Sunday Sweets #2

I haven't been linking up and posting quite as much these days, because... drum-roll... I finally got a job! (P.S. this economy is not my friend at the moment) It's been over a year looking with much frustration, but now that it's finally happened I can see why I needed to wait--I needed to wait so that I could get this particular job, because let me tell you--IT'S THE BEST JOB IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! I'll have to tell you about it sometime, because everyday it just makes me smile. :)

However, for now I just want to quickly focus on the frustration beforehand part--sometimes things don't work out like you think they should, or hope that they should, and you just keep wondering what you're doing wrong, or what more you need to do, or you dwell on the mistakes of the past, or you remember better times and wonder if happy days will ever be here again... it happens to everyone, don't worry. My advice is simple, but it's the best advice I've ever received: KEEP MOVING FORWARD. Have you ever seen Disney's MEET THE ROBINSONS? If you haven't, I very highly recommend it--feel good movie, funny, and has a great message-->KEEP MOVING FORWARD! The main character is a cute little boy with some serious self-confidence problems (yes, none of us can relate to that I'm sure), and he has to learn that everyone makes mistakes--what's important is that you keep moving forward in life, because there are so many wonderful things yet to come.

[http://pinterest.com/pin/132879746/]

I've been Nominated!

I would like to thank Jacque from "Jacque's Soda Parlor" for nominated me for The Versatile Blogger Award! Not gonna lie, I was a little surprised when I found out--I'm my worst critic, what can I say--so it's always such a great feeling to receive positive feedback for your efforts, right? ;) I feel so honored! Thank you so much, Jacque!

After accepting the Versatile Blogger Award, the blogger must:

1. Thank the person who gave the award and link back to them in your post.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to 10 recently discovered blogs.

Okay, so seven things about myself:

1. I honestly believe that sometimes life really does have better plans.
2. My puppy is basically my baby, and I am biased into thinking that everyone needs a dog.
3. I have the most adorable niece on the planet and I am so excited to go and see her this Fall!!
4. I'm quite nearly the only person I know who doesn't own a Smart Phone, an Ipod Touch, I-phone, or a tablet or some sort (I just barely upgraded from a 512mb MP3 player... I live a simple life).
5. I wear slippers even in the Summer.
6. Halloween is hands-down my favorite holiday.
7. I have a hole in my head.

Now, here are 10 blogs I've recently discovered that I hope you will take the time to visit:

1. Chef-n-Training
2. Cut the Craft!
3. Sweetie Pie Bakery
4. Nest of Posies
5. Less Cake More Frosting
6. Design by Night
7. Bumbleberries Boutique
8. Cupcake Bakeshop
9. Design Dazzle
10. Good Little Things

Butterfly

Lys Agnes is my favorite contestant on America's Got Talent--she's beautiful, inside and out, and her audition totally blew me away. She came in, dressed in street clothes, dreads, etc., and I totally expected her to start rapping or sing some gospel something or whatnot--but then she started singing, and it was like nohting I ever could have imagined. I guess she used to sing, but after her fiance was killed in a car accident, she stopped--there is a sad beauty to her voice sometimes--and it's just been such a treat to watch her come back and become what she is today. Check out this clip--it totally made me cry (what can I say, music speaks to me)--she's amazing!

Free Zumba Pass @ Latin Energy Studio!

One of my FAVORITE ways to workout is Zumba--have you ever tried Zumba? If you haven't you're seriously missing out; just try it once and you'll be hooked. I do it at my local Curves Gym--and there are ladies of all ages, sizes, levels, skills, etc., but we all have so much fun! So anyway... if you happen to live in my neck of the woods, Latin Energy Studio is giving away a FREE studio pass!!! (My Curves instructor also teaches at this studio, and let me tell you--Amy is THE BEST!) Awesome, right? So head over to their blog and enter to win! The contest ends August 31st at midnight, so hurry!

Y

Since I happen to live at the base of the Y, I figure it's probably a wise thing to take advantage of the view--and since I haven't hiked the Y since my surgery (they wouldn't let me go to the gym, so I decided to hike the Y every morning instead... not sure how that made sense), it's about time I took a stroll up the mountain again--and what a beautiful view!

Look at all that WATER! I've never seen so much in the valley before!

and just to prove that I actually did hike all the way to the top (not that it's the worst hike ever, but I personally think it's deceivingly not-so-easy):

"What are men to rocks and mountains?" -Jane Austen

My Favorite Twins

I know I'm totally late in getting these pictures up, but you know--better late than never... This Summer my little cousins were baptized, so of course we had to make sure they did it in style. 

First up, flower hair clips for my cousin Eva and her best friend (who also was baptized that day):

And since I couldn't be there for the big day (if only money didn't rule the world...), I made Eva a white flower necklace to celebrate her pure and beautiful spirit:

 

Little Ian dressed with the white tie I made (dang good lookin' kid!):

And Eva with necklace, flower, and beautiful dress (made by my very own TinkerMama!):

Congrats! <3

What I Wore

Where I grew up, ORANGE was the equivlient of EVIL (high school rivalries--my mom taught at our local high scohol, and then I went there, and well... our school color was green, theirs was orange, so yeah... somehow rivalies seem to stick). I owned ONE orange shirt (to wear on Ugly Orange Day). However, having been out of high school for longer than I dare admit, I have come to absoultey LOVE the color orange--it's just so bright, and fun, and full of life! Orange rocks my world. Why is orange so cool? Well, according to the symbolism of it (I'm a Humanities grad, I LOVE this stuff):

ORANGE, a close relative of red, sparks more controversy than any other hue. There is usually strong positive or negative association to orange and true orange generally elicits a stronger "lot it" or "hate it" response than any other colors.

Makes sense why I would like it, right? Fits my personality just perfectly! ;)

So, this week's What I Wore is all about Orange!

• The skirt is a Tinkeranniebelle original, made with ribbon found in a bin of leftovers and clearance Walmart fabric (I think it was intended for kitchen curtains or something--what with all the oranges, pineapples, and lemons plastered all over it).

• Headband, shoes, and necklace = under $5.
• Earrings = made by my little brother! Seriously--remember how I said we make polymer play goodies as a family? Yup, he totally made those little orange rose earrings (orange is his favorite color). Pretty dang cool.

Enjoy the rest of Summer while it's still here!

The Purple Chameleon--BEST GIVEAWAY EVER!

Okay guys, this is SOOOOOOO AWESOME! The Purple Chameleon is doing the most wonderful giveaway--seriously, guess what??--you can win about a billion different beautiful prizes! SOOOO MANY!!

Here is a list of some of the great items up for grabs! 

https://www.facebook.com/CoralBellesClothing

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Foxy-Blox/126493347382034

https://www.facebook.com/silverltphoto

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Corinna-Couture/101556246549434

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Art-Moms-LLC/144728560939

https://www.facebook.com/sarahndipities1

https://www.facebook.com/CreativeChics

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wish-Photography/155313691147100

https://www.facebook.com/ModernMommyCrochet

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Emma/195437697133713

https://www.facebook.com/myownthreads

https://www.facebook.com/pages/NonasNote/426151110503

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Simply-Natural/319148683022

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oopsy-Daisy-Photography/122805631089673

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Whats-Your-Virtue/160526325731

https://www.facebook.com/CutestCreations#!/CutestCreations?sk=info

https://www.facebook.com/ThePurpleChameleon

So what are you waiting for? CLICK HERE to head over there and enter to win some beautiful, wonderful, amazing things!

Giveaway ends--TODAY!!!

Remember that GIVEAWAY over at A CREATIVE PRINCESS??? TODAY IS YOUR LAST DAY!!!!  So, if you want to win a pair of my vinyl music record earrings, head over there now and enter--hurry, there are only a few hours left!

Sunday Sweets #1

 [http://weheartit.com/entry/7734625]

[http://weheartit.com/entry/10051542]

[http://dianhasan.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/quotes-thoughts-on-being-unique/]

I have nothing more to add than a huge AMEN to that. <3

What I Wore--Sunflowers

My favorite flower is a sunflower--I'm not a huge fan of roses, I could do without most of those high-class types, but a sunflower, now that's true beauty--a sunflower can grow anywhere, and it DOES grow anywhere; on the side of the road, on a dirt trail, in the mountains, in the cracks of the street, seriously it can grow ANYWHERE and somehow still look beautiful. Sunflowers are happy, and they face the sun with a smile--they are just so bright and cheerful! I also love sunflowers because they remind me of both Summer and Autumn--the sunny part of Autumn, when it's just starting to cool down and college football starts, aka the best time of Autumn--I just love them!

So today's outfit--another dress made by me, with--you guessed it--SUNFLOWERS!

"And the yellow sunflower by the brook, in autumn beauty stood." ~William Cullen Bryant

GIVEAWAY over at A CREATIVE PRINCESS!

Guess what friends? I'm doing a giveaway of one of my all time favorite items--my vinyl music record earrings! And YOU get to choose which pair--isn't that awesome? I'm a fan of choices myself, and I have a lot for you to choose from!

Do you prefer some cute little post earrings?

Or some funky dangle earrings?

Terri over at A Creative Princess (which, by the way, is one of my all time favorite blogs as well--so cute! I especially love her sunflower theme, because sunflowers are also an absolute favorite of mine) has been gracious enough to feature me on her blog this week--CLICK HERE to go check it out and enter to win some free earrings!!

I Promise She's a Sweetheart

If you only knew my little Vera Queen, you'd understand what a little sweetie she really is! But she does have quite a bit of fire behind her--feisty doesn't even begin to describe--sometimes I worry that visitors get the wrong impressions (although, it continues to baffle the mind at how someone could be so frightened by a little 6 lb Yorkie, I mean SERIOUSLY).

True, some days after working out at the gym (I'm only gone an hour!), I come home to scenes such as these:

But then she gives you that I'm-just-so-adorable-face, and I just can't get mad at her! I mean, come on, isn't this just the most adorable face you've ever seen? ;)

Yup, that's my girl. For sure. <3

Sweet Summer Starfish

I'm pretty sure my favorite season of all time is Autumn--it's just so beautiful!--but that doesn't mean that I am anywhere near wanting the Summer to end--I can't believe it's almost over! All this talk about back-to-school is getting to me--I just want the sun to stick around a little bit longer. So, here's my most recent ode to Summer--some Starfish and Sand Dollar jewelry!

Glittery Earrings:

and some Bright Coral Salmon Earrings:

My favorite, some shades of red and pink:

or some neutral beachy buddies:

Of course, we gotta do something for hair as well--so some Starfish and Sand Dollar Bobby Pins:

Sweet Salmon Colored Pins:

"IS IT SUCH A SMALL THING TO HAVE ENJOYED THE SUN?" ~MATTHEW ARNOLD

What I Wore

I felt like going a bit more sophisticated for some reason--although, let's face it, this is as business-like as I'm ever going to get. :P

•  Entire outfit: Less than $10--yup, that's about my price range on everything. ;)
• Skirt: Made by me! :)
• Shoes: Payless Clearance, but I will admit on this one that there is one drawback to clearance--these shoes are just 1/2 to 1 size too big, so walking in them is sometimes a challenge. But you know? They fit my budget, so it's worth it. :) 

Yes, the too-big-for-me shoes are my favorite part of the entire outfit! :)

Nothing Beats Homemade

We have a lovely garden behind our house--like, a REAL garden, at least real when we decide to plant things... okay, so the past few years we haven't been planting as much as we have in the past--it's been so sad! I love fresh produce, nothing can compare! So, you can imagine my excitement when I discovered a bowl of berries on the kitchen counter! 

But wait, what on earth are these things? Not your usual berry, at least not what I'm used to--turns out, we have gooseberries! How cool is that? I mean, seriously, who has GOOSEBERRIES in their BACKYARD?! So COOOOL!!!

So, what do you do with gooseberries? My very first homemade pie!!

I was quite proud, not gonna lie--I've never made a pie before. :)

Check it out--flaky crust and everything!

I wonder what else you can do with gooseberries... :)

Visit me over at Young and Crafty!

Hey guys--today I'm guest posting over at the wonderful blog, Young and Crafty--come check out my post, as well as all of Hannah's amazing projects!

What I Wore

"Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." 

~Henry James

 What I wore:

• Dress: Made by me! End of Summer clearance fabric (nothing beats a flirty sun dress, NOTHING!)
• Shoes: $4, End of summer Payless clearance (salmon--my favorite color!)
• Puppy: My Vera-Queen! Couldn't have a perfect Summer afternoon without her. :)

Back to School with a New Pair of EXPRESS Jeans

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Express. All opinions are 100% mine.

"I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectaular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity -- all I hope for in my clothes." ~ Yves Saint Laurent

 

As I was running errands the other day, it dawned on me that the end of Summer is near--the stores are suddenly filled with back to school items and supplies! Although I am not attending school this fall (for the first time in my life time! It's SOOO weird), and although school is one of those crazy, stressful, ulcer-causing areas of life, I actually am quite fond of the back-to-school feeling; like Tom Hanks in You've Got Mail, I would love a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils. What can I say, I just love that feeling of starting something new--plus, what's the best part about going back to school? NEW CLOTHES. :) Of course! July and August were always my favorite growing up because my mom would take us shopping for new clothes--it was better than Christmas.

 

So, in the mood of Back-to-School shopping, head over to EXPRESS check out their latest and greatest, especially their amazing line of Express jeans! I believe that you can never have enough jeans--they are the staple to life, dressed up or casual, you can never go wrong with a pair of jeans. The most wonderful thing about Express jeans is that whatever style your looking for--jean leggings, skinny jeans, straight, skyscraper, barely boot, bootcut, flare (my personal favorite), or wide leg (my other favorite)--EXPRESS has them, seriously! I love EXPRESS, because their clothes are trendy yet classy--perfect for anything, and you know that my style is as bipolar as our Utah weather, so these are just great.

 

Okay, but let's get to the BEST part of  going back to school with Express jeans--they are giving away 50 FREE pairs--FREE! That's my favorite word of all time. Head over to their Facebook page to enter the Express giveaway--FREE JEANS, WHAT COULD BE BETTER?

 

Additionally, if you head over to EXPRESS, they are having a SALE (my other favorite word) on women's jeans right now--Buy 1, get 1 50% off!

 

I'm totally digging these red skinny jeans--gotta get me a pair for sure!

 

 

Or these lovely dark flare jeans--love the tab of triple buttons at the top!

 

 

Or, of course for my casual every day favorites, these light wash flair jeans:

 

 

Which ones are YOUR favorite?