Homemade Eye Makeup Remover

   I finally decided to make this today among a couple other homemade products.  I haven't tested the other two so I'll share this one first since it works amazing!
   I'm the person that drops a crazy amount of money on different eye makeup removers.  I've bought expensive ones, and cheap ones.   I finally landed with Mary Kay makeup remover a little over 2 years ago.  I'm not a huge makeup person...I might put it on MAYBE once a week and when I do it's some eyeliner, mascara, bronzer and chapstick.  If you ever see me with lipstick or eyeshadow (handful of times a year) I've really stepped it up a notch for that event.  And face makeup, yuck.  I didn't even wear face makeup on the day of my wedding.  Fortunately I have good skin.  I'm sure if I were covered in spotches or acne I might be singing a different tune.
   Anyway, I've been very please with the Mary Kay but I've been on my frugal homemade kick and decided to test out my own makeup remover.  It works great!

What you need:

• 1 tsp. Olive Oil
• 1 cup water
• 1.5 tbs tear free baby shampoo (I used Johnson and Johnson since I'm no longer using it on my daughter)
• 8oz Ball jar
• Q-tips

---wait, you mean that's it?  Yup, that's it.  Probably all stuff you have lying around your house.

Mix the 3 ingredients together in a plastic cup.

Now I poured about an inch high of the product into a small mason jar and added q-tips into the jar.  The remainder I poured into a small squirt bottle.  I'll use the squirt bottle for cotton puffs and the q-tips for makeup mistakes!

Spicy Turkey Melt

  Just had to share today's lunch with everyone.  I made a Spicy Turkey Melt and it's a healthy version.  MMM.  What you need:

• 3 slices turkey breast (you can use deli meat as well)
• 1/2 an avocado
• fresh mozzarella
• 1/2 jalapeno
• sea salt
• pepper
• tomato (optional)
• lettuce (optional)
• Kraft Olive Oil Mayo
• 2 slices of light whole grain bread

 Directions:

1. finely chop up the jalapeno
2. sprinkle your jalapeno pieces on one slice of bread
3. thinly slice your 1/2 avocado and cover the jalapeno pieces
4. cut thin slices of mozzarella and lay on top of the avocado
5. top the mozzarella with your turkey slices
6. Put both pieces of bread in the toaster oven until the mozzarella is melted
7. put a thin layer of the Kraft olive oil mayo on the side without toppings
8. sprinkle a pinch of sea salt and pepper onto the mayo
9. I like lettuce and tomato on everything so I added it...but that is optional.

I think the jalapeno was the trick for the extra zip!

Chick Flick

     There are some things my Hubs just refuses to do.  Watch Chick Flicks and enjoy them might be top on the list.  The few times I've pleaded and he's obliged hasn't been an enjoyable experience for either of us.  The constant joking banter during any love scene, the, "you think he's hot," annoying questions and the constant shuffling in his seat makes watching a chick flick with the Hubs a no-no.  What I find romantic and warm and fuzzy, let's just face it, isn't the same as him.  He didn't even like the Notebook for crying out loud!  EVERYONE likes the Notebook.  His comment was, "it's ok."  That's not to say he isn't romantic or a complete teddy bear...really he is.  I would even go as far as to call my lumberjack man's man, sensitive.  But chick flicks isn't on his list.
     Fortunately I have some awesome girlfriends!  So last night a friend and I ventured out, family fed, chocolates and water tucked in my bag, fat pants on and went to the theater.  Our initial decision was to see The Vow but after an alarming number of people telling us "it sucks," we opted for One for the Money.  Entertaining, spotlighted a few steamy men and had some funny parts to boot.  I give the overall movie a B-, but the night out with a friend gets the A.  I think what might have been the best part besides the conversation was the previews! 
     For starters, when did Zac Efron become sexy?!  I honestly can't remember the name of the movie but I have no doubt I will find out what it is and see it.  Before the previews last night I was still under the impression he was a scrawny teenager.  I almost felt uncomfortable thinking about how hot he was because all previous thoughts of him were childish.  To ease my brain I even did a search to find out he is a mere 5 years younger than me, 24, and totally legal to have dirty thoughts about.  My Hubs and I have a bigger age difference!  Regardless, I absolutely think that movie will be on my list to watch.
     Then there was the preview for Hunger Games.  I'm getting antsy just thinking about it.  I can hardly wait for March 23rd!  I'll start by saying I love to read, but it's only once every year or so I feel I stumble upon a good book.  Several years ago I read Water for Elephants and couldn't put it down.  Magnificent book, I absolutely loved it.  What I was left with was the desperation from the next 10 books I picked up for something worth my time.  I couldn't even get through a book for nearly 2 years after that.  UNTIL, the Hunger Games.
     I'll be honest, I knew nothing about the Hunger Games.  Had no clue it was popular and didn't know until after I read it and was talking to my sister that there was not only a 2nd but a 3rd one!  I have yet to read the 2nd or 3rd because The Help became available at the library a week after I finished Hunger Games and I wasn't going to miss the shot to read it (and I gobbled that one up too, another fantastic book).  Anyway, the previews look intense, action packed and moving...so today I'm headed to the book store to purchase the 2nd book so I can hopefully have all 3 under my belt before the 23rd of March!
     Chick flicks and the Hubs a no-no, chick flicks with girlfriends, a must!  I doubt, rather I know, Hubs wouldn't have enjoyed the previews, wouldn't have cared for the movie and wouldn't have made my movie experience perfect.  I'll stick to the action movies with him.  I also know that getting out of the house without your children and your significant other is a must.  I always feel refreshed and ready to take on the next day of my normal routine.  Last night was the perfect way to start my 5th week and not feel awful about the face that I'm already showing (I know they say you show more quickly with the 2nd, but, come on, really?!)  Thanks friend!

Valentines Day and Why it Rocks!

   Let's be honest, we've all had that terrible, horrible no good very bad Valentines Day...some of us, many of them.  But then there are those that are wonderful.  There are the ones that make you heart fill with love.  Maybe it's the one you spent with your other single girlfriends eating chocolates and watching sappy movies...a memory that can't be replaced.  Or maybe it's the Valentines Day your first love brought you flowers and a hand made card in high school that would make any sappy high school girl grin 15 years later.  Or in my case, maybe it's your first Valentines Day married. 
      This is the first Valentines Day that I can even think of that I'm not worried if he put thought into it, if I'll get anything (likely not), and there isn't any pressure for it to be anything special what-so-ever!  It's my first peaceful Valentines Day.  This Valentines Day ROCKS!  THIS, is what Valentines Day is for.
     Today couldn't have come at a better time for my Hubs and I.  A one year old taking so much of our energy.  A new baby on the way.  A new job my husband started less than a month ago that has 39 weeks of training.  The moments to sit back, sigh, and say I love you, are limited.  So I decided during nap time (and late hours of last night) during the last week, to do something creative, thoughtful and special for my Hubs.

     When we finally get a chance to head out for a date, we always sit there going back and forth, "what do you want to do," and sometimes end up doing nothing or renting the $1 Red Box...exciting, I know.  Lately my wallet has been impossible to close.  OK, I'm lying, it's been impossible to close for some time now.  I have an insane collection of gift cards.  By insane I mean 20+ floating around in my wallet. I'm afraid to spend them because I think there will be that day when I desperately need to buy a gift and I'm broke.  Some of the gift cards are over 3 years old!  Therefore, I took out all the guessing and cost and created a "Date Night" bag. 

     I made a folder for each month.  Within each folder is a pre-planned, pre-paid date night. This was super easy and basically free for us lol.  I went through my gift card collection and pulled out a bunch Mike would enjoy too (one for most months). I created a plan that coordinated with the weather. Gave directions for the "Date Night" and added the gift card. So the 1st of every month we'll grab our calendars and pick a date. Line up the sitter and then we have our monthly "Date Night" planned and we can look forward to it. There is probably about $400+ worth of gift cards in there lol, but, there are also some dates that are FREE.  I could have completely made this without gift cards but my wallet feels so much lighter and will close now! For one example, I had a $20 gift card to Hallmark (this ones been around for years). Our date night is going there, dropping $20 on chocolates and candy and heading to the park where we got married and spending some quality talking time shoving chocolate in our face.

I would have packaged it more nicely, but really, the Hubs could care less lol.  It's the thought that he doesn't have to come up with anything AND it's already paid for!

     Next, I dug deep into our early days.  My Hubs and I were the couple that moved in together after a month of dating...within a month of meeting each other.  We knew early on we had something special.  I remember us feeling silly saying I love you so early on in our relationship, so we would say, "Olive Juice" instead.  Nearly 5 years later olives still make me smile. 

     I like to fill our home with personal touches.  Many things have significant meant to them.  Our couch in the new family room (was a storage space and unused gym) finished in December, needed pillows.  So I whipped this up:

 

     Yes, I made the pillow and yes there is a story from the first few weeks we were dating. And yes, it matches our family room decor color and YES it made my Hubs smile :)  He completely loved it this morning when I gave it to him.  I'm sure everyone wants a tutorial on this.  Very easy:

You will need:

• 14"x14" pillow form
• 1/2 yard of fabric (main color)
• matching zipper
• small piece of olive felt and coordinating thread
• hand needle
• small piece of red felt and coordinating thread
• Iron on fabric (I purchased mine pre-cut from Hobby Lobby)

1. Cut 2 15"x15" squares out of your main fabric.
2. Next, hand stitch on your felt heart with the coordinating thread
3. On the right stitch on your olive with the coordinating thread
4. Sew the zipper to an end of each piece of fabric (directions usually come with the zipper)
5. UNZIP THE ZIPPER!
6. Pin the right sides of the main fabric together
7. Sew around the 3 remaining sides 1/4 inch
8. Clip your corners
9. Turn the pillow case right side out through the zipper opening and pop out the corners
10. Place your iron on letters into place
11. Iron them on the front, turn the pillow case inside out and iron from the back
12. Turn the pillow case back right side out, insert the pillow form and zip the bottom!

     I hope this is the Valentines Day that Rocks for you...and if not, make it one of those special Valentines Day's that leaves an unforgettable memory.  And, maybe next year will be the one that Rocks.  <3

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies! Yum!

After a long lazy weekend, Monday seemed a little rough for everyone...including Mom!  So I thought I should whip up some cookies from scratch.  They turned out fantastic!

What you need:

• 1 cup butter or shortening
• 2/3 cup peanut butter (I used the Jiff Natural- our family favorite) 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3-1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips
• 1/2 bag of White Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Make sure the butter is at room temperature.
2. Preheat the Oven to 350 F
3. Beat the Peanut Butter and butter together.  
4. Add in the sugars.  
5. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  
6. Add flour, soda, and salt and beat together.  
7. Mix in peanut butter and white chocolate chips
8. Place 1 inch balls onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until bottoms become golden brown

Maybe try it Ala mode with some Carmel sauce?!

Toddler Apron

     I got my first ever sewing machine just a couple weeks ago for my birthday.  Much to everyone in our home's happiness I was ready to take my crafts to the next step and hopefully make some household decor, clothes and accessories.  My awesome gift came complete with quite a few spools of thread, case, and essentials.  Being the Mom that I am, I wanted to/had to make something for my daughter first.  I searched for the perfect idea.  Now this was tough considering I hadn't sewn a thing since 7th grade Home EC!  I needed an idea that wouldn't need to be perfect, not to hard, but that she would love.  Then I found it!  My daughters favorite thing to play with is her kitchen.  She spends at minimum an hour in it daily.  For quite a while we even put it in the kitchen and she would be the master of her domain while I did my work in my (and it is mine) kitchen.  She's domestic already and doesn't even know it.  The idea would be perfect.  I could mess it up, because it was just for play but she would get tons of use out of it.  Her very own apron.  I altered another persons idea, created my own pattern and went to work.
    I started by taking some of her measurements and tried to visualize exactly how I would want it to fit her.  I also decided that unless I wanted to tie her apron 8 times a day, it would need velcro so she could put it on herself (granted that won't happen for a while, but eventually).

So here is how I made it...

You will need:

1. One yard of fabric (which is more than enough.)
2. One yard of coordinating fabric
3. One package of velcro (you will have leftovers)
4. Coordinating thread

Next I drew the pattern...this is truly very easy!  I measured about how big I wanted it to be and went from there...the picture might be a little hard to see. 

Next steps are:

1. Cut 2 pieces of apron pattern, one from each of your fabrics
2. Cut 2 pieces of pocket pattern, from the same fabric as your Neck strap, waist strap and ruffle.
3. Waist strap: cut 1 piece of 20 x 2.5 in.
4. Neck strap: cut 1 piece of 12 x 3.5 in.
5. Ruffle: cut 1 piece of 30 x 3 in.

-You can alter the waist, neck and ruffle measurements to suit the size of your child.  My daughter is in 12 month clothes.

Now you're ready to start!  We'll begin with the pocket.  Place your pocket pieces right sides together, and sew around, 1/4 inch, leaving a small gap at the bottom for turning it right side out.  Then, clip the corners and turn it right side out and press so it lays flat.  Next, top stitch the top of the pocket.  Decide where you want to put your pocket and pin the pocket in it's final place. Top stitch the pocket onto, the right side of your fabric leaving the top un-stitched so the pocket can be used...don't stitch it closed!

Onto the Waist Strap.  Fold and press both ends of the waist tie about a half inch, wrong sides facing each other.  Then stitch 1/4 an inch.  Next, fold and press this piece, right sides together, and stitch 1/8 inch away from edge.  Last, turn inside out and press with the seam in the middle.  This last part may take a bit, but apparently there is a handy dandy fabric turner thingie that THIS new sewing Mom doesn't own.

Continue onto the Neck Strap.  Fold both ends 1/2 inch, wrong sides together, press and stitch.  Press it in half wrong sides together. Open it back up and press again, folding the sides to meet the center line.  Now fold along the center line and press it.  Now top stitch 1/8 an inch on both sides.  Now attach a half inch piece of the scratchy velcro to one end of the neck tie.

Now onto the Ruffle:  Again, fold and press both ends of the ruffle piece.  Fold and press down the center line, wrong sides together, and then stitch the ends closed.  Ok, here was the scary part for me...remember I haven't used a sewing machine in about 15 years but I used this trick from someone else.  Set your machine to the longest stitch length and the highest tension. Then as your sewing, apply some resistance to the thread at the very top of your machine. It will gather the fabric up nicely so you won't have to do any pulling on threads when your finished stitching.  I honestly thought I would break it and of course I didn't!  Now, the ruffle probably won't measure perfectly to your apron bottom but you can clip it later. Pin the ruffle in place, right sides together and raw edges at the bottom.

Now we are ready to put it all together!  Baste your necktie onto the top where you want it. Make sure the velcro piece you sewed on earlier is at the bottom, facing inwards to the apron.

NOTE! Before you place the backing piece of the apron on top, you need to sew a long strip of velcro onto it. This makes your apron easily adjustable and apply-able for your child. Apply it to the other side of where the necktie attaches.

Pin the backing into place with the front piece, right sides together.  Leave an opening for turning right side out and sew all the way around 1/4 inch.

Clip curves and corners. Press seams open. Turn right side out and press.

Pin the Waist strap onto the front side where you want it located and pin it.  Starting at the ends of the waist tie, top stitch 1/8 inch away from the ends all around the whole waist tie, attaching it to the apron at the same time.
Top stitch all the way around the apron and make sure you close up the opening you had to turn it right side out.

ALMOST DONE!

Sew velcro on both ends of the waist tie, to allow for closure.  Make sure one piece is on the back side of the waist strap and the other piece is on the front side.  Otherwise when you velcro them together one side of the waist strap will be twisted.

DONE!  I hid a little something into the pocket (a Rollo) to prompt my daughter's interest into the Apron the first time I showed it to her. 

Hopefully you get a reaction as wonderful as I did!

Family, Pregnancy Workout

     Wow, the decision to start a blog.  Why?  Well, I absolutely love my life and I love sharing it with others.  You might have already read the about me section and if not, well, that's where my nutshell info is.  I've decided to make my first post about my family...the growing one!  On Tuesday my husband and I had a positive pregnancy test, to which we were elated!  One very long single month of attempting and boom!  Prego!  I spent a good two months, before trying, prepping for this...I upped the workout routines to 4 mile runs, hour long swimming sessions, multiple yoga sessions, spin, weights, and other various cardio routines and lost 7 pounds.  Started taking the prenatal vitamin again.  Cut out my coffee, alcohol, and processed foods.  So, now that our journey has begun, 4 weeks yesterday, I highly intend (key word INTEND) to stay active and fit, limit my weight gain to 25 pounds (I gained 42 with my daughter) and make healthier food choices down this beautiful road. 

     What can I say about pregnancy...having been through this, I remember and already feel incredibly proud.  I love having the ability to be the gender blessed with growing and carrying a child.  I feel pregnancy is an experience every woman should, God willing, take part in.  It's a right of passage for a woman and for me, it completely changed who I was and my purpose in life.

     So yesterday's workout included a brisk 25 minute walk on incline ranging from 4.0-4.3 speeds followed by a moderate 45 minute yoga session.  Majority of my workouts throughout this pregnancy will include yoga, walking, and my favorite, swimming.  I realize I can continue the path I was on, but I wouldn't consider myself nearly a strong enough runner to keep going and I believe those main 3 are the safest and most peaceful workouts for baby growing. <3

4 weeks and counting...