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Make sure to enter my Easter card giveaway from yesterday's post...
LOVING all the colorful, spring items I'm seeing out and about. A few things that are inspiring me right now...
This lovely peasant top from Jennifer Paganelli at Sis Boom.
Vintage penoir duster from etsy seller, Unfinished Business.
Antique vintage bird playing cards from etsy seller, Blueberrypie1.
These lucious and oh so fabulous "ostrich eggs" made by the uber-talented Andrea Singarella of One Hundred Wishes.
Sigh. Covet. Drool.
You can be sure that I will be stalking her site at 4pm today. STAY AWAY...mine, all mine!
Enjoy!
xoxo
CS
A beautiful layout featuring yours truly...designed by none other than my own Mama! She has just recently stepped into the world of blogging. I tell you, she's one pretty hip chick for a grammy of five. :)
If you get a chance, drop by her blog and welcome her to blogland with a sweet comment. Then come back here and let me know you did and you will be entered to win a set of two Sweet Pea Ink notecards...just in time for Easter!
**I will draw for a winner this Monday, March 30th.**
xoxo
CS
a breath of crisp spring air sweeps through our home...
new life is in the air outside...just made garden boxes ready for soil and seeds...
easter is on the horizon...
the front and back of tags made for the easter swap...
and truly, is there anything prettier than a bunch of soft pink tulips...
hoping spring is breathing a breath of fresh air your way too...
xoxo
CS
The more years and experiences I add to my own personal tree of life, the more I believe that perspective is everything. How we choose to look at life has such a grand effect on, well...everything.
I have a dear friend who is in one of those "valleys" in life right now...just one thing after another. During a phone call last week she asked me, "I mean, really, how do you DO everything you do?" She mentioned that she was having a hard time keeping up with the laundry let along chasing after her precious and well loved munchkins.
This is where PERSPECTIVE comes in.
Lets just keep it real for a moment or two as I describe my "oh so well-ordered" life...feel free to smile, giggle and just laugh along if any of this sounds familiar. :)
From the outside looking in, I am the understanding wife to a husband who is an executive for a high tech company. (Meaning he is either working or on the road 85% of his time.) I am the devoted mother of a 6, 8 and 16 year old. I volunteer frequently in their classrooms and chauffeur them between tutoring, football, horse lessons, tennis and science clubs. I am the owner and designer behind my company, Sweet Pea Ink. (Meaning it's a one person show from website design to product design to delivery.) In my free time I am an avid tennis player and scrapbooker/paper crafter. I also love to cook and try out new recipes. :)
Wow! Yep, that's my life alright! Now hold on while we change perspectives just a bit...
I also have a 18 yr. old cat who I spent the last week giving subcutaneous saline injections to as her kidney's were shutting down. (We sent her to kitty heaven a few days ago.) I am currently walking around with a huge bruise on my right arm from the IV I received when I was in pain from newly discovered gallstones. My right knee is bandaged up as 2 weeks ago during one of my fierce tennis matches I bit it big time on the court and left blood and skin everywhere. I can honestly not remember the last day I did not have a laundry pile in my home. I FREQUENTLY forget things...like the right day for the field trip I'm supposed to chaperone at school. My children RARELY make it to bed on time. We eat take out or in a restaurant at least twice per week. Sometimes I go TWO days without showering. I make my bed 1 out of 7 days (and that one day is just to please my husband.) More often than not, only the first floor of my home is presentable.
PERSPECTIVE.
I actively choose each and every day to love my life. Both the take out dinner days and the homeade, to die for, french onion soup days. (And this recipe is The Bomb.)
I actively choose to believe in myself and my skills as a mother - from the days one of the little ones receives an award to the days when the oldest has had a major stumble in life. And yes, I know how painful this feels.
I DO WHAT I CAN. Not perfect. Not better than others. Just what I can, on that day, at that particular moment in time. And believe me, it can vary. And it IS enough.
I'm commited to constantly learning more, becoming more, growing more.
And I do most importantly believe that without the valleys in life, we would never be able to appreciate when we are lucky enough to have those joyful moments at the top.
Try today, and each day, to shift your perspective just slightly. You never know what you might see.
xoxo
Cristina
lexa-poo
lexi
lexa-saurus
little stegi
babe
alexa kc pearl sequino
You were loved and we will miss you always.
As you may recall, my "word" for 2009 is COURAGE.
It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
-Alan Cohen
A few places you'll find me right now...
Creating and Sharing as part of this lovely group:
Marie Antoinette Mail Art Group
Swapping lovely vintage Easter tags with this group over at Vintage Bella Studio
Participating as a student in the:
Maggie Holmes Photography Workshop
And here:
The MCPactions Color Fixing Workshop
May courage, no matter how big or how small...find its way into your life today.
xoxo
CS
Mediterranean Mint candles from Lumiere. Yes, of course I love the aqua, but the scent reminds me of being at the beach, clean sheets and fresh peppermint crushed in your hands...wrapped up into one. Brings spring to a cold winter day. LOVE the simple packaging also. Happiness in a candle.
The whole Boot's Original Beauty Formula Line from "tar-jaay." Smells so darn yummy...feels so yummy...and again...such pretty packaging...so vintage in style. :)
Playing with new business card designs...what do you think?
New card designs coming soon...
Enjoy!
xoxo
CS
