A sneak peak on summer ....

I am so excited. The new Thirty-One summer catalog comes out on May 1st. Want to see a sneak peak at some of the new patterns?

I like the new black and white pattern with a pop of pink in it. This is also two of the new thermals. 

I like the new navy and aqua look too. Very summery. This new blue and aqua pattern is called Best Buds. I love it. 

I am in love with the new thermal and the newest pattern in the Inside Out bag. It's my favorite purse. Check out the thermal bottle carrier. That is on my MUST HAVE list.

And you know I am going to have to buy the flip flop thermal lunch tote. That is so me!

The Easy Breezy Tote in the Best Bud pattern would be great for the beach.

I really do like how they have incorporated the pop of pink into the black and white pattern.

One of my favorite Thirty-One products is the mini zipper pouch. And now they have added Flip Flops to the Little Expressions product line. Oh my, I will definitely get one of these. 

If you become a consultant during May - August, you will get all of these product below in your $99.00 kit. Becoming a Thirty-One consultant was one of the best decisions of my life. I would love to talk to you if you think you would like to become a consultant. 

All the items below are the May Special. It is a special on all the thermal products. More info to follow. 

Random Wednesday

Just a few totally unrelated things to share today....

Sausage gravy is a very popular item for breakfast. But not everybody has heard of bacon gravy. It's made from bacon grease, obviously. It is my favorite and hubby has made it for me since we got married. I have never made gravy from scratch in my life. I decided to try to make some bacon gravy for my supper the other night. It was a success. No lumps, great taste. I was so proud of myself.

One of my favorite purses that I love to carry is my Thirty-One Casual Cargo Purse. 

It has these little snaps on the sides that you can undo and it creates a wider top for the bag. 

I recently discovered it was a perfect fit for my laptop. I couldn't believe what a good fit it was. 

I also have one of their zipper pouches. 

I put my mouse and other cords all in it that I use for the computer. 

It slid right down in behind the laptop with no problem. 

Now I have a very easy to carry laptop case. The purse has padding in it and even has some inside pockets if I want to just put my cord and mouse in those instead. But I like having it all in the zipper pouch. I put my cell phone in one of the front pockets and my wristlet wallet in the other pocket and I'm ready to go when I need to take my laptop somewhere.

I recently scanned some photos for a friend. It didn't take much time because there were not that many. She wanted to thank me, so she brought me some of the handmade dishcloths I love. I adore these.

I found a home for my new little Federal bowl I got Saturday. Everything on the rack is vintage. 

For now, the little lamp and the Pyrex coffee pots are on this shelf, but I'm not sure I'm keeping them there. 

I hung the sea horses over the towel rack in the beach bathroom. They are just too cute for words. 

The little seashell went on the shelf above the other towel rack. Notice my little birdhouse? That is out of plastic canvas and takes about one hour to make. I had forgotten how much I love making those. I'm going to cut out some and make one for each room of my house. I just love birdhouses. 

My little candle warmer lamp found a home on the corner of the sink. 

And I hung the dishtowel on the end of the wine rack. 

Happy over the hump day!

Sleep over at Mamaw's

I had both granddaughters over for a sleep over this weekend. We had a blast. They made brownies. They wore their matching aprons that their Mamaw Helen made for them.

(L-R Shelby and Alexis)

They each got to crack an egg. Alexis was so studious about it. 

When it first cracked and the eggs seeped out on her hand, the look on her face was priceless. 

Shelby loves to pour the oil in. I don't know why, but she just loves to do the pouring. 

They were going to take turns stirring but after one or two stirs Shelby declared it to be just a little bit hard to do. Then she said she had an idea, Alexis could stir and she would hold the bowl. Team work!

After baths, while the brownies were cooling, they were patiently waiting for their pizzas to come out of the oven. To a child waiting for pizza, 10 minutes can be an eternity. 

Then they played hard until bed time. I think they finally fell asleep watching TV around 11:30 p.m. 

So when I got up on Sunday morning at 5:30, I crept quietly in and gently shut their door so they could sleep late. I was working on my blog and heard something in their room. I went in and found my two little darlings already up and wide awake....at 5:50 a.m. 

They informed me that we forgot to have a tea party the night before so they went and picked out the pot and cups they wanted and asked for water for their "tea" party. So being a good Mamaw, I got them some water and let them party till I got breakfast fixed. 

Then we got ready and headed off to Sunday School. Their teacher had a birthday so we had her a little party. They had an awesome time decorating cookies and eating ice cream. 

The adults had a special treat. It is a brownie with a chocolate chip cookie and a Reese cup baked into the middle of it. I heated mine in the microwave and put a scoop of ice cream on it. It was to die for. 

It was a great sleepover!

Yard Sale Scores!

Oh my! is all I can say about the 10 mile long yard sale Saturday. Did I find anything? Oh yeah! I was so glad I took my new flip flop tote along to keep it organized in the trunk. 

I found a throw pillow to add to the day bed in the spare room. It was like brand new and only $2.00.

I found a couple of insulated tumblers. They look vintage but I don't think they are. I took pictures when I came home. I still need to wash and clean everything up. These were just .50 cents.

I have become obsessed with vintage lamps. This little piece of milk glass caught my eye.

And when I saw it was part of a vintage wood lamp, I just had to have this. I am not sure what year this is from, but I would guess the early 60's based on the lampshade, but really have no clue. I do know I need to get a new shade because this one is pretty stained and had some areas that looked like there had been stickers on them. But it wasn't bad for $1.50 so I snatched it up. 

One lady had a box that just had FREE written on it. I took this little box. I never pass up containers because they come in handy for crafts. May put all my buttons in this or my small pre-cut plastic canvas pieces. Not sure yet. But you can't beat free. 

I don't know why but this little cup was one of my favorite items of the day. It was just .10 cents and I thought it was precious. I will probably drink chocolate milk from it since chocolate milk always makes me happy.  

For $1.00 I had to grab this kitchen towel. I love that it says Hen Party. When I host Thirty-One parties at my house it sounds like a hen party in my kitchen so I thought this was a good towel for me.

There were a lot of books but nothing that really looked great. I do like Judith Arnold so I picked up this one for .50 cents. 

I was looking for things to add to my beach bathroom. I found this little candle warmer. It was in perfect condition. I figured she would ask $3 or $4 bucks for it based on her other prices. But she said $1.00 and I grabbed it up.  

I collect pill boxes if they go with any of my themes or if it is something that brings back memories. I saw this and just knew he would have to go home with me for the beach room. It was $1.00, but I decided to kick into American Pickers mode and asked if she would take .50 cents and she did so he came home with me. After all, what's a beach room without a pink flamingo...even if he's snoozing. 

Another item in another FREE box. I have a shelf for the beach bathroom and thought I could tuck this on it. 

This was one of those "I spotted it, I'm buying it" items. I love wicker and to find three seahorses for just $1.00 total was perfect for the beach room. 

I love taking my daughter along when I'm looking for vintage pieces in the wild. I only find expensive things that are priced at antique store prices. But she is getting good at spotting vintage a mile away. She found this Glasbake dish and said I HAD to buy it because she loved the shape of it. At just $4.00, I had to agree with her. 

Then at the same table, she spotted this Federal mixing bowl for just $2.00. It has some wear and has utensil scratches inside, but I fell in love with it. I have a rack that I'm putting turquoise items on and this will be perfect for it. 

But my favorite moment of the day was when we stopped at a church yard sale at the end of the 10 miles on the way back home. We debated about stopping because their sale had been going on since Thursday. But I remembered getting my sister some aqua handled wooden spoons at their sale last year so we stopped. I was so glad we did. That is where I found the tumblers, the pillow and my Grandma mug. But on the last table near the door I spotted two Pyrex coffee pots. I have been wanting some of these and haven't been able to find them. But there were TWO of them just setting there. So I asked her the price and when she said "They are selling them as a set for $3.00 total." I paid for them right that minute before they changed their mind. I am in love. 

So would you say I had a good day? OH YEAH!! Then to top it off, I was cleaning out a closet and found a case of what I thought was empty Mason jars. It was actually a dozen jars of the last apple butter we canned that I thought we were out of. I have been so sad that I didn't have any more homemade apple butter since Christmas morning. And now I find 12 jars. I am so happy!

How others see us...

 “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” ― Mark Twain

I know God does not look at the outside, but what's in our hearts. But unfortunately, too many times, we judge ourselves by our outward appearance. 

I always thought we all see ourselves like everybody else sees us, but apparently not. The old saying "We are our own worst critic is so true." Check out this video and please watch it to the end. It is amazing what the results are.