My January Favorites...

Just wanted to share 5 of my favorites for January...

In the kitchen..

 1 |  My new tea kettle...

My mom got us this new electric tea kettle from Costco after I burned my hand with the steam from one of those traditional tea kettles when the top popped off. (Gracias Mom!) I wasn't sure we'd use it often, but its become one of my absolute favorite kitchen applicances. Especially now with the cold, its been great for a quick tea and its safe for the boys to use for their cup of noodles. I can also turn it on and its turns off automatically if I forget, and it keeps the water hot for a long time if I'm not ready for tea right away. Oh and it looks pretty on the counter too.

 2 | My coffee warmer and mini electric whisk 

My favorite purchase at Starbucks is a simple Misto coffee (1/2 coffee, 1/2 milk). But I limit my visits to Starbucks to coffee dates, special occasions, and when I have gift cards (although I do have my Gold card now...yay!)  So when I found this cute little coffee warmer at our local meditteranean grocery store (Jons) to use with my IKEA electric mini whisk...I got super excited. I can now practice my barista skills and make my own yummy Mistos in between visits at home by frothing hot milk myself. I can tell you it makes a world a difference in the taste, it keeps my coffee warmer a lot longer and its a lot of fun to do.

In my make up drawer..

3 | A Sephora make up kit

I am not someone who spends a ton of money on expensive makeup. I'd love to but I can't, so one of my favorites things to ask for now as a gift are Sephora gift cards. I got my first one a few years back and I have to say that I have discovered what a difference spending a few extra dollars on good quality makeup makes. One of my favorite things at Sephora are all the great sample size kits they have lined up (very strategically may I add) all along the line to the register. I have been able to to try out some amazing products this way and still get the most bank for my gift card.  I've been wanting to go back to pencil eyeliners so my latest purchase with a Christmas gift from my SIL was this Boxom Dare to Stare kit complete with 3 color smooth eyeliners (black, blue and charcoal) with 2 different mascaras for about $30. And I was only hoping to get out of there with one eyeliner or so for that much so I think I did pretty good. (Thank you Adriana!)

In our room...

4 | My TV Armoire turned Dresser project

We recently transitioned from those big box tv's to a flat screen in our bed room. This meant that our TV armoire (which I love) was now empty. I've always envisioned converting its space/shelves into a non-conventional yet stylish dresser for myself and be able to get rid of some unneeded furniture in our room. So I did. I began by always remembering a redecorating tip from Nate Berkus- Shop your own home first.  So sure enough I shopped around my own house looking for different baskets and stuff to use as storage.  I was lucky to find baskets that actually worked well together in shapes and sizes for the room I had and yet made everything look kept and organized. In the middle of the second shelf is a re-purposed chess set drawer turned pull out jewelry box (more on that next week), and I bought the 3 little wire baskets at Target $ section to finish off the look.  The best part is I can close up the doors and hide it all away. I love the way it looks and that I now have a new sense of purpose for this piece of furniture.

With the family...

5 | Sunday morning family walks

New Years Day 2015

I've been taking a traditional New Years Day walk on my own for a few years now, but this New Year's day the whole family including LuLu went with me on a 2 mile walk. We have actually been making it a regular thing to do on Sunday mornings together before breakfast and church. Its a great way to get Sundays started, get a work out in, and even more special to be able to enjoy some peaceful time together. I really enjoy these walks with my boys. They not are not always thrilled to get going as they'd rather sleep in, but like anything else, once they get out there they're happy they got out there too. 

What are your 5 favorites this month?

From my corner to yours...Have a great weekend.

My travel favorites...

Well hello there! I haven't been back in a while I know, but I have been recently helping Chris get through this very stressful process called 'applying for college'...Uggh! I'll have some thoughts on all of that when its all done, but for now I wanted to get back to my blog. I missed writing, so as I've been reflecting back on our trip, (as long ago that seems to be now), I wanted to share some of my favorite accessories/tips/ideas that I specifically used and found to make our trip so much less stressful for many reasons.  I figured I was still in time to share these with those of you planning on traveling soon for the holidays or anytime thereafter for that reason.  I hope that you'll find these items helpful in your planning and traveling. Here they are:

Packing
Keeping in mind that we were going to be moving between 3 states, and basically live out of our suitcases, and in addition, wanting to avoid extra baggage fees, any unnecessary over packing was out of the question. So I did some research on the best possible way to pack just enough clothes, (the right kinds of clothes) for 5 people and for 8 days. We were also going to be doing a lot of walking, in humid areas, so packing needed to be practical and light- there was no room for cuteness and/or the latest fashions really.  Casual wear and tennis shoes were our calling. 

So I found this travel blog post that basically showed me how to pack up a few outfits at a time into rolls. An amazing piece of travel advice! I was able to pack up 2 pants, 2 shorts, 4 shirts and an extra pair of shoes for each of us into just 2 suitcases! With some extra room to boot and I minimized wrinkling. We each took a sweatshirt and carried that as necessary so it wouldn't overload the bags either. Loved it. Then because we made sure that our hotels had laundry services I also took a plastic container with Tide wash pods and a few dryer sheets so I could wash clothes between cities. I had done this on our Hawaii trip  a few years back and had worked well so I decided to try it again. We saved money by taking our own detergent stuff, and it helped me avoid bringing home a whole bunch of dirty (stinky) laundry too. I will continue to do both of these things on any and all trips because it made packing and traveling pretty much stress free.



Travel Photography
My research included getting information on travel photography, and I found this article by Juliette Fradin on one of my favorite photography blogs called clickinmoms.com. It was about picture taking on trips and I got inspired with ideas of the kinds of pictures I wanted to take on this trip.  It had some great ideas, but I have to say that because our trip was so go-go-go, I really didn't have a chance to think about or set up all the special shots as she suggested, but I still think it makes a good read for all the the great travel information it contained.

Camera bags
In this same article is where I also found my next two favorites. This photographer suggested two different bags for two different situations, but both happen to apply to me for this trip. So I decided to purchase both.


The Lowepro Sling bag-

I had to get resourceful with everything we were taking including my purse and my camera bag. I had to avoid any additional pieces of luggage possible, so this bag became the perfect solution- it turned out to be my purse, my carry-on AND my camera bag for the entirety of the trip. It comes with a padded section for my camera but there was also extra room to carry my tickets, my phone, my travel book (see below), a magazine, a water bottle and even a light sweater once I opened up the zipper section. I carried it cross-body the whole time, and it occasionally would get heavy but I knew that I had everything with me at all times and no extra camera bag to carry. I found that Ebay carries them at the best price available and I got it delivered in less than 2 weeks.



Camera Coats
This was the other great suggestion I decided to
purchase not only for the purpose of this trip, but
because its a way to always protect my camera in a purse when I don't feel like carrying it around in a bulky camera bag and give myself a stylish flare at the same time. For this trip, it provided extra protection for my camera from those rainy days in Washington DC and for the boat trip to and from the Statue of Liberty. And even with this Camera Coat, it fit into the camera compartment of my Lowepro bag. They are a bit pricey, but I bought mine (the one pictured) because it was cute and it was on sale! I don't pay full price for anything f I can help it especially on a trip like this. That's how I roll. ;)


Travel Books

Midori style Travel books are apparently all the rage in agenda carrying nowadays. They are intended for travel journaling, but people are using them for all sorts of reasons- note taking, goal planning, an idea keeper, artwork etc. I was introduced to them by my SIL, and I'm always looking for a cute new way to keep my ideas and time schedule together so I decided to buy a "faux-dori" (a travel book that is similar to the actual Midori brand travel book for half the price). I figured it was the same idea and it would still be a leather covered journal as a way to keep a journal throughout our trip. I wasn't sure I'd do much with it, but I ended up having a great time keeping this up as the days went by. I used some scrapbooking skills to make its own little book, and used stickers, my Instamax pictures, and the memorabilia I gathered to decorate it. I took a small pencil case with some washi-tape, pens, scissors, a small ruler, and decorative extras to complete it. It was a project I happily worked on during our flights to and from and I would find a few minutes every night to journal. So as of right now, my trip is pretty much journaled in its own little notebook (an accomplishment in itself...Truly!) This was actually a great resource for me as I used to refer back to as I wrote my posts about the trips. They also come with 3 notebooks, so I still have 2 more inside my leather book to use for other things and I carry it with me everywhere.

So there they are, my favorite travel tips/ideas and accessories. I love finding a good item and telling my friends about them even more so. I hope you find these interesting enough to try for yourself. You can find these posted on my Pinterest page as well. I'd love to know if you have any of your own travel favorites. We don't travel that often, but I'm always open for a better way to do things when traveling near and far.

From my corner to yours... wishing you happy, stress free travels!!

The Oscars...my favorite quotes

The Oscars...I don't know about you, but I loved them! I know its been a few days, but they're still being talked about and I have to say I personally truly, truly enjoyed watching them.

I don't know if it was because they landed on my birthday or what, but it was the first time

 I could say I watched them just how I wanted to: 

I was super cozy, comfortable, no stress, little distractions,

 dessert (and a drink) in hand and feeling very happy! ;)

It gave me a chance to really pay attention to details- the beautiful stars, beautiful outfits, 

the makeup and hair, where people were sitting and with who. But more importantly I was able to really listen to those acceptance speeches and realize just how great they were this year. 

So I've picked some of my favorite bits and pieces of some quotes I wanted to remember and share because I feel like they resonated with me one way or another.

Lupita Nyong'o- 

She couldn't have reminded us in a more beautiful way...

 "When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you’re from, 
your dreams are valid. "

Yes they are!!

      

Jared Leto

Loved his speech, and this part about his mom reminded me that kids do remember and listen and inspires me to always encourage my boys to do the same...

"She encouraged her kids to be creative, to work hard and to do something special."

   

 
Matthew McConaughey
I've never heard gratitude be put in this context. So powerful!


"God...He has shown me that. Its a scientific fact- That gratitude reciprocates."


Oooh..love that!





Cate Blanchett
And I always love a little bit of girl power...

 “Those in the industry who are foolishly clinging to the idea that female films, with women in the centre are niche experiences. They are not...The world is round people.” 



  And this selfie just kind of rekindled my hope that actors are really just like us.
They can be silly and just want to have fun with their friends.
That's what life is about!


There were plenty of other great moments as we've seen been re-posted over and over again, 
and I honestly thought Ellen did a great job hosting. My hubby would beg to differ, but he doesn't quite get Ellen's sense of humor like I do, but that's ok. 

It was a great Oscar night and I'm looking forward to next years.

From my corner to yours...Happy Hump day!