A bright teal blue pair of pants under a black and white top gave me just enough pop of color to get through a drab winter day!

What I Wore:
Pants - Old Navy
Boots - Ross
Necklace - ANON9 Jewelry
Top - Nally & Millie

The Happy Hour Effect Book Review

Okay,  I love self help books, but this one is by far the best I have read in a very very long time.  The Happy Hour Effect is a book written by the bestselling author Kristen K. Brown.  She is a young mom that became a widow after losing her husband.  She managed through the stress and gained strength and is now a certified Holistic Health Coach as well as a speaker on stress management and wellness.  This book is awesome because it's basically her tips and guidelines for managing stress in your everyday life and how to keep going through stressful events. 

There was some great bonus content with this book as well.  You get to log onto her website and enter a code and you can print and review worksheets and summaries of what you learn in each chapter.  It made it so much more fun for me to read this because I felt like it was a project for me to work on.

Basically, Kristen explains how to see the positive things in everyday life and how to allow meditation in your life as well as exercise, as both are effective ways to cope with stress and frustration.  She basically explains things to you that will make you say "Why Didn't I Think of that?!?!"  while relating to her own personal experiences and how practicing these things has worked for her.  She makes it much easier to stay organized and to simplify your already organized life with lists and clean habits. I learned so much from this book and was so ecstatic at how she made things so much easier to understand and made it much more realistic to accomplish goals.  I especially love the Life Chart that you do in the beginning and I carry mine in my purse with me at all times.  It really puts things into perspective, literally! 


I highly recommend this book to anyone that has even the smallest stress in their life.  You will use the lessons in this book for years and years to come!!! 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Outfit of the Day: Purple and Beige

To keep with the winter trends, I decided to mix the color purple (in my pants) with a simple black top and beige jacket.  It's a great layered look and can be worn for a variety of occasions.

So what I wore:
Necklace - ANON9 Jewelry
Jacket - Target
Black Top - Nally & Millie
Jeans - Old Navy
Boots - Guess

Outfit of the Day: Minty Lace

I chose to mix some classic Winter colors (purple necklace and mint sweater) but keep it looking cold weather appropriate with tights under my skirt.

So What I Wore:
Skirt - TJ Maxx
Shoes - Marshalls
Tights - Kohls (here)
Sweater - Old Navy
Blouse - TJ Maxx
Necklace - Kohls (here)

My Budget Envelope System

photo by boxchain	via PhotoRee

I promise that you WILL want to save this post after you read it.  I have always thought I would be okay with money but what I lack is a routine, self-control, rules, discipline, and proper guidance.  I think I have all of these things but I don’t.  I recently learned a lot from Dave Ramsey and his books. 

I have started an envelope system that I’ve been using over the past few months.  I take my necessities, which are things that I spend money on each month, or every couple of months.  Yours may be different but mine are this: Groceries, Doctor copays and prescriptions, Vet, Dogs (food and pee pads), fun, restaurants, Car, Clothing, Gifts, Misc. 

I went to my budget and I figured out what I take home each month, then I took out all of my bills.  Then with the money I had left I decided how to divide it up each paycheck among the categories listed above.  To do this, you may need to look at your  bank statements and see how much of your money goes to each of your categories.  

Then, I went to Wal-Mart and found a coupon organizer (those little mini plastic expanding envelopes) and I purchased one for $0.97.  I labeled each pocket in it with a different category.  Then, I figured out for the upcoming paycheck (your amounts will vary each month depending on bills), how much money to take out in cash on payday and put in each envelope.  Then once I spend those amounts in that 2 week pay period, I can’t spend anymore and I can’t take from other envelopes.  After about a month of doing this, I quickly learned to be more careful of how much I spend.  Sure I thought $75 a week on groceries was a must but when you have to go through the store and you put items in your cart, you stop and say, WELLLLL I could save the $3 that I would spend on this for something better because this really isn’t worth it.  It hurts way more to spend cash than it does to swipe your card and scientific experiments have proven that.

I also track where my money goes and I save my receipts.  I enter all of them into an excel spreadsheet I made and if I leftover money in each category I decide whether I should roll it into a different category, save it in that envelope to build up over time, or put it towards my debt or in my savings.

So far, this has proven to be a great disciplinary budget system for me.  Try it and see what you think!! And if you have any questions along the way PLEASE let me know!

Outfit of the Day: Printed Pants

I wanted to go for a trendy casual look on this day so I chose to embrace the latest trend of printed pants by wearing my polka dotted pants from Old Navy and a Hollister knit sweater. 

So What I Wore:
Boots - Etienne Aigner from Marshalls
Pants - Old Navy
Sweater - Hollister

Do Opposites REALLY Attract?

Relationships – Do opposites really attract?
The answer in my opinion is yes when it comes to morals and no when it comes to certain personality and interest matters. A couple is more likely to get along when they share the same moral beliefs like:
compassion for animals, marriage beliefs, living together before marriage, whether flirting in a relationship is okay or not, work ethic, working hard and planning vs taking each day as it comes, financial habits (spend spend spend , save while spending), and religious beliefs.

photo by Robert Scales	via PhotoRee

But when a couple is too much the same with things like passions, it could cause conflict, just like sibling rivalry.  Conflict may arise because you both are passionate over a hobby and you become competitive.  Also, sometimes there’s no room to negotiate because neither of you want to give up your passion or hobby.

 What do you think?

Pawbox Review & Discount for You and Your Pooch!

Pawbox is a great way to get some goodies for your dog each month while keeping up with the latest pet industry trends.  With a monthly subscription to Pawbox  you get a box of 5 samples of products every month delivered right to your door.  It’s $10 a month, and the selection is personalized for your dog. 

I received a Pawbox and inside were:

Grandma Lucy’s Organic Oven Baked Dog Treats: These were a huge hit with my Chihuahuas, mainly because they love apple.  These treats are made with 100% human-quality ingredients with no preservatives, artificial colors or flavors. 

NoviPet MultiVitamin: These are a great way to give your pet the nutrients and vitamins they need that they may not get in their regular food.  My dogs didn’t mind taking these at all and considered them a treat.

Wag More Bark Less Soft & Chewy Treats: Wheat free, these natural pumpkin pie treats were great for training and pumpkin is excellent for helping dogs (and humans) stay regular!

Dog Grooming Bandana: Grace loved her bandana.  SO CUTE!!! A great holiday theme and perfect to wear in holiday photos.

Green Curry Brush: This massages skin and helps promote natural oil production so your dog has a healthy coat and healthy skin.  This brush collects loose hair like a magnet and my dogs looked so shiny afterwords.  I used it in the bath with them too and it didn’t seem to bother them at all!

I think this is a great idea to get to try new things rather than spend $10 on treats that may not be healthy for your dog or treats they may not even enjoy. 

AND GUESS WHAT!!!  Use the coupon code Holiday50 through December 31^st as a new customer and you get 50% off your first month of PawBox!!

Outfit of the Day: Cords and Stripes

Cords are SO in and cord leggings are even more in, so I decided to try out some purple cord leggings with a striped top.  I chose this top because it's long so it looked really good with leggings.

So What I Wore:
Boots - TJ Maxx
Cords - No Nonsense
Striped Top - boohoo (here)

Outfit of the Day: Dark Plaid

This is a great example of dressing up a casual look.  I added a vest to this black denim, black plaid look and it instantly gave it a more dressed up look.  It's unique and comfortable.

So What I Wore:
Boots - Buckle (similar here)
Jeans - Marc Allison Jeans
Shirt - ebay
Vest - ebay (similar here)