Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Love.

The month of February in the mind of an elementary-aged child brings thoughts of red and white hearts, chocolate, flowers, Black History Month, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays (celebrated on the same day, oddly enough) and WINTER BREAK!  Wait. We just had Christmas break, right? Man. Kids these days.  They sure get lots of breaks.  AND I'm sounding more and more like an old fuddy duddy.  Let's move on.

Here are a few things  I find myself thinking about on this first day of the second month of the year.


How stinkin' cute is that?  If I had any talent at all, I would have made my own for sure.
No. Really.
I would  have made my own super cute Valentine Mailbags.
But I've long since realized my talents do NOT lie in the sewing room, so I went ahead and got some at Pottery Barn Kids.
I think realizing your limitations is a valuable skill.  Don't you?
I'm planning on putting notes and goodies in them up until the big Heart day.
If you would like to sew your own, though, here is a link to some super cute ones...here is the spot for over achievers.


Now I want you all to look at this picture.  Seems harmless enough.  Just a little block of wrapped chocolate candy.  From Italy.  A present my guy brought me from his most recent trip.  A trip without me...because someone had to stay home and be the responsible parent.  
But wait....


Look!!  Wafers.  Just a hint of cream.  And that cream has the slightest hint of coffee.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Love in chocolate.  

My guy brought back a box the size of a dictionary.  

I've eaten almost the whole thing by myself. 

Spring is coming?  What? What's that you say? I can't live in my stretchy yoga pants and big comfy sweatshirts all year? 


I am in no way a spokesman for any of these cookbooks.  I just love them and pull them out often.  I love their basic recipes that always turn out.  The crock pot cookbook on top works wonders for days when I actually do plan ahead! I highly recommend any or all of these cookbooks.  They will help you show the love to your families when you make yummy things for them for dinner!

But wait, there's MORE!!

I have found the most adorable site that I want to share.  It is called Gourmet Mom on the Go.

Just look at the edible crayons.


I know! Shut the front door!  You'll just fall out of your chair when you find out what they are made of.  She has great pictures showing step by step directions PLUS she offers lots of choices for the wrappers...I see these showing up at a class party sometime in the near future. 

Jac O' Lyn Murphy is a blog that is new to my list of links over on the side bar...I hope you all are checking out the blogs over there. They are all fantastically fun and are written by some incredibly creative people. 

Anyway, Jac O'Lyn Murphy's blog is all about her creative party/invitation/celebration ideas.  They are truly original and I'm going to go ahead and say that we are using some of her super cute Valentine ideas for the Valentines in our family.   I couldn't grab a photo from her site...so jump on over there and check it out.

Finally, I wanted to share a site I've been sharing with my friends over the past few weeks. 

It's called A Holy Experience.  It's mainly written by a woman named Ann Voskamp.  It's sort of a mixture of a daily devotion/online journal/Bible study.  Her site is full of amazing resources and I've gotten lost in her site for hours.  

She has written a book A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are  and here is a video about it...

There are lots of free downloads on her site--but the one I'm doing this month is her month-long gratitude calendar for February.  Head on over to her site and look around.  You'll be glad you did.



1 comment:

  1. Thank you for the compliment - you are way to nice! I don't see anything wrong with living in yoga pants and sweatshirts all year - I do it :-) My favorite cookbook is Pioneer Womans, I wish she would come out with a second one. I'll have to check out the Barefoot Contessa book. That chocolate from Italy looks delish, you lucky girl!
    -Mariesa
    http://tencowchick.com

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