April 2018 – Mama 'N Chief

Don't ask me where I think I'm going in these sandals, that I've spent hours embellishing because the answer will likely be nowhere, at least not any time soon. I've recently had foot surgery that will probably keep me restricted to flats for the summer months but what I have been afforded is lots of time to do fun projects like this. In my quest to find pretty FLAT sandals for summer, I came across many shoes that were jeweled, high heeled and expensive but I loved them! Now even though the girl loves a good shoe darling, not working while recovering from foot surgery and having a new home, that still has rooms to furnish, has put my shoe fetish on hold. However, that doesn't mean I can't fake it until I make it by buying less expensive shoes or revamping old ones. For this project, I used these Merona sandals that I purchased from Target last year, acrylic iridescent gems and E6000 glue from Michaels. I used the white version of the glue but I added a link

23Apr

Marital Madness

byEb Lou

Cohesive Parenting with Your Spouse: 3 Tips to Make it Work

We are all different as individuals, so it's no surprise that raising children with your spouse may cause some conflict due to different parenting styles, upbringing, values and priorities. My husband and I often want the same goals for our son but the road to get there oftentimes will require a road map, intense conversations and additional questions. I've found that these tips have helped us as a couple, to raise a well rounded child. Don't Dispute What your Spouse Says in Front of the Child There are times that I don't agree with the way in which my husband wants to do things, especially as it pertains to learning. He tends to be somewhat strict and for me, that would actually be ok if our son was older. However, he is only 4 years old and although we both want him to learn things that are appropriate for his age and his upcoming year in Pre-K, we have different ideas on how to successfully get him to learn. My son has a fun personality like me, so

16Apr

Marital Madness

byEb Lou

Happy Spouse, Happy House; 5 Tips for Maintaining a Blissful Marriage

If you're married, you're well aware that Rihanna was kind enough to make us a theme song. Work, work, work, work, work, if you're married then it's work, work, work, work, work. Like full-time job work, with overtime. The good news for me is that most days my husband makes my work easy and while there can be some hiccups and complications, I'm not interested in quitting. Now if you're some mystical unicorn of a couple that never has disagreements, arguments, or differing opinions, please step away from this blog post and bottle your magical potion for the other 99% of the left hand gang. For the rest of us, let's go through these 5 tips to keeping your marriage on the up and up. Let the Leader Lead By "the leader" I'm not necessarily referring to the man. In a marriage, there's always someone that can do something better or at least take more initiative to do it better. When we built our home, my husband had no clue what wainscotting, shiplap, crown molding and turrets were. If it were

13Apr

Farmhouse Fresh

byEb Lou

5 Random Things I Learned After Moving Into My New Home

Homeownership, to some, is defined as the American dream. The pinnacle of success, marked by a small, large, grand, or nowadays, tiny, pieces of property. It's what most people strive for, their name on the deed. I have to say, my husband and I worked hard for our piece of the pie. A literal reenactment of The Jefferson's theme song. We moved on up! But it wasn't to a deluxe apartment in the sky. It's a custom built 6,000 square foot home, for which we gave our blood sweat and tears. If you've been hanging around the blog, you know the story but if you missed it, you can find our home building story here. We moved on up! Since moving in, there are so many things that I've learned not only about home ownership but living in a home of this size. These are not complaints because I am beyond grateful to have these first world problems, however, this serves as more of a "heads up" to those who may be looking to purchase or have recently

09Apr

Marital Madness

byEb Lou

Our Green Smoothie Brunch

Jermaine and I are on day 8 of our 10 day green smoothie cleanse and I have to say, it has become much easier for him. He does still come roaming through the kitchen at times, looking for "something else" to eat but he's seemingly more content with just having a snack from the approved snack list. Although, I have refrained from getting on the scale for 30 days, I can see the weight loss in the both us and really see an increase in my energy. The hardest part about dieting or starting a new eating regimen is that it can throw a major monkey wrench in your social life. I mean sure there are a variety of things you can do as a couple and/or with friends but ultimately for us, all roads eventually lead to eating (I mean good mouth-watering, buttery, succulent, sometimes sugary, delicious food) and drinking (and I don't mean no dag on water). When my friend Cindy, texted me about brunch, bright and early on Saturday morning, I was reminded of our previous

DIY Embellished Sandals

Cohesive Parenting with Your Spouse: 3 Tips to Make it Work

Happy Spouse, Happy House; 5 Tips for Maintaining a Blissful Marriage

5 Random Things I Learned After Moving Into My New Home

Our Green Smoothie Brunch

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