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

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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