Monday Musings

Happy Monday & Happy President's Day!

This weekend started off good, with the exception of my husband being gone all weekend for his USCG duty. He left me a little Valentine's Day surprise:

I joked that it is actually a gift for him...then teased him that I'd be buying clothes with it, not lingerie.

I also finally got my Young Living essential oils!

I immediately applied the Stress Away to myself and diluted some Vetiver for Tanner {in studies it has shown to help with behavioral and neurological disorders}. I then grabbed some cotton pads and put about 10 drops of Citrus Fresh on them and placed them in the air vents {with the exception of the bedrooms, in which I used Peace & Calming}. My house definitely smells so pleasant.

For a little Valentine's Day fun, I took the kids to the beach in the afternoon. It was a bit breezier and chillier than I thought it would be, so unfortunately we didn't stay long. But they were able to get some energy out and had a lot of fun.

I then spent my evening watching Friends and Gilmore Girls on Netflix with a glass of wine and this little Valentine snuggled up next to me:

Sunday morning, I went to get Farrah out of her crib and found she had thrown up a little at some point in the night and her eyes were gunked nearly shut. I felt so awful for her...just when we think she's getting over one thing, she gets another. I took her to Doctor's Care and we got her started on amoxicillin. The doctor thinks it will knock out this sinus infection she has as well as the eye infection. I am just ready for her not to have glossy eyes and a runny nose. My poor baby girl.

So it wasn't a fabulous end to the weekend, but we're hoping that this antibiotic kicks in quickly so she can finally have a good non-sick week!

P.S. Don't forget to hit up the good President's Day sales!

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American Eagle (more coupons): Extra 60% Off AEO Clearance + Free Shipping On Everything Through 2/15

Calvin Klein (more coupons): Up to 60% Off Sale Items + Free Shipping on $99+

Carter's (more coupons): 50% Off Everything Including Sale + Extra 25% Off $50+ w/ Code: BIGSALE [Exp. 2/16]

Children's Place (more coupons) Up to 50% Off Sale + Extra 20% Off w/ Code: SPRDM20FY [Exp. 4/15]

Claire's (more coupons): Up to 75% Off Clearance + Extra 20% Off + Free Shipping On $35 w/ Code: WELCOME20

Guess (more coupons): Up to 70% Off Sale & Extra 15% Off + Free Shipping w/ Code: LOVEGUESS

JCPenney (more coupons): 20% Off $100+ with Code SHOPPIN or $10 Off $25 with Code ONLINE

Kohl's (more coupons): Presidents' Day Sale + Extra 30% off & free shipping for card holders with codes HUGS30 and FEBMVC at checkout.
Everyone gets an extra 15% off with code THANKS7375 through 2/15

The Limited (more coupons): Extra 40% Off All Sale Items + Free Shipping on Orders $125+

LL Bean (more coupons): Up to 60% Off President's Day Sales + Free Shipping, No Minimum!

LOFT (more coupons): Extra 50% Off All Sale Styles

Macys (more coupons): 20% Off Your Purchase + Free Shipping on $99+ w/Code: FAVES [Exp. 2/16]

Nordstrom (more coupons): 40% Off Presidents' Day Clearance through 2/22

Old Navy (more coupons): 20% Off $75+ w/ Code HAPPY [Exp. 2/10] + Free Shipping On $25+ Purchases + Up to 40% Off All Shirts, Jeans & Outerwear with Code: SHIPFREE

OshKosh B'Gosh (more coupons): 20% Off $40+ with Code: FEBOKBG [Exp. 2/28]

Ralph Lauren (more coupons): $25 Off $150+, $50 Off $250+, $125 Off $500+ or $200 Off $750+ w/ Code: RLSTG15

Sears (more coupons): Up to 60% Off Winter Clothing Clearance + Extra $5 Off $50 w/ Code: SEARS5OFF50 + Free Shipping on $59+

Tory Burch (more coupons): Up to 50% Off President's Day Sale + Free Express Shipping On Select Items or Free Express Shipping On $300+

Wet Seal (more coupons): Up to an Extra 60% Off Sale Items, No Coupon Required

Linking Up With: Life Of Meg // Still Being Molly // Lipgloss & Crayons // B Loved Boston

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Five Things

This week has been an odd one. We got hit with a "winter storm" here in the Southeast and it really caused some havoc. My son's school let out before noon on Tuesday and was closed Wednesday and Thursday. This morning they even started on a two-hour delay. Due to all of this, I have not been at work since Monday...which is nice, but still, girl's gotta make that money, honey.

But anywho...here are my five things this week:







{one}
The winter storm brought a very rare occurrence of snow to Charleston. We woke up on Wednesday morning to a lot of ice and a little bit of snow fall. Nothing to brag about, but the boys did sure enjoy getting a rare chance to play in the white stuff.

As you can see, there definitely was not much...but it was awesome to them nonetheless. It was also cute seeing them all bundled up in their winter coats {Sugar too}.




{two}
Since both Jake and I had the day off on Wednesday, I made sure to put him to work...I got him to paint the wainscot in our master bedroom. Long story short, about 6 years ago when we moved in, we thought it would be cool for it to be brown and white, but after a while, I really just wanted it white...and plus, we are planning to sell the house soon, so it will help it show better. Here is the "before" - stay tuned for "after's" next week!

{three}
My Sugar baby turned one this week...she's officially an adult! Here is a pic of her the first day we got her...she still needs me next to her to nap well...it's so funny. She literally sits and waits for me to wind down in the evenings and relax on the couch so she can nuzzle up next to me.

I thought this pic was too funny:

{four}
My J.Crew sweaters arrived - I ordered them on major clearance {$29.50 from $69.50!} from their "factory" website...they are versatile and will go with a lot of different outfits...now just to wait on this pregnant belly to go away...



The pink one pictured  above is now on backorder, but there are still a lot of colors to choose from, so hurry!

{five}
I picked up this pink and gold Threshold ottoman from Target...I have been eying it for a while now, so I finally bit the bullet with a giftcard I had from Christmas. It was on sale online at $55.99, I believe it was originally $69.99. Right now it is sitting in the nursery, but I may find a place for it in the living room!

{via}

Have a great weekend! Hope you're staying warm wherever you are...looks like Charleston will be up in the high 60s again next week - that's more like it!

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The Dog or The Clothes...

So I have this cute little pup named Sugar. She's 7 months old.

Most days, I think she's cute all the time.

But then there's right now. Right now I do not think she's cute.

That shopping trip to Forever 21 I told you about today? Well, this was one of the shirts I bought:

It's partially sheer on the back with a button-up detail. Soooo cute. I wore it this once...and just found out it on the floor in the office {where I had it hanging over a chair to dry}...Sugar had eaten holes into it.

Fucking dog.

I mean, it was only like a $14.00 shirt, but still, I'm not rich, and I hate seeing even $14.00 go down the drain.

Fucking dog.

She is not cute right now.

I like the shirt so much I may actually go back tomorrow and buy a new one...thus making it a $28.00 shirt. I guess it could be worse...but I am so mad at my fucking dog! It's not like she doesn't have an entire basket full of toys at her disposal. She's majorly cowering right now...I hope she's learned her lesson.

It's like a child...they fuck shit up...but you still love them anyway.

I needed to post these last two pics to remind myself that I actually do love her.

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Family Update: It's Been Awhile {Again}

I realize that now that I run a total of 3 blogs....call me crazy or call me organized {or both}...I have a hard time keeping up with this one. I was actually thinking about shutting this one down...but then I reminisced through a few posts and found this one. I realized why I do have the family blog separate from my other blogs. In a way, it's like a diary that my boys, Jake and I can look back on and cherish the memories together. It's a diary to the boys about the young moments they might not remember clearly. So that being said, I am going to keep this family journal of sorts running, though I may not update often, I'll sure try. And I'll link to some posts on my other blogs that pertain to some family stuff so as not to be redundant over here. I do hope you'll follow Style Oyster & Gym Bunny too though.

So my last family update was from January through April...let's go over May through June. I think we actually left off just before my 30th birthday, which was April 14th, and I mentioned Jake having a big surprise planned. Well, go here to see what that surprise ended up being. I was in awe.

Additionally, in April, my dad and his wife Teresa came for a visit. It was such a nice weekend with them and I'm so glad they could make the trip. We don't get to see them often enough.

May was fairly uneventful {in a good way}. We did the normal things around here...work, school, etc. We also found some beach outing opportunities. The best beach trip hands-down was the one where Tanner found a crisp $100 bill on the sand dunes. {Lucky kid, right? The most I had ever found before that was a $20. Now it's $40, since last week at a concert I found two folded up 20s on the sidewalk - Jake and I donated it toward our beer for the concert.}

We did also get a rare Breckin-only weekend. Tanner got to go to Carowinds with Nana & Papa {Jake's parents}, so we spent a weekend just enjoying little Breckin and giving him some special attention. We took him to the Children's Museum, which he just loved. More info and pics from that weekend can be seen here.

June was a big month for us. Tanner graduated the 1st grade and we left the day after to spend a week in Florida visiting Disney World and Sea World. It was awesome. It was nice to have our first family vacation - just the four of us.

I really need to do a separate post for all the pictures from that trip. Five parks in 7 days was a lot of photo opportunities!

And that bring us to July...I feel like this summer has just gone by too fast. Tanner starts back at school in 3 weeks. I have thankfully gotten everything ready to go - being an early bird this year. I quit my 2nd job at the gym the other week...it was just time to be done. The 3am wake-ups three days a week just became to tiresome. And with school starting, I really wanted to be there in the weekday AMs for my boys. Jake and I managed to get to two concerts this month - OAR {a fave band of his} and then a Michael Jackson cover/tribute band at the Windjammer on Isle of Palms. Here we are at OAR:



And with our friends at the Windjammer:

And to end this post, here are some fun random summer pics of the boys:

Until next time!

Friends/Family - if you would like any of the pictures you see of us on the blog, please just right-click on the image and save it to your computer. You are welcome to print at your leisure! They are all high-pixel images. If you do not know my family or me, you probably shouldn't right-click/save or print any of our images. Just saying.

My Week on Instagram

I'm linking up with Mama Kat's Writing Workshop this week and here is the prompt I chose out of the five offered:

5.) Your week in Instagram photos!

So here goes! {If you already follow me on Instagram, well then lucky you, you get an extra dose of my insta-awesomeness!}

Arm party I showed off this Memorial Day weekend...and also wearing again today!

Cutie McPuppy {aka Sugar} sunbathing with me on the back deck when I was sans kiddos on Saturday...

Enjoying the pool sans kiddos while Daddy had them out fishing with Papa and Uncle Jesse for Memorial Day weekend. It was bliss...

 

 And a Memorial Day weekend sunset...

Guess I wasn't super-Insta-crazy this past week! I'll do better next! xoxo

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Beach, Bikini Season and Florida Vacay

I'm happy to report that after my post yesterday on Tanner, he did have a much better attitude by the time I picked him up after school. I took the boys to the beach last night to watch Daddy play volleyball at the Windjammer...it was also my first time taking Sugar with us and she was so well-behaved!

Here she is helping them make sandcastles:

 

 

 

I try to get out there with the boys at least one weeknight per week since Jake plays volleyball there on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

We are headed to Florida in just over 3 weeks to go to Disney World and Legoland and I really need to get my butt in gear to look good in a bikini whilst I lounge at the resort pool. I've been working out a lot, but I think that changing some of my eating and drinking habits is what is going to be the most effective. I eat pretty well most days, but I definitely am not hard enough on myself as I should be. I need to be a little more strict and less complacent. I also need to cut out alcohol for a little bit. {I think those daily glasses of wine are beginning to add up. Ha.} I've been making our dinners from a site called Skinny Taste. I've mentioned that site on here before. I mostly stick to fish, turkey and chicken recipes - not much of a red meat eater. Other than that, I've been buying a lot of fresh and organic produce to snack on, and staying away from sugary, processed foods. I tell you, since starting to read The Honest Life by Jessica Alba this past week, I had a whole change in mindset while at the grocery store on my last trip - and I typically buy pretty healthy anyway! But there are a lot of chemicals that are disguised with "healthy" packaging that I never really thought about before. I highly recommend her book.

I suppose if I can't get myself bikini-ready, I could always sport something like this:

{source}

Super-cute, right? I am bikini-ready {with the exception of a tan}, but I definitely could work a little harder. I mean, I am 30 now - no more messin' around!

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