Hux Goods

My friend Jennae, the creative behind Hux Goods, sent me a few items from her shop recently and I wanted to share because they are good. So good.  

The first items she sent me I use daily. I mean, every. Single. Day. 

My hair is usually in a ponytail or bun, it's just the way of life around here.  I have always bought the elastic bands from the drugstore that more than often get stuck in my hair and result in a tug of war match.  She sent me a pack of her novelty hair ties and now they're the only ones I use! They're gentle, don't leave creases and come in many different colors and patterns. 

She also sent me a couple of great headbands, one of which I rocked for the Super Bowl and most of the Seahawks games!

The other night I left my hair ties at home while hubby and I went on a date! Instead of lugging around the diaper bag, I picked a few essentials, tossed them into my Hux Goods Freyja fold over clutch and danced out the door.  It is the perfect size for a night out and is a great staple piece to match any outfit. The quality of the clutch is superb and I love the fun colorful fabrics she used for the inside panels. She has different sizes with different interior panel fabrics available in her shop!

The clutches are the perfect size for a phone, gloss, keys, a couple cards and few others essentials for the evening. 

Be sure to check out her shop to see all that she has available! Thank you Jennae for sharing your talent!

Basement Update

Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful, restful Holiday season! I feel like we haven't stopped since Thanksgiving so I'm looking forward to slowing down a bit!

We used our Christmas break to make some headway in the basement. Justin was able to spray paint the back two rooms and it looks so great! The walls have solid coverage while the ceiling has a more rustic look. I L O V E it! 

We're hoping the carpet goes in this week sometime then we can move things into place and paint the front two rooms. 

The picture above will be the living space. Couch, T.V. and lots of fun pops of color!

This picture below will be the kids play area. I can't wait to get all the toys organized and into one place! 

I will be purchasing new light fixtures and window coverings which will make the space look even better! Other than that, I'd like to try and use pieces from around the house to furnish with. 

In the process I've been purging, organizing and donating. There is no better way to start a new year! 

Fall Decor

I'm really trying to simplify my holiday décor.  I usually do garlands and all that jazz but this year I just wanted to do some pumpkins, poms and a couple homemade things and call it a day.  With a toddler and two month old, I just don't have the time and energy to put into a ton of décor so simplifying will make it less overwhelming for me while still adding a fun holiday atmosphere to our home.  

One thing I'm loving lately are all the pom garlands I'm seeing on Pinterest so I took to my yarn stash to make some of my own.  

 

 

 

To make the 'Happy Fall' sign I used newspaper and stencils I had on hand... $free.99!

We have had such an amazing summer but I am ready to transition into the fall season.  I'm loving seeing the foggy, crisp mornings out my window as I pour a hot cup of coffee!  Happy Fall!

SugarBabies

Hey y'all! I am now a guest blogger over at the SugarBabies blog! For those of you who don't know, SugarBabies is a local children's boutique that offers everything you could possibly need during your maternity and post partum seasons. 

Check out their website and my post about a few things I found helpful in my transition from 1 to 2 kiddos!

http://sugarbabiesblog.com/transition-from-1-to-2-kids-helpful-tips/

Our Life Lately...

Hi everyone!

I hope this fall season is starting out perfect for all of you! I am personally loving the crisp air and sunshine. Whenever a new season starts i always feel refreshed and excited!!

I am happy to announce that we are now a family of four! Zeke was born on August 12th. He's wonderful and perfect and big brother Cru adores him... we are so thankful.

House projects have been on hold the past 9 months but we have now started work in the basement to make it a space we can use! It is a temporary fix until we can sink some real money into it but we have a fun plan to turn it into a fun and functional family area. I will keep updates going on that. 

We're looking forward to some cooler weather, our birthdays, the holidays and basketball season! I'm also excited to get back into blogging!!

Disneyland: How we Book It!

Two weeks ago we were blessed to be able to spend a week in sunny California! Every time I travel south, I make sure I can get in some Disney!

As my friends know, I have visited Disneyland dozens of time throughout my life.  I love it! I love it so much that I am already ready to go back!  A lot of people have asked my advice when booking a trip to Disneyland. Well, here it is! This is how the Dobsons do Disney!

 

In the past, when travelling with friends, we've always squeezed in a cheap hotel room and done everything on a major budget.  This time I was excited to have a larger budget and to be able to research different booking options for our group! 

 

1. Pick your time of travel: There are crowd calendars you can find online that tell you when the busiest and least crowded times are to go.  In the times that I have gone, I can tell you that September is the best time to go.  After Labor Day weekend, everyone is back in school and the crowds decrease incredibly from the busy summer months.  This time is considered slow season so you will see decreased park hours and some of the attractions are closed for refurbishment.  The Haunted Mansion is closed at the beginning of September every year to get transformed into a Nightmare Before Christmas theme but you can expect it to be open mid month!  Fireworks, parades and shows are usually only available on Fridays at this time as well. With that said, if you can look past those things, it's so worth it to only have to wait in line10 minutes for a ride!

 

2. Choose your hotel:  Trip Advisor was a huge help in this department. Of course we would love to stay in one of the Disney Resorts but they are totally out of our price range.  I wanted to find to Disney Good Neighbor Hotel that was walkable distance to the park, had a good pool, was clean and of course had good review! I ended up choosing the Howard Johnson Anaheim with the Castaway Cove water park and It was perfect!

 

3. Price Comparison: We had the option of booking things separately or as a package.  If we had airline miles, hotel rewards or anything like that, booking separately may have been a better option.  For us, it was comparable to book everything as a package so that's what we did! We booked it through Disneyland's website. Kids fly free under two and are free into the Disney parks under 3 so we only had to pay for Justin and I!

 

4: Book It: Disney made this process really easy. Enter your traveler information, pick your dates, hotel and flight and boom! You're done!  Disney really goes above and beyond after you book your vacation.  They send you a fun packet confirming all the vacation details and a few weeks before your vacation we received a second package with our passes, hotel verification, luggage tags and coupons for free merchandise!  Plus everything is wrapped in Disney packaging which makes it all the more magical.  Booking separately would have resulted in a bunch of confirmation emails so the option we chose was so much more fun!  We also received one Magic Morning (getting in an hour before the park opens to the public) with booking through Disneyland.

 

5: Transport: There are many different options when deciding how to get from the airport to your hotel. We had a group of 11 so we went with a limo!  At less than $30 a couple, it was the cheapest and most fun option.  Our hotel set us up with the service they use and it worked out great! You can also book a cab or shuttle if you had a smaller group.  When booking the limo I found out that our toddlers didn't need car seats.  It was wonderful not to have to lug that around! Also check with your airline to see what baby items can be checked for free!





So that is what I did! Pretty straight forward... The most important step is step one.  The time of year you go really makes or breaks the trip.  I would highly suggest going when the crowds are down since it makes the trip so much less stressful and leaves you able to really experience Disney for all it has to offer!

 

Winner Winner!

Congrats Kim Gallagher on winning the Freshly Picked giveaway! Thank you to all who entered!

 

Have a fun and safe Labor Day weekend!!