{sunday morning}

It has been awhile since my last Sunday morning post...I've gotten away from sharing pics of the boys lately and I need to be better about that! 

We enjoyed sleeping in this morning and now the boys are watching Spiderman while I enjoy my coffee...

What is your Sunday morning looking like?

{Giveaway with A Tad Monroe}

Are you ready for a giveaway?!

Today I'm excited to be partnering with A Tad Monroe to give one lucky reader a $40 shop credit!

Are you a fan of ATM on Facebook? If you aren't, and you love jewelry, you should be!

The ladies behind ATM, Lauren and Denise, host a weekly trunk show on Facebook every Tuesday night starting at 8 pm.

Here are a few of their great pieces...

Here's how it works...simply like their page, and stay tuned each Tuesday night at 8 p.m. CST to buy bracelets, necklaces, rings and more. They post photos of their pieces; you pick the one(s) you want; and the first people on the list get to buy!

And everything in their shop is $25 and under. Love that.

Lauren and Denise were so sweet to send me a necklace and earring set that I am in love with...here they are in action...

I love the versatility of these pieces...they go with so many of my outfits!

So are you ready to try to win some of their pieces for yourself? Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{make your own chalkboard labels}

When my hubby surprised me with the craft table of my dreams for Christmas, I had a vision right away of how I wanted to label it's six awesome drawers.

Two words.

Chalkboard labels.

I looked online and on Etsy in particular, and found quite a few for a decent price, but of course my craft-obsessed mind kept saying..."You can make these, Mandy."

So, I headed to Hobby Lobby and picked up a roll of repositionable chalkboard vinyl for about $5 after using my 40% off coupon. {I never buy anything full price at the HL.} And I made a template from clip art I found on PicMonkey...

Traced it onto my vinyl six times...

Cut them out...

And voila!

I'm so happy with how they turned out!

And now I don't have to search through each drawer before I find what I'm looking for...

And of course if I change the contents all I have to do is wipe the label clean and start over!

This, of course, is my favorite drawer...

It won't be long before I'll need two washi tape drawers! #iamabitobsessed

So for $5, I created these awesome labels, and I still have a bunch of the vinyl left over for other projects.

I have a feeling lots of other things in the house will be getting labeled soon!

Linking up with...

Tutorials & Tips @ Home Stories A to Z

{playing dress up with eShakti}

I have a special playing dress up post for you today!

Have you heard of eShakti?

They are a unique and exciting online clothing store that believes that all women have the right to wear affordable fashion. eShakti offers both design and fit customization for women size 0 through 36.

Where did the name come from? Shakti means power in Sanskrit. So, internet + Shakti = eShakti! Their store gives you the power to create clothing that is made to fit just you. You can order in traditional sizes, or you can give them your measurements and they will make a piece made to fit you exactly. 

Awesome, right?! 

When I saw this dress on their site I knew it was perfect for me. It is classic but also has the quirky touches that I like.

I absolutely love this dress...it is a beautiful shade of deep purple and so well made. I gave them my custom measurements so this dress was made just to fit my body. And I am very impressed with how perfectly it fits!

Dress c/o eShakti

One of my favorite things about this dress are the pockets...

Target boots

They are oversized and accented with buttons...such a fun addition to this piece.

I accessorized it with my own earrings and bracelet which both have the same deep purple shade...

Kohl's earrings and bracelet

eShakti just launched an adorable spring line. You can check it out here!

I was provided with this dress by eShakti but all opinions are 100% mine!

{instagram friday}

It has been another crazy rollercoaster of a week for us. Ben was sick again over the weekend...I have another head cold...both of our cars needed repairs. Yikes.

But on the flip side, I've had some exciting things happen with the blog...can't wait to share them...I had lots of fun putting together Valentine's for the boys' first school party...and we did our taxes which is a huge relief because it helps SO much to have a big refund when you are living on one income.

So here is a peek into my week through my Instagram photos...you can find me here...

I started the week of with a shameless selfie...love how Instagram filters make everything look so much lovelier... *wink*

I got my #VDAYMUGSWAP gift in the mail...yay!!

I enjoyed a coffee date with some Transformers...

Snuggled with the boys and watched Despicable Me...

Am I the only mom that can't get enough of kissing on those soft necks and ears?!

Sunday morning = blueberry muffins...

Enjoyed a few minutes of crafting time to put together some Valentine's cards...

Put together the boys' Valentine's...

I was home sick on Wednesday but that meant I needed to feed Batman...

The hubs and I enjoyed an early Valentine's Day dinner out at our favorite Mexican place...

I put together gifts for my two little sweeties...

I stole these two pics from one of the boys' preschool teachers from their Valentine's Day party at school...

The look on Ben's face here just owns me. And he informed me today that he has a girlfriend. Lord help us. :)

we finished our V-Day with a yummy homemade dinner from the hubs and a ginormous pink cupcake...

I definitely can never say that our life is boring.

The pit of my week...finding out that our Prius needed a $500 repair. BOO to that. {but thank goodness for a tax refund just in time!}

The peek of my week...watching the boys enjoy their first full day at school and their first Valentine's Day party. Makes my heart so full and so proud.

What did your week look like?

Linking up with...


 

 

 

{Valentine's Day Mug Swap}

Happy Valentine's Day friends!

This is one of my absolute favorite days of the year, so when I saw that Alissa over at Rags to Stitches and Caroline from Sew Caroline were hosting a blogger Valentine's Day mug swap, I signed up right away.

I looove gift swaps, I looooove Valentine's Day, and I looooooove a good mug, so it was a no brainer!

I was paired up with Kristina from Big Apple Mami {who right now is in labor and delivery today having her fourth child!! Best of luck Kristina!}

She sent me a super fun box of goodies...

For someone that doesn't know me very well, she sure got it right!

A great travel mug and dark roast coffee from Starbucks, lots of Dove dark chocolate hearts, and you can't see them in the photo, but the mug was filled with sour candy hearts, which I devoured that night while watching a movie with the boys. :)

I absolutely love the mug...it is the perfect size and keeps my coffee warm all morning at work...

And how cute is the message heart?!

And I figured I better take another photo of the chocolate before it is all gone {because we know that will be very soon}...

Thanks again Kristina! And thanks to Alissa and Caroline for hosting such a great swap. I'm already looking forward to next year!