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Delayed For A Reason

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Last week Julie & Jeannett launched The Happy Day Project. Each day of the week was assigned a random act of kindness, a darling coordinating printable and a charity to donate to. I wasn’t able to get my act together, but plan to carry out these heartwarming duties throughout the season and beyond.

The first of which I did last Sunday afternoon…

Holden and I were on a little afternoon trip to LA in the pouring rain. We had finished up around 3pm and were headed to Mickey D’s for a late Happy Meal lunch. I realized I had left a couple things behind, so I turned around to go back and retrieve them. We were then back on the road on our way to the nearest Golden Arches {they never really are too far away, are they?}. I placed our order and as I was waiting to pull up to the window to pay, a woman approached my window holding out a cup, I shook my head {NO} and looked away. I didn’t have any cash, but I generally don’t like to give cash to the homeless because there is no guarantee that they are not going to go and buy a alcohol or drugs with it. But I knew I had to do something…this was my chance to purchase a small gift card and had it to a person in need. It was a no-brainer.

I asked the cashier to add on a $5 gift card. She looked a little annoyed and had to ask the manager to get one. It took a couple minutes and I was holding up the drive-thru, but I didn’t care. I was going to give that woman a warm meal as she was drenched and, no doubt, cold. It was the least I could do.

I got our food and the gift card and pulled up to where she was standing at the drive-thru exit. I reached out to her and she extended her dirty, half-smooshed paper cup expecting to hear the clink of a few coins I’m sure. Her eyes looked as though she had ointment or something on them and I got the impression that she didn’t know what I was handing her. I said, “Here is a gift card for you ~ go get yourself some dinner tonight. God Bless.” She accepted it and said “God Bless you”.

I rolled up the window, pulled out and waited for traffic before I turned out of the parking lot. I looked back and she was gone.

I immediately became choked up and could not hold back the tears. I will never forget her face. It felt SO good to hand her something of so little value to me and KNOW that it was invaluable to her.

I thought about her later that evening and wondered what she did with our little {gift}. It does’t matter, but I just hope that for a split second she knew that someone cared about her.

And that someone was me.

*****

I truly believe that if I would’ve gone to McDonald’s first, I wouldn’t have encountered her.

I was delayed and had to go back to get my things for a reason.

HE works in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?

I highly recommend doing this…$5 is an extremely small price to pay for the feeling that you will get and the glory that you’ll give HIM.

Flip Flop Fiestas ~ Invitations

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Now that you’ve come up with your theme, it’s time to get your guest list together and decide how you’re going to get the word out.

Part 2 ~ Invitations

If you want to go the FREE route, you can use evite or punchbowl which have lots of cute templates. If you are trying to be more {green}, this is also a good avenue!

I prefer to make my own simple invites using inexpensive note cards or card stock. I like to print them on our home printer for a {professional} look. I have paid A LOT for invites in the past, but think all that money can be used elsewhere.

I start by looking for blank notecards in the dollar bins at Target or Michael’s. I’ve also found them at TJ Maxx and Marshall’s. If the cards are too plain, you can pick up some stickers that tie into the theme {of course!} to embellish them.

I also like to download a font or two for the invites that I use throughout the party for any signs, menus or goodie bag tags that I print up. This ties everything together. We have a Mac and there are several sites out there with FREE font downloads. For example, for Holden’s {Under The Sea} 1st birthday, I used a font with little bubbles {cocktail bubbly} which turned out pretty cute:

{please pardon the bad scan}

You can see a few other invites I’ve done here, here & here.

First, I just measure the note card {opened} or card stock and plug the dimensions into my Word program under format —> page. Then I write up the wording on the bottom half of the page {below the fold for a note card}, spell check a million times and then feed the note cards into the printer. Always do a test page first to make sure everything is lined up and looks centered. I am really anal about this part!

I am super cheesy and come up with all sorts of goofy rhymes and verbiage pertaining to the theme when writing up the invitation, too. Let your imagination run wild…parties are supposed to be FUN!

If you’re inviting a small number of kids, you can pick up a little trinket and include it with the invite or attach the invite with a little ribbon or raffia.

If you’re having a slumber party, maybe include a little eye mask or for a spa party, possibly a little bottle of nail polish. Just a little something to get your guests even MORE excited about your party.

They say that you should limit the number of guests to the number of years old your child is. I think that is a great rule of thumb, but I tend to be one of those that like to invite {everyone}! I am from the {the more the merrier} school of thought. We’re still at the stage where the adults stay at the parties, too, which I love, but it will also be nice when the {drop-off} parties begin!

I prefer to hand deliver the invites, but sometimes it makes more sense to pop them in the mail. I always like to pick out some special stamps at the Post Office…I know OVERBOARD!

*****

OK, now you’ve sent out your invites and you need to start thinking about what your party is going to look like!

Coming up mañana, Part 3: Venue & Decor

Happy {Heart} Day

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

{via}

Oh, how I LOVE these vintage valentine cards!

And oh how I LOVE my Valentines….

It was peanut butter banana smoothies in their cute new mugs this morning…

Then we loaded up all the valentines and headed to school.

Elliott signed 25 {cheesy} Jonas Brothers cards all by herself and helped me seal them with a little pink heart sticker.

She also has a little candy treat for her classmates…

I had visions of hand cut hearts, glitter and handwritten notes to adorn these little trinkets, but the weekend got away from us and I found myself scrambling for my Avery labels and put my new color cartridge to work!

Now that I look back, I should’ve had the label read, “Please be a {Smartie} and be my Valentine!”

Shucks! Oh well.

*****

Just wanted to add that yesterday, while I took Holden to a little birthday party, Jay and Elliott went and redeemed a certificate she got from school at Cold Stone. I found out when I got home that she chose cotton candy ice cream with m&m’s….how NASTY is that? Sorry, I know it’s not polite to comment that something that someone is eating is gross, BUT……they shouldn’t even MAKE cotton candy ice cream! Jay said it was blue! Yuck!

But I’m glad Jay & Elliott got to have some more one on one time. They also went to the park and practiced her sight words!

*****

This afternoon I’m going to be busy in the kitchen preparing a special dinner for my other Valentine…

Chicken Marsala

Roasted asparagus with parmesan

Cheesecake {my first attempt, but I found a recipe that BEGGED to be baked!}

Almond champagne toast

{recipes to come}

Wish me luck as I try out my new spring form pan!

Corporate Mama

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I remember getting my first official business cards when I was with HSBC.

“Marketing Coordinator”

It was so exciting to see my name and title printed on the little cards….

Gosh, that was about 10 years ago.

I received a fun early Christmas goodie from one of my best fellow mama friends, Mel:

I’ve seen these and wanted to get myself some…..

They’re the perfect little gifty for the mamas in your life.

How many times have you rummaged around in your purse to find a scrap of paper and a pen to jot down your info? These are MUCH cuter and fit nicely in your wallet. I sent one to school with Elliott today…she has a little classmate that she wants to arrange a playdate with ~ she said “Mommy, don’t forget to give me one of your cards!” So fun.

You can order them over at Vistaprint.

There are oodles of templates to select from….I LOVE the one she chose for me. So {Amy}.

Thanks again, Melanie!

*****

I may not be in the corporate world anymore, but these cards were just as exciting to receive.

How could they NOT be with the title, “Mommy to Elliott & Holden”?

I LOVE my job.

{Most days}