Hot off the press, I have a new printable in the shop!  In an effort to design something new each month and continue to build up my little Etsy shop, I have recently added Wedding Mad Libs!
I'm sure you've seen this same idea floating around pinterest before, so I thought, why not design something similar for my sister's upcoming nuptials! As the self-appointed maid of honor for the wedding that she refuses to make a big deal about, I am secretly planning all kinds of fun things that I'll bombard her with later. In fact, as soon as I hit publish on this post, she'll probably send me a screen shot of this with the stink eye...
These wedding mad libs are so much fun for your guests to fill out! Whether you use them for your guest book, or to track who came they're great for receiving wedding advice and feedback from your seasoned (or not so seasoned) guests!

I printed these on a metallic cardstock and love how they turned out! I would not recommend printing these on regular printer paper -- use cardstock!

The download is a full page (8.5" x 11"), however there are two printables per page. The picture below represents how the PDF will print after you download (minus the "draft" watermark). Just cut right down the middle!

kaylieDESIGNS Etsy Shop
Wedding Mad Libs
LIFE AS YOU LIVE IT readers can take 50% off of anything in the shop until the end of February with the coupon code:  LIFEASYOULIVEITFEB16

WHO • WHAT • WHEN • WHERE • WHY

(The best sugar cookies in all of the land)

WHO

• Martha and I speak the same language when it comes to our homes. I could spend hours browsing her website finding fun articles like how to save time on homekeeping tasks. My favorites are the linen labels, pipe labels and donation bag. 

WHAT

• I knew that I wanted to link back to this shirt from Anthropologie today, however I felt a little bad knowing that it was priced at a plump $68. When I went to grab the link I saw that it was on sale! Holy great balls of fire I jumped on it and put it in my shopping cart ASAP! I went with the white! It's such a cute pleated cotton tee with lace and pom poms that will look great with leggings! I've read that it's sheer though.

WHEN

• Spring is practically knocking at our door (every other week) and has me in the green thumb mood! I came across this chart that tells you when to plant your veggie garden and got so excited!! Last year, L and I planted tomatoes and veggies in a little flower box and tried to grow them on our roof deck. Nothing grew, and they are still sitting up there. Green thumb fail!

WHERE

• The Country Chic Cottage - go there and print off the adorable pantry organization labels that she designed. I'm a big container geek and throw everything into these Sistema containers for a clean, streamlined look. I usually just throw a label on the front, however this label has instructions as to how to prepare the food. Bingo! Plus, they're so stinkin' cute too!

WHY

• I recently created a new Instagram account that is specifically for the blog, @lifeasyouliveit_blog. Now that Instagram makes it so incredibly easy to switch back and forth between accounts, it only made sense to dedicate a new, clean space that strictly caters to the blog. It's not that my old account didn't, however it was a random mix of everything making it sometimes difficult to navigate. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Okemo Ski Trip Recap Video & a Free Printable!

One of my recent favorite things to do is to record little clips from trips that we take and compile them into a fun little mini video. 
I made our first one back in August that recapped our trip to Myrtle Beach, SC and have slowly been adding little videos to my youtube channel since. There's been the Myrtle Beach trip, Macy Cat's Purina Muse ad, and most recently the Sister Dance! Going into our annual ski trip at Okemo Mountain in Ludlow, Vermont I knew that I wanted to put together another video to capture all of the good times and fun memories with the family!
While the quality of these are less than perfect, it's the best I can get out of my handy iPhone 5, and I'm okay with that!

 

In addition to this video, I wanted to share with you a printable that I designed to help make sure I packed everything for our last ski trip.   

Follow this link to google docs to print a copy for yourself (: I'm thinking about designing an adventure kit for my Etsy shop, this would be included in it as well as other vacation-y printables.

I hope wherever you are you're getting lots of snow and gearing up for a fun and snowy trip!! (:

HAPPY 3rd BLOGIVERSARY, LIFE AS YOU LIVE IT!!

It almost completely slipped my mind, however I am reminded every day before Valentine's Day that another year is in the books for this little blog of mine!
HAPPY 3 YEAR BLOGIVERSARY, LIFE AS YOU LIVE IT!
I created this blog back in 2013 as a creative outlet for my DIY projects and can't believe the growth that it has had over the past couple years. Never would I have thought that I would still be typing away sharing my two cents, have a post go viral, or start my own little Etsy shop. The ever growing plans and opportunities that are ahead of any and every blogger are unlimited and it truly is very exciting to think about.
The first post that I ever published was my "FUN DIY VALENTINE'S DAY GIFT FOR HIM" project that I had put together as a gift for L. A rookie at best, I only included one picture (which was of the final project), and a little blurb about it. I look back and smile because it truly was a labor of love, and then a little bit more love to put it up on the blog. Maybe someday I will filter through my older posts and update them with better pictures, especially the ones that get a lot of pageviews.
I'm a big list maker and goal setter, so it only seemed appropriate to pull together four goals to hopefully see myself reach by year #4!

1. Post at least ten times a month - this probably seems like a small number to some, however, when the creative juices aren't flowing, I'm on the struggle bus and have to really focus to pull together a publish worthy post. I feel as though ten is a good, consistent number that is very attainable. I don't care if it's ten posts in a row, or 2-3 posts a week... it's happening! (:
2. Move to .com - It's been three years and I am still riding the .blogspot.com train. I know, somebody needs to cut the cord! Honestly, I'm in a little bit of a pickle because lifeasyouliveit.com is already being used and I'm not quite sure what other domain name I could use without detaching myself too much from "the brand". I've thought about completely rebranding the entire blog but have started to think that that may not be the best option as I feel as though LIFE AS YOU LIVE IT encapsulates the content of this blog really well. What are your thoughts with .org? Does anyone use it for their blog?
3. Double the pageviews that I had in December - I feel as though this goes hand in hand with the "post at least ten times a month" goal. I'd like to think that it is not all about the numbers, however it is one of the best ways to measure your progress. I did not start tracking my stats and using google analytics until September of 2015. Out of the three years I've had this, only 5 months of them I have tracked and recorded this kind of information. I don't know why I didn't reference to that information earlier, however I sure am glad that I do now! I look at the numbers that I had in December of 2015 and hope that I am able to double that by December of 2016!
4. Design 10 for items for my Etsy shop - I consider my Etsy shop and the blog as one entity, and would love to see these grow together. I try my hardest to design a new product for the shop every month and have a handful of ideas up my sleeve. I want to make sure I am continually contributing to this little shop so that it can continue to grow!

Thank you, everyone, for your continued support! Have a happy, happy VALENTINE'S DAY tomorrow! (:

our SISTER DANCE!

Did anyone go to see the movie Sisters featuring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler?
There's a scene in the movie where Tina and Amy are hosting a party and a song came on that they had choreographed a dance to as kids. They of course remembered their fun dance perfectly and performed it for their crowd!
Upon seeing that, my sisters and I, who together danced for over 30 years, found it absolutely imperative to choreograph our own sister dance to the popular song "We Like to Party" by the Vengaboys! 
Being that we all live in different states, we would send each other little clips of 8 counts that we had choreographed so that the other sisters could learn it. Over the course of a week, we had finished choreographing our entire dance and had pieced it all together during our family ski trip to Vermont last week. 
We are certainly no experts, but we sure did have a ton of fun putting this together! I hope we grow old dancing to this song together (:
Please don't mind the terrible iPhone quality video... we put this together on the last day before we went our separate ways. There are certainly a few hiccups, however that's the best we could do after an exhausting day of skiing and only a week to learn it. We will perfect it later on, maybe for S's wedding!? ;)
Many thanks to our brother, Ty, who recorded this for us. Despite our best efforts, he did not want to be apart of our sister dance :(



I hope you enjoyed our #sisterdance !!!!

Valentine's Day Gifts for HIM!

If being crafty is not your forte, yet you still would like to get your hunny something special that won't (or maybe will) break the bank, here are some quick picks that you might want to get him!  

...to make things even sweeter, most of these ship Amazon Prime (except the charger and packing cubes), so you'll have them just in time!

 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

I think this Hershel Supply Co. tote will be L's next bag. His current tote is one that he has had since high school and it has held up very well! 

I'm also a fan of this warm beanie, and I know he would be too! 

Beats Pill... it's perfect, small and very compact. Great for travel and at home.

And because you can never having enough charging cables, here is a 10' long one.

The art of brewing fascinates me, which is why I think it would fascinate him as well. L and I both enjoy a good cider, so why not make it yourself!?

Yeti Cooler... I think every guy wants one to have one.

Nalgenes are perfect for taking to the gym, hiking, camping, anything! L and I got some for Christmas and use them religiously. 

I think I already professed my newfound love for packing cubes on here, however it I have not... they are the best! I got some for Christmas, and now I feel as though everyone needs them!

He already owns a pair of darn toughs, however I'm sure he'd be okay with me adding another pair or two to his collection! They are the best for hiking, skiing, and everyday use! AND they're guaranteed for LIFE. When you wear them out (if that's even possible), send them back and they will hook you up with a new pair. MADE IN VERMONT! (:  

What are you planning on picking up for your guy on Valentine's Day? Some Love Coupons? ;)

View through my lens: January

I sure was hoping I'd have a little more to share with you concerning this month, however I was sadly disappointed when I went to flip through my phone and realized I had hardly taken any pictures this month. Big fail on my part. 

I don't remember if I shared this picture on here or not, but this is back when I was traveling to and from Ohio over the holidays. After arriving at the very crowded airport, Channel 7 approaches me to interview me... sure! Why not? I got frisked at security because my sweater contained too much holiday cheer (foil), my gate is switched three times... I bought myself a frosty to make myself feel better. The plane finally arrives and we board 45 minutes late, we sat on the runway for 3 hours while they put the wings back on the plane and other airport jargon. They deplane us because the flight crew has reached their 9 hour max flight time, and as passengers we had hit our three hour preflight sit time. They put our fully booked flight up at the Hilton and I indulge and order room service while watching SVU... what I learned... if you ever have a crappy day, pizza and fries will make everything alright! Seriously though, some of the best food I've had in awhile!!

My love for organization continues... my most recent obsession... these containers.  I ordered three after Christmas to help corral and organize our many odds and ends and just ordered one more to house my seasonal clothing. They're sturdy, weathertight, and clear! As our camping gear and other collections grow, these will be perfect to keep everything tidy and pretty!

 In January, we had our holiday party for one of my jobs and I might just have lucked out with my secret santa! She seriously hooked it up for me! Complete with marshmallows, chocolate, graham crackers, a blanket, matches, fly swatters, playing cards, a first aid kit, bug candles, mints, mini camping utensils, hot cocoa, a tumbler, and a cooler! The perfect kit of camping goodies! Such a sweet gift, and the presentation was on point!

 After over a month without Macy Cat, I'm happy to say that we are off to Maine tomorrow to pick her up and bring her back to her little home in Boston. We brought her to Maine to stay with family while we traveled and are ready to have her back. Keep in mind that this cat hasn't been outside in 2+ years, so this crazy snow adventure was life changing for her. She's not a fan though... she's a city cat at heart. (:

Hopefully next month I will have a few more updates and pictures!! (: