loving this new free app..

found via here

Martha Stewart and the American Made Award..

I love my sister and brother in law and of course MY super adorable nephew baby B..
they are such a dynamic duo.. so talented in so many ways and their mom and pop shop
Heritage in Chicago is creating all kinds of buzz..

including getting the attention of someone pretty cool..

umm her name is Martha Frickin Stewart...

They are honoring creative entrepreneurs.. and having a vote for audience choice award..

and Mike and Melissa were selected as finalists..

so I ask that you (my audience) go HERE and read their story..

After that you are surely to fall in love with them and VOTE for them!

Thank you xoxo

chaos ensues

we are moved in..
now the organizing and decorating begins.. it will take some time
the boys were excited to have the world at their fingertips (lol) I have some fun plans for their room

buried...

in boxes

115 degrees out..perfect time to move..

but I am excited about a fresh start and hopefully last time I move like forever..

oven...

I used Marthas recipe for a magically clean oven using baking soda..
reviews say it is amazing and has little work involved..
you mix baking soda with water to create a paste then slather it all over the inside of your oven.
Turn it to 350 for 10 minutes and then let it sit overnight..

my dirty oven before...

 my clean over after..

it did get it pretty clean..and there was no gross self cleaning oven smell... however the easy peasy wipe off part isnt exactly true.. I scrubbed it down pretty good with a rough sponge.. but now it is clean for whomever moves into our house..

multi-tasking at its finest

parent pick up line... my demise.. soooo slow..
well throw your tweezers in your purse..

natual light and a line going nowhere = perfect time to tweeze your eyebrows...

and they start today...

just been enjoying the last couple days of summer with my babies....

cousins

my sister is the most amazing photographer in the world...love her.. and loving this picture of our babies..
have a good weekend..

p.s. She took the photos on my header as well..  If you want an amazing photographer..go visist her site here

just realized she is featuring Luke and Hailie on her site..lol..didn't know that..

crazy cool....

One creative family we are :)

My sister and her husband were just featured on apartmenttherapy for their amazing bike and coffee shop in Chicago.. It is being boasted as one of the best up and coming concepts in Chicago and they are just killing it over there with their awesomeness.. they also had an article in Show Pony Magazine where my newphew B is just the cutest that cute can be.. seriously I think everyone goes to Heritage just to see B.. not for the bikes or Stumptown coffee... lol

then I found out today hailies bday party made their best kids party post.. and I am so honored and excited...



LOVE US SOME apartmenttherapy.com and Show Pony Magazine!

We got a house!

So life doesn't always go in the order you thought it would.
J and I were suppose to be getting married in California on November 3rd...
However, this house found us.. and we are in love..
So instead of paying for a wedding.. we are buying a house...much smarter investment I think.. as we don't need all the hoopla for a wedding.. we will just get married at the courthouse and celebrate in our new house!
Here are some quick snapshots.. we close on Sept 1st.. so it is moving fast..

 we are even going to have a front courtyard :)

this kitchen is my dream kitchen.. gas stove..huge.. love

we have a lot to do in the mean time.. There is going to be so much decorating fun to be had :)
Speaking of I am selling a lot of Luke's current stuff... Thought I would post it here first then I will do craigslist..
so if you are local and are interested in any of the below just shoot me an email   lukeandhailiegirl@gmail.com

  Potttery Barn Kids Ship.. It sells for $150 new..  I am going to sell if for $50 SOLD

Ikea bed..sells for $99 new.. I am selling for $50 SOLD

Pottery Barn Kids pirate mast (letter L).. sells for $99.. I am selling for $50 SOLD

I have Luke's approval on all the above selling ;) I will be posting more as well in the near future..

7 in a very lalaloopsy way..

 





I will post more tomorrow on sources and DIY projects and the craft the girls did :)

photos courtsey of Geoff Rowe..

hope you had a Happy Fourth!

front page of Golf Week Amateur Tour...

guess who is in first place in golf weeks amateur tour for his flight :) so proud and excited for him..

he will be headed to Hilton Head for the big tournament in October and guess who gets to tag along.. 

1..2..3.. mini boden knock off

mini boden has this spotty dotty tshirt in their catalog for $28..
hailiegirl saw it and fell in love..

mommy knew she could make her one for oh so much cheaper..
quick trip to Walmart.. $1 pom poms and $1 fabric glue..

super easy... and as you can see happy hailiegirl :)

lola blue is getting big.. 89 pounds big exactly...

 hard to believe she is not even a year yet...


also hailiegirl got a big girl haircut at a fancy salon.. she is a big girl now and it is scaring me she looks so old!

greatest show on earth...

                                                  our clowns at their very first circus!

Happy Birthday Dominic (smallest boy.. he just turned 8!) 

some news..

J and I were engaged the beginning of March.. he did good with a beautiful platinum and 2 carat ring from Tiffany's... I was shocked.. it looks very vintage.. it is perfect...
we are very excited and happy..
going to be low key but still very personal and fun.. I will be sharing details here and there on the blog..

he has four boys.. and with luke and hailie = 6 kids :)  we are very blessed.. and very lucky everyone gets along amazingly.. all the boys are very sweet to hailie.. I feel very sorry for her when she starts dating though..lol..

catchup and an invite...

man that flu took our house down for awhile..
but we are all better now..thank goodness..
anyways I will post my boden diy tomorrow, just need to edit the photos tonight..
I also have been busy planning hailies 7th bday party..
Here is a sneak peek of what we have planned..

these cute invites are from Beth Kruse Custom Creations  .. she was super easy to work with and gave me exactly what I was looking for...  (I just found her on my own via Etsy.. I am not getting any compensation for this)

I can't believe my baby is turning seven! I am excited though because my mom is coming from CA and we have some super fun party decorations and crafts planned.. :)

our weekend..

looks like this :(

our house got hit by the flu bad..

next week I am going to post about something that hailie and I did when we were inspired by Boden..



another upcycle

hailie came out in this dress and she was upset that one of her favorite dresses didnt fit her anymore...

so I told her we could make it a skirt.. she was game..

literally took 5 minutes.. chopped off the top.. made an elastic casing and sewed the elastic in...

one happy customer later....

upcycled leggings..

I finally got around to a project I have been wanting to do..
I used Make It and Love It's super simple leggings tutorial
I made it even more simple by upcycling a tshirt...

don't judge me..here is a pile of clothes that we are donating.. so I just shopped from the pile and found some of J's old t-shirts..

using a paper bag I followed her instructions... but using the t-shirt I made sure I lined the pattern up with the side and bottom seams which completely omitted that step... saving so much time...

the final results....

adorable if I do say so myself....

last day of school..

2nd and 4th grade here they come..
mommy cried..

this is not my pantry...

I did however get inspired to clean out mine...

sometimes surfing blogs is enough motivation for me to get my butt in gear for projects.. but to aspire to be just like some of those that their lives seem absolutely staged to a tee..not for me..

the theme lately on blogs seems to be about bloggers showing just one side of their life.."the perfect side"

I say your blog is your blog and who cares what you share and don't share.. if people are silly enough to think that every aspect of someones life is perfect and complain about it..then that is on them..

not for bloggers to make sure they are "keeping it real"

I go to blogs to get inspiration, ideas, and to make fun projects and to relate to women in ways that fit my life style.. all things that are posted and pinned are awesome out there, but do I try to be just like them..nope.. do I get depressed because my life is not like theirs or I don't have what they have..nope..
If your pantry looks like this, then that is fantastic.. and thank you for posting it because it kicked my butt in gear to pull everything out of mine..wipe all the shelves down... throw away gross stuff and put it back much more organized.. now when I open it, I sigh a happy sigh that it is clean.. not perfect but clean..

wishing...

I had this on my nightstand (actually.. I just ordered it from here...shhhh)