~~~~~Merry Christmas to YOU!~~~~~~

Dear Readers,I wanted to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you and very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope the holiday season brings you many blessings - of pausing to spend to spend time with the ones you hold dear and remembering the "reason for the season".When I reflect on 2009 I know I will count blogging as one of the best things I did, for me. It was...

Tis the Season........

I have had a fairly relaxing holiday season...because I made the decision to make it so. Recently I have enjoyed some of my favorite Christmas 'events'.Our community store hosted it's annual Santa visit. It is a wonderful event for our neighborhood because the kids feel like they really get a private visit with the big guy himself!My oldest was too cool for time on Santa's lap this year - which...

Giveaway Alert!!!

Go check out my friend Kasey's blog . She is "closing" or "suspending" her online shop and is hosting a giveaway of leftover inventory! Go leave a comment so you have a chance to get the goo...

Sometimes the best gifts.....

are the ones you buy for yourself.That's not to say that my thoughtful hubby and darling children are not great gift picker-outers. They are. But sometimes there are those special, unexplainable, and dare I say quirky, items that a girl can only buy for herself because...well...more than likely she is the only one (with the exceptions of her like-minded friends) who can fully appreciate their wonderful-ness.I...

Hints of Christmas

I have 7 boxes of Christmas decorations. They all remain relatively full....and by relatively full, I mean full.This year, I chose to decorate my home with just "hints" of the holidays.I have my reasons.First, we spent the better part of the fall not knowing whether my husband would have a job or not (he does, thank God!). And while we did receive good news, it put things in perspective for me,...

Finding friendship.....at a soiree!

Yep, that's me with the fabulous Kasey of Lola B's! Excuse the no-make-up, hat wearing look. We took NO pictures of us together the night of the soiree, yes, you heard me, NONE! So I guess I deserve to show you me without make-up and looking a bit exhausted.And while I am posting some pictures I took while at Kasey's home within this post, I would urge you to visit Kasey's blog to see how a real...

Inspired.......

Warning...this is a NO picture post (gasp!).I am home from a truly wonderful weekend spent with some fabulous women.I am inspired (and tired!).Kasey really put on a special event in her exquisitely comfortable and styled home. And yes, I got to sit on that beautiful settee and have a glass of wine (and other yummy things).One of the items in the box of goodies that every guest left with was a CD...

Off to a soiree..........

I am a lucky girl.Tomorrow I am heading to St. Charles, Illinois to hang out with two of my favorite bloggers...Kasey from Lola B's and Kimberly from Mimi Chamante. I am going to be attending Kasey's "Be Inspired" evening soiree. Timing is never good....it is the first weekend in December and our family schedule is PACKED - sleepovers, Sunday school program rehearsals, soccer practice, holiday open...

Zhu Zhu, how about you?

Cute little sucker, right?I would love to get my hands on one (or two) of these little buggers....the "hottest" toy this Christmas season.My girls BOTH want one - from Santa.Do you think Santa was lined up at midnight at Toys R' Us to score a few? I am ashamed to admit but I sent my poor, yet agreeable, husband out into the Zhu Zhu pet madness last night. Yes, the poor guy left the house at 11:30...

I am grateful, how about you?

Life has been a bit topsy turvy at our cottage. The kind of topsy turvy that involves lay-offs and job uncertainty....This kind of uncertainty allows you to really take stock and decide what is REALLY important in life.I know I am blessed.I know I am grateful for my blessings....for my family...healthy children...a beautiful home...a supportive community...good friends....ALL THAT MATTERS.But this...

Stockings For Sale!

Congratulations to my friend in real life, Allie for winning the stocking/Starbucks giveaway. And to just set the record straight,(ahem, Jermonne from Barn House, are you listening?) the drawing was conducted fair and square. I simply put numbers 1-28 in a bowl and had my sweet 7 year old, Abigail draw a number. Abigail drew the number "11" which was Allie's number! So there.Because of the interest...

.......and we have a winner!

The winner of the burlap stocking is "Allie"! Thanks everyone who left me the sweetest comments! I will be listing some stockings for sale on my blog on Monday for anyone who might be interested in purchasing one.Have a lovely weekend everyo...

It's About Time.....A Forever Cottage Giveaway!

This is my first giveaway.It is about time, huh?It is definitely not as fabulous as what Brooke is giving away at Velvet & Linen....not even close.But I thought it would be fun to giveaway one of my burlap stockings....I am quite happy with how they turned out.And by the way, if you are in Minnesota they (my burlap stockings)will be sold at Mustard Moon beginning tomorrow...Anyway....I will give...

What Do You Think?

I have always been impressed by the talented and crafty bloggers out there.I have never considered myself one of them. Nope, not ever.Perhaps THAT is about to change....Inspired by holiday images out in both blogland and catalogs, I got a bee in my bonnet, so to speak.I dusted off the sewing machine and created some burlap stockings with linen rosettes and other vintage "trinkets".I think I am going...

I have to tell you about........

One awesome blog giveaway!In celebration of her 300th post, Brooke Giannetti of Velvet & Linen is giving away THREE Brickmaker's tables like the one pictured above! How awesome is that!Brooke is looking for readers to submit pictures of the room where they would place the Brickmaker's table. Her point is to show how this same table can adapt and be appropriate in different looking rooms with...

Forever Cottage Tag Sale!

In preparation for my BIG plans for holiday decorating (read previous post to understand this sarcasm), I have been in major clean-out mode. I brought about 6 bags of clothes to Goodwill and have secretly edited the toy collections in each of my daughters' rooms (shhh, don't tell them).I have some nice vintage/or not so vintage but nonetheless fabulous items that have been collecting dust in cabinets...