Outer Banks 2014 Recap #1: Fun in the sand and water!

We've been back just a bit over a week and of course, we are still doing laundry, finding sand in random places, and crying that we want to go back to the beach (well, the last one is basically being done by the two shortest people in the house, you can guess who I'm sure)  But I guess that's the sign of a great vacation!!  I think I'll let the pictures do most of the talking about how much fun these kiddos had. 

There was lots and lots and lots of boogie boarding:

Jake and Ben

We did a lot of sandcastle building/sand digging/seashell finding:

Alexa, Jake, Ben

Liam and Nathan

Liam and Parker

There was some kite flying:

The boys enjoyed some baseball on the beach:

And we were VERY thankful that our house had a pool (and hot tub!) this year, the kids were obsessed.  It was nice to relax by the water, watch the kids, and enjoy some cocktails!

Brian and Melissa

Cheers to a great vacation!

love this gal.

Stay tuned for more beach posts soon....

Favorite Finds Friday!

Favorite Find #1: Dunkin Donuts Cookie Dough Latte

Cookie dough.  Caffeine.  ALL IN ONE DRINK---WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN ALL MY LIFE??  Under normal circumstances, if given the choice, I will always choose Starbucks over DD coffee.  I just find the syrup there to taste less....syrupy.  Less fake.  However, I recently discovered this little bit of iced heaven in a cup and found a new favorite drink.

Your move, Starbucks.

Favorite Find #2: Thirty One Super Organizing Zip Top Tote

We take a lot of road trips each year, and if you have kids you know that road trips = tons of stuff.  Not just tons of stuff for the actual place you're going to, but stuff for the car as well (my sanity savers in the car are snacks, portable DVD players, sticker books, and Leap Pads)  On a typical road trip, this stuff was just scattered everywhere (*shudder*) or haphazardly thrown into plastic shopping bags.  A few months ago, a friend who sells Thirty-One products posted a bunch of items that were having their patterns discontinued and this super organizing tote was one of those...I snatched it up on super sale and I'm glad I did.  It fits all of the stuff I mentioned above, plus their headphones for their electronics, some toys, crayons, and snacks.  All of that stuff fits right in there, and I can zip it up and off we go.  Love it!!

Favorite Find #3: TOMS Canvas Shoes

These have quickly become my favorite shoes.  They are so comfy and perfect for either running errands on the weekends or wearing on Fridays to work with jeans.

Goodbye, beach.

I will eventually do a full trip review, once I sort through my 300+ pictures (I wish I was kidding!), but for now, I leave you with this shot of two little boys who played their hearts out, overcame fears, and cried when we had to leave the beach:

Favorite Finds Friday

Favorite Find #1: American Eagle Boy Jean Crop

For years, I lived in my crop jeans from the Gap in the summer.  They were a dark wash and they had a nice big cuff at the bottom that I liked.  Sadly, I had to retire those crops last summer :(  They were just way too low cut in the back for me to be comfortable in either at work or doing things with the boys...and the material was pretty much permanently stretched out, the bum area started to sag within just a few hours of having them on.

I was on a mission to find a new pair this year, and in the spring, I noticed that a fellow baseball mom had on an adorable pair.  I asked her where she got them, and I was really surprised to hear that the answer was American Eagle!  Friends, I have not stepped into an American Eagle store since I was probably 20 years old working at the movie theater and being a mall rat on my breaks.  But hey, this mom seemed to like them, so they were worth a shot!  A few weeks later, I noticed they were having a huge sale (they were $19.99!) and offering free shipping (and AE is one of those great stores where you can return things to the store....who wants to have to pay for return shipping??) 

disclosure: not me.

disclosure: this is me.  in a bathroom.

 I love, love, love these crops.  So much so that I may even try a pair of their regular jeans for the fall.  They are soft, comfortable, minimal stretching, and (the best part) the back comes up high enough that I don't have to worry about giving a free show to anyone (with the front still low enough to be flattering)

Favorite Find #2: I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends by Courtney Robertson

Ok, so my last favorite find Friday mentioned something about a former Bachelor contestant, and now this one does, too.  Stop immediately with the judgement, we all have our vices.

Anyway-this book was available for my kindle from my local library, so OF COURSE I snatched it up because BACHELOR.  If you are at all familiar with this franchise, you know that Courtney Robertson was from Ben's season and is probably one of the biggest "villains" in the history of this show.  Like most of America, this girl got under my skin while on the show, but man was this book entertaining!  Assuming that it's even half true, it made me feel sorry for her and I also loved reading some of the bachelor secrets about the show.  Easy read, two thumbs up from this gal! 

Favorite Find #3: Walmart Chicken Tray

No, this isn't a joke.  Remember when I said I was scaling back on my luau prep and the time and effort I had to put into it?  One of the things I decided to do was rather than making a bunch of smaller dishes, I was just going to order 2 big chicken trays from walmart.  We had purchased one for Jake's birthday party in January, so I knew it was tasty.  For $65 I was able to order one large and one medium size tray, which gave me 12+ pounds of meat.  I ordered chicken tenders, boneless wings (my personal favorite!) and chicken poppers.  The platters were empty by the end of the night, so it must have been good!

If you are hosting a get together and want a simple, tasty way to feed your guests, definitely check out their trays!!

Happy Friday!

Favorite Finds Friday

Hopping on the bandwagon of other bloggers, I decided to start Favorite Finds Friday here at Parenting Uncensored!  Here we go....

Favorite Find #1: Fitted boyfriend swiss dot shirt from the Gap

We've had unseasonably cool weather here the past few days (someone pass me a pumpkin spice latte!) so on Tuesday I busted out this shirt that I had purchased from the Gap in early summer.  The price listed online is $29.99 but the Gap almost always has some type of coupon code or savings special going on (I got the shirt for $12.99!)  I love it because the fabric doesn't pull across my chest (and gape open at the buttons) like a lot of button downs do.  It's also a super soft material, and I think the little tiny dots give it a little something extra. Here is a shot of me (in terrible lighting) and a better shot on a model.

Favorite Find #2: Mix and Match Mama blog

As you may already know, I am a huge Bachelor/Bachelorette fan.  I have watched way more seasons of it than I care to admit (ok, I'll admit it--I've watched it from the beginning), and there have been many former cast members on there that I have grown to love.  However, recently I have taken my bachelor/bachelorette love to the next level and have been loving a former contestant's sister.  Yep, that's right...my celebrity stalker tendencies have taken a twist, and I am LOVING Sean Lowe's sister's blog, Mix and Match Mama.  While having a discussion about the current season a few weeks ago, my friend Sarah couldn't believe that I wasn't following Mix and Match Mama's blog.  So of course, I had to check it out for myself since I felt like I was missing out.  And she was right, I have now adopted her as a new pretend BFF and I want her kids to play with my kids.  Seriously you guys, this family is adorable....I love her style, I love seeing Sean and Catherine randomly pop up in posts about what they did over the weekend, and she has some delicious looking recipes on her foodie blog: http://www.mixandmatchmama.blogspot.com/

I really want to try this BLT Pasta dish, I think it looks delicious!

image courtesy of mixandmatchmama.blogspot.com

If you're looking for a fun, lighthearted blog to follow (with some yummy recipes thrown in everyday), check it out!

Favorite Find #3: Merona Tote Handbag from Target

I don't tend to go ga-ga over handbags, but I do always need a nice, sturdy bag to haul my stuff to and from work.  I tend to carry a lot of stuff with me (I ride the bus, so I always have my kindle, an umbrella, etc.) so I like my bags to have divided sections so that it doesn't always look like a bomb went off.  After carrying a Nine West bag that I scored at Goodwill for $5 for the past 3 years or so, I finally had to put that one to rest (the inside lining was shredded and I was losing things in the bottom of the bag, oops!)  I found this one at Target and it's perfect for what I need.  There are 3 sections inside (one having a zipper), an outside pocket where I keep my keys, an smaller zippered pocket inside, and 2 other inside slots (where I keep my phone in one and my office key and work ID in the other)  I got it in the color pictured below, which goes well with just about anything or any coat that I wear.  This one is still available on the Target site, marked down to $24.74! 

So there you have it, my favorite items of the week!  Happy Friday!!