In All Things Give Thanks

Give Thanks

It’s a cold and rainy day here in Atlanta, no reason to go anywhere and the perfect excuse to watch a Modern Family marathon. I’m feeling very thankful for lazy days with my family.

My family and I are also grateful for a good health report for my sweet Mother in law, who recently suffered a minor heart attack…. I am grateful for the word “minor” in this case, because a heart attack in any form is scary. She will hopefully be released from the hospital soon so she can rest comfortably at home. We love you Grandma!!

We are also grateful for our good friend David who has Cystic Fibrosis, and just went in last night for a double lung transplant…the report is good. He has a new set of healthy lungs and is recovering nicely. Our prayers are being answered and we are more than grateful!

I am also thankful for the guys who are working on our septic system out in the cold rain, trying to get our system working!! Thanks, Banks Tanks!

In all things give thanks…right?

This “In All Things Give Thanks” Chalkboard print is an instant download from Sassy Ink Studio on Etsy. Perfect for a last minute addition to your Thanksgiving decor.

Thanksgiving GAther

This “gather” sign sums up Thanksgiving for me. It’s what I love about every holiday, but Thanksgiving seems to be the one time we gather together to just be together.

Old New Again  is an Etsy shop with many, many cool items, including this gather sign!

 

Thankgiving center piece

 

I was drawn to this Thanksgiving center piece for 2 reasons….it’s so tastefully done, and I’m a big fan of using seasonal goods for decoration. They are usually very inexpensive, and once they have reached their expiration date, they go into the garbage and not our storage area! Saves room and money!

 

Thanksgiving

 

 

Designer Blogs has some really fun free printables for your Thanksgiving menu! Simply download, print and presto, your guests will think you are pretty cool!

 

 

Thanksgiving puppy chow

 

In the past, I generally leave the Puppy Chow for Christmas, but not anymore! I found this amazing, peanut butter heavy, puppy chow recipe from The Messy Baker, and it is incredibly good. She has categorized her chow as a Halloween treat, or a great way to us up some of your left over Halloween candy, but I just loved the Autumn colors and thought it might be a great Thanksgiving alternative. I personally left out the Candy Corn’s, and added a few more Reese’s Pieces but that’s just because Candy Corn’s are my least favorite candy on the planet..sorry corn lovers.

 

I hope you have an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving, with lots of fun family gatherings and plenty of Turkey to feast on!

 

 

It’s Boo Time!

PicMonkey Collage Boo 2

Yay! It’s BOO time!

During a trip to the grocery store, I noticed they had brought out my favorite childhood cereals for Halloween. I LOVED Count Chocula, Boo-Berry and Franken-Berry as a kid…really loved them!! I was known to sneak the box out of the cabinet and hide it somewhere in my room as a little midnight snack….I would also hide chocolate chips, powdered sugar and saltine crackers…I know I’m a weirdo! I once baked a tray of brownies and then hid them in my nightstand so no one would eat any. My family still talks about that.

Anyway, while looking and rem-mincing about how good that stuff is, it hit me like a  bolt of lightning….they would make super fun Boo gifts!!  I thought the kids might enjoy a little sugar in the morning!!! So I snatched up a few Count Chocula’s and Boo Berry’s, but I was sad that I couldn’t find Franken-Berry…oh well, the two would have to do!

We decided to wrap the boxes up like mummy’s to make them a little spooky. Along with the cereal we gave them a small bag of candy for their afternoon fix of sugar. Your welcome, moms…just covering my bases.

I was really happy when I came across these free printable “We’ve Been Booed” prints from The TomKat Studio!! Aren’t they fun? She also had a great spider one as well!

Here is the link to the Printables:

The TomKat Studio

Happy Booing!!

Booed TomKat

Booed TomKat 2

Katie Daisy

Katie Daisy LOVE

Print: The Wheatfield by Katie Daisy on Etsy – LOVE Print

I love hanging out with my daughter, Daley, when she paints. She paints like a 10 year old…joyful, innocent and sweet. To me, her paintings are glimpses into her pure little mind and I can’t get enough of it. Daley is extra chatty when she is painting and she dreams out loud. She was talking about how she would love to be able to paint for her job!! That is when I went to Etsy to show her an artist who I have loved for awhile, named Katie Daisy.  I bought one of Katie’s prints about a year ago and I put it on a wall in the girl’s playroom. It makes me happy every time I look at it and it’s one Daley favorites as well.

When I clicked on Katie’s Etsy site I saw a note that read “Huge News”…she was being featured in Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday!!! Katie is a breath of fresh air and I can see why she caught Oprah’s attention.  She has a wonderful story and it’s so nice to find a girl who is living the life she wants to live, and whether she knows it or not, a wonderful role model for my girls! (BTW…Daley’s nickname is Daisy, so she was extra excited about this story.)

Follow this link to watch her story!!  Katie Daisy on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday

You can also find her at: Katie Daisy Blog

Have a great day!

Friday Find

Merriweather

Happy Friday!

I have been a fan of The Merriweather Council for quite a while, and I’m so happy to kick of my “Friday Finds” with this clever gal.  Danielle Spurge is the imaginative talent behind The Merriweather Council. Her custom hand embroidered pendants are the perfect marriage of old world handicraft meets modern simplicity.

Merri - hello

Giving a gift that is personal and unique is often hard to find, especially if you are buying for that person who has everything! There are countless occasions her hoops would be perfect for…. wedding, baby shower, anniversary…or just to say “hello.”

Merrieweather 2

Thank you Danielle for Merriweathering your happiness into wearable art and sentimental loveliness.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Instagram’s Best Friend

Origrami PicMonkey Collage

If I had a super power, it would be camera eyeballs! I could blink my eyes and in an instant snap a photo that captures that pure emotion or personality of the moment. Click.

Fortunately, my iPhone is never far away, so I kind of consider Instagram to be my super power. My only problem is, now that I have so many awesome photos they often sit on my phone or get lost somewhere on my computer. BUT, since I have discovered Origrami, I actually print my photos and it is super easy and fun!

Origrami is the brainchild of a husband and wife team out of Sydney Australia.

The site lets you simply log into your Instagram account…no downloading anything…just select the photos you would like printed, choose between Retro style prints or square prints, and your done! Oh, and free shipping!  The back of the photo is the best surprise! It  includes information, such as the date, how many likes you received, and the location on a map (only if you tagged the location in the photo.) It is truly a happy day when your little camera box arrives in the mail!

Mother’s Day – Easy Gift Ideas.

happy-mothers-day-pink

Happy Mother’s Day!

Tomorrow is the day we celebrate our beautiful, hard-working mother’s, and the day I celebrate the fact that I am a mother.

I found a few fun ideas to make your Mother’s Day gifts a little more special…OR…just in case you just now realized Mother’s Day is tomorrow,these ideas make great last-minute gifts.

Happy Mother’s Day Print by nest of posies.

How-To-Make-Coffee-Filter-Flowers-Tutorial_thumb[1]

A big fluffy flower would be a nice touch on top of your gift, or if you are feeling ambitious, create a big bouquet  that will last forever. . Ucreate, has a great tutorial on how to make these  coffee filter flowers.

DIY-Mothers-Day-Gift

If you weren’t already the “favorite child” in your family, you will be now with this great idea from Shanty 2 Chic.

Mothers-Day-Printable-Main

Simply, Print. Frame. Done.

Free printable by I Want That.

Mother's Day Printable coupons

And of course, there is the tried and true coupon book! Brightnest, just made it easy for you.

 

I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

 

Holiday Gift Tags

I am a sucker for great packaging. My husband will often ask “did you buy that because it has a cute label?” and my response is usually, “maybe.” I think if he picked up a piece of mulch out of our yard and put it in a cute box with some sort of cute label, I would love it! So, here are some cute, free printables for you to make your Christmas packages all cute and stuff.

 

Chalkboard-Style Printable gift tags from, Poppytalk:

Poppytalk Gift Tags

 

Holiday Printables from Paper Crave.

 

free-printable-holiday-gift-tags

 

Gift tags from Jill Means for One Charming Party. Brightsideprints.com.

 

gifttag1

Inspired

 

 

The park that I run in holds a very special place in my heart. It is a place I ran when my girls were babies, I would pop them in the double jogger and go. I have been running there for about 9 years, and now that I just registered for my first marathon, there will be a well worn path there when the training is over. The running trail is made of crushed gravel, it has rolling hills and it is lined with trees…it is perfect for me, and I can walk out my front door, cross the street and I am there…bonus! I also love that it is a loop and I see a lot of the same people a few times before I am finished running.
There is one gentleman in particular that always makes me smile. He is an older Asian man, and I have seen him at the park for years. Each and every time I see him on the trail, he greets me with an open mouth smile and a wave…he truly shines like a sunbeam. I might see him 3,4,5 times during a run and he waves and smiles every time I pass by. It is a simple gesture, but he makes me so happy.
While I was on a run over the weekend, I saw my smiley friend, but it looked as if he may have suffered a stroke recently. He had his wife with him and she slowly and gently helped him walk around the park. I will admit that I didn’t recognize him at first because I was used to seeing him perky and lively, this time he was a little bent over and walking cautiously. As I got closer to him, he raised his head and that beautiful smile came across his face along with his trademark wave. I finished the rest of my run with a giant lump in my throat. What touched me most is that this man, who doesn’t even know my name, has made such and impression on me. It is his simple kindness and genuine love of life that is so touching…even while his health is failing him, he just can’t help himself…he just has to smile.
When I saw this print on Pinterest, it made me think of my darling, happy friend on the trail. The next time I see him I just want to give him a smooch on the cheek…although he will probably wonder why some sweaty, stinky girl is coming at him, but I don’t think he will mind.
Keep smiling!
Print by Kensie Kate

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you beautiful women who give  your hearts, souls and figures to your amazing little creatures who make our lives so full…full of kisses, hugs, sippy cups, band-aids, middle of the night wake-up-calls, prayers over our children while they are sick,  helpful advice over a heartbreak, last-minute runs to the store to pick up a poster board for a project they forgot to tell you about that is due tomorrow….and all of the millions of little things that you do everyday that probably go unnoticed. Just know that even though they may not notice or remember the little things, it’s all of the little things that make them feel loved…and isn’t that what it’s all about?!

Moms appreciate the little things, too!! Make your packages extra cute with these cute labels from Kiki Creations.

These darling wall prints from Inessa & Maddie are so charming and would make a lovely Mother’s Day gift! For those of you who actually forgot it was Mother’s Day THIS weekend, just print, frame and you are golden…you will be the favorite for sure!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Flowers by BHG

Moments

It’s not always so easy to enjoy the not-so-good moments, or the super embarrassing moments, or the time when your child says something that hurts someone’s feelings, or when people ask you if you’re pregnant but you’re not, or when you are talking to someone for 2 hours and then someone else tells you “you have something black in your teeth” and you think,”what??? I have been talking to this person and she never told me!” …..  2 whole hours …. Or the time you forgot to return someone’s call and they call you out on it and you feel like a total “you know what” (rhymes with grass)…

What made me stop and take notice of this print is the idea of actually enjoying not-so-good moments…cuz sometimes those are the moments that make us humble, and real and relatable. The moments when we can commiserate with our friends about and we feel like we aren’t the only ones who make silly mistakes and we’re not alone in this crazy world! So go ahead and enjoy the good, the bad and the ugly!

Print by Mothers letters

I don’t necessarily take photos of the not-so-great moments, but I am getting better about capturing some of the good stuff!

This is one of the super good moments to enjoy! Flowers from my husband “just because!” This is my favorite!!! Don’t get me wrong, it’s always nice to get flowers, but when they are out of the blue, they are extra special! Thanks, honey, you made my day!

Other great moments this week…watching my girls laugh and giggle together, having lunch at school with Ellie and enjoying Daley’s creativity! I really savor this time and enjoy these moments…they go way too fast!