112 in 2012 Progress: February

Happy Leap Day!

It's the last day of the month, so that means it's time for an update again. If you don't want to read through the whole list, I don't blame you! Scroll down to the bottom though for info about something fun coming up!

Normal text - haven't started

Italics - making progress
Strikethrough - failed miserably
Bold - completed




1. Pack or eat a healthy breakfast on days I have to work {don’t stop for fast food or skip it} {2/12}
2. Pack or eat a healthy lunch on days I have to work {don’t stop for fast food or skip it} {0/12, I am so terrible at this, but have had a good week so far...maybe I'm making progress}
3. Plan dinners the night before so we can stop for necessary ingredients or take things out of the freezer to thaw {1/12} {This month was rough for us, lots of commitments}
4. Move closer to Elmwood {So glad to finally have some hope of this happening soon}
5. Donate at least 20 boxes of things to the thrift store before moving
6. Sort and organize all holiday decorations so they are easily accessible
7. Donate holiday decorations that won’t be used prior to the next holiday
8. Start a family
9. Complete 2011 Project Life Album
10. Start & complete 2012 Project Life Album {I'm behind, but should be caught up this week!}
11. Complete at least one additional Project Life Album from a previous year
12. Print pictures at least once a month from the previous month {I'm actually printing pictures weekly, which is helping me keep up on with PL}
13. Work with nieces on Project Life albums, including printing pictures for them monthly
14. Grow my business
15. Blog at least 3 times per week { 0/12, I think I managed 2 times per week again this month, but hopefully I'll work my way up to 3 next month!}
16. Engage in at least one activity per month to promote my business {1/12}
17. Take at least 1 picture per day {I figured out this doesn't really work for me...I've been doing weekly PL layouts, which is much more attainable}
18. Take pictures during important events/gatherings
19. Plan 1 date night per month with Mike {2/12, had a date night at home this month to save some money, but had a yummy dinner and movie!}
20. Complete 1 project per month from inspiration found on Pinterest {2/12, see my baby shower post from Monday to see two cupcake recipes I've tried}
21. Start an idea binder to keep inspiration from magazines, etc.
22. Visit grandparents at least 1 time a month {2/12}
23. Plan and work on 1 craft project per month with nieces and nephews {0/12, I suck as an Auntie this year}
24. Take at least 1 vacation out of state {Uh, yeah...I thought we had things in process, not so much now}
25. Take at least 1 vacation in state
26. Visit 1 place I’ve never been before
27. Pay off at least 1 credit card {Sooo close!}
28. Use at least 1 coupon with every grocery purchase
29. Try one new recipe per month {1/12, I tried at least 4 new ones this month, go me}
30. Learn to sew
31. Donate items from couponing to an organization in need
32. Take a photography class
33. Make our new house feel like our home
34. Purchase/borrow bikes and go riding on the trail this summer
35. Plan an outing/visit with friends at least once a month {1/12. February was INSANE}
36. Take pictures for my blog posts
37. Create a video to post on my blog {Working on it finally}
38. Send birthday cards on time to important people when we can’t celebrate in person
39. Create a stash of cards for multiple occasions to have on hand
40. Frame pictures for our home and display them
41. Create a gallery wall in our new house of important/sentimental pictures
42. Work on creating Christmas decorations throughout the year
43. Relax and enjoy December and Christmas preparations
44. Finish all holiday shopping by December 1
45. Wrap and label Christmas gifts so they are under the tree by the end of the first week in December
46. Use my iPhone calendar to help keep me organized
47. Build a stockpile and only shop for perishable items as needed - otherwise, use the stockpile {We're definitely rebuilding our stockpile, it's been a good couple of weeks for couponing}
48. Plant a garden or work with family to have a garden
49. Freeze or can fresh produce to use throughout the following year
50. Take a family picture to display in our home, including both puppies
51. Attend 1 Christmas event in the community {tree lighting, Santa visit, etc.}
52. Visit the local library
53. Become a member of Mike’s church
54. Take all my nieces and nephews to the zoo for the day
55. Go to the Farmer’s Market at least once a month during June/July/August
56. Make homemade rolls for a holiday dinner
57. Drink at least 3 big glasses of water daily {2/12, I haven't been keeping track to know if it's 3 or not, but I've been drinking a lot more water}
58. Find at least 1 new blog per month to follow {2/12, turns out, this isn't hard for me...check out these awesome blogs: Maple & Magnolia and Tattered Tiques}
59. Comment on at least 1 blog post per week {8/52, I've been trying to do this every day I catch up on my Reader}
60. Host 1 holiday celebration at my house
61. Have a family dinner for no special reason at least every other month {This one doesn't seem super realistic now that we're in the middle of packing/cleaning for a move}
62. Identify a space in our new home for books and make use of it
63. Visit a large flea market/antique show {I have plans!!}
64. File important paperwork so it’s easily accessible
65. Organize my spice cupboard so it’s not overly full and difficult to find what I’m looking for
66. Utilize my closet
67. Make a plan to complete chores/housekeeping responsibilities on a routine basis
68. Purchase a new vacuum cleaner and use it!
69. Begin filling my home with meaningful decorations that make us happy
70. Make time weekly to create for myself {rather than for customers or gifts} {4/52, it's been a bad month for this sort of thing...lots of parties and customer orders}
71. Attempt to make contact with the people who received organs from my mom
72. Send Christmas cards
73. Carve a pumpkin
74. Attend a training/seminar to learn a new skill for work
75. Take a picnic
76. Learn how to use Photoshop
77. Take flowers to the graves of loved ones who have passed away
78. Use my time wisely to eliminate stress {I'm getting much better}
79. Check Etsy and local stores first for gift giving options {So far, so good}
80. Plan ahead for gift giving to allow time for shipping or searching for the right gift
81. Complete the Week in the Life project and get photographs into an album or Project Life layout
82. Get my house into a state where I would be comfortable with people dropping in
83. Keep my new house in a state where I’m comfortable with people dropping in
84. Change my mindset that people can drop in on a house that is not perfectly spotless
85. Strive to be more patient with people {February wasn't my best month for this}
86. Get up at least 3 times per week after hitting the snooze button only once {set alarm for the time I want to get out of bed instead of 45 minutes early} {I feel physically ill if I don't hit the snooze buttons a couple of times...I tried it, I'd rather just wake up at my own pace}
87. Become more active in an attempt to be healthier {and lose weight in the process}
88. Purchase a pair of dress shoes that are cute and do not hurt my feet

89. Send at least 1 “thinking of you” card to someone for no particular reason

90. Make and display an advent calendar

91. Organize my pantry {Did it last weekend...looks great!}

92. Don’t give up on taking photographs daily if I happen to miss one day {I missed a couple days and came up with a solution that works for me...weekly photo layouts in PL}

93. Don’t complain about anything for a week

94. Watch a movie I’ve always wanted to see but have never made time to watch
95. Make a custom recipe book {or find my favorite online recipes and pin them onto my Food board on Pinterest}

96. Eat 3 things I’ve never tried before
97. Learn to knit or crochet
98. Make Cold Cookies for Grandma {and Mike & me}

99. Make my own cleaning product rather than buying something

100. Go to the county fair

101. Go to Groundhog Days {We got snowed in sadly...heard it was a blast. Next year!}

102. Don’t swear for a week

103. Identify 25 things that make me happy and find a way to incorporate those things into Project Life

104. Journal in Project Life as I take pictures - complete journaling for the previous month at the start of a month}

105. Visit at least 1 photo booth {This is from my nephew's birthday party...the 4th picture is probably one of my favorites with him. It reminds me a lot of the first picture I ever took with him on the day he was born. Love that kid!}

106. Take vitamins daily {I honestly forgot this was on my list...whoops}

107. Organize the photos on my computer

108. Clean out refrigerator weekly {2/52...the last two weeks have been great!}109. Send thank you notes in a timely manner

110. Donate expired coupons for military use

111. Create/purchase a family calendar to be used by both Mike & me

112. Say no to things when I don’t have time or am feeling overwhelmed {I tried...it didn't work. I need to be more assertive. I'll keep trying.}

Making more progress...glad to see a few more completed things on my list after this month! And I have a pretty good idea of what I need to focus on next month!

So, I told you above that I have something fun coming up and I do! On Monday, March 5, I'll be participating in a Project Life blog hop. After seeing who participated in the blog hop last month, I know I'll be joining a talented group of ladies sharing their Project Life layouts, processes, and progress for this amazing project. It's such an honor to be a part of it! Once I have more details, I'll be sure to share them here. And, if you're interested in seeing where I'm at with Project Life, check in later this week...I should be able to update you on the last 4-5 weeks shortly!

Today, my husband & I are doing our Day in the Life project...I thought it might be a fun project for Leap Day {even though there's nothing typical about this day!} I'll hopefully share that during my post for the blog hop on March 5, if not sooner!

Have a great extra day all!

Baby Shower Brunch for Twin Boys

Hi everyone!

I mentioned awhile back that my husband and I were throwing a baby shower for his cousin Sean and his wife Danielle, who are expecting twin boys soon. The shower was postponed due to snow earlier this month, but we finally got to have it last weekend! I just wanted to share a few pictures and the menu for our brunch.

{I wrote a little about the invitation for the shower in this post}

I didn't really have a theme for the shower but I guess it's sort of vintage country. Basically, I just stuck to navy blue, stripes, burlap, and any other things to make a boring room feel more country-fied {I doubt that's a real word}.

I had fun with this party. I'm loving navy this year for some reason, and two baby boys seemed like the perfect occasion to haul it out! Working from the top left, going left to right:

1. One side of the table, with my mason glass jars, vintage inspired paper straws {in navy stripes}, of course, and a cabinet from my "keep forever" collection, that I purchased from the amazing Becky Novacek.

2. Vintage-inspired mason jars from Better Homes & Gardens. I'll bought these with the intention of actually canning in them, but they're so cute and have a really fun shape. I may be saving them for future parties.

3. Part of the spread, that really didn't fit on the table space we had allotted {see my menu below}.

4. Blueberry pancake cupcakes, found here on Pinterest.

5. Cinnamon toast crunch cupcakes, found here on Pinterest.

6. A close-up of my silverware/napkin display, and the only decent picture of the flower arrangements I put together.

Menu:

We kept the menu very simple so it could be prepared the morning of the shower without too much trouble. We had individual fruit salad cups and yogurt cups, and made bacon strips and breakfast sausage meatballs. We also made Belgian waffles, and had a bunch of toppings available for them or the yogurt {strawberries, blueberries, peaches, fresh whipped cream, granola and strawberry, blueberry & butter syrups}. For dessert, there were blueberry pancake cupcakes and cinnamon toasty crunch cupcakes {see above for the links to the recipes.} To drink, we had water with lemon, pineapple orange juice and citrus champagne sangria {recipe here from Pinterest}.

All in all, we had a great time. We don't get to see this side of Mike's family all that often, so it was really special to be able to hang out with them and celebrate such a special event. This didn't resemble the typical baby shower in any way {other than the gorgeous pregnant lady opening gifts!} Just lots of talk and catching up and celebrating two people who are going to make amazing parents. I can't wait to meet their baby boys!

Supplies:

Table linens {not pictured, but they were plain navy clothes}: AAA Rents in Lincoln, NE

Mason jars: Better Homes & Gardens line at Walmart

Paper straws: DimeStoreBuddy on Etsy

Food: All made by Mike & me, except for the glazed cashews, which I actually got from Bass Pro in Council Bluffs, IA

Flowers: Bouquets from Trader Joe's & Sam's Club, arranged by me in vintage mason jars

If you have questions about anything else pictured, comment or send me an e-mail!

Have a great day!

Project Life: Organization

Yesterday, I mentioned that I had purchased a few organizational items to keep my Project Life supplies in line. Even though it was really dreary yesterday, I took some pictures and wanted to share them with you so you can see how I've set up my space.

First, a little about what I was doing before I purchased these. As far as the elements to the core kit, I basically sorted them by how I wanted to use them {my anal Annie tendencies made me sort all the journaling cards and title cards so I wasn't using 2 of the same card too close to one another}. Then I simply just put them back in the core kit box. I will say that I love this year's core kit box and how it's possible to use it as an organizational tool. If you've ordered Project Life kits in the past, you know how giant the Big White Box was, and it's basically just a place to keep everything corralled, but not really organized. So, I was thrilled with this year's Little White Box. But, it still wasn't meeting my needs.

I typically finish up my Project Life layouts on go because I take my photos of them at work. I don't see daylight during the winter unless I'm at work, so that's where the pictures happened. Which meant I was carrying my album, Corner Chomper, Tiny Attacher, and maybe some Thickers or other stickers from the PL core kit with me to work and back every week. This system worked for a little bit, but I got tired of lugging everything around and not really having a place to keep everything in one spot. For example, I realized last night that my date stamper was still laying on my desk at work, and I couldn't put it in my new organizational system.

Enter these boxes I purchased the other day. All of them are Martha Stewart with Avery {which are sold at Staples}. I had a coupon for this weekend so I thought I'd try them out, and I'm really glad I did. They come in 3 colors {white, brown and a teal color}. This is the white, despite the ugly lighting in this picture. I purchased a tray with a drawer and 2 of the long divided boxes {which came with lids, but I won't be using them}.

The divided boxes are perfect for my journaling cards. On the left, I have my filler cards {to be used for the 8th 3x4 inch spot}. In the center there are the grid journaling cards, that I haven't used yet...looking forward to breaking them out when I get some of my new plastics tomorrow! And on the right I have my journaling cards, sorted in order so all I have to do is pull from the front when I put them in my album. I'm kind of surprised at how well everything fit - I wasn't bright enough to look at the measurements of the boxes before I purchased them. And there's room to grow, which is nice. I'll put my date flags in one of these dividers as I cut them out, I'll put my date stamp in another, and so on.

Then there is the tray & drawer. On the left side of the tray there are my title cards {sorted in the correct order, of course}. I can just pull a title card from the top when I'm ready to use it, if I want to go that route. I'll probably put a bunch of title cards in their layouts as soon as I get the plastics so I can have that step done. In the middle are the folded journaling cards that tell longer stories. On the right are all the stickers that came in the core kit.

And here's the open drawer. There's plenty or room for bigger items {like the Thickers} and the tools I turn to over and over again. You can't see in the picture, but I also have some extra photos waiting to go in layouts in the drawer so they don't get misplaced. And throughout the organizational system, there's still plenty or room to grow, which I love!

To be honest, I haven't figured out where exactly this will go at home. I'm looking for a place I regularly pass by so I'm reminded to take photos and save memorabilia. I'm also looking for somewhere safe where the dogs won't jump all over it and nothing will get spilled on it. I will find a place eventually, and for now, at least my supplies are all together and not at the bottom of a reusable shopping bag.

How do you organize your Project Life supplies? There's a ton of inspiration out there if you're looking for ideas. I have a few of them on my Project Life Pinterest board.

Happy Thursday!

Don't Wait! {Documenting Daily Life}

Instagram photo of a piece of delish chocolate cake & strawberry sauce my friend at work brought me yesterday

Last week, Ali Edwards documented a day in her life and asked who wanted to join up. I had initially planned on documenting mine the same day she did hers, but work got away from me and it didn't happen. The rest of the week was pretty crazy, and well...that's my life. You can see her initial post here, and her documentation the next day here.


I was bummed that I didn't do this project while "everyone" else was {it seemed like everyone anyway!}, but I've committed to documenting a day this month. Since there's only a few days left, I'd better get cracking. I had the day off Monday and thought it would be a great day to do something like this since I didn't have any major plans. But then I talked myself out of it because it wasn't a "typical" day.

I wish I hadn't.

If you're doing Project Life, or a Project 365 or any other kind of everyday moment documentation this year, the advice I have for you is DON'T WAIT! If you feel like preserving a memory, do it. Don't wait for the perfect time or a typical day. Just get it captured through photographs or journaling!

I didn't take a single photo Monday. I had my good camera with me and my iPhone and didn't use either of them once. Nothing was typical about Monday. I slept in til 8am, I spent some time hanging out with the dogs, it was a rainy spring-like day. I did dishes, I did laundry, I returned some things to a rental company, I shopped for some organizational tools {none of these things ever happen when I'm involved, though I realize they're probably typical for most people.}. I'm completely bummed because as atypical as my day was, it was great. I kept thinking I shouldn't only focus on myself, or I didn't take pictures as soon as I woke up.

I was making excuses for myself that don't matter.

I've been doing some version of Project Life or P365 for 3 years now, and every year I've failed miserably {with the exception of this year...I'm not failing this year}. The entire reason is because I set these lofty expectations for myself that I can't really meet, and as soon as I fail, I give up. My P365 2 years ago lasted maybe a month. My PL from 2011 STILL doesn't have a single photo in it. It's really sad.

My desire to be perfect took over my desire to preserve memories of our everyday life.


I guess what I'm trying to say in all this rambling and regret is that I hope you learn from my mistakes rather than waiting to make them yourself. It took me a long time {not that I even believe I've truly learned my lesson} to realize that memory keeping doesn't have to be a perfect, complete picture. One photo of one ordinary thing is so much better than no photos at all. If you've started one of these projects or have plans to start, please please please learn from my stupidity on this matter!

On a related note...one of the organizational things I bought Monday was to organize my Project Life supplies so I can keep them out all the time and focus on getting my photos in the album. I'll hopefully get it set up tonight and share some photos with you!

And, on another related note...many of the Project Life supplies that had been sold out came in this weekend {and subsequently sold out again!} I did get a couple things, but I waited too long to get everything I wanted. I can't wait until my shipment arrives from Amazon so I can get back into this project! Did you get everything you'd been waiting for??

Project Life Updates

Hi all,

Happy Valentine's Day! Who has fun plans for this evening? Not this kid, unfortunately. My true love is home sick today. We've always kept Valentine's Day kind of quiet anyway because my nephew's birthday is today {Happy Birthday, Bubs!}, so we're normally celebrating with him. I do plan to bring home something for dinner instead of cooking at home, but it will be a quiet evening...which is actually perfect, considering how busy we've been!

I thought for today, I'd share some Project Life things with you. I know I haven't shared layouts with you for a couple of weeks. I'm falling behind. There are a couple reasons for it, but the biggest one is that I'm out of page protectors! I'm really hoping they're back in stock any day now, because I've figured out that if I get too far behind, it's a slippery slope. Heck, I've even figured out that if I finish my layout for the previous week too late in the current week, I'm forgetting stories and feeling like I'm losing time. I need to get caught up ASAP and get back on track!

Do you follow me on Pinterest? I started a Project Life inspiration board. You can follow me here. Here's just a few of the cool things I've already pinned:

Source: store.chictags.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: findingnana.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: stephpea.typepad.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: lemonstolimes.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Check out my Project Life board on Pinterest for a lot more inspiration as I find it!

Becky Higgins just shared a blog post this week filled with inspiration from the creative team {both traditional and digital scrappers}. Make sure you check out the post here when you get a chance!

How are you doing with Project Life? Have you kept up with it so far? Are you falling behind like me? I can't tell you the last time I was so excited to have a basic scrapbooking supply become available before these page protectors! I'm saving my pennies to order a bunch so I don't have to go through this again if they sell out!

I just want to say how much I LOVE that you all stop by to visit and read this blog. It's such a treat to connect with you here, on Facebook and via e-mail. I'm a very lucky girl!

Happy Valentine's Day all!

Cars Themed Birthday Party

Happy Monday!

This weekend was extremely busy, filled with drama and laughter all at the same time, and even though there were many fun parts of this weekend...I'm glad for the fresh start that today will bring.

Saturday, my husband and I helped out my brother with throwing our nephew's birthday party. I've mentioned a couple of times on here, but my nephew is a freak for the movie Cars. I would imagine he watches it at least 2 times per week, and even though he has a whole collection of movies to pick from when he gets movie time, it's always Cars or Cars 2.

So when I asked him what he wanted his birthday party theme to be, he told me {yelled at me}, "Cars, of course!" Alrighty then. There were no talking him out of it, even when I reminded him that his last few birthdays have been Cars themed. Mike told me on the way home that every birthday he's ever celebrated with the kid has been Cars themed. So, that's 4 years in a row now. Trust me, it's getting harder to come up with new ideas for Cars birthday parties after all these years {you can see what I did last year with my carhop take on his birthday here}.

I'm bummed that we went to all the work we did and then I forgot my camera at work for the weekend. Thank goodness for my iPhone, but the pictures aren't the best quality.

I made him a Pit Crew t-shirt to wear for the day, with the number 6 for his 6th birthday.

Here's the whole set-up before people arrived. We had some balloons and things around the house also, but we kept it pretty simple. 6 year old boys aren't really into decorations, or I would have loved to go all out and turn the living room & kitchen into a motor speedway! {I should mention, this was the family party. My brother lives too far away from my nephew's school for him to really have friends over to the house. So, Michael was the only one under 21 there.}

Just a few of the details...we turned cream soda & root beer into Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment. We also had "Fillmore's Organic Fuel" tie-dyed labels for water bottles, but do you know how hard it is to take a decent picture of water bottles on an iPhone? Trust me, they didn't turn out pretty.

Here are the cupcakes. I couldn't decide on cupcake toppers, so I did a combination of picks with Mater & Lightening McQueen on them, and then some had racing flags. Most all of the cupcakes had little Cars 2 Squinkies. {Parents, what is the point of Squinkies?? I just don't get how they're fun toys. Do you collect them or something?}

We also made "Pit Passes" for everyone to wear. Michael's job was to greet people at the door and tell them they needed a Pit Pass to come into the speedway where the party was being held. For a bunch of people who haven't actually seen either of the Cars movies, it went over pretty well, and Michael loved deciding who got which character. I'm so mad at myself for not getting a great picture of the Pit Passes on their lanyards, but here's a screenshot I took to send a friend while I was designing them.

These were probably my favorite part of the whole party, and they were so easy to do {they were a last-minute addition on Friday evening}. Everyone had a different character, and like I said, Michael had a blast assigning them to people. It was good for him to have a starting point to interact with people too...he's great at saying hi to people when they first walk in the door, but he often gets distracted with his toys after that. I'm trying to help him continue to be social with people when they visit instead of focusing on playing by himself.

.

All in all, it was a really fun party. And I sat down and had a long talk with Michael about how this will be the last Cars party I throw, so he'd better pick a different theme next year. He told me it would be fine to have a Cars 2 party. He's such a smart aleck. I love it!! I have one little project left for him this week, some thank you cards {I'm thinking of making postcards that say "Greetings from Radiator Springs" or something to continue the theme. We'll see what happens.}

I hope everyone has an excellent, happy week! Lord knows I need peace in my life this week, so that's my wish for you as well. :) 

Milk & Cookies Baby Shower {Vogt Design Co.}

Hi all!

Happy Friday {TGIF!} I really didn't mean to disappear for a week, but the last 7 days have completely gotten away from me between work, illness, technical difficulties and who knows what else.

I'm sure you've seen my Milk & Cookies printable collections in my Etsy store or here on the blog. If not, click here for my Etsy store, or here for the first time I posted about this collection. I've had the best response on my Etsy store for this collection in all its forms {pink & brown, blue & brown, blue & red}. It's definitely my favorite too {even including the ones I haven't uploaded yet}, and it makes me wish I had a reason to throw a milk & cookies party!

One of my sweet customers, Britney, shared her milk & cookies baby shower on her blog this week, and I wanted to pass it along to you. Please take a minute and check out Britney's use of the items from the printable collection here.

Photo from Britney Ericksen

I love the way she used the milk labels on the vintage milk bottles, and the idea for guests making their own fruit pizzas is genius! She did such a great job, I couldn't resist passing it along. And...you know...the printables are pretty cute too!

I'll be back on Monday with some photos from the Cars birthday party we're throwing my nephew tomorrow and a bunch of Project Life updates {fingers crossed}.

Baby Shower Invitation {Pinterest Inspiration: January}

Hi there!

I said I would be back today with my Project Life, but I forgot some stuff at home that I needed to finish my layouts before taking pictures. I'll get the uploaded this weekend, hopefully {we have a really busy weekend scheduled}.

I thought I'd show you what I made this month from my Pinterest inspiration {remember my 112 for 2012 post? One of my goals was to make at least one thing per month I've seen on Pinterest}. I didn't actually pin the invitation that inspired my baby shower invitation, and I'm so bummed about it! It's something I saw awhile back and just sketched out my ideas for it rather than pinning it. Don't ask me why.

Anyway, here it is! I'm not typically one to host a "themey" party {unless it's a kids party...kids like themes. Especially my nephew, who has had a Cars birthday party for the 3 last year years, practically killing his party planning auntie. More about that in another post.} This isn't the exact invitation {I've obviously removed some identifying information} and at the last minute, I changed the grey to a darker brown {my husband said the grey & blue reminded him of the Yankees, and after I was done gagging, I changed the colors}. I continued the blue chevron pattern on the back of the invitation. I'm really into invitations with patterns on the back, I think it adds a nice little surprise.

Even though the design is fairly modern, the decorations will have more of a vintage feel {I think...it's my idea of vintage, anyway}. I'll be able to show you pictures after this weekend, assuming the whole thing doesn't get cancelled by the blizzard that's being predicted!

Have a great, safe weekend everyone!

What I Didn't Buy

Hi all,

Happy Groundhog Day! Today also happens to be the day my husband and I went on our first date 4 years ago, so even though I'm annoyed that the stupid little groundhog said there's 6 more weeks of winter, it's a happy day!

I've done a couple of these types of posts before, what I didn't buy. Now, don't ask me why I take pictures of things I didn't buy and then forget to take them of the things I did buy {just like I did yesterday}, but I seem to do that. I think maybe it's so if I'm looking for something or I regret something, I can see it again. Who knows why I do what I do?

I'm really into vintage fans lately. My dad gave me a cool one that sits on top of our fridge that I probably will never part with {it was my grandpa's originally}. I liked this one a lot because the base is light blue. I wasn't a fan of the center being orange, which is probably why I passed it up. I did buy another smaller one that was a gorgeous rusty brown and I will put it for sale when Gather opens this spring.

I love this adding machine. If it wasn't so out of my price range, I would have purchased it to sit on my counter at Gather for no real purpose at all, just because it's cool to look at. Maybe someday I'll find one that's in my budget {I also found, but didn't photograph, the coolest vintage cash register...it was also out of my price range}.

Back to my love for vintage kitchen scales. Did you know I collect these? I only have a few because I'm very particular about the ones I'll buy, but I'm in love with them. I'm pretty sure I have scales in almost every room in my house, even though they were meant for the kitchen.

Another vintage scale. I didn't look at it close enough to actually figure out what it measured, but I thought it was pretty cool looking.

And finally, some gauges. I found these in the cutest booth, and I love the way she styled all of her products. These were actually pretty affordable, but I just went in to browse last night and didn't plan on buying too much.

I did walk away with some  jello molds, the little fan, and a florist's frog for displaying things. If it wasn't so stinking sharp, I think it would make an adorable business card holder. I know how clumsy I am though, and I'm pretty likely to prick my finger on something like that.

I try to schedule time at least once a week, no matter how busy I am, to go thrifting or to small antique stores or to browse Craigslist. I love the idea that I never know what I'm looking for or what I'll find. It's always surprising what I walk away with, and how inspired I am after I'm done. I called my husband last night to see if he wanted to meet me and walk around with me. I thought it was so cool to see him pointing out things he loved or was interested in, and even things he knew I was looking for or would find interesting. Antiques and junk aren't really his thing, but as always, he's so supportive of what I love that he never minds helping me out or spending time doing something I'm interested in. I'm blessed to have him in my life.

I'm filing this in the Gather posts, because there's no real updates on the store, unfortunately. Life should be slowing down in the next week or so and then it's back to work. I'm actually aching to start creating for Gather and get the building ready to start staging and filling with product!

Have a great Thursday, I'll be back tomorrow with my Project Life Week 4 layout.