[diy] : "jot it down" notepad

this is super easy & can also be used as a great gift for anyone. all i did was design the note pad paper with fun colors & fonts, backed it with some card stock and tied my new bakers twine around the top...making it easy to pull lists out from the bottom! and most importantly unique and cheap to make :) great for friends at the office or teachers! enjoy. 

embrace the camera : march 31st

this week- i am embracing my husband :) yes- mr. starkey deserves some recognition. he is an excellent daddy to our daughter- madison and i am so lucky. today in between our madness of a day (between work, school, and work again) we met at Sheetz for gas & coffee. it's those little things that make a big difference in your day (especially since we're both so busy) Nothing like an extra pump of caramel in my frappuccino ;)  you like that metaphor?  Get it? haha! I love you husband!

thank you. thank you.

thank you so much to Arianna from welcome to my silly life for another stylish blogger award. as mentioned in prior posts- I love the world of bloggers. people are so nice and generous. i do really appreciate Arianna for passing my blog along to others and awarding me the stylish blogger award. please check out her blog. she is just so cute! also if you'd like to read more about the award you can find more information here. she also mentions a lot of other adorable blogs you really should check out. thanks again Arianna! 

Sophie @ Babes & Sages

my order from my dearest friend Sophie arrived! she does great work and offers the cutest flower hair pieces as well as necklaces. she is so talented and i wanted to share some of her stuff that i ordered from her beautiful shop called babes & sages. she also has a gorgeous blog and you can find her here.  i wanted to write a quick post showing off her work not only because i adore her &  items but- just in case any of my followers are looking for some adorable hand crafted jewelry & hair pieces. enjoy & buy something! [obviously my daughter pulls things off much better than i do-- but these adorable hair accessories are great for the on go the mommy]

two blog awards in one week

wow- i am shocked- two blog awards in one week-- so excited. thank you so much to Heart Felt Balance for awarding me another stylish blog award along with the one lovely blog award- which was only awarded to mommies with blogs. how sweet is she for the beautiful words above [& how darn cute is her name- heart felt] i love the world of bloggers. people are just so sweet. please go check out her blog & check out the other mommies who won awards- there are some great bloggers out there! please go read more about the award.

Rocco's Senior Photos

Stylish Blogger Award

thank you so much to A Helicopter Mom for awarding me (and a few other great bloggers) the stylish blogger award. i am so honored that you felt my blog was worth sharing and awarding. you really did make my day... ok who am i kidding, my entire week! i was so excited when i found out and i appreciate the support. thank you and please go check out her lovely blog. You can read more about this award here. 

[diy] : birthday/thank you notes

i loved making these :) so easy and such a cute way to show someone your thinking of them...and shockingly less expensive than store bought cards. have you priced those lately? gessh! anyways- my bakers twine should be arriving soon! i cannot wait to make cards with my twine- in the meantime- these will have to do. and i think they are great!

the only benefit of my husband working retail

a picnic out in our backyard...that is the only benefit of my husband's sporadic retail schedule. and it was lovely. just me & my family under the tree with the sun beating down on our faces. and must i say- drinking orange soda out of a silly straw is much more fun! i miss my husband when he is gone...we love you daddy!

a great wednesday

does anyone else agree that chick-fil-a is most likely the best child friendly environment they have ever been too? every time i go to chick-fil-a- they make everything easy. such a nice, clean & safe jungle gym (or as Mad would call it- a jungle bin). we did that for lunch today. we played in the jungle gym for 45 mins. then off to a small book store that was once an old school house.  it's the cutest little place with cheap books- i got a whole stack for only $14. 00 and Madison picked them out herself. overall- a great day in motherhood so i thought i'd share :) these are mostly from my phone so sorry for the poor quality photos. 

old friends come together

there really isn't anything better than just a bunch of old friends coming together for celebration- a friend of mine is about to begin her journey as a new mother and in celebration we all attended her baby shower. it was so great to sit down and catch up with some old friends. i think it inspired me to maybe throw a party? or a girls night?

early sunday morning

so it's an early sunday morning, and the time changes today as well. i know this photo is blurry but my phone doesn't make it easy to take pictures. anyways- happy sunday. i enjoyed listening to my daughter mumble in our bed this am- obviously it didn't bother her daddy one bit. 

[squeak squeak]

not a whole lot to blog about the past few days- busy at work & at home. but last night we gave squeak squeak a bath and cleaned her cage- so in honor of that, madison wanted to take a few photos of her and her pet hamster. i have no energy to edit these- enjoy. 

Disney Princesses on Ice

...a huge success. thanks to my sister heidi for the idea and for the prizes for the girls- we had a great family night & madison was just so happy :) she is still talking about it this morning. and yes her daddy did dress up like a prince. 

[diy]. candy/pencil thank you jars

"And we like to drink our beer from a mason jar"--not really but i am obsessed with mason jars. I put everything in mason jars (and my sister always teases me about this odd obsession) i think they are so cute and can be used for almost anything tiny! anyways- this post  is my newest craft. I am always looking for cute, affordable, unique gifts to tell people "thank you" and i think this is a great way to do that! glue some of your favorite fabric and ribbon around a mason jar with a cute tag- and fill with candy, cookies, or even pencils (great for teachers). I love these because you can make them for any holiday...and I plan too! Keep checking back for new craft ideas & fun things!