Friday features – A Diamond in the Stuff

Five Friday Faves

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 13:59:16 +0000

Alright it’s FRIDAY!!! And it’s time for my Five Friday Faves. It’s that time of the week where I share what I’m currently loving right now. I’d love to hear what you think about the items on my list and maybe some of what you’re loving right now!

First up is the super delicious looking 3 Ingredient Nutella Croissants! I have been in a nutella mood lately and when I ran across these my mouth watered. Must. Try. These. 3 Ingredients? I can handle that.

Summer is quickly approaching and so is our backyard makeover. These DIY Garden Stones may be the perfect activity to do with the kids this summer and make some beautiful things for the backyard in the process. I think I’ll pick up some cheap pan from the dollar store to use. Can’t wait!

One great thing about being a part of the military community is the support you receive during the different ups and downs of life. I have brought and received many meals to celebrate babies being born and to help during rough times. I absolutely love this post from Peanut Blossom about 30 Days of Mommy Meals. It has great ideas for meals (recipes included) and great tips to make sure that meal delivery goes smoothly! I know I will be referring to it in the future when the time comes to bring a family meals.

Ok so I’m going to do a little confessing here. During both my pregnancies I developed some pretty bad stretch marks. I have accepted them as badges of honor….but to be honest there are times when I hate them, especially those easier to see ones during the hot summer months. So I went on a hunt for something I could use to cover them up when I needed to. I found Dermablend recently and I think this is the answer I was looking for. It covers really well and it’s made specially for using it on your body. I’m excited to have an option this summer so I can feel more confident in my summer clothes!

Lastly, I am sure that I am probably the last person out there to give Jamberry a try. I finally tried them this week and I love them! I will need to perfect the process and I learned a lot during my first go at it. Although I have to say….they are pretty easy to put on. I am the worst at having my nails painted, but the end of the day they are already chipped. So I’m hoping this will be the way I can actually have cute nails! They have so many cute designs and endless combinations!

Alright that’s it this week! I hope you’ve enjoyed my Five Friday Faves this week! Are you going to give any of these a try?

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

Five Friday Faves

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 10:00:13 +0000

Ready for another edition of Five Friday Faves? I love being able to share what I’m loving at the moment with y’all! This round I’m sharing some current faves and a couple confessions!!!

My hubby and I are getting ready to tackle our boring backyard this Spring. We’ve already planned everything out and now all that’s left is the actual doing. I stumbled across this tip for an “easy way to edge a lawn”. This looks like a much easier way then the “traditional” way. I figured that this time of year there are probably tons of you why will be doing some yard work yourself….and who would mind something that makes life easier???

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week I spotted this Vintage Window Galvanized Memo Board found at Infarrantly Creative. Not only do I love the project but she also shared how she aged her galvanized metal to make it look old. An awesome project and an awesome tip in one!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don’t you just love when you’re watching what you’re eating and then you stumble across something like this Funfetti Milkshake? I mean. Really? How can I resist that? I think I may have to eat veggies all day long but I will be making this delicious looking treat! I have a feeling it will be worth it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok confession time. I know I JUST said I’ve been watching what I’m eating. But these things only come around ONCE a year. So I had to indulge and pick up a pack of Reese’s Eggs. I mean…..as long as I exercise some self control and don’t consume the whole pack in one day then it’s ok right? Right? Oh they are SO good!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next confession. I love The Real Housewives. Honestly it can be the real housewives of (fill in the blank) and I probably love it. There’s been a few not-so-great moments (D.C. ahem). But I seriously love them all. I know it’s just a bunch of crazy rich people drama….but I love it. Like watch it every week plus Watch What Happens Live, love it! I’ve been watching since day one of Orange County (probably because that’s where I’m from so I had to watch it) and now I’m hooked. I’m really hoping I’m not alone on this one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright! That’s it for the week! Some tips, some projects, some tasty goodness, and some guilty pleasures! That about wraps things up! Let me know what you think about this week’s Five Friday Faves and tell what you’re loving right now!

Have a great weekend y’all!!!

Linking up to these great parties!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Earlier this week I posted my front door makeover. I used vinyl to create my Faux Etched Glass Front Door.

Five Friday Faves

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 11:00:26 +0000

So this week’s FIVE FRIDAY FAVES seems to revolve around fitness and weight loss one way or another. If that doesn’t thrill ya I’m sorry, my life seems to be revolving around this subject lately. I’ve been spending some time in the gym and counting calories. Not too glamorous but necessary.

So here are some of my faves I’m loving right now…..

My Fitness Pal is an awesome way to track your calorie intake and exercise. Up till now I was just focusing on my workouts but I wasn’t seeing the results that I was hoping for. So I knew that I needed to become more mindful about my calorie intake. First off, I use the app for this on my phone which makes it super easy to log everything in anytime. Secondly, I needed to learn what my calorie limit should be and MFP was able to tell me that. Thirdly, they have a TON of food items in their database so it’s super easy to pull up what you ate and the calories attached to it. Even food from restaurants and grocery brands. Lastly, they have TONS of workouts and activities to choose from when logging your workouts. Even housecleaning!!! Yes!!!

So this will probably be old news for most of you. For me, the green smoothie is a new thing. I was so intimidated to make one. I would pin recipes but I would either think that the ingredients were too complicated or sounded awful! I finally broke down and just forced myself to dive in. I mean what did I have to loose? To make it easy on myself I picked up some Yoplait frozen smoothie packages (strawberry banana to be exact), added one cup of milk (per the yoplait instructions), a couple handfuls of spinach leaves, and a scoop of flax seed. Y’all is was tasty! I will slowly venture out and try new combinations and flavors….but for now I’m excited!!!

3 Days a week I’m in the gym with my trainer. However I am needed to get some cardio in between those days. I don’t know about where your are but the weather here has been a bit nutty. Getting outside and getting my cardio in hasn’t been the best option. Oh and by the way….I LOVE Zumba! I did classes in California but haven’t been able to find anything here. So I broke down and got the Wii Zumba. I realize that I have a lot of moves to learn but man it was fun! You forget that you’re working out. 796 calories burned. I’ll take it!

Now this next one may seem a little out of place. You see….I love coffee. No strike that. I can’t really just drink “coffee”, it has to be fu fu coffee. It just does or it’s not workin for this girl. My drink is a White Chocolate Mocha. Have you ever looked at the calories in those. Ugh. So I’m trying to cut back and only allow it as a treat. So I still need something in the morning right? Well I am now making some Starbucks Via Caramel packets at home. I make them with milk and they are pretty delicious. Granted they have more calories than a cup of black coffee….but hey what can I say?

This one may also seem a little out of place….but I promise you it’ll fit. You see in my efforts to loose weight and improve my health I am also looking to take overall better care of myself. My kids have become a bit more independent and they both attend school now. I realized that throughout the last several years I have been consumed with being pregnant, breastfeeding, changing diapers, and overall caring for my littles. All the while loving it and also maybe not focusing on myself like I could of been. It was what it was at the time. But now I’m trying to refocus things a bit and take care of myself. Obviously weightloss is at the top of that list but so is skin care, a makeup makeover, and new beauty routines. I will admit that this stuff doesn’t come naturally to me and I usually need a little push. I stumbled up on Hairspray & Highheals the other day and it has been a fun place to look around and gain some great recommendations! I have already tried one of these masks that she recommended and it was pretty great!

Do you have any beauty blogs that are a must read? Something for a busy mom and crafter with no beauty tips of her own???

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welp that’s it for this week! I am really enjoying my Five Friday Faves posts and I hope y’all are too! I’d love to hear any thoughts or inputs from you all about anything I include. So sound off!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have not been compensated for this post in anyway. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Five Friday Faves

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 11:00:15 +0000

I have been blogging here at ADitS for a few years now and I realize that there is a lot of “me” that is lacking from my blog. I have obviously given lots of glimpses into who I am and what my life is. But really on a day to day basis do you know the woman behind the blog? So I’ve decided to open up a bit more and start sharing some of my favorite things, things I’m loving at the moment. My plan is to share my Five Friday Faves at the end of every week with you all. While I understand that I may or may not be introducing you to anything new, sometimes it’s nice to hear other’s experiences and reviews. Ya never know….you may find your new “fave” here!

First, I will share my favorite new toy! The hubby and I bought a DeWALT Wood Planer. I am a mix of two thoughts…..This things is freakin awesome and why did we wait so long to get it? Well I know the answer to the second part….it’s not the cheapest garage toy out there. But it has been oh so worth it. I have already been able to plane down some ragged old wood and make it shine! Check out what I used my new toy to make HERE.

My hubby and I are attempting to eat better. Attempting. I found this new recipe for Cheesy Broccoli Quinoa and we gave it a try. It was a hit with both of us and gave us a great side dish replacement for things like rice, potatoes, etc. I am learning about all the benefits of quinoa and I’m trying to find new ways to incorporate it into our meals (and find things to replace with it). What is your fave quinoa recipe?

Well next up is a beauty fave. I mean, who doesn’t love finding the latest and greatest beauty product? For Christmas I received the “They’re Real” Mascara from Benefit. I absolutely love this stuff. Not only does it really lengthen my eyelashes but it all goes on so smoothly without gunks. I hate the mascara gunks. I am in the process of updating my beauty routine and this was the perfect way to kick start the change.

I am a pretty big fan of chicken wire. I feel like it so easily adds a rustic farm feel in fun and classy ways. Alecia over at Chicken Scratch NY did an awesome Chicken Wire Round Up and she so wonderfully included a couple of my chicken wire projects. There are lots of great inspiration!!!

In addition to eating better I have also been working out with a trainer . Trying to loose some lbs and get healthy! A lovely side effect of all this working out is supper sore muscles!!! If you follow me on Instagram you have seen the photo above. Since then I have taken a couple more sore muscle soaks in the tub. Here’s my sore muscle tub soak recipe:

1 cup epson salt

1 cup sea salt

1 cup baking soda

Essential Oil (optional)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well that wraps up my first Five Friday Faves!!! I hope that you have enjoyed them, maybe even learned something new. Either about a product or blog OR maybe a little about me. Hopefully you’ll join me for future Five Friday Faves posts and maybe share some of your current faves too!!!