Jill, Author at Real Life Notes

Head in the Sand: The AHHH we’re moving in a week freak-out

June 16, 2013 by Jill Leave a Comment

We had a crazy week last week. Phil was in New York City for the first week of his new job. Jaye and I stayed with our friends Chris and Laura who live in Austin for the week. We had a lot of adventures (I've got several posts planned!), but it was also a long time to be out of our normal routine. But I also found out while I was out of town that our moving date was suddenly 4 days earlier than I planned. Now, we are back home and in a flurry of packing and last minute preparations for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: life

The Spice of Life: Cute and Easy Spice Storage

June 14, 2013 by Jill 2 Comments

A few weeks ago, I did a quick update to my spice storage. And the results were awesome. Using washi tape and some leftover jars, I turned my mish-mash of spice jars into a fun and functional spice storage solution that happened to be really easy to do and easy to change in the future too! Win, win, win! 1. Choose the jars for your spice storage. I used Gerber baby food jars for the spices. Once they were super clean, they were the perfect size. I had two different sizes of jars. The bigger … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cooking, household management, organization Tagged With: kitchen, spices

Making Friends and Gevalia Coffee

June 11, 2013 by Jill 8 Comments

It's been a year since we moved to Texas (almost). That's kind of hard to believe. We've done a lot in that year, and one of the things we've really been focusing on is making new friends. It can be especially hard to make friends in a totally new city and as a grown-up. Since most of the people you meet are already set in their friend group, and have plans for their weekend nights, I feel like it falls to the newbies to really be the ones to reach out and initiate friendships. Which is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: philosophus, sponsored post

Terrace Park, Richardson TX

June 6, 2013 by Jill 2 Comments

I've got a big goal for the summer: visit all the city parks in Richardson. Did you know there are 35 different parks in Richardson? I didn't until just the other day. We tend to go to the 2 or 3 parks closest to our house. But, I started wondering, what if the most incredible park ever was just one block further? And we were missing out? So, last week, Jaye and I headed to Terrace Park, instead of one of our usual parks. Terrace Park Details: Location: Grove Rd. and La Salle, east of 75, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: dfw review, kids activity, parenting, reviews, texas Tagged With: going places, playground

Sliding Head First

June 6, 2013 by Jill Leave a Comment

That's my Jaye. Always doing the boldest things she can. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: jaye, life Tagged With: going places, gymboree, sliding

Best of the Best: Free Printable Father’s Day Cards, Part 2

June 4, 2013 by Jill 1 Comment

Okay, I'm back. And here is the second half of my 20 Best Free Printable Father's Day cards extravaganza. Find the first 10 free printable Father's Day cards here. 11. Aww. Penguins. Jaye says that penguins say "Flap, Flap Flap" and she flaps her arms. We never taught her that, she made it up. From Orange Kitty. 12. I love the little speech bubbles to make this card more personal and meaningful. From Faithful Provisions. 13. I love the typography on this card. And it's available … [Read more...]

Filed Under: crafts, holiday crafts, holidays Tagged With: free printable

Best of the Best: Free Printable Father’s Day Cards, Part 1

June 3, 2013 by Jill 5 Comments

I decided to find the best free printable Father's Day cards for dear ol' dad because I had so much fun hunting down free printable Mother's Day Cards a month ago--any excuse to browse Pinterest is a good excuse. :-). Along the way, I discovered that there are a LOT more free printable Father's Day cards than there were for Mother's Day. My theory is that all the bloggers making these freebies are women who make cards for their hubbies, but hubbies don't make them for their wives. Come on, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: crafts, holiday crafts, holidays Tagged With: free printable

The Mastiff Drool Solution: Neater Feeder Giveaway

June 2, 2013 by Jill 4 Comments

Shortly after Phil and I got married, we bought a house. Shortly after we bought our first house, we got a dog. Big Margo was her name. She was 160 pounds of adorable, sweet, drooly, messy, English Mastiff. She had her own facebook page. She was awesome. But she was also an incredible mess. Everytime she drank, there would just be streams rivers of drool running down her jowls and onto the floor or whoever was unlucky enough to be nearby. We kept special "Big Margo" towels hanging on hooks in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: life Tagged With: giveaway, Margo