Birthday Get-Away

My sweet hubby has told me I need to come up with a trip/fun activity for my birthday. We live in central North Carolina, my birthday is August 31st, cost isn't an issue, and we can only be gone for a long weekend (4 days).

Please give me suggestions!

Melissa Senick

Hi Everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their day. 

This week Morganis on vacation and I am excited to be doing a guest post for her.

As we all know, summer is here is in full throttle. 

So far the weather has been great so [SM] and I have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather. 

Basically I provided my must haves for a day on the beautiful beaches of South West Flordia.

Marly Lilly Monogrammed Derby Hat. Is this not too cute?

Source: Marley Lily 

Of course [SM] has to match me….and be safe from all those UV rays. ;)

Source: landsend.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Comfy Lilly to wear over….

Source: splashofpink.com via Melissa on Pinterest

You guessed it…

Source: thepinkpalm.net via Melissa on Pinterest

MORE LILLY. 

And most importantly is what’s in the beach bag..

Source: saltwatercanvas.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Inside this absolutely lovely and overly sized gift from God (anyone with a child would agree!!!), lies all the necessities to sanity.

Source: skinceuticals.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Best sunblock ever.

Source: melissaanddoug.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Basics for [SM]

Source: google.com via Paige on Pinterest

Gotta have some music (country lovin).

Source: fitnessmagazine.com via Provocateur on Pinterest

Some gossip magz.

Source: amazon.com via Hazel on Pinterest

Gotta add some studying in. L

Source: google.com via Beth on Pinterest

A southern girls dream.

Source: bit.ly via Kaleigh on Pinterest

Some healthy snacks

Source: google.com via Katia on Pinterest

And my must have Tom Fords.

Is there anything you cannot live without on a beautiful day on the beach?

He Loves Me

Hey Ya’ll my name is McKenzie and I blog over at He Loves Me. I am so excited to be guest posting for Morgan while she is away.I love Jesus with all my heart and enjoy blogging about my walk with Him. I just graduated High School and am very excited to start the next chapter of my life and head off to college. I plan to become a Kindergarten teacher and love all things related to children.Since school is out and I have an endless amount of free time, I have been crafting. Typically I would be at the beach on such a day as this but a Tropical Storm decided it was a good time to come tearing through my poor little town. Boooo tropical storms!!!!!I have been going a little pinterest crazy with the DIY projects so I decided to actually try some of them. The first thing I did was make a memo board for my dorm room. I went to Wal-Mart and found some 5 dollar pink seersucker looking fabric and cute ribbon. Covered the board with the fabric and then laid the ribbon down to create that look all the others have, so you can put pictures and all that fun stuff inside. Here’s a picture of the finished project:

 Next I decided to get mod-podge crazy. I have been looking at crafts to do with old Lily Pulitzer agenda pages and picked the picture frame. Get a .97 wooden picture frame from Wal-Mart, a jar of glossy Mod Podge (around 6.99) and then some scrapbook paper, old agenda pages, or whatever it is you want to use and then a sponge brush.Once you’ve got all the goods get cracking. I recommend cutting all your paper out first to fit on the frame and then gluing or else you will be a big fat mess. Don’t forget to get the sides. 

Aren’t they cute? 

And such fun colors. 

I am planning on putting my favorite Bible Verses in the middle. 

Hope you all feel a spark of creativity and decide to go Mod-Podge crazy too! 

 GOD BLESS and thank you all for reading! 

-McKenzie Brown

Nicholl Vincent

Hi ya'll! I am Nicholl over at nichollvincent, and I am so excited to be a guest here at Stars Stripes and a Military Life. Morgan is so sweet and fun, it is such a fortune to find blogging besties like her. I know you guys agree! 

Today I am sharing some of my personal beauty tips and things I swear by, and that I hope will spruce up your vanity this summer. 

Make-up:

Mascara: 

Rimmel Max Curves. I love this bold, but not clumpy mascara. I put a couple drops of saline solution in my mascara to make it last longer. In the summer, I tend to go lighter on make-up, especially for beach/pool days, but a little mascara does wonders! 

Lips: 

Mac Morange Lipstick is the perfect, bold and wild summer color.

Face:

Can't stress this enough: Sunscreen!!!! I wear it year round, every morning. It serves as a great morning moisturizer and aging cream. But especially in the summer, it is so so important to wear it daily, mainly on your face. It prevents those permanent sunspots and keeps ugly wrinkles away. 

Accessories:

I love this statement necklace. It can make any and every outfit!

This bag screams summer to me. It is a perfect size, to hold the water bottles, flip flops, etc. And I am just smitten over elephants right now, so the print is fabulous!! 

Poolside Style:

Colors! And an arm full of bracelets. A must.

Hair:

I don't know if I'm bold enough to try this, but color dipped hair looks amazing! With my black hair, I'd maybe try a hot pink and only at the very ends.

Health & Vitamins:

I swear by these things for hair growth, healthy skin and overall good health.

You can take up to five biotin pills a day!

What are some of the things you swear by for the summer?

Over at my blog, I share our newlywed adventures in a new city, our home DIY's, a healthy dose of style, and everything in between. Come visit me here!!

Blog//Twitter// Instagramm: nichollvincent

XO

-Nicholl 

Weekend Recap

Thursday:

I finally went back to court for my excessive speeding ticket a while ago. 

Read about here. 

And had to fork out $253 worth of fines. 

Yay! 

Then went to dinner at my favorite place, San Felipe.

With Dynolene from school. 

And then to see.. 

What To Expect When You're Expecting.

This movie is hilarious & a must see! 

Like I want to go back a watch it again.

Friday:
Woke up and got pretty terrible news from our FRG key callers.
I got a report that 10 people were severely injured in an IED explosion.
And one was killed.
It's so sad to hear about these tragic events of close friends.
My heart goes out to the families especially Linda Mills a close friend, check out her blog.
Thank goodness. Her husband was only injured and will be returning home shortly.
I constantly keep our soldiers in my prayers but they could always use more.
Please keep them in yours too! :)

After that, I just needed a relaxing day. 

I ran a lot of errands.
Picked up a new devotional book.

I can't wait to start this when the hubby comes home.

I made a simple dinner. 

Seared tilapia with black beans and spinach salad. 

Saturday:

I cleaned house, picked up groceries.

And prepared a dinner party for some of my Army Wife friends.

I made lots of comfort foods. 

(We all needed it.)

I made shake n bake chicken.

Mashed potatoes. 

Green beans.

Cream cheese corn. 

Rolls.

Watermelon.

And danish.

Love the tablescape. 

Sunday:

Yesterday was all about studying for my final final. (Haha.)

Packing for my upcoming beach trip and for heading back to Memphis.

(Ladies, if your a Memphis blogger let me know if you wanna set up a lunch date. I would love to meet a few of you.)

And preparing guest posts and upcoming blog posts so I can enjoy my short vacay before heading back to school. 

Hope you all have a good week. 

And seriously Memphis bloggers email me with details if you want to meet up!;)

Sunday Social

1. How did you come up with your blog name?I wanted it to be about me, my husband and our love and life as a military family. I started doing research and one of my favorite things about the military is it's strong sense of love for all things patriotic. Hence, stars and stripes.. 
2. What is your favorite thing about blogging?I love being able to tell my story for my family via online. I also love meeting new friends and getting comments! I love my blog family!
3. What is one thing you have discovered because of blogging and now can't live without?Tory Burch Revas.So so comfortable!Just ordered this gorgeous pair!

Source

4. Facebook and Twitter? And why?Only Facebook. I feel like I have to many login passwords I hardly ever remember. (Thank goodness for automatic sign in.)
5. If one celeb read your blog, who would you want it to be?Blake Lively, I just love her!
6. What is something you want people to know about your blog?I'm simply me. 
Can't wait to participate again next week!;)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm loving..

This new shirt I just ordered from Janie Rose Boutique.

This Curry Chicken Salad Recipe..

I omitted the grapes. 

And I would add walnuts or pecans for a little extra crunch.

Will probably never make "traditional" chicken salad again.

Love this for a quick summer snack/meal.

The colors turquoise/periwinkle and grey. I have picked up quite a few things with these colors over the past few weeks. 

Nailpolish- Essie Bikini-So-Tini

 Shoes- Nike

Hat- Etsy

And monogram!

My mom made this precious bucket with mine and the hubby's initials.

It is for our magazines. 

Can't wait to stow them away in here.

Hope you are all having a great week!

Weekend in Pictures

You may not know that my weekend starts on Wednesday afternoon.

Crazy I know. 

But I do get up at 3 am, Monday-Wednesday..

And then work until 3 in the afternoon.

Anyways..

Thursday:

I dress up in this little number and had lunch with the neighbor, her mom and her twins at Mrs. Lacy's Magnolia House.

Dress: Target
Shoes: Target (last season)
Nails: Essie Bikini-so-tini

Then we laid by the pool..

Friday:

I didn't really do much except clean.

Dressed up.

Dress: Francesca's (last season)
Necklace- Boutique in Sanford, NC'
Bracelets- Varies

Went to the neighbors house for taquitos and game night! So fun!

Saturday:

I ate lots of watermelon..

Made a half pepperoni/half BBQ chicken pizza.

And watched numerous episodes of The Guardian.

I'm obsessed with this hunk.

Image

Sunday:

Lots of homework. 

Hello. Finals.

Only 6 more days of class.

And then a 3 week break.

Hallelujah!! 

Hope you all had a great weekend! ;)

Book Club Friday

I haven't participated in Book Club Friday for quite some time. 

So I thought I'd link up with Heather from the Blonde..Undercover Blonde.

I have read four books this past week. 

You Know When the Men are Gone

by

Siobhan Fallon

This is an interconnected Army story of the wife's of Fort Hood, Texas while their husband's are deployed. 

It shows what goes on away from the view point of television shows, news programs, or politician's speeches. The trials, tribulations, happiness, and all the twenty million emotions we feel as the people we love most are away from the lives we share for the majority of the year.

Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades Darker

Fifty Shades Freed

by

E.L. James

I know everyone has heard of these..

I hope you all read they are amazing..

Although I'm a little upset I've read them all now.

Wish James will write more in the future.

You can read the blurb here.

I am also in the process of making my own cookbook.

If you would like to pre-order one, comment below or you can contact me on the side bar.

(All my information is listed there.)

They will be sold for $15. 

And will be available this fall.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Tomorrow is my Blog-aversary!

So I will be posting a little something fun to celebrate. 

Stay tuned!

xOxO