Life is Just Grand, and Busy Too!

WOW! Yeah. Mama and I have been really busy writing (and photographing and designing) for the Resourceful Gals blog... hop over there to check out all the amazing recipes, tips, and DIY how-to's! (resourcefulgals.blogspot.com)

If it wasn't for my camera, I don't know how I'd remember all the great stuff happening around here. I'm too busy most days to scribble an entry in my journal, so the pictures help refresh my memory. Spring, with its delicately scented blossoms and cool, dewy mornings, is just gorgeous... though I have a feeling it's almost over. Summer is peeking around the corner, promising heat and sunshine and ripe blackberries. :D

We have babies! Little chicks hatched by our own hens. We also have a new flock of chickens -to-be in the form of 21 baby chicks we ordered in the mail. One of the eggs we got the other day was so huge it filled my whole hand! (and I gave myself a manicure with a glitter-dipped effect. Really cute) - I've been keeping the windowsills stocked with fresh flowers. Top right- Mark and I in the car on the way home from church.

 I've been attempting to get some jewelry work done every day, in preparation for the GHEA convention in Atlanta that's happening in a few short weeks. I'm nearly there to reach my goal of how many items I'm taking, but I want to have as many pretty pieces on hand as possible. :)

Lovely vintage-style cameo necklaces, Me in my beading-glasses, bracelets all strung and ready for finishing, beads that are now made into many pairs of earrings... 

So, life is grand and busy and hectic and fun. :D How about you? :)

How My 22nd Birthday was the Best Yet

Hi Everyone! :D

I had an absolutely wonderful day yesterday on my birthday. I was happy all day long, the weather was gorgeous, the flowers were exploding into bloom, and I had wonderful people to share it with... my sweet mom and my funny daddy and cheerful brothers.

Mama and I went shopping (I had a few birthday bucks to blow) :D and we had. a. blast finding all sorts of amazing deals, and I scored some fabulous items for my wardrobe that are completely my style and colors... besides fitting perfectly! I love it when I find something that fits me perfectly!

So. My haul. :D I loved every single thing I found... a buttery-soft handbag with tons of pockets (basically my dream purse) from T.J. Maxx, beads from Hobby Lobby (at 50% off, I might add),  a couple new fragrances and a free item from Bath and Body Works (I was packing a coupon for that free item, and 20% off the rest of my purchase), perfect light neutral plaid long-shorts from Ross, three pairs of shoes from Payless ... "Kate Middleton"-esque beige heels (that I've been dreaming about), jewel-studded champagne-colored flats, and $5 white flip-flops... And from Goodwill, 3 pairs of perfectly-fitting jeans, 1 pair of khaki bermuda shorts, 1 pair of black heels that fit like they were made for me, and 4 adorable tops.

*whew* :D

Daddy took Mama and I out for lunch at Chick-fil-a and I had a Caesar chicken cool wrap, fries, and lemonade. I must say, I think CFA's lemonade is the best lemonade ANYWHERE. I had such a nice time at that lunch!

And I can finally say I've been to Panera Bread! Mama and I popped in there just before driving home to get an afternoon snack - we chose 2 cheese pastries and Mama got some coffee. Those were really great pastries. :D

For my birthday dinner, we had lasagna ready to throw in the oven (the boys actually started it for us while we were on our way home!) and served it with fresh side salads with lettuce from our own garden. Yummmm.

Dessert was, instead of birthday cake, a Fruit Pizza! It was really awesome. The kiwi and strawberry slices, cream cheese,  sweet crust, and strawberry sauce were a delightful combination. Next time I think I won't roll out the crust so thin, but other than that it was perfect.

Thank you to all the dear friends who messaged me on facebook and left comments on my wall, it means a lot... and thank you especially to two very dear, sweet ladies who sent me e-cards!! (You know who you are.) ;) I also got a couple of birthday cards in the mail, which is always fun!

I felt so loved and treasured on my birthday, and it was better than I'd even imagined! God is so good and has blessed me so much. Now it's my turn to be a blessing! :D Let me know via the comments section if there's anything I can be praying about for you. :)

Dressing Up a Dress

Hey there!

Sunday afternoon after I got home from church, I played around with some different style combinations for my new beige dress. I had a lot of fun raiding my closet, but not so much putting it all back again. :P Lol! And there was still more I could have done, I just got tired of taking pictures... perhaps I'll try more in the future! Anyways... enjoy. :)

Okay. So here's the dress plain, by itself. Still so pretty. :D

This is the way I wore it to church. I added a mint pashmina shawl , chunky copper pearl bracelet, my favorite brown jewelry set, brown heels, and braided my hair. (I also carried my copper purse but forgot to get it in the picture)

"Business Casual" - gray short-sleeved blazer, silver purse, white-silver-gray leopard print ballet flats, (which are really cute, too bad you can't see them very well in the pics) and super-sparkly gray crystal necklace and earrings.

"Boho Chic". GAH. I think this is my favorite combo I came up with. The ivory ruffled blouse, belted with a 'lacy' leather belt, makes this amazing! Wow. I am definitely going to wear this somewhere soon. ;) (That is the copper purse I was using that morning, btw.) The pearl bracelet and pearl/ribbon necklace I made myself. 

"Girls' Day Out" - the bright peachy pink cardigan and crocheted ivory hat are such a fun combo! I added a peaches-and-cream tote, a pretty peach-and-white cameo necklace, peach eiffel tower earrings (hard to see, sorry) and white flats.

"Blues n' Boots" - inspired in part by some of my Texas bloggin' friends! ;D Denim jacket, brown  boots,  wide studded leather belt, brown jelly watch, gold filigree dangle earrings, and I tried two purses with this - one dark brown corduroy and leather one, and a canvas purse with cute fringe and polka-dots. I liked both. :)

"Dressy Ivory" *dreamy sigh* I pulled out my favorite ivory blazer and paired it with pearl cluster earrings, a  'diamond' (cubic zirconia) pendant necklace, an Aigner purse (I found that at a yard sale!) and white heels with bows on them. Hair swept up in a bun with a ruffly beige flower added. Oh, and a large white flower ring. :)

"Simple but Sparkly" - If one was going to wear this beige dress with a khaki jacket, you'd need something to glitz it up. I added a sparkly coppery-gold scarf a friend from Malaysia gave me, and sparkle-studded copper flip-flops. This needed a belt but I forgot to add one. :P

And I discovered that my favorite new dress is perfect to wear with my favorite old crocheted robin's-egg-blue poncho that I was given for my 13th birthday. Lovely! Not that you can see very well but I added silver flats with jewels on the toes, and beaded dangle earrings in the same shade of blue as the poncho. I also have a pretty pendant a friend gave me that would have matched this but I didn't think of it until later! :P

I also love the coral sweater-dotted belt combo I tried last week!

I hope you had fun reading this post! Which was(/were) your favorite combo(s) and why?

Mix-able, Match-able Dress

The dress I bought with my eShakti.com discount arrived today! I LOVE IT. After getting two dresses to review I finally broke down and purchased one, but I ended up saving a lot of the price after a $25 gift discount! And my birthday is the 10th, so I rationalized that I could call it an early birthday present for myself. ;)

I picked a sensible beige chambray dress because I was looking for a piece that would go with anything and be totally dress-up or dress-down... and this baby is that! :D

I quickly tried one combo, pairing the dress with my favorite coral-pink cashmere sweater and a cute thrifted polka-dotted wide belt. Result? A-DOR-A-BLE. I can't wait to wear this somewhere! :D

I'm planning another post in future with all the different ways I can accessorize this very versatile dress. I'll bet that I could get at least fifty different looks depending on what I mix and match!

Making the switch from google friendconnect to bloglovin'... :) No worries!

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Simple Sprouting

Hey there! Just popping in to tell you that my mom and I are having so much fun blogging together over at The Resourceful Gals! Our latest post is about how we love simple sprouting.

If you haven't visited it yet, now is a great time to do it! :D ResourcefulGals.blogspot.com 

I'll be back with some 'real' posts soon. ;)

Flower Jewelry! :)

Hi all!

Well! I'm going to the GHEA homeschool convention this year and making up some lovely fresh jewelry designs in preparation for it...

My etsy order arrived - beautiful plastic flowers!

These will be incorporated into headbands, necklaces, cuff bracelets, rings, and stud earrings. 

One of the cuff bracelets I'm designing...

Another cuff bracelet... 

And here are all the teensy stud earrings I glued together today! Whew!

I have not the words to describe their adorableness. 

These peach ones are my faves. And those silver studs will have sparkly peach crystals dangles on them, by the way. :)

What have you been up to recently?

Have a happy Easter Sunday!

My New Blog - Resourceful Gals!

ResourcefulGals.blogspot.com 

I am beyond excited to announce the birth of a brand-new blog, Resourceful Gals! Written by my mother and I, it is an endeavor to share basically anything and everything we know about crafts, cooking and baking, DIY, managing a home efficiently, home decor, finding free stuff, and much more. :)

You're going to want to follow it, I just know it. (Besides, I'll be thrilled if you do!) Even if it's just for the absolutely AWESOME recipes. Because we're the best cooks I've ever seen, if I do say so myself. :D

So what are you waiting for? Hop on over there and take a look! (Oh, and do you like the design I created for it?) I think it looks fresh and happy, but calming. :D

Well, Time Slips By...

Hi friends! I have been meaning to post for a good while now and it hasn't happened until now. :D

First, to address the elephant in the room so I can think about something else - my mom and I are planning a huge, amazing, special project that I can't tell you about yet because it's not ready. "Mmmmph!"- that is me biting my tongue. :D I can't wait to share it!! So stay tuned. :)

Spring is on its way, although the temperatures have been chilly the past week....

I spied this lone azalea blossom on my walk down the driveway.  Soon it will be joined by many others as the bushes burst into bloom!

I made a bouquet of sorts from wild violets and pretty purplish weeds. :D 

It is so exciting to see bunches of these bright little flowers popping up here and there in the woods!  Oh spring,  I love you, please come faster! :D

 So, the other day, I got all productive in the kitchen and made two special yummy things...

Creamy ham and potato soup (sans ham) for lunch. YUMMMMM. My fave. It's better with ham but will do without it if it's just for lunch.

Q: What do you do when you don't have enough bananas for a loaf of bread?

A: Add blueberries. :D

Behold, the Blueberry-Banana-Bread! It was delicious. Recipe to follow shortly. :)

I tried a Pinterest technique on my nails this week - I punched a flower shape out in some blue painter's tape (masking tape will work too), painted my nails peach, and stuck the punched tape on top and painted white over it... making cute little flowers on my nails!

Sadly, this is the only photo I have of both hands. And it's too orangey. But you get the idea. They were very cute. :D

Oh, and just now having realized I never shared pics of the bonfire we went to after Ultimate Frisbee, I made a quick collage. :)

Smores. Hiding behind chairs to roast the marshmallows because some of us *cough* were too impatient to wait for the fire to burn down lower. Fun friends. Plenty of food and soda. Using a small sapling as the perfect roasting stick.
Good times. :D

eShakti Contest!

Ooooooh, do I have some fab news for you all. :)
Remember eShakti.com? The place I've been getting these beautiful dresses from to review? Yeah - them.

They are having a wonderful contest and the prize is pretty awesome...

I am definitely going to enter this as soon as I can come up with 45 perfect words to describe what women desire. :) It's really quite easy - all you have to do is email your entry to contest@eshakti.com!

What a Weekend! :D

Oh good grief, Monday, why did you have to sneak up on me so fast? With the added double-whammy of Daylight Savings (A.K.A. "Spring Forward") ??? That's not very nice. And look how much stuff I didn't get done last week that rolled over to this week... *shakes head disapprovingly*

Oh well. There's still plenty of hours left in this day to make it a wonderful and productive one! I've got a few ideas on how to jump-start and motivate myself...

1. Happy Music
2. A glass of cran-grape juice
3. Opening the windows (once it warms up a little, and before the rain we're supposed to get around 4:00)

Even though I'm tired ... almost worn-out... today, it was very worth it. We had. a. blast. playing Ultimate Frisbee on Saturday afternoon, and thoroughly enjoyed the bonfire afterwards. Sunday morning brought us to Trinity Fellowship Church again and it was amazing, as it always has been. I keep expecting a mediocre or sorta stale service to pop up now and then between these heart-lifting, soul-inspiring ones - but it has not happened yet! Even though church is an hour away right now, it's definitely worth the trip. I'm looking forward to moving up there so we can be more involved with the Bible study groups and get to know the people better.

Oh yes, and there's a fun little giveaway happening over at Young Homemakers, a blog written by some of my very good friends, Rachel and Jessica! Hop on over there for your chance to enter for a $15 Shabby Apple gift certificate!