August 31, 2015

Girls Night In with Caposaldo Wines: My "Hurricane" Party

This post was sponsored on of behalf Caposaldo Wine via One2One Network, regardless all the fun we had during girls night and all opinions stated are my own.
Caposaldo Wine makes for the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the perfect girls night in (or "hurricane party")!

I remember back in June, I planned all kinds of fun activities and had high hopes of accomplishing so much over the summer. From backyard BBQs to random vacations, I had all kinds of plans. Well, let's fast-forward and here we are at the end of August...

Caposaldo Wine is the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the most fantastic girls night in (or "hurricane party")!

While I stayed committed to some of my plans, like losing weight and moving into a new place, I kind of neglected some of the fun parts of summer and now I'm really regretting it... Luckily, I still have a tiny little bit of summer left and I'm going to live it up. I plan on enjoying almost every day on the beach (once this "storm" passes) and spending every evening with my ladies enjoying girl talk around our fire pit, even if the whole time my head is filled with looming thoughts of homework and upcoming due dates and tentative hurricanes like Erika... It's going to be a fun last few weeks of summer, no matter what!

Caposaldo Wine is the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the most fantastic girls night in (or "hurricane party")!

After inventorying my entire summer, I realized I never even took the time to have a girl's night and I officially decided it was time! I've really been wanting to spend some quality time with just the girlies and since the weather man keeps predicting storms and at one point they were talking about a hurricane, I figured a girl's night in was absolutely in store for us. In case you haven't heard, in Florida, we have "hurricane parties" and whether or not "Erika" wanted to attend our girl's day/night was her choice, we were having a little get-together!

Caposaldo Wine is the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the most fantastic girls night in (or "hurricane party")!

This weekend, I decided I was going to have a fantastic time and so I did. We did everything girly we've been missing out on over the summer. I invited the girls over and we started partying fairly early in the afternoon and didn't stop with all the fun until long after the sun went down!

Caposaldo Wine is the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the most fantastic girls night in (or "hurricane party")!

While I was planning our little "hurricane party", I knew we had to have WINE, wine, and a little more wine. Followed up with a whole tank load of our favorite indulgent foods like s'mores, brownie bites, spinach dip, etc.

Caposaldo Wine is the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the most fantastic girls night in (or "hurricane party")!

With food and drinks out of the way, I decided to grab a luxurious, spa-like green French Clay face mask and some cute hair accessories to gift to the girls so we could apply the masks comfortably.

Caposaldo Wine is the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the most fantastic girls night in (or "hurricane party")!

While everything about girl's night was amazing, my absolute favorite part of all the fun was definitely Caposaldo Wine! Everyone loves a good drink during a hurricane party, right? Nothing is better than a glass of delicious wine in one hand, a stack of uno cards in another, and your besties giggling all around you. I love wine anytime...but during a hurricane party, it's a must!


Caposaldo Wine is the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the most fantastic girls night in (or "hurricane party")!

The Sparkling Peach Moscato was the perfect addition to our girl's day/night. We poured a glass in our champagne flutes early in the afternoon and decided it was time to get extra girly with green exfoliating face masks and applied cucumbers to help our eyes. The sweet flavors were the perfect compliment to our girly day and made for a delicious palette cleanser in between snacking on our favorite foods.

Caposaldo Wine is the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the most fantastic girls night in (or "hurricane party")!

After rinsing off our face masks, we decided to get gussied up and roast marshmallows for our s'mores, while sipping on the Caposaldo Pinot Grigio. We drank the bottle up rather quickly, with a crisp, vibrant taste, we all fell in love.

Caposaldo Wine is the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the most fantastic girls night in (or "hurricane party")!

With a handcrafted, artisanal approach to winemaking and cutting-edge quality standards and techniques, what's not to love?! The many varieties of Caposaldo range from a stunning Chianti to an unbelievable Prosecco, I'm obsessing over which one I'll try next... If you are like me or  my friends, you'll be glad to know that you can find most varieties of Caposaldo Wines nationwide.

Caposaldo Wine is the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the most fantastic girls night in (or "hurricane party")!

Now that I've shared what our impromptu girl's night looked like this weekend and how much of a wino I can be once I find something delicious, I'd love to know are you a Chianti loving type of chick or are you ore of a Sparkling Peach Moscato girl like myself? Side note - but are you wondering where your summer went as well? I'd love it if you let me know in the comments below!

Caposaldo Wine is the perfect party pleasing beverage, from a Sparkling Peach Moscato perfect for sipping on during girls night in to a deliciously sweet Pinot Grigio perfect by the glass with dinner; find out why you should try this wine and more about how you can host the most fantastic girls night in (or "hurricane party")!


Watch all the fun we had in action:





August 30, 2015

Overcoming Fear and Self Doubt - 3 Tidbits of Wisdom

This year, I've dyed my hair purple, lost a whole bunch of weight, and decided that I want to finally spend more time painting again... Some may say I've gone off the deep end and to them I say, "come on in, the water's fine!"

Overcoming Fear and Self Doubt - 3 Tidbits of Wisdom

Today's post isn't all about me, though. Today I want to talk about overcoming fears and self-doubt, so I suppose you could say today's post is about you... Now I'm not an expert in psychology, but I'm fairly certain that most people have deprived themselves of an amazing experience simply because they were afraid. Sometimes fear is justified, but those cases aren't the one's I'm referencing... I'm talking about the time that you missed out on something great because you didn't have a friend to go along with you or that time that you sat out on your turn to do something fun because you weren't sure what people would think of you.

Overcoming Fear and Self Doubt - 3 Tidbits of Wisdom

I've missed out on chances to do some great things because I let fear stand in my way. While I know I'm right where I'm meant to be, I do wonder what life would be like had I done this or that instead of letting fear hold me back. I missed out on so much because I talked myself out of it, I don't want this to happen to anyone else... I want to share a few words of wisdom for those that are trying to overcome that gnawing feeling of fear and doubt that can sink into the pit of your belly when you start letting anxiety overcome you.

My first bit of wisdom regarding overcoming anxiety is "no one cares". Okay, so you fell down the stairs at a baseball game last week and it was televised. While you may be the talk of the town this week, no one will even care next week.

I'm not saying no one cares about you, I'm simply saying that if you make a mistake or do something embarrassing, don't hold it against yourself... Laugh when you fall, shake it off, and keep strutting your stuff. If you had spaghetti sauce on your shirt and in your hair during a presentation at work and didn't realize it until afterwards, it may feel like the end of the world but I assure you something else more exciting and gossip-worthy will be happening next week.

It may sound silly, but the next time you make a mistake or do something so embarrassing you wish you were invisible, remind yourself that everyone makes mistakes and no one cares about yours. It'll help, I promise.

Overcoming Fear and Self Doubt - 3 Tidbits of Wisdom

Another way to overcome that feeling of self-doubt is to remind yourself that you are the only you on this planet. Although some may not approve of your mega-awesomeness or your passion for whatever it is you are passionate about, do what makes you happy.

I've had several people tell me that "blogging isn't a job", I've even been told I needed to find a real job before. If I had let those people get to me, I wouldn't be sitting here sharing these secrets with you... I'd be feeling self-doubt in the middle of an office cubicle or serving up drinks to someone trying to manage their self doubt with alcohol. I'm not saying that an office job isn't awesome, but it wasn't for me... I'm glad I listened to myself and stuck with what I loved, so that may be my best piece of advice - stick with what you love and screw the rest. Anyone's opinion but your own doesn't matter, if you are truly happy - don't ever let anyone dull your sparkle. I know that whole paragraph was littered with cliche phrases, but sometimes cliche phrases make the best mantras to remind ourselves of who we are and why we are here...

Overcoming Fear and Self Doubt - 3 Tidbits of Wisdom

Lastly, remember to keep things in perspective. This little tidbit kind of summarizes the other two but it's important. Keeping things in perspective is something that we all need to do through out our lives, in every aspect of our lives.

Take the time to realize that if someone is giving you advice, most likely they aren't trying to "bring you down" but also remember that your opinion is the only one that matters. On the other hand, if you feel like the world noticed that embarrassing thing that happened to you last week, remember that the whole world wasn't in the room with you and the people that were there probably already forgot or don't care. It's all about perspective and learning to live life care free; easier said than done, but practice makes perfect...

Overcoming Fear and Self Doubt - 3 Tidbits of Wisdom

Well, this may not be a fool-proof list of ways to prevent self-doubt and fear, but it should be a good start to help you combat those negative feelings. Want to share how you overcome your fears and self doubt? I'd love to hear all about it in the comments below!

August 28, 2015

A Simple Date Night at Home: A Starbucks Picnic & A Paired Painting!

A Big thanks to Starbucks for sending over a box full of goodies to help make this post possible.

Have a blast and drink some java with your bestie or your boyfriend with this super fun Starbucks Picnic & Paired Painting!

With school back in session, my blog and all kinds of fun projects in full swing, and my hubby working full time, things have been super busy lately and that means we've been neglecting date night. Since we haven't had the chance to spoil each other with a night out on the town recently, I decided to spoil hubby with my most recent package from Starbucks and a little impromptu date day inspired by the contents.

Have a blast and drink some java with your bestie or your boyfriend with this super fun Starbucks Picnic & Paired Painting!

You may remember me talking about becoming a Starbucks blogger a few months back and I was blessed enough to receive another awesome package full of goodies to share with you. This time my box included some of my favorite Starbucks items, frappuccino, espresso, coffee to-go; all of the essentials for a busy gal, as well as a picnic basket and a blanket perfect for picnicking. It's like the people over at Starbucks knew we needed a date and sent it to us in a box.

Have a blast and drink some java with your bestie or your boyfriend with this super fun Starbucks Picnic & Paired Painting!

So I gathered our little picnic basket and all of our coffee together. I also grabbed my painting supplies and a few canvas' to paint on and lugged it all out in the backyard. I told hubby to take a break from studying for a few minutes; he needed some fresh air, so I decided to be a "good influence" and asked him to take a second to calm his mind while he drank some java and painted with me.

Have a blast and drink some java with your bestie or your boyfriend with this super fun Starbucks Picnic & Paired Painting!

A few hours later, we were finished painting the background for my upcoming creation, we just simply blended a few neutral-ish colors together and did short brush strokes.

Have a blast and drink some java with your bestie or your boyfriend with this super fun Starbucks Picnic & Paired Painting!

When it came time to painting a subject on the canvas, I knew I wanted to make a painting that depicts one of my favorite things in the world, other than my family - Starbucks s'mores frappuccino!

Have a blast and drink some java with your bestie or your boyfriend with this super fun Starbucks Picnic & Paired Painting!

You can see the step my step process in the photo below and I tried to make it easy enough that anyone can follow along and make this painting in just a few strokes of a brush! Follow the steps below and you'll have an artsy Starbucks painting of your own:

Have a blast and drink some java with your bestie or your boyfriend with this super fun Starbucks Picnic & Paired Painting!


Who doesn't love the little green mermaid and her magical frappuccinos though? If you love her as much as I do, then this painting is perfect for your home... I'm debating between hanging my painting in my kitchen or office, which do you think?

http://goo.gl/oKnrBV

Regardless of whether you love my art and decide to make your own, you'll want to grab a frappuccino, an iced coffee, or maybe one or two of each! Which flavor is your favorite? I think I'd go with a s'mores frappuccino or maybe the caramel iced coffee... it's a hard choice to make every time I'm grabbing for my caffeine fix!

http://goo.gl/oKnrBV




August 24, 2015

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RoadTripHacks #CollectiveBias #Albertsons

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

We've driven to tropical ports, trekked to campgrounds, cruised our way to luxury hotels, made our way to our extended family's country homes, and even braved our way toward spooky haunted hotels.

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

We've driven our car through a zoo in the middle of Arkansas and had a buffalo stick his head in our window just to say hello. We've traveled half-way across the country in a car without air conditioning. We've spent countless hours listening to a GPS who's maps haven't been updated since 2010 and then finally learned our lesson and started using our phone's GPS.

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

We've giggled for countless hours while joking around and singing along to some of our favorite songs. We've spent so much time on the road during our years as a couple, I suppose you could refer to us as a couple of professionals, so today I want to share some of our road trip hacks. Most of these "hacks" are tips, tricks, and little tidbits we've learned from life experience while on the road, so take notes if you are prepping for an upcoming road trip and be sure to print off the list of goodies, download all of the apps, and of course, pack wisely with the tips I've shared!

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

Let's talk about checklists... If you know me, you know I'm not really the checklist type, most of the time. When it comes to road tripping, I'm a little different though; I like to keep things organized and I really want to be sure we have everything we need while on the road. I've linked to a printable so you can make sure you grab all the necessities before you go, but first I'm going to share more about why you should take these items on your next trip!

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

We'll start with the Snacks + Sips, I think we all know that road trips are the time in our lives when calories don't count, right? That's why I like to make sure we stock up on all of my favorites from Albertsons before we head out on the road.

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More
It's like Albertsons knew we were ready for an adventure, they have an incredible "Best Road Trip Ever" sale going on right now and of course, they had the best foods on sale! I stocked up on Dove Dark Chocolate Blueberries (seriously, these are heavenly), Snickers Bites, Mountain Dew, Oreos, Fruit Punch Gatorade, Life Savers, and Skittles. Not to mention the fact I grabbed our favorite snack for a great deal, chips + salsa! To top off our little road trip shopping spree, I added a pack of Orbit to the cart and we were on our way.

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

We make a quick stop at Albertsons before we head out of town, every-single-time we take a road trip and I recommend you do the same. If you can't make it to the store before you leave, I've  noticed that Acme, Tom Thumb, and Safeway have what I need when we need to make a stop along the road as well!

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

Other than making sure we are stocked up on food and drinks, I always like to make sure we have the other necessities, from a sewing kit to bug spray - you never know what you'll need while driving down the road. You don't want to get the most important things just because you are feeling antsy to get on the road! I added things as simple as chargers and even left you a few lines to add your own items to the list. Don't forget anything and print this little baby off today:

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

 Now that you've made your list of everything to pack for the road trip, I want to share how you can pack your suitcase without having to stress about running out of room... because remember, I'm a professional at this type of thing. I literally, am the worst over packer in the world. The only benefit to this admission is the fact that you can trust that I know how to make sure everything fits in a bag, no matter how small it is.

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

Tips to Ensure You Are Packing Correctly

Tip #1 to Ensure You Are Packing Correctly: Always, always, always roll your t-shirts, tank tops, etc. Anything light weight and holds up fairly well against wrinkling should always be rolled.

Tip #2 to Ensure You Are Packing Correctly: The pockets on the front of your luggage are there for a reason, use them! I highly suggest stuffing undergarments or shoes into those little pockets on the front of your luggage. This utilizes all the space in the piece and allows you to make more room in the actual suitcase for valuable pieces of your wardrobe and accessories.

Tip #3 to Ensure You Are Packing Correctly: For jewelry, specifically necklaces, package each piece inside a piece of tissue paper. Preventing your jewelry from tangling is such a time saver!

Tip #4 to Ensure You Are Packing Correctly: Package all of your bathroom items in a separate bag! Even if you place that bag within your suitcase, always put your shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, razor, etc in a bag so if one of these products happens to explode, all of the suds and soap won't end up on your clothes!



Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More



The Best Apps for Road Tripping:

Another reason I love road tripping is all the reasons you can stop along the way. From exploring local restaurants and boutiques to wandering around waterfalls, we've stopped and explored all along our trips and loved every single second of it. Most of the places we've stopped along the way have been because we found them on an app! Are you planning a road trip and wanting to find the best places to stop, the cheapest gas, or maybe you even want to treasure hunt (geocache). Check out these apps and be sure to download them all to your phone!

1. Foursquare: When you need to make a stop along your journey, be sure to check out what is around you with Foursquare. You'll be able to find everything from happening night clubs to local kid-friendly diners that serve pizza, seek and you will find with Foursquare!

2. c:geo: This is another great app to help you find some cool spots to stretch and walk around for a bit. I love geocaching along the way on road trips and this app is so easy to use and find awesome caches to seek.

3. TripIt: Plan your entire trip with this app and access your itinerary while on the road.

4. Periscope - While this may eat up your entire data plan, all the entertainment Periscope will bring will make it worth it! I can't wait to Periscope some of our upcoming adventures and share our fun road trips in real time with you!

5. Gas Buddy: Don't worry about spending too much on gas, download this app and save big when you search for the lowest gas while driving along the road!

6. Roadtrippers: This is another awesome way to plan your trip and access your itinerary. Discover the best diners, scenic spots, attraction hotels, and more with the database of over a million awesome places.

7. TripAdvisor: Take advice from fellow travelers and hit the hotspots listed on TripAdvisor!

8. Airbnb: Find the perfect place to stay overnight, in a local environment or a beautiful palace. Rent a room or an entire home with this awesome service.

9. Voyager: Route Planner: This app helps you plan your trip, guiding you on the optimal route along the way.

10. Instagram - Trusty old, Instagram is a fun way to find places to stop. Look for the #hashtag of the town you are driving through (#LittleRock, #STL, #Tempe) and you are sure to find some epic, local spots that you must visit.

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

With all of that said, I think it's about time for me to start planning our next adventure. Where should the masters of road tripping go next? Give me some ideas of your favorite places to road trip in the comments below! I'd also love to know what your favorite road trip snack list would include! Plus, don't miss your chance to win big, click here to get all the details and to share your Best Road Trip ever!

Life Hacks + Little Secrets to Ensure You Have The Best Road Trip Ever: Free Checklist Printable, List of Must Have Apps, & More

August 23, 2015

The Perfect Gift for Every Girl: Spirit Lockets Personalized Jewelry

While I'm a huge fan of Spirit Lockets regardless of my connections, I need to disclose that the links listed below are my affiliate links. I sell these cute little lockets without investing anything other than my time and you can too, find out more about the affiliate program by clicking here.

The Perfect Gift for Every Girl: Spirit Lockets Personalized Jewelry ----Shopping for one of your best friends or your favorite female family member? Check out these adorable and affordable personalized necklaces and bracelets!

I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people that want to give the best gift ever, for every occasion, to everyone. Whether it's my bestie celebrating her birthday or my mama celebrating the move to her new place, I want to reward my family and friends with the best presents possible.

The Perfect Gift for Every Girl: Spirit Lockets Personalized Jewelry ----Shopping for one of your best friends or your favorite female family member? Check out these adorable and affordable personalized necklaces and bracelets!

The thing is, I sometimes have trouble finding that perfect present for everyone on my list. Sometimes you just want to express how much you love someone through a gift and when it comes from a store, pre-packaged, I feel like I can't find the right way to express myself. That's where Spirit Lockets come into the picture, they aren't cookie cutter necklaces but personalized creations for everyone in your life...
The Perfect Gift for Every Girl: Spirit Lockets Personalized Jewelry ----Shopping for one of your best friends or your favorite female family member? Check out these adorable and affordable personalized necklaces and bracelets!

I want to shout it from the roof tops, Spirit Lockets are the perfect gift for everyone... They are so cute, so affordable, and so much fun to personalize! Whether your best friend just tied the knot or your grandmother is celebrating being cancer free for yet another year, they have a charm for every occasion and a locket perfect for everyone! Necklaces or bracelets, gold or silver, rhinestones or rustic, polished or punk, there's a little bit of everything!

The Perfect Gift for Every Girl: Spirit Lockets Personalized Jewelry ----Shopping for one of your best friends or your favorite female family member? Check out these adorable and affordable personalized necklaces and bracelets!

I love the variety of charms they offer, making necklaces for all ages a possibility and also making designs so unique, for each and every woman in your life! I think my next creation will be for a certain mermaid loving lady in my life, my mama. She deserves to be spoiled and I know with charms like the one's shown below, I can make her something so beachy she'll be keen on it for years to come!

The Perfect Gift for Every Girl: Spirit Lockets Personalized Jewelry ----Shopping for one of your best friends or your favorite female family member? Check out these adorable and affordable personalized necklaces and bracelets!


So, if you haven't already, now is the time to check out the most adorable accessories on the market and spoil yourself and your favorite gal-pal with something fabulous! Head on over to Spirit Lockets and let me know which necklace design is your favorite and what charms you would love to add in your locket in the comments below!

The Perfect Gift for Every Girl: Spirit Lockets Personalized Jewelry ----Shopping for one of your best friends or your favorite female family member? Check out these adorable and affordable personalized necklaces and bracelets!

Interested in joining me
& becoming part of the Spirit Lockets team?

Check out how you can earn money and sell adorable lockets without any investment here.

August 21, 2015

8 Simple Tips to Help You Get a Better Night's Rest #NightsRight

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Breathe Right®. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.


Do you have trouble falling asleep at night? Check out these simple ways to adjust your night time routine to get a better night's rest!

I'm not trying to throw my husband under the bus, but since we moved to Florida, he sometimes has a nasal congestion problem. It's not just his problem though, his congestion leads to mouth breathing, which drives me crazy and sometimes it keeps me awake at night.

Do you have trouble falling asleep at night? Check out these simple ways to adjust your night time routine to get a better night's rest!

 It's been a real struggle to maintain a routine when I hardly ever get any sleep so we finally decided to give Breathe Right® nasal strips a try and our lives have changed. Added to our normal night time routine, we both finally got our #NightsRight and it was fabulous!

Do you have trouble falling asleep at night? Check out these simple ways to adjust your night time routine to get a better night's rest!


Our night time routine includes a pretty regular practice that seems to help calm our bodies and prepare our minds for sleep, especially now that we found Breathe Right® nasal strips for the hubs. I want to share a few tips on how you can adjust your night time routine to help you get a better night's rest:

1. Use a diffuser with healing and/or calming essential oils. I love adding a little bit of lavender to our diffuser at bedtime, it's the perfect, calming scent.

2. Drink a calming tea an hour or so before bed time. I love drinking a hot brewed tea, while lounging under the blankets with a book. It's the perfect way to wind down.

3. Use Breathe Right® nasal strips when you feel congested, for a better night's rest. If you suffer from nighttime nasal congestion, Breathe Right® nasal strips are a drug-free and clinically proven way to instantly lift your nasal passage and open your nose to help you breathe better so you can sleep better. The strips are super easy to apply, you just place them in the center of your clean nose and press down ends gently and rub to make sure it's secure, and you're all set. Since they come in a variety of options, you can find a strip that fits the needs of everyone from those with sensitive skin to those that want a little bit of soothing lavender.

Do you have trouble falling asleep at night? Check out these simple ways to adjust your night time routine to get a better night's rest!

4. Only use yellow lights in your bedside table lamps. I recently re-did our bedside table area and made a lamp. We used a yellow light bulb in the lamp and it makes a huge difference, it's soothing and perfect for encouraging rest.

5. No electronics for at least 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime. You've probably heard this before, but your cell phone and your laptop are likely keeping you awake.

6. Stretch a little before you crawl into bed. Doing a little yoga will relax your body and open your mind, allowing you to drift off to dreamland faster. You don't even need to do a full yoga routine, maybe just a few restful poses and a little meditation.

7. Don't eat for at least 2 hours before you go to bed. This is my own rule of thumb, but it seems to work. You'll avoid crazy dreams and allow your body enough time to digest all the food you ate throughout the day while you are sleeping, this keeps your tummy and your mind happy while you rest!

8. Use a fan or a white noise machine to block out other noise. This is a must. I love being able to block out other noise and relax without distraction. The lulling sound of a fan or a white noise machine will allow you to start snoozing quickly once you are laying down.

Now that I've shared a few tips to help you get a good night's rest and our new found love in our home for Breathe Right® nasal strips, I'd love to hear about your night time routine... Do you do anything that helps you rest easier? Tell me all about it in the comments below!


August 20, 2015

Find a Home Where You Can Be You with Trulia + Enter to Win $25K #TruliHome

I received compensation for this post as part of a promotional program with Trulia and MomSelect, regardless all opinions expressed below are my own.


If you follow me on social media or here on the blog, you've probably noticed that the Harmon family has been on the move this summer! By on the move, I don't mean we've been dancing and traveling... although we have been lucky enough to do a little bit of both. I mean that we moved into a new house, finally! Can I get a little "hip, hip, hooray"? 

Find a Home Where You Can Be You with Trulia - Finding the perfect place doesn't have to be overwhelming, check out how Trulia can help you find the perfect place AND enter to win $25K!

Both my husband and I are so excited to have finally found the house for us, but let's get real: house hunting for the perfect place is overwhelming. We spent hours just driving around through neighborhoods we liked, some nights I would stay up until sunrise looking at listings online and writing down little notes about each house. During the month of May, house hunting is all we did in our free time and it was getting old. Browsing listings on local forums without any of them actually panning out to be anything worthwhile was becoming a daunting task; I was just about to give up the search and re-new our lease, but then I started using Trulia.

Find a Home Where You Can Be You with Trulia - Finding the perfect place doesn't have to be overwhelming, check out how Trulia can help you find the perfect place AND enter to win $25K!

What's Trulia? Well, it's basically a house hunters dream, whether you are wanting to rent or buy! Trulia is one of the leading destinations for home buyers and renters, it's a website/service that makes finding a home, condo, or any piece of real estate an easy and enjoyable experience, for everyone involved. Whether you are the type who likes to debate over board games in your birthday suit while lounging in your lush backyard or the type of couple that spends hours loudly practicing your whale language skills in your acoustically pleasing loft, Trulia will be able to find the perfect place for you!


After we found Trulia, the house hunting game changed for us. I was able to adjust my search to only include places that fit into our price range, that were in the area I wanted to remain within, with the amount of bedrooms and bathrooms I preferred, and so on. Adjusting the search parameters made it easy to find houses we fell in love with, but our next hurdle to overcome was other couples falling in love with the same home.

It's a dog-eat-dog world in real estate, so having Trulia's e-mail alerts and notifications set to alert me on my phone when new listings were available in my area was a huge help! These notifications allowed us to be some of the first eyes to view the listings and ultimately helped us snag our cute little place before anyone else!

Find a Home Where You Can Be You with Trulia - Finding the perfect place doesn't have to be overwhelming, check out how Trulia can help you find the perfect place AND enter to win $25K!

After about three days of new listings being sent to my phone, I knew I had finally found the one when I saw the front of our new place in the photos, then we drove by the outside and we both fell in love. Butterflies were fluttering all over the bushes in the front with a beautiful pink & red flowered vine growing along the trellis, an oversized backyard, quirky details within the home like original hardwoods and built-in dressers, our place is perfect for us and we knew it from the second we saw it on Trulia!

Find a Home Where You Can Be You with Trulia - Finding the perfect place doesn't have to be overwhelming, check out how Trulia can help you find the perfect place AND enter to win $25K!

Whether we are walking around in the backyard singing silly songs that rhyme to our dogs or dancing in our pajamas on top of the couch on Saturday morning, we are free to be us without worrying about disturbing neighbors on each side of our apartment walls now. It feels so nice to be able to freely express our silly selves and we have Trulia to thank for our new digs to be so silly within.

Find a Home Where You Can Be You with Trulia - Finding the perfect place doesn't have to be overwhelming, check out how Trulia can help you find the perfect place AND enter to win $25K!

That's not all thought... Not only did Trulia help us find the perfect home, they want to help you find the perfect place and pay for it as well! Enter to win the #TruliHome $25K Giveaway simply by entering your e-mail here!

Find a Home Where You Can Be You with Trulia - Finding the perfect place doesn't have to be overwhelming, check out how Trulia can help you find the perfect place AND enter to win $25K!

Now that you've put your name in the hat to win big, I'd love to hear what you look for in a home to make you feel #TruliHome? Are you a fan of high ceilings, calming wall colors, houses with places for you to sunbathe nude... Let me know what really makes or break a house for you in the comments below!



How to Keep The Romance Alive While TTC

I never thought this would happen to me, I thought it would be just as easy for us as it is for everyone else. After witnessing almost everyone around me have it happen for them, this has to be the most excited (for them) and envious I've ever felt in my life. On one hand I'm overjoyed that so many of my friends have growing families and on the other hand I'm wondering when my family will start to grow as well.

How to Keep The Romance Alive While TTC

It's hard to understand why it happens for some people by "accident", when I'm sitting, waiting, wishing for my turn. Don't get me wrong, we are still having fun trying to have a baby and this is such an exciting time in our lives... but it's also an emotional time as well.

How to Keep The Romance Alive While TTC

Whether you've been trying to have a baby for 3 months or 3 years, the heartbreak that happens when you see a negative pregnancy test is daunting... and if you've ever "tried to conceive" you know that each month is a hopeful waiting game.

How to Keep The Romance Alive While TTC

While you can't make time go by faster and you can't just snap your fingers and have your wishes come true, you can take matters into your own hands, in a sense. You can give your body even more of a fighting chance to conceive a little darling if you bring Astroglide TTC Trying to Conceive™  to your next rendez-vous in the bedroom. The best part about TTC though, is the fact that it gives sperm a better chance of survival compared to traditional lubricants and it comes in super quick and simple pre-filled applicators! While lubrication isn't exactly the most romantic, you'll definitely want to grab one of these before you get romantic to up your chances of conceiving! Find out more about how Astroglide TTC works for your body and helps enhance your chances of conceiving.

How to Keep The Romance Alive While TTC

Another way to keep the romance alive is to bring lingerie into the picture! While you may not always feel up to wearing a pair of thigh highs, a sexy little outfit, and heels, surprising your man with something hot every once in a while is a great way to make sure there's always a little extra spice in your relationship.

How to Keep The Romance Alive While TTC

My best advice for keeping the romance alive while TTC is to concentrate on your partner and really listen to them, though. Communicating and going through the process together is so very important! Share your thoughts, your dreams, and even your worries about what's happening and be sure to be responsive to what your spouse tells you. It probably sounds silly, but one day you know this may be the most important way to keep your romance alive!

How to Keep The Romance Alive While TTC

Lastly, surprise your spouse with a clean house and/or a small trinket of affection (like a new romantic comedy on blu-ray, her favorite candy, or maybe even a book she's mentioned wanting to read, anything that shows you've been listening to her wants). I know I'm personally stressed when my house is a wreck, so the thought of coming home to a clean house and a small gift that shows he's actually listening has me swooning.

How to Keep The Romance Alive While TTC

Now that I've shared a few tips to keep the romance alive while TTC, I'd love to hear how you keep the romance alive in your relationship?


Astroglide TTC™ sponsored this blog post. The opinions and text are all mine