Waze Price: Free Apple | Android Buckle up friends, this app is a great one to have on hand when trying to navigate just about anywhere! Not only does it correctly navigate you to your destination, it will also reroute you when there is upcoming traffic. The community of users actively alert other drivers of any real-time traffic to help enhance your trip. This could include accidents, road hazards, speed traps, or delays.

GasBuddy Price: Free Apple | Android Don't ever pay outrageous prices for gas again... but really, don't. GasBuddy helps you locate the most reasonable rates out there so that you can save a buck or two on your trip. You can also earn points that go into a drawing for a free gas card! Bingo, bango, bongo!

SitOrSquat Price: Free Apple | Android I'm a big baby when it comes to public restrooms mainly because of sanitary reasons so when Charmin came out with this genius app, I was completely on board! The green toilet rolls are good ones, while the red toilet rolls are less than stellar experiences. You can also rate your own personal experiences as well to help your fellow SitOrSquatters!

RepairPal Price: Free Apple | Android If you ever end up roadside with a mechanical issue, this app will connect you to local mechanics that can assist with any repairs. You are also able to get roadside assistance and track the progress from the app as well! 

iExit Price: $2.99 Apple | Android This is gold when it comes to making quick pitstops on the turnpike and finding decent deals for housing accommodations. It lets you know about upcoming exits and the business's located at and around them. 

AAA Mobile Price: Free Apple | Android This app is geared towards AAA members who want to take more advantage of the benefits that they offer. Not only are they great for roadside assistance, they also cater to trip planning when it comes to getting hotel and restaurant discounts.

OpenTable Price: Free Apple | Android OpenTable is perfect for discovering new restaurants, checking out their menus, reviews and photos. You're also able to earn reward points that will count towards your next meal!

Along the Way Price: $2.99 Apple | Android Similar to OpenTable, Along the Way searches your route and discover restaurants, attractions, and more for you to check out!

Roadtrippers Price: Free Apple | Android If finding fun and interesting landmarks are on you itinerary, this app could prove to be very useful. Over millions of interesting and fun points of interest are mapped out and made available to you to navigate to easily. You are also able to save past trips so that you are able to visit again!

HISTORY Here Price: Free Apple | Android This app was designed for all of the history buffs out there! Learn about the history of whatever area you are in and visit historical places at a touch of a button! They are constantly adding new POI to the app as well! It's like National Treasure just without the treasure.

Field Trip Price: Free Apple | Android Find what interests you the most and go from there! Field Trip makes it so easy to find fun and unique things by running in the background and alerting you when you are close to them.

Geocaching Intro Price: Free Apple | Android I remember geocaching back in the day with coordinates and a Garmin! These days, geocaching is made so much easier with a plethora of different apps. One of my favorite and most user friendly is the Geocaching Intro. It will populate all of the nearby geocache's as well as it's details and recent activity. You are also able to message other players for tips, hints, difficulty and terrain levels!

Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder Price: Free Apple | Android Parks and other activities are at you fingerprints with the Oh, Ranger app! Put in your location, select your desired activity and browse through the carefully curated list of activities and parks available. If you're traveling with a pet and want to find the closets dog run, or are in desperate need of a round of golf, this will link you to them all.

TripAdvisor Price: Free Apple | Android Pick out your destinations and attractions based on reviews from the infamous TripAdvisor app. I love that they will list the attractions in order providing testimonies and explanations for each stop.

Yelp Price: Free Apple | Android Yelp features such honest reviews from whomever took the time to praise or express their concerns about a company that you may be interested in visiting. Personally, I do end up referencing to them before we try a new restaurant to see what kind of atmosphere and experience we should expect.

Groupon Price: Free Apple | Android Whether or not you opt to use Groupon to get the best deal on your next trip, it's extremely helpful to have their deals right at your fingertips that cater to you where ever you are!

Shoeboxed Price: Free Apple | Android This app is genius when it comes to staying more organized during your travels. Shoeboxed lets you scan in any receipt, and they'll extract the vendor information, amount and date, as well as categorize the receipts accordingly. If you will need to provide an expense report for your travels, that can be created with the original receipt photos as well!

Hotel Tonight Price: Free Apple | Android I was introduced to this app by a family member when we were making a long trek cross country and needed a place to rest overnight. Essentially, you are able to buy an unsold room for a very reasonable price. For the most part, they are quality hotels with great customer service! Last time we ended up booking at a Hilton last minute for a steal of a deal with free breakfast vouchers. Heck to the Yea!

Priceline Price: Free Apple | Android Similar to Hotel Tonight, Priceline also negotiates the best deal for you on any reservations. This includes hotels, rental cars and airline flights. Punch in your location and let them do the work!

FindPlate Price: Free Apple | Android (similar) There are so many versions to this age old game, so I wouldn't just stick to one app, however FindPlate is a technological spin on the infamous car ride game of locating license plates from all fifty states! Android doesn't carry this exact version, but I've linked a similar one above.

Netflix Price: Free Apple | Android When in doubt, Netflix it out. Watching movies or TV is one of the quickest way to pass any type of travel time. That is why it is so important to make sure you have the Netflix app downloaded on your phone or iPad during your travels. It will definitely eat up A LOT of you data so make sure you have any unlimited plan or are connected to wifi network somehow. If you don't want to use Netflix, you can always pre-download movie or shows from iTunes onto your device and watch them later!

Spotify Price: Free Apple | Android I used to be very loyal to iTunes however I've been reaching out to Spotify lately after Apple's most recent update. iTunes has made it much more difficult to navigate and organize your music and it's makes finding a song quite a project. Que, Spotify. It's perfect for traveling, you can create a playlist just like that and add a song so quickly!

Postagram Price: Free Apple | Android Postagram is such a win in my book. All you do is simply take a good shot and turn it into your own personalized post card. You can have them delivered by mail for only $0.99 in the US! That's a great deal these days considering the price of a stamp and a postcard! This is honestly such a genius idea for the creative heart. Also, in addition to the personalized note that you can send with it, the 3" x 3" photo can also pop out of the postcard so that it can be kept forever!

StateFrame Price: $0.99 Apple Unfortunately, this app is only available for Apple users, however it's a really fun way to track the landmarks and important stops by state! Pick the state you're interested in, upload a fun picture to fit the frame, resize it, and save it to your drive or upload it to social media! I'm working on putting together a collage of every single state that we have visited and piecing them together, similar to this.

PackPoint Price: Free Apple | Android I probably should have listed this one first, but this packing app is perfect for planning out what you need to pack for a trip based upon the activities that you will be doing as well as the upcoming weather! You are then able to check off when an item is packed. This is perfect for packing for a trip, and making sure you pack everything back up on your way home.You will never forget to pack anything again!

Now I must know what your favorite and most useful travel apps are!!

New Year, New Goals

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I hope EVERYONE had a marvelous New Year!!
I'm not one to make "resolutions", however I am a huge goal setter and list maker... so it only seemed appropriate to refer to it as just that! 2016 is going to be BIG and CRAZY. I just know it! From graduating, to potentially moving and starting new jobs, L and I are about to have a very exciting year! The first five goals that came to mind when I sat down to write this post are ones that I know I will be able to accomplish and am very excited to do so!

1. GRADUATE (finally) with my BS in biology and pay down 1/4 of my debt.
   
   
2. Rebrand the blog and try to stick to a more consistent schedule.
   
   
3. Maintain a healthy lifestyle.
   
   
4. Grow my little Etsy shop and add 10 more printables this year.
   
   
5. Get rid of stuff. I worked really hard last year to eliminate clutter and to stick with the tried and true basics. I'd like to think that our apartment is not that cluttered however there are always little things here and there that there could be less of (clothes, bathroom products, DVDs, kitchen gadgets, etc). I am determined to make space!

What is on your New Years check list!?

2015 in REVIEW

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!

365 days ago we welcomed 2015 with open arms and lots of snow! Boston was hit pretty hard which resulted in some days where we were able to completely run around the city streets due to no traffic. We took advantage of the snow and spoiled ourselves silly playing on all of the nearby mountains, one of which turned out to be a hike up Mount Washington's Tuckerman Ravine! Beautiful! 

(Disposing of the tree Grinch style)

 (A very quiet Hanover Street)

(Hanging out in Boston Common while it snows)

(Running around the streets of Boston)

(My walk to work on a good day)

(Snowshoeing up Okemo Mountain)

(First time in years all of the "kids" were able to ski together)

(Snow day cookie baking)

 (Hiked up part of Mount Washington)

 (Dad and I traded in our lift tickets to hike Tuckerman's Ravine)

 (Spending time at my favorite place in the world, North Conway, N.H.)

 (Meanwhile in Maine...)

 (The OFFICIAL game book where we document all of our card playing scores!)

In the spring, my beloved macbook took a big crap! Thank goodness for brothers who are computer savvy! We also enjoyed a wonderful Easter service at Old North Church and a fun Sox game at Fenway Park. L and I traveled out to Ohio in May to celebrate my youngest sisters high school graduation and were also pleasantly surprised by the exciting engagement of my older sister! My parents ended up selling our beloved childhood farm in Ohio in May as well and moved out East.

 (Stepped out of the 21st century for a week when my lifeline crashed. I hate that I rely so much on this dang thing.)

(Beautiful Easter service at Old North!)

(Munching on crackerjacks and singing Sweet Caroline at a Sox game) 

(I realized that none of these pictures featured our beloved fur-child... so here she is, fluff and all!) 

 (Road trip to Ohio to celebrate N's graduation)

 (Surprise! S and N are engaged! She's actually really happy despite her weird expression!)

 (So long to our beloved childhood home in Ohio)

Summertime flew by so very, very quickly! I finally went out and explored the Harbor Islands and other summertime Boston shenanigans. In August, we went on L's family's yearly trip to sunny Myrtle Beach (I put together my first video for that trip here!). We also went out to my favorite place again, North Conway, and explored Diane's Bath for the first time... definitely a must see if you're ever in the area!

 (Harbor Island exploring!)

 (Our annual Myrtle Beach picture under the dock)

 (Warming up after a little jump into Diane's Bath)

I took the blade to my hair in the fall and chopped a lot of it off. I definitely think it's a cut I'm going to stick with! We fair hopped all over New Hampshire with my parents indulging in fair food and fun! We also checked out a mansion in New Hampshire that overlooks beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee! I crossed another thing off of my 30 x 30 list in October when we scored an incredible day to hike Mount Washington to the summit! I finally got my sticker! L and I spent Thanksgiving in Maine where we shaved his hair off in support of his little cousin who is courageously fighting lymphoma. I also opened an Etsy shop, kayliedesigns, where I design and sell printables! After a month of holiday fun and cheer, I celebrated Christmas in Maine with almost all of my siblings and parents, our new rescued pup and horses walking along the beach on that crazy warm day!

 (Chop, chop! Took off lots of inches!)

(Fair hopping with M and D) 

 (Looking over Lake Winnipesaukee)

 (Those beautiful Mount Washington views)

(Finally got my sticker for the car I don't own!)

(My most recent project, the fitness kit, can be found in my Etsy shop)

(Landon shaved all of his hair off in November to support #superparker)

(Christmas tree shopping for my parents)

(Playing on the beach in Maine on our 60 degree Christmas day!)
HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS, I HOPE IT IS A GREAT ONE FOR EVERYONE! (:
2014 Review // 2013 Review

Health and Wellness Panner

I'm really stinkin' excited to get this planner live for everyone today! With the new year right around the corner, I for one am definitely someone who likes to set small resolutions here and there, one of which is to continue to make an effort to live a healthy lifestyle. I thought it would be fun to add a health and wellness planner to my Etsy shop that I can reference to throughout the year to keep me motivated.
With my primary intention being to help keep me on track by working out, eating appropriately, and tracking my progress I have condensed most of my ideas into six EASY pages that make living a healthy lifestyle fun and ORGANIZED!

Page 1 - Measurements and Goals The sole purpose of this page is to set a large goal (whether it be fitness related or not, who cares?), accompanied by a handful of smaller goals that you would like to see happen. Remember, a goal without a deadline is a dream so MAKE SURE YOU SET AN END DATE! Once you meet your BIG goal, print off another copy of this page and set ANOTHER attainable goal! There is also a section towards the bottom of the page where you can take measurements before and after if that is something you are interested in recording!
Page 2 - Workout Schedule When I have something written down in front of my face, I am 10 times more likely to actually do it! This schedule is designed for 7 days at a time where you can record the type of exercise you will be doing each day, an area to jot down the kind of workout that you completed, the number of hours of sleep you got that night (sleep IS SO IMPORTANT), as well as a water bottle checklist to keep you on track with your water intake. After you complete a week, save the sheet so that you can reference back to it later on!

Page 3 - Meal Plan Eating right and consuming appropriate proportions is KEY to feeling your best. When you have your meal plan written out for you in advance, and your groceries in check you will feel motivated to stick to that plan!
Page 4 - Monthly Dinners This page is for the super organizer in you. Feel on top of the world with every single dinner for the entire month planned out beforehand. It will do wonders.

Page 5 - Progress Report One of my favorite pages, the progress report was designed to track where you are in terms of weight. Record your Current weight and goal weight on the y-axis, and the week on the x-axis. This is a fun way to connect the dots and track the progress of your journey. Sometimes having it drawn out in front of you (literally) is the best dose of motivation you can get!
Page 6 - Recipes Having your healthiest recipes separated and on hand helps to influence your mind to make the right dinner decision. Keep them on this page, or cut them out... it's up to you! It's also incredibly easy to snap a picture of the finished meal and tape it onto the back!
I hope you enjoy this planner as much as I enjoyed creating it! I have this listed for sale in my Etsy shop for $3, however LIFE AS YOU LIVE IT readers can receiver 50% off through the end of 2015 with the code LIFEASYOULIVEIT2015.
Thank you and have a wonderful NEW YEAR!

Weekend Life and Links

Christmas Day spent playing at the beach with the crew on our 60 degree Christmas day!
HELLO!! I hope everyone had a very merry, MERRY Christmas!  I've been spending my time in Maine for the past couple days and have put myself into a serious food coma. Many thanks to the gallons of chocolate milk and sweets that have been on hand! I still have Christmas in my system and wanted to share a few things that may keep you stoked!

• I'm a collector of containers and love to keep everything tucked away in an organized fashion. As we start to de-Christmas our apartment, we love using these sterilite containers for storing our special ornaments and other Christmas-y things. All of these containers get tossed into my beloved watertight trunks!
  
  
• The Christmas stockings that we currently use aren't that special to us (I think we bought them from Lowes's?), which is why I'm looking into getting some pretty needlepoint ones that will last us a lifetime! It's no surprise here that I've got my heart set on these pretty ones from L. L. Bean!
  
  
• After reading Jessica's Christmas recap post, I've decided that I need lettered cookies cutters so that I can make Christmas cookies that look as cute as hers!
  
  
• I would love to host a Christmas cookie exchange some year and I think it's mostly because I want it to look this perfect and also because I want to send everyone home with these tins filled with cookies!
  
  
• Last but not least, can I have a fireplace just to display these adorable ceramic houses? So classic, so cute, and from One King's Lane... does it get any better?? I'm sure I can find a spot in my humble abode to display these somewhere!! (:

I hope everyone had the best Christmas and are having fun gearing up for the New Year!!

the BEST holiday cookie recipe

Last year we finally cracked the code for the most amazing sugar cookies to date and I have almond extract to thank! After years of trying out different recipes, we stumbled upon one where the cookies maintain their shape when baked, they're fluffy and delicious, AND there is no refrigeration of the dough!! Win, win, WIN!!
We use this sugar cookie recipe multiple times a year for Valentine's day, Easter, Halloween... you name it! Maybe someday I can make an instructional video as to how to make them! That is my best intention, however time and daylight get the best of me... next year maybe? 
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 egg
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF
2. Mix the butter and sugar until it is creamy
3. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract
4. In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder and flour. Slowly add to the wet ingredients while still mixing.
5. Roll some of the dough out onto parchment paper, measuring about 1/4 inch thick
6. Punch out your cookies using your favorite cookies cutters and then place them onto your cookie sheet with parchment paper.
7. Bake 6 to 8 minutes and let cool completely before frosting and decorating. 

Enjoy! We usually make our own frosting out of powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract and food coloring! What is your favorite sugar cookie recipe!?