Tag:

Family

Travel

Where we vacation in FL!

by Shalice Noel May 12, 2021

written by Shalice Noel

Peasant top in small // Shorts // Similar scarf // Sunglasses $15

How does a place become your family go to vacation spot? Every family has that special go to vacation spot. What is your story?

While growing up, my family loved going to Hong Kong. I know that sounds strange, but my mom grew up in Hong Kong. My dad was a pilot, so we would fly standby once a year back in the day when you could still smoke on airplanes. Yes, those were long trips. But visiting my cousins in Hong Kong was the best. They would take us to the best places. If we got separated, they would say, tell the cab…”NOW CHUN TOE, KOWLOON TONG,” and we would get home. Those trips to the markets to get cloths and grubs would forever be one of my favorite memories.

We had enjoyed many great day trips in California. Whether that was Lake Arrowhead, Anacapa Island (See post) or Laguna Beach, leaving California was hard. But knowing Florida beaches would be a short drive away, our sorrows turned to joy. Florida is a favorite place to take our family.

Here is our tips on traveling to the scenic 30A. The last few times, we have stayed near Alys Beach. The community we stay in is called Magnolia By The Sea and we found it on VRBO. It’s a small community of cottages across the street from the beach. While small, the house sleep quite a few people. Perfect for multi-family gatherings or big families. We like that the beach is private and the community has a heated pool. The perk for the location is that it is a short bike ride to Alys Beach. I should mention, Alys Beach is our dream vacation goals. Someday we want to stay there, but for now we enjoy riding our bikes, playing at the park and getting coffee within the town. You cannot take a bad picture of this place. The community is design perfection in my opinion. Everything down to the window trim colors to the outdoor planters. Every vista is perfectly harmonized. Reid and I enjoyed sometime meandering the quaint streets. Reid admires the architecture and design while I soak in photo shoot inspiration.

Rosemary Beach is also another hot spot we like to take the kids to in the evenings. It’s a bustling beach community with a lot of night life and you feel like you are in Europe. While there are many places to eat and play, here is my brief list of our favorites for your vacation planning enjoyment.

· Stay: Magnolia By The Sea (Hint: Staying outside of Alys/Rosemary Beach saves you $$$ – but you can still enjoy the public hot spots)

· Eat: George’s (Alys Beach)

· Dessert: Sugar Shack (Rosemary Beach)

· Drink: Neat (Alys Beach)

· Breakfast: Donut Hole (Inlet Beach)

· Coffee: Raw & Juicy (Alys Beach)

· Do: Rent Bikes – Don’t forget Sunscreen! I like this one – non toxic.

· Shop: Don’t be silly, this is a beach vacation

Grey and Ivory Bleeker street poncho via Shopshalicenoel.com

May 12, 2021

Easter

Our Family Easter Looks!

by Shalice Noel April 2, 2021

written by Shalice Noel

My dress is under $95! // Levi’s shirt // Bow tie shirt // Cotton Chino’s //

April 2, 2021

We Are Moving!

by Shalice Noel February 12, 2021

written by Shalice Noel

We have a family confession to make. We are closet house flippers. Those of you who have been with me awhile have probably noticed that we move and or buy a house more often than the average family. I have never really classified us as closet house flippers, but now that I think about it, we may need an intervention!

We started in Bucktown, a trendy little neighborhood in Chicago. Then we moved to Wheaton, a suburb of Chicago. Two years later, it was back to the city! Then we made the big move to Los Angeles. While renting in LA, we bought the Lake Arrowhead A-Frame. That was our first major renovation/remodel (a process that we kinda fell in love with!). After selling our A-frame, we bought our current home. We absolutely love this house and had intended to stay here long-term. But this past year ended up being so crazy, as everybody knows. Working from home full-time and doing school at home full-time made us realize that we really needed more bedrooms and our super unique house wasn’t as kid-friendly as we had imagined. And as we longed to be within a day’s drive of our extended family, we made the hard decision to sell our beloved home. If only we could pick it up and move it with us! (We are actually making photocopies of the building plans – maybe we will one day rebuild it.)

With that decided, we went through the stressful journey of selling our home, living in the house while selling, and holding off on purchasing a new home until our sale was more finalized. I’ve got tips and tricks for dealing with all these experiences at the end of the post!

After we decided to sell, the big question was where to go? We took a quick trip to Tennessee, as it was pretty central to both our families. So many people have been relocating there and the housing market is hot, which we learned the hard way. Everything we liked was either pending or sold. Then my best friend, who had just recently moved herself, called while we were in TN. She said the house next door to them just came on the market. We looked it up online and liked what we saw. It wasn’t quite where we were expecting to go, but the house checked so many of our boxes. We quickly revised our Nashville trip itinerary and woke up early Sunday morning to drive down to see it. Guess where we drove? North Atlanta! The drive through Georgia was beautiful and we totally got that feeling–it felt like home. The fact that we knew the neighbors was the icing on the cake. So we put in an offer and by the time we landed back in LA, the offer had been accepted.

The new house is more traditional than we are used to. But we like to think we are purchasing this house with the kids’ quality of life in mind. Our LA home didn’t really have a yard … really more of a cliff. So we are trading in the beautiful California lifestyle for the green, wooded pastures of Georgia. I was technically born in Texas, so I guess I am a southern girl at heart. We are very thankful for our life in California and the wonderful years we had here! We’ll definitely be traveling back often to continue the Shalice Noel line. More to come in the future, but for now, I’m off to pack!

Tips for Having a House on the Market and Moving:

Quick cleans are essential, but declutter first!! Quick cleans are much easier when there is less junk. Keep your counters clean throughout the week in case you have a last minute showing.
Strategize where you want to go. The easiest way to do this? List what is important to you! Community, Land, Design, Jobs? We are thankful for the North Atlanta area because we wanted land, but also access to a metropolitan area for Reid’s career opportunities.

We can’t wait to share more of the house, the pool, and this process. Add your questions in the comments and I’ll answer. Thank you for being on the journey with us from Chicago to LA to now Georgia!

Lots of love.

Shalice

February 12, 2021

Family

The Cutest Matching Sneakers

by Shalice Noel January 13, 2021

written by Shalice Noel

Happy Wednesday! We were busy with school, picking up groceries, working, and grilling steaks on the patio.

I absolutely love matching with my kids, so when Levi needed new sneakers, I had to get him matching Swift Run Sneakers, I jumped on them.

Levi loves to run and jump and fall. Thankfully you don’t see the scuffs on these adidas sneakers.

I also love these in CHEETAH!

I compiled some other shoes for Levi here:

Happy Wednesday!

January 13, 2021

Family

Last minute gift idea: Tiny Tags

by Shalice Noel December 21, 2020

written by Shalice Noel

Mama necklace // Circle names necklace // Mommy and Me Bracelets

There’s so much you can get a tween from books to bracelets. However, Atalie loved this one from Tiny tags!! We were able to personalize them, “mama” and “Atalie.” I asked Atalie how she liked her bracelet and she said “It is very pretty and goes with everything.” I love matching my girls.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ve probably noticed I wear my gold Tiny Tags circle with all the children’s names – they were able to fit 5 names!

I will treasure these pieces for years.

December 21, 2020

Home

Outdoor Firepit Essentials

by Shalice Noel December 9, 2020

written by Shalice Noel

With the short days and long cold nights we have a rekindled joy for our fire pit. We turn off devices and screens. Fill our mugs with hot chocolate and grab a warm blanket. With the fire crackling we curl up together and talk. Yes. Just talk. So simply right! We’ve found the time really special and now the kids want to do a fire every night. (Unfortunately, we need to restock our wood)

I’ve linked a few cozy fire pit picks for your cool outdoor nights. I like the modern geometric shapes juxtaposed with the rustic alpaca throws and rugged wooden trunk stool. Which one is your favorite? Mix and match as you please, but I did put some thought into the pairings.

Here’s a fire pit tip from Reid. We use a quick start fire starter to get the fire going strong.

Our firepit // Steel Fire Pit // Modern Metal Bowl // Tera Stool // Throw blanket // Chunky wool throw // Alpaca throw // Round Planters // Indoor/Outdoor Bench // Indoor/Outdoor Coffee Table

Our firepit linked here

December 9, 2020

Family Kid friendly

KiwiCo: The best gifts for the kids in your life

by Shalice Noel December 5, 2020

written by Shalice Noel

Reid and I both looked at each other and said “wow did this arrive on time!” Let’s be honest. We are spending record amounts of time at home, and we are tired and running out of creative ways to keep the kids off screens and devices. Enter the Kiwico crates! They are genius ways to keep your kids busy with educational kits.

How do I order?

Click HERE for 50% off!

You can search by age, how easy is that? We were surprised to see that they have crates for ages 2 to 12+. Levi even got one and felt special being included. Atalie got a walking robot, Kate the spin art, Mathias the infinity mirror, Brooks kaleidoscope and Levi got a mail delivery crate. VERY exciting and fun activities for kids bored at home!

Bonus: we had our kids write about their activity, how it worked and why it worked. Check, science is done my friends.

Was it fun?

Their favorite part was how hands on it was, creating their craft independently and playing with it afterwards. Atalie’s walking robot was a huge hit!

Do you have a promo code?

I have a link! Go to KiwiCo and get 50% off, no code needed!

Would this make a good Christmas gift?

Yes! Perfect for any child, niece or nephew in your life! Just shop by age. Here’s my link for 50% off!

Big thanks to KiwiCo for sponsoring this post!

December 5, 2020

workout

Reid’s Fitness Journey

by Shalice Noel November 25, 2020

written by Shalice Noel

I’ve always been into fitness. You could say since the age I started swimming at our neighborhood pool. I swam competitively starting at age 5 and didn’t stop until the end of high school. Swimming taught me a lot about self-discipline. Going to swim practice after school was draining in middle school. But going to swim practice before and after school was even more draining. It was that routine that made me a morning person today. While those training days were exhausting, I was motivated to always be better the next day. The fitness lifestyle is just that. A little improvement everyday.

As a swimmer, you learn to push your endurance and that is much the same idea I use in my weight training. I always try to do one more rep. It’s really not about counting reps and stopping at a pre-determined number ie. 10. It’s about pushing your body to the max. Taking every last muscle fiber and killing it in order for it to grow back better and stronger.

As a avid lifter and trainer, I also realized my nutrition is key. Otherwise the time spent in the gym is futile. Shalice has all the credit concerning my diet. When we first got married she pushed me to stop drinking soda drinks. I grew up drinking soda at least 1-2 time a day! (I’ve been off soda for 10 years now?) And I don’t get cavities anymore either. Shalice also started me on celery juice. See her celery juice recipe and benefits in THIS POST. I have a large glass of celery juice on ice before I eat anything else. I also try to not eat anything until lunch time. I’ve noticed my “dad bod” spare tire is deflating and that makes me happy. Lastly, Shalice has me taking LIFE liquid collagen and the Trim in lemon. How does Trim work you ask? Trim contains CLA which is conjugated linoleic acid. The most well-established benefit of CLA is a fat fighting power. CLA is clinically shown to reduce fat cells size over time meaning you can have a great impact on the visibility of cellulite. CLA also helps your body build muscle rather than store fat and has anti-inflammatory properties. As for the Biocell LIFE Collagen I take, here are some of the benefits: improves joint mobility and lubrication reduces joint discomfort, promotes healthy cartilage and connective tissue, supports cardiovascular health, promotes healthy hair, skin, gums and eyes.

Shalice’s code is this: 3697593, to get $10 off for first time customers.

It’s incredible the extra flex I get as a result in taking Trim and Biocell Life in the last couple months. I noticed much more cut in my mid-section and at 42 years old, I never thought I would have an almost 8-pack.

I guess I’m proof that if I can do it, you can do it.

Needless to say. I love working out. I love weight training. But without good nutrition, consistency in training and proper supplementation, you may not reach your goals. Keep up the grind. Push for one more rep. Practice self-discipline and everything will fit into place.

Rise and Grind friends.

November 25, 2020

workout

Family Fit workout

by Shalice Noel October 27, 2020

written by Shalice Noel

Ideas for family fitness:

Play tag, swim, toss a ball, jump rope, hula-hoop, dance to music or even play a dancing video game. It doesn’t have to be sports—just get your family moving!
Walk the dog, go for a jog, go on a bike ride, take the stairs or head to the park and let kids run around for a while.
Celebrate special occasions—like birthdays or anniversaries—with something active, such as a hike, a volleyball or soccer game or playing Frisbee at the park.
Get the whole family involved in household chores like cleaning, vacuuming, and yard work.
Walk instead of drive whenever you can. If you have to drive, find a spot at the far end of the parking lot and walk to where you’re going.
Park farther away and count with your children the number of steps from the car to your destination. Write it down and see if you can park even farther away on your next stop.
Train as a family for a charity walk or run.