Make your garden beautiful with Miracle-Gro and The Gro Project

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.

Now that it's officially after Mother's Day, I've been itching to get out in the garden and make things pretty again. Truthfully though, the great care we gave our flowers last year paired with the mild winter we had has given us some beautiful flowers already.

The tulips have come and gone, as have the crocosus. The peonies are blooming - it is after Memorial Day as well afterall - and the lilies have great greenery which tells me their blooms later in the season will be beautiful as well.

Since the majority of our already established plants and flowers are doing so well, all that's left is to add a few finishing touches and random pops of flowers to complete the yard.

That's where Miracle-Gro and their ideas for fun garden projects come in!

There's a new member of the family: Minnie

Minnie is the newest member of the family. She's approximately 7 weeks old and she's just come to live with us this weekend. Minnie's mom, Luna, is my sister's cat who lives with my sister's boyfriend and the rest of his family.

Guest Post: How to choose the right sunscreen

This post written by Tammy Mahan who has 20 years of healthcare experience and enjoys sharing her knowledge by writing for Healthline.com. 

How to Choose the Right Sunscreen

Choosing the right type of sunscreen may be more important than you realize. Not all sunscreens are created equally. You may come across two different brands of sunscreen but there is one significant thing that needs to listed on the bottle. That is protection against both UVA and UVB rays.

According to the skin cancer organization, the sun emits two types of rays. The first is UVA (ultraviolet radiation) the A signifies that it is a long wave. This means that UVA rays penetrate the Earth’s ozone layer and can reach you. The UVA rays are what cause your skin to wrinkle, sag and leather. 

UVB rays are a short wave ray that can also penetrate the ozone layer of Earth can still reach you. During the hottest part of the day between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm, these rays cause sunburns.

Birchbox May 2013

This month's Birchbox is "all about you," a beauty tell all of sorts. To be perfectly honest, I don't see how these products necessarily fit that theme. At first glance they don't seem like any products you might keep a secret from friends so they'll be "your" products or anything so I don't know.

May 2013 Ipsy/Glam Bag

The theme of this month's Ipsy/Glam Bag is Spring Fling. I really think this month's bag pattern is adorable, though it says "summer" to me more so than "spring." Still, it's a nice bag.

Also, my life is in the midst of an upheaval of sorts so I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to film a video for this bag. I may have one up later, but I doubt it especially since it won't be an unboxing (unbagging?) like usual.

If I could re-do my wedding invitations

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Paper Direct. All opinions are 100% mine.

My name is Jessica and I'm addicted to Pinterest.

There, I said it. Pinterest makes me want clothes I'll never have enough closet space for, food I'll never have enough time to eat and plan, or re-plan, another wedding. I have pinned and repinned so many ideas, it's nearly overwhelming. Lately, my If I got to do it over - Wedding board has been overflowing with ideas. Looking back at how things actually happened, I also got to thinking about what I'd do differently. Pretty near the top of the list: invitations.

You may have seen the tutorial I posted for them some time ago (if not, you can find it here). You'll notice that I did everything for these invitations. I cut the paper, printed all the information, glued it all together, etc. My mom even helped with the embossing. It was a lot of work and at the time I was pretty proud of what I'd done.

Get Your Backyard Ready with Flood Wood Care Staining Guide & Flood Better Backyard Sweepstakes

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Flood® Wood Care for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

It's spring! That means it's time to dust off your outdoor furniture and get it looking nice so you can enjoy it until next winter. Sometimes when we get out our outdoor furniture we notice it doesn't look quite as nice as it did when we last saw it.

Don't worry! That's where Flood® Wood Care comes in! They take the guesswork out of making things - from small pieces of furniture to you're biggest deck - look beautiful again with their interactive guide.

Just answer a few simple questions about your project:

What type of project is it?

What's it made of?

What's its current condition?

What finish do you want?

What color do you want?

Once you've answered those questions, their Staining Made Simple guide gives you amazing, customized results! It will tell you what to buy, where to buy it and how much you're going to need. You can also watch how-to videos and print out instructions.

They really couldn't have made it any easier.

Recently, while wasting, err spending, time poking around Pinterest, I came across this beauty:

I like the simplicity of the white paint, but as a lover of natural wood, I would love to keep as much of the integrity of the natural wood showing. I think this would make a great little coffee table of sorts in the middle of a group of chairs on a patio. It would also make a great conversation piece because, let's be honest, where the heck would you even find one?! I sure don't know where I would, but if I did, this is what I would do with it.

If you'd love to do this, or any other project, for your backyard this year you're in luck! Flood is hosting a Better Backyard Sweepstakes where you could win a $1,500 gift card for staining and other backyard projects!

They're also giving away $10 gift cards daily - 12 each day to be exact! And it's all part of the Flood Better Backyard Sweepstakes*!

For details and to enter go to: Flood Better Backyard Sweepstakes

Don't forget to share it with friends to get even more entries! Sweepstakes ends May 17, 2013.

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Legal residents of the 50 United States of America and (D.C.) 18 years and older. Ends 5/17/2013. To enter and for Official Rules, including odds, and prize descriptions visit www.facebook.com/flood. Void in Puerto Rico and where restricted or prohibited. This Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to Sponsor and not to Facebook.    

April 2013 Favorites - Beauty, Craft, Food and Lifestyle

The month really got away from me. About mid-month I started thinking about what I had been using so far in April and by the time I knew it, it was already May 1! So a little late, but here nonetheless, here are my favorites for the month of April.

Beauty

Be a Bombshell Blush - Sweet Cheeks

I've really liked using this blush this month! A little bit really goes a long way but I like the way it looks on my cheeks. With a light hand it adds a nice, rosy flush. I would caution though that it also has a slight highlight effect with some shimmer - not glitter, just a shine of sorts - on my skin at least.

e.l.f. Eyelid Primer

This has been my go to eyelid primer for a while. It's $1 and it works great. I would probably pay a bit more than that for this, but don't tell e.l.f.! It's a great deal and really helps keep my eyeshadow in place without creasing and without turning my eyelids into oil slicks. It also helps the color show up better.

CoverGirl Eye Enhancers Trio - Cafe au Lait

These have been my go to eyeshadows for some time now. I actually just took them out of my every day bag so I'll be forced to try something different. I usually use the brown shade on its own, or with a bit of the middle color. For whatever reason I have a hard time using the white one.

CoverGirl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm - Ballet Twist

Yes I know this has been a favorite before, but it's still a favorite. I carry this in my purse and use it all the time. I don't need a mirror to put it on and it looks good with anything.

Craft

Food

Granola Bars

My mom is trying to insist that I cannot live on granola bars alone, that's how much I've been eating them this month. They're such a quick thing to grab on the go. I'd like to eventually look into making my own so that I can control the ingredients and maybe make them healthier.

Marzetti Old Fashioned Caramel Dip

I think we had a coupon for this and we got it on sale on top of that. Boy was that a mistake! We ended up buying two containers of it this month! I always forget about this until the fall or until we have a coupon and it's on sale. It's delicious!

Cheribundi Cherry Black Tea Refresh

This is not just a favorite because I did a review or am doing a giveaway about it. It's a true favorite. I only wish I'd had more of it this month. It was really delicious and I think I'll have to suck it up and make the 30-45 minute trek to the only store in the area that carries them.

Lifestyle

Sims

I got back into The Sims 3 this month. I really love designing and decorating houses the most. My favorite thing is to start with 1 Sim and very little money and see how many generations it takes to get a great home without cheating.

Sims Free Play

A friend of mine, Angie I'm looking at you!, made the mistake of telling me there's a Sims game you can play on your phone...and it's free. I've been hooked ever since - see other Sim favorite above.

Kittens

 My sister's cat had kittens this month and boy are they cute! I want one. I'm getting one when they're big enough. It's just so hard to wait for them to get big enough! I'm sure I'll post pictures and do a whole post when the one I want finally gets to come home with me.

Walking

This month I started going on weekly walks with my neighbor. Not only is the exercise good for me, the company is also great! She's super nice and always has great advice.

International Bereaved Mother's Day

And I really am, though few acknowledge me as such. That's because, unfortunately, my children are angels. I'm an angel mom.

If you've been a reader for very long, I'm sure you've seen many of my posts about miscarriage. If you haven't, all the posts can be found here.

Playtex Secrets Balconette Underwire bra Review

 This post brought to you by Playtex for BzzAgent. I received a bra free to try. All opinions are my own.

Several weeks ago I got the opportunity to try a Playtex Secrets Balconette Underwire bra. This really couldn't have come at a better time. I was in desperate need of a new bra since mine had just decided to let the underwire poke out the side.