Inspiration & Realisation? You rock my socks.

Have you heard of Inspiration & Realisation? It's one of the blogs that I faithfully stalk. Donatella (LOVE that name!) is such a sweetheart, and always comments on whatever crap I post. Buddies like that in blog land are awesome. 

On her blog, you'll find a TON of fabulous knock offs of clothing and jewelry designer pieces. Who wants to spend $200 on a shirt, when Donatella will show you how to make one for under $10? There's a ton of DIY's on there like that. 

Want to see some of my favorites? 

Donatella knocked off a Phillip Lim necklace and makes the tutorial look super easy. I heart this necklace, I want Santa to put it under my Christmas tree.

And I want one of these in my Christmas stocking. How fabulous would this be in turquoise and red?

And how about these? She took an ulgy $4 pair of capris, chopped them and added some grommets, and voila! So fabulous I want to go steal them from her.

And this, where she saw a shirt on Project Runway, and made a version for herself?












Donatella just hit 500 followers not long ago, congrats, chick! And she's promised to start doing some great giveaways (which I totally plan on winning). Go check her out, you won't regret it. She's awesomesauce.



You've been featured, Donatella, grab a button a shout it to the world. You officially rock. 




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Totino's pizza winner!

Woot! Another giveaway has ended, and we have a winner! 

And that makes the winner....

 

Congrats Jessica! You entered in every way possible, and it paid off, chick! I'm off to email ya!

Highs and Lows 8-28

It's time for Highs and Lows. Pretty simple. Share the highs and lows of your week.

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Lows

• I was asked to model for a make up school on Friday, it was supposed to be from 12-6. I showed up at 11:45, and the instructor didn't even greet me, just looked at me and continued to talk to his 5 students. Other models showed up around noon, and we were assigned to each make up artist. By then, it was 12:30. The instructor then brought in food for his students (and none for the models, which I thought was completely rude) and the artists then stopped talking to us to eat lunch. Seriously? I mean, you guys started school at 9, eat before we get there. By the time the artists started on our make up, it was 2pm. They were supposed to do 3 looks for their portfolio, which would give them 2 hours per make up look. So the first look was done by 4pm, photos taken, make up removed and move on to the next artist. I let the instructor know that I had to leave by 6, and he acted really put out. Second look done, photos taken, and I get ready to leave. We were promised a make up gift bag as a thank you gift, which I had to ask for (glad I did, since it had 4 MAC eyeshadow pigments in there). 

       
I just found it really unprofessional. Noon start time should mean noon start time. I'm not getting paid for this, and if I'm scheduled to be there from 12-6, don't get pissy that I'm not willing to stay until 9pm for free. I have other stuff to do. You want to pay me to be there? Rock on. Not paying me? Sorry, I'm not hanging out there for 9-10 hours cause you can't get your act together. I act like a professional, I expect you to do the same.


Highs




Ava officially said her first word, "dog". She says it every time she sees him, so I'm counting that as a word. She also calls our parrot that too, LOL.

• Had a couple of really great dates with my husband. One on Friday night, we went to Outback Steakhouse when the girls stayed the night at my mom's. Then we went to 5 Guys for lunch on Saturday before we picked them up. I'm starting the Dub Lane Kettlebell Fitness Challenge on September 5th, so we're cutting down on eating out.

• Went to a friends house for lunch after church. Love you Erin! Our other friend Jenny came over too, it was great conversation, and all the kids get along.

Got a new haircut, which I totally love. I've been stopped constantly while I'm out, strangers are telling me that they love it and wish they could rock it.

• While talking to my hair stylist, she was talking about adoption, and how her family sponsors two kids through Compassion for $38 a month each. Hubby and I have been talking about doing it for forever, but then life happens and we forget. We decided to get online right then and sign up. We are now the proud sponsors of Maira, a 7 year old girl from Rwanda, and Dimas, a 4 year old boy from Indonesia. We just browsed through the kids who have been waiting the longest, and waited till we found two kids that felt right to us. We're still waiting on our packets from Compassion about our kids, but we are excited. Life is always going to be expensive, but I feel like there is more we can be doing. People are so amazing to us with all of Ava's issues, I feel like it's time we give something back.

• Started working on a care packet for the Johnson family. Nothing too crazy (I know we're all tight on money). Just some headbands for the girls in their favorite colors, and a book for Owen. I want to get him something else, but I don't know what. I don't know, I just feel compelled to do something. I want to say I can't imagine what they're going thru, but I also know that most people would say that they can't imagine their 12 month old having her 7th surgery, but that's what I just went thru with Ava. Such is life, right?

• A fabulous photographer I know named Jill dropped off some clothes that her girls had outgrown. And when I say "some" clothes, I mean "all clothes ever made in existence". Seriously, like, around 100 pieces of clothing, all super nice stuff. My girls were so excited. Jasmin kept asking me if she could wear the furry Christmas dress to school, LOL. That girl loves her dresses.

Both girls started school last Monday, and they both love their teachers. They both ride their bikes to and from school, a bunch of the neighborhood kids ride together, it's like a little bike gang, LOL. 

New Do! Again.

So, I got my hair cut a month or so ago. I've been rocking a bob since forever. A photo of an "edgy pixie" in Cosmo (or Glamour?) made me decide to chop it. After getting a horrible haircut at Jour Salon in Rockwall (shame on me for being over anxious and not waiting for my normal stylist) my awesome fabulous stylist, Holly Green (HIGHLY recommend her if you're near the Rockwall area) fixed it. 

 

BUT, I've been cursed blessed with hair that grows too fast. So after a month, it got too long to spike, or I'd have some weird part thing in the back, and I ended up with the dreaded "mom" hair. Never mind the fact that I look super tired in this photo, yuck.

 

It took me a minute to get used to the short hair, but I freaking LOVE it now. So easy to style, doesn't take me an hour to blow dry and straighten it. I can be out of the shower and done in 15 minutes. It does take some confidence to rock it though, there's no hair to hide behind.

So I knew that I wanted to get it cut short again. But what to do? I kept seeing these photos EVERYWHERE, I guess you'd call it a mohawk? I don't know, the sides aren't shaved close, is that still a mohawk?

So yesterday, I had my haircut appt, and now I am rocking this do. 

 

I freaking LOVE it. I'm going to let the top grow out a little bit more, but I'm super excited about it. I can style it up and crazy, or brushed down over my forehead, or tousled and messy. Thanks Holly!

Soap scum? How I hate thee.

My friend Megan (like, real life friend, I've known her since I was 15) pinned this the other day, and I gave it a try today. 

"Remove obstinate soap buildup from glass shower doors by sprinkling a few drops of water onto a used fabric-softener sheet and scrubbing."

I'm actually surprised to say it works. It's not "just bought the house" super sparkling clean, but it did make a difference. Rubbing in circles worked a lot better than up and down.

Now, every now and then (probably not often enough if you asked my OCD clean freak husband), I'll decide that the soap scum is pissing me off, and I'll attack it with Kaboom and a scrub pad. But, it's still not as clear and clean like when we first moved in. 

Granted, we have more glass than a normal shower door. Plus, the shower door is right next to two bigger windows (hello neighbors!), so the sunlight really highlights the soap scum. Yuck. 

PLUS, we have really hard water, so I have hard water stains. Hmmmm. I wonder if I'm buying products to fight soap scum, when hard water stains are my problem. 

Before I go out and buy the entire cleaning aisle at Walmart, what works in your home for banishing soap scum/hard water stains?

Highs and Lows, 2 weeks worth

So, this week's highs and lows will be longer than normal. I didn't do an official one last week, since my kid decided to try and die and all.

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I normally do highs first, and then lows. But a couple of people that link up do their lows first so they can end on the highs. I dig that idea, so I'm totally going to jack it.

Lows

• You know, the whole Ava almost dying thing. I joke about it because it's how I deal with stress. Not that I take any of it lightly, it's just a sanity, self preservation thing. 

• You know that 6 days we stayed in the hospital with Ava? Apparently there was a bottle in my purse (that I use as a diaper bag) and it leaked. I didn't realize it until I was at Old Navy on Friday with my bestie Candace, and I couldn't get away from the smell of spoiled milk. Umm, yeah, that was totally emanating from my purse. Jessica Simpson awesome pink purse? Ruined. Febreeze is useless. And yeah, those Febreeze commercials where they show the people sitting in a old, flooded junky house, and they can't smell anything bad? Apparently there isn't spoiled milk there in those old houses, cause I can't get rid of the smell. 

• The thought of another large hospital bill makes the back of my throat close up. We're still paying off the bill from Ava's RSV hospital stay from a few months ago. And that one was just 3 days and no surgeries and 6 billion xrays. And with our pathetic excuse for insurance, it just makes my head hurt. But, it's only money, right?  

Highs

• Ava didn't die. Biggest. High. EVER. The emergency surgery was a success, and she's pooping like there is no tomorrow. She's finally back to eating normally, smiling, etc. 

• Had a little surprise birthday party for my father in law. Originally planned on doing it the day after Ava's party, and I had a few things planned, but with Ava's hospital stay, we had to move it to the hospital. But he was surprised, and from what I can tell, loved the pillow I made for him. 

 




I have been absolutely obsessed with these shoes since I first saw them a few months back. I found them for $24 with free shipping. Score.

I found a show that I am utterly, completely, head over heels OBSESSED with. It's a UK show called Misfits. It's about a group of kids on community service who get struck by lightening and have super powers. There are two seasons out now, most of which you can watch on Hulu. Season 3 doesn't come out until November, eek. Warning: lots of cursing and sex, but the epic awesomeness cancels those out. I want to find someone who can screenprint or something, I have to have that picture on a shirt. Like, now. 

• Kinda goes along with the whole Ava not dying thing. But sometimes it takes something huge to remind you how blessed you are with the friends you surround yourself with. Our friends were INVALUABLE. My girlfriends Candace and Christy watched my older girls so Jake and I could be at the hospital together. Julie drove over to Dallas (twice!) to keep me company and bring my girls Happy Meals and coloring books. Other friends brought foods to keep us awake, like Cherry Coke, Dr Pepper, chocolate, homemade cupcakes, energy drinks. Seriously, it made a horrible situation just a little bit easier.  

•  I scored some awesome earrings at Old Navy for $2 a piece. Booyah. I love long dangly earrings, especially with my hair being short.

  

Speaking of short hair, I'm going to go shorter. I love her hair. I just stinkin' got mine cut, and it's already too long to spike, so it's bordering on "mom" hair. I've been cursed blessed with hair that grows super fast, so having short hair is always a challenge. But it's just hair, and I figure, I may not have short hair again, might as well have fun with it while I'm still young enough to pull it off.

• Got the pic back from a shoot that I had a month or so ago. I wasn't sure I liked the proofs (first shoot with short hair and I wasn't confident in it yet) but I freaking LOVE the final, edited pic that the photographer sent me. Those of you on my personal page friends list know what I'm talking about. 

 

• Ava's party had to be rescheduled (she was actually having surgery on the day that she was supposed to have her party) so now it's on the 3rd. We're doing a photobooth, hubby designed an awesome background for it. But the printer went down and it wasn't going to be fixed until the Monday after her party. So I was going to have to go with my backup plan and get some fabric. Since her party got rescheduled, we'll be able to use the one he designed. 

 

• This one is a mixed high and low, soon to be high again. My mom said that I could pick out a purse as an early Christmas gift since mine is possibly ruined. So we went to Macy's, and I found an adorable Nine West purse for just under a bill. The lady checking out ahead of us had a 20% off coupon, and my mom, Ms Thrifty herself, asked her if we could use it too, and the lady gave us an extra one that she had. So the purse came out to $78. Score. I love it. Came home to do this post and add a pic, and found the exact same purse on the Nine West website for $35, AND I found a coupon for free shipping. So I will be returning the one she bought me today, and ordering the cheaper one. So high, turned low, turned high when it arrives.

• I went up to Kohl's yesterday to find some shorts for my 8 year old (had no luck since all the shorts I found were prosti-tot length.) But on the way up there, my mom called me and said to go spend $50 on each girl on school clothes from her. The girls were able to get some cute stuff, I let them pick out clothes that cost more than I'd normally spend on each piece. But I figure, I already did most of their clothes shopping, so this was an added bonus. I spent $100.58 and got $20 in Kohls cash back. Woot. 

I won a $100 gift card to Target over at DIY showoff. So those $40 owl lamps that I've been eyeing for my bedroom? Oh yes, you will be mine.

Totino's pizza? Giveaway? Yes please!

Do you know what box tops are? And I know you know what Totino's pizza is. 

 Have you heard about the Totino's "Learn a Ton When School is Fun" sweepstakes?

This school year, Totino’s® is giving away one million Bonus Box Tops (equivalent to $100,000) to help bring fun ideas to life both inside and outside of the classroom, through the "Learn a Ton when School is Fun" sweepstakes! This school year, four participating schools in the Box Tops for Education (BTFE) program will each win 250,000 Bonus Box Tops, equivalent to $25,000, from Totino’s to help fund a fun project at their school. Visit www.BTFE.com/Totinos to view official sweepstakes rules.

You can start (or continue) to earn cash for your kid’s school by collecting Box Tops coupons from hundreds of products, including Totino’s!

AND, this back-to-school season, Totino’s^® Party Pizza^® and Pizza Rolls^® Snacks will feature double Box Tops on select varieties, to help you earn even more for your kid’s school!

Want a head start on collecting those box tops? Want some extra goodies? Totino's sent me some awesome goodies, and coupons for free Totino's, and they'll send a lucky winner the same goodies too! 

Want to know what you'd be getting? 

a Brain Quest Smart! Game

Micro Rubik’s^® Cube Key Holder

a draw string backpack

coupon for a free package of Totino’s Pizza Rolls Snacks, 

coupon for a free package of Totino’s Party Pizza

coupon for a free package of new Totino’s Pizza Stuffers.

Wanna win?

Required entry: Let me know that you're a follower (cause you have to be to win) and let me know if you're a box tops collector. If you're not, that's okay, I'm not either.

Want more ways to enter?


Follow me on FB

Blog/tweet/facebook about this giveaway, leave me the link (one entry for each)

Giveaway ends next Saturday night!

"Disclosure: The information and prize pack has been provided by Totino’s through MyBlogSpark."