We Are Featured!!!

I am so excited to share with you that JillyBean's Doggie Boutique is being featured on Etsy It Up today!!!

Etsy It Up is an adorable blog that has TONS of giveaways and reviews. JillyBean's Doggie Boutique is giving away a $30 gift certificate to our store to one lucky winner.

JillyBean's Doggie Boutique has a wide variety of designer doggie apparel and accessories, like these cute items...

Please stop by HERE and enter to win!

What a GREAT Store!!

I am sure most of you have seen CSN Stores plastered all over the blogging community lately. Well, they are a great company that has more than 200 stores to shop from. They also offer great opportunities for giveaways and reviews!!

I have had the privilege of doing TWO giveaways with CSN stores and they have been fabulous to work with. If you haven't checked out their site, it's a MUST!!

They offer a wide range of products from coffee makers to hand bags or from dining room furniture to outdoor lanterns!!!

So get on the bandwagon and check out CSN Stores :)

Mascara BLOWOUT!!

I am offering a Summer Special called "Mascara Blowout"!! It's exciting and a once a year event!!

Buy one mascara at full price and get the second one for 1/2 OFF!!!

I have set a goal this year to sell 100 mascaras between now and July 31st !! I know I can do it especially with your help – please share this post with your friends and I’ll give you a special gift for each referral that orders from me!! (Please make sure your friends leave me comment letting me know that YOU referred them :)

Stock up on as many as you wish, and if you need any other products, I can send them at the same time.

Our Three Mascara options come in either Black or Black/Brown:

Ultimate Mascara-gives you bigger, bolder, longer-looking lashes with extreme volume and intense color that lasts all day!! MY FAVORITE :)

Lash Lengthening Mascara-gives you longer looking lashes with the natural look you love, fortified with a vitamin B derivative for stronger-looking, softer lashes!!

Waterproof Mascara-gives you waterproof lashes that keep up with your day. This triathlon-tested formula delivers longer, thicker-looking lashes!!

Please visit my website HERE to place your order TODAY! Remember the deadline to place your order is July 31st, Saturday!!! Don't forget...shipping is on ME!!

FYI:

I have had several people ask me about how they will receive the discount through my site. Once you place your order, enter your credit card. Your credit card will NOT be charged. I will go in and give you the discount and then charge your card with the lower price.

If you have any questions, just email me at Liannap@aol.com.

  

What He Does for Us...

Most of my readers already know that my hubby is a boat broker. He works from home and spends most of his day on the phone talking to clients or prospective clients and on the computer putting up new ads or searching for boats to add to his inventory.

Well, a few weeks ago he decided to get a part-time job to help with our finances. He not only does his full-time job brokering boats, but he also works here...

This is a boat club for people that do not wish to own a boat, but would rather pay a membership fee and use the boats the club owns.

The club is located here...

Camachee Island is a marina with a lot of beautiful boats...

So hubby works in this office...

Three days a week...

And when the club has reservations, he helps the members get acquainted with the boat they are taking out...

And he helps them when they come back from a fun day in the sun...

As well as helps them gas up the boat when they are finished.

I went out to the marina this past weekend to eat lunch with the hubby and after this family brought their boat back in, we took it for a little ride...

I wouldn't mind owning this little beauty!!

We had a great time even though it was a short ride and quick lunch.

I hope my hubby knows how much I appreciate what he does for us...doing whatever it takes to help us survive in this crazy economy!!

Wave On...

I think one of my favorite places in our yard is this little corner...

I love the swing and the flowers to the left of it just put me in a good mood :)

It is missing just one little thing though...

I have been searching for a little flag that we can leave up all year long and I fell in LOVE with this one for two reasons...

#1 it has our names on it and #2 it matches our pillows and outside decor.

I really think it completes this little corner of the yard...

So wave on little flag...Oh how I love you!

YUMMY Appetizer!!!

My cousin makes this appetizer when we have family get-togethers and I thought it was time that I learned how to make it myself :)

Italian Sausage Stuffed Wontons

You will need the following ingredients:

One package of Italian Sausage (I used hot, but you can use mild if you don't like all the spice)

2 cups of shredded cheese (I used a Mexican Cheese mix)

One package of Wontons

A bunch of cilantro (You don't have to use cilantro, I just LOVE it)

2 cups of Ranch Dressing

1 Cup of Salsa

1 small can of diced black olives

Brown the italian sausage in a skillet and crumble...don't forget to take the casings off the sausage.

You need to bake the wontons. Use a mini muffin pan and stuff them inside, set your oven to 350 degrees, and bake until golden brown.

While the wontons are baking, start on the stuffing. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and stir.

Once the wontons are golden brown, put them on a cookie sheet and use a spoon to place the stuffing inside the wontons.

After all the wontons are stuffed, put them back in the oven to melt the cheese.

This recipe should yield about 48 stuffed wontons.

They are best when served hot. So if you are taking them to a party, like we are, warm them up in the microwave before serving. BUT...they taste pretty good cold too :)

ENJOY!!!

A Day for Me...

I received some birthday money from my grandparents and thought I would have a fun day for ME! I have been coloring my hair myself for quite some time now (to save money) and it was just driving me NUTS! So I decided to use my birthday money and get some low-lights put in.

Here is a before picture of my hair...

Notice how BLONDE it is!!! I think my face looks pale because my hair is so white.

Here is my after pic...

Doesn't my face look a little darker just with the low-lights added in?

You can see the top of my head and the low-lights that were added in this pic...

I then headed to one of my FAV places...Charming Charlie's!! I posted about my LOVE for this place in this post and I am proud to announce that a Charming Charlie's has finally opened in Jacksonville.

I was in search of a chunky blue necklace to go with this cute little cotton strapless dress I have, but I couldn't fine one I liked. So I got this chunky bracelet and earrings instead...

I also have the SAME cotton strapless dress in orange (when I like something, I get it in multiple colors) so I picked up this necklace with matching earrings...

I don't really have anything in yellow, but these earrings were on sale and I just HAD to have them :)

I saw a woman a few weeks ago with the cutest watch! I asked her where she bought it and she told me Charming Charlie's. So my MAIN reason for shopping there today was to pick up one of these...

It is made out of the same material that Jellies are made out of, remember those??? They were out of black watches, so I hope to go back and pick up a black one later.

I'm a good shopper and spent every last dime of the birthday money I received from my grandparents and nothing more!! Yeah me!!

What a Mess I Created...

I feel SO horrible about a situation that happened last night and I woke up with a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach AGAIN this morning.

Here's the story...

A dear sweet friend of mine and I planned a night of dinner and a play. Unfortunately after dinner, we realized that we didn't have enough time to catch up and decided that after the play we would head to a little diner for coffee and dessert.

I text messaged my husband and told him that we would be having a treat after the play. He wrote back telling me that he just got back from taking Kodi for a walk and that he was headed to the nieghbor's house to hang out.

The play was over at 11:00 p.m. and my friend and I were looking forward to indulging in the diner's Strawberry Shortcake and Triple Chocolate Cake. My phone was starting to die, so I left it in the car to charge while we visited the diner.

We talked and talked and talked. We laughed till we couldn't laugh any longer. We shared stories that we had been waiting to share. It seemed like such a short time but we realized it was almost 2:00 a.m.!!! I asked my friend if she would check her cell phone, as I had left mine in the car. It was really late and I thought the hubby would have called to check up on me. Sure enough he did...he sent a text message to my friend that said "Are you two okay?" The drawback was that he sent it at 11:50...two hours previous :(

I called the hubby from her phone to let him know that we were fine and that we were leaving the diner in a few minutes. Little did I know that he was in COMPLETE panic mode!!! He was SO worried about me because he couldn't get in touch with me (because I left my phone in the car) or with my friend (she had her phone on silent from the play). He couldn't remember where the play was that we were seeing, so he thought he'd take a drive to my school to see if my car was still there. His panic mode started to kick in because he didn't see any cars at my school and after he returned home there was a police car outside our house. This caused him to REALLY freak out. The police had been called by one of our neighbors because it was late and our garage door had been left open and they were concerned that someone had broken in our home while we were gone. He explained to the police everything that was going on and how worried he was, so the police stayed while he called several other people to check on us.  He called my parents (in Texas), my mother-in-law, my principal, my principal's supervisor, and the other assistant principals...keep in mind, it's at least 1:00 a.m. in the morning. He even contacted his cousin's husband who is a local police officer to put out an APB for my car.

It was a TOTAL mess and I can't tell you how HORRIBLE I felt after hearing all this. I called my parents and the sound of my mom's voice on the other line when she picked up the phone just broke my heart. She was devastated yet so relieved to finally know that I was okay.

Needless to say, we left the diner IMMEDIATELY!!

I called my hubby again on the way home to let him know how sorry I was and that I was on my way home. I checked my phone and I had a MILLION missed calls and text messages from EVERYONE looking for me.

When I walked in the door, my hubby just hugged me and said he was so glad that I was okay and finally at home. I spent the next few minutes calling and texting all the people that were looking for me.

I can't tell you how horrible I feel about the whole situation, although it was so innocent and just a matter of not having my cell phone with me at all times.

What a mess I created :(

Party Progress...

Our friends' get-together is this weekend and I'm starting to get everything in place for the party.

I posted last week about how I was the winner of Blue Eyed Bride's giveaway for one of Nat Kat Design's hand painted signs. Well, the signs look even BETTER in person. It was like Christmas in July when I came home and opened the big box from Nat Kat Design's! 

I couldn't wait to set up the signs and see how they looked with the rest of our decor. Here are a few of the decorations for our party...

I am thinking of adding some green and brown balloons to this centerpiece in our kitchen...

And I found this cake/cupake platter at Home Goods for a whopping $5!!! So I couldn't pass it up!

I found the ribbon in the $1 aisle at Michael's and I think it matches perfectly!

I have a few other decorations that I'm planning on setting up this week before our guests arrive. So far the party progress is going exactly as planned!!!

UPDATE: We just found out the hubby has to work on Saturday and can't find anyone to work for him :(  Soooooo...we've postponed our party to September. BOO!!! I'm so sad. But, at least I'll be able to use all our decorations then!

Our Vacay in Pictures...

We had such a great time this past week in Destin. We couldn't have asked for better weather or a better time. It was so nice to just sit back, relax, soak up the sun, dig your feet in the snow white sand, and float in the beautiful clear blue water.

Here are a few pics we took that summarizes our vacay!!

Our truck and pop-up camper ready for a week at the State Park...

We were SOOO excited to see this sign...

Here is our little set up for the week...

This is our third time to visit Henderson Beach State Park and it does NOT disappoint...

The beaches and the water are just BEAUITFUL!!!

We had many walks along the beach...

We even did a little fishing...

And despite how much my hubby looks like the master fisherman, I'm proud to say that I caught MORE fish than he did :)

We rode our beach cruisers at least once a day throughout the park...

Unfortunately we didn't get to visit Crab Island this year, but it is definitely on our agenda for next year. Check out that sandbar and all the boats anchored out there...

We encountered many animals on our trip...squirrels, rabbits, dolphins, and even a SHARK...

For my birthday, we ate at this restaurant...the Crab Trap.

Who wouldn't enjoy a place with these rules???

Overall, we had the PERFECT vacation and it couldn't have happened at a better time!

See you next year Destin!!

WARNING: Parental Advisory

Like the title indicates, this post requires parental advisory. This is a lesson in how NOT to ride your bicycle.

Lesson #1:

When riding a bicycle, you should ALWAYS keep both feet on the pedals at all time.

Lesson #2:

Similar to Lesson #1, keep both feet on the pedals at all time and don't drink and drive (see the red cup?).

Lesson #3:

Keep both hands on the steering wheel and NEVER talk or text on your cell phone while riding a bicycle.

I hope you have learned how NOT to ride a bicycle.

No one was harmed in the making of these pictures, BUT, please do not let your children try this at home :)