{Checking-In} Where I've Been....Summerin'

Yes....yes....I am still alive! I hope you don't think I gave up on sharing lots of party fun! I have just been enjoying my summer with my family so, I decided to take wee break from my blog just to regroup and recoup! I've got tons of ideas stored up for the next batch of posts.....but I was just enjoying relaxing....I'm sure you can relate....in fact....I enjoyed it so much, I forgot to celebrate my BLOGGERVERSARY! Oh well.....there's always another occasion to celebrate right?!!! (like my upcoming bday.....in about a week.....not throwing hints out there......IJS)

As you know, I don't put too much of my personal life on this blog, because I don't know how much fun it would be to take a peek into my offline world (fyi - if you would like to know how my spend my days, you may find my INSTAGRAM interesting).....but since I've been gone for a few weeks, I figured I'd share some of the things I've been doing during that time. PREAPARE TO BE AMAZED (ha!)

We enjoyed a little 4th of July fun with festive cocktails, sparklers & Allie (my cousins' adorable Cockapoo!)

I was on a mission to organize my HOT MESS CRAFTROOM (again)......it's a major work in progress, but I'm getting there :|

Cleaning up and organizing my craft room also gave me the opportunity to find all the items I needed for my upcoming summer party shoots! Can't wait to share!!!!

Summer in Maryland is nothing without  Blue Crabs!  Ironically, I don't eat them.....but I sure can put them in a pretty dish and serve them up nice! (I'm too New England for all that work - gimme a LOBSTAH!)

I also spent my time, by racking up craft stuff from a huge clearance sale at Michaels, creating new product tags for my Etsy shop, falling in love with these MASON JAR STAMPS after reading this TEA TOWEL GIFT IDEA and FINALLY ordering my JAMBERRY NAILS (ya'll know how I'm constantly going on about my janky nails, hoping these will change that and if you love doing your nails - try them - the link takes you to my friend Kristin's, consultant page!).

Then there was that weekend that I had a ton of work to catch up on and couldn't get a thing done because THE MINI DIVA took over my craft room!

BTW, I'm really enjoying quiet lunches by myself....

This summer my dear Husband is able to be home with the kids.  One day I looked at the poor man and realized they were breaking him down to mush.  So, I took a day off from the job that pays the bills and headed out to, MONTPELIER MANSION, a local Colonial estate here in Maryland and enjoyed a day of fun at their Historical Playground.

 

It was pretty fun watching them run all over the place, pretend and dare I say......get along!!!!  Nothing like playing dress up, having a puppet show and exploring an old creepy house!  Later that day, we ventured out to THE NATIONAL HARBOR and had fun at the NATIONAL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM!

Of course it's about that time for getting Back to School supplies - so, I've been slowly adding supplies to my stash....anytime I see a good sale - in the basket it goes.....to the pencil Gods....can we do something about the price of Ticonderoga pencils please??????

This is next on my project list.....I know what you're thinking, who wants to be spending their summer doing laundry?  Well, I found this 'recipe' for homemade laundry detergent; it's supposed to last a year.  All the supplies cost less than $30.....if it really lasts a year.....I'll be saving bookoo bucks - and that means more $$$ to party with - yay!

There's plenty more I'll be doing to close out my summer.  I still have my birthday, the beach, the amusement park and.....MY BIRTHDAY!!! If you'd like to keep up and see how I'm 'SUMMERIN' - follow me on INSTAGRAM!

BTW.....if all of that wasn't enough to fit your fancy -- today marks the official 100 DAYS TILL HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN!  (ho yeah!) ..... that being said, why not take a few moments to enjoy my HALLOWEEN CELEBRATIONS AND IDEAS of years gone by!