Best of... Prime Purchases 2019

Good morning and happy Black Friday!! Are you all out there enjoying some sales today?? I actually was able to get most of my Christmas shopping done already, so now I'm just sitting back and perusing some websites looking for the things I didn't know I needed 😉

This made me laugh out loud. So true!

Next week is Tanya's monthly Prime Purchases link up and she had the idea to link our favorite purchases from 2019. What a genius idea, right? Well I wanted to get a head start on that post since I also plan to post my monthly Amazon purchases on Monday #AmazonAddict.

Here are my top 10 from 2019:

What's Up Wednesday

Good morning and happy almost Thanksgiving!! I hope you all have a wonderful time with your families. 

At the risk of sounding super cheesy, please know how thankful I am for YOU this holiday! When I first started this blog a year and a half ago I had no idea what to expect. I really thought that only my family would read it (and even that was debatable). It's so nice to know that people actually come here and read my random thoughts and sometimes even take the time to comment! Thank you for making this hobby of mine so much more enjoyable 😁

Time for What's Up Wednesday!

What We're Eating This Week: This is going to sound weird, but I made the most delicious carrot soup last night. I told Devin we were eating carrot soup and his reaction was "What are we, rabbits?" (insert me rolling my eyes here). I told my mom I made it and her reaction was "Hmm...". I told my sister and she said "But... doesn't it just taste like carrots? I'm not sure I'd be into that". I know it sounds weird, but you're going to have to trust me when I tell you it was delicious. Devin ended up having 2 bowls and Lily Grace, who is 2.5, ate her whole bowl. 

Preschool Pictures Are In!

Happy Monday! Today's post will be short and sweet 😀. Our little girl's preschool pictures came in and they were just too sweet to not share!

Teacher Gift Guide

Good morning! I know you're probably thinking "Oh good God, not ANOTHER gift guide". Am I right? I feel like gift guides have been ALL over the place lately and I really didn't want to do "just another" gift guide. Especially because my gift ideas for kids/husbands/adults are pretty specific to the person I'm buying for.

Then, this week as I was going through my list of what to buy for Christmas, I remembered that this is the first year Lily Grace has teachers that we will buy gifts for. My thoughts quickly went from "Oh! We have to buy her teachers gifts!" to "What the heck am I going to get them?!" to "Well, what were my favorite gifts to receive as a teacher?" and thus, this blog post was born. 

Gratitude Journal

Good morning friends! Today I wanted to share with you something that I have read about over and over and over again but have put off doing until recently: starting a gratitude journal. 

Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup

Good morning! I hope you all had a good weekend. Today I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes to make in the fall, especially on Thanksgiving. Its no secret how much I love to use my Crock-Pot, especially to make something warm on a cold day. 

Amazon Fashion Finds

Hi there! I have another round of Amazon Fashion Finds. If you didn't see, last month I did two posts about the outfits I had purchased on Amazon. The posts were such hits that I decided to give it another shot this month. 

Here are the two from last month:

Amazon Fashion Finds Part 1

Amazon Fashion Finds Part 2

And now let's get started with today's:

Cowlneck Dress/Leggings/Boots

Lily Grace 2.5 Year Update

Good morning! I wanted to share an update with you about our sweet girl because she is in such a fun stage right now and I don't want to forget any of it! I know one day I'll look back at this and be so happy I wrote it all down. 

Hair Donation

Good morning friends! If you follow me on Instagram (@lcdarrell) then you may have noticed that last Thursday I went into my hair salon, had them cut 10" off my hair, and I donated it. This is the 3rd time I've done this so I figured I know enough about it to be able to answer any questions you might have if you are considering making a donation. I answered the questions most friends/family members have been asking, but if you have any other questions please leave a comment below. I'd be happy to answer!!

Pinterest Recipe Roundup

Good morning and happy Friday! I hope you all had a good week. We are looking forward to a busy but fun weekend around here. Hopefully I will remember to take a few pictures and will be able to share with you for Monday!

Today I wanted to share with you several of the recipes I have made from Pinterest lately that have actually been good. I don't know about you, but I hate it when I pin a recipe that sounds/looks delicious but actually doesn't taste very good at all. Especially if that recipe takes forever to make. These are some tried and true side item recipes that are full of flavor, were super easy to make and are relatively healthy. I hope you make and enjoy some of them too!

Monthly Goals- November

Good morning! I don't know about you but I am really excited about the start of a new month, especially one this close to Christmas. I know that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is really going to fly this year for our family because: a) Thanksgiving is late this year and b) we will be going to Disney World for a week (woohoo!). My goals for the month of November are going to be mostly geared towards getting organized/prepped for the holiday season so that the month of December isn't stressful for us. I want to spend as much time as possible soaking up all the holiday fun with the kids. Here's a look at November's goals:

What I've Been Priming

Good morning! I hope you all had a nice weekend and a safe, happy Halloween. I don't know about you but I am SO ready for a new month and a new holiday to look forward to. We have packed up and put away what very little Halloween stuff we took out and in a few short weeks will be pulling out the Christmas decorations. I can NOT wait! 

As we get closer to the holiday season I am really going to try not to order everything from there. I know how convenient it is, and it can make the holidays significantly less stressful to just click, buy and have it shipped to your house in 2 days, especially if you have young kids at home. Unfortunately though, we have seen a few of our favorite brick and mortar stores closing around here lately and I can't help but wonder how much of that is due to people using Amazon instead. One of my goals this month (I'll post monthly goals on Wednesday!) is to try to do as much Christmas shopping as I can this month and in small, locally owned businesses. 

Before we begin, I did two posts this month on the clothes I ordered from Amazon in October. Here they are:

Amazon Fashion Part 1

Amazon Fashion Part 2

And then here is everything else I ordered in the month of October:

File Box- Lily Grace started school for the first time this fall and has started coming home with some really cute artwork, some keepsakes, and some important paperwork. I wanted to keep all of it organized and needed a new file box. We had some file folders around here to keep everything in, so we're just using those until we run out for now. 

Updated Favorite Ipsy Finds

Good morning and happy Friday! Today I wanted to do an updated post on my favorite Ipsy products that have been coming in my monthly bag. Not every product is a hit, and usually I like them but don't love them. So every few months I want to update and tell you the ones that have been my all time favorites. Here they are:

Purlisse BB Cream-- This BB Cream is hands down still my favorite after trying about a half dozen others. I love the way it offers just a hint of coverage on the days I am out running errands and don't want to put a full face of makeup on. It is SPF 30 which is another plus because then I don't have to put my Clinique SPF on underneath it.