Life Lately: Christmas 2020

 Happy Monday everyone! 

Are you emerging from the holiday craziness too? I have been exhausted the last few days! There's something about preparing for the holidays and then watching how fast everything you prepared is over and done. I think about how much time we spend wrapping gifts for them to be torn open so quickly... it's a ton of work!!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and were able to enjoy some down time. I took off three days from work last week and that combined with Christmas Day and the weekend, gave me six whole days off and it was glorious! I didn't get any of the projects I wanted to done, but simply enjoyed some down time- it was so nice. Back to work today is definitely going to be difficult, but at least I still get to work from home!

I took limited pictures over the past week, but I thought I would share them with you anyways.

Sophie was looking very human-like the other day when I snapped this picture! We put bandanas on her almost every day last week and she looked so adorable in them. 

Here she is on Christmas morning. It was pouring rain here on Christmas Day and of course she got soaked! 

This year we were lucky enough to see both of our immediate families. On Christmas Eve we stopped by to visit my mom and dad then we headed to Tims dads house to see his parents and siblings. Christmas morning we stayed home and celebrated as family of three, then headed to my parents house to do gifts with them, my brother and my brothers girlfriend Marie.  We had Christmas Day dinner with Tims parents and siblings. 

My parents have been super careful and haven't interacted with many people and my brother works with my dad so they all see each other daily. I am still working from home and Tim is off for the winter so we were all pretty safe. Almost all of Tims family has already had covid (the exception being us, his dad, one of his brothers and his girlfriend) so we felt safe being around them knowing they couldn't carry it (as far as we know!).

Sophie loved cuddling all our family members. Here she is cuddling Marie on Christmas Day.

She was exhausted by the end of the day, but loving her cuddles from Dan and Nicole. 

Also loving belly rubs from Matt!

Sophie also loved spending time with her cousins (Kai- my brothers dog and Attie- Tims sisters dog)

Here she is with her cousin Attie on Christmas Day:

Attie doesn't want much to do with Sophie, but that's okay! They both looked super cute in their new bandanas!

Have you guys cleaned up Christmas yet? I have everything ready to be taken down into the basement but really want to make some labels with my new Cricut, so I'm holding off on having Tim bring them down. 

I also might need some more bins....When I took this picture I hadn't taken down any of the garland in the kitchen yet and that almost needs an entire bin to itself. Plus I haven't hit up the after Christmas sales yet, so there may be more decor entering our home!

I purchased this unsolved case files game on a whim for Tim this Christmas and we played on Saturday night. It was definitely a play it once and can never play it again type of game but we had a fun time! It took us a couple of hours to read through all the files, finish our objectives and solve the mystery. I would definitely recommend them if you are into this sort of thing. We will be passing it on to friends that we know like doing this sort of activity!

I didn't do a good job of taking family pictures, I definitely need to be better about that in the future.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and are ready to head into 2021!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to every single one of you who takes the time to read my blog. I see you and I appreciate it more than you'll ever know. 

I hope that you are able to enjoy this holiday season this year and are able to spend time with loved ones, whether virtually or in person. Be safe, stay healthy, and I will see you on Monday with a new post.

 

Under Bathroom Sink Organization Project

Happy Christmas Week!!

I can't believe it's the week of Christmas- this month has flown by! Today I just want to share a quick organizing project I did recently. Under our bathroom sink has looked like this since we moved in:

A total disaster. I literally would just toss products in here because there was no place for them to stand upright. I had no idea what was in the back and it was just a nightmare trying to find anything.

So I did what I always recommend everyone to do- pull everything out, organize into categories and put everything back in! Remember it always gets worse before it gets better. 

I picked up two new organizing products from The Container Store to help me organize.

The first is the Silver 2 drawer mesh organizer which is a reasonably priced container at $25. I feel like sometimes organizing products can get a little ridiculous, but $25 doesn't seem bad for the amount of products it holds!

The second product is the iDesign Linus Deep Turntable  which I think is another reasonable product, the large one I got is $19. I decided to use this to store all my cleaning supplies.

The only other product I used was a basket that I bought at Target years ago. Everything fit back in the cupboard neatly and having just a few places to corral products truly made a huge difference! 

It's definitely not "pinterest worthy" but not every organization project has to be about that. Most of the time you simply need to be able to organize in order to make your life easier! Every day I benefit from this project and I'm so glad I finally completed it!

Guys, I have so many projects (organizing/cleaning/redecorating/renovating) that I want to complete in the near future, so make sure you stick around!!

Have a great day!!

 

DIY Homemade Bath Bombs

 

I've been dying to make bath bombs for years and this weekend I finally got the motivation to get it done. If you've never made homemade bath bombs before it's not a hard process at all, but definitely does require a little bit of planning.

Here is everything I needed for this batch of bath bombs (made 4 for me, but if I hadn't spilled some of my ingredients I might've been able to get 5 out of this)

Ingredients

• 1 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup citric acid
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 3/4 cup epsom salt
• 20 drops essential oil (I used peppermint)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• coloring pigment
• bath bomb mold

some notes on the ingredients....

1. Citric acid took me forever to find in Walmart. Turns out it is in the canning section with the glass canning jars. I hope you manage to find it faster than I did!
2. I purchased my coloring pigment here. Mine is specifically made for making soaps and things like that. I like that this kit came with quite a few colors, but I used almost the entire pink bottle to make these few bath bombs, so I might look for a larger kit in the future. 
3. Here is the bath bomb mold I purchased. This is a set of two which would be great if you are making more than one color/scent and don't want to wash in between. Also, super cheap which I appreciate. 
4. I did not melt my coconut oil, but I would recommend that you do. It will definitely combine easier and that makes the whole process go smoothly. 
5. I did add a little bit of water to my mixture because it wasn't sticking together easily. I think if I had melted my coconut oil I wouldn't have needed to use water, but if you are struggling definitely add a little water.

Directions

1. In a large bowl (I used a metal bowl, but I'm not sure that it matters), mix baking soda, citric acid, corn starch and epsom salt. Be VERY careful with the citric acid.  It does react and rise up and it is awful when it gets up your nose. 
2. After combining dry ingredients, carefully add your essential oils, coconut oil and coloring pigment.
3. Once everything is combined well you can begin scooping into the mold. 
4. Make sure you pack the mold really tight. Really push the mixture down into it. Pack each side tightly and overfill each side so you can connect them together. 
5. Once both sides are overflowing, push them together. Push really hard. When you think that you've pushed long enough, push some more. Then twist and pull one side of the mold off and carefully remove the bath bomb.
6. Leave out for 24 hours before using to dry!

This time I made peppermint bath bombs, but I am looking forward to using different oils in the future. I foresee myself making lavender bath bombs soon, and would love to make more seasonal ones as gifts for friends and family!

I want to try to make some body scrub next and I could definitely see myself making lotions and candles as well. What are some of your favorite DIY recipes?

Holiday Gift Guide 2020

Hey everyone! Today I thought I would share some ideas for this holiday gifting season!

We've been doing a ton of Christmas shopping around here and I think I'm finally done. My husband has a bit left to do and I do need to wrap a few things but I'm done ordering online and shopping in store. More than ever this year I ordered the majority of my gifts online since it's been so hard to shop in person but we did make an effort to shop small and local in order to support some of our favorite local shops. I'll be highlighting those here for anyone who is in the Rhode Island area, but also sharing links for online items if you are looking to shop from home this year.

Dog Dad

Are you married to a dog dad? Well here are some items he might like.

How adorable are those socks?! I ordered these socks for Tim for his birthday but ended up giving them to him within five minutes of opening the package up. Pupsocks are super customizable, you upload a picture you want to feature and pick the sock color as well. Tim has given them great reviews which is saying a lot since he is a sock connoisseur. I think they are absolutely adorable and I love how sweet Sophie's little face looks on the socks. You can check out their website here.

Doodle Dad T-shirt- If you also have a doodle dad in your house, this shirt is super cute! I gave this to Tim for fathers day and he wears it all the time.

Doodle Dad Coffee Mug- Also a big hit in our house- so much so that the first one broke and another has been ordered as a Christmas gift (shhh!)

You can also find a ton of personalized dog items on Etsy. I've seen t-shirts, ornaments, paintings, mugs...definitely a great place to get something personalized for your family.

Books

So many great books have come out recently and I have quite a TBR (to be read) list. Here are some of the books I think would make a great gift this holiday season

A Promised Land- Barak Obama

Postscript- Cecila Ahern

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City)- Sarah J. Maas

One Day in December- Josie Silver

The Home Edit- Clea Shearer

The Home Edit Life- Clea Shearer

Throne of Glass series- Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thrones and Roses series- Sarah J. Maas

The Rest of the Story- Sarah Dessen

Open Book- Jessica Simpson

Christmas Shopaholic- Sophie Kinsella

A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes- Suzanne Collins

Midnight Sun- Stephenie Meyer

The Return- Nicholas Sparks

Make Life Beautiful- Shea and Syd McGee

Obviously all these recommendations are for adults or young adults. Since I don't have kids I don't have any specific book recommendations for children however I know when I was a kid I loved to read and was so happy to get a gift certificate to the book store so I could go pick out a book I wanted to read! If you have any kids in your life who haven't been introduced to Harry Potter yet, it might be a good time to start!

House Stuff

This year we have purchased so many items for our home that we did not have previously in an apartment. If you know someone who has just purchased a home you can never go wrong with a Home Depot gift card. However, if you want to make sure the person you are gifting to has a physical present under the tree here are some things we love in our home or are looking to purchase someday.

Bamboo Sheets- These sheets are so soft! Everyone loves a good set of sheets, and these are so affordable.

Coffee Organizer- Great for anyone with a Keurig!

Power Washer- This was my birthday gift to myself and it works great. I highly recommend it.

Portable Carpet Cleaner- I clean my couch with this little machine and it picks up so much dirt. 

Dyson Cordless Vacuum- Need a big gift? You can never go wrong with a cordless Dyson vacuum!!

Home Painting- These home watercolors are beautiful! I know anyone who just purchased a home would love to have one of these.

For Your Puppy

Obsessed with your dog too? Here are a few items you can put in your pups stocking this year.

KONG Wobbler- We picked this up for Sophie in the spring and use it all the time! It's great for keeping her busy and also giving her some treats!

Dog Treat Molds- Interested in making homemade dog treats? I know your dog would enjoy them!

Biosilk- For anyone with a long haired dog...this is a lifesaver!!

Cheese Chews- These are a great treat for dogs because it takes them awhile to get through them. We pick these up at our local pet store Fetch RI (linked for you) and we always feel great about supporting this small, local, woman owned business!

Earth Animal No-Hide Chews- Sophie loves these in every flavor and we get them all the time. Great chews for a once in awhile treat.

Barkbox- We are obsessed with getting Barkbox each month. You would think the excitement level would go down after a year but it hasn't at all. Every month the toys are high quality and Sophie truly plays with all of them. We have lost very few over the last year so we just keep collecting them. 

Neighbors/ Co-Workers/ Secret Santa/ Yankee Swap

It's so hard to buy gifts for people when you don't really know them well or in a yankee swap situation where you don't even know who will get them! Here are some ideas that are simple but also are loved by (almost) everyone. 

Candles- I personally can't get enough candles! My favorites for this season are from Bath and Body Works and are Tis The Season and Marshmallow Fireside. Both are a great winter scent that aren't too strong so they make a great gift. Bath and Body Works candles have great scent throw and often are on sale so you can really get a bang for your buck.

Chocolates-  I know everyone thinks their local chocolate shop is the best, but ours truly is! I absolutely adore Sweenor's Chocolates and you will too! They have many of their products online so you can order from anywhere but if you are local to RI you can stop in their shop in either Wakefield or Cranston to witness the best smelling shop you've ever been inside!

Simple Pleasures in Charlestown- One of the best shops in Charlestown Rhode Island! Unfortunately you do have to be local to purchase from here but they have the cutest items around! There are many "beachy" items but they also sell clothing and jewelry. It's a wonderful store to poke around and so many great gifts to be found.

Blankets- I don't have a link for this item but I think everyone appreciates a really nice blanket. I received one from Marshalls as a birthday gift this year and it's so soft and lovely. I don't think you can go wrong with anything that makes you cozy!

Soft Socks- Speaking of cozy...these are the best soft socks! The aloe really makes them so comfortable and once you use these you will never find any other socks as soft again.

Puzzles- During 2020 is anything more appropriate than puzzles? These Thomas Kinkade ones look like a great option for any Disney lover!

What great gifts are you buying this year? I would love to know!