My mother is extremely gifted in all things design and decor. She has an eye for it that constantly amazes me. My sister is fortunate to have received this trait as well, but the gene skipped me. I have, however, learned a few tips from watching them over the years on how to decorate, things not to do, etc. One of them is how to change your decor around to make it appropriate for each season without completely redoing your entire home. I recently bought new living room furniture and chose very neutral shades for our chairs, sofa and rug. Our walls are all very neutral – beiges, grays, and my chocolate dining room – so that I can easily change up accent pieces to make my home appropriate for the changing seasons. Here is how I do it:

Add color – I love to add touches of color throughout the home – yellow for summer, red for Christmas, pastels for spring etc.

My favorite trend this summer has been Flamingos by far, however, pineapples are definitely my second favorite trend. I snagged a pineapple necklace a while back from one of my favorite Etsy shops and I wear it all the time! I love small accents of pineapple! I also happened upon some #LilyforTarget pineapple sandals one day which was super exciting! I included a couple of items for babies as well because I love dressing SR in pineapples. One of my favorite rompers that she owns is from H&M and is covered in pineapples which was my inspiration for this post.

Here are a few of my other pineapple favorites:

Scarf
Swimsuit
Bucketfeet Sneakers
Straws
Bangle
Ice Cube Tray
Headband
Pillow
Garland
Tumbler
Dope Tee
Onesie
Gray Tee
Shorts
Earrings
Monogrammed Sticker
Necklace
Banner

What are some of your favorite summer trends?

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Check out these ways to make cleaning more fun with Scrubbing Bubbles®! Which is your favorite?

Homemade Ice Cream // Hall Around Texas
Peach and Vanilla Ice Cream // Whole Food Bellies
Triple Peanut Butter Ice Cream // Little Dove Creations
Sugar Cookie Ice Cream // Chocolate Covered Katie
Cold Stone Creamery Cake Batter Ice Cream // CopyKat Recipes
No Churn Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream // Like Mother, Like Daughter
Toasted Almond Ice Cream // Little Dove Creations
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream // Spoonful of Flavor
Wine Ice Cream // My Big Fat Happy Life
Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream // A Happy Food Dance
Peach Ice Cream // The Dean’s List
Chai Chocolate Chip Ice Cream // Nourishing Simplicity
Cookie Dough Ice Cream // Nourishing Simplicity
Banana M&M’s Peanut Sundae // At Home With Sweet T
Java Chip Ice Cream // Oak and Oats
Lemonade Ice Cream // I Heart Naptime

What is your favorite flavor of Ice Cream?

Ladies Night by Mary Kay Andrews
Published June 4th 2013 by St. Martin’s Press

Pages: 464

Synopsis from Goodreads: Grace Stanton’s life as a rising media star and beloved lifestyle blogger takes a surprising turn when she catches her husband cheating and torpedoes his pricey sports car straight into the family swimming pool.  Grace suddenly finds herself locked out of her palatial home, checking account, and even the blog she has worked so hard to develop in her signature style.  Moving in with her widowed mother, who owns and lives above a rundown beach bar called The Sandbox, is less than ideal.  So is attending court-mandated weekly “divorce recovery” therapy sessions with three other women and one man for whom betrayal seems to be the only commonality.  When their “divorce coach” starts to act suspiciously, they decide to start having their own Wednesday “Ladies’ Night” sessions at The Sandbox, and the unanticipated bonds that develop lead the members of the group to try and find closure in ways they never imagined.  Can Grace figure out a new way home and discover how strong she needs to be to get there? 

Heartache, humor, and a little bit of mystery come together in a story about life’s unpredictable twists and turns.  Mary Kay Andrews’ Ladies’ Night will have you raising a glass and cheering these characters on.

Last summer, I experienced my scariest “mommy moment” to date. My son (9 months at the time), fell off of a float and into the pool at my parent’s house. My siblings and parents were in the pool when we dropped by to say hi and they wanted me to prop Hampton up on a float so he could float around with them for a bit. My dad decided he was ready to get out of the pool and he didn’t notice Hampton on the float. He pushed the float out of his way and Hamp went tumbling off and sank to the bottom of the pool. 

Without even thinking, I jumped in (fully clothed) and scooped him off the bottom of the pool. It was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me and Hampton. Luckily, he was okay, but I was so upset with myself for allowing this to happen. I’m supposed to protect him – always. It was so upsetting. This situation could have had a really different outcome. We were lucky. 

One thing I have learned with kids is accidents happen – whether a parent is there paying attention or not. Pools are so much fun, but they can be very scary. Thankfully, Aflac offers Accident Policies for these situations. Had Hampton been really damaged or hurt from this, it would have been terrible to not have insurance that covered accidents. 


I want to share some pool safety tips with all of you because it is always good to refresh our memories on how to stay safe while we enjoy our summer.

Pool Safety Tips:


1. Don’t run close to a pool.
2. Keep your children away from drains and other openings to avoid them getting trapped.
3. Watch your children at all times.
4. Teach your kids how to swim and basic water safety tips.
5. No diving in shallow water.
6. Keep riding toys (like bikes) away from the pool area.
7. Keep your pool clean so the water is clear.
8. Don’t swim alone.
9. Don’t push people in the pool.
10. Keep electronics away from the pool.
11. Teach children how to float as early as possible.
12. Make sure young children wear floating devices (arm floaties, life jacket, etc.) at all times.


Please be safe this summer! For more information on Aflac’s Accident Policies, please visit their accident insurance page.


How do you practice water safety?



I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Picmonkey is a free photo editor that is extremely easy to use. I absolutely love it and use it for most of my photos on my blog. It is so simple to edit the exposure, size, add text and create great collages.

StumbleUpon is great for gaining more exposure to your blog. By stumbling your blog posts, you are broadening your audience and putting your posts before new faces. You have to be really careful about stumbling your own posts too much. I try to stumble about 15 to 20 other people’s posts for every one of my own just to be safe. SU will penalize you for stumbling your own work too often.

Pinterest continues to be my #1 referral site to my blog. Take advantage of this free site. Create pinnable photos and pin every post to Pinterest. Pin each post to different boards on different days at different times so that more people will see them. Do you follow me on Pinterest?

Facebook Groups have been amazing for my blog. I have found some wonderful blogs to follow and read every day through these groups. It is so nice to have bloggers sharing your work for you, but you also spend a good amount of time sharing their work as well. Since working with these groups, my pageviews and unique visitors has seen a substantial increase.

Link-Ups are wonderful for bloggers. There are so many link-ups every day of the week that you can participate in. In the (almost) 3 years I have been blogging, I can tell you that most of my readers are other bloggers. Sure, a handful of my friends and family read it occasionally, but the ones that read it daily and leave comments are other bloggers. Link-ups are a great way to find posts to read and new blogs that are in your niche to fall in love with! Visit my link-up list here!

What are some of your favorite free blogging resources?

Can I be honest with you guys for a second? Being a mother of 2 babies is hard. I knew it would be difficult and I tried to prepare for it, but it is so much harder than I realized. I honestly don’t know how mothers of multiples do it. I am in awe of you and you need a hug. And a spa day week. Lately, I have felt very overwhelmed.

I have tried to be a really independent mother. I want to do everything myself and I hate hate HATE asking for help. I feel like my kids are my responsibility and I get so caught up in the mindset of having to take care of them by myself. I should have them all the time. I should be the one to feed them, clothe them, bathe them at night, take them to the park, teach them. I am their mother. I am the one supposed to be raising them.Funny thing happens when I think like this. God laughs at me. He says, “No, no, no, sweetheart. You need help. You can’t do it alone.”

I do need help, y’all.

A childhood friend of mine started a Mommy Play Group on Facebook (which is awesome) and we met a couple of  weeks ago downtown at the splash pad. I was so excited! I just knew Hampton would love it. I mean, anything outside that involves water is right up his alley! Oh boy was I wrong.

I loaded the kids, Hamp in the stroller and SR in my ergo. I packed our lunches and we hiked down to the splash pad (because it is a hike when you are hauling 2 babies up a hill). I didn’t know I could sweat through jean shorts, but I can. In case you were wondering.

Once we made it, a train went right by the splash pad. Hamp spotted it right away. . He was so excited, but as soon as the train went away, he started pitching a fit. Then SR started screaming because it was time for her to eat. Hampton never would touch the water. He watched everyone else play and he continued to pitch fits, asking for the “choo choo.” I finally said “that’s it!” I loaded them back up and hiked back to the car with two screaming babies. I was so thankful to my friend who helped me push the stroller part of the way back. I didn’t ask, but she offered and didn’t even wait for a reply. She just helped me. It was so nice!

I was so tired, hot and frustrated. They were hot and not happy at all. We all really needed a nap. It hit me really fast that this is why I should not be afraid to ask for help. I am feeling overwhelmed right now, and it is okay. I’m still trying to learn how to be available to 2 babies all the time while working and blogging. It is so tough sometimes.

God has a funny way of teaching me lessons. He definitely has a sense of humor. I am stubborn and determined and he is trying to show me that it can’t always be my way. I can’t do it alone. I have to learn to rely on Him, always. After this experience, I can honestly say, I have learned my lesson. It really does take a village to raise a child, and it’s okay to learn to rely on the village sometimes.

If you’re a mom, I just want to say that you are wonderful. You are doing an amazing job. No matter what phase of life you’re in – whether you have babies or grown adult children there will always be challenges because you’re a mom. You are everything to your kids, so don’t give up and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. We all need help sometimes.

Most mornings, all I need (or have time for) is coffee and mascara. This tank truly says it all because it is basically my life right now. Some mornings, I barely even get a chance to drink my coffee. It all depends on the babies.

With that being said, I have managed to exercise every day, but I haven’t quite established a workout schedule yet. I am basically working out when I can. Some days that means going to a late Zumba class, other days, I have to get up really early to run. It just depends on our schedules.

I promised I would give you guys updates periodically on my weight loss journey, so here goes…

I have finally started losing weight again. This has been a frustrating process because even though I was eating clean, breastfeeding and walking, I did not lose a single pound in over 4 weeks. It was beyond frustrating. Once I was cleared to exercise a couple of weeks ago, I really buckled down. I started C25K and am currently on week 5! I also continued to eat healthy and started using My Fitness Pal app again to keep up with my calories to make sure I did not eat too much sugar, carbs, etc.

It has definitely helped me a lot! I am now 8 lbs. away from my pre-pregnancy weight. We have less than 5 weeks til our cruise, so the chances of me losing all of it by then are slim, however, I am finally losing weight again and I am so thankful that I am getting healthier and closer to being able to wear my clothes again!

I absolutely love my LINDSxoPRESSES tanks! I ordered this one and another one that will show it’s face on my blog soon! They are so comfortable and go with anything! I can run in them, or I can pair them with jean shorts! Graphic tees and tanks are so “in” right now and I really love them! This adorable Etsy shop offers so many different colors, styles, and custom options. There are sizes for babies all the way through adults! Definitely check out all this shop has to offer! Be sure to keep up with the latest updates and styles on Facebook!

LINDSxoPRESSES is offering a Free Shipping code “LOGANCAN” for every order over $20!