Goodbye 2011

It was a great year. Full of surprises and wrapped in pink. Thank you for experiencing it with me! I thought it might be fun to take a look back ...

I started the year off embracing Pantone's new color - Honeysuckle (hot pink) and soon found out that they could not have made a better choice.

I left for a road trip in the middle of January and when I came back my daughter told me she was going to have one of these ... it was not long before we found out that pink was to be our color of the year too.

I used the softest pink in a precious client's new nursery ...

And a brighter pink in a room for a couple of darling little girls ... 

It was the color of fall ...

And even winter outside our house ...

I used it for wrapping ...

And it was just perfect for this precious little girl ...

But in design, I couldn't seem to get turquoise out of my mind ...

I used it everywhere ...

They seemed to go well together ... the old and the new ...

And that is what my daughter chose for her sweet daughter's nursery ...

We had the crib painted to match!

It turned out to be one of my busiest years ever. From small jobs ...

To large ...

Whether residential ...

Or commercial ...

My favorite part of every job was the people I worked with. 

I styled weddings ...

And showers ...

Bookcases ...

And walls ...

There were jobs that I finished in one day ...

And others that took many ...

And for all of them I am grateful. It was a wonderful year.

Thank you for coming along for the ride ... for your comments, and prayers and kind thoughts. For continuing to read what I write even when I am terrible about writing back. It was great getting to know you!

2012 ... here I we come!

Christmas is over

I've been a little awol this week ...

{image}

My allergies have gotten the best of me.  But we had a lovely Christmas (although exhausting!). 

We started Christmas morning with a simple and casual breakfast (eggs, sausage, fried potatoes) ...

Our stockings were full - I made paper chains with things that I love about each family member (even the dog).

None of our stockings match and a few have many holes. I have thought about replacing them  but my kids won't let me and honestly I am okay with that. I like that they are sentimental about their stockings. I really love the stocking for our newest addition to our family.

{One Lucky Baby}

She thoroughly enjoyed her first Christmas. I sure hope someone else took good photos because I didn't!

We had a full house for a week which was wonderful but now everyone is gone ... and I have started the daunting task of packing up Christmas. Honestly, it shouldn't be daunting because I didn't use much of my Christmas decor this year but I am re-organizing all of it so that it is easier to find what I want next year.

I bought this system from The Container Store - I am hoping it will make next year's unpacking and packing easier. I love that I can see each ornament quickly, everything is uniform and I don't have to unwrap (and then re-wrap) tons of tissue paper to get to the ornaments (my old system). 

For more tips about packing away Christmas, check out my post from last year! Have you started putting your stuff away yet? Isn't it awful how bare your house looks at first?

The best gift

{pinterest}

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:8-12 

{source & free image download}

My pink and tangerine Christmas

I am really enjoying my-pink-themed-Christmas this year ...

Bringing in next year's color (tangerine) has made me like it even more ...

I added tangerines to the candy gifts I usually give out and they are perfect for a boost of color (and health!)

I made tags to help explain my reason behind the tangerines ... and I am ignoring that they aren't really the exact color.

Everything is done and waiting for delivery!

I love the combination of the blanket throw, the tangerines and the candy ... it feels like a good mix. 

The house feels festive with the bright and pretty colors ...

And I can't wait for Christmas morning!!!

Gift tags

I just got back from a fast and intense trip up to Berkeley to pick up my youngest daughter for Christmas and help her move out of her apartment. On the way I stopped by to visit my oldest daughter and her husband and play with this little girl ...

{Adi - 13 weeks}

I spent the day with with them and in the evening we drove around looking at Christmas lights and stopped by a Christmas tree lot. The lot was really disappointing and way overpriced for what they had left so we gathered up some branches and made our own little tree.

Did you see these ornaments at Target this year? I love the bright colors and cute little animals & they were only $1.00 each! Next year when Adi is older she will be able to touch them without breaking them and they would even make a cute little crib mobile after Christmas.

I left their house early the next morning, drove four hours to Berkeley, helped my youngest pack up her stuff, made four trips to storage, one trip to her new apartment, one trip to the Goodwill, had dinner at the best Mexican restaurant in town (best Sangria ever), loaded up the car with what was coming home, did a quick room clean-up and drove four hours back to spend the night with my other daughter again. It was the fastest trip I have ever taken! But oh, so productive!!!

Speaking of productive, before I left I had played around with some gift tags for for a little project I am working on. I like to make my own tags for my "neighbor gifts" (candy, cookies, spiced nuts or cheese balls usually) but by the time I am at that point to make tags, I am usually behind schedule and quickly put something together.

{Last year's  New Year's gifts - I gave out pink champagne in honor of the new color of the new year ... Honeysuckle.} 

But this year, I am ahead of schedule and wanted to play around with some nicer tags. It all started when I found these beautiful white soft fleece blankets at Ikea for $3.49 each ...

I couldn't resist them.

I thought I would use them as neighbor gifts this year ... and so I started thinking about ways to present them.

First I found an image of a chevron fabric on the computer, dragged the image into Microsoft Word and tweaked the color. Next I added a text box and came up with this:

I printed up a few to test them out and then realized I was out of ink and had to stop. But I am liking the direction they are going. 

Off to get more ink ...

The joy of Christmas

I love this quote that I found in my daughter's apartment last year and recently came across ... it kind of sums up what Christmas is really about for me; the story of baby Jesus being born to save us ... and is also a promise I am claiming for myself ...

And speaking of the Christmas story ...

This is possibly the cutest video ever and I had to share! Hope you are having a blessed Sunday!