THE ONLY POLISH GIRL IN TEXAS

So maybe I did save the best for last.  I followed  Love Your Melon  on social media for awhile before I was gifted one of their beanies for my birthday.  Living in Texas, there isn't a long season for needing beanies, and in the past the ones I've had I wore just as long as I had to because they would get so itchy.  All that changed with this black speckled beanie.  I can wear this all day long and it's so soft, it never bothers me! I love what LYM stands for.  They want to put a hat on every child battling cancer.  Not only that, but they give 50%(!) of their net profits to the Love Your Melon Fund to support non-profits in the fight against pediatric cancer.  I went from that one beanie to I think 5 or 6 now.  I had to add a couple of the lightweight beanies so I can extend my usage beyond our short winter.  Did I mention all their products are made in the USA?  There's really no reason to not run over and get yourself one.  Use my code @bchbnd and score free shi

I was going to say next was one of my favorites, but between the 3 I don't know that I can pick a fave.  I first saw Sand Cloud on Shark Tank, and as a lover of the oceans I briefly checked it out.  A few years later though, they've blown up and evolved into such a fun brand!   Their mission is to protect marine life, or as they often say - save the fishies!  10% of their profits go to non-profits like Surfrider Foundation, and Ocean Connectors.  Not only that, but they practice what they preach by selling shirts recycled from water bottles, glass bottles, and metal straws to help cutback on single use plastic, and they do their part in beach cleanups.  Their towels are AMAZING!  100% turkish towels that are so bright and fun!  Mine has traveled with me to Honduras, and will be going to Grand Cayman shortly.  I've given so many of these as gifts, and everyone has become a fan.  They're perfect to use as a towel, or a light throw in the summer.  They just came out wi

Over on the right there are a couple codes and links.  Remember when I said I look for a discount code when I shop?  I took it a step further and became a brand ambassador for some of my favorite things in order to share discounts with others.  I'll preface this by saying these are brands that I personally use, and believe in their missions.  I don't represent anything that I wouldn't buy, and I hate seeing social media "influencers" hawking products that you know they don't use just to make a buck. First up, the first brand I became a Rep for -  Pura Vida .  The story behind PV is that the creators were traveling in Costa Rica when they came across artisans selling colorful, handmade bracelets.  After seeing the poverty they lived in, Griffin and Paul asked to buy 400 bracelets to take home to their friends.  Once they returned home to San Diego, they put the bracelets in a bowl at a boutique, and they sold out in days, with request for more of these "

If you're new here, welcome!  If you're a friend, or Insta follower, then I'm sorry for the repeats, but it'll be quick I promise.  We'll call this a mid-April resolution to keep up with the blog and see how long it lasts.  I'm not a writer by any means, and can ramble on too long or switch topics too often, but I have a lot to say.  What really brought me back was reading a blog I've loved for a long time, and getting tired of all the links going to Neiman Marcus or some $100 face serum.  What happened to the hair tutorials, day to day life, how you struggled to get through a workout, or coupon hauls?  I felt like since I was missing that, maybe someone else is too.  So you'll see a lot of that here.  Well, minus the hair tutorials because your girl can barely master a ponytail. So what else?  I'm 5 weeks into keto, and so far so good although having someone to do it with definitely helps.  I no longer have a gym membership and solely workout at

So much for keeping up with this thing.  Honestly, I hadn't even looked at it in almost 2 years, but this past weekend with #lambcake3, it reminded me of what I went through to get the pan.  I wasn't feeling it at all, and had trouble from start to finish, but it turned out ok, even if the face oozed out of the pan and the frosting melted off the back.  As long as it tastes good, right? What really brought me back though, was reading a blog that I've followed for years and feeling so out of touch with this person I used to be able to relate to.  What used to be a mutual love of beauty products and hair tutorials has turned into mostly ads, shopping for $60 t-shirts, and exclaiming that $88 for 2 small bottles of facial serum is a steal.  So here I am, just after my almost lamb cake fail, Easter of frozen from a box pierogi (shame!), and depleting samples of skincare.  Still searching for someplace local that carries Polish sausage, or doesn't point me to Italian sau