bathroom breaks or time spent running up and down the airport corridor just to burn off energy before our flight. (A pic from a past Kauai trip.) :)

He read his book. He played on the ipad. The girls sat by each other and quietly did their thing during the flight. I read a book and took a nap (a nap! On a flight with my kids!). They are old enough now that the adults could go to dinner and leave Ellie babysitting her siblings and cousins. They are old enough that we could say “head to the lobby and we’ll be right down.” They are old enough to sleep in or quietly entertain themselves if they wake up early so that we could sleep in. They are old enough that the sometimes long waits and unexpected schedule changes that come with travel weren’t a big deal.

When you are in the throws of raising young kids you think days and trips like this will never come. You dream about them but they don’t seem like your reality and you are living in a constant state of tired and just trying to make it from one day to the next. There are so many happy moments and joys, but it is truly survival mode at its finest. I’ll be honest. There is a lot about that stage that I don’t miss and this trip felt like a breath of fresh air to me in so many ways! We are now able to just have fun with our kids and truly enjoy them without feeling physically exhausted.

It is wonderful. But during this trip it really hit home to me that it’s all just going by so quickly. They all tell you that it will. All the sweet ladies in the grocery store who see you struggling to check out with one toddler on your back who’s starting an argument with her sister climbing out of the cart while your other child is trying to sneak a third pack of gum. Those sweet ladies look at you and smile and say “enjoy it.. it goes by so quickly.” And you smile back and think “it better because I’m about to lose it!”

But then one day you take a picture of your girls that looks like this..

When honestly 10 minutes ago they looked like this.

And your little boy who was a baby “helping” you in the kitchen just the other day..

All of a sudden turns 8 years old.

You go on a trip and your kids are so much easier and you realize that someday – before you know it and so much sooner than you’re ready for – you’ll be on a trip and one of your kids might be missing. And then two. And then someday soon.. all three.

And life will still be wonderful and there will be new joys and experiences to look forward to. And it certainly won’t be the last trip with your kids. But it will be different. The day will come when it won’t just be your little family with your little kids doing everything together.

Lately I have been struggling with that reality. My oldest starts high school next year and all of my friends and the sweet ladies in the grocery store are telling me “get ready.. once high school hits you blink and they are gone.”

I believe it. I believe them now more than ever because I know. I now know that the stage of raising little kids while in the moment felt like forevvvver.. really went by in a flash. This current stage we are in will go by in a flash too.

This truth really sinks in and hits me at random times. Like during a calm trip with my kids to the grocery store. Or on a family trip where my now older kids are behaving and so much easier. They are so much fun and doing amazing things and I think about how wonderful it is that they are growing up.

And then I fight to hold back tears.

But we can’t live in the past. True happiness comes from being present in the moment and being hopeful and excited about the future.

So when those moments of sadness sink in and hit me and I’m holding back tears I think about this guy. And all of the fun we’re going to have together someday when our kids are raised. Doing whatever we want whenever we want!

And visiting our kids and hopefully taking them and their families on fun trips to Kauai.

And running our little grandkids up and down the airport corridor.

{CLOTHES I TOOK ON THE TRIP ARE LINKED BELOW!}

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

Organization

04.04.18

10 Quick and Easy Recipes

Today I’m sharing 10 quick and easy recipes. Wait what? Where’s Erin? To be honest I don’t know. Having an identity crisis clearly! Don’t worry. I’ll be back sharing things I’m much more comfortable with very soon. I’d much rather be writing a post about something I’ve decorated or organized. Or a post about Spring fashion or time management. Or a post about our recent vacation. Or a post about butterflies or race cars or politics for that matter. I hate politics.

I hate cooking more.

But I love all of you! And if sharing some of my tried and true, quick and easy (emphasis on the easy) recipes helps someone who also struggles with what to fix for dinner.. well then.. the pain of writing this post was worth it. ;)

In a recent post I shared 3 time management tips to increase productivity and mentioned that I’ve been working on “batching” tasks. Because cooking is so much fun for me (hugely exagerrated if you couldn’t tell) I like to knock it all out once a week and get it over with. My goal has been to cook at least two meals (sometimes three) at the beginning of each week. Follow through with this goal has been hit and miss to be honest, but on the weeks I do pull it off it makes my life so much easier! The recipes I’m sharing today are my tried and true recipes that we have cooked over and over for years. I’ve shared some of them before but thought it would be good to have all of our favorites in one post. The food isn’t fancy and the photography is lousy, but my kids eat most of these things which to me equals success. We are easy to please around here when it comes to meal time. :)

I took this pic during one of my “batch cooking sessions.” Starting to cook two favorites.. our Chicken Fajitas and Pepperoni Pasta.

CHICKEN FAJITAS:

For the Fajitas all you need is an assortment of peppers. Aren’t peppers pretty? I love buying them and seeing the bright colors in my fridge. I usually buy 3-4 green peppers and then one or two yellow, red and orange.

You also need an onion (not pictured) and then I buy the grilled and ready southwestern chicken strips. (Pre-cooked chicken is my BEST friend.)

Just slice up an onion and the peppers into strips and stir fry them in a little olive oil. When they are starting to get soft, toss in the chicken and stir fry everything for another 10 minutes and then done! You can add other spices, but I’ve found the southwest chicken gives it enough flavor. We eat them on wheat tortilla shells with or without cheese. Depending on how tight my jeans are fitting that week. ;)

PEPPERONI PASTA:

For this simple recipe you just need a green pepper or two, pepperoni, olives, spaghetti sauce, corkscrew pasta noodles and mozzarella cheese.

Cook the pepperoni and pepper in a skillet stirring it often until the pepper is tender-crisp. Then add olives to the peppers and pepperoni if you like them (I love olives!). In another pot, cook some corkscrew pasta. Drain your pasta and add a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce.

I feel the need (at the bottom of this particular picture) to remind you all that I take pics of interiors, not food. ;)

Then mix everything together in the pot that was holding your pasta and cook on low for about 10 minutes. Then stir in some mozzarella and if you’re feeling really chef like, add a bit of Parmesan. Let the cheese melt a little and you’re done! Fast and easy and really hard to mess up – my three requirements for a meal. :) Bonus: it tastes even better as leftovers. My kids love this!

ZITI LASAGNA:

This Ziti Lasagna is so simple and delicious! You can find the recipe HERE in a past post.

CASHEW CHICKEN:

Another long time family favorite! You can find the recipe to our easy Cashew Chicken recipe HERE.

WHITE BEAN CHILI:

A family favorite that I make several times every Fall/Winter! You can find our white bean chili recipe HERE. (This is a great one to batch cook!)

TACO SOUP:

I shared a pic of this taco soup on IG stories a few weeks back and got a lot of recipe requests. I’m sure most of you know this one (or a similar version!) but this is how we cook taco soup. Brown some hamburger and then toss it in the crock pot with 2 cans of kidney beans, 2 cans of stewed tomatoes (already cut up or slice the larger tomatoes into bite sized pieces), one can of corn, one can of tomato sauce, and one pkg. of taco seasoning. Cook it on low for a few hours and you’re set!

I batch cook this taco soup all the time because my kids love it and it’s SO easy to make. I can get it going in the crock pot in the morning really quickly and then make something else that takes more time. We love it with a little grated cheese and Fritos. Except when I have to remind my kids to eat some taco soup with their Fritos..

CHOW MEIN CHICKEN STIR FRY:

So this isn’t exactly a recipe but I had to include it because my family loves this and I batch cook it all the time! It’s Chow Mein Chicken Stir Fry and I make two packages of it for my family of 5.

I always have this in my freezer! Along with some other frozen food that is quick and easy and not so good for us.

Similar to my pantry.. at least the not so healthy food is lined up neatly. #priorities ;)

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS:

For these Chicken Enchiladas you need: 1 tbsp butter or margarine – 1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies (drained) – 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese (cut up and softened) – 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast – 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese – 1 pint whipping cream – flour tortillas.

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with Pam. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add Rotel and stir one minute.. then stir in the cream cheese and chicken and cook (stirring) until the cream cheese melts. Put 2-3 scoops of the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla and roll them up. Then place them side by side in your pan like I did in the picture above. Sprinkle the Monterey Jack Cheese on top and then drizzle the whipping cream on top of the cheese. Cover them in tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 min. Then cook for another 15 minutes w/o the foil (or until the top is golden brown and you’re feeling extremely chef like). :) So good! My husband’s favorite. :)

MEXICAN CHALUPAS:

This is another recipe I love to batch cook! So easy and delicious! You can find the recipe for our Mexican Chalupas HERE.

TACO SALAD:

Another really easy recipe to batch cook! You can make the hamburger mixture and get the toppings ready in the morning and then just get the tortilla shells ready at dinner time! Recipe for our Taco Salad HERE.

Those are 10 recipes that are on heavy rotation around here! And the things I batch cook the most often. :) Because we are talking all things cooking today (so that I can then avoid this subject for another year) ;) here are a couple of other things we love to eat…

FETA AND TOMATO DIP:

This is my favorite snack EVER! Perfect to take or serve at a party. You can find this Feta and Tomato Dip recipe HERE.

And because I’m rounding up ALL the food posts.. you know I have to share (yet again!) my favorite cookies and banana bread muffins. Humor me. I only cook a handful of things.. ;)

BANANA BREAD MUFFINS:

If you haven’t come across this recipe you haven’t spent much time on my blog! These babies took me quite a while to figure out so yes – I’m proud of them and share them often. On the blog and with anyone who will eat one. ;) Recipe (and other failed attempts) for my Banana Bread Muffins HERE.

APPLESAUCE COOKIES:

Another long time favorite that can’t be left out of a food/recipe round-up on this blog! Recipe for our Applesauce Cookies HERE. I snapped this pic over Christmas break when we were making them to deliver to friends and neighbors. Such a fun tradition.

These two are the true chefs in the family who love to cook and did all of the holiday baking. Ad’s pig pj’s helped the whole process immensely. ;) My job is always to clean the kitchen up after the mess and then wrap the cookies up and make them look pretty. I’ll take my job over the baking ANY day. :)

Since we’re talking all things food and cooking (confession time!) I recently admitted on IG that I’ve hired a nutritionist. Just to come over a few times next month to talk to my girls about overall nutrition (because their mom covers how to make their rooms clean and pretty but nutrition not so much) and to help teach me some more healthy snack/meal options to fix the kids (and hopefully batch cook!). I feel like I need a few more healthy options in our regular rotation and I’m so excited to get some professional help! What I wasn’t prepared for was when she told me to write down everything we eat for three days before we meet. I seriously wish you could have seen my face when I read her e-mail with attached food charts! I about died. Then I turned and said to Kenny “should I be honest and tell her how I skipped lunch because I was busy and forgot to eat and then had a Cadbury Egg and Coke Zero in the car for dinner last night?

Or should I lie?”

Major panic. I’m in SO much trouble with this! Food and cooking just aren’t my thing. I’ll keep you updated on how things go! Hopefully the next time I do a recipe round-up I’ll have more healthy options to share. Although I can’t make any promises about the Cadbury Eggs and Coke Zero..

(can’t stop.. won’t stop..)

Alright friends.. that’s a wrap on my 10 quick and easy recipes along with other food rambling and nonsense. I’ll be back with more “fun for me” topics soon..

;)

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

Home Decor

03.26.18

Simple Spring Decor Updates

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! Ours was nonstop. Had a birthday party for my son (my baby is 8.. cue the tears!), dance classes for El, theatre for Ad, a Costco run, dinner with friends, packed for an upcoming trip, got the house ready for guests and took these pics and wrote this post… ha. I’m tired! But happy. All good exhausting things. :)

*affiliate links used below

I’m joining blog friends today for some fun Spring decor! If you’re visiting from Krista at the Happy Housie (love her!) hello and welcome! I’ve been slowly adding simple Spring decor updates throughout my home. I love getting things clean, organized and updated this time of year! Spring always feels like a fresh start doesn’t it!? I usually fall into a bit of a slump after the holidays (this year was especially bad with my knee surgery!). March is always the month I feel more like myself again. I get motivated to tackle projects and get things done! Spring feels like a fresh start doesn’t it?

My powder bathroom got a few small updates starting with a new coral rug! And yes.. it’s the same rug as the navy and grey that I rotate through this bathroom. I absolutely love it (so soft!) so when PB came out with it in coral I was all over it. :)

(I get lots of questions about keeping these white rugs clean – I do wash them in my washing machine and they come out spotless! I have a large washer/dryer and the largest size rug so just make sure your washer can handle the size, but they do wash well! I lay them out to dry.)

I usually keep fresh flowers in this bathroom during the Spring/Summer, but because this season is especially busy for our family I’ve had “low maintenance” in mind while I decorate. Which usually means faux flowers vs. real. :)

I shopped my house for a few things and ended up going with all white vases. I love white decor in bathrooms and kitchens! Makes everything feel clean. :) The trick when decorating with a lot of white (or any time you repeat the same color) is to mix up the textures. The texture on these vases add so much to the room and keep things from looking bland. The faux cherry blossoms are long time favorites that you’ve seen rotate around my house a time or two. :)

Still in love with my Anthro towels and ladder.

Simple updates. Always fun to mix things up for a new season!

I’m sure we’ll be back to the navy rug and fresh flowers for Summer. :)

My shiplap display wall got a little Spring update too! I was so torn on what to do on my planked display wall for this season and finally just decided to print random 8×10 family pics. Our birthdays are all stacked this time of year (El in Jan.. me and Kole in March.. and Ad in May) so at one point I was thinking I’d highlight each child with their own wall of pictures. But then my “low maintenance” mantra kicked in and I decided to just fill the planked wall with family pictures that represent us all and call it good!

I’m kind of liking the new low maintenance me. ;)

I get so many questions about this shiplap wall so I’m going to do a post with all of the details soon for those of you who are newish to my blog!

Here’s a closer look at the pictures. You guys! I’ve been having quite the weekend with Kole’s birthday party and going through so many old pics. I’ve teared up more times than I want to admit! I remember all of these moments like they were 10 minutes ago. I know a lot of you do too! Some of you have been with me since Kole was born or before. Seeing my kids grow up on this blog is aging us all. ;)

{Bosworth Printed Wool Rug (on sale!)/Coral Celine Throw/Woven Araya Pillow/Embellished Shape Pillow}

The mudroom got a few small Spring updates too!

I loved this coral throw and these pillows so much from my family room that I decided to do the same thing in the mudroom. I always buy multiples of things I really love! Can’t seem to kick that habit but it’s all good because I’m not sure I really want to. :)

We got this Bosworth runner soon after Christmas and I have loved it so much!

Perfect for a high traffic area because it hides dirt so well. It’s really soft, completely low maintenance and it’s marked down for a great price right now!

I’m tempted to buy it in a larger size for another room in my house. #doublesagain #cantstopwontstop

My kids love it too. Wanna know what else we love? SPRING BREAK! That’s right Addison.. empty and hang up that backpack. We are DONE with school for a week. Such a nice feeling. I need a break from the homework! El ~~and I~~ wrote a seven page history paper last week that about did me in..

(On a sidenote.. Ad walked into the mudroom mid photoshoot today and hung up her stuff and I just kept taking pics and then she walked out of the room and didn’t even look at me or think a thing of it.. ha! #blogkid)

If you are new to my blog I shared my family room and kitchen decked for Spring a couple of weeks ago!

And good news! MY NEW FAUX FIG IS BACK IN STOCK! It sold out so quickly. Great price on a very real looking faux fig tree. I bought it originally for my husband’s office, but liked it so much I put it in our family room and moved this one I also love into his office. Perfect if you’re all about low maintenance this Spring too. ;)

You can see lots of pics of these spaces and all sources HERE. And if you’re ready to update your wardrobe for Spring (or your kids!) I’ve got you covered too. :) {Favorite Spring Fashion/Favorite Kids Spring Swimsuits and Fashion.}

You can also download a printable with ALL of the paint colors throughout my home HERE. (Thrilled with the e-mails coming in that it is helping so many of you btw! It’s like one big paint party.) :)

Next up on the Spring tour is Bre at Rooms for Rent! Such a treat! You’ll love Bre and her stunning home. I’ll add links to other fun tours at the bottom of this post. I hope you enjoy all of the Spring decorating inspiration! Such a great time of year to update our homes.

Wishing you a slump free low maintence Spring! In my opinion.. that’s the very best kind.

{POST SOURCES}

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

Uncategorized

03.22.18

Kids’ Spring Fashion

It’s that time of year! Spring is here for some of us and right around the corner for others. We can all taste WARM can’t we!? I’m sharing some kids’ Spring fashion with you all today. Woot woot! It’s always around March when I like to update my kids’ closets. :)

*This post is sponsored by Nordstrom/affiliate links used.

{Closet tips/tricks}

They are usually growing out of last year’s Spring/Summer clothes and it’s time to clean closets, purge, organize and then shop for a few new things! (I love the whole process..) :)

{Slab Island Board Shorts/Lennox Stripe Board Shorts}

Our Spring Break is coming soon and we are heading on a fun trip so swimsuits were at the top of my list this year. I have so much going on right now with the kids (honestly this Spring just might do me in!) so I made things really easy on myself and just ordered everything on-line from Nordstrom. They have SO many cute things in right now for Spring. (I shared a lot of my recent favorites in my last post!) Plus with their free shipping/easy returns I don’t have to carve out time to go to the mall. I got Kole the cute board shorts above.. one size down was perfect! (He’s about to turn 8 and they are size 6.. he’s on the skinny side but I’ve found these types of board shorts usually run a little big.)

I also got him this white All Day Unity Rashguard that will go with any suit he’s wearing. I’m all about making the sunscreen process is easier! I have a couple more suits I’m sharing pics of below that are sitting in my on-line cart. My kids’ summer wardrobe basically consists of swim suits so I try to stock up in the Spring when all the cute suits are out. They get picked over quickly and then it’s hard to find something I like in the right size.

My favorite suits for boys..

Kole begged me to let him water to try out his new suit. It’s one of his favorite things to do.. our plants love him. :)

Every Spring I pick up a couple more of these Tucker and Tate Ribbed Waist Utility Shorts for Kole. These have been staples for years! He likes things that are comfortable and these are soft and cinch at the waist.

He also loves these Dry Elite Basketball Shorts.

And of course every year he grows he gets a new SmartCare Dress Shirt for church. WHY do they not make all shirts for boys/men like these!? Absolutely no wrinkling.. it’s my favorite! We also love these Woven Jogger Pants and these grey Chino Pants. I like that both options can be dressed up for church or going somewhere nice or worn more causally with a shirt/sweater. I’ll also link my favorite shoes for Kole! These Vans and these Asics have been our recent favorites and I just ordered him these Adidas shoes to try. Every Spring/Summer we get him a new pair of Natives. So perfect for all water activities and just running around in the sun. And of course time to stock up on socks and underwear. :)

Favorites for my little buddy..

Kole made a new little buddy at church who follows him around… the sweetest!

{Front Embroidered Sweatshirt (Ad’s favorite!)/Similar Hudson Jeans/Similar Leggings/Similar Uggs}

Ready to move on to girls!? Oh my middle schoolers! They are so much fun right now. And so exhausting all at the same time.

They are so full of personality. And attitude (good and bad!). And energy. And laughter. And tears. And drama. And quiet. And carefree. And stress. And happiness. And frustration. The best way I can describe this phase with my girls is by comparing it to a roller coaster! I always picture the grandma on Parenthood during the roller coaster scene.. enjoying the chaos while the dad is about to throw up. I strive each day to be like that grandma! To look at the big picture and not get caught up in the day to day exhaustion of the ups and downs.

Ad and I were so excited when we found this Kira Cover-Up Dress! It’s a cover-up that she can wear over her swim suit all summer, but with a tank underneath it also makes a darling top for school. Such pretty material and I love the color.

{Cover-up Dress Shirt/Hudson Dolly Skinny Jeans}

Girls Favorites..

{Emoji One Piece Swimsuit/Smocked One Piece Swimsuit}

She picked out these two darling swim suits for our trip (love that emoji suit and the smocked suit fits her so cute!) and I have a couple more I’m giving the girls for Easter. I could NOT get over the swimsuit selection at Nordstrom this year for girls! They are all so darling! Really hard to choose.

Favorite swimsuits for girls..

Nordstrom is also carrying some beautiful dresses for Spring! I love getting my girls a new dress every year around Easter. I got Ad this Print Handkerchief Dress last year (it’s back in stock!) and she has worn it so much! We love it on her.

She often wears it with a cute little cardigan (similar here) to church or if it’s cooler outside. Not sure why this is the chosen pose..

but if my kids will let me take a picture of them I’ll take what I can get. :) Nordstrom also has so many darling sandals in for Spring! I’m debating between a few paris for Easter and just can’t decide. I want them for me too!

Favorite Spring dresses and shoes for girls..

She also wears a denim jacket over her dresses often and it always looks so cute. Ad and one of her besties at a school presentation yesterday. These two girls have big plans of going to college and traveling the world together someday! They’ve planned it all right down to the furniture in their apartment. Including the pictures of their moms over their beds. That might have been my idea…

{Ad’s Favorite Jogger Pants/Coral Throw}

Dresses are fun, but my kids are just like their mom and want to be in comfy pjs or sweats the second their home!

I’ve been able to spend some one on one quality time with each of my three kids over the past month and have really enjoyed it. They are growing so quickly! I wish every day that I could freeze time with them. So proud of all they are doing and who they are becoming.

If I look a little disheveled in this pic it’s because I was.. a field trip with a bus load of second graders will do that to you! Worth it to see this boy so happy. He hasn’t quite hit the age where mom isn’t cool so I’m living it up. He has lots of “girlfriends” but tells me “don’t worry mom.. you’re still my favorite.” Whew. Not ready for that to change.

Dinner with my mini me. Ad is starring as Ariel in the play The Little Mermaid soon! I always wanted to be Ariel growing up so I’m vicariously living through her. ;) So proud of how hard this girl works! And of how good she is to help me with house work and her little brother. She is always thinking of others.

Dinner with my other mini me! El starts High School next year! I just can’t even believe it. When I stop and think about the fact that in four years she’ll be going away to college a huge lump starts to form in my throat and I have to push the thought aside and not let myself go there. I can’t even begin to imagine not having this sweet girl in our home every day. She is so full of creativity and love and kindness. Parents are always telling me what a kind, thoughtful girl she is and I couldn’t be more proud of her.

When I was growing up my mom used to brag about me and my siblings to total strangers in random places like the grocery store. She’d say to the checker “this is my daughter Erin and she got straight A’s last semester!”.. or “You should see this girl dance!”.. or “My daughter’s on the Homecoming royalty!”.. whatever was going on in my life. I absolutely HATED it. Like I wanted to crawl under a rock and die when she did that. So I vowed that I would NEVER do that to my kids.

And I don’t. I don’t brag about them to random strangers in the grocery store.

Nope. Would never do that.

Instead I brag about them here. To the handful of people who read my blog.

So MUCH better.

;)

Happy Spring everyone!

Here’s to enjoying the roller coaster.
:)

*Huge thank you to Nordstom for sponsoring this post! So grateful for their huge selection and great customer service. It saves me with my busy family of five. :)

{ALL POST SOURCES BELOW!}

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

Uncategorized

03.18.18

Spring Fashion Favorites!

{Gingham shirt/necklace/jeans/Hunter boots/striped rug/lanterns-on sale!}

*affiliate links used

Happy weekend friends! I’m so excited to share some recent Spring fashion favorites with you! But first things first.. my magazine feature came out! I mentioned this on IG, but for those of you who missed it the magazine has officially hit stands. I actually heard the fun news the day before my birthday. I started getting e-mails from sweet readers who had seen my kitchen in the magazine so I made Kenny help me hunt down a copy or two.. or ten. :)

This is the magazine it’s in.. six pages in their Spring 2018 Beautiful Kitchens and Baths. I couldn’t find it in my grocery store and had to go to a book store to find it. And this isn’t the issue that shares my pantry! They actually took the pictures of my kitchen for their Spring storage/organization magazine that is supposed to be coming out soon, but then later told me that they were going to feature it in this publication also.

Oh hi! That’s me just casually arranging flowers in my kitchen.. in a magazine! Kind of surreal. And a great birthday present! Thanks for all of the love and support you guys.. seriously. It means so much to me!

I turned 41 last weekend and enjoyed a fun dinner with my family and my annual birthday dinner with friends. I won’t bore you all with the pictures of us through the years like I usually do.. there are starting to be too many! We are getting old. :) But if you want to see what we looked like in years past I shared them all last year in my 40th birthday post. So grateful for another fun year and for close friends! We always talk and laugh until the restaurant closes and they kick us right out. :)

{pink kingston drive/mint cameron street}

I did a little birthday shopping and oh my word.. there are SO many cute new things for Spring! Pastels are big this year and when I saw the new Kate Spade purses that are out I knew that one of them would be my birthday present – to me from me. :) I had the hardest time deciding which of these two bags to buy..

but ultimately came home with this darling pink leather satchel! I’m so in love. It’s a smaller size but holds a lot! I already have this mint Kate Spade wallet but now kind of want this one or this one in pink to match. Mother’s Day maybe? To me from me? :) Here are some other favorite purses I’m smitten with this Spring. Just picking one was so hard!

{Annie perforated espadrille platform wedge/Sannibel platform wedge sandal}

I also wanted a new pair of espadrilles (also big this season!) and these two pairs were my favorite. I came home with the Marc Fisher wedges on the left because aside from falling in love with the look, they are SO comfortable. The Treasure and Bond wedges on the right are darling too (and a great price!), but were a little harder for me to walk in with the way they angle down. My knee isn’t 100% yet so comfort first as I’m easing back into cute shoes. :) I’m telling you that while the espadrilles I chose are high, they are so comfortable! And I can use the added inch or two. ;)

So many cute espadrilles out for Spring!

Vince Camuto shoes are my favorite hands down and I love these new ankle strap shoes to wear with skirts or dresses. I brought home the Corlina black and cream sandal (thinking it will be so cute with all of my black dresses). I want the denim though too! Aren’t they fun!?

{Annie perforated wedges/Despina strappy sandal/Corlina ankle strap sandal}

Three pairs of shoes that will be on repeat for me this Spring!

{necklace/the perfect (gingham) shirt/jeans}

Everyone needs at least one gingham shirt this Spring. This will make me feel better about owning five. Ha. :) But seriously.. I love this one. It’s a soft silky material.. perfect for Spring days that are warming up but not hot yet. Would be cute tucked in with a skirt too! Black or a bright solid color like pink or green.

{necklace/the perfect (striped) shirt/black booties (on sale!)/ jeans}

I love this shirt so much I bought it in the grey stripe too! It comes in lots of fun patterns/colors. It’s cute tucked in a little or tied in the front.

Then it hangs long in the back. Called “the perfect shirt” and I kinda agree. Love it! I’ve been venturing out in my heeled shoes a little here and there..

but eventually end up back in my favorite Adidas sneakers. :) Knee is still a little swollen but as of three days ago I am able to bend it to 90 degrees.. woot woot! #babysteps #literally

{Madie tie sleeve blouse/necklace/earrings/jeans/purse/booties}

Ok.. make that six gingham shirts. ;) Another favorite! Loving the ties on the sleeves. My 11 year old has already claimed this shirt as soon as she can fit in it.

Hangs long in the back.

I also love it tied in the front with black cropped pants and sandals like this. Spring staple!

Ok.. I have officially found the perfect Spring tee. This darling ruffle sleeve top comes in so many cute colors! It’s really similar to this linen tee I’ve always loved, but has pretty silky sleeves.

{ruffle sleeve top/neckalce/earrings/purse/jeans/booties-on sale!}

I think that’s why I love this top so much. It’s comfy like a t-shirt, but has a layered feminine look with the silky bottom and ruffled sleeves. Of course I had to get the green. The pink shirt washed me out (I just can’t wear that color with my fair skin!) so I decided I’ll do the next best thing and just accessorize with pink! Honestly this pink bag looks cute with everything!

{Despina strappy sandal}

The grey with white sleeves is also cute!

Another thing I love about this top.. so nice when the material goes all the way up underneath your arm! I hate it when I have to layer a tank just because there is a huge gap in material under the arm. Anyone else?

I couldn’t pass up the blue and this top also comes in a mint color that I want.. ahhhh! Too many cute colors. I’ll just take them all please! Love the blue with my new espadrilles.

{Tory Burch tote/Annie perforated wedges}

They match my favorite Tory Burch tote so this will also be a combo on repeat this season!

{similar necklace/vintage fading jeans}

Another flutter sleeve top that had to come home with me. Isn’t the blue pretty!?

This top also comes in a black and a white. So cute. I’m also loving all of the fun jewelry for Spring! Here are favorites that I have or am thinking of buying..

This embroidered flutter sleeve top is beautiful! A bit of a splurge and I really debated back and forth but I knew it would look so cute with jeans, skirts, white pants, etc.

This is an xs but after I put it on to wear I decided to take it off after I took this pic and ordered it in a xxs. I says on line that it’s true to size, but it’s a looser fitting top and I think one size down from my norm will work better. (Something to consider if you order it!)

And because my olive green obsession will never die.. this Madewell tie front tee was calling my name. Love it so much! I’ve only had it a couple of weeks and have already worn it four times. :) I love the material and it has a really flattering fit. It also comes in a pretty mauve!

On a side note.. I’ve been curling my hair more lately and am so obsessed with my new curling iron! I told you I’d let you all know if it’s worth the money. UM YES!! Hands down the nicest curling iron I’ve ever used. Now maybe that’s not saying much since I usually use a $12 Conair from Target.. ha. But I’m loving my new T3! It curls my hair so quickly and does such a pretty, smooth, effortless beachy wave. I’m excited about it! I got this one with all of the attachments that are different sizes, but I love the size it comes with so this one would work great if you don’t want to spend as much.

{Crochet One Piece Swim Suit}

I picked up a new swim suit for summer because the cute suits always go so fast! Is the color surprising you!? At least I’m predictable. :) I debated getting this in black (it comes in green, black and white) but I already have several black swim suits and the green was a fun change for a suit.

This is such a beautiful, flattering suit! I love the neckline and it’s a really great fit. (Great reviews too) I thought about trying it on for all of you, but the model and I basically look the same in it so no need.. ha. ;) I’m looking at beach bags for our Spring Break trip coming up too. So many fun options!

{navy shirtdress/earrings/purse/necklace}

I think I shared the link for this navy shirtdress a while back when I ordered it, but have to tell you all that it is such a cute, flattering dress! I’m dying to wear it but haven’t been able to pull it off yet because I’m not comfortable in the super high heels that it looks best with. Plus I’m a little self conscious about the new lovely scar I have going down my leg! Waiting for it to blend a bit more which is also why this pic was taken from the knees up. I’m so tricky like that. :) But seriously.. I LOVE this dress and it’s on sale for a great price!

All this talk about ruffle sleeves and swim suits and dresses. So fun for Spring! But regardless of the weather, there are some days (ok.. a lot of days) that a good camo sweatshirt and sweatpants are all I need.

Although I think I could swing the pink Kate Spade bag with this look too. ;)

Whew! That was a marathon post. Spring fashion is always a favorite! Cheers to sunny days and cute espadrilles in our future!

{SPRING FASHION FAVORITES}

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

Organization

03.12.18

Three Time Management Tips to Increase Productivity

It is officially March and we have officially hit March madness at our house! Spring is coming and along with the pretty flowers it also brings ALL the activities and due dates and sports and birthdays and competitions and events, etc. etc. etc. My head seriously starts to spin just thinking about our calendar! Can anyone relate!? When things pick up like this with my kids’ activities I’ve found that I have to be especially careful with the time I do have to work and get things done around my house. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a tad obsessed with the subject of time management. Kind of nerdy I know.. but it’s my favorite thing to read and learn about! Partly because it involves organization (my true passion) but also because in the past I’ve struggled with managing my time. I’m constantly searching for ways to be less “busy” just putting out fires all day long and to be more deliberate and productive. I’ve learned SO much about this topic this past year and have found three time management tips that help me increase my productivity and manage my time better than anything else!

A few weeks ago I came home from dropping the kids off at school, went straight to my office and sat down and got to work. I was in the ZONE. Just checking things off my to-do list and having such a productive morning. (Love that feeling, don’t you!?) Around 11:00 am our home phone rang and it was my husband wondering where I’d been all morning. I told him I had been home and was having the BEST most efficient morning getting so much done. He told me that he had been trying to reach me on my cell all morning but I wasn’t answering. I looked around for my iPhone and realized that I had left it in the car after I dropped my kids off at school.

And then it hit me. That was it.. right there. The reason I was having such a productive morning. I didn’t have access to my cell phone! I don’t think I was truly aware of what a huge distraction my cell phone was to me during the day until I spent a morning without it! We are constantly being bombarded with e-mails and text messages and phone calls and social media and while it seems harmless to pop in and quickly check on those things, taking time to do that switches your mind set and then it’s hard to get back in the zone focused on your work after. I was so productive that morning without my phone because I was able to really focus on what I needed to get done without any distractions!

I hung up with Kenny and went to my car and picked up my phone and had 23 text messages, over 60 new e-mails and 7 missed calls. I didn’t even dare look at my IG comments and DM’s! I had to laugh. That would have been my morning instead of checking things off of my to-do list that I really wanted and needed to get done. I spent the afternoon responding to messages and e-mails and calls and realized that every single bit of it was fine waiting until later in the day. Ever since that day I drop my kids off at school, come home and then quickly set my phone in the other room away from me and get to work! I’d leave it in the car except I’m worried about missing an emergency call about one of my kids so I just set it in a different room where I can hear it ring, but don’t have it next to me with the temptation to check messages. If you follow me on Instagram you might have noticed that I don’t post in the morning. I really try to spend the morning “eating my frogs” and getting the most important things done that need to be completed that day. (I wrote a whole post about that topic here.)

TIP #1) When you are ready to focus and get work done, set your phone in a different room! Also turn off pop up notifications on your computer so that you can get lost in your work and stay focused.

The next tip that has been a total game changer for my productivity is called “batching.” If you haven’t heard of batching before it’s simply grouping similar tasks together. I’ve been working on getting better at this for a while now and feel like it is starting to really make a difference! For example, instead of checking your e-mails all throughout the day, you would establish a set time to work on e-mails and only check/answer e-mails during that time. By batching tasks you can set aside some time in the morning to knock out your top priorities and know you will have time to catch up on other things during other parts of your day. There are SO many things that can be batched together to save time. These are some of the things that I “batch” throughout my week:

E-mails: I try to quickly go through my two inboxes once in the afternoon after I pick up my kids from school while they are doing homework (different time each day depending on their activities) and once again in the evening before I go to bed. I don’t always make it through all of my e-mails, but I knock out as many as I can during those two times. If I answered e-mails as they came in I would be doing nothing but e-mails all day long. It really helps me to set a time to work on e-mail and then to have a time to cut it off even if I don’t get through them all. I just do the best I can with the time I have!

Laundry/Cleaning: I throw in a load of laundry here and there and pick up my house a little bit every day, but I have a main cleaning day each week when I do most of the cleaning and most of the laundry including towels and sheets. I wrote more about my cleaning routine in this post on my 10 secrets to keeping your house clean and organized.

{Recent Spring tour and home sources here}

Errands: I always have a running list of things I need to buy and try to just go shopping one afternoon or morning each week. If I have an appointment (hair, dentist, doctor, etc.) I usually schedule my errands around that appointment so that I’m only away from my home one morning or afternoon a week and can work the other days. This has been a huge time saver for me because I used to run one simple errand or have an appointment most days of the week and then it was so hard to block out time to really focus on my blog or other things that needed to get done.

*Quick tip: Keep a basket in a closet close to your door to hold items you need to return. That way when you are running errands you have them ready to grab and go!

Meal prep: So you all know that meal prep isn’t my thing and I’m not going to pretend that I have this one figured out because I don’t! But one thing I’ve been trying to do more often is to make two meals at the same time once a week. I really don’t enjoy cooking so I try to just knock out the dinner prep out all at once and then I don’t have to think about it again! I make two simple meals one morning and then put them in the fridge so that we have a couple of options for our busy evenings. Two is usually enough for my family for the week because our schedule is so hectic and most evenings we are on the go or in different places at dinner time. (We make a quick sandwich for dinner or grab something on the go.) Over the weekend we usually take the kids out one night (or get them pizza if we’re going out) and then my husband cooks one night. I absolutely love weeks when I prepare two meals ahead of time! I’ve been doing this on Monday mornings, but would love to find a way to make it happen on Sundays so that I can free my Monday for work. I also want to get my girls involved more so that they learn to cook and do better than their mom does in that department. ;) This one is a work in progress for me but I’m trying! I’ll share a few simple meals I batch soon. EASY stuff.

(Getting ready to help mom cook – you know he means business when the stool and his favorite monster book comes out) ;)

Organization: I organize a lot. As you know. :) Because my mornings need to be spent on my computer writing and working I’ve found that my best time to organize my home is in the afternoon. I work straight through lunch and just eat at my desk so usually by 1:30 pm I need a break from computer work and I have one hour before I have to start picking up kids from school. This has become my organizing time. Sometimes I pick up and clean the house during this time, but if I’m working on organizing a specific space or thing I try to do it around this time of day. One day last week I spent an hour cleaning out our freezer. Right now I’m tackling my kids’ school work that has been piling up. Hopefully I’ll have some progress to share soon!

Phone calls: I make a list of calls I need to make and then try to do them while I’m organizing or cleaning at the end of my work day. I don’t need to be as focused when I’m cleaning/organizing so it’s a perfect time to also knock out some phone calls.

Blog to-do’s: I have also been trying to batch a lot of my blog tasks. For example, if I’m taking pictures one morning I’ll try to take pictures for more than just one post. (Because Thursday is my main cleaning day this year I take a lot of pictures on Fridays when the house is clean!) I have a lot of blog friends who schedule their social media posts and do it all at a set time so that it’s done for the week. I haven’t found that this works for me because I like my social media posts to be a little more organic, but I’m sure that batching social media tasks would be a huge time saver! If I have some quiet writing time I’ll try to write more than one post and then I can add pictures later. I also edit pictures and get them ready for posts all at the same time. Usually after 9:00 in the evening when the kids are asleep or in their rooms and I’m watching TV with my husband. Popcorn in hand of course. :)

Those are just a few tasks I try to batch to help me manage my time. If this is something you think would be helpful for you, use a piece of paper to brainstorm all of the activities that fill your days. See which activities can be batched together to help you save time! It’s such a simple idea, but once you figure out a way to make it work for you it can really increase productivity during the day!

Tip #2) “Batch” similar tasks together to save time. Focus on your most important tasks first thing in the morning.

The last tip goes hand in hand with batching. In order to really be able to batch your tasks together like I shared above, you have to be organized! You have to have your week organized and planned out ahead of time so that you know which tasks you will be grouping together and when. I have two planning sessions that I can’t live without! One at the end of each day when I re-write my to-do list and go over what I have going on the next day. Then on Friday I have my “Week Ahead Prep” time. I used to try to prep for the week ahead over the weekend but we are in a stage of life with our kids where the weekends are often just as busy as our weeks! I couldn’t find a good, quiet time on Saturday or Sunday to do it so I spend some time first thing every Friday morning going over the next week. I write a list of everything I still need to get done before Monday and then a separate list of things that can wait until the following week. I also spend some time thinking about how my schedule will be laid out and which tasks I can batch to save time. That way when Monday morning hits I know exactly what I need to be working on. These planning times are so engrained in my schedule that I don’t even have to think about them! They are a daily and weekly habit that makes my life run so much smoother and really helps with my productivity.

Tip #3) Establish set planning times in your schedule (one at the end of each day and a longer planning time once a week) to go over your goals and to-do’s and to plan for the day/week ahead.

Moving my cell phone, batching tasks, and set planning times. Those are the three time management tips that really help me manage my time and increase productivity! Such simple changes I’ve implemented that have made a HUGE difference for me. I hope something in this post helps you with time management too! To the moms out there.. hang on tight for the next few months, right? :)

Is there anything you are doing that saves time and helps you increase your productivity? I’d love to hear about it!

Because I’m nerdy like that.

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

Home Decor

03.05.18

Spring Decorating!

Happy Monday everyone! I’m so excited to be joining some of my blog besties to share some Spring decorating with you all today! If you are joining from Megan’s fun blog Honey We’re Home hello and come on in! I love having people over. :)

I have to admit that until a couple of weeks ago my house was looking pretty bare! I took down Christmas and then went in for a not so fun knee surgery in early January and as you can imagine the house didn’t change much for a good six weeks. Survival mode is always a good time, right? If the counters were occasionally wiped off by my poor, exhausted husband I called the day a success! I’m still limping around, but am finally feeling good enough to be cleaning and decorating a little. It feels SO good! Like I’m me again. :) You won’t see any major changes.. just a few small Spring updates that are putting a smile on my face at the moment!

(All room sources are linked at the end of the post! Affiliate links used.)

{NEW FAUX FIG TREE}

My style is always fairly casual, but I wanted my family room to feel a little more on the crisp, clean side vs. a complete farmhouse feel for a change. I swapped out my old frames for some white frames and I moved the vintage books I’ve had on my shelves for over a year and replaced them with a few simple accessories. I still love the coral accents in this room (especially for Spring!) so I bought this beautiful rose print to add more coral to my shelves. It helped give this space the crisp look I was going for!

{NEW FAUX FIG TREE}

I’ve had a larger faux fiddle leaf fig in the corner of this room for years and loved it so I wanted to find another one for my husband’s office. I searched on-line and found this faux fig and ordered it and when it came I fell in love all over again! I decided to keep it here for a change and I put the other faux fig in Kenny’s office and they both look so good! Either of them are great options if you are like me and can’t keep a plant alive to save your life. #thestruggleisreal

Speaking of plants.. I was getting groceries the other day and found this darling little rose bush that matched my home too perfectly to be left behind. I’m praying it will make it through the month! Isn’t it cute!? Another new addition are my pillows. These large white pillows with small navy designs and coral tassels might be my most favorite pillows ever. At least this season. :) This cozy striped throw is also new for Spring and will be perfect to transition into Summer.

{Woven Araya Pillow/Embellished Shape Pillow}

{navy Grainsack pillow}

Simple decor on the right shelves also! I bought this Paris print before our trip to Paris over a year ago and am happy to finally have it displayed. The coral throw over my chair is the one I’ve had in my master bedroom. Such a pretty throw with a herringbone pattern and it comes in lots of colors for Spring! On a side note if you’re a flower lover, this book (displayed on my shelf) is so good! I get lost in the pictures alone.

I’m still trying to figure out what to do with my mantel! It’s such a hard spot for me to decorate because it’s so big. I took down the magnolia wreath and am loving the clean look of just the mirror. I still love my lanterns, but need something to go on the right.. always a work in progress around here. :)

Hydrangeas are every season to me. :)

Getting my black and white striped fix on my console table. I love color but can’t say no to a good black stripe.

Which is why these fun vases had to come home with me the second I saw them. So pretty full of faux Spring blossoms!

I added a touch of Spring to the kitchen too!

If you saw my IG stories last week I attempted to switch out the dishes in this cabinet and ended up creating nothing but a great big hot mess. I absolutely hated it! So I put everything back how it was. Sometimes change isn’t a good thing.. ha. :)

But I did mix up the tray and added some of my new navy gingham dishes. Love these! So cute for an Easter or Spring/Summer table setting! They come in yellow and blue too.

One thing I’ve found decorating with plants and flowers is that if you have a few that are real sprinkled in with all of the faux, everything looks even more real! This faux topiary looks real on its own but even more next to my real small plant. That will most likely kick the dust within the week. ;) I added some of my antique rolling pins to a basket in my window. I collect them because they remind me of my grandma Ellen (who Ellie was named after). She was an amazing cook and would always make me the best homemade noodle soup when I was a little girl. I loved watching her roll out the noodles! I know she looks down on me from heaven when I’m making Kole Ramen noodles for dinner and just shakes her head.

Maybe the rolling pins will help..

I added more little faux plants over the stove and called it good!

It’s the little things. :)

The rest of my gingham plates are on this butler’s pantry shelf.. ready for Easter!

I’ve had so many questions about my black and white striped rugs and if they wash well. They do! I’ve washed all of them multiple times in my washer (even though they say not to!). I always wash my kitchen rugs and lay them out to dry. The only issue is that the first time you wash them they will shrink a little. It didn’t bother me at all.. I just cut the rug pad a little shorter. They are still plenty big! But something to be aware of. They are the same rugs I have in my upstairs laundry room and on my front porch. I’m a fan. :)

I kept the decor simple in my kitchen nook too.. just green apples in my dough bowl. Next to hydrangeas of course. :) Two of my three kids are obsessed with green apples lately so that was an easy decor decision!

Time to open these french doors and feel the cool breeze of Spring! Pretty much feels the same as the cool breeze of winter, summer and fall for us in southern Cal, but who’s keeping track? ;)

Like I said, no major changes around here. Just a few new plants, a few new pillows and a clean kitchen.

All this girl needs to feel normal again. ;)

If you are new, below are a few other spaces in my home that always feel like Spring! You can also head here to download all of the paint colors throughout my home. Thanks for stopping by!

{MASTER BEDROOM}

{LIVING ROOM}

{POWDER BATHROOM}

*Update – Getting lots of e-mails about this rug in our family room. I wrote all about it in this post on the rugs throughout my home!

Next up on the tour is my darling friend Courtney at A Thoughtful Place. Courtney has such a beautiful home and warm personality! We live about an hour away from each other and are lucky to get to meet for lunch once in a while to catch up! Always a treat. I know you will love her as much as I do! Also be sure to check out the rest of my friend’s Spring tours! So many fun ideas to welcome this beloved season. :)

A Thoughtful Place | Life On Virginia Street | Style House Interiors

Your Marketing BFF | Z Design At Home | Honey We’re Home | Sunny Side Up

{POST SOURCES}

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

Home Decor

03.02.18

Guest Room Decor (progress!)

Happy Friday friends! I hope you all had a good week! Mine was ok. Truthfully a little long.. but we made it. :) It has been a while since I shared progress on our guest room decor! I thought sharing where I’m at with this space might be a good way to end our week. You think so too? Oh good! Funny how we always tend to think alike, isn’t it!

That’s why we get along so well. :)

If you remember my first post on this room, it started out as my son’s bedroom when we moved into our new house because this room is close to our master bedroom and Kole was just three when we moved in.

That was always going to be temporary and as soon as he turned seven we moved him into his “real” room next to his sisters. (Hoping to finish this space soon!)

I was left with a blank slate in the new guest room and started by adding a focal grid pattern wall. That’s just about where I left off last time.

Ready to see what it looks like today?

Ta-da! Yea! A REAL guest room! With a bed and nightstands and pillows.. oh my. :) I wanted this room to feel light and bright and airy and cozy. The cozy was easy to pull off because it’s not a big room. The white duvet cover made things feel airy and spacious and the nightstands, rug and pillows add a bright pop of color. Done done and done. :)

(affiliate links used)

Details! Here we go..

For the bed I chose this Pondicherry bed with nailheads in a soft grey fabric. I knew I loved it when I ordered it on-line, but when it arrived at my house and I saw it in person.. GAH! It’s so gorgeous! I couldn’t stop walking into this room and staring at it for several days after it came! I tend to lean towards straight lines with furniture so this bed was a bit outside of my comfort zone at first, but because the wall had so many straight lines in the grid pattern this style of bed ads some contrast and works so much better.

The bedding is this Claremore Duvet. Very similar to the white duvet cover I put in my master bedroom! I love the fun pattern on both of these white duvet covers. I thought about putting a set of larger pillows in the back, but when guests come and stay I don’t love having too many pillows for them to set aside each night. Plus I love the headboard so much I decided to keep it simple with pillows and let it be the star of the show. :)

The pillows are from Anthro. I think the larger two sold out but the mint pillow in front you can find here. I’m having a serious obsession with Anthro pillows at the moment! They have so many cute options for Spring and the texture and colors are just too much fun. You’ll see more popping up all over my home in my next post! :)

This little moment I couldn’t love more! I kind of want to move these mint nightstands into my bedroom because I love them so much. I won’t.. because they aren’t the right size or color for that room.. but oh.. they have my heart. When my mom first saw them she said they had “Erin” written all over them. :)

So do these lamps! Just like the bed, the day these were delivered was a happy day.. they are absolutely stunning in person! And aren’t the fringe tassels fun!?

I’ve had my eye on this gorgeous Malibu Chandelier for quite a while and never found anything I liked better for the guest room. It was a splurge, but is such a stunning fixture! (I shared this chandelier on IG stories once and got so many questions about similar less expensive options so I’ll link to some below!) Beaded chandeliers add so much texture to a space and really make a statement. I’m a fan!

I also love the way the whole frame of the fixture is covered in hemp clear to the top! It’s such a beautiful fixture.

This pretty flower painting was a great price and it was the perfect size for this little wall space next to the window.

Now for the other side of the bedroom! I mentioned in my first guest room decor post that my parents use this room more than anyone and my mom put in a request for a TV when we were building. She likes to stay up late watching the news in bed. :) The only space for it was in-between the closet and bathroom door.

I debated what to put below the TV and decided on this Dorsay Console Table. I had envisioned something with a marble looking top and gold legs so I told my friend/designer Tritia to see if she could find something like that for me in the right size. Major score when she landed on this beautiful piece of furniture! I love it so much but almost didn’t order it because the reviews aren’t great. I decided to try it and see for myself and seriously don’t know what people are talking about! It’s gorgeous in person and great quality. It has a matching coffee table that I would snatch up in a heartbeat if I had a place to put it!

There are drawers in the closet in this room so I didn’t need a dresser for guest’s clothes, and because of the small walk way space I wanted something that wouldn’t take up a lot of room. This console table will be a perfect place for guests to set their keys, purse, hat, etc. I was initially planning on getting a bench for the end of this bed, but because the table is the long shape of a bench I ended up ordering these X base stools instead.

I chose a good neutral fabric in case I eventually put these in a different room. Decor tends to move around often at my house. :)

This Distressed Arabesque Wool Rug was another item I had been wanting for a long time and just didn’t have a place to put it. I keep looking for rugs for this room and not loving anything and would think “I wish that navy Arabesque rug worked in this space..” Then I finally just decided it does work in this space!

Why not add a pop of navy!? It pulls the blue out of the pillows. And even more importantly.. I love it! One thing I’ve learned decorating this home.. worry less about what “works” and more about what you love. When you surround yourself with things you love, they always work together.

Plus they make you happy. Bonus. :)

I still want to do something fun on this blank wall. I have an idea! (I’m never short on ideas.. the time needed to make ideas actually happen is a different story.. can anyone relate?)

I also want a fun throw to put at the end of the bed..

and I need to accessorize the console table and nightstands with a few things.

But after those small additions this room will be done!

One more room that will be checked off the list! We’ve lived in our home 4 1/2 years now and I’m almost done decorating. Even though I’ll never really be done decorating.

You feel that way about your home too? Funny how we always tend to think alike, isn’t it!

That’s why we get along so well.

Sources and similar items are linked below!

{SOURCES}

**UPDATE

I just hung this fun gallery wall in our guest room! Snapped this quick with my phone but I’ll share better pics soon! I’ll also share pics of what I’m putting in them as soon as I figure that out.. ha. :) For those asking you can find these frames HERE. I ordered six of the 8×10 (15×19 without the mat).

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

Home Decor

02.27.18

paint colors throughout my home (free printable!)

Friends! This is such a happy day for me! And I hope for a lot of you too. :) We moved into our new home over four years ago and ever since then I have been getting so many questions about my paint colors. I wrote this post in 2016 sharing paint names of some rooms, but there were still a lot of paint questions because the main brand we used (Frazee) later joined with Sherwin Williams. That made things tricky! Some of you were having a hard time finding the exact color, some of you had questions about what sheen we used, some of you wanted info. on our white paint or our ceilings or on rooms I hadn’t fully shared on the blog at that point.

SO! Because I love you all. :) I have spent hours getting everything figured out for you! This involved a few trips to my local Sherwin Williams, several phone calls with my painter, and going back to where my mind was during building and painting our house which quite frankly is a place I didn’t really want to return to.. ha. ;) I then typed EVERYTHING up for you on a printable that you can print out and keep! This printable includes ALL of my paint colors throughout our home (exterior and interior). It also includes the brand and number that goes with each color. A few of these rooms I haven’t even shared on the blog yet! But now you’ll know the name of the paint color when I do. :)

And for my main grey paint color that I get asked about daily? I also included the exact formula and sheen we used in our home! (If you want to use that same grey paint with a different sheen, just give someone at SW my color numbers and formula and they will be able to match it for you.)

OK.. here’s another reason it took me a while to get all of this figure out for you and why I’m so excited!

I am obsessed with list making – as you all know. :) I have always typed up my own printables to help me stay organized. I have printables I use for projects like decorating a room, printables I use for organization, printables I use for blogging. I have never shared them with all of you because that involves major tech work (setting up the library and making everything accessible to you on-line). Most of you know that the tech side of blogging is not where I excel. But I finally hired some help and now have a printable library all set up that I will be able to add printables too. YEA! If you subscribe to my blog you will have instant access to this library. My paint printables and the printables I made to help with gift giving at Christmas are in the library now, but more are coming! I’m so excited to show you a few things that have helped me stay organized and on track with my projects and time management!

Sign up at the end of this post or CLICK HERE to download all of my paint colors and get access to my new printable library!

If you are already a blog subscriber (thank you!) you can just enter your name and e-mail again to get the paint printable. It won’t double your e-mail. :) If you are not signed up for my e-mails and are nervous about subscribing to my blog, don’t be! I totally understand wanting to keep your inbox clean. I will never share your e-mail address with anyone and you’ll only get a quick e-mail from me when a new post is up (on average twice a week). Plus we have a good time around here so why not join the party!? I’ve got lots of fun posts in store for you all. :)

In other random news, I’ve been decorating for Spring (so fun!) and if you want a sneak peek of a few things I bought to refresh my home (and some clothes I’m loving lately) you can check out my updated favorites page. This throw I have on the ladder in my master bedroom is so beautiful and went out of stock in most colors so quickly! They just got it back in stock if you want something fun and pretty to toss over your chair or couch for Spring!

And speaking of my master bedroom, we just got a new mattress! You guys.. I’m so excited about it! The kids and I are always on this bed hanging out – even more so the past six weeks because of my knee surgery. We got our kids all new mattresses after we moved into our house, but ours was 17 years old! Yikes. So when Mattress Firm reached out to me to collaborate and write a post on their blog I couldn’t say yes fast enough. We bought the kids’ mattresses at Mattress Firm and knew they were good quality and that they had good customer service. You can read the post I wrote about why we love king size beds and which mattress we picked out here. They are having a huge sale right now if you’ve had your mattress for 17 years too! (Please tell me I’m not the only one..)

Alright friends.. that’s it for now because it’s time for after school pick up, but I’ll be back soon! Enjoy your day! :)

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

Organization

02.18.18

My Organized Pantry!

I’m so excited about today’s post! Finally. I’m finally sharing my organized pantry with you! We’ve now lived in our new home over four years and this pantry was for the most part organized one month after we moved in. WHY haven’t I already shared this space!? I honestly have no idea! Ha. But I guess it doesn’t matter because I’m sharing it with you now. :) What I have shared multiple times is this butler’s pantry (the counter and open shelves in my kitchen that links my pantry and the formal dining room). See that door to the right? Let’s go inside!

*affiliate links used

There is no window in my pantry so I’m sorry about the lighting. A tricky spot to photograph! (Maybe that’s why I procrastinated so long on this post? I’ll be analyzing that one for a while…)

When I was working with our architect to design my pantry he kept trying to make it bigger. I kept explaining that food/cooking wasn’t really my thing and after living with my previous pantry, anything I could walk into would be plenty big and would feel like a dream!

A few things that were on my pantry wish list: regular drawers, pull out basket drawers, open shelving for food, open shelving for kitchen accessories, counter space and wall space to hang a few things. Done and done! I am so happy with how it turned out and feel grateful for this space every single day.

Even though I LOVE organization there are some spots in my home that I struggle to keep organized. My pantry isn’t one of them! For some reason food pantries have always been my easiest spot to keep neat and organized. I think it’s because I really can’t function when this space is a mess. I just can’t. I am in and out of my pantry too many times a day. I also have a long time habit of straightening things in my pantry every time I bring in new groceries which is pretty much every other day! (I absolutely had to do this with my previous pantry because we were short on space). So while other spots in my home can get out of control in no time, this pantry always stays nice and organized. Just the way I like it. :)

Now before I break things down for you I need to add a little disclaimer. I am not a food blogger. Or a nutritionist. My pantry is not full of wheat/organic/tofu/all natural whatever. I wish it was, but it’s not. You can usually count on some type of fruits and veggies cut up in my fridge, but my pantry is another story. Just throwing that out there so there’s no judging the food I have in this space. Let’s just focus on how it’s organized mkay? :)

How about these open shelves I have for storing miscellaneous kitchen items when I’m not using them? Pretty storage? Now that I do. ;)

Below these shelves I have baskets I labeled SAUCES, CHIPS, GRAINS and PASTA INGREDIENTS because those are the things I seem to be reaching for most days. The baskets are these Savannah Utility baskets – long time favorites! I have them all over my house and love them for organizing! You can see them in my master bathroom cupboards, on my tub shelves and I also have them in a few closets. I took these pantry pics quite a while ago and since then have actually switched these smaller square baskets out for the Savannah Lidded baskets because they are longer front to back so I can store more food and utilize my counter space better (I’m not using the lids.) My labels were just typed on the computer on white paper and cut to size to fit in these bin clip labels. Easy to switch out if I ever ditch the chips and add the tofu. (I don’t think those labels are getting switched out any time soon.) ;)

This is a picture of my pantry soon after we moved in. Initially I was going to keep the drawers open like this but then a few months later I decided I wanted to put drawer fronts on them. Hardware and labels please!

My carpenter made the drawer fronts and I found these label pulls at Pottery Barn. (They don’t sell them anymore which is so sad because I love them! I used them in our playroom and Kole’s room for drawers too.) I printed labels for SNACKS, FOILS, PAPER GOODS, APRONS, and COOKBOOKS.

I keep snacks for the kids in the top two drawers. This makes lunch packing and snack time a little easier.

I shouldn’t say these drawers are just for the kids. I’m the one who has always been popcorn obsessed.

I use these Dream Drawer Dividers to organize our snacks. LOVE these. Another favorite organizer I have all over my house! You can see how I use them in closets here.

This drawer holds foils and ziplock bags.

Paper goods are in the bottom left drawer and I didn’t take a picture of our aprons and cookbooks on the other side. (Those two drawers could probably use some dusting.) ;)

Moving to the left side of the pantry!

I use the top two shelves for more miscellaneous kitchen items (bowls and things I only use once in a while).

And the next two shelves for baking products and food we reach for often.

I use these Store and Pour containers for cereal and then the OXO Good Grips for everything else. I like to keep my baking supplies labeled but I don’t label the rest of the containers because you can easily tell what’s inside of them and they are easier to wash without the labels on them. And yes.. we eat a lot of pretzels and pasta at our house. :)

The counter in my pantry is one of my favorite things and has come in so handy! I often have my black tray and our beloved popcorn bowls slid to the side. Then I have a clear counter to set my grocery sacks and food on after a trip to the grocery store while I’m putting everything away.

I risked my life getting on a ladder to take some of these pics. Am I forgiven yet for taking so long to share this space? ;)

Let’s talk about the magic happening below the counter. SO nice having these open shelves for larger items. I use this Expand a Shelf in the middle to store canned goods. I love that you can adjust it to fit any space.

The bottom shelves are for any extras.

This wooden crate was a random Home Goods find and works perfectly to hold all of our oils. They can get sticky so I always like having them in some sort of tray, basket, or crate.

Then there’s my pull out baskets. I told my carpenter about these (I had seen something similar in a magazine) and it took him a while to find them but he finally did and built them into my pantry design.

They have a plastic lining on the inside so they are great to store food and wipe out. I use the top drawer for bread and the bottom two for things like onions and potatoes. And no.. we don’t usually keep this many onions and potatoes on hand! I filled them for the BHG photoshoot and then was trying to come up with creative ways to use them for quite a while. Which basically just meant lots of potatoes with onions. My culinary skills are impressive I tell ya. Ha.

I knew I wanted some wall space in my pantry so that I could hang/display my kids’ art/school work and random letters, announcements, etc. (You can find my kitchen art prints here.)

I bought these two pin boards from PB (they have similar options now I’ll link below) and have loved them. Perfect for swapping out every day life kinds of things. :)

When I bought a large chalkboard for my office I loved it so much I decided to put the same thing in my pantry.

You guys.. I had such great plans for this chalkboard! I was going to start meal planning and writing the week’s menu on this chalkboard. Every Sunday night! I was going to be planning those meals.

Guess how often that happened?

When the BHG crew was here taking pics of this space they suggested some meals I could write on the chalkboard. Some of the meals they suggested sounded so fancy and I seriously hadn’t even heard of them before! I laughed and told them there was NO way my blog readers would buy that I was cooking all that. So they said ok.. just write what your family typically eats during a week. So I wrote the menu above.

And then they laughed.

I didn’t dare tell them that this was a good cooking week for us. Baked Ziti AND Teriyaki Chicken the same week? That’s my A game.

And I haven’t touched this chalkboard since.

We may not always enjoy the finest of dinning around here, but this pantry has served us well and works great for our family.

Plus it is an organizer’s dream! And when you can have that.. who really cares what you’re eating? #priorities

;)

On a sidenote, if you are struggling with pantry organization I’m going to write a post that covers some tips I’ve learned over the years! Let me know in the comments if you have anything you want me to address in that post. All pantry sources are below! Also below that I’ve added some links to all the fun things I’m scoping out that are on sale this weekend for President’s Day. So many great deals. It’s a good weekend to shop! Or to organize your pantry! Or both! Or neither.

Whatever you do this weekend, I hope it’s a good one. :)

{PANTRY SOURCES}

{WEEKEND SALES}

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

Fashion

02.12.18

Fashion, Life Lately and Valentine’s Ideas

Sharing some recent fashion favorites today! Along with a lot of additional randomness. I’m apologizing early again for the length of this post! I guess we have some catching up to do. :)

{Zella Hoodie (on sale!)/Zella Leggings/Adidas Sneakers} *affiliate links used

I can’t tell you how good it feels to be out of bed and getting dressed these days. Of course my wardrobe has consisted of pretty much leggings and athletic wear, but I’ll take it! This knee surgery has been a little harder on me than I thought it would be and has definitely helped me appreciate all of the little things I often take for granted. I missed getting dressed in cute clothes! I missed driving. I missed being able to pick things up and carry them from one room to another. I miss checking on my kids in their bedrooms upstairs each night after they fall asleep (still can’t do that one). I even missed grocery shopping. Not the cooking of course – I was happy to take a long break from coming up with dinner each night. In fact I’m still conveniently suffering from major knee pain and needing to rest right around 5:30 each evening.. ha. We’ll see how long I can milk this thing. ;) Anyway.. happy to be among the living again and grateful that I have several pairs of these Zella high waist leggings. They have been on repeat around here! The Zella hoodie I’m wearing is so soft and warm and perfect for easing back into life. And I know.. you’re all dying to know how you can get the knee brace. It’s a hot accessory this season so I’ll link to it at the end of this post. ;)

{sweatshirt/necklace}

This sweatshirt might be my most favorite sweatshirt I’ve ever owned. Honestly. I love it so much I wore it three times last week! I’m going to order it in a different color because I just keep reaching for it. It’s so comfortable and soft! And not too heavy. Perfect for transitioning into Spring.

The material is so nice you could even dress it up. Would be so cute with these jeans and my peep toe booties. I miss wearing peep toe booties!

This Nike half zip top is so light weight and comfortable. I love having the option of using the thumb holes on athletic tops like this.

This Zella hoodie is one I’ve had for a while and love. It’s on sale and comes in coral and a darker blue that’s cute too.

I just ordered this cute half zip running top. I love the blue! It fits true to size except the arms are a bit tight so I might try it in a small. (Wearing xs in this pic)

{Camo top/AG jeans/Adidas sneakers}

I ventured into jeans twice last week but could only wear them for a couple of hours. My knee is still swollen and gets so sore and I’m moving very slowly (can’t bend my knee at all when I walk) so after a couple of hours in jeans I just wanted to be back in leggings! But I was dying to wear this camo top I ordered. I’m so in love with it! It runs BIG so order a size down (this is an xxs).

It’s long! I love it tucked in the front and hanging in the back. And I know.. this brace makes me look like I’m right out of Terminator.

A newish cute flannel plaid top! I don’t normally love pink on me but I love the pink and black together in this shirt.

K – these drawstring trooper pants. I’m so in love! Pants like these are my all time favorite and I live in them. Soft, comfy, stylish. They come in other colors and I want them in black too. Or the green! I think the pink sold out. The camo pair was a no brainer for me. :) Wearing them with this long time favorite linen tee. Pants like this you can wear casual like I am or dress them up with different shirt/shoes.

This pic was from last year with similar cargos I bought at Anthro. I love wearing cargo pants with these beloved strappy sandals. A quick shoe change and you’re ready for dinner out!

I’ve had these black similar cargos for years and have worn them out! Another look at this type of pants with cute strappy sandals. Spring we are ready for you! And speaking of gingham because I love this top.. there are so many cute new gingham things I have my eye on. Here are a few..

Remember in early January when I shared this Dyson Supersonic blowdryer that my husband gave me for Christmas? I kind of decided I didn’t love it and was going to return it. Some of you suggested learning how to use it better and I probably should have done that but I had time to do a little blow dryer research this past month :) and I decided instead to give this one a try..

{RUSK Engineering W8less Professional 2000 Watt Dryer}

I’ve been using it the past few weeks and love it! It dries my hair faster than the Dyson did, doesn’t get too hot and like the Dyson it’s really lightweight.

So since I had a little extra hair care cash after returning the Dyson.. ha :) I decided to try this T3 Twirl Trio curling iron. It just came last week and I haven’t tried it yet but I’m so excited to because I’ve been hearing rave reviews about it for a long time now. You can buy just the 1.25 barrel for less, but sometimes I like the 1 inch and I curl my girls’ hair often for events too so it will be nice to have the different sized barrels to swap out depending on the look we’re going for. Do any of you have this curling iron? Would love to hear what you think! I’ll let you know if I love it or not soon. I’ve always just used a super cheap $12 curling iron from Target but my last one broke and I’m excited to see if this is worth the extra cash!

This is random but I was looking for a new mirror on-line the other night and I stumbled on my barstools!

Well.. almost my barstools. My barstools were made custom but because so many of you have asked about them I wanted to share that you can get almost identical barstools for a great price right now on Overstock! Hope that’s helpful for some of you. :)

Random pics of life around here lately..

Bike riding with dad.

Kole does such a fun thing in his 2nd grade class.. every Friday he writes a journal entry to someone in his family and then over the weekend we write back. :) This journal will be so fun for him to keep forever full of sweet notes from his family. I love this so much and want to continue this with him next year even if he isn’t doing it in class. Thought I’d share it in case any of you want to start it with your kids too. :) You could even write the letters back and forth once a month if once a week was too much to keep up with. I love how he ended this one “I hope you are having the best day of your life.” Hmmm.. some laundry, housework, computer work and driving kids around. Definitely a top contender. ;)

Leaving Physical Therapy. Another dreadful winter day in southern California. ;)

Sisterly love.

Leaving student led parent/teacher conferences last week. I have lots of good pics of the back of Kenny and the kids lately because I’m always walking at a snail’s pace behind everyone.

What most evenings have looked like the past two months. Thanks for all the love on my master bedroom post btw! I was so happy to finally share it with all of you. :)

I gave Kole this set of Roald Dahl books for Christmas (long time favorites) and we are almost finished with them all. I’m looking for a fun new set of books to start with him. Moms of boys in Elementary school.. what have been favorites?

I seriously love life with a 7 year old. :)

{this pic was taken one week after surgery – which is more scary.. the brace or how white my other leg is? Ha.}

Ok.. this post has already gone on too long but so many have asked on Instagram what the deal is with my knees so I’m going to quickly explain the situation for those of you who are interested. If you don’t care (or if hearing medical issues makes you queasy) just skip to the Valentines ideas at the end of this post! :)

My knee caps dislocate. Both of them. Often. I could be exercising or just walking or whatever and my knee cap will pop out of place and I fall to the ground and have to put it back in place. (I told you not to read this if this stuff makes you sick!). Whenever it happens it hurts so badly (I always cry!) and then I’m usually icing my knee and limping for a week and then back to normal until it happens again. It happened the first time when I was in Elementary school and has been happening ever since. My sister has fun childhood memories of the Easter I ruined the egg hunt because my knee dislocated right when they blew the whistle to start the race and she didn’t get any eggs because she was comforting her crying sister in the grass. :) I dealt with it a lot during high school and college because I danced so much and did physical therapy to help. It happened when I was pregnant with Kole and I hit the ground so hard we had to go to the emergency room to make sure he was ok. It happened once when he was a baby and I was carrying him coming out of Target and I fell and dropped him in the parking lot. One of the saddest days ever for me! Thankfully he wasn’t hurt.

It’s genetic and the reason it happens is because of the structure of my knee. The surgery to fix it is major (it lasted 4 hours) and that’s why I’ve put it off for so long! But the past few years one of my two knees was dislocating at least once a month and I just couldn’t deal with it anymore. To fix it they had to do basically 4 surgeries in one.. break and realign the bone below my knee (I have a fun long scar on my leg from that one), add donor tendons to help keep my knee cap in place, reshape things and then clean out the joint from all of the damage done from years of my knee cap dislocating.

Isn’t that fun!? Are you all so jealous? Ha. ;) I can’t even think about doing all of this again on the other knee. I think I’ll need to wait a year or two for that.

The first two weeks were rough. A lot of pain and the meds made me so sick! My kids have been so sweet through the whole thing. The first few weeks after surgery whenever they were home they were either in bed with me or playing right next to me. The girls help me shower and pick up the house and put Kole to bed because I can’t go upstairs. Kenny has been working non stop covering his work, the kids activities and all of the other stuff I usually do. I have been so grateful for my little family through it all! Things have definitely been different with everyone taking care of mom lately.

I’m doing physical therapy once a week and feeling much better than I was.

But more than anything I’m just so grateful to be done with crutches!

My parents were in town for a week and that was a huge help. Plus I just enjoyed the company. Nice to have people to chat with when you’re spending most of the day in bed! I was glad they were here in time to see Kole’s ancestor program in school. It was so cute. :)

So! I’m through the worst of it and now just have to keep doing my exercises and wear this brace that locks my leg straight when I walk for the rest of February. It has to be so tight to stay in place that it pushes my thigh fat up at the top. Such a cute look. Can you tell how much I love it? Ha. If my X-rays look good in March I will be able to toss the brace and walk normally and I’m hoping the pain will be minimal by then.

Thank you SO much for all of your kind and encouraging words! So many of you have reached out to check on me and offer well wishes and it has meant so much. I’m sorry if I haven’t been able to get back to each of you but please know that I read every message and comment and e-mail and I’m beyond grateful for all of your love and support. I have had quite a few not so fun days during recovery and your sweet words have honestly cheered me up more times than I can count!

Because this post isn’t long enough.. ;) here are a few past Valentine pics and links for anyone looking for ideas!

{Over 10 Fun Ideas for Valentines Day}

This post is full of Valentine decorating ideas, fun Valentines for the kids and our favorite pretzel hug V-day treat.

{Our February Tradition.. Sharing the Love}

Doing this with the kids tomorrow!

{Simple Valentine Party Ideas}

{How to Make a Cupcake Valentine Box}

An easy solution if you need to help throw something together for the kids. Happy February friends! :)

{POST SOURCES}

xoxo, Erin

Leave A Comment

This is my “Current Projects” system.. if you choose to accept it. ;)

(Get access to my Printable Library HERE. Once you’re in, click on the CURRENT PROJECTS printable to print your own.)

{CLOTHES I TOOK ON THE TRIP ARE LINKED BELOW!}

CHICKEN FAJITAS:

PEPPERONI PASTA:

I feel the need (at the bottom of this particular picture) to remind you all that I take pics of interiors, not food. ;)

ZITI LASAGNA:

CASHEW CHICKEN:

WHITE BEAN CHILI:

TACO SOUP:

CHOW MEIN CHICKEN STIR FRY:

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS:

MEXICAN CHALUPAS:

TACO SALAD:

FETA AND TOMATO DIP:

BANANA BREAD MUFFINS:

APPLESAUCE COOKIES:

(I get lots of questions about keeping these white rugs clean – I do wash them in my washing machine and they come out spotless! I have a large washer/dryer and the largest size rug so just make sure your washer can handle the size, but they do wash well! I lay them out to dry.)

{POST SOURCES}

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

My favorite suits for boys..

Favorites for my little buddy..

Girls Favorites..

Favorite swimsuits for girls..

Favorite Spring dresses and shoes for girls..

{ALL POST SOURCES BELOW!}

{SPRING FASHION FAVORITES}

TIP #1) When you are ready to focus and get work done, set your phone in a different room! Also turn off pop up notifications on your computer so that you can get lost in your work and stay focused.

{Recent Spring tour and home sources here}

*Quick tip: Keep a basket in a closet close to your door to hold items you need to return. That way when you are running errands you have them ready to grab and go!

(Getting ready to help mom cook – you know he means business when the stool and his favorite monster book comes out) ;)

Tip #2) “Batch” similar tasks together to save time. Focus on your most important tasks first thing in the morning.

Tip #3) Establish set planning times in your schedule (one at the end of each day and a longer planning time once a week) to go over your goals and to-do’s and to plan for the day/week ahead.

*Update – Getting lots of e-mails about this rug in our family room. I wrote all about it in this post on the rugs throughout my home!

{POST SOURCES}

{SOURCES}

Sign up at the end of this post or CLICK HERE to download all of my paint colors and get access to my new printable library!

{PANTRY SOURCES}

{WEEKEND SALES}

{POST SOURCES}

Shop my instagram