First Days of School 2018

Last week all three of my kids had their first day of school - 2nd grade, kindergarten, and preschool.  And I have to say...I'm so glad our district started on Wednesday instead of Monday because I got so burnt out from those three days, I can't imagine if we had to jump straight into a five day week!

The night before school starts I always have the same thoughts running through my head...

Did we do enough this summer?  Did we spend enough actual quality time together?  Did I prep them enough for their upcoming grade?  I wish we had just a few more days to do something fun, etc...

Some days we did a ton, and some days we did nothing.  And I have to admit, we also had really tough days with having three kids home all day together, often times arguing, and getting in each other's way.  But overall I think we had a fun summer, and it went by way too fast.

Now that school has started, I definitely miss our leisurely summer mornings, as opposed to the chaotic early morning rush on school days.  But the smiles on my kids' faces about going to school sure helped a lot!  Shaylin and Landon are at the same school for the first time and I think they get a kick out of it.  Landon has been waiting for two years to be in Shaylin's former kindergarten teacher's class so he was especially excited to start school.

Aubri started preschool the following day and I think I'm still in denial.

With a July birthday, she is a young three, and with her being my baby it's especially hard to believe that she is school age already.  She is the only one that I have been home with from day one, so we are also very much used to being together all the time.  

I didn't have to actually leave her on the first day because it was an orientation day for both kids and parents. We got to explore the classroom, do a scavenger hunt, play outside, and meet some new friends.  But tomorrow I will be dropping her off so that will be the real test for both of us.  Fingers crossed for all smiles!

Sending the kids off to school is such an emotional time for a parent.  It's the start of a new season, which can be both exciting and nervewrecking. It's not always easy watching your child navigate new situations and new people.  You can never fully predict how the first day will go, and as the school year goes on too, we can only hope and pray that they will work hard, be confident in who they are, and surround themselves with friends that are kind, supportive, and uplifiting.  They grow up so fast...I really just hope they enjoy these elementary/preschool years and make lots of fun memories.

Here's to hoping that all of our kids out there have a fun and happy school year!

xo,
Carly

  

Summer Sunnies with DIFF Eyewear

If you live in a place like San Diego where the weather is pretty nice and sunny year-round, sunglasses are a common accessory to have on hand.  And I'm no exception.  In fact, I never leave home without a pair (or two) of sunglasses either in my purse, or in the car.  My sensitive eyes need it!

A while back I came across DIFF Eyewear while window shopping new sunnies, and was immediately intrigued by the company's #makeaDIFFerence mission.  Did you know that for every pair of sunglasses sold, DIFF donates a pair of reading glasses to someone in need?  Over the past few years, DIFF has donated over 620,000 pairs of eyeglasss.  Now that's a company I can get behind!  Read more about how DIFF gives back.

Since I am somewhat of a sunglasses addict, I recently decided that it was time (yet again) for a new pair.  I decided to go back to DIFF, and with this being my second pair from them, I thought it was a good time to finally do a blog post so here we are!

The style I chose to go with are The Cruz aviators in black + the grey gradient lens.  I wanted to try out one of their pink mirror lens glasses, but the one I wanted was sold out.  No worries though, because my go-to color for most accessories is black anyway!  

They're so lightweight on your face, and super comfortable to wear.  I also think they're the perfect size, and just a nice classic aviator style to add to your collection.  I'm a fan for sure!

Sidenote: Aubri's sunglasses aren't DIFF, but if your mini-me is looking for matching sunglasses, Lil DIFF sunglasses are available, which are smaller versions of some of your favorite styles.

If you're interested in trying out a pair of DIFF sunglasses, click HERE for a 20% off coupon!  

And one more pic, just because Shaylin never passes up a chance to tell me that she can almost wear my shoes and clothes...and apparently she can already wear my sunglasses too!  

And I think she wears them better than me!

xo,

Carly

Clearance Scores! | Old Navy & Kohls

Hellllooooo friends!  So it's been awhile, right?!  It's actually been a couple of months since my last blog post, which was posted right around the last day of school for my kids.  Not long after that, SUMMER hit and it's been a whirlwind ever since. 

We have a couple of weeks left in summer, but I decided now was a good time to jump back into the blog before the chaos of back to school starts.  Today I thought it would be fun to share my recent clearance shopping haul from Old Navy and Kohls.  

One thing about me...I am a bargain shopper.  I almost always shop sales and or with coupons, and truly dislike paying full price for anything.  Even it it's something expensive, I'll wait until I can get it on sale.  When it comes to clothes, I especially LOVE finding a good deal, and I always scan the clearance section when I'm shopping, just to see if I can score something.  It's always a fun challenge!

Last week I went to Old Navy with the intention of finding some clothes for the kids. I found some things for Aubri, but these two tops in particular were such great deals!  $2.97 each! 

Kids just grow too fast, and they get everything dirty or put holes in them so clothes for under $3 is right up my alley.  Especially with 3 kids.  And since it's still very warm here, these summery tops were great finds for Aubri.

Now on to Kohls.  If you're not a Kohls shopper, you really should be, AND you should also get their credit card.  They have amazing deals, coupons and discounts all the time and best of all, they let you stack deals.  Going in, I had the following:

30% off coupon for using my Kohls charge
$10 Kohls cash to redeem
$5 rewards
plus their California Tax Break 3 day savings of 10%
And yes...I got to use ALL of those deals on one transaction!

I found this Vera Wang bracelet that I liked, and after being on clearance and after my discounts, I got it for $3.87.  

But my best score of the day was this top that after all the discounts, I got for $1.20.  How insane is that?!?

If you have time this week, head over to Kohls because you'll earn $10 Kohls cash for every $50 spent through 8/12. Also, if you shop online with your Kohls charge, use code TRENDY30 for 30% off through 8/12.

And a couple of Old Navy deals for you:

Use code FREESHIP for free shipping on orders of $25 or more,
and everything online is 35% off today 8/6.

Check out her pose, lol!

Those are my clearance finds for this week!  If I come across any others I will be sure to share them.  Have a great week!

xo,

Carly