Friday Follow With The Chatty Mommy...

It's a little late tonight for the follow- sorry about that. It has been a great week and I have enjoyed getting back into the groove after being in CA for my brother's wedding. Ok- I know I have said enough about the wedding, but if you want, you can see the pics here and here. And if you feel so inclined, give Michelle and Jay a big congrats!

On to the follow:

rules:

1. You must follow TCM.

2. Link your blog with the linky.

3. Put the follow button somewhere in your post.

4. Visit as many blogs and follow as many as you can.

5. Family friendly only and HAVE FUN!

What I Love Wednesday {wilw}- Wedding Edition

If you haven't seen the pics from my brother's wedding, you can do that here.

These are my favorite things that they had at their wedding:

1. Ok- so the first thing is not from their wedding, but from their rehearsal dinner - some kind of Chimichanga apple dessert at a restaurant called Yolanda's. I was so motion sick from the plane earlier that day, that I couldn't eat it all- what I wouldn't do for one now....

2. My brother and his wife had a simple wedding with 20 guests, but the touches they chose were great. They used the red, white and black theme. I loved their table settings.

3. They had a friend of theirs make this picture from a real picture of the 2 of them. They gave 5X7 copies of it framed to all of their guests.

4. They had tulle and lights under all of their canopies.

5. They did this awesome sand thing at their ceremony. They each had a different color sand and they poured them from 2 vases into one big one to represent their unity and that they can never be separated. I thought it was special and at the same time, reminiscent of when we were kids and talked our mom into doing the sand art tables at craft fairs. :)

6. They decided on cupcakes- Michelle made them all herself! There was chocolate, vanilla and red velvet all topped with her own cream cheese frosting. They were beautiful and looked amazing on the stand along with the daisies. Michelle even hand-made white chocolate petals and a yellow chocolate center and stuck them in the cupcakes one by one, before we arrived at the reception!

7. Michelle had a beautiful daisy bouquet- pictured here with their sand vase.

8. Jason and Michelle made their own floating flower tea lights for the pool and once the wind died down, it made for perfect nighttime atmosphere.

9. Michelle changed into these red pumps for the reception- if only I could walk as well in them as she did!

Jay And Michelle Get Married At Serra Cross

My little brother got married on Saturday. The weather in California wasn't that great all week, but the rain held out. He was married in a beautiful place called Serra Cross.

The cross was just perfect behind them so high up in the hills. It was a breath-taking site.

The ocean and the hills could be seen for miles all around us. It was amazing. I feel so blessed to be able to witness my brother take a wife. I am blessed to call Michelle, my sister.

Congratulations Jay and Michelle- May God bless your marriage always and may you never forget what a gift each of you is to each other!

*Check back tomorrow when I share some of my favorite parts of their wedding in my "what I love Wednesday" post! *

Flying to California

On Thursday morning, I awoke to this. But, that was okay because I was headed to California. My first time going to a different time zone!

I flew out of a local airport, but had to stop mid trip in Chicago. It was nice to be able to walk around an airport without the children in tow. I noticed so many things and window shopped. I ate a hoagie from a place called PotBelly- enough said. I was amazed at the different people. I opted for comfort and wore my black velour sweat outfit, while others wore the latest fashions all while toting their rolling suitcases behind them. I was in awe and while I vowed to wear something nicer on my return trip, I wore the same velour outfit. It's all about comfort, baby!

On the plane, I broke my sugar fast and had a cake pop from Starbucks- I would of never found the delightful treat had I not needed to buy a water for the plane.

The 2nd plane ride was much longer than the first. I had the chance to speak to a real sweet woman and this made the time go faster, but next time, I might take a direct flight. I was motion sick and jet-lagged for the night and the next day of my trip. California was experiencing a lot of rain and cold weather, but it was great to be there all the same!

When I went towards the baggage, my Dad was waiting for me with a sign that bore my maiden name as if he were a hired driver- he always makes me laugh!

Tomorrow, I will post some pictures for the reason I traveled to California- my brother's wedding!

Friday Follow With The Chatty Mommy...

I'll make this quick because I am packing to go where?
CALIFORNIA!!!
I am so excited. I have never left our time zone before- this is big.
And my little brother is getting married.
I have not cleaned enough and am not organized enough, but it is going to be great!
Pray for great weather for my brother and I'll share pics soon!

On to the follow:
rules:
1. You must follow TCM.
2. Link your blog with the linky.
3. Put the follow button somewhere in your post.
4. Visit as many blogs and follow as many as you can.
5. Family friendly only and HAVE FUN!

And The Winner Is...

Benzowife!!! Congratulations!!! I am sending your email address to hiyaluv! Let me know what you get with your shop credit!!!

A big thanks to Hiya Luv Handmade- I love your work!

WILW- I'm Outta Here!!!

I am beginning to really love What I Love Wednesday!!!
I love sharing my favorite things and it gives me an excuse to just take pictures straight from google images!
1. I am flying to LAX for my brother's wedding very soon! Pray it doesn't rain for my little brother's big day. I am so excited for him and will have pictures up on my blog soon after the big event.

2. These are my shoes for my brother's wedding- I just love them. It took me so long to find them and they are not as dressy as I planned, but I figured why not? I really like them and will get a lot of use out of them. It just made sense to buy something I will use again instead of bling silver shoes that will hurt and I will forget I own. These taupe babies are made by Naturalizer and I picked them up at the Famous Footwear outlet.

3. Hiya Luv must of just put these adorable flower fabric button earrings in her shop, because I just found them!!! I love them and you get 3 different adorable pairs. I adore them. Are you interested in winning them? Or how about another beautiful, handmade creation from Hiya Luv? Well, I am having a giveaway and it ends tonight! Hurry and enter!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

What's With This Country?

Don't be fooled by the title, I love this country.
But, I have to ask, what is up?
I received a forward thru email that I read the other day and it really woke me up!
Now, mind you, I am not a fan of forwards and usually delete them because they are usually silly pictures of puppies that someone thinks are cute or a letter that promises me wealth and happiness if I send it to 10 others or more recently, a group effort to lower gas prices- sorry a little skeptical.

But, I digress...
The point of the email was that we, as a country, have given excess air time to a man- we'll call him CS, as not to give him anymore popularity. We, as a country, have watched countless hours of him proudly talk about his drug habits and his multiple partners and why he basically doesn't care.

Oh, poor, poor little rich man!

During this time, a number of our soldiers have lost their lives, heroically fighting for our country in this ongoing war, that we seem to forget until election time rears its ugly head again.

Men and women who have families who are grieving.
Why are they not the topic of the prime time news shows?
Or what is being talked about at the water cooler in the morning?

My husband said it best, "celebrity sells".

It is simply ironic that these men and women are losing their lives in a battle that will continue to allow CS and more like him, to have the freedom to say whatever he wants.

And we, the public, listen to it.

Pretty sad.

Oh, what a WEEK!

It was a fun and busy week- so excited it has been a little warmer and spring should be around the corner!

We went to a ceramics field trip on Monday. My daughter decided to paint a shell out of all the amazing pieces they had. She enjoyed painting it with her best friend because of course, they chose to paint the same item! So cute.

It was a pretty neat place, but oddly enough, they had a back room where they gave the kids pizza, ice cream and did the limbo. Can you say "kiddie club"? A little strange and just when I thought it was too much, it was time to go.

St. Patrick's day was good with a couple of problems. All the kids wore green and so did I. I had to borrow a shirt for one of the girls, but otherwise, we did ok in the clothing part of the day. And I made the most delicious irish soda bread, thanks to Theresa.

Next up, the corned beef..... where to start? OK, I'll just be honest... I had to wash the pot and must of left some soap in the pot. I filled the pot with water, dumped in a huge corned beef and all the juices and the precious spice packet, and only after I did this, did I notice the soap suds!!!!

I went back and forth, knowing all the while what I had to do! I dumped out the water and rinsed off the beef. I rinsed the pot- properly this time- and filled the pot with new water and the beef, but was now missing my spice packet. I decided to go with pepper and bay leaves.

Fast forward over 3 hours and out comes a perfect corned beef and potatoes and carrots! Then we taste it- spicy!!!! For some reason the pepper and bay leaves were overkill. The meat was tasty but spicy and so were the potatoes and carrots. The kids ate the meat, but said they couldn't eat the rest and my dad said it was too spicy, so I made him a grilled cheese!

There's always next year!

I checked out Savers for the first time. It is a new chain of thrift stores- do you have one by you? It was pretty good, but I had the kids with me, so I didn't get as much time as I would of liked. I will check it out again!

And then last night we had this crazy looking bird on our deck- what do you think?

A large guinea hen?

A wild turkey?

Enjoy what is left of the weekend and don't forget about the giveaway!

Friday Follow With The Chatty Mommy...

Weekly Recap:
Found a dress for brother's wedding, now need shoes and a little bolero sweater. I am trying to pack and clean the house- the usual on the house thing.
Apparently, we missed girl scout cookies, so I may have to camp out at the local grocery store to try and score some for the husband.
Just cooked a traditional St. Pat's dinner- I'll let you know how it turned out after we eat it.
Praying for anyone in the world grieving or scared as I am sure you are too.
Enjoy your weekend!

On to the follow:

rules:
1. You must follow TCM.
2. Link your blog with the linky.
3. Put the follow button somewhere in your post.
4. Visit as many blogs and follow as many as you can.
5. Family friendly only and HAVE FUN!

{wilw}- St. Pat's style!

Loving all things green today!

How about a pair of fresh cut dahlia earrings from craftee mcgee? These are the first thing I thought of when I thought of green! I love the pic on top of the dictionary page!

How about this adorable Sea Glass Sea Turtle Locket Pendant Necklace?

I adore this green wool tote by Marbled! Oh, the things I could fit in there!

I could totally sport this pale green bloom brooch on Thursday- couldn't you?

Happy Wednesday!

Hiya Luv {giveaway}

Have you heard of Hiya Luv? I sure hope so!
Gina has the sweetest handmade things in her shop and a wonderful blog to boot.

I love this Wishful Thinkin' large EReader kindle zippered case!

I asked Gina to share a little about herself and that wonderful name she uses for her blog, her etsy and just about everything else. This is what she had to say:

What’s in a Name?
While in college I spent 6 months studying abroad at the University of Reading outside of London. I had a great time and traveled to many places and experienced many things in Europe and the United Kingdom. It was during my time in the UK that I fell in love with the moniker that many gentlemen {or blokes} use towards ladies, "Hiya Luv" and have since used it as my AIM, Yahoo Messenger name, emails; or for anything and everything.

About Hiya Luv Handmade:
Be stylish. Be confident. Be you. Style is all about confidence and being comfortable and happy in your own skin. Hiya Luv Handmade is a little shop full of stylish wares; handmade from gorgeous fabrics and created into wearable fashions especially for you! I am also a social media junkie and love to tweet! In fact, I host a weekly twitter chat on setting up your very own handmade shop!
The chat has been fantastic at networking others, sharing tips and ideas, and even critiquing each other’s handmade shops (in a friendly useful way of course!) and it has really been a lot of fun! If you are free on Monday nights at 8pm eastern, stop by twitter & chat with #setupshop
I hope to “see” you there!

To Buy: Hiya Luv Handmade is offering TCM readers 15% off their order when they use the code, CHATTY15 at checkout! Woo HOO!
To Win:

Hiya Luv Handmade is offering one TCM reader a $25 store credit!!!

Here's what you have to do to enter:

(Mandatory)- Check out Hiya Luv Handmade and let me know what you love!

Easy Extra Entries (leave one comment per entry):

Follow Hiya Luv the blog

"Like" Hiya Luv on facebook

"Heart" Hiya Luv Handmade on etsy

Follow Hiya Luv and The Chatty Mommy on twitter

Tweet about it (once daily)

Follow The Chatty Mommy

Blog About It

This giveaway will end on Wednesday, March 23rd, 10pmEST and a winner will be chosen by random.org

Craft Time

The kids had off for winter recess a couple of weeks ago and my daughter decided to make some crafts.

She made this owl pin cushion from diydish. She really wanted to make it, but I discouraged her because we our new printer wasn't set up to print out the pattern and our sewing machine wasn't up yet so she could sew it. But, she was determined, made her own pattern and hand stitched it. I think it came out pretty cute.

She made a case for her ipod. It is even lined in felt!

And she made a whole bunch of t-shirt scarves. These are super easy to make and are completely no sew!!!

The scarves are also from diydish.

Hope you had a great weekend!

***Blogger isn't allowing me to link for some reason, but the link is www.thediydish.com.

Friday Follow With The Chatty Mommy...

So... not feeling well. Hoping I kick whatever it is before I get to go to my brother's wedding in CA. So excited! Actually bought myself some new clothes at Old Navy for the trip. Haven't done that in a long time- it was fun!
However, all is not well on the dress front. Can't find one and not really interested in trying them on anymore- looks like another last minute job for me....

Friday Follow Rules:
1. You must follow TCM.
2. Link your blog with the linky.
3. Put the follow button somewhere in your post.
4. Visit as many blogs and follow as many as you can.
5. Family friendly only and HAVE FUN!

And The Winner Is...

Congratulations Michelle!
Check your email.

Enjoy your $40 with CSN.

What I Love Wednesday {wilw}

1. I love this craft room- this will always be a dream of mine and I think of it more when I am busy crafting-.... stay tuned.

2. Ok- really cute suit, but not for me, for my daughter. It is so hard to please a tween who wants to wear tankinis, but her mama does not allow her belly to show at the beach or anywhere for that matter. I saw it on land's end today and she loves it. I don't mind paying extra for modesty!
3. Mandipidy has a new etsy store and she has the best illustrated prints. I love this one- it says "sew, sew, sew your dress, gently down the seams- merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily - sewing's but a dream."

4. Very into cardigans lately and digging this one from kohls in oatmeal!