Costumed

Need some ideas for all the dress up parties that are coming at you over the next 7 days? Don't worry. My and my girls have got you covered with outfits of old and what we are looking forward to being this year! Meet the crew. 

And their alter-costumed-egos.

PS. My Name is Madeline - "I'm going for the whole Madeline thing again at school in fourth grade. The kids like it, because they've read the book, and it's a pretty easy costume seeing as I already have it. Now, when I get home that evening, I will transform into Pepper Potts, along with my husband, Tony Stark. What do we plan on doing while in costume? Obviously, saving the world. We may have time to eat some candy and scare little kiddos afterward.. but I doubt it. Saving the world is pretty time consuming."

Life With Amberly and Joe - "This is the costume that I'm most proud of! I was a starving college student so I had to be creative and resourceful. I was a devil! We are lame and don't dress up. I love to dress up, but my husband doesn't and Halloween is his birthday so we usually celebrate that instead. Our first Halloween together, we'd just started dating and we went to a party together a couple of days before the actual holiday. I dressed as a fairy, and because Joe didn't have or want a costume, I wrote 'Muggle' on a piece of paper and we hung it around his neck with a string. When we have kids, I'm sure it will be a different story because we will dress them up and I won't be able to resist dressing up to take them trick-or-treating. Maybe even making our costumes coordinate."

Chevron and Lace - "I have NO idea what our family is going to do for Halloween, but I do have a photo of one of my all-time favorite costumes. DUCT TAPE WOMAN!" Side note: Susan might not know what they are being but she has the CUTEST child's fox costume for sale in her shop. Obsessed.

Oh, Just Living the Dream - "One year I was Shirley Temple - check out that photo! I am planning on dressing up as a cat for Halloween this year! I am a schoolteacher so I will be with my students all day on Halloween, but in the afternoon I will be taking my little sister in law trick or treating and playing fun Halloween games and watching Hocus Pocus, of course! Happy Halloween!"

A Little Too Jolley - "I went as a ceiling fan to a trunk or treat because I didn't have a costume. Haha! I really want to be a princess this year, who doesn't? I know we are going to Frightmares at Lagoon in Utah this year sometime in October, but as for Halloween night, probably escorting my little brothers around the neighborhood for candy!"

A Muse in Purple - "OK so you are going to think I'm a complete lunatic but last year I started a tradition of dressing up with my dog. So...this year I'm going to try and do the same thing. This year I'm going to try and dress up like the characters from Star Wars. My dog Tucker is going to be a Wookie aka Chewbacca and I'm going to be Princess Leia."

And as for Adam and myself.... we were a deer and a hunter. Because. That seemed like a fun idea. Actually. We debated a lot because it was our first time dressing up together. So we now have ideas for the next fifty years of costumes probs. But this one stems from Pinterest, and I am pretty darn proud of how it turned out!

But I am allllll about the Halloween costumes. You can check out some of my oldies (but goodies) over here. So if you didn't already have an idea, hopefully we gave you some ideas to run with. What are your Halloween plans? What are you dressing up as this year?

PS. CONGRATULATIONS TO KAYCIE EDDIE! You won a free teeth whitening from Marz Ortho.
Email me at lovetheskinnys [at] gmail [dot] com to claim your prize!

5 Dates || Guest Post

I'm assuming if you are here on Deidre's blog you were drawn in by her love story. Well in honor of her love story, I wanted to share some fun date ideas so that we can all have more fun with our spouses because ya know, life can always be more fun. 

1. Pick fruit like apples or raspberries. This has been one of my favorite dates with Zac. Outside in the peaceful, calm weather. It's nice to be able to chat while picking these beautes.

2. Go to a batting cage and hit some balls. Ps baseball tees are super cute. If you don't have one, go treat yourself before the date. 

3. Watch the stars. The farmer's almanac will tell you when the best times are to see meteor storms, shooting stars and help you find constellations. If you don't want to bother with that, just go outside and make your own constellations. See if you can find your story written in the stars. 

4. Go to the movies and have a competition to see who can sneak in the best treat. I suggest Ben and Jerrys. Instant win. If you get caught, you didn't get this idea from me.

5. Train for a sporting event like a 10k together. Zac and I recently ran the Dirty Dash and we had so much fun getting ready together and even more fun in the race. Cheering each other on and helping each other grow brought us so much closer.

So whether you are happily married like our friend Deidre here, or just out to have some fun. Seize the day. Get out there and have some fun!

Bloglovin' || Twitter

Dreams, Rings, and What Life Brings || Guest Post & Giveaway

I was planning on doing a nice little intro story of something that happened in my life... but.... my life is boring right now. Like... hecka boring. All I do is work, watch Greek, and watch my shows. And who wants to hear about what is happening in Casey Cartwright's life? Ding, ding, ding! No one. But if you do... watch the show. Love it. So today I have an awesome lady taking over the blog! So, meet Miss Lex from Dreams, Rings, and What Life Brings!

How did you meet your husband?Shortly after moving into my apartment my Sophomore year of college at BYU, my best friend and I decided to make cupcakes but couldn't find our hand mixer. I knocked on the first door in the apartment building next to ours, and Ben answered the door. In exchange for the hand mixer, I had to promise him some of the treats. Typical. Needless to say, we quickly became good friends, and eventually started dating!

Do you like Star Wars now? And does your husband like coconut M&Ms? 
I've been known to bust out a Yoda quote here or there, but I still haven't reached the level of appreciation for Star Wars that I'm sure Ben would like me to get to. ;) Ben enjoys coconut M&M's, but he tends to gravitate towards mint M&M's more than anything.

So.. now tell us about your wedding!
Ben and I got married a day after finals ended at BYU! We spent the day before the wedding finishing up class projects (we are major procrastinators...) and finishing up small wedding details. We got married in the LDS Mt. Timpanogos temple, had a beautiful wedding luncheon with close family and friends, took some fun photos with the bridal party, and had a reception that evening. The whole day was perfect. And tiring. :) If we could do it all over again, we'd totally skip all of the luncheon and reception stuff, and go get married in Hawaii! Weddings are wonderful, but just so much work!

What do you like most about Missouri?

A few months after we got married, we moved to St. Louis so Ben could start a PhD program. We've really loved the diversity and chance we've had to meet people that come from all different backgrounds.

What item are you hoping to cross off your dreams list next?
Definitely learn how to make jam! I'm a sucker for homemade bread and jam, aaaaand peaches are in season!

Dream job?
I'm still trying to figure out what my dream job would be, but I'm pretty sure it involves something related to either social work, teaching, or interior design. My nonsensical dream job would be testing new ice cream flavors. On a beach. While getting a massage and pedicure.

Tell us about your greatest accomplishment.
Surviving Physical Science my Freshman year of college, haha. Physical Science is no walk in the park.

Books - Favorite author, book you could read over and over, most recent read?
I'm a big fan of Let It Go by Chris Williams. I cried, I laughed, I thought about the book, and I changed the way I treat others and life in general. After reading this book, you can't help but realize how much we usually take for granted, and just how quickly life can change. Regardless of religious beliefs, it's one of those books that everyone benefits from.

Best Pinterest Recipe you've tried?
Now introducing you to the world's best chocolate chip cookies. Make them, love them, and make them again. You'll thank me.

Favorite quote?
"Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable." - Mary Oliver. I've found that the best memories and life experiences stem from unplanned and unexpected opportunities, so I like to remind myself of this quote every so often.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Love and Love

This post if brought to you by Katie Elizabeth Hawkes from Katilda. 
She writes so beautifully that I had to have her on my blog.

Some people can peg the exact moment when they fall in love with someone else.

It works that way for me now and again. I recognize it the minute it hits me. Other times, I don't even realize I fell into it until months later when I realize I'm having a tough time climbing out of it. Regardless of timelines, it's funny the little things that can tip a heart over the edge, whether I see it coming or not.

I once fell for a boy because he playfully touched my lip during a conversation about facial piercings. I spent a long time feeling like the imprint was going to be tattooed there forever, heavy on my mouth.

Another time, I'd call it first sight. It was a mess of mutual friends and youth and a pair of blue eyes that added extra beats to my heart and rocked me into feeling.

And then there was the one who finally reached across to the passenger side and covered my hand with his calloused palm.

And yet another time, it snuck up on me. It was a porch swing and late summer nights and a friend who ultimately wanted more than I was ever brave enough to let myself try and give.

Another story, the longest and one of the hardest, took years of my life and put dark circles under my eyes. It aged me and crumbled me and took more from me than I ever should have allowed. It taught me how to want something so wrong for you that you should not possibly want it in the first place and yet part of you thinks you'd still be unable to breathe without it. Ultimately, it left me like a severed artery and an open wound that was long-time prone to infection until a wedding band on another girl's finger finally forced me to stitch it up.

My favorite time, it was simple and sweet and like the rush of an oncoming train all at once. It gave me a place to lay my head and brought the sweet scent of steadiness and home and urged me to curl up and lose myself in it.

Love has never looked or felt just one way to me, even if I didn't always recognize it for what it was at the time. What does it look like to you?

April Showers to May Flowers. Finally.

I had plans to post this a long time ago. But then it rained. And rained. And rained. Then I went on a trip... And finally I am back home and I think the rain (and snow) has stopped! The best part of Spring? Flowers. Everything is in bloom. So today I have invited all my sponsors to tell me their favorite flowers are now! My favorites are tulips and sunflowers... but really just any flowers are beautiful and I love getting them (hint, hint to Skinny...)

Stay Gold, Autumn

My favorite flowers are peonies!  That is what my wedding bouquet was made of :) 

Caravan Sonnet

It is almost impossible for me to pick just one flower! I truly love any and all flowers! 

Some of my favorites would be peonies, Gerber daisies, sunflowers, 

wildflowers, roses, and calla lilies.

Reupena Household

My favorite May flowers are pink and purple calla lilies.

AB Petite

My favorite May flowers are def all the fun tulips popping up everywhere. 

They just put a huge smile on my face.

Coffee-N-Ink

I have always been in love with tulips - just recently, though, 

dahlias have been catching my eye. 

But, you know what? Between you and me? {smile} 

I love any flowers really - especially "just because" flowers!

Oh, Just Living the Dream

Okay, I cannot explain to you how much I love flowers. 

My personal favorite are daisies. But just recently I went to San Diego and

 took pictures of all the beautiful flowers. The sun was shining, and sky was 

blue and the flowers were all blooming!

Chevron and Lace

Tulips have always been a favorite because they're beautiful and 

so much like humans, rising and sleeping with the sun, like we do. 

Although since I became a mother last May, 

my Chelsea has become my favorite May flower.

Life with Amberly and Joe

My favorite May flowers would have to be daffodils and tulips 

because when they bloom, I know that summer is 

coming and the cold is finally over!

A Muse in Purple

My favorite May flowers would have to be peonies. 

I desperately wanted them in my wedding but alas, I got married in 

November and they were out of season. So pretty! 

Fashion Love and Lauren

I'm most excited to get rid of all this boring 

white snow and to have a colorful world again. Spring, 

I welcome you with open arms and minor fist pumping. 

Oh Sweet Goodness 

Now that April Showers are slowing down 

I love the daises and roses that are everywhere.

 I just can't get enough of them!

So there you have it! Tulips, daisies, calla lilies, sunflowers, and peonies to name a few. All of us are looking forward to warmer weather and flowers coming up on every street corner... or hoping to see them in (once again... hint, hint to my sweet husband) our kitchen! What are your favorite spring flowers? What do you love to see growing?

Love,

Deidre