Good Morning, friends!   I am pulling this post from way back in my draft box before I was pregnant with baby number three.  I had started this little Q&A series last Fall and you guys really seemed to enjoy it.  I typically would get on Instastories and ask you to submit any questions that you had for me and I would round them up for a blog post.  You can click to read Part I and Part II if you missed them.  I’m sorry for those of you that submitted these questions because you asked them so long ago, but hopefully they are still relevant.

What are your favorite kids stores to shop?

The Beaufort Bonnet Company, Little English, Born Children’s Boutique, Shop Bagsy, Feltman Brothers (especially for newborn), Elizabeth Layne Heirloom, Brother and Sissies Children’s Boutique, Smocked Auctions, Vineyard Vines

What are your thoughts on parenting a boy and a girl?  Are there any differences when parenting them?

This was a great thought-provoking question.  At the end of the day, boys and girls are just different.  Even though I feel like I parent mine the same, I’m sure there are natural differences.  Right now with Brody, he’s in Pre-K4 and I’m dealing with potty talk and sports where as Madelyn is two and all about baby dolls but also a bit whiney.  We definitely believe in discipline in my house and try to treat each equally, but it can be hard.  If I’m being honest, Madelyn probably gets away with more right now.  Maybe because she’s a girl or maybe because she is just younger.  I think the best lesson you can teach your kids is that life is not fair.  We do the best we can, but we’d be miserable if we tried to make it perfect and I don’t believe we would be doing our children any favors.

How do you ensure that your siblings stay close?  Are you close with your two brothers as adults?

This is the million dollar question to me because I think family is EVERYTHING! It means so much to me to keep my family close and I think that is important to instill in our children at a young age!  I’m very affectionate with my kids and think its so important to not only tell them you love them but show them with lots of hugs, kisses and snuggles.  In turn, my kids are also very affectionate with each other and I love watching them.  They love to play together and I make sure that I let them.  When we are home, I love to watch just the two of them have creative play time together without me involved.  My brothers and I are all still very close and I think that is a testament to my parents.  They always instilled the importance of family in us and made sure we always had quality family time through all of our years including adulthood.  I feel very lucky for that and hope to continue that with my kids.

This is so nosy, but I want to know about the private plane ya’ll fly on!

That was the actual question.  I promise I wasn’t calling her nosy.  So my Dad started a building company 27 years ago that is now run by my brother.  Occasionally when the company plane is traveling somewhere desirable and has enough space, we get to hop aboard and enjoy a ride

Would you mind answering some questions about your eyelash extensions??

No, of course not! I have become a bit of an addict that can’t seem to quit!

Have you tried any of the serums like lash boost, if so how does it compare to actual fake eyelashes??

I used Neulash for a little bit, but I was never diligent about putting it on every night.  People rave about it, but it does not give you the same result as actual fake eyelashes! I have seen it improve peoples lash tremendously though.  Those serums are not advised during pregnancy or breastfeeding where as I can have my eyelash extensions during pregnancy.

How long does it take to fill them and how often do you go?

This is the real commitment.  The fills are every 3-4 weeks and take about 1.5 hours.  I have friends that go to different places and their fills are faster–maybe an hour.  My girl’s claim to fame is being OCD and she makes sure there is an extension on every.single.lash, so it takes a bit longer.  The time commitment is definitely what made me quit lashes the first time; but when I got them on the second time, I changed my attitude.  I allow it to be my relaxation time and I put my headphones in and listen to my audiobooks.  I now really enjoy the time and it allows me to chill.

Can you still use mascara?

Not on your eyelash extensions.  You can put some mascara on your bottom lashes if you want, but I don’t.

How much do you have to baby them?  Especially when you are working out, showering, or at beach and pool?

I really don’t feel like I do much to them.  I think I have formed a habit of not rubbing my eyes much anymore, but otherwise I go about my day.  We are at the beach and in the pool all the time in the summer and they do great.  Some will fall out over time, but that is why you get fills!

For those of you that are local and interested, I go to Miracle Star for my extensions and she’s seriously amazing at what she does.  This is not sponsored at all, just sharing my experience. Here is a look at my eyelashes with and without extensions. Pretty impressive!

That’s it for today!! Hope you enjoyed.  Don’t forget if you missed passed Q&A’s you can read them here.

If you have any new questions for me, I will happily do another “Ask Annie” post.   Just leave a comment below or email me at annieamalone@gmail.com with Ask Annie in the subject line.  Thank you to everyone that submitted questions!! I loved receiving them all and taking the time to answer each one!!

The post Ask Annie | Q & A Part III appeared first on Home of Malones.

What’s Up Wednesday

WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT…

Our babymoon 3 years ago to Anguilla when I was pregnant for Madelyn.  It was in May and I was around 25 weeks pregnant just like I am now. It was such a beautiful vacation and it makes me wish I was going back to Caribbean for our babymoon this year. #zika

WHAT I’M LOVING…

I am loving this Native deodorant.  I know that is so lame, but its summer and I’m pregnant and to have found a safe deodorant that I love makes me so happy! It doesn’t hurt that it smells like summer too!  I love the smell of coconut and vanilla!

WHAT WEVE BEEN UP TO…

We’ve been wrapping up school with Pre-K graduation last week and then gearing up for summer.  We spent Memorial Day weekend enjoying some beach and pool time, doing a little fishing and avoiding the first named storm of the season.

WHAT IM DREADING…

I’m really not dreading anything as long as I can keep my sanity for summer time.   It’s always a double edge sword because I enjoy the slower mornings and not rushing out the door, but not being on routine can also throw me off.  We have some fun things planned for summer and camps that should give me a little time alone, so hopefully that will help!

WHAT IM WORKING ON…

I’m trying to knock out a summer to-do list of projects.  I have quite a few things I’m hoping to accomplish. Here’s a look at some of our projects:

1. Move Madelyn into Brody’s Room
2. Potty Train Madelyn
3. Update Brody and Madelyn’s Baby Books
4. Organize Playroom & Craft Closet
5. Organize Recipe Binder
6. New Baby Book

WHAT IM EXCITED ABOUT…

Our week in Rosemary Beach that starts in less than two weeks!!! I’m so excited to spend a week with friends in family in Rosemary.  We have several families coming down this year and it should be a ton of fun.

WHAT IM WATCHING/READING…

Bachelorette

 Southern Charm

Below Deck Mediterranean

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

WHAT IM LISTENING TO…

Nothing original.  Still loving The Greatest Showman soundtrack!

WHAT IM WEARING…

Pretty much for the last month or two, I’ve either been wearing a version of this outfit below which is an easy top with elastic waist band shorts or wearing one of my Lilly dresses.  I have had a lot of luck with Lilly dresses while pregnant and also their beach cover-ups.   I recently purchased a couple of new dresses and a pair of shorts that are maternity from Loft.

24 weeks pregnant

Lilly Dress

WHAT IM DOING THIS WEEKEND…

We really don’t have any plans this weekend.  We will be enjoying some time at home before our family vacation.  There are some Summer festivities going on that we will probably partake in.

WHAT IM LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH…

Our family trip to Rosemary for sure!  But Brody is also turning FIVE at the end of next month and I’m totally slacking on coming up with a birthday party for him.  I have got to get my act together soon.  Brody will have one week of tennis camp next month and Madelyn is also in swim lessons, so that should keep us pretty busy!

The post What’s Up Wednesday appeared first on Home of Malones.

As cliche as it is, I do always like to stop and make myself think about a few things that I would like to focus on for the new year.  I was pretty proud of myself when I looked back into the blog, that I had actually written one of these posts for the past 3 years.  Each year, there are always pretty similar items; but I feel like that is okay.

Here is a quick look at this years goals…

PERSONAL

 Meal Planning

This is such a big one.  I am definitely not an expert at this and would love to be better at it.  I come across so many great recipes in the blog world each week as I’m reading and I just need to make sure I start writing them down or bookmarking them so on Sunday’s when I want to meal plan, I have them handy.

Family Trips

Now that the kids are two and four they are seriously a ton of fun to travel with! Of course, it can still be totally trying on our nerves; but its so worth it in my opinion.  We have taken several trips now with just the four of us and I love what a great bonding experience it is for our family.  I have always felt that there is no better education you can give kids then the education of travel.  I hope to have many more family vacations in our future.

Date Nights

This just goes without saying, but date nights are so important! We are lucky to have great babysitters and try to get out just the two of use once a week or at least every other week.

Learning Hand Lettering

This is a new goal for me.  I received a hand lettering book for Christmas and I am having so much fun with it.  It helps to teach you and practice your skills in the book.  It truly just takes tons of practice to really become fluid and confident.  I have a ways to go, but I’m really enjoying it.

Reading

So I’m actually really proud of myself on this one from last year.  I had really fallen off the bandwagon of reading after having kids and last year I jumped back on.  I ended up finishing 24 books in 2017 which is a lot for me!  I still owe you guys my 4Q book review but you can find the other ones here.

BLOGGING

You Tube

I am really going to try to bring more You Tube videos to my site this year.  I really really enjoy them and feel they are such a great way to connect with readers!  I have written down several different topics I can use for videos and now I just need to get working on them!  If you are interested in seeing the videos I have so far, you can follow me here.  I have a makeup video coming your way soon!

More Reader Engagement

This will always be something I want to continue to work on.  It means so much to me that you guys are out there reading the content that I put out and following our little family and sometimes there are only few ways to show our appreciation.  I don’t always get to comment back on your blogs or even respond back to each comment I get on this blog, so I want to continue to improve on all of that.

Instastories and Real Life

During 2017 with the release of Instagrams, instastories, I really do feel like I have been able to connect with more of you.  I love when I receive messages from you guys after I post a picture or video and hope to add even more of that this year.  Talking solo in front of that camera is always a really weird feeling, but its amazing how much viewers really enjoy that! I will continue to try and share more of our real life there.

Past New Year’s Goals:

2015

2016

2017

The post New Years Goals | 2018 appeared first on Home of Malones.

Hooray for Friday!  I’m back at it again answering some of your questions from last week.  If you missed the first Q & A post, you can read it here.  I love hearing from you guys because besides being able to answer your questions, it also gives me an idea of things that you might be interested in reading on this blog.  So please, I’m an open book.  Feel free to ask questions anytime.  I love hearing from lots of you on Instagram as well.  Do you like hearing from me on Instastories?  I always feel like that is fun way to relate and get to know readers better.  I’m not the best at talking into the camera, but I do love sharing with each of you and hearing your responses.   Anyway, lets get to it!

I would love to know gift guides/ideas especially for Madelyn for Christmas since my daughter is the same age.

I’m definitely planning on sharing some gift guides with you guys this year. I always love compiling those and trying to help readers out.  It is interesting with the second child because Madelyn literally loves to just play with anything that her big brother, Brody, is playing with and then she loves her dolls!  So for her 2nd birthday, all she got were doll things. For Christmas, I’m really trying to get creative.  She’s been absolutely obsessed with this giant baby doll that I can’t rave about enough and both of my kids have loved this shopping cart so much which is on sale right now on Zulily.

I actually hadn’t shopped on Zulily in so long, but I had seen someone say that this most precious London Pram was on Zulily and I had to go buy it for Christmas.  It is still on their for another day or two.  If you have a baby lover like me, you need this ?. I die over all this precious baby doll stuff that you can get too.  They have lots of cute stuff for the dolls here if you have space in your house for all this stuff!! I’ve run out of space ?

I’m also looking for things that she can enjoy outside with Brody.  He is loving riding his bike these days and they still love to ride in their motorized jeep.  She’s pretty much ready for her own ride now too.  This one is so cute (ignore the price on this link, I think it’s around $99).  I love this precious bike and I bought them each one of these neat things on Zulily too.  They are called Joybays.  They are on major sale right now!

Do you have a light-up scooter recommendation for 5 year olds??

We don’t have a light-up, but my kids have always used the Razors which are nice.  I didn’t even know they made light up scooters, but this one looks really fun!

Favorite go-to recipes??

Eww. this is a good question. So, lately, I have been cooking a lot of new stuff from Skinnytaste.  I get on these kicks where I cook everything Ina Garden or everything Skinnytaste or I just get in a big slump.

Hubby is very much a meat and potatoes guys.  We do a lot of meat on the grill, starch and veggie.  But especially since it is Fall, it definitely gets me in the cooking mood.

This ranch chicken is so good and it is so simple. The kids even like it.   This spicy shrimp pasta has become a favorite and we love some good crab cakes if you get good seafood.  This truffled Mac, tomato pie and tomato, corn and mozzarella tart are some of our favorites to eat with a piece of chicken or steak on the grill.

We love Italian food too so we will make spaghetti (add a little cream cheese to your marinara ? or add these stuffed meatballs), chicken or veal parmesan, or chicken marsala or piccata.

At this stage, our kids do not eat dinner with us.  They eat dinner before us around 530pm and we eat our dinner later.  I would love to hear some of your ideas on kid friendly recipes that you use if you eat together as a family.

How did you and your hubby meet?

Hubby and I met because he worked for my Dad.  I know I’ve told this story at some point on this blog; but yes, he worked for my Dad.  I was living in Atlanta about 1 year post college and I came back to Pensacola for one of our company Christmas parties.  Matt and I just hit it off that night.  We had actually met several times before that when I was in college in Gainesville, FL and he lived in Orlando.  My brother was living in Orlando at the time and when I would go visit him, we would sometimes see Matt.  He was a lot older than me (even though I didn’t really know how much older he was at the time), so I never thought too much of it; but we definitely had chemistry.  After that Christmas party in 2007, we started talking long distance (I actually chased him ?) and he was convinced my Dad was going to kill him if he found out we were dating.  Thankfully, that was not the case at all and my Dad had always loved Matt.  This Christmas will be 10 years which is still hard to believe.

How do you set up your schedule, days, etc with kids, blogging, house stuff, chores, appts, etc?

I think like a lot of SAHM’s, no two days are the same.  This Fall has been really nice because both of the kids are in school from 9am-1pm  Monday to Thursday.  That seems like it would be pretty cut and dry, but sick kids happen or doctors appointments or whatever and often seem to disrupt the schedule.  But, when everything is going smoothly; that is the plan and I try to fit in a work out, blogging (at a coffee shop, I love being at the coffee shop), groceries and appointments into that time.

I’ve saved a lot of free time lately by using Instacart to have our groceries delivered and I’ve saved a lot of time with laundry by hiring someone that comes once every two weeks to help fold and put away laundry as well as change sheets and do a little light cleaning.  This is an absolute luxury for sure, but I can’t tell you how amazing it is.  Kids laundry is A LOT! I know lots of people that try to have a laundry schedule.  My schedule is to do laundry only once every two weeks.  Seriously, that’s all I do it.  I get all the laundry done the day before she comes and then she folds, hangs and puts away all of our clothes.  She will use the steamer sometimes too for clothes that need it.  This has been a big game changer for me.   I found her through my cleaning company.  It costs us about an extra $150 a month to have her and it’s worth every penny in my book! We have a cleaning company that comes once every other week also to do a full clean of the house.

Do you get ready and fully dressed before your kids get up??

Typically our morning looks like this: The kids come into our room about 7am and lay in bed with us with some TV for a few minutes.  Then my husband gets up to shower and get dressed while I go downstairs with the kids.  When he is done, he comes down stairs with the kids and I go up to get dressed for the day.  It works for us right now.  I can’t tell you how much I try to wake up around 6am before the kids and want to squeeze in a quick work out and shower before the kids wake up; but it never happens ? It’s been getting light out earlier here, so I’m hoping I can make it happen soon

What was your approach to keeping Brody busy when Madelyn was a baby??

Brody was 2 years and 3 months when Madelyn was born.  I’ve honestly already forgotten what the stage looked like! Brody has always been pretty good at playing independently.  I know he also loved Mickey Mouse Clubhouse A LOT.  So, we just made it through that stage the best we could.  Newborns sleep so much in the beginning, so I tried to take advantage of that time by giving him some one on one attention and he understood pretty quickly that Mommy had to breastfeed the baby and I couldn’t play.  He’s always been super tight with my hubby too, so at night that helped a lot.  It really becomes such a blur, but we get through it.  The newborn learns to sleep wherever and would be dragged to play dates or trampoline parks when needed.

This became a pretty long post again!! If you have any new questions that you would like me to answer, shoot me an email, leave a comment or send me a DM on Instagram.  I really love hearing from all of you!  I hope these help!

Have a great weekend ?

The post Ask Annie | Q & A Part II appeared first on Home of Malones.

Hi, Friends!! I’m really excited for today’s post.  I have been wanting to do this for awhile, but I was really a little nervous whether you guys would really have questions for me or not ?. These have become some of my favorite posts to read from other bloggers because you get to learn things that might be a little more personal plus you get to see their personality a little better too!  So thank you to everyone that submitted questions.   I hope you enjoy them.  The post ended up getting really long once I started answering everyone’s questions, so I’m actually going to split it into two posts.  I’m so sorry to those of you that I didn’t get to yet, but I promise they will get answered next week!!!  Here we go…

What did you do before becoming a SAHM? And was the decision to stay home hard?

I ran the marketing department for the family business.  My Dad started a home building business 26 years ago that is now run by my brother.  Our company had no such thing as a marketing department 5 years ago.  I was working as a Sales Manager for our company in the Biloxi, MS division before Matt and I got married.  Once we got married in 2012, we moved to Pensacola where our corporate office is located and I started up the marketing department.  It was in it’s beginning stages still after I had Brody, but we had hired someone else to keep the ball rolling.  Now, they have a great thing going!  It was a hard decision to decide to leave completely.  The people in the company are like family to me.  I had plans to try to work part-time, but I quickly realized that it wasn’t beneficial to either party.  Starting this blog was the perfect outlet for me after I left and gave me the sense of accomplishment and community that I needed.

Where is your favorite place you’ve ever traveled?  And what destinations are on your bucket list???

Hmm this is a tough one! I have traveled quite a bit to places like Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and a lot of Europe; but at the end of the day, the Caribbean/Bahamas is still one of my favorite places to go.  Sadly, the BVI’s are one of my all time favorite trips and of course they just got demolished in hurricane Irma.  I pray for a quick recovery for all of their islands.  Harbour Island in the Bahamas is my other favorite in the Caribbean.  My favorite places to travel in the US are Vail/Aspen and Rosemary Beach.  Those have just become my happy places and I love them both with kids or without!

I have three places on the top of my bucket list.  The Maldives, Greece/Italian Riviera and Bora Bora.  As you can tell, we love beach vacations!  It will probably be a very long time before those ever happen; but I hope to make it one day!

If you could travel and vacation any where in the world, where would it be? One trip with adults only and one family trip?! 

This has mostly been answered above, I think.  If Matt and I could plan the perfect trip tomorrow to anywhere we wanted to go, I would probably push for the Maldives!

One place with the kids if we could go anywhere, would probably be to Harbour Island. I’m hoping to take them there soon!

What are some of your holiday traditions for your family ?

I have a couple of Christmas traditions that I grew up with that we have carried over into our family that I really enjoy.  One is that we have a family (adult) dinner on Christmas Eve Eve (23rd).  It was always at Antoine’s in New Orleans when I was growing up and now we have it here in Pensacola at Jackson’s.  I always look forward to getting dressed up and kicking off a busy few days with my Mom, brothers and spouses.

On Christmas Eve, we always get to open one present and it was always matching pajamas! It was mainly for me and my Mom, but if we could get the boys to participate, we would!! That’s how I feel now.  I get me, Madelyn and Brody matching jammies and it makes me so happy!

For Thanksgiving, two dishes that are always tradition in our family that are not very common in other places are Oyster Dressing and Stuffed Mirleton.  Ever heard of those??  They are very New Orleans.

We are starting to make traditions of our own now that we have kids.  We love to have Christmas morning at our house with just us.  We have introduced the Elf on the Shelf and I love taking the kids to the pumpkin patch even though it’s always still so hot!!  What are some of your favorite traditions with kids that are fun to add??

What are your favorite enteraining ideas ?

I LOVE to throw a fun party! My husband and I entertain a lot.  Whether it is throwing a 6-12 person dinner party, have a casual football gathering or throw a holiday soiree; it is all a lot of fun (and sometimes a lot of work!).  I think the number one thing is not to be afraid of entertaining.  Nothing has to be fancy.  I love a casual Friday night cookout on the grill (with steaks or hamburgers paired with an easy Mac & Cheese and salad) or Saturday football party full of dips and bar food or a Tuesday night taco night!

I try to plan things that I can cook ahead to the best of my ability.  If you are doing tacos, do them in a crockpot so they stay warm and your work is done before everyone arrives!  If you are having an Italian night, make a lasagna since you can make it ahead of time and just pop it in the oven when your guests arrive.  If you are having a football party, make your dips ahead of time (often times they taste better when refrigerated over night) and don’t be afraid to pick up wings or pizza from a local restaurant.  When it gets cooler out, a great soup/chili is fun to serve too.

Lastly, if you are not already part of a fun girls holiday party; you need to start one!!   This year will be my 4th year hosting a girls Dirty Santa party.   I look forward to it every year and I think everyone else does too!  There are a lot of cute options out there for holiday parties (cookie exchange, ugly sweaters, etc) that you can choose from!  Get together with a couple of your friends and organize something.  You will thank me later

And basic pantry staples (whenever we end up entertaining at last minute — I end up having to order in food at last minute).

I almost always keep Mexicorn and Rotel in my pantry for this easy Mexicorn Dip.

I also always have white shoe peg corn and black beans in my pantry for this Black Bean feta Dip.

This Captain Rodney dip sauce will forever stay in my pantry along with Ritz Crackers!

So in my refrigerator, you can usually find green onions, shredded cheddar, bacon, feta, mayo and sour cream.

You should always have taco kits in your pantry too in case you are in a crunch

Have you guys thought about adding a 3rd baby to the mix? And/or do you know your family is “complete”?

This was a VERY popular question  I actually had plans to write an entire post about this and it’s been sitting in my drafts box for months!!  I just haven’t taken the time to sit down and concentrate to write it.  The truth is that my answer has changed a lot in the last two years since Madelyn was born.  I would say that I always knew/thought that I wanted three kids, but I was also pretty sure that I could be convinced that two was enough. So,  when my hubby and I were getting married, I pretty much prepared him for the idea of three right out of the gate!  That way, the possibility was there.  But, if we had two and he felt completely done; I would totally respect that too.

Immediately after having Madelyn, my first reaction was that there was no way that was the last time I was going to do that.  The whole process of having a new baby and bringing that baby home is just my favorite thing in the world.  I just couldn’t think about it being my last time.  Then, a few months passed, and life got hard with two.  I started feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and certain I was never going to have two healthy kids at one time ever again! I knew this phase too would pass, I worked on hiring some help (hired a babysitter for about 6 months to help with Madelyn while Brody was in school so I could have some real “me” time) and I made it through!

Even though I became obsessed with the relationship that was blossoming between Brody and Madelyn as she started walking and was able to keep up with big brother, I kept feeling like I still pictured one more baby.  I will take pictures of the two of them together and still imagine “one more baby.” There has been lots of back in forth in my head still over the last year (I always said I wouldn’t make any decision until Madelyn turned 2); but ultimately, we would like one more baby! I don’t feel like our family is complete yet; but if it is, I would be 100% satisfied too!

It honestly can be so tough in the moment to make this decision while we are in the thick of things with young kids.  I really know in my head that I would be the woman in five years that would regret not trying for one more. I’ve talked to so many women in their 40s, 50s or 60s that had two kids and said looking back, they wish they had one more! There are tons of things that run through my head about how much easier just two kids would be; but life is long, and family is the best thing we can give each other!

I hope that didn’t get too sappy for you guys, but I have really been meaning to share that with all of you

Here are the questions sitting in the queue for next week! If you have any that you would like to add to it, just leave a comment below or email me at annieamalone@gmail.com with Ask Annie in the subject line.  Thank you to everyone that submitted questions!! I loved receiving them all and taking the time to answer each one!!

I would love to know gift guides/ideas especially for Madelyn for Christmas since my daughter is the same age.

Do you have a light-up scooter recommendation for 5 year olds??

Favorite g0-to recipes??

How did you and your hubby meet?

How do you set up your schedule, days, etc with kids, blogging, house stuff, chores, appts, etc?

Do you get ready and fully dressed before your kids get up??

The post Ask Annie | Q & A appeared first on Home of Malones.

A lot of my friends and family that are not familiar with the blog world have asked questions about the LIKEtoKNOW.it and Rewardstyle names that they keep seeing in my Instagram photos or blog posts.  I know that even when I was a blogger, but didn’t use Rewardstyle, I was really curious about it and how it worked on the backend.  So, I thought I would share a little information about it with each of you.

What is RewardStyle?

RewardStyle is an invitation only affiliate network that focuses primarily on fashion, lifestyle, and beauty bloggers. They also own the Liketoknow.it program on Instagram that makes shopping outfit and home photos really simple. RewardStyle allows bloggers to earn commissions on products they recommend by using affiliate links.

RewardStyle is basically the middle-man between bloggers and retailers.  RewardStyle has built the relationships with the retailers and accept bloggers and influencers into their program to promote these retailers.   The program is web-based and allows bloggers to create “shoppable” links for their readers.

How do bloggers make money?

With RewardStyle, bloggers make a small commission (usually 5-15%) from purchases made through their links.  The best way that I like to explain it is similar to a shoe salesman in Dillard’s or any retail store.    Those employees make a small commission on their sales for working the floor and suggesting shoes.   RewardStyle has now made that possible in the virtual world.   Bloggers are now the “online salesman” for each of these stores.  So instead of the company paying an “in-house” employee for their sales, they are now paying “online influencers.”   It is important to know that this process adds no additional cost to it’s buyers.   You pay the same price whether you buy something on your own or through an affiliate link.

What information do we receive as a RewardStyle member?

I was always curious about this before I was accepted to the program.  I guess I was interested whether the bloggers could see exactly what I purchased, how much I spent, etc. and the answer is, NO.  All that the blogger can see is what link someone clicked and made a purchase on.  For example, if I am promoting a pair of jeans from Nordstrom’s; I can see that someone clicked that link and made a purchase, but I only see the amount of my commission.  I don’t see all the items purchased or the total amount spent.  Does that make sense?  There is also nothing tied to anyone’s name or personal information.   So we never see who purchased what or any of that specific information.   I thought this information might be interesting to you in case you were weirded out by that information being seen.

If you have any specific questions that you are curious to know about RewardStyle, please feel free to ask.  I’m happy to answer.  I know affiliate links can be controversial, but it’s true that a lot of time gets put into many of the posts that you see.  It’s nice to get paid a tiny bit of money for our time sometimes

How to Use the LIKEtoKNOW.it App and other ways to shop Instagram images:
Below are three ways you can easily shop my Instagram outfits!!

1. Download the brand new LIKEtoKNOW.it app.
The app populates all of the pics you’ve “liked” on Instagram with ready to shop details.
It also allows you to screenshot Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitter, & Facebook pics and when you open your LIKEtoKNOW.it app, the photos will populate for you to shop.

2. Sign up for LIKEtoKNOW.it
Once your registered, all you have to do is “like” a picture that has a www.liketk.it/… link on Instagram.
You will quickly receive a ready-to-shop email based on your preferences with all of the outfit details.

3. Click to shop on the Home of Malone’s website. You can see my Instagram images on the bottom of the blog or up in my “Shop” tab, you will see a page called “shop Instagram”!
Click on the image to shop that look.

Here’s an example of a photo with the LiketoKnow.it symbol. You can screenshot this photo on Instagram or just “like it” and then open your new LiketoKnowit App.

Top | Jeans | Shoes

I hope this helps you guys!  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask :).