Our Weekend

Was full of all kinds of kickassery.....

like the sweetest stage five clinger. Ice cream sammichs. Baseball watching. Hand holding. Kidless dinner. Mexican run for chips & salsa after said dinner was craptastic. Fires. Male bonding. Romper purchasing (a-wee!). Jackie O inspiring. Beer drinking. Coming home to fresh cookies baked. Cousins together. Sprinkler running. My baby isn't so much of a baby anymore realization. Weather hot enough to melt your face off.

Hope you all also had a fabulous weekend with your families. And are as equally bummed to see Tuesday here already.

p.s. I still have 4 open slots for medium ads at the BOGO price. If you're anything like me, 'free' is music to your ears. And your wallet. Get on it! :)

steppin' out 5-26-12

::deets:: dress, cuff, & earrings--f21//belt--thrifted//sandals--target

Brookie told me yesterday afternoon that "since it's Mawmaw's 16th birthday today, we should all wear dresses for her party". Good call, kiddo. What better way to celebrate Mawmaw's sweet 16 then to dress up and go out in the gorgeous weather for dinner, shopping, and dessert? 

The Outback food was delish. The sales at Old Navy were fab. And the barista at Starbucks was pretty great in making us venti's when we only ordered grande's.

So I'd say we've had a pretty kick ace weekend so far (full of date night dinners with crappy food & pricey booze which turned into an early night home with ice cream & cheap wine, and a momma's day out today) and we still have our annual family picanic tomorrow.

Oh and it's supposed to be 93 degrees tomorrow. Let's hear it for schweaty betties and BBQ!





Linking up with Mandy at The Haps.

Floral Lovin'

One.//Two.//Three.//Four.//Five.//Six.//Seven.

Without a doubt, one of my favorite looks for this spring & summer. Who am I kidding? One of my favorite looks ever. So classic & feminine and easy to match with other prints. Love it.

Are you as George Swooney over floral as I am? Tell me where you find your favs, because SOMEBODY {won't mention any names here} has a birthday coming up and has a fascination with list making. Especially wish lists.  

Spoiler alert--it's me. Deets please. xoxo

oh here i am!

You may have noticed that I've been a wee bit MIA here lately. But I can't apologize for this. You'll understand once you hear my reasons, which are threefold.

1.) The toyroom/bedroom revamp.
The girls room & old nursery look like a hoarders paradise at the moment. And it's driving me bat shit crazy. But, as my husband adoringly (red font) reminds me, I can never start one project without finishing another. So I'm in the midst of two room do overs. And since my friend Laura & I finished painting the toy room...

it's all I want to focus on now. Green and pink and yellow and turquoise and chevron and polka dots, I can't wait for everything to be up and finished. Oh & to reclaim my master of the living room title again. Hobby Lobby has been my right hand man as has Pinterest, and I'm hoping to have a big reveal for y'all in the next few weeks.

2.) Hello ridiculously gorgeous weather.

I think it's safe to say summer has officially arrived in Ohio. It's been in the high 80's all weekend and looking ahead the next 10 days, I don't see much change ::fist pump:: We've spent more time outside than we have inside & all have the rosy cheeks to prove it.

Banana popsicles. Fresh produce. Grilling out. Windows down. SPF 50. Ice cream. Water. Adorable biscuits in adorable suits. Kinda makes me want to fist pump again.

and finally, 3.) Christian Grey.

Oh lordy. I should probably go pray, but I.cannot.put.these.books.down. Since getting the series last weekend, I've finished the first two books and am mid way through the third. I'd more than likely already be finished by now & restarting book one, but little things like work and motherhood just keep interfering...

It's smut. It's poorly written. And it's completely unrealistic. But? I'M SUCKED IN...for lack of a better term.

So? You get it, right? Clutter.Remodel.Sunshine.And smoot.

Amen.

this week(end)...

I could've high fived everyone I came in contact with this past weekend. Cashiers. Waiters. Your mom. Everyone! It was that fantastic. Gorgeous weather. No tantrums. No melt downs. And the girls behaved too!

Yep, this weekend was perfect. Full of beautiful spring weather. First time braided piggies. New reads.{Can I get a bwahahahaa at my mother buying me smut for Mother's Day?} Back seat grins. Milk side eyes at dinner. The girls first drive in movie. An afternoon with my Momma. Pedi's. Coffee. Fro-yo. Lunch. Starby's happy hour. Mother's day eve gifts from the hubs. Sleeping in. Mother's day gifts from my girls. Brunch coloring. Being together. Art work for the grandma's. Sunday naps. Steaks. Brownies. "Tangled".

::highfive!::

May Birchbox

::from L to R::

*Shu Uemura cleansing oil shampoo--I've never heard of this, but the reviews I googled made this stuff seem like liquid gold. And rocking a lions mane, I'm always excited to try out new hair products.

*Stila sparkle waterproof liquid eye liner in rock candy--Confesh time....I for the life of me cannot apply eye liner correctly. Especially liquid eye liner. It's like a left handed 4 year old child took over a right handed 26 year old womans hand. So? Not sure if this will get used or not. Maybe on a braver night!

*Miracle Skin Transformer--This is good stuff. I applied it on my new nemesis who set up camp on my forehead. And this stuff covered him. Completely. Goes on smooth, blends nice, I dig it. And it's SPF 20. Take that Frank the zit.

*Miss Dior by Dior--Not my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, it's powdery & fresh, it's Dior! But it just doesn't strike my fancy.

So you guys, this ends my time with Birchbox. I signed up for the 3 month package & then ordered one more month after being disappointed last month. Kind of a "here's your chance to wow me into ordering more." Unfortunately, it didn't pan out that way. BUT I gotta say, it was a really fun experience. Getting this little pink box in the mail monthly brought me some excitement in my routine world. We had a good run, Birchox. No hard feelings, k?

Steppin' Out 5-13-12

::deets::

on emily//dress--old navy.//sandals--target. on brookie//dress--old navy.//sandals--the children's place//on ashley//tee, necklace, & bracelet--f21.//skirt--fresh produce//sandals--kohls.

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all the beautiful women in my life!! My mom, my mother in law, grandmothers, sisters, friends, co-workers, all of you. Ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted to be a mommy. When my babies were born, I couldn't wait until they babbled "MaMa". I think it's safe to say motherhood is the most challenging, rewarding, "what in the hell did I get myself into?", "how in the hell did I ever survive before them?" experience. My daughters bring me such unimaginable joy. They're pretty awesome. Brooklyn Grace & Emily Kay, thank you for being you. And for making me me.

As I type, I've got one girl napping. One girl sitting next to me watching "Puss in Boots". And one husband getting the grill ready for a BBQ tonight. Oh and double fudge brownies baking in the oven. Could I BE any more blessed?! {Actually, yes I could. And I have a ridiculous amount of pictures from this weekend to show you all soon!}

Secondly, um hello ridiculously comfortable spring skirt. WITH POCKETS (yes, caps were necessary for that.) Thanks to Fresh Produce*, I have the perfect skirt to dress up or make casual this spring and summer. Love the color. Love the fit (oh herro stretchy waistband.) Love THE POCKETS (again, yes...) Love it all. Check them out for awesome casual clothing {and my favorite, travel skirts.}

I hope you all are having a great day! That you got to sleep in this morning. And that your babies did a little extra something to melt your heart today.

Linking up with fellow momma Mandy at The Haps.

*I received the forget-me-not skirt from Fresh Produce free of charge to review. All opinions are & always will be 100% my own. And I'm not fibbing, this skirt is fabuloso.

Tutorial / Fabric Hoop Wall Art

Since the girls share a room now, I was looking for something fun to put on the wall in between their beds. And by something fun, I mean something cheap.

Jackpot.

What you'll need::
Fabric quarters (or scraps. I bought these half yards at JoAnn's for $1.00 each.)
Embroidery hoops (I got these at Wal-Mart. $2.65 for the smaller ones, $2.80 for the biggers ones.)
Scissors
Iron

I'm thinking maybe 2-3 more smaller ones eventually, but for right now? I'm happy. And in love with this super cheap project. Total cost? Under 30 bucks. *fist pump*

Two Girls. One Room. Winning.

Aaand exhale.

I was nervous about the sharing a room transition. Besides the car seat (and occasional lap/couch crash out & handfull of times in a pack and play), Emily's only ever slept in a crib. Enclosed. Trapped. And Brooklyn has always had her own room. She could lay in bed and play & sing without interrupting anyones sleep.

So when Dustin (took 6 hours on a Sunday and may have dropped an eff bomb or seven) got the beds put together and the mattresses came, the girls of course wanted to sleep in their new beds. The room isn't close to being ready, and I wasn't ready for Emmy to be out of her crib yet. But, they insisted.

After the initial excitement wore off (3 hours after bedtime), they were out.

It was hilarious listening to them giggle and talk to each other, although by hour 2 a few threats were made if they didn't stay in their own beds.

Now after a week in their new big girl beds? Bedtime is honestly a cinch. Emily takes naps in her bed, hasen't rolled out once. {We were going to use the pool noodle under the fitted sheet to act as a side rail idea from Pinterest, but forgot the first night and don't see the need to now.}

When 8pm hits, they know it's time for them each to get in their own bed and stay in their own bed (although how crazy sweet would it be to find them snuggling each other at midnight?!) And in the morning when they wake up, they don't disrupt each other. If Emily wakes up before Brookie, she lays in bed and reads books until Dustin or I come and get her. If Brookie wakes up before Emily, she comes into our bed.

 It's honestly been a big relief how smooth this transition has been going. Well, majority of the time. Last night Dustin heard Brookie tell Emily "NO! I will not say hi to you again, okay? I already did firty times and I'm trying to sleep!"

Free Printables

This girl? Has champagne taste on a beer budget. Beer's great and all, but sometimes you just want a lil' of the bubbly. In this case, I've been ooohing and aahhing over SO many Etsy prints to frame for the girls new toyroom & bedroom. But not wanting to shell out the cash, I turned to Pinterest.

Yahtzee!

Here's a few of my favorite free printables.

::source::

::source::

::source::

 ::source::

:: source ::

LOVE these. A few of them will definitely be making their way into the new rooms, which are coming together (too) slowly but (not soon enough) surely. 







Cinco de Mayo

Well this Cinco de Mayo was certainly much more different than last years....

but still fun none the less.

Harry Buffalo. Yuengling. Bison burgers (with bacon & a fried egg on top, heeeeyohhh!) New shirts. Battered fried stuff. Behind home plate seats. The Jake.

Of course the loss in extra innings & freezing winds soured it a bit (alot. i wore flipflops.) but hey! At least we got out of the house, right? Let's face it. I was fully expecting to celebrate with rainbow sherbet & Go Diego Go.

Ad Space BOGO Sale!

You read that right. Buy 1 month of any size ad space on The Stauffer Shenanigans, receive 1 month FREE!

I typically do run ads from the 1st of the month to the last of the month, but since I'm tardy to the party this month, your ad will run from whichever day you buy to exactly 2 months (!) from that date. Like May 4th to July 4th for example.

Why the sale? Two words---Blog.Her. Where thousands of bloggers get together (and finally meet face to face after years of "knowing" each other online) and share advice, tips, and just basically have an amazing time. BlogHer'12 is being held in NYC this year August 2nd-4th and the thought of going makes me giddy like a kid on Christmas. So this is where the BOGO sale comes in. Every little bit will help me bring a suitcase full of wine for my amazing roomies Stephanie, Katie, and Melissa {well, sparkling cider for this second time momma to be ;)}

Intruiged? Please email me! This sale will last the entire month of May! Exclamation points are great!!!11

Potential sponsors--interested in seeing my media kit? Email me! Have I mentioned that this is my email? Yes? K, just checkin'.

Edited to add---Thank you SO MUCH to my newest sponsors. Y'all are fabulous. The bees knees. All of the above! Just a heads up here. I only have TWO ONE NO more space left for the large ads. FIVE medium left. And ONE NO more small ad space available. Get 'em while they're hot :)