How cool is this???? I've been featured on Tip Junkie!

 


I just received an email that my post last year about my Rubber Duckie shower is going to be featured on Tip Junkie!!!  Click on the button to go check it out!!
I am so honored.  I have been so in and out this summer that my posting has been lacking; I am so glad to be near the end of the summer so that I can get back to regular blogging!  If I can just get through the next five or six days and get my baby to college, I will be back home with my "let's get it DONE!" party.  I have SO MUCH to get done this fall, that I am going to get y'all to be my accountability partners!!!  We'll all challenge one another to make things happen!!
See you soon.......

College themed Friday Fives!!!

Clearly, I have college on the brain....as it isn't long before I have TWO kids in college....

So let's have a college life themed Friday Fives!!!

1.Did you go to college? Where?

2. Do you keep up with your roommate(s)?

3. What was your major in college?

4. What is the most vivid memory of your college life?

5. Do you have any children in college or that have graduated college??

Have a great weekend, Y'all!!

How do you DO it???

By it, of course I mean organize........piles of paper.  Coupons, receipts, recipes, newspaper ads, photos, magazines, etc.  Do you have piles the way I. HAVE. PILES????  For instance, a voucher for an airline that is worth $25, actually two of them, as well as a premium drink on one....I'm saving it for a bumpy ride!! :D

Where do you put things like that so you'll remember to actually use them?  And how do you organize coupons?  If they go in a drawer, they may not come out again, until after they are expired...that makes them pretty useless!  So I've wasted the time I took to clip them!  Recipes that you intend to try.......buried in a drawer, they don't get sampled..they just add to the problem, rather than helping!  Stacks of magazines with recipes and ideas that are worthy of further investigation!!?? You see a pattern here, no doubt.
Add in my business and I've got more piles of catalogs, receipts, order forms, postcards, business cards, etc.  I guess I missed the organizing gene......I can create, but that one is hard to muster, to change into......so I am looking for ideas! Let's compile a list in the comments of things that work for you!  I will take any and all ideas to plow down the piles!  Seriously, they suck the life energy right out of me!  But I can't seem to just throw them in the trash can.  I see possibility in each of them!!  Or is that just a procrastinator's mantra that is empty and void of meaning!?!  Tell me, tell me, how do I make a right brain into a functional, left brain!!??? Ha....I may not be able to change my brain, but maybe, just maybe you have a system that works for you that might just work for me!! DO TELL!!!

The Whole Showcase!

I made a Shutterfly share site with ALL the pictures from our Product showcase from our Willow House convention. They do AMAZING things with our products and I thought you might enjoy seeing the real thing, rather than just the few shots I've shared so far!
If you'd like to take a few minutes to view them all, head on over.....let me know what you think.  Also, you can read a behind the scenes blog from our design staff if you want to go over to Plate and Pattern.....

Here are the pics:
http://willowhouseshowcase2010.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

Monday.....

I am contemplating today, just what will happen in the next three weeks of my life.....
Some travel, packing up daughter's room and moving it to college, saying bye to both college kids, and then coming back home to clean the empty house.........I need today to just soak it all in.....what are you looking at for the next couple of weeks????

Okay....finally back to Friday Fives!!!!

Although I don't like to be too rigid or scheduled, some routines just feel good. It feels good to be back to Friday Fives!!!

1.  Do you play a musical instrument; which one?

2.  Do you feel creative today?

3. What would you like to redecorate in your house?

4.  What is a talent you do possess?  (might be rolling your tongue, photography, or balancing a checkbook!)

5. What do you look forward to about the fall?

I realize all these are totally random and unrelated....but it IS my blog, and when I go back to question #2.....well, today my creativity is being totally random!! :D

Working on the blog....

Whew, finally got my border fixed back up again, after Tanya, from FrouFrouBritches told me it was as simple as getting an updated code...thanks, Tanya, my friend!  Now I just have to get my header updated with the Willow House catalog cover, rather than the SLaHOME catalog cover.  And let me just ask you to answer this in the comments...are you tired of me talking about Willow House or are you interested in knowing about it?  I wondered if me continuing to talk about it caused less people to be interested in commenting.....so would you mind letting me know if you like the posts about Willow House? thanks, friends!

Oh, and yesterday, I got a package in the mail.....woohoo!!! I won a giveaway from Kristin at We are THAT Family not too long ago, where she gave away a Panini maker, an apron and some DeliDeluxe coupons from Kraft.  It was a promotion from Kraft...so my package came yesterday!! Thanks, Kristin and Kraft!!  My son will be home for a few weeks so he will enjoy trying this out!

Today, we will be doing some "dorm room" shopping....so fun, but just makes the reality of my daughter leaving for college even closer!  You can imagine my excitement for her, but it's going to be bittersweet for sure!  It does sound so fun, though, doesn't it???

In other news, I did get home from my weekend with my son and his wife.  We got the window seat cushion made, the glider cushions finished, and the bedding put on the crib.  Hopefully, we will have a picture soon.  I will post a picture once the window seat /built-ins are finished.  Baby Catherine is one lucky little girl!

I hope to resume Friday Fives tomorrow....my schedule this summer has been so off; a few more weeks of hectic schedules and a little more travel, then get kids to college, and things will be slowing down.  I hope to get some projects done this fall, so I'll be posting about those!  I don't know where the summer went, but it has flown by.
Right now, I am waiting to see Pioneer Woman on the Today Show......did you know she is supposed to be on today?
Talk to you soon!!!

The Baby Shower.....

It was amazing.  The friends that hosted it did a great job, and there were so many friends there to help celebrate!  This baby girl has a fabulous start with all the things people have blessed them with.

Here is a picture of the diaper cake one of the girls made for the centerpiece.  Heather has some amazingly talented friends!
In my visit here this time, I have helped them finish recovering a glider that she bought on Craigslist.  I will try to get a picture of that today.  The nursery is not quite ready to totally be put together since she is waiting for Russell to make a window seat and bookcase unit.  I think she has all the necessary elements to go in there, once he has finished the unit.  Ten weeks to go before baby Catherine is due to arrive!  Now I head home to get MY "baby" ready to head off to college.....so many exciting changes coming our way!!!

A winner!!!

The winner of the giveaway from the Twins company, Twice As Nice Lettering is Debbie, from Words on Wheels blog!  She is so fun, and comical, but a great blogger.  She always is optimistic and can see the humorous side of things.  Laugh your way thru her interesting blog by going here.  Debbie, do show us what you do with your vinyl once you've done it, ok?

Other news.....I am at my son and daughter in law's house to attend her baby shower today.....so fun.  I will have pics to share, I am sure.

Until later, my friends.......

This and That............

Remember the giveaway going on here....the Twins, over at Twice As Nice Lettering, have some adorabley cute vinyl adornments for your walls.......they are offering a set of numbers that you could put on your door....check it out HERE.  The giveaway will happen on Friday, but I'd like to see us get a few more entries for this giveaway......would you go tell someone about it?  Thanks!  Then come right back, ok?

I also have to tell you not too long ago, I won a giveaway at Susan's blog, Between Naps on the Porch.  The giveaway was hosted by The Sheets Boutique.....it was a generous $50 gift certificate!  I wasn't really sure what I wanted to pick out, but since my husband told me recently that he needed a new pillow, I decided I'd give those a try.....oh my goodness, I got four new pillows and they are SO NICE!!!  They feel luxurious!  Thanks, Susan and Cara, for your generosity!

I am hosting an event tonight at my house, to Preview the new Willow House catalog......I've called it Chocolate, Coffee, and Catalogs...of course there will be other drinks there, as well.....Sangria, anyone?
Anyway, it's a little party to celebrate the new Willow House inaugural catalog....are y'all tired of hearing about this or seeing pictures?  Because I have more pictures to show you, if you want to see them........but I don't want to wear you out....
Okaaaayyyyyyy....I'll show you a few more, from the Product Showcase at our first annual Willow House convention.

do you SEE those new red and white accent plates??? OMG!!!

See how they show you can etch your monogram in this NEW hurricane?

Isn't this a party YOU'D love to attend? :D

If you haven't had breakfast, this may make you hungry!!!

 And in other news, my daughter and I got to go see Wicked on Saturday.....It was the BEST play I've ever seen, I think....we SO enjoyed it!  If you get a chance to see it, do NOT pass it by!

Holiday wonder with Willow House!

It sure is fun to think about winter/holidays when it's nearly 100 degrees outside!

Enlarge picture to see detail, but these are our new Roxy Reindeer plates and linens....Isn't she adorable?

More of Roxy!!!

A pom pom bouqet made of carnations in our Royal Street Urn..doesn't that shout "Happy Holidays"??

Wonderful Ways with Willow House!

Please go leave a comment for the Giveaway I have going on.......winner will be picked on Wednesday!

As I mentioned before, I was away at our first annual Willow House Convention....and I mentioned that they really know how to decorate a Product Showcase!! This one did not disappoint!  It was totally fabulous!  I'm going to plan on doing several posts to show  you some of the highlights of the Product Showcase, since there were SO MANY GREAT ideas!  They transformed a large room into a Idea House of sorts......they always come up with the most creative and unique ideas....Here's a great start.....
When you first walked in to the right, there were a few tables set to highlight several kinds of special occasions.......

This is an overview of a birthday party, perhaps, or a fun
Gotcha Day Celebration.  I have friends who have adopted children and they hold Gotcha Day celebrations to celebrate the day they came to live with them!  How fun is that? (You can click on each picture to enlarge.)

There is a canvas backdrop, and then behind the table, there are three Decorative Photo &Card Display that they stuck pink tissue flowers into....Don't you just love the pink and orange together?  Notice on the tray they put the orange and white polka dotted paper under the glass for a pop of color?

If you'd like me to enter your email address into my database for receiving my monthly newsletter, let me know!  I'd love to send it to you monthly; it usually has a recipe, a product idea and other goodies to share.

Ooooh, a giveaway........

UPDATE:  We will wait a few more days before we have this giveaway..... I was out of town and not able to add photos like the twins asked me to do......I am going to add some pics and would ask you to please get the word out.  In reality, as we all know, one of the purposes of having a giveaway is to drive more business to the generous sponsors who allow the giveaway to happen.  I REALLY want y'all to go see the adorable vinyl things that the twins have to offer.  We will be giving away the numbers, but I want you to know that's not all they have.....they have SO MUCH MORE!

Take a look at some examples!!

Aren't they adorable?  So let's get some bloggers over there and take a look at the rest of their wares!  I'd like to see some more comments to enter this giveaway, and I'm going to hold it open until next Wednesday to see if we can't get a little more interest!


Original post:

The twins have a vinyl business..........seems like I've known these girls for a while in the blogging world, and only recently did I decide that I would take them up on their offer to host a giveaway for their great vinyl wizardy!!!  They can make all kinds of things, you know.  Check out their fabulous etsy site at Twice As Nice Lettering....and let me just issue you this warning........ you will quickly fall in love!!!! They have all kinds of fun, creative, vinyl  lettering for all spaces in your home.....but wait until you see what they are willing to give away!  Yes, HERE IT IS....been wanting to make sure the cleaning fairies don't miss your house, or the SuperNanny doesn't go next door instead of to YOUR house, or the ambulance doesn't miss your house when you've stubbed your toe???? (my kids call this the wambulance! grin...)  So you need this!

Isn't that the coolest giveaway?  Of course, you could put it on the door, you could put it on the floor, you could put it on a pot, you could post it on a spot......ok, enough with the Dr. Seuss already.  YOU COULD WIN THIS...and better still...FIVE OF YOU could win this! Yes, they are willing to give the number to five of you who can't seem to remember your address!!  Can you believe the twin's generosity???? And I get one, too!!! Whoa, how cool is that???? I wanna tell you , it's WAY cool!

So what does it take for you to enter???  Because I want you to go check out their esty site, Twice As Nice Lettering,  you need to race on over there and tell me your favorite one......help the twins out, they need to know the top ten favs!! :D
Also, come back and tell me, because I"m nosy and want to know also! Then  second entry is leave a comment on where you would put the lovely numbers.  You do NOT have to write it in Dr. Seuss style!  I know, you are relieved, aren't you???? 
Isn't this exciting?  I figure this giveaway just  might put me over the 300 followers designation, because I know you're going to go tell everyone about it.......yes, sure that will get you another entry!  AND if I get over 300 followers (not that I"m too concerned about numbers......) I am thinking of hosting my OWN giveaway.......new Willow House product maybe???? What would you like me to give away????  Oh the possibilities are endless!!  Ok, so go do your thing.....1. Visit Twice as Nice Lettering Etsy Shop.....name favorite product 2. Come back and tell me how you would use the numbers....and 3.  Tell somebody about the giveaway and let me know how.  Easy enough???  Thought so.  Now go......and come back next Friday for the drawing of the lucky FIVE WINNERS!!! Thanks, Twins!!!!

The New Willow House catalog is out!!!

I cannot wait to tell you all about our Convention, and show you pictures from the Product Showcase....OH MY WORD!

Here's a link to the catalog:  Go right now and check it out and let me know what you think!!!

http://www.willowhouse.com/sneakpeek/

Come back tomorrow for a peek into the fun we had at our Convention and some of the GREAT things we learned about what Willow House is to be........remember I told you that Southern Living at HOME and Entertaining at HOME were merging, and the resulting company would be called Willow House......well, that's what this is all about....stay tuned!

"You CAN get it all done" party....coming up soon!

So if you'll remember in this post, I talked about needing to host a You Can do it party, with a challenge to you friends that we hold each other accountable to getting just a few things done.  Nothing like a little positive peer pressure to motivate us to "get 'er done"....right?  So I am thinking that we should do this the first week of August.  I have many things on my plate until the end of July, so it really works best for me to schedule this little party then.  Otherwise, I will fail miserably!!  Know what I mean?????

So we will deal with some real strategies to handle our lists of five things.  Too many more than that, and again, it would just be too much.  Looking forward to the challenge with you girls....I wonder if someone can help me make a button for this party????? That would be awesome!

count your blessings.....

I read of someone who lost his wife over the weekend in a car accident...and then I read of someone who is anxiously awaiting her husband to come home for a two week military leave, and then to GO BACK. What in the world do I have to complain about?? Absolutely nothing. Love your family and friends...we are not promised tomorrow. Have an excellent day.

In just a few weeks.......

I thought I'd give you a sneak peak at a few of the new products that will be coming in the new catalog....some great products, but only a fraction of the new things that will appear in the Willow House catalog!! I cannot wait until our convention where they will take a huge exhibit hall and make a product showcase that never disappoints!  It is incredible what they come up with.  I love the "out of the box" ideas they create......I will have photos to show you when I come back, for sure!!!! In the meantime,  here's the Sneak Peak!!
May I introduce the French Wired Basket with Tiers??? I am in love.

the Hyacinth Covered Casserole matches the Hyacinth Mixing Bowls and ramekins......isn't this so pretty???? And the Highland Casserole Caddy will complement it so beautifully, it will be a MUST HAVE.......imagine how this will look at your Thanksgiving buffet!!!!

The Verde Fruit Bowl........

And the Alfresco Pie Plate, which is a companion to the Alfresco Serving Dish/Casserole......You can't see the yummy colors, but they are there under that yummy looking pie!!!

Garage Sale Lovers????

Did you know that there is a new way to advertise your garage sales, as well as a way to find them on the internet????  I was recently contacted by the owner of the site, who invited me to do a blog review of his site.....
http://www.garagesalestracker.com.  It looks pretty interesting!

According to Rich, "We also have the largest Flea market, Consignment Store, and Thrift Store directory to pair with our new iPhone application to track all of these sales within the given radius!"

So you can either advertise with him, and get as many words as you want, and add pictures if you want.......for one price.  For FREE, you can search the sales being held in your area, and look to see what they are advertising!  It also gives you a choice of calling the person holding the sale to ask questions.  It sounds like a great idea, especially considering that an IPhone App is available that allows you to see a map on how to get to the sale!  I always love a good map to get me to a great sale, don't you??
I know that many of you bloggers love a great garage sale, thrift store, and flea market.....so why not make it easier to find those in your area??? This is a great idea.......don't you think? Go check it out!

I plan to download the IPhone App and try to use it to find sales in my area........wanna join me?? Hey we could meet at a halfway point and garage sale together!! :D

Have a blessed Sunday, my friends!

Psa 113:3  From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the LORD is to be praised.

Hey friends!

I am going to have to be more intentional with getting my blog posts written for the summer....it seems that in my busy-ness, blog posts get bumped from the priority list, not to mention, that I've been a little short on bloggy inspiration!!!  I find that when I am posting irregularly, I find less inspiration!!
I am always up for Friday Fives, though!  I love getting to know y'all better by posing five questions every Friday!  It's fun to share with one another the answers to the random questions I come up with!

So this Friday Fives theme will be a popular summer theme.......weddings!

Where were you married?
What one thing do you remember most about your wedding?
Do you remember a particular wedding gift that you received?
If you could have another wedding, what location would you choose to hold it?
Do you have a wedding picture displayed in your home?

Have a great Friday, y'all!!!

Hope you had a great weekend!

We had a delightful time visiting my son and daughter-in-law this past weekend.  We haven't been to their house in  over a year, so it was so good to be in  their home.  And Heather and I worked on getting the nursery ready.....how exciting was that!  We picked out bedding for the nursery and then worked on covering a glider that she had found on Craigslist.  Here's the bedding she picked out.  It isn't as blue as the pictures show...it's really more silvery, with the brown and cream.   So Catherine will have a lovely, elegant room!

Russell is also building a built-in unit that will have a window seat with matching fabric for the cushion as we used on the glider. It's going to be beautiful!
We had such a great time with them, and so enjoyed our visit!  Can't wait to go back!