Five on Friday – Favorites

Happy Friday the 13th!  Although, I am a bit superstitious about certain things, these days have never really bothered me.  This week already hasn’t been the greatest, so I’m hoping that this one actually brings good luck. 

I’m still fighting this whole laryngitis nonsense or whatever it is.  My voice is finally back enough to hold a conversation, but I still sound like a frog.  We have also been fighting ants all week again.  You may remember that we had major ant problem back in December… and they just keep coming!  B has been fighting them with all sorts of different things, but they just keep finding new ways (and new areas of the house) to get in.  Time to call an exterminator!

Oh, and did I mention that we’ve had a manhunt going on in our neck of the woods for the last three days?  Some burglary suspect has been on the loose in our area and the police have been trying to hunt him down on foot, on four-wheelers, and by helicopter.  We live in an area surrounded by lots and lots of woods and they believe that he’s hiding out somewhere amongst the trees.  It’s been very unsettling each night going to bed knowing that some crazy person is on the loose somewhere nearby. 

Oh, and let’s not forget that we have also been battling Olivia each evening with this whole not-staying-in-the-bed-and-crying-and-getting-in-our-bed-every-night-nonsense, so it’s been a week, friends.  It’s been a week.

But let’s not focus on the negative today… today is Friday, so it’s time for some favorites!

O N E – First Major New Year’s Resolution Check!

I took a huge leap for this little blog of mine the other night and I purchased my domain!  I will still be using Blogger to host my blog, but my old url (http://lindsayssweetworld.blogspot.com/) will now be www.lindsayssweetworld.com.  I’m really excited because it makes me feel “legit” but I’m also a little worried that I might lose traffic.  Supposedly, this change shouldn’t affect blog readers like Blogger or Bloglovin’ or Pinterest traffic or anything like that, but if you notice that you’re not seeing any posts from me, please go and add the new URL to your blog readers!  I should be making the switch this weekend!

T W O – New Closet Shelving

You may remember that we added an indoor closet, an outdoor closet, and a back porch to our house back in 2015?  Well, the indoor closet has been ah-mazing for storage, but believe it or not, we have already filled the thing up.  We were utilizing some of the wall space to hang seasonal wreaths and such, but there was still a lot of free wall space available, so Brian hung some shelving in there for me over Christmas break.  We used the Rubbermaid Fasttrack Shelving system that we purchased at Lowe’s.  It’s completely customizable, it was easy to install, and the best part is that the shelves are on vertical tracks that will allow us to move them easily down the road if our needs change. 

Right now we have three shelves and we are using the top shelf for things that we rarely use but want to have easy access to if we need it (example, a box fan).  We are using the second shelf for items that we want to sell on Facebook/Craigslist/EBay (books, electronics, etc.).  And we are using the bottom shelf to store all of the kids’ arts and craft supplies.  We constantly had Play-Doh, stickers, coloring books, crayons, kinetic sand, etc. just floating around the house and I wanted to have one space to dedicate to these arts and crafts items.  I went and purchased six bins from Walmart (one for Play-Doh, one for Kinetic Sand, one for stickers, one for learning workbooks, one for coloring books and paper, and one for crayons, markers, and paints), and they are now sitting on that shelf, organized and labeled so the kids can actually see what they have.  I’m telling you, we’ve had that kinetic sand for two years, and they are rekindling their love for it because they finally remembered that they had it.  Lol.

T H R E E – OK to Wake Clock

With all of the problems we have been having with Olivia, I have decided to try something new.  It might be a little premature to have it listed as part of my favorites, but I’m optimistic that it will eventually be a favorite.  Lol.   Have any of you had any success with one of these?

F O U R – New Recipe

My girl Emily at A Little Bit of Emily posted this recipe yesterday and it intrigued me.  I’m going to try to make it next week and I’m really excited!

F I V E – A Dress for the Ball

We attend an annual ball at the end of January so I have been on the hunt for a dress.  I recently found three and I’m still on the fence about which one to use, so I thought that I would ask you ladies your opinions.  And please excuse the bad lighting and grainy photos (oh, and the streaks on the mirror)... a seasoned fashion blogger I am not!

I love option one because it’s sparkly and fitted and dressier than the other two.

I love option two because it’s red.  I have a feeling there will be lots of dark colors there, so red might be a nice way to stand out a bit… and maybe I could try a red lipstick to go along with it??  It’s not quite as dressy as I would like, though.

I love option three because – holy elegance!  That high neck collar and the lace… it’s all very beautiful.  However, I could also picture myself wearing this dress to a funeral, so I’m not sure that it’s ball-worthy.  

Thoughts?

Well, I have almost survived my first five day work week in over a month, and I’m really looking forward to another long weekend this weekend!  Isn’t it grand?  I hope you all have the perfect mixture of relaxation, productivity, and fun for your weekends!  Enjoy, friends!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites,  September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.