60.

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch,

a smile, a kind word, a listening ear,

an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring,

all of which have the potential

to turn a life around." || Leo Buscaglia

Since it's a cold, windy, miserably wet day today, and I'm inside altering bridesmaids dresses for an April wedding [and wishing I was in NC for the afternoon!], I'd thought I'd share a few of the things I'm loving this morning...[that $80 lace cardi is currently only $14...I'm a fool to not snatch it up this very moment!] My current color obsession is actually peach and mint, but I just adore salmon pink and kelly green as well, they're such classic colors...and wear well in every season [but they make me think especially of Summer-time, so I love them even more!]

How about you? What are your favorite colors for Spring?

xoxo,

♥, Sara

59.

“Saving faith is the heartfelt conviction

not only that Christ is reliable,

but also that he is desirable.

It is the confidence that he

will come through with his promises

and that what he promises

is more to be desired than all the world.” || John Piper

This cold, sunny morning was made just a tiny bit brighter by Anthro's new March catalog, which I love... This morning I made chocolate chip cookies and I designed and had printed these postcards...for an open-house in a few weeks. :) The part I loved the most was saving nearly $30 on the final prints...Yes, thank you Minted...you made my day.

And I'm kind of just a litttttle bit excited about Ethan coming home tomorrow. I was [this] close to buying a plane ticket to North Carolina for two days, just so I could welcome him home in person...And I would have, if I didn't have a few days of work that interfered with my awesome travel plans. ;) Such is life.

xoxo,
♥, Sara

58.

True to my promise, I'm entirely caught up-to-date with blogging [cue one enormous sigh of relief...I can finally sleep in peace! ;) ] This morning I woke up positively craving an iced chai tea latte...but I couldn't have one, so I just drank some water instead. :\ Today was a laid-back, cozy in front of the fire while spending half the day away on my computer sort of day [catching up on blogging, of course!]. :)

I'm not quite sure what it is about this song that I just love...but I sure do love it. I've listened to it a thousand times... And here are a couple more inspiring images for today, because I was entirely too lazy to take any pictures of my own. :)

I'll never get over my obsession of open-shelving in a kitchen.

Or lovely pops of bright color...

Pretty invitations from Minted that I just adore...

An absolutely gorgeous dress, that I can't remember where I found it,

but it's beautiful anyway, and only cost about $3000. ;) Honest.

That's it for today...more excitement tomorrow, maybe? :)

xoxo,

♥, Sara

57.

Okay folks, I'm a real life blogger so I'll be the first to admit that blogging has definitely been tossed to the wayside these last two weeks. Seriously? Where does the time go? Wasn't it JUST last Sunday?? Did I even remember to take a single picture? Life has just been so wondrously full and busy, and this week promises to be even busier still...

So anyway, I have fourteen+ posts to write, but I'll get there. Promise! However...procrastinator that I'll always be...since I really just want to waste the remaining hours of my afternoon on Pinterest and watching Little House on the Prairie...I'll start tomorrow morning, deal? ;) Sundays are meant just for eating doughnuts and pinning and sitting on the couch in the sunshine and watching movies, right? Yeah, I thought so too. :)

True, we're barely a couple of weeks away from welcoming Spring and I'm already just longing for Summer... [sigh].

xoxo,
♥, Sara

56. + Inspire: kites

"Oh, oh, oh!
Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Let's go fly a kite!" || Mary Poppins

All of us girls went to a bridal shower this afternoon for our cousin-to-be... Other than Suzi's shower nearly eight years ago, this was probably the best-decorated shower I've ever been too, with snowmen, and snowflakes, and glitter, and lots of blue and silver and white... And the games weren't too tacky either. ;) I kind of enjoyed myself... :)

Today I'm in love with...kites! I had a brilliant idea to host a kite-making and flying party someday. I've kind of heard that this idea is becoming more and more popular, but for once this is something that I haven't really heard of anyone else ever doing before [not that it hasn't already been done a thousand times, but I've never heard of or even seen photos of such a party before...] By the time my party actually comes into existence, it will be old-stuff and everyone will have hosted such a party...but remember. You heard it first from me, ha! ;)

xoxo,
♥, Sara


[P.S. After finishing this post, I googled "kite making party" and I did find a couple of kite parties after all...here and here!]

55.

Just cleaning, and giving lessons, and making whoopie pies,

and spending the evening at Suzi's watching While You Were Sleeping

and eating too many brownies...

that was my lovely little day. :)

Quirky cards and golden morning sunshine are two of my favorite things...

xoxo,

♥, Sara

54.

"These are the gifts we keep 

And this is the morning that we breathe 

And then we see 

These moments are the only gifts we need." || Jack Johnson

I filed my taxes today [finally!]. I like when I get a whole lot back in returns. I like that a lot. :) And I worked this morning for 6 1/2 hours or so... It was a good day, and I'm off until next Thursday morning, can you even believe it??

I love everything about this picture...the floors, the walls, the ceiling, the windows, the STAIRS.
And hey, you, lovely bag. I think I'll buy you soon. :)

xoxo,
♥, Sara

53.

"The Great Master Gardener,

the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

in a wonderful providence,

with his own hand, planted me here,

where by his grace in this part of his vineyard,

I grow; and here I will abide..." || Samuel Rutherford

I love days when I can just spend the day shopping [mostly window shopping, but hey, that still counts!], without a schedule or feeling rushed, or having a mile-long list of things I need. In other words, running errands doesn't count as real shopping. ;) And no shopping trip can be complete without Starbucks...white mochas and iced chai lattes will forever be my favorites. :) I found some quirky, new t-shirts, and a new handbag, and a wallet [yay!]...and a dozen other little things... So I'm very happy, and I've had my shopping fix for another couple of weeks, so I'm good to go! Becca got to ride in her convertible while Suzi and I chatted and sipped our coffee...that cute girl waited so patiently while we shopped just to have a 75-cent ride in the little car. ;) ...

xoxo,
♥, Sara

52.

"Thou has done for me all things well,

hast remembered, distinguished, indulged me.

All my desires have not been gratified,

but thy love denied them to me

when fulfillment of my wishes

would have proven my ruin or injury.

My trials have been fewer than my sins…

All thy work for me is perfect, and I praise thee." || The Valley of Vision

Parties are so much fun...and so much work. Especially with a lot of children in the house! :) I worked over 10+ hours today preparing food and doing last minute cleaning and such for my mom's party this evening... Goodness, our house must normally be a royal mess for it to take so long to simply clean it. ;) I made fresh pico de gallo and gaucamole and PW's amazing peach crisp with maple cream sauce... [You must make this. You'll never want to eat anything else ever again. My picture looks like the crisp is drowning in cream, but that's just because I served them in bowls instead of on plates, so the cream had nowhere else to go but sit right on top...honest, I only put a teaspoon of cream in each bowl!] Mmm. Good food makes me happy. :)

Today I bought this, and these, annnnnd this:

xoxo,
♥, Sara

51.

Yet thou hast laid help on One that is mighty,

for there is mercy with thee,

and exceeding riches in thy kindness through Jesus.

May I always feel my need of him.

Let thy restored joy be my strength." || The Valley of Vision

Ohhh...today I cleaned, and cleaned, and painted [more!], and cleaned... Preparing for a little party of my mom's tomorrow evening. I worked for 7 hours this evening at the restaurant too...so today was FULL. :)
But Ruche, oh that wonderful boutique, featured their new Spring lookbook today, enchanting us all with their romantic, girly, daydream-inspired styles.

I was going to end with a photo-of-the-day of myself, but after all this prettiness, it wouldn't have been the best way to end this post. It probably would have spoiled the beauty of it. :) So I'll just post it tomorrow instead...

xoxo,
♥, Sara

50.

Sundays are far and above my favorite day of the week...
I made a card today. I used to make cards and write letters alllll the time. I loved to. And I still love to...I just don't do it very much any more, and I don't even know why... But I did today, and it was so enjoyable. :) And today I chatted for awhile with Stefanie, and I can't even tell you how nice it was, not having really talked to her in ever so long...
And I fell in love with these dish towels from Crate and Barrel... :)

By the Pint | Insalata | Canning

xoxo,
♥, Sara

49.

Guess what? It's Saturday! And guess what I did today? I painted! [Be honest, you'd never have guessed that, now would you?] Yep, that was my day. Painted and painted and painted, until I had to go to work at noon...then I worked until 8pm, and oh. my. word. It was busy. We had two large groups to wait on in the evening, and one of the waitresses called in sick...so I had walked 10+ miles, up and down stairs a thousand times, and was pretty much exhausted by the time my shift was finished.
And thaaaaat was my day! :)

Today I'm in love with words, can you tell?

xoxo,
♥, Sara