Things to be excited about this week.

#1 well of course the kiddo's birthday party! It's such a big undertaking and I really enjoy planning every aspect of it, but it's also a lot of energy and money that goes into it. So once it passes, I can breathe a happy sigh of relief. Things are slowly coming together and getting done. I took tomorrow off work so I can bake the two cakes, make jello, finish up the masks, last minute errands. I'm super duper excited at how everything is going to come out. I've never been a party planner but as I'm growing interest in decorating and "lady things" I feel like I'm getting better and better at it. I'm also expecting it to be more and more perfect to every detail.

#2 I ordered this Sirius Sonic Skin Care Brush from Groupon the other day. $23.99 and free shipping. For those of you that follow my blog I listed something similar as one of the things I've been wanting for a while. I can't and won't be able to afford the Clarisonic one so I figured why not. Let's give this one a try. Plus it got pretty good reviews on Amazon. I'm SUPER EXCITED. My skin is going through a "troubled phase" right now. By that I mean I'm breaking out like a mother-f*cker. Excuse the language but it's that bad. I'm super excited to get this and try it. Hopefully, it'll be savior to my skin. 

#3 H&M has online shopping for the U.S! For the longest time, they did not have online shopping available for the U.S which is frankly a pain in my ass. I never go to the mall but I love how cheap H&M is. One of my favorite dresses that I wear all the time was from there and I bought it for $14.95. My blazer that I wear to work at least once a week I got there for $20 something dollars. I think they're even better than F21. 

#4 IKEA Catalog. I think that pretty much sums it up. =)

Easy Salmon Recipe

Okay, this one was long overdue. I've been so busy using my spare work time doing stuff for the party that I keep forgetting what I wanted to blog about!

So the other night, I went home and decided to make something quick. I'm trying to make fish at least once a week for dinner. This salmon recipe was super easy and quick. I'm talking like 30 minutes total. I'm kind of bad because I don't really measure things, I just eyeball it. So if this is not exact sorry. Just use your judgement!

Salmon & Dill
2 lbs Boneless Salmon Fillet
Dill
3 tablespoon butter/margarine (I just did big scoops)
Minced garlic (generous amount..I did about 3 big spoons full)
2 teaspoon olive oil
Sea Salt & Pepper
Lemon Slices

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

In a bowl, mix butter, olive oil and garlic until creamy. Spread mixture over fillets. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with dill. Top with lemon slices.

Put it in the oven for about 20 minutes. Make sure the fish is cooked thoroughly. I usually poke it with a fork and see if it's flaky.

THAT'S IT!! I told you it was easy!

Before 

After

Can't believe I have a 3 year old!

For some reason, summer months are always jam packed with activities and it's absolutely craziness.

Chase turned 3 years old! I can't believe it's been 3 years since our little bundle of joy has turned into a full blown, talking, running, jumping crazy little boy. I must say that we have done really well with Chase but I don't want to jinx it. I can only hope that Trent is as good as he is. Chase is definitely very spoiled with love because he has so many "aunts, uncles, grandma and grandpa's" that loves him rotten. We are very blessed to have such great friends.

So Saturday prior to his birthday, he spent the day with my parents who got him an ice-cream birthday cake. Then, on his actual birthday I baked cupcakes and brought them to his school so he can celebrate with his friends. I even got birthday blowers, party hats, party napkins and Caprisuns. Since Brandon didn't get to attend any of those we decided to just take him out to dinner and invited some friends. We took Chase to Wal-Mart and Brandon let him pick out some toys. We met up Aunt Kori, Uncle Ryan Grandma Rae, Luis and his wife at Claim Jumpers. I loved that it was such an intimate get together. Just the right amount of people so that it didn't feel overwhelming and he got the attention he deserved and it was with the right people. Then, he had cake AGAIN! I mean honestly, what boy gets to have 4 birthday celebrations :)

So here's the crazy part. I'm trying to plan this birthday party and the two weekends prior to the party I have volleyball tournaments. Which pretty much leaves me with no time to do anything. Good thing I started early but, starting early only gives me ideas but I can't really start prepping things until now because I don't know the headcount. I think every year I get so excited to have a reason to plan a party. I know, most people say why not just have a simple BBQ. I don't know why? Maybe because I love to plan a party and growing up I never had birthday parties, so it's something that I pride myself in for my kids.

The thing I'm most nervous about is the cake. I've never baked a cake before, only cupcakes. I'm worried how it'll come out looking. I took the day before the party off from work so I can bake the two cakes (one for Chase and a tiny one for Trent), make JELLO, put together the party favors, do the bunting.

There are still a couple things that I wanted to do for the party but I'm not quite sure if I'm going to yet. I guess I'm just gonna go with it and see!

Cake #1 at Gung-gung and Po-Po's house

                           

Ride home after dinner celebration with friends. He's a champ!

 

Cuckoo for Lulu's!

Okay, so a while ago I stumbled upon this site called Lulu's and it changed my life forever. I am seriously IN LOVE with this site! The only thing is, the stuff is not as cheap as I'd like it to be so I'm always hunting the SALE portion along with coupons and free shipping coupons. I love probably 90% of the stuff they sell on there and what's even more inspiring is that they started off as a mother & daughter site.

After discovering this site, it really made me want to start an internet clothing site of my own. I know, I know every other month I'm into starting some other type of business. I've probably had at least a dozen different ideas of things I want to start already.

So, I managed to get a new top from Lulu's recently. It was on sale and I had a 20% off coupon. It is such a cute top. I wore it to a Wine Mixer type event paired with some white jeans and my favorite Steve Madden Kadiee Royal Blue flats. I loved how loose fitting and sexy it was at the same time. I didn't get a picture of me with the top on but I definitely recommend giving their site a look-around. You'll be hooked like me!

I've also bought a couple other pieces from them before. I think most of the stuff from my Pinterest board is from there!

I ended up paying $24 for the shirt, which is a splurge for me. That's how cheap I am!

Here are the other items that I ended up getting from Lulu's a while ago.

I also got this skirt from Lulu's as well. I don't think they sell them in this color anymore but they do have it in light beige.

So cute right? I know..

Here's another skirt that I got. This is one of my favorite skirts. It's very flattering! Oh yeah, those shoes I did too! I'm sure you can find those shoes on Amazon though.

Here's a better picture of the shoes.

Mixx Shuz Nicki Nude Pointed D'Orsay Kitten Heels

Things I want..

I can't believe that I'm turning 26 next month. It's kind of unreal because I don't remember all the years that pass. I mean, I swear only two years ago I was turning 22! So I never really ask for anything for my birthday. Just a casual get together with friends. I decided that I'm going to make a list of things I want. Maybe show this list to Brandon, just in time for my birthday? Maybe even snag a couple of these items for myself as a birthday present. =D

Recently we went rollerskating for our friend's daughters birthday. I am not a rollerskater, I'm a blade-er BUT I can still manage. There's just something about skating that takes my mind off things. Whether it's rollerblading, ice-skating...whatever it is.

1. I would LOOOOVE to get a pair of rollerblades. It's something that I want Chase to get into as well. I hope to put him into ice hockey when he's old enough!

2. Molten Pro-Touch Volleyball! I use to have two, but they are both old and crusty now. I would love to have a new ball that I can bring to open gym when I do play. Red, white and blue!

3. Clarisonic Facial Cleansing Brush. I don't really care what brand it is, as long as it works. I feel like I have rough skin on my face. I wish it was clean and fresh. No matter what I use to scrub my face with I don't feel like it's that smooth afterwards! My friend Nancy showed me a picture of her face after just one use and it looks so clean!

4.  Swiffer Bissell Steamboost Steam Mop. I just saw this at Target the other day and it literally had this glow around it. I've wanted a Shark Steam Mop for a while and heard really mixed things about it. This one is not very expensive and you throw the pads away instead of washing them! =D

Our new bathroom!

It has been pretty busy here at work that I have not had a chance to blog. I always go, "Man, I have to write about this in my blog!" and I always forget when the time comes.

So there has been a couple new things going on around the house. Slowly but surely we are fixing up the house condo. It has been 4 years since we've lived here and I've only dreamt about this day. I think I blogged about this before already but it's really happening.

We got the bathroom done. Well, it's not completely done but it's finished enough to me. There are minor things that we need to do and I'm not sure if we are going to put up some shelves. We are still debating where to put our towel hangers. Whether we should put them next to the sink on the left, if we should put it on the right side of the cabinet or on the wall across from the toilet.

It looks like a completely different bathroom. Everything is different besides the toilet and even that, we changed the cover on a little bit ago. We only changed it because I broke the old one =X

It was so much work for such a small room that I think it's making Brandon feel less and less motivated to do the rest of the house. I do feel like it's starting to seem more like our home now though. It's ironic, but Chris and Kat left and now..the house is getting updated from Chris and Kat's to ours. It's kind of sad actually, cuz I miss Kat a lot.

The major pieces that we need for our house now is a new couch and a new bed. We've had this couch since I first bought it and I was maybe 20? It has been through a lot and I think it's time we get a new one. We also want a new bed because Brandon hates this one. I've been dying for a king size bed and a new mattress because ours you can hear the springs hit you when you move. But, those things will probably have to wait until next tax season if we get money back.

It took me forever to find the perfect pictures for the bathroom. I had this Groupon deal that I purchased a while ago that expired recently. So I forced myself to pick up some pictures and I ended up choosing these. I'm very happy with them and I feel like it goes well with the vintage/modern style I was trying to achieve for the bathroom. The mirror I got from IKEA for $9.99. Seriously, that is dirt cheap.

Body Central Review

With a lot of contemplation, I decided to order 3 things that were on sale from this site called Body Central. I had a lot of hesitations when I was browsing online because of their size chart. I'm tiny, so a lot of American sites smalls are still too large for me. After doing a lot of research online, I decided why not take a chance and order something from their clearance section. I read that their items ran small which is good news to me!

I wish I took pictures of the three things I order. Maybe I will after I try them on. I have to say, I'm kind of disappointed by the quality of their items. I kind of thought that it would be comparable to Alloy but it's more like a bad version of Forever21.

Floral Tie Front Top

This is actually on sale right now for $1.99. That's right. I actually paid $3.99 for it, with a discount came down to $3.59. I got it in a SMALL. It looks SUPER CUTE on the model but when I got the actual product, the fabric is super thin and the top just didn't really have a shape to it. It might be different when I try it on. I just realized how pointless this review is without pictures of the actual items! Original price is $16.99. I would NOT spend $16.99 on it.

Knotted Skinny Stretch Belt

I got it on sale for $3.99. I actually, really like the belt. It's cute and it fits which is perfect. Hard to find belts that fits me. Usually, I have to make my own notch.

Ponte' Panel Skirt

This was on sale for $6.99. Once again, I got this in a SMALL and I don't think it fits true to size compared to the size chart they presented. My hips are about a 33" and my waist is probably a 25". This is definitely snug even on me. It's good for the price, more of a body con skirt. Although, the weird thing is the skirt has lines and the inside of those lines are actual seams. So, when you put it on, you see all these bumps/bulges where the lines and seams are. So it's kind of weird. Makes you seem really bulky.

I'm actually wearing the skirt today so I just went to the bathroom and took a picture of it. It's really not that flattering now that I look at it haha. It is exactly what it looks like I guess it just does not look as good on me.

Overall, I think I would have to try on the other top but for what I paid. It's DIRT CHEAP. But it does make me hesitant to try and buy some of their other stuff that might be a bit more expensive only because I don't think I would expect great quality. With that being said, I would still probably take my chances on some stuff that are on sale.