5 Things I Want to Teach my Children

I have been thinking a lot lately about how I want my children to behave. Not behave as in, No Temper Tantrums, Please but more so how I want to see my children behave as people of the world. It's hard to make a "game plan" as to how you want to raise your children because, dude, on some days, I am doing whatever I can to make it through... and I only have one for now! But I am starting to become more conscious of how my actions are molding my child; how he sees what we do and mimics it. For now, it's simple things like opening doors but soon it will be behaviors and in the way that he treats people... I am certainly not going to get all preachy on you guys but I wanted to put out there, sort of a mission statement, on what I want to teach my children, so that they become good citizens of the world.

Father's Day the Harbor Way

Yesterday was our first Father's Day celebrating with a child who was up for a good time! We didn't let the torrential downpour stop us from heading into Boston to grab some cold beers and some delicious food on the water; + we were also spontaneous (more on that later!). We landed at The Barking Crab early afternoon to check out their new deck set up. We were met with one of my favorite sights when we have the baby with us... other families! I breathed a sigh of relief that if my child wanted to be a fun loving, french fry eating baby, then he was welcome to do so at TBC.

How Did that Month of No Spending Go, Amanda?

You may recall me embarking on an adventure a mere month ago, where I attempted to go 30 full days without spending money on anything but basic necessities for my family. I am not going to lie, it was rough, especially because I have found that my boredom has generally lead to shopping and this was a habit that I am happy to say that while not completely gone, has been cut down a few pegs. Lordy, I love a little retail therapy but in documenting the last 30 days, I have been able to see exactly where my money is being spent to keep my family fed and alive and where I have just been, in the words of my dear Mother "pissing money away." Though I should make note, I inherited my deep love of shoes from said Mother so there is a touch or irony there. OK, so want to see how my 30 days progressed? I would like to say that I 100% succeeded but all I can really say is that is was certainly a challenge and I did indeed document it.

5 Easy Ways to Make Your Home Earth Friendly

Yeah, it's Earth Day, which is wonderful! I love that we spend a day (or week or even month) recognizing that we have to take care of our planet, to keep it healthy for all time. In my opinion, every day should be Earth day; we should make the effort every day if we can. Here are some quick/easy/cost efficient ways to make your home eco-friendly with minimal effort. Every little bit counts, am I right?

Recycle/Reuse/Repurpose/Refurbish: This seems like a given but it's a simple way to limit the amount of waste that your home contributes to landfills. Set up bins in a convenient area of your home for recyclables (paper, cardboard, aluminum cans, glass bottles and some plastics) and make sure they get where they need to go. Have things that can be reused? Well find a way to reuse them. Image isn't everything. If I need to use that plastic container my rice pudding came in, for leftovers... well, you can bet I am using it.  Find ways to repurpose furniture and other household items instead of throwing them away. Try to fix things before you toss them. The more you contribute in the home, the less that ends up in landfills.

Conserve in Your Home: Another one that seems like common sense but it's also easy to be wasteful if you're not mindful of the space that you live in. There are so many SUPER easy ways you can make changes.

• Turn off lights when leaving the room. 
• Replace your incandescent with Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs.
• Unplug your TV. TVs use energy when they are on stand by, which can be up to 17 hours a day.
• Turn down your thermostat and cuddle up with loved ones.
• Use Low Energy appliances, they use 10-50% less energy!
• Compost Kitchen scraps and organic matter. It's less garbage in the landfills and also eases the costs/efforts of trash removal.
• Clean with vinegar, it's nature's way of killing bacteria, germs and mold.
• Use the microwave, it uses 50% less energy than a conventional oven. If you're going to use the over, why not multi-task by using all the oven racks to warm multiple dishes at once.
• Always run a full load in the dishwasher.
• Don't let water run unnecessarily in your home. Washing dishes, brushing your teeth, watering your plants. Only let water run for what is needed.

Use Earth Friendly Products in Your Home: From great brands like Seventh Generation and Green Works, there are ways to stay Green and Earth Friendly with the products that you purchase. We use Seventh Generation toilet paper and paper towels in our home, which are made with recyclable paper. We need to use toilet paper so make an educated purchase when choosing the brand. This goes for cleaning products and what we clean our skin with as well. Good for the Earth = Good for You.

Grow Houseplants: Be green in your home and improve the air quality in your home by growing (and keeping alive) house plants. Plants remove toxins from the air and make your home a fresher and more healthy living environment.

DIY instead of BUY: Have that touch? Make cleaning and beauty products at home with all natural ingredients. Not only will you save money but you will save the packaging of buying in stores, which is often not easily recycled.

What do you do in your home to make it more Earth friendly?

A Month of Spending on Necessities Only... Wish Me Luck

I was reading my friend Molly's blog this past week and was completely inspired by her post documenting her month long journey in not spending excess money. Her goal, to sum it up, was to spend money only on food for an entire month, then document what she wanted to spend on and then what she actually did. I think it was a great exercise and so obvi, had to take a go at it myself. Imitation is the best form of flattery, right Mol? Starting today, and continuing through the month of April, I will be doing my darndest to put money in the bank and keep it there and this ain't no April Fools Joke!

I'm laying out the rules as follows:

• I can only buy food (including pre-arranged meals out), gas, necessities for baby such as diapers, wipes, bum cream etc. 
• I can pay set monthly bills- Car pmt, Internet, Cell etc
• I cannot ask my husband to pick up anything besides food, though we are on the 21 day fix so I do most of the shopping anyhow.
• Trips to Dunks, Starbucks, Fast Food etc should not be considered food purchases

Things I had already pre-paid for/have on the books in the month of April:

• Local class on making your own natural body care products
• Easter Brunch at Nashoba Valley Winery
• Saturday Matinee to see Cinderella. In my defense, this was originally scheduled for March but was moved out due to conflicts.

I will keep track of the following:

• What I wanted to buy but didn't
• What I wanted to buy and did/didn't for the baby
• How often I wanted to shop out of boredom, if I could pinpoint the feeling
• When did I succumb to the urge to purchase for something unnecessary and did I put thought into this purchase before pulling the trigger.

I think this is an exciting challenge/exercise to become more aware of what I am spending and where I am spending it. My end goal is to make more mindful purchases and far fewer impulse ones. At the very least, I can make it through a few weeks keeping my shopping urges under control! *crosses fingers* Catch me on the flip and I'll let you know how I did!

What do you think? If Molly can do it, so can I!

H&M Home Launches in Boston

This past week, I had the opportunity to hit up the Grand Re-Opening of the H&M location on Newbury Street in Boston. Not only was it a super fun event but the new Home section (one of four in the country) is AMAZING. I mean, if I had more space, I would be decorating my entire home from the affordable wares in the HM Home arena. I was sure to take some snaps of the awesome new store as well as the Grand Re-opening celebration, including the blogger breakfast, staff dance off and sneak peek before the store opened! It was a fantastic time and certainly piqued my home decor shopping interest!

The H&M staff gearing up for the Grand Re-Opening!

Take a look at some of the awesome home decor and some of my fave blogging buddies too! Let me know what you think, of all the fantastic goodies... whether you like modern decor or something a little more romantic, H&M's Home collection has got you covered. I even grabbed a lil' something for the lil' man's nursery in the form of a deer pillow... hello, it fit right in with our woodlands theme!

A Rug Can Make a Room

I was originally going to write this post about redoing my somewhat masculine living room by merely switching out the area rug. I thought about something perhaps Jute and Sisal or maybe something more classic... but the more I searched Wayfair's excellent selection of area rugs, I was immediately inspired to do a play room for the little guy using the most amazing rug that I have ever laid my eyes upon, the Walk On Me Lion Kids Rug. He is obvi too young to notice anything I do, decorating wise, but it's great to use him as an excuse, especially when spending sweet moola is involved. ;-). I love that a rug can totally change a room. If you want to brighten it up? Get a lighter rug. Do you want to bring a more funky vibe to your living space? Well, get a funkay, fun rug! Wayfair has an amazing selection of fabulous rugs for every room and even your outdoor space.

Walk On Me Lion Kids Rug, Guidecraft Classic Kids' 3 Piece Table and Chair Set, Learning Resource Jumbo Jungle 5 Piece Set, Maxim Giant Noah's Ark, Wood Designs Contender Napsack 8 Compartment Cubby, X Rocker Classic Beanbag Chair 

I used the Walk On Me Lion Kids Rug as a centerpiece and built my play room around it! Sweet kids' table and chairs, add a dash of a bright colored bean bag chair, storage space and some jungle/animal inspired toys and I have a space that I could be proud to host a playgroup in! Do you have a space that needs sprucing up? Check out Wayfair's great selection of rugs and change a space by swapping one out!

Want 15% off area rugs from Wayfair? Use promo code RUGLUV04 which is valid for ALL Area Rugs from 7/31 to 8/4. Wayfair already has great deals so this added discount is most certainly a cherry on top of an already yummy sundae!

*This post was sponsored by Wayfair. All opinions are 100% mine.

Wayfair's Daily Deals are Worth a Daily Look

I don't know if you have heard of Wayfair and all the amazing things they offer for home and well. life in general... and if you haven't? This is me introducing you to them officially. I have been a fan of Wayfair for quite some time, even before I was fortunate to be welcomed to their Homemaker blogger family just recently (yay!) so I am excited to tell you about one of my favorite things about Wayfair, their daily deals emails. I know what you're thinking. You are thinking that most emails that flood your mailbox from your fave stores are often deleted with your passing glance but I ALWAYS visit Wayfair straight from their daily emails... everything they offer is just so dang enticing for this home decorator wannabe. My most recent obsession? Sprucing up the deck and my outdoor spaces. In all honesty, Wayfair always seems to have my seasonal needs (mostly wants) under control and in this case, it's dressing up my outdoor oasis. Check out some items that I'm talking about, all plucked from daily deals this week.

Canterbury Hanging Planter in Black, Lincoln Ivory and Blue Outdoor Rug, Oak Bluffs Side Deck Box in Chocolate ,Maru 10 Light String Lights in Warm Ivory, Acasia Wood Bistro Set in Teak Oil

What to Do with All Those Greeting Cards, DIY Bunting

We are having a baby or maybe already have but haven't debuted him yet... you'll never know! You may have already given us/sent us a card. If so, you are probably expecting, at some point, that your card will be thrown out with the bath water (not the baby, of course)... but after having just tossed some of our wedding greeting cards that were water damaged, I decided that I wanted to put the baby greetings of love, to a better use for the time being. At some point earlier this year, Amy of I'm Gonna Fly, posted an Instagram pic of how she put her well wishes to amazing use and I vowed to her that I would steal the idea, and here I am doing just that. She created an adorable bunting for the baby's nursery which looked both easy and meaningful. I mean, all those people took the time to buy a card and write well wishes.

Super Easy DIY Herb and Plant Markers

I have to be perfectly honest with myself this Spring and Summer season... I know full well that I won't be able to care for an infant child and an entire vegetable garden no matter how rewarding and satisfying grabbing a fresh squash from the backyard is and would be. That doesn't mean I have to take away the reward of some sort of garden life, which is why I decided to move onward towards my deck herb garden and keeping it alive. Something I have wanted to do that last couple of years was stylize it up, which never seemed to happen... that was until I had the "nesting" urge motivating me to do lots and lots of stuff around the hizzy. DIY herb markers? yep, check thems off the the to do list! Check out how quick, easy and cheap these little loves are to make! --->

My Fave Things for the Home Right Now

We are finally getting this house together and while I have slowed on collecting things for the house (and have picked up on collecting things for a baby) there is still a part of me that wants to decorate, decorate, decorate... and then find some more space to decorate. My husband has been on a painting world tour, currently with a stop in the dining room, after a long stay in our downstairs bathroom so I am being enabled before this baby comes... so while I (he) am painting, I need to update the spaces, right?

Surya Decorative Mirror, Wayfair $224.40, Room Essential Acrylic Rectangular Lamp, Target $17.49, Pine Cone Hill Throw, Wayfair $140, Threshold Oversized Suzani Toss Pillow, Target $34.99, Barreveld Metal Filigreed Floral Candle Holder, Wayfair $90.00, Fiesta Braided Fringe Rug, Pier One $19.95, Red Mason Jar Vase, Kirklands $5.99

What are your favorite homegoods right now?

My Fave Things for the Home Right Now

I have been on the lookout lately for new things for the home. We are still filling up the "new" house and I am always keeping my eyes peeled for cute and special pieces. I have begun collecting my favorites (yellow cabinet is awaiting husband to put it together) and look forward to adding more pieces to my home.

,Threshold Windham Accent Cabinet in Yellow, IMAX Cat Bookends, Nate Berkus™ Elephant Tealight Holder, Uttermost Meena Clear Glass Table Lamp, WovenWorkz Betsy Woven Throw, Howard Elliot Ceramic Vases in Cobalt Blue Glaze, Lulu and Georgia Botanical Vase, Caldrea Citron Ginger Kitchen Candle 

What are your favorite home goods right now?

Duel of the Buffalo Chicken Pizzas

This past weekend, the man and I had a hankering for buffalo chicken pizza but we didn't know what to do really. When we get it from our local pizzeria, it has actual pizza sauce on it; all the recipes online use some manner of bleu cheese dressing as the pizza sauce. Well, since we were trying our hand at something new, we decided on a duel of buffalo chicken pizzas, one of each. This is such a simple and easy (not to mention affordable) meal to make and we both love love loved both versions.