School Supplies - Great Deals!

Yesterday I scooped up some pretty awesome classroom deals at Target. One of my favorites is the Banker's Box Shelf Organizer Desktop. Target has these on sale for less than $8! I plan on introducing a new folder management system with this and I hope it works out!

I also saw a few great deals in the Weekly Ad for Office Max. I can't wait to scoop these up this week! I have a few "Seventh Grade Survival Kits" that I need to put together and these items will be great! Maybe not the glue... but the pencil cases are awesome for a penny!!  

1 cent each

1 cent each 

1 cent each

High Five for Friday: Happy August!

It's August already?! Eeek!! In some cases, that means back-to-school is just around the corner... on the bright side, we still have one full month to soak up summer!

A few reflections on my week...

1. I finished a week long literacy camp. This week was difficult because I was back at school teaching a week long literacy camp for struggling students. The week was incredibly productive, but hard to get back into the swing of things.

2. Lunch with my mom and sister. I love our lunch dates! This one was focused on baby shower stuff... it's almost here!

3. My brother bought a house and got engaged! What an exciting time for our family! We're so excited for them and I hope they soak up every minute of this new journey!

4. Accomplishing a lot of baby shower stuff. I accomplished a lot of fun preparations this week for my sister's baby shower and can't wait to do more this week. I love these projects!

5. One week away from our ONE YEAR wedding anniversary. Ahhhh!!! Where does the time go? I started looking at photos tonight of our rehearsal dinner and wedding day and became really upset. I want to relive it all over again! 

BREAKING NEWS: New *NSYNC Album Released!!!!

They're BACK!!!!! Well...kind of.  Today, SONY released an album with 34 (yes THIRTY FOUR) *NSYNC tracks!  I'll admit, most are still in my collection of *NSYNC CD's from my high school days, but I can't resist a good old school *NSYNC song.  (I'm currently singing along to Tearin' up my Heart.  I'm swooning

The band isn't getting back together anytime soon.  In fact, the newly released CD was put out without the guys even knowing about it.  The Essential *NSYNC is currently #5 on the iTunes charts!!!  Come on, guys, your fans are dying for a reunion.  We're still proving we're loyal fans!!!  A girl can dream... In the meantime, go download your Essential *NSYNC!

Delicious Dips!

Inspired by an appetizer platter I saw on Instagram today, I'm posting a few delicious dip recipes from Simply Scratch blog. 

Follow this link to Simply Scratch blog to find recipes and ingredients for all that's pictured above. All of the dip recipes include Simply Organic Greek Dip Mixes. 

Here are my two favorites:

Mediterranean Herb: In this dip packet, you'll find a little basil, marjoram, oregano and rosemary. Mix it with some Greek yogurt and you've got a bowl of heaven just waiting for you to get your dip on! Add olives, sliced cucumber, pita and feta -- all your favorite Mediterranean goodies for this colorful platter! 

Zesty Spinach: Spinach and lemon with some zip from orange zest makes this zesty spinach dip ama-ZING! Laurie, owner of Simply Scratch blog, paired this dip with chips and many different vegetables. My favorite platter is shown above. I love how the dip is displayed in a cabbage bowl! 

Washi Tape & Baby Shower Decorations

Amanda & I have both blogged about our love for washi tape over the past few months. Here's one post with many washi tape ideas included. Check out our "DIY" posts for more. As I stare at the washi tape collection on my desk, I'm itching to find ways to incorporate it into my sister's baby shower. I found these cute ideas on Maggie Overby Studios blog. 

I really love the easel below! Click on over to her blog for more ideas! 

Baby Shower Bliss!

My Tuesday night can be summed up by looking at this photo:

I have been cutting, punching, and having fun with my DIY tools all night! Since my sister's baby shower is storybook themed, you'll find many familiar characters in the image above. Some of these cut-outs will be used for banners, tent cards, cupcake toppers, and confetti for tables. I'll continue to update you on my little projects until the big day!

Granada

Granada was one of my most favorite stops, and we were only there for one night!  The town was beautiful, with canopies in the shopping areas so you never got too hot.  The plants and flowers were gorgeous, and we loved the older area of the city.  And...we found the best gelato of our trip there.  It was from a little Italian place, of course! ;)

7 Months of Blogging!

Yesterday I took some time to read through our old blog posts. It happened spontaneously. I was re-reading a recent blog post and clicked on the "You Might Also Like" feature beneath the post. Suddenly, I was on this crazy adventure through our blog... reading random posts published over the past seven months. Seven months!! Next week will mark seven months of blogging every day. 

Each post was so much fun to read! My favorites were our "High Five for Friday" posts because they captured raw emotions, feelings, and thoughts on where we were in that month. I read one post that mentioned 2 or 3 snow days that week. Oh my gosh... how quickly we forget those little details of our lives. This blogging journey has been amazing. It's been quite the challenge, though! At first, I made blogging a part of my nightly routine. I blogged every single night. Towards the end of the school year, and still with a hectic summer schedule, it's been much harder to stick to that schedule. Nonetheless, it's fascinating to me that we've kept up with blogging every single day. I can't wait to do this reflection again in a few months!

B is for Baby Shower!

My sister's baby shower is quickly approaching and I can't wait to start decorating already! We decided on the storybook theme and there are so many amazing ideas on Pinterest and various blogs. Needless to say, it's making it hard to narrow down ideas for decorating, games, and food. 

I'm looking forward to sharing my great finds on Etsy... stay tuned!

Morocco

This was my first time in Africa, Marc's second.  We only saw one part of Morocco, Tanger.  We walked through the Kasbah, ate at a Moroccan restaurant, and shopped for souvenirs before taking the ferry back to Spain. 

Checking out the port that is under construction.

Snake man!

Fresh vegetables

Inside the restaurant 

Grains for sale

Fresh fruit

Freshly baked bread

What kind of olives do you like?