Mama's Day shopping

If you're new here, I'm not all seriousness at top of the page. I am also a girl who appreciates a nice hour to bask in Anthropologie or browe etsy for some cute new wall decor. My list is growing in my head for Mother's Day gift ideas and I thought I'd share them.

{ Pay attention, love of mine }

1. Anthropologie is a given.

I really like this shirt. I wear a Small and I already tried it on. It's too much money, but if it goes on sale by Mother's Day, it would be acceptable.

2. Erin Condren is our friend.

Today I saw that it's that time of year where Plum District offers $25 off a $50 purchase. You know about this website, right? If not, it's super cute and modern stationery, calendars, (amazing) planners, and lots of other things I discovered today when I was on it. I bought some of the 52-page week at a glance personalized calendar pads for Christmas presents and they came out so beautifully. But sadly, I didn't get one for myself. Why does that happen? However, because Erin Condren is our friend, she sent me these gift labels as a thanks. How did she know I love peacocks too?

And yes please to all of these.

phone cuteness.

book plates.

love this growth chart! (LOOK how you can add the heights of people you love on the right, and they list famous people's heights on the left!!)

And I know my mom would love one of the iPad covers that I can personalize with a family photo. Such a good idea for a mom's day gift for her. Shhh.

Go here to get the Plum District deal. You can even save an extra 10% off the $25 if you pay with a Visa card and use the code VISA10. You're welcome. Then go here to check out Erin Condren's many lovelies. I was even spying the teacher's planners for end of the year gifts for my kids' teachers.

3. Lindsey (from Out of Alabaster) + Jessi (from Naptime Diaries) = something I want.

I've never had silhouettes of my kids before, and have always wanted them. Well, have you seen this rockin' collaboration between these two fabulous ladies? Totally want my darling children's faces on the chevron with their life verse reference below their names. Or maybe the meaning of their names below their names. I can't decide. It's all so happy.

There are so many great things in both these ladies shops. They don't know I'm giving them a little shout-out here, but I just thought you too may want some of this happiness for Mama's Day.

Ok pals. Enough shopping for one day.

Now go clean the kitchen. (mine is calling me!!)

Headband love

sweet saturday.

my friend Shauna found this first.

we were at an antique store and she spied it.

a vintage green velvet headband in its original package.

it has metal fixtures on its belt-like adjustable strap.

$5.

she picked it up, and then said,

"this would be so pretty in your hair."

i know she kinda wanted it.

but she knew i would love it too.

and she loves me.

so she gave it to me.

that makes a sweet saturday...

yeah, the headband, but mostly the friend.

linking up with April, who has a special place in her heart for all things vintage and headbandy.

Is there even a question? I'm doing this.

Friends. Oh my gosh.

I'm a teensy bit wildly excited about finding Rachael's blog Squiggly Rainbow yesterday while linking up with Kristy. (See, I'm #11 and Rachael is #12 right next to me...well, the Cake & Cotton me?)

Is this confusing?

All you need to know is this.

Rachael is doing a Bunting Swap. Because she is a genius. And she is in Australia, so I'm sure lots of her ladies participating are abroad. Which is why we need to spread her little bit of genius here (if you are here) in the U.S. of A. So I'm signing up!

Read her post to see the "rules"....basically, she has a general dimension for a piece, and how ever many you want to make, that is also how many you will receive back. I think I want to do 5. Or maybe more. But wouldn't it be so cute to hang a little shortie bunting over my sewing desk, all pieces handmade by blog friends around the world? Ok, maybe more than 5. I don't know. I'm just excited.

Mmmm, also she has lots of pretty photos on her blog of different buntings she found on Pinterest. So inspiring.

C'mon, I know you want to do it with me! Because now that your kids are back in school, what the heck else do you have to do?! That was a joke, of course. 

Have a great Saturday. 

My great weekend {over tea}

Hi friends! Have your cup of tea or coffee ready for this lovely Tuesday?

My first question is: Do you iron your tablecloths?

Mine always have creases from being folded in the drawer, but I never want to take the time to iron them. I hate ironing. But then they look kind of bad. You iron yours, don't you?

Well, I had a great weekend at Women's retreat. We were at the conference center in Murrieta Hot Springs (they actually have natural hot springs there you can go in). I spoke to the speaker Sheri Rose Shepherd after one of her talks, and in the middle of a sentence, I realized I did a giveaway last year on top of the page for a book of hers! (I love that book, btw.) Anyway, I told her, and upon hearing about my blog, she GAVE me some more stuff to give away! Cool, huh? More to come on that. And more to come on some neat lessons I learned this weekend as well. But I forgot the camera. Sorry.

You know how when you go away and leave the hubs and kids behind, you don't quite know what you'll come home to? And you know how you've trained yourself, after 13 years of marriage and 8 years of parenting, to have very low expectations about what condition the house will be in? Well. I was so blessed to come home to a very tidy house - even vacuumed! - and this huge sign hanging in the family room.

My dumb pixel width that is messed up on my blog right now means the right side of every photo gets cut off. So you don't get to see the "easter egg E" they made. So lame.
As soon as I arrived home, the kids said, "OH! We didn't get to pick sweet peas for mama!" My husband replied, "Well let's all go right now!" So off we went to the hills on a wildflower round up. (Oh, I wish I had thought to bring my camera! But if you want to see some pics of where we went, just around the corner, you can check out this post by my partner in crime. Hers capture it quite well. Just take out the brunette, add a red-head, husband and 2 kids and there you have it.)

Everyone was so happy to have mama home. We had lots of extra snuggling that night. My little K-garten buddy even gave me 100 eskimo kisses. That's a special thing we do every so often. We both think it's really funny to swish our noses back and forth while counting to 100 as fast as we can.

Even better, this week is spring break! So we are able to enjoy slow mornings. Unscheduled time with these sweet peas is the best.

Here's a game. In the pics above, do you see: paper plates, Krisy Kreme donuts, old spaghetti sauce jars I wrapped with scraps of fabric, burlap and ric rac which took 5 minutes and I like a heck of lot better than vases, kids who won't let me take pictures of the jars and flowers without poking cute faces inbetween, cowboy boots with cargo shorts, and love notes I left at each person's spot to remind of my love while I was away? 

In the spring, I love breaking out my bright yellow felt Easter cut-out place mats I got at Cost Plus World Market two years ago. Why are they so fun and happy? They looked amazing with my daffodils last week too. Just lean in a little and get a whiff of these sweet peas!!!

Here's one more funny thing. In a couple weeks, my outdoor-loving husband is going on a guys backpacking trip. He goes a couple times a year. Always a week or so before, I start finding packages at the front door of things he's ordered online for the trip, like new gear and clothing specially suited for backpacking. Today, a package arrived while I was on the phone with him. He had me open it, and was so completely entertained by himself that he bought this hat to wear. He was cracking up. I thought it was funny too, of course, but I was mainly laughing in fascination at how much he was laughing. Boys.



Oh, and you KNOW I then had to have a ridiculous conversation with my kids, who didn't understand it. YOU try to explain a Big Foot trucker hat to your kids without sounding ridiculous. It's not possible.

I personally think my owl that I got in the dollar bin at Target is far more exciting. Don't you love him? But I love my funny husband even more. Lots.

Have a happy day.

Wait! One more thing. Have you seen our giveaway at Cake & Cotton this week? You should visit 'cause I made something cute...little bean bags in vintagey spring prints perfect for some little fingers.

Visit {Amy} and the other ladies meeting up today by clicking below.

Today I'm thankful, in pictures

Fresh paint and a clean slate.

Paint that doesn't make my family consume toxins with all their meals for the next month.

Breakfast helpers.

(yes, those are stuffed animals hanging from the cabinets. I was told that Pooh Bear was enjoying a tire swing.)

 

Hoop art. I can't stop myself.

 

T-ball, healthy bodies, and joy.

Lastly, God's words.

When I first saw it in an email, the photo above made me think of Hebrews 12:1.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Run your race, friends.

{Just a glimpse of my life made lovely.}

My lovely weekend

I had a lot of lovely in my weekend.

I finished painting my kitchen, which started last week. You can see some early stages of the project here. I don't hate painting. And I ADORE the color. You may not adore it. It's a little crazy, I know. But just trust me, k? It's amazing. It is exactly the color of the inside of a ripe avocado. And avocados are yummy in my tummy and on my walls. Goodbye beige.

My cutie black glasses that I found at a flea market last weekend will be filled with some cool mossy something soon.

The best part was hanging my new valance. One friend with really good taste made me an apron out of this fabric. Then she suggested I make it into a valance. She has some great ideas. I lucked out on the rod, on clearance for $9.97.

Doesn't pom pom fringe make everything better? I attempted a box pleat too. The preppy in me loves box pleats. Especially on wedding gowns. Inverted box pleats are equally lovely.

Being able to paint a bold color on your walls is one benefit of having a small kitchen. It looks so great with my black granite counters and cherryish dark wood cabinets.

Back to my weekend. Today something UNlovely, called waking up at 6:30 a.m. on the Sunday of the spring time change to make it to a swim meet by 7:30, resulted in other kinds of lovely.

Like this.

Little bunnies who wake up that early get hot chocolate from McDonalds on the way.

And get to bring their blankies.

More of my lovely.

Me doing my jobs. Finding out when and where we need to be.

Very lovely. My little princess got first place in one of her heats. She was absolutely ecstatic. No one knows that I got a little choked up.

Thank the Lord for the sunshine which finally came out around 9.

These photos felt like my reward for getting up in the dark. Especially this one.

This was their reward. One was rewarded for a day-well-swum, and one for a lot of happy-hearted patience.

Hope you found some lovely in your weekend too!

I'm linking up today with Heather at Life Made Lovely Monday!
{I reallllly love her featured post today too, btw}

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A snowy day

A couple of weekends ago, when California was the only place in the country being super stingy on the snow, we tried to find some. We only found a little.

But we had a lovely weekend.

I love breaking out the winter gear if only for a few days.



I was way overdressed. Even in the mountains, it was nearly 50 degrees. But of course, I had to give my cute snow accessories a chance to shine.


Here are some things I'm loving.

Cute smirks.

I love this picture. And the mountain man stubble.

Cute snow bunnies.

Cute snow engineers.

(Wow, are those snowball makers the bomb or what? Some friends brought them along.)

And this is one of my favorite photos. I don't know what kind of tree this is, do you? Look at how beautiful it was against the winter white backdrop.



Signs of life and love and hope amongst the chill.

And though the wintery weekend was fun, I still prefer this kind of skiing, myself.

Driftwood poles, slopes of sand, and warmth.

Doens't that sound lovely?




Here's to the next ski day.

{ Linking up today with Kristy and her amazingly cute blog, Paisley Jade }