wednesday wants

Several new items added to my "SHOP" tab and one of my favorites is that dreamy striped Tory Burch tote.  With Mother's Day right around the corner it seems like the PERFECT gift ;) 


Have a fabulous day!


XO

cinco de mayo prep

Good morning!  I hope you had a fantastic weekend!  Can you believe that this week we jump into May?  Yep!  Where in the world did April go???

I love, love, love Mexican food and of course the yummy Margaritas and Coronas that go with it ;)  And I love any excuse to throw a party, so last May, we hosted a Cinco de Mayo party.  Since it is fast approaching again, I thought I would share a bit from that party in case you're looking for a reason to scarf down some fajitas and margaritas and decide to host a party :)

individual seven layer dip recipe

diy fiesta centerpiece

diy papel picado

If you're interested, you can click the link below each picture for a full post or tutorial.

Have a great day!



lyla's room // gilded arrow

Happy Thursday! That means Friday is only hours away and I can't wait!  Do you remember the DIY gilded arrow I made for Valentine's Day? Well, after V-day was over, I stuck it in the closet, until yesterday when it fell out and I decided it would be a perfect addition to Lyla's room!  Not sure why I didn't think about it sooner, but I think it goes perfectly with her big gold heart!

  If you want to see the super easy tutorial on how I made it, you can go here.  And if you're interested in the even easier pom-pom tutorial, you can find  it here.

Have a great day!

diy round-up

Good Morning! Today I'm guest posting at Kristal's blog sharing my top five diy projects around our home. She is a really sweet friend and has the most precious family.  You can check out my full post and her fun blog here.


Have a fantastic day!


P.S.  The winner of the $150 Target giftcard is entry #4095 Maggie W.  Congratulations!  Aniko will email you soon.

checking in

I hope you all had a joyous Easter weekend! We made ours a four day weekend and spent 2 days at the coast and 2 days in the country. The kids played non-stop all four days and had a great time by the water and with their cousins. Here are a couple of phone pictures (forgot my camera) from the weekend!

Have a fantastic day!

weekend wear // basics

I've rounded up some of my favorite Spring fashion pieces to create this casual weekend look.  I'm usually drawn to purchasing basic wardrobe pieces, so I can wear them multiple ways and get the most bang for my buck.  I love a simple, classic look. 

weekend by thisishappinessblog featuring a striped handbag

tory burch tote // pink j.crew tee // sperry top-sider anchor infinity scarf // tortoise shell aviators // naked lipgloss // j.crew white denim shorts //dolce vita damalis ankle wrap sandals //tory burch lace earrings


Enjoy your day!

mini brownie egg nest

Are you looking for a quick treat to make for your Easter celebration? Well, these mini brownie egg nests are not only quick and easy, but super cute!  I made these over the weekend and plan to whip up a batch for this weekend as we visit family to celebrate Easter.

Mini Brownie Egg Nest

Ingredients

1 box of brownie mix (and ingredients on box to make brownies)

1 container of whipped buttercream frosting

1 bag of mini Cadbury eggs or mini Robin eggs

Method

Make brownies as directed using the "cake-like" instructions.  Bake in mini muffin pan for about 16 minutes or until done.  Allow to cool.  Pipe on frosting creating a "nest" and then top with your choice of mini eggs.
{recipe adapted from here}

They were so easy and such a hit in my house!
Hope you enjoy!

Spring Tablescape and $150 Target Giveaway

Good Morning! Spring is hands down my most favorite season of all and the month of April is my most favorite Spring month.  I love being outdoors enjoying the weather and I love sprucing up our outdoor spaces and landscape.  All the flowering plants around our home are great for clippings to enjoy inside too.


I put together this Spring tablescape, keeping it simple with some fresh flowers that are in bloom this Spring. The white ones are from our flower beds and the sunny, yellow daffodils I picked up on one of my grocery trips.

The whole table started with these blue and white square ikat placements I found at Marshalls.  Generally, I like to use two colors when I put a table together.  I love the blue and white combo paired with a punch of yellow.  So, I kept most of the table blue and white and then added the yellow polka dot tags and the yellow daffodils on the buffet for a jolt of color.


Just as I do with decorating my home, I like to keep my entertaining simple and focus more on enjoying the guests.  I still like things to be pretty, but not perfect or for me to spend hours putting together.  And I've learned the more simple you keep things, the more fun it is to welcome others over.  At the end of the day, it's all about enjoying each others company. 


*Linking these FIVE pictures of my spring tablescape with the Five on Friday group...Darci, Natasha, Christina, & April.  Make sure to hop over and see what they are up to.


Now, are you ready for some more Spring decorating inspiration?  I'm excited to be teaming up with some super talented ladies who always inspire me.   Below you can get a peek at 14 amazing Spring decorating projects and you can get all the details and a full post by following the link below each photo at the bottom of this post.  Then use the Rafflecopter below to enter our $150 Target gift card giveaway.  Enjoy and Good Luck!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

The Turquoise Home | Tiny sidekick | The Blissful Bee

Making Home Base | One Krieger Chick | Design, Dining and Diapers

Just a Girl and her Blog | Designer Trapped in Lawyer's Body

The Happy Housie | Place Of My Taste | Create Craft Love

This Is Happiness | Homey Oh My | House by Hoff

Have a great day!

sneak peek // spring decorating

Good Morning Friends!  I quickly wanted to give you a sneak peek at this amazing round up of Spring decorating ideas by a super talented group of bloggers that will go live tomorrow.  Stop by for all the links and details to these inspiring projects.

And we are also doing a giveaway to my one of my favorites stores...a $150 Target giveway!  All this fun starts tomorrow April 10th.  Hope you'll stop back by!!

And the winner of my Rodan + Fields Giveaway is Jessica Norden.  Congratulations!  You will love these products!!  I will be emailing you soon.


Have a wonderful day!

simple spring mantel

After a cool, rainy Sunday, our Monday turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day...blue skies and 70!  It was a perfect Spring day.  And becuase I'm so motivated by the sunshine, yesterday was just what I needed to get my mantel looking a little more like Spring!

Keeping with my moto of "style simplified" a sweet banner and fresh flowers is all I needed to bring a little Spring to our home.

Do you decorate for Spring or Easter?

Hope you have a great day!

P.S.  Today is the last day to enter my Rodan + Fields Giveaway.  You can go here to enter :)

friday favorites

Yay for Friday!  Rounding up some of my current Friday favorites...


One - A little sneak peek of a project I'm working on to share with you next week.  I am teaming up with a group of amazing bloggers to share some great Spring projects and topping it off with a fun giveaway!  Stop by next week to check it out!


 Two - Thank you all so much for all your sweet comments on IG about these super cute shorts I found at Gap Outlet.  I love them!!  Similar ones here.

Three - I've been drooling over this kitchen.  Love every single detail!

Four - There's still time to enter my Rodan + Fields Giveaway.  You can go here to enter.


Five - These pretty white flowers are blooming in my front landscape and I couldn't resist clipping some to enjoy inside too.

And that's a wrap!  Do you have big plans this weekend?  I thought we were going to finally have a free weekend, but things have changed and it's not so free anymore :)

Have a wonderful weekend!


*also linking up with the five on Friday group...Darci, Natasha, Christina, & April.

Rodan + Fields Giveaway

As you know, I became a Rodan + Fields consultant in January of this year and I'm so happy with my decision to join this amazing business team.  I love everything about these products!  My skin looks the best it's looked in decades and being a consultant has brought our family some always welcomed extra income!

Here are a couple of helpful tips about this wonderful, reputable skincare company.  They have many skincare products that you can customize to fit your needs.  You can use their solution tool to help figure out what products are best for you.  And to get you started they have many great incentives, like their Preferred Customer - $80 or more with a one time $19.95 fee and receive 10% off retail pricing, free shipping once a month, and a very flexible auto replenishment of product every 60 days (or more if you choose so.)  They also have a fantastic return policy:  60 day empty bottle money back guarantee if you don't like the product.

And now on to the fun stuff...the giveaway.  One lucky winner will receive:  2 mini facials (including 2 microdermabrasion paste, 2 night renewing serums, and 2 lip renewing serums) and 1 bottle of foaming sunless tanning solution.

To enter this giveaway, use the Rafflecopter below

The winner will be announced Wednesday April 9, 2014

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And P.S.  If anyone is interested in joining as a consultant, I am offering incentives towards the purchase of kits.  You can email me for more information at beckykubecka@yahoo.com  This is a great business model for almost anyone as it is VERY part time hours, it's not a party plan business so no inventory to keep on hand, no shipping or dealing with returns.  As a consultant you also receive the 60 day money back guarantee so NO RISK to try.


Have a great day!

lemon bars

With the warmth and sunshine sticking around lately, lemon bars seemed like a perfect treat to make this past weekend!  When it comes to sweets, I’m a huge chocolate lover, but I also enjoy a gooey lemon bar.  I love this recipe…it produces a wonderfully tart lemon bar with just the right amount of zing...