Take a look at these voluptuous beauties that have inspired me lately:

Nerdy casual (that’s a compliment!)

Vintage knits

The ruffle skirt makes a comeback

A splash of red

More ruffles with a jean jacket

A spring scarf

Adorable leggings (ruled them out once, but this outfit makes me reconsider)

Pretty poppies

And although not voluptuous, I love what she did with a vintage wedding dress:

Vintage wedding remix

Do you have a favorite? Share it in the comments!

About an hour later, it was time for us to go. As I neared the door and watched the woman stamping people’s hands as they entered, it hit me.

My son, who DID have a stamp, left Chuck E Cheese with someone that said they were picking up their child and DIDN’T have a stamp, and NO ONE was alerted.

I let my kids run around somewhat freely at Chuck E Cheese because of this safeguard. I know it’s not a substitute for adult supervision, but I let my guard down because it’s in place. And I trust that the person guarding the door will do their job and check to make sure the stamps match up.

Later that evening when my son was dropped off, I told his father about my realization and asked, “What did the lady say to you at the door?”

He said he fully expected that they would ask me to come up and verify that they were, in fact, allowed to leave together, but she simply said, “I trust you” and let them out the door.

“I trust you.” Really?

Considering that 76% of children that are kidnapped are taken by someone they know, can someone in charge of making sure that children leave with the adult they came with afford to allow just anyone to leave with whomever they choose because they feel they can be trusted?

I’m at fault, too. I trusted that Chuck E Cheese would do their job correctly. I trusted that the woman at the door would actually check to make sure that those that left had matching stamps. I trusted them with my child, and I won’t do it again.

From Lifepoint:

We’ve all been glued to our TVs keeping up with the terrible crisis in Haiti this week. Many of you want to know what you can do to make a difference. We want to let you know what we’re doing as a church to help.

Giving Toward Relief Efforts

This weekend we will be giving the entire Outreach portion of our offering plus additional funds to Samaritan’s Purse in support of their Disaster Relief in Haiti.We have structured our Outreach effort at Lifepoint for quick response in times like this. Through our partnerships with Samaritan’s Purse, The Association Of Related Churches, and Love A Child (Haiti) we are immediately ready to help support and rebuild a community with the best disaster relief organization in the world.This is a heads up so you can prepare to give big this weekend. In fact, you can also give right now online at lifepointnow.com/give.php. All online gifts received between 1/11-1/17 will go toward this week’s offering and Outreach efforts.

Collecting Goods for Haiti

Many of you also want to know what else you can do. We will be collecting the following items at the Church Office (740B S. College Rd.) and on Sundays at our two locations. These items will be shipped in a large container directly to Haiti.

Medications:
(These items can be purchased over the counter at any local drug store)

Aspirin
Tylenol
Motrin
Children’s and adult multi-vitamin
Benadryl
Neosporin or triple antibiotic
Oral re-hydration salts
Cough medications

Medical Supplies:
(These items can be purchased over the counter at any local drug store)

Ace bandages
Alcohol pads
Band-aids
Betadine wipes and sticks
Drapes
Gauzes – any size
Gloves – all sizes, sterile/non-sterile
Gowns -surgical and patient (head and shoe covers, goggles, masks)
Pediatric supplies (including powdered milk and formula)
Tape – all types
Thermometers
Other:
(These items can be purchased through a doctor or physicians’ office)
Zantac
Hypertension medications
Blood pressure medications
Blades – sterile only
Needles – butterfly, angio catheter
Compression stockings
Dressings – sterile and un-sterile (Coban, Tegaderm, Steri-Strip, Surgilast)
IV supplies – tubing in sterile packages only
Scalpels
Sponges – surgical only (includes X-ray detectable)Surgical towels – cloth/paper
Sutures
Syringes
Tongue depressors

Prayer Service For Haiti

Lastly, we will have a special prayer service dedicated to Haiti on Monday night at 7pm at Lifepoint Midtown (740B S. College Rd).Lifepoint Church has always been an over and above church and it’s times like these that you shine!

Susan writes about life on the farm, random things she likes, and because she and I seem to have similar tastes, I just can’t get enough of her writing! Here are a few of my favorite posts (click the photo to  jump to the post):

The editor, Carleen Madigan, shows you how much food you can generally produce with only a small amount of land. I was surprised to learn that with just a quarter acre of land, you can churn out 50 pounds of wheat, 280 pounds of pork, 120 cartons of eggs, 100 pounds of honey, 25 to 75 pounds of nuts, 600 pounds of fruit, and 2,000 pounds of vegetables.

Carleen doesn’t say how long it will take to produce these quantities, but regardless, it took me a few moments to pick my jaw up off the floor. In this economy, if you have a backyard, you can have a bounty of fresh, organic food at your convenience. Healthy on the wallet, healthy for the body.

This book covers every aspect of homesteading in impeccable detail. The main topics include the home vegetable garden, backyard fruits and nuts, poultry for eggs and meat, meat and dairy, homegrown grains, and food from the wild. But, all the little things like wine making, beer brewing, yogurt making and cheese making thrown in between make this book a fun and informative read.

If you’re thinking about starting a homestead of your own, this is the book you’ll turn to again and again. It’s not only an invaluable resource, it’s a lively read filled with a wealth of knowledge and insightful illustrations. Pick it up – you won’t be disappointed!

Shop Indie Bookstores

Here’s what I snagged (click on the book for more info):

(The Backyard Homestead has five solid stars on Amazon and with good reason. I’ve learned at least three new things just flipping through it. I’ll be posting a book review soon.)

There are quite a few more nerdy website and marketing books in my possession, but I’ll spare you.

I stumbled across this one as I was finishing the last chapter of Dead as a Doornail, and it’s an audiobook. Score! I love reading, but I seriously love reading while crafting and audiobooks fit that bill.

What are you reading?

All you have to do is click the button below and vote for me. Super simple! No signing in, no email required, just a click of your finger and you’re done. You can vote once a day between now and Oct 30th, so please bookmark it and vote daily. It means so much to me!

Thank you all for your support.

If you haven’t heard of Chris Guillebeau, you’re in for a treat. Chris is the writer behind The Art of Non-Conformity, one of my favorite blogs for inspiration and motivation.

Chris is a self-proclaimed Fighter of the Status Quo whose goal is to visit every country in the world while connecting with world-changers. He writes mainly about topics that challenge traditional thinking and encourage stepping outside those invisible social lines to create an amazing life for yourself.

If you have a blog or an etsy shop and have read with interest my blog posts about handmade marketing, his manifesto 279 Days to Overnight Success is a must-read. Here are a few other blog posts that I find inspiring:

• Ever feel like giving up?
• How to be awesome
• The decision to be remarkable

Chris is the type of person I aspire to be. Hope you enjoy reading his blog!

There are few blogs that capture my attention daily, and this is one of them. I have to admit, I think I’m an addict.

Here are a few of my favorite posts lately (although there’s so many over there, it’s like an information smorgasbord – you really should just visit her site ).

Click on the photos for details.

If you need some inspiration yourself, check out my friend Brooke’s blog rightleft studio, also the name of her graphic design business.  Brooke finds great design in everyday life and gives us a glimspe inside her creative mind.

Here are a few of my favorite posts:

This interview has my wheels turning, though. What are your thoughts about kids on the internet? Do you allow your children to participate in social media? How do you protect your children online?

Image Credit: neoneddy

Why, Dave, why? Why must you always insist on lip syncing? I miss bands that refuse to do the Ashley Simpson.

That thought made me think about this:

And then it hit me… wow. I miss Nirvana.

One of the wonderful things about Wilmington, NC is the availability of farmers markets throughout the week featuring local produce and meat from local farmers.

The Downtown Wilmington Farmers Market is probably the most well-known and is a curbside market featuring local farmers, producers, artists and crafters.  Products offered include fresh fruits and berries, vegetables, plants, herbs, flowers, eggs, cheeses, meats, seafood, honey, baked goods, legumes, pickled items, jams and jellies, wine, art, crafts and more.

The market is open Saturdays from 8am to 1pm April through December. This is the market I frequent almost weekly, and some of my favorite farmers and sellers are Black River Organic Farm (lots of variety and the BEST tomatoes and peppers, hands down!), Angela’s Pepper-Pickled Foods (try the mild pickled okra), and Shelton Herb Farm (gorgeous garden plants and lots of variety).

Read the rest…

YES!

Take that Mandy, you awful 8th grade tormentor. My nap is a fashion statement.

His route covers Figure 8 Island, an exclusive island that can only be reached via a guarded bridge. It’s a haven for many celebrities and politicians as well as local professionals. I’ve lived in Wilmington almost my entire life and I’ve never caught a glimpse of the island.

Last night (morning?), I got my chance. The boys spent the night out so we made our own little frugal date night by watching a movie on Netflix, going to bed early, and waking up before the dawn to get to work. Sounds silly, but it was so much fun just hanging out at the wee hours of the morning acting goofy and cracking jokes.

The trip started by hitting the road at 2:30. There was a lot of bar traffic on the streets, so the hubby stopped at every green light before crossing to stay safe. It was so wet and foggy that the street lights looked like fuzzy Christmas lights.

The route was pretty routine, and the hubby and I spent a lot of time just riding with the windows down, enjoying the damp breeze, and talking about and catching up on life. It was amazing how quiet it was during these wee hours. The only thing stirring was the occasional deer or bunny we happened to see.

When dawn started to break, it was a gorgeous royal blue. It was a very foggy morning, and it reminded me of fall in the mountains.

We arrived at Figure 8 just before dawn, and I snapped this photo as we got off the bridge. There are many more homes here than I originally thought. I always imagined Figure 8 as this deserted island with more land than homes, but it’s really the opposite. It’s like Wrightsville Beach without the chaos.

A lot of the homes were just your run-of-the-mill multi-million dollar beach homes, but there were a few that architechturally caught my eye. One was a very unique home that had a sign on the front that said “Living the Dream”. How cool is that?

Every so often we would come across water. At early morning, it offered fabulous views.

This home had to be one of my favorites. It was just so… different.

The hubby says that Figure 8′s most famous usually put fake names on their mailboxes. This one caught me by surprise. Guess who?

Brad Pitt doesn’t subscribe to the paper, but he does occasionally vacation at Figure 8 in his beach home. Okay, well, maybe. It’s a rumor, but that didn’t stop me from snapping these photos like a giddy schoolgirl.

On one of our last stops, I snapped a photo of these ginormous mushrooms growing in someone’s yard. It reminded me of Alice in Wonderland.

I thought that looking at a lot of big fancy houses would make me jealous, but it had the opposite effect. It really just made me happy. These folks are fortunate to be living their dream, and it inspired me to keep working towards mine.

Gina was a brand new knitter and brought all of her brand new needles, yarn, and how-to books to SnB.

Cheryl (on the left) and Danielle eyeball some fiber. Cheryl was a new knitter, too.

SnB was more like a knitting support group, really. Gina and Cheryl helped each other learn the basics.

I still knit backwards, although I didn’t know it at the time. I was supposed to be the expert.

YES! We’re knitting!

Combine pointy sticks with a little wine and things start to get crazy! Danielle tells the story about how I knit at stoplights. I know, it sounds dangerous. I like to live on the edge.

My favorite video from this night is this one where Gina thinks I’m getting ready to take a photo of her, but really I’m already videoing her giving me the death stare. Love it!

These gals are my good friends so we still hang out, but I do miss knit nights.

When I found this set on The Pioneer Woman, my heart skipped a beat. I have been searching for dinnerware with these colors and a bird design for ages with no luck. This is exactly what I imagined they would look like.

The design is adorable, and I can imagine a kitchen decorated entirely around these plates. Seriously.

So, I visited the Lenox website and discovered that these beauties cost $100 per setting, and that’s the sale price. I’d easily need at least 8 place settings plus bowls, mugs, salad plates, and dessert plates. When you do the math, it’s not pretty.

Surely Target will be making a knock-off soon, right?

My generous family all pitched in on this one. My aunt offered up her home and back yard pool for us and the guests, and Gram offered to purchase dinner items like hot dogs, buns, and drinks. We purchased plates, cups, chips, and made the ice cream cake. Our invitations were sent via MyPunchbowl,  so all in all, it was very inexpensive and lots of fun.

For starters, we let everyone swim for about an hour and a half. Everyone was having a great time just hanging out with one another, and it was very laid back and relaxed.

We then had a cannonball contest. I think that the hubby pretty much beat everyone out with his huge tidal wave jumps. The pool lost about 5 gallons of water with each one.

Next up, the limbo! Gram brought over an old broomstick and I downloaded the Chubby Checker limbo song so the kids could do the limbo. Some of them took it very seriously!

We ate dinner, then sang Happy Birthday and served the ice cream cake. I made it with this recipe and it was a total hit. It will definitely go into birthday-party-cake rotation for many, many years. Much cheaper than a store-bought cake, and tastier, too!

Everyone then gathered around to watch the birthday boy open his presents. He was spoiled rotten, and after we counted up all of the money he was given for his birthday along with his savings, he discovered that he now has enough money for a Class Republic Attack Cruiser. He’s been eyeing this for at least a year, and he’s so happy that he can finally own one.

Friends and family are so important, and it was really great to get everyone together. In fact, this group isn’t able to get together often. My aunt happened to be in from Panama, so she was able to be with us for the party. My dad was able to make the trip down from Franklinville, and the boys were very happy to see their Papa.

The birthday boy said it was one of his best birthday parties, and I would have to agree. If you’re being frugal, consider doing something similar for your little one. They’ll probably appreciate it even more than a conventional party.

I’ve been listening to a lot of Wilco lately and this song makes me crave this little house badly. Doesn’t it make you want to relax on the front porch with a coffee and a crafty project?

I came across this flickr stream by Vintage Indie and fell in love with all the vintage homes there. Take a look:

So cute. Seeing photos like these keep me working towards our goals.

Okay, off now to record Rebound!

I just stumbled across Danielle Ate the Sandwich on YouTube and she’s an incredible singer and funny, too. This is one of my favorite originals:

And covers: