One Fine Saturday

In September of 2008, I met Ellen at a Live Lightly Tour gathering in Denver. We have continued to stay in touch  online and this past weekend we finally found a day to spend together. Within a few minutes, I was wondering what took us so long to reunite! Ellen and I have much in common and the kids had such fun playing together...we're already planning our next meet up!

Ellen brought a delicious warm vegan apple crisp that we enjoyed while drinking our yerba mate :) Sunlight streamed in the back door as we laughed and talked about oh so many things.

Bella and Margaret spent much of their time dressing and re-dressing to find the perfect look.

Lucy and J.J. supervised.

The weather was beautiful, so we spent a lot of time in the backyard. The kids dug in the dirt and made forts.

And of course...we hooped. Big surprise, I know ;)

We decided to go on a "road trip" to the Thai restaurant for take-out.

A good time was had by all. The kids practiced their chopsticks skills, and Ellen and I sighed with delight as we savored our tom kha, fresh spring rolls, and pad thai.

Can't wait to do it again...but next time we will head to their place in Denver! Ellen tells me her neighborhood has the BEST thrift stores, Thai restaurants, and a vegan ice cream shop.

Yay! It was certainly one fine Saturday.

*see full photo set here

Fun In The Sun

One of the things I love most about Colorado...you can go barefoot in February and it ALWAYS feels warmer than the thermometer reads. When I start to crave iced tea instead of hot tea...I know it's warm out :)

Last week we enjoyed A LOT of time in the sunshine with friends. It started with a meetup at the mall play area, then a picnic play date at the park, and then a library day and lunch.

I've enjoyed watching Bella and Lucy develop friendships that are consistent, and see their faces light up when we make plans to get together! I love this part of being in one place...the settling into a predictable routine.

Even though we see each other so often now, Natalie and I never seem to run out of things to talk about. The mark of a true friend.

Having a real backyard (fenced in and everything) is such a luxury! I still get excited every time I open my back door. Bella created some finger paint masterpieces out there this week...messy is fun!

I love the location of our library...it's just a block from a good coffee shop, a yummy restaurants, a thrift store, and so much more!

When we need to shake things up a bit and play inside, we crank the music up LOUD, move the coffee table aside and dance around the living room. Sometimes with our hoops, sometimes without. :) It's a great way to burn of energy for the girls and calories for mommy ;) Jumping on the bed is another favorite activity.

Bella and I did each others nails while Lucy was napping...there was a lot of girl talk and pretending. Last week we went to Paris a lot...but this week it's nail salons and working "on the farm". I'm not quite sure how she made the jump from being a fashion designer in Paris to scooping the horse poop in the barn (the broom and laundry basket are props)....but she did. She embraces her every passion fully! :)

Every day the girls grow closer and more connected. I love seeing their relationship change and develop right before my eyes!

My parents will be arriving on Sunday for a week-long visit, as well as Dan and Jess. So excited to spend time with them! We will also be celebrating Matt's 33rd birthday on Monday...it's going to be a great week!

Lettergirl Giveaway

*address is intentionally altered for privacy

The first time I saw the Lettergirl store on Etsy, I squealed with excitement. If you've been reading my blog for any time at all, you know that I LOVE anything that has to do with mail and stationary. And you will understand why I went nuts over these adorable stamps. I'm a little obsessed with mine (above). It's so unique...just looking at it makes me want to run to my desk and start writing letters!

There is just something magical about one's address. It's home. It's familiar. It's happy. I've always loved learning the address at every new home we've lived in. And I couldn't think of a better way than to say "we're staying!" than to get a custom stamp of our new address! :)

These custom beauties are the handiwork of Gina in Minneapolis, MN. I just had to know more about her story and give you all a chance to win your very own stamp. She does more than just address stamps too...if you have a sweet idea, she can help! Wedding stamps, business stamps, bag or tag stamps for your retail/Etsy store, book plate stamps, you name it.

When did you first fall in love with handwritten or "real" letters? When I was in college, I somehow tested into an advanced French class which was way over my head, and the only other class I could find to transfer into was called “Crafts”.  I hadn’t planned to take another art class, but this one turned out to be my favorite – we did traditional crafts like weaving on a loom, copper enameling, ceramics, and calligraphy.  It was a lot of fun!

Have you always had beautiful handwriting!? As you can see, I didn’t always have great handwriting!  This recipe card is from high school when I had the same handwriting as everyone else.  My lettering style has developed through years of practice.  I started by doing traditional calligraphy, but I would always provide my clients with a sample in my regular handwriting to make sure that everything was just right before embarking on the “real” calligraphy.  One of my early clients didn’t want me to rewrite it, she wanted her stationery in my handwriting instead.  Since then, I’ve developed almost a dozen different lettering styles.

How long have you been in business for yourself? I’ll celebrate my 19^th anniversary in May.  Things were pretty different back in 1992!

What is your favorite part of your job? I have two favorite parts.  One is getting to know my customers – I’m grateful for a lot of repeat business.  I’ve enjoyed working with couples on their wedding stationery, and then helping them with their baby announcements.  I’m about to work on a bar mitzvah invitation for the son of a couple I first worked with 14 years ago!  My second favorite part is the flexibility.  I love being home when my kids get off the school bus.  Depending how much work is on my plate, I’m not always relaxed when they get home, but it’s still nice to have a little break and hear about their day.

What are some of your other passions? I love reading and sewing and hiking.  I wish I had snowshoes because we’ve had a lot of snow in Minneapolis this year!

----------------

This giveaway is for one custom stamp of your choice.

There are three wonderful ways to enter the giveaway (you can do them all if you want — leave a SEPARATE comment for each one).

• Leave a comment and tell me one delightful little thing that happened today.
• Share this giveaway on your Facebook page.
• Share this giveaway on Twitter.

I will randomly choose a winner on Tuesday, February 22 (entry cutoff is at 12:00 p.m. MST).

AND...Gina is offering FREE SHIPPING to my blog readers through February 28!! Just enter the discount code "HAPPY" when checking out of her store on Etsy (be kind and please remember to do it when checking out so she doesn't have to do a lot of shipping refunds!).

Happy letter writing! :)