Sunset Magazine DIY Contest

I was pretty excited to see my DIY Picture Frame on the Sunset Magazine website today! I entered into a humble little DIY photo contest, and though there are a bunch of other winners I feel pretty special to be chosen. Little things like this give me more motivation to create, and I like that. Hope you're having a splendid day!

PS you can see my original post HERE

Christmas Traditions

So as we prepare to move back to CA I've been thinking a lot about Christmas traditions we get to celebrate with our families, as well as perhaps creating our own. There are a few adorable little traditions that mine and my husband's family do that I will always continue but I want to start some special ones of our own; so here's a little list of traditions I will pass on and start anew!

* On Christmas Eve my husband's family one by one puts their Christmas Wish Lists in the fire.  The idea is that as the ashes float up they will drift to the North Pole and magically reform for Santa to see.

* Opening one present on Christmas Eve (which is always pajamas, of course! and THESE are what I want this year)

* Reading the Nativity story from the Bible

*Making my mom's famous Cheese Ball and gifting them to friends.

* The Oborn Christmas Chime Extravaganza.  I don't know if this one really needs an explanation.



* By far, my all time favorite tradition from my youth is chopping down our own Christmas tree. Every Christmas until I was twenty (and I'm the youngest) we would drive up into the Sierra Nevada foothills and cut our own tree from the many tree farms.  It was always beautiful and cold and fun traipsing through the woods with my brothers.  My parents now have a fake tree, and Sean's parents usually buy theirs from a lot, and our little family has spent the last three Christmases with one or the other but as soon as I can I will be reinstating the "cut your own tree" policy in our little family.

And new traditions to start....

* The Christmas Pickle (hide the pickle, or maybe this little guy, in the Christmas tree and whoever finds it gets a special surprise)

* A special advent calendar - my favorites are this punch board because I have boys and they love anything destructive, this one with boxes filled with family activities, and this one with a craft or ornament for each day.

* I love the idea of the Elf on the Shelf  to bring some magic into Christmas.  I think Bannock is finally old enough to appreciate the story and it would be fun to start a tradition while the boys are really little so as they grow up they can't remember a time when we didn't do it (you know what I mean?).
Also, See Jane Blog is doing the Elf on the Shelf Giveaway and it is amazing - such an awesome idea and if I don't win I might just have to do it myself!

A Fancy Feast

Here's a roundup of my Thanksgiving inspiration.  It's our last turkey day here in the isles and my dream of a fancy dinner on the beach might actually be coming true (weather permitting!) so cross your fingers with me and pray for a light breeze, plenty of Hawaiian sunshine and, either way, great food and wonderful friends! 

1 dinner with friends / 2 place cards / 3 the Turkey / 4 Butternut Squash Soup / 5 Parker House Rolls / 6 Watermelon and Grapefruit agua Fresca / 7 My very own Angel Food Cake with Mocha Mousse filling

So there you are.  We'll see how this goes.  Needless to say, regardless of wind or rain or sand in our food this day will at least be spent with great friends in the most beautiful place and I really couldn't ask for more than that!

MOVING

The time has come to begin our moving phase.  Well, technically the time to begin has come and gone so now we're down to the wire.  I keep putting it off because it doesn't feel real.  We have spent over two wonderful years here in Hawaii.  Laie has been our first real home; we've never lived anywhere as long as we have lived here. In our almost five years of marriage we've lived in five places and while that may not seem like much to some, it seems like a lot to us.  I'm ready to settle down; to buy (or rent!) a house, find a good school for my children, fix up the yard, get an annual pass to a museum, etc. - you know what I'm talking about.  But that seems so far away.

I took this picture of Bannock right after this story:

During nap time yesterday I was going through books to keep and give away and got a little weepy.  I couldn't bare to get rid of ANY of them (hence the multiple large "keep" piles on the left).  Each one has a special memory... even the 'How to draw Cars and Trucks' book made it into the keep pile because of the hours Bannock spent just looking at the pictures. This little library is a treasure to me that I want to keep forever.  So the tears fell as I recalled special moments with each one; Bannock reciting the words of 'Goodnight Kiss for little Fish' when he was two, explaining to everyone and their mom the functions of all the construction trucks in his 'My Big Truck Book', quietly reading 'Moon Plane' all on his own, Brecken babbling at the pictures of animals - if I gave away these books it would be like giving away the memories. 
So as I quietly cried Bannock slipped out of his room and silently put his arm around me.
I said: "I'm sad Bannock."
B: "Why are you sad mommy?"
Me: "Because we're moving and I'll miss it"
B: "It's not sad"
Me: "Why is it not sad?"
B: "Because we're moving to Caaaalifooooorniaaaaa!"
He sang the word California like game show announcer, like I had won an amazing prize.  Leave it to children to look on the bright side of things.  I have spent so much time and energy focusing on the sentimental things, the things I'll miss, all the memories and friends we've made, how life will never be like this again. But his perky little demeanor quickly showed me that it's no fun focusing on the past.  We have endured a lot here - we might have lived in paradise but we've struggled more than I thought we would.  We have so much to look forward to and while I might get a little teary during this bittersweet time of transition, I know that my outlook on what is to come will ultimately decide my happiness.  So here's to lessons learned, wonderful friends made and a beautiful bright future.

The Forge Giveaway!

I have been incredibly lucky to be a part of an amazing giveaway!

Beautiful and sweet Sophie of The Forge discovered some of my products via Instagram and asked if I wanted to be a part of her giveaway. To which I responded with a resounding yes! This is HUGE for me and I am thrilled to be a part of it. 

Sophie is awesome.  Her lifestyle blog is filled with great fashion, cool crafts/projects (I'm going to be making this and this) and lovely pictures of her adorable son and beautiful home (Check out how cute this nursery is!)  One day I hope to have a blog as great as hers ;-) But in the meantime.... go check out this awesome giveaway! Where you can enter to win one of my painted driftwood jewelry holders as well as cool jewelry, headbands, an amazing calendar, and much more!


 Go here:

The Forge: 500 Follower Giveaway