The Lovely Side

Today I'm delighted to share Danielle's rental home. Danielle is creative living with her husband and three adorable sons in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Her house was built in the 1960's and Danielle has really played up its clean lines with vibrant colors, fresh decor, and personality – all on a budget!  "I have always rented and decorated in whatever way possible. I like when a space is a reflection of the person (or people) living there." - Danielle

Today, I'm excited to share a tour of Lauren's college apartment. Lauren attends Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. She was inspired by navy and white with pops of pink – and lots of nautical touches.

Mondays are hard. Especially on beautiful, sunny, breezy, 70-degree days. (Wouldn't it be lovely if offices had screened-in porches with comfy chaise lounges, wi-fi, and breathtaking views outside? A girl can dream, right?) Just a little reminder that amid all the hassle and hub-bub of daily life, you can look inward for a sense of peace and contentedness.  How were your weekends, lovelies? The Lovely Side is on: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

How is August almost already gone?! These warm months fly by so fast. So in the spirit of summertime, I thought I'd round up a few of my favorite simple pleasures from this summer. Like above: sipping coffee on my front porch, sipping whiskey and reading on my front porch, sipping beer on my front porch, and sipping wine on my front porch. Okay, okay... so maybe just having a front porch. (And sipping beverages on it.) ;)

 Samples and prizing are provided by  St. Martin’s Press Is your stack of summer reads running out? Is your beach bag suddenly lighter for lack of reading material? Luckily, it's time for another book giveaway here on The Lovely Side.  One lucky winner will receive a copy of Everybody Rise  by Stephanie Clifford , plus a $50 BaubleBar gift card! T his giveaway is open to US addresses only. Prizing and samples are provided by St. Martin's Press. Scroll down to learn about the book and its author, read an excerpt, and enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget.

Music makes my world go round. I have a playlist for everything. At work, I'm usually listening to a folksy, focused playlist for writing and an upbeat mix for coding emails. At home, I like to jam to the nostalgic tunes of my youth (Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls) while cleaning. And when I finally wind down for the night to blog or work on my novel, I put on an inspiring mix of Daughter, Halsey, Lana Del Rey, and Bastille. Music sets the mood. Music inspires. And music evokes (and makes) memories. But what good is it when you can't hear it from the other room?

A few months back, the boyfriend and I were waiting in line at the grocery store. Surrounded by the usual candies, a bright green package caught our eyes. The conversation went something like: "Wait?! Is that..." "Crispy?!" "Yes, it is!" "They're back!" "Omigosh, let's get some!" And that evening, we snacked on a nostalgic favorite.  M&M’S® Crispy  are back! Apparently, we weren't the only ones who couldn't get our minds off of the rich milk chocolate, sweet rice puff center, crispy, crunchy, candy-coated goodness that had delighted us years ago. From Facebook to Twitter to calls to their customer service line,  M&M’S® Crispy were the #1 most requested variety to bring back between 2005 and 2014. And in January 2015, they hit shelves once again... this time, in a bright green back. (I can't believe it took us until spring to notice!)

I recently tried out SLIMQUICK's Pure Protein powder in vanilla, so I was pretty excited when the good folks over at SLIMQUICK also sent me over some of this mixed berries drink mix to try.