Happy Mother's Day

...to all the wonderful mamas and grandmas out there.

This was my gift this year:

My youngest graduated from college a couple of days ago.  I'm one proud, happy mom!

Have a great holiday!

Favorite Blogs

I have an unexpected day off from work, so I've been catching up on my blog reading.

Here are a few I want to share with you.  I hope you'll enjoy them, too.

http://www.modvintagelife.blogspot.com/

http://beautydoesmatter.blogspot.com/

http://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/

http://pinteresttoldmeto.blogspot.com/

http://www.thelaurenelizabeth.com/

http://shannonberrey.com/shannonberreydesign.htm

http://www.styleyourlifeblog.com/

http://www.everywhereist.com/

Tragedy

Words are not enough.  May God be with us all.

Easter

Easter Decor

I have a display cabinet in the living room that I use for holiday and seasonal decorating.  Here is a  picture of the spring/Easter decor so far.

I'm linking up with How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday.

Easter Decorations

The first preview of my Easter decor:

More to come! Thanks for visiting.

Pink Saturday

Pink Saturday: What's Pink on My Desk?

Hello and welcome to the weekend!

I'm joining the folks at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday.  Please go over and visit!

I'm a huge lover of all things pink, and I have managed to incorporate it into almost every aspect of my life, including my desk at work!

A little picture that hangs from my monitor

A sweet picture of Paris, some folders, and a pencil

My monitor's background

Even hand sanitizer!

Do you have anything pink where you work?

I hope your weekend is splendid!

~Melissa

Belated Mardi Gras

I know today is Valentine's Day, but I wanted to put up pictures of my Mardi Gras tree before it got really late!  I like to decorate for Mardi Gras because my husband is half Cajun.

This is the little "Charlie Brown" tree we have in our living room.  It becomes increasingly beaten up as my cats abuse it more each day.

Here are a few of the special decorations.

I hope you had a festive Mardi Gras and are having a lovely Valentine's Day!

Gift Card Giveaway!

Please visit Melissa at Creating from the Heart and enter for a chance to win a $200 Visa gift card!

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

~Melissa

Book Review: If You Were Here

If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster

Mia and her husband Mac have just ventured into home ownership.  They’ve purchased a very special house (which I won’t tell you a lot about so as not to give too much away).  Commonalities we’ve all faced with homes are the repairs needed, and Jen Lancaster manages to infuse humor into describing them.  Anything that can go wrong does go wrong with this house.  Plus, they have a menagerie of pets that factor into the hilarity.

The author has written some equally funny autobiographies that I love, so I was interested in this book, which is her first attempt at fiction.  She did a great job!  Mia and Mac are both likeable, and anyone who has purchased a “used” home can relate to some of their story.

If you’re looking for a light, entertaining read, I highly recommend If You Were Here.

Valentine Tree

I wanted to give you all a peek at my little Valentine tree that we keep in our living room.  It gets decorated for various holidays.

I'll be decorating it for Mardi Gras soon!

Thanks for visiting.  I'm joining up with How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday.

Bookbub.com

Here is an easy way to get free or low-cost books for eReaders!

I joined BookBub about a year ago and I've found so many great books this way.  It's free to join.  You set up your preferences and they send you a daily email with suggestions for you.  At least one of the suggestions is free, and the others range from .99 to $2.99.

I highly recommend this site!

Small Winter Clothing Haul!

There have been so many excellent sales lately, both in stores and online.

Here are a couple of things I've picked up from Forever 21:

 Don't you love the elbow patches on that sweater?

These were purchased at Old Navy:

I couldn't pass this jewelry up.  Each piece was only $1.99!

Thanks for stopping by and have a good day.  I'm joining up with A Lovely Blog Hop.

Cupcake Card

I have a new card in my Etsy shop.  You can probably tell by now that I'm obsessed with cupcakes!

I promise this blog won't turn into just an advertisement for my shop.  I'm just excited about it and the novelty hasn't quite worn off yet!

I hope everyone is having a great week so far.

Book Review - Three Moons Over Sedona

I thought I'd share some thoughts about books I've read lately.  I don't know how regular a feature this will be.  I love to read book reviews by "regular" people.  It gives me inspiration for what to put on my to-be-read list.

Three Moons Over Sedona was written by Sherry Hartzler, and it's a book I downloaded from Amazon.  It usually costs a few dollars, but when I found it it was free.

The protagonist is an Ohio woman in her 50s named Georgia Mae.  As the book opens, she has recently become a widow.  She is surviving but not really living.  On a whim one day, she decides to take a drive in her late husband's classic car.  She ends up taking quite a road trip and her final destination is Sedona, AZ.

The book discusses the journey she takes while dealing with grief and betrayal, and the characters she meets along the way.  There is Zoe, who owns a gift shop, and Trish, a cafe owner.  Both of them have some mysteries in their pasts.  Last but not least is Doc, an attractive retired physician.

I really enjoyed this book.  It kept my attention and I read it pretty quickly.  The character development was good and the author is pretty adept at dialogue.  The setting of the book, Sedona, is a picturesque area that was woven nicely into the story.

The only part that bothered me was Georgia Mae's tendency to quickly lose her temper with others.  In retrospect though I think that was part of her "rebirth."  She was pretty mousey when her husband was alive, and we get to see her begin to stand up for herself and her needs.

I want to mention a site called BookBub.com.  If you have an eReader, sign up with this site and you will receive a daily e-mail with book bargains, at least one of which is free.  That is how I've found some pretty good books to download to my Kindle.

Happy reading!

Pink Saturday

Hi, friends!  I hope this post finds you all well!

I recently realized that as much as I like pink, I don't have much in the way of pink accessories.  I've started to change that with a recent order I placed with Forever 21.  They have such cute, affordable jewelry and clothes!

Filigree Heart Necklace (link)

Beaded Hoop Earrings (link)

I plan to wear these together.  Aren't they adorable?

Have a great weekend and thanks for visiting me.  Please go over to How Sweet the Sound and visit a few more bloggers!

Etsy Shop

I've opened my own little Etsy shop.  So far I only have a few things listed, but I will be adding more.

Mariposa Paper Crafts

Please come over and say hello!

Cupcakes!

I thought this was fun and wanted to share.  I decorated a gift bag with a cupcake decoration that I made!  I used my Sizzix.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I'm linking up with Pink Saturday.

Happy New Year!

My Christmas decor has been taken down, but I kept a small tree up to see us through winter.  Currently, it's decorated with white, blue, and silver.  It's about four feet tall.  Come February 1st, I'll probably put Valentine decorations on it.  I might even decorate it for Easter.  I'll have to see whether or not my cats have driven me to drink by then.  They love the tree, too, and don't like to leave it alone.

Head on over to join Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday!  Thanks for visiting me, and have a great weekend!