Hey there my lovelies! It is February 28th already!! That's right we are already about to be 3 months deep into 2017... where has the time gone?!

Last week I celebrated my first ever Blogiversary! One year of many ups and downs for bybrigettedanielle.com, but I wouldn't change it! Well actually I would change a few things.

Like I have said before I consider myself a born again blogger. The first time was more for personal tracking and something to help me stay on the straight and narrow during my weight loss. As I would get frustrated with my weight and workouts, I would get stressed about blogging. No one was reading my journey, no one was there to help me or encourage me and I really just felt like what was doing was talking to myself.

But... now that I have decided to start blogging again, I went in with a whole new mind set. I didn't care if anyone would read (but I do care about all of you that do!) I wanted to do this for me and if people respond then that is an added bonus! Even though going in to my new blogging venture, I wish there was someone that would have coached me on platforms, hosts and all the technical terms... I still get confused! And also, I wish there was someone in the beginning to tell me what they learned. It wasn't until after I went live that the blogging world seemed to reveal itself. It seemed like every Pin was related to blogging. What to do when you start/ when you think about starting one and all the things that I have already done.

Hello there lovelies! Can you believe that February is almost OVER?! I mean it will be here literally here next week! I can't believe it. So far this year has been great! Kids are excelling in their school work, things are going great for the blog and my business.. PLUS my husband has been a huge support system for my weight loss journey.. more details on that coming soon!

Today as I was folding what seemed like the same shirt for the 5th time this week, I decided to go through all of the kids clothes (again) to see what we needed to get rid of.  That was until I started realizing some of the super cute clothes I had picked out for the kids over the past moth or so! Thai had so many cute tops and perfect fitting jeans, so naturally a light bulb went off! Let's do a post about the amazing finds from our local thrift store!

I have to admit, growing up I LOATHED the thrift store! The thought of cheap, has been hand me downs turned my stomach! I wanted to buy everything free of previous owners. Then all of a sudden one year while I was in college, I found a thrift store full of vintage dresses, shoes (still kinda iffy on shoes) and accessories that I fell in love with it! Ever since then, I always check the thrift store for certain things. I have learned that not all thrift stores are equal so I do have ones I will go to and ones I pretend don't even exist lol. But if you take the time and look, you will find hidden gems!

So.. back to the reason behind the post! All of these clothes are great quality, stylish clothes and not to mention from some of Thai's favorite stores.. ie, Children's Place, Justice, Crazy 8 etc.
BTW She was so pumped about this post!

So take a look at some of her  our favorite pieces!
-note, everything is from the thrift store except the shoes (told ya i'm a little iffy)

First up, her FAVE, Ever After High! These in both our opinion were a great score. These were brand new with the tags still attached! A little big but she loves them!




Next we have her rock star outfit! Her top is a two piece from Justice and even though you can't tell, the black vest has sparkly sequence on the front! The jeans are just walmart jeans but they were like $1 instead of $9-10.












This top, Which is sooo cute! Is from Jessica Simpson! I love the purse detail because it is actually a functioning purse and check out that back!! Plus the fox is cute too. The pants are from Old Navy!




 This top has something that has been a huge thing for the past several months! Mermaid sequins ( i have a journal with it!) The top is from Bongo Girls and these are the same Old Navy jeans,


 And last but not least this top! Thai loves it so much! She thinks the pattern is awesome lol. There was no tag in it so I'm not sure where it's from!

Hey there lovelies! Have you had the chance to catch any of the shows this round of NYFW?! Well unfortunately I was not able to attend due to more pressing issues at Condé Nast( here's hoping lol)

But on a serious note, there were tons of amazing looks from this seasons New York Fashion Week. One that I really enjoyed was Alice + Olivia's spring collection! The colors and patterns remind me of a mix of boho 60's and 70's. The lace and florals not only not only channel the essence of spring time, but they add so much grace and allure. I just love them! 

Check out some of my favorite looks from the Alice + Olivia Spring 17 RTW collection!

Hey there my lovelies!

So, it's Sunday morning and as I'm eating my oatmeal, I get a brilliant idea to share with you all my favorite yummy oatmeal recipes!

I was at the farmers market yesterday and per request, I just had to load up on apples! Good thing I did! They had fresh, organic Fuji apples 3 for $2. Compared to $3+ a pound at the grocery store, I couldn't resist! Once I bit into them I knew I probably wouldn't get anything nowhere near as good from the store.

So, as I was making oatmeal this morning, I suddenly had a craving for McDonald's fruit and maple oatmeal. I haven't had it literally in over 3 years, so it was totally random. So in my attempt to recreate my own version, I added some fruit, brown sugar and milk for the kiddos and left out the milk for mine.

As I was enjoying my delicious warm oats, I started to think about all the others that I enjoy and how plain bland oatmeal really is like a canvas! You can do whatever you want to it and the outcome will be spectacular!

So here are some of my favorite variations... of course I may omit certain things here or there with each recipe, but these are great foundations and combinations for your morning oats!

1. Blueberry Banana Nut Oatmeal from  Iowa Girl Eats is so light and springy! I love eating this when it starts to warm up outside!



2. Banana Bread Oats from Crock Pot Ladies is so classic! It reminds me of my grandmothers banana bread in oatmeal form!



3. Strawberries and Cream from Fox Valley Foodie is possibly one of my favorites! I mean who doesn't love strawberries and cream! This is so satisfying for me on those days when I want a little extra sweet in the morning!





4. Chocolate Strawberry Oats from Bakerita seem like such an indulgence! The chocolate and strawberries (never can have enough) are in my opinion one of the best combinations EVER!



5. Peanut Butter Banana Oats from Eating Bird Food feels like such a comfort food! Peanut butter and banana always seemed like an odd combination when I was growing up. When I started my weight loss journey, pbb always seemed like it would pop up in recipes so I thought, Why not! Now... I LOVE IT!





6. Chunky Monkey Oats from She Well takes the pbb game up a notch by adding.... CHOCOLATE! That its self is WIN!



7.Apple Cinnamon Oats from Sugar Dish Me hits home! 1, it reminds me of my grandmothers apple pie. 2, it feels like Fall, my favorite!



What kind of oats do you like to eat? Let me know in the comments below!

** ps, these are not my pictures. these belong to the bloggers where I have gotten the recipe from. click their link above for the full details on their dishes**

When we first talked about home school ( in Texas), I had our whole condo planned out. Every space, how I would organize and how I would theme it. I knew ways that I could make the kids' home school space and living space comfortable and allow them to transition easily.

But as you know life changes and you have to learn to rearrange  on a whim to just go with the flow! I'm not going to lie, when we found our new place here in Kansas City the layout was a tad smaller than our condo in Dallas. So like any crazy person  smart person would do, I spent days thumbing through Pinterest, Google and multiple forums on ideas on how to decorate our new space.

Our layout is a tad unfamiliar for me and hey, I'm no interior decorator, so I struggled... A LOT! I wanted to keep the kids' space open and away from their room so they can easily have two comfortable "kid friendly" spaces. But at the same time, I didn't want it to clash with my style of living. I mean don't get me wrong, I love to show off my kiddos, I just don't really want their stuff to overstep my stuff lol.

Once I got some ideas flowing and some advice from fellow home schoolers, I was able to come up with something that was suitable for both my kids and I!

So here it is! Our home school space!

 Now bare with me as I try to explain to you our front room set up lol.  In this first picture, this is a small "hallway" that leads to our kitchen on the right. The windows overlook the river and N. Kansas City. Along the wall are my posters. They are the map of the US, Short and long vowels, Days of the week and months of the year. Below that is a number line and alphabet line that I made at Kaleidoscope ( our favorite art place in kc). Then we have our punctuation board, parts of speech, planets and layers of the Earth, The scientific method, states of matter, literary devices and styles of writing. I picked all of these posters up from the Dollar Tree and they come 2 in a pack (except the map). We have our project table which is just a lego table from craigslist, a laundry basket FULL of kitchen food, plates and pots and pans. And right along the wall behind the couch is the play kitchen.