Hey everybody! I’m here and so ready to be done with 2020. I just wanted to wish all of you a safe and happy new year! I hope to be back more in 2021 (c) Finding Radiance - Read entire story here. … [Read more...]
Building Strength in 2020 and Beyond
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Viactiv Calcium Soft Chews. All opinions are 100% mine. 2020 has required each of us to be strong in so many ways. Even if you don’t feel like it, I KNOW you’ve demonstrated so much strength this year! We’ve pivoted plans, adapted our work, made hard choices about how to spend time, and dealt with a mountain of uncertainty. It’s easy to get caught up in everything that feels lost right now with … [Read more...]
My Favorite Black Friday Deals of 2020
I hope that you all are having a fantastic Thanksgiving. I am, unfortunately, in isolation with COVID-19. This is my 8th day of symptoms, which have included exhaustion, severe body aches, loss of taste and smell, non-stop fevers to nearly 104 degrees, and difficulty breathing. Yesterday was by far the worst day, so I'm incredibly grateful this Thanksgiving that I am feeling quite a bit improved from that. Since I'm actually able to sit … [Read more...]
Decorate a Fireplace Mantel for Christmas
With everything going on, I got started on my holiday decorations really early this year – Halloween. If it's something that is fun and can get my mind off of heavier things, I'm doing it! 2 trees are up, and this fireplace mantel garland is also up. I went a bit more lush and dramatic this year, and love the effect. Here's a very detailed walk through of the entire process. If you'd rather read about it, skip on for the … [Read more...]
Animal Print Christmas Tree Theme
If you know me, you know I love Christmas trees. I credit it (or blame it) on a childhood, as my mom loved Christmas trees. I don't decorate for any other holiday! There was a big shift in how much I decorated a tree after she died. Every year, I added more decorations to the collection. I only had 1 tree each year in my old house, but when Steve and I moved in together in our Louisville home, I kicked it into overdrive. Before we purchased it, I … [Read more...]
Room Reveal: Chinoiserie Dining Room
When we bought this house 3 years ago, I knew I'd eventually want to add my own touch to the dining room, but it wasn't a priority. After tackling the master bathroom and basement (still tweaking, but I'll share that soon), pandemic stir-craziness had me starting on light fixtures that I wanted to swap. I had time on my hands and a desire to stop doomscrolling on the internet, so I dove head first – armed with elbow grease – to revamp … [Read more...]
Plus Size Business Casual Outfits… with Masks!
This is kind of an odd roundup of outfits, but it's 2020 and anything goes. With this leadership program I'm in, we're traveling around the state in a group of about 40 people. Attire so far has been requested as business casual, and masks are required (thank goodness!) The challenge with dressing for these trips is that not only does it need to be business casual, but it also needs to be comfortable enough to walk to different locations … [Read more...]
Skincare Before and After Results: SkinCeuticals and Biossance
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through a link and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps me cover the upkeep costs associated with keeping this site running. There's a reason I've never posted about skincare in the past 10 years of owning this blog: I've never had a real routine! All of the complicated and expensive regimens always felt intimidating, so I opted … [Read more...]
Hey, hey – What’s Blooming!
I’m still here. My garden has been exploding and I’ve enjoyed puttering around it. It’s a nice distraction from covid. I am so concerned about the pandemic and it’s trajectory – NY had such a hellish period that I can’t believe other states aren’t taking it seriously enough. Just wear a mask, people, please. Or a face shield. Just something as we all need to do our part. Anyway, It’s been … [Read more...]
Replacing the tub
Instead of What’s Blooming, I’m posting a reno project! One of the more difficult parts of the bathroom remodel was replacing the bathtub and surround. The old surround was fiberglass and the tub was obviously part of the whole kit. The tub stopper was broken and the surface of the tub had a bubble and crack in it, which at some point would probably cause leaking. Anyway, time to go. We removed the bits of drywall that were … [Read more...]
New Orleans
We finally had our long awaited vacation! We spent 5 days in New Orleans. It wasn’t super warm, but a lot warmer than upstate NY! You do forget that temps in the 50s sounds way warmer than it really is when you are in the middle of January in the North Country LOL. The nights were cooler and temps around 60 or so. We stayed at Place D’Armes, where we have stayed a few times. It’s really right in the heart of the French … [Read more...]
New Orleans Botanical Garden
We have been to New Orleans 5 or 6 times. I can’t remember LOL – but we have never visited the botanical garden. Part of it was not knowing it existed earlier, but also not thinking about gardens in January. Things actually bloom in the south during winter, who knew? Our day started with a couple of pastries at Croissant D’Or: This is a nice cozy place. We went here twice, actually. We knew the gardens would … [Read more...]
The Sazerac House
On one of our vacation days, John wanted to hit up Harrah’s casino, which left me to my own devices in New Orleans. Not far from the casino was a newly renovated building called Sazerac House. The building itself is from around 1800 and the Sazerac company purchased it a couple of years ago to become a centerpiece of their business. Sazerac is a rye distiller first and foremost, although they do rum, Southern Comfort along with a … [Read more...]
What’s Blooming!
Hey – it’s time for What’s Blooming again! Something nice to talk about other than coronavirus, right? A few plants are peeping out. It’s been fun going out and seeing what survived the winter, which appears to be almost everything. I lost a couple baby plants to frost heave and there are a few that won’t wake up for a few more weeks, but looking good so far. The birds have been going crazy as well. It’s … [Read more...]
New Orleans Mish Mash (mostly food)
Here are just some miscellaneous musing on New Orleans. This was our first trip to New Orleans since John went full vegetarian. The last time we came he was still eating seafood, but no land meat. That did present some challenges because a lot of the cuisine here is meat based. Many restaurants only had a token black bean burger, which didn’t interest him. However, we did find some interesting places. And there is a growing number of … [Read more...]
Cold Weather Leopard Print Outfit Idea
It's no secret here that I love leopard print. I made a DIY leopard print pumpkin with it, and have chairs in my home covered in the print. All my leopard love is well documented here. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through a link and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps me cover my photography and upkeep costs associated with keeping this site running. Thank … [Read more...]
More bathroom updates
It feels like we are in suspended animation here in NY. We have pretty strict measures in place and hopefully that will help, but it seems like it wasn’t quite enough. Here upstate there are cases in our hospital and one nurse has tested positive. When I had my hysterectomy last year, my nurses were so great and I worry for them. Testing in our area is only available now for health care workers or those admitted to the hospital. They only … [Read more...]
Master Bathroom Tile from Floor & Decor
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Floor & Decor. All opinions are 100% mine. Back in December, I shared how Steve and I went to Floor & Decor to pick out the tile for our master bathroom renovation. We met with one of their in-store designers, Natalie, for a free consultation. If you missed that post and want to read about how the consultation works, you can check it out here. The Floor & Decor tiles we originally selected … [Read more...]
Covid
These are certainly strange times. As of today, NY shot up to the most Covid cases in the country with over 900 statewide, and of course that number is going to grow with more testing coming on board. Governor Cuomo gave a stark warning today that he did not think we were going to flatten the curve enough to not overwhelm our medical system. Schools are closed. All restaurants and bars must either close or go to take out/pick up only and … [Read more...]
OOTD: Make it Work Moment
Coming at you today with a quick outfit of the day by way of mirror selfies. A couple of days ago, I shared a tweet and Instagram story in frustration. There is very little availability of plus size clothes above a size 24, so I spend a lot of time and money buying styles in sizes anywhere close to mine to try to find items that 1) fit my personal style; 2) fit my body. Last week, I tried on 3 items in a row that didn't fit and I was so … [Read more...]
Bathroom Renovations
Long post coming. We got started on the bathroom a couple of weeks ago. As a refresher, 5 years ago when we bought the house, we had the Jar Jar Binks bathroom It was a hideous mish mash of wallpaper. . The giant mirror along two walls plus that bizarre cubby space which had no purpose: Someone actually wanted this look, too. We did a minor update on it with wallpaper removal (shudder at the memory) and paint, … [Read more...]
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