Holiday Time=Entertaining time!

Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There's no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.

Hi BADD girls and guys! I'm so delighted to come to you today with a new blog post! August of this year until now has been a compete whirlwind! Now that we are in the hustle bustle time of the holiday season, I wanted to take a moment and write about one of my favorite things about this time year. Okay maybe two. The first being spending time with friends and loved ones. The other is the BAKING! Oh the glorious BAKING. Halloween until January is just the best/worst time of year for getting your grub on. When I combine that with hanging with my besties....it's a definite winning combination!

I recently attended my first cookie exchange of the year, and it was FAB! We had about 9 girls who all made homemade goodies to swap. I made Christmas Crack aka the most addicting chocolate bark in existence :)

I came home with a plate of some of the most scrumptious treats and I only had to make one! Cookie exchanges are the BOMB! The best part was we all sat around sipping cider and just chatting about our families, our future plans, and just enjoying the morning. It really was sweet. Pun totally intended :)

What are some of your favorite things to do this time of year? Do you and your cronies do anything unusual or unique? A cousin of mine goes with her friends to a "Christmas Idea House" in Arizona where you go to a fully decorated MANSION and shop for holiday decor. I could just imagine me hauling off an entire mantle display..because I so totally would and not give a rip about what anyone said about me! Ha!

I would la la LOVE to hear what you enjoy doing this time of year! Leave a comment below and give me the deets!

Happy holidays to you and yours!

xoxo-

Remember to check out Duncan Hines' website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

World's BEST waffles {waffle lady}

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Now that I'm in "the club" with a school aged child, breakfast is a hurried event with us trying to get out the door and to school on time. I have made an effort to try and pump my boy with good nutrition to start his day, but what do you know, his entree of choice is WAFFLES! How in the heck am I supposed to get goodness in my lil man when his plate is drenched in Mrs. Butterworths?! Ugh. 

Enter my friend Amanda of Crazy Moms Everywhere, and BOOM, my sticky syrupy situation has been made oh so much better! Amanda has stumbled upon the Waffle Lady, who is a mom with a fun story and an intense desire to make natural and organic waffle and packcake mixes for her and hers as well as some other TOTALLY SCRUMPTIOUS products. Waffle wonder woman sent me a box of chocolate chip waffle mix, a box of gingerbread waffle mix, and her sunflower granola. OH MY STARS! Talk about the most delicious homemade mix I have EVER tasted. It was simply tasty. I wish I had like 867 more boxes of mix because I could almost eat it out of the bowl. My kids were in heaven, and the hubbs gave them a two thumbs up as well.  For those of you who know me personally, you know that food is pretty much the number one source of my motivation for everything. I would never in a million years recommend something that I would not think was pretty awesome. And this my BADD girls, is definitely awesome!

If you would like to enter to WIN a box of Waffle Lady's California whole wheat waffle mix as well as a cup of her daily oats, leave a comment and contact e-mail on this post stating what your fam likes to nosh on at breakfast time, or hop on over to Amanda's blog here, and leave a comment to win!

Your taste buds will NOT be sad...just really really glad :)

Sending fluffy pancake hugs and sticky syrup kisses ;)

Hello BADD....how are ya?

Well well well...it is about DANG time that BADD got some love! I have been a little stressed/crazy/busy/frazzled/enjoying summer/vacationing and putting my first born in KINDERGARTEN *gasp*. I'm totally feeling like I'm a part of some new mom club now that I have a school aged child. It's pretty awesome actually! I didn't even cry all that much either! 

So now that my life has some sort of structure to it, I would like to announce what my plans are for the next little bit here on BADD, and in my crafty life in general. Remember the to do list post from awhile back? Yeah. Me too. It's time to whip it out (again) and get busy!

-The original idea for BADD was to have a daily digest of our favorite posts of the day sprinkled with our own projects/parties/etc. I'm working out a schedule to scour my google reader and deliver the best to you. for reals. It might not be daily at first, but it's gonna happen. 

- My computer that is used for cutting vinyl took a big fat vacation, but my totally smokin hot and rad husband saved the day and resurrected it...which means fall crafts and vinyl! Hollatchagurl! I'm so thrilled about this since this little snafu was what was making me absolutely BONKERS! Feels good to be back. Thank you hubbs!

-I'm looking to have a few giveaways this fall! Could be vinyl by yours truly, and hopefully some other totally sweet items that you'll want to win super badly!

- I received some AMAZING waffle mix in the mail and I cannot WAIT to post about it. Seriously delish! Stay tuned for that one!

I think that's about all this girl can take on right now. :)

Hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Silly kid photos sponsored by Plum Organics

Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about fun kid photos and the stories behind them. Enter Plum's "Babies for Yum Caption Contest" on Facebook and you could win a $100 gift card or Plum goodies.

My kids crack me up sometimes. I've really been trying to find "joy" in the moment and just take in this stage of life, because I know i'm going to blink and it's gonna be gone. I try to capture the everyday moments, and most of my kids lives are in an album on my iPhone. I'm sure I would miss lots if my phone didn't have a camera on it. I just love technology! Last week the kids got dressed and their outfits sort of coordinated, so naturally I seized the opportunity to  TRY and get a good picture of them. the word TRY is key here. It just seems absolutely positively IMPOSSIBLE to get a decent picture, with two clean smiling faces looking straight at the lens. I sure hope this "phase" passes, because sometimes it drives me bonkers! Here's an example of what I am talking about....

It's usually Aiden, the older one, too! Why is it so hard to just look at the camera? Every time I look at this image I cant help but laugh. It's so "classic Aiden." Averie, my daughter, knows how to ham it up pretty well, and kind of LOVES looking at snapshots of herself. She definitely gets the "ultra vain" award from this group!

Although it's not a framer, this picture is perfect in its imperfection. It captures their personalities in the best way. It's where they're at, and it's who they are at this stage of life. I love them dearly!

I'm so grateful to be the mother of these two. For it's them who fuel my creativity, my desire to be better, and to try new things. I know I'm the one home with them teaching them all the things about life, but they are the ones teaching me. Do you have a photo of your little ones that just captures their silliness perfectly? I would love to see it! Email us your photo and you could be featured in our crazy kids post once school starts!

xoxo-

  

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Juicy Deal in San Antonio!

Good morning! I am very excited to tell you about the juicy deal today from Juice in the City! When it comes to my eyebrows and my bikini line, wax is where it's at for me. Shaving is such a pain, I almost ALWAYS have horrible razor burn and rashes. I feel like ever so often I need a reshape of my brows too, so today's deal is PERFECT and a GREAT deal!

It's $30 for $65 worth of WAXING! Hooray!! Time to feel smooth and gorgeous in your swimsuit! Here's the link..

$30 for $65 Worth of Waxing at Skincare by Claudia

I know there there are BADD followers from all over the place, so I highly encourage you to check out Juice in the city and see if it's in your town! If they haven't reached you yet, send them an e-mail and let them know that you are ready for the Juice!

Have a great Thursday! Oh and in other news...down TWO POUNDS. Yes!

xoxo-

                                                                                Daily Deals on Juice in the City

Time for a change

via

There comes a time in one's life where one might be just itchin' to change SOMETHING. It could be the bedding in your bedroom, a clean out of your cabinets under your sinks, getting your yard pretty, de-cluttering, etc. For me the time has come. I need to get on some serious de-cluttering...of the junk in my body. Getting out of the shower is just not very pretty lately, and I feel like nobody but me should ever have to see the TOO MUCH junk in MY trunk. Straight ewww. Now, I'm not a big person by any means, but I am the heaviest I've ever been, and my clothes aren't comfy and I just don't feel "cute" anymore. So, yesterday I turned over a new leaf, and started getting myself off the sugar. Sugar and I have a definite love hate relationship. I'm COMPLETELY addicted and can't stop eating it. Like ever. That is the one place in my life where I have absolutely NO self control. Not to mention BAKING is one of my most favorite things to do. I look forward to Mondays simply because BADD has a Monday Munchies post, and the recipes are tried and true and absolutely FABTASTIC. Notice there was NOT a munchie post this week, I've been way to focused on my new eating plan. Wanna hear it? Great! I love to share!

I am basically eating a low carb diet all day and drinking TONS of water. For dinner, I eat a normal meal that everyone can enjoy and I even have my dessert right after. The trick is right after and then STOP. I give myself about 30 minutes to do this. The meal with high carbs/sugar has to be consumed consecutively, none of this "oh let's have brownies 30 minutes after you eat your entree." I'm trying to keep my blood sugar level at a steady level, but only letting it spike ONCE a day. And guess what? It's working!! I've shed a pound and a half and feel pretty good!

Here's an example of my day's food.

Breakfast-

2 egg omelette with veggies (red and green bell pepper) and a little low fat cheese

bottle of water

Snack-

cucumber slices lightly drizzled in ranch

crack open a new bottle of water

Lunch-

can of albacore tuna mixed with 1tsp mayo and mustard to taste

small glass of coke zero 

Snack-

baggie of baby carrots  

H2O

Dinner-

Buffalo chicken thin crust pizza

fresh dark cherries

scoop of ice cream

handful of M&Ms

small green salad ( I bagged the salad..I was veggied out)

H2O with a crystal light packet

I thought it was gonna be horrible...but I survived! I just kept telling myself, you can have it LATER tonight when you eat dinner!

I am so not a dieter, I always focus on what I can't have, and I fail miserably. So I'm thinking this little plan might work because I DO get my sugar fix, and I can adjust it to my needs. For example, if I have a baby shower or similar event, I can have my "power hour" at a different time where I eat my cake and treats and still be on track with my goals. Win win for this girl. The best part? Monday Munchies can go on without guilt! ;)

I'd ideally like to lose 15 pounds, but more importantly get rid of my addiction to sugar/breads. I'll post an update once a week and chat for a minute about my progress. Does anyone else want to join in? I'm ALL about a buddy or two to do this with me!

Here's to less junk in the trunk and kicking the sugar habit, (except for that one GLORIOUS time of day)!

xoxo-

My First Handmade Gift Exchange!

In June I participated in Craftaholics Anonymous' bi annual handmade gift exchange. I had a darling partner that is quite the seamstress!!! I was elated, because without my friend Kristen, I can't sew crap. Seriously. It's sad. Anyway, after a few emails, we both got ideas and got to work. My oh my was I PUMPED to receive my gift. It's like this girl has known me for years!

Here's what came in the mail...

This ADORBS little organizer for my shopping lists/coupons/Costco card etc. 

This AWESOMELY sewn apron just for me. She must have known I bake apronless :) Not anymore!!!

I designed and sent her this tile with one of my favorite sayings along with a few other personalized vinyl items for her home.

I had a great partner! Thanks Amber for my awesome gifts! I highly recommend this gift exchange! The next one comes in the fall, just in time for the holidays!

xoxo-

The to do list

My to do list is ever ending. I thought if I shared it with you maybe it would motivate me to get the job done! There's nothing like going the extra step to try and make yourself accountable...riiiiight? This is what's on my list.

Figure out what to put on these to make them awesome sauce in Averie's room..

After Friday I can finally stain and hookup this table in my entry...

I need to tweak my Etsy shop a bit...okay a LOT.

I need to vacuum, dust, windex, bleach, and scrub EVERYTHING in my house.

I need to grocery shop

Make something YUMMY for a church activity Thursday

Design vinyl for Aiden's room

Get an oil change in Jon's car

Organize my pantry (again)

Laundry. yikes.

Refill prescriptions

Keep Averie from killing herself (this is constant)

Finish organizing the guest bedroom. DOUBLE yikes.

Start planning Averie's 2nd birthday

Find Jon a rad tie for our semi formal event on July 23rd

Now that I'm typing this out it all seems a bit silly that I stress about this stuff!

What's on your to do list?

xoxo-

{Monday Munchies} Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Alright. I know everyone usually has their favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I love my mom's recipe. I use it time and time again. I was having this wild hair for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and tried a recipe on the back of the raisins....LAME. They were hard, thin, and kinda bad. I was ashamed to say that I made them. Which means the were really. really. bad. So I went on a little quest to find a recipe. I asked a dear friend on Facebook if she would send the recipe that is taped to the inside of her mom's cabinet (that's how you KNOW they are awesome), and another dear friend piped in and said she would share hers. Isn't that sweet? She sent it to me yesterday and I took out the butter to soften almost immediately. I finished them up yesterday evening and HOLY COW are they amazing. Like seriously THE BOMB. Definitely worthy of being taped to the inside of my cabinet! I think the secret is blending the oatmeal until it's very very fine, almost powder. I've never done that before but I hear that the Nieman Marcus recipe does the same thing. No wonder these are delicious!

Here's the recipe courtesy of my girl Michelle:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Recipe may be halved):

2 cups butter
4 cups flour 

2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal and blend in blender to a fine powder) 

24 oz. chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli milk chocolate)

1 tsp. salt 


4 eggs 

2 tsp. baking powder 

2 tsp. vanilla
Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.. Have Fun!!!



Thanks for sharing these Michelle! You are a dear and my butt and thighs appreciate it!

Happy Mucnching BADD girls!

xoxo-

PS- Click here to see where these babies are linked up!

Share your JOY! with High Heels 2 Flip Flops

A girl that I just recently reconnected with, Christy at High Heels to Flip Flops, has the sweetest linky on Saturdays. It has nothing to do with your projects, just a day to share something that brought you JOY during the week. Such a simple but beautiful concept. Sometimes I find myself in such a hurry, and not taking a moment to just sit and reflect on this beautiful life that I've been blessed with. Everyday is NOT perfect, and I definitely have my share of "crap" that I battle. However, the big picture I call my life is incredibly sweet. I feel like the luckiest woman on the EARTH to be Mrs. Brown. I feel wanted, loved, needed and cherished everyday, and I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful that makes me feel. I have two ridiculously gorgeous children that I get to stay home and raise. I've always wanted to be a mom, and I feel lucky to be blessed with such sweet kids. Their innocence is beautiful, and although I feel like screaming and pulling my hair out some days (which I totally do), I'm grateful for the whole parenting experience. I've learned to find JOY in it, and not to be too hard on myself. I'm far from perfect, but my attitude and how I view our life can bring much joy.

One of things that has brought me joy this week is Averie. I'm laughing as I type this because on Wednesday she was NOT joyful in any way shape or form! I took on the most dreaded task of potty training. Yuck. To say I'd pay big money to have someone do this for me would be an understatement. I HATE. IT. I practically had an anxiety attack and was about to cry putting my bathroom rugs in the washer almost immediately after starting, but we pressed on. She's been doing great, and to see the JOY on her face when it finally clicked for her, made every mess worth it. She made her mama so PROUD!

So to put it simply, my JOYful moment of the week was rewarding Averie on a job very well done! She's on her way to being a big girl! Here's a snapshot of her with her giant marshmallow for her reward..



What has brought you joy that you would like to share? Christy's linky runs on Saturday thru Sunday night. I'm on my way to link up now :) Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

xoxo-

Corky Monogram Initials

I have a trifle bowl on my island that is slowly filling up with corks. I have plans to make a "real" cork board once it's full, but it's taking me FOREVER to get enough. Luckily my dear friend Jacqui donated some to my stash, but I have TONS more to go. However, Lauren (the other LB) at the Elephant's Trunk made the most ADORABLE cork initials for her new home, and I absolutely love them! Do you have any idea how sweet and talented this girl is?? She's got her super fun blog, AND her Etsy Shop filled with things that scream "I could see this in my life right now!" She does some custom canvasses as well. I happen to have an idea for my kid's bathroom! Lauren is just beautiful inside and out, and I had to share these with you all today. Click here to see her super easy tutorial :)

What are some of your corky ideas??

xoxo-

Happy 4th of July!

Today is one of my favorite holidays! I love our country so dearly and am proud that my husband has chosen a noble career path by serving our country in the US Army. Military life is sometimes difficult, but it's days like today that remind us that it is oh so worth it. (I'm sure Sara would agree ;)) A BIG thank you to our founding fathers, who saw a vision of freedom and fought so bravely to protect it. And to all who have served, are serving, and will serve this great nation, I thank you. From the bottom of my heart. It is such a PRIVILEGE to live in such an amazing place. I know I'm immensely blessed to call myself an American. Happy Birthday USA!

Juicy Deal in San Antonio

It's too hot to cook around these parts! I stumbled upon yet another AWESOME deal through Juice in the City, the most rad deal site ran by moms, for moms and families! My favorite thing about Juice is that you can be sure that every deal they offer has been tried and comes highly recommended. This makes me very happy, because to me, a deal isn't a deal if the product is lame-o. I have a feeling some of you might agree :)

So here she is, a GREAT and TASTY and you didn't have to turn on your oven kind of deal!

$10 for $20 Worth of Gourmet Pizza & Greek Food at Rome's Pizza

Snatch it up while you can!! And may you all have a GREAT FOURTH!

Daily Deals on Juice in the City

I won a Giveaway!

Hooray! I won my first giveaway last week on Whipperberry! I couldn't believe what I was reading! Whipperberry is one of my most favorite blogs on the planet, and to be featured there AND win a giveaway sent me straight to blog heaven. Would you like to know what I have won? I'm super excited to show you...

I was the LUCKY winner of a $30 credit to the shop Charmingly Chic Boutique! Seriously? $30 bones to spend on handmade AWESOME jewelry that I normally wouldn't buy myself because I'm obsessed with dressing my 2 kids and shopping at Target? YES PLEASE! I was so tickled pink it was borderline ridiculous. Lori is the owner of this darling shop, and she was such a delight to work with. I received my packages fast too! Yippee skippee! Here's what I chose...

It was time. Time to jump on the Keep Calm and Carry On train, although I'm a little tardy to the party :) I'm so in love with this one! I want to wear it everyday!

The other choice was a vintage rose getup, which I adorned yesterday and got LOTS of compliments...totally made up for my lack of mascara ;)

Simple. Fun. Well made. Just like I like the stuff in my life. Charmingly Chic has LOTS of items in their shop and are totally reasonably priced...and it looks like the CC blog *might* be having a SALE! Check em out today! I doubt you'll leave without wanting 42 things in your jewelry box stat!

Of other totally NON RELATED news...I was out watering the front yard last night and my little man stepped on a WASP NEST. He was stung THREE times by those suckers and screamed like his hand was being cut off. It was rather horrible. My husband saved the day by removing the stinger out of Aiden's nose with nothing but a butter knife. My hero. ;) Little man had a pretty good reaction and it looks like he's gonna make it. The joys of parenting, and yard work, never cease to amaze me!

Have a great Wednesday! 

xoxo-

{Monday Munchies} Brownie Covered Oreos

Today's recipe is SO EASY and FAST and UBER DELICIOSO! However I do have an announcement...I have to start doing more features of OTHER PEOPLE'S recipes on Mondays as opposed to me making stuff to feature. My kitchen is FULL OF TREATS and we just can't eat them all! Aiden wanted to put off the zoo today so we could make chocolate chip cookies, and I swear that's the last big batch of flour, sugar, and fat this body can handle for awhile. Mind you, my brain is saying "bring it on" but good gracious is the scale deciding to be mean lately ;)

However, don't let my scale deter you from these heavenly little suckers. They are most RAD, kind of different and like I mentioned above, fast. I found this recipe from the master of stuffing cookies and other concoctions, Jenny from Picky Palate. I'm sure most BADD readers have heard of her and if you have not, go there NOW! I'll wait.......

Amazing right? The original recipe can be found here, but I'm going to post my directions below.

Here's your lineup of ingredients..just pretend there are some rainbow sprinkles next to the brownie box.

Bust out your brownie mix according to box directions...

Throw an oreo in the batter and get it covered...

Plop them in a greased muffin pan and top with sprinkles, nonpareils, or leave em plain. You could always frost them and add other toppings later..I did a row of sprinkles, nonpareils, and a plain row. The sprinkles baked the best, FYI.

Bake until done, just a tad under what the box says for regular brownies.

Let em cool in the pan for a few minutes and then use a fork or spoon to get them out and rest on your cooling rack.

Enjoy...and I bet you a buck you can't stop at one...or seven :)

Happy Munching!

xoxo-

PS- CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE WE LINKED UP!

{Monday Munchies} on WEDNESDAY! Mama Slater's Cinnamon Rolls

::WARNING::

Stupid Blogger will not let me upload any images today...blah...so you'll have to look at this post to see what these puppies look like..

UPDATE: We are starting to be on the mend....Averie looked like she was getting the gunk that's been floating around our house...but I think it's gonna pass her! Yeehaw!!! Aiden is doing a bit better and I'm MAKING MYSELF share this recipe today! I must not procrastinate! I do that with so many other things, BADD must not suffer! 

This recipe was given to me by the daughter of "Mama Slater," who so kindly shared it with me. I wanted to have a handful of new recipes ready when my husband came back for his R&R from Iraq last May. These were a hit and I've been making them pretty consistently ever since. 

I apologize up front for not having tons of pictures to show, I just took one with my iPhone before they were rising for the oven. Without further ado, here they are!

Mama Slater's Cinnamon Rolls 

Dough:  2c. hot water

1/3c. sugar

1T. salt

3/4 square margarine or butter

2 eggs

2 T. instant yeast (or two envelopes)

6-7 c. flour ( I end up with 6 cups)

1/2c. instant powdered milk 

Put hot water and margarine into the bowl to let it melt. Add the powdered milk, sugar, salt,  and 2 1/2 cups of the flour and mix together.(using the paddle attachment on your mixer)  then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each one completely. Then add 1 cup of flour and while it is mixing slowly sprinkle the yeast into the dough. Then add the rest of the flour. (i usually end up only using about 6 cups) You don't want to add too much flour, as you want this dough to be a little sticky. After about 5 1/2 cups I take a knife and scrape the sides  to check the consistency.  When the dough is done mixing, use a spatula to scrape down the sides and mix in any flour that is left on the sides. This particular dough needs to rise twice in the mixing bowl. it will double in size. I just use the spatula to punch it down. after the second time, dump it out on to a floured surface ( i use a cheesecloth or something like that and put flour on it and fold the sides of the towel over the dough to cover it with flour) roll it out into a rectangle shape about 1/4 inch thick. spread melted butter on the dough and sprinkle regular sugar (about 1/2 cup), brown sugar, and cinnamon. you can use as much or as little as you want. i use a lot! but i never measure it... sorry! I sometimes sprinkle some chopped pecans or walnuts if you want to do that. Roll up the dough keeping it tight so all the filling doesnt fall out. cut about an inch thick and put on a buttered jelly roll pan. i can usually fit 4 across, 5 down on the pan. cover with a towel and let rise one more time. bake on 350 for about 18 minutes?? I usually just check them when i can start to smell it. They should be golden brown. You can make make the cream cheese frosting while they are baking. When they come out of the oven let cool for a few minutes and then frost them!

cream cheese frosting:  8oz. cream cheese, softened

   1 cube butter, softened

    1 lb. powdered sugar

    1 tsp. vanilla

I've apparently been on a bread kick as of late. However these will NOT disappoint! We love em and I hope you will too!!

{Monday Munchies} Procrastination style

Happy Monday! What I should be saying is...cough cough sniff...sniff blow cough...Monday really isn't too happy at our place, we are all feeling quite YUCKY! All of us except for the baby...let's hope she doesn't get the gunk we all have, that would be no fun for this mama. :(

The Monday Munchie this week is my favorite cinnamon roll recipe that I made for Jon as part of his Father's Day present, they're his favorite! However, since I've got a fever and have a sick boy to tend to, this post just might not make it today...I apologize. Here's a sneek peek of these babies just after cutting and placing them in their pan for the oven..

These might be worth checking back for later today or tomorrow! Hope everyone else is healthy and happy!!

xoxo-

{ETSY LOVE} Jackie @ Classy Clever Chic

Woo hoo for Friday!!! I had a CRAZYYYYYY day yesterday and I was just so HOT and TIRED! I ran my kids ragged and blasted the A/C in the car whenever I could. Texas heat is a beast I tell ya. On my way to my last stop I checked our mailbox at the house and found a prize! Yes! It was the totally sweet necklace I ordered from Classy Clever Chic on Etsy. It's so dang cute, and I immediately forgot how hot and tired I was and put it on immediately. Here she is, and she was quite reasonable I must add...

I have this silly obsession with birds right now. AND the fact that I am a mommy to two little ones just made this necklace seem perfect for my neck. I highly recommend checking out Classy Clever Chic and doing a little browsing. Nothing is too outrageously priced, and everything seems to make a statement without taking over the universe. Jackie was a delight to deal with and I got my treat very quickly with a cute little note inside. Totally made my hot sweaty drag the babies all over the dang place day that much better. If you're reading this Jackie, THANK YOU so very much (again) for being awesome and oh so talented. 

Here's a couple of other items that are worth checking out..

Love? I thought so. :) Have a great weekend everyone! Jon and I are going to a little taco truck competition downtown. I'm so pumped. Food served from trucks is one thing that I love trying out!

Unleash the inner Drama Queen {juice in the city}

There's a fun juice deal today that I really want to share! In case you are new to the BADD blog... Juice in the City is a daily deal site that features deals that are tried and true by moms in your local community! It's all about beefing up local businesses and saving a buck in the meantime. I'm so glad I discovered them before summer started, the kids and I are gonna take advantage of some of the fun stuff that has been offered! Today's deal is one of them!

My husband and I always say that our son, Aiden, has SUCH a flair for the dramatic. His sister is more of the rough and tumble type, while Aiden is much more analytical and well...just plain ol' dramatic. His imagination is vast and he's always acting out scenes from Star Wars or Ironman. He even has his friends and gymnastics teachers calling him Ironman. Too funny. This age is awesome!

Anyway, Juice in the city is offering a great deal today to "unleash that inner drama queen/king" and get your babes in some acting classes!

$65 FOR TWO MONTHS OF CHILDREN'S DRAMA CLASSES

Two months worth?!?! There's your summer folks! :) Acting up academy in San Antonio says this about their mission...

Our goal is to help every young person achieve "Social Presence", the confidence to speak up in any situation. We will achieve our goal through the use of Creative Drama which includes Theatre Games, Improvisation, Storytelling, Pantomime, Diction, Vocal Projection and more. Most importantly, we will have FUN doing it!

Totally cool right? I never would have thought of doing something like this for my kids...but since Juice has brought it to my attention, I'm definitely looking into it. I hope you do as well!

And the OSCAR goes to........

Daily Deals on Juice in the City