Fall Home Décor & Living Room Refresh

It’s fall, y’all! I know it’s just now September 1, but like I told my favorite Walmart cashier (and yes I have one because she is the sweetest), “if decorating early for fall makes you happy, then by all means, decorate early!” (We also talked about watching Hallmark Christmas movies, but that’s neither here nor there.)

I started prepping for fall weeks ago – and, honestly, I would have done a lot of decorating much earlier, but I decided that I had to get a larger project done alongside decorating: refreshing my living room.

When I first moved in, I had a lot of furniture that had been passed down to me from my grandparents. When my gram passed and my grandfather moved into assisted living, I was also in the process of moving into my first apartment with my now-former husband. My grandfather gave me a lot of furniture that he didn’t need as he moved from his apartment into a smaller assisted living space, and then when we bought our house, my mom handed off some additional furniture that was helpful. I had two bookshelves with storage cabinets in the bottom that were pretty worn, but worked well. I have used them for the past year, but for a while now, I’ve wanted to update the living room space of my rental, and I just knew that more modern shelves could do that.

before the living room refresh

My biggest concern was that I have a Queen Anne-styled sofa table that I use to display my TV, and it was a cherry color – so VERY traditional. I wasn’t sure how to merge the two styles I wanted, but I did want to keep the Queen Anne table, as it had been my gram’s and also fits my space perfectly. I also don’t love houses that have only one style in them – when someone says that everything they own is one style (whatever style it is), I cringe a little. I appreciate variation – and I think we are comprised of the things we love, and our homes should be, too.

I saved a little for new shelves, and I decided to refinish my Queen Anne table. I asked my mom if she thought my gram would have been okay with this, and she literally laughed – my gram was the queen of refinishing furniture. We decided she might be more offended if I didn’t.

My new shelves are from Walmart.com (click here to see the Gymax 4-Tier Ladder Shelves), and because they featured black and wood, I chose to refinish my sofa table black. I asked my dad what he would use to do this project, and he happened to have Miniwax PolyShades in black, which is stain and polyurethane all-in-one. 

This was super easy to do – I simply had to use steel wool to scrape off a thin layer of the previous stain (not too much – you’re really just scrubbing off enough so that the new stain sticks), then using a paint brush to restain. I did 3-4 coats because I wanted a really thick, solid black color. This process took a few days because I did want the stain to dry between new coats, and I did use a little steel wool between each to let the next layer adhere a little better.

It’s by no means perfect, but I really do love how this piece turned out!

I also decided that, because my rental has wood paneling in the open concept living space, I should probably paint my wood and brown lamps a lighter, brighter color to pop off of the black and wood furniture. (Two of my favorite furniture pieces are the end tables that my dad got at a garage that he completely refinished for me, which have black wrought iron legs and wood tops – so the lamps standing out against these tables and the paneled walls was the goal.) I decided to take the lamps outside and do some spray painting. I used Rustoleum’s Heirloom White spray paint to paint all of these lamps, and I think they turned out even better than anticipated.

Since I had spent a few days working on the paint projects, and because I was still waiting on the delivery of my shelves, I figured I could shop, shop, shop for some updated fall décor! Last year, I had just moved into my rental around the fall season, so I didn’t buy a ton of décor, but I had about one box full of pumpkin-related décor items. I started sorting through that – and my two-year-old son kept picking things up enthusiastically, “pumpkins! Oh, I love it! Leafs, oh I love it!” It was precious. (He now has a felt leaf garland in his playroom on the window because he seemed to the love the fall décor so much.)

When I looked through what I had in storage, I realized I could use some more pumpkins and a few small items here and there. As I waited for my shelves, I went to a few low-cost décor places: Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Old Time Pottery. (If you haven’t explored an Old Time Pottery yet, you absolutely should! It’s one of my favorite stores – probably because my mom and gram used to love going in Ohio when I was kid – and the prices are great. My sweet boyfriend knows how much I love it, and since my son is on vacation time with his father this past weekend and week, Jake suggested that we make a trip. He never even complained, the whole time we were perusing the store – and we had such a good time looking around and finding some new fall pieces! Girls – get you a boy who takes you to craft and décor stores and makes the best of your shopping sprees. That’s love.)

I’ll take some time below to show off the completed living room all put-together as well as to show off the new fall décor pieces I found this season!

We’ll start outside. The first picture is my front porch, which, as I’ve said before, is a huge blessing! The original owners of the house built it backwards, so the front faces away from the road or driveway, but it’s because this view is breathtaking! So every season, I feel like I need to decorate a sweet space to see the view. This year’s was primarily brought to us by Walmart’s seasonal section – the pumpkins, gord, flowers, square hay bale, and pillows are all from Walmart. The scarecrow was a Dollar Tree purchase, and the fall sign was actually a reused piece of decor from last year.

The sitting area in my car port (featured in my spring blog here) was a quick fix this year for me – probably an area I can invest more in next year. I just grabbed a few small signs from Walmart. The door though, is a spot I love. My sister made this twine wreath for me right before I moved into the rental house, so I wanted to display it on the door. I’ve started adding floral picks or wood signs to give it a little seasonal flair, and this sign was under $2-3 at Walmart and the pick was under $1.

When you come through the door pictured above, you step into my kitchen. I have a few small touches of fall in the kitchen. The ceramic glass pumpkins are from Dollar Tree, the green pumpkin plate was a set I had found last year at Bargain Hunt (originally Target), the glass pumpkin plate was from Bargain Hunt as well, the “grateful” sign is a Walmart find, and the galvanized metal cylinder with a pumpkin cutout was a gift from my sister last year, which she found at AC Moore before they closed.

As you look out from my kitchen, you see my dining nook and living room, which are open concept. There’s a built-in bar between the kitchen and the dining nook, so I decided to decorate the bar a little for fall as well.

I am loving all of the decorated tiered trays on Pinterest and Instagram! I have wanted one for a while, but didn’t want to order one that looked exactly like what everyone else had. So I searched a lot of places, but I ended up finding one on Amazon; this is a metal, oval-shaped, two-tier tray, and I love it! I invested in it because I know that I can use it each season to decorate with smaller items that I either already have or can get on the cheap!


On my two-tiered tray, I have a wooden leaf I found at Target last year, a glass ceramic pumpkin from Dollar Tree, a sign from Walmart (“you are the apple to my pie” – too cute), mini fall floral picks from Dollar Tree last year, two mugs I got last year at Big Lots, a fall pumpkin pick from Walmart, and farmhouse beads from Amazon. These farmhouse beads came in a set of three – two small ones and one large one – and they have a nice mustard-like yellow tassel that I love for fall!

The green pumpkin pate is the second in the set I found at Bargain Hunt last year, the “beyond blessed” sign is a Walmart find, and the Rae Dunn mug was actually a thrift store find last year.

Moving into the dining room…! My pumpkin garland was a Target deal last year in the $1-$5 section. It’s wooden, and it was one of the décor items that my toddler said “I love it!” to – and I couldn’t agree more! The centerpiece is a placemat from Walmart (like $4 or less), a fall mini pitcher from Walmart with a pumpkin pick from Walmart combined with a cotton pick from Old Time Pottery in it, a Mainstays candle in Cozy Gathering scent from Walmart (my favorite – you should order one!), another small strand of my farmhouse beads from Amazon, and plastic pumpkins from Dollar Tree in a sunflower bucket that originally came with a floral arrangement from my boyfriend a few weeks ago.

I recently bought a small piece of furniture for really cheap from a place in my hometown called Dandridge Furniture Outlet. I’m using this storage table for mail sorting and other important small items. I quickly decorated the top with a pitcher I got from Old Time Pottery last year filled with dried floral pieces I already had, a ceramic pumpkin from Dollar Tree, and a frame from Old Time Pottery with a recent picture of my little one.

The living room probably has the most fall décor – with new shelves, I took the opportunity to do a LOT of seasonal decoration.

I’m really happy with how the freshly-painted lamps look on my wooden tables, and I am obsessed with throw pillows, so my few fall-inspired ones bring me a lot of joy. The “thankful grateful blessed” pillow was a Walmart purchase last year, but my location has some this year, too. The mustard yellow one on the couch was from Walmart.com and it’s a soft faux-fur material.

My largest, non-window and non-door wall houses my TV and shelves. You can see the end result of the Queen Anne sofa table and the new shelves all assembled (thanks, Jake – he’s my boyfriend and my assembly man!). I am SO pleased with how these turned out!

The yellow throw in the left corner on the basket was supposed to be a larger couch throw, but it was TINY when I got it – I guess I didn’t read the Amazon description closely enough, but that’s okay because it gives a great pop of color behind the white, rustic pumpkin I got at Walmart last year. The pumpkins and fall décor on my shelves from a variety of places – Target last year (the fabric ones), Bargain Hunt last year (the terra cotta one), Dollar Tree (the small ceramic ones), Walmart (the larger one by the candle sticks), and Old Time Pottery (the wooden one on the top right).  The wooden leaf was another Target find last year, and I have the wax warmer cubes in the scent Cozy Gathering (again my favorite at Walmart) in the black and tan warmer on the second left shelf.

The “autumn” sign was a find last year at Walmart, and it fits perfectly on my TV base, right under the screen to bring that mustard-yellow across the room. The floral arrangement on top of my BluRay player is a combination of a pumpkin pick from Walmart and a cotton pick from Old Time Pottery in a thrifted vase I found at Goodwill recently.  You’ll also notice I have the longer strand of farmhouse beads on the end of the second shelf – I wanted to pull a lighter color into the corner and the mustard color all the way over the wall display.

My little boy has this cuter-than-pie rocking chair that I found at a local Goodwill over a year ago. I stuck a fall board book on it for him and placed it in front of his handmade rocking horse that a church friend made for him this past spring!

Overall, I’m so pleased with my living room refresh and my fall décor! Have you started decorating yet? Where do you find your favorite fall décor items? Comment below – I would LOVE to hear from you!

Crock Pot Bacon Green Beans

When I was little, I hated green beans. And when I say I hated them – I mean, y’all, I would count them out so I only ate as many green beans as my mom said I had to. Oh, three bites so I could leave the table? The three shortest beans, it was then!

Now, as an adult, I find myself making green beans a lot. It’s sort of a side dish staple for me – and I’ve come up with a recipe that I absolutely adore!

If you are a vegetarian or are preparing meals for a vegetarian, I hate to break it to you: this is not the blog entry for you.

Here’s what you need:

  • Fresh green beans
  • Onion Flakes
  • Salt & Pepper
  • 5-7 cooked slices of bacon
  • 1 can of chicken broth (14.5 oz)

First and foremost, make sure that bacon is fried up! (I make a whole pound and then eat some, honestly – and use the rest for this recipe. The more bacon, the better – always!)

Next, rinse off your green beans in a colander and then start breaking! If you’ve never been taught to break beans, this is important: you HAVE to snap both ends off – the reason green beans are called “string beans” is because they literally have string-like fibers along each side. When you break the ends, the strings will pull out. You don’t want to have strings in each bite of green beans – and you’re bound to miss a few, but I made some recently that I somehow missed the strings on a good handful and it was like nature’s floss on my plate. Do NOT cut with kitchen scissors or a knife – physically snap the ends of the beans off so that the string pulls with the break.

Once you’ve snapped them all, put them in the crock pot. Pour in your chicken broth, then sprinkle in onion flakes, salt, and pepper to your preferred taste.

Break up your bacon strips into small chunks and add to the mixture. You can use bacon bits if you want, but I prefer the grease and flavor of real bacon in mine if I have it.

Stir everything together well so your bacon and seasonings disperse somewhat evenly. You can put this on low for 4 hours or so, and they will be ready to serve.

Enjoy with your regular weeknight dinner or a holiday or special event dinner!

DIY No-Sew Plastic Bag Holder

If you are like me, you save and reuse those plastic Walmart (or anywhere else) bags. I use them for everything – particularly rough pull-up explosions (because while we are learning to tinkle in the potty, we outright refuse to do the other in the potty), bathroom and bedroom trash can bags, car trash bags, and puppy accident clean up bags (ugh, potty training TWO, I suppose). 

I’m happy to reuse the bags because I absolutely hate the idea of them just being used once and tossed – the earth doesn’t have time for such literal garbage. But I do have a few rules: 

  • I toss out all bags that had items with condensation in them so they don’t mold as they’re being stored. 
  • I toss out bags with ripped handles or holes.
  • I toss bags that carried raw meat, so that they don’t stink or carry excess germs. 

I don’t use these bags as fast as I end up collecting them, and a bag full of bags is ugly in the kitchen hanging on a hook or doorknob, so I decided to get crafty!

Check out this DIY no-sew plastic bag holder. 

All you need is… 

  • Precut fabric in the color/pattern of your choice 
  • Liquid stitch 
  • Bias ribbon-tape (or ribbon in a similar width) 

I got all of these items in Walmart’s craft section. You could easily use a fabric fat quarter too, but I preferred getting a yard in case I messed up or to double up on the fabric for thickness. 

The first thing I did was cut my fabric yard in half. Then that half got folded evenly to double up the fabric. I laid out my now square of fabric to have the folded end closest to me as the bottom and frayed but matched ends at the top. Because I folded in half, I have the pattern facing the inside (facing up) and outside (facing down on the table top). 

At the folded end at the bottom, I went ahead and tucked in one long piece of the white ribbon tape. It nestled perfectly into the crease. Above where the ribbon tape laid in the crease, I drew a thin line of Liquid Stitch. Then, I folded the fabric back and pressed the Liquid Stitch into place. This created a pocket for that ribbon tape, which can (when dry) become a pull-able and tie-able end. 

At the top, frayed end, I wanted to create a smooth edge, so I drew a zigzag of Liquid Stitch and folded over, pressing down to seal. 

Then, I cut another strand of ribbon tape. I cut two minor slits in the now-glued top edge. This allowed me to thread through the ribbon tape. I glued the edges down to create one handle. This is going to be the top of the bag, where it can hang and where you can place in your plastic bags easily. 

The remaining side edges are frayed (or have potential to be) as well, from having been cut. These edges will need to come together to create a round tube for the bags to be held in. 

I first folded over the edge that would be the exterior edge so it looks smoother and cleaner. Then, on the other (non-folded) side, I put a thick amount of Liquid Stitch. 

I pressed my neatly folded edge into the Liquid Stitch fabric glue until it seemed to seal. Now I had a tube made of fabric. 

When you pull the bottom ribbon tape into a pretty tight bow, it creates a small opening from which you can pull one bag out at a time. If you need more than one, you can untie your bow and collect many (or all) of your plastic bags. 

This quick, no-sew project created a useful kitchen storage solution that looks as cute as it was simple! 

And the best part – if the Liquid Stitch wears off (which I don’t anticipate since I really do trust this brand), I can add in really small stitches to hold it together. But for now, it’s a complete no-sew project that makes life just a little bit easier! 

What do you reuse plastic bags for in your home? Do you have a storage solution? 

DIY Decorative Knife Block

For over a year now, I’ve kept my kitchen and steak knives in a drawer. They were in a silverware separator, at the back of the drawer, and it was the highest possible drawer so that my son couldn’t get to them.

I lost my nice knife block, which was a gift from my parents, in the divorce process. The knives I have now are a cheap set I had pre-wedding that didn’t come with a block; when I got the nicer set from my parents, I set aside the cheaper set. My sister, a few years later, moved out on her own, and I gave her the cheap set to use at her first place. Then, as I was getting divorced, she was getting married, and she was gifted a nice knife set, so I got the cheap ones back. They’ve served us fairly well, for a store brand set.

But now that my toddler is getting taller (seriously – I’m hardly 5’4” so where is this coming from?!), I needed to move the knives up even higher to be extra safety-conscious.

I decided to keep an eye out for an empty and used wooden knife block. While thrifting with my mom and sister one weekend recently (with masks and sanitizer and on a weekend when my son was staying with his father), I found one! It was $4.99, and it was at a KARM (Knox Area Rescue Mission) thrift store.

I also purchased sandpaper – I bought a pack of small sheets at Dollar Tree, actually, and a can of spray paint at Rural King in Heirloom White. I really do like the Rust-oleum brand of spray paint for any project – it’s just really durable for indoor or outdoor use.

After a Lysol spray, I sanded lightly – just to knock the shine off of the wood block. Then I spray painted all sides.

Once that dried, I knew I wanted to stencil something on the block to give it a little extra character. My sister has a Cricut and she printed this cute sprig stencil for me on cardstock. Once the spray paint had dried, I used a sponge brush and some deep tan paint to paint on the stencil design.

I didn’t get it perfectly even, but that’s okay – I like the DIY look and think it looks fairly even with the bottom portion taken into account as surface space too, which was where my initial thought process took me.

I love how this turned out! I think it looks good, coordinates my kitchen well, and – most importantly – keeps my knives up in the hard-to-reach counter corner, away from little fingers.

Safe, cute, and all for under $10! What DIYs have you done for your kitchen?

C’mon, Flash!

I’ve added a new member to my family: my basset hound puppy named Flash!

Unless you know me personally, you probably don’t know about my recent history with dogs. I love them – absolutely love dogs – but I’ve not had an easy way to go. Let’s go on an abbreviated trip down memory lane.

Buddy

When I was still married, we had a wonderful rescued golden retriever, who was, honestly, making it hard for me to consider divorce even in the toughest parts of my marriage. In a best-case divorce scenario, you can co-parent a child; you can make sure you have time to pour into that child, to teach and lead them, and to love them unconditionally. When you divorce with a pet, the dog goes with their original owner, and, unfortunately, my ex-husband was the one to adopt Buddy officially. You can’t co-parent or make a custody agreement for a golden retriever, y’all.

Buddy was the best, and I knew as I seriously considered divorce, that I was not just giving up a marriage I had been determined to make happen, a house I owned and wanted to raise my children in, the potential for more than one child, or a traditional two-parent home for my son, I was also going to be giving up my sweet dog.

The day before I ended up leaving my husband, Buddy had to go to the vet, and they found a large mass in his throat and neck, which ended up being from lymphoma. They needed to put Buddy down because he had lymphoma and it was really pretty rough. We decided, tearfully, to take their recommendation.

My then-husband was with Buddy at the vet. I was, unknown to everyone but my mother, at my childhood home in my childhood bedroom. I had taken a personal day off of work to pray about the state of my marriage and of myself as a wife and mother. I was at my wit’s end with my circumstance, and I was hurting really badly. I was praying over and over and over again in my empty childhood home, and that’s when I got the call that they needed to put Buddy to rest. I was a complete mess – but I also had a very clear realization that everything was going to come together to allow me to make the decision that was ultimately best for me and my son.

Eleanor

Around Christmastime of 2019, about 5 months after the divorce was final and my son and I were living in our rental, I started to get really lonely on the nights he spent with his father.

I had missed Buddy so much, and had still been accustomed to a dog when I was living with my parents during the 11-month process of my divorce, so I knew that some canine companionship could be helpful.

I started looking at dogs in the East Tennessee shelters. I found a few I was interested in at a really nice shelter in Knoxville. I met Eleanor, about an 8-10 month old dog that likely had some cattle dog in her. She was really shy and reserved, and the shelter said she had been bitten by another dog, so she likely wouldn’t be comfortable with other dogs, but had been good with children and adults in their experience. She was a sweet girl and took to me right away in the visit room. She came home that evening with me.

At first, she and my little one got along really well. She obviously loved him and he was over the moon for “Ellie dog.”

However, after the first two-ish weeks, she started to seem really anxious with his running about. She actually growled at him a few times for running near her, and I could tell his energy level was causing her severe stress and discomfort. I made a REALLY hard decision for her and for my son – that I would have to surrender her back to the shelter for a family with older children or no children. I was terrified that her anxiety and discomfort would lead to an altercation and could hurt my son. I didn’t want her to live in an environment that triggered her, for my son to be potentially hurt, or for me to be stressed about “what if” constantly.

It was so difficult to come to that decision. Jake, my boyfriend, was with me when I decided, and he dealt with a lot of my tears and feelings of guilt. I wasn’t able to take her back myself – I had my son and was afraid to have them in a small enclosed space together on the drive there. Jake made accommodations to take her back for me – which was challenging since they usually only allow the adopter to surrender back – but eventually they agreed with my license, a letter with my signature, and a lot of conversation and explanation.

The good news is that I saw a picture of Eleanor in the shelters post featuring one of their foster families. It looks like she was being trained to be more comfortable around other animals and people, so I am extremely glad to see that the effort was taken to make her available to the right future family.

I was – and still am – heartbroken at the loss of her for my family. She was just a a nervous, scared dog, and wasn’t violent, but I am relieved to know how well that shelter took my feedback into account and said they would use it to train her and to get her into the right home.

When I posted on my private social media about the heartbreak of having to take her back to the shelter, my aunt said something that really comforted me: “Momma knows best!” And the realization that it was obvious that I was putting my son’s needs above my own heartache was so reassuring to me. That simple comment helped me remember that my priorities were in order, even if it was difficult to come to terms with the situation.

When I told my landlord and my parents about the situation, both parties suggested that I get a puppy, which I would train myself and would grow up with my kiddo and be used to his energy level. My landlord offered to hold my pet deposit to see if I found a puppy that was a good fit in the coming months, which I appreciate so much.

Fast forward 6-7 months, and I found my puppy.

Flash

It was a couple Friday nights ago, and my son was spending the weekend with his father. My boyfriend was coming over to go to a family game night with me, my parents, and my sister and brother-in-law, but Jake works a lot later than I do, so I was dressed and ready and waiting for him to arrive. I was just netflixing and social-media scrolling when I saw my local animal shelter had a basset hound puppy!

I had always wanted a basset hound – even when I was a kid. And this dog was just 3 months old. I immediately messaged the shelter on Facebook and asked if he was still available; he was, and I could make an appointment to meet him the next day!

I immediately told my family and Jake that I was considering adopting him – and they were all so supportive! Well, Jake was admittedly concerned that it might lead to another Eleanor situation, but we talked and said that we could just meet Flash and see his temperament and learn more about him before making any decisions.

That Saturday, Jake went with me. Flash was so calm in the shelter, even with tons of other dogs barking and yapping – and he rolled over as I started petting him. We read more about him on his kennel tag, and I was in love. Jake could tell, too – he said “you’re getting this dog, aren’t you?”

I put a deposit on him and they planned to neuter and chip him before I could retrieve him the next weekend.

My parents helped us surprise my toddler – who was over the moon with his new best friend. He adores Flash – I keep hearing “c’mon, Flash! Let’s go, Flash!” And the sweet sound of the little hound scampering along around the house behind him.

So now I’m potty training two – my toddler son and my hound pup!

We think Flash might have a little beagle in him – just from the size of his ears and the features in his face, although he absolutely has the traditional basset hound coat, legs, and eyes.

Here are some precious pictures of this sweet addition to my family!

Long & Healthy Hair Care Tutorial

My hair is mega long. Like when it’s straightened, the longest layers are at or past my waist. It’s long and it’s thick – every hair stylist I’ve ever gone to has been like “shew girl, you got some hair.”

I haven’t always kept my hair long, but I’ve had it this long twice. The first time was as I was leading up to my (first) wedding. I wanted it long for wedding pictures, but I didn’t really have a routine for hair care outside of brushing, washing & conditioning, and styling it. I wasn’t in the habit of really spending time or money on my hair to keep it healthy, so it was the hot mess express. I actually ended up with a pretty serious knot before my wedding, and my parents (yes, both mom and dad) had to help me get it out so I wouldn’t have to hack my hair before the big day.

Once I was married, I did like a lot of girls do after a big life change, and I got it hacked short – like shoulder length.

When I became pregnant with my son a few years later, I was already in the process of growing it out, and it was already what most would call medium-long in length. Having my little one actually dried my hair out a lot, so my entire pregnancy and still to this day after, I don’t have to wash my hair except every 5 to 7 days. (Kinda a great push present, honestly.)

You might think that I sound like the kind of girl who would go get it chopped again when the divorce happened, since I was so eager to change things with a relationship life stage previously, but I was bound and determined to keep my long hair. I love my mermaid hair, so it was staying, even if my husband was not.

I did start investing in way better hair care, though. I decided I wasn’t going to wear it up all the time, and I wasn’t going to skimp on my products, either. (Not to say I spend a ton on hair products, but there was a lot of financial control in my marriage, and I was on such a strict budget each month that I didn’t have extra money to invest in a lot of the things I had wanted to try for my personal care. Looking back, that’s really unhealthy and should have been a red flag, but hindsight is 20-20, and I can devote a whole separate post to that in the future, if you’re interested.)

All of that to say that when I was finally on my own and responsible for my own finances, I started making sure I could afford reasonably priced hair care items. I wanted something that was set aside for me, and that seemed like a reasonable priority to have, and I’ve kept up with it pretty well since then.

I’ve gotten into the habit of deep conditioning my hair every couple weeks. A few weeks ago now, I posted a few pictures from an adventure to an old prison in East Tennessee with my boyfriend (LINK TO FB), and a few friends posted comments about my hair, and one suggested I try a tutorial-style post on my blog. So I took some pictures and a time lapse the last time I deep conditioned my hair and styled it after.

I admittedly have two different processes. When I’m going to wash my hair like normal, I use Not Your Mother’s Long & Strong Shampoo and Blue Sea Kale & Pure Coconut Water Conditioner. When I’m going to deep condition, I first wash with Aussie’s Miracle Volume Shampoo, then do the deep conditioning.

I’ve used a lot of different conditioner packets, and my all-time favorite is Palmer’s Coconut Oil Deep Conditioning Protein Pack. I can usually get 2 uses out of a packet, and with my long and thick hair, I think that’s pretty impressive. First, I suds up my entire scalp with the Aussie Miracle Volume Shampoo and wash like normal. Then, I only apply the Palmer’s Conditioner to the bottom half of my hair, so about earlobes down. I let this sit, then rinse it out after about 10-15 minutes. My hair immediately feels silkier and smells AMAZING.

After my shower, I let my hair towel dry. If I’m doing this in the morning, like I was this day, I let it towel dry while I do my makeup. If it’s in the evening, I’ll let it towel dry while I fold laundry, run the vacuum, work on a graduate school assignment or reading, or watch an episode of a sitcom. It really only needs to towel dry for like 20-30 minutes, since I always blow dry it too.

As you can see in the time lapse above, I blow dry my hair on high for a good little while (again, I have a ton of it). Once it’s fairly dry, I spray in some OGX Renewing Argan Oil of Morocco, just on the ends – similar to where I put the conditioner – to give it a little extra shine. I use the blow dryer on low this time and just make sure I can brush through it really smoothly. (Even if I’m just re-straightening my hair throughout the week when I’m not washing, I’ll often do a few sprays of the Argan Oil again. I think it really makes my hair look shiny and smooth and put together.)

Then, I separate my hair out into sections. I use an inexpensive hair claw-styled clip to pull the sections up that I’m not straightening yet. Something like this works really well. As I straighten it, I also use dry shampoo at the roots to give a little lift – and to keep me from having to wash my hair earlier than about 5 days. For a dry shampoo that works fairly well but is still affordable, I like Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Texturing Dry Shampoo. You do have to brush through to diffuse some of the powdery spray, but it holds up really well for me.

As you’ll see, my toddler son felt he needed to make an entrance toward the end of my time lapse video. He really likes for me to do his hair when I’m doing mine, so I always share a spray of my detangler of choice, Not Your Mother’s Knotty to Nice detangler and then brush through his hair for him. This detangler is my favorite one that I use throughout the week when I’m not washing or conditioning my hair in the shower, so I definitely recommend it if you have long hair that you wear in a messy bun often.

The final step for me, before doing a final brush through but after I’ve finished straightening my hair, is to protect my ends from too much damage. Let’s be honest – most of us aren’t getting our trimmed as often as we need to (I’m world’s worst at this) even when there isn’t a pandemic raging around us. So while COVID-19 is running the show, with salons requiring masks and it being harder than ever to prioritize your hair’s health, your ends are gonna be SPLIT. So this product is one that a stylist recommended to me, and I absolutely love it and think it makes a huge difference in my hair health. Strong Sexy Hair Seal the Deal is a split-end mending product made with aloe that really makes your ends appear smooth and uniform. I can’t recommend this enough, seriously.

So that’s my straight-hair tutorial for long hair! What do you do with your long hair? Do you have favorite products that I should try? Comment below!

Quick Cleaning with a Toddler in Tow

Confession: although I was a SUPER sloppy teen (don’t even get my mother started about my childhood bedroom), I am WAY more focused on cleanliness in this season of life and with a little one around.

When my divorce was being finalized and I was looking for a new place to live with my little one, I had a friend through work whose family had an empty ranch house not far from my office or my son’s sitter. The family was – and has continued to be – so sweet and gracious, and they lined everything up so I could be totally comfortable in the house – including sharing that the grandmother who had owned the house had designated the third bedroom as a playroom for her grandkids. Because we didn’t need a third bedroom, I decided to hold to tradition and turned that room into my son’s playroom. (I’ve added a full-sized futon and stored sheets in case we ever need the space to double as a guest room, too.) My son absolutely adores his playroom – and what he deems “his couch.”

Usually, I lightly spray the room down every other night or so with Lysol, just to kill any funk that might have landed on the play kitchen, train table, or hot wheels. (I do this daily if he’s under the weather, of course.) On Monday nights, my son is with his father, so I usually do my deeper clean of the playroom then – vacuuming or swiffering, Clorox wiping surfaces, dusting, et cetera.

Well, I have to admit – last week I was off my game. I actually took a sick day for myself on Monday because I was dealing with exhaustion and a migraine, so I lazed on the living room couch all day, and the only things I got done were rest, the entire first season of Sweet Magnolias on Netflix, and one load of laundry.

So when Tuesday rolled around, and I brought my son home, I realized the playroom hadn’t been cleaned super well for the week. If you have a toddler, you know it is near impossible to deep clean with your little one as your shadow!

Despite the difficulty of navigating that situation, I knew the room really needed it. He was NOT having the idea of playing in his bedroom or the living room, so I ended up so a quick cleaning of the room with him in there.

Here’s a peak at the before:

And, even more reason for me to clean that night – he had colored on his train tabletop! Some family friends, whose twins I used to babysit and now teach in our youth program, gifted us their train table when we moved into the rental, and AJ loves it. When I saw that he had gotten ahold of a brown crayon and scribbled all over the top, I’m fairly certain my eyes had popped, cartoon-style, out of my head.

I was bummed on Tuesday because I hadn’t had a chance go grab a Magic Eraser, which is what everyone says to use on crayon markings. I figured I’d try to use what I had on hand – a container of Clorox Wipes. Y’all… You cannot imagine how easy this was to scrub up! All I did was apply pressure and scrub for a bit, and the crayon markings came right up!

After that, I used Clorox wipes to clean up all of the surfaces – the train table, the TV and stand, the play kitchen, plastic table and chairs, and play tool bench. I then vacuumed with my second vacuum (yes, I have two – but I really believe that you really need a regular vacuum and a smaller one for quick cleaning on non-carpet floors) to quickly take care of floor cleaning and, popping the handle off and using the handheld middle section, to clean up the futon upholstery (y’all know that fabric-covered furniture is like a graveyard for goldfish crackers).

Here’s a link to the Clorox Wipes I used and the Dirt Devil SimpliStik Plus 3-in-1 Vacuum.

Even with my toddler talking to me and trying to play and watch Blue Clues as I cleaned, I was able to get the room clean in about 30-40 minutes!

While it certainly wasn’t my usual deep clean, it was a lot better than not cleaning and still certainly more in-depth than a midweek Lysol-spray and toy pick up. I felt super efficient and effective, and it only took about a half hour and two cleaning supplies!

What are your quick-cleaning tips & tricks?

Easy (& Healthy) Yogurt Parfaits

If you have been following me on social media, you likely know that I am working on my personal wellness. (If you don’t follow me yet, shameless plug here: check out my Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram today!)

I’ve been fairly open about my difficulties with the subject of personal wellness and health. A lot of my struggles have centered around body image and body positivity. In college, I went through an eating disorder. Then, after coming out the other side of that, I dealt with some weight gain and loss in patterns, often punctuated by emotional turmoil and stress in my personal life. After my divorce and once I settled into my rental home with my son, I started getting more aware of the positive body changes I was making and wanted to continue to make. I started reading up on at-home exercises. I made sure my daily diet always included protein, fruits, and veggies. I was at the lowest weight I’d seen since I got married in 2014, and I was really proud of myself for that positive and health progress.

Since then, I’ve grown even more active in my own wellness efforts. I’ve done wellness challenges with friends who are coaches, started tracking my calorie intake with the My Fitness Pal app from Under Armor, and bought a fitness tracking watch from LETSCOM.

One of the things I have been VERY clear with myself about from the get-go of my fitness journey is that I DO NOT want to limit myself on food that brings me joy. I’m a cook and a baker and a homemaker (and Dr. Seuss, apparently), and I do NOT want to limit the joy those areas of my life bring me on a regular basis. So, I’ve taken a serious interest in finding foods I love that are low-calorie so I can treat myself occasionally with peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, poke cake, and fried chicken – you know, the essentials.

One of my FAVORITE low-calorie, healthy foods is my couldn’t-be-easier yogurt parfait! You can make it in minutes, and it can be a great breakfast or snack. I make mine in one of two ways: apple or strawberry.

Here’s what you need:

  • 1 serving of light Vanilla Greek Yogurt (about ¾-1 cup)
  • 100-calorie serving size of raw almonds
  • 3 small or medium-sized strawberries OR 1 medium apple

I get my 100-calorie packs of almonds from Aldi. They’re inexpensive and pre-counted, which makes this process even quicker, if I’m throwing a parfait in my lunchbox for work.

I also use the pre-packaged, sliced apples from Walmart. A medium sized apple will work, especially if you have an apple corer and slicer handy, but I’m packing two lunches most days, and it makes it WAY faster if it’s pre-cut and portioned for me.

To make your parfait, select your container. I use either a tupperware container (these cute ones are from Dollar General – 3 for $1, if I remember correctly) or a dessert dish, if you’re feeling fancy or setting the table with them!

Scoop in your yogurt. Cut your fruit – either chunk your apple into bite-sized pieces or slice your strawberries, and add them in.  Then sprinkle on the almonds.

I think layering is nice, if you have the time, because it lets you get a little in each bite, but if you need to just throw it all in as you’re able, you’re probably going to stir with your spoon when you eat anyway!  

Good news: the strawberry version is only about 196 calories and the apple version is only 285 calories. Breakfast or a snack for 200-300 calories sounds like a win to me – especially if it contains protein, a serving of fruit, and the many good things that come with yogurt!!

I hope you enjoy this super-simple, tasty snack or breakfast!

If you’re on your own wellness journey, could benefit from more recipes like this or topics of personal health, please comment below!

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

I love pasta salad! To be fair, I love carbs, so it might just be that I love pasta… but I do like veggies a lot too, and I really enjoy pasta salad dishes in the summertime. They’re the perfect compliment to a grilled hamburger or a BBQ sandwich! 

If you’ve been around for a little while, you know that I have posted my Italian Pasta Salad recipe here. 

Today’s recipe is just as easy! It’s a bacon ranch pasta salad!

Although I’m not a ranch fan usually, I do love ranch dip with vegetables and ranch pasta salad. 

To develop a good recipe, I started dissecting pasta salads I’d try in delis or from boxed mixes, and this is what I’m come up with for my own homemade version.

For this delicious dish, you’ll need the the following: 

  • 4 cups of bow tie pasta 
  • 1 cup matchstick carrots
  • 1/2 cup sugar peas 
  • Approx 1 1/4 cup mayo 
  • 1 pack of real bacon bits
  • 1 pack of ranch seasoning

First, you’ll need to boil the noodles.

While noodles are boiling, measure out all other ingredients. If your peas are frozen like mine, steam in the microwave for 2ish minutes. 

When the noodles are done, drain and rinse in a colander. Put the rinsed cooked and noodles in a big bowl. 

Now, add all ingredients and stir until well covered. When you begin to stir, you’ll want to make sure that the ranch seasoning packet and the mayo both end up dispersed throughout the dish. 

Chill until serving. Enjoy! 

PS: If you serve it several hours after making it, I advise that you add a little extra mayonnaise and stir before serving. This will ensure that the pasta salad has the right texture and fresh taste! 

5 Bathroom Spots To Lysol Regularly

With COVID-19 hitting the entire globe the past several months, health and cleanliness have been buzzwords and hot topics. But I’m of the firm belief that they should be buzzwords all the time – pandemic or not!

The reality is that we all have areas that we forget to clean – or that are so small that we forget to scrub them when we’re doing our regular cleaning. But there are some areas that deserve attention ALL THE TIME.

You know the bathroom has to be one of the most important places to clean in your entire home. It’s not enough to just clean it occasionally – it needs regular attention.

Here are 5 places that should get regular attention in your bathroom – but are likely to be overlooked when you do your usual tub, toilet, and sink cleaning. All you need to sanitize these spaces regularly is a bottle of Lysol (or other disinfectant spray if you prefer another brand).

#1: The Toilet Handle

This is a disgusting part of the bathroom. Let’s be real – most people flush before they wash their hands. It’s important to spray down your toilet handle regularly – daily doesn’t even seem too much to me!

#2: The Towel Hooks & Bar

No matter which you have – or if you have both – this is a place that gets some serious attention from bathroom users. Even if they’re grabbing their towel after a shower or drying their hands after a wash, there are still a lot of skin cell passing opportunities in these interactions, so I’d venture a guess that it’s worth a spray a couple times a week.

#3: The Faucet Handles

Again, people have to touch the handle BEFORE they wash their hands. It’s gross, but true. Spray the handles down regularly to avoid any extra germ or funk transfers.

#4: The Door Knob

Bathroom users touch the door knob twice – once coming in and once going out. Even if you are grace giving enough to assume that everyone washes their hands, we still don’t know what they may have touched BEFORE they entered the bathroom. Did they pick their nose? Did they change a dirty diaper? Were they playing in the sandbox? (Can you tell I’m a toddler mom?) You get the point: spray your door knob – inside and out!

#5: The Light Switch

Similar to the door knob, most people are going to touch the light switch twice – entering and exiting the washroom. The light is needed a lot more than just for potty use, too – just a trip to wash hands, brush hair, or apply makeup could require a light switch interaction. A ton of touch points are here, so, like the toilet handle, daily spraying doesn’t seem like too much here either.

What other spots do you disinfect regularly in your bathroom – outside of regular tub, sink, and toilet bowl cleaning? Comment below!