influenster voxbox

hi all!

so if you follow me on youtube you probably know that i recently received an influenster box in the mail. what's influenster you ask? it's an online program that sends out boxes to qualifying individuals free of charge so that those lucky people can try out the products inside. the items in question can range from household materials, beauty, or weight loss. i was lucky enough to qualify for a box and received mine a few weeks ago after i moved into my new place. again-coolest part-completely free!

if you've watched my video where i unbox my good's you know that i got a slimfast smoothie drink. in the video all i do is go over what's inside. basically i got a strawberries 'n cream smoothie along with recipe's for all of slimfast's smoothie drinks that can be made to be alcoholic or not, and a martini glass to sip it out of! i unfortunately had nothing that went into my recipe so i popped my smoothie in the fridge and just recently drank it!

my first reaction... REMEMBER TO SHAKE. oh my goodness. when i first took a sip it was like there was a layer of powder on top. not exactly the first impression i was expecting to get from my "smoothie". i did like the taste for the most part, but i'll be honest and say i wasn't a huge fan of this drink. maybe it was the strawberry flavor and the chalky taste. i do think i would like some of the other drinks better. i tried some of my mom's chocolate slimfast drinks in the past and they were always pretty good. the recipe cards showed that there was a coffee drink and a chocolate drink, so maybe i'll have to try those sometime! i'll let you know if i do!

thanks for reading, i know this is a little off from what i usually blog about, but i was excited to share my experience with influenster. if you want to know more, i connected you to some links above! feel free to check them out!

chelsea

p.s. remember: I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

living room

so part of moving for me has been trying to figure out where everything i have is going to go. i moved from an 850 square foot apartment with lots of closets to a 750 square foot house with pretty much no storage space on the main floor(it does have an unfinished basement but it smells and is dungeony with spiders, eek!). i have also come to realize that some of my furniture just does not fit with the space. my couch and a desk were the only pieces of furniture i purchased specifically because i knew that they would work with the house and how small it was. some of my furniture that were staples before are now proving to just not work with the space.

for example, let's talk about my living room.

i really like this space, and think it has a lot of potential. problems that i face with this room are that dang book shelf and the fireplace which takes up almost half of the largest wall-not to mention that little nook next to it that i just can't figure out what to do with.

 this book shelf was purchased at target years ago when i was in high school. i just needed a place for all my books(this isn't all of them, you should see my bed side table). it's worked just fine for it's purpose until now. that wall is the only one that is wide enough and doesn't have a vent behind it(i thought it didn't have a vent behind it... turns out it does). my grandma has shown some interest in it, so it will probably end up at her house. as for what would happen to my books once i hock it, i have lots of ideas(thanks pinterest!)

this little corner is my main focus. the only thing that's going on over there right now is that fabric basket where i keep my blankets. it's only downfall is that vent because it's the main source of AC in this room since my bookcase is blocking the other one(i guess that problem would be eliminated once i got rid of it though... i found a super cute shelf on urban outfitters that would work perfect for that corner because it would allow for air flow from the vent while still being able to hold all my books and fit in the space. it's only downfall is that at $169 it is at least triple the price of my current book shelf. 

my other idea would be to frame the walkway into the dining room with book shelves. depending on the type of wood and brackets that i bought to mount said shelves it could be a pricy endeavor. but according to pinterest that seems like the ideal way because the pictures i found are ADORABLE. go to pinterest and type in "over door shelving". you'll want to do it too. anyway, i am so conflicted on what the best option is. the fact that this is a rental deters me from installing shelving that could leave some big holes in these 1920's walls, but they're so cute and functional that i have a feeling my landlord might like the idea of reducing my rent for a month so he could keep them in the property after i leave. who knows.

what do you guys think? i would love your opinions-both about the shelves and decorating in general! let me know in the comments below!

changing things up!

hey all! so one of my obsessions since i moved last week (oh, i forgot to tell you about that? oops...) is going through pinterest and finding decorating ideas that would work well with my new space. i have found myself loving the look of vintage and want to start getting a little more artsy in my decorating by making my functional items a little easier on the eyes. as i get more items for this place and organize things in a new way i'm hoping that this blog will be a good place to document the evolution of my new little house! 

i'm excited to get back to blogging and documenting things on here as i get my creative juices flowing again. also, speaking if creative juices, i started a blog channel on youtube! just search for chelsea keeney and i should pop right up! 

hope you've had a good summer!

A-holes

My car got broken into this morning.

And I'm deciding to look at the bright side.

I originally planned on sleeping in indefinitely this morning but had made plans to meet someone at the Y at 9:30. If I hadn't I wouldn't have found my car with the window broken in until well into the afternoon/evening when I left for work. If that was the case there are lots more valuables that could've been taken besides my purse(which was basically empty) and my wallet(which had nothing of monetary value).

I am so blessed to have family that jumped to my aid immediately. My mom helped me call the insurance company and cancel my card, and brought over some trash bags and duct tape in case I couldn't get my window fixed right away.

My grandma is currently watching Carter while I'm waiting for my car to be cleaned and my window to be fixed.

And my dad let me know he'd teach the guys a lesson(considering they find the a-hole).

I'm blessed despite the crap that happened this morning. It hasn't even been 2 hours since I found my car and I already feel like everything is taken care of. I know there's lots more to worry about(new credit card, replace ID, etc), but for the time being, I'm so glad I have such an awesome family that can help me in times of need.

vlog!

Hello!

Just wanted to let you know...

1. I'm alive

2. I started a vlog! I experimented a little with iMovie and decided I'm going to try it out. 

Here's the LINK

Hope you like it!

Like, Subscribe, Comment

I'm still trying to figure out what direction I'm going with this vlog. 

Thanks!

here i am!

Oh golly, I always feel guilty when I don't blog for a long time. So here I am, blogging. Sorry it's been so long.

I have been living in my cute little apartment for almost 2 months now! Crazy how quickly time flies.

It's funny because back in January I was going stir crazy waiting for the semester to begin, and now it's almost spring break. Ridiculous.

I'll try to get some pictures after I clean up a bit. I'm still trying to find a place for everything. There's some stuff I have way too much of(yarn), and I just can't figure out a good place for it to go, so it's permanently living on counters, or on my closet floor. Not to mention I live with a toddler. So that's always interesting!

Also, I know I told you about my hair cut in my last blog, but it's been awhile, and I got sick of it quick. Honesty, it was kind of a weird haircut. It was short underneath so the sides fell funny, so I decided to chop it! The shortest my hair has ever been for as long as I can remember. I'm pretty thrilled with it!

Also, remember when I mentioned I started Alpha at Lutheran Church of Hope? Well since then I have felt like I really need to get connected, because my small group is just so great, and I love knowing people in the church! So, I decided to try out for the worship team and I made it! I'm so excited to start singing with other people with my same passion for singing/music. I have been so far from some of the things that I really prided myself on a couple years ago. Partly because I had a baby, and partly because I am so busy all the time, that the thought of adding one more thing was too daunting. But, I am so glad I tried out, and I am so excited to get started!

blah blah blah.

welllllllllll hey!

i have not been blogging, have you noticed? i haven't even been in school for a month and i feel like i'm too busy for anything other than homework, work, and child rearing(sp?).

i'm really enjoying my classes(except one, stupid math), although some of them are just hard to talk in simply because they are uncomfortable issues in our society(race, gender). also, i have 3 classes on m/w and they kill me. i am ravenous by the time i'm done. the people sitting next to me are lucky i'm not on bath salts or i'd probably eat their faces(too soon?).

anyway, things in the apartment are great! all boxes are unpacked and carter is in the process of weaning, so lots of growing up for both of us. the only downfalls of my humble abode are the third story location(my back has been killing me from carrying a mixture of carter, groceries and laundry up 2 flights), and the fact that it costs $3 to do a load of laundry which I refuse to pay(why would i when i can take it to my grandma's and do it for free?).

overall though, life is pretty good. having a routine again has been a life saver after a month of going stir crazy(did i mention how much i dislike climbing stairs?). hopefully things will keep going smoothly and the things that aren't going do smoothly will resolve themselves!