Confession 21 - Playlist #3 A Throwback for Thursday

Hi everyone... Happy Throwback Thursday! Does that sound cheesy... it sorta does huh? I'm confessing today about some throwback music that is still inspiring! Many of you know that I'm trying to relive my younger years as I'm approaching 40 and I was first exposed to much of these tunes as a teenager in high school. So I bet you wouldn't peg this "Suburbia creative crafty OC girl" liking a lot of these tunes, but yes, I'm confessing today I do and wow, it puts me in the best mood!

So what type of music do you like to listen to? And what puts YOU in the best mood? Please comment and let me know... inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like my latest confession!

Confession 20 - Goodies Box

I hope you all had a great weekend! Today I'm confessing about another box of the month club that I'm just {{crushing}} over.... The Goodies Box!  Have you heard of it? Not many people have. What's so great about it? Well for toppers, it's only $6.00! The cheapest of all the monthly ones I belong to, and it's owned by Wal-mart. That's not really a selling point for me, other than the fact that the feedback that I give on the products that are shipped to me could help in getting the products in store so I can easily purchase them.

Each month, I receive this cute box packaged nicely 5-7 snack items. Sometimes, super healthy ones and sometimes just something new,  fun or unique.  The thought behind the box is to expose me to new items, have me give feedback and then if I want to order more, I can go to the website to do that.

Some months the products are a good value and add up to $6 or more, and other months, not so much. But regardless, I love getting packages and trying new snack items, so for now, I'm sticking with it. I also recycle my "Goodie Box" and even recycle the crinkle paper (there's probably $2 worth in every box).  So, it ends up being a great overall value for me.

I love the beginning of every month when I get my goodies box. It's like Christmas!

Check out my box this past month:

**If you are interested in my reviews of some of the other box of the month clubs I belong to, check out my older posts below:

Dollar Shave Club
Julep Box of the Month
Birchbox

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you liked my latest confession!

Confession 19 - Embracing what Matters

Today I am confessing about my journey to let go, to become free and plug out more times in the day than not, especially around my family.  With the loss of my dear friend Sue, and the challenging cancer diagnosis for my friend Sara, this profound change in the way I was living my life has evolved and is still evolving.  I wanted to become more present in my daily life with my children, my husband and with my close friends.  I began to look at my commitments, friends and my surroundings in a whole new way. Was I really doing the things in my life that mattered the most? I knew there needed to be changes. A change in my friends, my activities and how I managed my daily life. At first it was hard to let go, thinking I was "missing out" or losing. But I quickly came to realize that I was actually winning.

Don't get me wrong, unplugging is hard and  there are many days that are very difficult to do this. But I try to each and every day to make a point to leave my phone and other distractions aside for just awhile so I can connect and be present, especially with my kids. My greatest fear is 10-15 years from now regretting that I didn't get to be with and know my girls.

I'm sharing a very cool blog site that has given me much inspiration on my journey. Take a peak and mingle around. I find something inspiring to read about in almost every single one of her blog posts.  I know you will too!  Check out Rachel and her inspiring journey to becoming "Hands Free" here.

We can never get these days back again. Go do something that matters in your life that will connect you with the people that matter most!

When I ran across this subway art piece, it was so fitting for this post. I had to share it with you.

 Thanks for stopping by and I hope you liked my latest confession!

Confession 18 - I love In-N-Out

Hi everyone! I'm sorry the blog has been dark for a couple days. I unplugged a bit (not totally) to spend time with the fam over the long president's day weekend.  I'm back today confessing about one of my all time favorite burger joints, In-N-Out! Our little community here has been watching, for the last couple of months, construction of our very own In-N-Out. It's been exciting dreaming about getting a "animal" style burger whenever my heart desires... {{yummy}}!  For those of my readers on the east coast, this burger joint is very simple. They have a very basic menu with burgers, fries, soda and shakes. That's it! But the hook is all those items are done with perfection! All their food is incredibly fresh and always tastes the same! I've never had to return an item here. Each In-N-Out has an iconic crossed double palm tree in the front of it's location too. Here are some pics of our new local one.

For those of you that have heard of In-N-Out, I'm sure hearing the words, "2x2" or "Animal Style" are common knowledge. But did you know about In-N-Out's secret menu? When I started to do some research on the secret menu, I realized I knew most of the popular secrets, but not all of them.  The secrets I feel are best depicted on this website here. Play the slide show and educate yourself with some of the new fun things you can order at your local In-N-Out.

So, if you dare, what are some of your favorite things to order? Share them by commenting below. At the top of my list are my burger and fries "animal style"! And just this past weekend when we were driving to AZ, I had them pre-cut the burger for me and wow, it is so cute! Try it sometime!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you liked my latest confession!

Confession 17 - DIY Keepsake Bracelets

Good afternoon! It's been a crazy week leading up to President's weekend and Valentine's Day. I'm looking forward to having some days off of school to get some R&R in on a little family vacay. Today I'm confessing about some cute Keepsake Bracelets I made for a dinner that I hosted for my friend's Sue's Memorial Dinner, I wrote about it here.  I'm making the dinner an annual tradition and with that, I love to give out a favor. Last year I did a cute plaque that had a beautiful saying on it :
                If I listen closely, I can hear the rustle of Angel wings, and I know Sue you are still with us.

This year, I decided to change up the favor with this really cute charm bracelet. Sue loved this look too, and I know it would remind us of her when we wore it.

All the items to make these I got at either Hobby Lobby or Walmart. These super cool bracelets that we added the beads to came from Hobby Lobby. Who knew these even existed.  I sent my BFF to scope out the supply section and when she came back with these, I was {{swooning}}.  How cool are these stretch bracelets! These would be great for a Girl Scout activity.

These are some of the beads I used. The Silkies stretch bracelets need a bead with a pretty large opening, that is the only thing that is tricky. [update: these are only found at Hobby Lobby] But there are many beads out there that work. You might have to do some trial and error.  Below are some of the ones I used:

The top beads I got at Hobby Lobby and the bottom at Walmart. Walmart prices are the bomb! and these beads can be rather pricey!

Here's the final favor and what it looked like in the box. I got these boxes off of Pick Your Plum a couple of months ago. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to use them for, it was a great way to display the bracelet.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you liked me latest confession!

Confession 16 - Movie Treat Boxes

I hope you all had a great weekend! I had a great Girls Day out for my BFF's birthday. It was simply amazing. More to come on that in the next couple of days. But today, I'm confessing to you about a creative party favor I put together for our weekend birthday movie. As everyone knows, buying drinks and candy at the movie theater is soooo expensive! So, to help with cost and also allow us to bring in some "contraband", I put together these cute boxes. I had these plain white card board boxes from another project I did. I bought them off of ebay. They came in a 50 pack and are super inexpensive when you buy in this bulk. My sign was printed on cardstock and I just printed with black ink, "Movie Treats for my Peeps".

Inside, I packaged the red vines in pretzel rod bags. They were a little squished, but I didn't want to cut them, the fun of eating licorice is having the long rope right? Then I had small cellophane bags that we put M&M's into. Our "contraband" was a mini Smirnoff Kissed Carmel flavored vodka {{complete Bliss if you have not had it}} and a small Ginger Ale bottle. I lined the bottom of the box with one piece of tissue paper and then added some red crinkle paper. These treats were so yummy to enjoy during our movie.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you liked my latest confession!

Confession 15 - Paris and a story told in Photos

Today I'm confessing about a a beautiful story told through photos in one of my all time favorite cities, Paris. This video touched me in so many ways ... a must see for each and everyone of you out there. Grab some tissues... I know you will need them.  Sue and Sara, this post is for you! xoxo


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Confession 14 - Playlist #2

Sorry I was dark yesterday, I came down with a really bad migraine! UGH! It's still lingering today, but I have to get going, there are things to do! I'm confessing my second playlist this week. These are all songs that I'm {{ga ga}} over and will listen to over and over again... until I'm sick of them! Yahoo! They are inspiring to get me motivated to clean, work and just get into the zone. These are mostly ones that my girls can't sing to either! I'm sorta getting sick of the pop songs I'm having to listen to over and over again during carpool, can anyone relate? Go check these out and let me know if you found any new faves.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you liked my latest confession!

Confession 13 - Julep Box of the Month

Today I am confessing about my obsession with "box of the month" clubs.  I've written about them before and you can find those posts here and here  These were really popular in the late 90's. Some of you that knew me back then, know that I worked for a company that did a beer of the month, a cigar of the month (yes, I dappled in smoking cigars back then {wow you got an extra confession there}) and wine of the month club. Now they are back with a new twist.  The twist being all the information you get about the products, during, in the box and after. Also, many of these clubs have you fill out a survey and send you products based on how you answered certain questions on the survey. I'm currently subscribed to 4 different ones. And I just love the beginning of every month when they all start trickling in... {{{bliss}}}. I'm so old school and still love to send and receive snail mail. I will have to tell you, that each and every club packages up their goods in such a cute and eye appealing way.

Julep is no different with that, check out their cute square box below and then how cute all their items are wrapped in the second picture. Go peruse their site and read the story from their founder and CEO, pretty interesting. I love reading about entrepreneurs and what sparked them to start their business.  So, what is it? Essentially it's a "nail polish of the month club". Very cool bottles of nail polish, slim and stylish and some very cool colors that are unique just to them. They throw in some freebies and some other cool products too. Like this month I got a mascara, a top coat and a manicure thingy... I still need to read about it.  Their website has the full write up on all the items that are shipped, how to use them and why they are the coolest!

So go and check it out! It's a great indulgent for this month of love...hint, hint hubbies out there. One last unique thing about this club, you can choose to "skip" months if you don't like the shipment. I got my Julep box for the month of December, but skipped January. Then I did get it for February, since there were so many cool products shipping.  If you are interested in signing up, give me some blogger love and use the referral link below by clicking the circle below:

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you liked my latest confession!

Confession 12 - San Diego Train Ride

Today I'm confessing that I love traveling by rail. Why you say? Well, there is not the stress of traffic,  you can move about in a train car, use the restroom, eat, drink and as you will see, snap some awesome pictures. I'm fortunate to be living close to the coast in California and have access to the Surfliner Amtrak Train. What an amazing experience. My husband and I went for a 24 hour trip with some close friends down to San Diego. Normally, this would be a 60 minute drive in your car, but on a Saturday, with lots of traffic going south, it can take you up to 2 hours if you don't leave at the right time. We packed an overnight bag, some snacks and traveling cocktails and hit the train station.

I'm in love with my iPhone right now and all the neat photo apps I've been able to take advantage of. This trip, I used almost exclusively the Camera 360 app.

Just check out these cool pics!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you liked my latest confession!