The Nail Files

I've never linked up with the nail files before but this week we finally got Emily to go to bed on her own at night so I get some time to do whatever I want at night for a couple hours! The other night I painted my nails for my "me" time. I love it!

Essie "Play Date" with an accent nail of Essie "A Cut Above"

It's not the best picture because I took it with my phone but I love the colors. It actually reminds me of the colors of my blog design. :)

What do ya think??

Neely Guest Blogs: Birthday Gift Ideas

I'm on vaction with my family this week so I asked one of my best bloggy friends, Neely, to write a guest post me to entertain you while I am away. I know you will love her as much as I do. Don't forget to show her some love by following her and leaving a comment!

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Hi Y'all I'm Neely and I blog over at A Complete Waste of Makeup. I blog about my life as a 20 something mainly. This includes my love of lattes and wine, fashion, the people in my life, reality TV, the books I read and want to read and of course Makeup :)

Find me on Blog Twitter Facebook Pinterest and Instagram

So what do you get a friend for her birthday? I feel like it was much easier when we all played with Barbie's and loved Polly pockets. As you get older it can be a little tougher. 

Today I am going to tell you what I think the best summer birthday gift idea's are!

Tervis Tumbers: For the girl on the go. You can take it to work, the beach, the pool, the gym or on your day to day errands.

Source: sperrysandseersucker.tumblr.com via Neely on Pinterest

Nail polish: For the fashionista in your life

Source: refinery29.com via Neely on Pinterest

Planners: Seriously who doesn't love a cute planner that will organize your busy life. Your friend will love having a stylish planner to jot down her schedules, appointments and special dates in.

Source: acompletewasteofmakeup.com via Neely on Pinterest

Clutches/Wristlets: During the summer no one wants to be bogged down with a massive purse. Its hot and it just ads to the exhaustion. Put the essentials in a small clutch and trust me your friends will be forever grateful! My personal favorite is gussy sews

Source: shopgussy.com via Neely on Pinterest

Lip protection: Sounds weird right? ..nope!  From Burts Bee's, to soft lips, to EOS buying your friends lip balm has never been more fun, economical and they will be thrilled....even better buy one and put it in the above listed clutch with some nail polish :)

Source: google.com via Neely on Pinterest

There you have it! As we get older it gets tougher and tougher to buy for people, especially when we can all buy things for ourselves. Honestly its not the amount of money you spend on someone its the thought you put into it. You know your friends well and you know the little things they love. Its always better to spend a little money on something someone will love and appreciate than a lot of money on something they may not need or want. 

Emily's First July 4th and My First Skinny Jeans

I bought my first pair of skinny jeans the day before Fourth of July so this worked out perfectly!

Patriotic nails, yes?!

Michael and I went to lunch at Chick- fil- A together and then came back to his parents house before he had to go to work. We tried to take a family picture!

After he went to work, Emily and I went to my parents house for a BBQ.

Emily enjoyed the hammock for a bit with my dad.

Then my sister Kristin and I tried to get some pictures...

We chased Emily down a lot because she is a fast crawler and likes to chase the dogs!

Look at that crawl stance!

After eating, my parents played with Emily. She loves books and music. Have I mentioned she dances now?! It's the cutest thing!

At 7:30 pm we headed to Michaels grandparents house for dessert and the fireworks show. They have a great view!

This is Kristin, Emily, and me in the caged in area with Emily, haha.

Gorgeous!

SIL Sarah, MIL Diana, BIL Tyler with Emily!

Four generations! Emily, me, my mom, and my grandma!

I was worried how Emily would do past her bedtime in the cold with fireworks but we swaddled her up and took turns holding her. She actually loved the fireworks!

It was a great day!

Valentine's Day Swap: We were spoiled!

I was so thrilled to participate in this Valentine's Day swap! I got to be partnered up with Meg O. from O. is Me (who, by the way, is awesome)!

Neither of us followed the $10.00 rule. I had so much fun spoiling her and her baby girl! It was really hard not to send them everything I saw. I loved picking out gifts!

I was so excited to get my package from her in the mail! She has girly handwriting (no surprise there ;) and then inside were tons of goodies and a card she wrote me to tell me what everything was, whether it was for me, Emily, or Jexi (how sweet she thought of my two girls!) and why she picked what she did. I love that! 

This is what I got from her:
A really cute new headband...

Socks for Emily!

A teddy bear for Emily...don't worry there is another ear :)...

Sweethearts, a doggy bone for Jexibelle, a Luna bar (which happened to be in my fave flavor, too!), Maybelline dark circle eraser (I had never used it before and I love it now), NYC lipgloss (sooo pretty!), and Sally Hansen nail polish!

I ate that Luna bar right up and then Emily enjoyed the wrapper!

It's hard to tell in pictures what the lipgloss looks like in pictures but it's my new favorite gloss!

Pretty pink nails for Valentine's Day!

I love all of the things I got from Meg! Thank you so much!

A Christmas Party and Happy Birthday, Michael!!

We had our church Christmas party this past Saturday night so I dressed Emily up in a Christmas outfit. Adorable, right?!

I got to do my nails!

It was nice to get out and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Our SIL Sarah got to come with us too so that was fun. I feel so blessed this holiday season! I have such an amazing family and I love them all so much!

P.S- Happy 27th birthday to the best husband and daddy in the world! Emily, Jexi, and I love you, Michael!

Crackle Nails and Cheesiness

The other day I went to the store by myself for the first time since having Emily. It was nice being able to walk around without people staring at my enormous baby bump and feeling like I was going to split in two from carrying her. I missed Emily like crazy even just being gone for like an hour and a half, but I enjoyed getting out of the house. I treated myself to some pretty new nail polish. Since I can now reach my toes, I wanted to give myself a mani/pedi. I got 'It's Possible!' in OPI, 'Trophy Wife' in Essie, and 'Fractured Foil' in Sally Hansen for the Crackle overcoat. I put 'Trophy Wife' on first and then 'Fractured Foil' on top so that it would look like this:

You can't really see it that well but I love it! It's something I've never tried before and it's fun. I'm probably really behind on the whole "crackle" look but oh well!

Life's been great lately! Michael is still home with Emily and me until the end of the month and we have pretty much mastered the newborn thing. The only issue right now is getting her to sleep when we want to sleep but even that is not that big of a deal. I also don't mind having her in bed with me to sleep. Eventually we will need to have her sleep in her crib or pack n' play but for now...I love the closeness. Everything is going really well! She is a complete and utter joy in my life and I can't believe I am so blessed to have her. I love her so much! It may sound totally cheesy but having her has made my life feel so much more complete and meaningful. I was made to be her mommy!