How To Survive The Mornings, When You're A Working Mom

It’s no secret that I enjoy my mornings. Check out my previous post Why I Wake Up at AM. However mornings for me haven't always been so smooth. Its taken a few years of tweaking my morning routine to reach morning schedule peace.

Weekend Shenanigans + Weekly Goals

Skirt-Forever 21

Top-Old Navy

Shoes-old

Bag-JustFab

I must say my weekend was pretty lazy yet rather productive, if that makes any sense! If you’re ever wondering what I am up to on a daily basis, just follow me on Instagram and/or Snapchat (SaprinaD) I’m always posting pictures and videos of my daily shenanigans!

Friday was a pretty productive day, it was Nic’s weekend with his dad so I was able to get some errands done.  I worked my day job, did my weekly Trader Joe’s run and headed over to Bestbuy to pick out a new lap top. I had my old laptop for five years so needless to say, a new one was long overdue, however it was an expense that I just did not want to incur anytime soon, but unfortunately last week my old laptop finally went on to glory and crashed.

Saturday was my kinda lazy day, I didn't leave the house and spent the entire day in my sweats.  I did some much needed house work in the morning.  I pretty much spent the rest of the day on my couch. I binge watched Bravo's “The Single Project”. Have any of you seen this show?  I seriously watched the entire season on Saturday, which caused me to be way to involved in these strangers lives, and for a moment I found myself yelling at the tv in frustration... which was about the point that I realized it was time for me to turn the tv OFF.

If you're a regular reader, and I hope that you are you may have notice the blog got a facelift, that was also a Saturday accomplishment.

Sunday was church and dinner with my best friend, followed by my sad attempt at meal prep, which really just consist of me packing up my snack servings for the week.

That was pretty much my epic weekend! Next weekend is a three day and Nic will be home so, I have no idea what type of adventures it will bring!

My goals for this week….

• BE//  ON TRACK WITH WEIGHT LOSS- Wednesday I will post last weeks weight loss recap, and I am pretty excited to share with you guys my week one results.

• DO// ORGANIZE THE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS- Currently my Christmas decor is shoved in a few plastic tubs and stored behind my sofa (don’t ask) but this week I need to organize it and find it a new home!

• READ// Instincts by TD Jakes- new book I will be starting

• MEMORIZE// My memory scripture for this week is Galatians 5:22-23

I'd love to hear about  your goals this wee? 

Linked up // What I Wore To Work | Meet & Greet Blog Hop | Link Up With Lisa | Mahogany's Closet Mondays

Weight Loss Wednesday: Start of a Journey

I love to eat and I love food. I do not love dieting! Overall my diets relatively balanced, I eat my veggies and I don’t make a habit of skipping breakfast, that being said I’m not one to turn down a piece of cake or a glass of wine! Truth be told I have always been  a “thick girl” but indulging a little too much, a little too often has resulted in a slow but steady weight gain over the last few years.

When I was younger I managed to maintain a healthy size. While I have never been a person to worry too much about the number on the scale, I find that I am comfortable somewhere around 180 pounds. Before having my son I easily maintained my weight by engaging in physical activities like dance team and I had a very active job. Now a days majority of my work day is spent behind sitting at a desk and have little to no motivation to work out!

180 Pounds circa 2010 at 180

My Tipping Point

Ok, so I read a lot of weight loss blogs and I must warn you, my tipping point is not some profound deep heart wrenching experience. I didn’t find myself unrecognizable in a photo, or find myself too large to fit into the seat of my favorite a roller coaster. No, my tipping point is much more shallow. Recently I ordered a skirt online from one of my favorite retailers, I shop this site often and my sizes are always very right on, a 16 if its an a-line and because this girls got hips I order an 18 if its a pencil style skirt. The size 18 skirt arrived and much to my dismay, it was too small. The buck stops here,  I refuse to go up to a size 20!  Currently I am at my heaviest weighing in at 225.4 pounds! Now let me start by saying overall I am happy in my skin, and if I never lose a pound I would be ok if I remained this size for the remainder of my life, my self image overall is a positive one. But, from a completely shallow standpoint I’ve invested too much in my current wardrobe to continue to grown and not fit into any of it and  honestly from a medical standpoint I know that I am carrying around a lot of extra weight, and I know it’s not healthy.


 Monique Lhuillier gown size 16.

The Plan

In the past I have started and stopped many diets! I have put pressure on  myself to loose an unrealistic amount of weight in an equally unrealistic amount of time. I have done every fad diet on the market, I get discouraged and I quit! This time I am not setting out with any “weight loss” goals, I simply want to live a healthier lifestyle, and lose some weight along the way. Shortly after my son was born I did Weight Watchers and I was successful on the program. I never felt deprived and for me, its just the most realistic option.

For myself as I am sure it is for most women, weight loss is a very personal journey. I don’t know how this will go, but my hope in blogging about it is to first make myself accountable to you my readers and second maybe I will encourage someone else along the way.

As I go on this journey I invite you to come back weekly for as I travel on this road to a healthier and hopefully thinner self!

A Day in the life: Mothers Day Weekend

My Mothers day weekend was filled with love and good company!

Saturday was my church’s annual Women’s Tea. I love this event and look forward to it every year. The women in my church sign up to host a table. You get to decorate your table how ever you like, while staying within that years theme. This years theme was "A Legacy of Knowledge". The women in my church go all out with the tables and it’s always so much fun to  see all the creative beautiful things they come up with. This is my second year doing a table.

My Best friend and I 

On Sunday I attended worship service with my son!

Dress-eShakti  |Necklace-Charming Charlie's|

Its So Hard to get him to take a serious picture!

Finally got it!

 Ever since I had Nicholas being a mom has taken on a whole new meaning for me. Becoming a mother myself  has caused me to appreciate my own mom so much more. She was a single mom who raised two children.  There are times when I feel overwhelmed with just one, and unlike my own mom I have so much help. I can not imagine doing it with two and no support! Wether your a mommy or not, I hope your weekend was blessed!

The $50 Mini Closet Makeover

My closet has been a major stress-or in my life for sometime now! Its small, cluttered and has no sort of organizational system whatsoever. Not even to mention the mountain of pants piled up on the top shelf. Every time I went to pull a pair down the entire mountain collapsed around me! It was awful.

I set out to Target with a $50 budget in search for a solution. I must warn you what your about to see is not pretty and I am not proud of it...

Seriously I had a $50 budget so if you are expecting to see an Extreme Home Makeover style remodel here, go ahead and dial it down a notch before you go any further...go ahead I'll wait!

Okay, now that we have adjusted our expectations...I did go a little over budget . Target had a sale on shelving units...I bought two of these three shelf organizing systems, they were $24 each and a basic tension rod for $6.00 (I bought two sizes because I didn't know which I would need, I plan to return which ever I don't use).

First step was to put these bad boys together. They were seriously super simple to assemble (but I must say I'm pretty good at putting things together). All in all I think it took less than an hour for both.

Next was the truly awful part..pulling everything out of the closet. This truly was awful because I was forced to deal with the incredible amount of stuff I have been hoarding in that closet. Seriously how many pairs of distressed Boyfriend Jeans dose one girl need? Once it was all out I also took the time to purge things I no longer wear and/ or  fit.

I stacked the two shelves on top of each other and anchored them to the back closet wall. And inserted the tension rod for extra hanging space.

The space is small but I still have a considerable amount of storage space up top and eventually I’d like to add an extra shelf for shoes. Currently my shoes live on a shoe shelf tucked in a corner of the hall way.

An organized closet space makes my brain feel less cluttered and makes getting dressed in the morning way less stressful! Its not perfect but for just over fifty buck I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. 

After it was all done, I stepped back to admire my handy work and couldn't help but think, “Gosh, it’s times like this I am thankful for my singleness, cause where on earth would my husband put his things!”

What's In My Purse

I must confess, I am a bit of a youtube junkie, and one of my favorite videos to watch is the infamous “what’s in my purse” tags. I’m fascinated by what women carry in their handbags, and lets face it what a woman carries in her bag says a lot about her. And since my blog is still in infancy I figured what better way to get to know me than to take a glimpse into my purse.

My current everyday bag is a faux leather tote I picked up from JustFab. Its quite large and perfect for work. This girl can easily fit  my laptop and extra pair of shoes!

So here it is...What’s in my purse!

1. I almost always have a book, my current read “Lady in Waiting”
2. Planner
3. Blog Notebook for jotting down ideas
4. Phone
5. Ear Buds
6. Pen
7. Wallet
8. Hand Sanitizer
9. Lip balm, lipstick, lip gloss, lip liner
10. Burts Bees Cuticle Cream
11. Berry Greens on the Go
12. Hand Cream
13. Extra Phone Charger

Truth be told, I’m a bit of a hoarder so typically you're also going to find spare change, a bunch of receipts, and a few random things like a bottle of water. And there you have it! Now I want to know-what must haves do you carry in your purse?