Summer in Full Bloom!

You Guys!!!  I am so excited about today's post!!  Because my blog pics are so good!!  They're like finally like REAL blog pics!!  It's all thanks to my photographer bestie, Mel!  Mel's big hobby is photography and she is GREAT at it!  So I was really excited, when, on a whim, I asked her to take some blog photos for me, and she agreed.  And did she ever...I think she was more excited about it than I was at the time!! She was super prepared, had great ideas and, obsessed over flatlays!! THANKS MEL!!

Today I'm sharing two looks that I keep grabbing out of my closet this summer. (It's about who you see, right?!?) I'm on a floral kick right now...

Summertime Fun with TBB: Favorite Summertime Food

Good Monday Morning All!

I hope this weekend found you all relaxing and enjoying these summer days!  I had a fun weekend myself filled with friends, family, and barbecues.  A typical summer weekend for many I suppose!
Which leads me to today's post!


I'm joining the gals of The Blended Blog for our Summertime Fun Series today, that focuses on our favorite summer foods! If you're hopping on over from Shelly's blog, thank you so much and welcome!!

If I'm being honest, I COULD devote a whole post to Ralph's Italian Ice, that's only available here in the summer!  But I won't do that!  HA! (Do you have Ralph's??)

Ralph's Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cream Ice will always have a little piece of my heart!

Actually, my favorite summer food is a good ol' home cooked cheeseburger....
1- because it's not something I ever make/have myself  (I don't own a grill!)
2- I only seem to eat them in the summer at BBQ's...but ironically, not at every one, so for me they are a rarity!
3- Nothing beats the perfect burger! Medium rare...hot and juicy with lots of melty cheese!!

Although this is not the best photograph of a burger, it will have to do!!  It satisfies my three criteria...

A close second in terms of my favorite food is my sister's black bean salad.  It's too, screams summer to me!  Fresh, yummy and just fabulous!!  Tomorrow I'll be sharing the recipe for Tasty Tuesday, so come on back for that!

What your favorite summer food?  I'd love to hear all about it in the comments below! And head on back to The Blended Blog to link up your summer fun posts with us here!

Summer Faves!

16 more school days til FREEDOM!!  LOL  I can't wait!!

Earlier this week my buddies at The Blended Blog shared their summer plans!!  I'm hopping on board today to share mine!! It's not a long fabulous list, as I really have no set plans on the horizon, no trips planned (I did those in May!) and none of my annual concert fun going on!

 Along with the usual antics with family and friends, it's going to be a summer filled with ordinary, everyday favorites!!

 This summer I really just hope to be...

Laying out on the Postage Stamp Patio DAILY!

READING LOTS!!

Spending a few Fridays on the beach!!

Enjoying all the drinks!!

Spending some time with my Boyfriend... RALPH!!!  :)

What are your plans for the Summer of 2017?  Let me know in the comments below and head on over to The Blended Blog to link up with us!!

Linking up with Erika and the girls for Friday Favorites and Tif and the girls for High Five for Friday, too!!

Create 28: Final Rewind!

The last few days of Create 28 with The Blended Blog are here!!  I think the fun of this made the month fly by!  I did ok participating this week, even if I did spend lots of time in my bathing suit and cover up again!!

Since I haven't gotten anything new lately, I found myself scrolling older blogs to help me find something to wear.  I have a pretty long list of fashion blogs to choose from these days.  Most items I still have but there were other times, I regretted throwing something in the "donate"  pile!!

For Lovely Lace, I wore the lace top on the left, with a pair of my fave bold, bright JCrew shorts on the right.

Because that's how I mistakenly read the prompt for the 24th!!  Abbie had it right and showed us all  how to make Bold Baubles look really good, on moms and babes!!

Leslie and Carrie looked ravishing in gingham for summer!  Hanging out with my nephews on Saturday night I sported this, minus the leopard flats and wore strappy sandals instead.

It was the perfect look when they wanted to go night swimming.  I was covered enough that I only came away with 4 mosquito bites.  That right there is a WIN in my book.

I was so happy to see Carrie back in the mix on Sunday with her mint looks!  I didn't participate, as the sunshine was calling my name.  That's ok though because nobody looks better in mint than Carrie!!

Monday I got a lil Patriotic for ya'll!!  

Sadly, on Tuesday I realized my closet is missing a pair of espadrilles!  What!?!  I must rectify that immediately!  Whitney looked just as cute as can be in hers!

Today Alison's up with a super stripes look!  Makes me wish I had something stripe-y red!!  Love it Alison!!  I'm just throwing this old suit on today and heading into the sun!!

Head on over to The Blended Blog to see a Recap of all this week's looks and get all the deets on a new fashion linky for July and August!!

Did you love Create 28 as much as I did? Link up your looks below!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Summer...Solitary Life Style!!

School's out for Summer!!!    Wooooo hoooo...no one is more excited than me!!  

With the exception of heading to the Dominican Republic next month, and two fun concerts, I  have nothing else "planned"! 

Last year I shared my Summer Bucket List, so I thought I'd do the same here!  Like I said, with the exception of a few things, nothing else is really, planned, so I guess instead of a bucket list, I'll call it a "wish list" of sorts.  Living this Solitary life I do, I'm pretty content doing all or nothing.  I know this might shock some people, but it's the truth.  I'm pretty content relaxing in the sunshine!

Some things I hope to do this summer...

I had said that I had a goal to read 12 books this summer!  I have been off a total of 6 days so far and have not picked up one single solitary book, I might STILL be reading a book I started back in February (I think!) so chances of me getting through 12 are slim to none!! In fact, I still have a few books from last year's Summer Reading List that I have yet to read!!  LOL.  I will be sharing this year's list next week so come on back for that!  My new goal is 4.  Any more than that will just be bonus!

I might have only gotten through ONE of these books last summer!

Last week a family friend of mine and a R+F consultant had a giveaway on her Facebook page.  The winner would receive an R+F mini facial just for sharing one item from her Summer Bucket List. So I gave a whirl, commented and WON!  YAY!!  I shared that one thing I wanted to do this summer was go to the breweries out east.  Last year at this time, I posted all about the fun my bestie and I had when we went to one local brewery.  And I want to do that again.  There are so many craft breweries around here, I think that would be so much fun!!

I've also made it a goal to get up and walk four times a week.  The last two months of work, I walked to and from school almost every day and I loved it.  I want to keep it up.  And we have been so lucky with this great weather!!  I made this goal last year too but  more often than not, I skipped it.  This year, I'm hoping that the cute outfits I've bought can be motivation enough to get up and go!  But I have to go early, because it's hot.  The other day I didn't get out as early as I had planned and it was bloody dang hot!!


Other than these, I am just hoping my days are filled with sunshine, relaxation and fun sprinkled in along the way!

What are your plans for the summer?  I'd love to hear about them in the comments below!!  Have a great Tuesday!!

Just about the only thing I wore this summer!

Last summer I did a What I Wore this Summer Recap!  I wanted to do the same this year.  But I discovered I really only wore one thing..over and over and over again!!

It was this...a super cheapo Target tank!  That I kind of wish I had in every color!!  :)  I got this tank last year!  I wore it a bunch this summer too!!  I wore these outfits again a few times and paired this tank with some new bottoms!

I wore this with my leopard shorts, my camo pants and just with plain ol' yoga pants when I was walking around town!  I probably averaged once or twice a week in this tank this summer!!  LOL

I tried to find it again just because I wanted it in different colors and I love it so much!  NO LUCK!!  This is such a basic...but I love it!!!

If you want to see more of me in this tank follow me on insta!!  I'm at @missmitch2

Do you have a wardrobe basic you love? Let me know in the comments below!!

Have a great Wednesday...Friday is so close!!!!

Linking up today too with:

Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy

Sarah at Tucker up

Madeline at Cappuccino and Fashion

Happiness at Mid Life

Monthly Rewind: August in numbers!

August has come and gone!!  WHAT?!?!  Well that's just...BLAH!!!

Linking up with Deena today for her Monthly numbers post! 

Here's my August in Numbers...

With the exception of two weekends, it was a relatively quiet month for me!  Basically I soaked up as much summer as I could!  Lazy days in the sun!  I read a few books, went to one kick-ass Kenny concert, celebrated Happy Heart Day, had a mini family reunion and spent lots of fun days with friends! And again...I ate out A LOT...like 20 meals out!!

A few more notables:

3 days spent with cousins!  (I'm so sad I never blogged this!)

2 books read...and one that I gave up on!  Loved them both. I don't know why but I bawled at the end of each of them!!  That is a sign of a great book!! Highly recommend both!!  The Nightingale took me a while but I read An Invisible Thread over two days!  The Nightingale was my first Kristin Hannah book but I will definitely be reading more by her.  An Invisible Thread was an engaging memoir! LOVED!! I started Me Before You at the very end of August and finished it a few days later, so 'm saving that one for September numbers!

1 Alive after Five attended.  Was happy to finally make one of these this summer!  I mentioned here that I wanted to go to more.  But it actually worked out that I had previous plans on all the other dates!  I had a great time and even got myself a t-shirt!

August was a big month on the blog and across my social media!

I posted to the blog 18 times in August

The blog hit 50K views(and then some)!  My 100th post of 2015 was published in August and my 250th post on the blog overall.

The most viewed post on the blog in August: Five on Friday! 8/28/2015

I also reached 200 followers on instagram in August!
And posted 47 pics (and blog reminders)!!

Thanks to my friend Military Wife and Pug Life, I added a bunch of members to the blog via Blogger/Google Plus!!  Thanks girl!!  I have to start using and understanding Google Plus more!!  If I'm honest that's the social media outlet I am least familiar with, but it's also the most up-and-coming...so I have to get on that!!!

The Facebook Page hasn't gained many followers but it's had a high post reach and lots of clicks! And was actually the highest traffic source for the blog!! Feel free to share the page with friends!!  :)

The most popular post on Facebook in August:  High School Me

Hope you all had a great August and are finding yourselves swell in September!

Enjoy Labor Day!

My May in Numbers,  June in Numbers & July in Numbers 

Five on Friday!

Some of my favorites from the week that was....

{ONE}

Sunday Brunch with my nieces!

I've brunched lots this summer!!

At brunch I drank presceo out of these cute little glasses and am determined to add them to my collection!!  I resisted the urge to drop one in my purse!  :)

I have not succeeded in Googling them!!  If anyone has these and knows where to get them, help a sista out!

{TWO}

Drank my first ever Starbucks Peach Green Tea Lemonade!

YUM!!  Where have I been???

{THREE}

I finally got to wear this dress!!  I bought it during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale after seeing it on Shay. It wasn't on sale but it's inexpensive anyway.  So easy to just throw on and go.  Dress up or down and can totally transition to Fall!  I kinda wish I had it in every color!

This was my look for my school's Welcome Back BBQ...which I can't really say was a fave!  LOL

I know, I know...I'm no Shay Shull!  But I got a ton of compliments on this!  So I guess that's a plus!!  And yes I did actually take this photo while walking out the door!  Cuz I thought to myself "I'm gonna be a gross, sweaty mess by 3 o'clock!!  And I swear in the photos I take like this I attempt to show my feet then when I snap they disappear!  I am a bad selfie-taker...but still do it all the time!

{FOUR}

So yesterday I  saw that there were some new words added to the Oxford dictionary. These are some silly-ass words!  You just have to laugh!!  Some of these new words include: awesomesauce, hangry, mic drop, and manspreading.  I know these words well and now it seems they are "official"!  But my personal favorites...Wine O'Clock and Beer O'clock!  Both refer to the time of day you start drinking! {or basically anytime of day...LOL} See the whole list here!

{FIVE}

Have you seen this!?   So super cute and funny !  What a great way to get the teachers all pumped for a new school year!! Wish the sound was a little more clear...but creative and fun nonetheless!! Worth a watch!!

Hope your weekend's awesomesauce!!! :)    It's the last weekend of the summer for me, so I'm gonna soak up the SUN!!

Linking up today with:

Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites 

September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday!

April and the girls for Five on Friday

Jennie for Friday Favorites

Caitlin and the girls for High Five for Friday

  

Random Thoughts for a Thursday!

Have some more random thoughts floating around in my head that just need to get out I suppose!  So here goes...
Thanks in advance for reading my ridiculousness!!

I slept great last night!  Fell asleep before 11 and woke at 7:15.  I am not yet going to say that was due to the new lavender essential oil I put on before bed but...looks promising!!

I also put the stress away on my neck before bed (because now we are working on Day four of this pain!) and it's not 100% all gone but a lot less restrictive today.  Maybe there is something to this essential oil trend!  Look forward to using more of them.

It's really annoying when I'm typing and I look up to see my damn cursor has moved on its own and is no longer typing where I want it too!  This has been a problem for like a week!  UGH!!

Instead of blogging I should be enrolling kids in classes!  Now that I went to the "unofficial" first day of school yesterday, it is sincerely time to get my ASS IN GEAR!!  And maybe find a really, really, really, really, really, important thing I seem to have lost this summer!!

Is it bad that I wish death to all crickets?  I have one right outside my front window!  And he's not only there at at night.  Oh NO!  He's there all freaking day!!  Is there any more annoying sound?

I'm still struggling with my broken Keurig every morning.  I tweeted about it and they actually responded.  So I called customer service and while listening to the recordings it said I would need my serial number.  I hung up and haven't called back because I have to find that.  I'm just lazy about it I guess.  And you know what???...it feels GREAT screaming and cursing at your Keurig first thing in the morning!  And then WOO HOOing when it finally works!

So needless to say, I've only had one cup of coffee lately.  But it's ok...it frees me up for a vodka and OJ in the sun at 11!  HA!!  Just kidding Ma! #ornot  #solitarylifeprobs

I have high hopes I'll finish three books this weekend!  No...really!!

Saturday is two years since I moved into my Forever Home!  Trying to think of a post to put together for it.  Last year I posted this!  But I think I may do a second installment of this! (one of my all time favorite posts!) I kinda love my little house...

I'm not 100% sure that when I reply to comments on the blog, people get them!  I went in my spam folder in my email yesterday and saw all there messages that said undeliverable!  WHAT!?!? I have to investigate that.  I read and love all your comments!!  THANK YOU!!!

I'm seeing Fall EVERYWHERE!!  And I'm not ready for summer to end!

I'm sure next week when it's 90, humid and I'm in school melting, I'll feel differently!  But now...nope...I'm holding on!! Summer Forever!!


What random thoughts are floating around in your head today?!?  Share them with me in the comments below!!

Have a great day!!

Linking up with Vanessa and Penny Today!

In case you missed it!

I thought it'd be fun to do a little recap of the week on the blog!  Because I blogged every day!  And I'm not really sure when that's ever going to happen again.  School starts back up officially on September 1st.  This week I have to go in, do a few things in my library, take a course and attend the Welcome Back Barbecue.  So I guess you could say SUMMER'S OVER! {insert sad face here}

I've had a ton of fun blogging this summer!  And this week was one of the most eventful!  Take a peek and check out anything you might have missed!

Monday I recapped my Saturday spent with My Summer Love    aka  Kenny Chesney:)

Since my Saturday post was so long (and fabulous!) I split my weekend recap in two and posted about Sunday's Happy Heart Day on Tuesday!

Wednesday was just Wonder-ful.  I had a little feature on Leslie's blog!  I reviewed my all-time favorite book Wonder!  Check out my post about it here and read my review of the book on Leslie's blog here!

After thinking about it a lot and reading so many other fun posts in the link-up, I decided to jump on in and share some memories of Me in High School on Thursday!  I realized I'm very grateful to have those high school memories, but am sooo happy they are behind me!

Friday was the LAST EVER Style Me Bloggers Link-up!  We are on to bigger things as a group and will no longer be posting under this name.!! Quite simply we've outgrown it!   But before we go we shared a bit about the people and things we are inspired by!  

These people are my biggest inspiration. You can read more about them here!  And check out the awesome posts of my fellow bloggy friends while you're there!

Hope you are having a fun weekend and a great week ahead!!

Happy Heart Day Dad!

Yesterday I posted all about my Saturday at the Kenny Chesney concert.  It being so long and detailed, I HAD to split my weekend recap into two.  And Sunday was so fun anyway, it deserves it's own post.

Sunday was dubbed HAPPY HEART DAY in our family!  

Ten years ago this month, my dad had triple bypass surgery.  It was really a crazy time.  He went to the doctor on a Friday not ever expecting to not come home again for more than two weeks!  He thought at the most that day he would need a stint.  But the doctors admitted him immediately and a quadruple bypass was scheduled for that Monday.  When they went in, they found he needed a triple.  Apparently dad had had a heart attack without even knowing it, a few weeks before.  Now he spends his days exercising, eating better, and consuming more pills than is probably normal...but hey, if it's keeps him with us...it works!!

So, because in our family we celebrate everything, on Sunday we celebrated Dad's 10 years of better health and clear arteries!  My sister Tara thought this up on the day of our Cousins Reunion party last weekend. {Something I never got around to posting a weekend recap about!  Maybe a Sunday Funday that was a little too much fun was to blame!!} Everyone thought it was a great idea.  My family is always up for a party.

We arrived at Tara's around 1:30 on Sunday for a day of sun, fun, and swimming.  The weather was beautiful and everyone had a blast.  The pool area was decorated with heart balloons.  All the food was heart healthy. The dessert was a little less healthy but it was heart-shaped and the cheat of the day! We talked a little bit about that time 10 years ago, too! Mostly the fact that half of dad's grandkids didn't exist yet.

Some more  pictures of the fun!!

Pool Fun!

The cake mom made!

The chaos that is dessert with 9 kids!!

I'm not really sure why no one wore red but for some reason every single one of us showed up in coral.  Even Dad.  This sadly is not the first time this has happened, with this exact same color! Maybe we're just an "on trend" family!  HA!

Mom doesn't like to be left out!

The Original Six

And the award for best picture of the summer goes to....

Perfect shot with the water gun!!

Only Mom is unphased by this!!  Everything is always fabulous in Linda-Land!!

I just love my family!  We said numerous times that day that you just don't know what will happen from one day to the next, so you have to be grateful each day you are given on this earth. So we are. And we know that not everyone is as lucky as our dad when it comes to hearts!!  

Dad thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention on Sunday!  And hopes we can celebrate him again in another 10 years!!