My sweet princess is 5!

I can't believe that I completly forgot to post about Cricket's birthday! She turned 5 this year, as did this blog. These 5 years have flown by. Here is the baby on her birthday!

My life in IG photos...

It's no secret I love instagram. I love the ease of positing fun pictures of my everyday life without being annoying and posting on facebook all of the time. Here are some pictures of my recent life through IG:

 I am 100% obsessed with this shirt!

 Here's my dear husband and I at St. Pat's in 5 points. Feeling WAY too old to be in 5 points!

 Pretty lettuce

 Sweet Baby

 The most exciting thing to happen in Aiken in a long time. Plus it's less than a mile from out house. I foresee some bike riding to the Fresh Market this summer.

 This was one of my call week projects. I'll do a full post on it soon.

 A pile of shorts. All ironed and ready for spring. If only the weather would cooperate!

 The kind of stuff I'm wearing INSTEAD of the pile of pretty shorts.

 Always a happy moment.

 This trunk has been in my dad's attic for years. Apparently it was my mother's grandmother's (my great grandmother) trunk. I cleaned it up with murphy oil soap and now it's our new coffee table.

 My outfit for Sunday brunch. I was on call for work all of last week so I couldn't have anything alcoholic to drink. Not that I drink that much but when you KNOW you can't have anything, it's torture. So I had to have some bloody mary at brunch.

 One of my absolute favorite treats!

 Pretending to be Lisa Van der Pump

One of my favorite chores (seriously, not being sarcastic at all) is cleaning out the refrigerator. So fun!

Follow me on IG: kec585

Product Review: Dickies Scrub Top

I was contacted several weeks ago by Uniformed Scrubs about the possibility of doing a product review of a top they sell. Of course I jumped on the opportunity to get some new clothes for work! Uniformed Scrubs sells a large selection of Women's Scrubs. As a nurse who enjoys clothing, it is important to find stuff to wear that makes me feel good and also is functional. The Dickies Scrubs line has both of these requirements. The top they sent me is from the enzyme dyed line and is royal blue in color. The fit of it is very generous and would be great for someone who is well endowed. Here is a picture of how I wore it:

 The detailing on the top is really what makes it. Sorry about the cell phone quality, but the stitching in various places is in a pretty turquoise color. This line would really be great for people who are required to wear a certain color to work and want a little bit of variety.

Overall, I really liked this top and I am super excited to continue to wear it to work! The nice people at Uniformed also gave me a coupon code for my readers. If you type "15pbrm" while placing an order, it will give you 15% off!

Spring.Fever.

I am so BEYOND ready for spring. It's a well known fact that I hate winter. I even dislike fall because I know that winter is next. I generally don't enjoy winter clothing, and I hate being cold. I'm not one to whine about how hot it is (unless its 101 with a heat index of 112, thats just insane). That being said, I've being trying to resist buying spring clothes because I won't be able to wear them for another 3-4 weeks. Yesterday, though, was over 70 degrees-so I broke out the sandals!

Jeans: Jcrew Shirt: Jcrew Sandals(last summer): Target Bag: MarleyLilly Grocery Bag: Lilly 

What I'm loving now...

Every now and then I like to take a step back and think about what I'm really grateful for and things that are just making me happy at the time. I thought I would share some of those things:

1. Of course is my dear husband and those silly dogs we have. I think that one speaks for itself.

2. Working on getting myself back into shape. It really makes me feel good about myself to think about what is going into my body and how I am taking care of myself. The gym is starting to be my friend again.

3. Valentine's Day Sweet Tart suckers. Oh my. Sweet Tarts are my all time favorite candy (I only eat the pink and orange, though) and the Valentine's suckers are all pink. They are absolutely delish.

4. My new job. Unless you've worked night shift and hated it, it may be hard to understand how amazing it is to be on a somewhat normal schedule again. Some people love night shift, I just am not one of them. Plus I get weekends off with this job as well, which is almost unheard of in nursing!

5. On the subject of work, I am really loving my new work shoes. Of course they are pink and green. They are amazingly comfortable. I don't know if I will ever wear Danskos again. I forgot how great tennis shoes can be for work.

6. Travis and I got a new computer last weekend. My macbook is turning into a dinosaur and we decided we should probably invest in something before the macbook dies. We also picked up a cute little ipad mini for me while we were at the Apple store! Super exciting. Now, if only Lilly would start making covers for the iPad mini!

7. I've watched Pretty Little Liars the show started but lately it has been SO good! I can't wait for the new episodes to come on every week!

8. I'm also loving my Patagonia vest that my mother in law got me for Christmas and my South Carolina Murfee Lilly scarf that I received for Christmas. They have been wardrobe staples since December. 

Working on myself

So once again, I have fallen victim to the once a month blog post. Growing up and being happily married has made a few less interesting things to blog about.


I've been struggling with my weight off and on for the past year. This has never really been an issue for me (other than in middle school and we are NOT going there). I have always been able to stop eating fast food for a week or two and be back down to a comfortable weight. I got out of the habit of the gym shortly after we were married. Although we eat very healthy food, I slip up when it comes to restaurants. Working night shift really messed me up weight-wise and eating habit-wise. I knew my clothes were getting tight, but in the month of December, they were really tight. To the point where my jeans that were always too big were the only ones that fit. I have gotten some good wear out of my elastic waist pixie pants in the past few months as well. So, other than complaining about this, what am I doing?

Well, I'm back in the gym. At least 3 times a week. Some days are truly harder than others. Like today I think I would have rather drank water from the dog's bowl than finish my 30 minutes of cardio, but I did it. I also have changed my diet dramatically. My husband hasn't eaten red meat, fish, or cheese in about 3 years so those are not a problem for me. I have given up meat for the most part. I'm gradually working some chicken breast and turkey back in to my diet, but I really love Morning Star food. I'm eating a lot more fresh fruits and vegetables. I'm also more aware of what I'm actually putting into my body.

I've been making my lunch for work which not only saves me calories, but it also saves a few extra dollars.

I read somewhere that you are supposed to try on your favorite jeans once a week to track your progress, so I'm trying that. I tried them on today and they fit a little better.

So that's where I am right now. I'm not going to say that I'm going to try to blog more because I don't know if I will. Hopefully there is someone out there who is still reading!!

I love makeup!

I don't generally wear a lot of makeup. I can put my daily makeup on in about 5 minutes, even less for my work makeup. I do, however, like fancy makeup. These are my favorite daily picks:

1. Boi-ing Concealer $20 I used to use the Erase Paste concealer, but it was a little too goopy. I have found that this one is a great texture. I have terrible dark circles under my eyes, so concealer is top of my list.
2. Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes $18 I bought this for my wedding and fell in love. (I know it's awful I'm still using the same one that I bought a year and 1/2 ago, but I shave it down so that gets rid of the germs, right?!) It's the perfect liner.
3a. MASCARA VOLUME EFFET FAUX CILS $30 Best mascara ever. I always come back to this. Nothing else to say about it.
3b. Benefit They're Real Mascara $23 I have recently come to love this mascara. The brush has bristles on the tip which really gets the outside corner of your eye. The only downside is that it is hard to get off even with makeup remover.
4. Anastasia Perfect Brow Pencil $22 I also bought this for my wedding, but don't know how I ever lived without it. It has been especially useful lately after a at-home-wax incident with my eyebrows!
5. Urban Decay Naked Pallet $50 (I don't remember spending THAT much money on this...) It seems like everyone in blog world has this pallet. It speaks for itself.
6. NARS Orgasm/Super Orgasm Blush $28 I've used this blush for at least 8 years. It's the perfect shade. I've even had people tell me that I have the "most natural, rosiest cheeks". I know it's not perfect for everyone. I accidentally bought the super orgasm, but I use it when I go to work. I'm not a huge fan of the sparkles in it.
7. Laura Mercier Smooth Focus Pressed Setting Powder $32 This tops everything off. It really controls shine and sets everything.

I have other makeup and lip gloss that I use when I want to wear more makeup, but this is my every day makeup!