{coastal christmas}

Well hello!!
Glad you all liked my goofiness in the snow:):)
Your comments always make me smile!!! Thanks for taking the time to leave little pieces happiness:)
And you know: when life gives you lemons.....you've got to make lemonaide!
Or in my case...when life gives me grapes....I make wine:):)
Of course....in typical Indiana fashion right after that snow it's been in the upper 60's and GORGEOUS all week.
Which is much better then the snow! But it was fun to goof around in it!! I really do appreciate the first snow!

Which puts me in the mood for our annual winter break vacay.
this time it's Puerto Vallarta.

{ps...the photo's from Key West last Christmas}
So if you have any have to check out recommendations....please send um my way!

Mimosas and sandcastles on the beach Christmas morning for me!

But even though i'll be gone for Christmas....we always have a big holiday shindig and since it's only a couple of weeks away I thought I better get busy transforming our home into a Christmas wonderland!

Who cares if Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet!

I am nowhere near done....let's just say....flour and salt will be in my future!!!
Stay tuned!!!

Oh and stay tuned for a lovely give-away on the day after turkey day!!!

Sometimes you can make the simplest of certerpieces out of things you already have!! This one came from everything I had on hand!! Yippee...
I really did tell myself...no turquoise this year!
I love those natural white & green christmas themes i've seen on the shabby blogs.
But I just can't do it!
I LOVE turquoise and I love glitter!! And really Christmas is one of the few times of the year when I can get away with the glitter!
So why not, right!?!?! 

Are you an early Christmas decorator or do you wait until Thanksgiving!?!?! I say...do what makes you happy...but maybe wait until after Halloween:)

Have a super happy weekend!

Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart. ~ Unknown

{make the best of it}

Do you ever have one of those days where NOTHING goes as planned?!?!?
Well that was my day yesterday:)
I got up early to get all my errands ran only to realize most of the places didn't open until 11am or noon. Darn it...
Then I came home to start ORGANIZING and cleaning my home...
I did pretty good. I got the dining room finished...

simple and happy.
I put that stained glass piece up against the mirror....is that dorky or ok??!?!? I thought it looked pretty cute....but I wasn't sure:) I changed the chalkboard. Yes..it looks like I am really getting somewhere with this cleaning and organizing....
but here's the reality.... All I really did was move stuff from one room right into the other! This is supposed to by my happy little craft room but in reality it becomes a catch all for everything.

I have to admit I am NOT good at organizing! I am really good at lots of things but organizing is not one of those things:)

I am one of those people who gets so overwhelmed I just close the door and hope I don't have to deal with it anytime soon!Which is exactly what I did!!

I grabbed my husband and said "enough of this cleaning/organizing, let's head up to New Buffalo."

He agreed!! We went up to New Buffalo and just drove around looking at all the beautiful houses in the wintertime:)

Here are a few......They are all so lovely and they are right on Lake Michigan....how lucky:)

The lake in winter...Not exactly beautiful.....
but it's all we have:)
And don't you just love the beautiful blue sky?!!?
Just kidding...in the winter our skies are more the color of GRAY:)But all was well in the end...because we ended up having a little pizza and wine:) somehow...I ended up forgetting about my lack of organizational skills:)
And just look at that pizza...YUM!
How could you ever resist a little pizza!?!? Or rather A LOT of pizza..I ate almost the whole pizza! I was hungry:)

Have a GREAT week!

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” Charles R. Swindoll

{rush...rush..rush}

Do you ever feel like all you do is rush...rush...rush

I especially feel this way during the holiday season and usually I end up with a real mess in my stomach. That's right were my stress goes...my stomach, oh, and my shoulders.

Anywho...this time of the year really does it for me. Why does it have to be such a short season. I mean really how MUCH can one cram into 3-4 weeks?!?!

I have really been thinking about this and have decided to be more "present" & "aware" in my life.....you know...really appreciate what each day has to offer. Even when I am CRAMMING way too much into a day.

I know, for me, I am a way over-doer kind of person. I often put way too much stress on myself...

Sometimes I just want to SLOWWWWW down and BREATHE...

Not feel bad that I didn't go to the gym and burn X amount of calories, or make those pillows I had in mind or walk the dogs or on and on....

This really is the time of the year to be gentle with yourself and allow things to just be....

I NEED to learn to be OK with this. I think we could ALL learn to be more gentle with ourselves.

So here's my PLAN to just relax and enjoy each day:)

Have dinner at least 3x a week at the dining room table listening to Pandora and enjoying some vino.I know I always feel relaxed when I enjoy a nice meal in there.....versus....watching tv while eating:)

Do MORE yoga....starting with this little 20 minute routine in the am before work:)

Be ok...that when friends come over...things MAY not be perfectly clean...they like me and not my house, right?!?!?

Allow myself to miss the gym here and there and NOT feel bad about it! I never let become a habit..so I think I am ok to miss once in awhile!

Keep a journal and write down one thing I am proud of and one thing I am thankful for, each day.

Ok...I think that's a pretty good start!! Hopefully...I can relax, breath and just enjoy the season! Life is SHORT and we only get one shot at it....so I think it's important to at least TRY and enjoy what each day has to offer!! Even during the busiest season of the year:)

How do you slow down when life starts getting crazy?!?!?

"If you don't think everyday is a great day try going without one." Jim Evans

{crafting: simpledaisy style}

Remember those frames in my dining room....well I finally got around to doing something with them.

I really wanted to take some great photographs of the beach for them...but I came up with another idea instead!

It was such a simple project. All you need is......

wooden craft words

starfish

burlap

scrapbook paper

paint and glue

First glue on some scrapbook paper...

I just thought it would give a little color to the burlap~

Then glue on some burlap on top of the scrapbook paper~Next, arrange your word and starfish~

Glue them on..

Oh...I forgot....paint your words! and waaalaaa....you have a super cutesy, beachy little craft project for your home!Don't you just love little craft projects?!

Hope you have a super happy week! We were in Saugatuck all weekend and had a fabulous time! I'll have to share that with you next:)