Shoes! Sure, I could probably live without shoes, but why would I ever want to do that? So we are going to go at this prompt from the angle of something I would really rather not live without. Better? This image shows just a small assortment of the shoes I own, and I have quite a few pairs and an issue with getting rid of old shoes. In fact, I haven’t stopped wearing or gotten rid of a pair of shoes since early middle school. This shoe organizer goes completely around in a circle, I also have a few other pairs on the floor of my closet, and a few more in the dining room in front of the back door where I took them off. I love shoes, a lot. There are so many different types and color combinations and they are really a lot of fun. I think I take more fashion risks in my shoes than I ever have in my clothing; example a: hot pink and lime green KangaROOS.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: Snack (and My Influenster Spring Beauty VoxBox)
• #PhotoaDayMay: You
• #PhotoaDayMay: Something You Wore Today

Naturally, like just about every other popular activity and subject that urges people to need to know each and every possible thing there is to know about it, Pinterest now has its own For Dummies book. It’s official, guys, Pinterest has arrived, and the time to hop on that bandwagon is now.

Pinterest For Dummies was written by an innovative and just plain awesome woman who is part of a group of people who have the potential to benefit greatly from the magic that is Pinterest: bloggers. Kelby Carr is the founder and CEO of Type-A-Parent, a popular social network and blog, and the Type-A-Parent Conference, which I annually hear tons of terrific things about. Her penning this how-to book makes absolute perfect sense.

I thought I had Pinterest pretty much figured out, and to my credit, I do know what I’m doing when it comes to working the website properly. I can pin images, repin images, I know about the comment capability that almost no one uses, and I know that the like button exists, which I have come to realize through my usage of the website, is used by people who are too embarrassed or lazy to repin an image but still want to make sure people know that they were there. It was while reading this book, however, that I realized I could use a few pointers when it comes to using Pinterest in order to self-promote my own projects and really make an influential difference ind doing so. Turns out I didn’t know everything. Imagine that.

Pinterest For Dummies has the answer to any Pinterest-related questions or concerns you may have. From how to set up an account and start pinning to the many devices you can access and use Pinterest on and controlling your privacy settings, it is all covered. In addition to the whole self-promotion aspect of Pinterest, I was also very interested in getting tips on using Pinterest as an organization tool, effective mood board, and event planning tool. My life has recently changed in some very drastic ways. My partner of six and half years became my fiance in mid-April and in the beginning of February we bought our own home. I am now in the middle of creating a warm and inviting home that signifies who we are and starting the very beginning stages of wedding planning simultaneously! Lo and behold, I not only found out the easiest way to organize the many things Pinterest can inspire, but I also learned how to make a board a collaborative project and read about how it can also be used as a shopping list, a bookmarking site, and even using it to support a cause. There’s a whole lot of valuable information in this book.

The last two chapters of Pinterest For Dummies are also great resources. Chapter 11 lists 10 companies that are using Pinterest effectively, including Etsy, Lowe’s Whole Foods, and Better Homes and Gardens. Chapter 12 lists 10 power pinners that if you have a Pinterest account, you should be following. I was pleased to find out that I already follow the majority of the people who were listed and I definitely agree with the recommendations. The 10 people listed in this book have already been inspiring me on Pinterest exponentially throughout the past several months that I have been using the website.

Giveaway

If you just started using Pinterest and want information on how to make the most of it, if you don’t yet have an account but are thinking about joining the countless people already using the site, or even if you believe yourself to be an expert Pinterest user, I am confident in saying that you can benefit from reading Pinterest For Dummies. So how would you like to win a copy of the book for yourself? To enter, use the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received a copy of “Pinterest For Dummies” for review and the opportunity to host this giveaway as part of a promotional program with Global Influence. No other compensation was received, and opinions are my own.

Related Posts:

• Book Giveaway: Win a Signed Copy of “All About Vee” by C. Leigh Purtill [Closed]
• Spring Clean to the Fullest with Greased Lightning Super Strength — Review and Giveaway
• Conserve Water in Your Home with the Waterpik EcoFlow Shower Head — Review and Giveaway [Closed]

We had our first pool day today! I think we may have opened it a little too early, since it still gets down into the high 40′s to low 50′s at night and we still have three blankets on our bed, but we have had several days of hot and humid weather this past week, and next week’s temperatures are being said to get well into the 80′s. When you live in Pennsylvania, the mention of 80-degree weather doesn’t go over too well and the air conditioners coming out of storage is always a reasonable course of action.

Before today, I had only been swimming once in the past 10 years. This is due to a series of different factors; I have long lived with anxiety and depression issues, I don’t do public places with large crowds of people, especially if those people have any reason to scream or make sudden or abrupt noises, I definitely don’t do public pools, and I especially don’t do bathing suits at public pools. In fact, I still don’t own a bathing suit, and I totally went swimming today in a pair of women’s swim trunks that I found last year at Target and a tank top with a sports bra underneath. The fact that our house has a pool in the backyard has been difficult to wrap my head around, and even dropping over $100 on pool chemicals didn’t seem to make it real to me; not until I was actually in the pool with a huge smile on my face did I really grasp that my life and all of the changes that have occurred this year alone–buying a house, getting engaged–is different now, and it is the best kind of different.

When I was a kid, I loved to swim; you couldn’t get me out of the pool until I had completely exhausted myself and was ready to sleep. Today, that same feeling came flooding back to me, and I can say with absolute certainty that our pool is definitely going to rank as one of my favorite places to be this summer.

This picture, by the way, is of my fiance and his daughters having a blast.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: Love
• #PhotoaDayMay: Mum
• #PhotoaDayMay: Grass

I am not a big maker of things. I’m not very crafty and I don’t possess much natural artistic ability, so the list of things I have actually made is quite short. I have made quite a few websites (design/graphics/coding), including this one, but posting a screenshot of this website just seemed like it would be a total copout. So here is a picture of flower bulbs I planted a few weeks ago in what just may be the coolest planter ever, which I picked up at Walmart on a whim for about $20. The flowers, a type of lily I can’t recall the name of at the moment, have grown quite a bit in the past weeks and I really can’t wait to see what they look like when they bloom completely.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: Grass
• #PhotoaDayMay: Snack (and My Influenster Spring Beauty VoxBox)
• #PhotoaDayMay: Kitchen

Expecting a baby can easily bring on a wide range of emotions, including the obvious…happiness. But let’s be honest for a minute, it can also bring on some anxiety because it will most definitely change your life, but I think I can speak for the majority of parents here in saying the change is well worth it. However, new parents-to-be might also feel a little anxious about finances, because kids do come with a price tag that seems to grow as they do. Not to scare you or anything, but it is reality. If you are a little apprehensive about finances right now, or simply prefer to put more money into their college fund (never too early to start), the tips I am about to share will help ease your mind.

A nursery doesn’t have to cost a million dollars to look and feel like it. Read on to learn how to create a safe, functional, and beautiful nursery for your future bundle of joy.

Skimp on Cost Not Safety

While it’s a great idea to save money on big ticket items, it’s obviously nobody’s intent to forgo safety when it comes to our little ones. The best advice I think I can give you would be to first look at safety guidelines for baby furniture before you even shop for style and design. You can do this by searching online.

Once you know what to look for, such as slats in the crib to be no further apart than 2 3/8 inches, then you can consider the appearance of the pieces. Check out clearance centers at your local stores and online for deals. A great piece of nursery furniture can be safe for your child, look great, and yet not cost a fortune.

You can save money on pieces that you won’t be placing the baby in or on, such as the dresser or armoire. However, make it safe by using wall anchors; these will attach the piece to the wall so it won’t topple over onto the child when they are pulling themselves up on everything.

Secondhand as an Option

You might want to consider buying secondhand furniture. If someone has furniture they want to give you, even on a loan, take advantage of it. If you don’t have to give the furniture back, you can do some wonderful things with secondhand pieces. I will talk about that in a bit. Take a look at the newspaper ads, Craigslist, eBay, and even garage sales. In fact, just as anything else, sometimes the other the piece is, the more valuable it is, even when it comes to safety.

Decorating on a Dime

Perhaps the most fun of creating a nursery is adding the personality, or decorating with color and character. You will want to decide if you want to go with a theme and full-blown decor such as a princess theme with Disney princess wall murals, or transportation theme with planes, trains, and automobiles, or something more sedate like a simple color theme.

Whatever you decide, you can cut costs with the following tips:

• Framed photos. You can buy inexpensive frames and fill them with low or no-cost photos you can get online at royalty free image sites. You could also take your own photos or draw something to frame. Wall art does not have to cost a fortune. We had brightly colored walls in yellow, so I found some great black and white photos of babies and toddlers. The contrast was fun and it was inexpensive and easy.
• Paint used furniture. Take a piece of used furniture, clean it up, and paint it a fun and bright color. By painting the dresser a colorful hue, it will become a piece of art. Or, leave the natural wood as the base and paint each drawer a different color.
• Throw rugs. Use inexpensive and colorful throw rugs, rather than replacing old flooring. Just one or two can add a lot of character to a room.
• Stenciling. If you want more pizazz in the room than paint has to offer, try some stenciling. You could stencil characters or a nice quote such as a familar and great one from Dr. Seuss, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
• Removable decals. Decals that can be easily removed can add a great deal of color and fun to any wall. If you take care of them and remove them carefully, they can be reused or sold in a garage sale.

I just loved adding all the punches of color and personality, and I did it for a lot less than I had budgeted in the first place. One small thing that I did was to change out the plain knobs on the dresser and armoire to colorful ducks, to go with the duck theme we had. It seems minor, but it adds some fun to the room without a lot of cost.

The best thing you can do is to take your time and do some research. I know it’s tempting to do it all right away, but you have time. A little research and shopping can lead to a beautiful and safe place for your baby to lay their head.

This is a guest post by Kathy Barber, who drew inspiration for a series of articles on kid’s rooms from researching Disney Cars wall mural and art for her son’s room. Living in Michigan with her husband and son, she enjoys traveling, photography, cooking, and anything to do with mystery.

Photo by hadzik

Related Posts:

• 4 Ways to Add Creativity to Your Child’s Bedroom
• #PhotoaDayMay: Bird
• Book Review: “Pinterest For Dummies” by Kelby Carr and Giveaway

I have tried to like soy products, and I have had some success in the past with soy, albeit those successes have been very few and far between. However, I cannot help but to be indifferent when it comes to SOYJOY. I received this all-natural, gluten-free bar of fruit and soybeans in my Influenster Spring Beauty VoxBox, and while I have no idea why they included a food item in a box full of beauty products, I opened up this strawberry-flavored bar this afternoon for a quick snack in between work tasks.

SOYJOY has been around for a while, but this was the very first time I tried it, and I really wasn’t impressed. The texture of the bar was thick and it was dry; its only saving grace is that it’s a small product and didn’t last long enough to completely dry out my mouth. The taste was tolerable, and that is as far as I can go with it. I was completely put off by it at first bite, it was just drastically different from most of the things I eat, but it got a bit better as I progressively urged myself to keep going. Overall, not one of my reactions to this product or my perspective on it after the fact are what you want to experience with anything you’re eating. While it’s true that SOYJOY bars are a healthier snack option than some other products just as quick and travel-ready that ward off hunger between meals, there are still a lot of other things that you can opt to eat that will elicit a lot more than merely a tolerable response from you.

So that was my snacking experience today, and all I can say is at least the picture I took of this product is pretty.

As I mentioned, the strawberry SOYJOY bar was included in my Influenster Spring Beauty VoxBox, which I also wanted to quickly share with you all. Quickly because I haven’t had time to try out all of the products yet, but I will be reviewing each one individually here in the next week, so you can look forward to that!

This is the first VoxBox I have received from Influenster, which I immediately signed up with after seeing a picture of a past box that Jenn shared on Flickr. While taking the trend of sending out a box of surprise goodies for people to try out, Influenster is all about reporting back your experiences with the products you were sent and sharing those experiences and products with your friends, blog readers, connections on social media sites, and so on. Best of all, Influenster is totally free–those who are most active in the Influenster community receive a box that fits their lifestyle (as determined by badges that you receive by taking surveys and telling them a little about yourself.) Pretty awesome, right?

So here is what came in my Spring Beauty VoxBox:

• Sheer Cover Duo Concealer
• Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Body Wash
• ChapStick Lip SHIELD 365
• Sally Hansen Salon Effects
• Bath & Body Works Fine Fragrance Mist (in Moonlight Path)
• Dr. Scholl’s For Her Ball of Foot Cushions

I am really excited about quite a few of these products, so stay tuned for full reviews of all of them!

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: A Smell You Adore
• #PhotoaDayMay: Something You Can’t Live Without
• #PhotoaDayMay: Something You Made

Feathers are a huge trend right now, and they are showing no signs of going anywhere anytime soon. Feathers have made several recent appearances on catwalks and red carpets, and peacock feathers especially have become a popular wedding theme. After hair feathers became a standout accessory all on their own, they have now been incorporated into just about every accessory imaginable to create fabulous and sometimes daring statement pieces.

I was recently sent a selection of feather accessories from KissPat Feather Store, all of which are really cute and just a lot of fun to accessorize with. I am really excited about them and am glad to have the opportunity to share my thoughts on these products with you all.

I’m going to start with my absolute favorite product, which is the item that immediately caught my attention when I was first looking through the KissPat Feather Store website when the prospect of working with them was first presented to me, and that is the headband.

While they have a wide variety of different types of feather headbands, the one I received is supremely awesome. It is made up of an assortment of predominantly yellow and brown feathers with just a touch of dark blue feathers, and of course, the truly fantastic black and white polka dot feathers, which I am a big fan of! It also features a topaz pear-shaped gem that sits on the end of the feathers, giving it a nice finishing touch without taking anything away from the glory of the feathers, which obviously are meant to make quite a statement on their own. This headband can be worn with virtually anything; dress up, dress down, and let this headband shine as one of the few accessories you wear that day. I love it!

Generally, my taste in earrings is simple and subtle. I have a handful of silver hoops that my father has given me for Christmas throughout the past few years, and those are about all I wear. The feather earrings that KissPat surprised me with are something that I would have never chosen for myself, mostly because I have a hard time taking that initial risk when it comes to nearly anything, and not knowing if I could pull off feather earrings is enough to make me shy away from them all together. Therein lies the reason why surprises are awesome, because these earrings, while definitely not everyday wear, are great for infusing a whole lot of fun into a simple outfit. You can see the detail in them in the picture at the top of this post because unfortunately, I could not for the life of get me a picture with the front of the earrings facing outward while I wore them, which happens when you have earrings of this size that dangle–they take on a life of their own. Surprisingly, at least to me, these earrings are very comfortable; because feathers are practically weightless, so are these earrings, and you can wear them for several hours without feeling the least bit of pulling on your earlobes.

Because KissPat is a feather accessory store, a selection of their products wouldn’t be complete without trying out their hair feathers. Unlike another brand of hair feathers that I became familiar with last year, these are attached to small clips that make it extremely easy to attach to your hair. I was really happy that I didn’t have to re-teach myself how to get that tiny plastic o-ring to attach to just the right portion and thickness of hair. Because of the clip, these hair feathers can be removed in seconds at the end of the day, just as easily as they go in.

I received two different hair feathers; one that is short in length, perfect for my shoulder-length hair, and has really fun, bright pink, blue, and green colored feathers. The other is made up of three larger brown and white feathers that are hung from strips of brown suede. These feathers are much longer, so I clipped them in higher on my head so that they didn’t look funny sticking too far out from my hair. I think both of the feathers look pretty great and after wearing both of them on several different occasions, I was really happy with the fact that the clip did not come loose in my hair, fall out, or shift around; as soon as it was attached to my hair, it was there to stay until I took it out.

Giveaway

I am really thrilled with the accessories that I received from KissPat Feather Store. They are unique, fun, and most importantly, they are all of really great, handmade quality. So, how about I give one of you lucky readers a $25 gift code that can be used to purchase any items of your choosing from KissPat Feather Store? To enter, use the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received feather accessories from KissPat Feather Store for review and the opportunity to host this giveaway. No other compensation was received, and opinions are my own.

Related Posts:

• Book Review: “Pinterest For Dummies” by Kelby Carr and Giveaway
• Spring Clean to the Fullest with Greased Lightning Super Strength — Review and Giveaway
• Conserve Water in Your Home with the Waterpik EcoFlow Shower Head — Review and Giveaway [Closed]

I am currently reading the novel Sister by Rosamund Lupton, for the second time. I got this novel on a whim for my Nook, pictured above, after seeing it appear on Oprah’s Summer Reading List last year and reading some absolutely glowing reviews of it. It is a thrilling and intense read; I was actually surprised with how much I really enjoyed it because I didn’t expect it to be as good and as captivating as it is. Even though I obviously know how it ends, since I have already read it once before, I am enjoying it just as much the second time around, which is pretty impressive in itself.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: Someone That Inspires You
• #PhotoaDayMay: Something You Do Everyday
• #PhotoaDayMay: You

Last month, on April 12th to be exact, my partner of six and a half years proposed to me. I will write out the whole proposal story soon, but for now, I can tell you that it was intimate, simple, and perfect. It was a milestone in our relationship and in our lives that was done in a way that truly exemplifies who both of us are at our core as people. My grandmother has, on several occasions, noted that it is fortunate that we have both found each other because she can’t think of anyone else who would have either of us. I think she’s right.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: A Favorite Place
• #PhotoaDayMay: Grass
• #PhotoaDayMay: Mum

Here’s the deal: Use the linky below to link up your giveaways, but remember, you’re linking only to actual giveaways. This means no affiliate links, Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ profiles, or to main blogs or websites. Lastly, if you’re a giveaway linky-hopper you know this already, but as a refresher, here’s how to submit your link below:

Blog Name – Giveaway Prize – End Date

Now link away!

Our Current Giveaway

Greased Lightning Household Cleaner Product Coupon — ends May 25th

Add Your Giveaways

Related Posts:

• Spring Clean to the Fullest with Greased Lightning Super Strength — Review and Giveaway
• Tuesday Giveaway Linkup: May 1st – May 8th
• Tuesday Giveaway Linkup: May 8th – May 15th

Every spring it seems as if everyone I communicate with retreats to their gardens and post plenty of pictures of the amazing things they have grown. Throughout the past few years, I have been remarkably jealous of these people growing their own vegetables and herbs because I had been living in an apartment with absolutely no outside space to call my own, and indoor container gardening was out because I have two cats who have completely destroyed whatever plants we had the audacity to bring inside. This year I stopped being jealous because I was finally able to start my own garden in the yard of our new house. (If you’re an apartment dweller right now reading this with a grimace on your face because you’ve been wanting to start a garden of our own and don’t have the space, I apologize.)

Anyway, while getting some seeds and starter plants for our garden a few weeks ago, I saw cat grass and catnip seeds and immediately got excited about the prospect of growing these treats for my cats and being able to have an inside plant without worrying about it being eaten by the time I woke up the next day because these plants are there specifically to be feasted on by cats. So here is the cat grass that I grew over the past few weeks. I can’t believe how tall it has gotten in such a small time frame. My older cat Devin, who is about six years old, absolutely loves it and munches on it several times a day; Vincent, however, doesn’t care for it much. I have feeling he will be more excited about the catnip, if it ever comes up.

Here’s a bonus picture of Devin and her cat grass.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: Something That Makes You Happy
• #PhotoaDayMay: Something You Made
• #PhotoaDayMay: A Favorite Place

Growing up, I was a young girl looking for love any which way I could get it. I was manufacturing love all around me; I loved my gorgeous salesman husband, I loved my curious little children, I slaved to be the best wife and mother I could be. Periodically I felt resentment, loneliness, depression, and a feeling that my life lacked meaning. I had arrived at this place in my life in a daze. I felt like I had never consciously made any decisions for my life.

I pushed these feelings away and concentrated on loving and caring for those around me. It is not until now, with reflection, that I can understand my life and have compassion. Moving forward I have a great opportunity for growth through the final phase of my life. I have formulated five key areas to keep my life fulfilling to the end. Loving thyself doesn’t have to be as heinous as we have been brainwashed to believe!

1. Creativity

   Creativity is in our blood. Children are born creating all day every day, and it is one of the first things we lose access to if not nurtured. Creativity for the elderly is alive and booming; we can create through drawing, painting, photography, acting, singing, redecorating, pottery, sculpture, and many more. Have a go! You will feel joy and youth, happiness and love, as you are taken back towards your real self that has become a total stranger to you.

2. Expression

   Also lost very quickly as we become awkward in our bodies and socially conform. Loving the quirkiness of ourselves is very powerful. Allowing yourself expression permits all of those around you a little leeway. Do some therapy, everyone benefits from a professional boost to your reflections. It helps us appreciate how rich life is and builds compassion. Express your long repressed anger and fury, express your boundless love for your close ones, Rejoice in the new found freedom!

3. Action

   It’s not all over! Get those foxy 40-year-old bodies moving. Start with walking or yoga. Drink in nature’s beauty as you walk along a scenic route with a friend. Go to the beach or the local river; water is soothing and nurturing. Try cycling or rock climbing, study a martial art form! Amaze your children and inspire them to be more loving of themselves. You are role modelling for them…still.

4. Learning and Growth

   Go back to school. Learn a new language with a group of friends. Join a book club. Play games requiring intellectual exercise. Men, time to cook! Do some culinary courses with your mates and a beer.

5. Disclosure and Making Amends

   There may be an uncomfortable corner in your consciousness requiring attention. If in all of this reflecting and learning you come across area of your life which have caused you or others pain, consider addressing it. This may be to your children, or your husband, your relatives or close friends. You may reflect that you would lose your temper easily with your children and yell at them frequently, by acknowledging this and apologizing to your children you can move forward to a more emotionally mature relationship with them. It is liberating and you may find barriers come down between you and your children.

So there are a few pointers; I have much more energy and my relationships are renewed and revamped with my children and my husband. I have met a lot of new people which has helped expand my horizons and I am feeling more love for myself and others than I can remember. Real, excited, energized love, not obedient and conscientious wife and mother love. Woo hoo here I come life! Come with me!

Related Posts:

• 5 Ways to Nurture Family Relationships Through Your Pets
• The Meaning of Life Stretched Out of Me at Bikram Yoga
• 5 Ways to Increase Your Chances of a Natural Delivery

This whole Photo a Day challenge was created by Fat Mum Slim, who is Australian, so when we see ‘mum,’ we’re talking about moms here, which is naturally expected today since it is Mother’s Day after all. This is actually the one day in the entire month that had me second-guessing whether I should participate in Photo a Day May or wait until next month’s challenge to hop on board. Mother’s Day has always been an especially difficult day for me. I call it my “dark day.” I wasn’t raised by a fit and capable mother. While she has always been very much alive, she was (and maybe still is, I don’t know) an alcoholic and a drug addict; she has not been a welcomed presence in my life or more than 13 years, and she will never have a place in my life again. I have written about the childhood I endured at, quite literally, the hands of my mother at length on my other website, Menstrual Poetry, which I have high hopes of writing for again in the coming weeks, but the Readers Digest version is basically, I was brutally abused while in the care of my mother as a young child. She eventually lost custody of myself and my younger sister, and we were then raised by our father as well as our grandmother and aunt who lived next door.

While Mother’s Day has been a dreaded day in my life for many, many years, I am relieved to be able to say that this year I have progressed past this need to mourn the idea of a mother that I never had, because the truth is, I have had my grandmother and my aunt who are two of the most exceptional, strong, and good human beings I have ever had the privilege of knowing, never mind being related to. Neither of them gave birth to me, but they did every other thing that a good mother is supposed to do, and they played an active and influential role in my upbringing and in guiding me to become the woman I am today.

This picture is from a collage that my grandmother recently put together for me full of pictures of my family as well as myself when I was younger. It is hanging in my living room and is such a wonderful presence in the room, able to be looked at and reminisced upon whenever I like.

This is the first Mother’s Day I have had in my life where I never once felt sorry for myself or the least bit bad about my circumstances in life because I know that I have so much and so many people who love me and who are as proud to be in my life as I am to have them in mine. That is what days like these are all about.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: A Favorite Place
• #PhotoaDayMay: Love
• #PhotoaDayMay: Grass

The number one lesson I have learned from my intensive television-watching research is that creating an appealing, eye-catching, and beautiful space in your home is all in the little things. Decor matters a whole lot more than the design of a particular space, and you can take virtually any space and turn it into a room you never want to leave just by focusing on the small details that ultimately will make all the difference. This lesson most definitely also applies to the bathroom.

The bathroom is one room that can often get neglected. Furnishing and decorating other rooms in the house can easily take priority over the bathroom, and you probably don’t spend all that much time in there anyway, so for many people it often comes down to not seeing the point in spending time and resources decorating a room you are in for maybe 30 minutes a day. But imagine this: you have had an exhausting day and are physically and emotionally drained by the end of it. Finally, the house is quiet, life has settled down for the night, and you practically sprint to your warm and inviting bathroom that has an atmosphere that completely relaxes you, and you run yourself a hot bubble bath to soak in. You can have that, and it can be created with surprisingly little effort, starting with choosing the perfect bathroom ceiling lighting.

Whether you go traditional or modern, choose a large statement overhead piece, balanced sconces, or even opt for an eye-catching chandelier, the lighting you choose for your bathroom can set the entire feel of the room. I am a big fan of an overhead light in the center of the room with additional vanity lighting around the bathroom mirror. Having a flush-mount or semi-flush mounted ceiling light is a great source of lighting in the bathroom all on its own, and it will evenly distribute throughout the room without leaving dark spots. This is great for the bulk of your bathroom lighting needs, but you’ll be happy you chose vanity lighting when it comes time to do your hair and makeup, and if there’s a guy in your family, they’ll love that added lighting when they need to shave in the morning. Depending on the size of your bathroom, you can choose between two-light, three-light, or four-light vanity fixtures for above your bathroom mirror. If you’re choosing lighting for a guest bathroom, you can even use vanity lighting on its own without an overhead light fixture to give the small space a classy and relaxing feel.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bathroom Lighting Outlet. Incentive was provided to me, and opinions are my own.

Photo via klove427

Related Posts:

• Book Review: “Pinterest For Dummies” by Kelby Carr and Giveaway
• Hoarding Clean Up: Leave It to the Professionals
• How to Create a Stunning and Safe Nursery on a Budget

My cats, even under the influence of catnip, playing with scratching posts and shoes, with their radioactive eyes and all, can always make me happy. They’re pretty amazing like that; able to bring a smile to my face even while they are merely going about their day full of chilling out, eating, and taking naps. They even manage to make waking up a positive experience, opening my eyes only to find I can’t move my legs because there’s a 10-pound cat between them and another cat trying to scratch their way under the blankets so that they can cuddle up. It is all very cute and endearing, and I am well aware that I have hopelessly fallen into “crazy cat lady” territory.

Also, please don’t mind the random chairs hanging out in the room, which is the dining room. They are chairs to a dining room table that we don’t have in the room yet, so the chairs are just kind of hanging out until we get the room put together.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: Grass
• #PhotoaDayMay: A Favorite Place
• #PhotoaDayMay: Love

The first time we walked through this house, the second of only four houses we looked at before buying this one, I fell in love with this kitchen. I love everything about it–the dark wood floors against the light wood cabinets, the counter tops and back splash and how clean it looks below the burst of color in the minty green walls, the huge set of three windows along the back wall that let plenty of natural light in everyday, and the updated stainless steel appliances didn’t hurt, either.

This set of photos gives you a complete tour of the kitchen, which has remained my favorite room in the entire house, so it’s no surprise that I also work in here, which I also wrote about the other day for Photo a Day May: Something You Do Everyday.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: Bird
• #PhotoaDayMay: Something You Made
• #PhotoaDayMay: Snack (and My Influenster Spring Beauty VoxBox)

This was a pretty difficult prompt for me today, which is why I’m just now writing this post. I needed time to think! Sure, “a favorite word” sounds simple enough, until I realized I don’t necessarily have a favorite word. I’m a fan of words in general, but I don’t tend to latch onto words or develop some sort of connection or emotional attachment to a particular word or group of words. So I basically spent the day periodically thinking of words that inspire me in one way or another.

Revolution is an extremely inspiring word to me. Deeply rooted in my mind as a state of political being, it reminds me of the greatest recent case of widespread activism, that being the Occupy Wall Street protests, which I have been a major supporter of. As a whole, this word reminds me of the greatness that can happen when people come together to demand the rights that they are entitled to on a fundamental human level.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: Something You Do Everyday
• #PhotoaDayMay: Skyline
• #PhotoaDayMay: Something You Can’t Live Without

Computer, coffee, and headphones at the kitchen table, also known as my workspace, and of course my blog dashboard is up on the computer screen. This is pretty much what my daily workday looks like. Sometimes I move to the couch if I’m having more of a relaxing day and can watch some television between blog posts and emails, but most of the time this is it. It’s a rather nice thing to call “work.” Sometimes I forget how fortunate I am to have taken this hope of mine of writing for a living and running a website and to have successfully turned it into my reality. Fortunate indeed.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: What You’re Reading
• #PhotoaDayMay: A Favorite Word
• #PhotoaDayMay: Skyline

Since 1985, Greased Lightning has been a trusted cleaner in households across America. Designed to provide superior cleaning and de-greasing power, Greased Lightning is a versatile household cleaner that can be used throughout your home to tackle tough jobs and everyday messes alike, eliminating the need to buy several cleaners for different areas of the home.

The Greased Lightning flagship Super Strength product is recognized for its superior grease-fighting power around the garage and grill, but it is also ideally suited for everyday cleaning jobs throughout the whole house. Its versatility makes Greased Lightning Super Strength practically a dream spring cleaning product, which I was recently able to try out against some of the biggest messes in my house.

Greased Lightning Super Strength is an incredibly powerful formula and it does contain chemicals including glycol ether, surfactants, and alkaline builders. The label contains safety and precautionary statements that warn against mixing Super Strength with chlorine bleach, ammonia, or other chemicals, as hazardous gases may result, as well as proper directions for how to use this cleaner in your home, recommended with the use of rubber gloves. To be honest, the obvious harshness of the chemicals in Super Strength and the safety language taking up nearly the entire small print portion of the label put me off. I have two extremely beloved cats who have their run of the house and two young stepdaughters who are here often, so when a household cleaner label recommends that I wear rubber gloves when using their product, I think about all of the surfaces in my house that have paws and little fingers all over them (read: all of them.) So when I did clean with Greased Lightning Super Strength, I poured a small amount of the cleaner into a basin and diluted it, making the solution between 50 to 75% water, adjusting it to be more or less concentrated depending on the amount of grime or dirt I was competing with, and using a designated cloth only to be used with this product.

Greased Lightning Super Strength has been awesome in cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen in my home. In the bathroom, I used it to clean the toilet, using my Super Strength and water solution and a bristled brush to wipe away lines, and it cleared soap scum in the shower away completely with surprisingly little effort. It has also been used on our sinks to clear away toothpaste residue, as well as on our tile floors. In the kitchen, Greased Lightning Super Strength’s de-greasing ability easily fought through grease splatters that had built up on the back splash of our oven and on the stove top and microwave. It was also used on our kitchen sink, counter tops, and on the surface of the refrigerator and dishwasher that can easily get marked up with fingerprints and other residue in no time at all. While I predominantly used Super Strength in these two rooms, it can also be used to clean baseboards throughout the entire house, plastic blinds and accessories, all room fixtures including doorknobs and light switches, all floors including carpets, and it’s even a stain-fighter. Greased Lightning has got versatility and multi-purpose down.

Greased Lightning family of products–Super Strength, Orange Blast, Auto & Shop, and Multi-Purpose–are available at retailers nationwide, including grocery and mass retailers, dollar, DIY, and hardware stores.

Giveaway

Spring cleaning is tough enough as it is and I want to help make it easier for one lucky Woman Tribune reader who will win a coupon for a free 32 oz. or 42 oz. bottle of the Greased Lightning product of their choice. To enter, use the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received samples of Greased Lightning Super Strength for review and the opportunity to host this giveaway. No other compensation was received, and opinions are my own.

Related Posts:

• Tuesday Giveaway Linkup: May 15th – May 22nd
• Yoplait Lactose Free Yogurt Review and Prize Pack Giveaway [Closed]
• Book Review: “Pinterest For Dummies” by Kelby Carr and Giveaway

I promise I took this photo yesterday, but I didn’t get the chance to upload it and write out this post until this morning. Sorry about that! Moving on…

Coffee is one of my absolute favorite things in life. I drink it daily, and it has long been a staple in how I start my day. The smell of coffee is an experience for me. When I’m at the grocery store, I always make it a point to take a stroll through the coffee aisle, regardless of if I actually need anything there or not, just so I can take in the scent of the variety of coffee beans. When I wake up, I start brewing my first pot of coffee as soon as I make it down to the kitchen, most of the time it’s Folgers Black Silk which is their darkest roast and absolutely delicious, and the smell of it filling the room and the downstairs of my house is such a great way to start the day.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: Snack (and My Influenster Spring Beauty VoxBox)
• #PhotoaDayMay: Something You Made
• #PhotoaDayMay: Grass

Here’s the deal: Use the linky below to link up your giveaways, but remember, you’re linking only to actual giveaways. This means no affiliate links, Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ profiles, or to main blogs or websites. Lastly, if you’re a giveaway linky-hopper you know this already, but as a refresher, here’s how to submit your link below:

Blog Name – Giveaway Prize – End Date

Now link away!

Our Current Giveaway

Trojan Vibrations Pleasure Package — ends May 10th

Add Your Giveaways

Related Posts:

• Tuesday Giveaway Linkup: May 1st – May 8th
• Trojan Vibrations Pleasure Package Giveaway [Closed]
• Trojan Vibrations Twister Intimate Massager Review

My love and passion for writing, and the reason why I ever became interested in flexing my own writing muscles, is rooted in poetry. This style of writing has always appealed to me, since as far back in my life as I can remember. In poetry, there are no rules; you break lines when you want to and you use punctuation when and if it feels right. No one can tell you that you wrote a poem the wrong way because there’s no such thing as the “right way.” When poetry became most important in my life, to the point where it was very much my lifeboat as I was kind of mentally spinning out of control, I wasn’t one for following rules. You can easily see how this partnership, poetry and I, came to be. Poetry is the rebel of the literature world. It is an emotional style of writing for people who are often overflowing with raw emotion.

That is what Anne Sexton exemplifies to me. Her writing is raw and exposed emotion woven in and out of all of the complexities, stubbornness, and adamant declarations and confessions that she made about and because of herself in the work she produced throughout her life. The honesty that she had with herself through the sorrow and mental desperation she experienced nearly overwhelming to me, and extremely compelling. Even as I took this picture, I couldn’t help myself from skimming through the pages and finding some of my favorite Anne Sexton poems to re-read (“Love Letter Written in a Burning Building,” “Admonitions to a Special Person,” and “45 Mercy Street” if you’re looking for recommendations.) But it is that frankness that Anne Sexton had with herself and her writing, and the unapologetic way she saw the world and the people around her that inspires me to create more, and to not be so afraid of my own obstacles with happiness and general mental instability, because maybe the ugly way that I sometimes view the world will be beautiful to someone reading about it through my words.

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: What You’re Reading
• #PhotoaDayMay: You
• #PhotoaDayMay: Fun

I like the S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting method. It’s not exclusive to fitness, but works really well in this area. S.M.A.R.T. goals are those that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Here’s how each aspect applies to fitness-related goals:

Be Specific

Pinpoint exactly what you want–be specific! Determine what you want and how you’re going to get there.

To give an example of how this looks in action, a goal like, “lose 15 pounds and be able to do 100 pushups by the time I leave for vacation in June,” is much more specific than a goal like, “get skinny and fit.” The goal answers three questions: what, why, and (at least partially) how.

Be Measurable

This is where fitness-related goal-setting is pretty simple, thanks to all the numbers we have to work with. The prior example fits in here as well. How do you measure, “get skinny and fit?” You can’t! There’s no way of clearly defining whether you’ve met your goal or not.

“Lose 15 pounds and be able to do 100 pushups by the time I leave for vacation in June” is extremely measurable. In June, as long as you are 15 pounds lighter and able to do 100 pushups, there is no question that you have met your goal. There is no gray area.

Another reason measurable goals are helpful is that you’re able to check in with your progress and make sure that you’re on track. If you’re two months in with one month to go and you’ve lost 10 of the 15 pounds so far, you know you are well on your way to achieving your goal.

Be Attainable

Your goals must be attainable if you want to reach them. For example, losing 50 pounds in a week just isn’t attainable–at least not by using healthy weight loss methods. Read every last one of the Schwinn elliptical reviews online and you’ll see that no amount of exercise can get you those results. Set a goal that’s attainable, like losing 2 pounds a week until you’ve lost all 50.

Be Realistic

Similarly, set goals that are realistic. Instead of saying, “I will never eat sugar again,” aim to eat a piece of fruit when you crave sweets. At face value, you might think “attainable” and “realistic” are basically the same thing. They are definitely similar, but keeping your goals realistic focuses on how you achieve them, while attainability is more about the end result.

Be Timely

Include a time limit when setting a fitness goal. Without a time frame to work with, your goal is too vague and procrastination is just too easy. My favorite way to set timely goals is to define a long-term goal and break it up into milestones. For instance, if I wanted to achieve that first goal of being able to do 100 pushups by June, I would add 10 pushups to my routine at regular intervals until I was there.

Pretty much everyone sets goals, but keeping these things in mind as you set your own will help you stand ahead of the crowd by actually achieving what you set out to do. These goal-setting guidelines are helpful for all different kinds of goals as well as the ones you set for health and fitness. Try implementing these S.M.A.R.T. tips and see how quickly you can reach your goals!

This is a guest post by Tracy Martin, a natural health and fitness enthusiast. As a writer and total health geek, she loves reading anything fitness-related she can get her hands on, whether it’s Yowza elliptical reviews or the latest news in nutrition. She loves yoga and dance and also stays fit by eating healthy, hiking with her husband, and chasing her two little boys around.

Photo by Oregon State University

Related Posts:

• 5 Ways to Nurture Family Relationships Through Your Pets
• The Meaning of Life Stretched Out of Me at Bikram Yoga
• 5 Ways to Increase Your Chances of a Natural Delivery

Everyone in the family gets up close and personal with the carpets in your home, especially small children and family pets. We all want our carpets to be clean and look great, but most traditional carpet cleaners on the market today contain a laundry list of harsh chemicals. In fact, in the past decade alone, recalls have been issued by the EPA of well-known and widely-used carpet cleaning products, such as Teflon Carpet Protectant, which has contained PFOA, a chemical that is linked to being a cause of cancer, liver damage, and even birth defects. After being used in homes and businesses for more than 50 years, Scotch guard was reformulated in 2003 after a recall, but even the new chemical make-up is labelled as a Persistent Organic Pollutant, which has the capacity to cause various health problems and disorders.

Those are some scary facts, and it’s really no wonder why many people are moving away from abrasive and harmful chemicals and embracing green, natural carpet cleaning for their homes.

Green carpet cleaning has many benefits. Obviously, first and foremost, you will not be subjecting yourself or your family members to chemicals that have been known to cause headaches, allergies, nausea, fatigue, coughing, or other unpleasant, and in some cases, hazardous side effects. Instead, green cleaning solutions are created by using the highest quality natural ingredients, many of which are actually found in the foods we eat; ingredients like citric acid, common table salt, antimicrobial salts, and natural live enzyme cultures.

Green cleaning solutions aren’t just healthier options for families and businesses, they are also better for the environment. It sometimes slips our minds, but everything that we use in our homes eventually makes its way into our water supply. That is where we definitely don’t want all of those harsh chemicals found in traditional carpet cleaners.

I know that cleaning your own carpets at home is never easy, and sometimes it isn’t even possible given the amount of equipment and products needed to safely and effectively get the job done. So, if you’re looking for carpet cleaning nyc solutions, it’s about time you’ve checked out GreenChoice Carpet, a full-service carpet cleaning service. Now that we know the positive impact of green carpet cleaning on our homes, families, work spaces, and the environment, if you’re in the New York City area, you now have every reason to call them during your spring cleaning time. While you’re at it, the cleaning technology used by GreenChoice Carpet also works on rugs, upholstery like couches, loveseats, and chairs, mattresses which can accumulate odor from bacteria and (eww!) bedbugs, and even leather. Everything comes out clean, chemical-free, and safe for the whole family.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of GreenChoice Carpet. Incentive was provided to me, and opinions are my own.

Photo by holidai3000

Related Posts:

• Tuesday Giveaway Linkup: May 15th – May 22nd
• Spring Clean to the Fullest with Greased Lightning Super Strength — Review and Giveaway
• Hoarding Clean Up: Leave It to the Professionals

Me, 6:30 this morning, very awesome Pink Floyd t-shirt that I cut the neckline out of, a t-shirt trend that I wrote about at length a few days ago.

I have been on a reverse sleeping schedule for the past few days. I used to keep this schedule most of the time–up all night and asleep most of the afternoon–but have been able to keep a “normal” schedule for the most part since we moved into this house. I thought that getting dressed (in something other than super comfy pajamas and thus keeping with the stereotype that bloggers really do wear pajamas all day) and doing my makeup would help me to stay up all day and get back to that normal schedule. No such luck, but that means I should be getting of work done tonight. Silver lining!

If you want to join in, check out the May Photo a Day Challenge List.

Related Posts:

• #PhotoaDayMay: Something You Wore Today
• #PhotoaDayMay: Fun
• #PhotoaDayMay: Peace