This weekend, I have another jewelry giveaway for you!  I’d like to introduce you to Lucy from bel monili.  She makes beautiful accessories out of vintage baubles and sells them in her Etsy shop.  Here are some of her pieces that are my favorite… Lucy of bel monili is offering up a $35 shop credit to spend in her Etsy shop.  Interesting in winning?  Here’s how to enter… Visit the bel monili Etsy shop and browse around.  Come back here and leave a comment letting me know what you would buy if you win the $35 shop credit. If you’d like to increase your chances of winning, you can do one, some or all of the following… “Like” bel monili on Facebook and leave a comment letting me know you have. Follow Lucy’s blog and leave another comment letting me know you did. You can also follow her on the social

You know what I love?  Other than bread and butter, which we established a couple of days ago, I love that with all of the creativity in the blog world, there is still room for uniqueness.  Do you know what I mean?   A  lot of us make similar projects, shop for similar things and have similar tastes, but the way everything is put together is unique.  I see the same thing in a lot of the girls who are crafting things to sell online.  You can see similarities, but you can also see the unique creative ideas that set each one apart.  I love that. Now, that I’ve babbled…to the point.  Erin of the Vintage Pearl recently introduced a sweet twist on the custom silver “mom” necklace.  It’s called the “love notes” necklace and it’s made with your child’s handwriting or artwork.  Awww…   As a mom of a

I was going to write about balancing blogging and life, but doing that would mean staying up past my “bedtime” and not being very balanced, so I thought I would just share a bit about myself.  Some random tidbits that might make you laugh or make you feel like we’re long-lost kindred spirits… I try to squeeze every little bit of toothpaste out of the tube.  If there’s a pea-sized glob left, I will get it out.  I don’t think it’s a thrifty thing, because I can be wasteful in other areas.  I like to finish things, so I guess it’s a challenge.   I love the show Survivor and I would totally apply to play if it didn’t involve leaving my family for a couple of a months.  I’m sure I would cry a lot, though. If I could eat only one thing throughout a day, it would be

I shared yesterday about my health/weight/etc. and had some requests to share more of the recipes I make, so I thought I would.  As I shared, I became a vegetarian last August.  I was a vegetarian in high school for a brief period, but to me that meant I ate big bowls of noodles with butter.  As a vegetarian now, I focus on eating vegetables (and fruit.)  And I eat vegetables, not other foods that companies are trying to make look like meat.  I don’t need meat, don’t miss it and I don’t want to eat soy that is pressed into a nugget shape and breaded.  I don’t eat tofu, either.  Honestly, I haven’t tried it, but white cubes just don’t look yummy to me.  So, I eat familiar, healthy foods and get creative with them.   I prefer to make my own veggie burgers, so I know exactly what’s

 I’m going to take a deep breath and own up to something.  Since starting this blog, and mostly since my business has really taken off, I have gained 30 lbs.  (It hurts just to write that.)  A year ago, I had to have my gallbladder removed and it was a wake up call to me.  Well, I hit the snooze button a few times, but last summer, I started making changes.  I wrote THIS POST about the limits I was going to set for myself dealing with food, health, my business, etc. and I thought I would give an update. So, here I was pre-blog…  It’s hard to see in a frumpy t-shirt, but I had lost 38lbs after having my second son and was only about 10lbs heavier than when I was in college.  I was running every day and at a very healthy BMI and I felt awesome.