Happy Weekend: Links to Love

Jessica's Links to Love:

Earlier this week we decided to take a spur of the moment weekend trip to NYC! We lived there for 3 months when Bryce was training for his first job, and we love it there. Plus my brother and sister in law live there and we love getting to see them since it's not nearly as frequent as we'd like. The little ones are living it up at their grandparents houses and we miss them a ton but they don't miss us at all!

If you have upcoming vacations (or just want to take one but don't have anything in the works yet) make sure you check our post: How to Vacation on a Budget.

I don't know if it is spring fever or what but lately I want to change/redecorate/reorganize every single space in my house. I am trying to keep a handle on things but I really want to try my hand at making this chandelier. I just can't decide what room needs it...

As part of my spring cleaning fever I have been tossing around the idea of making our guest room a playroom/guest room. It seems silly to have a room dedicated to guests when they are only here a few weeks out of the year if that. However, I know a playroom would drive me nuts-o if it was just a big giant mess of crap. So I thought this post was good inspiration. 

Sarah's Links to Love:

Oh hey guys! I'm kind of moving still but also kind of ignoring some of the unpacking that isn't necessary.. I'm feeling a lot more settled and it's been a calm, stress-free week. That's the way I like it. I've been spending a lot of time at the local YMCA's - they offer some seriously fun classes! A lot more options than my rec center in Utah had. It's fun and it feels great to be more active! This weekend I'm going to be touring some museums and maybe trying some crawfish? Apparently it's mudbug season here and that's a big deal. I hope y'all are up to something fun too!

These party mini buttons are so freaking awesome. They have funny things written below each person's name (not necessarily true) which would for sure get the conversations rolling. Totally doing this at my next gathering.

I reeeeally want a hexagon wall now.

Also I am looking for a new purse and this one is on sale for about $25 at Target. I bet I could use a coupon and get it for even less. The crossbody style is my FAVE especially for the days I'm exploring a lot. Handbags just don't cut it sometimes, am I right?

Happiest weekend guys!

Cookie Butter Donuts | How to Make Donuts without a Donut Pan

My new obsession has three names: Cookie butter, Speculoos and Biscoff Spread. Three names seems like a lot but it's all the same delicous thing so who cares. Have you tried it? Yesterday I decided I wanted to try baking with it instead of just eating it by the spoonful like I have been, and baked donuts sounded so good. I started to gather my ingredients when I realized I would need a donut pan. I considered running to the store before realizing that there must be a better way. So I improvised with a little tin foil! Below I'm going to show you how to bake donuts without a donut pan and share the recipe for cookie butter donuts with chocolate glaze. One word: YUM.

Everybody Needs a Rock + Kids Don't Need a Million Toys

The other day my friend Pam sent me a link to this post. I had never read Ruth's blog before, but I was really impressed by her. In this little blogosphere it is really hard sometimes to put yourself out there and talk about your family and talk about things that are close to your heart. People can be so mean and argumentative when hidden behind a screen of anonymity thousands of miles away.

When reflecting on my life I can relate with the feeling of wanting to give my children everything. I want them to be happy, I want to see their faces light up, and lets be honest, sometimes I just want them to be entertained for five minutes so I can go to the bathroom in peace! Even though my Luke bug is not even two we have somehow accumulated tons of toys and crap for him already! I am always hoping we will find his new favorite thing that he will be so excited about and play with for hours. But guess what his favorite things are? 

Playing outside.

Blowing bubbles. 

Going to the park. 

Dancing. 

Reading books. 

When I become the tickle monster. 

...and he could honestly do any one of those things for hours. I am realizing that it really is parents who teach kids to be consumer driven. I love how Lukey finds such joy in the simple things, and I'm going to make a renewed effort to share in that joy with him. 

Thinking about all these things reminded me of one of my favorite books. It is a book that my Grandma Bickmore always read to me when I was a little girl, and now she reads it to Luke every time we visit. The book is Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor. It is the sweetest book ever. The illustrations are beautiful (by Peter Parnall), and to me it totally captures that childhood innocence.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book:

Are you earning cash back with Ebates yet?

Do any of you use Ebates? If not, you're going to love it! Ebates is a rebate program where you sign up for the program and then you go through them to your favorite online stores and earn a percentage of cash back on each purchase! It's super great. I have been a member for a while now but I don't do a ton of shopping online with the exception of Amazon.com. BUT I can get 3% cash back on all the stuff I'm already saving on with Amazon by going through them. Awesome. And on the rare occasion that I purchase something from another online store I always go to Ebates first. Right now, they are celebrating their birthday so a lot of stores like GAP, Old Navy, Macy's, etc. are 14% cash back! That's like getting 14% off at checkout, only you get it in the form of a check later. This on top of buying something on sale or with a coupon? Totally. Awesome. We budget conscious ladies can find some nice things guilt free! So if you're interested, sign up here! I mean... if you are going to buy something online, why not get a few bucks back later?!

+This post contains our affiliate links.