Top 8: Blogging Besties`

So today I have decided to introduce a new monthly feature! I cannot promise I will find the time to make a post every month but I will try my bestest!!!!

Here it is, say hello to

Each week I will be trying to post a list of my favourite top 8 of something....why does everyone always use 10?? I decided on good ol' 8! This week I am going to introduce you to 8 of my favourite blogging ladies. We aren't actually besties, but I often feel like I know them now that I have been following them all for close to a year!! I hope you check them out and maybe join my BFF group because I can say that at some point each and every one of these ladies has inspired me with their creativity, touched me with their heartfelt words or made my co-workers question whether I was going crazy when I couldn't stop smiling at my screen!

So here we go!!

Check out her blog here.

Elise is one inspired, creative lady and I have to say she is the first poster I look for every morning. Some of my favourite parts of Elise's blog are:

HER SERIES - Right now she has a 40 pizzas series happening that I am so jealous of. Having a lactose-intolerant Scotty means that I very rarely get to make pizza, but the other day our friends invited us over for a Pizza Showdown and I used her Strawberry Balsamic recipe to whoop some ass! Sorry Tim :) She also has a 26 Materials series in which she is using 26 material to make 26 craft projects before her 27th birthday; a Project Life series where she shares her project life pages(if you are unaware of project life, wait a week or so and you can see my first post about it!); and a Around Here series she posts every Friday to wrap up her week.

HER DESIGN SENSE - Bright, bold and beautiful!

HER DIY PROJECTS - They are plentiful, usually require only a few materials and a few simple instructions. My kind of DIY!

HER RELATIONSHIP - Elise is married to a US Navy Doctor and she is very open about her relationship struggles, trials and successes. It makes her relatable and shows that although she might look perfect on paper(so to speak!) she goes through the same things we all do!

Visit Erin's blog here.

Erin runs a super cute blog that focuses on her 3 adorable kiddies, her yummy hubby and her household adventures. Erin has taught me:

1) It is ok to have a shopping addiction and own more pairs of jeans than you can count! :)

2) If she has time to make 3 separate project life albums, I by god should be able to do 1!!!

3) We should all be thankful for our blessings and everyday that we get to spend with our families. (Erin had a serious health scare after she gave birth to her 3rd child and when she wrote about it in this post I balled my eyes out and went home to hug my man!!)

Check out Erin and her crazy household!!

Check out Shannon's vegas adventures here.

This was the first blog that I decided to follow, the reason I wanted to start my own blog and the path to most of the other blogs that I now enjoy everyday. Shannon recently moved her family of 5 across the country from Oregon to Las Vegas and often posts about her struggles finding a place in her new town. But she also posts about adventures with her 3 kids, invites us in to check out her latest Project Life pages and provides some great relationship advice. I first found her blog when I heard about her Year of Dates(which I gave to Scott for his Bday last year!) and also followed her advice and tried the Photo A Day challenge. Here are a few photos to show you what Shannon is all about :)

Find this cute couple here.

John, Sherry, their daughter Clara and their cute taco dog Burger must be one of the cutest families ever!!!

                 

The couple both work at home full time to keep their 2 blogs running (the second blog is about their life and can be found here) and I have to say I am totally jealous that they can spend each and every day together, although I think Scott and I would kill each other! Sherry & John became blog superstars when they completely renoed their first house from top to bottom and let their followers, well follow the entire thing. They now have a DIY book coming out in the fall and have moved on to their second house. Young House Love is full of simple DIY projects that use thirfted, junked and well anything cheap to make something insanely beautiful.

Like this:

                                        

That they turned into this!

                   

And last but not least I am insanely jealous that their new deck is done and mine is NOT!

                     

I will give it to Scott though, theirs seems to be a wee bit smaller than our monstrosity!

Ok so there are my first 4 blogging besties!! And seeing as that took me way too long to compile I am going to post this at the half way point and get the second half to you next week!! Hopefully alongside a post about Project Life, M&J's Wedding Extravaganza and their DIY wedding gift!! 

Hope you all have a super fantastic weekend!!!

Laters Babies,

Emma B xoxo

In the moment

I was… a carefree child, but weren’t we all?

I am…dreading the snow and the loss of daylight(even if it doesn’t come for months!)

I think… all the time! My mind never stops, and yet I forget things constantly!

I wonder… where my life is going to take me in the next few years??

I wish… I was like Mel Gibson in What Women Want, but I could hear what men are thinking!!

I save… all the laundry until Scott and I both run out of undies…is that bad?

I always… wanted to be a fashion designer when I was little, until about 13 or 14 when I realized I had no artistic ability!

I can’t imagine… spending my life anywhere else or with anyone else.

I believe… everything happens for a reason!

I promise… to go to bootcamp tonight! I haven’t been in a week and Mary and my body are both very mad at me for that!

I love… my small town, my simple life and my kitties!

You can thank me later!!

If you are anything like me your mom is a first class baker and your sister is a first class chef, you however are somewhat of a disaster in the chicken. Ok so maybe your not just like me but you get what I mean!

When Scotty and I bought a house, I realized I love to entertain and feed people but I'm not down with the whole four course gourmet meal thing. I like to not only wow my guests with the amazing cuisine but also my winning personality ;) Which can be hard to do if I'm in the kitchen all night....so I stick to SIMPLE!

This soup is about as simple as you can get and it always gets a 5 star rating from dinner guests. Last night we had 6 people for dinner and made this soup and 2 trays of nachos and had ourselves a Mexican Fiesta!! Mmmmm I could Mexican 3 meals a day :)

Try it out for yourselves and let me know what you think! People tell me all the time that they love my blog and have tried some of my projects whether hair or DIY but I never get any sweet(or ugly) comments. Come on people! Help a sister out and let me know what's up!!




Once you have all your ingredients the night before, wake up 5 mins early in the morn(if it's a work day, if not sleep in dude, do it when you drag your ass out of bed!) and follow steps 1 to 3 :)
























When you stroll in that night from work or from the beach whatevs, just knock out step 4 and your cookin with cheese. Well actually your not cooking, your done. Pour yourself a drink and relax!




Ok so once the soup was done I had a hard time stopping people from digging in to get a pic, so here is the remnants. You get the point, it's delicious and it took you 5 cans and max 10 minutes to make!



Enjoy :)

Lathers babies,
Emma B xoxo

Happy Havelock!!

Happy Havelock everybody! 

Although I am not going to the joyous celebration that is the Havelock Jamboree this year, it does hold a special place in my heart!! I found my true love at the Jamboree, although I didn't know it for another 6 months or so lol! Scotty and I have been back to Jambo together since and we always have a good time :)

Havelock Jamboree 2010 - We got mad sunburns, and mad drunk!

As an ode to this crazy ass weekend that I will be missing :( I decided to wear my Havelock skirt to work today. I got this wrap when we went to Havelock last and honestly don't wear it very often. It totally makes me feel like Kitty of "That 70's Show"?! Right?! So today I embraced the 70s and Havelock and rocked this skirt!!
So for all you country fans headed to Havelock in the next day or so, have a blast, don't get lost or arrested and most importantly have a drink for me!!! :)


P.S. Someone told me I never smile in my blog pics so here is the best I can do, what can I say I'm camera shy?!
Laters Babies,
Emma B xoxo

Wrap Around

Hello All,

Long time no talk! I just wanted to pop in today and show you a new pinning hairstyle I attempted this morning! However, I also wanted to send a shout out to my most awesome-est friend Alyssa for her totally rad redesign of my blog! I am not 100% done it yet, but don't you think it just looks so much cooler already??!! Thanks Alyssa!

So back to the pin, here it is:

I am going to call this stylin' attempt the Wrap Around!

So here we go:

How super frickin easy was that?! Seriously that is it! 

Side note: Next time I would use one or two bobby pins to keep the elastic headband in place as I find myself adjusting it every half hour or so today.

But other than that, I am loving this easy 5 min hairstyle!!!

Let me know if you try it out! I am thinking next time I might try wrapping some really lose braids, but that might rack up the prep time to like 10 mins!!!! :0

Laters Babies,
Emma B xoxo


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