Celebrating Life...

**This article is sponsored by Deer Park® Brand Nature's Blends™ Fruit Flavored Beverages but all opinions and views are my own.**

Hello my loves!

I hope each one of you are off to a great start today.

I'm extremely excited that we are halfway through the work week. I'm also extremely excited that we have our 6 month prenatal appointment today in order to check up on our little Peanut. Annndddd I'm additionally excited that I will be attending my very first bloggers event this weekend-not to mention that I have all of my blog posts planned for the remainder of the month. For us as bloggers, that's HUGE!!! It's amazing the power of an editorial calendar and proper planning.

Needless to say my excitement level has been pretty over the top these last couple of days. I began my fall classes on Monday and my professor was discussing joy and how we should cherish life and celebrate each day happily, regardless of our circumstances. She hit the nail right on the head with that one. I've been attempting to adapt to that theory personally and it's been working out wonderfully. I've found that when you surround yourself with positivity, life is much more enjoyable.

 Thus, I've always loved this famous quote by Maya Angelou:

My life is very far from perfect but I'm happy with what I do have. Often things get difficult but I choose to press on and not complain. I choose instead to celebrate life and love with family and friends. Oftentimes, life moves so fast that you lose contact with those who matter the most. However, when you do reconnect, things pick right back up where they left off.  This weekend I reunited with a couple of girlfriends to celebrate friendship, life, and a little bit of Latin music at a local festival.

 

  We learned salsa, ate some great food, and found out about more awesome events that we can attend together.

This celebration of friendship came at the perfect time as I have recently teamed up with Deer Park ® Nature’s Blends™ to launch their 'Celebrate Life Naturally' campaign.

 Deer Park ® Nature’s Blends™ Spring Water & Real Juice is  a unique combination of 5% juice, natural fruit flavors and a touch of pure cane sugar. 

Nature's Blends

With four different varieties to choose from it’s naturally a great choice when you’re looking for flavour indulgence.
Acai-Grape Kiwi-Orange Mango-Peach Lemon-Mint
If you're the type of person who enjoys celebrating life, you can join in on the fun as well by heading over to the Deer Park ® Nature’s Blends™ Facebook page every Friday to share the many beautiful ways that you celebrate life naturally. So head on over this Friday to share your story-you never know who you may inspire or motivate-testimonies are POWERFUL!!!   Thank You so much for reading.   I look forward to hearing your stories.   Until next time... XOXOXOXO

Friday Favorites: Vol #27

Hello my loves and Happy Friday!

I couldn't wait to share my faves with you this week as there as soooo many!!!

If you're not in the mood for heavy pictoral interpretations, then I suggest that you quickly exit out of this post because I'm liable to get on your nerves.

I took alot of these pics from my Instagram so be sure to follow me there for more exclusive updates.

The highlight of my favorites was traveling to DC with my honey for an NBA game...

FREE tickets!

The energy was incredible...

And the cheerleaders were even better!

I wore my fave faux leather leggings and combat boots. I really don't see how celebs can walk around at games in 5" heels-I can't! I guess that's why I'm not a celebrity, huh?

Our room was so beautiful...

And we drank this...please try this, it's thee best drink you will ever taste in your life. My honey and I named it 'Fruit Punch'!

Self-portraits!  I loved this outfit, especially these Coach sneakers, which hurt my feet like hell! Sadly so, I'm going to have to put them in the shop because I can't deal with them. 

Before we headed back, we ate at Johnny Rockets. It was our first time there and we loved these little smileys!!

OK! OK! Enough about the trip. 

I finally launched my official shop site, Miss Rockwells Racks, last weekend. 

FREE Magazines...that I'm sooooo behind at reading. 

Clipping coupons. There really aren't a lot of good ones out but I'm gonna make it work!

These riding boots that I found at Dillards during their huge New Years Day Clearance sale..I love them so much!

I'm such a Momma's girl! Yep, I love hanging out with my Mom-she's my best friend!!!

Really Target...you have GOT to stop doing this to me! I'm going INSANE!!

A couple of shopping trips that only cost me approximately 4 bucks...gotta love coupons!

I'm so sad that I didn't get to shoot pics in this outfit because this dress is magical!

 Celebrating Michelle Obama's Bday. She is so fierce and classy. And her sense of style is out of this world!

Last but not least, being featured in this weeks' Link A La Mode roundup-it's truly an honor!

Looking Forward

  Edited by: Emily of Sugar and Spice We’re already halfway through the first month of 2013 but that doesn’t mean bloggers aren’t still in reflective mode: creating resolutions for the coming year and looking to up-coming trends, whilst also looking back on the trends of 2012. There’s also a reflective element in many of the posts this week over blogging and how that might change over the coming year, not just on a personal level but more generally too. There’s also a good dose of travel inspired posts this week for those who are trying to beat the January blues and jet off somewhere sunny. And if you’re not jetting off somewhere away from the cold, make sure to check out the great how to layer below:

LINKS À LA MODE: THE IFB WEEKLY ROUND UP: JANUARY 17TH

• Aesthete: Fashion vs Style: Who’s Your Icon?
• A Brit Greek: The Ultimate Guide to Finding Perfect Jeans
• Avenue M: My Wardrobe Storage and Decorating Ideas
• Bougeotte: The New Way to Colorblock
• Chocolate Sarcasm: To Do 2013
• Fashion On The Line: London Snow Fashion
• Floral Mess: Top Trends of 2012
• Fly Songbird: Not Doing It For Free
• Hopeless Anorak: The Wonder of Marc Jacobs – Can Fashion Talk?
• House of Modern Vintage: Travelling in Style
• IFB: The Best Tips For Part-Time Bloggers
• Incognito: Interview Greta Miliani Italian Blogger
• Lifestyles of the Thrifty and Shameless: Savin’ Maven Monday: Packing for Roadtrip
• Moi Minnie: 2013
• Of Mice and Trend: Simple Winter Layering
• Secret Style File: Mad For Monochrome
• Style, Saran-Wrapped: Not Colors
• Stylonylon: The Anxiety of Blogging – Can You Feel It?
• Sugar and Spice: Who Do You Dress For?
• We Are The Market: Insiders Guide to Berlin
• Youth Savage: The Re-design Issue Part 2: Ethics

  SPONSOR: Shopbop Swimwear: Lspace, Eberjey, Ella Moss, Shakuhachi, Milly Swim, Kushcush, Mara Hoffman bikinis, Beach Cover Ups, & One Pieces, & Dubbel Duffel If you would like to submit your link for next week’s Links à la Mode, please register first, then post your links HERE where you see “Links a la mode next week’s date (official)”. The HTML code for this week will be found in the Links a la Mode widget on the right side of the blog, and will be published later today. ~ Jennine

Whew!! That's it!

What were some of your favorites this week?

Thanks for reading!

XOXOXOXO

Savin' Maven Monday: Packing for A Roadtrip

Happy Monday my loves!

 

I hope your weekend was enjoyable. Mine was very productive. I met with a girlfriend to discuss future 'thrifty and shameless' events and I also teamed up with another of my girlfriends for one out of three of our weekly gym visits.

 

If you're following me on Instagram then you know that the honey and I recently took a trip to DC for a FREE basketball game. It was only scheduled to be a quick, overnight trip, however.....me being the fashion enthusiast that I am, I took it a little overboard in the packing department.

 

I used this handy dandy packing checklist that I scored from the Dollar Deals section at Target to aid me through the process.  

 

 

As stated before, this was only supposed to be a quick trip but I packed like I was going to be away for weeks. I found that separating all of my clothing into sections and laying them out like so really helped me.

 

Pants/Jeans

 

Shirts

 



Shoes

 

I've never packed anything this strategically until I became a blogger.

 

Sheesh!!

 

Something that also helped to save room as well as time while packing was rolling each section of clothing up like so...

 

 

With the clothes being rolled up by sections I was able to create extra space for my shoes instead of having to carry another bag.

 



I took all of my accessories and laid them out on a hand towel....

 



 

I carefully wrapped them up...

 

And placed them on top of all of the 'sectioned rolls'. This ensured that they wouldn't get tangled and/or lost in the luggage scuffle!

 



 

The remainder of the miscellaneous items (ie-makeup, hair products, chargers, etc.) were stored in the side pockets of my suitcase.

 

I also found it extremely helpful to store previously opened hair products inside of a Ziploc bag in order to keep possible spillage from damaging surrounding items.

 

This is what my packing checklist ended up looking like.

 

 

And now I'm all set to go on this 2 day road trip.

 

Of course the first thing that the honey said when he saw this....

 

was that I should be ashamed of myself! He went on about how there is no way that I would need all of this for just 2 days.

 

I agree.

 

But what can I say, a girl needs options!!!

 

What tips have you found to be helpful when packing for road trips?

 

I can't wait to hear from you!

 

Thanks for reading.

XOXOXOXO

SMART Goals...

Happy Wednesday my loves!

Well today marks the second day into 2013!!!

While many are busy making resolutions, I am taking this opportunity to revisit and edit the goals that I made last year as well as create new ones that will keep me focused on what's important. And instead of just verbalizing them, I like to write them down for accountability purposes. When my honey and I discussed 2013 goals, he even suggested that we write them down together and make a contract so to speak, wherein we can be each others' accountability partners. Great idea babe!!!

A little important tidbit that I've learned from my job is that when setting goals you must make sure that they are SMART (who knew there were lessons to be learned at work)! 

Specific-goals must be specific enough to answer the 5 "W" questions

Measurable-set target dates to ensure you stay on task

Attainable-plan steps wisely so that you are able to carry out your goals

Realistic-set goals that you are willing and able to accomplish

Timely-time frames create a sense of urgency

With that being said I want to dive right into my 2013 goals...

2013 Goals... by sherockwell featuring a nail polish

What do your 2013 goals look like?   I can't wait to hear from you!   Thanks for reading!   SIDENOTE: If you aren't following me on FB or Twitter, I would like to congratulate Maika from GLAM Life Blog for entering and winning my New Year's giveaway.