I love celebrations with a small town/nostalgic feel...
which is why I absolutely love our...

Annual Neighborhood Patriotic (Bike) Parade

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LOVE iT | Gorgeous Christmas Card

I know...
Christmas has come and gone.
Time to focus on Super Bowl parties and Valentines' Day!

But...
I absolutely cannot move ahead with the festivities that await...
until I share one of the most amazing Christmas Cards I received this past Holiday Season.

I first have to say I received a lot of beautiful Christmas cards this season.
So many of them showing beautiful photos of my sweet friends with their adorable families.
Each unique in their own way...
and each one feeling like a small gift I always get so excited to open.

With that said...
the card I'm about to share with you today stood out...
and you'll see why in just a bit.

You know we all have that one friend or family member...
who's holiday card we REALLY look forward to getting every year.
We find ourselves stalking checking the mailbox every day like clock-work...
because we know when it arrives...
the creativity and thought behind it will blow our socks off.
You know who I'm talking about...*wink*

Well...
I'm happy to say...
I hit the jackpot when I was added to SHE Paperie's Christmas card list this year.
I'm very familiar with the stunning work Suzanne creates.
Her attention to detail and her style resonates so much with me...
it seriously makes me want to pack everything up and move to Nevada to be her bestie!!

Everything she does is gorgeous.
From her beautiful photo shoot styling...
to the lovely letter pressed wedding invitations she designs...
I'm always in awe of her work.
This girl has super powers because she's also a busy mom to two adorable twins - Liam & Elle.

When Suzanne asked me for my address so she could send me a card...
the anticipation of its arrival was almost too much to bear.
Okay...I'm being ridiculously dramatic.
But honestly...
I KNEW I would be "wowed"...
and. I. was. 

SHE Paperie's 2013 Christmas Card

HERE'S HOW THiS iMPRESSiVE 10.5 x 5" THiCK HOLiDAY CARD ARRiVED:

Tucked in an oversized cellophane envelope.

I immediately noted the whisk on the address insert card - did you?

Return Address Showing on the backside of the envelope through the creation of this sweet kraft tag. LOVE!

Officially out of the cellophane envelope - feeling the texture of the wax paper and baker's twine.

Starting to put together the theme at this point? Whisk + Baker's Twine + Wax Paper

Unwrapping the wax paper revealed a gorgeous 1/8" thick, 10.5 x 5" letter pressed Christmas Card.

Melting....

Adorable candid family photo and lovely letter pressed details.

Be still my heart!!

This super sweet Holiday sentiment was perfect for tying the whole theme of the Christmas Card together. 

A delicious Hot Cocoa MIX recipe...thoughtfully perforated for easy removal to be added to my box of recipes.
This was the recipe I shared with you when I posted the Hot Cocoa Bar I created

BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE!!

The card opens to reveal additional candid, happy + fun family photos...

WOW. WOW. WOW.

I know you love it.

I know you appreciate the thought, time and effort that went into this.

I know I do.

This was an absolute gift!

Thank you so much Suzanne! 

I was so touched to be added to your list.

How did I ever get so lucky?

Reasons I LOVE iT:
• Oversized Super Thick beautiful paper/cardstock
• Letterpressed = gorgeousness
• Use of some favorite popular/trendy elements - Baker's Twine, Washi Tape, & calligraphy text
• The tiny little red heart used in 3 different places - did you notice that little detail? 
• Wrapped in wax paper and tied with Baker's Twine to keep with the "Baking/Kitchen Theme"
• Beautiful Candid Photograph for the front
• Detailed individual photos on the inside
• Detachable Hot Cocoa Mix Recipe
• Whisk graphic used on Hot Cocoa and Mailing Address
• Attention to detail - did you notice the faint pattern on the inside of the card where the "Merry Christmas" sentiment is?

Hope this makes your heart smile.
Tuck it away in your Holiday files...
or better yet...
Pin it! *wink*

Hugs everyone.
Now that I was finally able to share this with you...
We can officially move onto Superbowl Celebrations and Valentine's Day.

KEEPiNG iT REAL
Dealing with technical difficulties again with my internet provider.
Been trying to post this for 2 days now.
When this finally does post...
you'll know I quickly pushed the "PUBLISH" button...
during one of the rare opportunities when my Internet light came back on.
Goodbye current internet provider...I'm done with you.

life | a painful reminder...

My thoughts today are with a childhood friend of mine...

Her mother lost her battle to pancreatic cancer early yesterday morning.

The news brings a rush of emotions...

Remembering when my sweet grandmother lost her battle with the same devastating disease...

Remembering the same friend supporting me when my grandfather, my hero, passed away.

Remembering my friend's mom - a genuinely sweet, kind person with amazing creative talents.

Thinking of my friend's children and their loss of someone who I know was a wonderful grandmother.

And of course, thinking of my own mom...

whom I'm fortunate enough to have living close by and who's enjoying good health.

There will be even more emotions tomorrow when I attend the service...

Knowing the loss and heartache my friend is feeling/facing...

Being in the same funeral home both of my grandparents' services were held in...

Being surrounded by a sea of friends I haven't seen in a very long time.

I intentionally went out this morning and cut these roses that have been waiting on me for a couple of days.

I liken them to life...

and ultimately the people we share life with.

We're only here for a moment.

And although we are gorgeous individually...

Collectively, we're a beautiful bouquet.

I believe death is life's painful reminder to live...

Thinking of you Missy...

Will miss you SO very much Peggy.

i love these gals...

i'm finally getting around to posting about my much anticipated "reunion/ first-time in-person meeting" with my "gals", celeste & dina. we met and worked together some years back on the 'scrapgal design team'. they both are super- talented and i'm amazed at all they do for the scrapbooking world. when i found out they both were going to be in orlando for the cha show this summer...i KNEW i couldn't let the opportunity pass without scheduling lunch with them. and so...that's what we did. i met them on wednesday of last week and we ate lunch at the show and mingled a little and chatted a little and it was a little too little. it went by fast and i wish we could've hung out in different circumstances. thanks celeste & dina! i REALLY enjoyed seeing & meeting with you both...(psst...dina...send the dcwv photobooth pics...*wink*)

and have no fear...the last batch of illinois pics will be posted soon.

in a nutshell...

weekend in a nutshell:

.....girls back from spring break

.....friday night soup night (fresh vegetable w/whole wheat homemade croutons)

.....lens rental

.....ema - swim practice & a day at the lake with cousins.

.....lunch with the brecklin's @ zellie's pub

.....clara - attended a b/day party

.....a visit from uncle mike

.....dinner @ cracker barrell (uncle mike's treat...AGAIN - we love ya).

.....bbq & badmitton @ my mom's (awesome food - love you)

and here are pics from this weekend as well...enjoy!

ema workin' hard

ella being super good during ema's swim practice

 

you'll find j like this on a regular basis - his phone usually a quick grab away

uncle mike & ella

little miss ella

(look @ that crazy hair glistening in the sun - i thought it was hilarious)

uncle mike & ella 

(how precious is that? it's her new thing to turn around and look to see who's got her)

j & ella (can you see her curly hair sticking up on top - too funny)

clara concentrating on the "word search" game we were all about to compete in 

@ cracker barrell - (j & i against clara & mike...)

clara & ella after dinner

and then clara took over the picture taking while we were waiting for ema to arrive/meet us @ cracker barrell. (i should've changed the camera settings for her). *grumbling* but overall, i think she did a super good job. thanks clara!

ella & i

ella & i 

group shot (even though they were all blurry - had to post a pic with ema in it).

hope you all had a spectacular weekend....i have tons of stuff to catch up on - which also means i have stuff to catch YOU up on as well...but that's it for now! Happy Monday!

"good morning"

well good morning all you party people! 

i'm super excited for my friend, celeste! 

she has a scrapbook page of hers featured on the cover of simple scrapbooks magazine. congrats celeste!! what an awesome way to watch simple scrapbooks close their doors....on a super special "good note".

hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. we spent part of the day at my aunt susan & uncle dan's. good food. good company. the weather was beautiful - a little on the warm side - but still nice and breezy. didn't get a whole lot of pictures - ella just wasn't feeling well most of the weekend and the opportunity to snap some shots outside eluded me. got a little video of family holding ella - perhaps i'll post that?

"opportunities" awaiting me today:

ella's laundry

exercise (done)

podcast from marianne williamson (done)

home blessing hour (nice tagline from flylady for spending 1 full hour of cleaning)

dinner prep

speaking of food...as promised, let me just share a scrumptious recipe for "not yo mama's banana pudding".  (i have never been a real fan of banana pudding - however, this takes the cake...or rather the "pudding" in this case).  i must warn you, it's very rich...very delish...and makes an enormously heavy 13x9 sized pan. and as with most banana pudding recipes...a child can make it with little supervision. in fact, the whole reason this recipe came to fruition was because ema's night for making dinner was coming up and unlike her sister, clara, she didn't get to make a dessert last time. so i scoured the internet looking for this recipe, in particular.  (inspired by the girls' aunt bre).  it's great for a crowd - otherwise i'd say 3 days in the fridge and that's it. i wanted to post pics of it - i just realized i must've left my camera/bag out at my aunt's?  (darn it).  anyway - this is NOT on the clean eating plan - not by any stretch of the imagination - but oh so indulgent.

and speaking of the clean eating plan....i have news to report that since mid-january, i have lost a total of 18 pounds. can you believe that? it doesn't really "feel" like almost 20 lbs? j hadn't noticed either. hmmm??? that's what the scale says....and i'm sticking to it. anyway, thinking i have 10-15 additional to get rid of. i'll keep you posted. 

have a marvelous monday everyone!!!