Friday 5

Happy Friday! We made it.

Here are 5 things I can't get enough of this week.

1) SodaStream

We had originally registered for this but took it off our registry because it can't be shipped to APO addresses. After oggling it in the store every single time we saw it, we finally decided it was time to bring it home and make it a part of our family. I love sparkling water so I primarily use it for that and go through several bottles in a day now. TLS who has been lamenting the end of his ability to get fountain root beer over here, loves using it to make root beer and orange sodas. Worth every penny.

2) Buddy Fruits

Yes, I realize that this is a product meant primarily for children, but I don't really care. They are delicious and are great to carry in your purse when you need a snack but don't want to have an actual apple or thing of strawberries in your purse. As an added bonus, they are only 1 WW point.

3) The Hunger Games

I was late jumping on the bandwagon for this. I was worried it was going to turn out to be like Twilight- something that everyone and their mother recommended to me and that I ended up hating. TLS rented the first book from Amazon (I love the fact that you can rent books for the kindle now!) right before our honeymoon, and we were both hooked almost instantly. One day, I asked him how his day went, and he said "well I didn't get picked for the reaping." We read the first two books and are about to start book 3 probably this weekend. We can not wait for the movie to come out and are hoping that he won't deploy before it opens here.

4) My new wine rack

I saw this on Amazon and fell in love with it. The fact that I could actually have furniture delivered to my APO address fascinated me so I ordered it. Considering the luck I've been having with the APO (a package that was sent to me on December 29th is still not here!), we were shocked when it got here in 3 days. My husband put it together in about 20 minutes, and we were so impressed with it. It's real wood, not particle board, so it looks like it cost a lot more than it did and like something that belongs in a "big kid" house.
This is the finished product:

You can't tell from the picture, but the wine bucket is monogrammed, one of my favorite wedding gifts. The picture is from when we were in Zurich. It's on there temporarily until I replace it with one of those double frames that has our invitation on one side and a wedding picture on the other. One of the bottles that is on the left-hand side is a 1984 vintage port- from the year that TLS was born. I bought it for him when we were in Portugal and we are saving it until a milestone to drink it.

5) Love & Toast Sugar Grapefruit Hand Cream

I had never heard of this brand before until I spotted the bright pink packaging at the BX one day. I love anything pink and anything grapefruit, so I decided to go for it and buy one to try it out. I am so glad I did! It smells amazing and feels very light and smooth. I always have this in my purse now. My tube is almost out and I am going to buy my second one this weekend.

The Beauty of Blogging

A couple of weeks ago, I did this post about regretting not buying a Lilly Pulitzer dress back in 2009 and fruitlessly searching for it 2.5 years ago. Not knowing the style or pattern name did not exactly give me much to go on.

I got several emails based on that post with the name of the dress, but not much else. One day, KC stumbled upon my blog from Kelly's Korner and just happened to have that exact dress in her closet! I returned from my honeymoon to find this beauty waiting for me along with a sweet note.

apologies for the awkward photo- I just could not snap a good picture of this one

It needs a few minor alterations but I am so excited to wear it all this summer!

Feburary Sponsor Post

This year, I have decided to open my blog up to sponsors.Below are my sponsors for the month of February. Please read about them. Some of them are doing specials discounts and offers for Preppy Girl Meets World readers.

1) Kimmie Schiffel, Scentsy Consultant
The lovely Kimmie of Full Circle Adventures has joined the ranks to become a Scentsy consultant.

That is her furbaby Gabby pictured above. Kimmie loves candles but needed a more pet-friendly alternative to them when Gabby's poor little tail kept catching on fire. Since Scentsy warmer systems are flameless, they are safe for pets (and children!).

Currently, for the month of February, everything in the catalog is 10% off with the exception of several of the larger combine and save package. February is a transition month for Scentsy, with several products retiring and many new exciting products being introduced in March, so if there are any fall or winter scents that you love, right now is the time to stock up on them!

A new product that Scentsy has out this month is Scentrend. Scentrend bars are designed to be warmed with the current Scentsy bars to enhance their flavors and make them spicier. The current Scentrend bar for the month of February is Pink Pepper.

In addition, I am hosting a online catalog party with Kimmie. Any order purchased through the Preppy Girl Meets World party will automatically receive a bar of White Tea and Cactus, one of my favorite scents. You can also follow her on facebook for more promotions and giveaways.

If you are interested in becoming a Scentsy consultant, be sure to contact Kimmie. The consultant kit costs $99 but contains over $250 in products and scent testers. February is the best time to sign up because you will get double catalogs and testers.

2) Cole Creates











Cole Creates is an Etsy Shop run by blogger Cole of All the Small Stuff fame. Currently, her shop carries items that were hand knit by her. How cute is this adorable doggie sweater?

puppy not included with purchase- sadly

Currently, the shop only carries knit items, but she is in the process of expanding her wares to include t shirt gifts (perfect gifts for a college grad or your favorite sorority girl).

3) Sweet Tea Paperie
Sweet Tea Paperie is an amazing stationery and gift shop that carries so many fun items.

It really is hard to pick your favorite item from there, but I am partial to this gorgeous Chinoiserie Navy Square Tray from Boatman Geller.

Currently, Sweet Tea Paperie has a promotion on their new line of Boatman Geller phone cases:

Receive 15% off the purchase of a Boatman Geller iphone case with code BOATMANGELLER.

4) Monogrammed Everything
As the name implies, this store is pretty much my idea of heaven! Monogrammed Everything has so many great items that would make great gifts for brides, babies, and everyone in between!
At just $10 each, these monogrammed onesies are a steal and would make a great bridal shower or new baby gift.

The monogrammed clogs are an incredibly popular item and with 18 clog colors, 20 thread colors, and the options to add a high heel or painted heel, the options are pretty much endless and you will be sure that your clogs will be unique!

5) Danielle Stage, Stella & Dot Consultant

Stella & Dot is a fun jewelry company. They have so many gorgeous pieces at great price points. I'm loving these Starfish earrings for $34

this Sofia pearl bib necklace for $118

and these Baby Flower post earrings for only $21.75

6) Red Robe Designs
Red Robe Designs

My name is Bethany Toney! I am a coffee obsession, puppy lab lovin', born and raised Texas girl who just recently got married last October to a hunter/ trick shot basketball player named Tyler! I started blogging during my pageant days (no I was not a "Toddlers and Tiaras" child when I was younger ha!) and have been blogging ever since! I opened up my Etsy shop a couple months ago to show case some of my graphic prints that I started doing on the side with all my other free lance projects (save the dates, baby announcements, wedding invitations and programs!)  I have had a love for design ever since my college days, where I ended up graduating with a degree in Graphic Design and Mass Communications in 2006 and now work as a Graphic Designer for an insurance company full time! The name Red Robe Designs came about simply because I am ALWAYS in my red poka dot fluffy robe when I am home working on freelance projects! I mean if you're going to work...Why not be comfy while doing it right? :) My blog is about my everyday crazy life. No day is the same, which makes my blog posts all very different but all very fun! For all you Preppy Girl Meets World readers- You can get 20% off all 8x10 and 5x7 graphic prints by using the code PREPPY20!

Several of you fell in love with Bethany's State prints when I posted them in my Friday 5 post last month, so right now would be a great time to pick one up!

I plan on getting two- one for NY and one for Nebraska and hanging them up next to each other!



7) Stina Stitches
Stina Stitches is a cute Etsy shop that specializes in preppy needlepoint items. There is a twist to this- instead of just buying a pre-made item, you buy a kit with step-by-step instructions and make the finished product yourself. You can choose from keyfobs, belts, hair elastics, bracelets, bookmarks, coasters, and magnets. There's even a haunted house option!

I'm loving this needlepoint headband 

How fun would it be able to wear a belt like this and be able to say "oh this? I made it myself."

All of the kits in her shop come with thread, instructions, and all materials. They do indicate if you need other supplies such as hot glue or pliers to finish off the craft.

this is what the kit for the headband above looks like

Currently, Stina Stitches is offering Preppy Girl Meets World readers 15% off through the month of February with code preppygirl.

8) Southern Beaus

I first fell in love with Southern Beaus when I spotted this gorgeous monogrammed seersucker clutch from their shop on Etsy.

Southern Beaus is a company that specializes in monogrammed clutches and bow ties. How fun would it be to carry a monogrammed clutch and for your husband/boyfriend/fiance to wear a matching bowtie to a wedding or other function?

in my opinion, these would make great bridal party gifts!

This month, Southern Beaus is offering Preppy Girl Meets World readers free shipping with code PREPPYGIRL.

9) LWhelan Designs
LWhelan Designs is a super cute Etsy shop that specializes in preppy accessories and paper goods. A lot of her items are made from recycled Lilly Pulitzer fabrics. I have a pair of her Lilly Pulitzer button earrings and they are just the cutest things ever.

At just $7.50/per pair, they are incredibly budget-friendly and would be a great treat for yourself or a gift extra for someone.

I love coozies and have amassed a small collection of them. This sunny yellow coozie made with Lilly fabric is so pretty and can instantly spiff up any drink!

For the month of February, Lynn is offering Preppy Girl Meets World readers a special: like her facebook page and invite 10 or more of your friends to join. If you get 10 or more friends to like her page, Lynn will give you one pair of earrings from her shop for free.


If you are interested in being a blog sponsor for a future month or would like to know more about it, please email me at whaleflipflops {@} gmail{.}com for more information.

Sneakpeeq Giveaway

What is Sneakpeeq?

 Sneakpeeq is a new flash sale site. Every day, there are several sales in the categories of Living, Style, and Taste. You get 20 "peeqs" that you can use to check out the price of an item. In addition to being able to score awesome stuff at great prices, Sneakpeeq finds other ways to reward its members. Occasionally, you can earn badges with your peeqs. Some of these can give you a limited time only additional $5 off a purchase. In addition to this, for each individual sale, there are leaderboards. You can earn points by favoriting items, peeqing at them, and making a purchase. At the end of the sale, the person on the leaderboard with the highest amount of points, wins a prize. (I have yet to win one so I can't comment on what the prize itself is.) Another great benefit- shipping is free!

Interested? Good! sneakpeeq is generously offering Preppy Girl Meets World readers a pretty fantastic package. 

One Grand Prize winner will receive a $25 gift card to sneakpeeq.

One runner-up will receive a $10 gift card.

 
Both gift cards will give you plenty of choices. This gorgeous Chelsea Clutch in Navy from Urban Expressions is only $19 today!

Come see all the things you love but haven’t discovered.  sneakpeeq only has New Products that you have never seen before!

Enter the giveaway by clicking on this link: http://bit.ly/yH9Oz0 and joining sneakpeeq!  All winners will be announced on my blog on February 18th!  When you sign up for the giveaway through the link, sneakpeeq will also give you 20% (!) off your first purchase.*



*20% off is valid for new sneakpeeq users only. 

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Well I'm back. Again. I tried to do this post yesterday, but our wifi is on the fritz, as a result of which, my post got deleted. So here goes nothing.

We got back on late Wednesday night, early Thursday morning. When we left Gran Canaria, it was 75+ degrees. When we landed in Frankfurt, it was 5 degrees. Welp. 

When we got home, we discovered that 1) our wifi was out, 2) our bottle of laundry detergent had frozen solid, and 3) our washing machine was broken. I discovered #3 while it had locked with TLS's uniform for work the next day inside of it. So much for coming home from vacation with a bang.

The honeymoon itself was nothing short of amazing. We have hundreds of pictures between our two cameras and iPhones, but have bot had a chance to upload them yet. However, we did print out one picture yesterday and put it into a cute Gran Canaria frame that we picked up in a shop there. This is serious progress!

Also, can I just say that you never realize just how many email lists you're subscribed to until you leave town with an autoreply message on for a week! I had well over 1,000 emails to sort through when I returned! Now that that's done, this weekend is being devoted to catching up on all our shows that we missed while we were gone (I am so sad that there was no new Revenge), and catching up on everyone's blogs!

This Time Tomorrow

I will be here with a pink drink in my hand:



I have been eagerly counting down and the day has finally come!

We have to leave to drive to the airport in 8 hours which gives us enough time to nap, do one last load of laundry, and throw in last minute items into my already overweight suitcase. (Overpack is my middle name.)

I don't have any scheduled posts or guest bloggers, so there will be a short hiatus here. I promise to be back with pictures (from a real camera!).

For now I say, au revoir.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Travel Essentials

Being that I travel a lot, I have certain must-travel items that make traveling a lot easier and better.

1) Snuggie

mine is pink, obviously

Don't laugh y'all. This thing is incredible for international flights. It is a lot bigger, softer, warmer, and more comfortable than those tiny blankets you get on the airlines. If you get one at all. When I put mine on in JFK, people on my flight looked at me like I was deranged. Then once we boarded our flight and they tried to maneuver their tiny blankets, they were all looking at me with jealousy in their eyes.

To any of my military readers- if you ever fly Space A, bring a Snuggie with you. Unless you're flying on a rotator, the plane is guaranteed to be incredibly hot at one seat, and freezing cold two rows down. And you don't get your own blanket. Layers and planning ahead are crucial here.

2) Bath & Body Works PocketBac

My MIL sends me these periodically and I love them. I have one in every single purse. Perfect for travel because they are tiny and don't take up much in your plastic bag.

3) CamelBak Groove Water Bottle

I saw this on base and decided to get one to try it out. This is pretty ingenious because it comes with a built-in filter so instead of just having to constantly buy bottles on the road, you can carry the one and fill it up whereever. It is great for going through airport security because you can empty it out before you go through and then fill it up in the bathroom. We each have one (mine is pink again, the husband's- not so much) and they have saved us so much money when we fly. Because  it has a bite valve, you can drink from it laying down, and this was a huge help for me when I was post-op and could not move for 25 hours. Drinking from that was a lot easier than drinking through a cup!

4) Colgate Wisps

Amazing. I first received some in a goodie bag from a Shecky's Girls' Night Out, and I instantly fell in love. These little things are single use mini brushes on one end and a toothpick on the other. The toothbrush end has a little bead of toothpaste on it. Again, these don't have to go in your ziploc bag, and are great for red-eye flights so you don't have to get off the plane with morning breath.

5) solid perfume

A product I am a huge fan of for several reasons. 1) It's compact, 2) it doesn't need to be put in your ziploc bag in your carryon (notice a theme here?) which makes it great for those trips when you want to avoid paying checked bag fees by just bringing your carryon. The other reason why I'm such a fan of solid perfume is because it's usually a lot cheaper than its liquid counterpart, thereby making it not a big investment in your beauty arsenal.

Mine is Green Tea from L'Occitane. A lovely, light, clean scent. I can't get enough of it.

6) iPad

Love mine. It can do almost anything except display any sites that require Flash. (Darn licensing agreements.) Before we travel anywhere, we like to fill ours up (geeky family- we each have one) with games, and tv shows/movies for the road. The facetime and iMessage features are a huge plus when you live in a different country than the rest of your family. I have the 16GB white iPad2 with this cover from Missoni for Target fiasco:

After getting the iPad, I now usually don't bring my netbook with me any more when I travel.

7) Kindle

The one thing I don't like doing on my iPad is reading. It's too heavy to hold up with one hand and the screen was just not designed for heavy readers.

To be perfectly honest, I used to be incredibly anti e-reader. To me, there is a certain thrill of opening a new book, sniffing it, and yes, ::gasp:: sometimes dog-earing the pages. But if you are a fast reader, like I am, and can read more than a book on a single flight, carrying several paperbacks in your carry-on is not exactly practical. Or easy to do. Right before I went into the hospital for surgery, I made a list on Amazon of the books I wanted to bring with me to read. My husband saw the list, realized he'd have to carry all of them there, and then back home, and promptly went out and bought me a Kindle. I have not regretted it for a day since.

I will leave y'all with a funny story. When I checked in to the hospital, I brought a lot of stuff with me to entertain myself while I would be in there. My iPad for games and videos, my kindle for reading, my iPhone for you know, phone stuff, my portable DVD player to watch Royal Pains on, and my netbook for blogging and just in case any of the other should fail me. And then my husband had his own iPad and his own iPhone. (Have I mentioned we're a geeky family?) All of these things cost significantly more money in Germany than they do in the United States and the nurses could not get over how many electronics we managed to bring with us for a 5 day stay. They thought we were loaded or something.

Anyhoo- those are my travel essentials. What are some of yours?