update on what's in my bag

i'm sure you're all dying to hear about my trip, and i will tell you all about it i promise. tonight i am dead tired from the swift kick in the rear from reality today. until i can go through ALL my pictures and get some sort of plan, i've got a couple other posts for you.

a while ago I linked up with some other bloggers to talk about what's in my bag. i generally keep the same things in my purse most of the time. i took out a few things i knew i wouldn't need while traveling so I guess i had some extra room. we forgot to bring the stroller shopping so i put kyler in my purse. Chelsea and i thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing. karlee wasn't too amused with the whole thing. the little dude didn't seem to mind.

if you follow me on twitter, you saw that i guess i committed to blogging the bach this season. i'm going to do my best to post on tuesday mornings, but i'm a little delayed this week. i'm teaming up with kimberly, and we'll be posting on saturday this week. sorry for the delay, but this whole rejoining reality is sucking the life out of me.

may 30x30 {days 19-24}

are you sick of reading about what i've been wearing this month yet?!? ok good because there are a couple more posts to go. if you make it to the end of this post, there's a fun little surprise at the end. although i am finally back home after all my travels, days 19-24 were mostly spent in the tropics. i did put on clothes a few more times than last week...yay for me! day 19...another day at the pool

day 20...we took the ferry to st john and i was once again in my swim suit all day

day 21...i actually put on real clothes (gap melon stripe and black maxi..remember when it was a dress a couple weeks ago?!?) and makeup. ignore my hair. it hates humidity

day 22... i took this picture in the morning not really sure if i would end up putting on clothes, but i actually did. i decided to post it anyway since i spent the majority of the day at the pool.

and then we decided to go to a nicer restaurant for dinner so we actually got ready again. denim pencil, teal tank. again my hair is a disast. i should have brought better products, but you can't pack everything.

day 23...another travel day. i was sick of my hair hence the messy top knot. target stripe v, big star jeans rolled to capris

day 24...back in the states. i almost forgot what my hair looks like straight. this might be one of my favorite outfits of the whole thing. blue stripe old navy, white banana shorts

karlee wanted in on the action. please note the hip pop. this girl loves pictures.

we went mini golfing so i took a few more pictures. since this was my favorite outfit i'm posting more pics:)

i told you there would be a surprise at the end. with this 30x30 challenge coming to an end this week, i've teamed up with these lovely ladies to bring you a giveaway. most of us stopped shopping for the month so we thought it would be fun to give you a giftcard to do a little shopping for yourself. you can select from gap, loft, target, old navy, or forever 21. enter with rafflecopter below. good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open from 5/27/2013- 6/2/2013 and the winner will be announced on 6/3/2013. Entries will be validated. Winner will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected.

special thanks to kellyhttp://www.mrsintraining.com/2013/05/30x30-days-19-24.html for hosting this whole thing

jacquelyn for putting together the giveaway

kimberly for creating the image

as always, check out what everyone else has been wearing this week.

may 30x30 week 3 {days 13-18}

since i've been soaking up the sun (and having the worst cell coverage ever) i'm way behind on this post. when i initially picked my 30 pieces i actually only picked 29 in case of an emergency or something. i packed clothes to wear on my trip, but i quickly realized most of my daily outfits were a swimsuit and cover up. so, maybe it's cheating, but my piece number 30 is a swimsuit and cover up. it's been so great living in my swimsuit and soaking up the sun. day 13. it was hot as blazes but i had to wear something i wasn't taking. red target cardi, cream tank, black skinnies

 day 14. i look awful after traveling for almost 18 hours including a red eye and 2 layovers. stripe old navy v, old navy charcoal hoodie, big star jeans. i put this outfit on monday night before the airport and was more than ready to get out of it by tuesday afternoon.

 day 15. spent all day in my swim suit until i showered and put on my pjs. it was wonderful.

day 16. we took a bit of an island tour so i actually wore real clothes. too bad this is the only picture i took and the camera lens was foggy...oops. target stripe v, big star cut off shorts

day 17. another day spent at the pool=heaven if you ask me

 day 18. another travel day (st kitts to st thomas). it's so hot and humid=i look like a wreck. target stripe v, big star jeans.

i was a little nervous doing this challenge while traveling, but since i barely got dressed it's been great. check out what my other friends have been wearing. i'll be back in a couple days with the rest of my vacation outfits/swimsuits.

Baby Banner

i've had some old books in my car waiting for the perfect craft. one day i decided to make some baby banners out of old books and paper doilies. they turned out really cute (much cuter than the picture) and were pretty simple.

chalk around the edges

figure out a pattern for the book pages. i tried pendant, square, and a few others before deciding on this

find someone with pretty handwriting (i really really wish i had prettier handwriting). spell out baby girl/baby boy and glue to book pages. i used a glue stick.

glitter a circle inside the chalked circle

staple on twine

mass produce because just one is never enough

mail to out of state friends having babies

bouffant bun

several months ago i saw a post on twitter about the bouffant bun. i was obsessed immediately. it is the perfect style for my massive amounts of hair but also the perfect style for fine hair. this girl did a video tutorial.

Source: eisymorgan.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest

i promised my friends a live tutorial over spring break so here you have it...the picture tutorial of the bouffant bun. i still can't do a sock bun to save my life, but i can for sure do this.

1. definitely spray some dry shampoo (suave is best if you ask me) 2. tease your hair like CRAZY and then tease even more. don't just do the roots.

3. flip  your head upside down and put in a high ponytail 4. tease your ponytail...like a lot and then some

5. wrap hair into a somewhat loose bun. your hair is so teased that it should be pretty big and not really tight at all

6. pin in place with bobby pins or hair pins

voila you have a huge bun. practice on your friends. this will get you  one more day without having to wash your hair i promise

thank you erin for introducing me to the bouffant bun. i owe you one.

do you do a sock bun? have you ever tried this? let me know if you do.

Girls Night Out

several weeks ago aly started a group text about getting together for a girls night. we picked a day and time, and it felt like it was so far away. time goes by so so so fast. before we knew it, it was here. we all met at sawadee for dinner. the poor little babes didn't love dinner as much as we did, but we still had so much fun. we really missed those who couldn't come.

last time we all got together over spring break there was some crazy talk about the cuteness of this group hence the heels

charity had to leave after dinner because her baby just wasn't having it, but the rest of us weren't ready to call it a night. we ended up at lunaberry for the next several hours.we could talk and talk for hours, and the weather was so nice so we really did talk and talk for hours. i love these girls so much and miss them at work every single day. can't wait for our next girls night/craft night/whatever night.

blog design {blogger roundtable part 3}

i love love love the blogger roundtables and look forward to them so much. diedre was so nice and spent the evening teaching us all things design. the past few weeks have been super crazy trying to get ready to leave this place for a couple of weeks. last week was no exception. i planned to leave work in plenty of time to get to the awful waffle in provo in plenty of time, but i got stuck trying to finish something up. i also couldn't figure out exactly where i was going/find parking so i was a couple of minutes late. my computer took forever to start up and then wouldn't connect to the internet for another forever. i was way behind the group. i finally caught up and had a great time. after we were officially done many of us sat around talking blog talk much longer. i need to learn to use photoshop much better so i can actually apply some of the things we learned.

Kelli, April, Aubrey, Jessica, Rachel Jen, Bonnie, Tayler, Deidre

tomato basil quinoa with turkey

do you like quinoa? basil? ground turkey? i love love love all of those things so when i saw this recipe from danielle i HAD to make it. it was seriously so good. i highly recommend it. i did add some garlic powder and chicken broth to my quinoa to give it a little more flavor. it is a super delicious very healthy meal. go try it...

have you tried this stuff yet? try it! it's the best. i get frustrated with buying basil and using half and wasting half. this stuff lasts forever and tastes so good.

may30x30 week 2 {days 7-12}

if you're new around here, welcome! so happy to have you. i hopped a plane to the virgin islands last night. i'll be gone for 2 weeks. i have some scheduled posts to keep you entertained while i'm gone, but things might be a little more quiet than usual. i'll be back just in time for memorial day and all things summer (my fave). i was really apprehensive about signing up for the may30x30 challenge, but so far i completely love it. my favorite thing is my new blog friends, and my least favorite thing is definitely the picture taking. i feel like such a dork getting pictures of myself taken. because i hate the pictures so much i started getting a little silly. i also took a few this week at work.
day 7. neon cardi, coral striped v, navy skirt...on the playground at my work

 day 8. teal cardi, black maxi that will be a skirt after i cut it short enough (wore as a dress)...inside my office. this elevator is so scary and people get stuck=firemen come so i'm not usually mad about that

 day 9. red cardi, navy stripe, big star long jeans...after the blogger roundtable at the end of the day in bad lighting.

 day 10. target stripe v, cream cardi, melon jeans...inside my office

 day 11. neon cardi (i never ever ever wear the same cardi 2x in a week so this challenge is really pushing me), melon stripe, black skinnies...before lunch with friends. kind of loving this brick wall.

day 11. blue stripe, gray cardi, black skinnies(again 2 days in a row is a bit of a killer, but they were washed in between)...girls night. if you follow on instagram or twitter you saw my post. last time i was with these girls there was a little crazy talk about cuteness. we're pretty casual, but after that convo i had to up my game=heels and lipstick

day 12. cream cardi(more repeating), navy/white tank, army skirt...picture taking after church was a complete DISASTER! my camera wigged out big time. it wouldn't take pictures of anything but the concrete. i just had to put some of these in because they are just funny. i was getting so fed up with the whole thing.

thank you fave friend celsey for sticking with it until the camera finally worked

next week's post will likely be from my phone if i even have internet to get it up. i'm not taking a computer so i won't be able to load my camera pics until later. i'm sure you understand:)