The Bailey Bunch Blog

Not a Sitcom, Real Life

Differences Between The United States And New Zealand

We are officially home from New Zealand and I have so much to share with y’all about our travels! First up though, I thought it would be fun to share some of the differences I noticed between New Zealand and America.

 It’s no question that every country across our beautiful world is completely different. One of the greatest joys of traveling for me personally, is discovering what makes a country unique. You can’t fully prepare yourself for visiting a foreign place, but I hope this list can be helpful to any readers who plan to visit the stunning country of New Zealand from the United States.

Kiwi – You may have heard of New Zealanders being referred to as a “Kiwi”. If you’re anything like me, your mind immediately goes to the fuzzy brown fruit with the seedy lime green center. While New Zealand IS a main producer of the worlds kiwifruit, China actually produces more. The “Kiwi” nickname does NOT derive from the fruit! It actually comes from the native, flightless Kiwi bird which is a national symbol for the country. While visiting a Kiwi Conservatory, we learned all about this beloved bird, whose species are listed on the vulnerable/endangered lists. There has been a nation-wide initiative to save this beloved bird, so the nickname, “Kiwi” isn’t at all offensive to New Zealanders, in fact, its viewed as a symbol of pride and endearment. 

Image result for kiwi bird

Chips – Keeping with food, “Chips” are listed on A LOT of menus as a side item. These are not potato chips, they are french fries! Not at all uncommon in America, “Fish N’ Chips”, is a staple meal in New Zealand. This didn’t at all throw me, I knew when ordering I would be getting fish and fries, but when I ordered a burger and chips, I found myself thinking “Oh yeah, chips are fries here! Duh!” Fries being called chips, I can deal with, but what really boggled my brain was that they don’t serve ketchup with their fries…er, I mean chips! Y’all, get this, they serve tomato sauce with them! Tomato sauce! And this said “tomato sauce” isn’t sitting on the table next to the salt and pepper, like it is in most restaurants here in America! My kids, whom are Nashville natives, could get down with it just fine, but I’m from Pittsburgh, which is home to Heinz, where ketchup is king! I just couldn’t! Call me a ketchup snob, fine, but just give me my Heinz while doing so!

Water – Like in the U.S., water is free in New Zealand. (Did you know water isn’t free in some parts of the world?! In Austria, water actually costs about as much as a beer, which made day drinking there a no brainer for us 😉 Water is not really served in New Zealand like it is here though. It was super common for restaurants to provide a chilled glass bottle of water upon ordering, and any more water needed after this could be refilled at a self-serve water station. Patrick, whom is known to tip higher to servers who keep his water glass filled, absolutely loved this! He so enjoyed being able to control his own water intake! I was indifferent. What I didn’t love is that this said water is consumed without ice! The things you take for granted here in America!! Ice just isn’t served in New Zealand!

Coke – Let it be known, Coke is my coffee! I love me a good Coke mid-day as a pick-me-up! I’ve tried to love coffee but I just can’t. Bleh! Patrick doesn’t love my little love-affair with Coke, but he really didn’t love it in New Zealand…Coke is expensive there! A small can costs about $2, while a 20 oz. bottle is about $3 (In US Dollars) and get this, there are no fountain drinks in New Zealand! At least from what I could see! All restaurants had coolers (which they call a ‘chilly bin’) with cans or bottles you could buy. There were no glasses of Coke served over ice! There were no refills! Even at McDonalds, there was no $1 Coke, there was no self-serve refilling station, and there were no refills in the cups that were considerably smaller than the ones in the U.S.! 

A soft drink I could get my hubby to get behind was L&P. Lemon&Paeroa is a yummy citrus drink that is a New Zealand original and was actually quite lovely! 

Tipping – Tipping is not at all expected in New Zealand! This made their more expensive prices a little easier to swallow. First view at a bill can really get you there! 1 NZ dollar equates to .68 US, so automatically everything just looks more expensive than it actually is! When you add a U.S. tip of 20% into the equation, I’d say realistically, New Zealand prices are only just slightly higher than those in the U.S. for a meal. 

With the lack of a tip at a meal, service wasn’t as good as it is in the U.S. Most places didn’t have servers, but the few we went to that did, weren’t super attentive. 

It was honestly so refreshing to not be hounded for tips after excursions and experiences! Just when you thought a closing statement was going to head in the direction of asking for a tip, they would only ask that you leave a positive review on Trip Adviser or tag them in a photo on Facebook or Instagram. It meant more to them to receive positive words than a few extra dollars. This simple act gave off a feeling of genuine care. New Zealanders want you to enjoy your experience so much that you want to tell others about it! There is no personal gain in their motives! 

Play Areas – Here in America, I hate that the only restaurant choice we have to simultaneously feed and get energy out of our children are fast food spots. Sit down restaurants here just don’t offer a children’s area, which can make going out for a good, healthy meal with your family more of a task than just cooking for them at home! Granted, I seek out child friendly restaurants when traveling, but it’s never hard to find places that welcome children by providing a small area for kids to play in.

This restaurant in Auckland, The Grounds, was actually created by 2 dads so that “foodie” parents could enjoy high quality food and drink, while their kids play!

Image result for the grounds nz playground

One cafe we visited didn’t have a play area, but instead provided a basket of toys for kids to choose something to play with. Kids always like playing with new and different toys, especially when traveling with a limited amount, so this was such a nice touch! Here in America, kids are provided a coloring page and crayons, which can be fun, but can easily get old.

WiFi – Free WiFi isn’t as readily available in New Zealand as it is in the States. Restaurants were hit and miss, and 2/3 hotels I booked didn’t have WiFi in the rooms, only in the lobby. One day, we were really needing internet to look up our flight information, so we went to McDonalds, totally expecting they would have free WiFi…they did, but you had to sign up for it with your email, which is a little sketchy.

I’m not going to lie, it was refreshing to unplug! Not having WiFi made our time together that much more enjoyable because we were in the moment instead of on Instagram. Even with a “good” connection, internet was still pretty slow in New Zealand. 

Driving – I didn’t do any driving in New Zealand, but my husband did, and it’s NOTHING like driving in the States! First of all, New Zealand drivers drive on the opposite side of the road. Additionally, the drivers side is on the opposite side of the car. Further complicating things, the turn signal and windshield wipers swapped sides of the vehicle. It was absolutely hysterical to see the wipers randomly come on when attempting to make a turn! It happened at least once a day and it never got old!! Even more comical, on his first drive back in the States, my husband again put the wipers on when trying to turn! Haha!

Peace – We were unfortunately involved in a hit-and-run accident while sitting at a red light. As the woman sped away from us, she flipped us a peace sign. I was so mad! I wanted to tell her “No peace! You just hit our car and sped away!” I quickly learned that the peace sign doesn’t mean “peace” in New Zealand. It’s actually equivalent to the middle finger here in America. Learning this strangely made me feel better about the entire situation! It was a relief no longer feel like I was expected to show peace for the situation!

Modesty – Cars in New Zealand are very modest. We didn’t see any flashy cars or large vehicles (other than tour vans or shuttles) We saw a handful of pickup trucks, but none had more than a 4 foot bed in the back. This is likely because gas in the country is super expensive! They charge per liter, and a liter was about the same price as a gallon here in the U.S.

Houses were also very modest in New Zealand. Most looked to be older, ranch style homes that couldn’t have been more than 2 or 3 bedrooms. Patrick and I had more than one conversation about how excessive even an average home in the United States must look to people from other countries. 

No Shoes, No Problems! – One of the more jarring things to see was people walking around with no shoes on. I’m not talking about people walking outside of their homes to grab their mail…I’m talking people walking in the grocery store with no shoes on! I first noticed a child walking around the market like this. Being a mom of three little ones, my initial (honest!) thought was “Well she looks a little old to not have shoes on but kudos to those parents for not caring what others would think!” Then I saw grown adults with no shoes on…and not just one or two! I’d say about 1/3 of the people in the grocery store were strolling shoeless! To each their own…but I’m gonna keep my shoes on, thanks! 

Cultural – New Zealand is made up of mainly two types of people, the Maori people, who are of Polynesian descent, and Caucasian people. Given this, you would not expect how cultural the food scene is there! We saw Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Turkish, and Indian Restaurants regularly. We even ate at a South African chicken place! I wouldn’t say New Zealand has their own type of food, but rather it’s a melting pot of different cultures. Our most fun meal in the country was definitely the Maori dinner, which is cooked “hangi” style. A hangi is a giant underground oven where meats, kumara (sweet potatoes) and other vegetables are cooked by the heat of the earth! 

Cleanliness – New Zealand is a very clean country! Kiwis take pride in their beautiful surroundings and it most certainly shows! Recycle bins are all over, sorting paper, plastics and trash. Because of this, there was very little litter! I grew up picking up litter around my neighborhood with my dad. I see red when I see someone in the act of littering, to the point that I will say something to them about it if given the chance! Not an issue in New Zealand! Check out this awesome sign that was posted in a park in Queenstown…

Image may contain: sky and outdoorRest Rooms – One of the biggest differences I see when traveling to other countries are the toilets and bathroom habits in general. It’s seriously fascinating to me to see how we all as a human race treat this common practice so differently!

I feel like America is kind of catching up to New Zealand on their potty practices. All of their toilets have a duel flusher, one button for pee water flow, and a stronger flow for poo with the second button. We are starting to see these more commonly here, though the single lever flusher still rules here. It was also interesting to see how much more water we use in the basin in comparison to the toilets there. 

Almost every toilet I saw was equipped with a SaniPod, a motion activated trash bin for feminem hygiene products…way better than the tiny bins that you have to lift yourself and always seem to be stuffed here in America…these make me shudder just thinking about them!  So unsanitary! The Sani-Pods are quite large, especially in comparison to the boxes here…so if I had to take my guess, their toilets may not be equipped for any product to be flushed, though I don’t know that for certain. 

Traveling as a family of 5, family restrooms are always a relief! We didn’t see family restrooms anywhere out of the ordinary, but when we did see them, they usually had two toilets, one adult sized one, and one child sized one. Some were even equipped with an adult and child sized sink! So very helpful!

I’m sure there are other differences between the United States and New Zealand, but in our time there, these were the main things that jumped out at me! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I had fun compiling it for you!

Be Blessed + Be A Blessing

The Bailey Bunch

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Eight Days In New Zealand With Kids

In one months time, we will be on our way to New Zealand! It was a spur of the moment decision that led to this trip of a lifetime. We just couldn’t pass up the unbelievably low flight prices we found…like lower than they were on Black Friday AND Travel Tuesday!

Now that the holidays and Greta’s 4th Birthday are over, I’ve been planning our trip, which is one of my absolute favorite things to do! I’m just too excited to not share our itinerary and some things I’ve learned about this stunning country while planning! I hope you’ll follow along with our adventures on Instagram! 

DAY 1

New Zealand is made up of two islands, the North and South Islands. We will be flying into Auckland, which is located on the North Island. Auckland is surrounded by over 50 dormant volcanos. On our first day, we will be exploring a few of them, namely Mt. Eden and One Tree Hill.

Mt. Eden is the highest natural point in the city, so it’s known for it’s great view! It’s also known for a huge grass covered crater that we are hoping will help get some of our kiddos energy out 😉

One Tree Hill is the largest volcanic cone on the mainland. Neighboring it is Cornwall Park, which has a playground and free-roaming livestock!

The main goal of our first day is to get as much of our kiddos pent up energy from the flight OUT! Once we get them all run out, we will hop in the car and drive South to the smaller city of Hamilton where we will spend our first night.

DAY 2 

The most popular attraction in Hamilton is Hamilton Gardens. This public garden park is free to visit and is made up of 21 different gardens in varying styles. We will follow a free app that will take us on a self-guided tour of the gardens. 


This photo of Hamilton Gardens is courtesy of TripAdvisor

After getting some morning energy out on our walk around the gardens, we will go on a little drive to Waitomo Cave, which is known for its glow worms. This place is continually named on all of the “Places To Visit Before You Die” lists…can you see why?! 

After this magical boat ride through the cave system, we will head to Rotorua, which is the area we plan to spend the most time in. Rotorua is known for its geothermal activity and its rich Maori culture, but this area is loaded with a number of other unique things to see and do! One of those being a Redwood Forest. We plan to end our day at the Redwoods Treewalk, which is made up of 28 suspension bridges connecting the trees. Keeping with our “glow” theme, we decided to do the night tour, with the trees being illuminated with different colored lights! 

DAY 3 

This is going to be our Geothermal Day! We will begin at Kuirau Park, New Zealand’s only public geothermal park. One of its main features is a bubbling, steaming hot lake.

This area is surrounded by mud pools and hot springs, but we will keep it safe and only indulge in the free thermal foot baths!

Next we will head to Wai-O-Tapu, which is known as a “Geothermal Wonderland”.

This photo of Wai-O-Tapu is courtesy of TripAdvisor

I’m not quite sure what that means, but we will be sure to get there before 10:15 AM, which is when the Lady Knox Geyser erupts each day! After we figure out just what a Geothermal Wonderland is, we plan to visit Kerosene Creek, where a hot spring and freshwater stream meet making it a unique little swimming hole!

To round out our geothermal day, we will visit the picturesque Government Gardens, making sure to check out Sulphur Point and the Blue Baths Bathhouse where the fresh water pool is heated geothermally! This was the first bathhouse in the country that scandalously allowed men and women to bathe together! In their bathing suits, of course! 

DAY 4 

Not far from Rotorua is the largest lake in New Zealand, Lake Taupo, which is home to one of the countries most visited attractions, Huka Falls!

Before hiking to this thundering waterfall, we are going to hit the water for a sailboat tour. The highlight of our tour will be seeing the famous Maori Rock Carvings which are only accessible by water!

This photo of the Maori Rock Carvings is courtesy of TripAdvisor

DAY 5 

Our last day in Rotorua will be a fun one! First, we are going to go Rail Cruising.

I’ve never seen anything like this before! We will have our own private, self driving rail vehicle that will take us along an old abandoned rail road track! Patrick and I are so super excited for this experience!

Next, Patrick and I will take turns going Zorbing! I first saw Zorbing on The Amazing Race, and it immediately went on my bucket list! In order to Zorb, one is put into an inflated plastic ball. Once inside, the ball is then rolled down a giant hill! It sounds so silly, but y’all, it looks like so much fun!

I can’t wait to check this off my bucket list!! Zorbing actually originated in Rotorua, so it’s a definite must!

After our adventurous day, we will attend a traditional Maori dinner. Much of New Zealand’s population is made up of Maori people, whom are native Polynesians. Rotorua is known to have a very rich Maori culture and we are excited to take it all in at this interactive dinner! The meal will be a traditional Hangi feast, which is actually cooked in an underground oven!

 
This photo of Te Puia of courtesy of TripAdvisor

Additionally, we will tour the Te Puia village by boat, and get to watch cultural performances of the poi and haka dances! 

DAY 6 

We will be heading back to Auckland for a flight to the South Island. On our way back we are going to stop in Hobbiton, otherwise known as “The Shire” from The Lord of the Rings movies!

All of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies were filmed in New Zealand. The Shire is one of the sets that became a permanent fixture to the country. Additionally we will be having lunch there, feasting on whatever it is that hobbits would typically feast upon.

Most all of the flights between the islands are out of Auckland, which is why we have to travel back to fly to the South Island. It was ultimately the faster and cheaper option. By the end of the night we will be in Queenstown! 

DAY 7 

One of the must see places in New Zealand is Milford Sound, a fiord in Fiordland National Park.

We will be taking a bus tour there followed by a boat cruise on the fjord. This is an all day affair, so we are just going to kick back and take in all the sights of what Rudyard Kipling called the “8th Wonder of the World”. 

Day 8 

Our last day in the country will be spent in Queenstown.

We didn’t see the need for renting a car in the South Island, so our time here will be pretty lax, for a city that is anything but. Queenstown is pretty much the adventure capital of the world! I mean it is the place where bungy jumping was originated! Many say a jump is a “must” if in Queenstown, but y’all, it’s just not my jam! I never say never, but I’d bet high stakes I will not be making any jumps!

We will however visit Skyline, where we will take a gondola ride up a mountain …

…followed by a Luge ride down! This was one of the few activities that Beau is old enough to do solo, allowing us enough arms to do as a family!

We will explore the area a little longer on foot before flying back to Auckland. The next day we will fly out of Auckland bright and early making the long journey home. We are going to spend a night in L.A. to break up our flights since we do have a layover in Sydney on the way back, tacking on some extra hours in a plane.

There is so much to see and do in this gorgeous country! I could have planned an entire month with all the things we wanted to experience! It’s funny, Patrick’s brother, James, his wife, Drew, and their two kiddos will be in New Zealand the same time as us, but we are essentially going on completely different vacations! They wanted to experience different things than us, so we chose to split up…there are THAT many cool things to see in New Zealand! We are going to share an apartment in Rotorua, so we will swap stories each night 🙂 I’m a little jealous we aren’t getting to experience the natural phenomenon that is Hot Water Beach, where you get to dig your own spa pool! Naturally heated mineral water just seeps up through the sand and fills the pit…it looks SO cool! We just couldn’t make it work sadly! James and Drew are also prioritizing a day hike in Tongariro, which is a UNESCO World Heritage location, so you know it’s going to be stunning! We just didn’t think our kids could hang on a long hike. Like I said, there is just SO.MUCH.TO.DO. in New Zealand! So looking forward to sharing our experiences with y’all!

Be Blessed + Be A Blessing

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Lilybelle’s Winter Onederland First Birthday Party!

I’m not quite sure how it happened so fast, but my littlest love is ONE!

If y’all know me, you know that Birthdays are my jam! My philosophy is that Birthdays are our own personal holiday, and should be treated and celebrated as such! Even though my little one year old will never remember her special day, I still celebrated it as if she would, because there is just something so special about celebrating that very first year! I go big for all Birthdays, but I go biggest for the first! Though my little Lilybelle Louise is my third baby and time and energy are slim to none these days, her first Birthday party was no exception! 

Theme

I decided on our “Winter Onederland” theme last year as we waited in a ridiculously long line (I’m talking over an hour long line!) to see Santa Claus just days before Christmas. With a 4 year old, a 2 year old and 1 month old, I vowed that I would not be visiting “Mall Santa” next year! **Happy Dance** I will NOT be visiting Mall Santa this year! Or possibly ever again! More on Santa a little later 😉 

It was easy for the Winter Onederland ideas to snowball – pun intended! Mixing Christmas and a Birthday Party makes for SNOW.MUCH.FUN. 

Invitations

I went custom on our invites for this party. 

It seemed only natural to change the words of “Jingle Bells” to “Lilybelle” 🙂 And I of course had to make it snow 😉 

I created these using my brand new Cricut Maker Machine.

SIDE NOTE: I got my new Cricut Machine for half the price by redeeming my Ibotta Rewards! If you don’t have this app, you need to download it! It’s like redeeming a coupon after you go shopping. Those coupon savings accumulate and you can redeem the money in the form of gift cards to over 75 different merchants or even as cash in your Pay Pal or Venmo accounts! Hear me when I say, You Gotta Ibotta! To date, I’ve earned $364.42…how many apps can you say have given you that?! I’m willing to bet not many! If you’d like to join up, please do so under my referral code. You would be helping me earn more free money, andddd you’ll receive $10 in your account! Just click here to go to my Ibotta Referral Link and you can thank me later 😉

Decor

Party decor is where I thrive! I love, love, love to put a party together! I pride myself in making most all of my party decor, again, with the help of my Cricut Machine! Each Party has to have a personalized “Happy Birthday” Sign…

For 1st Birthday parties, I also like to create some sort of sign that allows me to show off a monthly photo, because they grow and change so much in the first year! For Lilybelle’s Winter Onederland, I went with a present theme, combining the phrase, “Best Gift Ever” with each months photo. I just adore how this sign turned out!

First Birthday parties also call for a high chair banner…

While it was a quick turnaround from Halloween to Christmas, I have so much peace knowing that all of my party decor will be staying up through the holiday season! It was especially fun crafting up my Santa Claus Photo Backdrop! I think I captured Winter Onederland quite perfectly with this snowy decor! All was purchased this season at Hobby Lobby and At Home, with the exception of the throw pillow, which was a Marshall’s find, and the Reindeer, which is a few years old now.

Entertainment

Every party needs some sort of entertainment, and what better form of entertainment than Santa Claus himself?! 

First, Santa talked with the kids and answered any questions they had.

Then he read “The Night Before Christmas”, and the kids were all enamored by him! I mean these are some tiny tots and they all sat so quietly and listened!

Each child also patiently waited their turn to sit on Santa’s lap and put in their gift requests. Santa spent special time with each kid. I was so impressed with his ability to make each child feel special. 

Santa Rand was the absolute sweetest! We couldn’t have been any happier with him! If you are ever wanting to book a Santa in the Nashville area, give Santa Rand a call! I have a feeling a personal visit from him is going to become an annual event at our house…you can’t beat the one-on-one interaction, nor the ability to take as many photos as you’d like! Plus there was no standing in line or having to find a parking space…like I said before, I may never visit “Mall Santa” again! 

Food

My husband gets credit for our holiday dinner spread! He said we couldn’t have a Christmas themed party without Christmas dinner, and I couldn’t agree with the man more! We picked up two pre-cooked and pre-sliced hams from Costco. They were so simple and simply yummy! I prepared make-ahead potatoes that are required to sit overnight, so on party day we only had to pop them in the oven. We also served our recipe for “Rudy’s Creamed Corn”, which is so simple to prepare and serves the masses! Lastly we offered some warm rolls. Party day food has to be simple, and this spread was exactly that! I unfortunately didn’t grab a photo of it, but someone did happen to snap a photo of my little elves setting it all up 😉 

Desserts

What’s Christmas without cookies? I put my mom on our “Christmas Cookie Table”, and the woman knocked it out of the park! From classic Chocolate Chip Cookies to labor intensive Baklava, my mom delivered a most impressive spread! 

If you’ve ever been to a Pittsburgh wedding, then surely you’ve experienced a “Pittsburgh Cookie Table”, every traditional Pittsburgh bride has one at her reception! This here is just a sampling of what my mom came up with for my wedding cookie table! The woman should have a side gig creating cookie tables, but she said it’s a “labor of love”…we felt the love! 

I set up a “Hot Cocoa Bar” to accompany the cookies. Fixins included crushed peppermint, marshmallows, shaved chocolate, and peppermint or chocolate marshmallow sticks! 

Cake

I wanted a simple cake that looked like snow. I used this recipe, and was very impressed with the taste of the cake itself! My only addition was a layer of lemon filling, as I thought it would pair nicely with the coconut. I wasn’t really thinking of “yellow snow” until I was making it…oh well! It tasted good anyhow! 

The icing recipe was a headache and a half! I’m not sure what I did wrong, but it never thickened up and we ended up having to make a classic buttercream to save all my efforts! Topped with the shredded coconut, you’d never know what a mess I’d originally made out of this cake! 

Details

To me, it’s the little things that make a party most memorable! I’m all about the little details that set a party apart! Here are a few of my favorites from Lilybelle’s Winter Onederland Party!

Early on I had the idea to donate Lilybelle’s Birthday to charity. We are extremely blessed and want for absolutely nothing. This is the season for giving, and I want our kids to learn that from a young age. I felt like this is truly the best gift I can give to them, and I’m so thankful our friends and family helped us in it!

We decided to partner with The Ronald McDonald House of Nashville, and are so excited to bless the families staying there this holiday season with a dinner and all of these wonderful gifts donated at Lilybelle’s Birthday Party!

We will be collecting gifts until December 15th, so if you would like to donate a gift to the children at the Ronald McDonald House, let me know, and we can deliver it for you!

I wanted Lilybelle to have something special to remember her special day by! I set up this “Letters For Lilybelle” station, asking friends to write Lilybelle a letter that she will receive on her 18th Birthday! 

If you’d like to send our girl a letter, I will gladly add it to little collection! I think this will be so special when her 18th Birthday comes!

I had a crafting station set up for the kids, complete with letters for Santa that they could color and put inside our special mailbox!

Another fun little detail for the kiddos were our Snowman Juice Boxes 🙂 My kiddos loved helping me set them up and were so excited for the party to start so they could finally have one!

Parting Gift

Aside from sending our guests home with their Christmas crafts and a carton of cookies, we set up a station for them to grab some Reindeer Food, so now the kiddos will be fully ready for Santa to come on Christmas Eve!

So that’s our Winter Onederland Party! I hope you enjoyed reading all about it! From my family to yours, enjoy this holiday season!

Be Blessed + Be A Blessing,

The Bailey Bunch

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Must, Lust or Bust – FabFitFun Edition

Most of my writing juices these days are going towards my book, but I do sometimes need an outlet to write about things a little lighter, so that’s going to be this new little column I’m calling “Must, Lust or Bust” and today is the FabFitFun Edition!

If you’re anything like me, you’ve gotten sucked into watching more than one of the Celebrity Endorsed FabFitFun boxes. They’re kinda fascinating to watch, am I right?! Even though I know what’s in the box, I continually watch them to see how different celebs describe whats inside! But again, if you’re anything like me, you wonder “Is it REALLY worth it?” With so many influencers out there now, I don’t know who to trust and believe! Are our favorite stars just trying to sell us something?

Technically, I guess I could be considered an “influencer” since I am a blogger, but I don’t consider myself that type of blogger…I blog because I genuinely enjoy writing. Plus y’all know, I would never endorse something just to make a quick buck. It’s not worth it to me. I take pride in giving my readers 100% honesty and transparency into my life. If I ever do a sponsored post, it is because I reached out to the company personally, because I believe in them and want to write about their product. All that to say, this is not a sponsored post! This is purely just a real review of this company. 

Y’all, I filled out the information to sign up for FabFitFun more times than I can remember! But when it came time to put in my payment information, I always stalled. I don’t know why! It wasn’t until a friend offered me a free Starter Box that I finally bit on it. I only had to pay shipping, which was $5.00, so I thought, why not? 

The following came in my Starter Box…

Ahava Mineral Hand Cream ($33 value)…You may not have heard of this brand, but y’all it’s legit THE luxury brand in Israel! When Patrick and I visited Masada and The Dead Sea, Ahava brand was everywhere, and it wasn’t cheap! Ahava uses water, mud and salt from the Dead Sea in their products, so they are super concentrated and ultra healing. This was an awesome start to my box! 

The next thing I took notice of was this Free People Eye Mask ($40 value). When I watched the videos, this product stuck out to me as something I’d like to have! So check it, the top has a cute vegan leather star design…I’ve never had such a luxurious eye mask before! The back of the mask, which touches your face, is a super soft cotton. Inside the mask is a gel pack that is quite refreshing! I love that the gel pack can be removed for washing! This mask has an adjustable elastic strap so you can achieve a perfect fit, and I kid you not, it blacks out EVERYTHING! Awesome eye mask! I’m super happy with this! 

Next up, I got one of the Spongelle Reusable Sponges ($16 value) that also sounded so super cool in the videos! This was one of the lower ticket items, but I was so excited to get it in my Starter Box! The adorable little flower shaped sponge is infused with body wash (that smells really good!) and will lather up for at least 14 showers. I took it on our trip to New York so I didn’t have to pack body wash…this product is great for travel! 

My last item was this Summer and Rose Beach Bag ($54 value). This is the only brand in my starter box that I wasn’t familiar with. This bag screams summer with stripes and the rope handles! I actually have one that looks similar that I got on a cruise…I think I shelled out about $35 for that bag. The Summer and Rose bag has some features that I really enjoy! First off, it’s lined, which is always nice! Secondly, it has a zipper top, which is so necessary! My other bag doesn’t have these features, so I really believe I’ll enjoy this bag! I would have chosen the black and white if I had my choice, but the blue and white is fine too.

Overall, I was so impressed with the starter box that I not only signed up to continue receiving the boxes, but I joined as a Select Customer! With it I’ll get extra customization of my box, I’ll get earlier shipping of my box and early access to members only sales. Additionally, by paying the $179.99 upfront, I saved $20, as 4 seasonal cycles cost $50 per box. 

Yesterday I received my first full FabFitFun Box! I was seriously stalking my window for the delivery truck to arrive! I was a smidge bit bummed when I opened my box to find that there were a few mistakes. As I said before, I signed up to be a Select Customer, so I had extra say in what I would receive, and two of the items I picked were wrong. All is well that ends well right? They ended up letting me keep the mistakes and are sending out what I had previously requested! 

So here is what came in my first box! 

First, I could choose between a Vince Camuto vegan leather bag ($128 value!) in Red Desert or Black OR Crown Makeup Brush Set ($75 value) in silver or rose gold. Both brush choices came complete with a travel case. I opted for the black Vince Camuto bag. It’s really a beautiful bag! It’s not as big as I thought it would be…I thought it would have a flat bottom and be more of a purse, but it’s thinner. It actually makes for a perfect computer bag, which I actually prefer! I have nice purses, I don’t however have a nice computer bag, so this will be that for me! It would also be perfect for keeping papers that you are traveling with from getting bent (hmm…perhaps my book?!), or even diapers, wipes and a changing pad for the chic mom on the go! Definitely happy with this bag! 

Next, I got to choose between a Catherine Melandrino Umbrella ($40 value) in black and white or red, or Cylo Cobra Bluetooth Wireless Headphones ($40 value) in black or white. I chose the red umbrella as it had a happy floral design on it, but they accidentally sent me the white headphones instead. My Birthday gift last year was a pair of Bose Bluetooth Wireless Headphones, so I didn’t really need another pair BUT I kinda made Patrick’s day when I gave him the Cylo pair as he often thiefs mine! I’m super excited for my umbrella to get here! I could have used it this week!!

My next choice was between an Alfred Ceramic Teapot ($26 value) or an Alfred French Press ($22 value) I chose the Teapot, but instead received the French Press. I’m not a coffee drinker, so this was a no go for me! However, I think I’m in the 1% of the world who doesn’t drink coffee, so I’ll end up gifting this to someone with a nice bag of coffee this holiday season 🙂 How cute is the teapot that is coming my way?!

All members got to make the above choices! Next, I’m going to go over the extras I got to choose between as a Select Member. 

It was a tough choice between three Grown Alchemist products! I ended up choosing the Exfoliant ($67 value) over the Day Cream ($49 value) and Cream Cleanser ($49 value). 

Lastly, I ended up choosing the the Farmacy Dew It All Eye Cream ($38 value) over the Touch In Sol Foil Lipstick ($25 value) and the Cuccio Somatology Detox Bath ($40 value) 

As if that wasn’t enough, every box also came with a Beautyblender ($20 value) Set of Simply Whimsical Tea Towels ($15 value), a set of GlamGlow Bubblesheet Masks ($18 value), Skin & Co Shower Gel ($22 value) and a Luna Bar – who doesn’t love a good snack right?! Haha! 

I am going to rank FabFitFun boxes as “Lusty-Must”. They certainly aren’t a bust! You get A LOT of great, full sized products for the price! But are they a must? Probably not…but gosh, what a treat these boxes are if you have the extra funds! I would say they are most definitely worth the $50 fee per month! I mean, my first box totaled $370.00 worth of swag…that’s more than the cost of the entire year’s worth of boxes!!! If you are the type of person who enjoys trying new things, then I suggest you try out FabFitFun! If you do, feel free to use my referral code so you can get $10 off your first box, and I can get a $15 credit…I scratch your back, you scratch mine, right?! Haha! That’s a really weird saying the more that I think about it…! Anyhow, I hope y’all enjoyed this post! Next up, I’m going to review Coco and Eve Like A Virgin Hair Masque…have y’all seen it yet?! If not, look it up! I was a complete sucker for their video on Instagram…I’ll share if it was worth it or not after I finish my next chapter! 

A little book update: I just finished Chapter #3 on “Peace” and I am so happy with the way it came together! Early on in this chapter I was at a loss, and after poking around some old unpublished files, I found a ton of writings that related to this chapter! God is truly proving his provision to me on this project! October’s chapter is on the fruit of “Patience”…I’m praying God comes up big again this month because this a topic I don’t feel I’ve quite mastered in my own motherhood yet 😉 I definitely don’t feel qualified to be dualing out parenting advice on this topic, but as I always say, God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called!

Be Blessed + Be A Blessing

 

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Facing My Fear…

I’m writing a book. 

There, I said it! It’s out there! Phu! 

It’s a Christian book about motherhood titled “The Fruits Of Our Labor”. In it, I rawly reveal the many truths that God has been rooting in my heart, while instructing the importance of keeping the ‘Fruits of the Holy Spirit’ in daily motherhood. 

I’ve been a little reluctant and anxious about putting this news out there for all to see, but while at church this past week, I realized I had to. I realized doing so would actually bring me peace, which coincidently is the Fruit of the Spirit that I am currently writing a chapter about, so peace is heavy on my heart these days. 

It’s impossible to have peace when you are living in fear, and me not sharing this news and these plans was me living in fear. I can’t explain why it’s so scary to share this news, but I suspect it’s my heavy fear of failure. Namely, my fear of not finishing. Writing a book while raising 3 young children is no easy feat! It’s so simple to lose course, as you’ll learn I’ve done, more times than I’d like to admit. 

While at church on Sunday, I came to the realization that my fear is all the more reason TO share! I need your prayers! I need your encouragement! I need your positivity to help me through the negative times that will continue to come on this journey! Let’s be real, this is a book about God, the enemy does NOT want to see it come to fruition and WILL continue to create obstacles to make it all the more difficult to complete. 

Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 

Though it was a surprise to me when God called me to write about Him, it wasn’t a surprise to God. He created me to do this! So why have I feared? Why has it taken me so long? Well, that’s all part of my story… 

My Testimony 

I’ve always known the Lord. I’ve always loved the Lord. I was Baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church, and I went to a Catholic School from Kindergarten through 12th Grade. Though I no longer choose to practice the Catholic religion, I am so thankful for the way my parents decided to raise me, because it has lead me to right now, this moment, where I get to share all the things God is doing in my life! 

From a young age, I had a big appetite for the Lord! I always craved for more. It wasn’t until I was an adult, in college at Robert Morris University, that I started to explore my faith more. I attended a Chi Alpha Campus Ministry Service, and I was so filled by the worship and the Word. It was so real! It was so relevant! It was so raw! It was so honest, and right then and there, I knew, this was how I wanted to live my life. But knowing and doing are two completely different things…

I found myself caught in the chains of confliction. I was left wondering if I should follow my heart or follow my mind. My heart was telling me to explore my faith further so I could find what I had been yearning for, while my mind was telling me to follow the rules of what I was taught to be true my entire life. I didn’t know it then, but I was under attack! The enemy saw me, eager, but weak in my faith. I was such an easy target. 

Can I share something with you that I wish I knew back then? When you really have Jesus in your heart, it is so much harder for the enemy to get into your mind. 

When I’m confused, I shut down, a trend you’ll see again in my story. When I’m conflicted in making an important decision, I’m prone to choose nothing instead of something. It’s been said, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” And fall I did. I always remained a relatively “good girl”, but the next few years of my life were definitely my most reckless because they were lived at such a distance from Jesus. 

Shortly after I met my future husband, Patrick, he invited me to a Couples Bible Study with him. I had never been to a Bible Study before. I didn’t know what to think going into it, but I was open to exploring it. After a few weeks, the topic of Salvation came up, and I listened as it was explained that I could know I was saved just as long as I accepted Jesus into my heart, claiming Him as my Lord and Savior. As I drove home that evening, I pondered this. I mean, I thought I was saved, and I thought I had Jesus in my heart, I knew He was my Lord and Savior, but I wondered if He knew that I knew, because I never really told Him He was…so while sitting at a red light with my turn signal on, I officially turned my life over to God as I prayed “Lord, I know I’ve known you all my life, but just in case you don’t know, I claim you as my Lord and Savior!” The light turned green and I’ve been “going” on my journey ever since, fully knowing where I’ll be when my journey ends, no matter what! 

Wrong Write 

When Patrick and I moved to Nashville in 2011, he suggested that I hold off from getting a job right away. He wanted me to like Nashville, so he wanted me to have the time to make friends, explore and delve into any opportunity that came my way. I had been working since I had turned 15 years old, so not working, was not something I was used to! I’m not one to sit still, so I had big plans to write. I already had a blog I was keeping up with, but with my newfound free time, I was going to write a book! It was going to be a cutesy chick-lit book that would make for a fun read and write. I had a group of girlfriends who were reading and critiquing as I wrote, and I was confident in the direction I wanted to go with it. Around the same time, I also started to attend the Tennessee Titans Women’s Bible Study. It was here that I felt the Lord speak to me for the very first time in my life. 

When God revealed to me that He wanted me to write about Him instead of other things, I was terrified! My first thought was “Who am I, Lord? Why would you want me to write about You?” It was quite comedic to later learn that Moses had the same initial reply to the Lord when he was called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Through Moses’ story I learned that God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called! But it took awhile for that truth to fully sink in…

The more I felt the Lord prompt me to write about Him, the more I fought back. I was so defiant that I would literally say out loud to Him “You’ve got the wrong girl! I don’t even know enough about you! That’s why I go to Bible studies, so I can learn about you! I can’t do this!” As I would sit down to continue writing my story, I would continually feel the Lord tell me He wanted me to write His story. I was beyond frustrated with my Maker! I didn’t want to write about Him, and if He wasn’t going to leave my heart alone about the matter, then I wasn’t going to write at all. I quit writing my story. I quit writing my blog. I quit writing all together, but God never quit on me. 

When we would go to Church on Sundays, I felt the Lord speaking to me. I knew what He wanted from me, the words being preached were tailored to me, but I didn’t want to do it! One Sunday I burst into tears after the service. I’m sure Patrick thought I was a new kind of crazy as I explained to Him that the reason I was crying was because I felt God calling me to write about Him. I remember him saying “Oooookay, so write about Him.” He didn’t understand that it wasn’t that easy! I didn’t want to write about God. 

My heart aches at my disobedience. I wasted so much time. A plethora of precious time that I had back before I had children. But God always knew how long it would take to soften my heart. My defiance wasn’t a surprise to Him, He knew and planned for it all along. Psalm 139:16 says, “…all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” My book is written in His book! He created me to do this! 

The Fruits Of My Labor 

When I became a Mother, I learned more about my Heavenly Father. The more I learned, the more I found that I was capable of writing about Him, and in fact, I did want to write about Him. I wanted to share with others about His unconditional love because for the first time in my life, I understood what unconditional love was. 

In 2015, I brought back my blog, promising myself that I would write about whatever came to my heart, even if that meant writing about God. For months I shared things I wouldn’t normally share on my blog. I became transparent in my writing, not caring how my truth would make me look to the outside world. Sometimes it made me breathless as I typed words, because I knew in my heart, they weren’t my words, they were God’s. It was interesting to learn that the tougher the subject matter was for me to share, the greater the response was from other women. I would field personal emails from many women thanking me for my posts, as they were walking through the same difficult thing. Reading that someone else was going through something similar normalized their struggle while it made me feel like my writing had real purpose.  

It wasn’t until my sister-in-law, Chassidy, sent me a book titled “Hope Unfolding: Grace-Filled Truth For The Momma’s Heart” that I realized God’s greater plan. This wonderful book, which I highly suggest, is written by Becky Thompson, the author behind the blog, Scissortail Silk. That was my “Aha!” moment! I realized that all along, God was writing my book through my blog, and now it was up to me to put the pieces together! Those crazy promptings that I was now being obedient to, were the subjects I was to be writing about! I don’t remember when or how the title, “The Fruits Of Our Labor” was laid upon my heart, but I felt strongly this was to be the name of my project. When I looked back through my past blog posts and unpublished writings, my heart started to flutter as I realized I had content that would relate to each Fruit of the Holy Spirit…Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. I knew it would still take a lot of work to elaborate on each subject, but I felt such a burden lifted knowing that I had a head start on each chapter! God has truly proven His provision to me through this project! He is so very good to us when we choose to take up our own cross in His name. 

So there I was, with all the pieces of the puzzle spread out before me, just waiting for me to put them all together. For the first time ever, I was ready and willing to write for and about God! The timing seemed perfect, it was the start of a new year, my kids were at ages where they weren’t as dependent upon me to entertain them constantly, their nap times were synced up, and their father had finally figured out how to schedule his Grad School classes on just two days a week so he would be around to help in this season. 2017 was going to be my year! 

2017 wasn’t my year. 2017 was Lilybelle’s year. When I was so ready to be selfish with my time, God clearly called me to be selfless with it. I both conceived and gave birth to my third child in 2017. It was a shocker of a pregnancy for me. I had only gone to see my doctor because I needed another prescription for my birth control. Can you even imagine my shock when the nurse told me “birth control isn’t going to be necessary this time…” Sure, I wanted more children, and a baby is always a blessing, I knew what a gift from God this child was, but mentally, physically and emotionally, I wasn’t at all prepared to receive it. Not to mention, my husband was in Grad School and we hadn’t seen a paycheck come in in 3 years time…

I tried to stay the course in my writing plans, but this pregnancy took every ounce of energy right out of me. When I tried to tune in to God, I only heard static. I was so confused! Had I not heard God correctly all these years? Had I misinterpreted His plans for my life? Silence still. Y’all, I was too tired to even care! I knew I was in a bad place. I knew I needed to be poured into, not pouring out in this difficult season of my life. I took it as a sign that there must be something more God wanted me to learn through this pregnancy.

After Lilybelle arrived, I kept waiting to hear His voice, or see a sign, but I continually got nothing. Clearly, God was teaching me patience, amongst other things in this drawn out season of silence. I continued to keep my ears, eyes and heart open to the Lord. When He was ready to use me, I would be ready to say “Here I am Lord.” 

That time of course came. After hearing a Sermon on Spiritual Alignment, I came to the realization that all these years of back and forth had knocked me out of alignment with God. When a car goes out of alignment, you take it to a mechanic and get it fixed. When your body is out of alignment, you go to a chiropractor to get it fixed. When your faith is out of alignment, you need those around you to help get you back on track. You see, we need help from others to help fix our problems, we can’t do it all alone! I met with my pastors wife and opened up to some other women of faith whom I admire and trust about my writing. I started openly talking to Patrick about my plans to begin writing again. I’m sure he was thinking “Here we go again…” but this time proved to be different. I started to be intentional about sharing what I was writing with this select group of loved ones, and their support has been integral to my books ongoing development. 

This book is meant to be a transparent look into my motherhood where I unabashedly share my struggles so I can help other mothers who are too afraid to admit they too are struggling. Me hiding the plans for it isn’t me being transparent, it’s me living in fear of what other people will think, it’s me living without trust in my Lord that He IS going to finish this book! 

2 Corinthians 12:9 reads, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” Bring on your power Lord, because I’m all in and ready to shout out each and every one of my weaknesses to bring glory to Your name! 

Friends, please keep me and “The Fruits Of Our Labor” in your thoughts in prayers! Your encouragement is so very welcomed in this endeavor! I look forward to the day that I can share my finished product with you!

So now you know, I haven’t gone anywhere and I’m definitely still writing! I’ve just been putting all of my focus on my book instead of my blog these days 🙂

Be Blessed + Be A Blessing

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