QUICKED COOL: FANTASTIC FALSIES

QUICKED COOL: FANTASTIC FALSIES

LASHES:
Last summer I bought a Groupon for lash extensions. I always like to try things that know one I know of has just to be the guinea pig. Why not right? Well, when is comes to beautification inventions my Hollywood bestie has usually tried them first. So, I had seen the greatness of lash extensions on her first. Verdict: They take forever to get put on, but it's fairly relaxing. Once on- they look and feel fab.

However, (sad face) without an endless supply of Groupons they can be expensive ($80 a pop plus tip) AND the worst part for someone like me who cannot keep them up is that they can also do a number on your real lashes as they start to fall off! SO... since mascara is basically the only MUST HAVE in my beauty routine, I returned to looking for an answer to long lashes that goes beyond mascara. I FOUND IT!!  Here is a great video that helped me understand them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV9pVOWeN0E
I will post some pics of mine as well, but I basically wear them everyday (they can last for up to three, even in the shower) and they cost $30- so last about two months in my case. Much better deal and they dont pull out your real lashes when they come off!! SCORE.

NAILS:
Another favorite "falsie" of mine are nail stickers. My nails are pretty bendable and don't get very long. A regular ol' manicure will last MAYBE a few days before chipping. Because stickers bend and stretch with your nail, they stay at least a week on me! And what is more fun then some fancy designs. I try to find the more muted ones so that they are still professional and not overwhelming. They are super easy to put on but are a but pricey, so I don't wear them all the time. Just when I am getting tired of my favorite clear polish ;).
I have been using L'Oreal brand and they run about $8 a pair, cheaper then most manicures and for me, they last longer too. Here is an extensive list courtesy of Cosmo with other brands to try.

Enjoy!

QUICKED COOL: Bad A@@ Bandi Belts!

QUICKED COOL: Bandi Belts!

My mom spotted these on GMA and I already LOVE mine. Protects your phone and key, plus has room for ID, money, etc. PLUS they are adjustable for those of us who may fluctuate weight.


This would be awesome for runners and workout enthusiasts, but also for the mom at the park, the museum, etc. LOVE this concept! This is the one my momma bought me. But there are LOTS of styles and if you are traveling abroad, there is a special one that will hold your passport too- GENIUS!


They are currently all sold out of the phone size bands due to being featured on GMA, but I am sure they will be restocking soon!

Here's to a hands free summer!!

Tu-Tu Table & the Princess's Room

Oh, my princess. The photo leaves nothing to the imagination about her sassy-ness. She is a force to be reckoned with.  Stella had lived in three houses by the age of 3. In the first house, she simply took over the neutral colored (green and polka dot nursery) that her brother had only been in for 13 months, and then in the second house I knew we may not stay long so her walls stayed tan and with some girly things here and there. So, when we landed in what will hopefully be our forever (Ok, at least for a long while) home. I wanted to give her something a little special. 

(Photography by Kelly Beach Photography- SHE IS AMAZING!!)


The entire room was centered around this little beauty - that happened to be in the dining room when we purchased the house. SCORE. I knew the moment I saw it, that it would be going in Princess's room

Then came time for something else a little frilly. This was my inspiration:

And this is how it turned out!

My mom had a little drum table that actually used to be my Granny's which makes it even more special for my little lady. And my SEW- wonderful Aunt took this pink tulle and threaded a ribbon through the top to gather it around the table. Now, I was hoping that that was all it would take,  but eventually a staple gun came into play- that's all I am saying. ;) She better like it! 

Annnyway... with a few more frilly things, I love the way her room came together!

The dots on the wall are cork trivets that I bought super cheap online and painted. They have actually been painted twice now. Originally they were in the nursery for both babies. :) See them here in blue. 

They are super light weight and can hang easily PLUS they can be used as cork boards too!

I added a few tissue paper puffs and ta-da! I have a happy little princess. 

Blessings,

If you are not happy... CHANGE SOMETHING.

This image made a HUGE difference to me not too long ago. Just thought some of you may want to see it TODAY. Choose happiness. You are worth it!

I am also reading The Happiness Project. Gretchen Rubin, breaks down happiness to the neurons and proton level! I mean she looks at it from almost EVERY aspect that you can imagine. Although, her lack of happiness is based upon our "third world problems," her efforts have helped me take a look at what small changes I can make to improve the day to day. There is always something to improve, and you know what- it works! Choose to be happy.

Need some help making changes, (BIG or small) that will improve your outlook each week? Check out Whitney Bishop's Make 3 Changes - she is a awesome source and makes the case for how making a change can change your perspective! 

Blessings,

Tackling Bathroom Counter Top Clutter

So, every morning I seem to add something to my bathroom counter top and the space soon stresses me out. In the past few months, I have tried to make some strides in improving my clutter mess. When it comes to make-up I used to always use bags, because I traveled often and could grab a small or large bag depending on my trip. However, since I have not been travelling lately I have been wanting to keep all my makeup in one spot and be able to see all of my choices in one place... the solution...
A CABOODLE!!!!!

Yes, Caboodle. Did you know they still exist?? No, its not the old school 80's  kind- although I still envy those of you who have those. It is more like a train case, and its AWESOME.

(Disregard Hubby's deodorant- his side of the counter top is another story!)

My FAVORITE thing about this case is that it has a lock! Yes, with a key. If any of you have mini DIVAS in your home, this is a necessity. Unless of course you want to see this:

So moving on to hair stuff. This was the one that bothered me the most, hair things and bobby pins all mixed together in one travel bag along with a few things like tweezers and barrettes too. After organizing the home office space the other day I ended up with some left over desk organizers and this morning it hit me!

THIS:

Makes me so happy!

Just had to share! Moral of the story- don't be afraid to look in the office to help organize the bathroom!

Quick fix, cozy counter top. 

Quicked Cool Alert- Watch out for iWatch

So, I never thought this concept would actually work. All I could picture was an Inspector Gadget size watch that had a screen that projected out of it.

BUT THIS... WATCH THE VIDEO...


http://bgr.com/2014/01/22/apple-iwatch-concept-nike-fuelband/

This could work!!! :) To bad it won't be QUICK.

Cedar Chest Makeover: Terrific Teal-ness

Ok, so I am not sure why this one took me so long- I LOVE the outcome. I picked up this piece at my fave

 place to find things to refinish- Tickled Pink. If you live and Louisville you MUST go. Mot of the furniture is kept in the garage out back. If it is not open just go in the front door and ask for the key. They post some great sneak peeks to their FB page too- so you can plan your trip. 

So here was my find- just $29.99

As you can see someone had stapled some crazy vinyl over the top, I have NO IDEA why, but it was terrible. Of course, I expected that the top would be in bad shape considering, but to my surprise, after a fun day of pulling out staples with a screwdriver-  it was just fine!

I knew that I wanted to use it as a blanket chest in our TV room in the basement and it has been my "fun room" I bought this clock as the feature piece down there and I have pulled colors from it for everything I add down there. The basement is an eclectic work in progress! Its a place to kind of let lose and have fun with color. So, here is the clock to give you an idea of the colors. 

I set up the paint station outside. Painted a pallet that I used for another project this day as well. I don't like to waste any time in between coats. :)

Here she is after the first coat of paint.

And at some point the bottom drawer (which I lined with a cute fabric) became a baby bed. :)

After two coats:

Kids jumped in on the painting project too... 

After two coats...

This piece had most of the original handles and I LOVED them. But they needed some love. So I bought 4 matching knobs for the middle ($2 at ReStore) and spray painted all the knobs and handles to match with a matte silver spray paint.

And finally the big reveal!! I LOVE HER!!! I love the smell of cedar every time the kids get out a blanket 

                          and the drawer in the bottom is a great place to hide away special blankets. :)

Sorry about the lighting- there is NONE in our basement. Alas, another project for another day! :)

Hope you have a spectacular day!

Fun Family App: Night Sky

Have you all seen this?? Shout out to Bart Reed who discovered this app out at the fire the other night. Simply down load it for just .99 (apparently there is a Night Sky 2 now, but I like mine just fine) And you can see the names of the stars, constellations and planets all around you. Simply AWESOME!




Check it out with some smore's SOON!

Teach Me Time Clock: QUICKED COOL

Kids Teach-Me-Time Alarm Clock

This QUICKED COOL clock can do WAY more than teach time. It is the perfect nightlight for when your little one is transitioning from the crib to a big-kid bed, because even though the kids cannot tell time just yet- the color changing feature is why I LOVE IT!!!

So, here is how it works- it glows yellow all night (you can set timer for nightlight to come on at bedtime and go off in morning) THEN here is the FABULOUS part... not only can you set the nightlight to come on, but you can set when you would like it to change to green. GREEN- is the magic color in our house. My now 3 and 4 year olds' know that they can only come into Mommy & Daddy's room when their clock is GREEN!
(I am using CAPS a lot in this post- but you know what its worth it!!)

Every morning someone will appear by my bed and say... "Mommy, my clock is green." This lets me know its after 6am and that I should get moving, or let them crawl in for a morning snuggle before we all get going. I love it.

Other fabulous things about this QUICKED COOL CLOCK...

• It comes with different color rings so that snap on the front so that it can be personalized. (Baby boy's is blue, Baby girls is pink)
• It talks. (Ok, when my kids first caught on to this, I wanted to HURT this feature) But- it is a good teaching tool if you are teaching time. Press the button and it tells you the time. Downside.. the lowest volume setting is still LOUD at 2am.
• You can turn the types of clocks on and off. So, if you don't want it to show the digital time whiel you are trying to teach the hour and second hands, you can set it that way. Pretty cool. And this measn this clock can last may more years as my kiddos learn. 
• Finally, it is an ALARM clock, so once my kiddos are ready for that- it can do that too.

So, the almost $40 price tag seemed a little high at first... but think about it mom's, in the end this clock is providing you PRICELESS sleep time. It is SOOOOO worth it.

Enjoy!

Julie 

QUICKED COOL: The Fabulous Fonicle

Ok- this one may be one of my most favorite "Quicked Cool's" thus far... The FONICLE.

What is that you ask?
Well, let me start by saying- I often hear folks talk about how Facebook is a stealer of your time. However, with Fonicle it can SAVE YOU SOOO MUCH TIME, and make you a rock star mom too! YES, it' true.

How you ask?
The handy app called Fonicle allow you to upload your ENTIRE Facebook existence and make it into a book!

I often joke with people that while having two children under the age of two in 2010... I don't remember much. And honestly, I don't. I don't know who had tubes, when or where and whose first word was what!?!

(Seriously- look at this picture: same hospital, same room- just 13 months later. If it weren't for the hat - how would you keep it all straight?!)

Its one of those things I used to make fun of my mother for, and yet now I know as a mother- YOU LOSE BRAIN CELLS... rapidly. But you know what- Facebook remembers. :)
I was also working from home at the time and often Facebook was my only connection to the adult world. So, needless to say my FB friends knew every of almost every move the kiddos made. Yes, it was inevitable.
However, recently when discussing with a friend (shout out to Change Maker Whitney Bishop!) how my children's baby books were yet to be done, she mentioned an app that will print your FB photos and statuses and make them into a book- EUREKA!!! It works!!!
Now if you would like all of your memories in beautiful color and with a hard cover... you can quickly rack up a tab over $400. (that was from 2005-2012) The paperback cover leaves much to be desired...but this will just have to be another Quicked Cozy project for later!

BUT- I was perfectly happy with black and white and paper back. (I mean you have the picture in color somewhere... you posted it!) The grand total= $85
Here is what she looks like inside:

Now- its not the most beautifully formatted, however for me - it means I have white space to add "the rest of the story..." for my children. You know- the FB inappropriate things that we dance around as not to humiliate our young children on SM. (sometimes ;)
Are there statuses that are completely uninteresting and unnecessary- of course! But there are also heart warming memories of my babies doing and saying funny things... Ahh! It covers everything from heading to the hospital, announcing the birth and the first full night of sleep that we all like to shout from the rooftops!!!

Talk about the instant gratification I love so much... BABY BOOKS COMPLETE!!!

Whoop whoop!! Hope you can check it off your list too. :)

Letting it go #itdoesnthavetobeperfect

So this blog started back in the fall and I haven't been consistent like I hoped I would be.

Every time I thought about blogging, I would get overwhelmed with the ideas and possibilities, and then the pictures- or lack thee of, the links I would want to add, the unfinished projects that I wish I could post first... And by that time, there was no blogging done. 

And so it continued- until recently. I reviewed my blog ideas and got excited all over again. And strangely enough I was motivated by this free-spirited fellow standing outside a local Taco Bell singing with all he had. 

He wasn't focus on the little things (i.e: his mic was not plugged into anything, he was quite dirty and umm...no one listening) But who cares right!?! As long as YOU are having a good time. 

So thank you brave man on the street corner! For you, I begin to blog again. #itdoesnthavetobeperfect

Gettin' ready for Gardening!!

This was my garden at the old house last year...

This year, thanks to my AWESOME neighbor - I have upgraded!! WISH ME LUCK.