this is happiness

December 23, 2019

White Christmas Sangria

What's your favorite holiday drink? This White Christmas Sangria is a new holiday favorite for me. So yummy and festive! Recipe below...

White Christmas Sangria

Ingredients

1 red apple
1 green apple
1 cup of cranberries
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of white grape juice
2 bottles of white wine (non-sweet)
club soda
fresh rosemary

Method

Mix together the first six ingredients and let chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Pour into glass and top with club soda. Garnish with rosemary. (note: Adjust for desired sweetness. Original recipe called for 1 bottle of wine, but it's too sweet for me...two bottles was perfect! So good with a splash of gin too :)

Hope you enjoy. Cheers and Merry Christmas!

November 24, 2018

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We got back in town yesterday and my Christmas shopping is FULL ON! I haven't stepped foot in a store...it's all been at home cozied up with my laptop. I refuse to go to the stores. So while I've been searching for gifts for those on my list, I've saved some of my favorites. They are grouped below and I will add to these as I continue to shop. Do you find gift idea posts helpful? I actually really love them because they narrow things down for me as it can be soooo overwhelming.

Hope you find something for someone on your list!

November 19, 2018

Favorite Fall Outfits

Good Morning Everyone! Today I wanted to share a few of my favorite fall outfits. Both are stylish and extremely comfy. Still love incorporating the leopard touches...so cute, right? And the best part is many of these are on sale! I've been doing some major online shopping the past two days and there are sooooo many great sales that have started already. Enjoy your day!

October 10, 2018

My Favorite Home Decor Store - Sale Time

Hi there! It's been awhile since I've popped in here...these weeks just keep flying by. My hope is to post once a week, but time just gets away from me these days. I saw a cute quote on FB recently that went something like this:

How is it August this week?!
September is basically tomorrow.
It's already 2019.
Happy New Year!

Haha...this is exactly how I feel. It's so crazy! Anyways, I was recently browsing the friends and family sale at my most favorite home decor store Serena and Lily and noticed a picture of my kitchen on the front page. It's the top right corner pic :) I still love my Riviera stools and they get used daily and have held up so well!

I love adding a few Serena and Lily pieces to our home, but I try to wait for their sales. And guess what...they are having their friends and family sale right now through October 15th and with the code HOMELOVE you can get 20% off everything. Below I picked out a few favorites that I have on my wishlist.

September 3, 2018

Master Bedroom Bedding Refresh

Hi there! I recently did a little bedroom bedding refresh and wanted to share it with you all. I loved our Ruched Duvet Bedding that we had for over 6 years, but it was time for a refresh! Although it held up really well wash after wash, it was starting to show it's age. You can see our previous bedroom bedding here.

When looking for new bedding I knew I wanted to keep the same look (white), but I did want to switch to a quilt. I love the plush look of a duvet, but I'll be honest I dreaded taking out the insert to wash it. I recently switched out both kids' bedding to quilts and love how easy it is to throw the whole quilt in the wash. And guess where I found everything...Target, of course!

We still want to upgrade to a king size upholstered bed in here, but for now I'm loving how the new bedding refreshed this room!

Bedroom Sources

August 1, 2018

30A Trip

Good Morning! I hope everyone is having a fun summer. We woke up to a very rainy 4th of July and there is more rain in the forecast over the next few days. Normally I would be really sad about that but it's given me some time to stay home and inside (I love being outside in the summer) and catch up on a few things like blogging and going through hundreds of photos.

We had our annual beach trip to 30A a couple of weeks ago and truly enjoyed ourselves! We stayed in Watersound this year in an amazing home and the cutest neighborhood. If you've never been to this beautiful part of the Florida, the whole 30A area is great! So wherever you stay won't disappoint. We usually explore the whole area while we are there. So many fun shops, restaurants and activities.

We had a week of wonderful memories and I'm already looking forward to next year!

Happy 4th of July!

July 17, 2018

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2018 - Early Access

Hi there! So, I finally had time to shop the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. I was in Dallas last week for work when the early access sale started and took a few peeks, but I wasn't able to really dive into it until Sunday. I've bought a few items and added a lot more to my wishlist. While I was shopping for myself, I saved a few of my favorites and included those below. It's everything from your basics to my picks for next season.

And if you've shopped the sale before, you already know that things sell out quickly. But they do restock, so if there's something you must have, keep checking back :)

Summer Bags Under $40

Top: Striped Tote | Nautical Fishnet Tote | Round Straw Crossbody

Middle: Round Rattan Japanese Style Purse | Bamboo Purse

Bottom: Round Handle Tote | Straw Shoulder Tote | Rattan Circle Tote

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Do you shop on Amazon for fashion? I shop Amazon for nearly everything, but it's usually not my go-to for clothes, etc. I think sometimes for me it's the photos...not the prettiest presentation of the products, which throws me off. However, as I was looking for a new beach tote I can across soooo many cute affordable options on Amazon, so I rounded up a few of my favorites. Some of these are knockoffs of some really expensive name brand handbags and look just as cute. And all of these are under $40 (some are only $20 something)!! Now to decide which one (or three) I need :)

Which is your favorite?

Have a great weekend!!

May 5, 2018

Casual Spring Outfits

Good Morning and Happy Cinco de Mayo! How are we in May already? This year has really flown by. June 1st will mark one year that I changed my work status from part-time to full-time and just being a lot more busy with work has made the school year just get away from me. As you probably noticed it also gives me a lot less time to blog. But I still LOVE blogging and hope to continue as much as I can. I'm hoping this summer on the weekends and after work we will have more free time due to less kids' activities, which should allow me to post more often. This morning we are currently on a weather delay for baseball, so I figured it was a good time to pop in.

Today I'm sharing a few of my favorite Spring outfits I've been wearing. All are casual and comfy...just how I like it! I hope you'll find something you like :)

sunglasses | earrings | top | jeans (similar) | flip flops (similar)

sunglasses | handbag (similar) | top | shorts | sandals

Have a great weekend!

April 7, 2018

Two Year Home Anniversary

Two Years! Sometimes I feel like we just moved and then some days I feel like we've always been here. But April marks two years since we moved into this home. You can read more about why we even considered moving here and see before pictures of our home here.

Two of the rooms, I participated in One Room Challenge to get those completed. You can see our kitchen ORC makeover here and our office ORC makeover here.

The rest of this post are current pictures of where we are now with our home.

Latest Love

sunglasses | necklace | dress | clutch (similar) | sandals

Spring break week has come and gone so quickly for us. Grant and I both had to work most of the week, but we did find a couple of days to get away for a little beach time with the kids. We've had some really nice warm sunny weather, and I'm loving the longer days of sunshine.

I posted this dress on IG a week ago and I've had lots of interest, so I thought I would share it here too. It's one of those dresses that I actually walked passed initially, but really cute once I tried it on. It's forgiving without being baggy and a great price. You can find more fashion and home favorites here.

Have a great day!

March 6, 2018

Spring Fashion

Finally after a really rainy, gloomy February we have a beautiful 10 day forecast of sunshine and blue skies! This time of the year is my absolute favorite here...everything is starting to bloom, the grass is turning green, birds are singing...love it!

With Spring Break just around the corner, I've rounded up a few cute Spring finds.

February 5, 2018

Present

As I mentioned in my previous post, this year has definitely started with a bang and we have been in "go-mode" since January 2nd. We finally had a slower weekend and it was nice to relax a bit. I was able to do a few of my favorite things including admiring pretty homes like Michelle Adams's beautiful home. I love looking at home tours and finding ideas to try in our home. Home design really is my true passion and I find so much joy in it.

I find myself so drawn to simple, symmetrical, classic homes like the exterior of this one. I'm really loving the dark color with the white trim.

It was nice to pause a little this weekend and take time to relax and reflect on the new year. I hope to find a nice balance between family, work and blogging in 2018. I really ran myself crazy at the end of last year and decided it was no fun.

My goal for this year is being present and letting go of being perfect.

February 2, 2018

Heart Day Gifts For Him

shaker | watch | pullover | weekender bag | speaker

Back today with my picks for "him." My husband has 3 of the 5 of these and loves them! We have the bluetooth speaker and use it all the time. It really has great sound for being so small. He really loves the pullover as well. It's a lighter weigh, which is perfect for our colder days in Texas.

I hope these are helpful. Sometimes I get stuck on what to get as gifts and it's nice to have a few ideas to get you thinking.

Have a great weekend!

January 31, 2018

Heart Day Gifts For Her

Happy February (finally)! Wow, January was the loooongest month! I rounded up a few sweet gifts for "her" today. I am really loving the Rebecca Minkoff crossbody purse, but I would be happy with any of these lovely gifts. I have the Sugar Rose Lip Treatment and it is my favorite everyday lip gloss. It feels amazing and I love that it has a little tint of color.

Back tomorrow (hopefully) with a few fun gifts for that special guy.

Enjoy your day!

January 13, 2018

Friday Night Style

sweater | jeans | booties | necklace | coin purse

Happy Weekend! Wow, what a crazy start to the New Year! We had a wonderful time over the holidays and took a loooong break from anything work related or blog/social media related. It was soooo nice. But January 2nd rolled around and everything started up with a BANG. The kids started back to school and afterschool practices resumed, I headed to Dallas for the week for work, we traveled to Galveston for a two day cheer competition, and then I stayed over one more night to work an event the following Monday. With that crazy week behind us, we are finally settling into our normal (still busy) routine.

Because of all that, this is my first post of 2018, so Happy New Year!! I can't believe half of January is already gone! Anyways, I shared this cute outfit on IG and had lots of interest in it, so I thought I would share on here too. And I know those of you that are not signed up for @liketoknow.it, having a direct link is helpful :) I've had the booties for awhile and love. The sweater I recently purchased and adore the bell shelves and ties. I've received so many compliments on it!

Have a great weekend!!

P.S. The necklace, booties and sweater are all on sale!

December 31, 2017

Top Nine for Twenty Seventeen

My top nine favorites for 2017 from my IG account. I didn’t use the website that picks these based on likes, but picked out some of my favorite, most memorable photos from 2017. It’s been a fun year! We had a couple of fun vacations skiing and beaching. Preston started junior high and my work status changed to full-time. We were in our home for the entire year of 2017 and our pup Sadie turned 8 this year (nothing special, but I had to include her :) We remodeled two rooms in our home (office and kitchen.) We survived Harvey and although our home was spared, it was a sad time for our neighbors and city. We watched the Astros win the World Series and saw the city of Houston enjoy the event. After 8 years, we had snow! And most importantly, everyone was happy and healthy!

Looking forward to 2018!!

Happy New Year!!

#bringon2018

December 8, 2017

My Christmas Home Tour 2017 | 12 Days of Holiday Homes

Welcome to my 2017 Christmas Home Tour! I'm so happy to be part of The 12 Days of Holiday Homes again this year with so many of my favorite bloggers! The inspiration from this group always amazes me. You can find the complete line up of all the participants with direct links at the end of this post. The tour is hosted by Jenny from Evolution of Style and Christy & Amy from 11 Magnolia Lane, who lined up a fabulous group. A big thank you to them for organizing and to Lynch Creek Farm for sponsoring the tour. Today three of us are sharing our homes, so be sure to hop over to Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss, and The Creativity Exchange and check out their gorgeous homes decked out for the holidays. So let's get started...

I loved using fresh greenery again this year starting with my front porch. The beautiful wreath on my front door is from Lynch Creek Farm which arrived so perfect. I choose the Blended Bay Wreath and then paired it with a mini Christmas tree and basket of birch logs for a simple holiday front porch

I still haven't jumped on the flocked tree bandwagon for our big tree, but added this mini one to our front entry this year.

I'm happy to say that those wrapped presents actually contain gifts. A few years ago when I did my tour I was behind on my Christmas shopping and wrapped empty boxes. But not this year! They sit below our family Christmas tree with everything from our fancy ornaments to all our special homemade ones. I don't do anything else to it and love it like that! It's so meaningful to us and fun to pull out the same ornaments every year and reminisce about them.

I added fresh garland to both our mantel and stair banister.

A peek in the kitchen where I added a mini Christmas tree garland across the window and a fresh wreath on the back door. The kids and I put together a few gingerbread houses last weekend and the simple, white ones are my favorite (big surprise) We have two other houses that got a little crazy with an explosion of candy.

I added a simple ribbon with gold bells to finish off the banister. We do an artificial tree, so it's nice to have some fresh greenery throughout our home.

Our last stop on this home tour is our dinning room. I used my favorite white plates and chargers paired with gold flatware. My table runner is actually a gray and white plaid throw which added a nice cozy touch to the space. We are hosting Christmas for my husband's family this year, so my table will be ready to for guest.

And that wraps up my Christmas Home Tour. Below is a complete line up of all the participants. I've been so inspired by these homes and pinned lots of great ideas for next year!