Making The Switch

So I know it's not Wednesday but I wanted to tell about a new all natural/green product I've fallen in love with and why I made the switch to it.

The last few months, each day I've put on deodorant I have felt guilty and a little sick to my stomach. Yes, over deodorant. Ridiculous I know.

But I just kept thinking about all I know about this little product we use each day and how even though the popular deodorants we all buy everyday do their job. They definitely were not good for my overall health.

Deodorants such as Secret, Degree, LadySpeedStick...and so on have some very interesting and unsafe ingredients. Your body is made to sweat and these deodorants all keep your body from doing that by clogging pores with lots of nasty chemicals. These chemicals can build up in your underarms and cause problems such as swollen lymph nodes and small tumors.

Umm, no thank you.

I had been taking so long to switch to natural deodorant because I hadn't heard of any good alternatives and to sweat and be stinky was not an option.

I have heard great things recently about the brand Alvera so I purchased a bottle of their deodorant in the Aloe & Almond scent and I have been very very impressed.

There is absolutely no stinkiness. Which is obviously everyone's main issue. But I can honestly report that I have not once in the last three weeks had issues there since I've changed to this all natural brand. I do sweat a little, but that's natural since your body is made to do that. But it hasn't been anything major, I'm not much of a sweater anyway.

I definitely recommend this product since it's aloe based and not petroleum it's a million times better for you and for the environment. Give it a try! ;)

Dropping In

Just thought I'd stop in to say.....

It's SUMMER and I'm loving every single second of it.

So please don't get mad if my updates are less and less for a little while.

I'm enjoying much needed time with friends and family....sunshine & beer....fishing and gardening. And much much more.


Happy Summer my dear friends! :)

Because I Just Can't Resist!

I have to show her off.

I'm just too proud to call her my little niece.

She's beautiful.
Even when she's naked in a little blanket she still takes me breath away.

I'm so glad you're a part of my life Kinley Brooke. Not only are you adorable with your little toes and cute little nose but you always put a smile on my face.

I love seeing you try to do so much already at only one month old. Watching you scoot your little booty all the way on the other side of your pack and play to get your paci (which only frustrated you when you got there and couldn't figure out how to get it into your mouth), or singing too you to TRY and put you to sleep but you trick me and open your eyes as soon as I put you down, or that cute little wimper you have.

I can't wait to see how much you change in the next month...and the next...and the next.

Happy one month sweet baby girl!

You May Say I'm A Dreamer...

And you'd be right.

Sometimes I spent too much time daydreaming about the future and I have to snap myself back to reality.

So what have I been dreaming about lately?

My future career.

Nope. Not the one that I'm currently going to school to do.

In fact, I see a degree as my back up plan.

Ever since I watched It's Complicated and saw this cute bakery in the movie my dream has been on my mind day in and day out.

So what's this BIG dream that makes me get butterflies in my tummy? (Besides the obvious dreams of my future family and a craft room the size of Texas)

I desperately want my own store/shop.

I haven't figured out a good one-word name for this store yet.

But I do want it to be full of everything my little hands can create.

In my unrealistic mind, my store is simple, clean, chic with a little country edge. (Perhaps I will use the Martha Stewart Show interior designer to help with the details.)

The store will kind of be like your momma's goolash, a little of this and a little of that.

I want my fresh garden grown veggies, fruits and herbs.

My freshly baked breads, cookies, cakes, granola bars and other sweets. All adorably packaged with sweet little labels that say something along the lines of, "Sweet Enough to Eat." or perhaps "Feed Your Kneed."

I will also sell jams, preserves, and pickled goods. (By the way, this is something I will be spending the summer doing so don't be surprised if I show up to your house with some jam in hand.)

So that takes care of the food portion of my store.....

But that just wouldn't be enough.

I also want to have a section for my homemade cleaning products. (I've been using homemade natural cleaning products for over two years now and love how effective, easy and healthy it is.)

Maybe my line of products can be called something like, "Healthy Home" or "Wholesome Home" maybe even "Tidy With Tori"m ;)

I know.

I'm crazy.

Who puts so much thought into such things?

But wait!

There's more!

Everyone knows about my sewing excursions that I've been working hard to perfect and you know I have to put them to good use.

I will make aprons, napkins and other small sewing projects including my very own reusable grocery/shopping bags.

A few other things I'd probably throw in my chic general store would be soy candles, handmade jewelry, a line of children's clothes complete with bows, homemade all natural face products.... this list really could go on and on forever.

Would you like to know the BEST part about my store?

All of it would be homemade with lots of love :) And everything I'd sell would be recycled and reusable.

I literally get flutters thinking about everything I just typed!

So the above is a lot for one little person to do.

And I've decided there are a few things I'm in need of if this dream is ever going to be able to come true.

1. I need a backer or is investor a better word? Backer kinda sounds like I'm dealing drugs....lol

2. I need to graduate and I guess make a little money in order to make this dream come true. Although, I wish I could skip the middle area.

3. Help. I will need lots of help. (I'm not good at asking for help or even allowing help for that matter. I blame it on the only child syndrome. I was doomed to be independent from the start)

So, if you'd like to throw away your current career and join together with me to make my dreams come true I promise you wouldn't regret it.

Give it some thought.

Do you really love your job?

Or would you rather sit around eating homemade bread dipped into fresh fig preserves while in the garden picking tomatoes? I promise I'd provide a big floppy straw hat, cute gloves and an apron.

Maybe I live in a fantasy world that things will work out just that perfectly.

But it's my dream.

And dreams.... they're meant to be made into realities.

Perhaps I won't have this dream fulfilled next year or even in the next ten years, but nothing would make me happier than to be my very own version of Martha Stewart just less famous and more edgy. ;)

Martha Attempts ;)

This past weekend was full of awesomeness. Well, most of my weekends are pure awesomeness so I guess you could say it's the same ole around here. But it never is.

On Saturday Jenny and I had set our minds to getting that veggie garden planted, we were cuttin' it short if we wanted delicious mid-summer salads and such.

And because we can't just do something without making it an all out event. We decided on a tea party. Although, there was no tea. It was quickly replaced with peach bellini's, but we received no complaints.

Erin, Steven and little Kinners came. Kinley loved being outside all day in the beautiful weather. She played (slept) most of the day in her pack-n-play but when we took our breaks it was nice to go check on the little sunshine.



Here are some more pics of the glorious day.

Another thing that this little lady worked on this weekend was crafts. Surprise. Surprise.

The first project I got to work on was recovering this lamp.

I made this lamp shade about 3 or 4 years ago and its safe to say my decor has definitely changed. I can't throw things out though, we all know I like to re-vamp anything that I can get my hands on.

So I stripped it down. Played with some white fabric and this was how the final result came out.


I added a little flare, nothing too dramatic (not my style) by adding a little tie on the side and then a broach that I made out of an old charm.

I definitely like the more simplistic look of the lamp now and with the all white fabric it brightens my bedroom up completely. I'd say it was a success. ;)

My next project this weekend was not on my to-do list since I happened to stumble upon this little desk at Goodwill on Sunday for $8.00.

I've been looking for a small sewing desk that didn't take up too much space and would help me keep my sewing machine off of the kitchen table when I'm sewing. And I'm sewing at least a couple nights a week now so it has become quite the eye sore.

After a coat of primer.

I have to say I did splurge on these knobs. At $3.00 a piece that's a little pricey I think. Afterall, I got all four of the knobs for the sewing dresser for $5.00. But I thought they were cute since they looked like a clock and I seem to lose track of time when I start to sew.

And then the ugly desk turned into something a little cuter......

I've already put it to use. ;)

The last project that I worked on was some cushions for the two antique patio chairs I bought with the Daddy at First Monday. I paid only $5 a piece for the chairs.

I started by getting together some cute material ($3) and I bought these two cushions for $1.99 a piece.

If you're keeping track that's $15 for this entire project. The cushions alone the I wanted were each $15. And the chairs that I wanted were somewhere around $30 for each one. So that's a huge savings of $45!!!!! Pure craziness.


Ta-da! ;)



Oh! I almost forgot! I made this cute little outfit for Miss Kinley last week out of an old t-shirt and some fabric scraps.

I love that little babydoll.

Well, stay tuned. There are always more Do It Yourself projects around the corner in this home.

Greatness in the Form of my 24th!

Much has been going on in my lovely little life since I last checked in on the day of my 24th.

And where better to begin than where I left off....

So as I had mentioned, this lady came in to see me for my birthday. Yeah, she's still phenomenal.

She got in Friday night from Austin and the great Claude and Jenny were kind enough to let us partake in their hamburgers at their casa.

We sat outside and caught up for a long time until Claude hastled us. He very casually (wink*wink) reminded us about our fishing excursion that would be taking place the following morning and the truck would be pulling out promptly at 6 A.M. So much for extended happy hour (it was 12 A.M. ;)

So like we had planned me and Little Tobin woke up at 5 in the morning for our way too early trip. We made it to Claude and Jenny's on time (6:05, you get a 5 min grace period) only to wait on this guy. Gees.



Erin and I climbed in the back seat and off we all went, minus Jenny who decided to be way UN-cool and sleep, BOOO!!!!! ;)

Anyway, we didn't make it far before we needed to get gas and a big glass of milk (cough cough..beer). The girls were much more concerned/disappointed when we found out you can't buy beer in Denton until 7 A.M., or is that everywhere? This obviously proves we aren't true alcoholics, although we felt like one when we asked about beer purchases before the sun had even come up.

Anyway, no beer.

In the truck and off we went.

But wait....the lake is about 30 minutes away perhaps there's still a chance.

We arrive at the second convenient store at approximentally 6:48 A.M. As I stood in line for what seemed like eternity with one of my bestest and a case of Tecate I almost felt embarrassed until I thought, 'Hey, it's my 24th birthday and I can do what I want!'

At 7:15 (give or take a few minutes) that first beer was cracked open, there was a fishing pole in my hand, good friends on the boat and life was officially sweet. :)





The adventure turned out cold and windy so we headed back early after only catchin' a few.

Erin and I worked diligently on the best spiked lemonade ever for the bbq later than evening before heading to my casa for a few lazy hours of catching up by the pool with one old friend in particular. Erin enjoyed an ice cold Budlight while I enjoyed some ole Tecate.




As our alarm went off for the nap we were supposed to take we decided to say screw it, no nap. More beverages.

We headed to Jenny and Claude's for the bbq where I was so excited to get some of my closest friends from different places all together. And they meshed so well. It couldn't have gone better.

One special little lady was there and I have to admit she stole the show for a bit but she's so stinkin' adorable I didn't even get upset. ;)





So with great company, outrageously delicious food and a little flip cup and beer pong later in the night I felt like a pretty lucky lady that I have such great friends to help celebrate my 24th year. Here are a few priceless pics from the occasion.
























My 25th birthday doesn't stand a chance. 24 was fabulous!