The modern and chic coffee table you never knew you needed

The kids actually went to sleep pretty fast tonight thank God! Let me tell you, bedtimes have been a bit stressful for me...who am I kidding? Very stressful these days, because Ava only wants me to put her down. She's very much going through a "mommy only" phase. So at bedtime just when I think one or two, or all three are ready to drift off into dreamland, they need yet another sip of water, or they decided they need a stuffed animal to sleep with, or they do in fact need to use the bathroom. Arghhh!!! Sometimes it takes forever for them to get settled and then I've had it. I console myself with the fact that one day bedtime will get easier, and then chocolate. Hey, but on the Ava sleeping front, she had 4 good nights in a row this week. That's great progress! 

I've gone off on a tangent here about bedtime when we're supposed to be talking about coffee tables. I've actually been on the hunt for awhile even before we bought our new sofas. I knew I wanted one with a white table top, or all white, so it wouldn't of mattered what sofa's I bought, it was going to match. Usually my first stop is Offer Up. I am very much a bargain shopper. If I can buy it used and refurbish it myself, that's the route I'll go first. I didn't see anything that I really liked so I moved to looking at new one's online. I ended up falling in love with one from Joss & Main and it's the perfect size for our living room! The white table top and gold legs are super chic and fit my color palette perfectly. 

Gold & White coffee table: {Joss & Main}

White tray: Similar {Here}

Teal glass votive candle holder: {Target}

White faux flowers: HomeGoods

Gold peacock box: {Target}

I love how the neutral setting allows me to easily interchange items when I get the urge. Also, all the Opalhouse decor from Target was all marked down on clearance when I bought it, but showing regular price online. The tray was actually only $5.

Here are a few other gorgeous coffee tables that I considered, though if you have small children and are paranoid like me, you may not want anything that's glass or has corners. 

{Pier1}

{Pier1}

{Pier1}

{Joss&Main}

Have a great Thursday!

Little frozen treats for my sweets...

Happy Monday all. We had a low key weekend. I actually relaxed this weekend and watched a lot of soccer. Have you been watching the World Cup? Gosh it really makes me miss playing soccer. The last time I played on a team was when I was 28. I actually quit because we were trying to conceive again and I didn't want to do anything that was too strenuous. Here we are years later with 4 girls. Crazy how life works.

It's been so hot already that we couldn't pass up buying some freezer ice pop molds recently. My girl's have a sweet tooth just like me so I try to find healthy alternatives. We're a big fan of making homemade limeade so we made some the other day and froze it in molds for popsicles. I'm not a fan of store bought popsicles for them.

Here's what you need to make limeade:

7-8 limes

About half a cup of sugar

Juicer

Cut your limes in half

Squeeze them in your pitcher

Once you've squeezed your limes, then add water to fill and finally sugar. 

Just pour in the molds, top, and freeze for a few hours. Enjoy the leftover limeade with dinner. 

Freezer Ice pops: {Walmart}

When I bought these, they were only 96 cents, but they are now advertised for $5.98. My one complaint would be that they are a little hard to pull out once frozen, but I saw on one review that you can run them under warm water before you pull them out. 

Here a a few other yummy recipes for freezer ice pops:

Melon ice pops: https://www.asweetpeachef.com

Blueberry yogurt ice pops: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com

Strawberry yogurt ice pops: https://www.tastesoflizzyt.com

Strawberry cheescake yogurt pops: https://cupcakesandkalechips.com

DIY open picture frame display with crystals!

I realize I haven't blogged in about 2 weeks. I thought things were going to get a lot calmer now that the kids are out of school and I had grand plans to write at least 3 times a week again, but life! What can I tell you? It happens when we are busy making plans. I've really just been busy with the kids and Serena has a pretty busy schedule this summer as well, so driving to and from here and there is still several times a week. It is what it is though and while I'm still going to bed exhausted and waking up exhausted, I feel pretty content and happy these days. I've been tackling a lot of house projects and the creativity of it feeds my soul.

For a couple months now, Serena has been telling me that she wants to display several pictures on her main wall. If it was up to her she would have just rolled up a piece of tape, stuck it on the back and haphazardly placed them on the wall. I told her I could do her one better and suggested we make some sort of frame and keep it nice and neat. In my mind I envisioned an ornate decorative white frame, with crystal beaded string and the little clothes pins. I'd say in the end she met me halfway. 

I was watching Offer up for a while for a huge cheap picture frame, but when I would look I couldn't find anything under $30. Last week we went to Walmart and she ended up choosing a plain black frame for $18. Not too bad I suppose but after I started painting the frame, it dawned on me that I should have looked at Goodwill. Ah you live and you learn though.

Alright so here's what you're going to need for this project:

* Frame of your choice

* String of your choice. Don't get sewing thread. Use skinny twine, leather cord or nylon thread.

* Push pins

* Clothespins of your choice. You can find several different types in Michael's

* Drilled crystals or any other embellishments

First you want to take out the glass or plastic in frame so it's completely open and then paint it if you're changing the color. 

Another tip for you is if you are going to paint the frame, wood would be best. This is plastic and it was a bit of a pain. Wood is much easier to paint.

Walla! One white frame ready.

So the next thing you want to do is lay the frame down so the front part is on the floor, and with a pencil mark where you want each cord to go. In our case we just used a 4x6 picture to measure one bottom from the next. Next, grab a push pin and tie several knots on the pin part.

Push the pin with the string down into the frame. On the other side pull it taut and repeat on the other side. Do that for each row. We did 3 rows. 

One thing though, if you are using drilled crystals or gems, be sure to thread them on first before you push the pin in on the other side. 

Tada!

When I was trying to get the inner part of the frame off, I accidentally knocked off the hook for the nail to go on and secure in the wall, so I used command strips instead. I hope this tutorial was helpful! Have a great Wednesday.

Birthday weekend wrap-up + Summer plans

Friday was my birthday and the last day of summer. Much to celebrate! The day started out pretty good but quickly morphed into another busy day of chauffering my kids around. By 5:00 pm I was hangry mom because once again I only managed to fit in like two bites for lunch. I wanted to celebrate with the kids also so H suggested Benihana at Lauderdale by the sea. The food was so-so, but the experience was fun for the kids. Afterwards we drove down a little and walked to the beach, and then had more dessert at a sweet shop. It really did end up being a great night. 

I wish I had gotten non-grainy pictures of my dress, but I'm always rushing and H is always rushing me, and it's hard to get decent pictures of my outfits when I'm with him. This dress is super cute for the summer and when I bought it in person it was $22.99, but online it's $34.99. It fits true to size and is super comfortable. My wedges are a few years old from PacSun. I linked something similar below.

Strapless shirt dress: {Macy's}

Orange wedges: {Shesimplyshops}

Straw clutch: {Michael's}

White tassel earrings: {Target}

The next day we had an awards gala that night and I still hadn't found a new dress. Usually Lord & Taylor is my go to spot but I actually couldn't find anything that fit right. I also tried Macy's and also nothing. I headed to Saks fifth avenue outlet and kicked myself for not remembering to go there in the first place. They carry a lot of smaller sizes and I found a really pretty strapless coral dress. 

Coral Likely dress: {Saksfifthavenue} similar. Online there are several colors but the top isn't scalloped.

Turquoise statement necklace: {Stellaandruby}

Sunday we relaxed a bit and took the kids to the park. We also signed them up for a few summer camps. Layla will be doing 3 camps and Mariam will be doing 2. It was pretty hard to convince her to do any. Ava is still to young for camps and Serena will be staying busy with babysitting one of my neighbors kids down the street and volunteering. We don't have any out-of-state trips planned this summer but one of my nephew's is coming early July and then my other nephew and my older brother mid July. He'll be helping us remodel our Florida room and possibly a few other things around the house if time permits. I have high hopes of a pleasant summer with the kids, but they are unpredicatable ha-ha, so I'm already working on ways to be more zen and reduce my stress level. I still have my business as well that needs my time so I have to have a good plan to give everything and everyone the attention it/they need. 

Happy Tuesday!