I have been so busy with traveling, home decorating, and working on our new business venture Emily and Erin and I have that I almost didn't get around to a wish list.  Like that was going to happen...... 

My birthday is In a few short days and I rounded up a few items I would love to receive!  There are several non fun things too like... a curling wand, and a new set of makeup brushes but those aren't near as fun as this roundup!  

Whether you are hosting an ice cream party, or need a fun gift, this basket is full of everything you could possibly need for an Ice Cream social.  Start by picking up a basket at your local Home goods, or of course Target!  Maybe you even have one laying around.   You don't necessarily even need to use a basket.  A colorful plastic tub, or wire basket will work too.  Most everything in the basket can be picked up at Super Target too. 

Fill the bottom of the basket with scrunched up tissue to add a little padding and height to the smaller items.  Start at the back of the basket with the larger boxes and your ice cream cups and work your way forward.  Once you have the larger items in place add the jars of caramel, fudge sauce, sprinkles and cherries.  In cellophane gift bags, place a good amount of candy to be used for the toppings in them and tie them up with a colorful ribbon.  Do the same with your peanuts and chocolate chips.  Start tucking the bags of candies and toppings in the basket around the larger items and jars.   Split the cups into two stacks and place one in each front corner.  Tuck the scoop in you're done.  

This makes a great gift for a pool party, slumber party or how about your block party or holiday Bar-B-Que.  Where ever you decide to take it... rest assured it will be a big hit!  just don't forget the Ice Cream!! 

The greatest app I have recently found!! Chatbooks!  Do you ever wish you could somehow take all those pics from your phone and share them without handing over your phone?   Or what about sharing those same pics with a grandparent or family member that lives farther away?  I know your phones are probably loaded up right now with holiday and New Years pics.   Chatbooks can help you out!  With several options for your book, you can choose what pictures you want to share and Chatbooks does the rest.  I decided to take all the pics of my youngest grandson and create a book.  I had pictures of his first moments of his life and the first time my son held him.  He was the first to hold him, a moment that I knew needed to be preserved. 







Chatbooks is a company that prints your Instagram posts into beautiful 60 page books. Each book is only $6. You can just print a few or you or go nuts and print your entire Instagram feed.  I have 18 glorious months wrapped up in perfect-bound book forever. It is a tiny, treasured time capsule showcasing how much I love this little fella.   Here is the good news...  Download the app (it's free) and start creating your books. 

Happy Monday friends!  I mentioned last week in my birthday recap that I had the pleasure of spending time at the Smashbox counter in Nordstrom having my makeup done for my birthday. Have you tried Smashbox Cosmetics?   I had only ever used an eye pencil so the chance to sit and learn about Smashbox cosmetics was en lighting.  Shawna the makeup artist, who is originally from KC and worked at this counter when she lived here was in from Dallas.   I was so glad to get to know her and we quickly become friends.  She explained what the products were beneficial for and why I would have a need for them.   I love when someone takes the time to answer your questions and takes the time to help you with the right product.  Believe me... I asked a lot of questions too!  

Shop this post below for these and more Smashbox.

 

What a month this has been so far.  If you have by some chance missed the fact that this is my birthday month... let me catch you up today!!!!  My birthday was this past Sunday and I turned 50!   The celebrating started the day before on Saturday with a facial at Nordstrom with Smashbox cosmetics.  Shanna the makeup artist, did a fabulous job on my makeup and I now have a drawer full of Smashbox cosmetics too! I will share what I got later. 

 

There has been flowers, balloons, streamers, presents, cocktails, cake... and more cake... more presents and so much love and well wishes.  I feel loved to the core.  I am grateful for all the warm wishes and festivities everyone has taken part in so far and I thank all of you and you really do mean so much to me.  So here is a little recap of what has happened in the first week so far of the month!  Starting in the top left corner... Shanna, Michelle and I in Nordstrom at the Smashbox counter, One of my presents from Joe... that man has made this a birthday to remember for sure.... a few of my gifts from the girls at the office, I was surprised when I opened my office Tuesday to this,  we celebrated with sangria's on the Country club Plaza, cake... and more cake,  and flowers for my home.

 

The best birthday ever...!

So my birthday is this weekend and if you haven't noticed with my recent wish list I am excited!  Yes I know, this is a milestone and I am okay with it!  It is a pretty surreal.  I have gotten so many surprised reactions from people when I tell them I am turning 50 that it has actually made me feel pretty good!  Just yesterday a new acquaintance I made wanted to know what eye cream I use because she could not believe it when I told her my age! Makes me feel pretty darn good! So I figured it was time for an update on my 50 x fifty list!  I still have several things to check off, but I did allow the list to be for the whole year not just up until my birthday.  

the one thing I really learned from this list is that it became something to reach for.  Obtainable goals o work into everyday life.  Several times my girls at the office have asked "so what on your list have you done, or what needs to be done? " It has been great and I may do a smaller version every year for goal settings! So here it is... the list! 

My Birthday is coming up...and not just any birthday, but the big one!!  Yes... I will be turning 50 on August 3rd.  So... with that being said I decided to round up a few things that are on my list.  I tend to be a sentimental person when it comes to gifts but this year I am leaning more towards fabulous treats for me!  Who wouldn't want a Disco bag for their birthday... or a new pair of Sunnies and a great stack of new bracelets!  This girl that's who!! I want  every. Single. Thing. on this list! 

1 / 2  / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7  / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 /14

Shop this post below.

Happy Friday!  All day Wednesday I thought it was Thursday... So the fact that it is actually Friday is good news!  Whew... what a week. Oh... and today is my daughter in laws birthday, Happy Birthday Lindsay!  Can't wait to see your face when you open your gift!!  

 

It has been a busy week in my world and I didn't even go on vacation for spring break.  My daughter in law had surgery on her leg again. Back in December she had a full knee replacement.  She was doing great recovering but unfortunately she fell two weeks ago and broke both the bones in her lower leg.  The doctors thought they could set the break without surgery but this week they places screws and plates in her leg.  I need this girl off crutches soon so she can go shopping with me! 

 

We found out someone at my grandson's school was bullying him.  I cannot tell you the heartache that is.  Trying to grasp what on earth would cause a child of such a young age to think being mean was acceptable behavior; let alone they attend an anti bully class at his school every week.  The parents of that child need to be held accountable for this action and the teacher who passed it off as "sometimes things happen" needs a little reality check in the form of unemployment!  Rant over!

 

Remember when I shared my list of 50 x Fifty here ? I have completed several items on the list so far and have a few more on the list lined up to complete! GO me!

 

The weather is slowly turning warmer, I say that as if 45 is a heat wave! haha!  Outfit pics as starting to take place again and I am so glad to get back at it! All of the scenery is brown and dull around the lake we use to take the pictures, but soon enough it will be in full bloom!


Easter is right around the corner and I can't wait to decorate my house with these eggs.  Find the entire DIY post here!
 

 

 With spring in full bloom the time to start shopping for new items to add to your closet is upon us. Don't forget to follow the guidelines I shared here on wardrobe building, and  if you missed  this post on splurge items I highly recommend you reading it before you shop!

 

 

I will be attending Go Blog Social again this year with my favorite blogger girlfriends and a few new friends I have met through out this year in two week! Cannot wait to hear everyone speak and learn a few new tricks! 

After enjoying a three day weekend last week, I was not looking forward to today.  I think every weekend should be three days!  Oh well, Happy Monday anyway!  How was your weekend?  As the summer is winding down do you find yourself wishing for cooler weather yet, or still holding on to every last bit of heat and sunshine?  The weather is still roasting hot here, and it would be nice for at least some low 80's.  Oh Well!

 

So, if you follow me on Instagram, you saw my youngest grandson's first birthday was Friday!

He had such an amazing little party with so many presents! I think there was a little bit of over stimulation going on, but he had no problem smashing his cake and eating it!  Pictures soon!

Saturday was a great mail day!  I received this Rustic Cuff leather monogram cuff and love it!  I think it has a bit more casual feel than some of my other cuffs and I am looking forward to wearing it a lot this fall!  Have you heard of Cathryn Ann  yet?  Well, you should definitely check her out.  She sent me these two tassel bracelets, of course in light pink and white, and I'm super excited to share these in an outfit post!

My parents were in town for the weekend, and Saturday we had a few errands to run, so I added to my list a stop by Kohl's and target!  Yes, I picked up not one, but two, of these rhinestone studded collar blouses! They are on sale too!   I am leery of button blouses, but these have stretch!  Win for me!  Can't wait to wear them!  Target is my go to for cotton v neck tee's and a few stripes made it home as well!

I was exhausted by the time Sunday evening rolled around and my parents left.  The heat zapped my energy, and all I wanted to so was catch a little TV, and relax. Here is hoping for a mild Monday, and a calm and steady week! 

Happy Tuesday!  I had a fantastic weekend celebrating my birthday with so many friends and family.  I am truly blessed to have such a great circle of people in my life.  There is so much to share from this past weekend, from the blogger conference I attended, to the fun outfit post taken downtown, and oh yeah, the birthday!  I am super tired still as I have only had 6 hours of sleep in the past two days!  Yeah, not sure how I am going to get through today with a major jolt of caffeine.  Here are a few snippets I am sharing and later this week I will share the full stories!!  

I told you it was a fun weekend!  Lets hope I have what it takes to edit photos tonight to get the full post ready!  How was your weekend?  Are you ready for school to start yet? 

What a great weekend!  It was jam packed for me that's for sure.  Friday evening was spent downtown at the Boulevard Brewery.  It is a local  brewing company that gives plant tours.  One of my neighbors volunteers for the company and on occasion host plant tours.  We rented a bus to transport us downtown.  Smart idea when you have 25+ people drinking at these events and then needing to get home!

Now if you know me, then you know I hate beer.  I don't like anything about it, and have on several occasions attempted to find a beer I would like, to no avail.  So it seemed Like I would be a sober duck in a pond full of drunk fish!  I even considered taking a flask, but that was only going to last so long before I would run out!  I did attempt to drink a beer, and still stand strong on my dislike of beer!  I was in luck,  Boulevards make wine! 

It was a fun evening, and they have a great bar..... if you drink beer.  Oh, and its free too!  Everyone pitched in and brought a little something to eat while we mingled, then our lovely tour guides took us around to various area of the plant.  We even got to go to the roof for a spectacular view of the city!

Some of these guys were even double fisting it! 

My Saturday was a busy day as well.  I drove to Ft. Riley for my sweet grandson's 5th birthday celebration!  It was the first time to visit their new house, and it was wonderful.  I took both my other boys, and grandson to spend the day and the cousins had a great visit.  He is really big into Lego's and his cake was adorable!  And what 5 year olds birthday isn't complete without a piñata! 

The superman birthday boy! 

Maybe next time!  Isn't there a special place in heaven for a mother of all boys, AND all grandson?  There should be!!

Today is about waiting.  

Waiting on this to have a baby in it!  My grandson is due today and she is already dilated to a 6.  Excited to meet him! 

I celebrated my Birthday last Friday!  I took the day off and spent it eating and shopping on the Plaza.  It was a great day.  We enjoyed sushi and wine at Kona, then a birthday red velvet cupcake!  We even ran into old friends we had not seen in over a year.  Such a joy! 

 We then met my sister and her family for dinner and drinks and spent the evening enjoying games.  My sister experimented with a new cocktail to try.  She made cotton candy martinis, and they are sweet.  I usually like sweet things, but these are almost too sweet even for me! My sister gave me a skull scarf for my birthday that I love, and I will have fun styling it soon! 

My mom is coming to visit next week to spend some time so I needed to get an idea of all the fun things we will do while she is here.  She is a real mover and shaker!  Not a shopper and a luncher, but a project and a crafter kinda mom.  I am hoping to have some new DIY'er ideas soon for you guys!  


I am spending today at The Nationals Golf Club. It is a magnificent course designed by Tom Watson.  No, I do not play golf, I am attending a charity event.  I will instagram pics of the day to share.   How was your weekend? 

That is my youngest grandson's hand and my grandmother's hand.  A span of 5 generations! My grandmother turns 97 today!  Her birthday is the day before mine and I grew up always celebrating together with her.  I learned so much from these hands.  While they are no longer smooth and straight, they tell a story.  A story of family, love, and life.  She has raised 6 kids, is the grandmother to 18, great grandmother of 19, and great great grandmother to 7.   Yes, I am from a large family! She has taught so many valuable lessons thru the years to so many generations.  She is a true blessing.  She may not move as fast as she once did, and see as clear, but she will hear a pin drop from the other room and let you know it!

My birthday is in two weeks and I created a wish list of items I am currently crushing.  I am not expecting to receive all of these but it would be super nice if I did!  I picked some of my favorite items that I love. 

Key chains ~ Jawbone Jambox ~ Calendar ~ Lens ~ Sweaters ~ Skull bangle 

Scarf ~ Colorful Skulls ~ Drivers ~ Sandals ~ Pillow ~ Candle Holder 

Blair Ritchey key chains are so colorful and girly.  The Jawbone jambox is for wireless portable tunes.  Our neighbor has one and it is so cool to just sync up wireless from any device that is bluetooth.   The Inslee calendar has not been released yet but I am patiently waiting.  The Lens is top of the list! The J Crew sweaters appear so soft and I love the stripes. 

 Skulls and more skulls.  I am crushing big time over the Alexander McQueen rose cuff and the scarf is awesome.  The cranium bracelets I already own in blue but feel like a pink and white need to be added to the party.  I would live all fall and winter in a good driver and Car Shoes has a wonderful shoe, the only problem is they don't ship to the US!   

Two favorites combined in one, personalized Jack Rogers, pink!  This Jonathan Adler pillow will go beautifully on my bed with the rest of the new bedding, and I have the perfect spot for this candle holder from Z Gallerie.  Hope this helps with your shopping and let me know if you need my address! (Insert big smile here)

You see he is a momma's boy.  He probably won't admit it but you ask anyone that knows him and they will tell you he is!  Life hasn't always been easy for him.  He had seperation anxiety when he was in kindergarten.  When I pulled into the  dropoff lane at the elementary school and he was greeted at the door by a teacher I pulled away.  He turned around with his hand on the doorknob to go in and as I drove out of sight he realized he didn't want to be there.  He took off running home.  We lived approximately 6 blocks from the school and in a neighborhood where we were all friendly thank heavens.  The teachers and school tried to catch him.  But not my little bolt of lightning.  No sir!  He was Forrest Gumpin it all the way home!!  Luckily the car behind me in drop off was my dear friend Cathie.  She witnessed the whole event and drove along with him until he safely reached the house.  Of all the days I don't go straight back home, rather my sister invited me over to help her do some decorating that day.  I was completely unaware of the whole incident!!

Lets back up to the part where Cathie followed him to my house.  No one was home and she was able to convience him that he needed to go back to school.  She loaded him up and took him back to school.  I was Vice President of the PTA at that time so I was in the school frequently.  After I meet with the staff we decided it was better for him If I kept a low profile at the school.  Needless to say I was not allowed to roam the school halls freely the rest of the year due to if he saw me he would completly fall apart! 

15 years later and only a little has changed.  He finished school with no other  incidents, graduated last year and move in to his own apartment.  He still is close to him Momma,  and can run like the wind, but he is taller than me by 10 inches and strong as an ox.   He is all grown up!   Happy birthday to my rocket man!!  (That is a whole other story) !!! 

What a Busy weekend.  My youngest grandson turned one on Saturday and I drove to Oklahoma to celebrate with family.  My son had leave from the Army (he is stationed in El Paso) and they drove to visit family while he was on leave.  I am originally from Oklahoma so my parents still live there.  My niece from Chicago flew down to KC on Friday to make the drive with my sister and I.  It was a girls road trip!!  (Except for the two teenage boys we took with us)  Anyhoo....  It was a great party and there were a few surprises along the way for  some well deserving peeps!!  

As long as I can remember it has been a tradition for my grandma (on my mom's side) to make a teddy bear cake for your birthday as long as it was age appropriate!  My mom makes the teddy bears now.  My Grams is still alive and and pretty sharp for her age of 96.  She will be 97 this August.  Her birthday is the day before mine, so I spent every birthday growing up celebrating with her.  I can't imagine there will be too many more joint celebrations so I will cherish the events as long as possible.  I better give a little shout out to my other niece, Hi Megan, who shares a birthday with me!  Love you!!  We are all Leos! Not that that needed to be announced.  My personalty screams Leo!   I digress.  

I hope you enjoy my weekend in pictures.  I took over 400 pictures of the weekend, and sadly my ornery oldest grandson would not cooperate! I think I only captured a handful of photos with him smiling and his ball cap is creating a shadow on his face!  No I am not posting 400 photos for you to have to look at.  Geezzz... that would be like inviting you over for dinner and whipping out the old slide carousel!  

We went to Sams club and I made a center piece for the table.  I used a bunch of old Kerr jars my mom had and just tapped a band of ribbon around the middle.  Pretty simple and super cute!

Signs of spring showing up in the yard