Category:

Lifestyle

Beautiful Utility, Wayfair, home decor, utility, utility rugs

How to Create an Inviting Living Space

by Deborah Cruz 2017/10/30

You know how they say the eyes are the doorway to the soul? Well, I think the foyer is the doorway to your home, literally and figuratively. The foyer is the welcoming space in my home. It’s where I greet family and new friends. It is where our visit begins. First impressions matter. Having enticing rooms are every homeowners dream. With the help of the Greenwich Interior Designer, that dream can turn into reality.

Beautiful Utility, Wayfair, home decor, utility, utility rugs

My foyer also happens to be a utility spot with shoes and coats. Every day when my girls come home from school, this is where they drop their backpacks, take off their shoes/coats and if we’re being really honest, they change clothes the minute they walk in the door. There is a lot of things happening in my foyer. I used to have some furniture in this area but to have some more space, I opted to donate them instead on Furniture Donation Pick Up.

Beautiful Utility, Wayfair, home decor, utility, utility rugs

With all those layers dropping, shoes being kicked off and school children morphing into human beings in that foyer, I want it to be as inviting and welcoming as possible. I want the girls to walk in and be like, this.is.home. I want the warmth to radiate from inside the house and welcome every friend and family member that comes to my door.

My foyer is not huge but it is big enough to invite a neighbor in on a cold winter’s day to admire the snow and discuss the neighborhood decorations. It is just the right size for 6 excited ballerinas to be dropped off for a slumber party after day 14 of Nutcracker performances. It’s perfect for hugging family as they arrive for a celebration. It is the room where every good thing in our lives begins.

Beautiful Utility, Wayfair, home decor, utility, utility rugs

I wanted to keep it light and refreshing. We painted the foyer a light gray with white trim but it just didn’t have the personality that I wanted. I wanted it to be inviting but the space is very utilitarian, it had to be beautiful but functional so I decided on a utility rug. I chose the Brush Strokes design with watercolor peonies from Home Dynamix the ELLE Décor Collection . It is easy to wipe clean and sweep, perfect for a high traffic area like my foyer.

Beautiful Utility, Wayfair, home decor, utility, utility rugs

A rug is such a simple thing but it can change the entire mood of a room. It can take a room from just a room to a gathering space that welcomes people, invites them to be a part of your life.

What do you do to make your home feel warm and inviting? Do you have a special way of decorating that makes your home feel more cozy and homey?

2017/10/30 0 comment

Felix Gray, glasses, non-prescription, blue light filter, eye strain

Felix Gray to the the Rescue

by Deborah Cruz 2017/10/27

written by Deborah Cruz

Have you ever heard of Felix Gray? I hadn’t either until they sent me a surprise in the mail. I spend most of my day staring at a blue screen. It’s what I do. I work online, it’s part of the job requirement. I love what I do but my eyes, not so much and they’ve begun to mutiny in the form of headaches and eye strain.

Did you know that one-third of Americans spend eight hours or more looking at screens? So it’s not surprising that 60% of us report symptoms of digital eye strain. Until now, eyewear designed to protect eyes from blue light were unfashionable and unattractive, resulting in low usage. And then, Glasses Online Canada came in and made eyewear attractive.

I know what you’re thinking, “Debi, you’re a grown woman with insurance and everything… go see the eye doctor!”

I’m way ahead of you, I went to the eye care center. In fact, I made the whole family go. We got our eyes dilated and looked like those freaky stuffed animals and everything.

Nope, I’ve still got Superman like awesome vision. Yey me! However, what about the eye strain? There’s no option to not stare at a computer all day. I want to work. But I’m not crazy for the headaches and dry eyes.

Quick pro tip from my ophthalmologist: Every 30 minutes or so, look away from the screen.

So now, not only does the blue screen aid and abed my insomnia, it’s also playing tricks on my eyes.

I’m already losing my words from the sleep aids, I can’t afford the headaches, blurry vision and twitching so I had to find a solution. I found it.

My fellow bloggers, social media managers and just anyone who spends a huge chunk staring at their laptop, desktop, iPad or phone … so everyone I know, this might be the answer for you too.

Behold Felix Gray blue light filtering non-prescription glasses. They help reduce the eye strain, headaches and fatigue resulting from hours spent staring at screens, the glasses are the first computer eyewear created with fashion as well as function in mind. The frames are premium Italian acetate with lenses that eliminate the blue light that leads to eye fatigue and sleep issues. Not only do I get to look like a total hipster, I get to do my work without that pesky buggy eye side effect.

Felix Gray, glasses, non-prescription, blue light filter, eye strain

Felix Gray wants to change that, helping new generations of professionals to protect their eyes and improve performance at the same time. Users can just hop on the site and select a few of their favorite designs to try. In days, they get a custom package delivered to their door and let the fun of trying on begin, until you’ve found the best match for you. Then simply mail back the others.

Now if they could just create an office chair that burned calories while I sat working on my laptop. Or maybe pizza that makes me skinny?

Who knows with the wonders of modern technology, I can see it coming… one of these days.

For today, I’m pretty ecstatic to not have the eye strain while I do my dream job. In the future, I’ll also be looking into laser eye surgery to correct my eyes.

Felix Gray, glasses, non-prescription, blue light filter, eye strain

And for those of you who have recently found the need to use a larger font, no fear, Felix Gray offers magnification too.

Disclosure: I was provided product from Felix Gray to review but all opinions are my own.

2017/10/27 0 comment

Gray Away, hair coloring, covering gray hair

Beauty

Gray, Gray Go Away Come Again Never

by Deborah Cruz 2017/09/19

written by Deborah Cruz

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Everpro Gray Away. All of the thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

Do you have gray hair? I know, none of us like to talk about it. It’s embarrassing. The thing is graying hair is natural and for some genetics dictates when you’ll go gray and it can be before your dirty 30 celebrations. Gray hair does not discriminate.

I have several friends who’ve decided they were just going to let their hair go naturally into that gray night. Not me. I hate to admit it but I’m a little vain. And what’s wrong with caring about what you look like anyway? Nothing! If you’re like me, you can get a balayage fort lauderdale treatment to get rid of your gray hair.

My husband’s hair is doing the salt and pepper thing and it looks good, to me. I think he looks distinguished. Of course, our daughters are begging him to dye it because they said it makes him look old. I say whatever makes him happy.

What makes me happy is not having gray hair. I got my first gray hair when I turned 30. In fact, I believe it was some cruel birthday gift that year. I promptly plucked it. Then, when we had Bella, I got another one. When we had Gabs, I got one more. I told the Big Guy, I had one for each of them. I could deal with that. Like battle scars, I wore them proudly. I ‘m just kidding, I plucked them every single time they came back.

Gray Away, hair coloring, covering gray hair

Then one day, the gray hairs decided it was time to have a party on my head. At first, it was a small gathering. I would pluck them. But now, it’s a full-out rave on my temples. And I don’t look distinguished at all but rather I look like Grandpa Munster and if I try to pluck all of these, I will surely be baldheaded. I know I can’t pull that look off plus….hello, vain!

I comb my hair so that you don’t really see it. Sure, it’s like a bad woman comb-over but it hides the grays. I’m keeping these grays on the down low. Have your rave but everybody doesn’t need to know about the gray party taking place on my head.

Then, I gave up and started coloring it but guess what? Grays come back really fast. It’s like they are color resistant.

So what did I do? Desperate times, desperate measures my friends. I started using my mascara on the temples. It does the trick. Only there is one problem. I have wavy/curly hair and after you style your hair and then try to mascara your temples so you actually don’t look as old as your Grandmother, you will quickly realize that the hair that you put mascara on dries hard and straight. So you have all of these straight black hair sticking out of your head and you look like you should probably be institutionalized and to be honest, I’m trying to fly under the radar to that end.

I knew there had to be something better. I mean, we live in the 21st century. We can alter our entire physical being. We can stop the aging process. You’re telling me we can’t hide a few grays? Come one, get outta here. My mama always said where there’s a will there is a way. I had to find a way.

I found Gray Away. I tried Everpro Gray Away Root Touch-Up Magnetic Powder but it also comes in a root concealer spray. But me and an aerosol can could get ugly so, I opted for the magnetic powder. Sounds simple right? Too simple. But it works. Watch!

Voila! That gray party is hidden in plain sight. They get to party on. I get to not look like Grandpa Munster and we all keep our cool.

Do you have issues keeping the gray hairs at bay? Are they making you look older than you are? Ready to get rid of them without spending all of your time and money at the salon? Want to know more? You can get the complete scoop at GrayAway.com and Gray Away is available at your favorite retailers including Walgreens!

2017/09/19 0 comment

Michigan, road trip, family, KIA, Sorento, travel

Lifestyle Travel

The Secret to the Best Road Trip Ever

by Deborah Cruz 2017/08/28

written by Deborah Cruz

Ever wonder what the secret to the best road trip with family really is? I see families doing it all the time and I’m like, “that’s never how our road trips go.” We’ve spent countless road trips being tortured with, “Are we there yet?” So much so that I think I may actually have some road trip PTSD to join my stepping off curbs variety. I just always suspected all those awesome families having amazing road trips must be either the really patient types ( I envy them) or maybe just well medicated. But I wanted whatever they were on because I loved the road trips of my childhood and I want that with my girls. I love the whole “expect the unexpected” sense of it all.

A couple weeks ago, we went on one last summer road trip as a family. We just needed to go someplace to be one with nature and one another. You know what I mean. We needed to unplug and focus on what was really important before plunging headlong back into the craziness that is our day to day life. We decided to visit the Traverse City KOA in Michigan.

We’ve never been to Traverse City and the girls and I have never been camping but it’s something I’ve always wanted to try. Traverse City is about a 4.5-hour scenic drive from our house and there was a promise of quiet, stillness, sand dunes, waves and Lake Michigan for as far as the eye could see. Most importantly, it was going to be togetherness with no distractions.

The girls are 10 and 12-years-old now. Not to jinx it but I like them. They are becoming humans who I want to spend time engaging with, listening to and getting to know. So the only thing I had on my mind was getting to where we were going and enjoying the journey, company and the destination. I wanted to bask in every single moment of it.