Monday Mimosa Love

How is it February already? Seriously I was just pushing out my baby boy and deciding if I would post him to social media, next it was New Years and now its February? Wow time is passing by! How is everyone doing on their resolutions? This month on the blog I will be doing a love theme. So all month I will work to create post about some type of love. Lets start with the Superbowl mimosas I made and Loved lol....

 I'm still breastfeeding so I needed something light. I immediately went to Pintrest and the possibilities are endless. So here is how I did mine.

I made the traditional orange juice and Champagne mix first. I love fruit garnish on my drinks so I added grapes to my flute and topped it with a pineapple. I really wanted a strawberry but I didn't have any.

Next I tried it with lemonade. This was great. I will suggest though get the juice with no pulp. I forgot to specify this when my niece went to the store. It wasn't a big deal for me but hubby instantly said "hmm it has pulp in it."

A while ago (like before baby number 2) hubby and I went to brunch where they served unlimited mimosas and one of them had beer in it. So who would I be to deny myself my family the full experience. LOL! Come on I'm the same woman that gave away alcohol shots at her baby shower. Of course I would try it with beer. I liked it. My mom noted that it gave a more "alcohol like taste" she was not a fan of the "sweet girly drink."

One thing to keep in mind is to serve it cold. I noticed when the champagne got a little warm it was not as good to drink.

Judging by this gif of me I really enjoyed myself. 

Does adding couple shots make this post relate to love? If not let me add I will be having a mimosas for Valentines Day sense it was a hit. 

Clearly this was taken before that awful call to throw the ball...

Have you ever had mimosas? Do you enjoy them? What are your favorite ingredients??

4 Things to Consider When Dating with Children

Hello world, as usual I was talking with a friend (dam is that all I do lol)  and the topic of dating while being a single parent came up. I know I know its a hot topic and as always if  you disagree with me just do so respectfully. We are all entitled to our own opinions....

I was a single parent for so long and being perfectly honest with you I dated. It was not easy or convenient. I remember when my now husband and I were dating we had a standing Friday date. I used to get off early on Friday and was able to leave mini me at after care while I had the date. Sure there were some early dates but eh it all worked out for me. I also met some people that mini me never knew existed but I survived. Here is what I learned...

Timing is everything- For me my daughter did not need to meet every guy who said hello to me. That is dumb and confusing to her. Plus I did not want her to think that love and dating involved a plethora of guys. I did not want her getting attached if the guy wasn't planing to be around. Also be honest with your self we all have dated people that we did not believe were in our best interest but we were bored, desperate, lonely or whatever.Still you don't want to fall madly in love with someone to learn that they do not like children or worse your child does not like them. So timing the introduction is critical.

Neutral Ground- One thing I tried to do was allow my daughter to meet the new prospect on neutral territory such as a park or restaurant. Sure this did not always happen but I had good intentions. It may be intimidating for the child to have the stranger all in there space.

Respect- I think in general there should be a level of respect for the child from the non parent that apparently some people do not have. For example I have a serious issue with the child sleeping at the foot of the bed with mommy and "boyfriend of the week" or daddy and his new boo. There are times when dating a single parent means your date will be suddenly cancelled because the baby sitter fell through or the child is sick. This is when you really learn who you are dating. Sure disappointment is expected but if someone throws a complete fit or asks you to chose this may not be a good mate for you as your child is permanent and we all know dates come and go.

Trust your instincts- Everyone is not right for you and your child. When people tell you they prefer not to date because you have a child LISTEN TO THEM. If your talking on the phone and they never ask about your child this is a sign. If after meeting your child they never consider any kid friendly dates this too is a sign. Its a sad fact that mates come and go and often the departure is after a child has been born. The child is innocent and did not ask for any drama between parents or to be mistreated by the new love interest in any way. So remember dating is cool but your first priority is to be a parent.

Thoughts?????...

6 Practical Reasons Marriage is Awesome!!

Married life definitely comes with ups and downs but I must say there are some things that you appreciate so much more if you are married. As I was thinking about some of the things my hubby and I have been through lately I came up with this fun list of things that makes marriage awesome.

1. Slumber parties with your best friend every night. I love getting into bed and just looking at him and being able to say ANYTHING and it is ok! Trust what happens on this blog (as real as I keep it)  is edited and I use my filter. After about 7pm the filter is broken and my husband listens to me and my thoughts with little to no judgement. I'm sure some nights he is like who did I marry again

2. The sex somehow gets better. Sex is also very important to taking care of your man.. Marinate on that!

      

3. You have a guaranteed partner in crime (spousal privilege lol). No seriously your spouse will go to the chick flick with you and you in turn will go to the sporting events. No matter what it is you no longer have to go through this life alone.

4.  No more weddings alone! For me especially this means I no longer feel obligated to dance to Single Ladies while twerking extra hard and plastering on a huge smile.

hubby was recently a groomsmen and when Beyonce single ladies was played I was all to happy to stay seated

5. So I am just going to say it. No matter how much you make two incomes is just better than one. Sure I had my own money and career and such prior to November 30, 2013 but having his is a bonus!

6. My husband is taller and stronger than me and I LOVE it! So when something is out of reach there is no more climbing on counters or searching for a step stool I simply ask him. Same for opening jars, and other things I struggle with!

Girl where you been?!?!?!?!

Hello out there!!! Is anyone still reading or I have been removed from your blog roll for lack of publishing? Its ok I would have removed myself as well LOL... So allow me to reintroduce myself and tell you whats been going on in my absence...

Hey I'm Toya, I recently (on November 30, 2014)  GOT MARRIED, discovered how easy and fun DIY projects can be, tried my hand at being an entrepreneur and opened a boutique, and jumped off the weight loss bandwagon after finding out I'm pregnant!!!! Can you believe it? If it were not for this kicking I'm feeling as I type I would not believe it. I was told due to me being overweight and having PCOS I was unable to become pregnant...welp looks like the Man upstairs had other plans.

So the line was so faint I tried to stay in denial but hubby was not having that. LOL!!!!!

That's right ten years, ok nine years and eleven months later I will welcome a new edition to my family. The baby is due 11/10/2014 and mini me will be 10 on 12/1/2014. Looks like the husband wasted no time in knocking me up LOL.

I have several post in cue so excuse the fact that there is no flow and as soon as the pre written post are published we will be all caught up. A while ago I wrote this post in an attempt to inform peeps about my blog and let them decide if this space is for them. Let us be honest there are billions and trillions of blogs out there. I cuss, like wine (currently going through pregnancy detox lol), and don't offer much on the craft side of things so if this space is not for that is fine with me. For every one else click around I hope you will stay awhile... since I'm posting again....

Just because we are so cute!!! LOL

The Day Before...

I already posted some really fun photos but I wanted to be sure to capture a lot of how I really felt about the whole wedding thing. Hind sight is 20/20 right?  So today's post probably should have come before I reintroduced myself but eh oh well LOL...

No one tells you how stressed, tired, happy excited, and EVERYTHING else you will be the day before your wedding. In my mind I was going to show up, tell people what I wanted and then go and get my nails and toes done with my bridesmaids have rehearsal dinner and sleep. I secretly wanted a slumber party with my girls but that among other things didn't happen.

I had this fairy tale of events like a spa day with my sister, or people treating me like a princess for the day all pictured in my mind... blah... my family was having none of that. It seemed the more I expressed what I wanted on MY day the more people rebelled and called me a bridezilla. I'm sure it sounds selfish but it was MY day I was supposed to get a selfish pass right???

Lets see where to start we lost like three groomsmen a week before the wedding, one actually dropped the day before the wedding. The decor was not what I wanted I asked for tulle going down the isle and the lady my mother insisted on hiring used some fabric that resembled fake spider webs going down the isle...

I was late for EVERYTHING this day as I had to rely on others to get me where I needed to be because my husband and I drove one car to wedding city and he had other plans. I had 8 bridesmaids, 2 junior bridesmaid, and 3 flower girls. My husband had 5 groomsmen (we had a couple ppl fill in and their suits didn't match the tuxs).

The rehearsal was a HOT MESS. We forgot the music, half of the party wasn't there. We had hostess practicing with groomsmen... literally a hot mess. My friend Meyoshia (remember her from the bridal shower) came through and used her phone placing it next to a microphone so that there was some  music for this rehearsal.... I was stressed, and sad, my hubby was mad. We argued and I honestly didn't know what the next day was going to be like.

I would just like to say that as little girls we are brainwashed into these Disney fantasies and they just are not realistic. No matter how meticulous you are in planning the wedding or how much money you spend, when you hand over control people screw up! I don't think they do it intentionally but it just happens. I was blessed because I have amazing friends who stepped up and handled things but almost nothing aside from the I do's went according to plan.

Ok enough woe is me I will save that for a later post detailing what I learned from this whole experience.... On a positive side my wedding was amazing because my friends and family showed up. My wedding was spectacular because I married my best friend, and my daughter looked great... and I will leave you with some random pics I found in my phone...

 

 

 

 

 

Me before things started spiraling out of control

My boo thang!!! She was ride or die just like we discussed

My mom

My great aunt

I finally did get my pedicure, but it was rushed

My new beautiful niece

Me by the end of the night

 

 

 

 

 

My Dirty Little Secret

* FIRST  I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE FOR THE QUALITY OF THE PICTURES*

 

I decided that I wanted to start sharing some things from my wedding and my programs seemed like a great place to start.

I AM A SECRET CRAFTER YALL LOL... I have always wanted to do stuff like this and never thought I was creative or talented enough to do so had the time. Then with the never ending crunch to keep the wedding budget in check this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

 

 

 

 

Let me just say it was very fun. If you have been following my blog then you know Im not regularly a crafty person. I did try the ever popular family command center, and I created a

Wedding Planning Binder  but that is pretty much it. Then my friend suggested I make a fan. I was thinking have you seen me make anything? LOL It was very fun and super inexpensive.I got EVERYTHING from HOBBY LOBBY (and no they did not pay me nor do they have any thing to do with this post). So my friend typed the program up on Word, my then fiance and mini me took it to staples and had them print it on grey card stock (we got two programs on one piece of paper... #WINNING LOL). From there she cut them in half, we cut the four corners with cute scissors to create the design.

 

 

Karin as she helped cut the programs in half

 

 

The paper was then glued to a popsicle type stick to create the fan look.

 

 

 

 Finally we glued on the accessories.

 

 

I made the bows using  ribbon, that I purchased while the stuff was half off! I used dark purple and lavender to match the colors of the wedding.

 

 

 

If you know me you know I LOVE all things shiny and blinged out...Its kinda an obsession. That said my wedding programs would not have been complete without some Sparkle!!!! My husband got a huge tub of varying sized stones.

 

 

 

If I do say so myself they came out PERFECT!!!!.... well the ones that made it to the wedding did LOL. There were a few practice programs that shall remain unseen. My mini me helped with this task as well... not sure how she missed her photo opt LOL. There it is!!! Special thanks to my then fiance whom is now my HUSBAND as he glued some things together as well. After completing this project I was hooked on DIY. We even made the broom that we jumped (post coming soon).



Introducing Mrs. GILYARD!!!!!

Hello all.... here is the post you have all been waiting for, or at least that is what I'm telling myself!... Some wedding pics!!!! Since this post is picture heavy I will let them tell the story. You know how I do....

*These are pictures from Social Media and not my photographer. I will post those pictures when I do her review*... she is awesome by the way!
These are the pictures that I found, these pictures in no way represent all who were there. I have TONS and TONS more to show but they couldn't all fit on one post! So enjoy....

 

 

Yes I do squats!!!!!... I remember being very nervous as I read my vows...

 

My Husband and I

 

Mini me, My jr. Bridesmaid!!! She was so poised and cute!

 

My first love and I... The father daughter dance was you tube worthy I hope someone posts it LOL

 

My sister, my platonic soul-mate, My Maid of honor, she is amazing and words cannot describe how awesome she really is. I love her

My boo MIA!!!! she cam all the way from TX to see me. I cannot wait to return the favor!

I love this man

Look how lovely they are!!!

... I will let you caption this one LOL...

 

Bridesmaids, the Carter girls!!!!

I got an upgraded ring! BOOM!!!

 

My Matron of honor... she really deserves her own post because she came through last minute (kinda like I did in her wedding) after my previous matron of honor dropped out. She stepped right up to the plate and helped make my day great.

 

This guy has been my best friend since like freshman year in college. There are so many things I could say about him. Im so glad and blessed to know him.

 

Two of my favorite guys!!!

 

The hostesses for the evening!!! I'm not completely sure what they did aside from look super sexy in their black dresses!

 

 

Me and my babe... I love him