Friday, November 24, 2017

Holiday Gift Guide- For Him

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!  Did you travel or cook a meal at home? We went to my mom and stepdads home for a big lunch.  It's about an hours drive and luckily the kids napped on the way there. There's so much to be thankful for that I don't know where to start, but at the top of that list is my family and Gods love for us.  We are truly blessed and I don't take that for granted.

I was up during the night last night, in the middle of Benton crying and Mary-Grace trying to crawl into our bed, looking at Black Friday promotional emails.  Does anyone else feel that it's a little overwhelming to see all of the emails and commercials?  First world problems.  There are some great sales this year though!  Honestly, I rarely buy anything that is not on sale.  It's difficult to pay full price knowing that the price will eventually come down- sometimes just days or weeks later.  So far I've bought Mary-Grace the CUTEST dress that I've loved for a while now from The Beaufort Bonnet Company and I got Benton a dress shirt to wear with his Christmas outfit, but he can wear it with just about anything.  We also pulled the trigger and purchased Benton a new carseat while it's on sale.  We got the same one that Mary-Grace has- the Britax Marathon.  It's a big purchase but like Josh said, it's necessary and safety for him comes first.  He should able to stay in his current infant seat for another month or two at least, but we'll have the new seat here and ready for him.  Have you purchased something on your want/need list today?

Below I'm sharing a gift guide for the men in your life.  A lot of these are my husband approved.  He actually has over half of these products and uses them all the time.  Hopefully it'll give you a good idea or two for a gift!

Ridge Wallet: here | R+F Lip Shield: here | Fitbit: here | Pants: here | Gloves: here | Sneakers: here | Tumbler: here | Headphones: here | Apple Giftcard (that you can get just about anywhere) : here | Cologne Set: here | Water Bottle: here | Pullover: here

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Holiday Gift Guide- For Her

Happy Hump Day!  Are you ready for Thanksgiving?  What are your plans?  We're driving up to my mom and stepdads for lunch.  My grandparents will also be joining us.  It's a little over an hour away so I'm hoping the little ones will nap in the car on the way there and back!  We're making a couple of side dishes to bring and so are my grandma and mom.  My stepdad and grandpa are frying a turkey.  Does anyone else fry their turkey?  Is it just a southern thing?  Anyhow, I wanted to share with you another gift guide today- this time it's gift ideas for her!  Maybe this will give you some ideas for your mom, sister, friend, daughter, etc. that you want to shop for.  So many of these are already on sale as stores are starting their Black Friday sales early!






Candle: here | Gloves: here | R+F Lash Boost and Bright Eye: here | Picture Frame: here | Slippers: here | Earrings: here | Scarf: here | Pom Keychain: here | Tea (so good!): here | Tote: here | Frame: here | Throw Blanket: here

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Holiday Gift Guide- For the Toddler

Only two days until Thanksgiving! Today I'm sharing with you a toddler gift guide for the holidays.  We've asked Mary-Grace, who is now 3 years old, what she wants from Santa Claus this year and she has told us books, a Finding Nemo/Dory toy, and snacks. Snacks! haha.  She's definitely related to us. Even though she doesn't need anymore toys (I feel like she has so many), she'll get one or two from Santa and I'm sure from other relatives.  I've been picking up books here and there that are age appropriate for her and that I feel she'll love.  I'm so happy that she loves books and I won't mind that she'll have a lot of those.  As a side note-  I saw instagrammer post about having a bag that says "Toys to give to Santa" that your child uses for toys that have served their purpose that other children may love and donating them.  Such a great idea!  Below is a fun guide I've put together for children around her age that consists of educational/imaginative play toys as well other ideas if you don't want to buy just toys like myself.  I hope it gives you some good ideas!  By the way,  Mary-Grace has the tent shown below except in pink stripes and it is very well made for its price point and easy to put together!




Veggie Tales Book: here | Dr Suess Book: here | Hoodie: here | Chef Dress Up Set: here | Rain boots: here | Train Set: here | Music Instruments: here | Finger Paint: here | Hand Sign Alphabet: here | Panda Bear: here | Teepee Tent: here | Number Puzzle: here | Backpack: here

Monday, November 20, 2017

Holiday Gift Guide- For the Baby

Happy Monday!  The holidays are now upon us!  I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week.    I thought I'd share a few gift guides this week to hopefully give you some ideas of what to get your loved ones.  I always love looking at other bloggers guides and seeing their picks.  I thought I'd start off with a guide for baby.  A lot of these choices are things on my list to get Benton.  He'll be 9 months old at Christmas (going on 10 months).  He won't really know what is going on during gift giving but he still needs a few little things, and I'm sure he'll love helping to unwrap!  Even if you don't have a baby yourself, maybe these will give you some ideas if you have a little niece, nephew, godchild, friends baby, etc. to shop for.






Placemat: here  | Booties: here | Baby Book: here | Soft Book: here  | Nutcracker Book: here | Puppy: here | Hat: here | Monogram Bib: here | Burts Bees Skincare: here | Shape Sorter: here | Sweater: here

Monday, November 13, 2017

Family Photos

Happy Monday! Hope you're all having a great start to the week!  We're having two friends over for dinner tonight to celebrate their birthdays.  Other than that, not doing a whole lot.  Benton woke up 4 times last night so I don't have any extra energy today!

Back at the end of September we had some family photos done at Fort Fisher.  Mary-Grace absolutely loves having her picture taken; definitely not camera shy AT ALL.  She is always wanting us to take pictures of her with our phones and loves to take pictures of things herself. Benton on the other hand, could have cared less about what was going on and wanted to go to sleep, ha!  Anyhow, I wanted share a few photos from the shoot.  Dana Hawley, who is a local photographer in the Wilmington area, was so patient with us taking these!  We first met her when she took our engagement photos then has done several more after that.  As Mary-Grace recently said "we're a whole pile of family"!










































Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Home Inspiration- Master Bath Refresh

Josh and I have lived in our house for going on 9 years.  The only room in our house (albeit fairly small house) that hasn't been painted or really "decorated" is our master bath.  It's a pretty sad looking space.  I guess because it's not seen often by company, it has been my last focus.  It's not that large of a master bath.. only one sink and no separate shower, but it is what it is.  We definitely won't be doing anything else to it other than a refresh like this one since we only plan to live here for at most another 2 years.  The walls could also use a fresh coat of paint but below are my selections for what I want to include.  I love soothing colors and natural fabrics for a relaxing, clean feeling space.  These bath towels aren’t cheap but I love them.  I’ve found a great source for every day towels is Home Goods (love that store!).  I’ve gotten some great quality ones there for not much.  I also really love the double-prong shower hooks for the curtain and liner.  It’s such a pain to change out the liner with the single round hooks!   Is there a room in your house that could use a little refresh?





Solid Bath Towels: here | Stripe Bath Towels: here | Shower Curtain: here | Bath Mat: here | Shower Hooks: here | Waste Basket: here | Soap Dispenser: here | Candle: here

Monday, November 6, 2017

Monday Must-Haves

Our weather here in North Carolina is always irregular.  One day it could be 75 and sunny then the next it's 50 and raining.  Well, here it is November 6th and the high today is 79.  So much for wearing my favorite fall clothes...  I'll get the chance later in the week though when it's in the 50's again.  I've rounded up a few of my current must-haves below.  I scored the striped dress yesterday for $22! Also, the scarf comes in several other color options and is under $20!












ONE: here. TWO: here THREE: here. FOUR: here FIVE: here