Wall Art By PhotoWall

If you were to walk into my house, you would think I had no style. Me and my husband have two different taste on decor. What I think will look good in a room, he will feel the opposite. I like brights, whites and fun. To keep peace, the walls are pretty much bare except for a framed print in the living room and my daughters senior portrait in the hallway.

When Photowall asked if I would try out one of their pieces, I was excited. Heck, I didn’t have any idea that a company like this even existed.

Photowall is a Swedish company that takes pride in there products and have high quality standards. They offer murals and canvases with over 3000 motifs to choose from created by designers around the world. Photowall will even put your favorite snap shot or photograph on a canvas or mural too! Their murals and canvases are environmental friendly, fire retardant and will not fade in the sunlight. 

I spent several hours trying to decide on the perfect print. I finally turned the decision to my husband. We both searched around admiring the selections.

I actually like so many different ones that I could not make up my mind. Finally, the only two options we both agreed on were the “Map” prints or “Nautical” Prints. Then we had to narrow it down to one. 

The choice came down to.... [drum roll please].... 

The “BÅTSPORTKORT”(boat sports card) -charts specially designed for boat sports.

This product was provided to me free of charge 

in exchange for my honest review. 

All opinions are my own.

Color shades in photos may vary due to change of lighting.

The yellows and blues just jumped out at me. I love the nautical look. 

Once the decision was made, placing my order was super easy and customer service was there for me if I had any questions. 

Their canvases are made from 100% cotton and can be ordered with or without the frame. 

You can also choose any size. I chose 61cm x 91cm ( 2ft x 3ft).

Though the company is based in Sweden, they ship world wide. I am in North Carolina, USA. And within five days of ordering, my package was delivered to my doorsteps. 

I could hardly wait to open it.

The frame and canvas were both securely wrapped separately in the same box and assembly was so easy that it only took me five minutes.

 It seriously took me longer to decide the position I wanted to hang it. 

The original plan was to hang it over the bed in our bedroom, but we liked it so much, we decided to hang it in our den so it can be seen by everyone who visits. I’m thinking it will also look great in our future beach house where the rooms will be brighter and more cheery. That is the plan.

Here are a few other prints I love and almost picked. 

If your looking for the perfect wall mural or canvas for your home or office, or if you have your own special photo you would like to bring to life on a canvas, look no further than PhotoWall.com. 

No matter what your style, hobby or passion you'll find a way to express it here.

Visit PhotoWall.com 

Use coupon code : LAFTOCCampaign2018 

and get 20% off your order (expires in 30 days).

Busy Me

Hey remember me? I’m still here. I’m just a little behind on my blogging. I still read all your post and enjoy being here. I have just been so busy lately.

The weather is beautiful here in North Carolina. We have had sunshine and temperatures in the 80s! I’m loving it so I’m also trying to fit in some outdoor activities. I finally got my car washed and the carport swept.  

Shhh, don’t tell the boss that I'm blogging right now from work but it is break time and so I jumped on here right quick.

When I get home from work in the afternoons, I have a small dinner then Nick and I set out for a two or three mile power walk. After our walks, I do a little house work, shower, then plop down into my recliner. This is when I usually do my blogging, but I have been busy with a project that is sorta stressing me out as I try to make some videos and showcase some photos. I’ll tell you more about that later. 

It’s really not a big deal and most could just do it in a day or two, but me? I’m not that computer literate and do not have a lot of extra time on my hands, so it’s taking me a while. 

It will be complete by Mondays deadline (I hope). 

I have discovered, that really, I am just an “overthinker” 

I have another another review to write this week, then back to my project. 

I’ll be glad when next week rolls around and I can get back on schedule and back to my own personal blogging space.

But for now I have to get back to work.

Toodles!

Vitamin D-Thorne Research

I am one of those lucky 40% that suffers from low Vitamin D. I just do not get enough sunshine in the Winter I reckon. I know a natural way to fix that (more beach!).

At my recent wellness check up, every thing was great and all my blood counts were good except my Vitamin D levels. It was 22.7 when It needed to be over 32.  I honestly believe this has contributed to me not feeling good, having achy joints, and fatigue includeing a lot of light headiness and vertigo.

They put me on a prescription level of Vitamin D 50,000 IU a week for 11 weeks. Yikes!

The 11 weeks have passed and I feel so much better. I went back for more blood work. My levels were up to 42.8 and that was a good number. They said it's important that I keep the levels up by taking at least 1000 IU each day or 5000 IU every few days.
This is when It becomes a problem for me. This is not the first time my D levels were this low. 

You see, I always do well with the prescription Vitamin D, but once I get started on other brands, they make me feel funny. I get queasy and just feel awful. After a dose or two, I will end up giving up. Then my levels will fall. And I have to start all over.

After just going a week without any vitamin D (while trying to decide on a brand) I could feel myself feeling bad again. I had no idea the impact this vitamin can have on me. So I looked around and ask friends on some suggestions of a good brand. I got a lot of feedback but one struck my attention. A friend of mine that I trust referred me to Thorne research. They were true believers of this brand and suggest I check it out. 

After reading around on their website I was sold. However, I was still skeptical on how it will make me feel. I am so sensitive to things I take weather it be medicine, herbs or Vitamins. So after acquiring with Thorne, They offered me a bottle of Vitamin D3 to try. I could hardly wait for it to come in. 

This product was provided to me free of charge 

in exchange for my honest review. 

All opinions and results are my own.

Thorne is manufactured with the highest quality ingredients and safety standards in the world. Being FDA approved and NSF certified, they have been trusted by US national teams, and practitioners for over 30 years. They are used by many professional Olympic athletes. 

Thorne uses the purest ingredients and make sure every finished product is tested for contamination to insure pure potency.

How it makes me feel?

I have been taking the vitamin D3 now for over a week and I feel great. With the first dose, I developed a slight head ache but that could have been from other causes. I did not give up. The next dose there after had no side effects on me. I am so happy to have found a vitamin that works and a product I can trust. Im feeling great again. 

Thorne not only offers every kind of vitamin, but they have a whole inventory of health beneficial products. Weather your looking for a supplement for sleep, mood, women or mens health, energy, stress, muscles, performance or detox, Thorne has it along with many other supplements your body could use.

They even have weight management programs and products for Animal Health (vet). 

Did you know they even have an app for that? This means you can take Thorne everywhere you go. You’ll have information and can order right from your fingertips anywhere you are. How cool is that?

If your looking for a pure product with quality, look no further than Thorne.com. 

Their prices are reasonable and the shipping is fast.
I plan to continue using Thorne for future vitamin & supplement needs. 

Sign Of Age

I do not concider myself old (though I am touching fifty) but I am showing signs. I look in the mirror each morning and find it harder to find the young girl behind my aging skin. My eye lids seem to be drooping and I have this sagging skin around my jaw. I apply my lipstick and notice my lip have creases and I have hair popping up in places It shouldn’t. I have several age spots on my face that my concealer makeup struggles to cover and wrinkles that are starting to join each other. It’s a fight every morning. Some days I get emotional about it and some days I smile about it. 

One of my biggest struggles is keeping my gray roots covered. About every six weeks I grab a bottle of “Nice and Easy” and hide the silver that’s taking over. It never fails, there is a spot on the side of head that seems to escape the coloring. As I’m fixing my hair it screams at me. “Hazel!!!”

Instead of letting it bother me and instead of trying to hide it. I have decided to let this one go. I’m not fighting it any longer. 

I will have a gray stand in my hair. 

I’m going to just own it. 

Live it up. 

It’s a silver highlight and it’s a small sign of my age. 

I desevere it. It have lived up to it. 

I’m going to see just what it does. But I will continue covering the gray on the rest of my hair. 

My husband said,  “So, your going to be like Frankensteins wife right?” I gritted my teeth and giggled “Why yes I just might “. 

Another sign of age happend at the mall. Twice!

As I was fileing throught a rack of clothes at American Eagle (A store that caters to younger people), I noticed that there was a lot of wide legged pants. I turned to a young associate that was working in that area, “Are the wide leg pants coming back in?” The music was blarring loud and reminding me I do not need a hearing aide right now. He replies “ No we have not gotten any in but we do have MOM JEANS over in the area to your right”. 

Um. Mom jeans? He didn’t understand what I asked but I clearly understood what he thought. I politely smiled and left the store. Just kidding. I gave him a stink eye and walked over to see what the mom jeans looked like first. 

At the same mall, I went into another store that was aimed to the younger generation. “See, I dont feel as old as I may look”. 

I stood in the doorway of the dressing area holding a couple pieces of clothing. I noticed the young dressing room attendant letting young ladies into the dressing areas one by one. I gave her a questionable look. She then asks me, “Im sorry maam, are you waiting on someone?” I looked at her a little crazy and said “No, I would just like to try on some clothes”. She apologized for letting others cut in front of me and unlocked a dressing room. I Left with a pair of jeans that fit just right and they were NOT “mom jeans”.

Now excuse me while I look for my walker. 

Presidents Day

Today is the 3rd Monday in February. This is the day we celebrate Presidents Day.

Presidents Day was established in 1885 in recocgnition of George Washingtons Birthday. Though his birthday is not actually until Februrary 22. The 3rd Monday in February is when it’s clelebrated. I’m thinking it’s because people would rather have a Monday off work than a Thurday. Ya think?

(Source)

While im thinking about making a cherry pie, 

enjoy some of these fun President facts you may have never heard before. 

• Did you know there are actually four Presidents born in February? George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, William Harrison and Ronald Ragan. 
• Some call it President’s Day and some call it Presidents’ Day.  
• Andrew Jackson had a parrot that cussed. It was so bad, they had to remove it from his funeral.
• George Bush Sr. vomited on the Prime Minister of Japan.
• Gerald Ford worked as a model in college.
• Theodor Roosevelt watched his mother die of a fever and immedialty ran upstairs to see his wife die of a complicated child birth.
• Jimmy Carter was the first President to be born in a hospital.
• The food in the White House is not free. The president gets a bill.
• Thomas Jefferson was afraid of public speaking. He would often fake a sickness to get out of speaking.
• Geroge Washington was actually red headed.
• James Madison was 5feet 4inches tall and only 100 lbs. This made him the smallest US President.
• Teddy Roosevelt had a tattoo.
• Eight Presidents were left handed. Bush, Clinton, Ford, Garfield, Hoover, Ragan, Truman and Obama.

Aren’t those some interestings finds? 

What are some fun facts about our Presidents that you have found odd, funny or interesting? 

Floral Beauty from Silk Plants Direct

Flowers are great to send and receive for any occasion. It's not too early to even think about Mothers Day. It will be here before you know it. This is a good time to start thinking about what to get Mom to brighten up her day. If it’s flowers she likes, skip the real ones and get her something that will last longer than a week. Not sure where to find high quality real looking flowers? Look no further than Silk Plants Direct. They offer a huge selection of realist silk flowers, so whatever flower is her favorite, you will be sure to find it. You can choose from single stem flowers to beautiful arrangements. 

Silk Plants Direct is also the place to go if you need to brighten up your business or office. They have over 500 varieties of silk plants, trees, flowers, and more. You may see their products in places like hospitals, hotels, shopping centers, restaurants and other spaces as they offer commercial options too. 

This product was provided free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

All opinions are my own.

Color shades in photos may vary due to change of lighting. 

When Silk Plants Direct asked me to choose one of their floral products, I was overwhelmed with the different flowers and plants to choose from. It was so hard to decide on which one I wanted to try. This was a challenge for me because I'm such an indecisive person and all of their selections were so pretty. As I did a face plant in the palm of my hand, I decided to go straight to my favorite flower. I chose the yellow Tulips in a glass container.

It just screamed Spring to me. I thought about how pretty these will look during the Spring and Summer months. I also though about how great these will look on my table at Easter.

The shipping was quick. When my package arrived I was so excited and immediately tore open the box. I’m glad they were wrapped and packed with protection because I dropped the box while opening it. “Whooo” no harm done. They were perfect. I gently unwrapped the packaging and lifted the flowers from the box. I spent the rest of the day placing the arrangement of Tulips all over the house. I wanted to find the perfect spot to show them off.

These Tulips look soft and delicate and even feel real. 

They were perfect from the petals to the cute moss that blanketed the bulb. If you look closely you will see these Tulips are sitting in an illusion of water. This means I will never have to water them. Yes, that's my kind of flowers. 

With the affordable prices and quality products, I plan to shop at Silk Plants Direct for any future plants. I’ve already got some ideas in my head for my future beach house. Did I mention, they have Palm Trees too?

Start shopping today for the best silk flowers, plants and more at SilkPlantsDirect.com

Use code: BLOGGER10 and get 10% off your purchase (excludes custom orders).

This Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day! I hope everyone shares some of the love in their heart today weather you have a loved one to celebrate with or not.

I woke this morning beside the man I love. We cuddled in each others arms whispering sweet nothings in each others ears. YEA RIGHT! It was more like pulling on each others eyelashes or flicking ones lip to make funny sounds until one or the other is awake. We are always picking and playing. This is what makes it fun. But we will let each other rest too. 

Being a happy married woman, means I have a Valentine everyday. 

The man I love is always dishing out more love towards me than you could ever know. I’ll admit, I’m a whole lot of lucky blessed and a little spoiled.

He will not get a box of candy or even a card today. Did you know that cards are like 7.50 in the stores now! Ridiculous. 

I will not be getting any roses, cards or candy either. We both decided not to spend our money on those kind of things this year and spend it otherwise. We show our love every other day of the year so its no big deal. HOWEVER, we do plan to cook or go out to a nice dinner.

For breakfast I baked a batch of healthy oatmeal biscuits. Each biscuit is only 30 calories and made with oats, almond milk, an egg, banana and strawberries, These were perfect to get my day started. 

I really miss the days my daughter was home. I made heart shaped pancakes every Valentines Day.

She was home earlier this week so I gave her a bag full of goodies for Valentines Day. No matter how old she gets, I just can’t stop the childish traditions. 

Being Valentines Day, I wanted to wear something valentiney. I went to a pile of clothes that I was planning on getting rid of and pulled out an old sweater that was stretched out and not any good. 

   

 

I added some crochet trim to the oversized and stretched out collar, then added felt hearts on the elbows. 

I sort of like how it turned out. It’s a little sloppy, but in reality, I will not be in the public eyes. I work in a stinky little office where I see about three coworkers that are in and out all day. 

What are some specials things you have planned for today?

Oatmeal Breakfast Biscuits (or Muffins)
Makes aprox 6 muffins or 12 biscuits.

1 smashed ripe banana
1/2 cup Almond Milk
1 egg (or 3 tblsp egg beaters)
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cup quick oats 
fruit, nuts, or chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven 350. 
Mix bananas and milk until smooth. Add remaining ingredience and mix well. 
Fold in chocolate chips or fruit of choice.
fill muffin cups 1/2 way. (these to do not rise so you can fill them full if you want muffins)
Bake for 15-20 minutes. (May take longer with fuller cups)

This intire recipe is only 330 calories so with 12 biscuits,
thats aprox 30 calories each!

Sushi Stacks-Sort Of

I told my darling I would make dinner tonight. I had an idea I was wanting to try. The idea came to mind a couple days ago when my daughter called telling me about a delicious dinner she just had at some new resteraunt in town. She had a POKE BOWL. Basically it’s sushi in a bowl. You pick your meat and toppings and other stuff and they build it for you. 

Me and Nick both like sushi but none of the “Raw fish” or weird meat kind of sushi. We will choose sushi that consist of steamed crab meat, tempura (fried) shrimp or just vegetables (California Roll). 

I went online to find out how to make these “Poke” bowls and came across “Sushi Stacks” instead. This seemed like a better idea so I went to grocery store for some of the things I needed. I grabbed some premade extra sticky sticky rice. Sushi rice needs to be flavored with rice vinager and sugar so I grabbed some of that too. A cucumber, cream cheese, crabemeat and avacado minute later, I was ready to create a master piece. 

My poor husband.

This is what his dinner was suppose to look like. 

                                                                                                         (Source)

Instead, 

this is what his dinner really looked like.

Just pitiful. I tell ya.

I made two.

This is quite embarrassing, 

but I just needed to show everyone that food can’t look perfect all the time!! Ha!

I’m thinking I needed to press it harder in the dish bowl before I dumped it on the plate. 

It tastes ok.

I forgot to add the Avacado.

We ate our sushi stacks.

They were pretty good.

But somehow, a pizza appeared in the oven. 

Natures Spring Preview

It’s been a long Winter so far. We have only had one good snow fall (which I'm not complaining) and the other days are dry and cold. The temperatures will go from the 50’s one day to the 30’s the next. Yes I struggle with what to wear each day. I can’t wait for spring to come so I can trade my sweaters and boots in for tshirts and flip flops. 

I was driving home yesterday with my heat on high as usual listening to the radio. Nothing struck my attention as I go the same ten minute route home everyday. Until I was turning into my driveway. I got a glimpse of something green waving at me through the corner of my eye. 

“What? Did I just see something growing in the dry dirt?” 

I parked the car in the carport and ran over to the naked and dry natural area in the yard. I saw spring! I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo. It was some little daffodils breaking ground and getting ready to bloom.  

This made me smile. Nick was standing at the door watching me. He questioned what I was doing. I showed him the pictures and think I saw him smile a little too. 

This reminded me that I needed to dig up a few of my day lilies. I promised one of my friends I would give her some of the bulbs. Those too were sprouting and I will get those ready and delivered to her this weekend.  I have a lot of the day lilies. They are old and admired for their tripple petal show they put on every year. 

How nice It was to get a Spring preview. I don’t care that Punxsutawney says. I think spring will be here soon. After all, he is just a groundhog, not a meteorologist. 

Super Bowl Fun and Mishaps

Did you watch the Super Bowl?

We are not big football fans but we will usually watch our team play (Carolina Panthers) or whoever makes it to the Super Bowl. No party at my house, but I love how friends gather together with fancy foods and watch the game. It was cold and rainy so we just stayed in the comfort of our own home, alone.

We ordered some chinese food about an hour before the game. Then we got cozy in our den chairs and me with my crochet. We were ready for the game to start. 

I didn't want to miss the salutes and National Anthem.

At the start of any game or raceing, I love to hear the National Anthem sung. This is my favorite part. I also want to hear it sung correctly, so I will usually listen to the singer and judge him or her on how good or bad they sing it. Either way though, I love to hear it and it always gives me goose bumps and teary eyes. 

Pop singer “Pink” stood up to sing the anthem before the Super Bowl this year. I was a little spectacle. Even though she is a good singer, I just knew she would mess it up. To my surprise, she sang it almost perfect!! She also sang it while fighting the flu. I gave her two thumbs up. Good job. I am also proud to say that I did not see anyone on the field or in the stands take a knee during the salutes and anthem. I even saw some heads bowed in prayer. This made them all winners in my book.

Before the game, I also noticed some tears in some of the players eyes. I wondered if it was because of some sad news they may have heard about before kick off.
NFL Player Edwin Jackson of the Indianapolis Colts and his friend were killed by a drunk driver Sunday morning. He was only 26. And Im just gonna put this out there. "The drunk driver was an illegal immigrant".

SOURCE

The halftime show with Justin Timberlake was pretty good too. I like his singing ok but I like his acting better. I Also always like Prince and enjoyed the tribute Justin gave him.

Then my favorite part of the Super bowl, the commercials. The commercials used to be a lot better than they are now. Most of the commercials during this years superbowl were aimed toward the umcoming olympics or movie previews but there were a couple pretty good ones. 

Some of the commercials were just dumb and made no since to me. A couple of times I would look over at Nick and say “Did they really just pay millions of dollars to have that aired?”

There were two commercials that stuck in my head as I thought they were pretty good.

1. The Eli Manning and Odell Becham's “Dirty Dancing Commercial”.

2. The Toyota's "One Team" Commercial.

What were some of your favorite commercals, shows or plays during the Super Bowl? 

Two Ingredient Bagels

It’s a beautiful and cold Saturday morning. I was able to sleep in a little as I actually had a peaceful night of sleep. I woke up refreshed and ready to start the day. I trotted into the kitchen and poured myself a cup of coffee, stepped on the scales and opened my ipad. This is pretty much how I start every day. 

While pondering on what to make for breakfast, I decided to try a recipe I had saved to my recipe board on Pinterest. 

“Two Ingredient Bagels”. 

I gathered the two things I needed. Self rising flour and Greek yogurt. I turned the oven to preheat then began mixing.

Once I had a dough made I was tempted to make biscuits but I had to talk myself out of it. I continued lightly kneeding the dough. I split the dough in half to create two dough balls. Flattening them out and making a hole in the center, I was spectacle if this was even going to work. I had my doubts.

I had a feeling this would be another Pinterest fail. 

My dough was formed and ready to pop into the oven. While the bagels cooked, I made a small spinach omlet to eat with my first cup of coffee. Eggs are my favortie protein to eat in the mornings and if the bagels did not work out, at least I would be satified. Except for wanting a biscuit. 

Twenty minutes later, I pulled two ugly bagels from the oven. 

I cut one in half and it seemed a little sticky in the middle so I popped them back into the oven for another five minutes. Afterwards, I cut the other bagel open and it still seemed raw and sticky in the middle. I just threw them down on the pan and gave up. I poured another cup of coffee and whined to Nick about my bagels. I was disappointed. 

So I went back to the bagels a few minutes later. The sticky centers seemed to have fixed themselves and looked like bread is suppose to look. It was no longer raw looking. Come to find out, I had cut them too quickly and the moisture from the steam made them doughy. 

After a spread of cream cheese, these little doughnuts bagels were delicious! I will make these again as they were so easy peasy a kid could make them. You can also use the same method to make pretzels or pizza crust. How about that? 

2 Ingredient Bagels

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (Fage brand is recommended for the right consistancy).
• 1/2 cup self rising flour

Mix with a fork until a dough starts to form. With floured hands, lightly kneed the dough and form two balls (four if you want smaller bagels).

Place the dough on a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper. (Add egg wash and toppings such as sesame seeds or poppy seeds is optional). 

Bake 375 for 20-25 minutes. After they are baked, place on top rack and broil for two minute to make a browned crust on the top. 

NOTE: allow to cool some before slicing. 

Enjoy.