Happy 2 year.. a few days late & a Giveaway!

so, this morning i realized that my 2 year blog anniversary came & went without me even noticing on the 28th. bummer, ha? but, i HAVE to celebrate.. so i'm giving away a custom 7" hoop! 

you pick the colors & the design. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

hello, monday!

hello, monday and hello, friends! 

how was your weekend? 

ours was great. we didn't do a whole lot, but it was relaxing and we all had a great time. 

hello new shoes! i've been dying for these gorgeous shoes for some time now. tomorrow morning i'm getting my walk on. i might run, just a little. but, i don't want to die. haha. baby steps right? 

i will be up at 5:30am tomorrow to put these lovelies to use. they're part of the new me, the getting healthier me, the steps to this surgery me. and, the very first steps to achieving the 5k goal for next spring/summer.

hello evenings spent stitching a whole bunch. i finished up a few orders and started on a few new ones. 

these will all be up in my shop soon, but if anyone wants one before let me know. 

i've made a few custom feathers, sewing machines, cupcakes and cameras as well. 

they're so much fun and will soon be hanging all over our house!

hello, precious picture of my guys and a wonderful day in the mountains!

on saturday we spent the day up in Wrightwood, the small mountain town where i grew up. we hung out up at a campground where there is also an old ski resort. cohen insisted that matt was captain jack sparrow. it was adorable watching them run around with their branches swords. love that little boy & his imagination.

we had such a great time that we decided to go back next weekend for a short (1 night) camping trip. 

there are no showers, so 1 night might be all i can handle for now.

 i'm excited though to introduce the kids to camping!

hello tent that we've had for 5 years and had never taken it out of the box until tonight. matt decided we should check it out before our little trip next weekend. the kids LOVED it and 

begged to sleep in it tonight. 

have a busy week planned? hope it's a great one!

a good one

this week FLEW by for me. did it for you too? 

although it flew by, it was a good week.

i was tagged in one of the 5 things about me things on instagram this week. i actually enjoy those, it's fun to get to know quirky little things about friends. 

remember that last week i was sick all. week. long? saturday afternoon i got to go to starbucks AND target all by myself. lovely! and, i was just so happy to be feeling good again.

feeling well also meant that we got some work done on a couple of projects for the house!

cohen insists he's hawkeye from the avengers. i say he's gayle. 

(from the hunger games) either way, the boy LOVES his $6 bow & arrow from wal mart. 

does your dad bring over AMAZING old crates to see if you want them before he throws them in the trash? 

no? that's too bad, mine does. yup. he's awesome!

because of our big moving decision, matt & i made an agreement about spending. basically, that we wouldn't do it unless it's totally necessary. this lamp.. not necessary, but he he loves me and surprised  me! sweet.

about that not spending money thing.. yeah, these did come home with me from work on monday. 

i just couldn't pass them up. they're gorgeous right? ombre, vintage? yes!

tuesday morning i drove the kids up to matt's cousins house in tehachapi. his wife, brooke offered to keep them from tues - thurs! SO sweet. i love the drive too, seeing the windmills.

wednesday was a good mail day! a surprise from mrs.bonn bonn and the pretty print i won (see below) from mrs. threeinthree. can't wait to share my surprise from bonnie with you next week!

and here it is.. the print from three bees designs. i LOVE it and canNOT wait to hang it in our room.

finally got the kids' name prints from blossom & vine framed and put up in their rooms.

they're perfect and look beautiful.

as i was writing this post my friend mandy tagged me with #widn on instagram..

blogging & relaxing. great way to end the evening. 

i hope your week was great and that you have a lovely weekend.  

linking up here.

we are ready.

at the beginning of the month i posted this post. i talked about where we are in life and that while we're happy as a family, we aren't happy where our family is. here, in southern california. i talked about the fact that matt & i have wanted to move out of state for 9 and half years of the 9 and a half years that we've been married. yup, since day one and even before that really!


so, over the past two weeks we've done a lot of talking, thinking, agreeing, disagreeing, we've talked to brookelyn and again to one another. and, we made a decision. 


come february, whether matt has found a job in milwaukee or not the kids and i will be moving. while it's not ideal, we feel like at this point it may be our only way to get to wisconsin. matt's been told that with a wisconsin address, he'll be more appealing to employers because we won't be expecting that they cover any relocation costs. hopefully they'll see how awesome matt is and hire him.. someone, anyone! 


we're sure that our families are not going to be happy with this decision, but we're doing what WE feel is right for US. it'd be amazing if matt could find a job between now and then, so that we can all move together and we're still pushing hard for that. but, we're also preparing for what will happen if february comes and he hasn't found a job out there. 


this is all SO scary and it's such a huge risk. we've talked about all of the what if's though and we know that in the long run, it'll be best. sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the short term, in order to do what will be best for our family in the long term. matt and i are both nervous about it, but also excited about what the future holds for our family.

in the mail today came this print. i won this print from Three Bees Designs and of all days (and no, that's NOT a crease in the print it's just a shadow), it showed up in my mailbox today. perfect timing. see that little heart right there towards the bottom? that'll be our new home. wauwatosa, wisconsin and we can not wait. i'm so excited to finally be sharing our decision with you all and SO thankful for all of the support i've received over the past couple of weeks. you guys are all awesome! 

i should also mention that i'm crazy excited to be neighbors with her, her and her. and, live close enough to her, her and her that we can visit and hang out!

happy thursday! what are you up to today?

Wednesday loves...

yay for wednesday! half way to the weekend. 

hope your week is going great. i'm getting lots done around the house this week, 

after being sick all last week. so, today i'm sharing with you the two projects that i

hope to complete by the end of the weekend. 

Life as a Thrifter

isn't that beautiful! i want to make a similar one for in brookelyn's room, 

but not with pallet wood. and, i want to add some blues & pinks to it. adorable right?

(i couldn't find the original site for this, but i tried. if you know it, please let me know!)

i need just a couple more things to hang up in our bedroom before it's all complete. i've had this 

pinned forever and am FINALLY going to do it. such a fun idea! 

linking up with Krystina! 

enjoy your wednesday! 

and, if you're looking for a blog to sponsor in august i'd love to have you!

sponsor info

Wanna join the family?

..because we'd LOVE to have you. ad spots for August & September are available now. i've got some exciting and fun things coming in the next couple of months. my goal for Aug & Sept is to really build relationships with my new sponsors. it'd be great to get to know some bloggers who i haven't really "met" (online) yet.


so, if you're looking for affordable ad space there's some info below as well as over on my "sponsor info" page.

if you have any questions, feel free to email me or post in the comments below!  

Introducing the new...

rellas bellas!! today my sweet friend Jenelle is launching her new blog design and a new product and i was thrilled that she asked me to share with you all! here's Jen....


I am so excited to reveal to you my new brand re-design and a new product!

I have spent the last 5 months working on some new ideas for my shop, Rellas Bellas. I have come up with a series of new necklaces that I will be releasing over the next few months. I love items that are are fresh, modern and flirty. I wanted my brand to reflect the products I make.

Some times less is more. This single rosette necklace is perfect for those days. This fresh and modern necklace will add just the right amount of color to your outfit. It is simple yet the intricate details of the rosette make it just a bit flirty.  

Every day when I get dressed I don’t feel like I can leave the house until I accessorize. Some people can’t leave the house without make-up, for me is jewelry. An outfit isn’t complete until I’ve added the final touches.

Some days I like to match my jewelry to my outfit while others days I like to be a bold contrast to what I am wearing. Some days the juxtaposition of the sparkly necklaces with the casual tee just makes me giddy.

I also love to add elements of the unexpected. That is exactly what I did with the whimsical print I added to the back of the single rosette necklace. The grey and white polka dots add that extra hint of whimsy that I oh so much love.

The single rosette necklace is the perfect go to piece for those days when you are running errands, have 800 things to do but still what to look chic and put together.

They are also the perfect understated piece to add a pop of color to a pretty sundress for a night of dinner and drinks with your man or girlfriends. 

shop  *  blog  *  twitter  *  facebook

such adorable new pieces, right? i'm thinking that i need one asap! go show Jenelle some love! 

happy monday, friends!

this week, shall pass..

hi, guys! hope you've all had a great week. 

we started our weekend off with a little bit of in n' out last friday and these flowers caught my eye. gorgeous aren't they? anyone know what kind they are?

we spent some time outside this weekend since it wasn't so terribly hot. this girl was doing some SERIOUS jump roping. check out that face!

sweet cohen was playing quietly in his room. or so i thought.

ever since hanging out last week with my friend allison & stitching up a storm, i've been addicted. and, i'm addicted to this song. the coffee is a given, right?

summertime sprinkler fun on a sunday afternoon.

and then a little stitching with tim riggins. 

i got to play with some stunning vintage jewelry at work on monday.

done. finally. these gorgeous feathers will be hanging on our new grey bedroom wall soon!

and there are a couple in the shop!

and then, my week took a turn for the worst. i've been SO sick all week with a nasty stomach bug. my view hasn't changed much at all. all week long.

so i continued to stitch..

and another...

oh look, another view.. from me laying down.. sick. boo hoo. 

but, this is also a sneak peek of our new bedroom color! 

wednesday morning brookelyn came home from the in laws house after getting sick...

luckily, she's feeling better now, mostly.

and still i made more! i'm having so much fun stitching up these beauties.

 

today's mail was a nice bright spot in my dreary week. 

my #loveclub box came in the mail and i LOVE every single item in it. go sign up NOW!

i've been telling matt for months that cohen reminds me of charlie, from the original willy wonka movie. he still doesn't see it. i do, although these pictures of them don't show it so much!

what do you have planned for the weekend? 

as for me & my family, we have no plans. i'm just hoping that we're all healthy for the weekend.

don't forget to go enter these awesome giveaways from me and my fabulous sponsors!

linking up here & here.

and.. there's a winner! if you entered the giveaway from Life on Leroy earlier this week, be sure to see if the winner is you!