a fresh start.

Tomorrow marks the day that I start my very last semester of college. (Well, the very last semester of my art history degree, that is.) I started at San Diego State in 2001, fresh out of high school, and tomorrow will be my last first day there. A bittersweet day, for sure. I've been going there off and on for nine years, for gosh sakes! It is a part of me. It will be so bizarre in January to not start up classes again...

With the fresh new start of classes tomorrow morning, I thought a new background was in order on my laptop... :) I chose the one above from this gorgeous website, found via How About Orange! Go grab one for yourself, yay!

Wish me luck on my first day of school, eek! :)

xo!

pink greetings!

Happy Pink Saturday to you all!

Sorry this is up late, but I actually had a chance to sleep in this morning with Andrew not waking me up before 6am, so I totally took it haha!! :) It has been quite a while since I participated in Pink Saturday and thought it might be fun to share what I've been up to lately. I have been quite dedicated to my Etsy shop, trying to get as many items in the shop as possible! And I am almost to 200 sales now! I can hardly believe it! So you know what that means??!! It is a Pink Saturday SALE! :)

Everything

in my shop is

25% off

until TOMORROW night,

I have extended the sale!

(Please pay like usual and I will refund you via PayPal!)

So here are some fabulous pink goodies in my shop at the moment, and I hope you stop by to see them! :) Enjoy your weekend, everyone!! xo!

Please visit me on Etsy!! :) xo!

super sale!

EVERYTHING

in my shop

is 25% off

through Saturday night!

Please help me get to 200 sales... I am almost there and can't believe it! :) So everything bought in the shop until tomorrow night will receive a discount... please pay like usual and I will refund you via PayPal! Thank you for supporting my little Etsy endeavor, I appreciate you all so much! xo!

PS.

Remember that I make custom orders for anyone who is interested! (Discount does not apply to custom items though, I'm sorry!) If you need Christmas greeting cards, Halloween items, wedding invites, place cards, tags for favors, etc, etc, etc...! :) I would be more than happy to work with you! :) Contact me via etsy!

sweet aqua flower cutouts

hello sunshine greeting card

bright birds thank you card

paper flower cutouts

lovely scalloped tags

pure inspiration.

If you have never been to {this is glamorous}, you are missing out on one of the most beautiful & inspirational places in blog-land! The most amazing photos are posted and shared, and it always makes my day feel happy to pop in to see the glamour!! :)

I am off for a day of shopping with my mom and sister today while Andrew is in school, so I thought I would leave you all with such prettiness... go have a look for yourself, you will be so inspired!! :) xo!

(...all images are from {this is glamourous}...)

found no.3 - back to school supplies!

Today is Andrew's first full-length day of kindergarten... the past three weeks have all been only minimum days to help the kindergartners adjust to school in general. But today, I am on my own until 2:30pm! What in the heck am I going to do with myself??? :)

Well.... With fall arriving and back to school time upon us, isn't it fun to grab a few new supplies for yourself? Yes, the kids need backpacks. Yes, you need to stock up on lined paper, Elmer's glue, pencils, pens, you name it. But isn't it also fun to find some unique pieces that you yourself can use at this time of year?! I sure think so! Here are some of my faves...

This is possibly the cutest pencil ever. From Anthropologie, this Flowering Twig Pencil is only five bucks! What a steal for the cutest thing around, right?

I am a huge list-maker. With school, activities for your kids and yourself, work, errands, cleaning... wouldn't it be nice to make a list on this special To-Do Paper from Paper Source?!

And everyone needs a big calendar to keep the family's events straight, and this one from PB Teen tops my list for cuteness! I love the chalkboard and it would be so fun for you and your kids to decorate each month or season! :) Functional, but super stylish!!

And PS.
I write notes in Andrew's lunch box every morning, and was looking for some inspiration to draw from... and you know what I found? SO many sites have printable lunch box notes, I had no idea! My favorites are here, since Andrew is a huge Nick Jr. fan! He will be opening his lunchbox and seeing Oswald & his dog Weenie today hehe!! :)

Happy Monday, friends!!! xo!

merci!

Some fabulous new additions to the shop this morning... and I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who visit my blog & my Etsy shop. I am so thankful that I have met so many friends through these endeavors and I hope to continue to do so! So please leave me a comment, say hello if you never have, and I will be sure to pop in to see you as well! MERCI, friends! :)

fabulous "merci" thank you card

a perfect halloween card

congrats card! how cute! :)

Possibly my favorite card so far... perfect for the holiday season and so darn bright & happy! :)

Enjoy your weekend, friends! xo!

kitchen table turned craft area.

I love being creative and I love being able to incorporate handmade things into my life. But the best thing to come from being able to express yourself artistically is how it is passed on to the next generation. I absolutely adore watching Andrew "craft"... he knows he can get out his art supplies and create whenever he would like. He feels independent enough to accomplish all of these fabulous ideas swirling around in his head and I love to watch that. I feel proud that I have passed on the creative gene to my child! :)

We have a craft table for Andrew with all of his supplies, but it is also nice to keep a little tin with some "take-along" supplies that he can tote around the house to wherever I am working. If I am doing the dishes, the kitchen table turns into his craft area easily!

In his bucket, I always keep pipe stem cleaners, various sheets of stickers, a stack of small white craft paper, and markers. You can add anything you want to these tins, but I find that a small grouping of fun, yet non-messy items works perfectly. No matter where he drags these things, he can't do too much damage. We'll keep the glue to the craft table area haha! :)

Happy crafting, xo! :)

check this out - endless inspiration!

I have a serious love for Martha Stewart. I grew up watching her shows with my mom and have always loved what she does with respect to handmade. SO... I finally got with the program and checked out her Encyclopedia of Crafts book from the library last week and I am seriously overjoyed! It is amazing. Not only is it a beautiful book, which is always fun to thumb through, but it has step by step instructions on how to make a million different craft projects. Literally, the possibilities are endless. I browsed through the entire thing and felt amazingly crafty haha!!

This might be one I have to purchase, but being the book cheapskate I am at the moment, I'll just keep renewing it from the library for the time being. :)

Martha,

you've got me inspired again.

And now I might have to take up even more craft hobbies since your book is forcing me to do so. :)

And now I want to have your input... What is your favorite crafty book??

I'd love any book recommendations for the week! My library list is not long enough yet, haha! xo!

a few new things...

...in the shop this morning!

happy halloween card

cheery christmas card

fabulously fun birthday card

Please feel free to go shopping, yay! I am off to the scrapbooking store to load up on more supplies... that means more items will be listed very soon! xo!

found no.2 - fall cuteness!

I have been dreaming of fall lately... fall colors, fall clothing, fall shoes, fall school shopping! I love this time of year when people are finishing up with summer and looking forward to the next season. It always seems exciting to me, a time for a fresh start and a fresh look! I have found some majorly cute things this past week that have put me in a happy fall mood! :)

OMG... The Havana Sweater Coat from Anthropologie... Anyone want to toss away $198 to buy this one for me??? haha! :)

My sister has one of the candythief's headbands from Etsy and loves it! This one is oh-so-perfect with the autumn leaves and colors.


Mary Jane shoes scream fall to me! I love this patent leather pair from Nordstrom... so reminiscent of the little Mary Jane buckle shoes I wore when I was little! :)

A darling little cloche hat with a feather. Very vintage looking and super cute with those Mary Janes, right??? :)

A gorgeous, yet easy-to-wear shirtdress in a great autumn color! I could wear something like this everyday... so cute with boots, flats, tights, heels... very versatile! :)

What are your favorite things to wear in the fall season?? What things have you seen lately that you are dying to share?! I would love any cute fall tips from you all!

Happy Monday, xo!

the makings of the perfect afternoon.

Enjoy your weekend! xo!

break out the fabric!

I have decided to start quilting again... finally. A few years ago, I was a quilting maniac. I sewed all the time and loved it. But I have let myself get distracted by other things and really needed the right project to push me back into quilting, so here it is!!
Crystal from Little Bit Funky made an amazing quilt recently and has since decided to give all of us sewing bloggers a chance to follow along with her and make one of our own! Each week, she will be giving directions to completing the quilt and I can't wait! Above are the fabrics I decided on... and I am super proud of myself with this one. Since I decided last minute to participate in this, I didn't allow myself enough time to order some cute new fabric. So this quilt is made solely on what I had sitting in my fabric stash!! Zero dollars will be spent on new fabric, so this is really cleaning out my fabric storage, plus I will be making a great patchwork-feel quilt!!! :)

Here is my work station, complete with cute Amy Butler fabric, my quilting tools, and my netbook, conveniently located to follow along with the directions, yay!! :)

ALL my pieces are cut out and ready for week two! How easy was that?! Thanks Crystal, for getting me back into quilting again! :)

And PS.

I still had extra fabric left over, so I listed a fun grab bag fabric bundle in my Etsy shop for anyone who is interested!! Such cute fabrics for anyone with the sewing bug!!

Happy Thursday to you all...

I am off to enjoy the day and then get ready for Andrew's Back to School Night this evening! :) I am still in shock that I have a school-aged child, eek!! xo!

check these out!

We utilize our library to the fullest extent. I am such an advocate of getting whatever I can there... children's books, my books, movies, TV shows on DVD, anything! It also helps that we live down the street from our beautiful local library, it is on the neighboring block next to Andrew's elementary school, and it is such a happy place for us! We go to Barnes and Noble frequently and browse the books, and when Andrew sees something he wants to read, he runs up and tells me.. "Mommy, write this book down so we can get it at the library!" Do you know how proud I am of that little boy???? And I do the same thing... that way, if I am not into a book a few chapters in, I have no qualms about not finishing.. I didn't spend money on the book and I just drop it back off at the library! SO rewarding. I know a lot of you already are huge library go-ers, but I encourage ALL of you to visit the library yourself, and with your kids. It is an amazing resource that we all have available to us!

Now onto my favorite books to read with Andrew at the moment... all found by browsing the children's shelves at the library, yay! :)

The Pencil by Allan Ahlberg

If you and your children haven't found this book yet, you are seriously missing out. It is amazing. I grabbed it last minute when we were leaving the library a few days ago because the cover looked so cute. (We are big on cute illustrations here at our house haha!) I cannot say enough about this book... it has humor, gorgeous illustrations, is such a sweet story, and it really transcends modern time. It seems like a book that was written long ago, it seems so very intelligent, and instantly has become one of my favorite children's book of all time! A must check out for you all!!

Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus! by Mo Willems

I seriously hope you all know about Mo Willems, the funniest children's writer there is. And if you haven't, you will be in for such a treat when you finally read the pigeon books!!! Andrew and I read these all the time, and each time we read through one of them, no matter how many times we've read it and even though Andrew has memorized the stories, we crack ourselves up... I mean, the can't-even-speak-we-are-laughing-so-hard kind of laughing. We love Mo. Can't get enough of that silly pigeon! :) These books are good for all ages as well... easy for the little ones to understand and perfect for kids around Andrew's age to learn to read themselves. And it doesn't hurt that the pigeon is super cute. There is even a stuffed animal version of Pigeon available at Barnes and Noble who now reads the books with us! :) (I was thinking about making a t-shirt for Andrew with the pigeon face on it... think he would like it?!)

House for a Mouse by Jean-Come Nogues
This is one of our recent finds. Andrew liked the title of the book, so of course we checked it out. It seemed like one Andrew wouldn't be hugely into, but no! This sweet book has the prettiest illustrations and Andrew fell in love with this sweet little mouse girl who is looking for a new house. And let me tell you, I want to move right into her house as well! Andrew even drafted my sister the artist to draw him a copy of her house... it is hanging on his wall now haha!! You will love this darling story, believe me! :)


Penguin by Polly Dunbar
Another hilarious one, let me tell you! The funny and simplistic illustrations make this book so fun. A boy receives a present and inside is a... penguin! But the problem with the penguin is that he doesn't ever speak, so of course, the little boy gets extremely frustrated. :) It had Andrew rolling on the floor laughing, which is always indicative of a fabulous story!


Now that I have shared my favorites of the moment, what are yours?? What should Andrew and I check out at the library? Off to do some cleaning before Andrew gets home, (he is definitely feeling better today after a restful day spent yesterday!) and then we are off to the library again... of course! :) xo!

curl up and get cozy.

I absolutely adore window seats. I love any place that allows me to curl up with a good book and relax. And following in my footsteps, Andrew is always looking to "get cozy," as he so perfectly puts it. (Especially today, when he is home sick for the first time since starting school, we need to grab some fuzzy blankets and rest. Didn't take too long to catch a cold, did it?!) While I do not have a window seat in my house at the moment, I will never stop wishing for one until I have it. :) I remember when I was in high school, my mom had a window seat built in my bedroom... it was amazing, complete with heavy white bookcases flanking all sides of it, so the seat was tucked right into the middle! I can picture myself sitting there on rainy days, peeking out my white paned window at the drizzle coming down.

And while it is still very warm here in my corner of the world, I am imagining the days in which I will be listening to the rain once again. Those days can't come soon enough, in my humble opinion.

Now if I could just have my window seat, things would be perfect. For now, I will settle for my cozy bed pushed against the window with lots of cute pillows in an attempt to re-create that same feeling. :)

Autumn, hurry up and get here! And bring the rainclouds with you!!

I hope you all enjoy a cozy Tuesday as well... now I am off to read lots of our many checked out library books to my little one while we go through lots of kleenex and kisses! :) xo!

PS.

Tomorrow I will have a fun list of some great kids books for you to check out from the library!