I am a big believer in staying out of the sun. My super hot/awesome husband recently had skin cancer removed. Luckily, it wasn't the kind that will kill you... but still! His Nordic roots (and the genes that he gave our kids) have really made me more conscious of the sun and the damage it can do. One of my kids is one of the whitest people on earth (I'm pretty sure that's an actual fact) and so I have to be super careful about making sure he stays out of the sun as much as possible and that he has a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen. I'm serious, this kid is WHITE.

Let's face it. I'm getting on in years. I'm not going to tell you how old I am. But I will tell you that most people think I am 10 to 6 years younger than I actually am. Maybe that's because I look young, or maybe it's because I'm so mature. Either way, I have been noticing, for the first time, some sun damage on my face. Gasp! Time to visit the medical spa.

So, I want to share with you some things I do to stay safe and stylish in the Summer time.

1. Wear scarves! I pretty, light-weight scarf is the perfect thing to have while lounging at the pool or the beach. Use it to block the sun. I like to wrap a scarf on my head to protect my part. I also like to get it wet and wrap it around my neck if it's super hot

2. Wear loose tees with sleeves! Of course I love this particular tee. It's the Ride on Girl Tee from my line of inspiring tee shirts for women, My Sister's Tee. I love it because it's not all up in my pits. Ha! But seriously though.

3. Wear SPF! I am all about the SPF. It's in my moisturizer, it's in my makeup. It's all over my house! We are a serious SPF family. There are also many skin-care products that can help prevent damage as well as correct it.

4. Get a Glow! I tan easily. So even with SPF I get color. My family isn't at all Nordic. In fact, people will actually come up to my mom and speak Spanish and my brothers look vaguely Middle Eastern/Spanish. I am by far the lightest in my family. I try to stay out of the sun as much as I can but I still want that glow. That's where self-tanners come in. They are seriously amazing these days. My recent favorite has sparkles.

5. Wear a wide-brimmed hat. So here's another look that I like to sport. This is actually my husband's hat. He looks super foxy in it, trust me. I think he got it at a home improvement store. In past years he has gotten the Quicksilver version. I love it. It's keeps the sun off my face, neck, and shoulders.

6. Get yourself a button down. I absolutely love to wear this chambray button down over my swim suit. It's the perfect thing to slip on when I feel like I've had enough sun. It's light weight and I can flip up the collar or roll down the sleeves if I want more coverage.

7. Skirt the issue... with a scarf. This is just an oversized scarf, worn as a skirt. Tada. I love it because I could seriously make a sun shade tent out of it if I needed to. I'm not going to lie... I have been known to do such a thing.

8. Protect your hands. I mentioned earlier that I am definitely getting older (let's not talk about it). One of the places I have really noticed a difference is my hands! Think about it... your hands are constantly exposed to the sun. I don't know about you but I don't want spotty old hands. When I apply the sun block, I don't forget my hands!

I hope y'all enjoy these tips and that you will be a little more conscious about the time you spend in the sun this Summer and for Summers to come!

When it comes to throwing a magical party, it's all about the details. You have to really think ahead, play out all the possible scenarios in your mind. You must think of your guests first and foremost. Is Uncle Joe going to take out his dentures and put them on the table again? Are kids coming and if so, where are they going to play? I am going to share with you some tips, along with some stunning images of a swanky party my stone-cold-fox husband and I attended recently.

Here we are. Don't we look like we are having the most fabulous time? I'm pretty sure this is right before the guy sitting next to me told me all about his exploits involving poker games with Nick Nolte (fascinating. Wink, wink).

The dress was Summer formal, and you know me, I always love an excuse to dress up.

The night started with cocktail hour at a beautiful home on the lake. This event was celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Daybreak community in Salt Lake City. No, we weren't at the Great Salt Lake. The Great Salt Lake is nasty. This is a beautiful, meticulously maintained, 80-acre man-made lake.

Tip #1

Keep with a consistent color scheme. And don't forget to keep it simple. Choose a main color and an accent color or two. They chose chartreuse and gray accented with blue flowers for this party. It was lovely.

PARTY COLOR SCHEME INSPIRATION 

Of course there was a lovely ambiance. 

Tip #2

Think about ambiance. When considering your music think about the acoustics of the room. Will your play list be over-whelming if people are trying to have a conversation? I usually start a party with music because I don't want the first few guests to feel like they are arriving to a dead party. Then when the conversation and noise levels pick up I like to turn the music way down.

I just loved the custom signage, which matched the custom invitations. I am a huge believer in custom graphics for your party! They are all over the internet, you just have to look!

Tip #3

Custom graphics! The internet is crawling with party printables. They are fairly easy to find and really easy to print. I love these little $1 frames from IKEA, I use them all the time for displaying graphics at parties.

RED AND WHITE RETRO BARBECUE PARTY IDEAS

These bike taxis were such a fun surprise! They drove us from the cocktail party to the bridge for the dinner party and then to our cars afterwards. It was such an awesome detail. I know we all can't spring for a couple bike taxi guys in bow ties... but we can all think of little ways to surprise and delight our guests.

Tip #4

Surprise your guests. When planning your party try to think of at least one unexpected detail to add. It might be a funny party favor, an interesting napkin ring, it can be simple or extravagant. Just make it fun.

THE BEST PARTY THEMES FOR WOMEN

And now for the table scape. I do love a good table scape. I also happen to love fresh flowers and trellis print so this was just perfect! Please note the personalized menus. I love that they served as both a menu and a place card. Oh and check out the darling copper sailboat cookie cutter party favor. I never met a party favor I didn't like.

Tip #4 

Give a favor. Party favors are just a way to tell your guests thank you. Not only is it good manners but a pretty party favor can really add to the event decor.

SUMMER PARTY TABLE SCAPE

If possible, hire an awesome crew of chefs to create your gourmet meal. Ha!

Which brings us to tip #5...

Work with what you have! It might be tempting to head out and purchase a whole new set of matching folding chairs for your party. Believe me, I've thought about it. But the best policy is to work with what you have... and to borrow from your friends to fill in the gaps. Collect party decor and other items bit by bit and before you know it, you will be hostess of the year!

How about a few more photos of this pretty party?

I really was so much fun to eat a delicious meal on this bridge.

The chef was amazing. He made leg of duck over chick pea waffles... "Not your Grandma's Chicken and Waffles." I loved every bite!

Celebrity cook Kelsey Nixon spoke. She is just too cute.

Live music!

And a gorgeous view.

Just the perfect evening.

All photos by David Newkirk

I am really feeling the gold home decor trend! But if you're like me, you don't want to spend a bunch of cash of a trend. What to do? How about take something you already have and add a little gold to it? It makes it so special. This inexpensive vase was just the perfect thing to add a bit of gold to, and it was super easy. You like easy, right? I hope you love it as much as I do!

Here is how it looks in my living room (you can see how it looked before). I like it so much better with the addition of the gold, don't you? It gives me that little extra sparkle and adds the prefect amount of interest.

DIY KNOCKOFF ABSTRACT PAINTING

DIY CLOSET TURNED MUDROOM

All you need is a bottle of Liquid Leaf and a flat, wide paint brush. Start painting at the top first and give yourself a little room for error. You can always add more but you can't take it off. A great way to get an even line is to fill the vase with water, set it on a flat surface, and follow the waterline.

DIY HOME OFFICE DESIGN

Apply generously, letting it dry in between coats. Apply two coats, maybe three.

MY GREEN AND BLUE LIVING ROOM DESIGN

Then just let it dry completely, add water and pretty flowers.

BLUE AND PINK GIRL'S BEDROOM

EASY DIY BENCH CUSHION

Lastly, find a pretty spot for your new vase and enjoy your trendy decor that cost you just a couple dollars.

Hi friends! I am so excited to share this yummy recipe with you today! Bubble Gum Cupcakes! If you like bubblegum flavor like I do then.... we should be friends... and you should totally make these. This frosting is completely ridiculously delish, I can hardly even deal with it. You can find more of my recipe ideas here :)

CAKE MIX PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

This is how you make the cupcakes...

You will need

White Cake Mix

2 tbs Butter

3 tbs Heavy Cream

1/2 cup Sour Cream

3 Eggs

2/3 cup Milk

2 tbs Vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350.

1. Melt 2 tbs. butter in the microwave, let it cool slightly so it's not hot but still liquid

2. Combine cake mix, butter, 3tbs. heavy cream, 1/2 cup sour cream in mixing bowl and cream together for about 30 seconds.

3. Add 3 eggs, 2/3 cup milk, and 2 tbs. vanilla and continue mixing until batter is light and creamy.

I'm not going to lie, the batter is amazingly delish. I was actually really hard for me to bake it because I wanted to eat it all!

EASY LIME CHEESECAKE BARS

4. Fill your cupcake liners 2/3 the way full. I like to double my cupcake liners because I think it's cuter. 

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly golden on top.

6. Remove from oven, let cool completely before frosting.

Bubble Gum Frosting

Disclaimer: if you love bubble gum like I love bubble gum you are going to have a hard time not eating this frosting by the handful.

You will need

1/2 cup butter (one stick) at room temperature

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature

4-5 cups powdered sugar

2 tbs vanilla

3tbs heavy cream

1 packet of Bubblegum flavor Frosting Creations (available at WalMart in cake aisle)

1 packet pearly pink Sixlets (available at WalMart in cake aisle)

1. Beat butter and cream cheese together until creamy.

2. Add a cup of powdered sugar at a time.

3. After about 2-3 cups, add the heavy cream and vanilla.

4. Continue to add powdered sugar.

5. Add the Bubblegum flavor Frosting Creations packet

5. Beat for five minutes until light and fluffy.

Keep refrigerated.

Once your cupcakes are completely cool, it's time to frost.

Now, I like to fill my cupcakes and frost them too. Here's how: fill a big zipper bag with your frosting, cut a corner off and create your own little pastry bag. Experiment with how much to cut off. Remember you can always cut off more. Once you've got your make-shift pastry bag ready, use a knife to cut an X in the top of your cupcake (pictured above).

Then just insert your pastry bag into the X and squeeze lightly. Frosting will fill the cupcake and then you can frost the top in a circular motion starting from the outside of the cupcake.

Garnish with these adorable pearly pink Sixlet Candies or a real gum ball.

Thanks for stopping by... have a great day!

My sister and I (yep, I started the company with my actual sister) wanted to make tees. But not just any tees. We of course wanted them to be high-quality, flatter, super soft tees... we also wanted them to spread a message of love + inspiration.

There are just too many negative messages out there about women, and some women are actually wearing these messages across their chests. We, on the other hand, are working to create something you can be proud of. You can wear My Sister's Tee with pride. It's just another way of showing the world that you respect yourself and your fellow women. There is just too much division out there for us to be wearing shirts that say, "You can't sit with us."

Unfortunately, I didn't have to look hard at all to find these tees :(. I will be posting more about My Sister's Tee in the weeks to come. I just wanted to let you lovelies know what's going on with me and why I've been MIA! XOXO

Sometimes I pay my hairdresser in DIY projects. Ok so just this once. It all started when she saw my Closet turned Mudroom project on Instagram. PS you should totally follow me on Instagram (I'm super fun). She commented that she needed a bench cushion and asked if I would make one for her. Well, it just so happened that I also needed a cut and color at the time. Destiny.

She already had cute fabric (which was actually curtains) and pillows picked out, which made my life super easy.

DIY CHAIR MAKEOVER

Didn't it turn out just super cute? Here's how I did it...

DIY KNOCK-OFF ABSTRACT PAINTING

First, I took measurements so I could get the boards cut for me at the Lowe's. I seriously love that Lowe's is so great about cutting stuff for me. I take advantage often!

EASY DIY FLAGSTONE GARDEN PATH

I made sure to think about the batting and foam that would be on either side of the cushions and had each board cut 1/2 inch shorter so they would both fit nicely. It was a guess, but it turned out to be perfect! As you can see, I had the boards cut to the width of the bench.

MASON JAR BATHROOM ORGANIZER

That way they fit together nicely on the length and look a little cushy in the width.

I used sound board because it's super light weight. I also recommend particle board (like I used here) or peg board. While sound board is light, it doesn't hold the staples super well.

Lay your board on your high-density foam and cut around it. You don't have to cut it super straight, your batting will smooth out the jagged edges. This stuff is difficult to cut.

Then lay your foam and board on top of the batting and staple the batting to the back of the board. Make sure your batting is nice and smooth.

Here's what it looked like before I added the fabric.

She found some really carling window panels at Homegoods. This is such a great idea for a couple reasons. 1. Great quality fabric for a good price. 2. The hemmed edges gave the bottom of the bench a nice finished look.

Now you might notice that I lined up the pattern of the fabric so that the pattern would look continuous. If you are making multiple cushions you will certainly want to do this!

Once you've got the fabric lined up, just go ahead and staple to the back of the board.

And there you have it. The perfect finishing touch for my darling friend's cute bedroom.

I hope you try this project. It's the easiest way I can think of to create a professional looking, tailored bench cover. 

How much did this project cost? After using coupons at the craft store (ya gotta do it) the whole project cost about $100.