{enjoying}

The 15 minute ride back to work from lunch on a beautiful summer day...

wearing my new green sandals...

Sporting some crazy wind-blown hair from the strong breeze blowing through the car...

listening to this...

 thanks to a birthday gift from my hubby.

Now this is my kind of summer day.

*no worries...all photos were taken while in park friends.

{spoiled}

**Don't forget to enter my big birthday giveaway here!**

I have had such a wonderful birthday weekend. Goodness I am blessed with such thoughtful family and friends.

On Friday my Mom treated me out to lunch at one of my favorite local sandwich shops, and we also did some shopping. Here we are before we headed out...

I brought home some lovely items including this really fun maxi dress {thanks Mom!}...

I also found a Vera Wang dress on clearance at Kohl's {plus a long necklace to go with}. It is so comfy and has pockets which made me love it even more...

And two new pair of sandals...the gray ones will be so cute with the Vera dress!

Yesterday the hubby and I got out of town for the day to eat and shop some more. The highlight of the day was lunch at one of our favorites...Carino's...

If you haven't tried the bow tie festival pasta there you must add it to your list. It is sooo good.

My view from across the table was pretty nice too...

And me being dorky...I probably had a mouth full of that bow tie festival...

I snatched up some dress pants at the Gap and a few cute cardigans at Target with some bday money while we were there too. My closet is very, very happy. And I feel very, very spoiled. I think this is the most shopping I have done in one weekend in a very long time.

Off to Mom #2's house today for more celebrating and probably some pool time with the boys. Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

{birthday giveaway time!}

Are you ready for this?

Because I'm really. darn. excited. And not just because today is my birthday.

This is the biggest giveaway I've done on This Girl's Life, and oh boy do I have some lovely prizes for one lucky winner! I'm so thankful to have such talented and crafty friends. So let's not waste any more time and get to the goods...

Nicole from Dear Nicole is generously offering a $20 credit to her shop. Oh how I wish I could win my own giveaway because I love everything in Nicole's shop, especially her rosette necklaces!

Kelly from Craft Therapea has offered this adorable ribbon key chain. I'm in love with this fabric!

Natalie from Piggy's Place is including a custom korker bow - check out her shop to see all of the lovely accessories she offers!

And remember this top from my last WIWW?

My friend Kent from Peachy Keen Designs is offering one in these two adorable fabrics...

The shirt is available in sizes XXS - XL

And of course I had to throw in a little something from my shop...

So how can you win?

You get one entry simply by commenting on this post and telling me which item you are most excited to win. That's it! But of course you want extra entries, right?

Do one or all of the following and leave me a separate comment for each one:

1. Follow This Girl's Life - 1 entry (if you are already a follower, leave a comment and let me know!)
2. Visit Nicole's shop and tell me what you would buy with the $20 shop credit - 1 entry
3. Visit Craft Therapea on Etsy and tell me your favorite item in Kelly's shop - 1 entry
4. Become a fan of Piggy's Place on Facebook - 1 entry
5. Become a fan of Peachy Keen Designs on Facebook - 1 entry
6. Become a fan of love squirrels on Facebook - 1 entry
7. Share a link to this giveaway on your Facebook page - 1 entry
8. Blog about the giveaway and send me the link - 1 entry
9. Tweet about the giveaway - 1 entry

So that's 10 chances to enter! What are you waiting for?

*The giveaway will be open until 12pm EST on Friday, August 12th, and one winner will be chosen at random.

Good luck!

{Thursday Randoms}

Ready for some randomness?

1. I went to the dentist yesterday for the first time in over two years. {blush} I was worried that I might have a few cavities and much to my surprise and major relief, I am cavity free!!! Cue the hallelujah chorus. We don't have dental insurance so I was really nervous and I'm so thankful that everything looked OK. What a blessing.

2. We got new phones last night! And they were FREE! The hubby and I have both had palms for the past year or so and they were both wearing out. When he saw that Radio Shack had the HTC EVO 4G for free we jumped on it and both upgraded.

I'm still trying to figure this sucker out but I'm already loving the bigger screen and the better camera.

3. I've been reminded lately of how vulnerable life is. Friends have lost a family member and a coworker in car accidents and even though I don't know either of the victims, my heart aches for their families. I have a close family member that I haven't seen in over a year, and I just wanted to tell her that I hope she is OK, and that I hope we can get back on the right track some day. I really mean that. Life is too short.

4. Speaking of how fragile life is, last month we were very fortunate when a ginormous tree fell between our house and our neighbor's. When I say ginormous, I mean it was probably about 70 feet tall and the trunk was probably 6 feet thick. Ginormous. 

The view from our driveway

View of the debris from our family room window

I wasn't home when it fell, but my husband said the noise was deafeningly loud. We are very lucky that no one was hurt and no damage was done to our homes. And now we need to get our other trees checked. Yikes!


5. I'm really getting the itch to wear fall clothes again...boots, tights, sweaters...

 My lovely gray boots...it won't be long now!

6. My birthday is Saturday and I'm doing a really awesome giveaway right here. So come back and enter, OK?

7. Speaking of my birthday, Mom #2 treated me to an early present when we were at the mall last night getting our phones. Two new shiny tubes of Bath and Body Works lipgloss.

Beauty products are a splurge that I don't often get to indulge in these days, so this was a fun treat.

8. I can't wait for this weekend. Lots of time spent with family to celebrate turning the big 3-3. Dinner out with my parents tonight, lunch and shopping with my Mom tomorrow {I have the day off work too!}, A day out with the hubby on Saturday, and a family meal at Mom #2's house on Sunday. I don't think a birthday could get much better than that! 

9. And finally, I don't know how I could love these boys anymore...

Really...is it even possible?

What are your random thoughts for the day?

{playing dress up...and a giveaway!}

**Scroll down to Sunday's outfit for a link to my big birthday giveaway!**

Well, I made it through another week of What I Wore Wednesday. To be honest, I'm getting a little bored with myself and my wardrobe. I'm doing my best to be creative, but my selection is limited and it has been so darn hot here the past few weeks. But my birthday is coming up this weekend so I'm hoping I'll have some new accessories and maybe a few new clothing pieces to add to the mix...

Thursday...

Top: H&M
Capris: Kohl's
Sandals: Target
Necklace and Earrings: Claire's {yes...I'm wearing a matching set from Claire's with owls on it and I'm almost 33...I'm a sucker for a cute owl accessory.}

Friday...

Black tank: JC Penney
White top: JC Penney
Skirt: Walmart
Sandals: Target
Necklace: Gift from my sister

And I actually took pics of my weekend outfits! I obviously need to work on my camera set-up because I cut off my head and I'm a tad blurry.

Saturday...

Oh look! Another cute owl necklace!

And my $3.24 bargain Target sandals...

Top: H&M
Capris: Kohl's
Blue necklace: Forever 21
Owl necklace: Gift from MIL
Sandals: Target

Sunday's outfit includes something special...a handmade top from my friend Kent at Peachy Keen Designs!

Recognize the fabric? Yep...I have the same print on my dining room chairs! So I can totally coordinate with my decor. I know...you are so jealous. ;)


Do you want one of these cute tops for yourself? I'm giving one away this Saturday in honor of my birthday, as well as some other awesome goodies from my shop and a few of my other talented friends, so come back on Saturday to enter! **Giveaway is now open here!!**

And I know...I cut off my feet in this one...but the shirt is all that really matters. :)

Monday was my favorite work outfit of the week...

White T: Walmart
Sweater: Dillards
Skirt: Sears
Sandals: Target
Necklace: Walmart

Tuesday... simple tee and capris again...

Top: Old Navy
Capris: Kohl's
Sandals: Target
Necklace: Walmart

And today...love the detail on this top, even though it is one of those does this make me look pregnant? pieces...

Top: Dillards
Pants: JC Penney
Sandals: Kohl's

As usual I linked up with The Pleated Poppy, No Model Lady and Momma Go Round {links in my link list}. Happy Wednesday everyone!

{dining room progress}

After lots of small peeks at our dining room over the past few months, I finally feel confident showing off pics of the entire space. While it is still a work in progress, I'm excited at the changes we have made so far.

What I'm most excited to show off is our "new" dining room set that we found on Craigslist. You probably remember my post about recovering the chairs with a fun and bold fabric. Well, I finished recovering all four of them and now they have a table to sit around!

They aren't a matching set, but we bought the chairs and table from the same Craigslist seller. For...get this...$75 for the chairs and $60 for the table! And she delivered the table. Pretty sweet deal.

We love the midcentury details...

All of the pieces still need to be refinished...you can see a few bad spots on the table top here...

But it has a really lovely grain. I'm wondering if it is teak? I'm a total wood dunce though, so if someone can educate me, please do!

So for now the table is sporting a tablecloth to keep its unfinished surface safe from toddler {or Mandy} spills. I'm actually clumsier than they are.

And during these crazy hot summer months our friend that we love to hate, Mr. AC is out in the open...

Oh what a love/hate relationship I have with him.

And the gray curtains. Not sure what to do with those. They are pretty blah now that we have some fun colors going on with the chairs and artwork.  I'm thinking once we have the walls painted something other than white, some white drapes with a fun fabric accent would add a lot of brightness to the space.

The wall opposite the fireplace has this little art gallery of sorts...

And then there is the corner to the left of the fireplace. Right now it has this sad bench and a random pillow...

Remnants from when this space was our family room. Working on some ideas for that little nook.

And of course we want to paint the walls, and I'd like all of the trim to be white. And still on the fence about painting the fireplace. Gotta remove that brass door. Lots to do. But when I look at the space now I smile, and that is a good feeling.

When we moved in it looked like this...

And now it looks like this...



I love a good before and after, even if it is still a work in progress.

{$3.24 worth of happiness}

You know how I have been searching for a great pair of blue/turquoise sandals? Well, I scored this cute pair from Target for $3.24 on Friday!

Nothing like a cute pair of bargain shoes to get you excited about getting ready for work! Of course I'm wearing them today. Did you find any bargains over the weekend? I would love to hear about them!