High Five for Friday

Linking up to From My Grey Desk for High Five for Friday. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

1. My new apron. My Grandma made this for me for my birthday. I love it!!

2. Fresh corn and peaches for supper this week. Yum!


3. My mom and I are having a sleepover this weekend :) I can't wait. We're going to be watching one of the best tv shows ever: Felicity. We used to watch it together when I was in high school. I bought the 1st season for this weekend.

4. I've fallen in love with Butter Toffee coffee from Gloria Jean's for my Keurig. It not only tastes delicious but makes the house smell so good.

5. Found this adorable print on Pinterest this week. I love it.

Pinned here.

Bittersweet 20's Design

How cute is my top?! My very crafty friend Erica made it for me. She's a rockstar on the sewing machine. One day at work, we decided that we could make a fun side business with this. She would be the talented, creative brains behind the operation and I would be her extra set of hands to help. Therefore, Bittersweet 20's Design was born. We're anxious to get started, so if you want a fun shirt like this, visit our blog or our Etsy shop and let us know.  Also, we've got another creation on the way to show you here shortly. So keep your eyes out!

Top: Bittersweet 20's Design

Capris: Gap Outlet

Shoes: Target

Necklace: Target

Watch: Fossil

Bracelet: Tiffany & Co.

What I Read Wednesday

The book I'm (Michele) reviewing is the second book in the Kingkiller Chronicle, called The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfus. In this story Kvothe, the Innkeeper continues to tell his life story to The Chronicler. He has agreed to tell his story in three days. This book is day two. 

In the present day Kvothe, who goes by the name Kote, is an Innkeeper and nothing like his former self. He had described himself as follows: "My name is Kvothe. I have stolen Princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felvian and left with both my sanity and life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during the day. I have talked to Gods, loved women and written songs that make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me."

We don't know what has made this great man turn into a shadow of his former self. The main theme in this story is that Kvothe wants to find and destroy the "Chandrian" a group of seven who murdered his family and left him an orphan as a young boy. I can't wait for book number three!

Recreate

Found this cute outfit on Pinterest and I've been on the hunt for a pink blazer ever since. A perfect casual, summer outfit that I thought would be easy to recreate.

            

                                                                     Pinned here.

Blazer: Nordstrom Rack

Dress: Victoria's Secret via ebay

Shoes: Libby Edelman

Leopard bracelet: Shopbelina.com

Watch: Fossil

Silver bracelet: Tiffany & co.

What would I do without my moms clothes?

Good morning! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I borrowed this skirt from my mom over the weekend. It's so cute! And of course you already know how much I love this denim shirt, so I won't go into that :)

Top: Target

Skirt: Nordstrom Rack (borrowed from mom)

Belt: Wet Seal

Shoes: DSW.com

Watch: Fossil

Bracelet: Tiffany & Co.

Nail polish: Pink Voltage Neon by China Glaze

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday everyone! Linking up to From My Grey Desk for High Five for Friday. Have a great one :)

1. Got my Birchbox last week! My favorite was the moisturizer from Likewise.

2. Birthday gifts :) I got this beautiful necklace from my parents:

And a Keurig from my husband! Yeah!!!

3. View of Chicago from Lake Michigan

4. Went to see Rock of Ages this week. SOOO good! Super funny and great music.

5. Happy Birthday weekend to my brother :) Below is a picture of us from way back when!

Neon pink

This dress is one of the pieces I got in Chicago, that I showed on Tuesday's blog post. Super comfortable and super bright too. I've been getting comments all day "Wow, your dress is bright!" Kind of hard to tell in the pictures but just take my word for it :)

Holy freckles, Mackenzie! 

Dress: H & M

Belt: Forever 21

Shoes: Michael Kors

Necklace: birthday gift from my parents

Watch: Fossil

Bracelet: Tiffany & Co.

What I Read Wednesday

Again for this week we're not really going to do a book review. I've (Mackenzie) always been a big reader, but never really knew how many books I was reading in a given year. So at the beginning of 2012 I started to keep track. It looks like I average a little less than 10 books a month, so I've given myself a goal of finishing 100 books by the end of this year. Below is a list of the books I've read so far. The ones with this * beside them are my favorites so far.

Books I read in 2012:

1. A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg*

2. The Next Always by Nora Roberts*

3. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova *

4. Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis*

5. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty*

6. Christy by Catherine Marshall*

7. The Bible (Although I haven't finished this yet, I read it everyday and am on track to complete it by the end of the year)

8. One For The Money by Janet Evanovich

9. Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

10. Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe

11. The End of Normal by Stephanie Madoff-Mack

12. My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife by Sara Horn

13. Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

14. Seriously….I’m Kidding by Ellen Degeneres

15. Still Alice by Lisa Genova

16. The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From An Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond*

17. Choosing To See by Mary-Beth Chapman

18. Worth Fighting For by Lisa Niemi Swayze

19. Bond Girl by Erin Duffy

20. Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand

21. The Litigators by John Grisham

22. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins*

23. Creative Counterpart by Linda Dillow*

24. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins*

25. Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gisenne Bullock-Prado

26. Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

27. Paris, My Sweet by Amy Thomas*

28. The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier by Ree Drummond*

29. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins*

30. The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

31. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling

32. Good In A Crisis by Margaret Overton

33. The Good Father by Noah Hawley *

34. Home Front by Kristin Hannah

35. Reshaping It All by Candace Cameron-Bure

36. The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey*

37. Come Home by Lisa Scottoline

38. Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson*

39. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp*

40. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

41. The Vow by Kim & Krickitt Carpenter

42. Skipping  A Beat by Sarah Pekkanen

43. Damage Control by Denise Hamilton*

44. The Darlings by Cristina Alger*

45. Another Piece of my Heart by Jane Green

46. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

47. Scarpetta’s Winter Table by Patricia Cornwell

48. Heaven Is Here by Stephanie Nielsen

49. The One Year Book of Inspiration for Girlfriends by Ellen Miller*

50. My Life in France by Julia Child*

What have been your favorites so far this year?

Chicago trip

We had a wonderful time in Chicago celebrating my birthday! I got a lot of shopping done, we visited Shedd Aquarium, took a water taxi to Navy Pier and did a lot of eating :) Such a great time!

Below are all of the goodies I found while shopping: 

Accessories: Forever 21

Dress: H & M

Skirt: H & M

Blazer: Nordstrom Rack

Top: Nordstrom Rack

Top: Francesca's

Skirt: Francesca's

St. Tropez Bronzing Mousse, Daisy Marc Jacobs perfume and Fresh Sugar mini lip duo: Sephora

While I was in Chicago I couldn't find any shoes I liked, so I purchased both pairs of these when I got home. I found them online at dsw.com. They sent me a $5 off birthday coupon!

Belated Father's Day

My parents

I (Michele)  wanted to write a blog honoring my dad for Father's Day.  I wanted it to be real not words that we say after someone important to us dies. My dad was not the dad that wanted to be with us all the time or always involved in our lives. He wasn't always the kind of dad I wanted to have and I wasn't always the daughter he wanted. I was closer to my mom, I wasn't daddy's little girl, well there was a time when I was closer to him. We would sit around the table and talk about God and how we should live our lives. My dad's father died when my dad was young and although his mother remarried he was never close to him. He didn't have a good father figure around and said he had no one to model after. My dad was the one who told my mom to just shut the door when my room was a mess and not to get worked up over it. He was the one who had a talk with me after my mom smelled me smoking in the bathroom when he was gone on a business trip. In Jr. High he was the guy all my boyfriends hung out with, they would say they were coming over to see me but they ended up with my dad. The boy's in my class always wanted him to chase them. They would call me to see if my dad was home and then would come over at night and have my dad chase them out of our yard. Ha-Ha. They still talk about it today. 


When I went to  college for three years and then quit, he never reminded me that he had paid for all three years and what a waste. He said any college at all was good. When I got older and left home my relationship with my dad faded and I became closer to my mom. When I would call home my dad would talk to me for a minute and then say let me give the phone to your mom. He was the one however who when my two year old daughter got sick and was in the hospital for a month would cry so much that I had to tell him to dry his eyes our he couldn't go see her because she would be scared. He is also the one who 19 years later cried with me when she got sick again with melanoma. He was scared to lose someone he loved. I think this was because he had lost his father and knew what a void they left in your life. When I had children he wrote me a letter once and said that now that I had children of my own I knew how he he felt about me. I was so surprised, my dad loved me as much as I loved my children, that was something I had never thought about before.


Life went on and my dad had a bad bout with cancer but came out of it. He then made a dream of his come true when he and my mom moved to Branson Mo. It wasn't until the second round of cancer when he was in the hospital for months that I was able to let my dad know what he meant to me. I was able to help care for him, to be there in the night when he called out and my mom was exhausted. To help feed him and watch him learn to feed himself again. My dad made me proud of him each day he fought on. He didn't become bitter and strived to be positive. He clung to God and to my mom. I was able to tell him I loved him and hug him and tell him everything would be alright. We knew this didn't mean he would be all right but that the rest of us would go on. At his visitation I heard many stories about him. How even though it wasn't the business' policy he let people have more days off when they had a sick parent, or how he had got someone a job and how he had created a job at the plant for someone whose job was being eliminated. My dad was a reader and a fisherman. He lived his dream of living on the water in Branson. He loved my mom! I love you Dad!

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday! I took a day off yesterday. I've had a lot going on this week and decided just to take a break for a day. Hoping to be back on track for next week! Linking up to From My Grey Desk again for High Five for Friday. Enjoy your weekend :)

1. Date night with my husband last weekend :) This is what I wore:

Top: Charlotte Russe

Boyfriend jeans: American Eagle

Shoes: Payless

Necklace: Forever 21

Also, I'm wearing hair extensions. I got them at Sally's....LOVE them! They're so fun.

2. Stack of magazines. All four came in the mail the same day. Even better, I only pay for a subscription for one of them. The other three I get for free!

3. My mom brought in birthday treats to work! What a nice suprirse :)

4. Last week I started an online bible study led by Mandy at Biblical Homemaking entitled "Walking Through The Gospel". I think it will be a lot of fun. If you haven't checked out her blog before, I suggest it. She has such a big heart for the Lord! I strive to be like that. Come along and do the online study with us!

5. Happy Birthday to me :)

Pinned here.