Weekend Update

October 1, 2013 By ashleylately 2 Comments

Hey y’all!

I hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was busy but fun!

Friday, I finally broke down and bought my ticket for Bloggy Boot Camp Dallas!

I’ve been waiting, hoping I could make it work, and I finally got my work schedule figured out so I can go! I’ve heard great things about Bloggy Boot Camps, so I’m excited to be able to go.

I’m also THRILLED to be spending the weekend with these fabulous girls!

Fingers crossed that I get a little bit of time with this girl too! Pleeeease Meg, you have to come! :)

Saturday I worked part of the day and then spent the evening hanging out with these little cuties!

I haven’t been able to babysit them in a few months, and I’ve missed them a lot!

We had a really great time! I always bring a fun craft for us to do together, and in the fall I always bring pumpkins to paint!

It’s been fun to look back over the years at what the kids have created. So cute!

After the painting, J wanted to show me a video game, which led to us playing Just Dance.

I’ve heard about this game, but I’ve never played it. I had fun watching the kids play, but then it was my turn.

I had fun, but my goodness it’s exhausting! After doing about three dances, I crashed.

I won though! :)

At bedtime, we all piled into J’s bed to read books. I always bring books to read, and they have a couple of favorites that they always request. One of them they even bought at a book fair because they love it so much! Normally, I sit and read to them, but the last time A asked if she could read one of the books. This time, J asked if he could! He has been learning to read, and he was so proud to get to show me what he’s learned!

It was a fun night! A and J are always so good for me, and they are so much fun. It never feels like work, and the time just flies! I’m always a little sad when it’s time for them to go to bed :)

After I put the kids down, their cat Girl was waiting in the living room for me.

She hides the whole time the kids are up, but as soon as they are in bed, she’s in my lap. She’s super sweet and super snuggly.

Precious girl!

It was a great weekend!

A Little Weekend Update

September 24, 2013 By ashleylately 9 Comments

Hey y’all!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

My Saturday was a crazy busy day!!

We celebrated the three year anniversary of The Vintage Pearl’s Tulsa location! Since it is our original location, we get to celebrate with them :) We had a huge sale!

My girls worked so hard! Annie and Haley came to help us out, and we got a quick visit from Niesha too! My new girls did great on their first big sale, and we had a wonderful day!

We had lots of fun giveaways and prizes, as well as some awesome sales.

Oh, and we also got to use our new giveaway wheel!

It’s pretty awesome!

Saturday evening, after a crazy long day at TVP, Ashton and I went to the Civic Center to see Wicked!

It was my very first time to see it, and although I own the soundtrack, I really had no idea what to expect. Ashton saw it last year on Broadway, and it’s her favorite!

It was incredible! It was better than I ever expected it to be! Ashton and I had a great time together! She is so precious and so much fun!

My newest SUNNYband made it’s debut Saturday night!

It was a great weekend! It was busy and exhausting, but lots of fun!

The Sunday Social, Week 67

September 15, 2013 By ashleylately 7 Comments

Hey y’all!
Thanks for all of the sweet get-well wishes on last week’s post! I am feeling MUCH better this week!
Today is the day Neely and I like to give all of our fabulous participants the chance to “introduce” your blog! We have so many new people each week, and we want to get to know you!
1. What is the name of your blog?My blog is Ashley Lately :) Neely sorta named it for me. She was doing all of these fun “Neely Lately” posts, so I totally copied her and started doing “Ashley Lately” posts about random things happening in my life, so when I decided my blog needed a name change, it just felt right to call it Ashley Lately!

2. What do you love most about blogging?

I love the fabulous friendships I’ve made through blogging! I’ve met some incredible women that I can call some of my closest friends, and without our blogs, we would’ve never met. I have a fabulous support system, and I can’t imagine my life without these girls!

3. Why did you start blogging?

I had been reading blogs for about a year before I started my own. I love to write, and I thought it would be a great creative outlet for me. I had NO idea it would turn into the wonderful thing it has, and I never imagined I would have the amazing experiences I’ve had because of it!

4. What is something you’d want to tell someone just starting out in the blog world?

Blog for you. Write about what YOU want to blog about. It will be so much fun if you do what makes you happy!

5. Biggest blogging learning experience you’ve had?

Not everyone is who they seem in blogland.

6. What are three blogs you love?

Neely @ A Complete Waste of Makeup (duh!)Rebekah @ Life with the EdwardsMeghan @ The Perfect Compilation TapeThese girls have all become great real-life friends! You should go read them :)

Your turn! Answer the questions, grab our button, and link up with Neely and me!

Next week’s questions

1. What is your favorite handbag you’ve ever owned?
2. What is your dream handbag you lust over?
3. What are the daily essentials in your purse or work bag?
4. What’s in your purse (with pictures)?

Have a wonderful Sunday, y’all!

What I’m Loving Wednesday

September 11, 2013 By ashleylately 6 Comments

Hey y’all!

Hope y’all are having a great week so far!

Here are a few things I’m loving this week.

I’m loving that I got to see Rebekah this weekend!

She was in town for her baby shower, and I loved getting to celebrate her little guy with her! She is one of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met, and I’m thankful to be able to call her a friend.

Her sister and best friend put on a fabulous shower! It was so so cute!

I’m loving these cute new bangles from The Vintage Pearl!

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I ordered one with one of my favorite song lyrics on it, and I can’t wait for it to get here! I’ll share pics of it once I get it.

I’m loving these cute tops from Hazel and Olive!

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I have both of them, and they are my favorite things right now!

I’m loving these sweet girls!

I miss them all terribly, and my life wouldn’t be complete without our fun group texts :)

I’m loving my sweet Littles!

I’m so thankful to get to be a part of their lives.

And, I’m loving this song!

What are YOU loving this week?

The Sunday Social, Week 66

September 8, 2013 By ashleylately 7 Comments

Hey y’all!

I’m in bed with a migraine, so there’s no way I can put together a decent post today. Please head over to Neely’s blog (http://acompletewasteofmakeup.com) to get linked up with everyone!

Y’all have a great Sunday!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Sunday Social, Week 65

September 1, 2013 By ashleylately 14 Comments

Hey y’all!
Today’s questions are all about summer fun!
1. What was your favorite trip/vacation/activity this summer?Oh, by far my favorite activity of the summer was seeing Garth Brooks at Toby Keith’s Oklahoma Twister Relief concert with my friend Lori!

Not only was it the highlight of my summer, it was kind of the highlight of my life :)

Another big highlight was Neely’s first visit to OKC and our NKOTB/98*/Boyz II Men concert!

I loved getting to show Neely around my town and see a great concert with her!

2. What was your favorite outfit look/clothing item of the summer?

My favorite thing was maxi dresses and skirts! I have several that I got from Hazel and Olive, and they are just amazing!

3. What is one thing you wish you’d gotten to do this summer?

I wish I’d been able to spend more time with my family and friends. I got one trip home and one visit from Neely here, but I would’ve loved more.

4. What was your favorite song of the summer?

There are so many :) I think the songs I listened to the most were Cassadee Pope’s “Wasting All These Tears”, Carrie Underwood’s “See You Again”, and Brett Eldredge’s “Don’t Ya”.

5. What was your favorite movie/tv show of the summer?

I didn’t go to a single movie this summer, but there were a few TV shows I kept up with. My favorites were The Bachelorette, Mistresses, Hollywood Game Night, Whose Line is it Anyway, and Whodunnit, and I blogged about them here!

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Your turn! Answer the questions, grab our button, and link up with Neely and me!

Next week’s questions

We are going from summer questions straight into fall questions!

1. What is your favorite fall activity?

2. Do you follow a football team? If so, which one and why?

3. What is something fun about fall in your area?

4. What are your favorite fall staple outfits?

5. What things are his looking forward to most about this coming fall season?

6. What is your favorite fall holiday? Tradition?

Have a fabulous Sunday, y’all!

A Little Bit of This and That

August 29, 2013 By ashleylately 9 Comments

Hey y’all!

Ok, so there has been a lot happening in the last couple of weeks that we seriously need to discuss.

First? This.

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I don’t feel like there needs to be any explanation, but I’m going to give you one anyway :) It’s no secret around here that I’m an *NSYNC fan. I was obsessed with them through middle school and high school (I could tell so many stories), so I was one of those girls glued to the VMAs for the first time since…probably the last time *NSYNC performed. Honestly, until this year, I didn’t know the VMAs were still a thing. I enjoyed the little Justin Timberlake concert a lot, but the *NSYNC part could’ve been a tad longer. Although, I imagine Joey Fatone would’ve had a hard time going on too much longer. Just keeping it real.

It was awesome, and I hope that someday they’ll follow in the footsteps of the other boy bands and give us a new album and a reunion tour. I’ll be there in the front row screaming like crazy person :)

In other news, I cut my hair!

It was getting soooo long and I was getting bored with it, so I decided to change it up a little. I used a girl in OKC that I’ve never gone to before, and she was WONDERFUL! She was super sweet, and she did such a great job. I love it!

Last week, I was flipping through my latest issue of People Magazine (my favorite!), and I came across this exciting ad!

How cool is that? My store’s ad in my favorite magazine! I might have actually screamed out loud a little :)

Monday, we found out the news that Blissdom is no longer happening. It hit me a lot harder than I ever imagined something like this would. I’m genuinely sad. So many people have said “it’s just a conference. Find another one to go to”, but after attending this conference twice, for me, it was so much more than “just a conference”.

Blissdom was a place where I spent time with girls who have become some of my closest friends. As someone who doesn’t have a lot of close blogging friends where I live, to spend several days with a large group of people who get ME was amazing. My first Blissdom I spent most of my time with Neely, Amber, Meghan, and Kiley, deepening friendships that are so special to me. This year brought me a wonderful support system in Neely, Amber, Heather, Stephanie, Meg, and Whitney, girls that I talk to almost every single day.

At Blissdom, I was introduced to the awesomeness that is Jon Acuff. I met him and heard him speak three times. If you don’t know who he is, look him up. You won’t be disappointed.

More than anything, at Blissdom I learned to be proud of myself as a blogger. I’m not just a girl sitting behind a computer screen throwing words out into the internet for whoever. I’m a part of a large group of women that are changing the world. I’m proud of that. Under the leadership of Alli Worthington and Barbara Jones, Blissdom gave me confidence as a blogger, and it showed me that what I do here in this space matters. I left that first conference changed for the better as a person and as a blogger, and I will forever be grateful for that.

Also on Monday, one of our own lost her precious newborn baby boy. Diana from Hormonal Imbalances, who also writes for Babble and She Reads Truth, said goodbye to her sweet little Kaden on his three week birthday. I’ve been reading Diana’s blog since her pregnancy with her twin babies, and I’m absolutely heartbroken for her and her family. I can’t imagine what it must be like to lose one child, but to think about having three babies in heaven just rips my heart out. Please join me in praying for peace and comfort for this family as they try to move forward with their lives. If you’d like to help Diana’s family, visit the Pray for Kaden facebook page for more information.

Have a great Thursday!