Did you know I'm a vegetarian?

Me either!  But in May I try to be one.  A poser, if you will.  My best friend, Stacey, decided to become a vegetarian last year.  I was floored when she told me.  She was my meat buddy.  When we were both pregnant at the same time we scarfed on coney island style hot dogs, put bacon on everything possible, passed the time daydreaming about what meat we were going to eat next.  Weird I know, but my other best friend, Erin, is a vegetarian and when the three of us got together and had deep conversations about food, Stacey was my go to gal for mad meat props. "What up bacon?"
So why do I go all vegetarian in May you ask?

1. Meat and May both begin with 'M' (so it sounds cool)
2. I wasn't sure if I could last longer then a month
3. I wanted to show support my for Stacey in a more concrete way.

And so NO MEAT MAY was born!

source

I had so much fun last year that I thought I would do it again this year.  So here we are on the eve of May 1st.  I thought I would let you know what the rules of the game which will make me that more accountable.

1. So although it is No Meat May, I will be eating fish/seafood.
2. I will not be eating beef, chicken, pork, etc.
3. I will try new non meat protein sources, even if they seem a tad scary :-)

And that's it!  Wanna join me in the fun?  If enough of you are interested in becoming a vegetarian poser like me (Mad respect to you vegetarian rock stars), then maybe I can make a button or even (gasp!) a link party.  And maybe some guest bloggers?  Whatcha think?

Most random post EVER!

Be prepared, I am ALL over the place in this one.

I told you in my last post that I was working on my Housewife MacGyver goals and that I was going to line dry some clothes that day.  Well I did it!  I was surprised how fun it was?  Weird, I know.  It brought back good memories of helping my mom hang clothes when I was a kid.  She would also hang sheets on all four sides of our clothesline and my sister and I would use it as a fort.  It was so much fun!

Yesterday I stopped by Jo-ann's to pick up some supplies for an order I'm working on and thought I would take a look at the home decor section.  Jo-ann's has awesome sales.  Their home decor was 60% off!!  At first I didn't see anything that I had to have and started making my way to the registers.  Then I spotted this...

Not only was it a pretty blue but it had a bird on it!  It was originally 24.99 marked down to 9.99.  Now I love a good deal but I don't like to buy things just because it's such a good deal.  I have to love it and it has to have a purpose, even if it's just to look pretty and make me happy ;-)  So I hemmed and hawed.  Then it hit me...this would be the perfect box to hold our remotes!! 

Lily likes to "play" with them in hopes of watching Caillou.  So having a place to keep them out of her sights would be ideal.  AND it was the last one so that sealed the deal and I brought it home.  I think it was meant for my yellow side table!  (please disregard my lamp, it's a temp since Lily broke the one that used to be there)

Okay now for the most random part of the post...are you ready for it?  Stop drinking all beverages as you may spray them across the room.  Eating is not advised either.

I'm in DESPERATE need of a haircut/makeover.  My hair has always been a challenge.  It's fine and I don't have a ton of it.  Read: no volume.  I usually end up with something layered that resembles a mullet.  Or I go short like I did here:

So I thought it would be fun to get something different this time.  Try something new.  And what better way to try out hairstyles then the internet. ;-)

So I took an awful picture of myself with hair slicked back and no makeup.  I am totally putting myself out there by sharing this photo with you.  It makes me cringe but I'm all about keeping it real.  So here is the before...

And here is some of the hairstyles I tried on.  I don't actually know if I like any of them but it was A LOT of fun trying them on.  I even did my makeup! Oh and I used the website dailyglow incase you guys want to have some fun too.

 I'm channeling Katy Perry in this one..."Cal-i-fornia gurls..."

 Now these last two I blame on being over tired.  "IIIIII'm comin' up so you better get this party started!"

Now you see why I advised you to stop eating or drinking before continuing?  You're welcome.  Okay you can stop laughing now ;-)   

And so you don't have to leave with that last picture in your head here's a cute pic of my girls...

Housewife MacGyver Update

Way back when I committed myself to working on becoming a greener household.  I showed you here that I had crossed off one goal by making my own laundry detergent.  And can I just say...I LOVE IT!!  Not only have we saved money but it actually works really well.  Since January I have only made two batches total, and I'm just about out of the second batch.  I've only spent about 7 dollars since January and I still have plenty of borax and washing soda left.  I just need to go pick up 3 bars of Ivory soap, which will set me back a whole dollar.  If you have wanted to try homemade laundry detergent but wasn't sure if it would be worth it I'm here to tell you it totally is!!!  Here's the recipe I use:

1c Borax
1c Washing soda
1 bar of Ivory soap

Grate Ivory bar and mix with borax and soda.  I triple the recipe and it lasts a little over a month.  I usually do a load of laundry a day.

Another goal I had was to buy and eat less processed food.

source

We have definitely been doing this!!!  I do most of my shopping at Trader Joe's because everything there is all natural, nothing artificial.  We've been eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables too.  Now that the weather is nicer and summer is approaching, we will become regulars at the local farmer markets.  I would be lying if I said we haven't had any fast food, but it has definitely become very infrequent.  And that makes me very happy!

Another thing that will help us with my goal of eating less processed food is my other goal of planting a garden and keeping it alive!  Well so far we have planted some herbs, a tomato plant, and just recently bought a strawberry plant that still needs a permanent home.  I hope to add more veggies soon.

Making or buying a kitchen composter was also a goal although now I think I am going to make this instead.

Young House Love

It seems so easy and I wouldn't have to worry about fly infestation...yuck!  I am pretty sure I have one of these rubbermaid containers in the black hole, aka garage.  I just need to dig it out and set it up.

My last two goals are making reusable snack bags and using the dryer less.  As far as the snack bags, no progress.  I just need to sit down and whip some out.  And I bought this drying rack at Ikea and hope to use it today!

Lajban drying rack

So there you have it!  It feels good to know that we are doing our part in taking care of the planet and ourselves in the process!

OMG

I just found these on Etsy and had to share!  Did any of you have these?  I had a TON!  Long gone now.  :-(

80's bell charms

Easter haps

Happy Monday everyone!!

Hope you guys had a wonderful Easter weekend!  We had an awesome Easter.  The weather was in the 80s!  So after an Easter egg hunt around the living room and kitchen we got ready, packed a picnic and headed to Lake Elkhorn.  It has a path that goes all the way around, an awesome playground, and lots of space to run and play.  The girls love seeing all the wildlife and the cute puppies going on their walks.  We saw lots of birds, fish, some turtles, lots of bugs (to Natalie's disgust) and even some baby ducks that had hatched that morning.  A father and his two daughters had purchased some eggs from duckeggs.com (I kid you not) and incubated them.  When they are older they will apparently just fly away one day.  The family lives right on the lake so I guess it will be a short flight, lol!  They were taking the ducklings out to let them explore and asked if we'd like to see them.  We jumped at the chance!  They were so cute.  One even fell asleep in Natalie's lap.

After we played with the ducklings for awhile I got some non blurry pictures of Lily sitting in the grass. The girl never stops moving so it is hard to get a good picture.  This one is one of my favorites...

We then walked around the lake to the playground and after about 20 mins were were HOT so we enticed the girls with smoothies for the ride home and got back into our air conditioned car.

When Lily woke up from her nap we took some action shots of the girls jumping on our back deck.
I love how they turned out!

Lily can really get some air!!

Love Natalie's smile!

Before she takes off running she always says, "1, 2, 3...go!" Love it!

We ended the day with a yummy dinner and some goodies left by the Easter bunny!

Happy Easter!!

From my peeps...

to yours! (Doesn't the Easter Bunny look thrilled to be there?) Have a blessed day!!

Some new items in the shop!!

I've added a few new things to my shop.  I would add more but with my camera out of commission, this is all I have.

If you aren't one to wear much jewelry but still like the look of my bird nests then maybe these bobby pins would suit your fancy.

They also look adorable in a little girl's hair...just in time for Easter!

And what's cuter then a drooling baby?  A stylish drooling baby!  Reversible drool bibs now in stock!

 Have a great day!

Houston we have a problem

Um...I somehow have misplaced the charger to my camera and my camera is dead. :-(  So I can't take pictures until I find it.  BUT I'm getting super duper close to 200 followers, and you know what that means....GIVEAWAY!!!  I was thinking maybe 2 giveaways?  And I also thought it would be fun to do a q & a, ask me anything type deal.  You ask.  I answer.  Watcha think?  Sound fun?

Oh and speaking of giveaways...my giveaway is going on for a whole week so head on over to DIY club and enter.  Hurry!!  It ends April 26th midnight EST!!! In case you miss it or don't win I'm also offering 25% off all orders until April 30th.  Just use the code DIY CLUB at checkout!  Perfect timing for Mother's Day!!

I got my invite and now I am one of the cool kids.

I got my invite to Pinterest.

Yep that's right.  I'm now cool.

Check out that profile pic below...don't cha wish you were cool like me?  Haha!

No seriously what's cool is Pinterest.  I even added the little "pin it" button to my tool bar so when I find things I love I can pin them.

Here's some of the things I've pinned already (in the last 20 mins)...this could become a full time hobby.

Have you been pinterested?

Natalily Designs GIVEAWAY!!!

Hey Guys!  I'm having a giveaway over at DIY Club today!

Enter for a chance to win a customized ring or pendant!

Oh and I'm offering 25% all orders until April 30!!!

Click here to enter and to get all the deets!!

Heads up-Silent auction for Breast Cancer

Hey Guys!  Just wanted to give you a heads up about an awesome thing my friend Cassie is doing.  You have heard me mention her on here quite a bit.  She is the girl behind a lot of the fabulous refurbished furniture in my home.  Here is a picture of a recent project of hers.

Want it? Well guess what?!! She is holding a silent auction for this pretty pink vanity!!

And the best part...

ALL proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation's Race for the Cure.
Starting bid is $25.
The auction runs until 8pm EST on april 26th.  You can get the full details here.
Spread the word and help find a cure!!


here.