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. 

DIY Lamp Shade Ideas...

So now that I'm trying to boost my personal blog, I'm starting to think like an actual blogger here taking a million photos of one stinking lamp to get the perfect shot! Well, my photo isn't perfect and my home decor isn't all that fabulous, so this is me and I'm keeping it real ya'll! OK, I don't ever say ya'll...but it sound funny right?! 

On to the lamp that I have a love hate relationship with...

See how brilliant the actual lamp is, the details and the color? But then there is this boring, no personality shade on top...I mean what is that?! We've actually had this lamp for a few years now, and for the last year or so I've really wanted to do something to the shade and have been on the hunt for cool DIY lamp shade ideas.

I love this Shape Tape™ trick that Jess did over on East Coast Creative...

It's a pretty simple idea, yet it makes such a big difference to a boring, white lamp shade. I would love to try this in a mint or a navy color. 

Oh, and how amazing is this handwritten letter lamp shade DIY from Courtney over on A Little Glass Box...

Besides the lamp being pretty fabulous all on it's own (I mean, it's a horse!), the lamp shade is too. My step-daughter actually did this to her lamp shade, she has been putting together some really cool DIY projects lately, like this industrial lamp idea she created from two wire hanging planters...

She was inspired by an episode of Knock it Off, which is on the Live Well Network and stars Monica and Jess from East Coast Creative (the blog I'm an assistant for!) 

So, these are a few DIY lamp shade ideas I'm loving right now, which one is your favorite? Should I paint it, write on it, or go for the industrial look?

Thanks for stopping by, have a great first day of Spring! 

Good Books to Read

I don't know about you, but for me, if an author wants to make my list of good books to read, then s/he must grab my attention from the very first page. I need to feel engaged and connected to the character or it's a bust. So, I'm not sure if it's because I'm a big fan of Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, or because I just didn't enjoy the writing, but I couldn't get into Veronica Roth's Divergent...gasp!

For me, the first few pages of Divergent read too similar to The Hunger Games; talking about their mothers, their hair, the "big day"... on the service both books are about a teenage girl fighting back against society. I know I can't really go on too much about one versus the other since I haven't read Divergent yet, so I'm asking you what your thoughts are if you have read both. Are you a big Katniss fan, but have also found a love for Tris? Do you already have your tickets for the Divergent movie premiere this weekend? I plan on reading Divergent so I can better evaluate and discuss the differences, but right now I am really into Nicholas Sparks. So, it may also have been the fact that at the moment I'm in the romance novel zone and not really in the mood for a sci-fi thriller! Tris, I shall come back to you!

Speaking of Nicholas Sparks, have you read any of his novels or do you only watch the movies based on them? A few years ago, shortly after watching The Notebook, I read Three Weeks with My Brother, which is a memoir Sparks wrote with his brother Micah Sparks. My husband and I read it together and really enjoyed learning about the history of Sparks' family and were inspired by the journey he took with his brother around the world to the Mayan ruins, Easter Island and beyond. 

Believe it or not, when I read Three Weeks with My Brother, it was the first and only Sparks novel I had picked up. It wasn't until this year that I would finally return to his novels and obsess over the need to read them all! I was writing a post for AWS, 7 Best Nicholas Sparks Inspired Movies, when I was inspired to read A Walk to Remember. I had seen the movie starring Mandy Moore and Shane West, but not until I wrote the post did I learn how different the setting of the book was and felt that it was imperative that I truly learned the story of Jamie and Landon. The film is set in the 90's, while the novel was set in the 50's, which is the era I believe I should have been born in! 

I just recently finished True Believer, and after you have seen all of Nicholas Sparks' inspired movies you have this fear that one of the main characters is going to pass away. I was on the edge of my seat thinking, "Please no one die, please stay together and have a happy ending!" It was a unique story about science versus mystery, or fact versus faith. If there isn't any scientific fact to back up what is happening, what others are saying, do you still believe, do you have faith that it's real even if science says otherwise? What happens when one person, Jeremy, believes in discovering the truth using science, while another person, Lexie, just has faith and doesn't need science to back up the feeling that she believes is real? Well, you'll have to find out for yourself when you read True Believer! 

Next, still sitting closed on the side of my bed since I purchased it last week is Sparks' newest release, The Longest Ride. As I was standing in Barnes & Noble, I was again captured by the very first page, like all of Sparks' novels I have read so far. So, why is it still sitting closed, well life gets in the way of a great book sometimes! 

If you have ready any of Nicholas Sparks' books, which one is your favorite? I dare you to pick up just one of them and not want to continue reading more! 

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!