Halloween Pinspiration

October is my favorite month. Always has been, always will be for a lot of reasons! First. It is my birthday, which is reason enough all on it's own! Second. Halloween. Costumes? Candy? Costumes? Candy? Really, what else could top dressing up and getting a consistent sugar high the entire month. Third. Pumpkin everything. Carved, cooked, baked, the list goes on and on. I am a sucker for pumpkin. Fourth. The weather is cooling off and I can finally drink hot cocoa without breaking a sweat. So those four things plus all of the haunted houses, fun traditions, candy apples, doughnut eating contests, and goolish movies a girl could dream for. And thanks to Pinterest I have been pinning up a storm. But why would I just tell you about all my pins when I can SHOW you all my pins?

And that is just the start of all the Halloween Pinspiration! 

You can check out my full board here. 

But why stop with just my board? Join in the Pinspiration fun and link up your favorite pins, tricks, costumes, and whatever Halloween-ish tricks and treats you can find. Put your pins to work and share them with your neighbors so we can all have the best Halloween EVER!

Linkup Rules:

Follow your hosts.

Link up your pins, your posts, and all things HALLOWEEN!

And link up as often as you like - it is open until October 31.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

You can look forward to more holiday linkups too!

Thanksgiving - November 5th through 28th

Christmas - December 1st through 21st

New Years - December 22nd through 31st

"...without me actually being there."

As I woke up to get ready for work and Adam woke up to pack for his trip to Texas he said to me, "This will be the best Valentine's Day you could possibly have without me ACTUALLY being there." A long hug and a quick kiss and I was on my way to work. My first thought? Baseball season sucks. My second thought. It doesn't actually suck but it sucks they are travelling on our first married Valentines Day. About an hour into work I get a text from Adam, "Hey... What do you want from Einstein Bagels?" Awesome. I love bagels. He came to my work to eat with me before he had to hurry to catch the bus. About an hour later I came back to my office from a meeting to find flowers and chocolates on my desk. Honestly, some of the best smelling flowers EVER. About 30 minutes later I get an email saying I have a massage scheduled at 7:00 PM. AWESOME. And then after text in between flights and whatnot I go home to find the sweetest note that brought my to tears on my pillow.

Food and flowers. Adam knows me so well.

And he was right. It was the best I could have had without him actually being there. Plus. After the massage I had a dinner date with my good pal Dani to teach her how to grill a chicken breast without turning it into some nasty tasting rubber thing. And Dani always equals a good time. So thanks to my Valentine Adam for making the day so special while you were gone and thanks to Dani for filling in. I sure do appreciate ya.

Love,
Deidre

[CLOSED] Datevitation || Product Review & Giveaway

I hate being left out. I really do. And for a long time I was. Because everyone I know was doing a product review and a giveaway for Datevitation. BUT NOT ANYMORE!

Because TODAY I am doing a product review and a giveaway as well. I am on the Datevitation bandwagon. And I could not be more excited about it. Mostly because I don't feel the need to enter every single giveaway for the coupon book anymore... my own is on the way! "Say goodbye to pre-packaged love coupon books! We are the first and only totally custom coupon book service with the tools for you to create a truly one-of-a-kind gift for your special someone. Our library contains hundreds of date ideas from simple gestures of love (e.g., stargazing or cuddling) to adventurous and exotic ideas for memorable dates (e.g., skydiving or scuba-diving). You get to pick the dates that best compliment your relationship." First up, pros ans cons of my ordering experience.
Cons:

• There were not any real cons... the whole experience was simple enough. Although.. I had a hard time figuring out which dates to put in because there are so many options. But that isn't really a con at all, that is a good thing, right?
• The one thing that is a bummer is a traditional book only comes with 5 coupons. Small number, but pages after that are only $1 each.

Pros:

• There are a ton of options to pick from. Have in mind before hand what you want your book to entail. Mine is full of a lot of pampering.
• The illustrations are super cute.
• Ordering is simple. Pick the coupons you like. Put them in order. Pick a cover. Write a message. Pay and you are done!
• You can change the message for the illustration or use the generic one. Easy to customize.
• It is an economical gift. Books normally start at just $20. But as a special treat for my followers, I have a promo code worth $10! Just enter ‘SKINNYS’ at check out for half off your book.
• They ship quick. But, if you want this for Valentine's Day you MUST order by February 3rd. That is the order cut-off day for a holiday shipment guarantee.

Sadly I just ordered my book and I don't have it yet. So I am sharing photos from Datevitation so you can get a better idea of the product and what you could be winning. If you are really interested and want to know other blogs that are hosting a giveaway right now too, let me know! And I will send you their way. I entered every single giveaway I could until I joined the host a giveaway bandwagon. How could I not!? These things are cute and super easy for a customized gift!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I cannot WAIT to get my book. I want to tell you what is all in it and everything. But that will have to wait until after Valentine's Day. Because I might already be ruining part of Adam's present by showing you this... hopefully baseball is keeping him so busy he misses this post. FINGERS CROSSED! And fingers crossed to you that you will win the prize!

Love,
Deidre

PS. The winner to the 63String giveaway is Mikyla Arrington! Email me in the next 24 hours or a new winner is picked!

Dear Our Tree,

Adam and I have been enjoying our time in California. And I know Christmas is done... but I wanted to share our little tree back in Utah. This is the first chance I have had to upload these photos because we were so busy getting ready to leave, celebrating with friends in Utah, cleaning, packing, and (shhh...) opening a few gifts before we left so we didn't have to lug them all down here. So just for you. A special glimpse of our first Christmas tree together and a shot of each of us opening our "big gift" which happened to come in tiny boxes back in Utah.

My niece (before she even knew I would be marrying into the family) made me this ornament last Christmas. She saw rain boots with bows on the back on one of my Pinterest boards and then surprised me with an ornament when I came down to visit!

Adams big gift. A Nikon watch. He is clearly excited. I had him open it last and he didn't expect it because he thought I would be going over budget if he got it... little did he know I am an AWESOME bargain shopper and got everything on sale thanks to coupons, discounts, Black Friday, and Amazon. Winning.

My big gift (even though I don't look excited, I am, Adam didn't catch the BIG smile just the pre-gift) was a new lens for my camera! I am so excited to get better at photography and to have more lenses to play with.

Other things under the tree? Clothes, hair clippers, movies... those sorts of things! What was under your tree? What was your favorite gift?

Love,
Deidre

Dear Christmas,

Enjoy your special day. Enjoy your loved ones. Enjoy the laughter and smiles. Enjoy the festivities. Enjoy the food, the jokes, the presents, the surprises, and the magic of this holiday. Enjoy it all.

And of course, have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

Love,
Deidre