Friday Faves

Hello there and welcome to Friday, you've made it!

At least that's what I told myself this morning at 530 when my alarm was going off,

YOU MADE IT! IT'S THE WEEKEND! PIZZA PARTY FRIDAY YO!

Friday Faves

Friday oh Friday, I welcome you with open arms!

It's been a busy busy week over here! Between working on editing wedding videos and working on the new website for the shop, I've been glued to my computer like an algae eater and it's not cute! The new inventory started arriving at the house this week and I'm getting it all prepped and ready. Steaming everything and starting to photograph it, ekk so exciting! I'm already planning out what will be new arrivals for the winter as well since it will be here sooner than we know! There will be videos and other blog posts showing the items, explaining the fits and the style of everything, so subscribe to my YouTube channel to keep an eye open for that!

The new shop will have it's own website but I will still be keeping Etsy open and have the T-shirts available at both shops. This is solely because the traffic I get from Etsy is astounding. I have options to pay for marketing and advertising on Etsy and I have and its brought me a ton of traffic and orders from it. The last few months I've been doing some experimenting with the paid advertising and turning it on and off on certain days and now I've stopped it all together. I was trying to gauge if it's worth the money or not. What I've noticed is that because my sales have gone up (from paid advertising) my shirts have moved up in the rank on Etsy search pages that I no longer need to pay for the advertising because they are already on the first page! #majorwin

If you follow me on Snap you would have seen me post this last night already so sorry if this is repetitive, it just makes me incredibly happy! If you type in the search bar on Etsy "boy mom shirt" "wife shirt" or "wedding shirt" I'm on the first page for all of these! It's been a lot of work, money and time but it's so worth it! You can follow the shop's Instagram page to see more customer photos, coupon codes and the new items coming to the shop next month.

I'm filming another wedding tomorrow so I'm charging batteries and getting SD cards all ready for that. I also like to watch a lot of other wedding videos online to get my creative mind going ahead of time. It helps me think of different shots I want to get or how to capture something I may not have thought of.

Since I'll be gone all day tomorrow away from the boys we are having our usual pizza party Friday night but this time a picnic in our backyard. Really what that means is Jerek and I will be taking chainsaws and literally cutting down anything in our way! We have SO.MANY.WEEDS and just crap growing everywhere that it has got to go! We realize this is the end of the summer and most people do this in the Spring. We've been so busy this summer that we've let the outside of the house go and it's about to get wild tonight! We got this pool at the beginning of summer on a crazy "Amazon lightening deal" so I will fill that bad boy up for the boys, grab some pizza and beer and make a night out of it while we tackle the weeds!

I've been on the hunt for some new boots for the fall because I had to toss a couple of mine last year as they had seen much better days. I've been looking at these cute brown ones from Nordstrom, these ones for a little color or possibly these ones for a little help in the height department. 

If you follow me on Snapchat (@eastwillowgrove) or have seen my nails in real life lately you will know that I have been doing at home gel nails for some time now. I've always done my own nails and rarely get manicures and gel nails at home have made my life SO much easier! I will usually do them at 1030pm and go to bed right after! There's no fear I will mess them up either, it's amazing! The set I got a while ago is the Sensational Starter kit but I've heard great things about the Red Carpet kit too. I usually pick up polishes at Sallys when they are buy 2 get 1 free because they are more expensive than normal nail polish's. I just bought a couple OPI ones off Amazon that I use a ton as regular nail polish; Lincoln Park After Dark, Funny Bunny and You Don't Know Jacques. These three are my all time favorite colors, I will even wear Funny Bunny in the winter because I love it so much.

With Labor day weekend coming up we're trying to think of something fun to do before school starts and life gets even more chaotic! I'm thinking a trip to Grand Haven is in order next weekend because my toes are dying to be submerged into some sand!

Hope you all have a great weekend! Do something fun, get outside and soak up that sun!

Friday Faves

(photo from mini golfing last night)

The feeling of coming home is like nothing in itself.

I was traveling all week for work and while having a little alone time is all great fun I was going out of my mind! I didn't know what to do with myself! I filmed a new video, edited and uploaded it in a day. Something that NEVER happens because #kids! If you haven't seen it you can watch it here. My easy everyday makeup look.

No one was bugging me for more milk, no one to ask me to play games with and no one to fall asleep next to. It's a very lonely feeling to be honest. I'm so used to being with the boys anything more than a day or two is very hard on me. Jerek was on ultra dad duty and killed it like always. Had kids to school on time, worked, played and kept them very happy.

This weekend we have one of my best friends son's first birthdays and that is really it! I want to get some cleaning and organizing done around the house because there are just piles of stuff to sell, donate and toss everywhere I turn (totally my fault!) Besides de-hoarding my house I want to spend some quality time at the gym, and not just at the pool lounging but getting my butt back into gear!

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:| I've had my eyes on these and these Nike shoes lately. I want something I can wear to the gym but also with leggings or a pair of shorts that still say she looks semi put together when I leave the house in the summer.

:| I'm starting to plan Skylor's 3rd birthday coming up at the end of July. Last year we got "him" (hard to say just for him since it's for both boys) this trampoline and it's been amazing for the boys and anyone that comes over! I need to figure out what we should get him this year. I will probably get him this helmet since he's out grown his current one (and he loves dinosaurs) but I want to find him something special too!

:| I tweeted about Boohoo.com having a flash sale of 40% off the entire site on Wednesday (it's over now.) I jumped on that train and bought a few items which I will show in a video once they arrive. For a preview I got this cute off the shoulder dress and this very basic gray maxi dress along with a few other pieces. I've already started tacking my order because ONLINE SHOPPING IS THE BEST!

:| Speaking of online shopping, I also got this lens that I'm excited to shoot with! I have 2 weddings I'm filming video for at the end of July so I want to test it out prior. Tracking says it should be here tomorrow so hopefully I can get this baby working this weekend! Stay tuned!

:| This weekend I'm hoping to try and make a few cold salads and a vegan chili that I've pinned to keep on hand for this next week and make our lives a little easier with lunches.

Leave any 3 year old birthday gift ideas below because I have no idea what to get the little munchin! Have a great weekend and enjoy the weather! PS. Katie, have your baby already girl ;)

xx Chel

Bathing Suit Shopping

With Mexico less than a month away, 3 weeks to be exact, I've been in overdrive mode about my eating habits and trying to make it to the gym a good 5 days a week (trying is the key word.) This wedding comes at a perfect time because it's like a jump start into the summer!

Bathing suit shopping pre-kids was always kind of difficult for me. I had a tiny butt and big boobs so I could never just buy one size and have it fit perfectly. Back in the day to buy suits separately you had to go to stores like Everything But Water, Macys or Nordstrum, for a high school or college kid those price tags were a big no no in my book!

As the years have gone by everyone is selling tops and bottoms separately so it's easier to mix and match. However, enter post kids body. My boobs just DON'T fit into suits like they use to and those low rise cheeky bottoms just do NOT flatter me any longer! I also have found that I can't and SHOULDN'T just buy cheap bathing suits, those are the ones that don't fit my body well. So just like a good pair of jeans, I need to spend a little bit more money to find suits that fit me.

Last summer I posted this photo online because I LOVED the way I looked and felt in my new one piece. This year I'm on the hunt for another cute one to add to my summer wardrobe but also some bikini's that show off the hard work I've been putting in with my food and gym habits.

With working and having kids, getting to the store and actually trying suits on is a real pain in the ass. My love online shopping, point blank. I LOVE seeing packages on my doorstep when I get home from a long day at work and trying on in the comfort of my home, not worrying if I'm taking too long in the dressing room. I've rounded up some of my favorites I've been eyeing, now I just need to pull the trigger on a few.

 HIGH NECK | WHITE

TOP  | BOTTOM

PEPLUM | DEEP V

LEFT | RIGHT

Let me know what ones you like the best, or if you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments below!  XX

Friday Faves

This has been SUCH a busy week! Jerek has been holding reviews at work, I've been attempting to not shut down plants in Mexico due to part shortages and the boys have been crazy, per usual!

It's been a little bit since I've had a Friday Faves post so I thought we were due for one, shall we!

1. Last Friday Faves I mentioned how I was contemplating doing a Capsule Wardrobe and unlike Vlog/Blogmas, I DID IT and I've been loving it! If you want more info on what it is, watch this video and if you want to see what is in my capsule wardrobe watch this video!

2. As you know, I'm mildly obsessed with watching YouTube as well as producing videos for my own channel. I've been on team #nocable for like YEARS now, we're just waiting on our contract to run out and then we are saying bye Felicia to it. One of my favorite film makers, because he's MORE than just a "vlogger" is Casey Neistat. This dude is cool, he's laid back, doesn't give two fawks and makes some killer videos. You may have seen his video for Nike before or perhaps his video series him and his brother made and sold to HBO. Like Stop. Anyways, he started daily vlogging last year, lives in NYC and is killin it in the game of life. Having his son in his teens, dropping out of high school and really making a name for himself, this guy is super rad. I'm 110% positive Jerek is sick of me always talking about him. Check out his channel and don't worry about getting sucked in, you'll find your way out...somehow!

3. My wedding dress alterations are on the 2nd of February and I need to find shoes before I go so we know what to hem everything to. Since it's freezing in Michigan the sandals aren't exactly out in full force yet so I'm trying to find some options but am not having the best luck. I'm not doing heels , unless I find some chunky ones I just can't like without cause well I've had two kids and whenever I try and wear them I look like I'm dancing to the nae nae song when they sing and break your legs, go and break your legs.... it's not a cute look! I also want something that are comfortable and I'll wear while we're there because shoes you will wear only one day and that give you blisters make ZERO sense to me! Here are some options I've found. 99% of you have no idea what my dress looks like but think like beachy meets whimsical meets outdoorsey meets I dunno, just tell me what shoes you like, kthanks.

1  |  2  |  3  |  4

4. Again with the wedding coming up, I've been trying to really watch what I eat while also still enjoying what I eat, it doesn't have to be a catch 22 people! I've been turning to my trusty Pinterest boards lately and have been making green juice/smoothies as home. It looks like I'll be making more of them at home especially since I just bought this one while at work today and it was $5.99. Shoot me in the big toe on that call! I wanted the juice so bad that I didn't look at the price until I forked over my debit card. Smooth move Chels, smooooth move.

5. Eyelash extensions. Yes, they are a thing and mine are light brown with blonde ends. Without mascara I look like I have rat eyes. Okay, I'm being dramatic but really guys, I look like a little mouse. I have a great mascara routine that I don't stray. I love me a good pair of Ardell demi wispies when we are hanging up our PJ's and going out for the night. HOWEVER, a ton of my girlfriends and even my aunt have lash extensions. They transform your whole face when you have them! I knew I wanted to get them before the wedding so I've been on the hunt to find someone local that I love and can recommend to others. If you are in Metro Detroit area PLEASE send me info on places you swear by!

Happy Friday and enjoy the weekend!

Friday Faves

This Vlogmas/Blogmas business is hard stuff I tell ya! I failed for Day 3 yesterday because we went to the local Christmas tree lighting, which meant the boys were up late and crashed as soon as I hit the pillow.

This weekend we don't have much plans which I'm very excited about. We got our basement flood situation figured out and need to start the cleaning, demoing and redoing of the basement so I guess that is really what our weekend will consist of I suppose.

A while back I use to do Friday round ups but got away from it and I'm not why because I love reading them! So I decided it's coming back and it shall be called Friday Faves. Centered around five round ups of our week, recent Pins I'm loving, clothes I'm lusting over, you get the point. Friday's for us are very chill and very relaxed once we all get home from work and daycare. They are full of pizza and beer and couch snuggles with the boys, I mean they aren't called Pizza Party Friday's for nothing!

1. I've been working on editing a few videos that you will see this month and they are ones I'm really proud of. A photography video, a 2015 video and Tracen's 5th birthday video, look for those coming soon! In the meantime I've been re-watching videos from the last few years and basically just crying. With all the horrible news flying around lately I find it reassuring to watch something that makes me happy.

2. Lately I've been thinking about doing a 30 item challenge like my fellow Michigander blogger, Tieka, is currently doing. I mean, I pretty much wear the same 30 things anyways! I've been de-cluttering my wardrobe and life lately and what better way to start the year off than that.

3. People keep asking me what I would like for Christmas and I really don't NEED anything. Well besides new cookie sheets because the ones we have stress me out. Besides that, nothing really. I do WANT (not necessarily NEED) a new bag for work. I'm really loving any of these below. So family members if you need an idea, here ya go.

one | two | three | four

4. Christmas is like what 20 days away and with Cyber Monday and Black Friday over with I've been working double time trying to get everything ready and shipped out with the tee shirts in the shop. There is still time to order if you missed out, the cut off is Monday the 7th to ensure enough time for printing and delivery. If you don't need for the holidays then you can order whenever you'd like!

5. For the last few years for Christmas we have done the 4 gift rule for the boys (and a stocking.) We do something you can read, something you need, something you want and something you eat. Last year we did a big gift for both of them (the kitchen) as their want and they loved it. This year I'm not really sure what to do to be honest! I've been picking up stuff for their stockings on my many trips to Target but I'm at a lost on the something you want part. I know I should listen to what they say they want but Tracen wants like $150 lego sets that are for 10 year olds so that's out of the question. If you ask Skylor he just wants to watch PJ Masks, ALL.DAY.LONG so unless I want my kid to turn into a vegetable I'm fresh outta ideas! We have so many toys and we've been selling and giving away a ton lately that I just don't know what to get them. Our thought was a 5 in 1 play table like this one but Jer thinks it might be a too old for them still. Leave ideas on what you are getting your kids (boys or girls) and maybe something will spark my brain!

Happy Friday and have a beer for me wontcha!