I have had so much to blog about lately that I have gotten behind on posts but wanted to make sure I shared with you my Father's Day table as I shared my Mother's Day table with you back in May.
For Father's Day my entire family came over again to celebrate my Dad. I wanted to make my Dad feel extra special and wanted to keep the day as manly as possible so I decided to go with a green and blue tablescape.
I folded the light blue paper napkins to look like ties (hey, give me a break, I tried) and found stick on mustaches that I added at each place setting. They were a lot of fun and made for some great photos. I also printed out two signs about Dads and put one in a frame in front of his place setting and one taped to the back of his chair.
For dinner I cooked barque in the crock pit, corn on the grill, and several other yummy sides.
The important thing to remember is to make your guests feel welcome. Especially your guest of honor so I made sure I had my Dad's favorite drink and we even spent the afternoon watching golf.
And now for your enjoyment here is the hubs and I in our mustaches :)
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I started the set by using the Wrinkle Smoothing Cream first thing in the morning and in the evening before bed. I did this for two days and then started the Age Defying Serum and Smoothing Cream for days three and four. The Age Defying Serum goes directly onto any spots, redness, or target areas and the Soothing Cream seals it. Day five through today (day nine) I have been applying the lifting serum first then follow up with the age defying serum and then smoothing cream last.
According to the website you should see a noticeable difference in 4 weeks. Although I am only in my mid 20s and haven't experienced aging since yet I have noticed that my skin feels much softer and "fresher." My freckles seem to be fading and my skin looks brighter. Double score!
The complete set costs $129.99 and will last you 30-45 days. It is highly recommend you use all three products together for the first 30 days. After this amount of time you can choose to continue with just one or more products if you so choose. The products work together to reduce redness, wrinkles, and acne scars.
If you are looking for a solution to aging I would suggest giving Dermagist a try.
One (1) reader has the chance to win a Complete Rejuvenation System from Dermagist! You must be 18+, a resident of the US or Canada and have not previously won a Dermagist giveaway. The giveaway will end July 11th, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. EST. MFJ is not responsible for the prize fulfillment. Good Luck!
Disclosure: I received a free product in exchange for a honest review based on personal experience with this product. No monetary compensation was received or will be received between MFJ and the associated company with this product.
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This is a sponsored post by me on behalf of Lifescript.com.
Rheumatoid Arthritis is an illness that unfortunately affects many women, my sweet mom and grandmother both included. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that bothers the lining of the joints. It typically occurs in the hands and feet but the disease can affect other tissues and organs. Rheumatoid Arthritis is a disabling and painful disease that may lead to long-term joint damage. For my grandmother and mom both, this disease is worst in their hands and means that they need lots of help in the kitchen as they often have trouble opening jars, holding a knife to cut, or doing many other everyday activities that those of us without Rheumatoid Arthritis take for granted.
Above is a photo of my mom and grandmother. I love these two ladies SO much and am so thankful that I am the third generation to such a legacy of wonderful women. Rheumatoid Arthritis is genetic so the chances of me having it one day are very large and thus I am doing everything in my power to educate myself now about the illness. It also always helps to educate yourself on what those that you love are going through so you can know of how to be of better support to them.
Tips from women who have Rheumatoid Arthritis
Lifescript.com provides medical information, tips and advice that are all written by professional health writers, experts and physicians.
Visit www.lifescript.com for useful information on Rheumatoid Arthritis and other prevalent medical conditions related to women’s health.
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This is a sponsored post by me on behalf of Lifescript.com.
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10 Tips to A Successful Garage Sale
I had the most successful garage/yard sale I've ever had a few weeks ago ($600 in one day) and so thought I would share 10 tips with you guys that I learned that might help you have a successful yard sale as well.
1. The more stuff the better! In order to attract someone to get them to want to stop at your sale you need to have a lot of stuff and show it off...this is why it is great if you can get family or friends to have a joint sale with you (plus then you can advertise multi-family sale). As a shopper I hate to stop at a sale that doesn't have any stuff and will not stop if I ever see a sale there again.
2. Advertise, advertise, advertise but don't waste money by advertising in your local newspaper. There are so many ways you can advertise now a days without spending money. The number one way is through Craigslist. You would be shocked at how many yard salers use Craigslist to search sales. The second way is through local Facebook yard sale pages. You can search Facebook for your county and city and post your sale to the page. This will also help attract more people to your sale. When advertising be sure to list what type of items you are selling and especially any big items. Lots of home decor? Vintage items? Tools? List it all!
3. Pick a good location to have your sale. This is an important one. If you can find a house in a neighborhood on a busy street that is best. I live in a very large neighborhood and am on the main street so this def helped contribute to the success of my yard sale.
4. Strategically "merchandise" your stuff. Put all the home decor together, clothing together, and movies together. Thing of your yard sale as your own personal store. The more organized and the more attractive your layout the more people will want to shop.
5. Set up as much stuff as your can ahead of time in the garage. This will really help you out come yard sale morning. I opened my garage door at 7am to find multiple cars parked outside waiting for me to open my doors. Thankfully I already had most of my stuff set up in the garage and all I had to do was move my larger items and items to attract people to the sale outside.
6. Price everything individually as much as possible. Shoppers don't want to have to ask you about prices. Having everything priced will make it much easier on you and will encourage people to buy more than if things aren't priced. If you don't want to have to buy yard sale price tags for everything use masking tape. Works just as well and will save you money.
7. Be willing to negotiate. People will want to feel like they get a good deal so be willing to negotiate. Don't mark things at your bottom price so you have a little leeway.
8. Put up readable signs that show your address. Using bright colors helps. Make sure your full address is clearly labeled as well as an arrow to point which way drivers should go. It is best to put signs out the night before your sale. If you use poster board be sure to laminate it if you put it out early in the morning or the night before. I learned the hard way that poster board not being laminate gets wet from dew and curls up so no one is able to see your signs.
9. Have change handy and keep records of what you have made. You will need lots of change. I suggest getting $100 in advance in $10s, $5s, $1s, and quarters. I also suggest writing down the amount purchased as you sell so you can have a running total. On that note it is very important that when you start getting larger bills you take some money inside and lock it up. You would hate for someone to walk away with all your hard earned money!
10. Have fun and remember your purpose! If you don't have fun it's really not worth your time. Talk to people. You will meet some of the most interesting people at yard sales. Also keep your purpose in mind. If you were having a sale to clear out make sure you don't bring anything back in...if the purpose of your sale was to make money don't give your items away for dirt cheap. Remember it is a yard sale but you might could make more money on Craigslist or through an antique dealer/action.
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It's summertime and that means I get to spend many of my weekends including this one at the place I love more than anywhere else in the whole wide world...Lake Burton!
The first time I ever visited my grandparent's lake house at Burton I was only a few days old and have grown up spending weekends and summers there as much as I can ever since!
I mean you can see why I would love it right? Mountains and the lake? It doesn't get much better than that! And both of the above pictures were taken off our dock. Gorgeous, right?
When you know the history to our lake house it makes it even better. I already mentioned that I was just days old the first time I visited the lake house but I didn't mention that my dad built the lake house while he was in high school dating my mom along with my grandfather (that has since passed) and my uncle.
Then as you may remember from my post last year in April 2011 just a few months after my grandfather tragically and unexpectedly passed away the second most devastating thing happened to our family when our lake house was taken in the tornado along with our family photos and possessions we kept there. We were heartbroken and have spent much time and effort (and money) ever since working to rebuild our beloved cabin.
The good news is it is finally completed (well, minus a dock but that project will begin this fall once the water is back down) and we are back in our lake house. We came back with a totally different design that was functional for our growing family and even though the trees and greenery aren't what they used to be when I sit out and look at the water the memories are still there! As you can see from this photo of my dad and sweet husband...(oh did I mention as part of our new addition we now have big, wrap around porches?)...
When I visit the lake I am in awe of God's presence and the beauty of His creation. His creation is simply AMAZING.
Here is the mountain right near our cabin we take hikes up often. I'm telling you...I'm not sure how you can not believe in a Creator when you see this in person....(this is the side of the mountain the tornado missed in case you were wondering).
Here is our cabin...remember I already warned you there are no longer any trees on our side...if you read my post last year you might remember me talking about how crazy tornadoes are in their path of destruction...it jumped across the lake and our house was the first to be hit on our side and then moved to the left in steady line. Because of this the trees across the lake to the left and even the house to our right were totally untouched.
As you can see we have lots of work still to do in landscaping outside and decorating the inside but we love it!
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As promised here is my second post on my recent trip to California. If you missed the first one you can check it out here.
I started out my visit to Hollywood with a tour of Warner Brother Studios. I would highly recommend this tour! It costs $55 but it lasts a little over two hours and you get to see some really cool things! If you are really lucky you will even get to see an actress/actor as this is not a theme park but their actual studio where they film many, many movies and TV shows. While I was there they were filming Pretty Little Liars, Two and Half Men, Big Bang, Ellen, and a few movies.
Below are some of the highlights of things I saw while on the tour:
This alley has been the background for many scenes in movies but the one I remembered was Batman.
Do I have any Friend fans in the audience? ;)
As you can see this is the stage that Friends was filmed on for all those years and after it's great success the stage has now been forever named as the Friends Stage. If you are a Friends fan you are going to like this next pic because it is ON THE SET OF FRIENDS. It is forever a permanent set that keep up due to the success of the show. I even got to sit on the notorious couch:
Another really cool part of the studio tour was getting to see all the props for sets. They literally have warehouses full of anything and everything you can rent for a set for a movie or TV show. The set warehouses are set up a like a big shop (I wold LOVE to do some picking in them) and the prop manger literally walks around and tags the items he/she wants to rent. There is everything from mega buck antiques from over seas to new modern furniture and accessories to the candies pictured below to every lighting fixture you could ever image:
Fun fact about these candies? Yes, they are real but they are sprayed with some kind of deadly adhesive to make them "pop" in movie sets. My tour guide was telling me that he was in this warehouse a few weeks ago when he saw a prop manager open the jar and pop a hand full of jelly beans into her mouth before he could say anything. Not good.
After the tour of course I HAD to go see and get a quick picture of the Hollywood sign.
I then spent some time enjoying walking up and down Hollywood Blvd. Man, wasn't exactly what I was expecting to be totally honest. Of course seeing the "stars" was fun but I was giggling at the amount of spidermans, star wars characters, and fake mickey mouses all up and down the street. Don't believe me? Check out this picture of one of the Spidermans scaling a light pole. Fun right?
Of course I had to see the Kodak theater while I was there...it was so fun to imagine I was walking where all the stars have walked. And of course I had to take a picture next to the star of my childhood fav!
Another highlight of the trip was the spur of the moment decision to watch a live tapping of Jimmy Kimmel. Which ended up being so. much. fun. It was so interesting to see a show recorded. It was not was I expected but I loved it and really enjoyed going back and watching the show on TV. The guest stars were Mark Ruffalo and the two child Scramble winners. Unfortunately you have to check your camera at the door so people like me can't take pictures inside the studio but I was able to snap this photo outside the entrance.
The last highlight I will share with you is that my co-worker I was traveling with was smart enough to suggest we stay at the Roosevelt Hotel. What a great idea. This hotel is full of Hollywood history. Here's a few fun facts about the hotel where I stayed:
1. The elevator in the hotel is the elevator they modeled Tower of Terror after at Disney World
2. This hotel was the original location of the Academy Awards
3. Marilyn Monroe was a resident at the Hollywood Roosevelt for two years when her modeling career took off. Her first magazine shoot was taken on the diving board on the pool behind the hotel.
4. There have been many rumors of hauntings at this hotel. Some involve celebrities, such as Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift, who lived at the hotel in the past. Others involve a little girl in a blue dress. There have also been reports of cold spots, photographic "orbs", and mysterious phone calls to the hotel operator.
5. My other childhood fav, Shirley Temple, filmed her famous tap dancing on the stairs scene on the staircase in the lobby.
I'm telling you...this hotel is full of cool Hollywood history!
All in all I had an AWESOME time in Hollywood and wish I would have had more than a day to spend there. I will most def have to go back! What's your favorite thing you've ever done in CA?
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