High Five For Friday!

Happy Friday! Can you believe that it's already March 1 - yikes!  I can't wait for warmer weather and spring, February has been cold and snowy here in Iowa.  Today is also my Grandma's 93rd Birthday - she's an amazing lady and I'm so happy that she is still with us! :)

On to official business...

one. I found this green dress at Express this week.  I can't wait to wear it! I love green on blondes but I think my legs need to catch some sun before I do. However, it might make an appearance with tights, boots and a jean jacket, you never know!  My sister also found her bridesmaid dress at Express.  She chose this one.

two. I got this blue nail polish in one of my Birchboxes awhile back.  I wasn't brave enough to wear it until now.  I like it. I think. It's been distracting me all day.

three. Last weekend my dear friend Kenzie from 100 Pretty Broken Pieces hosted a smokey eye class! It was fun and for a lot of reasons.  First, my sister and her friend came along, we learned how to do a smokey eye, and we got FREE margaritas, chips and salsa, and nachos! So what if the lighting was bad to put on makeup!!

four. My blog journal has been filling up so quickly over the past few months.  When I started this blog I never thought I would have enough things to be able to write 5 posts a week now I have more than enough and need to remind myself to take a break. :)

five. Since my sister was in Iowa this past weekend I took Friday off to hang out with her. It was so fun to spend time with her and do girl/sister stuff.  We decided to go to Safe Haven. It was AWESOME. Possibly my new favorite movie!

Any weekend plans?! I hope that whatever you decide to do, it's a lot of fun!

I'm linking up with From My Grey Desk and That Friday Blog Hop!

My Beauty Secret

Source

Water.  

Yep. That's it. Pretty simple.

I'm not sure why it took me nearly 30 years to figure this out but I'm glad I did.  It started when I did an "It Works" body wrap (curiosity got the best of me there) and I figured that if I spent $25 on this, I better do what it takes to make it work and that included drinking a lot of water for the next 72 hours. (If you're curious, I lost about a 1/2 in my thighs.)  I've kept up with my water drinking even after the 72 hours and have noticed a difference in my hair, skin and activity level to name a few things.  

There are a couple of recommendations out there about how much water to drink.  Some say 8 glasses a day, other say drink about half of your body weight in ounces. I've opted for the goal of drinking half my body weight in ounces so I'm drinking at least two, measurable, 32oz Nalgene bottles of water a day.  That's a lot of water and, truth be told, I definitely go to the bathroom more but that's the only downfall I've noticed!  

You can read the benefits of drinking water anywhere, and there are a ton of them, but here are the benefits I've experienced:

My skin and hair is not as dry.  These midwest winters are tough on my skin and hair, I am usually completely dried out and lathering on the lotion but since I've made an effort to drink more water my skin and hair feels SO MUCH BETTER.

My energy level is increased. This is a true statement.  I don't feel as groggy in the middle of the afternoon on a work day and I have a lot more energy during workouts.

I feel full. I am an all-day muncher and snacker.  I always have been and always will be but water has helped me feel full and killed a lot of my typical cravings.  I had a few people mention that it looks like I've lost weight and that may be true (I rarely weigh myself) because I'm snacking less and potentially speeding up my metabolism because I'm getting rid of toxins in my body.  

If you haven't started this great habit - give it a try - it is a good beauty secret! :)

**I am not sure that these are medically proven health benefits, they are benefits that I have personally experienced. I would encourage you do additional research.on the health benefits of drinking water if you are interested.

Surprise/Thank You For My GFC Followers!

Woohooo!! THANK YOU to all of you for helping my little design, DIY & inspiration blog reach over 150 followers on GFC! I am humbled, grateful, and thankful for each of you that you took the time to follow my blog and read what I write. :)

As a THANK YOU to each and everyone one of you, I would like to offer $10 OFF a custom design board ($75 value) to any GFC follower that sends me an email before Wednesday, March 6 and mentions this post and that you want to claim this offer.

Since this offer is only for Design Your Dwelling GFC followers I am not linking this post to any social networking site.  No Twitter.  No Facebook. You will only find this offer by reading your daily blog roll.

Here are the specifics:
- $10 OFF 1 (one) custom design board + shopping list (usually $75. Now $65 for you!)
- Any room in your house
- Custom design board will include furniture, lighting, flooring option, accessories, color scheme
- Email me at designyourdwellingblog (at) gmail.com before Wednesday, March 6, 2013 to claim the offer
- I'll check to make sure you are a follower via GFC

Some examples of design boards:

Thanks again... SO MUCH!  I look forward to working with you!

Mood Board Link Party - Week 3

Welcome to week three of the mood board link party! The past two weeks have been so fun and inspiring - I keep finding furniture, accessories and overall designs that I love.  I could seriously spend all day looking at these mood boards.  Too bad I have a full time job that gets in the way of that. :)

In case you've missed any of the mood boards that have been linked up, you can check them out on this Pinterest board.

I hope this week we find new bloggers that link up their mood boards.  All are welcome - amateur or pro!

To kick off the link party, here's a home office that's fit for a girl!  It includes my new favorite paint color from Sherwin Williams (Thunder Gray, SW 7645) and I loved the ampersand that Stephanie from Oh Dorable included in her mood board last week so I had to include it!

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11 

Time to link up your mood board!

I only have three requests for participation:

1. Follow Design Your Dwelling via GFC

I would love to stay connected with you!  This will also keep you up-to-date for the next link party!

If it doesn't work to follow via GFC, follow along on Twitter or Facebook!

2. Grab A Button!

Grab a button below and include it in your blog post or where you share your link parties on your blog.

3. Share it!

Help spread the word about this link party by tweeting your blog post link with your mood board with hashtag #moodboardlinkparty!  If you tweet me, I'll be sure to re-tweet!  I also be stopping over to see each of your boards and adding them to my Design Boards board on Pinterest!

Most importantly, connect with and follow other bloggers!

Grab a button, link up, and have fun! :)

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