Work of the Heart

A while back on the blog, I talked about how I buy travel size toothpaste for my kids. That is not the only thing I buy in travel sizet. With so many hair products on the market now, I find it difficult to decide what’s right for me. I love trying new products. I love hearing blogger reviews on IG or influencer recommendations… But sometimes it’s difficult to know if you’ll get great results with a new product. There is nothing I hate more than buying a full-size and it just doesn’t work for you! I either end up giving it away or throwing it out. I decided a while back and I’m done buying regular sized products  unless I absolutely love it. I buy travel size. I Like doing this for a number of reasons.... I think my hair is better when I switch things up regularly, I waste less and overall I spend less. Full sized products I buy, morracan oil and Sebastian hairspray. Everything else is travel size. Because I have very thick &  long hair, I really only wash my hair twice a we

Smashed potatoes.... not to be confused with Mashed potatoes are my families new favorite side. These are easy and delicious, two of my favorite attributes in food. This recipe calls for small baby potatoes. We prefer the gold variety... but really all are delicious. In the stores I frequent... they come in small pre-packaged bags. I take them out and wash them. Make sure and give them a good scrub, because the skin is the best part. Next, I place them on a microwave safe dish and pre-cook them in the microwave. Just until they are starting to get soft. This just speeds up the process. After the are soft, I place them on a sheet pan in a 375 degree oven. While the are cooking, put 1/2 a stick of butter in a mason jar in the microwave. Melt the butter. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add 2 cloves of garlic, salt and pepper and about 2 taps of dried parlay to the oil and butter mix. Remove the pan from the oven, using the bottom of the mason jar gently push down on each o

My name is Libby, and I have crazy hair. It is crazy long, crazy thick and crazy texture.  So basically it is unruly and at times difficult to deal with.  My hair has lots on natural curl and wave, but it is not uniform.  My hair grows in curlier when I am pregnant.   It's not the kind of curl that you can wear in it's natural state. So I spend a lot of time curling and straightening Here is a picture of my natural hair.  This is right after Barre with my best girlfriend and barre instructor.  Please excuse our sweaty make-up free faces... but you get the idea...curly and coarse in my hair game.   About 2 year ago my friend told me that she regularly got a keratin treatment on her hair.  Keratin is a naturally occurring protein in your hair.  This process adds keratin back into your hair and heat seals it.  Making my hair appear and feel smoother, less frizzy.  For me, it cuts my drying time down significantly.  It allows me to go longer between washes and hair cuts

Alright, it is mom's turn.  I have compiled a list of things I expect to LIVE in this summer. I live in Georgia.  It is hot, so much of my must-haves are hot-weather friendly.  We are an active family.  I am hoping to play a good bit of tennis and golf this summer.  When I am not playing I will probably be watching one of my kids play.  So tennis and golf outfits are a must. I know what you are thinking...that isn't my style.  Let me stop you right there.  Tennis and Golf outfits are so comfortable.  Tennis and golf skirts are literally the black leggings of the summer! Most of the skorts are pull on....comfortable.  Most are the same type of fabric as your favorite black leggings...comfortable..  All have a hugging spandex short underneath the skirt to provide coverage when I bend down and pick up my two year old....practical.  You look put together!  Trust me...you will see!  Hello Summer Uniform! I found this pull-over at Belk not that long ago.  I saw, I lo

If your new to my blog, I recently published a similar post geared towards my oldest daughter. Now it’s time for my middle-love. She recently turned 7! Both older girls have March birthdays. So between birthdays and Easter, I always need a good list of gifts that are practical and get us through the warmer months. Our spring and summer is typically filled with tennis & golf and lots of outdoor play. So most of my picks are play and athletic friendly pieces. My middle girl is the girliest of my bunch, but also the hardest on clothes. So I like fun whimsical prints that don’t show stains as much.  This round up is really and truly for me. But I thought that if I needed a visual to keep me on track, surely someone else will appreciate it! Most of the items are from Target & Old Navy. I have said it before and I will continue... I love to shop at stores that have easy online & in store shopping and friendly return policies. I also am familiar with sizing and know just w

Both of my older daughters have Spring birthdays. This makes Spring, a time I am always looking for gift ideas and needs to get them through the summer.  Between the birthdays and Easter baskets, I try to take care of everything.  If your kiddos are anything like mine, by the time the weather warms up the shorts in their dressers are too short and their toes are squashed in their shoes. I’ve put together a round up of great spring & summer wardrobe staples that I buy for my kids as well as things that they are going to need. We are a pretty active family. So my kids will be involved in sports camps throughout summer, so a lot of my picks are sports friendly, cool & wicking clothing for our hot summers in Georgia. Most of the clothing items are from Target, Old Navy or Kohl’s. Those are places I shop regularly, have easy and friendly online ordering and returns. I also tend to stick with familiar stores, as I then am confident in how theirs clothes size for my kiddos.  I

Once a year, I go to town on our house.  I do major cleaning this time of year, every year.  I don't do it all in one week.  I do it over the course of 4-5 weeks.  I am talking deep clean, every crack and crevice gets attention. The past two weekends I have been focused on the 2 upstairs bathrooms.  Our master bath and the kids bath.  I have done a deep clean and scrub to the grout.   I deep clean and scrub both the floor grout and shower and bath grout.  The floor grout is something I only do once a year, the rest of the year its basic mopping.  But mopping doesn't get the deep down dirt. We moved into this house about 2 1/2 years ago.  This house is older than me, we aren't going to talk about just how old that is....we'll just say north of 30.  So things aren't exactly what I would've chosen or pristine condition any more.  I love our older traditional home and we are making changes as we go.  But as anyone who has lived in something other than new constr

There are very few people in my life that appreciate my cooking more than my best girl friend Lauren.  Everything I make for her, she swears could be on a restaurant menu.  Although, I'd love to think that is true...alas I think anything cooked by someone else is especially good.  Yesterday, she came by the house to give me some opinions on things and I promised I'd make her my greek bowl for lunch.  I am living a more carb conscious lifestyle.  I try to eat a lower amount of carbs ... especially during the week.  I try to up my lean proteins and veggies. I love Greek food.  In my little family of 5, I am the only one.  So this is a recipe I can whip together easily for lunch for myself or when a friend is around. This recipe is full of plant protein and chocked full of veggies. I sometimes add chicken to this bowl...but I did not today.  It was plenty filling without the chicken. To me the most delicious part of this recipe is the tzatziki.  Tzatziki is a traditional greek