To Do: Set a Bill Date This Month!

I can't believe December is here already and the Christmas shopping season is in full force! This time of year it seems as if there are so many things going on and spending that occurs that things have the potential to get out of control pretty fast in the budget department.

Guilty.

And you know what? Sometimes in the past it wasn't so much a problem with what and how much I spent, but more so the fees that added up. When life gets super busy its easy to miss a due date or get charged a late fee or finance charge. I know it seems silly, but please tell me that I'm not the only one that has struggled with this before?

I know the easiest way to have more money is to know where its going and how and when its getting there, so I'm making an (early!) New Year's resolution to set aside a specific "bill paying date night" with myself  (and my husband) every month. 

This set evening is a night I plan on making a routine, to ensure that nothing gets missed or forgotten.

On this night we'll:

1. Go over the months income // when and how much we're getting paid since ours varies monthly

2. Update our bill spreadsheet // I actually just use a blank printed version and hand write it in each month - maybe someday I'll go high tech. :)

3. Figure out the extras // things like road trips, school activities, play money - whatever isn't a set bill needs to be gone over with each month and discussed.

4. Reward myself // face it - it's not always fun to sit down after a long day and do more...work. So, why not reward myself after I'm done by a special cocktail or a fancy dessert for two? Just something little that I can look forward to when the "bill paying date night" is over.

I've also been looking online for more inspiration for keeping myself motivated and organized and I've found a few neat sites like this one from Capital One. They are having some sweet Black Friday Sales that can help with financial goals like new account bonuses and other deals! 

Black Friday Deals:

Product	Offer	Details
ShareBuilder	Up to $1,250 bonus (tiered offer)	Must be a new ShareBuilder customer
Home Loans	$1,250 off closing costs	Must sign up for the loan during the sale period
360 Checking	$100 bonus	Must make a $500 minimum initial deposit and make five transactions Must be new to 360 Checking
360 Savings	$100 bonus	Must make a $1,000 minimum initial deposit Must be new to 360 Savings
Refer a Friend	$40 bonus per successful referral	For someone to receive the referral bonus, they must be a current customer Their friend must meet the minimum initial deposit requirements Applies to all accounts

Hopefully I'll be a little bit close to #FinancialPeace when I get the schedule down better! What do you do every month to stay organized and on top of finances? 

~Melissa

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

I am Grateful

 I can't believe it's already the last day of November - time flies by faster and faster each year and I find myself reaching and grabbing onto every memory that I can so I don't miss anything; don't let anything pass by. 

I'm grateful for the week we spent with family and friends, and am ready to let the holiday festivities begin!

~Melissa

Free Fun Seattle Event - Macy's Culinary Council!

I am a member of the Everywhere Society and Everywhere has provided me with compensation for this post. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. 

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and got to spend lots of time with ones you love. I'm extremely grateful because next weekend I get to do something that doesn't happen very often - a girl's night out/road trip! My oldest friend (we've known each other since we were 5) turned 30 and we decided to get together with a few of our friends and take the train up to Seattle for the night! There's always so many fun things to do up in Seattle, I know it's going to be hard to narrow down where to go in the 24 hours that we're up there! There is one event that we are definitely going to go to though - a fun cooking demo at Macy's with their very own Culinary Council Chefs Tom Douglas and Stephanie Izard! I went to one of these events last year and had a lot of fun! Best of all it's completely free and there's a bunch of delicious samples to try from the chefs themselves!

Here's all the information - if you're in the area you should definitely join us!

Macy’s Downtown Seattle

Culinary Kitchen, Level 6 

Saturday, December 6, 2014 –2pm

Afterwards, feel free to explore the latest in cookware and gadgets for your kitchen. Plus, with the purchase* of $35 or more in the Home department receive a $10 Macy's gift card and a copy of either Tom’s The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook or Stephanie’s Girl in the Kitchen, which the chefs will sign for you**!

Seating is limited and on a first come, first served basis. To RSVP, visit MacysSeattleChefs.eventbrite.com. To learn more about the Macy's Culinary Council and upcoming events, log on to macys.com/culinarycouncil. Follow us on Twitter: @culinarycouncil.

Event subject to change or cancellation. *Purchase must be made 12/6/14 at Macy's Downtown Seattle.** One per customer, while supplies last and time permits. Gift card valid 12/6/14 - 12/13/14.

~Melissa

Romantic Ideas and the Freedom To Be Spontaneous

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone and should not be construed as medical advice. #TheMoodStrikes #CollectiveBias

Hey everyone! Tomorrow is the big day – and we are finally headed home after four nights in Southern Oregon visiting family. Since we've had dinners this week with my family we are just heading over to our friend’s house for a turkey dinner tomorrow. Even though I love the holidays, sometimes I feel like we get so busy that we don’t have enough time for ourselves. Between working, holiday events, dinners, and school events, I’m often left feeling just plain exhausted – and often times us women are so stressed out that we don’t take enough time to enjoy our partners and relationships and don’t feel like we have the freedom to be spontaneous.

Moms often feel the stress more than others during the holidays – trying to make things perfect and keeping everyone happy, and then one of the most important things gets left behind – themselves, and I have to admit sometimes I feel that way as well.

So I’m taking the K-Y® Liquibeads Challenge.

The K-Y ® Liquibeads OVULE Inserts provide vaginal moisturization – so they help make intercourse more comfortable. I know it’s a topic that many women are too afraid to talk about, but as a nurse stuff like this doesn't bother me. Moms who are having lots of stress, women experiencing menopause, taking certain medications, or many other reasons including chemotherapy and radiation can cause vaginal dryness which hello – makes spontaneous moments a little more difficult.

The K-Y® Liquibeads shouldn't be used by women who are pregnant or are breastfeeding, but for the rest of us it just helps moisturize and lubricate- so there’s never a ‘problem’ when a spontaneous moment arises.

There’s 6 Liquibeads that are included in the K-Y® package, and each one is to be used as needed every 3-4 days.

The K-Y® Liquibeads can be found at Walgreens in the family planning department.

In addition to the  K-Y® Liquibeads, here's a few other ways that you can plan for a successful romantic evening together:

1. Create an ambiance that will relax you. We try to ignore it, but it really does bother us when we look around and have so much stuff that we need to do! Keep bedroom clutter to a minimum and keep your work and children's conversations off limits in there. Keep some night scented candles in there and minimum electronics in the room.

2. Serve yourselves something special. Make the evening romantic by fixing up some bites to eat. Perhaps watch a little movie together and indulge on some cheese and crackers or whatever you have in the house. It really doesn't matter what you have, but the simple presentation of plating it will create something that truly is a little tastier and romantic. 

3. Take a hot bath. I know that I always feel more relaxed after a hot bath, and unfortunately most of us don't take enough time our of our day to indulge for 30 minutes to just relax, but it really does help.

4. Massage. Sore and tired muscles seem to be more of the norm for us moms and dads. Try giving each other a massage to relax those aches and pains, or if your partner isn't up to giving massages - splurge and buy a couples massage.

5. Time. I think what I've realized and many people already know, is it's just forcing yourself to take the time to relax so you're less stressed out. It may be tough at first, but sitting there for an hour doing nothing is perfectly acceptable and nothing to feel guilty about.

So, with Christmas fast approaching and a hectic looking schedule for next month, I'm going to take my own advice and really focus a little more time on myself - because I know spending the time taking care yourself ultimately will help allow you the freedom to be spontaneous!

I'll check back in soon about this and give you an update on how well I follow my own ideas!

Have you ever had any troubles because of stress/etc.? For more date night ideas check out my other posts on this topic!

10 Ways to Create the Perfect Date Night at Home

5 tips to Plan a Successful Date Night In

~Melissa

Life Lately

We've been down in Southern Oregon for a few days now, visiting family before Thanksgiving.  Saturday evening we drove down to my Dad’s house in Canyonville and then Sunday we made a holiday feast there with him and his wife. I broke out the Christmas music and the kids began creating holiday ornaments – and Anika even helped out with the cooking this year and made her very first homemade cherry pie. She was very proud of herself and I think it was the first time she had ever realized the hard work that’s involved with making a lattice pie crust, I think she’ll appreciate them a little bit more from now on. 

Yesterday we drove down to Grants Pass (my hometown) and checked in to a hotel for one night (my kids LOVE swimming in the pool) and celebrated with more festive food for dinner at my Mom’s apartment. The kids broke out their artsy abilities again and made beautiful pictures and more ornaments as we sat and watched funny cartoons.

Today I’m sitting here in the hotel; we have to check out in an hour. We’ll be back over at my Mom’s place and spend one more dinner with her before driving back north to my Dad’s house for one more night, then we will venture home sometime tomorrow. 

 These trips always make me happy and sad. It’s a lot of work and money to travel down to visit everyone, but it’s always worth it in the end and I wish that everyone didn’t live so far away so holiday’s weren’t as complicated.

What are your plans this week?

~Melissa

Photos via Instagram

15 Festive Appetizers

Check out 15 Festive Appetizers
by Melissa Kaylene at Foodie.com

Check out 15 Festive Appetizers
 by Melissa Kaylene at Foodie.com

Happy Friday everyone! I can't believe it's the final weekend before Thanksgiving and the official start of the holiday season! This year has to have flown by faster than any other year I can think of. We will be celebrating Thanksgiving a little early, opting for a family dinner at my Dad's house this Sunday and then at my Mom's house on Monday. They both live 3-4 hours away so we don't travel down to see them very often with the kid's busy school schedules. 

I'll still be doing most of the cooking, and then on Thanksgiving we will be back up at home and have been invited to my friend's house to feast - and I'm planning on bringing a variety of appetizers to snack on, so I've been collecting recipes on Foodie.com. Who doesn't love munching on meats and cheeses? Appetizers are sometimes my favorite thing from a holiday feast! 

There are a several staple ones that I make every year, like the bacon wrapped Lil' Smokies and meat and cheese pickle wraps, and of course a big meat and cheese platter, but then I like to find a couple of others to serve as well - I make the stuffed sweet peppers one year and it was a huge hit! Sometimes I feel that everyone is so busy prepping for the 'big' meal that appetizers get a little bit forgotten, and they shouldn't be! I think it's because in some cases they are tiny bites of art pieced together into a pretty presentation.

What are your go-to appetizers to make? Do they differ during the holidays versus the rest of the year? (More festive?) I'd love to hear!

~Melissa

Compensation was provided by Foodie via Mode Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Foodie”

Flowers in The Fall

Today was a pretty good day without too much running around. I did a little grocery shopping this morning, then my friend Jessica and her son came over for lunch and Noah and her son Gage played for a while while we chatted, then I tackled cleaning out our Expedition - I don't know why it still amazes me just how messy kids are...at least mine. We are heading down to southern Oregon this weekend for a few days to visit my family and have an early Thanksgiving, so I'm trying to get everything ready and packed for our little road trip.

So I've been meaning to share this for a while, but it's been busy and I just haven't taken the time to upload the photos until now. These were the beautiful flowers I received last month from The Bouqs Co. I don't normally write a lot of reviews on here, but when I was offered a gorgeous bouquet in exchange that I share some pretty pictures with you - um well I couldn't resist! The flowers were delivered to me on October 30th, but with Halloween and all of the parties that week, I didn't get to photographing my pretty display until a week later. Yes, these flowers are taken after a week of sitting on my kitchen table. There's a tad bit of darkening on the tips of the roses, but seriously? I was in love. 

 The flowers stayed on my table for two weeks before I finally said farewell to them. Two weeks of beauty in my house. I have always loved flowers, loved how delicate and intricate they are, and how they always seem to brighten and freshen up any home. With the short winter days now in full swing and the darkness creeping in by 5:00 pm, I really need something colorful to cheer me up and these definitely did the trick... plus what girl doesn't love flowers delivered - even if you ship them to yourself?? :) 

 The Bouqs Co. offer a bunch of different gorgeous fresh bouquets for you at a really good price too - they are shipped to you 2-4 days after being cut unlike many other places that send them after 10-14 days.

 Looking at this (the BBQ'n Bouquet) makes me want to jump and order another bouquet right now!! Do you keep flowers in your house during the winter?

~Melissa

^This post contains affiliate links. No compensation was received for my review. All opinions are of my own.^ 

Register with The Bouqs Co. & receive 15% Off your next order & FREE SHIPPING! Get your discount code and send gorgeous flowers today. Click here!