Easter Weekend Recap

Happy Monday lovelies!!  We had an absolutely amazing Easter weekend and I can't believe it's already Monday! 

Friday morning, I hopped in the car with one of my road trip essentials and headed to Cincinnati!

New favorite tote (here)

Once I arrived, I spent a large part of the day shopping!  With my weight loss, I am running low on clothing options and needed to find a few pieces for Spring!  Some of my purchases: sunglasses, sunglasses,  work top (I purchased the green).  None of the rest are available online but I will share photos soon in case you want to find them in stores :)

Friday night was the real reason I went to Cincinnati!  Katlin (far left) is one of my best friends & is getting married this Fall.  Her bridesmaids sleepover was Friday night and we had a great time!  Good food, lots of laughs, and a movie!

Love this girl!

Saturday morning I headed home but made a quick stop at Trader Joe's!  They have some really good WW options so I like to stock up on those when I can :) 

Saturday afternoon, we relaxed & ran a few errands before date night!  Jared had to work the night before and I was out of town so we just wanted low key!  We, of course, went to our favorite restaurant!

Dressing for the weather right now is hard!  We're so back & forth on temperature so I'm doing a lot of layering!

Love this guy soooo much!

We finished off our night with cheesecake I picked up in Cincinnati & Sisters (SO funny)!

Easter!  What a beautiful day to celebrate our faith!  I love Easter and love the feelings of renewal and hope it brings to us as Christians.  A wonderful reminder that this world is just temporary and we're working towards an eternity in heaven thanks to a loving savior who paid the price of death on the cross for us! Jesus, who was without sin, died to take away our sin.  How powerful is his love for us!

Family.

Grandad Charles!  So thankful for him :)

Kiddos

Love this crazy bunch!

Remember when I said crazy?!

Second married Easter!  Married holidays are the best :)

Blessed bunnies :)

This year, we decided to have an adult easter egg hunt and it was SO fun!!

Waiting inside while the eggs were hidden!

Ready to hunt!

We had such a blast hunting for eggs and there are still a few missing!  My dad is super good at hiding eggs and is so creative with his hiding places! It makes it really fun :)

Love.

We spent the rest of the afternoon stopping by to see the in-laws, at the grocery, a phone call to my grandparents and curled up on the couch watching another movie (Chipwrecked....so funny & cute!) with a home cooked meal :)

This weekend was full of love, faith, family, friends, laughter, memories made and lots of good food.

 

Life Lately

Hi all!  I thought I would share a little life lately with you all today :)

A few weeks ago, I trekked up to Cincinnati to see Katlin & try on my bridesmaids dress!

Shooting fun in the country with some of my favorite men :)

Last week, we both had the stomach flu and were out of commission for almost a week!!  Once we felt better, life still involved a mainly Gatorade diet and lots of work on the couch.

Our pretty tree blooming in the front yard!  Spring really does show off God's beautiful work!

Last weekend, I went shopping with the prettiest, classiest & most fashionable lady I know, my Granny!!  I was able to hang out with Grandad afterwards too!

Easter on Darlene's side!

I'm feeling the spring cleaning fever!  I've been cleaning out closets like crazy, getting rid of a ton of stuff and trying to spruce up the house! 

That's what life lately has been in our house :) 

See you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites!

How to Build a Spring Capsule Wardrobe

If there is one thing I have learned on my weight loss journey, it is that you do not need tons of clothes to have a great wardrobe.  I have gotten rid of more clothes than I can count and I am really focused on only adding back the right clothes that are good quality and really versatile!  I decided to create a Spring Capsule Wardrobe to help me rebuild my closet from the ground up and hopefully it will help you too!  Let's hear it for more cleaned out closets, only full of clothes and accessories we love and pieces that are coordinated to work together to create lots of outfits!

I put together my list of essential items for your capsule wardrobe and then have listed several options for each piece below depending on your price point, style etc.  You can mix and match all of these pieces together to create the perfect spring wardrobe!


I will be doing another post soon on how to clean out your closet so that you just have great versatile pieces that can provide you with an organized closet and great wardrobe :)



See a collage of some of the capsule items directly below and then keep scrolling for my suggestions for each category :)

Also, be sure to check out the Lilly Pulitzer GIVEAWAY below and enter to win!

Tops

Layering Tank

1/2/3

Basic Tee

1/2/3

Stripe Tee

1/2/3

Sweatshirt

1/2/3

Chambray Button Down

1/2/3

Light Sweater

1/2/3

Work Top

1/2/3

Pants

Skinny Jeans

1/2/3

White Jeans

1/2/3

Black Crop Pants

1/2/3

Black Dress Pants

1/2/3

Denim Shorts

1/2/3

Khaki Shorts

1/2/3

Dresses

Chambray Dress

1/2/3

Office/Church Dress

1/2/3

Jackets

Trench

1/2/3

Utility

1/2/3

Leather

1/2/3

Shoes

Casual/Athletic

1/2/3/4

Sandals

1/2/3

Flats

1/2/3

Wedges

1/2/3

Bags

Clutch

1/2/3

Crossbody

1/2/3

Tote

1/2/3

Accessories

1/2/3
4/5/6
7/8/9


You can make so many outfits out of these pieces!  Skinny jeans with a tee, utility jacket, jewelry & sunglasses would make a perfect weekend outfit.  Use the dress pants and one of the office tops for work and put on heels instead of flats to dress it up for the evening!  I'm learning to really mix & match my clothes to make new outfits and it's really helping me!



Also, be sure to check out Christina Lea Loves where I'm sponsoring today and enter my giveaway for these adorable Lilly Pulitzer stemless wine glasses!

How perfect are these for this spring & summer?!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Favorites

I mean this SO much this Friday!!  We both came down with the stomach flu on Monday and have been suffering and recovering ever since.  That might have been the sickest I have ever been.  It. Was. Awful.  I'm so ready for the weekend to rest and get our house back in order!

I hope you all have had better weeks and are staying healthy!  Before we head into the weekend, it's time to share my Friday Favorites with you!

Did you catch my Easter Inspiration post yesterday?  I'm very much looking forward to one of my favorite holidays!  I'm ready for spring colors, clothes and food :)

Hints of Spring are starting to show up around our house & I love it!  My Bunny Cake candle is one of my favorites :)  

We ordered this humidifier for our master bedroom last week and so far we love it!  It makes our room feel much more fresh and not so dry throughout the night.

Were you happy with the ending of this season too?  I was pretty upset with Ben and how he was handling things up until the very end.  I feel like Jojo was definitely led on but it was obvious how much of a wreck he was too which showed me he wasn't doing it on purpose.

I am super pumped that Jojo is going to be the new Bachelorette!  That girl deserves it and I think she'll be great at it! Can't wait to watch :)

In the few minutes I was outside our house yesterday, this was my view! Spring really does show off God's beautiful creation! Now that I'm finally back to normal (minus needing some sleep & exercise), I'm so excited to turn my focus back on enjoying these beautiful spring views and preparing my heart for Easter!

See you back here tomorrow for a Fitness Update!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Easter Inspiration

I cannot believe Easter is next weekend!  This year is flying by so quickly which is bittersweet :)

Easter is one of my favorite holidays!  It is such an important day as a Christian and the holiday makes me feel refreshed and excited for the rest of the year.  I love going to church, the family time, the pretty dresses and all the spring colors that we start to see!  It really is a time of renewal inside ourselves and in our lives in general.

Today, I decided to share some of my Easter inspiration with you all to help us all get in the spirit to celebrate!

Read

For the Love:  I've heard wonderful things about this book & am going to order it this month to read! I believe finding grace is so important and can't wait to see what I learn.

The Power of a Praying Wife:  I have had a few people tell me that this is a great book about utilizing prayer as a wife.  I think that is one of the most important things we can do to strengthen our roles as wives and am thinking of ordering this to see what it's all about!

Captivating:  I read this book a few years back but want to give it another go!  It's about embracing why God made us the way he did as women and how that makes us strong.  Definitely give it a read if you haven't yet!

Recipes

Doesn't this recipe look yummy & so festive?  It would be perfect for a family gathering!

Wouldn't this salad be a perfect side dish?  I love ranch so I would be all about this pasta salad!

I think this bark looks delicious!  I'm sure it would be a hit for all ages too!

Decor

Egg Topiary/Easter Sign/Easter Banner/Twig Bunny

Isn't Easter & spring decor in general so cute?  I don't know if it's just the pretty colors after the gloomy winter but there's just something about it that makes me happy :)  I love all of these decor pieces and am strongly considering picking up that egg topiary and twig bunny to add to our collection soon!

Outfits

1/2/3/4

I love all of these dresses that are perfect for Easter Sunday!  All of them could be worn again the rest of the spring or summer too which makes them a perfect addition to your closet!

Are you excited for Easter?  Any favorite recipes or traditions to share?

Stomach Flu

The stomach flu has hit our house with full force! I seriously don't know if I've ever been this sick. I started feeling nauseous yesterday a few hours after my husband and it's been totally downhill for the both of us ever since! I wouldn't wish this miserable bug on anyone. 

As soon as we're feeling better I'll be back with some of my new content I've been working on! I'd love to share it now but it's taken all my energy to write this short post. Hope everyone stays healthy! 

Fitness Update

Hope everyone is having an awesome weekend!

It's Saturday, which means it's time for a Fitness Update!  I don't weigh in for the first time since getting back on the bandwagon until Wednesday so hoping to report a good loss next weekend :)

Fitness

Last week, I talked about signing up for the Pure Barre Pure Madness Challenge.  The challenge is doing 20 Pure Barre classes in 31 days.  I took class 10 this morning and 6 of those were this week so I'm pretty proud of myself :)  I go every morning at 5:30 through the week and then at least once on the weekend.  It's really hard to roll out of bed at 4:45 but I feel so good after getting my workout in and can feel my body changing already so it's totally worth it!  I also used to have a terrible time getting to sleep on work nights (I'm a night owl) and now I'm so tired it's hard to stay up past 9:30.

Food

I've been concentrating on staying within my Weight Watchers points each day and trying to motivate myself to keep making good choices to see good results.  Sometimes it's really hard but the more days in a row that I stay on track, the easier it is to keep going!

A major victory for me was this week when my husband wanted our favorite Japanese takeout.  I wanted hibachi steak & fried rice SO bad.  However, I knew that it would use up a bunch of points and that I would regret it when I ate the leftovers the next day for lunch to screw up two days.  Instead of giving in to my craving, I ate soup and salad from the restaurant for 3 smart points and then cooked 7 Trader Joe's chicken potstickers for 6 smart points to go with it!  So many fewer points, I was perfectly full and not feeling guilty after eating, AND I had a few points leftover that I got to use for popcorn!!

One of my favorite things to throw together for lunch/dinner right now is taco salads. I cook nacho chicken in the crockpot that we use for dinner one night and then I can make lots more meals off of it!  These are quick & easy to make, low in points and don't make me feel like I'm eating "diet food."  

Also, I'm trying to read more health/fitness related magazines, books & articles.  The more I make learning about health and fitness a part of my life the more I love working on those things!

Since I've lost weight, very few clothes fit so I'm having to get creative in my closet to make things work until I hit my goal weight!  I feel so much more confident in my clothes but having so few options keeps me motivated to get to my goal so I can find lots of cute new things to wear :)   20 pounds to go!! It's going to take work but it's totally worth it!

One of my favorite things about Weight Watchers is that I can stay on track and have extra points left for splurge meals!  I was able to have a yummy breakfast date with my husband this morning (note: I did not eat all of this!) and know that because I've stayed very much on track and kept up with my workouts that I don't have to feel guilty and will still see progress!