turquoise violets

Salted Caramel Iced Coffee Recipe

2014-05-12T12:06:00.001-04:00

I love iced coffee.

You know the really expensive kind you

get at unnamed coffee shops?

The kind that tastes great until you step out into the heat

and then you are just drinking a

really expensive cup of watered down,

sugary grossness?

Well here's the perfect solution!

The World's Best Iced Coffee!

Well it's the best in my little world!

It's cost effective, I know exactly what's going into it,

and I know that I am supporting a great cause with every sip!

If you paid attention to our Mother's Day Giveaway,

then you are not stranger to

Madhava Natural Sweeteners.

If you're new here then please take the time

to check out Madhava and they awesomeness that surrounds

their company!

I just adore a company that not only cares about

their consumers by offering only the best of products and ingredients, but also

cares so much for their #1 employees…

THE BEES!

So here's what you will need for this recipe:

Ingredients:

Madhava Organic Salted Caramel Coffee Syrup (buy it here!)

12 oz. Cold brew coffee (make in advance)

1 cup of almond milk

coffee ice cubes

sea salt

a handful of 12 oz Mason Jars (optional)

Step 1:

First you will need to cold brew your coffee.

This step takes about 48 hours.

My advice to you…

This 12 oz cup of coffee concentrate will make about

4 cups of iced coffee.

So I pretty much always have one in the fridge cold brewing.

In a 12 oz container, Mason Jars work great,

place 4 tbsp of coffee and fill with cold water.

Give it a good shake and place it in the fridge.

I have made a habit of giving it a good shake every time I

open the refrigerator door.

Step 2:

After 48 hrs,

it's time to filter our the coffee

using a strainer over a new Mason Jar.

This is now your coffee concentrate that

you will use for your iced coffee recipe.

I can't stress enough that this is a CONCENTRATE!

Step 3:

Now add 1 tsp. off your

Madhava Organic Salted Caramel Coffee Syrup

to your cup of almond milk.

I like to mix thoroughly to create a sweetened milk.

Step 4:

Now add your cold brew coffee concentrate,

your coffee ice cubes, and a sprinkle sea salt.

Enjoy

and

Save the Bees!!!

"You're the Bee's Knees Mom!" GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

2014-05-08T19:30:00.001-04:00

You guys I am beyond excited for this giveaway!

Mom's work hard!

You know who else works hard?

Bees.

In honor of all things awesome about

Moms and Bees

I have put together a very special giveaway.

The Grand Prize winner will receive the following:

A coveted bottle of Madhava Organic Salted Caramel Coffee Syrup

Madhava, meaning "Born of Honey", is a company that's

beyond totally sweet!

This Boulder, CO based company was founded on roots of a

healthier living for not only us sweet tooths,

but also the Bee's.

Please take the time to check out their full story here!

Something to drink your amazing Iced Coffee in?

Absolutely!

How about this sweet little mug

with the recipe for the world's best iced coffee?!?!?

All hand crafted by your's truly.

Humble Bumble B Hats

has also chipped in beautiful little

vintage style hat for the sweet Momma Winner!

Brenda designed this hat around her shared passion for Bee's and

Madhava's bright and colorful packaging.

So technically you must wear this hat while enjoying your

delicious Salted Caramel Coffees!

You must proclaim that you are officially

the "Bee's Knees"

with this custom

Sparkle & Stone bracelet.

How cute will you be sipping away!

What's that?

You can't see how stinking cute you look Mom?

Do you need new glasses?

Maybe some sweet (see what I did there with the Honey reference)

new Vintage inspired Cat Eye glasses!!!!

You know, to go with your bee hive and vintage hat!

Well Firmoo, you remember how awesome they were before,

they are at it again!

They are gifting the Grand Prize winner a

$30 gift voucher towards your choice of frames

from their Cat Eye collection!

These glasses are so cute!

I have my eye on a new pair!!!

They have the best styles and they are so completely affordable,,,

$30 off is practically a free pair of glasses people!

So that's it….Grand Prize:

Madhave Coffee Syrup

Mug and recipe

Handmade Vintage Inspire Hat

Handmade bracelet

$30 Gift for new glasses

Not too shabby!

How to Enter?

Find this post on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter

Leave a comment on the post telling me why your Mom is

"The Bee's Knee's"

And share the link to the blog giveaway.

Each comment and share will give you additional entries.

The winner will be drawn at random on Sunday Night, May 11th, 9pm mnt time.

Good Luck!

and

Save the Bees!

The Boys First Camping Trip

2014-05-07T10:29:00.000-04:00

This past weekend the Trumble family set out

for their very first family camping trip.

While the hubs and I have camped before,

we have never camped together and the boy had never been.

We headed out to Golden Gate State Park

to meet up with some friends for a family fun weekend!

It was everything a camping trip should be.

Camp fires, marshmallows, and dirty little boys.

Above is a picture of a piece of ash that we found under a rock.

It reads: "Hear This"

It was pretty much a great reminder for the weekend to stop and take it all in.

The boys played so hard for three days straight.

Baseball, soccer, exploring, and a lot of make believe.

Oh! Yes! There was axe throwing as well.

Lots of axe throwing.

And all the pups behaved as well.

Did I mention that it was also sweet Stella's first camping trip as well.

On our nature walks we talked about ecosystems and got close up on

little bits of nature that we would normally just walk right past.

Beware of the attacking watermelon bandit.

All in all it was the perfect weekend filled

with lots of laughter and a wonderful time!

So much so that we planned out next adventure for this weekend.

The Children's Peace Garden

2014-04-28T11:44:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we took our first trip out to

Growing Garden's and The Children's Peace Garden

for the Kid's Bee Earth Day Festival.

We got up close and personal with baby goats.

Turns out they are a lot like puppies.

They want to play and snuggle and eat.

We also mastered the art of a "creative" butterfly mask.

The little girl in the background made it very clear to

Ash that she didn't approve of his thinking out side the box,

BUT I totally dug his crazy mask.

We even got to dig into the earth in the great pursuit for earth worms.

We found none in the heat of the afternoon,

however we did find a millipede, a large part of a rib bone, and a small pool ball.

We even ran into some of our favorite friends,

and climbed and explored all the farm equipment for a while.

We learned about bee hives, and how we can help keep the bees healthy.

And then I learned that not only do I have one brave little boy,

but also the cutest dang bee keeper in town!

After a stroll through the community gardens,

the hubs taught he boy how to use a magnifying glass to start a fire….

…and search for bugs in the plants.

We had the very best time and if you are local and never seen the

Growing Gardens, I suggest that you go!

Like them on Facebook to keep up with

their upcoming events

Like summer camps for kids,

plant sales, and cooking courses for the grown ups.

I can't wait to hang out in the gardens more often!

We will be hitting up their plant sale in the next few weekends as

well as heading out in early May to help plant the

raspberry and strawberry fields!

Not to mention the magical 2 weeks of summer camp

that the boy get to spend their!

DIY: hanging succulent baskets

2014-04-24T17:37:00.001-04:00

At this point I don't think that I need to

tell anyone who reads here regularly that

I am jumping up and down for spring!

In this house,

spring = plants...

it also equals yard sales.

Two of my favorite things.

About a month ago I found this amazing

vintage tri-level basket hanger.

You know the kind that hangs in the kitchens of

hipsters and grandmothers everywhere?

I've been dying for one, and when I

saw this one for less that $1

I had to have it, even though there was no where

in my kitchen to hang it.

That's where this project came from.

A way to have lots of beautiful succulents

on our tiny apartment balcony….

all wrapped up in an adorable hanging basket.

So here's a simple gardening DIY!

Hope you enjoy!

What You Will Need:

Some sort of hanging basket

Coconut husk liners

cactus soil

enough succulents for fill your baskets

Step 1:

First I fit my coconut liners into the baskets.

This took quite a bit of cutting and manipulating.

I used a total of 2 liners for this project.

The middle liner needed quite a bit cut off that I

used in the top tier.

Step 2:

Then I filled each basket about 2/3 full of soil.

Step 3:

I next arranged each of the succulents

in their respective baskets while there were still in

their individual containers.

I had a pretty good idea of

where each plant was going to go when

I was purchasing them,

making sure to get a good variety

of tall and short plants

as well as getting some with some hang to them.

Step 4:

After breaking down each root ball

to allow the plants to breath a bit,

I carefully arranged each

plant into its new home.

I made sure to give the succulents some space

so that as they grow they can fill in the baskets.

Step 5:

After everyone was in their new homes,

I gave them a heavy spray down

with a water bottle.

Took a few steps back.

And fell in love!

Enjoy!

My Baby's 6 Months Old!

2014-04-21T23:39:00.000-04:00

Obviously not my big baby!

He's almost 5, which is another mind blowing fact.

The younger, sweeter baby which I am referring to….

Sparkle & Stone.

It struck me the other day,

after my very first Colorado market,

that all of this crazy snowballing dream was really

coming to fruition.

All of my hard work and literal bloody stumps

and endless chipped and broken nails

were for a reason.

Something was really happening here,

and people were actually liking it.

Thinking about the fact that it's only been

6 months since our very first market makes my jaw hit the floor.

While it seems like just yesterday, it also feels

like we've been doing this for so much longer.

But the point of all of this isn't to

boast about how awesome the past 6 months have been.

(although they have been pretty fucking awesome!)

The real point of all of this is to recognize the

real reason behind all of the success.

First and foremost,

I have to thank my husband.

Not only was his choice to shake up our family

dynamic a huge catalyst for me finally

getting off my ass and chasing down my dream,

but it was also a great use of his free time to be my 'do boy'.

This man has run the gamut for me.

I have had the craziest of request

for construction work on table displays.

He has sat countless hours at markets by my side

selling things to all kinds of crazy bitches.

And all the while with a giant smile on his face,

most likely cursing me through his teeth,

but a smile on his face none the less.

If it were not for him,

I literally couldn't do this.

The second person,

my original baby, Ash.

This kid is a champ.

I will leave out all of the bribes and threats

that I've delved out to this kid over the past 6 months,

and say this….

All those long hours and shit eating grins,

the boy has done 'em too.

Not many kids could pull it off like he can either.

Trust me I've seen it.

He's become quite the salesman,

and loves nothing more than being my

"assistant" on market days.

You can tell by the crazed look in his eyes

in the picture above that sugar is involved.

Lots of sugar.

Lastly, You guys.

All my Bitches.

(I mean that in the least threatening kind of way.)

The people that love me and support me

are really the reason that

all of the time and work has become a success.

I have met some really amazing people in the past few months.

You guys are the inspiration and the drive.

There isn't a single market that goes by that I don't

leave with a new friend/customer.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I can't thank you all enough for all of this.

While I am throwing out thank you's,

I also have to give a great big shout out to

a new friend/customer, Lauren Defilippo.

Lauren is also new to CO,

descending from NYC.

As soon as I learned this about her,

found out she was a photographer,

and realized how totally awesome she was,

I knew we had to be friends.

Lauren was at the Denver HaHo,

photographing the event and was so kind to share these

images that she captured of our booth.

Thank you so much Lauren for capturing something that I

never have time to, and for being totally RAD!

Check out her website…

www.laurendefilippo.com

...and while you are perusing the inter webs…

click the "SHOP" button above to head over to

Sparkle & Stone

DIY: Up-cycled Easter Flowers

2014-04-19T15:29:00.000-04:00

After all the eggs are hard boiled and ready to by

dyed for Easter, what do you do with all the left over

egg cartons?

Well if you are me, you actually have a stash

of egg cartons ready to be up cycled into something crafty.

While perusing Pinterest,

I found thins great DIY from Homemade Serenity!

Now here's a lady that's on my

"this could be useful for crafting" hoarding wave length.

Instead of following her explicit directions to make a

wreath, the boy and I decided

to make a little something pretty

for his sweet little neighbor girl friend, Lily.

I am just loving seeing all the detail that he took the time

to put into these cute flowers.

It was also really cute listening to him talk about

how important it is to give girls flowers.

My little gentleman in training!

Jackie + Eric's Library Wedding

2014-04-15T16:33:00.002-04:00

Jackie + Eric's love story is one of my favorite kinds.

These two have loved each other from first sight.

I just so happens that there "first sight" glance

happened all of 17 years ago.

Their beautiful wedding took place

at the Spanish River Library in Boca Raton, FL.

They were surrounded with love

from their beautiful kids, family, and friends

that have watched their love blossom over the years.

Their red and turquoise color scheme mixed

with vintage flare and stacks of books

made of for an exciting yet classic wedding.

You couldn't ask for a couple more in love.

From the way that they cared about each other before the wedding

to the way that Eric looked at Jackie, it was evident

that these two are and forever will be madly in love!

Here's to a lifetime of happiness!

Couscous Primavera Recipe

2014-04-11T10:18:00.002-04:00

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked couscous

1 6oz package of Athenos Feta

1/4 cup EVOO

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

5 sweet peppers

2 large carrots

4 radishes

handful of fresh parsley

handful of fresh thyme

salt and peper to taste

Step 1

Cook the couscous as the package directs.

When it's cooked toss in a large bowl with the feta.

Put in the refrigerator to cool.

Step 2

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the

oil, vinegar, parsley, and thyme.

Pour over the cooled cheese and couscous mixture.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Step 3

Run all your veggies through a food processor,

or finely chop, and toss into the cold salad.

Let it sit for a few hours in the fridge so that all the flavors

can get to know each other.

Serve over spinach or all by itself!

Enjoy!

Everything's Popping Up Spring!

2014-04-07T16:34:00.000-04:00

(click on the picture above to be taken to my

spring inspired treasury list on easy!)

Being a FL Girl, I never really understood why people got

so dang excited about spring.

To me it was just always that non-season in-between

hot and hotter.

Since surviving the back half of my first

Colorado winter…I get it.

There is a lot of excitement that surrounds

the first leaves coming onto the trees,

new blooms of bulbs and flowers,

the birds chirp chirping away,

and the return on the "short sleeve".

So in honor of things starting to look a little more like spring

around here I put together a little list of all the

things I'm crushing on for spring!

Enjoy!

DIY: Organic Moisturizing Hair Mask

2014-03-27T13:38:00.000-04:00

For 30 years I've dealt with the

humidity frizzy poof that was my head of hair.

Since moving out west I've come to quickly find a

whole new hair trouble….

Wintery Dry Hair.

Ends that are dry and fried beyond belief,

dry itchy scalp,

and fragile strands that want to give up and break.

After a quick trip to the pantry and then the medicine cabinet,

I present to you a very easy

DIY Organic Moisturizing Hair Mask

Ingredients:

1.5 Tbsp Organic Coconut Oil

1.5 Tbsp Organic Raw Honey

5 drops Peppermint Oil

5 drops Vitamin E Oil

Step 1:

In a small sauce pan mix all four ingredients and stir together over low heat.

You may need to vary the amount of honey and coconut oil that you use.

I have very thick shoulder length hair.

Step 2:

Transfer to a bowl.

Separate your hair into small easily workable sections.

Step 3:

With you bare hands apply the warm mixture to the sections of hair

focusing on the ends.

Warning: the mixture may be hot!

Wrap your hair up onto your head and wait about 40 mins before washing out

Tips:

Why bare hands?

Soak up some of that added moisture on those dry hands.

Why is this so messy?

Working with oil and honey can be a giant sticky mess!

Make sure that you wrap a towel over your shoulders so that you don't ruin your clothes.

I also applied in the tub so that anything that dripped didn't make an even bigger mess.

Don't waste your left overs!

I had just enough left over oily goodness to apply to my face and neck.

Coconut oil and honey makes a great face mask.

The oil softens and smooths your skin, while the honey heals and evens skin tone.

I just smeared it on and let it sit the entire time the hair mask was on.

Joys of Parenting: Learning from our Kids

2014-03-26T18:30:00.000-04:00

Today after a fantastic story time at our local library, the boy and I headed to the children's section for a little bit of play time. Our library is just the coolest. The children's section is surrounding with hollow trees for forting, and filled with super modern fancy toys for playing.
At this point most of the moms and kids from story time had migrated for a few extra minutes of play, and the boy had made friends with another little kid about his age. They played great together and were really having a great time, when I saw it from across the room…. The little boy open his mouth in a great big belly laugh, and it was right there glaring at me, front and center and all alone. This poor little boy had no front teeth except for one lonely gold tooth. I was so distracted by it that I almost missed the look on Ashyr's face. He as floored and completely excited!
"Dude! Do you have a gold tooth?" he said to the boy.
"Yes."
Ash just stared at him in amazement. I got a sinking feeling in my gut that he was going to say something that would totally embarrass me or him or the kid. Instead he asked, "Are you a Pirate?" The little boy just looked at him sideways and then continued to play. They continued to make their pretend laser guns that shot flowers as I sat and watched while reading my Colorado Parenting Magazine.
The boys were playing great. Keeping themselves in control, following my rules of not pointing their pretend guns at anyone, and really just being good little boys. And that's when I heard the ridicule coming from the two hefty, sweat pant wearing, scrunchi clad moms. Back and forth they said to each other that they were "never going to let their little boys (who each appeared to be about a year old) play with guns. There is no reason to make believe with guns." and they went on to say things about how "I should be ashamed that these boys played like that and the only reason to use a gun was to kill an animal." I was completely in shock that I was hearing all of this.
The entire time they were speaking to each other about me as if I were not sitting right there in ear shot of them. I bit my tongue (and text mean things about them to my bff). I couldn't believe that these two shulmpadinka's were questioning my parenting. I must also interject here that while my overly intelligent son played very nicely with his new friend and his pretend flower producing laser gun, one of these ladies kids got almost half way out the library door before someone brought the one year old back to his mother, and the other child stood and watched on while chewing on a book. But my point is that I couldn't stop thinking judgmental things in a defense for their negative words.
Meanwhile, back to my awesome kid….
I decided to focus my attention back on Ashyr's positive actions and behaviors with his new snaggle toothed buddy. At this point they had shaken hands and decided that they were new best library friends. Ashyr then politely introduced himself, "I'm Ashyr, what's your name?"
The little boy replied, "I'm Robert Paul."
Shock came over Ash's face and he said "Man, with a name like Robert Paul, and teeth like those, I bet you would make one great Pirate."
I died.
And Capitan Robert Paul laughed.
Then I learned a really important lesson about judgement from an almost 5 year old.

I'm Not Homesick...

2014-03-25T11:25:00.000-04:00

…or some other lie I kept telling myself.

Feeling "homesick" is not an emotion that I have had much

experience with.

I remember as a kid my sisters getting homesick on long stays

with extended family.

I remember the other kids at sleep away camp crying the selves to sleep because

they missed their mommies.

Even as an adult I have seen my peers plagued with the old homesickness.

But myself, nope, never experienced it.

Over the past few months I've been trying to convince myself that this was true.

I can't be depressed or homesick,

I love my new life here way too much.

It just doesn't make sense.

It was absolutely not and option for me.

But as the days got closer and closer for

my quick trip back to Lake Worth, FL,

it became very clear to me.

I was feeling it. That void.

dun dun duhhh

I was homesick...

and in denial.

(As if the moping around and unexplainable tears were not a dead giveaway.)

I missed the familiarity of all of it.

Knowing where the good thrift stores are, knowing where

to eat a good dinner with perfect strangers,

spending hours just laughing and talking

with women who know me and accept me.

Slumber parties with crafts and Neil Diamond.

Breathing in the salt air.

I missed it all.

The only solution was to be immersed in it for

a few days.

Now I am back to feeling like myself again.

Back in my home. With my boys.

In Colorado.

Right where I belong.

But it's as if someone hit my reset button.

Thank you so much to my amazing host,

Kelly you sure know how to make me feel better.

And a big thanks to everyone that took time out of their busy lives to

come and cure my homesickness.

Dad, I can clearly see your nuts.

2014-03-11T10:47:00.001-04:00

Well folks, after eight years of hinting around about how much I'd like to see it happen, I finally convinced the hubs that he'd really like a pair of boxer briefs. Yup. I've been dreaming about this day.

The hubs used to be a competitive diver. All of his stories about his high diving days usually end in him being ridiculed for the "Speedo". Yet all along I've been imagining what that would all look like wrapped up in a sexy little package (every pun intended….except for the little part! I've got your back babe!).

So the other day, after a long hike, he finally came to me and said the magic words…. "I think I'd like some boxer briefs!" I had to stop myself from falling on the floor all "whoa is me" style. My husband is hot, he doesn't need any help in that department, but I can't lie….I ran to the store!

These are them. Hello hot stuff!

Thanks to Target, my hubs had a brand spankin' new pair of men's size medium low rise sexy pants. Like a giddy little girl I paced back and forth waiting for the shower to turn off so that I could get a preview of my mans new underpants. He called me into our bedroom and I raced to the closed door, only to be beat out by a curious little 4 year old boy.

In one feel swoop the boy had crushed my wildest fantasies all with a giant bellowing laugh. It was an uncontrollable, slightly uncomfortable laugh. One that came up and out of him so hard and fast that he almost looked a bit embarrassed and shocked by it. And then he said it, the words that from that point on will make me laugh until snot runs out of my face…..

"Dad, It looks like you pooped your pants right where your nuts are!"

Just like that. We laughed for a long time. All of us. I then eyeball raped my husband. And then we all laughed some more. Through out the rest of the evening we all laughed pretty hard about the nut comment, but I made sure to express to the hubs that I didn't think that the boxer brief wearing was a joke, and that I really loved it….but dear, we can all clearly see your nuts now!

February Hikes

2014-02-28T12:15:00.000-05:00

Moving to Colorado, I knew that a whole new world

of out door adventure was going to be open up to me.

I am not the most athletic person in the world,

so you can only imagine the thoughts that race through my mind when people say:

"You are going to love learning to snowboard and ski!"

All I hear is:

"Blah blah blah blah broken leg blah blah"

But hiking, that's a little closer to my speed.

I am good a walking,

well most of the time.

Let's just say I am good at walking in

Florida, on the beach, at sea level.

On our first adventure

we went to Lookout Mountain.

Lucky for me…

It was flat-ish.

Yet we were in the snow up to our knees most of the time.

I was sold on hiking when one of the twins announced…

"Look at those deer over there!"

And sure and shit there were a group of deer just hanging out with us.

They were close, and didn't mind us passing by.

The boy was thrilled, waving and saying "hi deer!' as we passed.

I must note here that I had a different hike planned all together.

Having a plan and an agenda seemed like the most

intelligent thing to do when setting out into the wilderness.

Well we got lost.

Like on the completely wrong mountain kinda lost.

I quickly learned a very important lesson…

While have a plan was good,

having an adventure was so much better.

This hike was an easy 1 mile loop,

which we learned is about the boys limit.

And the "lookout" part of Lookout Mountain…..

Yep, that's tiny little Denver down there!

I wish that this picture did half the justice for this amazing view.

It really makes you feel so small when you look down on the earth like that.

Our second hike,

and one of my new all time favorite places,

was in Eldorado Canyon!

If you have never been to Eldorado and you are in the area,

YOU MUST GO!

First of all, you drive into the Town of Eldorado Springs

which is so stinking cute and small and you instantly wonder

about the stories that the people who live here have to tell.

Also they have a natural hot springs swimming pool here….dying to go!

This was also the first place that I saw legit

mountain climbers on crazy runs!

The person wedged up in the rocks up there,

that's not a legit climber…just our crazy friend Brad.

Instead of pushing ourselves to see how

high we could hike, we took a different route.

We zig zagged up and down the canyon following the river.

We found an awesome cave, some beautiful waterfalls,

and some amazing views.

This was one of the best adventures of my life.

So many times I was faced with a case of the

"I can'ts!"

Not just from the boy but also from myself.

Together we faced our fears of heights.

We put our faith in each other and trust in the hubs to keep us safe

and catch us if we stumbled.

We did take one more hike in February that's not listed here,

because I forgot my camera,

but if you follow me on Instagram you

saw some of the icey good times we had at Maxwell Falls.

I can't believe that it took me so many of my

less breakable years to find such a love and passion for

the mountains.

It's all I can think about now.

The mountains are calling my name

and I must answer.

DIY: Bleach Dyed Sweat Shirt

2014-02-26T12:37:00.001-05:00

If anyone can figure out why oh why

I waited all these years to try bleach dying please let me know!

I am kinda obsessed with single color

tie dye which is what inspired this project.

Yet I have never tie dyed anything.

I have had this black sweat shirt for many many years.

It's always been one of my favorites,

but in recent times it's just started to look a little beat.

It needed something.

A pick me up if you will.

So a good bleach tie dye became it's fate.

I found this great DIY on

Say Yes To Hoboken,

but as many of the things I see on Pinterest,

it didn't really work out for me.

I followed her directions to a T and the only results

were one or two bleached out marks.

So I became frustrated with the project,

the hubs and I laughed at my waste of a

perfectly good shirt, and I decided to take this project to the max.

At this point there was no coming back for this top,

so my fears of "ruining" it went out the window.

I rinsed and rinsed the residual bleach from my first attempt.

I then re-twisted and rubber banded the top while it was still wet.

Part of my hesitation with tie dye or bleach dye in the past

has been a lack of control, but I shook that off and just

told myself that this wasn't an exact science.

After the sweat shirt was twisted and banded I

fully submerged the tangled mess into a bowl of straight bleach.

In the previous DIY steps that I had tried to follow

I was told that it would take 12+ hrs to see any change in color.

Well with my way it was almost instant.

With in about an hour I had the top out of the bowl.

I have to be honest with you,

at this point I was pretty sure that the next step for this

beloved sweat shirt was the trash can.

The entire top appeared to be, well, tan.

I began to cut off the rubber bands on at a time,

as the shirt unraveled beautiful pinks, blacks, and creams were revealed.

Once I got the entire sweat shirt opened up I rinsed it until no more color

bleed into the water.

I was so pumped up about how this top

turned out that I actually raided my closet for more things to

bleach dye.

Have you experimented with bleach dying?

I would love to see your projects!

Share your secrets and results!

the Crystal Shrine Grotto

2014-02-25T10:42:00.000-05:00

Our next stop along our cross country trip was the

Crystal Shrine Grotto

in Memphis, TN.

This one was literally a stones through from our hotel,

so we stopped in early morning on our way out of town.

Much to my dismay, Memphis has a lot more

to offer than the glitter and glitz of Elvis.

But this was a fantastic alternative.

This amazing man made cave won me over

when I read that it was located in a cemetery.

The amazing works, that were created in 1935

by Folk Artist Señor Dionicio Rodriguez,

boasted so much mystery and awe.

The pictures do the religious works absolutely no justice.

This is one that you are going to have to see on your own.

Again, a huge thanks to Road Trippers for helping

us to discover such hidden gems (pun fully intended).

To learn more on the full history of the Grotto click here.

The Crystal Shrine Grotto is located at:

5668 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, TN 38119

the USS Alabama

2014-02-18T11:56:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the app Road Trippers,

we were able to snag this great stop early on

in our second day of driving.

We left out of Pensacola early in the morning and

we were at the USS Alabama in no time.

I have been on my fair share of Military ship tours,

I have been fortunate enough to have that as a close part of my childhood and life.

But never have I seen the awe on a little boys face when he sets eyes

on a battleship of this magnitude, never before this that is.

Exploring the ship like a 4 year old put it all in a completely

different perspective.

Both the boys really enjoyed this one, and we could have

spent the entire day checking out every nook and cranny of this place.

As an adult and photographer I found so much interest in all of the details on the ship.

I can't tell you how many pictures I took of tubes and pipes and wires.

There is something so ironically beautiful to me in all of the industrial utilitarian components.

This trip cost the three of us about $30,

but the cost of admission was totally worth if for the hour

of exploration and fine dose of history.

And the boy will always

remember where he got his super sweet

F-16 toy now.

the USS Alabama is located at:

2703 Battleship Pkwy

Mobile, AL 36603

The Tallahassee Automobile Museum

2014-02-17T11:47:00.000-05:00

The Tallahassee Automobile Museum was the first of many

fun filled stops on our drive across the country.

We knew that we would have to break up our big adventure with little

memories like this one in order to keep sane on a five day trip.

First, I must say that while every other second of our trip was planned

and researched with the app Road Trippers,

this stop was just a happy accident.

We stopped across the street for gas and the giant

Bat-mobile in the front lawn of the museum grabbed our attention.

I was sold from the beginning or our tour.

There were rows and rows and rows of every

bad ass car that you could possibly imagine.

It was overwhelming and incredibly impressive to learn that the entire collection,

everything in the giant two story building was all owned

by one person.

Then to later find out that not only was it privately owned, but every machine,

not just every car, but every machine

in the building worked….perfectly.

The museum should change its name to

The Tallahassee Boys Toys Museum,

because it was so much more than cars.

I am pretty sure they had one of every kind of golf club ever made.

As well as over 200 fully operational boat motors.

Oh and did I mention all the original Bat Man stuff?

Cars, subs, motorcycles, costumes and props from the movies.

Needless to say my boys mind was blown.

And don't forget about good ole' EK amongst the collection

of two wheeled boy toys!

Not pictured:

tons and tons of tin toys & every kind or gun and case knife ever made.

If you are in the area or just passing through,

I highly recommend the stop.

While it was one of the more costly stops on our trip it was highly worth

the price of admission to see all of these bits and

pieces of Automotive and American history.

The Tallahassee Automobile Museum

is located at:

6800 Mahan Drive
Tallahassee, Florida 32308

DIY: Gallery Wall

2014-02-10T11:49:00.000-05:00

I have been dreaming about this gallery wall for a few months.

Prior to our cross country move,

I had acquired a few really amazing pieces of art work

from some really talented friends.

It became very apparent to me that some of the

artwork that I treasure the most all fit in the same

color scheme, so I decided that they should all go together.

I am so happy to share with you how simple this wall was to put together.

Here's what you'll need:

artwork

hanging supplies (hammer, nails, ect)

newspaper

scissors

tape

sharpie

Step 1:

Pull together all the art work that you want to feature in your gallery wall.

Now is the time to play with the arrangement.

I must have placed all of my art work in about 10 different ways before I

landed on one that I loved.

Honestly, this was the hardest part.

I looked at a lot of Pinterest post and decor magazines to

finally decided that there didn't have to be a "RULE" on how to hang

all of my treasures.

I knew that the large painting by

Brandon McLean

should be the heart of the wall.

I then realized I had a pretty nice balance of

art to hang around it.

The moral is, don't let this part scare you.

Step 2:

Trace each from with your sharpie on news print.

Cut each one out.

Step 3:

Label each piece of news paper.

Line the paper up with the back of the frame and mark exactly

where the nails and hangers line up.

Step 4:

Now it's time to tape all of the

news print to the wall.

This is also a great time to re-evaluate your arrangement.

It's much easier to change where you want your art to hang now,

before you put holes in the wall.

I hung the large painting first

(without making a template)

to mark the center of the wall as well as

the correct height.

Step 5:

Go ahead and put your nail or screw

in the exact spot that your marked

on the paper.

Once all your nails are in the wall remove the paper

and hang your art!

Viola!

This really is an easy DIY that I was able to

complete on my own in just under a few hours.

Enjoy!

P.S. Did you notice the amazing hot pink desk

the hubs got me for my birthday?!?!

Found the mid century beauty on Craigslist.

It was already pink, but that was perfect with my color scheme!

I am so in love!

Survival Guide: Tiny Little Ice Swords

2014-02-06T12:05:00.001-05:00

I have a weakness for a long shower.
I have my entire life.
I blame it on being an Aquarius. I'm a water baby for sure.

A nice hot steamy shower is my happy place.
Especially since becoming a mom, it is literally the only
alone time I get.

The hubs asks all the time what "I'm doing in there"….
Well the short answer is that I am enjoying my time and shaving my legs.

Technically is takes me about 32.5 minutes to:

1. wash my hair
2. apply conditioner
3. wash my body
4. shave my legs
5. wash my face
6. rinse

and that's moving at a pace that is relaxing and leisurely if you will.

So my very first shower in our new Colorado apartment went something like this…..

I got my water going, nice and hot, just the way I like it.
I then successfully completed steps 1 and 2 of my shower ritual.
Then came step 3, once I was completely lathered it hit me….
Thousands of tiny little ice swords. Stabbing. Burning. Freezing.
My initial and only reaction was to scream.
Here I was 12 minutes into my shower and that was it….no more hot water.

Ice cold Florida water is so much warmer than ice cold Colorado water. I mean it's single digits here people. Ice swords I tell you.

I stood there covered in soap and conditioner, my heart racing, in full on panic mode.
I waited, shivering for a few minutes with the water off in the hopes that I could get that nice warm water back. No such luck.
I fell to my hands and knees and rinsed myself off sponge bath style.

All I could think about after the freezing fucking fact was that I would never be able to shower again.

My second shower went something like this…
Skipped the hair washing (which I do all the time since I only deal with that mess about twice a week).
I went straight to washing and shaving. I got one leg done and 1/3 of the way up the second, and then….
SWORDS!

Gah.

So now, here I am a week in. My bathing schedule has taken a whole new turn. 12 minute increments broken down into a 3 day cycle moving at warp washing speed. No more leisure, no more relaxing, strictly business, with the occasional bubble bath to shave both legs at the same time.
It's a bit ridiculous, but that's how this Florida girl is surviving Colorado showers.

My Pinterest Closet

2014-01-06T20:13:00.003-05:00

So I don't know about you?

But I often end up with clothing items that I am

totally in love with, and don't always know how to wear them.

Once again, one of the many beauties of Pinterest!

So this "My Pinterest Closet" is the perfect example of this!

I have had this blue and white polka doted

button up for some time and never wear it, but I love it!

So I searched 'blue and white polka dot shirt'

and when this beautiful outfit from the Chriselle factor

scrolled past my jaw dropped!

source: the Chriselle factor

I loved the color combination,

but knew that mine had to me much more casual!

So here's what I came up with!

top: thrifted Ralph Lauren

shorts: Old Navy

sun glasses: Tumbleweeds Hand Crafted

What's New?

2014-01-06T20:04:00.000-05:00

There once was this lady.

She lived a life of leisure,

dirty diapers, blogging, glue guns, and play dates.

And then one day all of that changed.

The little boy started school.

The lady had dreamt of the day,

grocery shopping alone and time to do as she pleased.

And so much more time to dedicate to blogging.

Boy was she wrong.

The age of "school nights and home work"

was upon her and her sweet family.

Not to mention all of the driving Ms. Daisy

that a school boy requires.

If all of that wasn't enough to shake up her little world,

her husband quit his job.

This made the little lady a wee bit nervous.

When the lady is nervous, creativity comes to a halt.

The little lady knew it would all be ok though.

Her hubs was in need of a new life.

A life that didn't revolve around work.

So they talked it over and decided it was time for a change.

Throwing all caution to the wind the young family

decided to uproot and take it cross country.

All of these life changes flipped that little lady off her feet.

And there was a hidden surprise.

All of the changes lead to the little lady finally fulfilling her desire to

start a little handmade jewelry business.

Her hubby being home allowed her to spread her wings.

Now she's busy as a bee.

Making jewels, snapping pictures, and packing boxes.

She's never been happier.

e.trumble photography: the Laney's

2013-11-11T22:43:00.000-05:00

I was so honored when West Palm Beach family photographer,

Allison Laney, asked me to take her families portraits.

We got to chatting one day about how we are always behind the cameras,

and never in pictures with our husbands and kiddos.

Well we settled on a date and then took a field trip to downtown Lake Worth.

I was thrilled when she suggested the location.

We took turns behind the camera and posed up with our families.

The trip was full of lots of laughs and lots of dancing…and boy noises!

We had so much fun. The Laney's are a super fun and sweet family!

Have a creepy Halloween! {free download}

2013-10-09T20:58:00.000-04:00

It the spirit of all things creepy I made this little printable PDF for your

Halloween decorating!

Click here to download and enjoy!