James Avery Jewelry

A few weeks ago, I received a catalog from James Avery in the mail.  Usually, I toss catalogs directly into the recycle bin, but this catalog was different.  It was heavy card stock, had a cool bracelet on the cover and was not overdone.  In fact, it begged me to open the cover and to shop it's contents.  When I opened the cover, I found a lot of interesting pieces at decent prices.  The sterling silver pieces are actually quite reasonable.   The site is:  www.jamesavery.com 

Here is a visual sampling from his site:

All images courtesy jamesavery.com

Creating It Yourself . . .

I think I have always enjoyed cooking to some degree, but in the last few years, I have enjoyed it even more.  As Alec is getting older I realized I don't want his memories of family dinners to be a menu and a take out box.  So in trying to keep it simple, keep it quick and keep it delicious, I started collecting and creating recipes that my family enjoyed.

So, this year for Mother's Day, I came up with another "bright idea" and decided I would collect our favorite family recipes - passed down from my grandma (including Aunt Rosie's sauce) to my mom and on down to me.  The big question - how do I assemble these recipes and make them presentable? 

                                  Then, I found this: 
                                  www.tastebook.com

 

all images courtesy tastebook.com

It was a great way to assemble recipes that I love and share them with my mom.  I think she actually enjoyed looking through the finished product to see what recipes I included from my grandma as well as recipes she had given to me.

If you are looking for a truly unique, personal gift, I highly recommend creating one for your someone special!  I will prepare you - it takes some time but the finished product is so worth it!

                                          Enjoy and Bon Appetit!

In Honor of Mom . . .

I wanted to share a great site for flowers and other gifts with you - best of all the flowers are organically grown!  The site is:  http://www.organicbouquet.com/  . 
I have ordered flowers from Organic Bouquet several times - the flowers are always beautiful, healthy and last for weeks!  My mom has treated me several times - it is such a treat to come home to the box on my front step!

I think your mom deserves flowers - and the best part - all Mother's Day Flowers are 25% off!
Here are some examples of their flowers!

 

All images courtesy OrganicBouquet.com

By the way, my favorite is the White Lillies - they smell heavenly when they bloom!  It reminds me of my wedding bouquet  . . .  so they hold a special place!   

Happy Mother's Day!

Chasing Fireflies . . .

Chasing Fireflies is one of my favorite websites for children - they have toys, clothing, costumes, occasion wear, etc., etc., etc. . . .
Last year I ordered a Halloween Costume for Alec from Chasing Fireflies - he was really into King Tut at the time, so of course we had to have an Egyptian costume.  So many moms came up to me to ask where we got his costume and  when I told them Chasing Fireflies I was amazed how many had not heard of it!  So, in case you haven't heard of it - I'm sharing it with you!

www.chasing-fireflies.com

A few examples of their site:

All images courtesy of Chasing Fireflies

Enjoy!

In Honor of Earth Day

As a parent, I am always on the search for "safe" toys.  Toys that do not have lead or toxic chemicals.  We have a family joke about products made in China - if it is cheap it must be from China.  So in an attempt to find safe toys, I found a great toy site.
The site is www.moolka.com.
Moolka has great toys - you can even search the toys by county of origin or by age (from newborn to age 9+).  They even carry organic toys and have a gift registry. 
Hope you find the site as great as we do!
Here is a visual sampling:

Photo courtesy Moolka.com

Moolka also has another site for great kids clothing - the site is: http://www.zandino.com/  - I think you'll fall in love with it too! 

Photos courtesy Zandino.com

Sending Good Luck . . .

Several weeks ago, we attended a Dedication for our friends daughter.  To conclude the evening, they sent sky lanterns into the night air - the sight of the lanterns floating into the air was so beautiful.  As they were drifting, I thought what a great idea for a wedding.  They are so peaceful and gorgeous as they take flight - what a great way to send wedding wishes!

Photo courtesy theskylantern.com

To see more about sky lanterns, visit http://www.theskylantern.com/info/Sky_Lantern.html.
Don't worry about the environment, the sky lanterns are 100% biodegradable and are perfect for any celebration!

A Great Source

I found this site a few years ago when I lost my favorite sunglass case.  So on the quest to find an appropriate replacement, I stumbled onto this site.  It is a great source for party favors for weddings, wedding showers, baby showers or birthday party favors.  
The site is:  http://www.beau-coup.com/ and here is a sampling of the site . . .

All photos courtesy beau-coup.com

Enjoy shopping the site - I think you'll find it is a great resource too!