Jamberry

Ok, so have you heard of Jamberry Nail Wraps? yeah, I hadn't either.  Until one day I was on instagram and my friend posted a picture of her fabulous manicure that had the best pattern ever! Obviously I had to know how she did it.  Yup, you guessed it, she didn't, it was these things called Jamberry.  They are adhesive nail wraps that you heat up and stick to your nail.  No chipping, no smudging, no dry time, no chemicals or smells, non toxic, latex free, vegan & cruelty free.  They last 2 weeks on your nails, just like the gel polish except they aren't harsh on your nails and you don't need to turn your fingers white from the acetone taking them off, and they last 6 weeks on your toes.  From what I've found, most people don't take them off because something happened to them (like chipping), they take them off because their nail has grown out so much or they are just tired of that design and want something new.  Plus, you have plenty of designs to chose from, over 300!!! hello!! AND you can get 2-3, I've even seen some people get 4, uses out of one sheet! Yeah, I know right! so that means you don't just put them on once and thats it, you have at least 1-2 more times you could put that same design on! 

ok, so let me break it down a little for you! Right now you can buy 3 sheets, get 1 free, awesome I know! and if you get at the very least 2 uses out of each sheet, thats 8 manicures (or pedicures) that means that you would be spending about $5.62 a manicure!!! totally awesome right? well most people easily get 3 uses so that means $3.75 a manicure and you're doing them yourself so you don't have to tip!! Now, on the chance that you get 4 uses out of one sheet (which can be done) you would be spending...drum roll please....$2.81 a manicure..BOOM! Hows that for a deal steal.

Lets look at some of the designs shall we?

Top L-R: Northern Flare, Midnight Celebration, Vintage Deco

Middle L-R: Venus, Wisteria, White Chevron (clear)

Bottom L-R: French Tip, Midnight Sunburst, Gray & White Polka

Hello amazing!!  You can find all these and more here and guess what, I am now an independent consultant for Jamberry Nails!! woohoo!!! I am so excited about this AND I really want to give away FREE Jamberry Nails soo go to my website, neldridge.jamberrynails.net if you want to order some, start following this blog so you can find out how to win some!! I would love to help you so if you have any questions please feel free to email me or leave a comment.  These truly are such an awesome way to get great manicures and pedicures!

neldridge.jamberrynails.net

1st Birthday!!!

ahhhh oh my gosh, I can't believe my baby is ONE already!!!  My sweet boy turned 1 on July 6th, and since I suck at getting his birthday photos up, he's actually already 13 months! crazy!!

So, we did a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme, it was super cute and turned out really well, mostly.  There were about 45-50 people and it was super super hot out.  Our house was like an oven and there was no relief going outside either, and of course I didn't really get many pictures, shit!

my favorite part, we totally pulled off the Hungry Caterpillar made out of lanterns, it was close there for a minute whether it would be up or not, but we pulled it off!! 

we got the green lanterns from the Christmas Tree Shop, and since I couldn't find a red lantern to save my life, my dad spray painted one of the pink ones that we used at my wedding, yes I saved them, and it's a good thing!!  The eyes, are just cut out construction paper, that I didn't really try to hard on because if you look in the book, the eyes are kind of messed up like this anyway, and the antennas? (is that what they're called on a caterpillar?) are just purple pipe cleaners!

The Birthday Boy!

shirt

 (they don't seem to have this shirt in anymore, looks like they've changed them for fall/winter)

here is the whole table.  We had all most of the food from the book.  Watermelon, Strawberries, lollipops, cheese, cracker, pepperoni, a veggie platter, along with potato salad and we cooked chicken.  Everything from the book had labels stuck in it, I was having no luck making my own and luckily I came across a blog and she had done them and made it so that you could print them for free!! So a huge  Thank You to her, you made everything so much easier for me!!

Also, I had butterfly catchers and bubbles for all the kids that came, thats them in the lower left hand corner of the picture, the butterfly catchers were from the Dollar Tree.

A closer picture of the table.

The cake table.  I just taped streamers to the crown molding and then taped them to the table cloth for a little decoration.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake...which did not really come out quite the way I wanted it to, but you get the point.

and last but definitely not least, the Birthday Boy and his cake!  Which his cake, by the way, looks disgusting..it wasn't, but the frosting I made ended up being more of a glaze then frosting (I didn't know it was going to be like that) and because it was so freaking hot out, it just kind of poured down the cake and none really stuck to it, which sucked!  His cake was definitely my biggest fail of the day but I plan on doing a cake smash photo shoot with him so at least I'll get some good pics with a much better cake!!!

bib

He would not keep his fingers out of his mouth, he LOVED it!!!

and just one more pic of these cute little hands digging right into that yummy cake!!! 

 Happy First Birthday Baby, Mommy & Daddy love you so so much!! 

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

This is so delish that I just had to share it with you all real quick! 

Fresh Strawberries & Peanut Butter on toast

how could you not love this?! 

ok, that is all..continue on!

Update: DS has a peanut allergy, so peanut butter is no more for us!

Graduation

My cousin graduated from High School a couple weeks ago, and I just had to share what we gave him as his gift! 

Let me first say, that he loves candy, of any kind so when I came up with this idea, it was a no brainer, I had to do it..It was just a matter of finding all the candy I needed, which ended up not being that hard, Walgreens pretty much had everything I needed!

So here it is..a candy card!!

so here is what it says and the candy I used:

"Congratulations! we can't give you an Orbit (gum) around Mars or a trip to the Milky Way so how about some words of wisdom.  Don't be an Airhead, go to class.  You can't just Rolo (ver) and go back to bed, you need to be a Smartie to Skor a 100 Grand Payday.  When you need a Fastbreak from school you can head to Pats (a local pizza joint, that was a gift card) for a snack.   Don't just be a Nerd, you need to have Mounds of fun and Almond Joy yourself! We're very proud of you and love you to Pieces (Reese's)

P.S.  Stay away from the Mary Jane"

It was a hit! and the candy was probably all gone that night! (ok maybe not that night) 

It's so fun and easy to make and if you have a candy lover, they will really enjoy this, I did like putting an actual gift card on too though, so then they don't just get a bunch of candy.

Update & DIY Condiment Carrier

Wow! it has been so long since I've written, a whole season has gone by!  I promise we have been so busy though!  Since spring we've had, Mother's Day, Father's Day, our son's Baptism, I'm planning a friends baby shower (it's  next weekend) and our son's FIRST birthday (in a couple weeks), I can't believe it.  It doesn't seem possible that our little baby is already 1 it's to crazy.  And, it was hard enough when he got his two bottom teeth, but I just noticed that the two top ones will be making their grand entrance any day now! (hello no sleep, nice to see you again) I love the teeth, but it just means he's becoming more of a big boy and not my little peanut anymore! But, that's okay.  I know there is just more fun on the way, and a little more Independence, which I'll be okay with!!  Oh! and I've been watching my friends 4 month old daughter a couple days a week! phew! I need a nap just typing all this.

Okay, enough of my sappy sadness about how my baby is growing up! lets move onto something fun and SUMMER related!!!! I'm super excited that it's finally summer and it's actually been really nice!  We love being outside and using the grill in the summer, as a matter of fact, we're grilling tonight so this carrier will come in handy this evening!

Is this little beauty not the cutest way to display all of your condiments for BBQ's?!

ok, so here's what I did...I bet you can't guess what it's made out of? yup, you guessed it, a 6 pack holder!

This was super easy to make!  I took an old 6-pack holder and cut out the dividers, then I took wrapping paper and wrapped that bad boy like a present!!

I used a wrapping paper that was a little bit more durable, its almost like a brown paper bag with a design, not quite as thick, but I think if you're careful you can use any style!  It would be super cute if you had some red, white & blue with stars to use on the forth, or even just something  a little more summery and festive..I wanted to be able to use it whenever and I didn't want it to girly!

So after I cut the dividers out, I took the wrapping paper and put it on the front and wrapped it to the back, then I cut  the corners and folded everything in.  I then took another piece and put it over the handle and cut the cut-out for carrying as well.  It was seriously so easy and all you need is an old 6-pack box, scissors,  tape & wrapping paper..who doesn't have that? easy peasy! 

Done and ready to BBQ!! 

also, how cute would it be to do this as a gift, when you're going to a BBQ.  Just buy some beer to bring with you, wrap the box and put the beer back in! You don't have to cut the dividers out so you could easily put everything back in...what a sweet way to display your drinks, or silverware and napkins!  Geez, this is so fun and so easy! Enjoy!!

Side Note:  I am obsessed with wrapping paper, and gift bags (I'll show you a picture of them later) so I had wrapping paper laying around, if you don't, then maybe use a paper bag, and then decorate it with markers or colored pencils, or just leave it plain?

This wrapping paper is from the dollar section at Target, its one of those smaller rolls, I grab them whenever I'm there (usually) and some gift bags!

Spring into fashion

So, today is the official first day of spring.  Something is wrong with this picture though, when I look out my window I see a foot of snow! I'm not impressed with Mother Nature's cruel tricks she plays! She apparently thought it would be hilarious to pummel my neck of the woods the day before spring...I'm not laughing!! I don't know about you but I am longing for warm weather, some vitamin D, longer days and playing in the lush green grass with my sweet little babe! Being inside all day, every day in order to protect my preemie from cold/flu & rsv has been a little difficult (but well worth it, and I would do it all over again in a second). So, to say I'm a little anxious for spring, chirping robins, and even the smell of mud would be an understatement!!

I have however started to prepare myself.  I chopped about 10 inches off my hair, It was time, and I threw in some blonde highlights for good measure, why not right?  I needed a more manageable look, something fresh! Which is possibly why I feel I need a fresh new wardrobe too!  I haven't bought new clothes in well over a year (besides maternity clothes). I just thought, what's the point really, I was pregnant, they wouldn't have fit and by the time they did the "trend" probably wouldn't have been "in" anymore. I know, I know, I should buy classic pieces that I can have forever. I do, thats the problem. I have simple cardigans and tanks that I can mix and match, which is great but I just feel so blah with all that stuff lately. It's time for a change, something new, something different!  Since becoming a mom I have discovered that I seem to have a new found level of confidence, I don't know where it came from, but I'm loving it. I love bright lipstick (something I wouldn't have even tried pre baby) and I feel I want to take more fashion risks (risks to me anyway).  So, I think it's time to step further out of my comfort zone and try to pull off some fashion trends that I love, but would have normally just admired in a magazine or online, stash away my cardigans at least a couple days a week and try something new!!  Here are some items I've purchased already!

I am absolutely in love with this blazer...my first thought was, "stripes on a plus size girl, hows this gonna work" but I'm about to find out! 

and leopard print, eekk! I don't think I've EVER worn leopard on anything but a scarf or headband! but I'm about to rock this too! (hopefully!)

Both of these beauties are from Target, found here and here.  

This weekend is my husband's birthday and we have plans to go out bowling with some friends, I know that one of these is going to make an appearance, I just haven't decided which one yet, but I'll be sure to share with you the outfit I pick!

Now, I have some other items I want to try, like skinny (but not to skinny) jeans.  I've never been a huge fan but I'm liking them right now, including all the fun colors.  I think the stripe blazer would look great with a basic shirt and some fun colored pants.  Or, some black skinnies with some heels and the leopard top.  Also, all the sheer tops right now, so cute!  I definitely don't think I would feel comfortable wearing a sheer top with just a bra like some can, but I would pair it with a nude colored cami.  We'll save all that for another post though, these pieces were enough for me today, but I'm loving it!!!

Let me know what items you're currently loving and lusting after right now!

UPDATE:  I returned the leopard print shirt, I just couldn't do it!! oh well!

Holy Guacamole

Okay, so the other day I decided I wanted some guacamole.  Since I've never made it before I figured I better look up some recipes online, I knew basically what I needed though. I looked at one recipe and decided that was enough, I would figure it out, I wanted my guac!! Ha : )  I have got to say, it came out so good and it was super easy!!

Here are my ingredients: 

2 avocados

2 roma tomatoes

1/2 onion

1 lime

a few green onions

garlic powder

red pepper flakes

Ok, so I know in this picture I have three avocados, but I ended up only using two.  Once I cut up two of them I thought that was enough because it was only going to be me eating it.  So, I cut up the avocados, diced up half the onion, cut both tomatoes, and used some of the green onion, then I cut the lime in half  and squeezed both halves over everything.  I then mixed everything together, making sure to not have to big of chunks of avocado.  I also put in a little bit of garlic powder and some red pepper flakes.  Normally, you would use a hot pepper but I didn't want to have to worry about still having some hot pepper juice on my hands at all (even after multiple washes) with the baby.

Let me tell you folks, this was so easy and so quick.  It took me, maybe 15 minutes to cut everything and mix it together!  If you're looking for a quick snack, whip this baby up..you won't be disappointed! 

Yumm, Enjoy!! : )

So Delicious

So I've been dairy free for about a month now because my son's doctors think he has a dairy intolerance and since I'm still breast feeding that meant I had to cut out dairy! At first, I thought, you've got to be kidding me, what the heck am I going to eat?! I mean obviously I'll do this for my child but I'm going to be hungry all the time. (Seriously, everything has some type of dairy in it!) Really though, it hasn't been that hard! It's been worse for my husband because he keeps forgetting! So I'm at the grocery store, looking through all the dairy free stuff and I find this....

oh my goodness!! It's so delicious (hehe) but really it is, so good! Even when I don't have to be dairy free anymore, I think I will still get this..oh man, seriously if you like coconut, chocolate & peanut butter then go pick this up and try it, you won't be disappointed! I can't wait to curl up and have some tonight, Yumm!!

Baby Wearing

Baby wearing is such a great trend, I love being able to wear my baby! It's awesome having him so close to me for one thing, but when you can go somewhere and kind of protect your baby from people and their germs, that's always a good thing for me!

He is so comfy in it and always falls asleep, best part, your hands are free! you can totally just wear it around the house so that you can get things done while the baby naps, awesome!

*Disclaimer: I don't have an ergo, a baby bjorn, a babyhawk or any other types of carriers, nor have I ever used one, so I can not compare them to the boba, I can simply tell you what I like about mine.


boba was the baby center product awards 2012 editors pick!!
and the boba 3g (pictured below) was awarded top baby carrier by baby center 2012
(they have also won many other awards)

So, with all that being said here are some reasons why I love my boba:

#1.  I love the color, plain & simple! I went with the brown and green organic one, it's so cute! (pictured below) but they really are all cute and super soft and light.

#2.  It is so easy to wear, and so easy to put on.  There are adjustments everywhere and you don't need any help at all, thats awesome!  It is very comfortable, and although my son only weighs 16lbs right now, I really feel like I could wear it for a long period of time.

#3.  It goes from 7-45lbs so you can get a lot of use out of it.  There is no newborn insert, you just fold the bottom up to make it a little shorter.  Eventually you wear it on your back and as your child gets taller there are also attachable stirrups so that their feet don't just hang.  They really look so comfortable in these, there is plenty of material to really hold them in and give them good support.

#4.  There are zippered pockets for keys, phone, pacifier, money, whatever you want/need to keep in there.  I always make sure I have a pacifier in mine!

#5.  Probably one of my favorite if not my most favorite features, there is a snap on both sides on your shoulder, guess what its for...a purse, diaper bag, camera, whatever! How amazing is that?!
You go to the mall, put your baby in their boba, and take the strap of your purse and snap it in on the shoulder and you don't have to worry about it falling down, amazing!  Someone was really thinking when they thought of that one!!

They are priced about $120-$125 with the organic ones being a little more expensive, but trust me, they're worth every penny!!

There is also a wrap, that I would love to try too.  Those are $38 on their website.  If anyone has tried those, let me know what you think!

here is the boba that I have! Isn't that color great! and you can click here to check them out!

If you decide to get a boba let me know how you like it, or if you have any questions that maybe I didn't mention above please just leave me a comment and I'll get back to you

*pictures are from their website, I was not asked by boba or compensated to do this review.  I simply love my carrier and wanted to share.

Crab Sandwich

Yummy! I just made a very good, healthy sandwich for my lunch, it was seriously so delish! Now, if you don't like crab, or imitation crab actually, then stop reading now!

Ingredients:

Trans ocean crab classic: flake style
Some onion
Green onion
Light mayo
And some wasabi

I don't have any actual measurements because its really up to your taste. I probably had about 1/2 a cup of the crab and maybe only 1 tsp of mayo, if that. I mixed it all together and put it on a sandwich flat. It was 7 ww points. If you want to make it lighter and less points you could put it on lettuce and eat it as a lettuce wrap and then it would only be 4 ww points! Such a great, quick lunch! Yum!

Baby Shower Gift Basket

Have you ever struggled to come up with something for a baby shower or gone to the store and got the registry and pretty much everything has been purchased?! Well why not make a gift basket of things that are a little more practical then something they'll outgrown in 2 weeks. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE shopping for baby stuff, that seems to be all I do lately, I go to the store and always pick something up for my son, but, for this shower I really wanted to give something I knew they would use.  I  put together a gift basket of stuff that I was so thankful that someone had given us, or stuff I picked up later because I realized that we really needed it!

So here is what I brought to the baby shower that I went to this past weekend...

MAM Pacifiers, the box is a sterilizer, awesome!! and of course there has to be a book in it, one of my favs, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

 Gas relief, so thankful someone got this for me, I didn't realize I would need it until I actually needed it so it was nice that I already had it and didn't need to run out at 11pm.  Saline drops for when they get their first stuffy nose or to just break up some they have in there (haha).  And, Infant Tylenol.  Thankfully I haven't had to use any yet (knock on wood) but it would really stink to come home from those first round of shots and have the baby spike a little fever and not have anything to give them, you're not going to want to bring them back out!

 hand and face wipes, cause everyone touches the baby! I am a germaphobe too, but my son was also a preemie and the nicu makes you one if you aren't already! which brings me to the wet ones, got to be able to wipe the stuff down!  and this Palmolive baby is awesome.  It really gets the milk residue out of the bottles and is great to use to clean toys and things.

 you definitely need a toy! they're fun but they also come in handy when you need to distract the baby from a shot or keep them from being super fussy.  And this blanket, is it not the cutest blanket ever, I love damask print anyway but this I just couldn't pass up and you can never have to many blankets.

Some other things that I had in the basket that I didn't take pictures of are some clothes hangers, you can never have to many of those either...Baby's get a lot of clothes!!  I also threw in some hand sanitizer, because again I'm a germaphobe and I always want to be able to have clean hands (I have purell everywhere), some travel wipes in a hard container for the diaper bag, and just a few washcloths, more as filler then anything but washcloths always come in handy too!

 TA-DA The finished product!!

The basket also has a chalkboard tag on the front of it (you can barely see it) so I wrote the baby's name on it...so cute!!!

I really hope that she liked this! I know one of my favorite gifts was stuff that I got from other moms that they really liked!  If you have any other ideas let me know, I would love to hear them and I'll add them to my list for next time!!

Accent Nails

I use to go about every 2-3 weeks to get my nails done.  Since having my son, I rarely have any time to do that, and I really don't want to wait for the polish to dry.  I use to do the gel polish too which dries instantly under UV lights but I know I wouldn't make it back to have them take it off or change it, so I've decided to start doing my own again (when I actually have the time).  This past weekend I had a baby shower that I was going to and decided that I wanted to do my nails.  

I really love all the accent nails that I've been seeing on pinterest lately so I figured I would give it a shot.  Now,  I decided to do this about 30 mins before I left for the shower, I'm not even sure they were fully dry when I left, so please bare with me on the colors I chose.  I really love gray nails in the winter so I knew I wanted gray and another color,  I decided to go with kind of a sparkly color and I did that one on my ring fingers...

These colors are Sally Hansen insta-dri in Slick Slate & Orly in Rage

its definitely not my favorite combo but I don't think it's to bad for my first attempt and for not having much time (not my best paint job either, oh well!)

I definitely want to try more styles and colors, up next is either going to be a chevron nail or a heart, depending on when I get the chance to do this.  If it's closer to Valentine's day then it will obviously be a heart.  Either way, I will definitely post exactly how I do both!!