Weight Loss Update

I realized that it's been forever (ok really about 4 months) since I updated on my weight loss journey.

Overall, since I started keeping track of my weight in March, I'm down nearly 20 pounds. Since my last update in April (and a good amount of yo-yoing), I'm down about 12 pounds.

How have I gotten to this point? To be honest, having surgery helped a lot. If you're wondering exactly what that's about, you can read the post here. I'm not sure if it somehow jump started my metabolism or if the sheer amount of energy it took to move post surgery helped, but I lost a good deal of weight in that time period. After I had recovered more, some of the weight came back and the loss slowed quite a bit.

In the last few weeks I can chalk my weight loss up to a lot of stress. I haven't been eating right. I haven't been exercising. I've just been very, very stressed. I do know that part of it has been that I've been eating less overall, which is generally a good thing, but not so good when it's due to stress and not conscious good choices.

Part of my goal weight is driven by the fact that my doctor wants me to lose as much weight as possible before my next appointment in October. She wants me to be as close to my ideal weight as possible. In reality that means I have about 100 pounds to lose yet. While I don't think it's possible or healthy to lose 100 pounds in the next month and a half, I do think it's possible to lose another 20 or so. It's not a huge chunk, but it's still pretty good.

Are you on a weight loss journey? What are some of your tips and tricks?

What to do with summer veggies - Peppers - Foodie Friday

I hope you've been following along with this month's summer veggies mini-series! Feel free to check the last few weeks to see some great ideas for using up tomatoes and green beans. This week we're working through some peppers - bell, jalapeno, all peppers. Enjoy!

Source: puffpastry.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Jalapeno poppers in a blanket

Source: familyfun.go.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Shamrock English muffins

Source: beckybakes.net via Jessica on Pinterest

Jalapeno popper grilled cheese

Source: peaceloveandlowcarb.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers

Source: pauladeen.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Breakfast stuffed peppers

Source: seriouseats.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Grilled chroizo stuffed poblano peppers

Hope you were able to find something new to try with those lovely peppers!

Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Lotion Sunscreen Review - Latina Voxbox 2012

As I said in my Initial Thoughts/Impressions post, the thing I hate most about sunscreen is the white cast it tends to leave on my already pale skin. I was hoping that the "ribbons" of color in this sunscreen would somehow make the white cast go away.

It's also available in SPF 12 and 50, in addition to the 30 I received. The lotion provides broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection and 12-hour moisturization. 

I finally had the chance to test this stuff out this past weekend at our garage sale. We were blessed with great weather both days of the sale. The sun was out, there was a light breeze and temps only flirted with the 80s. BEAUTIFUL (and definitely not typical August in Ohio weather, but I'll take it!).

So Friday morning bright and early (ok, it was like 8:30am), I slathered this stuff on my arms, neck and chest - all the areas below the face that would be exposed to the sun throughout the day. I didn't use this on my face because I use other face specific products on my face.

The first thing I noticed was...NO PASTEY WHITENESS! None. At all. I was so happy. I really do think the tan swirls have something to do with it too. The lotion was really smooth and hydrating without being greasy, heavy or any sort of oily. It rubbed in great and I didn't feel like I had just bathed in ick.

I didn't end up being in the sun as much as I thought I might have been so I guess I can't really speak to the effectiveness of the sunscreen part, but it's Hawaiian Tropic and they kind of know their sunscreen so I would venture to guess it's pretty ok.


For more information check out their website.

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

I love saving money at the grocery store

I love grocery shopping, especially when I get to save money or use money saved to buy treats. I am by no means a coupon queen of any sort, I just clip ones I know my family will need/use and then actually use most of them. Today's shopping trip was no different.

We usually get the majority of our groceries from Meijer. Yes, Walmart is sometimes cheaper but their produce sucks. The same goes for Aldi. We only really grocery shop at Walmart if we only need to pick up a couple of things or the produce will be used that day. We shop at Aldi when we don't have a huge list and we know things are cheaper there.

So today's grocery list looked a bit like this:

• Potatoes - 5 lb. bags - 3
• Carrots - 1 lb. bags - 2
• Avocados - 4
• Tomatoes
• Lettuce
• Mushrooms - 2
• At least $15 worth of beef - ground beef & steaks
• Ribs
• American cheese - 2
• Q-Tips
• Napkins
• Kleenex - 3
• Dish soap
• Trash bags - 39 gal.
• BBQ sauce
• Knorr pasta
• Sugar
• Pudding - 5
• Gun
• Bread - 3
• Hamburger buns
• English muffins - 3
• Bugles
• Old Orchard frozen juice - 4
• Toaster strudel - 3
• Chicken strips - 2
• Pizza rolls - 2

Because Meijer has their 10/$10 get the 11th free promotion going on and a lot of the above list was on that promotion (plus I had coupons!) I expected to spend less than $100. Other sale items not listed in the flyer caught my eye, however, and caused the total to rise a bit. Oops!

We ended up getting all of the above list plus:

• Seedless watermelon
• Bananas
• Newspaper
• Pretzels
• Pepsi
• Milk
• Bologna

All of this adds up to $175.60.

We were able to get 3 free items by purchasing 33 items on the 10/$10 list. The savings for today totaled $5.75 in Meijer promotions, $39.23 in non-coupon savings and $6.55 in coupons. This included paper coupons from the newspaper or printed online or from a Meijer register and Meijer Mperks digital coupons. That's a total savings of $51.53 and brought our total down to $124.07.

Big Bunny Update - Bunny Watch 2012

For those who aren't my personal friend on FB, I'd like to formally announce that the bunnies have left their nest!

There were only 2 of them in there and that along with how long they've been there leads us to believe they were probably moved from somewhere else and are/were older than we originally thought. They are too cute! Both have left the nest, but we have still seen them around the yard. I don't mind since they're too cute, but I hope they leave the majority of our garden alone.

What to do with summer veggies - Tomatoes - Foodie Friday

In last week's post, I talked about all the yummy things you could make with your bounty of fresh green beans. This week, we're going to focus on tomatoes.

Fresh from the garden summer tomatoes are quite possibly one of my favorite foods ever. There's quite a difference between the hard, flavorless tomatoes you get from the grocery store in December and the soft, ripe, bursting with flavor tomatoes you get from your garden in August. A HUGE difference in fact. My favorite way to eat said summer tomatoes is with a little salt or maybe on toast with some mayo. When you're starting to tire of eating them like that, here are some other great alternatives.

Source: marthastewart.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Tomato corn salad

Source: pauladeen.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Cucumber, tomato and onion salad

Source: rachaelraymag.com via Jessica on Pinterest

BLT stuffed tomatoes

Source: eatingwell.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Tomato stuffed with Parmesan

Source: goddessofscrumptiousness.tumblr.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Summer spaghetti

All of these recipes look delicious and I can't wait to try a few once our tomatoes ripen up. What is your favorite tomato recipe?

Bunny Watch 2012 - Week 2

The bunnies were VERY active last night and I shot a few short videos of it. I kind of spliced them together and put some music over it so you don't have to watch all the boring parts where they weren't moving in their nest.

We still haven't uncovered them, though the temptation is there, and I'm not sure we actually will. It's probably better to let them be so they can grow and develop as baby bunnies should. However, judging by how much they were moving around and how it seemed sometimes that they would pop right through the top of their nest, I'm betting it won't be too much longer before they're out of the nest, hopping around and destroying our garden.

A few videos from Bunny Watch 2012 week 1

I had forgotten I took these short videos of the bunnies when we uncovered them to check. We haven't uncovered them this week to check on them because it's been so cool and rainy. We don't want them to get sick or anything from being too cold. Also, we are able to see the ground move from them moving around underneath from time to time so we know they are still alive and hopefully well. If it gets warmer and/or stops raining so much we might uncover them again to see how big they are and maybe get a better idea of how many are under there.

Enjoy!

Veet Wax Strips (Ready to use) Review - Latina Voxbox 2012

As I originally said in my initial thoughts about the Veet Ready-to-Use Wax Strips in my initial thoughts/impressions post,  I was pretty excited to try these out. They promise results that last up to 4 weeks. That's up to 4 whole weeks without shaving! I hate shaving. I do it, but I hate it.

This full sized product contains 40 wax strips and 6 wipes. It retails for $9.99.

So anyhow, I'm a self-admitted novice when it comes to waxing. I was a guinea pig several years and many moons ago for my mom's friend when she was going through beauty school. I vaguely remember she may have waxed my eyebrows and/or legs. It hurt. A lot. She was mostly just learning how to do it on someone else and I was a newbie when it comes to all things waxing.

In more recent years, I've had my eyebrows threaded a couple of times and waxed a couple of times but that's about the extent of my hair removal expertise aside from shaving. And since I'm outlining my hair removal history, I've never done any waxing - to myself or anyone else - of any kind on my own.

The instructions were extremely easy to read, follow and execute, however I had to make a few changes to better suit my skill level. As far as I can tell from the instructions, you're supposed to use each strip whole. Each strip is quite large, in my opinion, and I'll admit that I was a bit intimidated by the size.

You want ME to put that thing on my leg and then just rip it off?

Right, so I took a deep breath, applied the strip as directed and winced as I was about to pull it off. Yep it didn't work for me. I don't know if it was my fear of the pain that was to come or some other user error, but I couldn't control the strip well enough to rip it off correctly.

Take 2. I cut the strip in half and repeated the directions. I had much, much more success and much, much less pain that way. I had better control of the strip and didn't feel quite like I was being instructed to do the impossible. It worked out much better for my skin as well. I didn't have nearly as much irritation after ripping off a few of the shorter strips as I did after trying to use the larger one.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to remove all of the hair in one waxing session. I chalk this up to my lack of expertise and feel I would be able to if I kept practicing and improved my technique. In fact, I wasn't even able to get it all in 2 waxing sessions. I didn't want to keep going over the same areas more than once to get the strays because my legs were getting quite irritated with me. I ended up waiting 24 hours between waxing sessions and then waited another 24 hours to shave off what I'd missed.

So the final verdict? I really like these wax strips. I think that if/when I can practice and improve my technique things will go smoother (pun somewhat intended) in the future. And for the price I'd say it's comparable, if not a bit cheaper than shaving, especially if you buy a special shave gel or cream and good razors. If you just use the cheapest razors you can find it may not be a better deal.

Would I purchase these with my own money? Yes, I think I would. The razors I typically buy run AT LEAST $8ish for 6 and those will last me a few months. I use body wash in the shower as shave gel/cream, so I don't have to buy a special product and it's harder to tell how much of the body wash I use for shaving vs. normal washing and then calculate a price. I could easily make this pack of wax strips last 5 - 6 months I think, especially when I get better at it.

Have you tried these? What are your thoughts? Do you want to try these?

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

First thoughts/impressions - UPDATED - Birchbox August 2012

This month's theme is Beauty School. The info paper included in the box promises to "refill your beauty supply kit with must-try essentials and new products that will take you through the fall." Apparently the products featured in August's boxes are supposed to be mostly basics (with a Birchbox twist of course) with a few new items that will get your fall beauty routine started.

Before I go any further, if you aren't quite sure what Birchbox is or you're new to sample subscription services, you can get more info here or read my "What is Birchbox" post here.

When I saw the sneak peek they posted on YouTube a few weeks ago I wasn't that impressed or excited about the products they were featuring. I can't really put a finger on why I was so unimpressed other than none of the products got me excited. I understand that not every month will be a hit and that there will be some misses. Before I even received my shipping notice, I kind of guessed this month would be a miss for me.

So this is what I received and my initial thoughts on the products. I will have more detailed, actual reviews coming after I've had sufficient time to try the products.

Schick Hydro Silk Razor - Full size $9.99 - This is a full size sample

I usually use disposable razors, so I was kind of excited to see this in my box. It's been ages since I've used a refillable razor. In general, I feel that I'm not a model of any sort and really no one is looking at the state of my legs on a daily basis aside from myself so I don't need a fancy razor to get the job done. This will be a nice treat for my legs, though it may be a while before I get to try it since I just tried out some wax strips last week.

Miss Jessie's® Original Crème de la Crème Conditioner - Full size $16 for 12 oz. - Sample $1.33 for 1 oz.

This looks like it has the potential to be a great product for me. My hair is fine and I have a lot of it. This usually leads to tangles and the occasional snarled mess. The info sheet promises this is a detangling formula and "works to soften and hydrate all types of hair." I can't wait to try this out.

Miss Jessie's® Original Curly Meringue  - Full size $22 for 8 oz. - Sample $5.50 for 2 oz.

The info booklet promises this will give me "bouncy, smooth curls that stay frizz-free all day." This would be EXTREMELY beneficial...if I had curly hair. Birchbox fail. I even went back through my profile and nowhere did I mention having curly hair. I have slightly wavy hair, but it's by no means curly. I think I might still try this out just to see if it helps define my waves a bit more. See, my hair is a bit finicky and is wavy/a smidge curly when it's wet and nearly stick straight when dry. I would love to keep more of the wave when it's dry.

Sabon® Foot Cream - Full size $16 for 12.8 oz. - Sample $1.31 for 1.05 oz.

If this works it should make my husband very happy. He hates my feet (as do I) because they're always so rough and dry. I was told  years ago that my feet don't sweat properly and that's why they're almost always rough, cracking and peeling. I need a great foot cream to bring some moisture back to them. According to the info booklet, it's a "refreshing aloe-based lotion," which sounds very nice right about now. 

Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy La Fleur - Full size $70 for 2.5 oz. - Sample $1.40 for 0.05 oz.

This may be love at first sniff. Have you read my review of the Pink Chiffon scented Bath & Body Works shower gel? On first sniff, this smells pretty darn close to that! It smells to me like it has similar notes - a sweet with a floral. The info booklet says it's a "blend of wild berries, mandarin and waterlily." I'm excited to actually wear this and see how it works with my chemistry. Hopefully it works well!

TALIKA Lipocils Expert - Full size $55 for 10 ml - Sample $11 for 2 ml

Just on initial impressions, this doesn't look like a product I'll be using, which is a shame considering it's such a great value sample. The info booklet describes it as a "plant-derived lash serum" and promises it "spurs growth without any side effects." First, my lashes do not need any help. I don't even have to curl them to get them to look nice with mascara - they're long, naturally curled and fairly thick all on their own. Second, the need to mention side effects on the info card is reason enough for me to be wary.

Miss Jessie's® Original Super Slip Sudsy Shampoo - Full size $14 for 8 oz. - Sample not included

This sample is listed in my box section of the Birchbox website as though it should be in my box. However, it was not there and not listed on the info booklet. I have e-mailed Birchbox to see if/where the error is. As the sample was not included in my box, it has not been included in the total below. I will update this post when I hear back from Birchbox.

UPDATE (8/15/12): Birchbox customer service got back to me today and said that a sample of the Miss Jessie's shampoo would be on its way to me as soon as they get their inventory counts in. 

 
Box total: $30.54

Bath & Body Works New & Improved Shower Gel Pink Chiffon Review - Latina Voxbox 2012

If you're interested in hearing about Influenster's Latina Voxbox in general, here's my initial thoughts post. Otherwise, continue reading as you were.

As I mentioned in my initial thoughts, I generally love Bath and Body Works products. Their scents are usually pleasant (of course there are a few I'm not fond of, but I'd be hard pressed to find someone who loves ALL of their scents) and their formulas are generally fairly moisturizing for my skin. I was excited to find this Pink Chiffon scent in my box since it's one I hadn't yet had the pleasure of using.

The B&BW website describes this scent as "a light pairing of soft pink petals and vanilla chiffon icing." Before I had even read that description, I would have described it as floral cotton candy. What immediately hit me about the scent is the sweetness of it. You can almost taste the sugar in this scent. A second sniff revealed a lightly floral undertone. And pink is really the color I would pick to describe this scent as well.

I know, I know. Colors don't smell. However, I beg to differ a bit. To me, the smell of freshly cut grass smells very green. Sweet, almost sickly sweet, things - such as this body wash - smell pink to me. It's probably more a mental thing than a nasal thing, but it's how I operate.

So I typically shower in the mornings, at least lately that's been my routine. The first day I tried this out, I showered at about 10am and at 1pm I could still smell it on my skin. However, I wasn't out in the heat, I wasn't running a marathon and really I wasn't sweating at all. I wasn't doing much that would make it wear off faster. Still, most of my regular body washes lose their scent much sooner - as in by the time I towel off it's hardly noticeable.

The info card I received with the box touts this as a new and improved formula, promising it is "our richest, bubbliest lather that gives you softer, cleaner skin." It has Aloe Vera and Vitamin E that helps with that softer skin promise. It lathered up as well as any of their other formulas as far as I could tell and I'm not sure it left my skin any cleaner or softer than the Suave body wash I had been using.

So I guess all of this basically comes down to one question: Would I purchase this on my own?

Yep! I totally would. I've actually fallen so in love with this scent that I'd really like to have the perfume. I will be adding this to my birthday list for sure. (My birthday is in October in case anyone is interested and would like to gift it to me...hint hint, wink wink) And if no one buys it for me? There's a good chance I'll make the 30 min drive to the nearest Bath & Body Works just to purchase it.

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

Now shipping to Canada!

The title pretty much says it all. I am now shipping to Canada in my Etsy shop.

The only exception to this are the bookmarks. Because of the way I ship those, there is no good way to do so with a customs form. However, if you are from Canada and interested in the bookmarks, they could go with a card or crepe paper flower order. Please contact me on Etsy to arrange that.

Bunny Watch 2012 - Week 1

So it's been about a week since the little bunnies were discovered. As far as we can tell mama bunny is doing her job and feeding them, which is great! We were a little worried a couple days that she wasn't, but the way our dog acts about 9pm tells us mama bunny is probably out there feeding the babies.

As you can see from the pictures below, the dog has taken quite a liking to the bunnies and it's as though she thinks their her own. She sits by the fence, eagerly waiting for them to make an appearance. I have to keep telling her they aren't coming out today. She's done great at not scratching or trying to get to them. She just pokes her nose under the fence and sniffs. Pretty soon after that we can usually see the ground moving up and down. The bunnies must be saying hi.

For the first couple of days we put some sticks over the next as pictured below. I read somewhere that you can judge if mama bunny comes to feed the babies this way. In the morning, the sticks should be moved indicating that she uncovered them for feeding and covered them back up. The sticks have been move several times so we're fairly certain she's taking care of them

What to do with summer veggies - Green Beans - Foodie Friday

It's August and that means that if you've got a summer garden or frequent a local farmer's market you're probably noticing there's an abundance of wonderful vegetables just staring you in the face. I LOVE fresh summer veggies. There are some veggies that just taste better when they're home grown, or grown locally, and picked at the peak of ripeness in the summer.

One of these being green beans. Am I the only one who notices that all the green beans seem to be ripe at the same time, leaving barely any room in the fridge for anything else? Don't get me wrong, I love green beans just about any way you can make them - except for completely over cooked and mushy.

So the question quickly becomes: What do I DO with all of these wonderful green beans?

If you've got an abundance of green beans, these look like a few great options:

Source: justcookalready.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Bacon wrapped green beans - I may have also seen these prepared on a grill...

Source: greenbeansnmore.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Green beans, summer squash and tomato saute

Source: kalynskitchen.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Roasted green beans with mushrooms

Source: tasteofhome.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Balsamic green bean salad


What's your favorite way to fix green beans? Feel free to share a link to your favorite recipe below!

Hope Flower - Mojo Monday 253

This week's sketch looks like this:

I don't know if it's all the layers or the fact that all the layers are different shapes and angles, but this week's sketch really intrigued me. I couldn't wait to get started making a card. However, life sometimes intervenes and I just didn't have time to work on something until yesterday.

Here's what I did with that sketch:

I've had that patterned paper laying around my stash for years now, YEARS!, and I keep going back to it, wanting to use it and not quite sure how to make it work in something. That said, I'll be honest and say that I started this card in a not very traditional way: I started with the patterned paper and had no real idea where I wanted things to go after that.

I had really hoped I had enough of an orange or yellow that would compliment the colors in the pattern to use for the background, but I didn't and really I think that worked out for the better. I chose a burnt sort of brown color and I think that helps tone down the pattern, which could be very loud if not used in the right way.

I had a great blue ribbon that matches the blue accents in the patterned paper fairly well. I think having it along the right side helps to balance all the colors and makes the blue in the pattern pop a bit more. I also like that the ribbon has some texture in the little loops on the sides. It sort of mimics the loops and bits of blue in the pattern without going overboard.

One thing I was excited to try was embossing some glitter on the patterned paper. I thought it would add a little more interest without making the pattern too overbearing. I think in the picture above you can see the glitter (and for some reason I keep wanting to call it glittler, don't ask, long week).

Now on to another favorite part of this card: the flower. I recently got the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge and on it are six different types of flowers. These are lovely! I chose a great orange color that compliments the orange in the patterned paper and created a rose shaped flower. The petal was some other sort of shape that I manipulated by slanting and pulling in Cricut Craft Room to make a leaf shape I was happy with.

A yellow gem popped in the middle and a simple sentiment of "Hope" stamped on the leaf completed the card.

Initial Thoughts/Impressions - Latina Voxbox 2012

I was so excited a couple of weeks ago when I got an e-mail from Influenster telling me that I had been pre-selected to receive this box. And just in case anyone is looking over any of my pics and wondering how I am qualified to receive a Latina box, I am 1/2 Mexican American and obviously get my skin tone from my mother who is Caucasian.

Below are my first thoughts/impressions and general info about the products I received. Full reviews will be coming once I've had a chance to try them all.

So the box arrived packaged more or less like this. I really couldn't wait to tear into it and see what was inside (though I already knew most of what would be in there based on some YouTube videos I'd seen). If you're at all squeamish about feminine products, now might be a good time to scroll down to a picture of something that isn't a feminine product or just click away entirely.

First up was this full size box of 16 pads from Always.  According to the info card, these retail for $6.99. Also according to the card, these pads "conforms to each individual shape delivering premium protection and performance." They have a light sent and Microdots, which help with absorption. These pads also have "a wider back and flexible wings," which are supposed to help with coverage.

Next were some Veet Ready-to-Use Wax Strips. This is another full size product containing 40 wax strips and 6 wipes. According to the info card, this retails for $9.99. These "are specially formulated to remove hair on legs, underarms and bikini area," and the results should last up to 4 weeks. Four weeks without having to shave? Sign me up! It's been ages since I've done anything with waxing so I'm probably most anxious to try this one out.

I had seen this pouch and feminine products in the Summer Voxboxes some people received and was excited to see it show up in this box as well. Prices vary on Always Tampax Radiant Collection, depending on exactly which products you're interested in. This, however is a sampler pack so it's harder to put a value on. The box contains 1 purse, 1 scented pad, 2 unscented tampons and 3 unscented liners.

You can never have enough sunscreen, especially in the months of July, August and even September. When it's not hot as heck, it's nice to get outside and when you're outside you should keep your skin protected from the harsh sun. A full size bottle of this retails for $7.99 and it's available in SPF 12, 30 and 50. One of the things I hate about traditional sunscreen is the white cast it can leave on your skin making you look pastey and pale. This sunscreen promises a "dual ribbon hydrating formula infused with luxurious silk protein and rich Shea Butter." The ribbons they're talking about are those brown/tan streaks in the bottle. These ribbons also tint the sunscreen a bit, so I'm hoping they also counteract the pastey/paling effect. I can confirm though that it does have the signature Hawaiian Tropic coconuty scent.

 I am very picky when it comes to nude lip products. For whatever reason, it's hard for me to find a shade that doesn't make me look like death warmed up. I don't know if it's the pigmentation of my natural lips or what, but many, many shades I've tried be it lip gloss, lip stick or some combo of the two just make me look like I've been in the morgue for a while hanging out. That said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous about this. It's a lip gloss, so I'm hoping that means it sheers out or I can work with the pigmentation of the lip gloss. Either way, I'm glad to have yet another shade to try. This retails for $2.49.

 One of the things I love most (and there are many things to love) about working where I do is that for Christmas we tend to get bath/body treats as gifts. Usually, though not always, those products are lovely Bath and Body Works products. While there are some scents that I don't like as much as others, they usually have some pretty great ones that I fall in love with. All of that said, I was excites to see this Pink Chiffon scent hanging out in the bottom of my box. It's a scent I haven't tried yet (is it new? It's been a while since I've been to B&BW) and I LOVE trying new scents. This mini size retails for $5 and a full size is $11. The B&BW website describes this scent as "a light pairing of soft pink petals and vanilla chiffon icing." I can't wait to try this in my shower!

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

Bunny Watch 2012: Days 2 and 3

As of yesterday, the bunnies still seem to be doing fine. I did a little research online to see what we could do to protect them and make sure the mama bunny comes to feed them.

One suggestion was to put a couple of sticks on top of the nest in an X pattern. When mama bunny came back at night to feed the babies she would move them while uncovering and recovering the nest. We did this Monday night and then again last night. The picture directly below shows what it looked like last night when I left it. I'll put a picture of how I find it today in tomorrow's post.

The pictures below are from Monday night. We went back out and uncovered them to make sure they were ok and to see how they looked. We wanted a reference point for if/when we see them out and about or if we have to check on them again to be sure they're growing/being fed/doing ok. We saw at least 3 bodies on Monday, but when we rechecked last night we only uncovered enough to see 1. We don't want to disturb them too much, just make sure they're ok. The one we saw last night was definitely bigger than the ones we saw just the night before. Bunnies grow so fast!

In a couple of the pictures you can kind of see an ear poking out. I was surprised by how much fur they had. On Monday the ones we saw had open eyes, but the one we saw last night had closed eyes (sleeping? Trying to sleep? Annoyed by the sudden flood of sunlight? Who knows).

Best of Luck - Tutorial Tuesday

This week's Tutorial Tuesday features a great card (aren't they all?)! It's super quick and easy to make and you don't even need any fancy cutting machines, programs or punches.

You may need to adjust the volume as I was having problems getting the voice over part to be very loud.

Bunny Watch 2012

Last night we discovered that a rabbit had made a nest and had babies in our yard! Thankfully they were relatively undisturbed despite being discovered by the dog. We have since put a small fence around it that will still allow the mama to get in to feed her little ones while keeping out the dog.

These pictures were taken last night when the nest was discovered.

 These pictures were taken this afternoon after we got the fence put up. Hopefully mama and babies will appreciate a little privacy and protection.

The dog is anxiously waiting for the bunnies to pop out of the nest. She likes to sit beside the fence and watch, almost like excited relatives wait at the hospital for a new baby to be born.

We will probably check on them later today or tomorrow to be sure mama is able to get to them and feed them. They had quite a scare last night so we're hoping they're all ok. We don't know how many there are, but as rabbits do, there are probably a few.