Lily Bee + Gossamer Blue

happy Friday peeps!

today's layout share features exclusive paper designs and stamp by Kristen Young from Lily Bee, which can be found in Gossamer Blue's June Main Kit. yup, that's right! this month Kristen is collaborating with Lori, owner of Gossamer Blue monthly kit club and design team members from both company's have created some amazing layouts showcasing the exclusive papers and stamp.

i LOVED the color combination and patterns Kristen used in her paper designs, they click perfectly with Lily Bee's current papers and embellishments.

every Thursday during the month of June, be sure to hang out with the Lily Bee and Gossamer Blue design team members for more inspiration and contests for some exciting prizes. to read more, head on over to the Lily Bee blog here....

happy Friday :)

her best birthday ever....

around here, the rule is, only to have a birthday party when turning ages 5, 10, 13, 16 & 18. having a birthday party every year just seems too overrated and expensive. the other years are primarily spent w/ family and maybe one or two friends w/ dinner at a favorite restaurant. and there is always cake & ice cream & cupcakes sent to school, if they want.

so, a week ago from today, Corinne turned six years old. she's been wanting to have a birthday party, but after shopping around for a venue (b/c i really didn't want 20+ other six year old kids running around my house, prep work, cooking, etc.) i was able to talk her into just allowing me to bake cupcakes to bring to her class instead & that she would not have to go to school on her birthday. that sealed the deal. instead i surprised her w/ a day spent at the AG doll store in Tysons. her eyes grew so big, she couldn't believe all the cool goodies she could buy. after we enjoyed a three course meal & birthday cake, we shopped around and even given a lesson on her to properly keep her dolls hair tamed.

the store was really cool & it was awesome to see all the dolls in the case instead of in the catalog. she has already picked out 3 more dolls she wants...HAHAHA! that's totally not happening. however, we have added Julie to our list...

i figured since she has an African American bitty baby and another one w/ a lighter complexion, that adding Julie to the mix would be really cool in keeping up w/ our already multi-cultural family... i am also diggin Kaya...

the best part of our day was her excitement and stating that it was the best birthday she's ever had!

organized clutter...

hello there!

last week was crazy, so much going on that i find myself losing track while trying to keep up w/ everything we have going on around here. i don't see it slowing down much either. we have some house projects in the works and just the thought of making a mess to get it all done is stressing me out a little. but i know it will all look so nice in the end. we finally bought tile for our kitchen backsplash, we have tile cutter & equipment to get started, we picked out the paint color for the walls and we even have a guy coming out to paint the kitchen, bathroom & foyer ceiling next weekend. i'm super excited to get this all knocked off my to do list.

today, i have a layout that went live up on the Lily Bee blog, featuring the circle & tag stickers. i broke out my circle punches for this page. it's been a very long time since i have used the same shape, repeatedly on a layout and it was quite liberating. for my design, i created a little organized clutter with layers of embellishments and stickers. i love how it turned out.

i used snap shots of the bed & breakfast we stayed while vacationing in Nags Head last year. i loved that place and looking forward to staying their again.

to continue with the arrow element from the top corner of my page, i converted the chipboard airplane into an arrow by snipping off the top end of it's body. like how that turned out.

thanks for stopping by. i hope enjoy your day off relaxing, xo!

we survived...

all last week i had been working on ridding of a cold that was trying to attack me. i managed to ward it off in time for my Warrior Dash last Saturday w/ some friends in Maryland. but later that night, i was so exhausted & down for the count. come Sunday morning, i was laid up in bed sick, sleeping off & on the entire day. baby girl was sweet & we watched a few movies together on Netflix & she didn't mind me dozing off now & then, hahaha.

today i am feeling 90% better! i'm more thrilled to have my energy back. having no energy & the feeling of exhaustion for the past week was quite annoying & got in the way of life. hate when that happens.

if you follow me on FB, you've already seen pictures from the mud run. but i decided to carry around a waterproof camera. i wanted to get some action shots of my own & i can not wait to see the rest of the action shots from the professional photographers during the entire event!

 

 

these mud runs/obstacle courses are totally addicting. once you do you first one, you'll want to do more. next Warrior Dash is in September & i'm so ready to sign up for it. i also need to get up the nerve so do a Spartan Race & Tough Mudder. i want to try Rugged Maniac also.. but next up is the Tribal Quest... this one looks like so much fun!

xo!

this happened...

Saturday, March 13th, at 1230 am. selfies at  the McDonald's in central park just before we dug into our sundaes...

the weekend...

hello...

hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday!

i managed to keep myself busy spending breakfast out with my two bff's at Mimi's Cafe. we indulged in sparkling cocktails and delicious breakfast... there were no counting calories what so ever! we even managed to hog up the parking lot to snap a few selfies with a few spectators watching how silly we were, ha!

      (not the best picture as far as background & graininess, but it works)

afterwards, i did a little shopping, headed home to two flower bouquets from my little cuties and cards. each of them were given a chore to do for me today, Corinne was to unload the dishwasher and Tyler clean their bathroom (the bathroom cleaning didn't go over too well, but that will all change, ha) anyway, it was nice to not have to do anything around the house & cook. we all headed out to Crave for some frozen yogurt and a few hours later we ended enjoyed dinner & entertainment at the Japanese Steak House. after dinner, i headed off to see Oblivion. the movie wasn't too bad. just wish it had shared a few more details they i couldn't figure out. nice to not have a child sit on my lap or share popcorn. definitely peaceful, to me. i know many think it's the weirdest thing going to see a movie alone. i only do it on Mother's Day and it's always nice to do something alone that you normally wouldn't do otherwise.

anyway, a day later, i have Mother's Day card i created for the Lily Bee blog last week. you can see closeups and read about it here....

Smooches!

day in the life | 4.30.13

so, i finally sat down uploaded images from all the cameras that i used to document our day in the life monthly project. you can read more about it here on Ali's blog...

515 ~ up getting ready to hit the gym...

545-715 ~ full body strengthening mixed with cardio... a good day

8 ~ Tim keeping an eye out on Nala, kids eating breakfast (yes, that is Ty's blankie wrapped around his neck, always is)...

815 ~ packing kids lunches. Ty ate all his food & Corinne probably ate 80% of all her lunch...

845 ~ once kids left for school, i spent a few hours breaking down my shelf, now living with a new owner. the day before, i bought a new couch from Ikea, super cheap... unpacked & put it together in no time...

11 ~ lunch, a movie w/ my friend Katherine & selfies. we watched Pain & Gain, crazy movie...

215 ~ met up with Tim at Target for some quick shopping & hit up the grocery store before kids arrived home from school...

430 ~ Tyler playing his dsi while Corinne practices her dance routine, she was super excited to receive her sticker after dance class..

Ty usually has scouts, but they didn't meet on this particular day. so, it was nice to come home after dance class and not have to rush eating dinner before cub scouts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that was our Tuesday, April 30th. i didn't snap very many photos at all. it was a very productive day even though i spent two hours watching a movie :) xo!