meet lucy.

I'm so excited to be a guest post on the wonderful and amazing The Little Lovebirds blog. It is one of my favorite blogs that I look forward to reading.

My name is Lucy and my blog is called Find Your Sparkle. Why "Find Your Sparkle"? I'm glad you asked. My life is pretty hectic. Between being a wife, step mom, a foster mom and a part time career woman it's very rare that I get to do something just for me. That's how the idea of starting my blog came about. I wanted to do something fun yet inspiring.

I believe in Finding Your Sparkle in your everyday life, being healthy, being creative, in being a step and foster mom, love of books and art, respecting and loving God's creations, following God...

I hope to encourage, inspire and make a difference in others on this journey we call life.

Sweet Girl (my foster daughter) and I created this super easy, yet unique memory board. 
The materials you will need are:

A canvas board, pretty paper, pretty buttons, ribbon, hot glue, needle and thread...

Some people choose to paint their canvas board, we decided to leave ours white. The first thing we did was to hot glue our pretty paper unto the left side of the board.

The second thing you want to do is set the ribbon pattern the way you like it, then gather some pretty buttons and sow them unto the canvas board making sure that the ribbon is being held tightly in place.

After sewing the buttons and hot gluing the paper. 
We added some pretty sticker and flower embellishments.

Once your memory board is finished to your liking all you have to do is add some of your favorite photos.

Below is what it looks like hanging against the wall. 
Sweet Girl and I had fun doing this easy and fun project.

Finally you simply hang it in a favorite area of your room or house to display those beautiful cards.

For other fun DIY ideas or to simply be inspired be sure to give me a visit.

Hope you have a FANTASTIC day!

meet mindy.

Hello! My name is Mindy and I blog over at Best.day.ever!

I love to run, eat waaay more than I should {especially treats!} and am the.sass.master.

My blog is about the best days, the worst days and every day in between {sprinkled with as much PINK as possible!}. Oh! And I like to give out gold stars.

I am super excited to be able to hold down fort {at least for a day} while the Lovebirds are in It-lay*! Elease is just so stinkin' adorable and so is her blog! I love how she loves - her lovebird - dancing - and finding joy in her journey, regardless of what life throws at her!

I am also  uber-stressed about holding down fort on such an adorable blog ... because I am not your average blogger.

Sure. I have posted to die for recipes.

And about fashion and style. 

And my most recent DIY {which was done in high school - think a decade ago}.

I even write some "How to's".

Buuut, on the flip side, I sometimes feel like to be a legit blogger I have to have at least a lovebird, if not a baby chick or two to add to the mix. 

And when it comes to all that, I got nada!

Which sometimes leaves me surprised shocked that I have anything to blog about at all!  

But, somehow I do. :) Because while I have no lovebird or baby chicks, I have A LOT of things I find perfectly lovely.

And I figured I would share one of my loves with you today!

In honor of the Lovebirds' summer vacay, I will share one of my mild obsessions: SWIMSUITS.

{coughcough.I.may.own.11.coughcough}

I am lovin' not only what Target has this season, but the prices they have also!

Plus! You can mix n' match! Make two swimsuits into four! {I am kinda on a nautical and primary colors kick, but they have so many more colors! AND, all of these tops come with a strap that can be added or removed easily for those who do not want the tube-top feel.}

I will be the first to admit, at 5'11", I am likely to throw out the idea of a one-piece without a second thought, but these are super cute too!

And as much as I love Target {and I do!}, there is a swimsuit store I love even more!

Lime Ricki has some super cute suits!

I pretty much want to purchase all of them! They might be a tad bit "pricey", but they last, like, forever. :)

So, while I may not be spending my summer with my lovebird, I will be spending it with some of these lovelies while boating, tubing, hot tubbin', swimmin' and at the lake.  That makes me feel a little bit better about not currently being in Italy. :)

Happy summer, everyone!

* Name that movie!

meet kirsten.

 hi guys, i'm kirsten from K & R . this is a little blog that i started after we got married. we are in utah now finishing up school and just enjoying being married. on our blog we cover anything and everything. you name it we'll do it if we haven't already done it. we'd love to have you stop by. anyways, i'm so excited to be here with the little lovebirds, they are the cutest. i love this blog so much, she is just so adorable and really quite hilarious. i wish we lived closer to each other because i feel like we could totally be friends, but until then i will just have to deal with reading her fabulous and adorable blog. 

 warm weather, sunshine, relaxation, what's not to love about the summer? i was born and raised a las vegas girl so there's nothing like the summer heat for me. for summer there are definitely some musthaves. so i thought i would put together a little summer musthave/do list. 

#1 summer musthave wardrobe include, but obviously aren't limited to: maxi skirts, colored pants, sandals, blouses, a chambray shirt and lots and lots of dresses.

#2 summer musthave hair: braids, braids, braids, and waves.

#3 summer mustdo's: go to the beach (i've still yet to do this one), eat ice cream everyday, get a tan (obviously haven't done this one yet), shopping of course, go to a wedding, duh and go on a bike ride.

#4 summer musthave: sunscreen (ok guy's i know i sound boring or like a mom, but i'm a health major and sunscreen is so important, i just don't want anyone to get melanoma, ok)

#5 summer musthave is a summer love: now this doesn't necessarily have to be a person, it could be a puppy, a love affair with the beach, but there's got to be some summer love. i know i will be spending  my summer with my summer love (or forever lover) my cute little hubby :)

these are just a few of my summer musthaves. what are you summer musthaves? come and stop by and stay for awhile or the whole summer :)

-K-

thanks for having me little lovebirds, we love you and hope you are having a fantastic vacation! 

meet tiffany.

Hi there. I'm Tiffany, husband is Dan and lab is Sherman. I blog over at The Coffeehouse; a blog that has absolutely nothing to do with coffee. Instead, I blog a little bit about everything, including a little DIY from time to time.

But, I have to be completely honest with you, the DIY is all husband.

Sometimes I am called in to go get the drill or search for a dropped screw that landed in an impossible-to-find place. And at this point husband gives me the nickname "gopher".

However, the majority of the time you'll find me standing in the corner ...attempting to take pictures and daydreaming about future blog posts.

What can I say, it's a gift.

So, when the lovely little lovebird (try saying that 25 times really fast ... it's fun, I tried it) said that she was jumping on a plane for vacation, I jumped as well ... at the opportunity to say hello to all of you. And then I got nervous. You see, I started following the little lovebirds when I first started blogging. She's amazing. They're amazing. Truly. But you all knew that already.

So, nervous or not, I decided to share with you a little summer DIY project that we husband recently took on.

A barnwood potting table.

A "pinterest-inspired" barnwood potting table, that is.
I absolutely adore this rustic table that now takes up half of our patio.
Truly. It's huge. And awesome.
Not to mention, our table is so much better than the one on pinterest.

Because our table has a bottle opener.

Husband would put a bottle opener on our dog if he could.

After the table was finished, husband and I had a little argument discussion about what should go on the table.
Husband said tools; I said food.

Thank goodness my sister-in-law is a horticulturalist.

Yes, I married a handy-man and gained a sister who is a horticulturalist.

I did plan this. Very, very carefully.

Well, there you have it.
Our little summer DIY project.

So, come on over to The Coffeehouse and see what else the Joneses are working on. And you can be the new "gopher". I'm getting a little tired of it, to be completely honest with you.

See you soon!

Tiff

meet jessica.

Hey! I'm Jes from IDK My BFF Jes. My blog is about my adventures and miss adventures at life, love, fitness, and everything in between. I love being in the kitchen, running, working out, pole dancing (new hobby...for sport, not $$), love, and I would love to be your new BFF!

Hey!

I am so honored that the little lovebirds let me into their blog nest for one day! The Little Lovebirds is one of my favorite blogs because it's dripping with love and positivity. Who doesn't love that? And how precious are Elease & Joel? Presh.to.death! I find their love inspiring and something that I def hope to have again one day.

Now let's get to it!

When my love bird flew the coop a while back, I'm not going to lie, I was in panic mode:

• What, the EFFFF?
• Now what?
• Am I ever going to get married? No really, am I?

I don't have answers to those questions because I realized that I just can't be bothered with them. So I decided to be my own love bird until my counterpart comes along.

I know, I sound cray, but stick with me on this.

Things are different when you are a lonesome dove: You don't have someone to cuddle with, no more automatic date nights, and you don't get as many gifts.

Well, I think that is just redic. Just because I don't have a loverboy doesn't mean that I have to miss out on all the dating fun. So what am I gonna do about it? Date myself, duh. (minus the spooning). There are many positive aspects to being single and your own date!

I take myself on movie dates all the time, and I love it! I always get to go when I want and see what I want too! No more feeling guilty for convincing someone to accompany me to the latest chick flick, or having to take one for the team and going to a movie that I think looks super lame (Semi-Pro anyone?).

Studio Movie Grill is the only way to go!

I don't really take myself on dinner dates (except Freebirds), but I do get meals from my fave restaurants to-go. My fave weekend date night involves picking up some RA Sushi and renting a movie. It's so nice to get to eat what I want all the time! Long gone are the dates of compromising and going to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game! Oh, and fro-yo. I almost always get dessert on my dates. I can eat all I want without getting that "Did you seriously just go half fro-yo and half candy bar...for 15oz?" Because yes, yes I did.

I always got so much satisfaction cooking for boyfriend, but the cooking has fallen off a little bit. I have really made a point to cook something new every weekend, because you know what? I deserve a meal made with blood, sweat, and tears...sometimes literally. Plus it keeps me on my a-game for when I do have a new lovebird.

Another great thing? I have tons of time to workout. I have always loved working out, but I found that I loved spending time with boyfriend even more (he often worked over time, so I would skip on the days that he would actually be home). But now? I don't have to cater my schedule to anyone but me.

Body Pump, running, and cardio are my fave!

Oh, and about the gifts. I buy myself gifts regularly. I celebrate all kinds of ridiculous things: nonaversaries, breakupiversary, blogiversaries, roommateiversaries, and workaversaries. Basically, if you can add "iversary" onto it, then I'll celebrate it! Another fun thing? When I do online shopping I always opt for the gift message. I love getting the little note that always something sweet and ends with "xoxo, Jes."

I got this for my breakupiversary

The moral of the story: Enjoy the you time while you can. Yeah, some days being a single girl sucks, but make the best of it! Someday you will have a lovebird again, and eventually baby birds, and then you'll miss the self bonding time you once had.

Do you date yourself?

What's your favorite self date activity?

meet andrea.

Hi, lovely little lovebird lovers

(well, helloooo alliteration)!

I'm Andrea, from Left brain, right brain, pug brain,

where I blog about my life as an aspiring author, wife to a nerdy engineer 

and dog-mom to an adorable puggle.

I started blogging when my husband and I moved from Missouri to California,

and one of the very first blogs I fell in love with was "The Little Lovebirds", 

and I keep coming back because who doesn't want to read about the fabulous

adventures of an adorable ballerina and her handsome husband

(seriously, you guys should be models).

And I can't wait to come back and see amazing photos from the lovebirds' trip to Italy.

But, in the meantime, let me tell you about my favorite vacation of all time...
our honeymoon.
Ryan and I got married August 7, 2010. We were both in college in Missouri.
And we both had enormous dreams of one day moving to Los Angeles.
So, where did we go on our honeymoon?
Los Angeles, California.
It was the first time either of us had been to the Golden State,
and the moment we arrived we were in for a sweet vacation full of surprises.
First surprise? On the shuttle from the airport to our rental car facility,
we met a vacationing family who were PUMPED to find out that we were on our honeymoon.
Seriously pumped.
Excited enough that they convinced the car rental company to
upgrade us to a convertible!
And then, excited enough that they insisted on taking a picture of us in the car. Those are
their kids in the background. Funny, right?

Second surprise? When we arrived at our hotel, they told us we had a package waiting for us.
Two of our awesome friends just happened to be on vacation in LA the week before us,
and they found our hotel and left us a package with drinks for the evening.

Surprise number three? We went to The Laugh Factory for a comedy performance
one night, and guess who just happened to be the special guest that night?
Dane Cook. My secret lover.
AND, we got a picture with him after the show.

Between the surprises, we explored some of the amazing city
and took a few trips to the beach (Ryan's first time seeing the ocean!)
and it sealed the deal that we absolutely wanted to move to Los Angeles.

And then, we went back to Missouri.

And we finished college.
And I don't think anyone really believed we would move to California.
But last fall, after months of interviewing (and waiting, waiting, waiting)
Ryan was offered a job in Los Angeles, beginning in January!
And so we moved. And we love it.
Someday, we'd love to visit Europe and Mexico and one thousand other wonderful places.
But our vacation to Los Angeles will forever be one of my favorites because
it was our first trip together to the place we're now lucky enough to call home.

meet sienna.

Hi loves. I'm Sienna from Peace, Love, Wander, my personal diary of wanderlust. I'm a graduate student at NYU and my biggest passion in life is traveling, which is one of the reasons I'm so excited to keep reading The Little Lovebirds--their big trip to Italy! The posts are going to be incredible when they return, so stay tuned, but in the meantime, I'll tell you a little about my favorite summer destination.

My family vacations in the south of France every year--we've been up and down the Riviera, and into the countryside as well. My favorite place, without question, is the Cap d'Antibes--and more specifically, the Hotel du Cap Eden Roc. 

I've had a fascination with this hotel after spending 6 months doing a research project on F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is The Night, where he so elegantly features the famed hotel. Staying there is truly a fairytale come to life--whether it's breakfast on the terrace, the pristine grounds, a perfect salad Nicoise, the infinity edge swimming pool, or sweeping views of the riviera from every direction--Antibes is truly a dream come to life.

Thanks for having me--enjoy Italy!!!

meet alli.

Howdy Little Lovebird readers!  Oh I'm so happy to be here today.  A little jealous that the lovebirds are in Italy, but still honored to be here hanging out on their darn adorable blog.  I'm Alli and I blog over at Life on LeRoy.  I blog about life, family, love, toddler-hood, recipes, DIY's, fashion, just about anything and everything.  Stop by and say hi sometime, I would love to meet you!

__________________________________________________________

My husband and I are huge outdoors people.  When it came time to begin planning our honeymoon (almost 4 years ago now) we knew we didn't want to go sit on a beach somewhere.  We wanted to hike, fish and explore the countryside.  We initially planned on not having a plan and just driving out West and seeing where the road takes us.  Then I got scared and decided lets at least have a plan on where we would lay our heads at night.  We found a beautiful cabin on the Yellowstone River in Montana and it was basically a match made in heaven.  It was prefect for us and we knew it right away.

We spent our honeymoon hiking in the Bear Tooth Mountains, fly fishing on the Yellowstone River, exploring nearby towns, making amazing food, enjoying drinks every night by the river, and taking an amazing amount of pictures ;)

Have I convinced you to check out Montana yet?  It's seriously breathtaking you guys!

We cannot wait to go back and have even talked about moving their someday.

It was my first experience seeing mountains and I fell in love.

A view I will never forget

Isn't this cabin amazing?!

It seems so out of place being in the middle of no where along the Yellowstone River in MT.

The inside was pretty much to die for too!

Our view from our cabin

I had to include this picture, it cracks me up.  We drove out to MT and the drive was 14 hours from where we live in Wisconsin.  On our way out we stayed in a hotel one night, but on our way home we drove right through.  In order to keep myself occupied as the passenger I played a lot of loud music and rocked out!  Seriously rocked out!

____________________________________________________________

Thanks so much Elease for allowing me to take over your blog for the day.  I truly enjoyed reliving our honeymoon again.  Montana has truly left a soft spot in my heart and it's my dream vacation destination. 

If you ever get a chance to visit MT, I highly recommend it.