Happy weekend friends!  I’m so behind on things I want to share with you all!  Projects and pictures are piling up with little time to post about them.  May has officially arrived!  Hold on tight moms. :)  I have so many recent favorite things from the past couple of months and am trying to play catch up so this post has A LOT of pictures.  Grab a snack and I’ll try to keep the chatting to a minimum!  (I’ll have to try hard.) ;)

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Three books I can’t wait to dive into this summer!  Complete Book of Clean by Toni who blogs at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Simple Decorating by Melissa Michaels who blogs at The Inspired Room, and Simply Clean by Becky who blogs at Clean Mama.  Love the subjects, love the authors!  I have flipped through each of these books and have no doubt they will all be favorites!  I always read the most over the summer.  It’s really the only time of year that I can fit in a good book.  I love to sit outside and watch my kids play or swim while I read.  Give me some sunshine and a good book on cleaning, organizing, decorating or time management and I’m a happy girl. :)

Not long ago in this post I shared some purses I’m loving and talked about how I’m living it up with small purses after being chained to large bags for so long filled with fishy crackers, sippy cups and books like The Wheels on the Bus. ;)

But smaller purses obviously come with less space so I decided to pick up a small wallet for nights out when I’m using one and just need a few credit cards, some cash and my drivers license.  I’ve been using this small Kate Spade wallet for a few months now and I’m sold!  LOVE not carrying around a bulky wallet everyday.

I especially love this wallet because it has a place for my driver’s license on the back so it’s easy to whip out when I’m traveling.  Plus hello.  Mint with stripes?  #perfection

Plenty of room for the essentials inside.  A new favorite for sure!

So in love with these marble/wood hexagon coasters!  $18 for a set of four and they are beautiful!  Pretty and practical.

We always have drinks in this room so I love having a place for everyone to set them without getting my wood table wet!  I have to mention these hydrangeas.  Always a favorite, but this particular arrangement from Costco is 3 weeks old!  I’m not kidding!  And I think they still have another week left.  Longest I’ve ever kept flowers alive.  I did put two flower food packs in the water instead of one so I’m wondering if that did the trick.. or if these flowers are just magic.. or if overnight I’ve turned into a flower whisperer without even knowing it.  My bet is the latter.  ;)

A little decorating tip.. faux flowers/plants always look real when you also add real flowers/plants in the room.  My favorite faux fig looks even more real now that I added a real plant on the end table in front of it.  Made me fall in love with it all over again. :)

{Medium bread board/Small bread board/Round bread board (not pictured but you’ll see it in my kitchen soon :)/Marble and Wood board/RUG}

New cutting boards for the win!  Can’t wait to style these in my kitchen!  Plus they will be perfect for summer entertaining.  I ordered them on-line from McGee and Co.  Have you guys checked out this on-line store yet?  Oh my word.  DON’T.  Well do, but proceed with caution.  Ha!  So many beautiful things for your home!  A little pricey on some items, but very nice quality.  I seriously love and want everything they sell for the kitchen.  This vintage dough bowl is on my wish list!  So cute full of lemons. :)

A sweet reader who owns the company Olive and Linen recently sent me the most gorgeous Turkish towels!  Talk about happy mail!  Olive and Linen sells Turkish towels, throws and blankets and all of their products are handwoven on traditional looms in Denizli, Turkey.  You can read more about the company and their products here.

They come in so many fun colors.  Aren’t the coral hand towels beautiful!?  Perfect for my kitchen.

She also sent these larger lightweight towels and I can’t wait to take them to the beach this summer!  The company owner who reads my blog and reached out to me is such a sweetheart you guys.  I instantly loved her. :)  She is offering all of my readers a discount if you want to order something!  When you check out type “sunnysideup30” for 30 percent off of your entire purchase (including free shipping)!  Thank you Olive and Linen!

So a few weeks ago I shared my new favorite earrings but forgot to post this picture that also included my favorite perfume.  I have to admit that I wasn’t a huge perfume girl until my husband gave me Flowerbomb for a gift because he loved the smell so much and now I’m hooked!  Apparently everyone else is too if you read the reviews!  So heavenly.  A favorite for both of us.  I love putting it on and then enjoying the smell that lingers in my bathroom. :)

I wear a lot of black so I’ve loved having my fun turquoise earrings to add a pop of color to my outfit.

I was bummed they didn’t come in coral (love coral with black!) so I searched on-line and found and ordered these Baublebar earrings and can’t wait to get them!  SO cute.  Baublebar has a little discount code that pops up when you first visit their site so I used that and got a discount.   All of their earrings are so much fun.

Aren’t these lacquer box sets fun decor!?  You’ll be seeing the light turquoise set pop up in my house soon. :)  These are from Frog Hill Designs and they are 72% off right now!  No I’m not kidding!  Head to their site here and enter the code TODAY (these cute boxes were recently featured on the Today Show) to snag some while they are on sale.  They come in so many fun colors!  Love them.

I’ve had this fun Colorblock faux leather tote for a while now and love it!  Clearly I can’t completely ban my large fishy cracker carrying bags.  Old habits die hard. ;)  It’s such a great catch all bag and I’ve been rotating between this and my Tory Burch bag depending on whether I’m wearing brown or gray.

It looks a lot more expensive than it is.  Beautiful quality and I love the colors.  It looks good with anything I wear!

It also came with this fun wallet inside.

I had a school meeting last week and wore it with this Ruffle Sleeve top that is seriously the SOFTEST shirt I own.  I love this whole outfit!  (And my espadrille sandals are on sale right now!)

This black Scallop Faux Leather Tote is also darling and a great price.  I gave it to a friend for her birthday a few weeks ago and she loved it!  SO cute and comes in lots of colors.

Scallops are so in right now!  I ordered this fun J Crew Scalloped Romper for a swim suit cover up months ago and totally forgot about it because it was backordered.   It sold out SO fast you guys and just came back in stock!

This is the other romper I ordered that I shared a couple of weeks ago.  I got both so that I could try them on and pick one.  Keeping them both!  I know I’ll live in them this summer.  So cute with my swimsuit and Tory flip flops!

This scallop romper runs a little big.  I just ordered another one size down so I can see if it fits better because this one is a bit baggy at the top so you might want to size down or order two sizes to try.  Summer can’t get here fast enough! :)

Aside from bags and scallops I’ve also had a recent obsession with ruffle sleeves!  There are just so many cute ruffle sleeve tops out for Spring!  I love how feminine they are.   This blue ruffle sleeve top is a recent favorite!

K you guys.. I promise I wasn’t trying to stick my chest out in this picture!  Ha!  I just wanted to show you my favorite thing about this shirt!  Sometimes ruffle sleeve tops are cut so low under the arms I feel like I need to wear a tank with them.  I LOVE how this shirt comes right up under the arm.  Clearly I couldn’t figure out how to show you that without looking like I’m about to bock like a chicken.  This selfie business is harder than it looks. ;)

Isn’t it pretty!?  Also comes in orange and white.

Also love this Eyelet Collared sweater top.  The navy collar had me at hello. :)  Cute and comfy for everyday running around.  You might remember my sandals from last summer.  I hope they bring them back this year because I’d order them in another color.  Love them!  Also.. you guys.. in January I found some AMAZING jeans and I keep forgetting to tell you all about them!  I’m wearing them in this picture and like AG, they are now a favorite brand.  

They are DL – the Margaux Instasculpt Ankle Skinny Jeans.  I went into Nordstrom with Christmas gift cards and asked a girl working there to bring me her favorite jeans for minimizing thighs and booty and she was so funny!  She said “GIRL!  Have I got the jeans for you!”  She brought me a pair of these jeans to try on and I about died.  SO slimming!  They do just what they say.. Instasculpt!  :)  Plus they are such a comfortable fit.  Thought I’d share for anyone else who could use a little sculpting too. ;)  You can see they are supposed to hit at the ankle.  On me they are full length but I think they work either way!

(Eyelet collar top/DL jeans/purse/bracelet}

Another favorite ruffle sleeve top!  Clearly I’m a fan of the ruffle sleeve. :)  This one is dark navy and silky and just SO beautiful.

It’s the Flutter-Sleeve button shirt from BR and would also look so pretty dressed up with a skirt or with white pants.

I wore this Striped Knit dress last week to church.  Bad lighting in this pic and I snapped it so fast but I’ve had this dress for over a year and still love it so I wanted to include it in my favorites round up!  Cute for summer and SO comfy.  It runs large so order one size down.  I’m wearing the navy but it also comes in black.

I ordered this cute casual maxi dress to try.  Perfect for summer and it comes in other colors and in stripes.  It was backordered so I’ll have to be patient. :)  Sizes are going fast!

And a recent favorite dress that I’m seriously so smitten with!  There have been so many events I’ve had to go to with my husband for his work lately.  Kenny is always telling me to stop buying pajamas and to buy more dresses.. ha!  This might not be as dressy as he’d like, but it’s just ME.  This is the Maya Belted Shirtdress and my pictures don’t do it justice!

SO cute you guys.  It comes up higher on the sides, has a huge band around the upper waist (so slimming) and ties in the front.  I bought a similar black shirt dress after Ellie was born and 13 years later I still wear it!  A dress like this never goes out of style.  Plus it’s so perfect for events you need to dress up for but you don’t want to be too dressy.  I feel like I need a lot of clothes that fall into that category!  It runs large (this is a 0) so definitely order one size down.  I need to look for some other shoe options because I’ve about worn these coral shoes out!

It also has pockets. :)  This cost a bit more than I usually spend on a dress, but the material is so nice and I know I’ll wear it for years and get my money out of it and then some.  Plus this time I had Kenny’s permission. ;)  I ordered a few more dressier dresses for times I really need to step it up so I’ll share what I love when they come in!  And if I don’t love any of them I’ll just return them and go for some new pj bottoms instead. ;)

I have to show you all something funny.  Remember our pink flamingo that we pretty much lived with last summer?  My kids affectionally named her Pinky.

They loved this floatie and played with it all summer long.  Last weekend we went swimming and the kids wanted me to blow her up (she had deflated quite a bit) so I did and we realized she has a hole.  My kids were so bummed (especially Addison – she about started to cry!) so I promised them all I’d order another one.

The next day I walk into this scene in Addison’s room…

I seriously laughed out loud!  The flamingo has clearly found a new home.  With her own blanket and pillow…

and a plate of food in case she needs a snack.  Because sometimes a hot dog, egg, bacon and orange juice just hits the spot.

These three!

Life sure would be dull without them.  And Pinky would be in our trash can instead of being pampered with blankets and food.  Lucky flamingo.

Lucky me.

:)

Most of my favorites from this post are below!  Enjoy your weekend everyone!