Lilly On Rue La La Right Now!

I don't know how I of all people missed it, but Lilly is on Rue La La right now!

Go for it!  There is still a lot of grabs left for girls and women!

Look for the tab (closer to the middle of the page that says Palm Beach Style!

RUE LA LA!

Melly M. and Skirtin' Around on RUE LA LA!

A little birdie told me about a fantastic sale coming up on Rue La La this Wednesday at 11:00 am!  For the first time ever, Melly M. and Skirtin' Around will be on
Rue La La!

Here are a few items that will be up for grabs!  At full retail, these skirts and tunics are well over $100 with the dresses closer to $250, so you know Rue La La will have this dresses at a fabulous rate!

From Melly M., I LOVE this dress.  Perfect for a summer cocktail party don't you think?

What an adorable tunic from Melly M.!  I love this style for either relaxing on the beach or hanging out at a local wine bar for Girl's Night Out.  Perfect for a cool summer night!

From Skirtin' Around (and y'all know how I do love my skirts), this pattern is perfect for this season with its coral and turquoise pattern.  I do believe I have the perfect Stella and Dot coral and turquoise bracelet to go with this skirt.

Again, want to stand out at this summer's cocktail party?  This Skirtin' Around dress would be perfect.  I love pink and orange together, one of my personal favorite color combinations.

Love these items?  There will be a lot more where these come from!  Don't have an Rue La La invite?  No worries, I got you covered.  CLICK HERE for your invite!

Happy Monday Y'all!

Summer Lilly Pulitzer Picks

 I am loving the summer Lilly line!  So many bright colors for the season of playtime!

Treena Dress

Matching Kelsea Dress for Lallie

Kit Top (which goes with everything)

Walsh Short

Worth Skinny Mini

Colleen Romper (I LOVE this outfit!)

Bright Navy Mate Bandeau Top (and bottoms)

Matching suit for Lallie!

Laving Dress (loving the ruffles)

What are your favorite Lilly picks this summer?

Happy Friday Y'all!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

A friend of mine from college posted about her making her own laundry detergent back in January.  She has four kids and her first batch lasted 10 weeks!  She made another batch in mid-March and was very impressed with how well it worked. 

I was intrigued, so I obtained her recipe and made my own. Since then, I've discovered that my mother-in-law and her sister have both made the detergent with Patricia being on her second batch.

So far, I've only done a few loads and haven't found any issues and the cost is minimal.  Considering you buy the boxes/bottles of some ingredients that would make multiple batches (at least 10 batches, maybe more), the only thing you would have to buy each batch would be the Fels-Naptha soap, which costs $0.97 at Wal-mart.  All ingredients can be found right around the same area at Wal-mart.

So my immediate investment was $7.50.  If I save my ingredients for only detergent, I will only be spending maybe $5-$6 additional per year.  Amazing considering 30 loads of purchased detergent costs $5 to $10 depending on brands.  This homemade detergent is 5x's that for $1.00!

The supplies are my friends photo, I forgot to take a picture of my supplies.  The only difference is I used Arm and Hammer baking soda....not sure you could go wrong with any baking soda!

• Dawn Liquid Dish Detergent
• Baking Soda
• Borax
• Washing Soda
• Fels-Naptha Soap
• Purex Crystals does not go into the recipe, but this detergent does not have a smell, so the Purex is for softening/freshness. I used WAY less than the bottle states.  The crystals can be overwhelming.

Step 1:  Grate the Fels-Naptha Soap and melt in 4 cups of water over low heat (about 20-30 minutes).  You can whisk to help it along, but do so very gently as to not make it frothy. It is soap after all!

Meanwhile, in a five gallon bucket or container (with a lid), combine one cup Borax, one cup washing soda, 1/2 cup baking soda and 1.5 tbsp Dawn dish detergent.

Once your Fels-Naptha is done melting, pour into the bucket and mix with the dry/dawn ingredients.

Slowly add three gallons of warm water, mix and cover. 

Let sit for 24 hours, uncover, stir well (it will be a little gelatinous and lumpy after you mix) and then pour into old laundry detergent containers for use.

A couple of tips:

You will need to shake your detergent each time you use, before adding to the laundry load.  Some of the ingredients might separate and shaking will break up the gelatin a bit.  Use the same amount as you would any commercial detergent.  1/2 cap for small load, full cap for a large load.  The beauty is that it costs so little you can vary in your amounts.

Also, as with any load, it's still a good idea to add your soap to the water and let it mix for a while before adding your clothes.  This detergent is not sudsy, so don't worry if you don't see the suds, it's still working.

And, like I said, the crystals add some smell and freshness, but I use maybe half of what's called for on the bottle.  You can also add a few drops of scented oil right to the detergent when you're making it however, I was afraid that might leave oil spots.  So I'm sticking with the Purex.

Happy Wednesday Y'all!

Our Weekend...Plus Some

This past Saturday, we had a family date day.  It was supposed to pour rain all day long (100% chance) and it never even spit a drop until after 6 pm!  Anyhow, due to the impending rain, we planned indoor activities.  After lunch downtown and a sweet treat, we headed the Children's Museum.

The museum is located near a public park right on the inter coastal waterway.  So we went for a breezy walk, visited the fountains and walked down the pier.

Oh to be young again.  She's so happy!

Husband made one of my favorite meals Sunday night.  Blackened scallops over linguine!  Yummy!

For some odd reason, on a Monday night no less, I decided to clean out the pantry.  I need to get my inner Martha Stewart in check.  Husband did agree it needed to be done and thanked me by keeping Lallie out of my hair while I completed it.  It only took about an hour and I was surprised at how much stuff we already had that needed to be used!  I mean really....how many BOGO mayonnaise jars and Kraft mac-and-cheese do we need!  It's been a year since I really organized it (as in taking everything out and starting fresh).  I organize periodically but not a full on organize, you know what I mean?

Before we moved almost three years ago, we had a brand new kitchen installed (a small kitchen, but my dream kitchen).  I would love to re-do this one eventually, but that takes mucho moolah.  One of the things on my wish list is an accessible pantry.  There is a good 18" of space that I can barely reach on the side of the pantry due to where it's located and how the door works. 

But....our microwave did die and our oven door is broken.  Ack!  I microwaved sweet potatoes the other night and right after they finished cooking is when it died.  Husband's explanation: "You know you're not supposed to microwave sweet potatoes, their too dense.  You killed our microwave."

Yeah, I took it hook, line and sinker.  I'm so gullible!

I really shouldn't complain, we are truly blessed!

Moving on....Isn't Lallie's grass head too too cute!  I love him!  What a great little project for Earth Day!

Happy Wednesday Y'all!



The Honeymoon - Cancun, Mexico

Ashleigh and Matt stayed at Secrets Capri Riviera in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.  An adults only resort, it was the perfect destination for their honeymoon getaway.

I think I'm wanting to visit this place very soon for Husband's and my upcoming ten year anniversary!  I love that you can just relax and do absolutely nothing but eat, read books and lay around.  Sounds divine!

Ashleigh and Matt stayed in a ocean front room.  The pool and bar were just a few feet away.

Beach front access, not too far from the room.  Too bad in rained some of the afternoons they were there.  They didn't care, all the more reason to relax!

The resort knew Matt and Ashleigh were honeymooners.....as did the rest of the resort with this attached to their suite door.

GORGEOUS bed and room!

The bar...yes, it has pool access.

The happy couple, nice and relaxed on an evening out at the resort.

This is one of my all-time favorite, non-wedding, pictures of Ashleigh.  Her absolute favorite food (other than Mexican food) is popcorn.  It is not the least bit shocking to see her with popcorn.  Anywhere.  Even Target (she gets a bag to snack on while shopping).  :-)

Can't forget a picture with their "Stock the Bar" glasses they received at one of their showers.

Ashleigh and Matt had a fabulous honeymoon and now I'm itching to go on a ten-year honeymoon (hint, hint)!

Happy Tuesday Y'all!

The Wedding Pictures!

Ashleigh and Matt are back from their honeymoon and have seen all the pictures, so I can now post some for your viewing pleasure!  Yay!  There are a lot of pictures!  So bare with me (I love them all!)

First the pictures from Scott Hopkins Photography.   I asked permission to post some of his pictures because they are just FANTSTIC!  He captured some of the most candid moments on film, snapping pictures when no one was looking.  What a fantastic photrographer....I canNOT wait to see the rest of the pictures.

And now the rest of the pictures. 

As you know, I had been going through Ashleigh-withdrawal, so it was wonderfully nice getting to talk to her last night for over an hour, catching up on the honeymoon and the last minute bridal news.  Since we didn't see each other much after the wedding except for when we were leaving the island, we had much to catch up on. 

Nothing like getting on the phone with your best friend to shoot the breeze.  Priceless.

Showing Auntshleigh Lallie's trick.  It freaks me out a bit.

Three very excited flower girls!

I love this picture of the guys.  Such gorgeous scenery.

The handsome Groom, seeing his Bride for the first time.

Gorgeous hair.  It was done by one of the bridesmaids and when the veil was taken out for the reception, real flowers were placed in her hair.

One of the wedding guests took this picture.  Love it!

Daddy giving away his baby girl.  *tear, tear*

Beautiful dress.  Ashleigh was absolutely stunning.

The girls just loved the flower girl dresses I made.  They all felt like princesses.  Mission accomplished! :-)

The entire bridal party.  A good lookin' group if you ask me!

Ashleigh with her newest cousin.  Isn't this a sweet picture?

The Godfamily.  :-)

Right before they left for the honeymoon.  Miss her much already.

Happy Monday Y'all!