Disconnected

This past weekend me and L ventured into the great wilderness to visit my dads side of the family.  My grandma and grandpa are getting older and I really wanted Landon to meet them, not to mention I had not been up there in 12 years!!!

The flights went relatively well, traveling with a 14 month old by myself is a blog post in itself, I tried to be as prepared as possible but many a lesson was learned for the future!!

We were in Rixford, PA essentially where the red dot is above, its a small town and the entrance sign calls it a village "Welcome to the village of Rixford" I believe it said the population is around 200!! We had no internet and no cellphone service.  Every now and again if we got into a larger town I would get a few bars of service but for the most part, nothing!!

It really is such a sweet little town and its absolutely gorgeous with all the trees and the weather was perfect (they don't have central air and we just left the windows open at all times and that was sufficient even chilly at night!).  We basically spent our days sitting on the back porch, L would play and I would read or watch him play.  He was in heaven! He loves to be outside and the center of attention and both of those were happening in a big way on this trip!

It was so sweet to see L interact with his great grandparents who were so smitten with him and thought he was the funniest thing, it was so sweet to see them smiling and playing with him.  It was also so good to see L get to spend time with my dad, my dad has really up until now only seen L about 3 times in his life which does make me very sad but it was good to see them spend time together.

There are hardly any pictures because I was tired of trouble shooting,I forgot my camera so I only had my phone so the quality is crappy, but alas here we go.

Not having access to phone and internet was a nice break that I really needed, its so easy to get caught up in social media and I feel like a lot of my time was being sucked by it lately so I think God put this trip at the right point in my life.  It was a nice opportunity to be in the moment and just simply enjoy it.  It is such a simple life there and it really made me realize that thats what I need right now.  I see a lot of decluttering and simplifying in my near future!

My DIY Secret Love

I absolutely LOVE the blog Young House Love, they have so many fabulous and ingenious ideas.  I have been following their blog for a long time and they are finally coming out with a book!! Yep, I preordered it and can't wait for November to get it !!!

I ordered it here

I'm still working on my post about our trip from last week and our experience flying with a toddler but Im having trouble with the pictures so hang tight, I know your just on the edge of your seat with excitement!!

Oh, How Pinteresting

Linking up this week with Michelle of The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting!!

Source: itsy-bits-and-pieces.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

I actually did this in my guest bedroom, it looks adorable and will for sure have to show y'all some pics!!

Source: cozybiscuit.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

If Money were no object...this would be my kitchen, love it!

Source: thehouseofsmiths.com via Katie on Pinterest

Love this and every time I open our pantry I think of this picture and someday soon will hopefully put this to reality!

Source: themetapicture.com via Daisy on Pinterest

If this was mine, I would probably never want to leave the bathroom!

Source: honeyandfitz.blogspot.ca via Katie on Pinterest

This is so great and will come in so handy as we start to really decorate our house now!

One Year Photos

Back in May we had L's one year pictures done.  I used Melissa Pickens Photography and she was so great to work with! When I booked the session I did not pay attention to the fact that we would be meeting an hour away from my house so by the time we met, L was tired of being in the car and not in his usual "ham hit up" self. He definitely made us work for these good shots!  Despite that she still managed to get some adorable pictures that I love so much and plan on ordering probably too many prints for our house!!  

This one ^^ is my ALL TIME FAVORITE I have an empty 16x20 frame that is begging for this picture!! I just love the wonder in his eyes :)

Captures his true personality!!

Love my sweet boy more than words!!!

By the end when it was time for cake he was so over it and wanted nothing to do with it!! I smooshed his hand in it but that was about it haha.

Thank you Melissa for meeting with us in the humid heat after such a long day and capturing this precious time in our sweet boys life!!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I am linking up this week with Jaime  for What I'm Loving Wednesday! 

I ordered two of these from Jcrew, this color and peacock blue, they were on sale and I love the boatneck style and these look so soft! As hard as I try to be a fashionista I know I am not, Im a good ol' t-shirt and jeans kinda girl.  I love a solid shirt with fun jewelry and thats more often than not what I wear and what I am most comfortable in. Do you have any favorite plain shirts...usually the Gap Essential T is my favorite!

This is my new favorite show, HBO's Newsroom, yeah, just what I need, another show.  Who knew newscasting could be so riveting!!

I bought these bowls from Crate and Barrel with a gift card I received.  They are so cute and fun for summer time as dip bowls for a summer barbecue or as ice cream bowls which is my intended use for them :)

Birch+Bluum :: June

So I know its already mid July but the Birchbox and Bluum boxes were really good in June and I like to see what other people get in their boxes so this is what was in my boxes this month

Birchbox

I have mentioned Birchbox before HERE, I still love getting this box full of goodies each month this one is only $10 a month and often times there are full size items inside! I am a loser and forgot to take a picture of my box this month so I am having to use the pictures from the birch box website.

First is a Tili Bag its a cute version of a zip lock that can be used for your 3oz bottles when traveling and going through security.  I am actually looking foreword to using this for my trip at the end of the month!

Masqueology Pore minimizing mask

I have not yet used this mask, but, I am looking foreword to trying it very soon!

Stila One Step Bronze

This was a full size bottle, I love this stuff its a 3-in-1 primer, bronzer, skin perfecter.  It goes on so smooth and gives me a nice amount of color so I don't look so zombie-ish!

Comodynes Self Tanning Intensive

I have yet to try this, I got two wipes in my box.  I love a good self tanner so I am excited to try these but to be honest a little nervous LOL I don't wanna look like Snooki or anything!

theBalm Staniac Cosmetic Stain

I love this on my lips and so far am not in love with it on my cheeks, it just doesn't seem to work well on my cheeks but I am going to give it a try, but so far I still love the Benetint stain the best!!

So that was my Birchbox, I really liked this months box!

On to my Bluum box.  I haven't mentioned this one here before, I really love the samples of stuff I get and there are often full size items as well.  **Updated** This one is also $11 a month, I was previously mistaken as I signed up to be charged every 3 months, thus my confusion.  Now that I have my facts straight, I think $11 a month is a fantastic price for the size and amount of items which are sent in the Bluum box!!

NurturMe Crisp Apples - I haven't used this yet, I have seen it in stores and I think it would be perfect for traveling or trips out of the house, but not so sure about every day use.  I just can't imagine feeding my baby freeze-dried baby food at every meal

Free and Clear Baby Wipes

Cover Up Kisses ® baby chap stick, this was a full size stick and its good for protecting L's lips when we go out in the sun because sun burned lips are the worst!!

Babybug Magazine- I love this and have considered getting landon a subscription, its just a little book with pretty thick and coated pages so he can't tear them and it has about 5 stories in it.  A cute little baby magazine.

Rockin' Green Laundry Detergent- I have used this in the past for my cloth diapers which it was ok for but for the price I have found better detergent for my diapers than this... it does smell amazing though!

LUNA Bar - love me some Luna Bars!! This one is peanut honey pretzel flavor which sounds really good but I haven't tried this one yet!

July 4th Celebration

This year for the 4th we were actually able to participate in our neighborhood festivities as the fireworks weren't cancelled due to drought and L was old enough to endure the heat where as last year he was just a wee babe of 1.5 months old!

Before we headed out

Our neighborhood had a band and fireworks show on the big hill/amphitheater area.  It got so crowded but we got there early enough to nab a good spot.

We just hung out and L played with toys while mommy and daddy enjoyed some cool beverages

Enjoying the music

Takin a break to check Facebook

 The fireworks show was pretty good for a neighborhood fireworks show, they shot them off far enough away too that L wasn't scared at all! He actually rally enjoyed just sitting back with mommy and daddy and watching the show!! He did fantastic considering it was well past his bedtime, we did make sure to give him a late nap that day so maybe that was part of it.

Mom please! Im trying to watch the show!