Month: February 2017

Making Memories Last Forever with Shutterfly

14 Comments

Making Memories Last Forever with Shutterfly

shutterfly

I have always been OBSESSED with taking photos and capturing moments even back in the era of disposable cameras.  I love going over to my parent’s house to browse though my baby books and high school scrapbooks-those memories are made to last forever because of a photo book.  Its so fun to compare myself as a child to my children.  But now in the digital age the hard copy photo book is starting to became a thing of the past because they take so long to make-but NOT WITH THIS SECRET I am going to share with you-the Shutterfly Make My Book Service.

It brings me so much joy that we live in the age of technology were 1,000 photos can be taken at just one event making them a permanent part of the history of our families.   What is sad is that most of us just load those photos on a Facebook album and that is that-lets put an end to that!   Often there is no printing, scrap booking, framing, nothing.    {I never even finished our wedding album!}  Shutterfly has made a NEW way to make photo books-they do it for you! SCORE!  Shutterfly makes it so easy with their Make My Book service-it literally took only minutes out of my day and I received a beautiful product.

fullsizeoutput_c4c1

fullsizeoutput_c4c9

I have this new rule as I am ‘adulting’ its called-leave it up to the professionals.  Painting, wedding planning, plumbing, installing just about anything–DIYing is not really my thing anymore as my hubby and I pretty much ruin everything we touch. {Sorry babe}  I am also a working mom so often crafts and DIYs are much harder as there is NO TIME to do those things.  Its worth the time and headache to just pay someone to do it for me.  The Shutterfly Make My Book service takes all the headaches away from photo book designing.

img_2023

img_2025img_2015img_2011

We seriously LOVED getting our photo book back and looking at all the wonderful memories we made.

img_2020

I really enjoy the process of making photo books on Shutterfly, making sure every photograph I like is exactly on the right page-and showing my right angles lol.  This crucial process would not only take me hours, it would take me days!  I was skeptical, but hopeful to try their new Make My Book service.   For only a $9.99 service fee they design the entire book for you-cover to cover-all you do is submit the photos.

img_2033

The process was almost too easy guys!  It took me less than 5 minutes to submit my family photos and select and overall design of the photo book.  In a matter of about 24 hours my book preview came back from the Shutterfly designers.   It was pretty much perfect!  Of course me being a psycho- I didn’t like how I looked in a few photographs.  I could easily hit ‘edit’ swap them out and it was as good as ever!  So don’t be hesitant if you think you won’t like what they come up with, you can make major changes to your book {even though I don’t think you will.}   You can also choose not to buy the book entirely–like you’ll do that–so really there is little risk involved.

img_2103

From now on I know I personally will always be using the Make My Book photo book service from Shutterfly because the product came out PERFECT and it saved me massive amounts of hours in front of my computer-precious time I could be spending with my family, or sleeping lol.  Our photo book looks FAB as a coffee table book!

img_2193

fullsizeoutput_c4d0

Have a great time making your photo books with the Make My Book feature from Shutterfly!

XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks Girl,

Lisa Doyle

**The photography in the Shutterfly photo book was captured by J.anne Photography

 

shutterfly2

 

 

 

 

Planning the Perfect Bachelorette Party!

5 Comments

Guest blog by Ashley Brooke

planning-the-perfect-bachlorette-party

Hey guys!  Lisa here your Redlocks and Shamrocks Girl!  Meet Ashley Brooke my guest writer for this blog post!  Ashley and I went to college together at UNLV and she was a cheerleader when I was a Rebel Girl.   Ashley is an amazing wife, working mother, and a fitness junkie!  She is SUCH an inspiration to eat right, be fit, and grow confidence.  Follower her on Instagram at @ashbrooke_balanced if you want daily fitness inspiration.  Check out her feature on my blog about planning the perfect bachelorette party! 

Hi Babes! First I want to thank Lisa for so generously offering up her blog allowing this post to happen! So many of you have commented and messaged me asking for all the details on planning the PERFECT bachelorette party and I originally intended to just do an Instagram post but there is just NO WAY I could fit it all in! If this post helps just ONE babe in planning her own/friend’s bachelorette party, I will be one happy mama! So here it goes…

picture1

YAY!!! Your BF is getting married!!! Once the initial excitement of an engagement for your bestie has passed, the real work for the maid of honor sets in. BACHLORETTE PARTY PLANNING! Knowing your bride is the critical first step in planning, for example if your bride hates the cold, a weekend hitting the slopes in Tahoe probably isn’t the best fit. For my bride and bestie of 10 years Samantha (Sami for short) I knew she wanted a sunny and warm bachelorette party. Not sure what your bride is looking for? Ask her! Don’t want to spoil a surprise? Ask her general questions like (warm weather or cool, travel or no travel, strippers or no strippers…haha but seriously ask!). It’s better to get these ideas as specific as possible to get a really good idea of what your bride would prefer before you spend the time and money putting together a party that misses the mark. The next and final thing you need from the bride is a list of her girls, the ones she wants to spend her last big blowout single weekend with!

Once you know what your bride wants and have the list of girls, let the planning begin! After attending many bachelorette parties, I’ve been through the good, bad and ugly. Knowing that Sami wanted a sunny/warm party in January/February my options for locations were pretty limited. I narrowed my ideas down to Florida (Disney World) and Mexico. One day while driving to work and listening to the radio I heard an ad for Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa, instantly intrigued (not even for the bachelorette party) I went to the website and saw the timing was incredible for the bachelorette party and the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was not going to find anything better. All-inclusive resort (remember the good the bad and the ugly? Splitting dinner checks and bar tabs every night between 8 girls is awful!). 4 nights of country concerts, pool side shows and most importantly SUNSHINE & BEACH! Once I knew where we were going and asked the bridesmaids if they were ok with all of the details, dates & pricing we were all set!

Since our college sorority days (shout out to Delta Zeta Girls) we have always loved to theme and match during girl’s trips, so coming up with the perfect theme for the weekend was really important to me. To be honest, I am not really sure how I came up with it but the word BEACHLORETTE popped up in my head and I couldn’t let it go and from there Sami’s Beachlorette was born. I asked a friend Josh (link below) to design a logo for me using a palm tree and some type of handwritten font to say Sami’s Beachlorette Crash My Playa 2017. I let him know the logo would be used on tank tops. He presented a few options and I picked this one!  In the same writing I asked him to also do a “Beaches” logo and “Beachlorette” logo so that we could have a second tank where all the girls were in beaches tank tops and our bride was in her Beachlorette Crop! It worked out so cute! (by the way, the font is called Lemon Tuesday and you can download it for free, just type it into google).

picture2

Next I wanted to theme each day with our bride’s favorite things! A few of her favorite things include: unicorns, camo print, and bows so these things became the inspiration for each night.  To kick off the party we started night one in cutoff shorts & our matching beachlorette logo tanks (I did make Sami a cowboy hat with a veil, but her head was too big and it didn’t fit haha…oops). For our first day by the pool we all wore whatever swimsuit we wanted but our coordinating tank tops over them, this day was cleverly called “where my beaches at”. For night two we all had fun pretending to be unicorns. The bride was instructed to wear her favorite white dress/romper and all the girls were asked to wear their favorite black dress/romper. The next day we all wore matching swimsuits, I searched far and wide for a palm tree/beach print that had several different options that girls could choose from. These PilyQ suits were great. They had a one-piece option, two different tops and bottoms to choose from and shorts. We got so many compliments this day! For night three we were “Sami’s Soldiers” we all wore matching camo headbands, white shirts and jeans casual and comfortable after a long day in the sun. For the final day we planned a group yoga class and bought the bride a palm tree yoga outfit, each of the girls were asked to wear a solid color yoga outfit in Black, White or Gray (although we didn’t actually get to do yoga…long story…we still looked adorable J ). For the final night we decided to go BOWHO in Mexico. Each girl was asked to wear a boho outfit of their choice. In my opinion, the key to success here is to try and “theme” most of your night/days outfits that give girls flexibility to either buy a new outfit if they want or find something they already have in their closet…no matter what you choose as long as your bride has a veil on at all times, she will stand out!

picture3

picture7

picture12

Some other fun accessories that made the weekend stand out were matching palm tree sunglasses, custom and personalized water bottles, oversized pool floats (TIP! Use the hotel blow dryer to inflate in your room…it works!)  and the adorable custom sun hats that the bride brought along for all the girls as a gift! 

picture18

To reveal the location (and themes) of the bachelorette party to Sami and the rest of the girls I created packages from Santa. These packages included a full itinerary and each of the little accessories they needed so they could plan and coordinate their outfits. I created the itinerary using Microsoft Word and purchased boxes, tissue paper and palm tree confetti on Amazon.  

picture19

picture20

The final step of planning was to create a “need to knows” packet. The purpose of this packet was to have all the details of the trip, contact information, location, emergency contact information ect in one place not only for us, but for our families. I also included a packing list because I typically make them anyway for my trips and I didn’t want any girl forgetting one of her themed goodies (and it worked! no one forgot!). this document was made using Microsoft word and I found little weather icons using google.

 

MY TOP 3 PLANNING TIPS:

  • Plan Ahead to avoid paying rush charges for custom items like tank tops, hats, tumblers and Veils. Give yourself at least 6-8 weeks.
  • If you are on a budget, you can DIY many of these items. Tulle is available in bulk on amazon or fabric stores for much cheaper than having someone else make them for you.
  • Choose a location that gives you all types of options for group experiences, concerts, fitness studios and down time.

MY FAVORITE BACHELORETTE PARTY LOCATIONS & THEMES!

  • Beachlorette: for obvious reasons I pick any beach and start planning! Cali, Miami and Mexico. I love the idea of all inclusive resorts because it just makes things easy!
  • Bachville: Grab your cowboys boots and head to Nashville, this is an amazing city with tons of bars, restaurants and activities. This city is packed with live music, culture and scenery.
  • NOLA: I haven’t been, but I have always thought New Orleans would be a great city for a bachelorette party, When I think of NOLA I think of taking a group pastry class to learn how to make their world famous beignets or a haunted city tour soaking gup the history.
  • Austin: This hotel looks like an incredible girls’ getaway https://travaasa.com/
  • Vegas: For the party bride you really can’t go wrong with this location. With enough girls you can generally get access to comp bottles, tables and dinners and some of the best restaurants, night clubs and day clubs.
  • Napa: How much fun would wine tours and tastings be with all your girls. Napa is a foodie town as well, a great spot to get some amazing meals.

 

SHOPPING LINKS:

Sami’s Beachlorette Logo: www.iamjoshlucas.com

Custom tank tops/crops/t-shirts: www.customizedgirl.com

Palm tree sunglasses: www.sunglassspot.com

Starfish Veil: RiosBows on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RiosBows

Unicorn Headbands: RAQuirkybits on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RAQuirkyBits

Custom Bridal Mrs.Veil: myeverydayparty on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/myeverydayparty

Custom Tumblers: shoparoundthecorner3 on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShopAroundTheCorner

Custom Sun Hats: lifehasjustbegun on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LifeHasJustBegun

Palm Tree Swim Suits: https://www.swimoutlet.com

bachelorette

Thank you to Ashley for sharing her amazing tips! I hope you all enjoyed Ash’s post on planning the perfect bachelorette party!  I know I will be putting this advice to good use as I am helping plan one of my best friend’s bachelorette parties in a few months! EK!  I can only pray it is as cute as this one!  If you aren’t following her on Instagram yet @ashbrooke_balanced, you are really missing out!

XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks Girl,

Lisa Doyle

 

 

 

 

 

5 Date Nights to Have at HOME!

9 Comments

five-date-nights

My husband and I don’t get too many date nights where we get dressed up, leave the kids at home, and have a nice dinner.   There are many reasons why a month {or embarrassingly multiple months} will go by and we don’t get the opportunity to get out of the house alone-babysitters, time, not wanting to leave kids after working all day.  The list {or excuses} goes on and on, but those traditional dates don’t happen often in our relationship.  Nevertheless that doesn’t mean we don’t have a good marriage or don’t dedicate time to maintain our loving relationship.   My husband and I do several things throughout the day-even if we’re not together to show our love and affection for one another-but you can’t replace those important moments alone together.  Once our children go to bed at 8pm we often are so exhausted we want to fall asleep too, but this part of the evening is quality time just for the two of us which is why often we will do a date night AT HOME! Here are five ways we do date nights at home:

lisa-kerry-0100

  1. Post bedtime dinner date: Family dinners are SO important in our family and it is a tradition we are instilling in our family.  However, every now and then its okay to do dinners apart and feed your kids some grilled cheeses and eat a light snack.  Then after the kids go to bed I send my husband out for some takeout from a nicer-but not too nice restaurant.  Our go to in the Las Vegas area is I Love Sushi or Table Thai.  While my hubby is out picking up the order I set the table and light some candles-or we will pig out right on the couch.  It is a simple perfect at home date night.
  1. Sit outside: After putting the kids to bed sit outside under the stars open a bottle of wine a relax. Sometimes these moments are the best to even not talk.  Just soak up quite time with your man-after all whether you’re a SAHM or a working mom you’ve been hustling and hearing talking all day long, it’s time to wind down and relax.
  1. Movie night: After putting the kids to bed pick out a movie pop some popcorn and cuddle. Put down the phones like you would in a real theater!!! Warning- don’t pull the exhausted parent move and fall asleep during the movie like my husband does. Lol
  1. Unplug completely: I know, I know you’re behind on Real Housewives or How to Get Away with Murder and you want to see what everyone has been up to on Instagram {are you following me @redlocksandshamrocks?} but unplug-turn off the TV, put the iPhone on the charger in the next room, and talk or play an old fashion board game. Better yet make it into a drinking game.
  1. The comPARENTion– Who doesn’t love a good competition? Whoever gets their kid to do something the child hates wins a 10-minute foot, back, or neck massage! For example, our toddler hates broccoli, whoever can successfully get our child to eat the veggie (without tears or forcing it down) wins!  This can be used for food, chores, bath time whatever your kid fights you to the death not to do!

 

fullsizeoutput_75

Time away from your kids and quality time with your husband is crucial in maintaining a happy relationship.  It’s so easy to fall asleep on the couch, zone out on TV or social media, do chores, or even do work from home after the kids go to bed, but remember to take time to focus on the heart of your family-the husband and wife relationship.

What at home date nights do you and your spouse love?  Comment below and tell me!

XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks Girl,

Lisa Doyle

The photography in this blog post was by J. Anne Photography

five-date-nights-2

It May Not Be Your First RODEO, but It Was His!

13 Comments

rodeo

It may not be your first rodeo, but it was Kohen’s!   Our little man recently celebrated his first birthday so we partied cowboy style throwing him his first rodeo!  For first birthday parties I love to do themes, easy food, and festive decor!   Did you see Logie Bears’ first birthday?  Check out that blog post here. I was lucky enough to meet the wonderful event planner of Starry Eyed Events who helped decorate part of his party.   If you are in the Las Vegas area definitely hit her up for your next celebration!  The other decor was either thrown together from what I already had or from Oriental Trading.

Our little birthday boy was too excited about the balloons that Starry Eyed Events brought that you couldn’t quite see his “My First Rodeo” t-shirt.

Cowboy gear was the dress code for the event, but if a guest came unprepared I got these cute cowboy hats and bandannas to keep everyone festive.

Starry Eyed Events did a pristine job decorating the dessert table to display tempting cupcakes and the first birthday staple, the SMASH cake!  I always say the BEST place to get a small smash cake is Albertsons!  They always do a great job for a low cost and often will throw in the smash cake for FREE if you order enough cupcakes.

fullsizeoutput_c2ed

img_1570

img_1567

img_1643img_1571img_1568

Starry Eyed Events even brought an ipod and speaker filled with country jams and rodeo tunes to set the mood and ambiance of the party.  This allowed every person to grab their partner and Do Si Do!  I put up the other decorations for the party about a week in advance.   This always helps get the kids excited and give you one less thing to do as the party day comes closer!

img_1679

Other decor I threw together was a clothesline banner displaying Kohen’s monthly photographs-he grew so much in one year!

Simple number one balloons, flowers, and mason jars were great center pieces.   And Pin the Tale on the Cow was a fun game for the toddlers at the party!

I also set out a craft for the kiddos to make their own farm out of animal stickers and construction paper.   Don’t you just love this custom farm table? We get TONS of use out of it.

img_1682

Now for the food!

I have to admit I love throwing parties but I HATE making food.   Its so much work-the planning, cooking, and clean up alone! Ugh!  I always try to buy most of the food and only make a few things.   It seems to saves energy and sometimes money.

img_1624

Pulled pork, chicken, and “KoKo Beans” (baked beans) were served in my triple crock-pot, a must for parties.

Fruit, cups of popcorn, and chips made for great rodeo side dishes.

The smash cake is always my favorite party of any first birthday!   The little one’s first taste of sweetness, will they be scared?  Like it?  Be disgusted? Devour it?

img_1819

We of course shared with our older sister!

img_1737

Happy birthday to our little Bean!  I can’t wait to see the adventures you will encounter this coming year!  

XOXO

Your Redlocks and Shamrocks Girl,

Lisa Doyle

 

*This blog post was partnered with Starry Eyed Events.   This was an amazing party planning company to work with and I highly recommend it.   The thoughts and opinions of this blog are my own.