Oh What Fun: June 2010

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Byrdie Graphics.

I just bought these awesome bloom wall graphics from Byrdie Graphics

& I am so super excited to put them up in our bedroom!

I especially love how it will end up looking like wall paper since it is considered

a wall pattern so it isn't just one graphic but several that you can arrange as you see fit...

Yippy skippy!

For more Byrdie Graphics head on over to the shop

& yes, no worries, I'll be sure to post after photographs shortly.

xoxo

Handkerchief Art.

I'm lovin' this handkerchief art I spotted over on Poppy Talk.

What a fabulous way to spice up a room & add a lil' vintage, no?

Head on over here for the full post if you are interested

in creating some handkerchief art of your own.

xoxo

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Pin It Forward.

Well we finally have internet access back after the storm so without further ado

I am grabbing the Pin It Forward torch from Mae Photo & Design

posting my "What Home Means To Me" post below

& passing on the torch to Ashlee from {Hi' yall}.

I also want to send out a special thanks to the lovely Victoria of sfgirlbybay for

putting this all together. If you've never checked out her blog, you should, she is fabulous!

Of course I also need to thank the Pinterest team for sharing the awesomeness with all of us!

(Remember the first nine readers to email me will receive Pinterest invites directly from yours truly, you know you want one...)

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When I think about what home means to me I automatically think one thing, home is what we make it.

Home is definitely where the heart is. I didn't always know this mind you. I used to think home was more material then spiritual & emotional. Considering I have physically moved ten plus times in my life you could say moving had become a sort of science for me. At one point I suppose you could even say I was a machine. I was closed off emotionally, living by myself, living for myself. It was then that I moved to California. Sold my house, almost all my household possessions, packed up my clothes, put my car on a hauler & flew to California. Just like that. I intended on continuing to live just for me, I started fresh, sort of...

You see, things we push away & don't deal with don't just stay in hiding or so I've learned. California was cathartic in many ways, many good ways. California provided a home away from all that I knew. It was a home that forced me to learn myself, learn my heart. Then suddenly life threw a curve ball, but a very, very good one. Suddenly I was planning a wedding, moving back to Philadelphia & preparing to see my best friend & the love of my life deploy to a combat zone. It was a whirlwind time.

I once again sold almost all my household possessions. Home physically became hotel rooms & guest rooms for a mere ten days & my heart found a home inside someone else's heart. It was awesome. Literally I felt like we were living on cloud nine. Then he was gone. Off to a combat zone. He took my heart with him, I won't lie. Once you go that far & your heart is given a true home you can't turn back. But that is ok. So for roughly a year home was a place of deep longing & missing something or maybe I should say, someone...

Thankfully my heart returned, just as promised. The first embrace after almost a year was nothing sort of amazing, we cried & held each other tight. Once things settled down home became "normal", it became what it means to me now... I woke up every morning grateful for the day, happy & sometimes overly excited for little things like talking over a cup of coffee, going on walks, holding hands & even just hearing him breathe as he slept next to me.

My heart was happy, my home & heart were one (& still are!)

So the saying, in my mind, definitely holds true- "home is where the heart is". Home is where your heart feels safe, where you can be your true self, where you can be grateful for every little thing, where you can notice & truly appreciate the beauty that surrounds, where you can grow & learn & live simply. To me, that is the home that everyone deserves but you have to work at it, home is what you make it...

xoxo

{For more pins of "What Home Means To Me" as well as my other boards please follow me on Pinterest.}

Friday, June 25, 2010

Update.

Greetings!

I was unable to post my Pin It Forward post yesterday due to
a severe storm which hit the local area where we live.

Power was knocked out, trees crashed into people's homes
due to 70mph winds& golf ball sized hail rained down.

Luckily everyone on our block was safe & sound

& no major damage apart from some broken windows, hail dings cars
& tree limbs in power lines was sustained.

As of the time of this post, our power is still out
& we are told it could take several days to restore.

(I am accessing the internet from The In-Laws home 45 minutes
away as I drove up here to put the food that was in our fridge in theirs.)

I apologize for any inconvenience & or disappointment this
may have caused for my blogger group of Pin It Forward.

I hope to have my post up later today or possibly tomorrow
once I am able to get on-line via my laptop.

Just wanted to keep everyone filled in

& boy do I have a storm story to tell you at some point...

Thanks!

xoxo

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Winery Photographs.

On Father's Day I spent some time with my family having brunch

& visiting some local wineries while The Husband was at work... (poor guy!)

As you can probably tell, we had a really good day!
The weather was absolutely gorgeous & the wine was very tasty.

If you are a Pennsylvania local or maybe just visiting,
I highly suggest you visit Vyncrest or Pinnacle Ridge
you will not be disappointed, I promise.
(They are my two faves!)

xoxo

DIY - Wine Bottle Tiki Torch.

We are wine drinkers & beer drinkers

& hard alcohol drinkers & hey, Pellegrino drinkers too...

Needless to say we have a lot of glass bottles hanging around

from time to time because I don't like to throw them away.

Why you ask? Well maybe I can use them for something, right?

Case in point this Wine Bottle Tiki Torch!

Yes please!

Pretty awesome right?

I will be making a few of these especially because (a) they cost less than $4.00 to make &

(b) there are an awful lot of mosquitos making dinner out of us every time we sit outside.

Head on over to Re-Nest for the full tutorial here.

xoxo

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Pinterest.

You may have noticed a bit ago a new button appeared on the right sidebar titled Pin It Forward...

I've been working on a special project brought to you by the fabulous new website Pinterest

& Victoria of sfgirlbybay called "Pin It Forward, What Home Means To Me."

Much like its predecessor Blog It Forward, Pin It Forward is basically a big blogger

mash-up where participants are given an assignment of sorts which they then blog about

& pass off the baton to the next blogger in line while also giving a nod to the blogger prior to them.

(It is a pretty cool idea when you think about it...)

Anywho, my Pin It Forward post won't be live until tomorrow

but I thought I'd give you a lil' sneak peak of Pinterest in the meantime...

(I can best describe it as a giant cork board where people post inspirations & awesome things! It is super swell, trust me!)

{ A screen shot of my Touch Pinterest board }

Be sure to to tune in tomorrow for my Pin It Forward post!

P.S. I also have 9 invites to Pinterest which I will be more than happy to share on a first come,
first serve basis to those that email me interested in obtaining one, tomorrow after my post is up.
(Woot! Woot!)

xoxo