Category Archives: Faith

Santa Monica Smiles

Yesterday we decided to climb out from under the wrapping paper remnants & crushed gift boxes and take a stroll around Santa Monica to deliver the blessing bags we assembled last week. I wish we had hundreds more of them, but we agreed to find five recipients and hand them out along with a smile.

blessing1

Next we saw a gentleman sitting on a park bench with a big suitcase and a Subway sandwich he was about to unwrap. The kids were running a little ahead of us and were skipping and screaming near where he was sitting. He looked up and shouted “Get your family away from me!” a couple times. Of course, we have our children’s safety in mind at all times, so we quietly walked by him and sought other folks in need of a little blessing. I look back and should have maybe went over to him alone and just placed a bag on the bench where he was sitting, smiled and walked away, but at the time I was a little put off by his outburst.

We moved on and I noticed a man with a big McDonald’s bag who was handing out hamburgers by the dozens. Some people were sleeping and he kindly left them a sandwich on their belongings. I saw him hand one to a sweet woman who responded with the most grateful smile and immediately followed it up with a blessing bag. She was so darling and thanked me so genuinely.

blessing2

She didn’t even study what was in the bag, but immediately said, “Oh, I can use everything in here!” She embarrassingly asked me for a quarter…she said, “I know I’m not supposed to ask you for money, but do you have a quarter for the bus?” I fished around in my wallet and handed her two.

blessing3

She was so sweet and interested in the kids {who, at first, stood over by Jay, but then made their way over to us} and asked how old they were. She said that was so nice that they came out to do this because surely they would rather be doing something else. I wanted to stay and chat with her….listen to whatever she had to say and take in as much information about her that she was willing to share.

Was she a mother? A sister? A wife? A Widow? A grandmother?

What brought her to Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica overlooking the pier, the ferris wheel and the big blue Pacific?

blessing4

I wished her a blessed day and we proceeded to leave three more bags on the meager belongings of two neighboring bench mates and a man on the grass who were taking naps under the late December Southern California sun.

blessing5

*****

This is truly an eye opening experience and I’m so glad the kids were along and we could do this as a family. I am forever changed after speaking to this woman for only a few short minutes. I hope that when the others awoke from their slumbers that they felt loved and acknowledged when they laid eyes on their hamburgers and gallon ziplocs filled with small tokens from our family.

We look forward to making this an annual thing. Next year we’ll make up many more and focus on the streets of Hollywood.

Here is a link to last year’s post of what exactly was in the bags. {this year we added a bottled water, walnuts, trail mix and a pair of men’s socks}

Thank you to Leslie at Top of the Page and Julie at Joy’s Hope for sharing this act and opening my eyes to a way to serve and be the hands and feet of Jesus. Here is the blessing bag post ~ as shared by Leslie.

I share this experience because I want to record it and remember it in years to come. I want to recall my exact emotions and the joy that it brought to these complete strangers just minding their own business on {their} park bench. I share this experience because it is so awesome and I want to encourage YOU to think about linking up with some friends and assembling some bags, now or next year, and give all the glory to HIM.

Yesterday was perfect.

Crunch Time

Well, the last of our December weekend commitments have taken place and now I need to focus on baking, wrapping, delivering and enjoying.

Elliott had her Winter dance recital yesterday afternoon and we went to see The Nutcracker last night. This was our second year attending and I can tell that it would be something that I’d be so sad to miss each year. I love starting new traditions….thanks again Gramma for starting this special holiday habit!

weekend1

{post recital}

Elliott did a jazz/hip hop number to a spunky Jingle Bells tune. Gramma and I were the backstage mamas for the show and had 20 6-9 year olds to account for. Fortunately they are a little more self sufficient than the 4-6 year olds we attended to last year! Our girls danced 22nd so there was a lot of waiting around before they hit the stage. They did so well, though, and Elliott already has her trophy sitting proudly up on her desk surrounded by the others.

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{just a walkway was between us and the stage!}

Yesterday was Elliott’s special day and this morning we got to see Holden and his fellow 5 year old Sunday School friends sing “Soon and Very Soon” this morning at the end of mass. So precious….

He presented us with a special ornament for the tree after class. We were thrilled to have his sweet shepherd face on our ornament this year since last year there was a mix up with the packages and we got some other little boy’s ornament and were never able to get our hands on his.

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{these are the ornaments that I will cherish forever}

After church we went to take this boy to get a haircut! It had been six months since his mop had seen scissors…

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Just in time for Santa’s visit in about a week.

I have been looking forward to baking this week, but it’s a short week as far as school is concerned as the kids’ last day is Wednesday! There are two class parties, one Religious Ed party, teacher gifts and school staff gifts I need to get ready so I decided to get a start on the baked goods this afternoon. I pinned these Oreo lumps of coal and whipped up a batch this afternoon. Easiest things ever….I will definitely be making another batch with some peppermint Jo Jo’s from Trader Joe’s tomorrow! I bagged up about 5 pieces per person which I think is plenty to go along with the peppermint sugar cookie bars I plan to make tomorrow.

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{one package Oreos, 5 cups mini marshmallows, 4 tbsp. butter…process the whole package of Oreos into a fine powder. melt the butter and marshmallows in a sauce pan until blended. mix the marshmallow mixture into the Oreo mixture and spread into an 8X8 dish lined with parchment and sprayed with Pam. let sit for 10-20 minutes before cutting}

It’s also Gaudete Sunday ~ the third Sunday of advent…

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{rejoice!}

While our three candles were burning bright, I tried another Pinterest recipe, Lasagna Soup. The weather cooperated and it was the perfect night for this soup…

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{stir the ricotta/parmesan mixture and basil into the soup for out-of-this-world flavor!}

I will definitely be making this again for Christmas Eve with some crusty bread on the side for dipping.

*****

I hope that you had a beautiful weekend doing all things holiday. I definitely stared at Elliott and Holden a lot and thanked God for giving them to us and bringing them home safely each day.

Prayers for Newtown and our broken world going up again tonight…..

Have a blessed week, friends!

XOXO

One Good Thing After Another

Ahhhhh, this weekend was one of those action packed weekends that you look forward to, have so much fun during and are exhausted after.

It started with Jay’s birthday on Friday…he took the day off and we {including my brother-in-law and his girlfriend who are visiting from NYC} had a quick lunch at The Habit before picking the kids up at school.

{Jay shares his birthday with Pearl Harbor Day}

Anuja and I stopped for our first Gingerbread Latte of the season before taking Elliott to dance class…

{polishing the routine for next weekend’s recital}

After dance, we clinked margarita glasses and toasted the birthday boy at our favorite Mexican restaurant here in town {for all my SD people, this place reminds me of Tio Leo’s}…

{nothing like a margarita on a Friday night}

On Saturday morning, Anuja and I treated ourselves to a spa pedicure, hit the mall for a bit and then grabbed Chick Fil-A and took it home to the hungry troops…

{had to go with this RED for my holiday toes}

The younger, single ones headed to Hollywood for the night while Jay and I went to his holiday party at The Ronald Reagan Library in Simi. Always a good time…

{fun, cheesy pics in front of the green screen ~ first stop, Paris}

I love that the attire is business casual…for me, it makes for a much more comfortable evening. I found this jumpsuit at Macy’s on Black Friday for around $17. It needed to be hemmed and instead of taking it to the tailor, I attempted to hem the pants myself with fusible bonding web…note to self: next time make the trip to the nearest tailor. My jimmy-rigged hem held up through dinner and dancing so all was well…

{we returned to the nation’s capitol and posed in front of The White House with Jay’s co-worker and his wife who we enjoy the party with each year}

{as the night progresses, the props come out in Times Square}

All that traveling worked up an appetite…we had appetizers, buffets and desserts from around the world, too.

My fave were the French desserts.

Of course.

{croquembouche & macarons ~ lemon, pistachio & coconut}

{Gangnam Style under Air Force One ~ oh goodness! So sorry, Honorable Mr. Reagan}

Then God’s grace took us from getting “Low” with FloRida late Saturday evening to our beautiful parish early Sunday morning…

{amazing homily from one of our deacons}

After church, we headed to Hollywood to spend some more time with Rodney & Anuja before they returned back to the East Coast today.

{from the SCV to the W}

We like to joke and say that my BIL has achieved Baller status…he travels a lot for his job and as a result accumulates a lot of points. When I have the opportunity to hang at the W for a bit, you better believe I do. And the house Bliss toiletries may or may not have jumped into my bag…

{no shame in this girl’s game}

The kids love to visit hotels….not that Hollywood loves when kids visit their hotels, but they were pretty well behaved. I may’ve had to give a couple of stern looks and warnings spoken through clenched teeth in the lobby, though…

Yes, this is over the lounge area in their suite…I said a few prayers that the sheer curtain was still intact after we left. White leather couches scream at the littles to jump and climb all over them…

Sitting still….

We then wanted Anuja to experience The Grove so we headed there for lunch and a stroll…

We had lunch at The Farmer’s Market then did some browsing.

{Dylan’s Candy Bar}

I spent some alone time in Anthro and wrote a letter to Santa, adding something to my list around every turn…

{just the tip of the wish list iceberg}

Reminding myself the whole time that it’s better to GIVE than receive….

*****

See, told you it was one good thing after another this weekend! Good thing we have five days to recover before next weekend hits. Elliott has a dress rehearsal on Friday night, her recital on Saturday afternoon and we’re seeing The Nutcracker with Gramma on Saturday evening.

Until then I have 150 cards to address and some baking to do….

Did I mention that I LOVE the holidays?

Happy Monday!

XO

Rainbows & Washi Galore ~ The Happy Day Project Recap

This year’s Happy Day Project was on my radar and I couldn’t have been more thrilled to hear of it’s arrival.

I was up at the crack of dawn last Monday and had my Pen & Paint {Oh Happy Day} notes printed and perfectly sliced on the school paper cutter by 8:15am. I came home, sat and wrote quick little heartfelt notes to a few people and popped them in the mail. I have yet to hand deliver one of them, but just sitting down and writing it brought a smile to my face.

*****

On Tuesday morning I drove through Mickey D’s and grabbed a $5 gift card to affix to one of these….

I didn’t do much running around that day, so I still have the gift card ready and waiting for the first person I spot that could use nourishment of the body and soul.

I’m saving the rest of these darling notes from Hope Ink to attach to more gift cards throughout the season.

*****

Wednesday we were able to treat our teachers to some caffeine and sugar first thing in the morning.

Elliott’s teacher is more of a Big Gulp girl rather than a Starbucks girl, so I planned ahead and grabbed a bottle of Coke and attached a little handwritten note to it…

We snuck into her room as she was grading papers and surprised her. She loved it…

We left the house early and went through the Starbucks drive-thru for Holden’s teacher and delivered her an extra hot Pumpkin Spice Latte.

She also loves Skittles so Holden sifted through his Halloween candy and put aside a bag for her…

30 Handmade Days provided this fun pillow box to house your {treat} of choice, too!

{Click here to print}

*****

Thursday brought us to blessing bags and these sweet notes from Julie over at Joy’s Hope….

A friend and I are going in on the blessing bags together like we did last year and have just a few more things to purchase before we can get them stuffed and ready to go. I did, however, start to find some quotes to write on these notes that I will tuck in their bags.

{Click here to print}

*****

For Friday, I printed out Blossom & Vine’s super cute tags and will bake cookies/treats on Monday when the kids are home from school for Veteran’s Day and we will deliver to deserving servicemen and women that afternoon before soccer practice. Also, my local Starbucks sells pounds of coffee to send to the troops at Thanksgiving so I plan to purchase a bag and ask them to tape a little hand written note from our family onto it.

{Click here to print}

*****

It was five days full of rainbows, glitter pens, washi tape and opened hearts.

And that, my friends, is a lot of happy.

Stop by Life Rearranged to see how others spread sunshine last week!

P.S. I have included links to all these sweet printables…consider printing and keeping them close to your heart for use during the upcoming holidays and throughout the year. XO

Handwritten Sentiments

Get out your glittery gel pens and postage stamps, print out this cheery graphic from and write some notes to a few lucky recipients.

I’ve already printed mine out and have my list of rainbow happiness receiving peeps ready to go.

Go here to print or visit Life Rearranged to read Jeannett’s lovely description of The Happy Day Project 2012’s first task.

{hint: print “borderless”}

Thank you, Lindsay from Pen & Paint for sharing your talents with this rainbow goodness. Be sure and check out her shop full of whimsical prints to brighten up your walls!

Happy Snail Mailing!

life rearranged

Spread Some Sunshine

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I like to sit back, count our blessings and acknowledge what we’re grateful for. It’s also nice to conduct random acts of kindness and spread a little sunshine.

Here’s a fun way to do that…

Starting this coming Monday, November 5th, you have the chance to participate in {The Happy Day Project} and touch the life of someone you know, someone in need or even a complete stranger. As seen below, each day has a fun task, an adorable printable graphic to adorn your treat with or pop in the mail to that unsuspecting someone and a charity that you can donate to on-line if that is more convenient.

Please go to Life Rearranged each day to download the printables and to see how Jeannett and her sweet family are spreading sunshine.

Last year I was a little tardy to the Happy Day party and participated a week or so later…doesn’t matter as long as you do it and do so with a kind & happy heart. You can read about the giftcard to someone in need here and the blessing bag assembly here.

Click here to see recaps of all the wonderfulness that was spread last year. So great. So so great.

But, I am on it this year and will be taking part with the masses. This weekend I’m going to make a list of who the handwritten notes and snail mail will go to for Monday, grab a few gift cards at local fast food restaurants for Tuesday and be on the hunt for a baked treat to deliver to deserving bodies on Wednesday. You could also {treat} someone to a morning coffee or take a friend or co-worker to lunch. It’s so much fun to see how everyone serves and carries out these heartfelt acts.

Won’t you join me for five days of spreading sunshine…..let’s have a HAPPY week together, K?

Blindfolded

In a couple weeks we will have been back in So Cal for four years. We moved to the Bay Area in 2005 when Elliott was just 5 months old and called Nor Cal home for three years until we moved to our current location after Jay accepted a job in Woodland Hills.

We love it here. We love the school, the neighborhood, our home. But….we have been “looking” and “in the market” for a home to buy for three years now {our agent is VERY patient!}. When we moved here and decided to rent, I must admit I was a little hesitant. I wanted to own so that we could do what we wanted to and feel like it was HOME. Not to say that our house hasn’t felt like home for the past four years, but I think in my head that this has been a temporary, sort of holding pattern, since we moved in 48 months ago. Of course I have tried to make it ours and put plenty of holes in the walls, but it just hasn’t felt permanent.

The up-side to renting is that if something goes wrong, you just place a call to the management company and they handle it. We have been very fortunate to have great service and in-turn have been great renters. We know how it feels to have someone living in {your} home as we have a house in Nor Cal that we currently rent out. We take pride in our home, but it is time to find a place where we can truly hang our hat until Holden is off to college and Jay and I decide where we want to go next.

We’ve decided to expand our search to other neighborhoods. Neighborhoods with equally great schools, but we have mixed emotions about this because we have formed bonds here in this neighborhood. We have awesome neighbors. We adore the small {California Distinguished} elementary school that is 1/4 of a mile away. The problem is is that there’s little to NO inventory out there. We are ready to buy a home in this neighborhood, but there is nothing to buy. We did make an offer on a place right down the hill, but most likely lost out to someone with a heftier down payment. We’re OK with that because that is a sign that it wasn’t meant to be.

{pin the smile on the skeleton at a monster mash b-day this weekend}

In a way we feel like we’re going into this move blindfolded. Are we making the right decision? Should we just continue renting? Should we take advantage of the low rates and buy? What is the economy going to be like after the election? Should we wait to see if something comes onto the market in our neighborhood or go ahead and move away and eventually have to pull the kids out of their school?

I just have to keep reminding myself that we’ve made three BIG moves in the eight years that we’ve been married and each time we’ve done just fine. Change is scary and comes with a lot of unknown. I know it will not {ruin} the kids to switch schools, but I do know that it will be difficult. That just means that the four years that we’ve spent here have provided many memories and lots of wonderful friends. And that is something no mortgage can buy.

Hoping to remove the blindfold soon and open our eyes to our new HOME….no matter what neighborhood it might be in.

The Key To My Heart

Tomorrow is a very special day.

Our 8 year wedding anniversary….

October 23, 2004

The perfect San Diego Fall afternoon for nuptials in Balboa Park followed by an Old Town celebration late into the evening ~ more to come on that tomorrow, but today I wanted to share with you something fitting that I purchased this morning as a little anniversary gift to us. {but only I will wear it! ha!}

{via}

I’ve been admiring Leslie’s upcycled, vintage treasures since she opened her shop {Salvage 517} and when she Insta’d that she had some new beauties listed this morning, I took a peek and knew I had to have this little key around my neck to remind me of how lucky I am to have found Jay and start our life together officially almost eight years ago.

I adore it. And I adore Leslie. I had the pleasure of meeting her briefly a year ago at Blog Sugar and from the minute I met her I knew she had a heart of gold ~ a beautiful, vintage gold heart hugged by several gorgeous beads and strung on a bright and vibrant ribbon, of course.

You can find her sweet, inspiring blog here.

Annnnnd to top it off, she owns an adorable senior citizen dachshund that looks just like Rascal.

So, go and check out her Etsy shop and pop in and say “Hello!” on her blog.

I also couldn’t resist this fabric wrapped frame housing a vintage Thanksgiving greeting for our November mantle…

Love. Love. Love.

And I love you, too, Jay! Can’t wait to celebrate with you tomorrow!

Thank you for holding the key to my heart…

XO

Just Keep Swimming

Hi Floppers!

Gah. I NEVER intended to take a two and a half week hiatus…I miss you all and hope to post more frequently since my three year blogiversary is just a couple weeks away!

The truth is, I’m just trying to keep my head above water….not in a bad way, just in a need to commit to less, get my priorities straight, get focused and stay focused kind of way.

Anyone else out there feel like this?

Last week we spent 4 nights and 5 days in beautiful Yosemite while the kids were off for Fall Break. The weather was gorgeous and cool {low 80s!} and we were still able to swim in the little creek that runs through Wawona where my uncle lives and where we stay when we visit.

These two pictures of our little fishies were Jay’s favorites and I couldn’t agree more…

*****

Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Happy Thursday….Friday is just on the horizon.

XO

Choices

Do you ever stand in an aisle of the grocery store overwhelmed by the choices?

20 different varieties of barbecue sauce to choose from. Chunky peanut butter. Creamy peanut butter. Peanut butter with honey. Reduced fat peanut butter. All natural peanut butter. Peanut butter and jelly in the same jar. And how many choices of jellies are there? Cereals? Breads? Salad dressings?

Choices. Choices. Choices. So many choices.

Millions of people would he happy with ONE choice of all these products.

Right now there are approximately 200,000 Sudanese people dying of starvation.

Their choices are bugs and leaves to sustain life.

Won’t you help my friend Jessica, her husband and their church raise money for meals for these children of God?

You can start by reading Jessica’s post on her blog here.

Or you can go here and help by choosing one, two or all of Julie’s darling printables… each $5 printable will supply EIGHTY THREE meals to the people of Sudan. Julie is donating 100% of the sales to Hope For Sudan.

I ordered three to spread around our home and constantly remind us of the following verse…

{one for Elliott’s room}

{one for Holden’s room}

{one for downstairs}

I {hope} you choose to forgo that Venti Frappucino or that Chipotle burrito and give those funds to provide dozens of meals to those in need. Return that extra pair of shorts or shoes that you went overboard on while shopping for school clothes.

In a life FULL of choices, often times it’s hard to remember that too many others do not even have a choice.

I thank you….humbly.

XO