I feel like it’s been forever since I have worn a belt. Probably because I have been pregnant for a gazillion years and I am just now finally NOT pregnant. Phew. 

Cheers to a smaller sized belly…that’s been 6 years in the making. {ahem}

I just recently discovered how much flare a belt can add to an outfit when I received this gorgeous coral floral belt from Outfit Additions.

Isn’t it darling?

And it matches my new summer sandals from Aldo that I got on my Vegas trip.

Outfit Additons is a California based accessories boutique with a beautiful collection of jewelry, belts and wallets.

And I am here to vouch that their belts…are awesome!

They also have gorgeous jewelry pieces that I have yet to get my hands on. But I will I will. A girl can never have too many necklaces, right?

Right now I am focused on my belt collection. Since most of mine are from 2002…I’m on a mission to get some more cute ones and I loved adding this coral one to my collection.

And after seeing these pictures it’s clear that I also need to focus on my tan. <<UGH>>

Shop the boutique | Join Easy Rewards.

The lovely folks at Outfit Additions will be giving away a $100 Gift Card to their store!

How to enter?

All you need to do is sign up for their newsletter by entering your email in the Rafflecopter widget below and then leave a blog post comment with anything about their store {fave product, feedback, general comment, etc}. You can find Outfit Additions HERE.

I’d love for you to sign up for my monthly newsletter as well, but it’s not mandatory for the giveaway! You will get an extra entry for signing up {leave your email address in the Rafflecopter widget}.

**If anyone shops during the giveaway and ends up winning the giveaway, they will refund the price they paid as part of the prize.

Shipping is free on all orders with no order minimum. Holla!

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and is in no way associated with Facebook.

Welcome to the Inspire Me Please Weekend Blog Hop!

Since it’s SJ’s birthday I’ll be busy stuffing my face with cake and ice cream while I dream about how I’m going to makeover his nursery in to a “big boy” room {lots of tears}.

Every week I see something new that inspires me and I change my mind about how I want it to look. This week I decided that if I got to do a nursery re-do…I’d do exactly what 551 East did for her little boy nursery….

<<mouth drop>>

Wowser fabulous, right?

Lots of great inspiration going on at this party. LOTS.

Here are some of my favorites from last week:

Navy painted nightstands by The Weathered Door.

Orb Chandelier by Life On Vintage Street.

A Sunnier Entryway also by Life On Vintage Street.

Family Command Center by Vintage Violet Style.

Dollar Decor Pillow Makeover by Just A Girl And Her Blog.

Nursery Reveal by 551 East East.

We would love to have you join us by linking up your inspiring projects below.

Liz Marie Blog

Love of Family and Home

Blissfully Ever After

The party goes LIVE every Thursday night at 9:00 CST.  It will show up on all four blogs! More exposure for YOU!

Before we get started…please remember:

• Anything is welcome as long as it’s something YOU created {diy, home decor, recipes, craft, cleaning tips, sewing, room makeovers, etc.}
• Keep the content fresh. Please do not link up the same projects week after week or they will be deleted. Also, please do not link up giveaway posts.
• Please include a text link back to the blog where you linked up {link to specific blog post not home page}. ONLY THOSE WHO LINK BACK WILL BE FEATURED!
• Have fun and most importantly BE INSPIRED!

I’ve had a baby for six years straight. SIX LONG YEARS.

By age 2 each of my two oldest boys were either preparing for a new baby or had a new baby brother.

And now? Now SJ is turning 2 and there is no new baby in town.

My baby days are ending.

Tear.

I know we still have one more child that we are anxiously awaiting, but in case you missed the memo…our child will not be a baby. We will be getting a 1-3 year old.

In international adoption it is very difficult to get a young baby. Mainly because of the process and paperwork that it takes to adopt. Most small children adopted out of the Philippines are over the age of one.

So it’s official…I may never have another baby again and that leaves me with conflicting emotions.

1. It seems awesome that life is finally getting easier. These little humans are getting more independent each and every day and it gives me a little more freedom. Hooray for more freedom, right?

2. It seems terrible that these little humans are getting more independent each and every day. I always want them to need their momma for everything.

I’m just so use to all things baby that my mind can hardly comprehend what it feels like to only have toddlers.

I also think I am having a hard time because I feel like I am entering in to a new phase in my life. There is a part of me that enjoyed the stares and glares from people in public when we walked up with 3 kids under the age of 5. I almost felt like, “Yea, go ahead and stare…I GOT this!” LOL!

<<I secretly love when SJ does yoga.>>

The good news is that these boys are the biggest lovers…all of them.

They tell me I am their best friend at least 3 times a day. They still snuggle me. Hug me. Kiss me. And make me laugh. <<especially Mr. P Man>>

I pray that never changes. Never ever ever.

As I reflect back on the last two years as a mother of three…I give thanks to God. He truly has provided us the most amazing boys on the planet. He always knows just what I need and when I need it.

SJ is a joy to have in our family and I am thankful God chose me to be his mother.

Happy Birthday my little buddy!

Do you ever have that itch to brighten things up a bit? Whether it be your outfits, recipes or your home decor…I am constantly wanting to add “PIZAZZ” to my life.

Picture me giving you my jazz hands RIGHT NOW. Wooooo pizazzzzz!

As you know I work from home and I shared my work-from-home office space with you earlier this year. One of the best parts of working from home {besides the yoga pant work attire} is being able to decorate my work space EXACTLY how I want it.

I spent 5 years in a corporate office setting with drab white walls. Disgusting carpet. And maintenance men who gave me the side eye every time they noticed a new picture hung on the wall.

*Cue* angels singing when I began my home office makeover.

Holy cow, someone wasn’t going to write me up for personalizing my space?! Or for asking to rearrange my office furniture?!

It was heavenly.

When we first moved in to our home over 3 years ago, the office space was less than inspiring.

It was a lot like my corporate office job. Drab and boring.

With the help of my dad and his handy man skills our office transformation has turned out to be a place where I am surrounded by things that mean something to me.

Wall art that inspires. Color that feeds energy. And organization that makes my heart skip a beat.

To say that I am inspired when I work in this office would be pretty darn accurate.

It wasn’t always this vibrant though. Just in the last few weeks I decided that the “pop” of orange needed to be more prominent.

If you have ever used orange as your accent color than you know that it can be hard to work with. But if you do it right, I think it truly can add so much brightness to a space.

I am sure you are not shocked that I have another gallery wall. Ahem.

A few things that I added to give this space some vibrancy:

• The OFFICE wall art sign {handmade}
• Orange zebra print lamp
• Orange and yellow striped flower vase
• Orange hanging file basket
• Painted orange mat for wall frame
• My grandma’s 1970′s chair & Pier 1 throw pillows

Doesn’t it seem so much more inviting? I am in love with the new pizazz it has.

And yes, if you come over and visit, I’ll give you my jazz hands in person. Mark my words.

What inspired me to take my orange accents to the next level?

Crystal Light and their “Explore the New Flavors” campaign had me excited about adding some vibrancy to my office space. Or pizazz as I like to call it.

Mango Passionfruit is my new favorite flavor! How appropriate that it’s also orange.

So, I’m curious, what inspires you to pizazz things up around your home? Do you get the itch as often as me?  Leave an answer in the comments below to enter into a chance to win a $100 Visa giftcard!

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the 
following unique term in your tweet message: “”#SweepstakesEntry”"; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post”
c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 5/14 – 6/4.
Be sure to visit the Crystal Light page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

As I celebrate Mother’s Day this year I can’t help but think that this could be the last year I am a mother of three.

Next year at this time I will be a mother of four. My children will have another brother or sister. Our family will be blessed yet once again.

It’s so hard to believe that the time is getting so close.

When we started our adoption it felt like it would be eternity before we would receive a placement. And now? Now…we are within months of it.

Unreal.

Sometimes I wonder if I can handle it. I mean, I often feel overwhelmed with three children. How will I ever manage to wrangle four.

And then I remember that God doesn’t doubt me. He asked us to follow this journey and we obeyed. I know He will provide the strength and patience to handle four.

I may not be the best mother on the planet, but I know I am doing MY best and that’s what counts, right?

There are definitely days we struggle.

Someone’s moody. Someone’s tired. Someone’s hungry. Someone’s disrespectful. 

**By they way Spongebob, that’s inappropriate. <<Ahem>>

But every evening when we sit down on the couch together after a long day…and they squeeze my neck and say “Mommy, you are my best friend”…it makes it ALL worth it.

I could not feel more grateful this Mother’s Day.

Not only for the 3 wonderful boys that God has blessed me to mother, but also for the extremely spectacular mother that He provided me and the fabulous mother-in-law I inherited.

*ps Can someone tell me how this is going down right now? Isn’t it suppose to be MOMMY NAPS on Mother’s Day???

I guess I can’t be too mad at him since he posted this on my Facebook page.

Thankfully the words cover up my sexy <<ahem>> legs <<ahem>>. Embarrassing.

*Author and House of Rose Contributor – Kristina, from Bella Mia Blog.

My new obsession is quinoa so I am loving this quinoa salad recipe that Kristina is sharing.  If you are on a healthy eating kick like me…you won’t be disappointed!

__________________________________________________________________________

This was served during my daughter’s playschool potluck last week. It was so delicious and as a bonus my 2-year-old loved it. Score!

I had to have the recipe. The mother who made this emailed it to everyone in the class. We have been addicted ever since.

I bought all of the ingredients at my local Trader Joes. If you don’t have one around you, I’m sure any grocery store would have them in stock.

Please enjoy and feel free to tweak any of the ingredients. This really is a fool-proof salad!

Salad Ingredients:

• 4 cups of cooked quinoa (1 cup dry makes 4 cups cooked)
• chopped dried cranberries
• sliced cucumbers (I use the Persian type)
• cherry tomatoes (halved or quartered depending on your preference)
• roasted & salted pumpkin seeds (sunflower seeds would work too)
• 1 can of garbanzo beans
• chopped mint
• chopped cilantro
• chopped green onions

Mix everything together in a large bowl. Now for the dressing….

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon of fresh garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• pinch of sugar
• salt & pepper to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, garlic, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. While whisking, slowly add the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified. Pour desired amount on Quinoa salad. I also like to squirt a little lemon for extra flavor at the end.

Enjoy!

To see more wonderful kids recipes visit Kristina at Bella Mia Blog. 

Welcome to the Inspire Me Please Weekend Blog Hop!

Lots of great inspiration going on at this party. LOTS.

Here are some of my favorites from last week:

Aqua Mint Dresser Makeover by Revolutionaries.

DIY Kitchen Island by Sash to Treasure.

Chalkboard Vinyl Pantry Door By Vintage Violet Style.

Reupholstered Chair by The DIY Dreamer.

Chevron Dresser by Happy, Healthy & Domestic.

Lovely Chalkboard End Table Makeover by The Hankful House.

I truly couldn’t stop swooning over this…

You Are My Sunshine Party by My Cup Runneth Over.

Maybe it’s because I am wishing I would have planned something cuter for SJ’s first birthday?? Or maybe I will just swoon over other people’s adorable party decor…while I keep mine to a minimum. LOL!

We would love to have you join us by linking up your inspiring projects below.

Liz Marie Blog

Love of Family and Home

Blissfully Ever After

The party goes LIVE every Thursday night at 9:00 CST.  It will show up on all four blogs! More exposure for YOU!

Before we get started…please remember:

• Anything is welcome as long as it’s something YOU created {diy, home decor, recipes, craft, cleaning tips, sewing, room makeovers, etc.}
• Keep the content fresh. Please do not link up the same projects week after week or they will be deleted. Also, please do not link up giveaway posts.
• Please include a text link back to the blog where you linked up {link to specific blog post not home page}. ONLY THOSE WHO LINK BACK WILL BE FEATURED!
• Have fun and most importantly BE INSPIRED!

By far the best makeup YouTuber on the web…Emily Eddington.

Emily has a very popular {and by very popular I mean over 400,000 subscribers} YouTube channel called Beauty Broadcast where she shows “how-to” videos about makeup, style, and fashion. She has tried, reviewed, and vlogged about almost every possible makeup brand on the planet.

Seriously y’all, she’s a wealth of information if you are needing makeup related tips.

Not to mention she has gorgeous skin. <<jealous>>

Even better, Emily lives in my home town and Jeff and I have had the pleasure of getting to know her over the last few years.

Emily was formerly a news anchor for our local news station here in town. That’s initially how we got introduced to her. Jeff started doing frequent segments on personal finance on her morning show. I may or may not have been jealous that he was getting to mingle with one of the most popular YouTube makeup creators of all time.

Ok, I was jealous.

There may have been a day that I said, “Hey…you think you could slip her a note with my blog address on it and say my wife has a crush on you?”

Bahaha!

Emily posted her first video on her YouTube channel in November of 2007 and has been growing her fan club ever since. If you have ever watched ANY of her videos that I am sure you can see why she is so easy to love. She now has over 800 videos on YouTube. EIGHT HUNDRED!

Just last year she quit her job as a news anchor to pursue her YouTube channel full-time. Inspiring.

One thing I love about Emily is that she creates, shoots, and edits all of her own videos. She truly is a one-woman show with so much talent. In addition to her Beauty Broadcast channel she also has a vlog channel where she talks more about the “life of Emily”.

<<<<Y’all know how much I love my vloggers – ahem.>>>>

Her presence in the online beauty community has been featured in multiple publications including Self magazine, Elle magazine and The New York Times.

And guess what…SHE CAME TO OUR HOUSE! For an interview.

I was a nervous-hot-sweaty-pit mess.

Don’t go laughing. Have y’all ever been tasked with interviewing a former NEWS ANCHOR? Yea, see my concern.

When Jeff initially said that he wanted Emily to be the first guest for our podcast I was stoked. I was all about it.

And then Jeff dropped the bomb on me. He told me that he was going to let ME do the interview. I about threw up in my mouth.

Me?

Totally-non-worthy-never-interviewed-anyone-in-my-life ME….

Please. Give a sista a break {was my true thoughts}.

But there was no budging the hubby on his thought process. So not only did I interview her for the podcast, but we did a LIVE interview in our home office. Me, Emily, 2 microphones, a ton of lights, a camera and the hubby’s eyes staring us down.

I told her if I pass out halfway through we could just edit that part out. Phew.

Luckily Emily is one of the sweetest and most down-to-earth girls you will meet. She made me feel extremely at ease during the interview. I didn’t even sweat through my cardigan. Score!

Watching it back, I am sure there are things I could have done better, but I am just thankful I didn’t lose consciousness on camera. Let’s call that a win, shall we?

Emily shares some insight into how she got started with her YouTube channel as well as advice on how to do it successfully. She was a pleasure to hang out with and when she left I thought, “We could be best friends.” LOL!

Beauty Broadcast//Facebook//Blog

I do have to laugh a little that I am posting about “Hangover Kits” being the fact that I am the only bridesmaid that doesn’t drink. Bahaha!

When my co-matron of honor, Melissa, emailed me with a few gift ideas for the bachelorette party…I told her to let me take this part over and run with it {she had already done a TON for the party}.

The bachelorette party was in Las Vegas. Classic right?!

I’ve always told my husband he was NOT allowed to go to Vegas for any bachelor party…and here I am galavanting off to Sin City to party with eight other women. Luckily my man is WAY more laid back than me and had no problems with it.

I still felt like a hypocrite.

I’m sure he thought I was slightly off my rocker when he saw the gifts I was taking to the party.

Especially since I haven’t been hungover in at least 7 years. LOL!

I wanted something that was cute and classy. I know, “Hangover Kit” does not initially scream classy.

I knew…if I hit up my friend Jen, from The PolkaDot Posie, she & her momma could make the hangover kit idea cuter than you could ever imagine.

And I was right. 

They created these ADORABLE zipper pouches for me…and yes…those are roses. See, if you leave gifts in the hands of Mrs. Rose…it’s likely my rose obsession will rub off. My apologies.

Since each bridesmaid will be wearing different colored shoes at the wedding {mine will be yellow – eek!} I thought it would be fun to carry that theme to the bachelorette party and make each bag have a different colored rose and zipper.

What You Need For Your Hangover Kit

First, go order these FABULOUS zipper pouches now. The PolkaDot Posie just added them to their shop and you can buy in bulk {they will do custom orders and make the exact amount you need}.

Plus, you can customize them just about any way you want to.

I ordered 8 bags at $15.00 a piece. They are 8 inches wide by 5 inches tall and worth EVERY single penny.

The quality is amaze-balls. The interior fabric is polka-dots…adorable!

I absolutely love the fact that these are not cheesy or dorky and they will be re-used for many other things after the weekend in Vegas. In fact, one of the girls already told me it will be her new makeup bag.

Inside of the kit:

There are a number of other things you could include, but I wanted to keep mine simple. I did have to find a way to pack all eight of these in my suitcase so I couldn’t get too crazy otherwise I was gonna have to ditch some pink heels I wanted to bring. LOL!

More ideas:

The Polka Dot Posie also created the “Hangover Kit” tags for me…and even had them printed and tied on when they shipped to me.

How’s that for amazing service?

The tags are also something you can customize. You could do monograms, bridesmaids names, a special message, etc.

I started thinking about all of the cute ideas you could use these zipper pouches for and the options are endless.

It doesn’t have to be a “Hangover Kit”. They could be a survival kit, a makeup kit, detox kit, morning after kit, life of the party kit, birthday party kit, girls night out kit, girls night in kit….

You see where I’m going with this?

I’m obsessed with how they turned out. I think all of the girls loved them!

What cute ideas have you come up with for a bachelorette party or for bridesmaid gifts? 

If you don’t have a bachelorette party coming up…who cares. Go buy one of these for yourself. It’s the perfect size to throw in a diaper bag or purse!

ps HUGE thanks to The Polka Dot Posie for getting these to me in less than a week!

pss If you think these are cute, will you do me a favor and pin them? All you have to do is hover over the image and click “pin”! Thanks so much!

Just because I am a boy mom does not mean I can not ADORE baby girl rooms. Correct?

I’ve attempted to decorate a baby girl nursery last year, for my friend Kelly, and it was a challenge for my non-girl-related brain. I give props to all you girl momma’s out there.

I originally spotted this bright orange & pink nursery below from an old friend that I use to dance with in college. I think I first came across it on her Facebook page.

I was immediately smitten. In every detail. 

I am pretty sure if I did have a baby girl…her nursery would be a exact replica of this space. Great job Melissa and thank you for sharing with House of Rose readers!

___________________________________________________________________________

I started planning my daughter’s nursery by using Pinterest like crazy! I found a random image of aqua and coral tissue paper fans, and knew it’d be a perfect color scheme.

I love that the colors are girly, but are an unexpected turn from the typical light pinks and purples.

I knew finding bedding in those colors would be a bit difficult, so I searched Etsy for custom bedding and found a fabulous group of fabrics from a shop named mellissasboutique! (I later found out that she designed the bedding for Tori Spelling’s daughter Hattie – how cool is that?!)

My absolute favorite fabric of the bunch was Michael Miller coral scallop, which I used for the curtains and changing pad cover.

I based my paint colors around that fabric, and carried a swatch of it with me in my purse to reference whenever I found anything I considered buying for the room! The wall color is bold, but since it would be hard to find accessories in that exact color, I chose to use it for the walls. Turquoise seems to be a very common color option for accessories, so I knew it’d be easier to use it for the accents.

With my little fabric swatch in my pocket, I went to Menards and got exact paint matches of coral for the walls, pink for the dresser, and grey for the changing pad box! The pink dresser was originally finished wood and was my husband’s as a kid. He painted it with the custom pink color and I added antique-looking gold knobs that I found at Menards.

I can tell you that he never imagined his furniture would be painted pink, but he loves it! It’s a fun piece that has special meaning – and it was free. Can’t beat that!

I made a family tree of frames above the pink dresser, and I am not ashamed to admit that I copied the complete idea from Lay Baby Lay. The blog has tons of great inspiration boards for nurseries! I love holding my daughter and pointing to the faces of her family members and saying each name. I can’t wait until she can actually repeat them back! Although we are fortunate enough to have our families close, I think this is a great idea for children who have family members living far away.

The tall dresser was an antique sale find. As with the rest of the painting projects for this room, I took full advantage of the no-painting-while-pregnant rule and sat on the couch with Ben & Jerry’s while my husband primed and painted the dresser white. (There ARE a few perks of pregnancy!)

I did eventually get up and finish the dresser by using Mod Podge and cute floral paper from Paper Source to decoupage the front of the drawers. I just cut the paper to size and added a few coats of Mod Podge! New knobs from Menards gave it an antique accent to tie in with the rest of the gold in the room.

The gold piece above the crib is by far my favorite thing in the room! I found it at a local antique store when I was in my first trimester. At the time, I was convinced I was having a boy, but I bought it on the chance that I might be able to put it in a little girl’s room someday! I added lace fabric to make a little canopy, and decided different shades of teal poms would be the best accent color to fill the space.

Plain white paper lanterns are the base for all of the poms (you can find them at Hobby Lobby!) and were covered with circles of tissue paper, doilies, or circles of fabric. The tutorials can be found on the Project Nursery post, listed below.

The gallery wall was such a challenge. I can’t even tell you how many nail holes are in that wall after moving everything around so many times! I learned that the spacing of a gallery wall is the most crucial part. The frames and content should be closer together rather than further apart, and the spacing should be consistent throughout.

Looking back, I would probably change a few things. While the wall color is unique, it is also a bit bold. A softer look with aqua walls would have been a nice choice as well. In that case, using the coral color to paint a piece of furniture would have been a great way to include the color without being overwhelming.

Also, hanging a bunch of glass picture frames above the changing table was possibly one of the most amateur first-time-mom moves I’ve made! DUH, why didn’t I realize that a 1 year old would have the capacity to kick the wall and knock them down during diaper changes?! My husband recently removed the changing pad and frame, so although diaper changes are now annoyingly taking place on the ground, it is much safer for the bebe.

Disclaimer: I realize this nursery does not look very practical! Ha! These photos were taken before my daughter ever slept in the room or really spent time in the room. The glass vase of branches obviously did not last long. She recently started grabbing the lace curtains, which I always knew would happen, so those are now gone. Normal nursery items like a humidifier, monitor, and diaper pail have been added. I added a vintage wire basket on the floor to hold toys, and a sheepskin rug from Ikea that adds some texture. Also, I did add a few details such as a tassel garland and paper fans to make it a bit more whimsical and fun.

The room has already proven to grow with her, and I think the non-traditional color scheme helped in doing so!

The complete list of sources can be found here.

Melissa is the creator of Georgia & Jane, an Etsy shop with chic little handmade accessories for baby girls. You can find more of Melissa and her adorable ideas on her Facebook Page.

*Photography credit via Deidre Lynn Photography.