Central Florida Bloggers Meetup -REMINDER

Its not too late to RSVP for a little night of fun!

So get on it already!!

XOXO

Mom in the Shot {Feb 23 winning at life}

The other day I posted this picture on Instagram and Sophia, one of my mommy friends on there, commented:

"they win at life on a daily basis"

And that got me thinking.

Thinking about the fact that they got into a huge argument right after I took this picture, but that did not matter.

What mattered was the moments before, when they were winning at life.

Making it their own.

Living, breathing, souls of fun.

Yes we are not always so cheery, but the fun out weighs the grumps.

And to me thats what matters most.

That I am giving them the environment of safety to grow, learn, love, and laugh.

We live in a world that can turn serious so quickly.

They are not ready for that.

They need to be kids.

And dance...

And jump for the sky.

Cause it is limitless for them.

They need a childhood, one that will be looked back on with laughter and love.

And I work each and everyday to give that to them.

Yes there will be moments of darkness, but I will always be there to bring them out into the light.

And yes I will embarrass the hell out of them in the process, but I am ok with it...

Laughing is the best medicine and when you can laugh at yourself it is even better.

So here is to winning at life on a daily basis...

Restyle Therapy {February - Kitchenwares}

About a month or so ago, Sara from Prairie Hen , were doing what we do best, talking and came up with a little idea.

Lets go thrifting once a month, a little date night for us, and then with a theme in mind restyle the items we buy.

But to take it into the blogging world, we thought why not share these themes ahead of time and you can play along with us!

With a little idea of what we wanted to start our first month off with, we headed to one of our local Goodwills. After we bee-lined to the kitchen ware section it was decided thats were our Restyle Therapy would start.

{Look at that cute little baby bump, eep.}

After we picked out our goods, mine equalling a whooping $3, we headed to "our" Starbucks to plan out this little adventure.

Here is the basics "rules" and info:

- Each month we will post our restyled projects, using either thrifted or items we already own to make something new out of them. Of course you can use new items to help finish your project but we ask that the main components be upcycled.

- Make sure your Restyled Therapy project matches with our theme for the month and then come link up with us.

The themes are broad and have A LOT of room for imagination and interruption.

So have fun with them!

- Feb: Intro - Kitchenwares

- Mar: Fabric

- Apr: Item of Clothing

- May: Books

- Jun: Home Decor

- July: Wearable Accessory

- Aug: Kids

- If you are using someone else's work as inspiration, PLEASE cite it in your blog post. We are all about giving credit where credit is due.

- Lastly grab our button for the post and then come and link up with us.

The link up will be open for a week and then we will pick our fav projects for a feature.

For March we went with Kitchenware.

My little project was needed since I had to make something for Buggie to give her teacher for Valentines Day. And since my homegirl Emily, has been so kind to blog about her amazing little cakestands for me to have a tutorial, thats what I went with.

The plate I found was super girly and frilly, perfect for her teacher. The glass candle stick need a little scrub and some purple paint. Also needed for this project some stickers for the personalization part.

But to make the plate a little extra special I decided to add an L for her teachers last initial.

When prepping for the letter, you want to take a sticker and use the outer relief portion, making sure to put down any little interior pieces that make the letter.

And before you paint, just take some painters tape and cover the plate with some news paper.

Spray, let dry, and then peel back.

Then after gorilla gluing the plate to the freshly painted candle stick, my first Restyle Therapy project was complete.

And getting the super sweet note from Buggie's teacher thanking me, was the icing on my the little project.

Head over to Sara's blog to see how she made her first Restyle Therapy project, so so cute.

So will you play with us?

Hope to see you back the March 4th for Restyle Therapy Fabric addition.

A little Valentines Day recap with a recipe on the side.

Some call Valentines Day "the Hallmark" holiday, and I get it.

But honestly I have fond memories of waking up and finding little chocolates and notes of love from my parents.

So in the ways of always wanting to creating memories my kiddies, we celebrate for them.

Hubs and I not so much.

The aftermath of the v-day loot, honestly not sure what I did before Target $1 bins...

And of course my Bug had to be decked out in hearts.

And then there is this kid...

He is coming more and more out of that baby shell and taking on the role of BOY each and everyday.

Like for instance when I was standing in the kitchen and he decided to chuck Lighting McQueen at his sister and gave her a fat lip last night.

Dude you are lucky you are this cute...

After a day filled with junk I made a yummy heart healthy dinner. I had pinned this recipe for Corn and Quinoa salad and was excited to try it last night. To go along with it I grilled up some lemon chicken.

For the chicken:

- chicken cutlets

- juice from one lemon

- poultry seasoning {I use Adobo}

- shallot {chopped}

- 1 tbsp extra light olive oil

Season the chicken with the poultry seasoning. Then place in a large zip loc bag with all the other ingredients. Seal and then with a jar light pound out chicken, this is something I always do, helps make the chicken tender and juicy. Let marinate for about 30 mins. Then using my grill pan over med high heat I grill for 6 per side. Served with the salad on a bed of spinach, it was DELICIOUS and a healthy dinner for my fam bam.

Hope you Valentines Day was filled with lots of love...

A strawberry pickin we will go....

Saturday was one of those days, that as a Mom I knew was good for memories.

It was a crisp morning, clear blue skies, and plenty of strawberries ready for pickin.

Bug, Bean, and I met up with our friends Sara and Lilly, for what Lilly calls "strawbellies".

It had rained most the day and night before, which made for some fun muddy puddles.

Lilly will be a new big sister come May, so it is super sweet to see her watching Avery be a big sister.

Nolan thought we should buy some dirt. I think we had about much dirt in his basket as we did strawberries.

We filled three baskets with beautiful ruby red berries, for $7. I love shopping local, supporting small family owned businesses, and eating fresh.

Yep it was a good day for memories...

Ended up making lemon pound cake and making a simple strawberry topping...

Hope your weekend was filled with lovely memories....

_____________________

Oh and before I go, I had a pancake request Sunday.

For Barbie.

Well, three tries and half a box of pancake mix later, she got what some might say is more a like a drag queen Barbie.

Notice that strong manly chin and what seems to be an adams apple?!

She did not care and was all smiles...

Central Florida Bloggers Meetup

The time has come for us to meet.

Emily and I want to hang, so lets do this.

Please RSVP to me by March 5th.

Once I get your email I will provide more details on the fun to be had!

{space is limited, so it will be a first come first serve basis}

So what are you waiting for Central Florida Ladies?!

Come, meet, chat, and make new friends.

My home needs some lovin...

After looking around and feeling overly cluttered I decided to take the week off from blogging.

{for the super cool frame and more check out I Rock So What...}

Our home is in need of some serious lovin, from my easy bake oven...

See you all next week!

---------------------------

Oh one more thing before I go, congrats to all of us celebrating the 100th day of school!

Buggie sporting the shirt I made her and shaking the 100 ribbons she had in her hair.

I was offended...

After reading this article, two days ago when Dani Shared it on Twitter, I was offended.

I was offended as a woman, a daughter, and mostly as a mother to a little girl, and NOT because I have a tattoo, its beyond that.

How dare you Lisa Khoury?

How dare you say this:

An elegant woman does not vandalize the temple she has been blessed with as her body. She appreciates it. She flaunts it. She's not happy with it? She goes to the gym. She dresses it up in lavish, fun, trendy clothes, enjoying trips to the mall with her girlfriends. She accentuates her legs with high heels. She gets her nails done. She enjoys the finer things in life, all with the body she was blessed with.

And then turn around and say this:

But at the end of the day, are you really a happier person? Has this tattoo, for instance, caused you to learn something new about yourself? Has it challenged you? Has it led you to self-growth? Nothing comes out of getting a tattoo. You get a tattoo, and that's it. You do something productive, though, and you see results. That's a genuine, satisfying change in life. Not ink.

Hold up, are you saying going to the gym, dressing up and wearing high heels is challenging?!

Now some might say wearing red lipstick and liquid liner is challenging {insert sarcasm}, but your comparisons make me cringe.

And while you sit behind your computer screen and pass judgement onto other women, I will teach my 5 year old daughter that tattoos do not change a person's worth, education, or feelings and that it is a form of self expression and art. She will learn to value woman, tattooed or not, for their contributions to society. She will learn to love, be creative, have fun, care about others and study, NOT to flaunt her body.

Please take a minute to read the response letter of the tattooed and ever so CLASSY Dani Hampton's.

Promise its worth the read.

Mom in the Shot {Feb 2nd A month in photos}

I like bandwagons.

They fill my need to feel like part of the group.

So when some peeps on Instgram started posting a photo a day challenge for January,

I was in it to win it.

Here was the challenge....

And here is my month in collage form, thanks to the most helpful Julie, with her CRAY CRAY instructions...

It was super fun.

And like I said above I enjoy a bandwagon, so you know when I saw TWO more challenges for Feb I JUMPED HIGH. Haha.

Linking with Em today, why cause my mug is all up in that collage.

Homemade Turkey Sloppy Joes.

Like I said yesterday, we had Turkey Sloppy Joes planned for Tuesday night din din.

So here is my from scratch, no jarred stuff here, Slop Sloppy Joes.

{advance apologies for the crap iphone pics}

Ingredients:

- 1 lb ground turkey

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 1 tbsp Adobe seasoning

- 1 medium onion chopped

- 2 medium carrots chopped into small pieces {now most people will use a bell pepper, my fam bam is not bell pepper fans, so carrot it is}

- 1 & 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

- 1 & 1/2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

- 2 cups tomato sauce

- 2 tbsp tomato paste

- potato rolls to serve

First brown the turkey with the brown sugar and adobe seasoning over high medium heat.

Once browned add onion and carrots. Then add red wine vinegar and worcestershire sauce and reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 mins.

Mix in tomato sauce and paste, reduce to a simmer and cook another 5 mins.

And bam!

You have homemade Turkey Sloppy Joes!!!!

For a side I made cucumber salad:

Ingredients:

- cucumber

- shallot diced small

- 2 dollops of sour cream

- 1 tsbp red wine vinegar

- 1 & 1/2 tsp dry dill weed

Mix everything together, add salt and pepper to taste.

Add a little kick with a jalapeno pepper or

if you can't handle the heat, a sliced pickle will be nice.

BUT for the love of everything DO NOT FORGET THE TOTS!!

Enjoy.