Confessional Thursday

Confessional Thursday.

Before I begin, I just want to say congrats to Jessica, the host of this link up, on the upcoming arrival of her newest little bundle of joy!  Congrats, girl!

I confess...

...you know when somebody pays you back for something you picked up/paid for...dinner, a coffee, an item from the craft store, something on sale?  Well, once I'm paid back I always tend to keep the cash for myself.

I don't deposit it into our checking account or spend it on groceries.  It's a selfish act, I know.  What do I do with it, you ask?  Welp, I either buy myself a couple of lattes throughout the week or I make a special trip to Hobby Lobby.

I'm wild, I tell ya'! Wild...

__________

...once Jon hits-the-hay at night I tend to stay up a bit longer.  During that time I, more times than I'd like to admit, bust out the junk food.  Chips, chocolate, a hidden cookie from the day before, the works.  I don't have to share with anyone and I don't have anyone looking at me with "judgy-eyes."

Not that Jon would do that or anything.  ;)

 And because, well, "Joey Marie doesn't share food!"

_________

...when Jon pulls in the driveway after a long day at work, I sometimes pretend that I'm super busy!  Sure, most days, about 360 days out of the year, I'm honestly, truly swamped.  But there are some days when he comes home and I'm on the computer or texting/playing on the phone.  

He's just had a long day at work and here I am in yoga pants, scrolling though Facebook, while the kids are watching Paw Patrol.

This.  This makes me feel guilty.

 It's kind of funny - I'll start doing the dishes or get out the broom or go downstairs to bring up the laundry.  He has to be calling "bull."  I mean, it must be completely obvious that I'm just starting a chore and nothing else looks accomplished.  Or everything is already done - what more could I possibly be doing?  All the more reason to rock out my messy hair, no makeup, and yoga pants look - it adds to the effect. ;)  LOL!

__________


I'm linking up with Jessica from The Newly for Confessional Thursday.

Thanks for stopping by, guys!  :)

Eliza's Floral Cottage Bedroom

Happy First Day of Spring!

What better way to ring in the season than with a room reveal?!

The time has come to post about Eliza's Floral Cottage Bedroom and to honest, this is as good as it's going to get, for now, because, well - kids.

You guys, I tried photographing this room for weeks, and either it was cloudy and the lighting was off or I'd clean the room and my little people would come and "help" me take pictures.  

Yeah.  "Help."

Let's just say there aren't many whole-room-photos in the bunch.  Kids, I tell ya', kids.  They're the best, but they can take a room from being blog-worthy to an episode of Hoarders in less than a minute.

I get it, that's their job; to explore and play.  

Oh well, I did manage to pick out some of the "better" pics from the last few weeks.  Also, like I said, sometimes the lighting was off.  Eliza's bedroom is on the northern part of our house.  It receives beautiful, natural light in the afternoon, but for some reason I just couldn't get the pictures that I was seeing in real life, so Picmonkey to the rescue!

One more quick thing about this room - all the furniture is used.  It didn't occur to me until yesterday as I was finishing up this post.  It's amazing what a little paint can do!

Okay, so here you go.  

I'm so nervous!

The bed below is from my Mom's house; it belonged to my brother.  It used to be stained dark (it was very pretty) and it's one of two from a set that I talked my Mom into letting me have.  

I hope I did it justice.

This dresser belonged to my Great Grandma.  It also used to be on the dark side.  It's not in the best shape, but I was determined to make it work.  A couple of the drawers are wonky, but Eliza doesn't seem to mind. ;)

The pillows below belonged to me when I was little.  I love the vintage, cottage-y look of them.

Also, all of the pink scalloped furniture used to be yellow.  I purchased all the pieces from a friend whose daughter was no longer in need of them.  Unbeknownst to me, they were exactly what the room needed!

Below you'll find Eliza's Dress Up Station/Armoire/Closet...whatever you prefer to call it.  I purchased it already painted from a woman here in my town two Christmases ago.  I then added fabric so we could hide the beautiful disaster of play dresses behind it - seriously, it's kind of crazy in there!

The two sets of ballerina slippers were mine when I was little.  The ones in the top right corner are meant to be used as decor and I tooootally remember them being displayed in my bedroom years ago.

I used to sing, "My Favorite Things" to Eliza almost every night.  Before I knew it, she learned the words and starting singing along.  I decided to make this pretty sign to commemorate the moments we shared while singing together. 

*all the crying emojis*

I remember listening to my Mom sing it to my little sister when she was itty bitty.  The words are forever ingrained in my ol' noggin.  We still sing it here and there, there's a whole-lot-a Disney songs going on over here at the moment, but for the most part, it's one of our "favorites." ;)

The sign is very light.  I didn't want the words to be too bold.  I love how soft it turned out.

This mirror and that dress...

Why can't they both be bigger?  Like...my size? 

#kiddingnotkidding

Okay, okay, so - Eliza and I may have a slight obsession with florals...

There you have it!  :)  Whew!  Eliza's Floral Cottage Bedroom Reveal is in the books!

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope you enjoyed Eliza's Floral Cottage Bedroom Tour.  :)

Someday I'll try to post an entire room photo...someday...it may take days...or weeks...or possibly even years....years, I say!  ;) ;) ;)

Marie :)

I'm linking up with Katie from View From the Fridge for the DIY Showcase Linky Party!

I'm linking up with Taryn for Design, Dining and Diapers for the Inspiration Gallery Linky Party!

Confessional Thursday

Today I'm linking up with Jessica for Confessional Thursday, which  means it's about to get real up in here.

My confessions today are all about my mothering skills, or lack there of...*wink*!

I confess...

...on Monday I let me kids split an excessively large cookie, as well as eat a cup full of M&M's/Resse's Pieces, oh and they also had chips with their dinner...all in one day.  Hello diabetes...

On Tuesday, a Post Office Worker (<--- Postal Man?) gave them a sucker.  #notmyfault

__________

...almost every night Jon takes the kids and gets them ready for bed.  I jump in the shower and I either:

A. get out of the shower, but keep the shower running so that the kids "think" I'm still showering, but really - I'm just slowly getting dressed...

OR

B. get out of/turn off shower and scroll through Facebook and/or Instagram as quietly as possible as I sit on my kids' itty bitty stepping stool and dry off.

__________

...real pants are a joke.  My choice of apparel is strictly based on the decision the Hubs and I made to have created tiny little humans while I take on the SAHM role.  This in turn allows me to jump, dance and play with the kiddos, which makes me a pretty cool mom, just not the best-dressed.  My clothes need help, but I'm sooooo unwilling to change.  I'm a hot mess.  A real hot mess.

__________

...I kiss, hug and cuddle my kids so much before I hit the hay at night that I usually wake them up around midnight.  A necessary Navy Seal departure usually ensues.  "It was all a dream..." I say...  ;)

__________

...I have an "at home voice" and a "in public voice."  No worries.  My kids are safe and I love them more than anything.  I like to refer to these two voices as Mary Poppins and "Mommy" Poppins!  LOL!

__________

...the kids are currently watching Paw Patrol while I'm on the computer blogging and enjoying a cup of joe.  #sorrynotsorry #gottadowhatyougottado

__________

Whew!  Once again, I feel so much better.

Okay, I'm off to go hug, kiss and coddle those babies of mine!

Marie :)

Simple and Pretty Spring Wreath

Happy Tuesday, friends.  I'm here today to share with you a simple and cheap spring wreath.

 Honestly, it was almost too easy to make and I wasn't sure if it was blog-worthy or not.

The items I used for this wreath cost me next-to-nothing and I didn't use staples or glue of any kind.  

Oh and this project seriously only took me about a minute or two to make.  Seriously. ;)

I've been looking everywhere for a spring wreath.  Either spring wreaths aren't in stores yet or I'm looking in all the wrong places.  If you know where I should be looking, please give me some suggestions.  The more wreaths, the better.  ;)

I had this wreath on hand from back in the fall when I had purchased it from an old Queen Anne before it was demolished here in my town.  It was purchased for one dollar - yup, you read right, one buck!

  You can usually find this type of grapevine wreath for under five bucks or so, depending on the size, at your local box grocery store or craft store.

As for my artificial flowers, I bought these years ago in an attempt to "decorate" my kitchen.  They've since moved from room to room and are now being proudly displayed on my new spring wreath. Yay!

So, all I did was bend some of the "stems" of the flowers and I then weaved them through the grapevines.

 If some ends stuck out, I simply tucked them in.

The last few flowers were weaved in on the opposite (stem) side of the other placed flowers.

...and DONE!

Blog-worthy?  Eh?  Simple and Easy?  For sure.  Pretty on my wall?  You betcha!

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by my little 'ole blog.  :)

Marie

I'm linking up for the Work It Wednesday Link-Up Party!

Confessional Thursday

I'm linking up for my first time with Jessica for her Confessional Thursday link-up.

I confess...

...if I hold a door open for someone and they don't thank me, I then purposely and loudly say, "You're Welcome."  If I were brave, I'd be more like Michelle here...

...when I pick up Henry from school, I sometimes pick up some coffee and chocolate steamers for the kids and we drive around.  It's usually to look at houses and get ideas, but mostly because it's a break from the chaos that will later ensue while at home.



...my bedroom closet is my "Monica closet."  It's bad, people, it's really bad.  Sometimes is so close to being nice and spiffy, but then company comes over and that's where all those things that don't have a home go to stay...well, until I attempt to clean in out again in a few months or so.  Ha!  ;)

Whew.  I feel so much better.  Thanks for the link-up, Jessica!

The Monthly Meet-Up

Here we are again.  Another month has passed, which means it's time for The Monthly Meet Up!

My girl, Sara, from The Hayes Homestead, and I host a monthly link up every month centered around one's monthly goals.  It can be about anything.  Any kind of goal.  Join us, I promise you'll have a blast!

First thing is first.  Just like anything fun, we've gotta have some rules.  Ours are short and sweet:

1.  Link back to us - copy and paste our linky button on your post - we want your friends to join in on the fun, too.
2.  Follow us!  We'd love to connect with you, and you to connect with each other.
3.  We challenge you - visit, comment and follow at least four other partiers.  Are you up for the challenge?
4.  By posting, you give us permission to feature an image or post on our blog(s).  We'll always give you credit and post links back, don't you worry!


This is going to be simple and quick, because, believe me, you don't want ALL my thoughts written out!  Haha!

{one}

Put together Easter Baskets.

The Easter Bunny likes to fill the kids' baskets with fun little things to play with, rather than gobs of candy.  I'm thinking Amazon and Target will be seeing the Easter Bunny's credit card more than once this month!

*wink*

Here are a couple pictures of my babies circa 2014...

Dear Time, Slow Down!

{two}

Continue exercising.

I'm currently "training" for an upcoming 5K.  The race is about six weeks out, so I have time...it's the energy and motivation I lack.  Wish me luck.

I've also taken a couple of exercise classes with my girl, Sara and our friend, Ashley.

It was Sara's idea...

Let me tell you about the last class that I took...

It was called "Butts and Guts."  It hurt.  It reaaaaally hurt.

It hurt for days and days.

Stairs were my enemy and having to use the bathroom (hahaha), I kid you not when I say, I held it for as long as I could so that I wouldn't have to put myself through the agonizing pain of having to attempt another squat.

The class was on a Friday and I don't think I felt normal again until the following Wednesday.

What did it teach me?  Well, first of all, Sara and I are no longer friends (kidding!), lunges and squats are stupid...........................but I should probably be doing them more often.  #truth  #ugh

So, I'll continue the torture of attending more classes.

{three}

Get ready spring.

Spring is my favorite, favorite, favorite season!

I have so many plans, you guys!

New patio cushions, a raised garden, new window boxes - let's not forget spring cleaning!

Bam!  Let's get these goals accomplished!

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy March 1st, friends!

Marie :)

An InLinkz Link-up