Friday, January 30, 2015

Weekend Bloggy Reading :: Link Up!

Hi there! Ready for some creative inspiration? Welcome to my Weekend Bloggy Reading link party. Fridays are fun because this is the day of the week where other bloggers stop by to link up their best post of the week here at Serenity Now, and readers get to browse tons of fun project ideas. If you're new here, don't forget to "Follow" or subscribe so you don't miss future parties and projects!

*Please be sure to read my guidelines before you add a link--I've had to bypass so many great projects lately because they didn't include a link back to my blog in the post!

This party is a great place to showcase your very best post of the week (home decor, crafts, party ideas, recipes, DIY, tips and tricks, etc.) and to see what else is out there.

Did you miss any of my posts this week? I'd love for you to click over:

Stop the Mommy Judging: The Sisterhood of the Motherhood
Hilarious Mommy Judging Video
10 Ways to Organize and Store DVDs
Inspiring Project Ideas

Time to link up your best post of the week!

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Inspiring Project Ideas {link party features}

Are you ready to be wowed by some creativity? I love it when features day rolls around because I always hope to show off a project or two you haven't seen around the blogosphere yet. I'm pleased to share some good creative features from the weekend link party with you today. The party opens up again tomorrow morning, so be ready to join the fun. If you're new to the blog, I take a couple of days each week to let other bloggers showcase their project ideas here, and I take a day to feature a few of my faves. We have crafts, home decor, DIY, recipes, party ideas, organizing, sewing, tips and tricks, seasonal projects, and more!

Here are some projects that caught my eye this week:

~Winter Living Room Decor in Blue via Life and Home at 2102

~Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe via Ms. Toody Goo Shoes


~Valentine's Candy Trees via Amanda Jane Brown

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

10 Ways to Organize DVDs {Organizing Tips and Tricks}

It's still January, so it's still "organizing season" in my mind. One thing I've noticed recently is that our DVD collection is a little out of control. My kids seem to own a copy of just about every kids' movie ever made. I hope to pare down some of the discs we don't watch or need...and reorganize the ones we keep. For today, here are some Organizing Tips on Ways to Organize DVDs.
10 Ways to Organize & Store Your DVD Collection! from Serenity Now


As always, please be sure to Pin from the original source.

DVDs in Sleeves via Ask Anna


DiscSox  from The Container Store

Popsicle Stick Filing System via Turnstyle Vogue


Monday, January 26, 2015

Stop the Mommy Judging: The Sisterhood of Motherhood #SisterhoodUnite

This sponsored blog partner post brought to you by The Sisterhood of Motherhood. Today's post is a topic close to my heart. I've been thinking a lot about judging and feeling judged. Mommy Judging is everywhere: social media, TV, schools, and play groups. It can be overwhelming. I was over the moon when Similac contacted me about partnering with The Sisterhood of Motherhood, a new campaign for moms everywhere. Join me in watching this hilarious, honest, and encouraging video and we'll continue the conversation below!


"I can't believe they send their son to school there."

"You don't feed your baby organic, whole grain oats grown by nuns in the south of France and hand rowed across the Atlantic in a boat made from reclaimed barnwood?"

"Their daughter dresses like she went through the recycling bin at the thrift store."

"It must be nice to stay home and watch your DVR shows and drink Starbucks all day long."

"It must be nice to get out of the house and go to work and drink Starbucks and relax at a desk all day without a care in the world."

Moms, it's time to be real. Whether you have one child or nine, chances are you've sat on a park bench, roamed the aisles of Target, or been a part of a conversation when you feel judged by other moms for a parenting choice you've made. It could be anything from how you put your toddler to bed, to where you send your child to school, to what you feed your baby.

It hurts, it stings, it's deflating. And it can wash over you and cling if you let it.

If we're being honest with each other, I bet we'd put down our coffee cups for a second, look each other in the eye, and agree that we've probably done some Mommy Judging ourselves. We've turned and done the same thing to others that caused us so much pain.

If you watched the video, you saw that the moms (and dads) were so focused on criticism and one-upping each other that they missed the most important part of a morning at the park: a chance to bond with their children and a chance to connect with other parents.
Let's stop the Mommy Judging! Hilarious Video about The Sisterhood of Motherhood, at Serenity Now #SisterhoodUnite


It took the shock of an impending accident to shake those parents out of their respective bubbles and get them to see past their differences. When it comes down to it, we're all parents who love and cherish their little ones and want the best for them.

What if we took all that negative, frustrating, heavy, binding energy used to hurt and crush others and channeled it into something good, something kind, something encouraging? What if we spent that time focusing on our own loved ones instead of the perceived wrongdoings of other moms?

Yes, no matter what our beliefs, we are parents first.

The Sisterhood of Motherhood is all about a new mindset for moms and dads everywhere. Acceptance is the focus, not our differences. Isn't that refreshing?

CHALLENGE: This week, I challenge you to be on the lookout for a mom or dad who might parent differently than you do. Give them a smile (or a hug, if you know them), a Facebook shout-out, an email, text, or hand-written note, and tell them they're doing a good job!

Tune out the critics and celebrate The Sisterhood of Motherhood! #SisterhoodUnite

**You can follow along with Similac's new program on Facebook and YouTube.

What is one thing you've felt judged for as a mom or dad, and how has it affected you?

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments, Facebook shares, and Tweets!

Follow on Bloglovin


Disclosure: Similac partnered with bloggers such as me for its Sisterhood of Motherhood Program. As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. All opinions expressed are my own. Similac believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Similac’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Weekend Bloggy Reading :: Link Up!

Happy Friday, friends! Ready for some creative inspiration? Welcome to my Weekend Bloggy Reading link party. Fridays are fun because this is the day of the week where other bloggers stop by to link up their best post of the week here at Serenity Now, and readers get to browse tons of fun project ideas. If you're new here, don't forget to "Follow" or subscribe so you don't miss future parties and projects!

*Please be sure to read my guidelines before you add a link--I've had to bypass so many great projects lately because they didn't include a link back to my blog in the post!

This party is a great place to showcase your very best post of the week (home decor, crafts, party ideas, recipes, DIY, tips and tricks, etc.) and to see what else is out there.

Did you miss any of my posts this week? I'd love for you to click over:


Easy Ham & Potato Soup Recipe
Inspiring Project Ideas

*And don't forget that the first BOTB column will be up at Centsational Girl today! Be sure to visit to see what Kate and I have rounded up for the Best of the Blogosphere!

Time to link up your best post of the week!

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Inspiring Project Ideas {link party features}

I love it when features day rolls around because I always hope to show off a project or two you haven't seen around the blogosphere yet. I'm pleased to share some good creative features from the weekend link party with you today. The party opens up again tomorrow morning, so be ready to join the fun. If you're new to the blog, I take a couple of days each week to let other bloggers showcase their project ideas here, and I take a day to feature a few of my faves. We have crafts, home decor, DIY, recipes, party ideas, organizing, sewing, tips and tricks, seasonal projects, and more!

Here are some projects that caught my eye this week:

~Breakfast Room Before and After via Home to Cottage

~Toy Car Box to Sewing Notions Storage via The Silly Pearl

~Puff Pastry Breakfast Pizza via The Life Jolie

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Easy Ham and Potato Soup Recipe

Do you like to channel your inner Soup Nazi like I do? Every so often, I dig into my archives and update old blog recipes with new photos and wording. Today, I'm going to share a recipe for Easy Ham and Potato Soup...this is a super simple recipe that's great to throw together on a busy weeknight. Perfect for cold weather!


Easy Ham and Potato Soup 
adapted from allrecipes

Ingredients: 
3 cups peeled and cubed potatoes (I was in too much of a hurry to cube anything. I just chopped 'em up into bits)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used onion flakes)
1 cube chicken bullion
1 cup water
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
2 tsp. all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded American cheese
1 cup chopped ham

 Directions:
1. In a large stock pot, add potatoes, celery, onion, chicken bullion, water, and parsley flakes. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until vegetables become tender.

2. In a separate bowl, mix flour and milk. Once it is well blended, add to soup mixture and cook until soup becomes thick. (I added slightly more flour to make a thicker soup)

3. Stir in cheese, cooked ham, or hamburger, and simmer until cheese is melted. (I added the cheese to the individual servings because T is weird and hates cheese)

Note: You could totally skip the ham and this would still be yummy with the cheese! Also, I have found that it is way easier to just buy the small cans of Hormel ham from the grocery and chop it up. No one seems to notice the difference.


Is soup one of your comfort food meals for cold weather? What's your favorite kind?


If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments, Facebook shares, and Tweets!

Follow on Bloglovin

Monday, January 19, 2015

Well, that's one way to spend MLK Day

Michaela Byrd is in bed sick today. I'm really hoping it's not the flu, but will probably take her in to get tested this morning. I'm trying to look on the bright side...at least today is a school holiday and she's not missing classroom time. Right? Right.

Hope your day goes better than mine is starting out! 


If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments, Facebook shares, and Tweets!

Follow on Bloglovin

Friday, January 16, 2015

Weekend Bloggy Reading :: Link Up!

Happy weekend! Ready for some creative inspiration? Welcome to my Weekend Bloggy Reading link party. Fridays are fun because this is the day of the week where other bloggers stop by to link up their best post of the week here at Serenity Now, and readers get to browse tons of fun project ideas. If you're new here, don't forget to "Follow" or subscribe so you don't miss future parties and projects!

*Please be sure to read my guidelines before you add a link--I've had to bypass so many great projects lately because they didn't include a link back to my blog in the post!

This party is a great place to showcase your very best post of the week (home decor, crafts, party ideas, recipes, DIY, tips and tricks, etc.) and to see what else is out there.

Did you miss any of my posts this week? I'd love for you to click over:

Pancakes and Pajamas Theme Birthday Party (on a budget)
My Winter Book List for 2015
Inspiring Project Ideas

Time to link up your best post of the week!

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Inspiring Project Ideas {link party features}

I'm pleased to share some good creative features from the weekend link party with you today. The party opens up again tomorrow morning, so be ready to join the fun. If you're new to the blog, I take a couple of days each week to let other bloggers showcase their project ideas here, and I take a day to feature a few of my faves. We have crafts, home decor, DIY, recipes, party ideas, organizing, sewing, tips and tricks, seasonal projects, and more!

Here are some projects that caught my eye this week:

~Lemonade Stand Birthday Party via Te Amo Too

~Apple Shortcake with Honey, Cinnamon, and Lavender via Winnish

~5 Tips for a Winter Mantel via Reinvented

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Winter Reading List {2015}

One of the things I love to do on the blog is share my current reading lists. The weather has been frigid here in Virginia lately. Makes me want to curl up under a big blanket with the dogs and read all day...except I have, you know, three kids and laundry and meals to cook and I like to watch The Bachelor on Monday nights. So I save my reading for before bed, but I try to fit in some time when I can. Here's my Reading List for Winter 2015! 
Find a great list of books to read this winter--at Serenity Now!



Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace -Anne Lamott
This one is our January pick for book club this month. It must be pretty good because I've been on the library wait list since November!! 

From Amazon: "Our victories over hardship and pain may seem small, she writes, but they change us—our perceptions, our perspectives, and our lives. Lamott writes of forgiveness, restoration, and transformation, how we can turn toward love even in the most hopeless situations, how we find the joy in getting lost and our amazement in finally being found."

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons (Ballantine Reader's Circle)  -Lorna Landvik

Landvik's book is my pick for the February meeting of book club, and I'm really psyched to read it. It looks like a fun read...a nice mix of friendship, poignancy, and humor. Right up my alley!

From Amazon: "Sometimes life is like a bad waiter—it serves you exactly what you don’t want. The women of Freesia Court have come together at life’s table, fully convinced that there is nothing good coffee, delectable desserts, and a strong shoulder can’t fix. Laughter is the glue that holds them together—the foundation of a book group they call AWEB—Angry Wives Eating Bon Bons—an unofficial “club” that becomes much more. It becomes a lifeline."

The Apple Orchard (Bella Vista)  -Susan Wiggs

I finished this one and the sequel (listed below) in a few days. Compelling story that touches on the Danish Resistance Movement during World War II, it's set in modern-day California (Sonoma). I could picture everything...great descriptions. A fun read without being too syrupy sweet.

From Amazon: "#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs brings readers into the lush abundance of Sonoma County, in a story of sisters, friendship and the invisible bonds of history that are woven like a spell around us."

Monday, January 12, 2015

Pancakes and Pajamas Theme Birthday Party

I was scrolling through some of the photos from Natalie's December birthday yesterday and realized that I never shared last year's party with you all! So, forgive the major delay, but today I'm showing off some pics from her 8th birthday party. The theme was Pancakes and Pajamas and we hosted it in our home last December. This is how we threw a budget-friendly party at home for our eight year old:
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com

Including my own girls, this party maxed out at seven little girls. We live in a smaller, 1970s colonial, so allowing Natalie to invite every child from her class just wasn't going to work.

She invited five friends, and they each wore their favorite cozy pajamas! They had the most fun playing in our dress up trunk and putting on fashion shows.
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
(Invite from Party Invites and More --highly recommend!) 

How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com

Party Decorations and Food:
I bought some standard party decor from our local Hobby Lobby so that I could reuse them for future parties. Easy peasy!
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com

The cake was from the grocery store, and I didn't serve ice cream because of all the sugar from breakfast. Drinks were water, orange juice, or milk. We used my mother-in-law's mini mason jars for cups with cute purple and white chevron paper straws. Also served were fresh fruit, vanilla yogurt, and granola. Sides were dished out from a vintage tea cart I got from my Nannie's house a few years ago. We also had whipped cream, flavored pancake syrups, chocolate syrup, classic maple syrup...and frozen pancakes from the store.

Hear me out...I had a baby just a few days earlier. There was no way I was going to whip up dozens of pancakes for this party. I wisely purchased some frozen pancakes in bulk. My mother-in -law cooked them in her oven and brought them to the party for me, wrapped up on a platter. The girls never knew the difference!
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com


Favors:
Favors were the most adorable pajama cookies from a local baker. She was even kind enough to deliver them to my door when I told her I had a c-section and couldn't drive. If you're local, message or email me, and I can give you her information. Each girl also got to choose a nail polish to take home.
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com


Party Activities:
We opted to do a small craft as the girls arrived instead of games. I purchased inexpensive white pillowcases from WalMart and the girls used Elmers Paint Pens to decorate their pillowcases however they wanted. That kept them busy for some time...it was wonderful! After Natalie opened her gifts, the girls had fun with her spa set and painted each other's nails until it was time to go home.
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com
How to throw a Budget-Friendly pajamas and panacakes party at home! All the details at serenitynowblog.com


Side note: I was inspired by similarly themed parties from Tatertots and Jello and Hi Sugarplum. Thank goodness I did some early shopping and prepping, because I ended up giving birth to baby #3 via c-section just a few days before the party. And, to complicate matters, the whole fam rushed the baby to the E.R. in the wee hours the morning of the party (which kicked off the whole dairy-free-milk-protein-sensitivity drama).

We returned home just in time for me to pump, feed the baby, haphazardly apply some make-up, and complete the party food prep! So while the girls loved the party and had a blast, it was clearly not a fantabulous, Pinterest-worthy, jaw-dropping, styled party. But that's not why I threw it; so I'm okay with that!

For other party ideas I've shared:

What's the most fun party theme you've ever planned?

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments, Facebook shares, and Tweets!

Follow on Bloglovin
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