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New Look In The Works

I have been blogging since March / April of 2009 and since then I have been desperate to make my blog's look a little more "professional" looking. The original look did not represent me whatsoever and in no way was it appealing to me, so I can imagine how it was for my readers. So a change had to be made.

In the last few weeks, I am sure you have been noticing changes being done to the blog as I tested a few new skills and in part figuring out how I want it to look. In life, I am a pretty simplistic person which is probably why I am so fascinated with the modern look of pretty much everything. Simple, clean lines are so nice! Although. I am a black + white kinda girl but I LOVE me some patterns and many colors. That's what makes designing for me so difficult.

Unfortunately, I had many nights looking at some awesome blogs to get ideas and have clocked numerous hours of research on how to update do some web design myself (saves a little dough). Last night though, it came to me that I was doing it all wrong! I was steering away from "me" and then it hit me! Once I started thinking about my true likes,  I was able to figure things out more easily. Crazy, huh? I do not know how my hubby handles me and my craziness ;). Love him dearly!

I was able to take all my knowledge I had gained from the many tutorials out there to create what you now see. There will definitely be changes deployed in the future but you should now see where my design is going. 

So what do you think of the new look? I hope you like it! Do share your thoughts! And while you are at it, grab a button and share my blog (yeah, I made one of those too).


Have a fantastic week everyone! The Roddys are on vacation and we are lovin' it! ;)

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Pin ♥ : Words...

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Last but not least. When all else fails...

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The 411 on ME!

Thought I would join From Mrs. to Mama and do this little activity!




1. How long have you been blogging? And what got you started on blogging? Has your blog changed?
I have been blogging since March/April of 2009. I started blogging during my wedding planning days. It was a way for me to share my projects, ideas and things I was going through at the time. My blog definitely has changed as time has gone by. I still post about projects and such but now it is mostly about my life including my family.

2. Did you go to college? If so where, and what did you study?
IUP (Indiana University of PA)

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First, I was an Accounting major but I sucked horribly at it and I didn't like it. My junior year I changed to Management Information Systems (MIS) with minors in Accounting and Applied Statistics.

3. Where have you traveled?
I have only gone as west as Michigan and I have been to Florida. Florida is my favorite place to go! Hopefully there will be trips to California and up north in the future.

4. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would buy?
I would absolutely pay off all of our debt! I wouldn't be able to live comfortably knowing that I still owed someone.

5. What are your 3 biggest pet peeves?

• Above all things, I hate (ok, that's harsh -- I really, really, really dislike) Liars! 
• Cheating - I don't care if it is done playing a board game, it sucks!
• Scared and timid drivers. They scare the hell out of me and are very dangerous on the roads. I drive 2.5 hours every day for work so I see a lot of them. They make me nervous.

6. What is your favorite movie?
"How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days" - I know this may surprise MANY of my followers but I really do love this movie! When I first saw it, I had just gone through the first break-up with my college bf. I honestly took it pretty hard and this movie helped me laugh. I laughed a  lot! It also was the first movie I laughed watching alone. I always felt weird laughing at movies when I was by myself (crazy, I know) but this helped me.

7. What is your drink of choice; wine, beer, or liquor. Or Water, Soda, Tea?
Of them all, I really like Tea the most. Iced Tea that is! I love me some Snapple Peach Tea or Arizona Sweet Tea. What's even better is any brand of Iced Tea + Lemonade. Having said all that, I rarely drink it. It is usually water for me.

8. What is something you enjoy to do when you have me time?
I rarely get 'me' time at all. Still working on that! I do try to read when I can. Sometimes my 'me' time is when I am working my Scentsy parties.

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be?
This is a tough one for me. I am going to say Target. I can get a lot there for all of us and still be frugal about it.

10. Share with us an embarrassing moment of your past? Or present.
One embarrassing moment happened in college. My bf (at the time) and I were walking from the cafeteria through what we called the "tri-halls". It's an open area right in front of 3 dorms and at the time there was a Volleyball tourney going on. I have no idea what happened, but my platform shoe gave out for some reason and I fell, somehow landing on my back. All you hear is "Oh sh*t" from the  people at the tourney! Yeah, definitely not my best moment.

11. What day would you love to relive again?
The day my daughter was born. It felt like such a magical day and she came right on time (her due date). I was so happy to hold her and see her little face before me. A true blessing!

12. If your life was turned into a movie... what actor would play you?
Scarlett Johansson -- she by no way looks anything like me but I love her acting abilities and she is quite beautiful too! One of my favorite actresses.

13. What are the jobs you had in high school/college/the early years?
In high school and during the holidays while in college, I worked at 48 Hours Video, a local video rental store.

14. Show us a picture from high school or college.
Yes, I was a rah-rah!

15. If you could travel anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go?
I would LOVE to go to Italy but south France seems quite appealing too! ;)

16. Show us the most current picture of you or you, or your family, or anything of meaning to you. 

This was our family "portrait" at my family's annual Memorial Day picnic this year.

17. Where do you see your life 5 years from now?
I am just living my life day to day right now but I do see myself happy, being with my family and doing more of what I love (blogging, crafting, baking). I'm sure I can see myself starting a new career (sorry Boss!), I'm here already 7 years and 5 more seems unnatural especially for what I do. I also see (God Willing!) baby #2. Now lets see what it will really be like! ;)


Well I hope you enjoyed learning a few things about me ;)

Throwback Thursday

My Mommy and her sister's Libby, Evelyn and Maria

Aren't they all super cute?! One of my favorite pictures of my Mom.

This is the picture where you can see where my Saya baby looks just like my Mom.

I ♥ You, Mommy ;)

I've Joined the Movement...

The Toms movement that is...

OK, so in the beginning I didn't have a taste for Toms footwear. It's the same reaction I had with both Uggs and Crocs when they came out. I thought they were ug-ah-lee! They for sure are not the prettiest shoe but now that I own my very first pair, I can say that they are sooo comfy! There was no break-in time and the sizing was right on - I wear a 9. The base is so comfy and well padded to me. I absolutely LOVE my Karate shoes (my hubs nickname for them :-P). They even go with just about everything from skirts to shorts to pants! Truly a versatile shoe!

So what changed my mind, you may be asking? It's Toms movement. Their "One for One" promo. For every pair of shoes you purchase, they give a pair of shoes to a less fortunate child.

This is absolutely wonderful in my mind! Buy a shoe and help another person out! I'm totally in!

It doesn't stop there!

They also have this same deal with their eyewear. For every pair of glasses you purchase they will donate:

• Medical Treatment
• Prescription Glasses
• Sight-Saving Surgery

I can't express enough, how great of a movement this is! I am always trying to find ways to help others so knowing that all it takes is to buy a pair of Toms and a child is helped is HUGE! It really helps that these shoes are just great in general!

I even picked out a pair for Saya baby. They are SUPER cute and best of all, she loves them too! When they arrived she wore them day after day. She even learned better how to put shoes on with that pair. After seeing how much Saya loved her shoes, I seriously started thinking about my first pair.

Of course because they had so many patterns to choose from and I wasn't quite sure if I was going to like them, so I decided to stick with the Vegan Earthwise Slate charcoal colored shoe. I even got a vegan shoe! I feel like I helped the world a little bit (I know I have to do sooo much more, though)!

I think I am gonna have to go back and get a few more! Have you seen their ballet flats? Awe-some! If they weren't so pricey, I would have had all the pairs by now! I guess that really is a good thing then, huh? :)

Have you joined the Toms movement? If you haven't, I highly suggest you think about it. There really is a reason why so many people LOVE them! :)

What are your favorite pair of Toms (one's you purchased or on your wishlist)?

Randomness

The skies we've been seeing in the LV...

The sun looks like a portal of some sort and can you see the skinny tornado looking cloud?

**I was not driving when these pictures were taken. I was being taxi-ed around by my sister while my van was in the shop.

Saya + Shaving Cream

Another successful toddler experience is in the books!

I have been so happy with my current schedule! It was a bittersweet change but besides the income drop, all has been pretty wonderful. With much research and web stalking, I have been able to come up with activities to  keep Saya pretty busy during the day that didn't include the boob tube. Lately though, I have been starting to run out of ideas. So it was a teensy blessing that Saya decided to take her nap in the morning while I was still working. She conked out around 11:30, so once I was finished with work I scanned Pinterest to find some new activities we haven't tried yet.

I  came across a pin that redirected me to this post from the blog, How Does She?. Shaving cream + food coloring?  I thought this could be very interesting...and it was!

That's my Strawberry-Tangerine Gel Shaving cream... hence the pink ;)

Saya enjoyed working with the shaving cream, swirling the colors over and over again with her paint brushes. Saya's excitement and joy when she does these kinds of activities, makes for one happy Mommy! It helps that yet again, this is an easy and FREE activity! Luckily, I had just about everything on hand and what I didn't have was substituted with something else.

Doesn't this kind of resemble fuzzy food mold? Thank goodness for the pretty colors or I would have grossed myself out!

Here's how her masterpieces turned out...

For the full "How to," visit the How Does She? blog.

The only things I did differently was that I used paint brushes we had left over from Saya's Arty Party and I only had the gel shaving cream but not worries! A little stir will foam that bad boy right up!

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Fun Fact Friday

Saya's time of birth is her Papi's actual birth date!

Baby girl was born on 6/25 at 8:25 pm.  Her Papi was born on August 25 (8/25). Some other cool things is that her cousin, A, was also born on 8/25 and the rest of her immediate cousins were born on the 24th, 25th and 26th of their respective birth months. Some of the birth days were planned and some were not.

Throwback Thursday

My cousin Marisol and I. 

Every Sunday afternoon, my Dad's family would get together for a family dinner at my Abuela's (R.I.P.) house. This is from one of those days.

Randomness: I Won! I Won!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

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What are some of your favorite Tips and Tricks you would be willing to share?

I'm a Julep Maven... And so can you!

As you already know, I follow many blogs nowadays. Some are food related, family related and believe it or not fashion oriented blogs. One in particular I have been following for a couple of years now is I am Style-ish. This is a pretty cool blog! Tiffany (blogger) will post pictures of her outfits and let you know where each piece was purchased, the fitting details and the price (including discounts) to give you ideas on how you too can dress. Her posts also include some of her shopping trips. Those sometimes are my favorite posts!

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Well the point of this post is that Tiffany introduced her followers to the Julep Maven boxes. It is a monthly subscription where you will receive a box of never before seen Julep brand polishes and other goodies for a cost of $19.99 a month (worth $40) which is based off your personal style. You will fill out a small quiz to create your personal style profile. What's cool is that you have the power to skip a box or even gift it to a friend if you aren't interested in that month's box. You can cancel at any time too! Want to know what is even cooler? You can order it this month for .01! Yep, you read that right. Get this month's subscription for 1 CENT with the code COLOR2012. All you have to do is JOIN HERE (referral link already included) to be a Julep Maven like me!


My style? Boho Glam!

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I definitely cannot wait to try out these polishes! Super cute colors!! Not to mention that these are like little beauty gifts just for me ;)

BTW, once you become a Julep Maven, if you refer two friends you will receive a month subscription for FREE! Now I know all you ladies like FREE!!

Love the polishes but not interested in joining the subscription, not a problem! Julep sells their lacquer and other beauty products individually as well!

PS: Along with her sister, Jen, Tiffany also has her own jewelry shop! Check out T+J Designs for some cool + pretty jewelry pieces at wonderfully affordable prices!


Are you a Julep Maven? If so, what is your style profile? Are you subscribed to similar beauty boxes? Please share! I know I am going to dig receiving these boxes ;)

Fun Fact Friday

I was "Preggo" the clown for the Circus themed 2010 Level 5 PA State Gymnastics Competition!

PS: I would so do that again...maybe not while being preggie ;)

Throwback Thursday

My sister and I at her high school graduation.

★ 
Happy

Independence

Day

★


Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to all the vets and the men & women currently in active duty!

Local Business Spotlight: LarsLoveDesign.com

LarsLoveDesign.com

Now located in the Delaware area (originally from the Lehigh Valley), Lars Love Design, is a great business to order custom stationary for your wedding or parties! We recently used Lars Love Design for our baby girl's 2nd birthday party. Her "Arty Party." The invites we ordered were super cute!

For these invites, I actually gave the designer, Lynsey, the "right" to come up with the design, colors and even wording. I think she did a fantastic job! They were simple but to the point and I loved the colors. Not only was the design nice, the cost was nice to Mommy's wallet as well. With a cut back budget, that's a huge selling point for me! To top the cake (no pun intended), Lynsey was great to work with! Immediate responses to my emails and kept in touch all the time while working closely during the process. We even received our order pretty quickly!

Ding! Ding! Ding! Choosing Lars Love Design was definitely a #win!

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So if you are looking for a design company to provide a custom invitation and other paper novelties for your next party, do check out LarsLoveDesign! You will not regret it! You even get to help out a small business too!

By the way, Lynsey is a blogger! Check out her blog to stay in the know or "LIKE" her on Facebook!