Happy Happy Friday!

Hello! OK, I couldn't wait all the way until this evening to post this! And I'm skipping my usual "Friday Faves" post because... In honour of my shop and blog anniversaries this weekend, I’m happy to announce two exciting things...

1. I’m having a giveaway!!!!! Leave a comment below on this post (be sure to include your name and e-mail address) and you’ll be entered to win a $25 gift certificate for my shop!!! The winner will be randomly selected on Saturday, March 7th so there’s plenty of time to enter!

2. I'll be having a one day sale in my shop this Sunday, March 1st… 25% off everything!!!!! (Well, everything except shipping :) So if there is anything you've been eyeing - this will be the time to snap it up! Visit my shop on Sunday for the specific details!

I can't believe I've had my blog and shop for a whole year already!!! As you may be able to tell by the excessive use of exclamation points, I am very excited about this!!!! I've never done a giveaway or had a sale! And it may be another year before I do it again so please feel free to share this with your friends, family, co-workers, neighbours, etc! :)

Hope y'all have a great weekend! Happy shopping and don't forget to leave a comment for the giveaway!

Fireworks photo from here.

Stay Tuned!

Just a quick note to say… tune in tomorrow evening (er, Pacific Time that is) for a special announcement about my shop/blog anniversary!

Psst... There may or may not be a giveaway and/or sale involved ;)

Happy anniversary to me!

Is it really Wednesday already? I can't believe this week is already halfway through.

Know what else I cannot believe? That as of this Saturday I will have had my Etsy shop open for one year! And, this Sunday will also be the one year mark from my very first blog post. Time sure does fly by fast! I think I will have to cook up something special for my shop/blog anniversary... I don't know what yet but I have a few ideas. I guess I only have a couple days left so I'd better get cracking!

Oh yah, I also cannot believe that it's almost MARCH! How crazy is that? It's almost SPRING people!

Photo by me :)

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Shop Update!

I added some new goodies to my little web-boutique this weekend :)

Friday Faves

Since spring is just around the corner, I thought I'd gather up some spring-ish things for today's post.

I have always loved butterflies, for as long as I can remember. I recall when I was little, finding dead butterflies on the ground (sporadically, not like a whole bunch at a time - that would be creepy!) and collecting them. I'd place them ever-so-gently in my photo album (the old kind with the peel-back sticky pages) for "safe keeping". After a while they of course completely dried up. So eventually I had an album full of dead butterfly chunks, flakes and dust. Sweet.

Anyways, here are some pretty butterfly things that I found on Etsy!

Petit Papillon from Royal Buffet

Butterfly Hair Clip/Fascinator from Topsy Turvy Design

Butterfly Moleskine Journal from Peaseblossom Studio

Butterfly Lampshade from MIXKO

Butterfly Ring also from MIXKO

Butterfly Tote from Rainbow Swirlz

Butterfly Necklace from Suzannemade... hey, that's me! :D

{Although it is sold out right now, I could make another one soon.}

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Rainbow Bright

How fabulous is this cake?! It's such a simple idea, I'm not sure why I've never thought of it before, frankly... but I am looking forward to trying it!

Recipe, hilarious description, and more fabulous photos from here - discovered via the always amazing Hostess with the Mostess.

25 Things

Photo from here.

I have been sent/tagged with this a few times now (Facebook, email, etc) so here it is, 25 random things about me:

1. If I could have any super power it would be to be able to breathe under water.
2. I am extremely afraid of spiders.
3. I can burp on command.
4. I believe that if you make a wish you can’t tell anyone what it is or else it won’t come true.
5. I watch TMZ every night before bed.
6. In my twenties I was claustrophobic for about 2 years.
7. I would rather be an hour early than 5 minutes late.
8. I am almost always uncomfortably cold, but I hate being hot.
9. I wish it could be autumn all year long.
10. I really really really really want to go to France.
11. I feel like I am a completely different person than I was 10 years ago.
12. I have a long time girl crush on Drew Barrymore.
13. I could move to the states just for the shopping.
14. I would rather clean the toilet than do the dishes.
15. If I wasn’t married I’m pretty sure I’d be a crazy cat lady.
16. Almost every morning when I wake up I’ll have some random song stuck in my head for the rest of the day – today it was 'Private Dancer' by Tina Turner.
17. I really hate it when people use the “words” irregardless and über.
18. I’m so clumsy that I often walk into walls, doors and coffee tables.
19. I’ve never broken a bone or been stung by a bee/wasp.
20. I hate horror movies and often get freaked out just from the trailers.
21. If I could afford it I would have both my arms covered in full-sleeve tattoos.
22. I have a very strong sense of smell.
23. I can't stand perky people first thing in the morning.
24. I think people who are mean to animals should be punished just as much as if they were mean to a human.
25. I can't ever choose a single favourite of anything... colour, food, drink, music, movie, book, tv show, travel destination, ANYTHING!

It was really hard for me think of things for this list, but once I got started I was on a roll! I'm sure I could have easily come up with 25 more.

Care to share yours?

Happy Monday

photo by shades of mediocrity on flickr

It was actually a bit sunny here today, but I felt like this was a fitting picture anyway.
Though I love rainy gloomy weather, I don't particularly love Mondays.

I discovered that you can order Season 1 episodes of True Blood through Shaw on Demand for free, and stayed up too late last night watching the first half of the season that I missed.

It was really hard to get up for work this morning.

love (again)

one of my favourite scenes from one of my favourite movies

hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

L O V E

From Sam Gross/The New Yorker. Via here.

This made me smile. Happy-day-before-Valentine's Day/Friday the 13th! Eek!

Tweet Tweet

I already know that I am the the only person in the world without an iPod, but am I also the last person in the world to get on to Twitter??? I signed up a little while ago but never did anything with it until today - it's like mini-blogging/status updates all rolled into one! I'm not sure I need yet another thing to be addicted to/take up my precious time, but here goes nothing! I just added a few of the bloggers/blogs I read, who are also on Twitter, to my "follow" list.

If you "tweet" too, feel free to follow me, and don't forget to comment below so I can follow you too!

Australia

For the most part I try to keep things happy and cheerful on here, but I just had to share this...
I'm sure everyone is aware of the tragedy going on with the fires in Australia right now. It's so incredibly sad. (Not to mention the fact that it all stems from arson, which is simply apalling.)
But there are some amazing stories of survival emerging. This photo of one took my breath away...

Photo from here, via here.

Read all about it here.

Petite Flower

Just added to the shop!

It only took me about 45 minutes to upload everything (not to mention another 15 just for this post) and I just about smashed my computer with one of the husband's golf clubs, but it's up there now, finally! (Having slight/extremely irritating computer issues tonight.)

I'm going to go take some deep calming breaths now...

Good air in..... bad air out.....

Friday Faves

Two posts from me today! Lucky lucky you...

I thought I would share some bits about one of my absolute favourite things in the world: Cupcakes! My obsession with those cute little handheld desserts began a few years ago. I've never really been a big fan of cake (I usually won't even have a piece even if I make it myself), but one day I decided to bake cupcakes and I loved them! I think what I like most about them are the bazillion different options for decorating them - from all the different icing techniques and tools, to the patterned paper and foil cups/liners, and of course my most favourite part which is all the different toppers! Sprinkles, gumdrops, chocolate shavings, sanding sugar, and all sorts of non-edible decorations...

One of my favourite baking supply shops is Bake It Pretty! I especially love all their miniatures and toppers - no shortage of decorating possibilities! There is a Bake It Pretty Blog too, which I highly recommend checking out - lots of tips, tricks and ideas!

So back to cupcakes... I love how popular they seem to be these days, there seems to be no shortage of cupcakey things you can get:

Cupcake Keepsake Box from Viv & Ingrid - I like the different note cards you can choose to go inside, and how sweet is that box it comes in?! (via Bedlam of Beefy)

How about a cute cupcake apron to wear while doing your baking? From Sassy Apron's Etsy shop.

Cupcake lipbalm anyone? These sweeties are from the always cute Fred Flare.

Gold cupcake necklace from Tizzalicious. Also available in silver. She has a great blog too!

For those who really REALLY love cupcakes... a cupcake tattoo! What a cute idea... I would like it even more if it said "Bite Me" across the top - teehee! (Hmmm, I might have to put that one in the memory banks for my next inking.)

Happy Friday!

Is it nap time yet?

This is my new favourite site to visit, just for fun. Kittenskittenskittens!

Home Sweet Home?

I received an e-mail the other day about some new condos for sale here in Kelowna, that have now been reduced to "close out" prices....



You too could own a 2 bedroom condo for just $799,900! What a steal! (Okay, to be fair, they did offer one condo that was "only" $449,500, but still - it's a CONDO people.) And these are their "drastically reduced" prices.

This is the dilemma that the husband and I have had over the past couple of years... we really want to own our own home, but we have been debating on moving since we can't afford to buy one here in Kelowna... but we can never decide where to move to. And if we are going to go through the trouble of moving somewhere else, then it only makes sense to move back to either of our favourite cities. We could move to my hometown (Winnipeg) which I LOVE, the houses are much more affordable, there's tons of great stuff to do, super friendly people, great culture, lakes nearby... but the winters are brutal and I don't think my Texan hubby could handle it. Or, we could move to his hometown, which he loves, the houses are WAY more affordable, there's LOTS to do, all sorts of places nearby to travel to and explore, GREAT shopping (if we could ever afford it), but I don't think I'd be able to handle the Texas heat! (Plus then we'd have to go through all that immigration paperwork stuff again, which was stressful enough the first time, when he came to Kelowna!) So, here we are, still in Kelowna, enjoying the wonderful weather, and living in our crappy little apartment.
Suggestions?

Happy Monday...

... and Happy Groundhog Day! Six more weeks of winter! Yippee!!! Thanks a lot Phil.


Let's just pretend for a moment, shall we?