Friday Favorites

...Holiday Party Inspirations is the theme for today's post! D.J. and I are hosting our annual Holiday Party tomorrow so here's some of the ideas I have to incorporate the holidays into the party more this year!

one | stovetop potpourri
Christina from Carolina Charm posted this amazing looking stovetop potpourri that I couldn't resist trying this year. It looks like it's going to smell amazing!

two | mantel with garland

When we got our Christmas tree this year, I knew I wanted to get some of the clippings for our mantel.  I had been loving on the way these inspiration mantels looked and hoped to make ours look as festive!

three | drinks

With this human growing inside me, the typical punch with a splash of alcohol isn't going to work for me this year.  So I've been eyeing this crock pot hot chocolate idea.  Throw some marshmallows on the table and there ya have it folks - a delicious, warm drink for the pregnant mamas!

four | food

I have been craving anything and everything sweet, so you know I'm looking at attempting to make something like this...

five | happy holidays

As we are only 1 week from Christmas, I want to wish you all a blessed holiday with the ones you love most! 

Friday Favorites

The past three weeks have been great.  Being able to see D.J. every day and watch baseball games truly makes my heart happy! It's even better that we are in the cutest little town of Lynchburg, VA and there are so many fun things to explore here.

one | Historic Downtown

I haven't had much time to fully explore downtown Lynchburg, but these beautiful set of stairs have quickly developed a love-hate relationship with my legs.  I've been putting together some awesome workouts for the other baseball ladies here with me on these stairs.  Downtown also has some pretty delicious restaurants and beautiful views of the James River.

two | Lynchburg Sunsets
The sunsets here are stunning.  The view from the field looks right over the mountain range and I cannot get enough of it.  Ocean sunsets are great, but mountain sunsets add a whole new level to everything.

three | workouts with the ladies
I love being able to get my workouts in early and these ladies have joined in on the fun with me! Taking everything I've learned from working out at home and bringing it here is so fun and I love that we have each other to push harder.

four | Lexington, VA

Last week, I had the opportunity to drive across the mountain and visit a colleague that works for the VMI Foundation.  I have learned a lot about the non profit world in the past two years, but seeing how VMI does things was a great eye opener into how much more there is to learn.

five | Snowflex

A few weeks ago some of the crew went to Snowflex - a year round ski, snowboard, and tubing park! I saw a few kids try and snowboard and I'm not quite sure I'd like to try that.  It looks a little painful if you fall.  We stuck to the tubing side of the mountain and even then, it was a little scary! The views were stunning though and we had a blast. 

Hope y'all have a great 4th of July weekend! 

5 Benefits of Teleworking for the Baseball Wife

Thank you all for the kind words about being able to work from home and see D.J.'s baseball career blossom this season! I couldn't be more excited about what this summer will hold for us.
I am so thankful for this opportunity, personally and professionally.  I know that I will be able to do things with the Alumni program at Norfolk Collegiate that I wouldn't have the ability to otherwise. At the same time, I will be able to see so many more moments in D.J.'s career by being able to be present whenever I want to. So here are my 5 top benefits I think this setup is going to provide me.

one // seeing every baseball game known to mankind
ok, well maybe not every game, but a lot of games! After the work day, I won't have to drive 3-5 hours to see my husband, I will be able to get things done, workout, eat a healthy dinner, and then go to the game whenever I want! Last season when I visited, it was a crapshoot if I was going to be able to see D.J. play.  Sometimes he was starting on days I wasn't there, and other times he would pitch the day before I got there, so then I didn't get to see him play.  This will allow me to see him play whenever he is scheduled!

two // meeting new alumni
Being able to try out new techniques to engage our alumni at the school is something I am very excited about! Whenever I travel to a new city, I am going to look up the alumni that live in the area and see if we can grab lunch or coffee.  It will be a perfect way to engage our alumni and get info on the fun place I am visiting!

three // staying independent
I am a very independent person.  I take pride in the fact that I have a successful job, have a college degree, and I can provide for myself and my future family with the help of my husband.  I know that right now, having a job at Collegiate is not only providing me an income, but it is something I am passionate about.  Being able to work from home allows me to continue my career and not quit, like some baseball wives do.  I like being able to have more than a job in retail or waitressing job.

four // traveling to new places and new stadiums
I am looking forward to adding new ballparks and states to my check list.  Regardless of what team D.J. goes to, I will most likely have been to a majority of the states, but hopefully we can do new things in the places we go together!

five //  branching out of my comfort zone
Asking my boss for this opportunity is not something I would have typically done.  I stepped out of my comfort zone and this is what I got! So thankful!! I am looking forward to taking on the role of a baseball wife during the season at the same time maintaining a successful career.

Happy Friday everyone :)

Curtain Patterns: 5 Favorites

Owning a house is a work in progress, and one of those progress items is curtains in the living room.  We finally got the curtain rod up and now I'm just waiting to find the right curtains.  Trying to decide if I go the route of getting some fabric and having them made into curtains or the traditional curtain route.  Let me know what you all think of these options! To see more of the furniture in our living room, check out this post.  

All of these options are from the fabulous U-Fab store in Richmond and Charlottesville, VA.  

 

This option would match our couches perfectly.  Just not sure if it's too much with the carpet we have.  

 A nice neutral to lighten up the room.  Would look great with the walls.

A nice floral pattern with a light yellow to bring out some yellow in the carpet.

Love the design and I think would add a lot to the room.

 

Love this pattern, but afraid it will darken the room.

Feedback and thoughts are much appreciated for this indecisive mind!

5 on Friday - Valentines Day Wants

Normally, D.J. and I are not Valentines Day gift givers, but if for some reason he wanted to get me something, these five would be pretty awesome!

one. eyefi camera card

This little gadget is the smartest thing ever made.  Ok, maybe a little dramatic there, but seriously how cool is this?! Right after you take a photo, it goes to your phone and you can upload a quality photo without having to download all the picture?!

two. spa day
I am in dire need of a mani/pedi.

three. TWO HEARTS gift basket from Lush

Love a good bath bomb and this basket looks like it has some pretty awesome goodies in it!

four. Just Cupcakes
Don't these oreo cupcakes look amazing?! If you are a Norfolk/VB resident, you must stop by this amazing bakery to get a cupcake! They are the best!

five. flowers
Everyone loves a good bouquet of flower.  And to get me in the spring mood, these would be perfect

5 on Friday

Joining Darci, April, Christina, and Natasha today for Friday's Favorites.  These posts have been slipping past me lately, but I'm back y'all! 

one. oils

So I've been on the fence about ordering the starter kit either of doTerra or Essential Oils.  Are they just a fad that people are in to or is it worth it? I guess I need to educate myself more, but I think they could be very useful if I knew how to use them! Any suggestions would be appreciated! 

two. love your body - tone it up

If you read yesterday's post, you know I am trying to kick up the workout/eating healthy gear.  I have been obsessed with the Love Your Body series from the ladies at Tone It Up! If you have never heard or seen these girls, you need to check them out! The workouts are hard, quick, and most of the time you can do them from home with no weights! I highly recommend them - check them out here! 

three. elevate

Thanks to April at A. Liz Adventures, I have been obsessed with this app. I had no idea some of the basic math skills that I am not sharp on...

just kidding.  Math has never been my strong suite, but still - this is a great app that everyone should use to keep your skills sharp!

four.  Erin Condren Planner

This is the third year in a row I have used an Erin Condren Life Planner. The past two years, I have been extremely satisfied with the durability of the planner and how perfect of a size it is for me.  This year though, I received the pretty package in the mail and when I opened it up, I was a little apprehensive about this year's planner.  One of the new features for this years life planner is removable covers that you can swap in an out if you choose.  For me, this is a drawback because I have already started to notice that the top and bottom where the cover is attached to the spirals are starting to be worn and becoming detached to the spirals.  We will have to see how the next 11 months go before I decided on the planner again for next year.  

five. heart candies

Who doesn't love a good message from the heart candies?!

Adjusting to life with my husband home

Now that D.J. is officially in the off season, We have had a few adjustments to make since his arrival.  Even though the season ended at the beginning of September, he has been gone for the past 5 weeks and now hopefully should be home till Spring Training starts.  

Needless to say, living by yourself is one thing and having your husband home is another! Today's 5 on Friday I'm bringing you into the Brown's house to see what things I am having to adjust to with my hubby home!

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one. bed space

When it's just me and Stryker at home in the  bed, we sleep so nicely together.  Sometimes he rests his head on D.J.'s pillow or is curled up in a little ball at the end of the bed.  He likes to stretch out and when it's just us it works perfectly! But when D.J. comes home, its a whole other story.  Replace the little child in the picture below with an 80 pound lab and you got yourself the image of what every night in our bed looks like! 

two. the snoring problem

If your husband doesn't snore, you are living in the fantasy world that looks like this...

If you live in my world, you probably consider this ever night....

three. bathroom sharing

In our house before D.J. left for this season, I was using the guest bathroom as my bathroom and he used the master bathroom.  Our master isn't big enough for both of us to share and plus, the guest bathroom is just prettier and much more counter space.  When he left for the season, I moved my stuff into the master so my roommates could have the guest bathroom.  Now that he's home I haven't decided if I want to switch back to the guest bathroom or stay in the master.  I love how convenient the mast is next to the room! We will see...

four. grocery store bills

Holy hell.  When D.J. is home we always have A TON more food in the house than we do if I was just shopping my myself.  Having a full grown man in the house that eats a hefty amount of food at each meal requires a lot more planning on what we will be cooking for dinner.  One of my goals this off season is to try new recipes.  I need to figure out how to cook some food for this guy of mine! 

five. two vs. one

In general, I have been used to being by myself and making my own decisions.  Now with D.J. back at home, I need to start thinking as a couple again in decisions that we make rather than just deciding what I want to do like it has been all season.  

Adjusting to life with my hubby home is always a challenge, but one that I will GLADY accept any day :)

Happy Friday y'all! 

5 on Friday: Fall 2014 Edition

I'm not even 100% sure that the 5 on Friday linkup is back and running, but we are starting back up here at Blog With The Browns! I need to get back in the routine of blogging and now that its almost officially fall, I am going for it! Here's what I am looking forward to for the next seven days...

one. the Fitz-McVicar wedding

I am over the moon excited to be heading up to Northern Virginia this weekend to celebrate the love of two people that had such an impact on my college experience! Matt and Stephanie, you both are going to look beautiful on Saturday and I can't wait to recap the wedding on the blog next week! I am so glad that you both walked into my life almost exactly this time six years ago! Here's a little flashback Friday for y'all too! 

two. our wedding album

Being that our anniversary is in 16 days, I think it's about time we order the wedding album right?! Well good news- our photographer has done an amazing job on the layout and I cannot WAIT until it gets here.

three. work trip to uva, jmu, vt

Now that I have my first full year under my belt at Norfolk COllegiate, I am excited to start something new! We are hitting the road for an On-The-Road reunion to UVA, JMU, and VT.  Of course I am super pumped because we are going to be back in some of my favorite college towns and reconnecting with some great alumni!

four. seeing my little babes

I mean come on y'all, how cute are they?! I can't wait to spend Sunday at the Brown's house watching the Redskins and snuggling on these little ones all day!

five. volleyball games

This is my second year coaching middle school volleyball and I am so excited to keep educating these women on how to become better volleyball players and young women.  We play on Saturdays so I am looking forward to getting another win this weekend!

5 Benefits of Guest Blogging

TRAVEL BABBLES

living the (hockey) life

Today I am blogging over at Travel Babbles for Kym while she and her hubby are enjoying the Mexican sun for his 30th birthday! I love that Kym is a hockey wife and I am able to reach more professional sports spouses on her blog today! 

I have been slacking on 5 on Friday's simply because by the time Friday rolls around, all I am thinking about is the weekend and enjoying a few days off! So today, I wanted to talk a little about the Benefits of Guest Blogging since I have been on two different blogs this week!

one. increase in numbers
This week I did two guest posts on two different blogs and I co-hosted a giveaway with some other lovely bloggers and my numbers have SKYROCKETED! In the last 7 days, my instagram account has gained 143 new followers! My GFC followers went from 30 to 81!!!! I can honestly say this is because of the guest blogs and the giveaway.

two. new blog friends
Obviously with new followers, comes new blog friends! I am excited to see the one of the newest #baseballwifelife girls, Hannah has created a blog and is my newest follower! Hannah and I began talking on Facebook a while back before her (at the time) boyfriend got drafted. She is now an engaged woman who is beginning her #baseballwifelife this season! 

three. increasing my reach
It's always exciting to get my blog more looks from new visitors.  It's intriguing to see how one post can increase followers,  reach a new audience and even be posted throughout social media all day.

four. improve writing skills
Sometimes I find myself writing my posts with the mindset that everyone knows who I am talking about.  I am reminded that when I guest post, I need to be more specific and explain more in my posts for all my readers to stay connected with my life.

five. ideas for new posts
Reading all the other posts from guest bloggers generates new ideas on what I can post about.  I have found that most guest posts are "top 10", "best/worse", "tips" themed.  I will be sure to include these ideas in the next guest blog posts!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! I will be back on Monday with the details and play-by-play of the lovely Christy's wedding to her groom Stephan!

Now head on over to my sponsor, Alysse blog!

6 Year Ago Today

This week clearly has been themed on graduation. Earlier this week I posted about JMU so today lets go back six years ago.  Six years ago today I graduated from one of the best Independent schools in the Hampton Roads area, Norfolk Collegiate. Today will be my first graduation as a Norfolk Collegiate employee! I went to Norfolk Collegiate from 1st grade - 4th grade, then moved to Japan (story for another time), then came back from 7th grade - 12th grade.  I was one of those people that absolutely LOVED high school.  I loved my teachers, friends, experiences, and everything else high school brought.  I was named Class Friendliest and I like to sum up my high school experience on that note!

Going back looking through pictures to put in this post really took me back to so many memories.  It's crazy to think how fast time flies. So today's 5 on Friday will be dedicated to some of my favorite memories from high school.

one. homecoming

I loved homecoming! Clearly I went a little over board this year!

two. sports

I was a three sport athlete all four years in high school.  I also played travel soccer outside of school so to say I was busy was an understatement. Although some people (you know who you are!) like to think that Cheerleading is not a sport, it most definitely is.

three. think pink fashion show - senior project

At Norfolk Collegiate, every senior is responsible for completing a senior project.  Ryan, Mary, and I carried on the tradition of the Think Pink Fashion Show.  We gathered donations from stores and companies, managed models and fittings, and raised over $5,000 for Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation!

four. spring breaks

We went on so many awesome vacations as a family in high school.  We went to Key Largo, Sanibel Island, and Orlando!

five. graduation

And to wrap everything up, graduation was one of the best times of high school.  It was the last time we were together as a class and the pictures I look through bring me back to so many memories.
Norfolk Collegiate Class of 2008- Happy 6 year graduation day!

Past posts this week:
Colleen Moves In!
I love my university
When in Myrtle Beach..
Another Carolina Weekend

5 on Friday: MiLB Myths

After reading this article, I felt the need to share with you all some myths about the minor league baseball lifestyle.  This article has been flying around my social media because of all the baseball people I am friends with, but I wanted to share this with you ladies to give you more of a perspective into this life!

one.  high salaries
Yea right.  I can tell you first hand that the salaries are nothing.  I don't think you can even consider it a salary because they don't get paid all year.  After taxes, insurance, and clubhouse fees are taken out, its enough to cover food and the rent for the apartment.  

two. nice cars
Ha. Some of the minor league guys ride in a van every day to the field.  And if they actually do have a car, it cost them so much to ship it there that it wasn't worth it.  It's probably sitting in the sun in Arizona or Florida.

three. eat great meals every day
That never happens.  When I am not there, D.J. eats fast food and PBJ like it's his job.  And when I am there, I either eat at the field or after at a drive thru.  Unless its an off day, you can probably bet we won't get to sit down together and eat.

four. your job isn't really a job
People don't understand that baseball is just like any other job.  You can be fired, you can be promoted, you have projects, you have to live up to an expectation.  Just because these guys are "living the dream" by playing baseball, doesn't mean life is easy.  They still have to find a way to provide for their families.

five. beautiful houses
If you are lucky enough to own a house, you probably don't get to see it much since you are away for 7 months out of the year.  Most of these guys are trying to find a place to stay during the season just to have a place to rest their head.  Couches, floors, sleeping bags, air mattresses... you name it, they've tried it.

I hope you all read the article because it give a much better reality check when looking at the lifestyle of a minor league baseball player! 

5 on Friday: Rock or not??!

As always, linking up with the baby mama's today for the Friday link up!  

Lately I have seen a few things that people are rocking that I am not sure I could pull off even if I tried.  Remember when the peplum tops just hit the racks and EVERYONE was buying them? Yea, well this girl looked all over for the perfect peplum and nothing seems to fit the girls right. Makes things difficult when ya got big tata's and a small torso!  Anyways, I never really got into the peplums but I did eventually find a few classic dressed from JCrew that you can find me wearing for Christmas Eve Mass!! 

I want to know what y'all think on these 5 "hot" items right now.  Should I try them? Or just don't even bother?! Any advice would be appreciated! 

*let it be known that this is the first of any kind of fashion post I have done, so lets not jump down my throat!*

one. palazzo pants 

Although super cute, I just have a feeling these would literally make me look like a balloon.  Super comfy looking, cute, and perfect for summer though! Anyone have success with these?! 

 

two. crop tops that look like bras

I am just gonna go out and say it now- some ladies should probably choose not to wear these crop tops.  They aren't cute on everyone, y'all. Personally, I love me a crop top that is reasonably cropped, but when it looks like a bra or a cheerleading uniform, its a little too much for me. 

This is an example of what I am looking for..

...and this is not.

three. high wasited shorts

I think these are just something that you have to be built for.  My short soccer player legs are not made to be put in high waisted shorts.  If anyone would like to prove me wrong, I am willing to take all bets!

four. black/nude wedges

Ok- so tell me honest opinions.  What do y'all think about these wedges with a full cover on the top?! I have been trying to find a good wedge and would love some suggestions! :)

 

five. baseball uniforms

And since today's starting pitcher is the one and only, D.J. Brown, I just wanted y'all to see how great guys look in a baseball uniform!!

Good luck tonight D.J.!

 

Happy Friday Y'all! I hope everyone has a great weekend!