Decor – Hoots of a Night Al

Christmas Gift Idea: Fully Customizable PurpleTrail Planners

November 9, 2018 No Comments

This post was sponsored by PurpleTrail, and I am thrilled to share their amazing products with you!

Christmas is just over a month away, and do you know what comes a week after Christmas? A NEW YEAR! That means new goals, new routines, and new dreams, and you know what goes perfectly with those? A new planner! A customized planner would make the perfect gift for anyone this Christmas, and PurpleTrail recently reached out to me to tell me all about their amazing planner selection!

First of all, PurpleTrail planners are TOTALLY customizable. I don’t mean that in the way other brands do like you can add your name or pick between three preselected colors. I mean it in the TOTALLY customizable sense. Initially, you can select between their coil bound planners or their gorgeous, new library-quality, lay-flat sewn planners! I personally haven’t seen any other customizable hardback planners like these, and I think they add such a beautiful, professional touch.

In addition to various styles of planners, they also offer various layouts. For example, if you’re a big picture kind of planner, opt for the monthly planner style (hello, wedding planner!). If you like to list out every detail, maybe the daily planner is better for you. Somewhere in between? Go for the weekly planner! If you want to get even more specific, Purple Trail also offers specialty layouts. These are great if you’re gifting a planner to someone because you can shop by categories including: Mom/Parent Planners, Teacher Planners, Student Planners, Meal Planning, and more! They have truly put thought into each planner style to ensure the user gets the most value out of it.

Once you have decided on the perfect planner style and layout, the fun part begins…choosing the cover! PurpleTrail offers a plethora of gorgeous options from simple and chic to fun and artistic. However, if you don’t see anything that suits your vibe, you can totally customize your own cover! They have easy-to-use templates, where you can select everything from colors to fonts and even add your own photos. I love how much you can edit and personalize their templates to really capture your own style. If you get a coil bound planner you can even select between a hard book cover, laminated cover or sturdy synthetic cover. Each variety adds a different look to your planner.

Does this all sound so awesome that you can’t even wait until January to start using one? No worries! You can order it right now and have it start in December! The great thing about PurpleTrail planners is that you can select any month for the start! I’m totally eyeing the planner below, and I can’t wait to customize it, so I can organize and plan my entire life! How beautiful is that pink ombre?

If you’re worried a planner is something too personal to order for someone, PurpleTrail also offers gorgeous journals, fun notebooks, beautiful stationary sets, and much, much more! Take a look around their site, and comment below telling me what you plan to purchase!

Happy shopping!

Decor

Practice Self-care with a Lone Star Living Flower Delivery!

August 21, 2018 No Comments

This post was sponsored by Lone Star Living, and I am thrilled to share their summertime fresh flowers with you!

Did you know that August 27th is National Just Because Day? I’m a huge fan of doing things that bring you joy EVERY day, so I will be celebrating for sure! One of my favorite ways to treat myself is by picking up fresh flowers on my weekly grocery trip. They’re a beautiful, inexpensive way to brighten up my home, and since the H-E-B Blooms department is RIGHT when I walk in the store, I can never resist. 🙂

If I’m being honest though, I would rather curl up on the couch, read a book, and have my groceries and fresh flowers magically show up at my door thanks to an H-E-B Delivery. If only, right? GUESS WHAT? IT’S POSSIBLE. With H-E-B’s Curbside Service, you can order everything online, and they will deliver it to your home…INCLUDING beautiful flowers from Lone Star Living! A flower delivery feels like a luxurious treat to me, so I love that it can be part of my weekly routine now instead of just for special occasions.

If I can spend the few hours I would usually spend grocery shopping enjoying a book, I am a happy girl. At the moment, I can’t put down this series, and the August Bouquet from Lone Star Living is the perfect arrangement to admire while I’m reading. It is full of fun blooms like colorful lilies, yellow daisies, vibrant alstroemeria, and bright roses. This Lone Star Living Bouquet feels like the perfect combination of flowers to wave goodbye to summer. Plus, everyone knows what the end of summer means…the start of school, routines, and a deluge of holidays around the corner. Since I know the stress that lies ahead, I’m savoring these last summer days and taking time to indulge in some self-care.

I know self-care is a popular buzzword right now, and I think that’s because it’s extremely important but often neglected. Personally, I can feel myself relaxing as soon as I put down my phone, close my computer, and pick up a book. Everyone is different, but whether it’s exercising, taking a bubble bath, gardening, reading (like me!:)), or something else, you should always make time for activities you enjoy. Whatever you prefer though, I think everyone loves having fresh flowers (especially when someone brings them right to your door!). So make some time for yourself this month…even if it’s just taking time to stop and smell the Lone Star Living flowers. 😉

Leave me a comment letting me know your favorite self-care activity below!

Decor, DIY

Share the Joy of Summer with Lone Star Living Bouquets

July 22, 2018 5 Comments

This post was sponsored by Lone Star Living, and I am thrilled to share their summertime fresh flowers with you!

Summer holds so many celebrations for my family. My dad, mom, sister, and nephew all have summer birthdays, we have an annual 4th of July party, and we take our yearly beach trip to Galveston. Basically, the fun just keeps coming all season long, and summer 2018 has been no exception! We enjoy one gathering after another and each one is an opportunity to showcase Texas, southern hospitality. Want to know the number one rule for any southern celebration? Never show up empty-handed! Whether it’s food, gifts, or flowers, your host will always appreciate your kindness. And I can guarantee no hostess will turn you away if you show up with fresh flowers from Lone Star Living!

Our most recent get-together was to celebrate my dad’s birthday at my sister’s home, and I knew the Lone Star Living July summertime flowers were the perfect thing to bring. The bouquet is full of red and yellow roses, lilies, carnations, alstroemeria, and more! The vibrant colors instantly brighten up any space and provide major summer decor inspiration.

I wanted to use a wide-mouth vase to showcase the fresh flowers, but because of the wide opening, they looked sparse. An easy fix if you have the same issue is to loosely band the flowers together within the vase, and your bouquet instantly looks fuller! Lone Star Living also recommends holding your bouquet by the stems and twisting it around to fluff it. These simple tricks will give you a professional-looking centerpiece in no time!

In case you missed my last post about Lone Star Living, let me share what makes them special. They are a Texas-based floral brand that creates dynamic, stunning bouquets for each month of the year. Their fresh flowers are sold exclusively at H-E-B in the H-E-B Blooms department, and each bouquet comes beautifully packaged in craft paper with the flower food included! As you can see, their July summer 2018 bouquet created the perfect focal point on the table at our birthday party.

I can guarantee if you show up to your next summer gathering with these blooms, they’ll be equally loved by adults, kids, and pets alike! 😉

Hurry over to H-E-B to grab your own July Lone Star Living Bouquet before the month ends! I’m sure August’s unique bouquet will be just as stunning, but I can’t think of a reason why you shouldn’t enjoy them both. After all, now that you know to never show up empty-handed, you have the perfect “excuse” to purchase all the Lone Star Living Bouquets your heart desires! 😉

Decor, DIY

Beautiful Summer Flowers with Lone Star Living

June 28, 2018 2 Comments

Anyone who knows me, knows I love flowers. I can’t go into H-E-B without stopping by their floral department, and I rarely ever leave empty-handed! We’re officially one week into summertime, so lately I’ve been wanting vibrant, yellow bouquets to brighten up my home. Luckily for me, the Lone Star Living June bouquet satisfies all of my summer flower requirements! This post was sponsored by Lone Star Living, and I am thrilled to share their beautiful blooms with you!

Let me back up and tell you more about Lone Star Living. They share their love of Texas by crafting unique and dynamic bouquets that fit perfectly into any celebration from cookouts to birthdays to simply treating yourself on a weekly H-E-B trip. 😉 Speaking of H-E-B, Lone Star Living knows where loyal Texans shop, so they sell their fresh flowers there exclusively! Every month, they create a new bouquet theme that perfectly highlights the season.

For the first month of summer they combined sunflowers, alstroemerias, and more to create a yellow and green explosion of summertime fun! Their flower style stands out in the floral department, where their bouquets are sold in fun, craft paper packaging. I love that everything you need to make a vibrant centerpiece is already grouped together for you. They even include the flower food!

Once you get home, it’s easy to get your summer flowers prepped for display. All you have to do is remove any unwanted leaves, trim the stems at an angle, twist and fluff your bouquet, and place it in a vase that has fresh water and the included flower food. Lone Star Living also recommends placing your bouquet near sunlight. If you need extra flower care tips, feel free to check out their website as well.

As you can see, Lone Star Living bouquets easily brighten up any space and help bring the beauty of summertime inside! Utilizing all of the recommended tips, my fresh flowers are still looking perfect and are bringing me so much joy. Next time you visit H-E-B, pick up your own Lone Star Living bouquet, so you can bring some extra charm and loveliness into your home, too!

This post was sponsored by Lone Star Living, but, as always, all opinions are my own.

Beauty, Decor, Disneyland, Married Life, Monthly Favorites

February Favorites!

March 1, 2014 6 Comments

It’s March! What?! I’m excited for springtime colors and (hopefully) pretty weather, but I’ll miss boots, hoodies, and chili! Today marks March 1st along with the end of February, so I wanted to share a few of my February Favorites with y’all…

Disneyland: I haven’t really talked about it much here, but Louis and I went to Disneyland again from February 6-10, and it was so fun! We spent 3.5 days at the park enjoying rides, sharing ice cream, and meeting characters. I also got my first two pairs of Mickey ears! Spending all summer there made it feel like “home,” so we were happy to visit again. Now we have equal love for the Disney Resorts on both coasts! Guess we need to go to some international parks now? 😉 I need to post some trip recaps soon!

The Monuments Men: We were so excited for The Monuments Men to come out this February, but it didn’t get very good reviews (scoring only 34% on Rotten Tomatoes). Thankfully, we decided to risk it anyway, and I’m so happy we did! It was funny, emotional, and (loosely) based on a great, true story. I’d definitely recommend it if you’re a fan of Clooney, Damon, Murray & Goodman! My only criticism would have been more Bill Murray screen time because his character was pretty hilarious (as always)!

Revlon Matte Balm in Sultry & Standout: I’ve already blogged my love for Revlon’s new(ish) Matte Balms, but I seriously loved wearing them this month. I even went against my better judgement and wore Standout to substitute for Middle Schoolers. Sultry has been my go-to everyday lip product because it packs just enough of a punch to be dramatic without making me look stupid. So..yay for that.

Nalgene: This one’s kind of silly, but I’ve been using my favorite Nalgene a lot more lately. I’ve always been a big water drinker, but this post, on Sweat Stretch Eat encouraged me to drink even more and keep track of how much I drink to ensure I get enough each day. Since my Nalgene is 32 oz, it’s easy to keep track of exactly how much I’ve consumed. Plus, since it has a screw on lid, it’s easy to carry around with me. And that bright orange? Love. I snagged mine at Target for under $10, and they have tons of great colors if you’re interested!

Chevron Ombré Tile: I snagged this Chevron Ombré Tile at Target on the clearance rack at the beginning of February to add to our bedroom for $9! It’s still listed at $19.99 on their website, and I could only find a tiny white-on-white ding on mine, so I was psyched! It matches our bedroom wall perfectly, and Lou said it’s his new favorite thing in our room, so I’d say that’s a success. It’s much more vibrant in person, but you know I had to add that Instagram filter.

Downton Abbey: Another season of Downton Abbey has come and gone (everyone in the UK is like…uh, ya, we know.) much too quickly. I look forward to this show every week, and my favorite thing may just be the costuming…or the accents. I’ve started saying the words blueberry, strawberry, and spoon with a British accent for some insane reason (I’m not making this up unfortunately), and I can only assume it’s due to this show. My one, very serious, qualm is how short the seasons are! I’m sure it costs about $1.7 million (uhh..or pounds?) to produce each historically accurate (maybe?) episode, but come on. We need at LEAST 12 episodes a season. Please producers, listen up. Give us more Downton.

Super Nintendo: Yes, you read that correctly. My hubbs is a computer genius (not exaggerating), and he bought this mega-cheap computer (I think it was like $25?) called a Raspberry Pi (it’s the cute little rainbow box below) several months ago (could I have had any more parenthesis in this sentence? So sorry.). He’s used it for various projects here and there, but this month he made the incredible decision to turn it into a video game console. We can now download and play virtually any video game from the original Nintendo up to a Playstation 1. I’m not much into current video games, but Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 were my jam back in the day. He can also download old school arcade games. We bought a USB Super Nintendo controller off Amazon, and I’m pretty sure we’ve played almost every day since he set it up. Our current fave is Diddy’s Kong Quest, since we beat Donkey Kong Country. Of course, Mario has to sneak in every once in awhile, too. I really can’t get enough of it. Talk about cheap entertainment.

Hope y’all’s Februarys were amazing, and you’re ready to jump into spring!

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