Can't Figure Out How Your Children Grew Up So Quickly? . . . Relive Those Precious Moments Through Photos

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

This photo was taken on Mother's Day 2010!  Our twins were just 3 years old then and their big brother only 6.  Can you believe how much they have changed over the past 3 years?  It is actually extremely easy for me to remember what our children were like when they were first born.  It's everything between then and now that's a bit of a blur.  When people warned my husband and I that time flies by too quickly when you have children and that they would be grown up before we knew it, they were right.  Luckily, I take lots of photos.  By "lots", I mean boatloads.  In fact, I take so many photos that some people think I'm crazy.  Well, I have many more precious photos, like the one I've shared with you today, to help me remember all those blurry moments.  I'll never regret taking the extra time to capture as many of the big and small moments in our children's lives as possible.

If you take as many photos as I do, then you understand where I'm coming from.  If you don't . . . well, it's never too late to start!

No matter how old your children are, there are still new memories made daily.  There will be to come many more Mother's Days and Father's Days, proms nights, graduation days, wedding days, and everything wonderful that happens in between.  This Spring, Best Buy can help you get on the right track to capturing as many special moments as possible.  As much as I love the camera on my Nokia Lumia 920, I still bring out my D-SLR camera when I'm taking photos at home and during special occasions . . . basically whenever I want my photos to be outstanding and not just very good.  Best Buy has a vast selection of D-SLRs, compact cameras with long zoom, Wi-fi cameras, point-and-shoot cameras, and camcorders with the latest technology to fit all budgets.  They also carry digital photo frames ranging from 7" to 10" LCD screens.

7 reasons to shop Best Buy and BestBuy.com for your digital imaging needs this Spring . . . 

• There is currently Free Shipping on all cameras at BestBuy.com.
• Best Buy has a low price guarantee.
• You can bring in your old camera to Best Buy and trade it in for a Best Buy gift card.
• Save an additional 25% off select digital photo frames through June 22nd with promo code.
• You can get a free 8x8 Shutterfly Photo Book with a purchase of a qualifying camera or camcorder.
• Select point-and-shoot cameras come with a free camera bag or a free camera bag plus memory card.
• If you need something quickly, you can purchase online and pickup in-stock items at your local store.

As always, if you shop, be sure to come back and tell me all about what you purchased!

10 Ideas for Personalized Wedding Favors

My husband and I had some fun recently while talking about what we would do differently if we were planning our wedding today.  One thing our wedding lacked was creativity, which did not reflect both our extremely creative personalities.  Wedding favors is just one area where there is quite a bit of opportunity to do something unique.  Although our wedding favors were personalized, I would definitely choose one of these wedding favors from American Bridal instead if I had a chance to do it all over again . . .

1.  Personalized Wedding Cake Cookies - Of course there are many other cookie shapes to choose from, but I find these cookies to be very elegant and they look like a delicious alternative to the usual mints and chocolates.


2.  Personalized Tree Bookmark - Although there are other types of bookmarks available, I like that this tree represents "a new beginning."  I also like that it is something that is useful for the guests, is suitable for both a man or a woman to use, and the personalization is on the label, making the bookmark something that the guests are more likely to use than a bookmark with someone else's names on it.

3.  Personalized Silk Fans - These would be perfect for an elegant outdoor wedding.  The names of the bride and groom, as well as the wedding date, are engraved right into the wood along the side of the fan.  These fans would be especially welcome during a summertime wedding.

4.  Personalized Coffee Wedding Favors - This is a unique idea that would most likely appeal to the majority of the guests.  There are different labels to choose from to go along with the season in which you have scheduled your big day.  They also are available in a variety of Cappuccinos, hot cocoa, and teas.

5.  Personalized Belgian Milk Chocolate Coins - I like these coins because they are very customizable.  You can choose the color(s) to coordinate with your theme plus 1 of 26 designs for the front with the names of the bride and groom and the wedding date.

6.  Personalized Bottles of Sunscreen - This is such a unique and thoughtful idea for any outdoor wedding.  It is something the guests can use during and after your wedding day.  I think they would look adorable with a satin ribbon tied around them.

7.  Personalized Honey Jars - This is an extremely adorable idea for a wedding with a country or a nature theme.  Although I would not choose this for an elegant wedding celebration, it would be very cute for a casual one.

8.  Personalized Playing Cards - This is a perfect wedding favor for a lengthy reception.  It would help to keep adults and children entertained during down times, plus your guests will think of you and your big day every time they pull out this deck to use in the future.

9.  Personalized Wildflower Seeds Wedding Favors - There are a wide variety of seed favors available, but something about wildflowers seems more carefree and happy to me.  This type of favor would be perfect for all seasons, except for winter.

10.  Personalized Sand & Shell Bottle - I saved my favorite for last!  These little bottles would be the perfect keepsake for a beach or destination wedding.  The personalization for these are done with a clear label, so that you can position your text with the bottles standing upright or laying on their sides.

What types of unique wedding favors have you come across throughout the years?

3 Things I Would Have Done Differently While Planning Our Wedding

Not one, but two of my baby cousins are getting married this Spring!  In fact, I just received the first invitation the other day and thought to myself, "How clever!  Why didn't I think of that when I was planning our wedding?"  This started me thinking about what I would have done differently if I were planning my wedding today.

We had a private ceremony and then a Chinese wedding banquet following it.  This was a very different experience for many of our friends, co-workers, and my husband's side of the family.  We should have embraced that more and made some of the important things, like the cake, wedding invitations, and flowers, less traditional and more trendy.

I asked my husband what he thought we should have done differently with our wedding and these were the top 3 things we would have changed . . . 

1.  At the time, I was thinking that the ceremony and reception were the most important part of the whole event and the invitations were just a formality.  I chose the least expensive ivory invitations I could find and had them printed in the standard black ink.  If I could do it again, I would have selected more trendy wedding invitations, like this Soiree Tri-Fold Invitation.  Its brushed gold metallic color would have tied in so well with the elaborate gold and red atmosphere of the Chinese banquet.  The invitations we sent out were just boring and did not relay to the guests what type of experience they could expect at the banquet.

2.  Since the wedding dress I had chosen was ivory, I just randomly chose teal as the accent color for our wedding.  When it came time to shop for a dress for my Maid of Honor, she expressed how much she did not want a teal dress.  So she ended up choosing a sapphire-colored dress, which looked beautiful on her.  The Best Man coordinated his tuxedo to match the dress.  Now looking back, we should have made our accent color sapphire blue, since it is both my husband's and my birthstones.  I also wonder if I should have asked my Maid of Honor to wear a sapphire blue cheongsam for her dress?  She would have looked stunning in one.

3.  We chose our wedding date for late October because the anniversary of our first date just happened to land on a Saturday.  That is still very special to me and I would not have changed the date for anything.  The problem was that the day was very overcast and windy.  All our photos were taken indoors in front of the arch that we had decorated ourselves for the ceremony.  If we could do it again, we should have found another setting, even it was indoors, to take our photos.  All of our photos are posed traditional shots without very much story behind them.

If your wedding has already taken place, what would you have changed about your big day?  If you are still planning your dream wedding, I would love to know about which parts you are most excited!

Review: Kate Middleton Royal Wedding Replica Engagement Ring

The royal wedding date of April 29th, as set by Prince William and Kate Middleton, is quickly approaching.  If you are a collector of Royal Wedding Commemoratives, you will surely love to see this Royal Wedding Replica Engagement ring.  The ring worn by Kate Middleton has significance beyond representing her engagement to Prince William.  It also honors his mother, the late Princess Diana, who wore this same ring when she married Prince Charles.

An impressive 3/4"L x 5/8"W, this ring is extremely substantial.  Offered in sizes Small, Medium, and Large, this sterling silver ring bears an oval cut sapphire-colored glass center stone surrounded by 14 round cut CZs, which give off a tremendous amount of sparkle.  The setting is slightly raised with a large opening on the bottom to easily allow light to shine through.

My ring finger is approximately a size 6.5, so I chose the Medium ring, which is stated to fit a 6.75 ring size.  I would say that the approximation was right on target.  This ring will fit on my ring finger during the warmer, more humid months.  Currently, it fits best on my middle finger, which is usually about a size 7.  I must say that a good fit is very important with this ring.  Because of its size and weight, if the ring is too large on your finger, it will definitely try to spin around.

For the price of just $50.28 USD, I am extremely impressed by this ring.  I personally am not a collector, but I do look forward to the day in the future when I will have an occasion to wear this ring and to show it off to someone else aside from my children.  I have to admit that wearing this elegant ring does make me feel a bit like royalty.

To learn more about this replica ring, visit The UK Gift Company, where you can find Royal Wedding and more unique gifts that will be perfect for Mother's Day and many other occasions.

Thank you to The UK Gift Company for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

Keeping Busy (Day 8 of 10)

Today is the 8th day following my radioactive iodine treatment. It may sound crazy, but I just realized today that I only have two more days left to get things done that I wouldn't normally have time to do. So I put it into high gear and got my new wedding-wear line up on Sillymonkeez.com. I really like how it came out. The whole line is coordinated so that the entire wedding party will match. Here is a small sample . . .

"ur2l8 . . . I'm taken!"

Cap

"hottie . . . a.k.a. the bride's maid"

Strappy Tank

"bride"

thong panties

"STUD . . . a.k.a. the groom-to-be"

Fitted T-Shirt

"Lil STUD . . . a.k.a. the ring bearer"

Infant Onesie

Enough with business talk! I have to say I was thrilled that since I was able to leave the door to my bedroom open this morning, I have not been alone for more than 5 minutes. There was always at least one dog or a cat with me.

Oh, and I did my fingers and my toes for the first time in over a year. Also, I finally installed some recipe software I had received for Christmas on my laptop. Hopefully, I will be able to enter a recipe here and there after my 10 days is over.