My Creative Blog:
Life

Well, we both were inspired to put together our perfect Spring outfit because of this cool contest being held on another blog. The winner gets 2 FREE pieces of jewelry and $200 towards your perfect outfit. Yes, please, count us in! Oh, I could browse my favorite store sites all day and find a million things I like, but I'll be realistic, I'm not going to be able to buy these gorgeous things anytime soon. But it's fun to design a fun outfit, and I'm crossing my fingers that I'll win! (Shhh, don't tell Monica!)
Jessica's Perfect Spring Outfit

(Clockwise from top left)
1. Necklace from Jess LC
2. Ruffled Pintuck top from Banana Republic (on sale now!)
3. Jeans from Banana Republic (also on sale!)
4. Hobo Bag from Piperlime
6. Bracelet from Jess LC
7. Shoes from DSW

*Can you tell I'm a neutrals kind of girl?: ) Also, this proves to me that I am no clothing stylist. Now I know I'm doing what I should be doing.

Monica's Perfect Spring Outfit
Ok, just to give this a little perspective… When I told Eric about blogging an outfit he said,"You know nothing about fashion, why would you do that?" He didn't mean it in a rude way, he was just being honest because I am pretty Plain Jane and comfy when it comes to my clothing choices. My number one staple in my closet is sneakers! They're my favorite and of course they'd need to be a part of my perfect spring outfit.

(Clockwise from top left)
1. Sweater from Hollister
2. Belle Classic Shirt from A&F (on sale now!)
3. Astor bead necklace from Jess LC
4. Earings from Jess LC
5. Sneaks from Zappos (I actually have these in yellow & grey)
3. Chunky bracelet watch on Ebay
4. Hobo Bag from Melie Bianco
6. Crop Jeans from A&F
7. Glasses from Banana Republic

*Can you tell I'm a no frills kind of girl? I will most likely be the only woman in the retirement home someday still wearing cool sneakers!

Have a great Monday and have fun planning your perfect spring outfit!

Well hey there! Want to know something about me? I find something I like and then stick to it. I have only ever ordered one meal at The Olive Garden for about 14 years straight (Chicken con Broccoli and FYI they took it off the menu, so I don't go there anymore! Ha!) I wish jeans, sneaks, and a sweater with an oxford underneath was still as cool now, as it was when I was in high school. So basically, I don't do much in the way of mixing things up (except for in my decor and design, which is weird, but who knows…). This month some of that changed! Hello Bangs and Glasses!

A few things happened to bring about these changes… #1 I spent 8 days in London and Paris surrounded by people that had more style in their pinky finger than I will in my entire lifetime. #2. I was given an opportunity from Firmoo Glasses to try a pair of glasses for free #3. I got a zit on my forehead (I'll explain later)
So, here's what we ended up with… Awesomely geeky glasses that I completely adore (plus, I can see better!) and blunt bangs! I know I'm completely wild and crazy aren't I?

Let me tell you a little about Firmoo and the glasses first, then we'll get onto the bangs. Firmoo is the largest online retailer of glasses (who knew right?!). For years I'd been going to my eye doctor and ordering the uber expensive glasses they had. None of them were super cool, so I only wore them when I really needed to. Well now, I know that there is a HUGE world of glasses out there at like 80% less! And guess what peeps?? They give you your first pair FREE! Seriously doesn't get much better than that! (If you're the type that hears FREE and now is all distracted, here's the link to get your own free pair right away Firmoo Free Glasses)
**Oh, and lots of people asked which style I got, they're #ZS8024 **

I knew I needed to post pics of myself (not my fav thing to do), so I added fun quotes I like to distract you! Is it working? Okay, back to Firmoo… Check out their website and make sure you try out their cool virtual try-on system. You can upload a picture of yourself and try glasses on. It's like paper dolls of the future. I made a quick call to my eye doctor and got my prescription info and just typed it in when ordering. If you don't have vision issues, that's okay- they make clear lenses too! Jess' hubs Kev, calls them his placebos and I LOVE that name! Glasses are definitely an accessory, not just a necessity anymore.
A few day later, I got my glasses in the mail and it was love at first sight (Get it? Sight? Sorry, I can't resist a cheesy joke). They were step one in my mini Monica makeover. Then, I started toying with the idea of bangs… I love the look on other people, but I was a little worried because of my curly, unruly mop. Then, last week I was at the salon getting Kaden a hair cut and noticed this annoying zit on my forehead - suddenly I had my solution…bangs! If you can't beat em, hide em! Kaden gave me the go-ahead and I had one of my favorite hair stylists cut them for me! I couldn't be happier!! (If you're local, Rachel is awesome! Here's their FB page call her if you need a new do!)

I have to tell you, I am amazed that it took me so long to try something a little more daring with my"style"… I think it's a lot more"me" even. And just in case you're wondering, I'll still be ordering all the same foods at restaurants-I'm not that changed!!
Here are all the details you need to get your first pair free from Firmoo… Firmoo Website Firmoo on Facebook (head over and let them know EC2 sent ya!)
Just check out their site, choose a pair you love, and have them in about a week! (There are a few designer pairs that are excluded, but I found tons that I liked that were included)
So are you going to get a free pair? Any other"stuck-in-a-rut" readers out there?
** A huge shout out to our favorite photographer Stacy Salvatori for taking these pictures of me. She is a Bucks County local and does amazing family, portrait, and wedding pics. Check out her site and let her know EC2 sent you!! **I wasn't compensated for writing this post. I got a free pair of glasses from Firmoo (like you can) and was thrilled to review them for you guys. All opinions are 100% mine**

For my rookie post, I thought I’d stick with something I know and love… community. Community to me is all about relationships, REAL relationships… Remember how in college (yes, think way back) there was a group of friends that you always did fun stuff with on the weekends? Movies, Concerts, Cow Tipping (okay we tried it once just to say we had.)? Well, why do we so often assume that once we’re married and have kiddos, that we have to give up on regularly getting together with friends and we don’t make time for fun, non-kid activities? Don’t get me wrong, I love all the kid-friendly stuff we do with other families, but come on, how awesome does a night out with people you love, doing something out of the norm, and filled with adult conversation sound? To me it sounds heavenly and that’s why we started Group Dates a few years ago. Had Jess and I known we’d be blogging about it, we might have coined a trendier name, but for now - Group Date it is…

Group Date:

What? A once a month (ok maybe we’re slightly inconsistent, but once a month's the goal) couples date with friends.

Where? Anywhere! One couple is assigned to plan the date- the more fun and creative the better. Get us out of the suburban Applebee’s and a Movie routine!

The Real Housewives of Bucks County are going to help you start your own Group Dates (umm, so open to a cooler name for these.) Each month we’ll give you an idea for a new outing that you can invite your posse to. Here are just a few ideas to get you thinking…

Rock it Out…

I recently took my daughter to a birthday party here, and while watching the kids climb like crazy and have a blast, we decided this would be a perfect group date! Our competetive group of men will love creating challenges and showing off, and the girls, well… we're just thankful we're already married before we allow our husbands to see us strapped into the completely unflattering waist harnesses. We think this is a great group date because it's active, it's throwback-to-your-childhood type fun, and it's super affordable.

Doylestown Rock Gym We also usually like to plan an activity and then follow it up with dinner so there's time to talk and see what's going on in eachother's lives. There are so many great restaurants in Doylestown, but for this date you'd want to choose something that's on the caual side. Our guys love Smokin' Lil's and its casual atmosphere would be perfect for some hungry mountain climbers!

Just a Taste…

For those with slightly more sophisticated tastes, a group wine tasting makes a great Group Date. There are so many vineyards in Bucks County that we'll do a future feature on all the places to visit, but we took our posse to Sand Castle Winery in December and had a fun time tasting, learning, and most likely making our host crazy with our lack of wine knowledge! We know a wine tasting isn't for everyone, but if it fits in with your group of friends, it can be a fun way to learn something new.

A wine tasting tour would better fill a whole evening- pick a few vineyards and visit them all. Choose the families with the coolest swagger wagons and pile in together. Remember, REAL community… it doesn't matter if there are old sippy cups, or crushed golfish in the seats. Real Housewives of BC's December Group Date

Don’t let yourself be convinced that you don’t have time, or this is just a kid phase of your life and you’ll spend time with friends later in life. Make a commitment to increasing community and fostering the relationships with the people God has put in your life. Get out there and plan a Group date!

What are some dates your friends would enjoy?

YOU GUYS, the countdown is officially on. Yup, that's right. You have only a few days to enter your best project for the chance of a lifetime to work with your favorite blogger and earn awesome prizes. Just to prove it to you, (and because we love some crunch-time project drama) here's the official countdown:

Did you know that we waited until literally the last hour to submit our project? We had done this piece of barnwood art for one of our Nate Show episodes, and weren't technically allowed to post about it yet, but we were dying to be a part of the contest so we slipped it in just under the wire.

So, we totally get it if you're major procrastinators like us. Or, if you need some additional encouragement because you're a little nervous or afraid your stuff isn't good enough, here it is: JUST DO IT! This contest could be a major boost to your blogging career! Just trust us about this. After we won this contest, we got a whole lot more traffic and made a name for ourselves. And you know the awesome Mandi, from Vintage Revivals? She won this contest too, and we all know how incredible her blog is now. Don't waste anymore time. Enter your project here right now!

Also, I bet you might not have known that, YOU (our awesome readers), have the power to select the 12th contestant in this contest! How, you ask? Take a peek at all the fabulous entries and click through for the tutorials.

I know! Isn't that so fun? So, go ahead and tell all your friends to come vote for your project. I mean, really, who wouldn't want to be Miss Popular?? We are so excited about this contest, and already have a few favorites as we click through to see them all!!
We'll be keeping you updated on all the last minute CWTS excitement on Facebook, so make sure you've liked our page or do it right here… we double dog dare you!

Tell us: which project is YOUR fav so far, and which STAR would you most like to work with if you get the chance?

Ok, it's time to get really real with you. About us and our blog. It involves a little something we like to call:

We recently received a very nice comment from a regular follower that prompted us to write this post. Before you read it, I have to say that we were very grateful for this reader's honesty, and the sweet way she voiced her concerns. There's nothing we love more than good, honest feedback from the lovely people who visit our blog every day!

Ack! She nailed our current dilemma right on the head! Let me give you a little back story…when we started this blog a little over a year ago, we did not anticipate it interrupting our lives at all. It was just a place to throw all our ideas and projects. We literally thought that only our moms would read it. Then came Nate (not once, but four times!),

Crafting with the Stars…

local TV coverage, newspaper articles (you get the point) which equalled rapid blog growth. AND WE LOVED IT. All of these amazing opportunities meant that we were doing loads of projects, pouring hours of our time into the blog, and spending a lot of money to keep it all together. The blog is the most important, most rewarding and most fun thing we do (yes, even more than the Nate Show! It's our first love.), so we make every effort to put 5 great posts out per week. We LOVE this blog and it has become bigger and better than we ever expected.

But here's where our dilemma comes in: In addition to the blog, we both work other jobs, raise a bunch of kids and try to be good wives, friends, daughters, sisters etc. Realistically we could not possibly keep up the pace we had been going for the first year, even though we would like to. Not only did this little blog take a lot of time away from our families, but we also spent a lot of our own money to do all those projects! We need to find a better way. We are trying to adjust our own expectations (which, believe me, are sky-high!) and are experimenting a bit with our posts.

So what does all this mean for the blog you love to read?
1 You'll probably see only a few DIY projects a week from us. Instead of scrambling to come up with a DIY project just for the sake of having one to post about, we're being more intentional about our projects so that they're well done, and have a purpose in our homes.

2. We'll be highlighting our wonderful sponsors every once in a while to expose you to their awesomeness and also, to express our gratitude for their support of our blog that allows us to keep doing our projects. Don't worry we won't be throwing them in your faces at every turn, and we promise to only accept sponsor whose products we absolutely love!

3. We might host a guest poster, or highlight other blogs we feel like are worthy of notice! The design blog world is like a family, and we want to promote other people, like others have promoted us!

4. We'll keep bringing you our thoughts on all those fun, crazy and fabulous design trends out there, and how we're incorporating them in our homes!

So, in conclusion (are you still there?), we are crazy about this blog and all of you, and hope to continue doing this for a long time, and even (crossing our fingers) turn it into a full-time job. We hope you'll stick around for the long haul, and be understanding as we try to find balance and a system that works for us.
And now, a question for all you bloggers/mothers/wives etc. out there: How do YOU find balance?

P.S. We'll be doing a follow-up post on our top tips for Part-Time Bloggers, so get excited!; )

Well, we returned home from our Disney vacation on Saturday, so it's back to the grind here at our house. I just thought I'd share a little recap of our fabulous time together. There really is nothing quite like spending a whole week with the ones you love most, with no responsibilities to weigh you down. It's so rare, which is what makes it so sweet. Obviously, this is not a personal blog, so I won't go on and on about the trip, but I'll just say this: Disney World really is a magical place and I loved it just as much as the kids! (And just for the record, we travelled to Florida with my in-laws, and one of Kevin's brothers and his family, but you won't see any pictures of them here. I don't like to post pics of people without getting permission first, but it was so much fun being with them!)

My babies had such a blast and behaved so well, even on less sleep than normal!

Campbell dancing in front of the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney

We met lots of characters, but the princesses were Campbell's favorites. If you have a daughter, seeing their awestruck wonder is too precious to miss.

My fam in front of Mt. Everest in Animal Kingdom.

Just threw this one in because it's so cute. Cam didn't even know who Peter Pan was, but of course, she wanted his autograph and a picture with him. And does anyone else find it wierd that we now have all these pictures with"characters" who are real people, but who we don't know?

Hot days call for cool treats.

My main men with one of the army soldiers outside of Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios.

One of the highlights of our trip was my date night with my handsome man at Magic Kingdom. I love being with him.

My beautiful princess.

This is one happy child.

Too bad he won't remember this trip.

He became a champ at napping in the stroller.

If you're interested, you can see our Photopass pics here. If you have no clue what Disney's Photopass is, click here.

Just wanted to share the blog that I am most inspired by: The Lettered Cottage. I absolutely adore the way they've decorated their house and would love for my house to move in that direction, style-wise. Here's what I'm talking about:

These rooms are the same room! They recently redesigned their guest room (the first photo is the after photo, and the second two are the before photos), and guess what? I would take either one of those rooms and never leave.
Happy Monday! I hope you can find a little bit of magic throughout your day today!

This guest blogger just so happens to be my personal favorite… I'm allowed to be a little biased because I think he has a crush on me, and I think he's kinda cute too. Make sure you leave a comment and like the post on Facebook because I need lots of positive feedback for this blogger!

This is Eric, husband of the oh-so-talented

Monica. I got word that Jess and

Monica would be having"guest bloggers" and I jokingly asked why I can't be a guest blogger. Well, she called my bluff and told me to put together a post.
Now the conundrum, I am not housewife and as my WHOLE family can vouch for, I am NOT crafty. So what can I post on?
Ah-ha… probably the most important thing (not living) in my whole house would be our photo books! And this is one quasi-crafty thing that I am totally in charge of. So here goes.
If all of you crazy blog-stalkers with kids are anything like my wife, you take thousands (if not millions) of pictures of your kids, your house, your family and really just your whole life. These pictures sit on your camera or computer, occasionally they get dropped into a blog or facebook, but for all intents and purposes, they sit – lost and wasted.
In 2007, I got tired of seeing

Monica take so many awesome pictures without ever doing anything with them. That's when we discovered Blurb. Ever heard of it? The beauty of Blurb is that they offer"book-store quality printing and binding" at incredibly reasonable prices.
Everyone I've talked to seems to get overwhelmed with idea of doing a photo book. But trust me, it's not hard. The longest, hardest, most time-consuming part is just sorting through the tens of thousands of pictures stored on your camera and computer and organizing a years worth of pictures. But… and this is a big but… it's so rewarding going through a full year, seeing all that you've done, re-living all the fun events, seeing how your family has grown over the course of a year.
Ok, so what I do, (and this is just preference), is I go month-by-month, sorting pictures mainly by events. I drop all pictures into folders on my desktop with a name of the even. For example, I'll have folders such as"snow fun,""baking with mommy,""bath-time,""field trip to the farm,""fun with playdough,""Kenzie's soccer," etc., and then I always have a folder for each kid with all the best pictures that we have for them. Then when it's time to actually put the book together, it really just flies!
The great thing about doing a photo book like this versus just printing photos and putting them in an album is that you get to tell stories, explain the events, and actually add personality to your photos. It's a great place to remember some of the crazy things your kids have said or done. With the craziness of moving over this summer, I got way behind on putting these books together. I sat down to do a book for the 2^nd half of 2009 a couple weeks ago and I was amazed at how much I forgot! I saw all these pictures and couldn't quite place where we were, or what we were doing, or some of the fun stories behind the pictures. My goal is to do 2 books per year as soon as that year is finished. There are so many types of books that you can do –

Monica scanned all of Kenzie's art work from a full year of school and made an art book, she made several small books documenting things such as birthday parties or Christmas. We've even given a book to my parents after a week on vacation with them (yes, these books make great presents for the grandparents!)
Enough talk. Here is what Blurb actually looks like (screen shot from our ancient desktop). You log in and all the Blurb books you've created are listed.

Once the book is created, I import all the pictures that I have from a given folder on my desktop (i.e. beach with the Motts). There are dozens of picture/text layouts to choose from and all you have to do is drag-and-drop your pictures wherever you want them and then add the text. The view below is during the editing process.

You can also preview your book to see how it will actually look once published.

I mentioned in the beginning that it's"book-store quality printing and binding" at incredibly reasonable prices. For a 200 page book, with a hard-bound cover, it's only $48.95. A 200 page book can easily hold 600-800 pictures. I know Blurb is not the only company doing this – it just happens to be the one we use. I searched for photo-book reviews and this website seems pretty accurate. It rated Blurb as 4 starts (out of 4) for quality, but lower scores for features and ease of use. Other sites have higher scores for ease of use/features but slightly lower scores for quality. I'm not looking for anything too crazy, so I'll sacrifice a little on the crazy layouts and customizability for quality.
That's it. Now if only I could find a way to do something similar to the hours upon hours of home-videos we have, I'd be all set! Any suggestions?
-Eric (Monica & Jess)
Linked Up to: The Stories of A2Z

I finally made the switch and got myself a sweet iPhone a few weeks ago. I'm loving it… I will never go back to the world of Blackberry. So of course I'm search of all the greatest apps (leave me a comment with your must-haves), but the app I was most excited to get was Instagram! I love it! I'll warn you, my Instagram feed isn't just blog stuff. You'll see plenty of goofy pics of me and the fam as well. Follow at your own risk! If you want to follow along on my Instagram fun my username is RHBC.
Today, I thought I'd give you a peek via Instagram into my house and some things you might not see all the time on the blog. Crystal light… I drink it 24-7.

Spoiler alert… Hello beautiful

Can you even believe I'm a DIY blogger? Yup, that's my master bedroom. Remember how I stole Eric's dresser for our Anthro Knockoff? He's still living out of bins 7 months later. I will get to this room someday…

Jess framed this for me on our first Nate Show. It's our version of family rules… we're not really the hugging type.

Chalkboard back splash. Love this rocket! (I also LOVE my knives!)

Chase and Polly, we're really dumb, so we agreed to get my daughter 2 ducks.

Spray paint makes everything better. This project coming to you soon!

And last, but not least. I love my memo board… even if it has December's calendar still. Go me.

Also, one of our good friends (and actually our guest poster Staci's husband) is kind of a big deal on Instagram (like 35K followers). He takes amazing pictures and I'm always amazed that his incredible pics are taken with a phone!! His username is Curious2119

So, now that I'm on Instagram, come follow along (RHBC) I think I currently have 9 followers. Ha! Maybe you can be the big number 10! Have an awesome day- it's going to be almost 90 here in Bucks County!

** Wait! One more thing! Want to turn an Instagram pic into a canvas? I just got this deal in my inbox. 57% off from Canvaspop. Use this google link to get the deal.

It's been ten years since Jess and I have been on Spring Break together… Ugh, that just sounds old, but we did have fun on our Florida spring break trip during college. Think beaches, pools, shopping, and a convertible. While we're far from our spring break years, we do both happen to be heading out next week on vacations…

Without knowing it we both booked trips to visit this fella on the same week- Sweet!

So, while we're away we have some awesome surprises for you, so don't you worry, Real Housewives of Bucks County won't be leaving you high and dry.

Any guesses what kind of guest bloggers are going to be making an appearance next week?

A few weekends ago, my younger sister, Chrissie, my mom and I had the pleasure of throwing my older sister a baby shower. She is due on May 16th and I can NOT wait to lay eyes on that sweet little baby girl. My big sis does not like surprises, so she knew about the whole thing. We kind of went with a"sugar and spice" theme, although not everything fit into that box.

The shower was held at The Lucky Cupcake Company in Plumsteadville. This little shop is just too cute, and they serve some delicious cupcakes! Actually, the owner, Joanne, was recently on the show Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. We were even more excited to throw the shower here because her whole store is decked out in our shower colors- pink and gray. Score one for us! That means less decorating.: )

She even had a sign that fit the theme perfectly!

I haven't yet shared my love for Produce Junction on this blog, but now is the time! I seriouly love this place for fresh flowers. I got two dozen pink antique-looking roses for $6.50, big white carnations and some other purple flower things (I am sooo not a florist, as you can tell). All for about $10! These made about 8 arrangements, which were absolutely beautiful.

We purchased simple mason jars at Giant and then worked the flowers into them until they looked pretty. The plates, silverware, cups and napkins came from Dollar General. I was really impressed with their huge selection and really cute designs.

Joanne from the Lucky Cupcake made us a 5 dozen cookies in different varieties for our cookie bar favors. She made sugar cookies shaped as onesies (for the sugar part) and chocolate chip and oatmeal spice cookies (for the spice part) and each guest took a bag and filled it with their choice of cookies.

Chrissie had two friends with her that helped us out with the cute frames. I explained to them how to easily decoupage the scrapbooking paper to the frames (tutorial on that to come late- so easy!). We made one to hold the cookie bar favor instrucations and one for the scrapbook instructions. My sister took them home and will be able to put them in the nursery! Adorable and easy.

We bought the favor bags from Michael's, as well as the labels. Once home I printed the labels that said"Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice- Baby W 5-16-11". Then I folded the top part of the bag, punched holes in the front flap (so they could open them and put the cookies in) and threaded a ribbon through the holes and tied them in a knot.

We requested Joanne to make her pink champagne cupcakes-which actually have champagne and real sliced strawberries in them!- and they were to die for. She also included some vanilla buttercream cupcakes as well.

Our friend, Stephie, made my sister this diaper cake. The top held some of the sweetest little white shoes I have ever seen.

Loved all the details!

Some of you may know that the Lucky Cupcake store is now in the space where the Dream Dinners strore my mom and I started was. This pendant light used to have the DD logo on it, but Joanne had it changed to include her logo. So resourceful!

My best friend and awesome party-throwing partner!

And how could I not include a picture of my beautiful niece, Leah. I just love that face. Everyone went so well and I think Rachel had a great time. Time to come out, Baby W!: )
And now for the $10 Chubby's Gift Card Winner:

Congratulations, Chrissie Duncan ! (I promise this is not rigged!: ) She wrote: My fav kind of icecream is PB Cup Perfection…Coldstone.: ) Or anything that is edible.
Have a great Monday!

Confession: I DO NOT volunteer in the nursery or Sunday school classes at my church. {GASP!} I found out through trial and error that at this phase of life it's not my cup of tea. Now, don't go quitting your volunteer positions after reading this post, but I do want to challenge you to think outside the"norm" of how we can help those around us. I think we all have hobbies that we love and often times we don't think of those abilities as unique, God-given gifts. Maybe you knit, scrapbook, paint, read, etc. All of those things you love can be used for others! Knit super-cute baby accessories for a pregnancy center, create mini scrapbooks that a nursing home can offer to residents that don't get visited often, offer to help a single mom paint her master bedroom, volunteer to read at a library or preschool… My point is this… use what you love to bless others. It's doubly rewarding. I've had an amazing example in my life… My Mom. She is a volunteer at the Bucks County Women's Recovery Center in New Britain (BCWRC). She is passionate about helping the women at the center turn their lives around, and even more passionate about introducing them to the Lord. She's started a Bible study through the WRC and so many women's lives have been changed. I visited the center once a few years ago and left feeling really sad.

The house that the women live in wasn't a place that would make these precious ladies feel important, treasured, and valuable. Many of the rooms didn't have anything on the walls, all the furniture was donated and mismatched. The wheels started turning… I was just wrapping up my homestaging business and had TONS of accessories, artwork, and decor. Last spring a team of wonderful friends helped and we did room transformations in six rooms at the WRC.
Last weekend we did a mini phase two for the project because there were two additional rooms that needed some TLC. This basement room wasn't being used at all

Really, who would want to spend time down here with it looking like this?

Stark white walls

It was screaming"Help!"

Thanks to my wonderful husband, our friend Mark, and other volunteers, we painted all night on Friday night… that red wood was not easy to paint, and took a bit more time than I anticipated, but the end results were great!

Saturday, Jess was able to come and help decorate and accessorize the space. We really liked this vinyl phrase because the WRC has many guests reside there, but hopefully they leave with a brighter future and support from new friends.

All the furniture was donated, but worked great- My mom is amazing at finding people willing to help and share.

Much warmer space that the ladies will actually use!

We created the HOPE artwork that will actually match the new accent pillows that we have being custom made for us. It was awesome to be able to do a fun craft project that will encourage those that see it.

So, how have you used your hobbies or talents to help others? If you've never associated your hobbies with blessing others, well, now is the time!

Well, I'm not sure how this could possibly be true, but my little girl turned three a few weeks ago.

I'll leave all the sappy stuff to my personal blog, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of the details of the party. Campbell is really into Angelina Ballerina and, a few weeks before her birthday, decided she wanted to have an Angelina birthday party. I scoured the internet and could not find really cute Angelina party supplies, so I decided to be creative and make some of my own and decorate the way I wanted to.

First off, Kevin and I created a"party room" in our basement. We decided to use the area of the basement that normally houses our ping pong and air hockey tables. We just moved those aside and got to work. The color scheme was pink, silver and white. We created a fun entrance to the party room, but hanging a streamer garland across the doorway and then hung regular streamers from the garland so the kiddos had to walk through to see the rest of the room.

Then, we hung pink and white balloons, as well as, paper stars that I had cut out of stock paper and embellished with glitter paint, from the ceiling. This was actually really easy, but a little time consuming. We used large plastic pink tablecloths to cover the far wall, and to create a backdrop for pictures and a few of the games. The round tablecloth on the floor helped the kids easily sit in a circle for the"Pass the Ballet Slipper" game, and was a convenient spot for them to eat lunch and not make a mess all over our carpet!

I made the favor bags using regular old paper bags and a tag that I created on Picnik. I punched holes in the tops of the bags and threaded sparkly ribbon through to close them. These are so simple and cheap, but looked adorable!

I found an awesome tutorial on DIY printable cupcake toppers, which, again I embellished with some silver glitter paint.

The very simple menu consisted of pigs in a blanket, mac & cheese, carrots, fruit salad, cheese puffs (Campbell's request), and snickerdoodle trail mix. The star on the far left was an indestructable pinata that none of the kids could open. Kevin ended up breaking it over his knee.

One of the games was"Pin the Mouse Ears on Campbellina". I mounted an 11x14 picture of Campbell on poster board. Then I framed the picture with a pink polka-dot ribbon.

I made sure to take a picture of each guest with Campbell for a sweet thankyou card we sent after the party.

I just had to include a picture of the pretty ballerina herself!

And this is the best picture of the day, taken by Monica. Jane B., you need to frame this!

Happy 3rd birthday, sweetie! We love you.


How did we go from this…

and this, on Friday…

to this today?

(Ok, ok, this picture is a slight exaggeration, but it's what it feels like.)
A glimpse into our weather future

If we wake up to more snow tomorrow morning, good luck trying to reach me. I'll be in my bed…crying.

This picture is an absolute favorite of mine, for several reasons. First, it perfectly captures the way Kevin feels about C1 and the love he has for her. It also clearly shows how much C1 enjoys being with him. Secondly, it brings back such great memories of the boating trip we went on last year on our family vacation; the weather was perfect, the scenery was idyllic (we saw dolphins!), the kids were well-behaved, and we were getting to spend quality time with my family. It's just priceless to me!

I want to do something with this picture, but I haven't felt any particular inspiration as to what, yet. Here are two possibilities: Modern Bird Studios- Sleek and Modern Modern Bird Studios creates personalized, modern art from your photographs. Each work is a one-of-a-kind, original studio piece created with a combination of digital, hand, and painting processes on an Oak composite, or, for the extreme modern enthusiasts, on acrylic mounted to Oak.

These prints are really fun, and would be a great addition to our basement game room/play area.
Canvas People- Traditional and Timeless

I do love the simplicity and beauty of a wrap-around canvas.
That's as far as I've gotten. Maybe you can help me. Suggestions, please!
Do you have a favorite photo? What is it and why do you love it so much? *When you comment, if you are able, add a link to a location where we can see your favorite picture (facebook, blog etc.) We'd love to see them!

Sometimes it's hard to really make something like the tragedy in Japan seem real when we're so far away. We can watch the news, see the YouTube videos, but still it can be hard to even imagine the devastation and even harder to have the same heart that Jesus does when his people are hurting. This blog is called REAL housewives for a reason… we're trying to be real and transparent with our readers and even more importantly, living out a REAL, authentic faith in God. So, I'll be honest, I don't always have the kind of compassion and burden for those that are hurting that I should. I let myself and my life get in the way. Japan does seem real to me because I've been there. I've met wonderful people and I had the privilege to meet a family that has dedicated their life to serving the people of Japan. The Bengtsons Please be praying for their family as they try to put life back together and offer hope to those hurting in Sendai, Japan.

Last night I took a few minutes to look through some pictures from my summer in Japan. It was amazingly beautiful and every person I met was incredibly kind.

My primary purpose while I was there was to help take care of Dean and Linda's two sons while they prepared for a move. I also assisted Shauna (one of my dear friends and life-long role models) teaching English classes.

In addition to praying for The Bengtsons and Japan as a whole, I also found a cool, tangible way to help. The Salvation Army has designed this great shirt and 100% of the proceeds go towards aid for Japan. I looked into these shirts closely and due to donations the cost to produce them is almost non-existent, so the money is actually going to help. I really like the shirt and it's a good reminder that even after the media dies down, and the next big news event comes along, that the people in Japan will need our prayer for far longer. So maybe consider ordering one as a way to help and a reminder to pray.
Just a few gifting ideas for these shirts: 1- Teacher Gifts- I guarentee you the teacher will love it and it won't be the same old 2- Christmas presents- yes, I know it's VERY far away, but I think it would be a good lesson for my kids to give them one months later and remind them that we still need to be praying. (I hope my kids don't read my blog) 3- Graduation Gift- stick it in with some dorm stuff Click HERE to order a shirt through the Salvation Army

If you're looking for a place to provide support financially and aren't sure who to go through, the organization that the Bengtsons have recommended, and are working with is CrashJapan and you can donate through that link.
Have a great Tuesday!

My daughter turned four on Sunday. Please hold on while I choke back tears and try my hardest to turn back time.

How does that happen so fast? Ugh. Anyway, she is like every other four year old girl on the face of the planet very into the Disney movie, Tangled. Because we were so busy trying to get our kitchen cabinets finished for her party, I pretty much forgot about decorating and games until 11 PM the night before her party. Even so, I was able to pull together a cute birthday display and wanted to share where I got all the FREE, adorable ideas and printables in case you know a little girl having a birthday soon.: )

We already had that giant table-turned-chalkboard that Monica made on our first Nate Show challenge, so I used it as a backdrop for our display. I found a huge amount of free printables that I used to make the pennant banner, and the sails for my little jello boats, plus a few other things not shown from Paging Supermom. Honestly their Tangled collection is so stinkin' adorable, and it's FREE to boot! Make sure you take a look at the super cute invitations they have too! Campbell loved it.

I have to say though, that the best part of the display was the cake, and I can't take any credit for it at all. There is a sweet story behind this cake (and the cupcakes that aren't shown): A beautiful 13-year old girl created this cake as a means to raise money for the adoption of her little sister from Haiti. (You can read about their journey to adopting Seraphina who has a life-threatening disease called Sickle Cell Anemia, here.) Her name is Sydney, and she's started a fundraiser called Penelope's Cakes, and accepts donations for the cakes she creates. She does a fabulous job ( my family loved the chocolate cake!), and Campbell was so excited when she saw it for the first time! If you have a need for a cake for special occasion (or just because you're hungry for cake), please think of Penelope's Cakes. My hope is that they'll get so many requests for cakes that Seraphina will come home to her family before the end of the year so she can get the healthcare she so needs.

Honestly, there is NO way I could have done anything like this! That little lady is so talented!
Is it possible to force best-friendship on children? If so, we're doing a really good job with Monica's 3rd, Kira, and Campbell. Love those two.

To end the party, we thought it would be fun to release flying lanterns into the sky just like they do in Tangled. We found these lanterns for 98 cents each and they were so awesome. Per several online suggestions, we decided to tie a long string to the lantern (about 50 feet long) so that they didn't fly away and start a forest fire. (Our fire department is literally right behind our neighborhood and we fear their wrath!)

Kids and adults alike were in awe. Too cool.

All in all, it was a fun day and a great celebration of my sweet girl.
What are your kids crushing on these days?

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Time for Our Big Announcement!
Here's the deal, plain and simple. We've been contacted by NBC Universal, which owns Bravo and all of The Real Housewives Shows… Guess what?? The want to do a show about us! KIDDING! Nope, they actually contacted us because they want us to cease and desist… that means stop using Real Housewives in our name. Major Bummer. Although in 2012 Jess and I did make a goal of talking behind each others' backs, wearing tighter, low cut clothing, and making millions of dollars, we're sort of lost as to the"possible confusion" that NBC was worried about with this little old DIY blog.
Well, we've talked about it, prayed about it, sought legal advice, and in the end we decided it's not worth the huge costs we'd incur to keep our beloved"Real Housewives of Bucks County" name. (We technically could try and fight this one under fair use law, but we're not looking for a battle)
Of course we're"Look on the Brightside Girls" so we're going to make the most of this re-branding! We're looking for a new name that totally reflects our personality and style. Who knows us better than YOU, our readers? So we need your help!

Pin It So, start thinking! We want our Facebook, comments, and email flooded with amazing ideas from you. Honestly, Jess and I just keep saying RHBC in our heads because it's been our baby for the past 12 months. We totally need your creative help in this process.
Here's How we Need Your Help: #1- Tell us you'll still love us even as"the bloggers formally known as The Real Housewives!" #2- Share ANY and all name ideas with us through comments, Facebook, or email (don't worry about us not liking it, we want to hear any ideas!) #3- Consider sharing our dilemma on your blog, or Facebook… the more help the merrier!
**Update: We love the ideas we're getting so far. Some of them are cracking us up! We just wanted to let you know that we plan to move away from"housewives" at all… just to be on the safe side. So keep the fab. ideas coming!**
Just keeping it real, of course we're nervous about this change over. We've worked really hard this past year, and a little piece of us is worried about losing readers, people not being able to find us etc… BUT, we're trusting that this will work out for good and who knows, maybe even catapult us towards awesome new opportunities!
Thanks so much and sorry we didn't have some awesome announcement like our own show! Ha! We're still workin' on that one!

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In the market for a baby gift for a blogger friend?

CafePress
Or how about a gift for a crafty mother-to-be?

Etsy
Hope these made you smile. Happy Monday!

*Due to some technical issues, Monica was unable to post her Mudroom Tour. Stay tuned tomorrow for the awesome rooms she has found!

Designed by Jones Design Company
Did you know that Fathers generally have as much or more impact as mothers do in the following areas of their daughters’ lives: achieving academic and career success (especially in math and science), creating a loving, trusting relationship with a man, dealing well with people in authority (especially men), being self-confident and self-reliant, being willing to try new things and to accept challenges, maintaining good mental health and expressing anger comfortably and appropriately (especially with men)? (Source: Dr. Linda Neilsen, Psychologist and Professor at Wake Forest University)
Most of you also know that a girl develops her idea of God and her faith by her experience with her father. Dr. Meeker, author of Strong Father, Strong Daughter: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know, who has more than 20 years of experience working in Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, says this;
"If [a girl's] dad has not been trustworthy, she will have difficulty trusting God. So if a daughter sees a father who loves God, who turns to Him in times of need, she is more likely to do the same. Also, faith has been shown repeatedly to be a “protective” factor for girls. Research shows that girls who have faith in God stay away from sex, drugs, and alcohol, and are less likely to get pregnant."

All that to say that Kevin and I have realized the importance of developing a strong relationship between him and our daughter. A few years ago we attended a seminar at our church run by the Focus on the Family Institute that talked a lot about being intentional with scheduling quality family time. So, we decided to be more intentional about planning Daddy/Daughter dates. I can not tell you how much both Kevin and C1 love these times together. We are aiming for once a month, but it doesn't always happen that way. Just recently, on a Friday, Kevin told C1 he would be taking her out that night for a"daddy date". C1 was so excited she almost couldn't contain herself, and all day long she kept asking me if it was time for her date with Daddy. When Kevin finally got home from work, she was nearly bouncing off the walls.

These dates do not have to be anything elaborate, and this one certainly wasn't. He just took her to a local pet store, which she loves, so they could look at all the animals and play with a puppy.

Then, off they went to good ol' Mickey D's for some shamrock shakes and french fries (C1 LOVES mint). It was honestly a very cheap date, but it included stuff C1 really enjoys. And that's the goal isn't it? Building a strong, trusting relationship through shared experiences so that in later years, when C1 needs help or advice, she can go right to her Daddy.

Bonus: I got to spend some extra time with my little man, C2. It was a win-win for everyone! If you want to read a little more about this idea, check out this article from the Focus on the Family website.
It's never too early or too late to start investing in your kid's lives! What do you do to connect with the little people in your life?

This post is being interrupted to wish a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our very own Jessica! Happy Birthday friend- so glad you're in my life!
Ok… on with the Brookie Bites Post…
You have not lived until you've tried a Brookie Bite.

Now, I can take no credit for these delectable bite-sized pieces of heaven. I got the recipe here, but changed a few things to make it a bit easier for me. You might remember that I mentioned I do not bake. Ever. There are two reasons for this: 1) I don't measure ingredients very well. This makes for a decent cook, but an awful baker, and 2) I am not a huge fan of sweets (Don't hate, it's the way God made me). However, there are two desserts that I do enjoy immensely and they are chocolate chip cookies and brownies. If these two things are combined, you pretty much have my dream dessert. Lucky for you, I'm willing to pass this recipe along to you. This dessert is a huge crowd-pleaser, and it's so easy that even I can do it!

Here's what you'll need:
1 package of Chocolate Chip cookie mix 1 box of brownie mix All the ingredients listed on the boxes to make the brownies and cookies (eggs, butter and vegetable oil) Colored sugar
Step 1: Bake brownies as directed. Remove when done.
Step 2: While brownies are baking, mix up the cookie dough according to the directions. Place in very small spoonfuls on a cookie sheet. (You want them to be small. because the Brookie Bites will be, well, bite-sized.)

Step: 3: Bake cookies for the minimum time required, so that they are nice and gooey (crispy cookies won't work in this recipe!). While still warm, roll the cookies into bite-sized balls. This is very messy, and you'll have to wash your hands several times (or I guess, lick them clean) during the process. Place cookie balls in the freezer until frozen.

Step 4: Place frozen cookies inside a brownie, and smush the brownie all around the outside of the cookie. This is not at all glamorous, but trust me, the end result is worth it!

(Please excuse the blurry picture. I might have gone into a sugar coma at this point)
Step 4: Roll Brookie Bites in colored sugar and freeze again until frozen.

Step 5: Eat and Enjoy!

P.S. Please don't leave me comments saying that I helped you fall off the dieting wagon. You are a grown person, and if you can't stop yourself from making these Brookie Bites from heaven and then consuming every last morsel, that's your own fault.