saturday lovin' - march edition

welcome to the second round of saturday lovin' where i round up all the fun links i have come across over the past {insert random amount of time here*} and share them with you!

*remember how i said it wouldn't be a series and i'd try to post once or twice a month? this is me keeping that promise. ;)

it's been an interesting month around neathering our fest. i've really stepped out and share a few things that were really bothering me and wrote a little more openly than in the past. and you know what - i've loved it. i have loved sharing with you and being lifted up by you! it has been a great month of learning and growth for me and i have a lot of you to thank for it! so from the bottom of my heart...

thank you!!

in the interest of keeping tradition, i want to start off with an amazing recipe we had from jessica at how sweet eats. i seriously want to shove just about everything this girl makes into my face.



chicken enchilada spaghetti. try it. for real. it will change your life.

have you seen my sponsor the cinnamon bears? stephanie makes the most adorable little dollies. she just listed some new ones in her shop...



i think this little guy, henry, is my favorite. i love the winnie the pooh shirt!

i've been giving some thought (sometimes serious, sometimes not) to switching over to wordpress one day. but i'm cheap thrifty. so i want to do it myself. but that scares me yall!



until i found this book! it is a complete, step by step, simple to read and understand on how to make the switch yourself. i've gotten a few chapters in and it's been very informative and makes it much less scary!

melissa at so chick! has some of the cutest bags. i'm crushing on this one:



the julie wristlet

cassie from ccy designs has been churning out some serious inspirational prints. i'm loving this one



and her new easter ones too! :)

this website is hilarious and makes me smile.

kelli at eat, pray, read, love is doing something phenomenal. i won't steal her thunder - but you seriously have to read this post.

i am blessed to be a part of a group of bloggers that have joined together for inspiration, encouragement and mentoring. we had a meeting about a month ago and have another one coming up soon! we all wrote posts about the meetings (which you can read here, here, here, here, and here).



having a group of girls who share the same interests to bounce around ideas with has been awesome! i highly encourage finding a tribe and learning from/with each other!

kasey at buttonwood cottage needs to make about 300 pair of these for me, one in every color for almost every day of the year.



ruffled arm warmers

my best friend liz is getting marrieeeeeeeeeeeed!!! i have started a pinterest board dedicated to her wedding. i am SO excited about this! :)

this roadmap to action is my new favorite resource.



purchase it here!

i won this in a giveaway the other day and i am seriously crushing on everything in this etsy shop.



gorgeous, no?

and finally - i want an iphone. like for real. so if you want to know what to get me for my birthday coming up (wink wink) just a visa gift card to put towards a new phone would be great. or anything off of my "for when i have an iphone" pinterest board. although most of it will be useless without the phone. ;)


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meeting manda

my first in real life, choreographed, planned, and executed blogger meet up was everything i hoped it would be and nothing i expected it to be.

let me explain.



i had the absolute immense pleasure of meeting manda from elf house chronicles last weekend on a quick trip to texas. manda is awesome. we both grew up in tiny towns and can both relate to what that means.

in case you are wondering - i means your parents do, in fact, know everything you do, news travels faster than lightning, and the cops don't pull you over they just wait for you to get home because they all know where you live. so yes, growing up in mayberry definitely has some drawbacks.

anyways - back to the original story.

manda drove to a city smaller than both the towns we grew up in and met me, my husband, and my dad in a smoke filled country cafe for breakfast. having a blind-blogger-date with one person is probably nerve wracking enough. but meeting their husband and their dad at the same time? yikes.

manda took it all with flying colors. we chatted about everything over coffee and french toast: deer hunting stories, the ways of the united methodist church, wedding plans, stories of my childhood i'd rather just forget... dad even talked about mom which was really awesome. he typically doesn't talk much about her in front of strangers. i guess manda isn't a stranger. ;)

it was like having breakfast with an old friend i happened to run into. in that way, it was everything i expected it to be. there was very little awkwardness and only a couple of lulls in the conversation. (thank goodness for my secret weapon - my husband can keep a conversation going with a pine tree.)

but in some ways - it was kind of a let down. in my head i expected like balloons and streamers to burst out of nowhere when amanda walked in and everyone in the restaurant to stand up and clap, congratulating us on actually doing it!

yay! you finally did it! you met a blogger! congratulations YOU!

clearly, that did NOT happen. i don't know why i was expecting it to be more exciting than it ended up being. i just had this whole scene built up in my head and playing over and over in my mind that there would be like a mini party and there would be confetti and party horns involved

and perhaps, in my mind, when manda walked in there was a halo of light around her and some imaginary celebratory horns were playing a fun song.

i guess the point to all this is the truth behind expectations. i don't know why i had all these crazy ideas in my mind about a jubilation when manda opened the doors. it is kind of ridiculous and a little immature now that i think about it.  i guess since most of my friendships online are limited to that, just a quick internet connection between two people, i romanticized what it would be like to form that bond in person.

by no means am i disappointed or let down by our breakfast.

it was simple. it was honest. i felt no pressure that i had to live up to this person i had created online. and i expected manda to be exactly who she portrayed herself to be through her blog and she was. and that was such a reassuring thing. my heart is full to know that i'm myself and she is herself on our blogs and that we are both truly representing who we are in real life on our slice of the web-o-sphere.

so maybe there wasn't a party when the doors opened and the spotlight didn't actually shine on manda as she entered, stage left. perhaps that is because we are really just two normal people who share our lives online. there is no party to veil who we are online - why should i have expected there to be one in real life?

anyways - this all just got me to thinkin about blogging vs. real life and it thought i'd share my thoughts with you. :)

would you rather have someone say "wow! you are exactly who i expected you to be!" or "she was totally different than i thought!" if they met you face to face? just a little something to get your wheels turnin



ps - i'd also like to mention that manda is so so SO cute. i mean - the girl can pull of yellow jeans! i was so impressed! i thought you looked like a million bucks girl! x to the o!

back at it

after the holidays i took a really looooong break from painting. i just wasn't really feeling into it and wanted to concentrate on my notecards and subway art.

i suppose the Lord done had different plans for me because over the course of about 2 weeks i got orders for several signs from friends and family. i'm not going to lie - i took my sweet time getting to them and wanted to make sure i was fully back in the groove before i got started.

i was also a little discouraged because i had a perfect system before the holidays of how i painted my signs and the loss of my computer (and therefore microsoft publisher) kind of threw a hitch in my giddy-up. i had to figure some things out before i could fully commit to doing signs 100% again.

luckily i think i have it somewhat figured out. so anyways - here is a look at a couple of signs i've made lately for my friends!



my friend leanne's sister got married on march 10th. through a bit of a process of deciding what to have on there we finally decided on the words to a meaningful song, their names and the wedding date. you can read the entire story here.



as i finished up i thought it was looking a little bland so i just free-handed some doodly things in the corners for some extra color. turns out those are pretty much identical to the design on their invitation. pretty cool! :)





my friend sarah asked me to paint their last name for a specific spot in their kitchen. she is a fabulous cook so i know they spend a lot of time in the kitchen and i know they will think of me every time they look at their pretty sign.



sarah and i have been friends like forevers. every time i visit somewhere i try to remember and grab a magnet for her kitchen wall. she has a huge collection that finally over-ran her fridge and she painted her wall with magnetic paint to display the overflow.



i have a couple more in the works - one that is taking me forever to finish because it is huge and intricate. i can't wait to show it to yall!

what have you been working on lately?

easy peasy meal planning

i don't know about most of you, but this is a truer-than-true statement for me. i'm the kinda gal that likes to discuss what we are having for lunch right about the time we are taking the last few bites of breakfast. am i alone?

you could also say i'm kiiiiiind of a planner. (insert sarcasm here). i love to plan everything and anything. vacations. parties. youth functions. days. hours. minutes. meals.

meal planning is great because it gives me peace of mind concerning things like what my next meal will be, how much work it will take to get it on the table, and how much to budget for it. if the rest of my day is totally crazy and i get absolutely nothing done that i had planned, having a meal plan reminds me that one thing will always go according to plan.

i have tried a few different ways, lengths of time, methods, rotations, etc. and i have finally found one that is EASY and works well for me. here's to hoping it works well for you too!


{psst - if you pin this post please use this image}

here is the general layout:

each week we have one protein.
each day has a specific theme.

so let's say we are talking week one of the month. our protein will be chicken.

on monday, i throw a bag of frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot with some carrots and frozen chopped onions, a little salt and pepper, and a splash of chicken broth. set it on low for the entire day. when i get home - all of my protein is done for the entire week. i use my kitchen aid mixer to shred the chicken and put it in a big glass bowl with a lid.

the hardest part of my meal for each night is essentially D O N E. all i have to do is throw a few more ingredients together for the meal and add a quick side and voila! dinner!

now i realize that having chicken every night for a week probably sounds lame and boring. here is where the themed nights come in!

monday - american - broccoli chicken and rice
tuesday - italian - three cheese chicken alfredo bake
wednesday - mexican - chicken enchiladas with red sauce
thursday - leftovers
friday - breakfast (for this specific week it is just pancakes and bacon)
saturday - chinese - spicy noodles with chicken and thai peanut sauce
sunday - leftovers for lunch + we have dinner with the youth at church

because it is just the two of us, i can usually split meals in two and freeze half of them for later and still have PLENTY left for lunches and leftover dinners. if you are feeding a small army you will obviously have to adjust portions, etc.

as far as where i get, keep, store and organize my meals - you can thank the pinterest gods for that. i have a meal planning board for each month and when i find a recipe i like i just pin it to that board. i go back later and add the recipe to the coordinating night/week on my calendar.

so that is my brilliant, easy, and simple meal plan. i have been doing it for about four weeks now and i can honestly say i love it. and chris hasn't been bored once with a meal.

at least not that i am aware of... he is a smart man so he may just not be telling me. ;)

thoughts?

two sweet treats + embarassing pictures

howdy folksies! i have got a super sweet treat for you today!

well - i suppose it is two if you want to get all technical on me.

first of all - my friend sarah is here to hook you guys up with a quick and easy recipe. sarah is the awesome. she is hilarious and makes adorable babies. she is the bloggy lady behind the cootie queen - and no it isn't about lice.

secondly - she is whipping up for you guys a really yummy lookin' sweet treat! (see what i did there?) please be the gracious hostesses i know you all are and welcome my friendy-friend sarah!



Hello lovely Neathering our Fest readers! I'm Sarah, and I'm lucky enough to be one of Skye's in-real-life friends AND bloggy buddies. Far out! I've known Skye for... well, like forever? It's been awhile... let's just say that. Skye's cousin, Jen, has been my BFF since I was 12... that's 24 years. Ouch. (If you can do simple math, you now know how old I am. Tricky!). Anyway... I met Skye when I was in high school, I think. Which would have put her in middle school. Awwww. We really got to know each other when Skye would come to Dallas and hang with us... and we had lots of fun being in Jen's wedding together. Skye can pretty much make any old normal night fun though. She's cool like that. Y'all wanna see a picture? OK!



Ha! That's our resident Rindercella there on the left, a large plastic Santa in the middle, and yours truly on the right. ...and we're pretending to lick the Santa. Why? You ask? Why not, I say! ... This pic makes me giggle.

Moving on! I'm over here guest posting on Neathering our Fest to show you guys a deeeelicious cookie recipe. My husband told me about these macaroons his mom used to make every Christmas, and he loved them. So I asked her for the recipe and fell in love myself. Get this... Only 4 ingredients. And get THIS... No measuring! Um, hellloooo perfect cookie recipe! I kind of put off getting the recipe from her because I absolutely loathe coconut. Therefore I do not normally like macaroons. But when I saw only 4 ingredients and they were easy as pie to make, I figured I could whip them up and the Hubs would be happy and I wouldn't care if I didn't get to eat any. Good plan, right? Except I absolutely adore these cookies. They are sooooo good. Coconut and all! So let's get to it!

My Mother-in-law's Macaroons

Here's what you'll need:



A bag of Baker's Angel Flake Sweetened Coconut, mini-chocolate chips, a can of sweetened condensed milk, and some vanilla. You can totally make these with regular size chocolate chips if you can't find the mini's. You can also make them with milk chocolate chips if you prefer those over semi-sweet.



Next just dump the whole bag of coconut, the can of condensed milk, 1/2 the bag of chocolate chips, and about 2 tsp of vanilla... just eyeball it. I've never measured vanilla before in my life. I encourage you to do the same. Just pour some in there... ;)



Now get in there and mix it up. This batter is super sticky, so go with a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon. Just make sure everything is incorporated. Use a mixer if you want too... Whatever floats your boat!



Now scoop! The original recipe says to drop these on a generously greased cookie sheet by the teaspoonful. That's TEAspoonful. As in the little one... tiny little bites of cookies these are. And you really need to spray the heck out of your cookie sheet, too. They're sticky little suckers. I really don't have the patience to drop these by the teaspoonful, so I started using my smallest scoop and I just make sure the batter is not tightly packed in there. Keep it loose, yo.



Since there isn't anything in these cookies to make them rise or poof or go crazy when you cook them you can squeeze quite a few on one sheet.

Now bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. If you use a teaspoon and not a scoop go for 15 minutes and keep an eye on them. The key to these little beauties is to make sure to cook them long enough. When they start to brown ignore your instinct, shut the oven and let them go another 2 or 3 minutes. They should look almost burned.



I could have let this batch go another 2 minutes and still been a-ok. But letting cookies "burn" makes me twitchy.



While you've got the cookies in the oven get a metal spatula and a stick it in a pot of simmering water. Just trust me on this one. I ignored this advice the first few times I made these. Don't make the same mistake.

When the cookies are done take them out of the oven and immediately transfer them with your spatula you've had in hot water. Dip it back in the hot water after every couple of cookies. Again... they're sticky. This helps get them off the spatula in one piece.



Cool them on some parchment paper.



They should be at least this browned on the bottom. A little browner is better. Now make sure your dental work is secure and dig in. They're bite size little beauties.



Try them. Even if you don't like coconut. Trust me on this one! And ignore my little test patch of teal nail polish. Sorry about that... it's distracting! Enjoy!



My Mother-in-law's Macaroons:

1 Bag Baker's Angel Flake Sweetened Coconut
1 cup(ish) mini chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together until everything is incorporated nicely. Scoop by the teaspoonful (or use a small loosely packed scoop) onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes in a 350-degree oven until browned. Remove with a spatula onto parchment paper immediately after removing from the oven. Dip spatula into hot water between cookies to help with cookie removal.

If you'd like to see more of my recipes or perhaps some pictures of my freakishly cute sons (one of 'em has arm rolls... be warned), come visit me at the cootie queen! And a big thanks to Skye for having me over to her little slice of the Internet. Bye now!

That is all,
Sarah



and just for fun - here are some more pictures from the same era:



please don't be jealous of my uber-coolness. there is plenty to be spread around.



sarah and my cousin jen in the front, adrian (other girlfriend) and i in the back



me and my cousin jennifer



and i would be totally remiss if i didn't include this lovely picture. it totally makes me giggle!

in full bloom linky party{featuring knitted simplicity!}

kelsey and i are thrilled to welcome you to the first post of our new series:

in full bloom: helping grow your indie biz!

the first indie biz feature honors go to my gorgeous friend sarah and her lovely shop knitted simplicity


{blog | facebook | pinterest | hello cotton | twitter}

who or what encouraged you to start your indie biz?
I have been a stay at home mom for the past few years - out of necessity - because we have a child with special needs. I began my little business as a way to try to contribute something to the family, even if it was just that little extra income to support my knitting hobby!

what is the hardest challenge you have as an indie biz owner?
To me, the hardest part has been getting my name out there. Not just for my business, but blogging in general. There are SO many crafty ladies with shops out there. I am not a "professional" knitter, but offer some simple hand knit goods. Trying to come up with an inventory of things people really want to see is also a challenge.

what is some helpful advice you would offer other indie biz owners?
Look into the product you're offering. Don't overprice things, but try not to sell yourself short either! Offer coupons and try to promote yourself where you can.

what is the ultimate goal you have for your indie biz?
I want to offer quality knit goods to ladies - for themselves or to give as gifts - at an affordable price. I want to have fun doing it too!


hand knit winter headband
Hands down, this headband has been the top seller in my shop. It comes in several colors. As with any item, I'm willing to venture out into other colors if you don't see them listed!


reusable coffee sleeve
I have also had an on-going fundraiser for a friend's adoption fund. $3 from the sale of ANY coffee sleeve is going to her fund.


♥ ♥ ♥


there are many reasons that i love sarah, her shop and beautifully knitted items being one of them for sure. but the main reason i love her is because this girl lets the Holy Spirit move through her blog like no other. she can write some wicked inspirational words in her posts that are so moving and wonderful. you would be remiss to not check out her blog too!

thanks sarah for letting me feature your sparkly awesomeness today!



want to join in on the fun?

sign up for the newsletter!

click here to sign up for the newsletter to get inside info on the shops we are featuring and upcoming in full bloom news!

link up your shop below!

here the guidelines to linking up your shop! remember that once you link up your shop will appear both here and on kelsey's blog too! double the fun!

1. link up shops/shop platforms only. please do not link to a specific item, a blog post about your shop, your blog (unless your shop platform is hosted on your blog) or anything other than your beautiful shop.

2. after you link up, visit two or three of the other shops that have linked up and tweet, pin, or facebook about your favorite item from their shops!

3. if you have a blog and want to help spread the word, feel free to add this button to your sidebar:


are you linking up your shop?
share the button on your blog!
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sponsor shopping the cinnamon bears

yall. on the real i have been very impatiently waiting to share this lovely shop with you. stephanie was referred to me by kelly (my friend from view along the way - what's up homie!) and the moment i clicked over to her shop i was totally hooked. i don't want to spoil the surprise so hurry and read on so you can get to the gorgeous pictures!

When did you open your shop?
Just last November, around Thanksgiving 2011. My initial plan was to make dolls until the new year, and open my shop in January, but I am extremely pleased to say that too many folks were already trying to place orders, so I was able to open earlier.



How did you learn to do what you do?
Slowly. It took me a while to conquer my fear of the sewing machine. I am the type of person that has a hard time starting something if I don't have a thorough understanding of how to do it - I do NOT like trial and error. That bobbin had me stumped for a while, thank goodness for YouTube! My first completed sewing project was a quilt for my friend's baby, and the amazing feeling of accomplishment that came when I finished it fueled my desire to try out new projects. I always thought it would be so neat to sew dolls, so I searched for a template and tried out a very simple pattern. After I made a couple of dolls, I changed a few things on the template and tried again. Over the next few weeks I came up with an original template, designed my own little doll face, and ended up with something completely my own.



Where do you find your inspiration?
My main source of crafty inspiration has always been and will always be my grandmothers, Millie and Joanne. They each used to sew clothes, knit, and crochet. My Nana (Millie) would knit baby hats and blankets to donate to hospitals, and she made me Christmas and Easter dresses every year. She sewed each of us grandkids an adorable stuffed bunny, as well as numerous quilts and clothes. My Mommom (Joanne) made her own wedding gown in 1950, baby clothes for her kids, and three prom dresses for my mom. She taught my mom how to sew, and she later taught me (if I would have paid better attention I wouldn't have needed YouTube so often, but I digress). It is my desire to carry on their trades and hopefully one day I will teach my own children.



What is your favorite handmade shop?
Oh dear, this is a hard one. Seriously. But if I have to pick only one, I'm going to go with Whichgoose on Etsy. I've drooled over her gorgeous nature inspired accessories for years and even wore one of her flower crowns in my wedding.



What is your favorite product in your shop?
I only carry two basic (though highly customizable) products at the moment, but I think the regular sized (14" dolls) are my favorite. They are exactly the type of dolls I would have loved to play with as a young girl, and I really love how each one is completely unique. I have such a great time making them because it feels like I'm giving birth to a new little character!



Give us one tip for aspiring handmade artists!
Don't be afraid to try something new, whether it's a technique, material, or tool you have never used before. You have nothing to lose! Take as long as you need to find your niche. Brainstorm. Make lists. You have what it takes! And if you stick with what you love, chances are others will love it too.



one word: love. LOVE. LOOOOOOOVE. ;)

hurry and go swipe one of these precious little dollies up for your little!!

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