Favorite Posts + oh hey Friday

September is my birthday month! 

"but I thought July was?" is what most of you are probably thinking?

This is true, I was born in July, the 8th to be exact.

But September IS East Willow Grove's birth month! 

I had been reading blogs for years before I was pregnant and started throwing around the idea of starting this little guy. It took months of coming up with a name that I liked and wasn't taken across all social media platforms. I looked at different designs daily before I finally took the plunge. September 25th 2013 was my first post I had written and published on here. This month I will be celebrating in true form, ALL MONTH LONG! There will be more posts to come such as "how I named my blog", "a year in blog review" and a big giveaway! For today though, I wanted to share some of my favorite posts that either I enjoyed writing, or that have been extremely popular among the readers.

Since it's Friday, it's only fitting that I'll be linking up with THE one and only Karli & Amy for Oh Hey Friday! If you missed my guest post over on Karli's page last week here it is again!

Here we go!

1. My Hairdresser Hates Me- This is in my top 10 for most read. Keep your eyes peeled for Part 2 coming in the next week or so where I give you all the tips, tricks and secrets for my long and luscious blonde locks! Shot out to my girl Jamie, YOU DA BEST BOO!

2.Make Time For You- This is in my top 10 for most read and I really enjoyed writing it. So many days we are caught up in motherly duties that brushing your teeth can be forgotten {yup, I said it!} I love my kids but remembering to take time for yourself everyday can be life changing!

3.A Day In The Life In Pictures- This wasn't one of the most popular posts from this year but I love reading these from other bloggers so I had fun doing it for myself! Maybe next time I'll do one when I am at work next time.

4.What I Would Tell My 18 Year Old Self- This was also in my top 10 for most read. I enjoyed writing this one so much because I went back in my archive of photos and went down memory lane for the last 10 years! It is also my most read post with over 1000 page views, pretty cool if you ask me!

5.Iggy Azalea Inspired Makeup Look- A popular read but I'm pretty sure I had the most fun doing my makeup, taking the photos, editing and trying to get the right look down. There will be more makeup and beauty posts to come this month and the rest of the year so keep your eyes open for those too!

Narrowing it down to 5 was hard believe it or not! Especially with one of my favorite posts to write was my guest post on Karli's blog. I decided to leave it out of my top 5 here since it wasn't technically posted on EWG. Trying to tell your story to thousands of strangers in one blog post is hard but so fun! I've discovered some amazing new online friends because of it {so corny, I know, but so true!}

Are there other posts that you enjoyed reading of mine that maybe I've totally forgotten about?

As always, Happy Friday! You know where I'll be tonight, Face deep in a pizza box with my three blonde haired boys, uhh get some! K, I'll stop now >_<

Summer Recap + Oh Hey Friday

I know I know, last Friday I talked about how excited I was for the Fall and this week I'm recapping summer. I often get excited about something that I obsess over it and forget that anything else is even possible to exist in life. Okay, that sounds dramatic but you get my drift.

Last summer I was either MEGA pregnant or was a new mother of two and it was all very overwhelming to be frank. I was scared out of my mind to leave the house with two kids. Scared to sleep more than a foot away from my newborn. Scared that I wouldn't loose the baby weight.

I have obviously left the house and Sky now sleeps in his crib just fine. Loosing all the baby weight is another story for a different day. One when I am brave, today I'm not that brave and I'll just talk about how bombdiggity this summer was! 

In order to do this I picked my 5 favorite moments from the summer and am linking up with Karli & Amy! If you missed my guest post over on Karli's page here it is for your viewing pleasure! Without further mumble jumble, I give you my 5 top moments of Summer 2014!

1. Lake St. Clair Metropark- This was a recent little day trip that we took a few weeks ago and I keep thinking about it! I'm really contemplating heading there again since we have a 4-day weekend coming up!

2. Port Huron Beach- This was a little bit of a drive for us and we kinda sorta go 'turned around' ie: LOST {not my fault!} on the way home but the scenic route was a nice touch to such a fun day on the beach. This beach wasn't our favorite from the summer because it was pretty rocky but it was so nice to get out of town and escape for the day that it didn't matter!

3. My 28th Birthday-My actual birthday was spent at work and then at home, grilling and swinging with the boys, just how I like it! The weekend before was nothing crazy, I just requested that we go to dinner and grab a drink. All I wanted was to be with our favorite couple and be kids free! Tyler and I also acted like children and posed for pictures on top of blocks pushed together in a pyramid in downtown Detroit. Yolo bitches!

4. Skylor's 1st Birthday- It's crazy to think that last year I was a wobbling whale wearing grandma moo-moos. No really, I basically wore the same 5 outfits through out the week and laid out in our back yard in a sports bra and granny panties to sunbathe. I'm a hot mess I tell ya.  Fast forward a year later and my like Sky Sky is 1!We had family and friends over for a "ice cream social" themed first birthday and it was a ton of fun!

5. Troy Aquatic Center- This was the most recent family outing we had, last Saturday in fact! We'd been hearing about this place for a while now and it's not too far of a drive. After 5pm they cut the price in half {or something like that} so we went for a few hours for the twilight special to try it out. The place is total family zone and amazeballs! There were places to layout at, a nice concession stand, kidding pool & slide, big kid/adult water slides and an Olympic size zero entry pool {I think that is what it's called!} plus a splash pad and really nice restrooms/changing rooms! There is also, beach volley ball, a HUGE sandbox and a jungle gym. Needless to say it was a blast and we will be back! Sadly, after this weekend they close down for the season, but I did see on the website that they have an indoor portion! {Hello winter time when you need to wear your kids out!}

Well, there you have it guys! I basically am here to tell you that we need to sell our house and move closer to the water {and a big city.} It seems that this is where we enjoy being together the most! What do you say Jer ;)

Oh Hey Friday || All Things Fall + Giveaway

Lets be honest with ourselves here. It's August 22nd and I live in Michigan.

This past winter was one of the worst winters yet.

I could go back to all the Facebook post from January and show you the feet of snow people posted but there is really no need to remind ourselves of that nonsense.

What I do need to remind you of is that Fall is JUST around the corner. No really, like if you look around the corner at Starbucks, there are pumpkin spice lattes being prepped and scarf wearing people working on their laptops. It's a glorious thing really!

Fall is my favorite season. I don't do cold well and I don't do sweltering hot either. The spring in Michigan is bullshit to put it lightly, but the fall, the fall is AMAZING. With the leaves starting to change and the beanies and boots preparing for their arrival there is a smell in the air that I can't help but love. I know, I know, I'm rushing summer out of the house like she was a bad bootay call but Fall is my JAM!

So what do we do on Fridays {besides eat Pizza!}, we link up! 

Not only am I linking up with these two wonderful ladies{Karli & Amy} BUT I'm part of a massive giveaway going on as well! So after I get your mind, body and soul all geared up for fall, pop on over to SEPTEMBER Farm and meet some new ladies, and enter to win that cash money! You can then spend it on things like Pumpkin Spice lattes, beanies and boots! Cause you know I would!

1| Nikon Monopoly 40mm Watch- this is semi unrealistic but I've been lusting after this baby for a while now. {Le sigh}

2| JC Rumble Boots-Also unrealistic, but I've wanted these for a few seasons now because they go with EVERYTHING! Contemplating that blow to the wallet though, yikesss.

3| Pumpkin Spice Latte-Figure out the code and you could get pumpkin spice latte on Aug 26 instead of Sep 2! Mark my words, I WILL figure this out!!!!

4| MK Jet Set small travel tote- Dying over neutrals lately and navy is my go to blue these days. With fall coming I ultimately carry a huge bag and this baby needs to be in my life.

5| Flannels-The least expensive clothing item on the list and the only one I've already purchased {this past weekend}. I plan on stocking my closet with a few different color variations of these. They are great for layering well into the spring even!

Conclusion? My taste is getting more expensive by the minute and my wallet is going to jump ship sooner rather than later. What is YOUR fall staple? Anything I should swap out that I would like but for a better price, I'm all ears, I do love a great deal!

Don't forget to check out the amazing amazing giveaway hosted by Karli from SEPTEMBER Farm and enter enter enter! If you win, make sure you let me know, we could like, go shopping together, maybe you could buy me a PSL? No....okay then.

soup of the day | beautiful things | p. s. my name is madeline | September FARM
east willow grove | elizabeth loves
harris heart to hearts | a life like mine
blue giraffes + concrete jungles | simply love | the farmer's wife | ribbon in the sky

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August Goals + Oh Hey Friday Link up

July is sadly gone, I'm a year older and Skylor turned one. August is here but it's Friday so you get two for the price of one today{BONUS!} August goals with a side of a Friday link up with Karli and Amy.

Per usual, lets take a look at my July goals and how I did..yikes! If you remember I was taking 3 goals from the past 6 months that I needed to work on and one new goal for a total of four goals this past month.

1. Run- Failed. Horribly might I add! With all the birthdays & fun plans in July I think I went ONCE. Yea, once. I officially have 10 weeks till the marathon {don't worry, I'm only running 6.4 miles} but I need to get my ass in gear, and fast!!!

2. Drink more water- Semi completed. I'm drinking 'more' but not as much as I'd like to be drinking.

3. Meal Plan- One weekend we ate out for EVERY.SINGLE.MEAL. So that's how that went. {barf}

4. Film more- SUCCESS! I've been on a roll, the only thing is I need to do is upgrade my air to a pro because I have ZERO storage space and I'm always hooked up to my external drive dropping things off or importing things and it takes up a lot of my work time. I also want to get Final Cut Pro because I'm annoyed with iMovie already #thestruggle

Moving on to August goals, I will be doing FIVE this month in honor of this Friday's link up, hopefully I can accomplish one or all, we shall see!

{Life of a toddler grocery shopping}

1. Finish Kayla Itsines workout- I started this weeks ago and was doing great! And then Forth of July came around and I was eating more fried food and drinking more beer than I knew what to do with myself! I had 5 weeks to go so I'm forcing myself to do this so I show you my "after" pictures because the "before" pictures are still haunting me {gah}

2. Family Pictures/Skylor 1 year pictures- Skylor turned one and we've been a family of four for 365 days now. We do have pictures of us four but I want profess pictures. Like in fields, with flowers, laughter, smiles, the whole thing! Stay tuned and hopefully this happens because I never did newborn pictures of Sky and soon he's going to 18 and I'll be..old and that will be that.

3. Bike Rides- We got a bike seat for Sky for his birthday this year and we need to mount it still. We use to go on family bike rides with Tracen the past two summer's with the bike trailer and Trace loved it. I want to get back in the habit of going because soon it'll be winter and everyone will be posting annoying Facebook status's of how they can't wait till it's summer and we will all be locked up inside going bonkers with toddlers. #dreadingwinter

4. Run- Again, this must be a goal! This will also help with goal #1. Or so I think it will...

5. No booze- Yup, I said it. I'm not going to have any booze for the month of August. Now that all the birthdays and July holidays are over, August needs to be a month where I get back on track. Dare I say that working out won't be nearly as hard as not having a glass of wine after the boys go to bed. I know SO many people that are pregnant between family and friends right now I might just pretend I am so I can not drink with them. This might help? Probably not though.

|| I recently just added advertising on East Willow Grove and with the start of a new month I'm offering 30% off all ads with the coupon code 'WILLOW' entered at check out.||

Happy pizza party Friday friends!