Posts in Lifestyle
Vintage Board Games for Date Night

There’s something so romantic and nostalgic about vintage board games. It brings you back to a time before technology had taken over our lives and people really took their time to enjoy each other’s company.

For myself and my husband, our perfect date night consists of lively conversation, good food and drinks, music playing and cell phones turned off.

The board games listed in this blog post were each chosen because they are great options for two players. Each game has its strengths and will set the tone for a romantic evening. So grab two glasses of wine, light some candles, play some chill background music and let the competition begin!

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Side Hustle Ideas for Moms to Boost Their Income

As a busy mom, you know that there’s never such a thing as too much money. Whether it’s for planning that next family vacation, back-to-school shopping, or simply a hefty grocery run, a few extra hundred dollars per month can stretch quite a long way.

If you’ve been looking for a side hustle that is both lucrative and respects your busy schedule, this article is here to help! We’ll be showcasing five of the best side hustle ideas for mothers, including how you can easily get started.

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6 Simple Yet Luxurious Ways to Pamper & Spoil Hard Working Moms

Moms, the unsung heroes of our lives, deserve all the appreciation and love for their tireless efforts. Balancing work, home, and personal life, they often make tons of sacrifices and put their own needs on the back burner for the kids, family, and they care about.

Busy moms have it a little bit, but they still manage to push through the challenges, keep the family intact, and raise successful kids. The woman who raised you automatically deserves some pampering and spoiling from time to time, so go ahead and spoil her whenever you can.

Here are some ideas on simple yet luxurious ways to make mom feel spoiled and pampered as you appreciate her for the hard work she puts in.

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10 Easy DIY College Care Packages for Students Away from Home

When a family's young adult leaves the nest and goes away for college, you may be excited for them to start the next stage of their life. But this big life transition comes with mixed feelings of excitement and anxiety, not to mention homesickness for those who have a close relationship with their parents and siblings.

Homemade care packages are a great way to let the college student in your life know that you are thinking of them. This small token can go a long way in showing support for students who aren’t used to living far away from home and family.

In this guide I’ll outline some easy to recreate DIY care package ideas, which can easily be tailored and customized for each individual student.

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Creating a Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board in 3 Simple Steps

We are officially entering into the month of December, which means the magical holiday season is upon us. It’s a time for gathering with family and friends, spending quality time with loved ones.

Putting out a spread of food is a must and one of my favorite ways to feed a crowd is with an impressive charcuterie board filled with an abundance of foodie favorites.

If you’re new to building charcuterie boards, fret not! These culinary creations may look tricky or intimidating, but I promise it’s actually quite simple when you follow my easy steps. And the best part is that there’s really no wrong way to build a charcuterie board, it’s all about what you and guests like to eat!

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Guide to the First 48 Hours with a New Puppy

Getting a new puppy is one of the most exciting things you’ll ever experience as a pet owner. After all, nothing beats finally getting to pick up your pup and bring them home for the very first time. My family has owned dogs my entire life, and we've welcomed many puppies into our homes. The adorable puppy you see in this blog is Mia, my parent's newest fur baby.

Because puppies are essentially babies, you need to make sufficient preparations to help your pup get acclimated to their new home. To help you give them a warm welcome, this guide has a few tips on how to best spend the first 48 hours with your new pup.

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Top 30 Ways to Celebrate Your 30th Birthday

Birthdays come around every year, but you only turn 30 once! Your 30s are an exciting time full of growth, new adventures and meeting personal goals. Quoting one of my favorite characters Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City: “Your thirties are to learn the lessons.” And yes, during your 30’s you do truly grow into adulthood and learn who you are and where you’re going in life. But for myself, the 30’s have been the best so far. You can appreciate this special shift in your life by planning an awesome celebration.

In the last few years, one by one my friends and I have turned 30. We all found fun and unique ways to mark the “Dirty Thirty” occasion. In this blog post I share all kinds of ways to plan not only your 30th birthday, but this next decade of your life. It’s so exciting to consider the potential changes and possibilities in the upcoming years. While you anticipate what the future will bring, make the most of the present with a fun celebration.

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15 Inspiring Manifestation Mantras To Manifest Your Dream Life

Hello friend! Since you’ve found your way here to this blog post, it’s fair to assume that you’re searching to level up your life and you’re open to the new age philosophy of manifestation.

Below you’ll find manifestation mantras that will help you find growth in numerous life situations. Being worthy of the power of a manifestation mantra doesn't come lightly. First, you need to be at peace with your inner thoughts to welcome positivity and to deserve everything you desire.

Remember that manifestation mantras are a form of meditation spoken out loudly with positive intentions. You also need to dedicate and open your mind to the universe's endless possibilities before it can grant your dreams and wishes.

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Top 15 Ways to Organize, Store and Display Your Printed Photos

Many of us enjoy actively documenting our lives, using all kinds of photography to create photo memories that last forever. We often seek the services from professional photographers for life milestone portraits such as weddings and elopements, maternity and newborn photo sessions. We also have easy access to high quality cameras to photograph the everyday moments that fill our days.

With photography being such a a popular pastime, so many of us have taken thousands of photos of family, friends and pets. Not to mention all the inherited family photos from the generations before us. Now the question is, what do we do with all these photos?

Just like with all of the belongings in our life, we need to develop an organizational and storage system for our photos. Developing this system works double duty: keeping our memories safe and secure, while also preserving our sanity and avoiding a home filled with chaos and untidiness.

And finally, we share unique ways to display your favorite photo memories so that you can admire them as often as you’d like.

In this guide you will gain valuable insight from a professional photo organizer on how to get started with your own photo organizing project. We cover the entire process from start to finish, giving you the confidence to tackle the ambitious project of organizing your photo archives and creating a streamlined process for future photos. If you’re ready to get started, then roll up your sleeves and let’s dive in together!

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Top 10 Natural Home Remedies for Postpartum Hair Loss

Pregnancy beauty is the stuff of legend. Before you pop, your skin is glowing from the extra blood circulating through your body and your hair is lush from those pregnancy hormones.

After the baby comes? Not so much. Between a lack of sleep, adjusting to your new post pregnancy body, and the postpartum hair loss that affects up to 90% of all women after they give birth, it can be easy to feel out of control.

Fortunately because postpartum hair loss is so common, over the years women have come up with a host of natural remedies that can help you regrow those lost strands. Here are some of my favorites to help you get your groove, and your hair, back, naturally.

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Top 10 Best Cities in North America to Own a Vacation Property

It’s a widely accepted fact that owning real estate is one of the best financial investments you can make. My husband and I own two homes in Sacramento - we live in our East Sacramento house and we rent out the other to tenants. Our next big venture will be to invest in a vacation home that will most likely be rented out the majority of the time.

The process of acquiring real estate requires a lot of research beforehand. But the type of research you’ll be looking into really depends on the end use of your property. In the next several paragraphs I will go into detail about all the important checklist your vacation property must have to be successful.

Additionally, this blog post explores the top ten cities in North America that we have been looking into and I’ve reported my findings to help anyone make an informed decision about investing in their own vacation property. Whether you're getting a house for convenience, sentimental value, or investment, I've outlined why each city should be a contender in your house hunt.

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Healthy Kombucha Swaps to Help You Reduce your Sugar and Alcohol Intake

Once upon a time, many years ago, this gal had a slight addiction to Diet Coke. I loved the carbonation, the slight sweetness and the extra zip of energy that it gave me. Fast forward into the future, I am now very aware of the unhealthy additives in sodas and I very rarely ever drink the stuff.

Removing soda from my life means that I had to somehow replace my favorite afternoon pick-me-up, which is how kombucha entered my life. I don’t remember the exact day when I first tried kombucha, but I know that it left a strong positive first impression and it wasn’t long before I was hooked. It really is a win-win when you can find a new guilty pleasure habit that is truly good for you.

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Top 5 Affordable Clean Beauty and Skincare Brands That Won't Break The Bank

Change can be a hard thing, especially when it comes to our ritual beauty routines. While we’ve been loyal to old-school beauty brands for decades, we were blissfully unaware of the detrimental and toxic ingredients hidden inside our favorite makeup and skincare. But fret not, there’s a new era of beauty beginning and I’m here for it!

When you begin doing research on the latest and greatest clean beauty products on the market, you’re sure to have a moment of sticker shock when you see the prices. Not only are the averages prices doubled, but in many cases tripled from what you are used to spending. It really is a mental exercise to wrap your mind around spending the extra dollars for quality ingredients that both benefit your own body and the planet.

The good news is that with a bit of strategy and resourcefulness, you can actually find bargain deals on clean beauty products that perform beyond your expectations and even still feel luxurious and pampering. I myself have been down several rabbit holes searching the internet for my new favorite and go-to clean beauty and skincare products to always carry in my cosmetic bag. Read on to see my discoveries!

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Top 30 Abundance Affirmations to Elevate Your Mindset

Often times when we are embarking on a new endeavor, half the battle is getting our mind into gear and finding the ideal headspace to grow and thrive.

I personally was born with a natural tendency to lean towards pessimism and doubt. Whereas my husband is the opposite and always assumes the best scenarios will always play out. I believe there’s a happy middle point where you can take the best of both those perspectives and put them to work in an abundance mindset.

In this blog post I will be discussing the difference between a scarcity mindset and an abundance mindset and explaining how to harness both their powers into a manifestation action plan to achieve your goals and live a more joyful and full-filling life.

Finally, at the bottom you will find my list of top 30 abundance affirmations and a simple guide on how to easily incorporate them into your daily routine.

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Over 50 Easy Tea Party Recipes + Guide to Hosting a Proper Tea Party

Although my entire my family was born in California, we have British heritage and growing up we went to England fairly frequently. One of my favorite British traditions is afternoon tea time. This long standing tradition has also become an American favorite and is the perfect party theme for gatherings with family and friends.

In this guide I will give you brief background to British afternoon tea, provide over 50 easy tea party recipes, hosting tips and finally a helpful shopping guide to plan your own tea party soirée.t actually cross the pond I was inspired to re-create my own Downtown Abbey afternoon garden tea party.

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DIY Terrarium Kits - Shopping and Gift Guide

It was a gorgeous sun soaked Sunday afternoon in San Francisco and the perfect day for some DIY fun. I live in downtown SF which is essentially a concrete jungle with few signs of nature near by. Adding some green to our apartment was one of the first items on my checklist when we moved in because it instantly brightens up a room. Since we are limited on space with urban living, tiny terrariums are the perfect space savers in addition to being too cute to resist!

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10 Simple Ways to Be a More Eco-Conscious Parent

As modern parents, we think a lot about the future generations and how our actions today will impact our child’s tomorrow. At times it feels like a daunting task, saving the world from pollution and global warming. But the good news is that small and simple steps can make a difference. We don’t have to go to extremes to reduce our carbon footprint, collectively we all just need to make better choices. The future belongs to our children, and it’s up to us to protect it.

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Vegan Garden Toast with Hummus and Fresh Veggies

Back a few years ago when avocado toast hit the foodie scene it changed the simple breakfast toast forever. Now enter hummus garden toast, the newest culinary showstopper to take over toast.

For me the name garden toast has a double meaning. It can refer to picking fresh herbs and veggies from your garden to use as ingredients. It can also mean using those fresh veggie ingredients to depict an artistic garden scene on your toast. Either way, garden toast is filled with fresh and nutritious whole foods that will fuel your soul and nourish your body.

This hummus toast recipe is simple to put together yet also so versatile. It can make for a healthy breakfast or even a quick lunch. You can always take it up a notch and make it fancier for a brunch or meal to share with friends or your significant other.

At its core all you need for garden hummus toast is a slice of bread, hummus and veggie toppings. These are things most vegans already have in their refrigerator on any given week.

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10 Fun and Easy Ways to Celebrate Easter with Toddlers

Easter is one of those holidays that’s perfect to celebrate with toddlers because it’s full of bright colors and baskets with eggs. And of course the bunnies are always a hit with little ones!

It doesn’t take much effort to make this springtime holiday memorable for your children. Consider starting any of these family fun traditions that you can bring back every year.

In this blog post I outline ten Easter activities that any parent can easily put together. You’ll find the classics such as egg dying and an Easter egg hunt, but also a few new ones that you probably haven’t heard of.

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