The warm spring days that feel more like summer have arrived in middle Tennessee. With our crazy cooler than average April temps, it is a welcome feeling to be wearing flip-flops instead of layers! My family and I are so ready to start spending our evenings outside. Unfortunately, warmer weather has brought out a legion of flying bugs and pests. Thanks to today’s sponsor, DynaTrap, I have a safer way to trap pests both inside and out this summer. 

I love receiving homemade gifts any time of year, but most especially on Mother’s Day.  We are a family of traditions and one that I adore is having the kids serve me breakfast they made themselves. When they were little, Daddy helped of course; but as they got older they wanted to take on more of the responsibility.  I’ve been served everything from toast with jam to chocolate covered strawberries. I know my daughters would love whipping up this simple Blueberry loaf recipe from celeb chef Zipora Einav for me. Baked goods make a perfect Mother’s Day gift!

Blueberry Loaf - a perfect homemade Mother’s Day gift:

Coming of age in the 80’s like I did, it was hard not to see and want to be more like Christie Brinkley. The woman was everywhere! She graced over 200 magazine covers, most notably for fashion, beauty, and swimsuits. It comes as no surprise to me that at 63, Christie is still active in these industries.  In February, Christie added prestige color cosmetics to her Authentic Beauty line and as fate would have it; I finally get to be more like Christie when I received some of her Authentic Beauty products to share with you today. I think they would make perfect Mother’s Day Gifts! 

Are you a blogger looking for a more paid blogging jobs?  I was when I recently read a referral post from a blogging buddy that introduced me to a brand new company called Get Blogged. I visited their site and liked what I saw. They offer paid writing jobs at every blogging level, depending on your domain authority first, rather than your social stats! I signed up and within one week, I received my first paid job! In fact, this introduction post is it. Read on if you would like an in-depth look into Get Blogged. 

Last Saturday was a date day for the husband and me. We got invited to try a new to us pub in the heart of downtown Nashville in SoBro (South of Broadway) as it’s called locally. We’ve been working hard and haven’t been downtown in months, so this date was special.  If you and your significant other need a day a day date too, read on! Come along with me as I show you how fun and tasty it is to eat and do a little day drinking at City Tap House in Nashville. 

For many of us across the United States, it may still look and feel like winter with snow on the ground. Even here in the south, I’m covering my Clematis and Peony bushes while praying that we will see our last freeze or frost warning of the season soon. Our fickle spring weather may be keeping us from working in our gardens, but we can use this time to get our gardening tools in order.  It’s time to clean those shovels and trowels and replace any worn tools. Here in my garden, I’m starting the growing season with a new garden hose nozzle sprayer from Gardenite.