Voted Most Popular

Hollie @ Ampersand is featuring an interview with me today about my Etsy shop! Stop by her blog & check it out! Thanks for having me, Hollie. :) 

Thank you to all of my swap sponsors these past months! I love having you girls on my sidebar. Currently, all free swap spots are full, but you can reserve a spot for next month. Just head to my sponsor page for details. I am also offering feature sponsor rates for next to nothing & this is a great opportunity to promote your small business, shop, or blog! 

Also, have you "liked" my facebook page for my blog yet?

I update on blog happenings, sponsor stuff, & more through facebook.    

I thought it'd be fun to throw together a list of my five most popular posts since I started this blog. I rarely look at my page stats... but for some reason I did today & some of my top viewed posts surprised me. Do you ever look at your stats? If you don't know what I'm talking about... I'll explain. On your blogger interface (I use the new one), look at the top where it says the name of your page, # of page views, & # of posts. The middle clickable that looks like a page icon... click on that. A drop down menu will appear. Click on "Stats". There you can see your top viewed posts, your page hits by day, week, month, and a lot more valuable info! 

#1 Most popular: 

This post was thousands hits higher than any of my other posts. I made this cute little D.I.Y. card deck after seeing it on Pinterest for C on our three year anniversary. I've gotten quite a few e-mails about the project on how to create it. I even helped a girl put her whole project together in word for her husband on valentine's day. C loved getting this personalized gift & I loved making it. Click the picture to go to the post. 

#2 Most popular: 

After seeing a similar tutorial on Kate @ Stripes & Polka Dot's blog, I decided to try it out for myself. I don't have too much jewelry, so I modified my project to make it smaller. Check out the post for full details or head over to Kate's blog for a varied tutorial. Click the picture to go to the post. 

#3 Most Popular: 

Of course I wasn't surprised when I saw that my Erin Condren review post was in my top five most viewed posts. Click the picture to go to the post. 

Number 4: 

I don't talk about my tattoo removal process much anymore because it's old news. But I do still get a lot of hits from google searches for my tattoo removal pictures/process. I had 6 appointments all together & my tattoo is practically gone! Click the picture to go to the post. 

#5 Most popular: 

Coming in at number 5 is my post on how I organize my make-up & what products I'm currently loving. I'm no beauty/product expertise, but I do know what works for me! And that's what I share in this post. Click the picture to go to the post. 

Linking up here & here. 
In other news, I just finished up another blog design. I got to design a blog for a girl with the same name as me. Pretty cool, I must say. Take a look...

Crush:: Summer of Purple

All clothing/accessories from Target

I don't know where you live, but here in Houston we are suffering (and melting) in 104 degree weather as of late. I swear, it's like walking around in a Sauna. No fun. To beat the summer heat, I'm hoping to spruce up my summer wardrobe with some cool clothing & accessories from Target. I'm a girl on a budget. I don't get to shop often, but when I do, I make a bee line for Target. 

Linking up with Danielle @ Framed Frosting today for Current Crush Thursday. 

Font Snob

Since I started designing blogs for other bloggers last week, I've been researching & downloading fonts like a mad woman. Everywhere I go ... I see FONTS. I look at a t-shirt someone is wearing and think "Ohhh I love that font!" It's really annoying C. Sorry for that, babe. 

Anyway, today I'm sharing my top favorite fonts at the moment. Note: ALL FREE FROM DAFONT.COM Yes, you heard me. Free. My favorite word. 

{skinny jeans} // champagne & limousines // clementine sketch // contribute 

Honey Script // Jenna Sue // KG Call Me Maybe // Peach Sundress 

Linking up here & here today. 

Couples Photography | Meg Sloan | Chris & Kristen

C & I had our photos taken by Meg @ Meg Sloan Photography last weekend. Meg & her assistant were incredibly easy going & friendly. I was a nervous wreck since this was C & I's first time having photos taken together. In the end, Meg worked her magic and I love every single photo! I can't say enough good things about Meg! She captured so many great moments. If you live in the Houston area and are looking for a photographer, whether it be for engagement photos, senior photos, family photos, etc, Meg is wonderful & a pleasure to work with! Tell her Kristen sent you! :) Now... onto the fabulous photos!

A little music for your listening pleasure...

All photos copyright Meg Sloan Photography  

Life According to Instagram {week in photos}

Monday... Monday.... Yes, it's true, I have the Monday blues. Womp womp. This weekend was relaxing. C & I had no plans. It was pure bliss. We made a few plans along the way... but other than that, we were lazy bums. Since it's summer & the school I work at is only 4 days a week, I get Friday's off. It is wonderful. I slept in 'till 8 a.m., got up & made coffee... played with the pups. I could so be a stay at home... girlfriend??? Hah. Now, if I could convince C of that.

Anyway, here are some of my fave photos I took with Instagram this past week. Follow me @FromKristenWithLove :) 

1// Love banner I made for C & I's photo shoot now serving as home decor 2// I enjoyed a glass or two of riesling 

3// We went to the gun range & shot our 22's over the weekend 4// Brute 5// A childhood friend sent me this pic & 

I cracked up laughing. C'mon Mom... a mullet @ age 4? Cruel 6// Texas thunderstorms are the best 

Linking up here, here, & here today. 

Busy Bee {Recent Designs}

I have been a busy busy bee this weekend. And I've accomplished all of this busy work from the confines of my home while in P. J.'s. Awesome? I think so! Wanted to give y'all a little peak at what I've been working on...

I launched my design blog Friday! Click here to head over & check it out. 

I designed Meg's photography blog. Don't you love it? I think this is one of my favorites I've designed so far. I loved the colors & the polaroid inspired header. 

I also designed Sonya's blog... A day in the life. I tried out an inspiration board for the first time with Sonya's design & it made the design process go so much smoother!  

What are you waiting for? E-mail me & let's start your blog design make-over! My prices are incredibly reasonable & turnaround for design work is fast! 

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I have some great posts scheduled for this week...

Monday: Life according to Instagram {Week in Photos} 

Tuesday: Meg Sloan Couple Photography Session photos

Wednesday: I'm sharing a collection of my current favorite FREE fonts

Thursday: Current crush thursday link-up with Danielle @ Framed Frosting

Friday: Voted Most Popular. My top 5 most viewed posts of all time

Friday rants, raves, & a sneak peek from our photo session

I did a guest post over on Lori @ Made By Lori's blog a few days ago... Go check it out & while you're there, show her some love! Lori is such a sweetheart & insanely talented!

Also, I'm being featured by the beautiful Whitney @ The Observant Turtle today!

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Pandora is playing in the background, I'm blogging, and it's Friday. Could today get any better?  C & I have a relaxing weekend planned... full of doing nothing. Those kind of weekends are sometimes more fun than the jam-packed event ones, right? I think so.


On to some friday letters... 
Dear Meg, THANK YOU for capturing so many beautiful photos for C & I. We will cherish them forever. Here's a teaser.... I'll be sharing more from our session later in the week. 

Dear blog designing world, thank you for welcoming me with open arms. Here's another design I did this past week for Skin & Health Geek's blog. The color scheme & floral accents are my favorite!

Dear Brutus and Tucker (a.k.a. fur children), please, I'm begging you... quit fighting all the time like you hate each other. It drives Mamma crazy. Oh & Tucker, quit humping Dad's leg. It's weird. I know you are going through puberty or whatever it is dog's go through... but it's just weird. 

Dear indecisive Kristen, don't feel bad for always wanting a new blog design. It's YOUR blog. Give it a new design every damn day if you want. 

Linking up with here today!

The plant that keeps on giving

A few weeks ago, I had my first professional skin facial. It was one of the most painful things I've ever experienced & I do not see myself getting another one anytime in the near future. The woman who administered the facial poked, prodded, and totally violated my face. I'm cringing just thinking about it. Uck! One thing she did recommend for at home maintenance is using aloe vera gel a few nights a week as a mask. I was intrigued by this suggestion, since the aloe vera plant is 100% natural. 

I went online & did some researching on using aloe vera gel in your skin regimen. Here's what I found: 

"Aloe vera provides numerous benefits to the skin and they are:

• Aloe vera is beneficial for cracked and dry skin.
• Aloe vera is helpful for frostbite, burns, insect bites, blisters and allergic reactions.
• All the aloe vera products are used as a part of skin treatment regimen and keep the skin healthy.
• Aloe vera products contain the highest concentrations of healing agent which is beneficial for the skin.
• It makes the skin smooth and glowing.
• Aloe vera oil can be used on the dry skin to make the skin normal and shiny.
• Aloe vera is used for treating various skin conditions such as eczema, burns, psoriasis, inflammations, wounds etc.
• It is an excellent skin moisturizer that keeps the skin flexible by giving oxygen to the cells which in turn increases the strength and synthesis of skin tissue.
• The products of aloe vera are very popular among the customers due to the moisturizing properties which are best for the skin or skin disorders.
• Aloe vera improves the ability of the skin so that it can hydrate itself.
• It is helpful in removing dead skin cells and has the ability for effective penetration and transports healthy substances through the skin.
• It is beneficial for the cosmetic products such as make up, anti-wrinkle creams, facial masks, skin conditioners and lipsticks.
• Aloe vera is useful for preventing the aging of the skin.
• Aloe vera gel is helpful in improving the lesions.
• It lightens dark spots on the face and reduces the intensity of pigmentation." 
  Information from Mauritas Aloe Vera

I rushed to home depot after reading all the awesome effects aloe vera has on your skin & bought a small plant. It cost $4.99 & I've already used it 4 times. The best thing about it being a plant is that it grows!! Talk about a plant that keeps on giving... 

Here's how you use the plant on your skin:

-Cut off 1-2 inch piece of plant. 

-Cut this piece down the middle sort of like your filleting a steak. Bad reference sorry.

-You'll expose the inside goo-iness 

-Rub both sides of the inside all over your face & neck.

-Leave it on for as long as possible... I sleep with it on & wash it off in the morning. 

(Your skin will start to feel tight & eventually the moisture will dry. This is good!)

And for fun, here's a picture of one of our cute furbabys chilling on the porch with our other plants. 

Do you have any beauty secrets? Share!! 

Blog Planner

For the longest time I've been yearning for an organized blog planner to be able to put all of my ideas &  strikes of brilliance in one orderly place. Last week, I came across a blog post from Celia @ Unsimply Celia all about a blog planner she just bought. I was awe struck at the concept of it all and decided to make my own. Easy enough, right? I downloaded the font Learning Curve from Dafont.com & set to work on making my own blog planner. That same day, I drove over to Kinkos & had the planner binded & a frosted cover put on the front & back. I took some of my ideas from Texas Love Birds planner & incorporated some of my own to make this planner.

When you first open the planner, there is an informational sheet for my blog's important info... blog anniversary, domain name, host, renewal date, etc. There is also a list of goals I'd like to accomplish with my blog during the year. 

The next section is for weekly blog planning. I included 52 copies of this page, which means the planner is good for an entire year (if you blog every week). Also included on this page is a list of link-ups I'd like to participate in, a to-do list, & a blog checklist. 

Each section has a card stock cover page saying what the section is. For example, in the picture above the section is labeled "Sponsors". In this section, I can keep a running list of blogs that sponsor with me, both free swap sponsors & paid have separate pages. 

The second to last section in the planner is for notes & ideas. I included 25 pages, because I tend to jot notes quite often. 

The final section of my planner is for giveaways. It is not pictured, but it is pretty much set up the same as the other pages. On these pages, I keep a running list of giveaways myself or a friend hosted, along with who won the giveaway. 

How do you stay organized when it comes to your blog?  Would you be interested in a planner like this?

On taking prenatal vitamins...

No. I am not pregnant... But, I do take prenatal multivitamins. 

I've always heard from friends that taking prenatal vitamins while not being pregnant/trying to conceive is perfectly fine. That, in fact, they are better than just regular vitamins. I checked with my doctor to make sure & he gave me the thumbs up. I went out & bought a big container of them at Target last week & have been taking them daily since. 

Did I mention that I bought the gummy kind (because I'm horrible @ taking pills) & they taste like heaven??? 

Do you take vitamins? If so, what kind? Or is that a nosey question... 

Week in Photos {Party Dresses & Blog Designs}

What a weekend.  I'm exhausted just thinking of all I did this weekend. Not to mention this past week threw me for a whirlwind with all of it's craziness. Let me give you a little re-cap in pictures, because ... well duh, I'm a blogger; I document everything in pictures. 

Last weekend I...

-Put on my party mini dress 

-Went out to dinner & drinks in my party dress with old co-workers whom I miss entirely too much

-Enjoyed sushi & wine 

Over this past week I...

-Caught a photo of Brutus cozying up on dad's pillow

-Reminisced on our Christmas card photo from last year

-Busted Tucker having an afternoon snacky-snack on his foot

I also...

-Got back into my workout routine 

-Kicked butt in Zumba class and have the data to prove it! 

-Mailed out an insane amount of letters/invitations

Oh, wait I did more...

-I designed a custom made blog planner for myself & got it spiral bound at a local copy/print store. Will be blogging about this later in the week! 

-Made C a Father's Day card from the pups

-Enjoyed a date night with C at a BJ's Restaurant & went to the movies & saw "Prometheus" 

Not pictured but also happened this weekend...

-C & I had a photos session with the oh-so-talented Meg & her lovely assistant Holly

-C & I went for a run in the 102 degree weather. What a mistake that was!!

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Over the weekend, I decided to open up a little on-the-side blog design business. I offered two free designs to the first people to e-mail me as a way to build my portfolio & was overwhelmed (in a good way!) with the response! I custom designed two blogs and received my first paid work... how awesome, right??? 
Here's a look at the two designs I did over the weekend

Catie @ Catie's Chaos | Custom Design 

Shane @ Whispering Sweet Nothings | Custom Design 

Do you like them? Head over to my design page if you're interested in having a blog design make-over. My prices are super affordable & the turn around for design work is insanely quick! 

Linking up here today:

What Makes Savanah Smile , On the front porch looking in ,  lowercase letters , Mrs. Monologues & Life Rearranged.  

Wine, Painting, & 25 awesome bloggers {Pinot's Palette}

My first time experiencing a wine/painting class was at Pinot's Palette back in June of 2011. I painted my heart away & enjoyed wine & good company. From that moment on, I was hooked on these paint/wine classes. Genius combination... I mean really, who came up with that? Pure genius.

Meg O, one of the leading ladies of our Houston Blogger Group, shared with us that we were invited to have a meet-up at Pinot's Palette in the Galleria. Of course, we all were ecstatic and signed up for the meet-up & chose our pretty painting. 

Pinot's palette currently have locations in Texas, Tennessee, & Oklahoma. Check their website to see if there is one near you. On a side note, Pinot's Palette is hosting an Art Tasting National Charity Contest this year on September 14th. All locations will host an open house & a national charity winner will be awarded money as well as other local charities. Head over to their facebook page to cast your vote on which charity is chosen. 

My camera charger decided to play hide & seek with me the day of the meet-up, so I didn't get any pictures of my painting besides the ones on my phone (which are horrible!). So, I'm borrowing some photos from other bloggers who were at the meet-up!

c/o Meg O.

c/o Meg O.

c/o Meg O.

c/o pinot's palette 

c/o pinot's palette 

c/o pinot's palette 

c/o Darby 

c/o pinot's palette 

c/o Rochelle 

c/o pinot's palette 

Looks like a good time, right? It was, without a doubt, the best blogger meet-up I've been to yet.

So what do you get when you combine wine, snacks, painting @ Pinot's Palette, and 25 amazingly cool Houston bloggers? An absolute blast!! 

Pinot's Palette Facebook Page // Pinot's Palette Twitter Page 

Linking up with Aunie @ Aunie Sauce today for Just Because Friday!

13 fantasticly free smart phone apps

I haven't played along with Jennifer, Miranda, & Chloe for the Thursday Thirteen link-up in quite some time. When I saw this weeks topics as "Favorite Apps", I knew I had to participate! You can ask C... I am on my phone quite a lot. He often gripes at me and tells me to put it down. I'm not a crazed game playin', status checkin', textin' girl... I just like my social media from time to time. So, here's my list of my top 13 applications for my phone. I'm a droid girl. I used to be an iPhone girl up until I realized how much money I was throwing out the window each year for it ($1,200 a year! Yikes!). My droid cost me 1/4 of that. Worth it if you ask me. I do miss good 'ole apple though. 

Okay, on to the apps...

*All of these apps are free purchased from the android market*

**They are not in any particular order**

1. SpringPad: This app is like my own little personal assistant. It's an app with folders for different types of lists. Some of my lists include Movies Seen, Books Read, Things to do, etc. I don't use it as much as I used to when I first downloaded it, though. 

2. The weather channel: Gotta see when it's gonna rain, so I can get giddy-school-girl-excited!! 

3. Slacker Radio: It's sort of an equivalent to Pandora, but in my opinion, way way better. It has more customization features & it plays better on my phone for some reason. 

4. Flixster: Best movie app ever. Whenever C & I are planning a movie date night, we always check flixster for show times & movie ratings.

5. Dictionary: I don't use this app quite often. My most typical instance for using it is when I'm reading a book and there's a tough word I've never heard of before and I need a definition... for instance, if you're a 50 shades of grey reader, I had to look up the word "Wanton" which E L James uses quite often in the series. In my head I definitely was thinking of wanton soup. 

6. LA Fitness: My LA fitness app shows me when I've checked into clubs, what classes are available at what times, and when my bill is due. Perfect. 

7. Wells Fargo: I rarely use this app, because checking my bank statement often makes me depressed. But, it's nice to know it's there when/if I need to use it.

8. Twitter: Again, rarely used. I know, gasp!! 

9. Groupon: Groupon = awesome money saving deals at my finger tips. 

10. Instagram: Do I even need to describe why this is on my favorite list? I use this app each and every day, usually several times a day. Picture sharing made easy. Follow me @fromkristenwithlove

11. Facebook: Mostly just used when I get extremely bored and want to cyber stalk someone. 

12. Yahoo Mail: I check this app several times throughout the day to see what's going on in blog world. 

13. MapMyRun: If you are a runner, you need this FREE app on your phone right now. Stop reading this & go download it. It has a built in GPS that tracks your miles run, pace, and running path. You can also track out a path you want to run & see how many miles it is & the elevation. 

Link up with Chloe & share your top 13 fave apps!