BEAUtiful mess.

June 18, 2013

My Blogging Gift To YOU!

Have you been looking for blog advice but don't know where exactly you should be looking? Are you a brand new blogger just starting out and find yourself needing a little hand holding through this little blogging journey you're now on? Has blogging been a part of your life for a while but you'd like a little help in where to turn to next? Are you currently faced with blogger's block? Or do you simply just want to grow your blog?

(Don't worry...I've been there before...we've ALL been there before. It happens!)

Well...the good news is that you're at the right place at the right time my friend because this giveaway has your name written all over it! The bad news is...well...this kind of giveaway is one of a kind and won't come around often (or ever again?) so you best get your hiney in gear...ya heard?!

Erin at Two Thirds Hazel rounded up a group of ladies who have been around the ballpark a time or two when it comes to blogging in order to put this one of a kind giveaway together. We all have some tips, tricks, advice, and guidance that we'd love to shell out in order to help you grow into the best blogger you can be. Whether this be through a Skype session, a back and forth email exchange, a blog critique, a Q&A session, a phone call, ~~a personal jet to pick you up for a private meeting~~, etc - we're covering all the bases. Ok but back to that personal jet thing... ;)

All you need to do to enter is check out the participating bloggers, see what awesome package they're offering as a prize, and get to entering the Rafflecopter. And the best part about this giveaway?

THERE WILL BE FIVE WINNERS!

Each randomly selected winner will be paired up with three of the participating bloggers as well as with me. Therefore each winner will receive four separate blog advice prizes! We're splitting up the prizes so that one winner isn't bombarded with sixteen different sets of opinions and sixteen different sets of ideas on advice. Because that might get a little chaotic and like they say..."nobody got time for that".

Are you as excited as we are? We hope so because we certainly are! Let's get this thing started shall we?

Without further adieu, here are the sixteen ladies who have teamed up to put together the "Blog Advice Giveaway".

Erin at Two Thirds Hazel

What you'll win: Each of the five winners will be able to email Erin at any point until the end of eternity (like farther than to infinity and beyond) to ask questions and seek advice.

Brandi at Mama Laughlin

Brandi is offering a phone call or email where you will receive tips from her

on how to grow your blog using the social media form of Pinterest.

Ashley at The Shine Project

You will receive a back and forth Q&A session with Ashley via email

providing you with the answers you've been looking for on anything blog related.

Mandy at House of Rose

Your blog will be reviewed by Mandy (and her husband!) via recorded screen capture video

and then they will offer tips on how you can improve.

Check out an example of this one of a kind opportunity here.

Erin at Living In Yellow

Erin is offering a one hour blogging consultation (done via video chat or phone call)

which will provide you with Q&A, tips and advice.

Whitney at I Wore Yoga Pants

Whitney will provide you with a back and forth Q&A session

giving you the answers you've been looking for on anything blog related.

Katie at Keep Calm & Carry On

"Prefer the phone? Let's chat! What about a fun Skype session? Sure!

Or a good ole email is fine by me too!

Sky is the limit. Well, I guess in this case-technology is.

I will take a thorough look at your blog and do my best to answer any questions!"

Raven at Don't Quote the Raven

You will receive a Q&A session via email.

Anything you ask, Raven will answer...in detail!

Aunie at Aunie Sauce

You will receive a Q&A email session with advice catered to your blog

providing you with a ton of advice and numerous tips to help you grow.

Taylor at The Daily Tay

Taylor will visit and review your blog, providing you with an email containing

advice customary to you and your blog.

Stephanie at Beautiful Mess

Receive a three-post editing session:

Pick three of your upcoming blog posts. Send your drafts to Stephanie for her to proofread,

edit and make suggestions as to how you can easily make your writing more personable,

appealing, humorous and overall, just more fun to read!

Shanna at Because Shanna Said So

Shanna will answer your top five questions whether this be anything from

sponsorships, social media, tips to grow and/or how to monetize your blog.

Niki at Glossy Blonde

Two weeks of email consulting during which Niki will answer any questions

you have about blogging and/or building your brand.

Chelsea at Olive and Ivy

An email with personalized advice and tips catered directly to your blog,

or a Skype session, or a back and forth Q&A session, etc. Whichever you prefer!

If you are unsure of what to ask a blog critique can also be given.

Jessica at Jessica Who

With Jessica you will receive a Q&A session via unlimited emails.
Yes, you read that right...unlimited!

Michelle at The Vintage Apple

You will receive a back and forth Q&A session with Michelle via email

providing you with the answers you've been looking for on anything blog related

so that you have the knowledge and tools to grow.

Now go enter your heart out!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

June 13, 2013

Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. - Gift Card Bouquet

Top o' the mornin' to ya, friends!

Today I bring to you a very simple gift idea for those who, well, just already kinda have everything you need so you never know what to get them for their birthday. AKA: my superwoman of a sister-in-law who just birthed triplets and is probably in SERIOUS need of some "me" (or "her?") time.

I present to you...the Gift card bouquet! AKA: a little bit of everything gift with MUCH better presentation than those stupid gift card envelopes.

Here's where I found my original inspiration:

Tools:

Flowers of some sort with equal amounts of gift cards. I chose gift cards I knew she would use on herself: Bath & Body Works, Chick-Fil-A, Marble Slab (the girl LOVES her some ice cream!), Panera and Starbucks.

I've seen people cut out flowers from that foam stuff or even cardstock but A) that was too much work and B) all that time and effort that went into cutting out the perfect flower would be dumped in la garbage. I decided to go with a functional flower buy using the flower hair clips from Hobby Lobby. I figure sissy-in-law gets the gift cards, new babies would get to wear the flowers and I didn't have to spend countless hours trying to cut out the most perfect little daisy. Win/win? Yethhhhh.

Oh ya. You'll also need a vase of some sort (this was a tall metal vase/planter from Hobby Lobby), sticks (also from Hobby Lobby), some type of moss, and ribbon of some sort to use as the leaves on the stem of your flower. (The ribbon pictured below ended up not working out so I used green tulle instead and I think it turned out much cuter.)

Okay! Now you're ready!

Step one. Clip and/or hot glue your flower to one of the sticks. We'll call this the "Flower Kabob".

Step two. Make 4 more flower kabobs, or until all your flowers are on their designated sticks.

Step three. Hot glue (or use glue dots, like I did) to stick your gift cards to the backs of your flower kabobs.

Step four. Place a fair amount of moss into the bottom of your vase. You'll want to use quite a bit to see that it will hold your flower kabobs in place.

Step five. Shove your little flowery beauties in there, make leaves on your stem by using ribbon (or green tulle, like I decided to use last minute), tie a ribbon around the top of the vase to give it some extra flair and voila!

Festive AND functional...yes?!

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You know what to do!

1. Link up using the linky tool below.

2. Link back to mine & Katie's blogs in your post so other people can know where to find the link up!

3. Paste our button (HTML code below) at the bottom of your post.

4. Visit & re-pin other blog images to get new inspiration and find new friends!

Come back and join us every Thursday for Saw it. Pinned it. Did it.

We promise we'll love you forever! ;)

June 12, 2013

Butts, Kindergarten & Chasing Mailmen

________

As the saying goes, the bigger, the better. Right?

Right.

Well...sometimes. Butts, thighs and pimples are three things I know are not, indeed, better when bigger.

Aaaaand...where was I going with this post?

Oh ya. A bigger AND better Lilly 2014 Lilly agenda is where I was going! 17 months of extra-jumbo goodness is what's about to ROCK your world.

The new Lilly Pulitzer 2014 Jumbo Agenda is huge...measuring 8.75 in x 11 in! Hello enough space for kindergarten bubble writers ~~like myself!~~ OH! And it's 17 months so for all you teachers out there, this one starts August of this year and goes allllll the way through December of 2014...which means you won't be needing another planner for, well, 17 months! Talk about great gifts, too! I've seen these given as bridesmaids gifts with all the important dates already filled out by the bride! So cute, huh?! Why didn't I ever think of that?!!

The ever-so-adorable new designs? Done.

Lucky Charms Pattern

You need yearly? Done.

You need monthly? Done.

You need weekly? Done.

(Not to mention bright & beautiful monthly tabs!)

You need horoscopes? Also done.

And what about a few extra pages for notes? That's right. Done and done.

I swear...Lilly went and pulled every incredible feature from every planner on the market and put it into one giant pad of awesomesauce. Oh-and made it adorable, too.

To get a full (and downright pretty flippin' amazing) virtual tour of the jumbo agendas,

you'll want to go here.

Though these aren't available just yet...I have a little inside scoop action I've been privied to share with you! (Shhh!) These babies are available for pre-order TODAY at Lifeguard Press ONLY and are expected to be delivered late June/early July! I've already pre-ordered mine and know I'll be chasing down the mailman every chance I get! ;) Poor guy.

Now go! Take a little peeksy and chase mailmen with me, too! ;)

June 11, 2013

The Best Things in Life Come in Threes

On June 7, 2013, we were blessed to welcome the Patterson girls into this world!
Meet my beautiful nieces!

To my little sweet peas:

My, my, my how you bring a whole new meaning to life! To see you in real life, outside of your mommy's tummy is without a doubt, the most incredible thing I've ever seen in my 27 years on this planet. To know that you were in her belly just a growin' away for more than 34 weeks and then to see you, in person, all snuggled up in your little bed, in your tiny, tiny hats, squirming around and making the sweetest of noises makes me feel ever so blessed to be your aunt! I've watched your mom and dad care for you since wayyyyy before they even knew you and I just know their love for you will only grow exponentially as the days go by. Your sister Rylie is the bestest, too. I just know she'll be giving you all the kisses you could ever want and who knows, maybe even a pony ride here and there! ;) Uncle Beau and I just adore you already. We can't wait to get you on a softball field (hehe!) and teach you how to throw, bat and run bases. We also can't wait to give you a little cousin to look after...the kind that doesn't have fur! But most of all, Samantha, Taylor and Mallory, we just can't wait to love you to pieces and watch you grow into beautiful young ladies!

Love always,

Aunt Steph

June 10, 2013

Just Call Me "Aunt Steph"

'Tis true...I'm an AUNT!

TIMES THREE!

While I'll be "introducing" the girls later on this week (maybe tomorrow?!) here's a little sneak peek of our weekend happenings!

Friday, June 7, 2013 around 7:00am, my sweet triplet nieces were preparing to make their grand entrance into this world!

Excited daddy

Proud Uncle Beau

Anxious Grandma

Beau's mom (above) made us these t-shirts for the triplet's birthday! Are they not adorable?! EVERYONE in the hospital knew who we were once we got there lol.

Right before they took momma back to the O.R.!

It goes without saying...Julie was SO ready to meet these girls!

Visiting our precious nieces for the first time in the NICU!

Momma Julie and baby girls are doing OUT-FREAKING-STANDING! Their health right now has amazed us ALL! I think I also speak for us all when I say we SO appreciate all the kind thoughts, prayers, comments, texts, tweets and emails hoping for a safe delivery of the girls. They worked more than you could ever know!

Next up...you'll get to meet the little sweet peas, NAMES and all! (Nobody knew their names this entire time until yesterday afternoon!)I'm so excited for you to meet them I can hardly stand it! If you follow me on Instagram, you already got a little sneak peek of these precious angel babes! ;) Just sayin...

June 6, 2013

Saw it. Pinned it. Did it. - Cilantro Garlic Hummus

Well, my friends, another Thursday is upon us and that can only mean 3 things...

1. Only one more day til Friday

2. Only ONE MORE SLEEP TIL I'M AN AUNT! (Yes! Tomorrow is THE day!!!)

3. It's time for Saw it. Pinned it. Did it!

Did you recreate a pin and blog about it?! Link up with us, wouldya?!

This week's inspiration came from this glorious photo below. As soon as I spotted the chickpeas, I knew it was meant to be. Y'all...my cravings for hummus have been worse than that of an 8 month pregnant woman craving a pound of froyo on a nightly basis. No lie. I'm almost ashamed to say I've been eating it off of a spoon every single day for going on several weeks now...

via

You know your addiction is bad when you start calculating the ways to make to MOST amount of hummus for the LEAST amount of money. Shoot...when you go through 3 tubs/week, that stuff adds up, y'all!

Alas...hummus addicts unite!

Ingredients:

2 cans chickpeas, drained (garbanzo beans)
1/2 C tahini
1/2 C olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cucumber, peeled & sliced
1/2 bunch cilantro
dash of pickle juice
1/2 tbsp garlic powder (I used MUCH more + fresh garlic)
pepper

Toss all your 'gredients into the blender (or Ninja) and blend well. Add water if needed. Tweak ingredients to meet your tastebud's likings. (I added extra garlic, garlic salt & pepper) Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy any way you like...on veggies, chips, crackers...or...straight off a spoon. ;)

*NOTE: this recipe made a TON! I didn't measure it but if I had to guess I'd say at least 2-3 cups! Lets just say my hummustooth will be satisfied for a while!

Stephanie tested. Husband approved.

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Your turn!