Staying on Track + #JanuaryJumpStart2015 Printable

Do you guys follow my talented, hilarious Bright Night sister, and totally down to earth friend Amazon_Ashley on Instagram?

No?

Why!?

She's seriously one of my favorite people, and she's been going through an entire Whole30 lifestyle journey that is SO awesome to follow along with. 

Do you want to know the best part of following her - besides the amazing recipe ideas, cookbook printables and pretty pictures? 

She MESSES UP and CHEATS! Like... she's a REAL person, who has three little, adorable, messy kiddos, a husband who works a lot, and issues with her weight and eating that she's learning to conquer, just like most of US!

This was one of my favorite Instagram posts of hers, EVER:

I was seriously laughing SO hard, that I had tears running down my face. LOL

Alright, so the purpose behind this post ISN'T to announce that I'm jumping on the hard-core Whole30 bandwagon (and BIG respect for all of you who do it!)... but I DO love and eat a LOT like, and Ashley has some of the best resources for healthy, REAL, affordable, quick, yummy (and yes, Whole30 and Paleo diet approved) recipes that I've ever seen!

If you follow us at @houseofsmiths on Instagram then you might have seen that I posted about Ashley's first Clean & Colorful downloadable cookbook a few months ago, but for those of you who didn't get a chance to buy it then, you're in luck, because it's over half off now on groopdealz. YEOW!

She's also got this free downloadable #JanuaryJumpstart2015 printable that's genius! I LOVE everything it includes, and I totally printed out like 15 of these and gave them to everyone at the office a few days ago. haha!

I think it was a forced effort, but hey, I do what I can :)

What are your tips and tricks for staying on track when eating right, setting a goal or just trying to stay on track with a healthy lifestyle?

Personally, I love the idea of actually marking off something. It's strangely satisfying. ha!

Why we make the night bright - women helping women

Today I wanted to surprise my adorable Bright Night girl, Amy Twitty of Pink Parlor Designs, with some SERIOUS LOVE.

She's got absolutely no idea that I'm calling her out, but our little team wanted to spread the word about this amazing mother and friend of ours.
We get questions often, regarding our Bright Night Event. What it's all about, who 'should' be there (everyone, duh!), and why we even started doing it. Today I thought I'd clear that up a bit, because the reason behind why we've decided to gather a bunch of women together for a good cause, is just as important as the fun classes, yummy food and dance party ;)

Amy and her hubby are adoptive parents to their beautiful little girl Olivia... and their story, written in the form of a letter to their daughter is so touching and amazing.

It's been a little over 5 years since they were blessed with Olivia, and have been desperately wanting to privately adopt again ever since.
Last November Amy got a call that they had finally been chosen by a birth mother, and a new baby girl would be joining their family in 2 weeks! She worked tirelessly getting tiny clothes washed, a crib set up, nursery decorated, the car seat installed, and then waited anxiously for this sweet baby that they had been praying so hard for all of these years. After news that the baby had been born, Amy, her husband Casey and Olivia packed their suitcases with blankets, little shoes, pink outfits, and made the drive to go meet their new baby. Sadly, after arriving, they learned that the birth mother had changed her mind. Broken hearted, Amy and her family turned around and drove several hours home. She was beyond devastated. Within a few short days of this heartbreak, Amy told us (the Bright Night team) that she could feel herself slipping into the dark depression that she had been in years before, when 3 other adoptions had fallen through. She refused to let that darkness take over her life again, because she needed to be as strong as possible for Olivia now. That being said, she was still so sad and needed something to take her mind off of her heartache...  and that's how Bright Night came to be.

We hovered over endless amounts of chips, salsa and so much diet coke it was embarrassing. We cried and cried and cried some more... laughed a little and then cried again - until we came up with this idea... WOMEN HELPING WOMEN.

During last years Bright Night Event we were were able to gather the most amazing donations for our local women's shelter. Gifts for Women who have less, worry more, and quite possibly have had to endure moments in their lives that we'll never even be able to comprehend. It's so crazy how serving others can almost instantly put into perspective how truly blessed and lucky you really are. I can't imagine life without all three of my girls. They have brought me so much happiness that it's impossible to even talk about them without getting emotional. I know that each of them were 100% suppose to come to our family. They challenge me EVERY day, but also teach me how to be a better person.

Amy and her cute family have had a handful of setbacks in the adoption process this week especially, and in true Women helping Women fashion, we want to spread the word about her story any way we can. Countless other women, just like Amy, know how emotionally and finically taxing infertility and adoption can be. It is a lengthy, tiring and incredibly expensive process, so any help - from a kind word, to even a single dollar to help them raise money for all of their adoption expenses, is truly appreciated. You can donate to the Twitty family's Hope for Adoption fund here.

Amy is also the talented creator of these adorable Pink Parlor Design children's tents, and any purchases made through her Etsy shop go straight to her adoption fund :)

I just adore this sweet, selfless, kind, creative woman. She's such an amazing mother, hard worker, and has got a burning desire to love another child more than I can express and I couldn't let another day go by without sharing her story.

xoxo

One Thanksgiving Table - Three Different Ways

Okay, up to this point I've done SO much gushing over the Caravan Shoppe, their prints & projects, and how much I love using their affordable, adorable ideas in my home...

Valentines // Birthday // Halloween 1 & 2 // Backdrops

that I thought it was high time for me to finally introduce all of my readers to the crazy-talented crew behind it all.

Melanie, Alma and Mike are literally the most skilled graphic designers, Photoshop pros and artists that I know. Their ability to create amazing works of art, prints and graphics in almost no time flat... amazes me. The quality of their work is always superb, and I literally have never met more genuine, happy, fun, hardworking people... maybe ever.  Melanie and Alma are two of my MOST favorite people to follow on Instagram as well. Just subscribe to their feed, and you'll quickly see why :)

Today I wanted to have the Caravan team stop by and show & tell you FIRSTHAND about their flippin' awesome Thanksgiving products, instead of me just blabbing on about them. ha! So they've come up with the genius idea of working a Thanksgiving table three different ways!

PS: Remember, that these prints take minutes to purchase, download and send to your local print store (like Staples).  Even if you see these ideas the day before Thanksgiving, all of them are still 100% doable, with no stress. Oh! And use discount code "houseofsmiths20" at checkout to get 20% off of your total purchase!

ENJOY!
.....

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. This week will be full of grand plans. Visions of handcrafted marzipan cornucopia centerpieces, counters full of desserts with five word names (salted caramel pumpkin chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese cinnamon frosting, anyone?) and children playing happily and peacefully with the latest Pinterest-inspired Thanksgiving day quiet time activity. It all seems so perfect. And then the week of Thanksgiving actually befalls us. The centerpiece ends up looking like a five-years-old’s first attempt at play dough. The over-the-top desserts seemed nice in theory but they all taste like a train wreck of fall flavors. And finally, the kids took five minutes to rip apart the quiet time pilgrim puppets you spent three hours cutting and gluing together.

Breathe.

Forget the over-the-top centerpiece, return to your tried-and-true pumpkin pie recipe, turn on Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving for the kids. And please, please do yourself the enormous favor of taking the easy way out while decorating your table. It'll look like you spent hours putting the party together, when in fact these table settings will come together with practically no more effort than a Mary Poppin’s snap of your fingers.

One Table, Three Ways

Perfect for:
Any informal and exuberant gathering. The illustrations and designs break the ice and bring out the kid in anyone who has ever wanted to draw all over the table. Ahem, you know, all of us. And of course, this is a shoo-in for the kids’ table.

Caravan product: Draw Together Thanksgiving Set - $8
- large black and white prints that can be used as table covering; has questions, prompts on it to encourage interaction
- placemats
- large black and white illustrations to hang on wall. This are perfect used as oversized coloring pages.
-  colorful napkin holders and place cards that can be used to hold napkins and utensils (or anything else that needs holding! Crayons! Pencils!)

What’s special:
The large black and white table covering and placemats are fun and encourage interaction and conversation. Finally, a table setting that works for adults and kids! So simple you won’t know why you’ve ever done anything else.

Accessorize with:
Print out the huge table covering ($7 per 3’ x 4’ print at Staples) OR print placemats. If using placemats, cover your table with butcher paper and tape the placemats over it with washi tape.
Make simple throw-together centerpieces out of fall colors with decorative pumpkins and gourds. Yellow napkins look lovely in the napkin holders. Make sure to have plenty of crayons and colored pencils on hand. Your guests are going to LOVE this. Remember to take pictures of all their table-drawn creations before you clean up for the night.

Cost:
Black and white posters print at $7 or less at Staples (for 3 x 4-foot). Napkin holders print in color 2/page (do on your home printer, or plan on about $1/sheet at a print shop). Placemats print at 11 x 17 in black and white at 15-50 cents each.

Where all 'da Cute Boys Clothes at!? + Shopping Advice from Small Fry

Okay, so we need to have a chat about something.

Boys. 

Well... little boys to be exact.

First off, NO. I'm not pregnant, nor am I thinking about it (even a little). I'm barely surviving with the three I've got, thankyouverymuch.

Note to self: Don't post a picture of a cute, comfy chair on your Facebook page and reference that it would look great in a nursery. No one will care about the dumb chair, only the fact that you basically said in "totally vague Facebook update land" that you are maybe, sorta, kinda, could possibly be expecting... GAH! My bad.

That being said, I've been invited to about 4 different baby showers in the past 2 months. Whoohoo! I love me a good baby shower, and also the fact that there are going to be so many new, happy Mom's and Dad's soon! Oddly enough though, 3 out of the 4 have been for Mom's expecting girls. Yessssss, I've totally got this.

It wasn't until the 4th baby gift, now for a cute Mommy and friend expecting TWIN boys, that I shockingly realized how much LESS of a selection there honestly is out there for really adorable, cute, classy, BOYS clothing and accessories.

At one point, while in the middle of my 3rd store in the boys clothing department, with a whiney, hungry 6 year old, I literally blurted out loud...

I kid you not.

My cranky little Aubrielle even stopped whining for a few seconds, looked at me in disgust and said, "Mom, that's not how it goes."
***sigggh***

I can admit when I feel defeated, and this was definitely one of those times. I ended up choosing a gift the best I could, sticking with one or two things from my friends registry, and then reluctantly choosing the best options for cute outfits that I could find; knowing that she was in need of clothes for her new babies.

Fast forward a few weeks, and guess who, by total twist of fate, gives me a holler? 

Apple Craisin Walnut Cookies with Ruthie - That's What's Cookin'!

So I'm gearing up for another weight loss update post.
I've started in on one at least 10 times, and have failed to actually get down in words, the things I really want to say and share. I know it probably shouldn't be that difficult, but for me, it is (shrug) so you'll have to wait just a little bit longer.
There have been a LOT of things that have happened in my weight loss journey/lifestyle change this past year, and surprisingly... FEW have to do with the actual reduction of numbers on the scale. One of the biggest things that I've experienced, are OTHERS experiences. (did that make sense? ha!).
I can't tell you how MANY people I've talked to about weight loss, eating healthy, working out, etc... Some conversations are casual and nice, while others hit you hard and rock you to the core. They wake something up inside of you, and send off little sensors that shift your way of thinking forever.

This is all part of "the journey" I assume :)

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to attend an awesome Halloween event at Gardner Village, and while I was there I spent about 99% of my time talking with Ruthie.

Now Ruthie and I already knew of each other, had chatted a bit before and attended quite a few events together, but it wasn't until THIS specific occasion, that I really got a chance to hear Ruthie's weight loss story, amazing passion for healthy living, cooking, food, photography and just life in general.

Not only did she have awesome insight and advice to share with me, but I left that night, completely inspired. You just have to meet her, she's one of "those people", if you know what I mean.

Anyway, after a lot of chatting and some tears, I KNEW I had to have Ruthie come over to our blog and guest post a famous recipe of hers for all of our readers, so you could meet her and see her mad culinary and photography skills for yourself! So friends, this is where I exit, and let Ruthie take it away :)

..................

Hi everyone! Ruthie here, from What's Cooking with Ruthie.
I was thrilled when Shelley asked me to share a delicious and healthy recipe with all of you. I've always loved food but it hasn't always loved me back, so I made some changes in my cooking techniques to "skinny down" recipes while keeping all the flavor, and that is where my passion comes from when writing posts and sharing recipes on my blog. About 14 years ago I weighed 235 pounds and have come a long way since then - as Shelley mentioned before, I've written about my weight loss journey here. Through my cookbook and blog, I hope to help others find techniques that will work well for them, and encourage them to succeed in their healthy living journey to more balanced eating.

Today I'm going to be sharing with you my recipe for, Apple Craisin Walnut Cookies. You will LOVE them! They're are a deliciously yummy cookie that's healthy too.

SNAP! Conference 2014 - You won't want to miss this!

Guys, I JUST realized how FAST the SNAP! conference is approaching, and I'm totally butterflies-in-my-stomach-excited about it!!!

SNAP! 2012 was awesome of course, because it was the first year that this dream conference, full of creative people and bloggers actually came together for Tauni and the team of us who had always dreamt of how great something like this could really be.

2013 was even MORE AMAZING, because we had tons of experience from the year before under our belts.

We were less worried about whether or not people would want to even show up, and so much more stoked about all the fun memories we KNEW we had to look forward to, as we were building each class, party and event for our attendees and sponsors!

Cami Strong + Cure the Kids

CANCER BLOWS! You can't really prevent it, you definitely can't stop it altogether, and not only does it take lives and cause the most horrific heartache, but it sucks the victim, and most times their families, completely dry; emotions, time AND money. Did I mention that CANCER SUCKS!?

Okay, there, I just had to get that out of the way because there's no good phrase or sentence for me to use to start this post. And to be honest, when I'm about to get emotional, I turn towards being angry, instead of just being sad... I'm sure that says something about me. lol.

A few weeks ago I was laying in bed flipping through my Instagram feed, when I came across this:

Do you remember Cami's story from our polka dot skirt post/fundraiser in April? and how this sweet little girl was diagnosed with leukemia when she was about 4 years old, and then beat it!? So her wonderful Mom set up a shopping site that sold goods, where a big portion of the proceeds went straight to helping children with cancer? Well... as you can read from the update above, Cami has relapsed and is now fighting for her life a second time.

I had the pleasure of meeting Chelsea, Cami's mom this last year when she popped into a garage sale I was hosting to say hello, and just from the few minutes we were together, I could tell that she was one of the sweetest, strongest women I'd ever have the pleasure of meeting. The interview below, with Cami and her parents that was featured on channel 2, tells the full story about Cami's latest fight.

Want to know what's probably worse than watching someone you love more than anything, suffer all of the trials, pains and afflictions of cancer?...

Having to go through it for a second time.

8 Great Recipe Ideas!

I've been a little obsessed with recipe pinning and hoarding lately; not sure why, I'm a horrible cook. I think it's just the idea of eating it that makes me happy, lol. Cason on the other hand is AMAZING and actually loves being in the kitchen trying new things. So in reality, it's sort of me gather recipe ideas for HIM to hopefully make ME one day. haha!

Some of these are oldies but goodies, and some are new, so I thought I'd share them with you, because a bunch looked really yummy, and others were just super cute!

Sweet'n Tasty Morning Message - Dating Divas

Tell me this isn't such a cute and creative idea! Don't know why I haven't thought of it before! Of course the Dating Diva's made their message sassy and flirty for that special guy (love that!), but I was thinking of using our favorite Buttermilk Pancake recipe and doing something fun for birthdays! Balloons, a number, etc...

Best Salsa Ever! - UCreate Crafts

I could pretty much live off of Mexican food. Okay, mainly the chips and salsa part of Mexican food. I've actually made this salsa and it's AWESOME! I varied the spiciness for the kids and then for me and Cason (who like it hot)... that sounds weird... and either way, it's just really yummy and super flavorful!

The Skinny on Amazing Potato Salad - How Does She

I really want to try this recipe, because instead of the standard spices, this potato salad calls for Montreal Steak seasoning. Go figure! I bet it's really good, and gives a lot of different elements of flavor.

8 Great Posts for Weekend Reading

Happy weekend everyone! I wanted to drop in to share a couple of posts that I've been Ooo-ing and Ahh-ing over lately. I know you'll adore these creative women's ideas just as much as I did, so make sure to give them each a little visit and check out their other amazing projects that they have as well. You'll be blown away, I promise.

Beautiful 15 year old "Gossip Girl" bedroom makeover - by Jamie Meares of I Suwannee

Ikea Billy bookcase, turned into a divided, chunky, classy beauty - by Kate from Centsational Girl

Healthy marbleized frozen fruit, honey and yogurt pops - by Athena/Victoria on A Subtle Revelry 

Coral and mint entryway makeover - by Brooke at All Things Thrifty

The BEST Smartphone Photo Editing App - Rhonna Designs is Here!

So MANY of you have asked me about how I edit my Instagram photos, and while I touched on a few very important, useful and life-changing iPhone photo editing apps here in this post, when it comes to adding fun elements to my photos, Rhonna Designs is where it's at!

Up until now you've had to purchase Rhonna's individual design elements from her shop, upload them to your phone and then use them... but, not anymore! I've been helping beta test the new Rhonna Designs app, and I'm happy to report that it's FINALLY ready to go in the AppStore!

Our Instagram feed is like a mini blog post in ONE photo, so being able to add elements to my pictures, to enhance the beauty and story behind it, is a HUGE bonus!

Here are a few ways that I've used Rhonna's app.

Blogger Summer Tour of Homes - AKA: Major Eye Candy

Summer is totally throwing off my blogging groove. Anyone else?

I swear there are at least three days in the week where I catch myself thinking it's Saturday, instead of Tuesday, Wednesday or some other day in the middle of the week. Having all my kids home, sunny weather and a BILLION projects to do, makes for little if no time for sitting in front of a computer.

That being said, I forced myself to sit down today to put together this post, because I couldn't let one more day pass by without sharing it.

If you know Gina from The Shabby Creek Cottage, then consider yourself lucky... and if you don't, you've been missing out. Gina's blog is filled to the brim with great tips and tricks for DIY'ers, decorators and craft enthusiasts of all levels. She's always got great ideas for posts, and this Summer was no different. With the help of an armful of other fabulous, talented, stylish bloggers, Gina organized one of the BEST Summer Home Tours that I've seen!

The houses of these amazing bloggers will blow you away. And while I couldn't get my act together enough to join in on the home tour fun, I definitely didn't want YOU to miss out on seeing it. So below, I've listed all the amazing bloggers who took part in this fun series, and wanted to encourage you to go check them each out. Countless hours were spent prepping for the photos they had to take, editing them, and writing up their posts, so if you have some time, head on over and give all or even just a few of them some major comment and Pinterest love!

They totally deserve it.