SOCIAL MEDIA

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Dozers and Dirt and a Gala

* This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

Wow, I am still tired after last weekend. But it sure was a great weekend. Let me back up to Friday.

I worked Friday half day and then got my hair done. It felt so good moving up my extensions and coloring my roots. Even though my hairstylist said that roots are now in. After getting my hair done, I went to Trader Joes which was a huge disappointment. They did not have the mini cones, maple kettle corn, or cinnamon roll spread. Such a bummer. But I did get some chocolate hummus which was sooo good.

After dropping off my TJ's haul, I headed out in search of some shoes for the gala. I went to three stores and no luck. Then I headed down to Dillards and tried on dresses and shoes. I sent Rory some pics and he told me to just go with the shoes. So I did. Though I regret not getting the dress instead as I should have had my dress altered to fit better. BUT I did get a ton of compliments on it at the gala.

After shopping, I headed home to go out to dinner with Rory and the girls. Then we caught up on some tv shows and went to bed.

Saturday morning we got up, got ready and headed to Dozers and Dirt. It is exactly what it sounds like....bulldozers (and other machines/equipment) and dirt and it was to benefit the children's cancer foundation here (locally). 

It was really cool. We first went and walked through fire trucks, helicopters, police cars, an ambulance, etc. and then we made our way to the equipment. Basically, the kids can drive tractors, bulldozers, front loaders, scissor lifts, etc. with the help of crew men. Adults were able to go on some things with the kids, but we mostly just watched, took photos and videos. Check out some of our fun time!




Views from the Scissor Lift














We were served lunch, got some grab bags and so much water. It was a hot day. 

Then we headed home for some coffee, relaxing and getting ready for the gala. Us, not the girls. They stayed home with my parents.

Then it was time for the gala. We ubered over to the casino where it was held and met up with the Bay Equity crew. We had some drinks, caught up and then went into the gala where we had appetizers, walked around the silent auction, looked at items for the live auction later and found our table. The event was to give back and raise money for our local Big Brothers Big Sisters. And that is what we did.

We ate good food, drank some wine, had an auction, danced the night away and had a great time. Tears were shed during the touching presentations and lots of money was made.

It was an overall amazing night.


We went home just after 11 pm and were exhausted. But it was an amazing night and whole day!

Sunday was spent making breakfast, packing lunches for school, picking out outfits for Monday (for me and the girls), doing 5 loads of laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning three bathrooms, watching football and making dinner. 

Overall, it was a very fun weekend! How was your weekend?

Monday, September 27, 2021

Kids Halloween Pajamas

* This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

Halloween is just about a month away. We have our costumes in hand (and they all fit) and we put up some of our Halloween decorations this last weekend. 

I was in Target grabbing a few items that we needed for the house and I stopped by the Halloween section (which is finally up). I saw the cutest pajamas and that made me want to grab some for the girls. I didn't buy any from Target, but I did stop at Carter's and Gap and found some cute ones as well. 

I know it is a bit much to buy new pajamas for each bigger holiday, but my girls enjoy them and when you get them on sale, it is even better.

I thought I would share some cute Halloween pajamas with you all. Just in case you want to get some for your kids.

Kids Halloween Pajamas

Also, just wanted to remind you that Christmas is 89 days away. So crazy. I need to start my Christmas shopping now, so I can spread the bank account drain over a couple months. 

Can you believe that we are approaching the holidays? I can't!

Have a good week!


Friday, September 24, 2021

Friday Favorites and Happenings

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

Happy Friday all! I had every intention of writing a post for Wednesday and then I went to trivia night instead and didn't get one out. But, I had so much fun at trivia night. I haven't been in years and my coworkers have been trying to get me to go for months. Well, I finally went and now I am hooked. I can't play every Tuesday, but I know I will be going more often.

Anyways, onto Friday favorites and happenings.

ONE. So I have had my Nespresso machine for about a year now. Not quite, but in November it will be a year. But that is beside the point. I love this thing. I had it at home until June when I went back into the office full time. 

So now on weekdays, I have my Nespresso coffee or espresso and on the weekends I treat myself to a latte out or we make coffee in our Moccamaster (another amazing drip coffee maker).

A few of my coworkers even bring in their own vertuo pods and use my maker.

Ok, getting to the point. Nespresso just released their pumpkin spice cake pod and I had to grab some. I am not a pumpkin spice latte fan at all. I will drink a Starbucks pumpkin cold brew, but never a PSL. They are overly sweet and taste fake. BUT these pods are amazing. It tastes like Fall, my moms homemade pumpkin cookies and isn't overly sweet at all. I think it is because it is all in the coffee rather than syrup and spices added onto the espresso/coffee. 

I can't wait to try out the Winter flavors soon as well. I got the Nespresso and my sample pack didn't come with any Fall or Winter flavors, and I was too scared to try the three sleeve pack that was out. 

Pumpkin Spice Cake Vertuo Pod
Pumpkin Spice Cake Vertuo Pods (not an affiliate link.)

TWO. Speaking of Nespresso pods, my favorite flavor by far is the Vanilla Custard Pie. I get them through Amazon (through the Nespresso store), but when I have a big enough order (ie $50 in pods), I will order them through Nespresso's website.

If you have a Nespresso Vertuo and you haven't tried the vanilla custard pie flavor, do yourself a favor and try it. 

Nespresso Vanilla Custard Pie Vertuo Pods

THREE. My coworker went to Trader Joes last weekend and she bought all things pumpkin. And it so happens that my girls asked me to go to Trader Joes this weekend for the mini cones. So now I have to get them mini cones, get me the new pumpkin ginger mini cones and check out all the pumpkin things. 

Do you have any Fall/pumpkin favorite items from Trader Joes?

These are the two new-to-me items that she let me try this week.

Pumpkin Spiced Pretzels
Pumpkin Spiced Pretzels

These are dangerously good. They are small, so I grabbed a few and it was a good thing these were not mine. But I did buy more at Trader Joes. Now to limit myself to a few each time I enjoy them. They are not overly sweet and have a good amount pumpkin seeds on them.

Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

My coworker didn't like these that much. She said they just taste like regular pumpkin seeds that are a bit sweet. She gave them to me. I think they are good. She is right that they don't have a ton of sweetness to them, but just the right amount. The sweet and salty combo is good to me. So I took them and I am enjoy them as a little snack at work.

FOUR. This week we tried the meal delivery service called Marley Spoon. One of my friends had a code for me, and I was tired of making the same items over and over again. So we gave it a try. This week we had BBQ Japanese Pork Tacos with an Apple and Celery Slaw. And we had mini meatloaves with pesto green beans. 

Both items were really good. Ok, I liked the pork tacos a lot more than Rory did because he has a weird allergy or something with raw apples. Now he can eat baked or cooked apples just fine, but something about raw apples makes him feel sick and queasy. I thought since they were marinated in apple cider vinegar, olive oil and spices, he would be fine. But he only ate two tacos and then just had some of the pork alone.

As for the mini meatloaves, the girls even liked it. I think I found my new favorite way to make green beans. Adding pesto to them. The girls were weary about them, but then loved them! I will be making this dish again.

We are trying another set next week and I hope to use this or another meal service a few times a week.

We just needed variety in our lives and this is a great way to do it. Plus I got my first box free and then the next 4 are at a discount. 

If you want to try Marley Spoon, please let me know, and I will send you an email for you to try them out. And you can cancel after one box if you would like.

FIVE. Weekly funnies.








Have a great weekend. I am linking up with A Little Bit of Everything.

Monday, September 20, 2021

Family Halloween Costume Ideas

* This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

Can you believe that Halloween is a little over a month away? I can't. BUT I have started shopping for our Halloween costumes. We are going to a friends house for a Halloween party on the 30th and needed to start searching for our family costumes. Last year we were characters from Toy Story and this year we will be....

PRINCESSES AND PRINCE CHARMING. I have already ordered our costumes and we have been trying them on to make sure we have the right fit. Here is our costume inspiration. 

Princess and Price Charming Halloween Family costumes

Here is last year's theme: Toy Story.

Toy Story Halloween Costumes

Ken: Shirt
Barbie: Leotard, Socks, Belt
Bo Peep
Jessie

And here is a few other family costume ideas:

Flintstones

Flintstones Family Halloween Costumes


Superheroes

Superhero Family Halloween Costumes

Are you dressing up for Halloween? Are you doing a themed family costume?

Friday, September 17, 2021

Friday Favorites and Happenings

*This post contains affiliate links. When you click a link, it is no cost to you and I make a small commission (pennies) from it. Thank you for supporting Sparkles and Lattes.

Happy Friday all!

ONE. Lindsay recently shared some of the Amazon Prime purchases that her husband made. Well Rory made two recently and they have been amazing. I just had to share them with you all.

Remember how we had major smoke from the two big fires here? Well it made our houses stink and our air quality just awful. We decided we had had enough when we could smell a campfire in our house (so to speak).

Rory did some research and these are the best. They are from the brand Levoit. We got two of them. One for a large room (ie our living room) and one for smaller rooms (like bedrooms). They have a wifi option in them, so you can download the app and turn them on via the app. This made it so easy to get the house to a good air quality before we got home each day.

If you struggle with smoke, allergies, dust, pet dander, etc., then this is just what you need.

Levoit Air Purifier
Levoit Air Purifier (up to 219 sq. ft.) an extra $30 off right now

TWO. Remember when I posted the Fall Cardigans that caught my eye? Well I bought one of them plus a super soft t-shirt (that I already have in 3 colors). They were both on sale and I had a birthday coupon to use before September rolled around. 

I got them last week and they are amazing. The t-shirts are my favorite because they are stretchy and super soft. And they hold up after many washes. 

I like the length of this cardigan because I can wear it with coats and not have it sticking out of the coat (if I don't want to wear a peacoat). Plus the arm detail is really pretty.

A&F Mid-Length Cardigan
A&F Mid-Length Cardigan (I got a small in this)

A&F Drapey Tee
A&F Drapey Tee (I get a small or medium in these)

THREE. I have a gala to attend in about a week. I am ordering a dress at last minute. Yes, I know. But it has to be a formal dress and you all know how much I love Lulu's. So help me pick which one to order. Or which ones?

Lulus Lovely Navy Dress

Lulus Navy Sparkly Dress

Lulus Velvet Maxi Dress

FOUR. Weekly funnies.






Have a great weekend. I am linking up with A Little Bit of Everything.