Monday Conversations No. 3

Hey friends, and welcome back to part 3 of this weekly Monday series.

We are heading to Alaska in two weeks on a Norwegian cruise, and I am getting so excited. I'm planning to do some travel posts about our trip, but I would love if you would share any tips or tricks on what to pack for Alaska!

Have you ever owned any MB Greene bags? I heard about their products from Cristin over at The Southern Style Guide, and I think their Vertical Essentials Bag looks so useful! It doubles as a cooler, and I think this would be perfect for any trip!

Lately, I have been wanting to refine my cooking and baking skills, and I wanted to share a few recipes (savory and sweets!) that I will be testing in the near future. My husband loves Italian food, and this lasagna looks delicious. I want to slather this strawberry honey jam all over a delicious southern biscuit and jar it up for some friends and family. We were invited over to some friends house the other night, and she gave us each a loaf of delicious cinnamon Amish Friendship Bread. Now I am wanting to start my own Amish Friendship Bread Starter to get it going in our community.

Join me here next Monday for another Monday Conversations, and leave a few things you're loving in the comments!

Monday Conversations No. 2

If you're new around here, I recently started a new series for the Everyday Emily Blog titled "Monday Conversations." Mondays can be a drag, so I wanted to have a space to share a variety of people, things, products, and links that I'm loving right now - and what better day than Monday to browse through a little extra inspiration! Think of it as if you and I were chatting over a hot cup of coffee at our favorite local shop!

I love to support small businesses. The uniqueness and creativity behind each product that small business creatives offer is what makes me love supporting them! A few weeks ago, I was browsing through the Fresh Cut Prints website. The creative behind the business, Erin Niehenke was actually my science teacher in high school. She now creates wedding stationary, greeting cards, and so many other beautiful products (I've got my eye on this and this!) If you're getting married, you need to take a look at some of the wedding invitations she's done in the past - you'll be swooning for sure!

Have you ever tried anything from RMS beauty? I've got my eye on this, and I'm curious if you have had any experiences with their products.

The weather in the south has been crazy these past few weeks. We can reach temps as high as 80 degrees and as low as 50 degress - all in the span of a few days. All of that to say, the change has been making me crave updating my wardrobe, and I am loving all that Loft has to offer (as usual) including this and this!

I've also really been into plants lately. I just picked up a few herbs to keep indoors and some ferns for our porch. I am hoping to share my indoor herb set up soon, but I just love the life that plants bring to a room!

That's all for today... until next Monday!

Grove Collaborative Haul + Why I Switched to More Natural Cleaning Products

So before we get too far into this post, let me just say that I'm not sponsored, and I'm definitely not an authority on toxins and chemicals. It's almost humorous to say that, but I don't want to portray myself as someone I'm not. I do however like to make better choices if I can.

In the past year or so, I decided to start swapping out some of my regular cleaning products with some formulas that were a bit more natural. In fact, I still haven't switched over completely, but I would eventually like to. I did this for a few reasons. First, I love marketing. I studied it in college, and I'm still a sucker for some good packaging. Don't lie - you buy certain things over others solely because of packaging. You can admit it. This is a safe place. :)  I also figured if I can switch to products that claim to use fewer toxins and chemicals for about the same prices as the bad-for-you products, I might as well do that. So there's that. 

I've primarily used the Method brand and Mrs. Meyers products - both can be easily found at Target! The prices truly aren't bad at all, and I absolutely love the scents that they come in (another reason i get sucked into their products!) While I have been purchasing these products at Target since I began using them, I had heard so many good things about Grove Collaborative, and I decided to give it a try. 

If you haven't heard about Grove Collaborative, it is an auto replenishment service for natural cleaning products. You can read all about their service here. They often run really amazing deals. In fact, if you use this link, you'll get $10 off your order! If you're like me and you love saving money, you will definitely want to use that!

Some of the products that I ordered from grove, I have been using through out the past year, and some of them are new to me. If you decide to try any of these products, I'd love to know what you think! My favorites are the Mrs. Meyers hand soaps, and the Method antibac all-purpose cleaner! 

I love using this antibacterial all-purpose cleaner on my kitchen counters to make sure they are sanitized and cleaned after cooking! 

I had been using a super harsh and smelly product for my kitchen sinks, so I decided to pick this up as a replacement! 

I love these multi-surface everyday cleaners. I use this in my kitchen when i'm doing a quick spray down, and I love the variety of scents that they offer this product in! 

Love love love the Mrs. Meyers hand soaps. I love so many of the scents that they come in, and I also appreciate that they aren't as harsh on my hands! 

I really enjoy using the Mrs. Meyer's dish soaps. I have used this product for months, and I really find that it cleans my dishes well. 

There are so many fun scents that you can choose from - Rosemary is one of my all time favorites! 

Monday Conversations No. 1

Today begins a new series for the Everyday Emily Blog. Mondays can be a drag, so I wanted to have a space to share a variety of people, things, products, and links that I'm loving right now - and what better day than Monday to browse through a little extra inspiration! This post was inspired by Kate over at The Small Things Blog's series titled "Links + Loves."  Think of it as if you and I were chatting over a hot cup of coffee at our favorite local shop!

Back in the fall, I bought a sewing machine from a thrift store, but since we moved in December, I haven't really had a chance to use it. I have NO idea how to sew, but I really love doing creative things, so I figured I'd give it a try! I can already tell I'll be heading to Crazy Little Projects to reference this roundup of 25 beginning sewing projects!

So often I feel uninspired when it comes to creating a weekly menu and grocery list. I'm not the best at organizing a schedule that I stick to, but that's where people like my sweet friend Jess come in! If you haven't checked out her blog, you need to. Each Monday, she shares her meal plan menu for the week. It's organized, simple, and perfect for people like me who are willing to cook but can't figure out what to cook. Head over to her blog The Road Jess Traveled for her Menu Mondays posts and so much more!

I'm desperately wanting to freshen up my wardrobe for summer, and I'm really wanting to order a few things from ThredUp. Have you ordered from them before?

I've been seeing necklaces like this one on some of my favorite bloggers lately, and I can't help but need one. What can I say? I love a good monogram.

That's all for today, but stop back by next Monday for another round of Monday conversations!