It's Simply Lindsay

01/14/16

DIY Etched Wooden Spoons

Like many people, I get swept into this alternative universe called My Pinterest Life. In My Pinterest Life, I contour and highlight my face, wear my hair in tousled beachy waves created by my flat iron and homemade sea salt spray, and have fresh peonies in my house at all times – in every room of the house. In My Pinterest Life, I paint throw pillows, make my own oversized watercolor art, and screen print my own graphic tees. In reality, I do my 5-minute-makeup look the same everyday, wear my hair in pony tails, and do actually have fresh flowers in the house (thanks, husband). In reality, I spend way too much time looking for deals on throw pillows, buy art from Hobby Lobby, and buy my tees from TJ Maxx.

However, blogging has been bridging the gap between reality and My Pinterest Life. I’m always striving to challenge myself to try new things because I’m always thinking, what can I blog about? I could buy some wooden spoons, or I can jazz them up and put it on my blog. So thank you blog for bringing about these DIY Etched Wooden Spoons.

01/11/16

January Fashion

Hello, January! So many people despise you, but I welcome you this year. A new January means another fashion challenge. Every month I participate in daily fashion theme challenges – connect with me on Instagram and Facebook to join in whenever you can.

Here are the themes and my looks from this month so far (with a bonus NYE look thrown in there for fun).

• A new you, a different hue: I never wear blue, so I chose a blue printed blouse with sparkly jewelry from World Market.
• Blue my mind: little did I know that the next theme would be blue!
• Are you my plaid?
• Vest friend
• Absolutely argyle: okay, I don’t own argyle, but do the diamond pattern on my tights count?
• Leopard spots or polkadots
• Natural neutrals

01/6/16

Daily Abs Workout

My friend and I were discussing how much we appreciate our post-baby bodies now but that we miss the pre-baby days of abs. As both of us are working moms, we talked about how difficult it is to find the time to exercise, or when you do have the time, there are a million other things that either need to get done or that you want to do, such as eating, cleaning, going to the bathroom, preparing more stuff for work, watching non-kids TV, or reading.

However, we’ve decided to make a commitment to buddy up and at least get back into our abs exercises; that’s a very manageable goal, don’t you think? I looked back at the old exercises I used to do and came up with this simple, quick daily ab workout you can do anywhere – on your lunch break at the office, when you wake up, before bed, or even when you’re watching TV. Whether you’re a mom who wants a manageable step to take towards firming up and getting back into shape or are already fit and looking to add some core strength variety to your routine, this daily ab workout will be a great addition to your life.

01/4/16

Mom’s Simply Delicious Chocolate Sundae Cake

Does it ever happen to you when out of nowhere, you just want cake? Silly question, of course that happens. Well, that happens to me too. Actually, what usually happens is that I want cake batter, but ending up with a scrumptious cake is a sweet byproduct of my batter craving.

My mom makes the most delicious cakes, and historically, I make the worst cakes. Even though I always follow the recipes step-by-step, somehow that moist, fluffy champagne cake turns into a dense, beer flavored brick by my very touch. Not the most impressive skill to have.

In an effort to avoid any baking mishaps, I skipped my mom’s homemade cake batter and opted for a box mix, making an equally delicious, fool-proof, easy peasy chocolate sundae cake. This is a great birthday cake – in fact, it’s my dad’s cake of choice every year, but I would also make it for other special occasions or heck, just because. It’s so simple but tastes very decadent and special.

12/29/15

A Mother’s Hope for the Future

When I got married, I received a lot of advice about living my life pre-babies. Relish your sleep; enjoy date nights; travel; appreciate adult time; value your alone time. Doesn’t it always happen that advice never really clicks until after the fact?

While I did appreciate my life and time before having my daughter, I didn’t really fully understand the beauty of going out to dinner, getting my nails done, showering, working out, or running to the store until my time and situation was limited.

 

12/27/15

How I Got Rid of Old T-Shirts with Instagram

I know you guys are just like me. You have an embarrassing amount of old t-shirts; some you sleep in, some you workout in, some are for running errands or cleaning your house. Some of them date back to 5th grade in the times of t-shirt sale catalogs and are nostalgically adorned with a lion’s head, the solar system, or E = MC 2 with a picture of Einstein. You’ve collected them from childhood sporting events, family reunions, and Planet Hollywoods. You’ve swapped them with friends and even now ironically wear your high school gym shirt, which is cool, hip, and expertly worn in 10 years later. Your t-shirts represent a sacred journey from your youth through adulthood, fondly memorializing childhood milestones, capturing what was cool in high school through graphic tees, and celebrating your Beer Olympics victories in college.

As I was recently cleaning my closets, I realized the horrors of my t-shirt hoarding tendencies. When I clean and organize, I take everything out to refold and put back. Well, with an inordinate amount of shirts comes the inevitable fold and shove or ball and push methods of organization, which means when it came time to properly fold and put away, only about half of them fit.