4 Ways to Drink More Water

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and DripDrop®, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #DrinkDripDrop #DripDropHydrates http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

You're supposed to get 60 to 100 ounces a day (the latter being preferred) for better health all around, including feeling fuller, prettier skin, energized muscles (and more).  Seems easy enough to down water throughout the day, but I struggle.  I've tried several things... like filling up 8 glasses of water at a time to set at my desk, a co-worker and I have played a little game where we paid our own bowls a quarter for every 8 ounces of water we drank, and at the end of the week, whoever had the most money got the other person's bowl of change and I've even tried an app (yes, there's an app for that).
Needless to say, none of those really worked, so this year I'm taking a different approach.  I've gathered 4 tips that are helping me this year (already a month in!), so might help you, too:
1. Carry a water bottle with you where ever you go.  Throw it in your purse, work bag or at least get it in your car.  Dashing out the door in the morning - grab an empty one at least. You'll be able to fill it up at your coffee stop, work cafeteria, a drinking fountain or women's restroom sink.  Set yourself up for success with this basic step.
2. Flavor your water and go for something that will actually do more than make your water just taste good. I've been spicing up my water from time to time with DripDrop Hydration Powder (which is found in the baby aisle - so great for the whole family)!  This is a medical grade solution to treat mild to moderate dehydration, which is great for refueling after a workout or just getting extra help throughout your day (or just adding flavor to your water). Use this coupon to get $1 off now through 2/21 at your local CVS, while supplies last.
You could take it a step further and add coordinating fruit - strawberries and blueberries were my fruit of choice when drinking the berry flavored DripDrop.  For the lemon flavor, how awesome would some slices of lemons and lime added be?!
3.  Pick a smarter water bottle. I work at a desk job, and often get so wrapped up into what I'm doing that I don't get up for hours, which means I go way too long without water (thus the reason I tried filling up a bunch of glasses once). Well, instead of toddling back and forth glasses full of water and then choking down the room temp water throughout the day, one of my co-workers introduced me to this 75-ounce EZ Freeze with Straw Water Bottle to make it more simple.  Fill this up once, leave it at your desk to sip on it throughout your day and the water stays cool.
4. Eat a spicy meal.  This is a sure way to get you sipping through your water. Just make sure to keep your glass filled up (or if eating out, ask the server to keep it coming)!  

 How do you stay hydrated and drink enough water?

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Personalize your home with Kleenex Design

We literally keep Kleenex (or I guess technically facial tissue, but isn't it funny how certain brands become a product's general call, like Xerox, Band-Aid, Google, etc?) in every room of our house.  And we go through them so fast, we certainly don't bother with those fancy box covers, plus they just collect dust really.  I always look for the prettiest or coolest box design that might fit in aesthetically with my home's decor, and Kleenex is certainly making that easy!  To celebrate their 90th anniversary (!!!), they developed the first ever Style Studio for a fun and inspiring way to discover prints and colors that will make that everyday need part of your home's decor.  You can find your own style with Kleenex Design Studio!
Here are three rooms/areas in my home (bathroom not included, because, duh, there is Kleenex there) that you'll see how I've incorporated Kleenex into the decor.  Each is uniquely fit and maybe even unexpected, which I picked out via the Style Studio!  
1. Our living room is where we spend a lot of our time, and our toddler, Liam, seems to constantly have a runny nose (thanks daycare).  You can tell this by his shirt sleeves, but when we can catch the snot-fall, we can easily grab a tissue from the book shelf to take care of business.  I love how this yellow patterned Kleenex box ties in the color of our walls perfectly!  
We also use the books we're reading to fill the shelf, by laying them in different directions, and hiding the uglier looking ones behind favorites (like The Gospel According to Coco Chanel).  Also candles are another must, especially with how many diapers we are changing in our home.  But their so pretty these days, that really they are perfect decor.  My favorite is Volcano which comes in a pretty blue glass jar.

2. Liam's room is another place we have at least one box of Kleenex (we usually even have a second tucked into his diaper drawer).  He likes to practice blowing his own nose from time to time, which is pretty cute, but completely ineffective. Lately, he has been really congested, so in combination of constantly wiping and trying to get him to blow his nose into a tissue, we've also been using a lot of the electronic nose sucker (as seen here).  Either way, it's almost a full time job managing his boogers, so it helps to have a Kleenex box that works with his decor so we can keep it right out for easy grabbing. I particularly love the pattern on this green box! (You can also see more of Liam's big boy room here.)

3.  I'm still updating Nora's nursery from when it was Liam's nursery before he moved on to his big boy room. She's still in our bedroom sleeping in a cradle next to our bed, but we use her room a ton already for diaper changes and getting her dressed.  She has also been a little congested (those germs man, they travel, I think we've all passed around the same cold over and over the last couple months), but I mainly use her tissues to catch spit up!  Oh the joys, if it's not snot or spit up, it's pee, poop or something else I tell you.  
I have this striped box of tissues set on her book shelf (above the book section) next to photos and cute little trinkets. I use some of her accessories to decorate, too, instead of stuffing away out of sight.  I mean, her adorable little moccasins and headbands are too cute not to display (plus, saves closet space for other things)!

Bonus!  Kleenex even has cute car tissue boxes, like this one with a purse pattern that sits right in the cup holder (they have other kinds, too, that can slip in between seats or on the inside of the card door). This is especially convenient when driving home and all the sudden your toddler says, "uh oh mommy, my hands," while holding his bag of paint project they did at school (why that's a project I have no idea)!

Check out this cute video Kleenex put together where they hit the street to ask people to pick out which photo was high fashion or Kleenex brand design between two photos!  You'd never know which was which.  (If the video doesn't load below, you can watch it here!)

How do you keep your home decor stylish while including basic needs?  

home?

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Thank you to Kleenex for sponsoring today's post and keeping my home stylish, yet practical!  Please know, that all opinions are 100% my own and we appreciate sponsors to help keep my creative juices flowing!

POPSUGAR is on TV!

   

Guys, how cool is this?  POPSUGAR, the sites and full digital experience you know and love is now on TV!  POPSUGAR Now is on weeknights 6/5c on TVGN. You can find your local channel here.  This channel will bring you celeb, fashion and lifestyle content - including all the details behind award season, from what the celebs eat, wear and who they're mingling with.  

And to kick off their launch, they're offering $100 J.Crew giveaway just for tweeting.  Go here for more info!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by POPSUGAR. While I was compensated to write a post about POPSUGAR NOW, all opinions are my own.

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Holiday Wish List + $200 Amazon Gift Card GIVEAWAY

  {Plaid Coat, Pardon Moi Sweater & Bent Wood Breakfast Tray for moi/ Hunter Boots & a Piano for Liam / Knit Elephant Doll & Madeline Books for Nora / Trilogy Movie Collection, Snow Boots & Portable TV for the husband}
There is a lot of wishing, wanting and giving going on this time of year!  It's fun to find that perfect gift for loved ones, but a little stressful, too!  Some on my giving list are really hard to buy for!  And as I'm searching for the perfect gifts (online of course, I am doing 90% of my gift shopping online this year), I'll stumble upon something I totally want - so I add it to my own wish list to share with my family (making it easier on them to know what to get me, so nice of me...). Come Christmas celebrations, it'll be a full house of wrapping paper, good food and happy faces.
And today, I have two things that might make your holiday shopping a little easier and face a little happier... Coupons.com has put together these really great gift guides to help you finish your shopping, even for those that are hard to buy for + also going on, Coupons.com Holiday Sweepstakes with lots of great giveaways!

  

  

And another really great reason to smile... a giveaway going on right here! 

If you're like my household, we are making an order from Amazon weekly - whether it be for kids stuff, home goods, kitchen needs, electronics, gifts or something fun (like shoes!) - we spend a lot on that site... So a $200 e-gift card to get whatever you might need or want (or maybe something Santa forgot to get you come Christmas morning) would be awesome!  You have now until Christmas eve to enter to WIN using the below Rafflecopter entry form!  Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks to Coupons.com for sponsoring this giveaway and post!  Make sure to check out their awesome gift guides and other giveaways going on for more ways to win big this season.  

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Holiday Cards by Minted

Oh yes, there is still time to get holiday cards out - whether you want to send last minute Christmas cards or like me, a New Years or generic Holiday greeting card to allow for the most procrastination time as possible...  And Minted has adorable options for whatever greeting or theme you have in mind, with the ability to rush your order.  I personally love the photo cards and have my selection narrowed down to four possibilities, for now. Maybe you can help me pick which one to go with?  This year, we're incorporating baby Nora's birth announcement into our Holiday greeting, since sending out two cards around the same time seemed unnecessary and expensive... The year Liam was born, we just sent out birth announcements and no holiday cards since he was born in December.  But with having two littles now, we wanted to incorporate both of them this year - so a combo it is. 

{This one is great because of all the photos I can put on the front letting me use the back of the card for more text and info around Nora's birth stats}

{I love the gold! Utilizing the back of this card for more pictures of Nora's birth, but lack space for Nora's birth details in text.}

{This one is festive and has enough text space on the front for Nora's birth details and able to use the back for more photos.}

{Is this one to Christmas-y to send out post-Christmas? }
Then there are about a million more really cute options, too...   Visit Minted to get designing your own cards! This post is sponsored by Minted, though all opinions are 100% my own.  Thanks for supporting the sponsors that makes this blog possible!

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Tips on how to survive cold & flu season!

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Kleenex but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #KleenexTarget  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO

It's the most wonderful time of year with all the holiday parties, family gatherings, dressing up and going out, get-togethers with friends and beyond.  But cold and flu hits a lot of us and/or our loved ones this time of year.  It's pretty sad missing out on all the fun because you're sick, or worse, your little one is sick (in my mind, there is nothing worse than a sick baby!).  So over the years, there are a few things I've turned to for comfort when that nagging cough hits and the aches appear.  Here are my tips on how to survive the cold and flu (and get over as comfortable as possible):
1. First, comfy pants and cozy sweater/sweatshirt STAT.  Whether it's you that's sick, or your child - you get into that cozy wear and get your little all comfy, too. And maybe not your best comfy wear if we're talking a sick kid here... case in point, this past weekend I caught my toddler's vomit in my hands. 
2. Get something warm, nutritious and smelling delicious going on the stove (you still need to eat to keep up your energy). Sure there are probably a million great chicken noodle soup recipes out there, but I always turn to my mama's amazing Plaza Steak Soup recipe (with her permission, the recipe is at the bottom of this post. You're welcome).
3. Place Kleenex all around the house... literally. You don't want to be all snuggled up and cozy when the faucet (aka, your nose) starts running, or your little one lets out a huge sneeze and everything is covered in snot.  And don't skimp on your nose wipes, go for the good stuff, Kleenex Ultra Soft Tissues, when you're blowing your nose 100 times a day... Kleenex won't leave you feeling like Rudolph. Even your kids will like it (proof below).
4. Surround yourself with the softest blankets you own, pillows to snuggle into and my fav - a c-table (25% off right now with code FURN25EM) that hovers over the couch to bring everything close to where you are snuggled up.  
5. Time to catch up on all those Netflix movies or shows you've been meaning to watch - or your favorite one that you can always turn to - or if it's my toddler... Curious George and Clifford on repeat.  Leave the dishes and the chores for another day... rest up!

What do you do for yourself or your family when the cold and flu creep in?
Be sure to stock up on Kleenex now so you are ready when you or your family needs it most.  And save some money by using this coupon to save $1 on Kleenex 4-pack or larger at Target.
Plaza Steak Soup Recipe

You need:

1 1/2 to 2lbs of ground beef (or turkey)

1/2 cup of light margarine/butter

3/4 cup flour (I use wheat flour)

Frozen Veggies:

16 oz of peas

16 oz of mixed veggies (green beans, corn and carrots)

I add in an extra 1 to 2 cups of carrots

1 cup of lima beans

1 15oz can of diced tomatoes

1 yellow onion

1 Bottle of B-V beef flavoring (in condiment aisle)

Pepper to taste/preference

Optional: 1 to 2 cups of chopped potatoes

What to do:

Brown the meat in large skillet, drain off fat and set  aside.  

Melt margarine in large Dutch oven.  Whisk in flour, bit by bit, cooking on medium.  Blend until smooth.  Add 8 cups of water to the flour mixture gradually while continuing to whisk.

Add in all ingredients (veggies, onion, cooked meat, tomatoes, potatoes, beef flavoring and pepper) to the large pot of “broth." Bring to boil.

Simmer for 2 hours.  

Great for leftovers and freezing for later - tastes even better the next day (which is good, b/c this will make a lot to last you all week)!

Stay well!

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Gift Ideas for the Kids in your Life!

The holidays have taken on a whole new meaning since having kids of my own to celebrate with.  They're just a little more magical and seeing the look on my son's face or in his eyes when he gets something new or discovers something exciting makes shopping for him all the more fun.  Even a simple box that arrives in the mail excites him - and usually it's something for me or our home! Not that the holidays are all about gifts under the tree - there is so much more that goes along with this time of year, of course - and I can't wait to evolve our own family traditions as the years go on and as we add another little to our family.  But for the gift giving portion, Target and their #MyKindofHoliday campaign makes it super easy, affordable and exciting to find those face-light up kind of gifts for those special kiddos in your life! 

Here are a few of my picks for girls and boys ages 2 and up:

Basketball hoop and ball - Liam loves his, but I love this one more than the one we have b/c it grows with the child!!  Ours does not... bummer.

I love anything around music for our dude - this Adam Levine Designer series drum set will last well into the future and how great is a Disney designed guitar to get your kids excited to play? We also love our iPod for play music all around our home for our little one to dance and sing to.  These iPod Nano's are colorful and cute for kids!

A great way to get your kids outside and moving, this Razor Scooter is perfect for kids and can grow with them, too, as the handles raise!

Our little loves to use our electronics for the few apps we allow him to play and watching his favorite shows when we're on the go.  But our electronics are also very expensive... so this Android Tablet, made for kids is way more ideal then handing over mind.

You can also shop the big Kid's Catalog to find the gifts that speak to you!  Liam has been having a blast flipping through the hard copy of this catalog, or as he calls it, book!

What are your favorite holiday gifts from Target? 

Opportunity provided by Target and the #MyKindofHoliday campaign, but all options are my own.  I'm an obvious Target lover through and through.

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Priming the Skin: Pre-Makeup Routine

It's only been the last couple years that I've actually realize how important serums, lotions and pre-makeup primers are for the skin.  Maybe even more important than face wash (not that I could go without that step).  As I get more into my 30s (at the ripe old age of 31 now), I've noticed fine lines around my mouth, crows feet near my eyes and ripples along my forehead are not just appearing, but sticking around longer and longer.  When I really put effort into my night and pre-makeup routine with those important serums, lotions and primers, I've actually noticed those aging marks descend! So if that's not motivation, than I don't know what is.
I've spent the last several weeks using these new Regenerist products by Olay in the morning and at night and have been very pleased with the results so far.  I use the Wrinkle Revolution Complex pre-makeup, which not only feels great going on, it actually enhances my makeup, allowing it to go on smoother and stay on longer. I've also loved using the Micro-Sculpting Eye Cream & Lash Serum Duo morning and night to manage the wrinkles around my eyes with hydration and help my lashes thicken up.  My lashes need all the help they can get, as they are thin, light and take a beating with daily mascara.  With a toddler to get ready in the morning and soon to have another little one around, mornings are pretty hectic to get myself ready.  Any little things I can do to improve my skin and therefore minimize the time I need to make myself presentable is much appreciated - a total win win situation. What are your go-to face/wrinkle products?

{And this is how I remember to use night and morning products... Keep it right on my night stand!}

This post was sponsored by Olay through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Eye Cream & Lash Serum Duo and Regenerist Wrinkle Revolution Complex, all opinions are my own.

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Easy DIY Halloween decor for your table

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Cottonelle, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #CottonelleTarget  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

Hosting a Halloween party or want to make Halloween morning breakfast extra special?  This morning, we had a ghostly brunch with some very easy Halloween DIY decor I whipped up just last night.  With some items I had around my house and a quick pick up of the new Cottonelle Triple Roll Toilet paper from my nearby Target, I was able to create three different decor items for our table setting. Right now, buy Cottonelle Triple Roll 12 pack or larger at Target and get a FREE box of Kleenex (while supplies last, get coupon here).

The first thing I made was my favorite!  Using just 4 strips of toilet paper (I made them 5 squares long), ribbon, styrofoam balls, a black Sharpie and hot glue gun, I made 5 little ghosts to hang from our chandelier! 

1. After I hot glued the ribbon (to hang the ghosts from) to the styrofoam balls, I glued 4 toilet paper strips around the top, near the ribbon.   2. I only glued along the edges of the strips about halfway down the ball, letting the folds happen naturally. I glued some of the folds down to make them flatter as needed.   3. Then you can use the same ribbon, or I used some twine, to pull the strips together under the ball and make the ghost tail. 4. Then using a Sharpie, I drew on the face.
The next DIY project was also easy (the theme of all three of these projects).  A mummy wreath you can make for your door or the table!

1. I took a piece of tape to attach the first square of the toilet paper strip to the wreath.

2. Then I just wrapped the paper around the wreath, twice. Be gentle, but if any of it rips apart, no worries, I just taped down and continued on.

3. Once the wreath was covered - I used the top of a shoe box from my new shoes to write out BOO, colored it in using a Sharpie and cut out the letters.

4. Then I pillow-taped the letters onto the mummy wreath to complete the look!

And finally... the simplest of all these easy DIYs.. Little ghost faces.

1. I simply cut out little face-shapes from black felt (construction paper would do just fine).

2. I pillow-taped the face shapes to the full rolls of toilet paper.

3. Arranged and done!

Have you ever used toilet paper for any DIY projects?  I'd love to hear what you'd do with the new Cottonelle Triple Roll paper (um, besides the obvious...)!

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