A Few Things To Share

Hello there! Just popping in to share a few things with you today. 

I came across this Suave avocado + olive oil shampoo and conditioner the other day and HAD to give it a try. I'll pretty much try anything that says it gets rid of frizzy hair. Ha! As it turns out, this stuff is really good! It did make my naturally curly hair smoother and as a plus, I love the scent. They also make a leave in conditioner, but I have yet to find it. When I do, I'll let you know if I like it. 

And just so you know, I use it in conjunction with this...

And while we're on the subject of hair, did you see THIS hair tutorial by our friends at Whoa Wait Walmart? Life changing, ya'll. I'm SO not kidding. I now use this method with a curling iron and it works wonderfully! This REALLY helps to smooth out my curls from top to bottom. You're welcome. :)

A long time ago when I shared my Beauty Blender makeup sponge, several of you recommended the off brands (that were a lot cheaper) and said they worked just as well. I'm here to tell ya, mine was finally needing to be replaced, so I listened and y'all were right! I bought this one below for about $5 at Walmart and it works just as well as my $25 Beauty Blender. 

So glad I discovered blending sponges. Good stuff!

I shared this a while back on IG, but it's worth sharing here too...Someone was SO mad we took the Christmas tree down, she continues to sit in the exact spot where it stood. She still goes over there from time to time just to glare at me. Lol.

And since the kitchen was sparkling clean, I had to take a pic...

Still enjoying my regular decor, but getting ready to add a few Valentine goodies to that mantel soon...

Y'all have a great day!

~Lisa

A Funny Little Story About a Cougar...

Right before my son graduated from college, we were at the campus bookstore and I decided I needed to show my school spirit by purchasing a few more UH items.

This UH Mom mug is perfect...

Those Kolache Rolf's kolaches are pretty prefect too, by the way. ;) 

 I also wanted to get a UH shirt, so I browsed the campus bookstore looking for one that said "UH Mom" or something similar. I found one that said "Cougar Mom" and that was perfect because the cougar is their mascot. I scooped it up and brought it home. Well, it wasn't until I put it on and looked in the mirror that I realized it indeed said "COUGAR MOM." 

Oh my...

I just had to laugh! Guess this will be an "inside the house only" shirt. ;) 

I've been getting some emails about my kitchen hutch lately and wanted to mention in case anyone else is wondering that it's from World Market. 

Here's a quick tip if you have a cat. Holly is forever wanting to sleep on my WHITE comforter. As you know, she has dark grey fur, so I'm always having to use a lint roller. Well, the other day, I realized how cats always want to sit on something. It doesn't seem to matter if it's a piece of newspaper, a towel, or a game board, they always want to plop down on it, no matter where it is. So I tried putting this throw at the foot of the bed and guess what? Holly now jumps right on it and doesn't bother any other part of the comforter. 

Thank goodness for not having to clean the comforter on a daily basis. I can just pop this throw in the wash and be done with it. 

I've shared pics of my bathroom before, but for some reason, the lighting was pretty good the other day, so I snapped a few pics...

Do y'all decorate the water closet? Or "potty room" as we call it. :) It may seem weird, but why not make this little room pretty too?  

I guess that's all for now. Hope y'all have a great day!

~Lisa

Hello, Regular Decor! It's Been Awhile!

I'm always happy to see my "regular" decor back after the holidays. I love all the seasonal stuff, but it's nice to just enjoy my neutral palette for awhile. 

Y'all may have noticed I still have that brown scrolly thing above the doorway in the pic above. I intended on making a "farmer's market" sign like my Grocery Sign, but have since decided to make a "bless our nest" sign. I'll let you know when it's done. Hopefully before next year. :) 

Love a clean, fresh start to the new year.

After all the fall and Christmas decor, it was nice to see my hydrangeas in that basket again.

Love the sunshine this time of year (before it gets too hot) 

Real quick...do y'all remember the $9 puffer vests at Walmart I told you about before Christmas? I don't think I've ever worn a puffer vest in my life before these and let me tell you, these are perfect for Texas weather! I ended up purchasing three of them...

I never realized how great they'd be for our semi cool days. We don't really get too cold here, and this vest is so much better than a full blown jacket or coat because you don't get too hot in it. I'm now a fan. :) 

~Lisa

After Five Tries, I Finally Found the Perfect Boot

Remember when I asked y'all about boots a long time ago? Well, I finally found some after looking for a loooong time. This is the story of my great boot debacle...

And just so you don't have to scroll all the way to the bottom to see them, here they are...

That's my $9 puffer vest from Walmart. :) Actually, the tee is also from Walmart ($4) as well as the leggings ($7) and the boot cuffs ($6) Ha! 

First off, I'm apparently very picky when it comes to boots. I wanted a plain brown pair of "cowboy-type" boots. I wanted a plain one inch-ish square heel and I didn't want any embellishments, laces, buckles, etc. A plain boot is hard to come by, y'all. :) 

At first I tried to find a pair locally, but none of the stores in my area had anything I liked. So off to the internet I went...

First up is a pair I ordered from JC Penney. When they arrived, they didn't fit and were totally uncomfortable. So I returned them.

Next up, I ordered a pair from Sears. They accidentally sent a "wide calf" version and it was so big I could fit my whole forearm down the shaft. Ugh. I didn't trust them to send the right pair, so I returned them and didn't re order. 

Next up, I ordered a pair from Kohls. They were exactly what I was looking for. Plain...check, brown...check, no buckles...check, low heel...check. They were even on sale! They were regularly $100, on sale for $50 (after my coupons and Kohl's cash discounts, they were only $37)

Since they were "online only" I had to wait for them to arrive by mail. When they came, disappointment quickly set in when I discovered they were too small. Sigh.

So, back they went and I ordered another pair in a wide width, thinking that would take care of it. Again, after anxiously awaiting their arrival, disappointment quickly set in when they still didn't fit right. 

Let me say here that one thing I love about these boots is that you can order them in "wide width" WITHOUT it being "wide calf" too. You can get them in wide width AND wide calf, but don't have to. I love that you can do either/or or both. 

It was about this point that I started thinking maybe I'm just used to wearing flip flops and these boots aren't really too small, but I'm just used to wearing "open flip flops" and not used to having the tops and sides of my feet covered. Ha!

Since I wasn't quite ready to give up, I went online to order yet another pair, only now...the price was back up to $100! My hubby tried to get me to just order them anyway. "A lot of work goes into making a pair of boots" he said. "$100 isn't really high for a nice pair of boots" he said. 

I knew he was right, but my point was that I knew they were capable of lowering the price to $50 like they did before. And I just couldn't pay $100 when I knew they'd probably go back down again.

So for two loooong weeks, I waited it out. The first thing I did every morning after turning my phone on, was to check the Kohl's website to see if they were on sale yet. Days ticked by. Weeks even. Then one glorious sunshine filled day...velvet ropes were parted, angels sang and...THEY WERE ON SALE FOR $50 AGAIN!!!!

I hit the "buy" button faster than you can say Visa. :) 

This time, I got smart and ordered two pair of boots (one in medium width and one in wide) They both arrived the same day and...miraculously, one of them fit!!!

If you're still reading this way too long post, here are my new boots...

Love how they're just plain brown boots. Just what I wanted. 

And check out that little piece of sweater like fabric at the back. So comfy!

Here are the boot cuffs I showed in the pic at the top. This set came with the cuffs, and two pair of boot socks, one brown and one cream. I think the whole thing was about $6. 

I LOVE them! 

Here is a link to the boots at Kohls:

Kohl's Lifestride Xandy Riding Boot

They also come in gray and black. 

Whew! That was a long post, but I wanted to share the link in case there's anyone as picky as me out there looking for a plain ol' boot. :) 


~Lisa

Dylan's Graduation Party

My oldest son Dylan graduated from the University of Houston in December. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Supply Chain Management. We're extremely proud of him! 

I thought I'd share a few pics from the table decorated for his graduation party.

A little blurry, but you get the picture. :) 

We knew he'd be graduating in December and I didn't know if the stores would have the UH plates, etc. in the winter, so I grabbed these up last June when it was prime graduation season. 

We had bunco buns, an assortment of chips, garlic pickles, cupcakes with my homemade buttercream frosting, caramels, and cinnamon pecans and lemonade.

I had to show a pic of these cute trays before we loaded them up with bunco buns...

Here are the cinnamon pecans...

Here's my Cinnamon Pecans recipe:

1 egg white

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

(you'll mix the above three ingredients first)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon sugar

2 cups pecans

Beat egg white, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla with fork. Mix 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1 tablespoon sugar and add to egg white mixture. Add 2 cups pecans and mix well. Place on sprayed foil lined cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees 45 minutes, turning pecans over half way. Store in ziplock bag. 

And here are the caramels...

I used Nana Diana's recipe for the caramels and they were the best ones I've ever tasted!!! No kidding, y'all...this was the easiest recipe ever with no candy thermometer involved. Click HERE for her recipe. I have a fear of candy thermometers. Seriously, if a recipe calls for one, I'm out of there. It's just that they seem to be SO specific. Like, a recipe will say "bring the temp to 222 degrees." Really??? 222??? Like 221 will be too low and 223 too high? Nope. Too stressful for me. :) Diana's recipe was so good! Everyone loved them and they're very soft too. They practically melt in your mouth. They're made entirely in the microwave too! No stove top needed. Love that! 

~Lisa

PW Pieces at Walmart, The Perfect Bun and Hunter Boot Buffer

One of my favorites to follow on Instagram is "Whoa Wait Walmart." Bethany and Amanda are rockstars at finding little gems at Walmart. They're so good at letting us know about unadvertised specials, etc. Be sure to follow them @whoawaitwalmart. They recently shared these little goodies...

They're by The Pioneer Woman and run around $4 to $5 each.

I immediately ran to Walmart to scoop some up. I have an affinity for anything hobnail/milkglass and these were just perfect. 

They're sold in stores and online. Here's the one I got...

No, I don't still have Christmas decor up, these pics were taken weeks ago and I'm just now getting around to sharing them. :) 

Love the detail!

Okay, do any of you have Hunter boots? I finally got a pair of my own a couple of years ago (on sale 40% off, of course) But after awhile, they start getting this white chalky stuff on them...

It's called "blooming" and happens because rubber is a natural product and in certain conditions, insoluble particles rise to the top, causing the white powdery marks. Look at me sounding all scientific! Ha ha! I got that info. straight from the Hunter website. ;) 

I knew when I bought my Hunters, I should have also bought the rubber buffer, but I didn't. So when this started happening, I ordered some from Nordstrom (the same place I ordered the boots) Nordstrom has free shipping and free return shipping, by the way. 

Nordstrom Hunter Rubber Buffer $14

And look at the difference after using it...

Nice and shiny again. 

Okay, one more thing to share. I saw this the other day and it looked so neat...

The Perfect Bun $4.92 at Walmart 

Here's the directions on the box...

And here it is. It's just a piece of foam with an opening for your ponytail. After putting your hair into a ponytail, you pull the pony through the opening and run the bun maker to the ends of the pony. Then roll it up and secure it by bending the ends around your hair tie. 

It comes in this dark color for brunettes and a lighter color for blondes. It worked really well on my hair, but I forgot to take a pic. And as it happens, I just got my hair cut a little shorter (just past my shoulders) so now it doesn't work as well, hence no new pic. But trust me, it works great on longer hair. :)  I've since decided I don't like my hair shorter and am growing it back out.

 Which brings me to a hair question...I'm still working on the right length bangs. I think the first time I didn't get enough cut off (they were perfect, but I felt like I needed them trimmed again after only a few weeks) and this last time, I got too much cut off and they're too short. Ugh. I LOVE long bangs, but then I seem to need them trimmed every 4 weeks or so, but the rest of my hair can go twice that long between trims. So, my question is, do any of you get just your bangs trimmed in between regular haircuts? Is that weird to do? I'm thinking maybe I need to get my bangs trimmed every 4 weeks, then every 8 weeks get a regular (whole hair) cut. But that means I need to find time to be at the salon every 4 weeks. Let me know if you have any suggestions. :)  

~Lisa