Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Turquoise Lovin' #23

It's time for Turquoise Lovin' again.

I've got some turquoise paint {and some other fun colors} comin' in the mail and I can't wait!  I have the coolest project that I'm going to be working on.  :)

I've been playing with apps lately.  If you missed my post about my favorite ones, be sure to check it out here.  Isn't technology wonderful?

Now for the features of the week.

Do you love banners as much as I do?  This one is SO darling, from Something from Cassie



I love this cute Snowman Wreath from the same blog.  How cute is this?



And these curtains from Days of Chalk and Chocolate are so beautiful!   I love the ruffles.




And loving the living and dining room makeover at My Chapagne Taste.  
I especially love the color of the walls!




Ok, time to party!!  Time to link up YOUR turquoise love for the week!!


Party Rules...
1)  Please follow Sweet Little Gals
2)  Make sure your project or post has SOMETHING to do with turquoise because that's what makes it fun!
3)  Try to comment on at least two other posts.
4)  PLEASE grab a turquoise lovin' button on the sidebar so you can share the turquoise fun with others.



Monday, January 30, 2012

Favorite Apps

Have I ever told you how much I love Apple products?  If I could go all of the way Mac, I'd be there, if hubby were there with me.

He likes the products, he's just not totally sold on the prices yet.  {I think the prices show the quality of the products  myself, don't ya think?}  I'm still talking him into letting me get a Mac computer for my photography hobby.  Someday, someday...sigh.

At least now I have an i-touch.  {Yeah, I know, we must be the only people around who don't have i-phones yet!}

And here are some apps I am totally LOVING.

I think my favorite app so far has to be the Vintage Camera.  I have a really cool regular camera, but sometimes it's just fun to take quick photos and share 'em straight to FB or Twitter.  AND they're vintage tinted.  LOVE.  The girls love 'em too!




2) Another app I love is Viddy.  It's a great way to have fun with sharing and making videos.  I'm still working on getting one of those up for you to see.  {grin}

3) The i-touch can be fun for the little ones too.  My girls absolutely adore the Nighty Night story.  They are ALWAYS stealing my i-touch from me so they can listen to that story.  It's such a great one, if I must say so myself!  I think I'm still a kid at heart.

3) My newest discovery is the Mom Planner app.  There's a to do list, a grocery list, and a calender.  So extremely convenient for busy mom days.  Everything's right there at your fingertips on your -i-phone or i-touch.

4) Speaking of mom stuff, I just ran into Jamie Oliver's recipes app.  I'm thinking that will help a lot with my meal planning goal that I've been working on!

5) I think my very favorite app is Cuptakes wallpapers for girls.  (I know everything is my very favorite!!  Can't help it!) There are SO many fun wallpapers to choose from!  And colors and designs for everyone.  You gotta check this one out!

Any fun apps you have been running into that you'd like to share?

Friday, January 27, 2012

{Happy Day}


Some HAPPY thoughts for the day...hope your weekend is spectacular!



Thanks so much for being a reader here at Sweet Little Gals!!
Each and every one of you is VERY special.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

I Heart You

Next to Christmas AND July 4th, and Easter, Valentine's Day HAS to be my favorite holiday.  Haha, I am just a holiday type gal, really.  I love celebrating and especially decorating for holidays. 

Blogland is FULL of awesome ideas for Valentine's projects.  I thought I'd share some of my favorite ones with you.  Visit my I Heart You board on Pinterest to find the links to these beautiful projects.  {If you still need a Pinterest invite, let me know.}

This Valentine's Mantel is the CUTEST I've seen this season.  LOVE the turquoise and red combo {as always}.  And the striking black brings it all together.  



Who isn't up for a cup of hot chocolate ANYTIME of day OR year?  This hot cocoa has a cute little frozen whipped topping heart in it!  How cute is that? 

{I think doing that with a marshmallow would be fun too, which is why I included the next picture with the cute pink marshmallow hearts}





Loving this fabulous Valentine's themed table.    Love the shabby chic look.




Isn't this picture ADORABLE?  I need to make my own {with Vinyl letters} comin' up here pretty soon!




Here's an advent calender runner up for ya...This Valentine's countdown is ADORABLE. 



And this super easy Heart Art is SO sweet.  I am thinking Ally would like to do this, and she wouldn't even need THAT much help to get it right!! Sweet and simple, PERFECT for me!



I always like the fun holiday themed subway art.  This one is gorgeous and elegant.




Love these darling Valentine's pockets.  They would be SO fun for Valentine's party favors!




Wow!!  Valentine's Day S'mores.  What could be more yummy?




Oh how I LOVE these cute banners.  Gotta make one in the next few weeks!!




This darling heart centerpiece is longing for a place on MY table.  I am in love with mason jar projects!!  Bec, you are amazing as always!! ;)




This strawberry sweethearts cocoa is looking delish!!  I want some NOW




Hearts in any shape and size are just lovely...did I mention that I love hearts
and Valentine's Day?



 And for those of you who have little munchkins, you will understand why this picture is

one of my VERY FAVORITES.

I am thinking these will be on the "make for Valentine's Day list" in OUR house, what about YOURS?



 Hope you are all having fun making goodies and beautiful things for February 14th!! 


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Turquoise Lovin' #22

It's time for Turquoise Lovin' again.  Yay!!  I get so excited about this time of the week.  You ladies are so much fun to party with!!

I had fun making some Valentine's Subway Art this week.  I love how it turned out.  Hope you have a chance to check it out.

Ok, so this week has been a bit a lot frustrating as I have been hearing about all of the changes that Google is going to be making.  I hope some of it that I am hearing is not true, but I'm sure it is. 

First of all, WHY in the WORLD would they get rid of Picnik?  It's super easy and fun, and I can't imagine anything else replacing it.  Ugh!!

And if this part is true, why in the world would they get rid of the follower button?  I know followers aren't everything per say, but really they ARE everything.  I personally like to know how many people are interested in what I write and I really don't think Google + is going to replace that.

PLUS, it means we have to start ALL over again, and I can't even imagine that, seeing I have worked SO hard to get where I am.  To tell you the REAL truth, I am SO tired of learning new programs, it would be nice if something stayed the same for awhile.  {And for ME to say that, WOW!!  I am the queen of loving the new stuff}

I know...I'm sorry for going on a rant, but I just have to get it out somewhere.  Maybe it won't be as bad as I think!!  Anyone else as discouraged as I am?

Ok, on to the party!!  And...

Features for the week.

I am IN LOVE with ladders so I was really excited when I saw this one at Mosaic of Grace 


I fell totally in LOVE with Della's Room at Five Days Five Ways.  I HAVE to have a room that looks like this someday!!



And I love these Valentine's Apothecary Jars at Uncommon Creating the Extraordinary.  Such a cute idea for Valentine's Day!!



Ok, time to party!!  Time to link up YOUR turquoise love for the week!!

Party Rules...
1)  Please follow Sweet Little Gals
2)  Make sure your project or post has SOMETHING to do with turquoise because that's what makes it fun!
3)  Try to comment on at least two other posts.
4)  PLEASE grab a turquoise lovin' button on the sidebar so you can share the turquoise fun with others.




Saturday, January 21, 2012

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Turquoise Lovin' #21

It's turquoise lovin' time again!!  Glad to have you back.

I've been busy writing about Goals and Plans lately and also started to write about my very first goal, Menu Planning.  It's a great time of year to re-organize the house and come up with brand new ways to keep the house clean.

Having two little ones can make this a little challenging for me, but I am finding ways to get by and make things work even with babies hanging on my legs all day.

I always get excited to see the new turquoise you come up with each week.  It never gets old, let me tell ya!

Here is some fun from last week.

I have been loving the Subway art I've been seeing out there lately.  This Valentine Subway art is so fun from Alderberry Hill


This birthday party is spectacular from Amelia Bedelia...What a blast!



And I like this pretty made with love sign made at Make the Best of What's Around 


What have you been up to this week?  So glad you keep coming back to share!!

Party Rules...
1)  Please follow Sweet Little Gals
2)  Make sure your project or post has SOMETHING to do with turquoise because that's what makes it fun!
3)  Try to comment on at least two other posts.
4)  PLEASE grab a turquoise lovin' button on the sidebar so you can share the turquoise fun with others.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Menu Planning {Step #1}

If you read my post on Goals and Plans, you saw that my first goal for the year is to come up with menu plans for the week.  SO what I've decided to do is to take my goals one at a time and figure out how to accomplish them.  Once again, easier said than done, right?

So the first thing I decided to tackle is to come up with a list of recipe categories.  Here's what I came up with so far. (and if you have any more, I would LOVE to hear them)  I happen to be a vegetarian (no meat) so that's why that category is missing from my list!
I have some substitute things I use for meat dishes so it's really no big deal, but for those of you that eat it, that can be added to this list in its very own category.


Breakfast 
Cereals (hot or cold) 
Fruit and Parfait 
Eggs 
Casseroles 
Pancakes and Waffles 
Bread and Pastries 
Potatoes 
Soups

Lunch
Pasta and Rice
Casseroles
Beans
Sandwiches
Patties/Meatballs
Savory Pies/Pizzas
Soups
Skillets

Supper
Soups
Salads
Sandwiches
Fruit or Smoothies
Crackers/Breads

I am putting Desserts in their own category because you can have them any time {whenever} along with any of the meals. :) I love desserts WAY too much anyway. HA!

Desserts
Pies
Cakes
Puddings
Ice Creams
Pastries
Cookies and Bars
Candy

To get lots of variety, I am going to try to make something out of each category before I can go back and start all over again!  We'll see how that goes.  It's just SO easy for me to make the SAME things over and over if I don't have a plan.

That's step #1...easy enough I think. Breaking tasks down into small parts can make accomplishing the BIG goals SO much easier!!  I already feel better!

Any other ideas you talented ladies can add to this list are much appreciated!!  Thanks for stopping by! 
   
And since I haven't had time to do the rest of my menu planning I think this will be the plan for TODAY...


How do you think THAT will go over? {grin}

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Goals and Plans

One of my TOP goals for this year is to ORGANIZE.  My life feels like a complete disaster!!  But to be able to organize effectively, I have to come up with sub-goals to really accomplish my BIG goal.  So here are some of the things I want to organize in my life in the near future.

{My main thrust is "a place for everything, and everything in its place".}

#1.  Meal Planning

I want to come up with a quick and easy way to meal plan so that my family can eat healthier.  All I know is if I don't have a plan, we end up eating the "quick stuff" which seems to always be the "unhealthy stuff"! 

Or the SAME thing over and over again.  I want SO badly to try new recipes. 
My kitchen is FULL of cookbooks, but I just never find time to use them. 

So this year I WANT TO USE THEM.  And I found some cute ideas for menu planning on pinterest.



#2.  Closets

My closets are a disaster, and since that's where everything should go eventually, I have to clean them out.  And happily I have already done a few of them.

It's SO much easier to find a place for everything when you don't have junk
looking at you from all sides and falling out on the floor because there isn't enough room for all of it in there! 

{I know, that's BAD, but it's the truth!}  I need some closets that looks like this! 

Really, if one of my closets ever looks like THIS my house may actually cave in...!!



#3  Laundry

This is a HUGE one for me this year. 
My house is so small, and my laundry room is small too, so keeping laundry organized is a big challenge for me.
And if you can believe this we don't have our own dresser.
I know, it's time to stop living like we are in college.  So on to finding the right dresser. 
And building a system for the laundry so it doesn't get so messy. 

We'll see how that goes.
My dream would be a laundry room that looks like this.  Isn't it GORGEOUS?




#4  Girls Room

I went through ALL of the girls' toys last night and got them organized in totes. 

It already feels better. 

But I'm sure you know how that is...the toys are always scattered ALL over the house all of the time!! 

I need to get a HUGE storage system for their room, just haven't found one I am totally sold on yet.  I like this style, but not sure if it would fit into our TINY rooms!




#5 Craft Room/Office for ME

I struggle with having papers lying ALL over the house in random places because they are "important" and I don't want to lose them. 
So I ordered a desk and want to make a few wall systems for bills and things that need done right away. 

And I need a place for ALL of my crafts, so I must get some shelving for that purpose too. 

And there's about a bazillion ideas out there to choose from...!!




As you see, I have A LOT to accomplish.  I just have been telling myself, ONE thing at a time and eventually everything will be done.  Ugh!

One very EXCITING thing that I have to share with you is my most
FAVORITE Christmas present that I got this year. 

I am still in shock, and don't really know a thing about using it yet, but it's MINE!! 

And talk about help with organizing!  I've got it now...the silhouette cameo!!  It's really true, it's sitting in my office space right now.  Yipeeee!!


Blogggy land is exploding with All sorts of organizing tips so
I am hoping to find some that will work for me.

Any of you on an organizing/de-junking mission this year?  I would love to hear all about it!!  And if you have any tips for me, they would be much appreciated! (especially ideas for which storage shelves to buy)

Hope your Thursday is wonderful!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Engagement Session #2 {Kansas Country}

Here is our session #2 that we took while we were in Kansas for Christmas.  We had an old barn and a pretty little stream to work with. It was a lot of fun and we got some great shots!

If you missed out on Engagement Session #1 you HAVE to see it here!!











Not sure how many more sessions we will do, but I'm hoping to do at least one when we get some snow!  I'll keep you updated!!  Hope you enjoyed seeing these as much as I enjoyed doing them!

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