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Love and Specs

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Sparkling Ice Drinks by popular Phoenix lifestyle blog, Love and Specs: image of two gift baskets filled with Sparkling Ice drinks, cookies, drink mix in a mason jar, and pine sprigs with dried oranges.

DIY, Entertaining, Food, Holiday Favorites, Lifestyle

DIY Spiced Sparkling Ice Holiday Mocktail Gift Basket

We’re getting a head start on the holiday season by sharing an adorable DIY spiced sparkling holiday mocktail gift basket for friends or neighbors that’s as easy to whip up as it is fun to make!

2020 Summer Bucket List featured by top US cottage lifestyle blogger, Love and Specs

Entertaining, Home, Lifestyle, Travel

Our 2020 Summer Bucket List Progress Report & Our Fun Family S’mores Night

We’re sharing a little progress report on our fun summer bucket that we shared earlier this summer & one of our favorite activities on said list – a fireside s’mores hangout with the family – with help from our go-to neighborhood grocery store Albertsons & the summer-perfect drink we stock & sip all summer long, Sparkling Ice!

Entertaining, Holiday Favorites, Home, Home Decor

Fun 4th of July Inspired Red White and Blue Decorations to Love This Year!

Summer is officially here, and that means we have our mind on one of our favorite, festive holidays of the year that just so happens to be just a week and a half away – 4th of July! Our Independence Day celebrations may look a little bit more intimate this year, but that didn’t stop us from rounding up all of our favorite red, white and blue 4th of July inspired decorations from around the web that are perfect for small celebrations and general summer fun of all kinds, even if it’s just a backyard BBQ for two!

Entertaining, Food, Home, Lifestyle

Our Husband vs. Wife Battle for the Best Easy Summer Cocktail with Q Mixers & Albertsons

To celebrate the summer season the best way we know how we’re mixing up not one, but two tastier than tasty summer cocktails, inspired by two of our favorite Q Mixers flavors from Albertsons! Come see the easy recipes for Chris’ refreshing Basil Lime Gin & Tonic and my bright, delicious Blood Orange Mezcal Mule and vote for which Carter cocktail is your favorite summer sipper!

Entertaining, Food, Home, Lifestyle

10 Creative Ways to Celebrate the Simple Wins or Major Milestones with Cinnamon Toast Crunch™ & Albertsons

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re really into celebration around here. Give us all the happy, all the time! We love it. We live for it. We thrive on it. We grow from it. Which is why, with a little help from someone we know will absolutely, positively put a smile on your face, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and our friends at our go-to neighborhood store for all of our celebration supplies, Albertsons, we’re slowing it down today to convince you that you can and should be celebrating the small wins, major milestones and everything in between. We’re also sharing our favorite creative, simple, easily executable ways to celebrate the little things, so you can freeze the moment!

DIY, Entertaining, Food, Holiday Favorites, Home, Lifestyle

How to Host a Winter & Holiday Season Bucket List Party

We’re taking this whole winter and holiday season bucket list idea up a notch by throwing a fun bucket list party for family and friends with the help of Chinet® so everyone you love can get in on the action! We’re showing you how we threw our own easy, fun-for-all-ages bucket list party complete with holiday decorations & tons of tasty treats, plus all the info you need to throw your own bucket list party with the ones you love this season, no fuss required!

Entertaining, Food, Holiday Favorites, Home

Easy Holiday Hosting Ideas with Hillshire® Snacking & Albertsons

Holiday hosting hacks, tips, tricks and ideas that make it easier for us to entertain and connect with the people we love throughout the holiday season are kind of our jam, which is why I’m so excited to share this fun little hosting idea that has made our hosting lives so much easier, with help from our friends at Hillshire® Snacking. This is the year we master this holiday hosting thing together, guys!  

Entertaining, Holiday Favorites, Home, Lifestyle

Cozy, Cottage-Inspired Thanksgiving & Friendsgiving Table Decor Ideas

We’re pretty in love with all that is Thanksgiving, so in celebration of the upcoming holiday we’re sharing an easy, cozy, cottage-inspired Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving table tablescape full of affordable table top finds and simple decor and centerpiece ideas for creating an enchanting, cottage-inspired Thanksgiving table that wows!

Entertaining, Food, Holiday Favorites, Home, Lifestyle

A Cozy, Festive Holiday Coffee Bar with Starbucks® Peppermint Mocha Flavored Coffee & Albertsons

It’s November 1st which means that I can now start celebrating the holiday season in my little corner of the internet with reckless abandon! The thing I love most about the holiday season is that it gives me the chance to gather with the people I love, and when those celebrations happen at our house it’s bliss! Which is why I’m so excited to kick off this special season of gathering with a cozy holiday coffee bar tutorial for you built around the festive coffee blend that fills my cup and my heart with joy throughout the holiday season: Starbucks® Peppermint Mocha Flavored Ground Coffee at Albertsons. Coffee lovers unite!

Entertaining, Home

Our Favorite House Cleaning Supplies, Tips & Tricks when Prepping for Guests

As Chris knows, cleaning and specifically cleaning the right way has become one of my very favorite topics in my adult years and especially since becoming a homeowner, which is why I’m so excited to share my best cleaning tips, tricks and hacks that I’ve picked up over the years that make prepping your home for those fun fall, winter and holiday guests a total breeze this season!

Entertaining, Food, Holiday Favorites, Home, Lifestyle

Easy, Fun 4th of July Party Ideas, Decorations, Recipes & More!

4th of July week here on Love & Specs continues with something we’re SO excited to share – all the easy, cottage-perfect 4th of July tabletop decor and party ideas and inspiration you can handle complete with fun, festive decorations galore, tasty, effortless recipes and food ideas and a detailed breakdown of all of the tips, tricks and sources!

How to Make the Best Root Beer Float, a recipe featured by top Phoenix life and style blog, Love and Specs

Entertaining, Food, Home

Recreating Childhood Magic With a Summer-Inspired A&W Root Beer Float Party

We couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the summer season than by taking a trip down memory lane in celebration of A&W Root Beer’s 100th anniversary, and throwing one epic backyard root beer float party! When we were young an A&W Root Beer float was the ultimate sign of summer celebration, so we’re showing you how to recreate this easy, delicious root beer float party in your own backyard this season, perfect for entertaining family and friends of all ages!

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Maryal Miller Carter

loveandspecs

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Instagram post 17857398488397697 Everything is starting to bloom here again in Phoenix & thanks to some much needed rain the last few days, I see a pretty pretty spring on the horizon! Obviously, another spring Arcadia tour is in order 🥰 This snap is from last spring & I was just positively smitten with this rose-covered fence with that bloom-lined walkway in the background. Swoon!
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Instagram post 18144143809141458 Ok ok ok since everyone clearly loves @bridgertonnetflix & it seems to be a nice little introduction to the world of romance novels for a good chunk of you like @virginriverseries was for me last year, would you guys be interested in a roundup of my very favorite romance novels/series to read if you loved it & want more of it?! I’m gonna be honest - I read 140 books in 2020 & watched very, very little TV because I was positively enthralled with the wonderful world of romance novels! Seriously... it saved my sanity in 2020 with its endless happy endings, loved-up storylines & spicy characters. It was honestly the best escape from reality in my downtime. I had surgery in September & I was 0% nervous or anxious while I was waiting to go in because I was so engrossed in my book & barely even noticed when they wheeled me into surgery 🤣 My doctor came in to chat with me & go over the procedure before we went in & I was like “yeah yeah cool cool but can you leave so I can get back to Ryder & Sammy because they’re at a pivotal moment right now.” 😂 So let me know if that would be of interest & I’ll get a blog post up ASAP! 💗
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Instagram post 18027559984291140 Oh snap! New shutters (the DIY tutorial for these is on the blog)! Also you can catch a glimpse of the new light we installed a while back here. It’s a sage barn light with a black metal arm & base by @progressltg progressltg & we’re obsessed! It was such a good swap & I’m so glad we just dove in & figured out how to make it work. Totally worth it. Also can we just talk about how awesome a stained wood Dutch door would be here?! It’s happening... someday. It has to! 😂
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Instagram post 17915557696547572 What. A. Day! Today has been pretty thrilling to say the least, so I thought I’d keep the good vibes rolling & share a super fun DIY project over on the blog that we finished last year. Im so happy that we’re finally getting around to sharing one of the many DIY home improvement projects we’ve tackled during our time at home this last year & I think there’s no better way to kick it off than by sharing one of my very favorites - our DIY shutters! Well decorative shutters, that is. This project is SO easy to execute & will save you a bundle compared to buying prefabricated shutters or having a carpenter make them for you. We have a few more things we’ll be changing & adding to our front porch over time, but it’s coming along! Hop to the link in my bio to get the full tutorial on how to make your own shutters at home & before & after pics of the project! Exterior Paint Color: @sherwinwilliams Alabaster & Shutter Color: @sherwinwilliams Agreeable Gray
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Instagram post 18092369944221655 Just when I think my love of pink is of the casual variety, I start looking through old photos & realize that I spent most of summer 2020 finding & snapping pretty pink houses in Northern Michigan 🤣 No wonder I love this time of year so much - it’s a pinksplosion! If you missed all 3 of the Northern Michigan Cottage tours on the blog last summer/fall, you can see all of the pink prettiness & a ton of other amazing color combos at the link in my bio if you just go to the category “Home” & then “Michigan Cottage Tours” in the drop down menu. So many inspiring, charming homes to get lost in! The first image here in the carousel is of one of my very favorite historic Victorian homes in Petoskey, MI - you can admire it right from the main drag that drives through & out of Petoskey & the details always leave me drooling!
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Instagram post 18116494060171676 Citrus season & the lead up to Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite times of year to be a Phoenician. 🍊 It’s starting to get pretty dreamy around here right now & I feel like I reeeally needed this. I was startin’ to lose it a little bit I think being so cooped up inside. 😬 You guys know I’m a serious sucker for all things V-Day & especially love all of the pretty pastel, romantic, happy home decor that hits shelves right now, so if that speaks straight to your design feels head on over to the link in my bio because I shared my annual roundup of ALL the V-Day inspired decor I’m loving this year that would be awesome additions to your abode all year round. And bonus, they’re perfect for gifting, too! 💗

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