April In The Burbs

My hometown is called Mexia, Texas. Let me break it down for you Hooked On Phonics style like it was 1993: "Mah-hey-yah". The X in Mexia sounds like an H. Hope that helps. Not "Mah-hair", not "Mexico". Mah-hey-yah.   One of my good girlfriends from my childhood is moving back to Mexia after having lived in another state for many years. Since another of our mutual good girlfriends from our childhood still lives there with her husband and kids, I thought..what better time to take a little road trip ?  After talking to my Hubs , he offered to pay for a hotel room for me should I like to take the road trip in the next couple of weeks. I thought I'd take off on his weekend (Wed/Thurs) so he could stay home, watch Sailor , play video games & have his friend David over to play 40K or whatever else boys/men do while us wives are on awesome womanly bonding road trips.  I asked Mom if she'd like to go with and be my road trip buddy...

In Texas, our state flower is the Bluebonnet.  Most are blue and white, but sometimes you will find an only (or mostly) white one, and those are kinda rare.  For Texans, it's a tradition to go out every year (if you remember to and can catch them still out) and take Family Bluebonnet Pictures !  I actually got about 25 good ones from this little family photo shoot, so I thought I'd share a few of my faves with you all. Dad had to work today so unfortunately he's not in any of them, but Mom, Hubs, Sailor & I had fun playing in the Bluebonnet field !  My Feet Wanted To Say 'Hello'.  Love My Little Family. Dork Love ! The Adorable Men In My Life ! Sailor W/ His Mommy & Granny !

Remember when you were a kid and you just LOVED your best friend like nothing else in the world? They knew your personality better than you did yourself and got your twisted and sometimes dorky sense of humor. Stuck up for you when people would talk jazz about you and would sit on those lazy weekend days when you had nothing better to do and make friendship bracelets with you.  Ahh, those are the days, right ? Well don't fret, there's still someone out there who's passionate about making fun, functional, tight and well made friendship bracelets & her name is Amy !  You can find all her Amy's awesome friendship bracelets at her Etsy shop The Math Lady .  Thanks so much to Amy for sending me the below item to review. I love how well made this bracelet is ! Tie The Math Lady's bracelets on and let the fun being !  She does a ton of cool patterns like the one seen above and many, many more. Amy even has some bracelets with crystals and some that glow in th...

Gud is the newest natural brand from Bert's Bees . We all know they make lip balms and lotions, but this new like is just..what can I say, GUD !!  Klout sent me these Gud Products to try for free and I am under no obligation to share the goodness, I just wanted to :)  Sailor feels the need to investigate any box, bag, or new item that comes into his territory. He was a bit uncertain of the giant orange Klout box, as you can see. It's kind of dorky of me, but the above statement actually made me feel good about myself. Like "Yes, I am a rock star at opening boxes, thank you kind Sir!". If that doesn't get you curious. I have no idea what will. Ooh the excitement builds !  Thanks to Klout and Bert's Bees for sending me this GUD package. Haha. Get it y'all ?  And wouldn't you know. Even the packaging is witty & charming. Oh yeah. Sailor investigates further. From left to right.  Natural Body Mist - Floral Cherrynova with Cherry Blossom...

I'm sure, by this point, that most people who have heard of Austin think of it as a laid back city. And they'd be right. You can find artists, poets, gardeners, lovers of dance, and just about every other hot 20 something guy you run into will be in a band. Guaranteed.  Austin has Hey Cupcake ! But don't you go and start thinking that there's nothing more to lovely little Austin. Don't let her fool you. Austin is just like any other major city. It's a HUGE Rat Race, we have a homeless housing problem, traffic issues, DUI problems because we're a college down and we have a MAJOR Bar/Club/Tattoo Wonderland called 6th street. Sure we have break-ins and just general unpleasantness. Just like every other city. See ? I said it again.  Austin actually reminds me of a tiny and way more friendly New York or L.A. - if you have the motivation, drive, focus and passion, there's no end to what you can accomplish here. The only thing keeping most people from ex...

Buttons and Badges on Etsy is a wonderful shop where all of your button collecting, gifting and promoting needs are met.  Looking for a cute birthday party favor ? How about something special for your own button collection ? Any of their pin back buttons can also be made with a flat back so you can use them for crafting projects ! The flat backs are great for scrapbooking, bow making, keychains, jewelry, and anything else you could dream up !  Another very cool aspect of Buttons and Badges is that they also offer the ability to work with them on Custom Orders. Just message them through their Etsy Shop to get started !  Elizabeth sent me the below 25 Vintage Camera Pin Back Buttons for review. These go for $7.75 in the Buttons and Badges Etsy Shop !  Click Above To Visit Buttons and Badges on Facebook. Click To Follow Buttons and Badges On Twitter. Want to win your own set of Vintage Camera Buttons ?  Follow this blog & leave a comment below ...

This is what it looks like coming home in the mornings from taking Hubs to work. It's dark and kinda scary, I won't lie. I totally keep my car doors locked and keep my eyes peeled for various wildlife crossing the road. It's kind of nice because it's so early there's practically no traffic out.  On the days that Hubs doesn't work, we like to walk Sailor together. We love looking at things around the neighborhood, watching Sailor explore his world chasing leaves and bugs and eating huge clumps of mowed grass clippings. I'm not sure if these are flowers or not. They're probably weeds. Some of the plants I think are prettiest turn out to be weeds. Oh well, they were growing in a HUGE bush like thing on an access road right off IH-35.

I have a puppy named Sailor. Most people who read my blog already know how adorable and sweet is.   Sailor's an 8 month old Dachshund, Australian Shepard & Chow mix.  Sailor At 6 Weeks Old. What most people don't know, is how smart he truly is. His Grandmother taught him about the window when he was about 3 months old - now every time he wants to see what's going on outside, he walks over to the window, looks at you and barks in your general direction until you get up and open the blinds.  Looking Out Of The Window With His Favorite Toy. He can give you Kisses & Hugs on demand. Sailor also knows what words like "Treat","Walk","Breakfast","Lunch" and "Dinner" mean, these are among a few of his favorites. He also knows how to Shake Hands,High-Five,Sit, Stay (sometimes), Fetch Toys, Speak, and Catch. It's come to the point that I'm starting to feel like an inadequate parent, I have to admit.  Sail...

YQY Jewelry is one of those places that you can find dainty pieces of goodness.  From Lu Lu's Flying Origami Airplane Sterling Silver Chain Dangle Earrings that scream unique and whimsical and these Lovely Tiny Silver Giraffe Stud Earrings that are so cute they make me want to faint. To this Sterling Silver And 14kt Gold Filled Skull Necklace she sent me below for review. Her pieces are great for all ages and styles ! Stunning jewelry for women & girls of all ages from Lu Lu's shop YQY Jewelry on Etsy. I loved Lu Lu's little note on my package. No Lu Lu , Thank YOU !! :) So you can see how dainty it really is. So cute & sits perfectly. This may be my new favorite piece of jewelry !  A HUGE thanks to Lu Lu from YQY Jewelry . I really love her pieces, not to mention the awesome variety she offers up !  Definitely take a look at her work and let us know what your favorite pieces are from her collection !    Be sure you Lik...

High quality felt items are ALL the rage right now.  Have you seen the awesome things people are doing with felt these days ?   Rebecca from Englandcaramel is one of those people.  She makes amazing, durable, sturdy felt products and sent me this Felt Wool Wallet for review.  This one goes for only $9.80 plus shipping in her shop ! These Felt Wool Wallets would be great for the club or just running errands. Throw your essentials in there and hit the road with this adorable accessory.   I also love the clean lines of this wallet. It's simple yet had character and the black snap closure sets the whole thing off. Be sure you check out Englandcaramel for top quality felt pieces at better than average prices.  Great stuff for you and your budget !

If you've entered any of the giveaways that have ended in the past two days, I have emailed the winners ! Be sure you respond to that email if it asks you to & enjoy your prizes !!  If you didn't get an email, don't worry, just enter more giveaways & you could still win !  Winners also announced on the giveaway pages via the Rafflecopter.com form, so check there if you want to see who won !  Sailor & I are so happy you've all became part of our Blog Family ! We can't wait to share even more awesomeness with you all in the coming months.

S&S Brand was created by Spencer O'Meara and Sarah Burchard in San Fransicso, CA. They currently offer 4 BBQ sauces and 6 different spice rubs.  S&S sent me Fish Rub and Ranch Rub for review.     We used the Fish Rub on our Gulf Coast Shrimp. Add their Fish Rub to any seafood to make it SUPER yummy ! Get those Fish Rub covered shrimps in that skillet !    Eat up 'cause it's super good ! The best shrimp I've had in a while !  We ALL  know is Texans love to grill, so I'm excited to see what BBQ rubs S&S Brand offer up & see what we can do with those this Summer ! Can you believe their site even has a recipe section ? Now they're just putting yummy cooking thoughts into my brain ! If I wasn't a chef before, I will be soon with S&S Brand Rubs ! Thanks to S&S Brand for sending me these yummy Ranch & Fish Rub samples ! 

So now that you all know a little more about Influenster , we're going to do our first product review from the Love VoxBox !  Get your Love on !  Influenster sent a ton of cool goodies in this Love VoxBox, but today we're talking about this little guy, the Gillette Venus & Olay Razor !  Being one of the 2012 Love VoxBox Featured Products, you KNOW it's going to be a good review. Influenster wouldn't send you anything that doesn't fit within the definition of Awesome.  For the first time ever, Gillette Venus & Olay, are coming together to deliver a gold standard in shaving with the new Gillette Venus & Olay razor !  With 5 blades you're sure to hit all of those tricky spots we ladies hate to attack with a lesser razor. This will make the experience smooth & easy !    Petrolatum in the Olay moisture bars helps lock in skin’s moisture for less dryness and Glycerin helps offer that goddess glow! Just wet the razor to relea...

I like the idea that by buying something, I'm supporting a person's idea, or goal. I like supporting companies and businsses that have a positive point of view and give back as much (if not more) than  they take from the world.  GreenHeartShop.org is one of those companies that I believe in. Greenheart is located in Chicago and is a  premier eco-fair trade non-profit shop. They carry eco fair trade products made by artisans from around the world.  That's not even the coolest part, either. The purchase of these products improves the lives of real people and the products are made by establishments that take care of our Earth. Greenheart carries a variety of goodies including recycled accessories and  handbags ,  kitchen goods ,  home decor ,  gourmet treats ,  cookbooks ,  cruelty-free leather ,  boutique jewelry ,  fair trade toys , and more. They sent me the below coasters for review:   These eco friendly coas...