D-I-Y D-Y-E?

I was so excited to get some highlights added in to my hair in December, and it's definitely time to make another move ... do I add more highlights? Lowlights? All-over color?

My "perfect" color ... via Jetting to the Wedding

Here's my question: is it worth the risk of doing at-home?

I just am having a difficult time finding a 2-3 hour block of time to schedule this hair appointment. I don't want to give up any of my precious weekend time with the family, and I don't want to take a half-day from work. What do I really think would be convenient? At-home color while I'm sitting on my own couch, catching up on emails and watching Girls!

So tell me ... have you had luck with this? What are the brands to try (and steer clear of)? If you are a hairdresser, please give me your honest opinion, too ... lay it on me.

Scrimping + Saving ... The Frugalista

I heard a quote once about money that really stuck with me: "It's not about what you MAKE, it's what you KEEP."

(I'm gonna let us all marinate in that one for a bit.)

Good stuff, right?

One topic I always love talking to friends about is how we scrimp and save. Ways to enjoy life without all of the excess and unnecessary worry about finances. Here are three ways that I have recently made a dent in my spending and a boost in my income.

//1//
Research pricing and don't wait until you NEED something to buy it!
There are a few things that we will always need in our home: laundry detergent, trash bags, paper towels, and diapers, for example. I was amazed last week when I made a quick drugstore stop to get a refill for our Diaper Genie in the nursery. The brand-name refill was $11.99 for one refill. Twelve dollars for this is just staggering, and I refused to support that insane pricing by purchasing it. So I immediately hopped on Amazon and bought this 4-pack for less than $20 -- yep, $5/each rather than $12 ... less than half-price.

Another example is with our laundry detergent. My husband has sensitive skin so we use this laundry detergent (which is great because I can wash baby clothes in it, too). Recently I was randomly in a CVS -- not a place I shop often -- and they had this detergent as buy one, get two free. So, detergent at a third of the original price? I didn't need it just yet, but I stocked up!

//2//
Let someone else pay full price.
You all know my love for consigning clothes and home goods. Consignment stores, consignment sales, Facebook buying/selling groups, and of course, our Charlotte branch of Fickle Resale. Speaking of, I was just given a good number of free half-year memberships to give out. If you are in Charlotte and are looking to buy/sell some of your nicer items (think Lilly, Tory, Trina, Kate, Lululemon, Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs, Matilda Jane, etc) - email me at alizadventures@ymail.com and I will get you set up. And if you have already purchased a membership, we are treating our members to a little surcee ... six extra months of membership tacked right on. :)

//3//
Shop smart online.
Every time I make an online purchase, I start on one website: Ebates. I am sure you are familiar with this site -- but if not, you can get an invitation to join here. There are so many participating stores that it makes sense to always check it out.

For example:
Need diapers? Order them on walmart.com, get 4% back on home and baby products with Ebates (and free shipping if your order totals $50 ... so go ahead and throw in some wipes, paper towels, etc!).

Need a new blender? Order it from amazon.com, get 3% back using Ebates

When I order my favorite fleece wrap from nordstrom.com - get 6% back using Ebates, and Nordstrom offers free shipping

Renewing a magazine, get 40% back with magazines.com through Ebates

Ordering flowers for someone's birthday or Mothers' Day, get 12% back with Proflowers through Ebates


So there are my three tried-and-true ways to save a penny.
I'd love to hear your ideas, too!

Spring Forward

I am so excited to start embracing the lighter, girlier styles now that we have "sprung forward!"

Here in Charlotte, that still doesn't mean that it's warm enough to go out without layers (our Carolina weather can be quite unpredictable), but it does mean that I don't feel as guilty trading in my black, navy, and emerald for baby pink, celery, and white. I almost pulled out my white jeans just yesterday to wear and then told myself to give it just a leeeeeee-tle more time.

We were a bit thrown off by the time change on Sunday morning, but other than that I am just so excited about longer days, dinner on the grill, and playing with Camille on a quilt outside after work. Yesterday we had some friends over in the late afternoon and it was just heavenly having the kids playing in the grass and lazing around on the big blanket and feeling the sunshine on my arms.

Here's to a wonderful Spring, heading our way!

Saturday Sip + Shop

Sip:


via Two Tarts

Winter Sun Cocktail
Clementine juice, vodka, rosemary? Sign me up.
click here for recipe

Shop:


NYX Tango with Bronzing Powder, When Leopard Gets A Tan
Available here on Amazon and less than $10!
I'm sorry but that is the cutest bronzer ever, and I need it now more than ever. So pale!

Five On Friday: Bunco, Lululemon, New Mama Must-Haves

It's time for another edition of Five on Friday and I do hope you'll join me, Darci, Christina, and Natasha!

Remember, all you have to do is post about five things on your mind, add our logo (found at the bottom of this post), and join the party using the linky tools below. Easy, and a great way to find new blogs and be found. :)

O N E
We had our third ever Bunco this week, and I loved seeing the girls! I always used to hear my mom talking about Bunco and I had no idea what it was all about or why a dice game was so darn fun. Now I get it. An easy game to play, a little gambling, a fair amount of wine, and of course, great girlfriend time!

T W O
Any expectant mothers out there, my friend Justine did an awesome recap of her must-haves for new moms in this post. Her "Momiform" is exactly what I wear several times a week! She is a mom of four (four!) adorable kiddos, three girls and a baby boy, so she definitely has some great experience and advice. Plus, I just love how cheery and optimistic she is.



T H R E E
When we were in Blowing Rock, NC recently, Ian bought me a Furman Tervis Tumbler. It's really the smallest things that make us happy ... sipping water during the day out of a cup representing my alma mater just brings a smile to my face!

Furman Tervis Tumbler

F O U R
Do you have a group of girls you just click with, effortlessly? That's our lunch bunch for me. We had lunch one day this week and it was a great little workday escape! We try to get together at least every two weeks.

F I V E
I treated myself to a little fun Fickle purchase this week - a Lululemon tank for $20! If you are in Charlotte, love consignment buying/selling, and are interested in joining Fickle Resale, please let me know. We have some exciting changes coming soon which will grow the group even larger, so I'm really stoked!

Additionally, we are looking to add to our team of reps, so if you know of someone who loves consignment purchasing, is social media savvy, and is looking to make a little side-hustle, tell them to contact me!

Here's hoping that tank will help me rev up my workout game. Anyone interested in a Fitbit challenge next week? Let me know your username below, and we'll get one going!

TGIF y'all, and hope you will join in on Five on Friday this week. Cheers to the weekend!

Muddled Blueberry Moscow Mule Recipe

You may know by now that I have a weakness for a creative cocktail, and when I was given an opportunity to try out the Arctic Chill muddler, I was all in. This muddler features a stainless steel grip with a grooved nylon head.

I'd been looking for new twists to the traditional Moscow Mule recipe, and this Muddled Blueberry Moscow Mule was definitely a winner. Fresh blueberries muddled together with half of a lime, topped with lots of ice, blueberry vodka, and ginger beer -- so refreshing, and easy to make.

Muddling is an easy way to take a cocktail up to the next level. Muddle fruits like berries, citrus wedges, watermelon -- herbs like thyme, mint, rosemary -- or even kick it up a notch with a muddled jalapeno slice or hot pepper. I will definitely be muddling some fresh jalapeno slices in my next margarita. Cocktail possibilities galore!

For this particular cocktail, I followed this recipe:

Muddled Blueberry Moscow Mule

makes 2

Blueberry vodka

One bottle ginger beer

Small handful blueberries

One lime

Ice

Slice your lime in half and use a citrus squeezer to add the juice to each copper mug. Toss the hull of the lime in each mug. Add in blueberries to each mug and use your muddler to muddle, muddle, muddle all of those great flavors together. Top each mug off with 2oz. blueberry vodka, half of the bottle of ginger beer (which is non-alcoholic), and enough ice to fill the mug. Done!

Now it's time to concoct your own! 

Can't find ginger beer? Amazon has a 4-pack from Sur La Table for $8 (here).

Moscow Mule copper mugs are also on Amazon, both of these options are Prime eligible too!

Set of 4 16oz. mugs (available here)

Set of 2 16oz. mugs (available here)

The citrus squeezer I love is this one. I like it because it's a 2-in-1 and does lemons and limes.

I also am a huge fan of my electric juicer, a wedding gift that we use all the time!

Happy muddling, happy cocktailing! Cheers!

Cheesy Cauliflower Bake

Cauliflower FOR THE WIN.

No, seriously. This dish is so tasty.

The experimentation started Friday night with a dish my mom found on Pinterest, twice baked cauliflower. She made it and it was quite yummy, but we both thought that with a few more tweaks it could be even more amazing. So here's what I came up with this past Sunday night.

Cheesy Cauliflower Bake

1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets

1/2 block reduced fat cream cheese

1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Salt and pepper

Paprika

Spray an 8x8 glass dish with non-stick cooking spray and preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot, boil cauliflower florets until they slip easily off the tines of your fork. Drain off water. Add in the cream cheese and mash together with a potato masher. Once combined well, add 3/4 cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese to the mixture and stir together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour into glass baking dish and top with remaining 3/4 cup shredded cheese. Sprinkle paprika on top and bake until the cheese on top is golden and bubbly.

We could not get enough of this tasty, low-carb side dish.

I served it alongside a pot roast. It was a great substitution for mashed potatoes and we both went back for seconds!

Thoughts On Tuesday

Thoughts on Tuesday, here we go!

February Goals: I mentioned my February wellness goals in this post. I set two health-related goals to ensure that I was challenging myself but not setting myself up for failure.

Well, I didn't do so great at my 10,000 steps at least twice a week goal.

Week one, bam. Hit it on 2/6 and 2/8 (I used Monday-Sunday as my week so that's why 2/8 was included in week one).

And the other weeks of the month, I didn't hit 10,000 twice in a week. In fact, I didn't hit 10,000 at all after 2/8. It was freezing in February and we decided to cancel our gym membership, so I just couldn't get outdoors like I planned to. Lessons learned? Get in more movement around the house, look into workout DVDs or YouTube channels, and consider walking around the mall in cold temps.

My second goal was to start each day with hot lemon water. I did this nearly every single day. Success! I certainly felt healthier when I did this, but I don't know if I saw any dramatic changes that I could attribute directly to the lemon water. However, I do believe it was healthy so I will likely continue this habit.

The Ja-Vie Cheetah Flat Giveaway: Congratulations to the winner of the drawing, Emily R.! Emily, I will email you so I can get these shipped to your door. I had the BEST time reading through every entrant's happy moments -- baby news, good health updates, job/interview successes, snow day fun, good family moments. All in all, I had 58 emails between Friday and Monday of positive things happening in peoples' lives. Tell me that wouldn't make you a happy person, reading all of that positivity.

Emily, I hope you love your flats ... I know I certainly live in mine! They are perfect to throw on with skinny jeans for a girls night or with yoga pants for errands.

Here are some of my favorite prints, all available on Amazon.

Camel Leopard (here)

Navy and Khaki (here, presently on sale)

Gold Cap / Chocolate (here)

Parrot Green Cap / Hibiscus (here)

Green Camouflage (here)

So thank you again for all of your positive, cheery, and uplifting emails. I learned from that little exercise how the smallest personal email can have the biggest, most positive impact. So I am vowing from now on to take the time and make the effort to reach out to friends on a more personal basis. Not just by double-tapping on their Instagram photo or liking their Facebook post, either.

I'm making that my March wellness goal ... and I'm sticking to it.