The Box

It finally arrived... my first Birchbox.

I didn't really know what to expect. I know many people get a variety of samples, some are awesome and others are disappointed. I have to say, I am very pleased with my first box. I wonder if they load everyone's welcome box with the best samples to keep you wanting more.

1. Boscia Blotting Linens- these things are amazing. I used these the day of my wedding to blot my face before pictures and they didn't mess with my makeup

2. Viva La Juicy- I already use this perfume everyday and love it. Now I can keep a sample in my purse

3. Coral Nail Polish- all time favorite color for spring and summer

4. Pixi Lid & Line- never used something like this before, but the concept looks awesome. It's suppose to create the perfect smokey eye with liner, eye shadow and smudger all in one stick

5. Tili Bag- fun, colorful bag to hold cosmetics and such for traveling


I would say my first box was a success! My sister got me this for my birthday/Christmas and it is one of the best gifts ever. Who wouldn't want monthly presents?

xo, Erin

Food & Fall

This week went really fast, probably because I spent most nights upstairs in my office.  What a life I live. It tends to pay off on the weekends when I get some free time to work on house projects, run errands and socialize with friends. If you follow me on Instagram, you have seen most of these pictures already... now let me explain:

1. Friday night Happy Hour with friends. What's not to love about fried pickles and Boddingtons on draft? This is my kind of pub!

2. Sunday was beautiful! After spending most of the day doing yard work, we treated ourselves to dinner out. If you normally get a burger at Smash Burger, I highly suggest trying their spinach and goat cheese salad!

3. We followed up dinner with frozen yogurt... I got pumpkin with Reese's. Everything is better pumpkin flavored :)

4. Fall weather = Fall outfits.

blazers, cords, stripes and leggings. love

5. I love this picture. Normally Murphy moves around the family room following the sun. He decided to share with his favorite toy this day.

 Link up with Lauren @ FMGD blog and share your 5 highlights from the week!

xo, Erin

Organizing 101: Our Bathroom

 Over several months, we renovated our master bath from top to bottom, and literally gutted everything. We knocked down a wall and added bathroom storage in it's place. Perfect! Now there is plenty of room for towels, toilet paper, hair products and extra toiletries. I bought some baskets from Target and Home Goods and got to organizing.

Here is what our bathroom looked like before renovations and storage (pretty ugly):

Then we updated everything, knocked down the wall, and added much needed storage. It was looking like this:

The cabinet on the inside needed help! I wanted to find baskets to hold everyday items and extra bath and beauty products that were floating around. It was looking like this for a few months:

I finally found the perfect baskets at Target (gray ones) and Home Goods (white ones) and got to work organizing. I love that we now have room for towels in the bathroom. Previously, they were stored in the hall linen closet. 

After... love all the gray and white!

Love these baskets, perfect fit!

They hold toilet paper, extra tissue boxes and Lysol wipes

This basket carries my essential hair items.
It comes out after my shower, and right back in the cabinet after drying my hair

I love organizing and simplifying my life! It makes my morning routine go much quicker.

xo, Erin

In Between

The weather here has been teasing us. Last week there was frost on the ground and tomorrow it's going to be a high of 79. I definitely don't want the freezing cold weather right away, but a solid 2 months of Fall would be nice.

I have been dressing in layers lately. Mainly because it is 50 when I leave the house and 70 by the end of the day. It is also freezing sometimes in the school I work at, so layers have been the best bet with fluctuating temperatures.

Here is what I am wearing today. The blouse was thin so I decided to throw a sweater vest over it (which has already come off)

 

Blouse: Loft  on clearance over the summer

Pants: Just snagged for $6 at Kohl's

Sweater: TJ Maxx  last season

Belt: Jessica Simpson from TJ Maxx  a few years ago

Necklace: Target  last Fall

Which style do you like better? How have you been dressing for the weather?

xo, Erin  

Lawn Labor

You can't just get 'Yard of the Month' sitting back and doing nothing. This weekend we spent 6+ hours outside doing lawn business. This consisted of: cutting the grass, slit-seeding, raking thatch, watering seed, removing/transplanting trees, adding dirt to existing trees, seeding around the mailbox and adding dirt and seed around most of our patio.

The bad news is that I have no pictures right now. I was so busy over the weekend running around, the camera got left inside. I was going to snap some pictures last night of some changes, but it has been raining. I am definitely not going to complain about rain right now. This is perfect  for our seed we planted and means we don't have to water. Double hooray!

Back in March, in the early spring, we did a similar technique on our lawn.  This time around, we decided to rent a slit seeder because of success in previous years.  We paid $40 to rent the machine for 4 hours (we didn't need it the whole time, that was the minimum). Basically the machine moves along, slicing the ground to a desired depth (we choose 3/4") then dropping seed into the slices. While it is slicing, it is also dethatching and pulling up the dead grass clipping from the past season.

While Greg was running the machine, I was busy raking up piles of dead grass to be later scooped up. This process also helped move the seed around and into the ground.  We then gave the yard a good soaking with the sprinkler, and will need to keep watering the seed for about 10 days. Praying for more rain!

We picked up a few bags of top soil from Home Depot and filled the gaps around the patio. We then dumped handfuls of seed around the edge and raked it in. We are hoping the grass grows well, but it will probably need a little extra attention come the spring.

A few things that we still need to tend to:

• huge pile of dirt in the back corner of our yard that needs to be turned into an island
• build garden beds around our new, expanded patio
• get the hot tub out of our garage and on the patio

Will take some pictures soon!

xo, Erin