It's a pretty happy week all around, a little busy and hectic, but overall this has been a very happies kind of week. So let's just roll out to the link up with Steph and Amber shall we...

Happies: 

1. I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking to my goals for this week and really putting in the effort to keep my personal blog updated and starting a Facebook page for it! When I reach 100 likes I'm going to host a giveaway here with my wonderful friend Katie who just started her own personal blog, check her out at Busy Bee Kate! 

2. My birthday gift from the hubby came in the mail today! 

How fabulous is my Atutudes tutu!! I can't wait to wear it for the Philadelphia Mother's Day Race for the Cure breast cancer walk. Last year was my first time participating in the Susan G. Komen 5K and I saw so many fabulous tutus. That got me thinking about Kristal over at Atutudes, I just knew she was the right woman to contact! Kristal is a sweetheart, and if you want to feel like a Princess too then she is your girl! PS, I'm also wearing my Mila Rose Designs floral headband in this photo, Melis is another sweety and she is going to be giving away one of her headbands when I reach 100 likes on my Facebook page along with some goodies from others! 

Here we are last year at the walk...

We were supporting one of my sister's friends from high school who recently battled breast cancer, she is in the bottom right photo between my sister and I. Unbelievable and scary to think that someone my age is dealing with this. She is doing very well though and recently got married and had a beautiful baby girl! I was also there to honor a very close family friend we lost last February, the beautiful Cindy Fallon...

She was only 53 years old. I think about her often, and especially around this time of year. Her family participates in the For Pete's Sake Cancer Walk at Citizen's Bank Park where the Phillies play. It's a wonderful cause, For Pete's Sake helps cancer patients and their families take a break from cancer and sends them on vacation. 

Crappies: 

1. Well, it did start out as a happy post, and still is because I know Cindy is no longer suffering, but breast cancer and all cancers need a cure. So that's my crappies for the week and pretty much until we find a cure. It's so terrifying to hear that word. 

To speak honestly here...this week just before my cycle (ladies you know what I'm talking about!), I was feeling very sore, and on the one side it was more painful than the other. I started thinking what if, but then I did some research and learned that breast cancer lumps aren't usually painful, however there is something called Mastalgia. I thought "Great this is something that is going to occur once a month?!" So you're asking what is it? Well, between the ages of 30 to 50 a woman may experience some pain and heaviness in her breasts just before her cycle, lucky us right?! However, there can also be a non-cycle pain caused by a cyst or a fibroadenoma. So, ladies either way, no matter what is going on and if you think you feel something or if you are experiencing this pain, you should keep up with your yearly appointments and get anything serious checked out. Early detection saves live. I am pretty sure it's just this cycle type of pain that is occurring but I do have my yearly check up next month.

Update: Here is a link where you can donate to my fundraising efforts for the Susan G. Koman Mother's Day Race for the Cure in Philadelphia. 

Happies & Crappies: Signs of Spring!

YAY, there are finally signs of Spring popping up and it makes my heart smile! I feel like I need a fresh start and Spring will help with that. The start of 2014 has been a crazy one and I'd like for it to go a little smoother, a little slower, and a little happier. 

Thank you to those who stopped by on my last Happies & Crappies post, I promise to check out your blogs; life gets a little busy around here sometimes but I am trying to schedule things better. I am also thinking of revamping my blog and going to WordPress, seems like the thing to do lately in the blog world. If you notice though, I actually just changed it from a three column to a two column, it was getting too busy looking. I really want to start paying attention to my blog more, perhaps make a Facebook page for it and get a few sponsors once I get traffic picked up. 

I started this blog right before we got engaged so I mostly blogged about our wedding details with a little real life (holidays, birthdays, fun weekend events) thrown in the mix. But, what kind of blogger am I really? There are fashion bloggers, DIY bloggers, mommy bloggers, wedding bloggers, etc. but I feel like I don't really fit into one of those molds, but I want to have a community like those bloggers do. Is there a community for Real Life Bloggers?! 

OK, so I'd love to hear your advice and your Happies & Crappies from this week as I am linking up with Steph and Amber again! 

Happies:

 Most of my happies in March come from it being my birthday month, the start of Spring, and the Philadelphia Flower Show! I won't go too picture crazy on you, but here are a few of my favorites from this week and last! 

We headed to the Reading Terminal for lunch before going to the Flower Show, and wow it was such a great idea! You have to locate Molly Malloy's next time you're there, the butternut squash soup was amazing and so fresh. They first opened up with a produce shop and then a restaurant. The fries were hand cut and the cheesesteak might just have been the best ever! 

The theme for this year's Philadelphia Flower Show was Articulture and I heard that next year's theme is Hollywood, which I'm already looking forward to! It's not just about the show, but for the last few years my mom and I have been going together for my birthday and it now has become a tradition of ours. We go down around noon time, get lunch, and then spend the day and into the night at the show and enjoy the free wine sampling that starts at 5:30 pm in the convention center right outside the doors of the Flower Show...what's not to love about that! We take public transportation down, so no worries about driving!  

Each year there is a live show of some kind at the main floral exhibit, during the Hawaiian theme they had hula dancers and this year they had trapeze artists, it was pretty exciting to watch (you can see them in the top left photo). In the middle are the most adorable frogs I've ever seen, they were part of my high school's exhibit (graduated in 2001!). The two photos after the frogs are from the main exhibit, also where my mom and I are standing in front of. The last photo, well who doesn't love tulips, right?! I can't wait for ours to bloom in the little "garden" we have in front of our house. YAY Spring!

How blessed am I? My friends and family really helped 31 feel even just as amazing as 30! It all started with a surprise gift card to Barnes & Noble that came in the mail from miss Heather over at High Heels & Flip-Flops, such a sweetheart. I actually got the chance to meet her in person and can't wait to hang out again sometime! Oh, and then my friend Katie created this incredible custom and one of a kind tote bag for me! She also created journal cards for my Project Life album, pretty awesome right?! She is actually in the middle of starting her own blog, which isn't up yet but for now you can check her out on Facebook at Busy Bee Kate (love her blog name).

Saw this little guy hopping around outside today and just had to take his photo. Also loving the fact that we can finally see green grass in our yard instead of blinding white snow that has been piled up for two months now! Signs of Spring indeed! 

Crappies

I have been feeling a little uneasy lately, just a lot of bad, emotional days of feeling lost and in the middle of not knowing what's next. Also, I feel like I just don't have the motivation to workout right now...Jillian Michaels I need you to push me again! If only she were my real life physical trainer! I did get on the treadmill today, but not as long as I wanted to, but it's a start... GO ME!! 

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OK, it's almost the weekend and we have house guests coming! My best friend from college is coming with her hubby, and two little ones. I can't believe their daughter is now 6 and their baby boy is going to be 1 in June! 

Also a Big Happy Birthday to my older sister, she turned 33 the day before my birthday...we're 2 years and 1 day apart! 

Can you tell we grew up in the 80's?! My younger sister is the baby in the top right photo, there's three of us...yep my dad had to put up with four women in the house, lucky him! 

Here is another photo collage I made for her to post on social media for her birthday! 

She's a DALLAS FAN...in Eagles and Steelers Country! 

Happy Friday and weekend! 

Happies & Crappies:

So it's the last day of February and that means my birthday month is about to start! So last year I was all excited about turning 30, but this year 31 just sounds like well, eh! Last year I celebrated the big 3-0 with a bang and the year after it's just like, "OK, I have another birthday...whatever!" Don't get me wrong, I like small gatherings and don't want anything big each year; having cake at home with the hubs and kids is all I really need on my actual birthday, and then maybe going out to eat with the extended family the weekend after. Also, I love going to the Philadelphia Flower Show every year with my mom, it's been our little tradition for a few years now. 

I don't want to top last year, it's just a feeling of, "Wow my twenties are really behind me, I'm now in my thirties!" In my thirties, doesn't that just sound crazy!! I'm sure everyone goes through this when they reach the next stage in their life; their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, etc. that they just can't believe they are at this age and how quickly it seemed to come. 

However, it also inspires and motivates me as I look back at how much I've grown as a person, how much I've learned, how much I've challenged myself, and makes me want to keep striving for more. You never stop learning and you never want to stop challenging yourself. But right now I am proud of who I am, I'm proud of where I am in life, and I'm very blessed in life as well.

So now it's time to link up with Steph and Amber for Happies & Crappies!! 

Happies...

1. Life is about being brave and putting yourself out there; take chances and get dirty! So this passed week I took my girls to our favorite local restaurant and my youngest step-daughter was really hitting it off with our waiter. Every time he walked by he would smile and look right in her direction. He even went the long way back to the kitchen just so he could pass our table! So her sister said that she HAS to talk to him and find out how old he is and if he goes to the same school. Well, this was a lot to ask because she doesn't really like to talk to guys she thinks are cute and so she was freaking out! That's when her sister said, "20 Seconds of Bravery!" Do you know this quote? It's from "We Bought a Zoo" and it's one of my youngest step-daughter's favorite quotes and well now she just had to talk to him since her sister put her on the spot like that! Well, she found out that the waiter was a little bit older than she thought, and that wasn't going to fly with my husband (maybe in a year or so!). But, we were very proud of her for being brave and putting herself out there, it took a lot of guts to talk to him. YOU GO GIRL!

2. Though I haven't been eating the healthiest types of food (cheesesteak on Tuesday, cookies today, and probably other crap I shouldn't have eaten!), I have been exercising with my girl Jillian Michaels all week long. I love her Ripped in 30 work out that consists of 4 weeks of different exercise routines. Oh and a few weeks ago I tweeted her and she TWEETED BACK!

LOVE HER!!! 

3. As I mentioned before (well when I was interning) that I'm the new blog assistant over at East Coast Creative...and if that isn't cool enough they also have a DIY TV SHOW called Knock it Off! But this isn't my happies, but I mean really that is pretty fantastic! So, in just a few days one of the biggest and most kick ass blog design contests is about to go down on their blog and there are big prizes involved, plus big blog stars! If you love DIY then you will want to stayed tuned on March 3rd and get your submission in for your chance to compete and be able to have a big blog star mentor you. But wait, that's not all! Even if you don't enter to be apart of the design competition, you can enter to win an awesome vacation to Punta Cana...sweet! It's called Creating with the Stars and you can check out a post on their blog with all the details...what are you waiting for?! 

Crappies...

1. My only crappies for this week is my bad habit of procrastination! I need to write a schedule and keep up on using my desk calendar...right now there is a pile of junk on it! I just get down in the dumps in the winter time, it can get tough sometimes when you work from home and don't interact with people every day. Working from home isn't always all that it's cracked up to be. Plus, there are so many distractions and everyone just thinks you have time to do everything because well you work from home! I need to change this and waking up earlier and not staying up till 2 am the night before would probably help! 

So, what are some happies and crappies from your week? 

Happies and Crappies: Let's Get Focused!

Happy Friday! I really want 2014 to be all about getting organized and more focused. I'm trying to procrastinate less, yeah right...spend less time on Social Media, which I did okay with at the start of this week but then crashed mid-week, and really focus more on what I want to and should be doing. So more personal blog posts, more exercise and eating healthy, more crafting and scrapbooking, focus more on my work instead of staying on Social Media for 2 more hours than I need to be, and pay more attention to the positive things in life and focus less on the negative things. What do you want 2014 to be about for you? 

Alright, now it's time for Happies and Crappies, who is joining me?! 

Happies

1. I have to give a shout out to our Happies and Crappies host Steph over at The Vintage Modern Wife and say CONGRATS on your little bundle of joy you are expecting!! So happy for you and your husband! 

2. It's getting warmer here in the Northeast and the snow is melting, yay! I'm looking forward to Spring and to the Philadelphia Flower Show. This year's theme is "Articulture", pretty cute play on words there huh?! 

3. I am finally putting together our wedding album four years later and I'm so glad I waited because I just loved these pocket page style scrapbooks! I knew I didn't want to go the traditional route of just getting our photos printed in an album. Though I wasn't sure how I wanted to put together our scrapbook either. So, if you are thinking the same thing, well you are going to love Project Life and similar products like these. I have Project Life pages, but cards and similar style pages from Me and My Big Ideas  as well, which I used here...

How cute are the cards?! 

4. I saw this really neat idea on Facebook of using a jar and writing down happy thoughts and memories each time they happen and storing them inside the jar. Then on New Year's Eve you open the jar and read all of the memories from that year. I don't always remember to write them down, but I really love doing it. It makes me smile now when I write them and I can't wait to read them aloud to everyone on New Year's Eve to share all of my wonderful memories of 2014 with them! It's not too late to start yourself! After everything that happened at the end of 2013, I just felt like this was really needed to help bring my spirits back to a better place. 

Happy Memories of 2014 Jar!

Crappies 

1. I don't really have too many this week, one really funny one I guess?! So, I wasn't feeling that great earlier this week and I had this same feeling last week too. My stomach was upset, my head was aching bad, and all I really wanted to eat was soup and crackers. Well, it turns out that this little illness or whatever it was may have been caused by a spider bite or what we think is a spider bite that is on my hip! Yes, I'm really telling you about this, haha! I looked up bites and found that you can feel nauseous and sick from spider bites and they looked similar to the photos that were with the article. I love how in the dead of winter all these creepy bugs like spiders and stink bugs like to hibernate in our house! Well, Spring is almost here and hopefully they will go outside!

I hope your week had more happies and less crappies, here's to a great weekend! 

Happies & Crappies: Valentine's Day Edition

Happy Valentine's Day!! 

I'm linking up again with Steph at The Vintage Modern Wife and Amber at Brunch with Amber for Happies & Crappies this week...

Happies: 

1. Last week the wonderful and sweet Jacin from Lovely Little Details  shared her idea of the Valentine fairies on her social media pages. The idea was to send Valentines to kids who needed to know someone out there loved them. Such a sweet and thoughtful idea, it makes my heart happy to know there are people out there like her! So she sent me the address of Paige from The Birthday Party Project, which is an amazing organization who helps homeless and underprivileged children celebrate birthdays who might not otherwise because their parents have no money. So, why not send them love all year round with beautiful, handmade Valentine's Day cards?! The crafty side of me was so thrilled to finally turn on my Cricut machine after it had been sitting idle for a year or so! 

2. My oldest step-daughter had realized that going to college for music therapy really wasn't where she wanted to be for the rest of her life. She still has a passion for singing and she loves helping people, but she just didn't love the program at school. You have to do what you love, so we fully supported her decision to finish the semester and take a year off to figure things out. Well, my husband just so happened to be reading about a Red Cross CNA program at a local nursing home that she had been a volunteer at since the age 12! So, here we are a month later, she has graduated the CNA program with honors receiving the highest grade in class and already has a job lined up at the nursing home! How amazing is she, such an inspiration. We're so proud that she never gave up on herself and believed that there was something else out there for her! 

Crappies

1. This crappy didn't happen this week, but it makes me sad that this is my mom's first Valentine's Day without her Valentine. I still have a post in draft that has been sitting there for a month because I just couldn't get through talking about what happened. Well here goes, right before Christmas, on December 10th my step-dad passed away after quickly deteriorating from stage four lung cancer that spread all over his body and to his brain. We didn't even know anything this serious was going on. On Thanksgiving Day he didn't look well and he looked like he had lost weight since I last saw him during a Halloween party, only a month before that. My mom kept telling him to go to the doctor's but he said he was fine, clearly he wasn't. He went into the hospital only about a week or so before he passed, it had gotten so bad that he couldn't get up, so my mom called an ambulance. He knew he was sick and dying, but I believe he didn't want us to have to deal with it, plus I think the tumor in his brain was making he act the way he was. There were masses all over his lungs and a big tumor in his brain. He was a smoker for 40 some years, and was only 60 years old when he passed.  

I think about him all the time and think about my mom and how she is now in an empty house, though we visit as often as we can and she has her dog. It just breaks my heart. He was a good man, a good step-dad who put up with my mom's three daughters (my two sisters and I), drove me to college, stood with my mom at our wedding, and loved my mom with all his heart. Mike, you will always be loved and will always be missed. 

I love this picture of the two of them at our wedding! 

WE LOVE YOU MIKE, REST IN PEACE. 

Happies & Crappies

It's that time of week again, time for Happies & Crappies. If you ever want to link up head on over to Steph's blog at The Vintage Modern Wife or Amber over at Brunch with Amber .

Happies:

1. This weekend we finally don't have anything planned and we get to just relax at home! I love hanging out with family and friends, but sometimes you just need those weekends where you do absolutely NOTHING!! 

2. Remember that photo I posted last Friday, the one of the Lake and the gorgeous fall colors? Well, a local newspaper was hosting a contest on their Facebook page and whomever won best photo of Fall foliage would get their photo used as the newspaper's cover photo. Guess who won, ME!! They may even publish some of their favorite photos in the paper as well! 

3. Saw the sweetest tweet today from my AMAZING friend Katie over at Vintage Vinyl Journals! Beneficial Bank is one of the sponsors of the PA Conference for Women that was going on today and tweeted, "We believe in the power of possibility. Tell us about a woman who has motivated you to unlock your potential – we’ll RT you! #PennWomen" My friend Katie responded with, "@BeneficialBank @WorldAroundHer inspires, motivates and encourages me with my business. She's a hard worker & maintains a great attitude too" Well if that didn't make my year! LOVE YOU KATIE!

Crappies

1. Monica over at East Coast Creative hasn't been experiencing the best week, along with her little one. He was admitted to the local Children's Hospital and had to have surgery. He is doing much better, but was in the hospital all week and for Halloween as well. It always hurts my heart when kids get sick and have to have surgery. They have a great support team though, with lots of love and prayers from the online and offline community, which is always nice to have in times like these.  

I can't really complain about much myself, after hearing updates of her little guy in the hospital, I am pretty thankful for everything and everyone in my life. 

Today is November first, can't believe it! Everyone is starting their 30 Days of being thankful on their Facebook pages, so I'm going to post on my blog thankful notes too! 

Day 1: I'm thankful for a beautiful and warm Fall day of almost 70 degrees...which is very rare here in the northeast. Last year it was snowing, and if it wasn't that warm today, the rain we had would have been snow! 

I get to look at this view from my home office window! Have you downloaded the Rhonna Designs app yet, I love the quotes and adorable little graphics! I hope you have a great weekend!

Happies & Crappies

I'm trying to keep up with my blog, so I thought it would be fun to link up with one of my favorite bloggers, Miss Stephanie over at The Vintage Modern Wife. So link up with her and post your list of Happies and Crappies from your week! I have to say I am very blessed with many happies lately!
Happies: 
1. It's Fall y'all! Like I mentioned in my previous post, I really love this time of year. We were considering getting married in Fall, but pushed the wedding back to the following Spring so we could have a bigger budget! I loved our colors for Spring, but deep purples would have been gorgeous with the beautiful Fall foliage. 

So pretty and peaceful, I took this photo at the lake near our house. 

2. We finally picked up our pumpkins for carving! Last year we never carved or purchased any pumpkins and my youngest step-daughter wasn't too happy about it, she told us this year we better get them! I'm still not sure if I want to carve or just create a pretty design with some washi tape and paint/markers? What do you think? 
3. Tomorrow we are going to a Halloween birthday party and we get to dress up! This is the first year we have actually dressed up as a couple, twice in fact! A few weeks ago we went to my husband's cousin's kid's 4th birthday party...that's a mouth full huh! I dressed up as a retro/ Sandy from Grease type of chick with a bandana in my hair and wore black tights (yoga pants), with a black top. My husband was a biker, and looked pretty cool too! This weekend the theme for the party is witches and vampires, I'm so excited! 

My outfit didn't really stand out as a costume, so I'm excited to really get into character this weekend! 

Crappies:

1. The weather has been so bizarre this season. I had a cool, dark denim jacket I was going to wear for the Halloween party mentioned above and it ended up being 80 degrees that day! It was earlier this month, but still crazy hot for October! Oh, but now it's 50 degrees out only a few weeks later, and in the 30's at night! This is a definite crappy!  

2. Right now I'm not too happy with my food habits and lack of fitness routine. I know I shouldn't be too hard on myself, because I still fit in the clothes I was wearing last year, but some of the sweaters are a little snug. I just don't want to go back to the unhealthy state I was a few years ago. It can be hard to keep up, especially when you work from home. But I am now on my fourth day of getting back into doing my Jillian Michaels DVDs, love them and her! So I'm on the right track! 

3. My hair is in the middle of a transition, it isn't long and it isn't short! LOL! OK, it's still short, but it just has this awkward look going on. I'm not sure how to style it, so pretty much I just straighten it or blow dry it, but it seems to be laying weird. I miss my long hair, so I think I want to keep it about shoulder length. GROW HAIR...GROW! 

Leaving you with a little happy for your weekend, how cool is this guy?! 

I took this photo a few weeks ago at our local park, I love my Canon camera!  OK, go link up and have a great weekend! 

Are you dressing up for Halloween or any parties this year?