Newly Engaged + A $25 Target Gift Card Giveaway

***This post is sponsored by Target but all opinions and views are my own*** 

Hello my loves.

Are you all over the winter weather yet?   I think this may very well be the most snow I've seen in the last 10 years.  No exaggeration. I'm completely over it at this point. My lil Peanut and I are going stir crazy in here staring at one another!  That part is quite alright by me though because I'm thoroughly enjoying this quality with him before I head back to work.

I can hardly believe that January is basically over and we're about to embark on February. That means Valentine's Day is almost upon us.Have you began shopping for your significant other yet? If you're in need of some inexpensive and very practical gift ideas check out my last post. 

Valentine's Day has easily become one of my favorite holidays. Not only because of the chocolates, balloons, and cuddly teddy bears but also because on that day 4 years ago my honey and I made our relationship official. Since then we've created tons of great memories-the greatest of them all being the birth of our beautiful baby boy this past December.

The next step from here would be engagement. What better gift could a girl ask for than an engagement ring on Valentine's Day? I already have our wedding plans all figured out. We would register with Target's fabulous Wedding Registry and have a very intimate reception, that would also double as our ceremony, at his parents clubhouse which overlooks the water.

Wait, did I mention how fab Target's Wedding Registry is? It's the absolute BEST destination for newly engaged couples as its products will allow any couple to turn their dreams into reality. I literally can't wait to begin adding things to my list. Since both my honey and I love technology and social media we would most enjoy the Panasonic Lumix Digital Camera to post pictures on our social media and begin our website, the HP All-In-One Printer to print business documents, and the Garmin Nuvi Portable GPS to navigate us to business meetings, etc. These items will help us to expand and grow our hobbies into entrepreneurial powerhouses.

         

 And being that we are choosing to focus more on our honeymoon in terms of how we will make use of our budget,  we could definitely make use of some nice luggage like this SwissGear Upright Luggage Set.

The best part of this post is that Target has agreed to give one of you lovelies a $25 gift card just for visiting their Wedding Registry and coming back here to comment about your most favorite item (you must leave the link to the item) and why you love it. (You may also visit Target's Pinterest board to view more items) A winner will be chosen at 11:59PM EST on Friday,  February 7, 2014-just in time to do some last minute Valentine's Day shopping. Please leave your email address in the comments as your gift card will be emailed directly to you by a Target representative.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank You for reading and best wishes. 

XOXOXOXOXO

Valentine's Day Gift Guide: For Him

Hello and Happy Tuesday my loves.

I know the day is about over but I wanted to post anyways-having a newborn has my schedule all thrown off therefore I just post when I can. Gone are the days when I continuously beat myself up about not posting at a certain time of the day, 3-4 days a week.  It's my blog and I make the rules; which means I'll post when the mood strikes-even if it's past normal business/blogging hours.

I can't believe that Valentine's Day is right around the corner y'all! I mean, didn't the new year just begin!?

Valentine's Day happens to be one of my most favored holidays. I love love and the opportunity to celebrate it. Most of all I love the aspect of giving my special someone, something special. Any opportunity to shop is my kinda day!!!

So what do you get your man this year? Especially when he already has everything. Here are a few practical and inexpensive gifts that any man would enjoy-even if he does have everything-on Cupid's day.

Valentine's Day Gift Guide: For Him by sherockwell on Polyvore

A SWISS ARMY KNIFE will get him out of a jam in a flash. It can open beer and/or wine bottles when he's hanging out with the fellas for All Star night and it's easy accessibility provides convenience for the man on the go.

The TOOL KIT...what man doesn't need a tool kit? This one speaks for itself because it can benefit you as well. Remember that broken hinge on the door? Yeah ladies, this is possibly the best gift on the list.

A UNIVERSAL REMOTE will easily provide comfort and quietness within the home on those days when PMS has gotten the best of you. 

The CHARGING STATION is perfect for the tech savvy guy. He can charge all of his gadgets at once with this and can furthermore stop using the excuse that his phone was dead when you attempted to contact him to remind him of the eggs you needed from the grocery store. 

Lastly, the ELECTRIC SHAVER will keep him looking and feeling his best. Because after all, who wants an unkempt man?

I hope this list provided you with some new and exciting ideas that you hadn't already thought of. I love compiling lists like this because it makes it that much easier for me to shop for gifts. Please come back and visit the blog tomorrow as I will be teaming up with Target again to discuss love and offer one of you a $25 gift card that will help lower the cost of your Valentine's Day shopping bill.

Have anything else to add to list?

Lemme know in the comments below...

Valentine Butterflies...

Hello my loves!!!

Once again it has taken me forever and a day to do an outfit post. I've obviously gone off the DIY deep end.    I've totally been into Valentine's Day crafts this year. See my projects here and here. 

It's OK though, I hope you all still love me!

This is what I recently wore on one of my nights out with the girls. 

I have literally been feigning to wear these sequins since the very day I thrifted them. 

I caught major flack over these butterflies...

Butterfly Sequins-Thrifted (Vintage)

I remember the day exactly....

I made my way over to the 'Vintage' aisle of my favorite thrift store and these pink sequins immediately caught my eye. I didn't hesitate for one second to snatch them up, proudly place them in my shopping cart, and mosey on about my business.

Faux Leather Leggings | Pumps-Target

No sooner than I had pushed my cart to the end of the aisle did I see a fellow thrifter pass my cart, do an obvious double take at the sequins in my cart, and shamelessly stick her fat hand in my cart to pick them up and ask what size they were.

Excuuuusseee me!???!!!!

Theeen, she had the gall to ask me if I were purchasing them. 

"Because I would sure like to have them if you don't get them". 

I gave her an instantaneous 'duck face' and a stare that was sure to crush any of her dreams of ever owning these butterflies! I mean seriously what ever made her think that it was okay to reach into my shopping cart and oogle over something that I obviously had plans on purchasing??

I'm so glad I purchased them too. They totally rock my world!

I wanted to pair them with a really bold contrasting color so I chose my favorite yellow pumps that I scored from the clearance rack at Target.

Since I knew it would be rather cold out and I didn't exactly want to have to wear a huge jacket, I layered the sequins with a mustard blazer. 

Blazer-NY&Co

It always amazes me how much I fall in love with such unexpected outfit combinations. I really thought that I would be overdoing it with so many trends going on in this 'fit; what, with faux leather, sequins, and bright pops of color, I just knew this would look horrible together but it didn't.

 I actually like it....ALOT!!!

Have you paired any unexpected items together recently? 

I can't wait to hear from you!!!

Thanks for reading.

XOXOXOXO

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Random Wednesdays

Savin' Maven Monday: DIY Heart Sweatshirt with Elbow Patches

Happy Monday my loves!

I hope each of you had a great weekend. Judging from the social media feeds lots of you had great weekends as you were able to score pieces from the Prabal Gurung collection which debuted at Target on Sunday. And while you all were swooning over beautiful designer pieces, I was stuck in the house trying to nurse myself back to life. I've been battling a winter cold so I took minimal trips outside of my living space this weekend. And what better way to spend time in the house than to embark on yet another DIY project!!!  I know I'm on a roll-this makes two in a row.

Anyhow, I picked up a plain black sweatshirt on clearance at Target a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to do something fun and Valentine-y with it.

My eyes immediately became fixated on a pair of 'too small' cords that I scored at one of Plato's Grab Bag Sales and I instantly thought about elbow patches. I wanted to do something graphic on the front of the sweatshirt so I dug into my stash of acrylic paint(s) and went from there.

Here's a list of everything (else) I used:

**plain sweatshirt

**old cords (to create elbow patches)

**Acrylic Paint

**fabric paint

**heart stencils

**painters tape

** large foam paintbrush

That's it! You're ready to begin.

Step 1: Tape the stencils to the sweatshirt exactly where you would like your painted graphics to appear. The stencils were created by folding construction paper into quarters and cutting out a desired shape.

Step 2: Use a separate, large oval stencil to draw and cut out the 'cord' material for the elbow patches. Make sure to cut out 2-one for each elbow.

Step 3: Cover each elbow patch with fabric glue and place them on either sleeve of your sweatshirt. You may also sew the elbow patches on but obviously this method was a little easier and a lot less tedious. Allow the patches to dry in place while you are painting the graphics on the front of the sweatshirt. 

Step 4: Use your choice of acrylic paint to fill in the stencils that you had previously attached to the sweatshirt. Allow 1-2 hours to dry.

Step 5: Once the acrylic paint is dry, start from the bottom of the sweatshirt and use painters tape to create jagged lines all the way to the armpit of the sweatshirt. Paint the taped off (jagged line) portion with a highly contrasting color of acrylic paint. Allow 1-2 hours to dry.

Once you remove the painters tape, your sweatshirt will look a bit like this...

I must say that I am not thrilled with how this turned out AT ALL. The vision looked so much better as just a creative thought. I am, however, digging the elbow patches but that's about it.

What kind of Valentine's Day crafts have you attempted this year?

I can't wait to hear from you!

Thanks for reading.

XOXOXOXO

Friday Favorites: Vol #28

Happy Friday my loves!

I hope everyone is geared up and ready for the weekend-I sure am! Sad to say that I'm still trying to overcome my huge hard drive crash so I haven't been as active on my social media sites as I normally am. My computer tech promised that he would be dissecting my computer this weekend so hopefully I will be in better spirits next week.

Regardless of that issue I still wanted to share some of my favorite things with you so here goes....

Chocolate-it is a girls' best friend. Especially when it comes from the person you love.

 

Currently swooning over these two Target dresses. The soft mint and coral colors had me at hello. Where are you spring!?!

 

Rocking my thrifted knee high boots. I love these babies. I died when I saw they were only $5. I have them in gray as well.

 

Before and after totals from a recent shopping trip to Plato's Closet. I believe I saved $271 or something crazy like that.

 

Details from my Goddaughters very 1st birthday. We went with a Minnie Mouse theme. All of the cupcakes and even the birthday cake were handmade by her Mommy, one of my besties.

 

 

For the first time in a long while, I went out with my girlfriends. This girlfriend pictured below trusted me to style her for the evening. She told me that her budget was $60 so this is what I came up with...I'm so glad that she was pleased.

 

 

 

Me and my lovelies on our night out...

 

This week's Mag Swag...

 

Moo business cards that I have finally started to use. Every now and again they will offer codes for FREE cards-which is how I got these. If you follow my FB page (link located in the right sidebar) you will see lots of codes and coupons for free and discounted goodies.

 

What were some of your favorite things from this week?

 

I can't wait to hear from you.

 

Thanks for reading!

XOXOXOXOXO

 

SIDENOTE: If you're a blogger don't forget to link your Valentine's Day inspired posts up to my 'Lover's Lane' Blog Hop sponsored by BLM. It's the very first 'static' post on my homepage. I hope to see you there;-)