The New Pants I Love To Repeat by XCVI Official

Hello, my friends! I'm currently sitting at my mom's kitchen table flanked by sisters. It's the evening so the younger cousins are settled. Hubby is foraging for dessert and momma is already in bed. Conversation ebbs and flows, so I'm stealing a moment to meet you in cyberspace. Ironically, I'm wearing this exact outfit, down to the boots, after returning from dinner out with friends.  And in full disclosure, these pants have been on repeat since they arrived last weekend.

Is it the elastic waistband in the back, perfectly timed for the holidays, and soft material that makes them a current favorite? Or is it the stylish front pocket grommets and fashion-forward fringe across the front of the leg that reveals the designer's love for detail? The moment I pulled this outfit out of the package I was impressed by the quality of these garments.

For these reasons and more, I'm honored to introduce you to XCVI clothing company out of California. Family owned and operated with the "real" woman in mind, they are not about fast fashion. The high quality and contemporary styles are designed to move with you as you go about your day - and LAST!

Simply Earth Now Has A Starter Box

If you've visited my blog over the last year you may have seen a post or two about the essential oils recipe boxes by Simply Earth. This big hearted, give back company cares about people as well as the environment. Their uniquely curated boxes are designed with the amateur oily folk in mind, as well as the pros. As far as essential oils go, most know that not all are equal. Quality and method of processing is not something I worry about with this company. All this being said, have you heard they have a "Starter Box"?

Each month subscribers are sent box of goodies, appropriately created for that season/month. Soothing skin recipes for the winter or summer. There's diffuser recipes for colds, focus, calm and the list goes on. These boxes are well loved, so you know what? They sell out! For this reason, Simply Earth came up with the Starter Box. Anyone who wants to get in on the oily goodness can hop on at any time. And the recipes are a perfect roundup! 

Holiday Gift Guides: Gym and Home Collection

The temptation to lament about the fact that Thanksgiving is already upon is incredibly strong. In fact, I'm weak and apparently I caved. Time is going faster than I'd like, however one of the aspects in blogging I enjoy around this season is all the gift guides! I gain the best ideas from these posts and am happy to say that I'm joining in with my FIRST gifts post. So without further ado, I'm happy to share today's Gift Guide feature "For the Gym" and "For the Kitchen". 

More Than Just A White Tee & The Style Six Link Up

 Jovi White Tee C/O Caite & Kyla

Hello dearies! Fall arrived this past weekend with temps in the high 50s. It will be warm soon enough so I'm enjoying it while I can. Thumbing through my small supply of fall/winter clothes, I grabbed at these faux leather pants to pair with my new embroidered white tee. Pause. Did you catch that? Embroidery.  I honestly didn't imagine loving this trend, but here I am wearing this classic tee from Caite & Kyla on repeat. I love the floral design and gorgeous array of color. There's so many options!

I packed it for our girl's trip to Texas, a ministry wives luncheon in Orlando, wore it at home and  wore it Lowes for simple errands. The flattering cut, crisp white color and stylishly roomy design makes it a closet winner!

Fun Family Traditions: The 12 Days of Christmas

When Christmas rolled around last year, we had only been in Florida for five months. We were struggling. It takes time to become rooted in an area and some of our boys chose to distance themselves from the family as well. My subconscious solution was to work more. However, between working through a special goal planner and the encouragement of friends, I realized my error.

Time is short when they are home with us, right? I stopped and began praying about how I could make this Christmas stand out or feel exciting. That's when the idea for the Twelve Days Of Christmas came to me. From there I went to Pinterest and now I'm sharing it with you!

I'm sharing it with you because though it was a LOT of work and not every moment was met with appreciation, it produced the result I hoped for! It was worth the effort and helped our family make memories we wouldn't have had otherwise.  And you know what? I had fun!

Perhaps you need inspiration to make sweet memories! Hopefully this post will do just that. Warning! These pictures are not blog perfect and my poems are lame. The idea is to inspire you with what works for your family!

Friday Favorites: Gadgets & Home

Hello and welcome to another Friday Favorite! Today I bounce around from home items to gadgets for your phone. Those phone accessories would conveniently fit in a special someone's Christmas stocking, or in a lovely gift bag. Even better, you may need to up your phone game as well! Now before I delve into the world of electronics let's start with the home!

Utility Pants Take On Austin & The Style Six

Ruffle Top/ Soft Utility Boyfriend Pants/Pearlized Ruby Sneaker C/O Secret Celebrity Shoes

While frolicking around Austin last week I made an unplanned purchase at the Lucky Brand store, located at The Domain.  There's something about shopping with sweet friends that causes a chain reaction, right? We walked right to the clearance section, which boasted an additional 60% off! Remembering the combinable 40% off coupon tucked in my wallet, sealed the deal. My reserves slipped away and I had a new outfit to traipse up and down South Congress Street.

Thankfully I didn't have to traipse alone. Shelly, from the Queen In Between, offered to be my tour guide for Monday since I arrived almost two days later than the rest. And I quickly learned that in addition to being the Queen in Between, Shelly is also the queen of murals! My friends, there's quite a few murals up and down that strip!

Friday Favorites: Date Night Beauty Edition

As I mentioned in a previous post, the hubs and I are officially dating. In other words, we spending time with each other, apart from the children, on a regular basis. Older teens and gift cards came together to make this possible. Now is it a coincidence that this is also a more difficult time in life? For example, we're still grounding ourselves in a new place, we're farther from family, we have one teen graduating this year and another learning to drive, etc! There's of course more, but this will suffice for now.  I'd say this is a good time to strengthen our relationship and work on being a united front.

So with dating on the brain, today's favorites stem are a mash up of beauty products and date worthy outfits I use to be all pretty. ;)

"Everything Is Bigger In Austin" & The Style Six

I almost didn't make our second girl's trip. With one boy in his senior year of high school and two younger boys, it was a weekend full of priorities. Momma had to be home. Of course, there's no rather place I'd rather be, however I'm thankful it worked out to meet the girls a day and a half later.  In fact, I made it just in time for lunch at Gloria's on the Domain in Austin! Of course, I'll delve into adventure favorites soon enough.  But for today, I'm sharing a few thoughts on friendship and these fun graphic tees - Everything is Bigger In Texas!