The Colors Were Just Right

I found this fabric while the girls and I shopped at the Hobby Lobby in Sioux Falls. I loved everything about it. I couldn't leave it. I tried. But every little thing about it spoke to me. I put yellow with it at first and then orange but ultimately the blue was just right. 

I have been known to add fabric to my stash just because I loved it and let it sit for months (or even longer) but this had a purpose right away. I wanted a spring/summer runner for the book case in my entry. I can't even articulate the emotional response I have when I look at this fabric. I love it. I guess you probably figured that by now.

Have you ever had an emotional response to fabric or color combinations? Tell me I'm not alone here.....

Joy x 3 Weekend

I will just warn you right off...this is a long post with a lot of pictures. I need to get this down while I am still on my emotional high. See...Joy x 3 (my gang) had a Emotional Health Awareness meeting in Sioux Falls, SD this past weekend. It was amazing.

We ate amazing food and laughed. We crafted in our hotel and laughed. We cried and laughed. We drove in circles and laughed. We shopped at Savers and laughed. We took pictures or ourselves in bathrooms and laughed. And we just laughed.

When we get together my self esteem goes up a few notches. I start to believe that I can do whatever it is that I want to do. I feel skinnier and smarter and funnier. I start to walk with my head up and I seem to smile more. I think these women are amazing. I can't even believe I have managed to trick them into being my friends.

I think our joy at being together is contagious. People ask to take our pictures for us. They smile at our antics (mostly because we are freaking hilarious). We are just a happy bunch....together ;)

One of our adventures included finding the elusive cupcake store. Oh My Cupcakes was well worth the effort. When we did find it they were preparing to close up. But they let us stay and enjoy their delicious treats. As they were packing up their cupcakes in to-go boxes we asked them what they do with them all. They told us that normally they sell them as day-old goodies, but since they are closed on Sunday they give out their boxes of left-overs as Random Acts of Kindness on Saturday afternoon.

Well, we jumped ALL over that. Since we (each) did 40 RAK's for my 40th birthday last year we were primed for more fun. We asked if we could help....and they said YES!! It was so fun. We were giddy at the thought. 

Coming up with a game plan was tricky since we didn't really know where to go to spread the cupcake joy. But we decided to jump in the car and just wing it.

Some folks were wary and didn't want a free cupcake. I don't think they trust very many people.

This woman gladly accepted one for herself and one for her hubby. She was so happy to receive something nice. We heard a lot of, "This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done". 

We got a lot of heart-felt thanks and a few..."Who are you with??" To which we happily replied..."Joy x 3" Yes, they were confused.

Just because the firehouse looked closed didn't mean we didn't try. You can't pass up the opportunity to give a fireman a cupcake.

I think he was glad he opened the door. Not everyday three hot chicks are handing out cupcakes.

We finished up at Hobby Lobby (what a coincidence) and decided that since we were there we may as well shop for a bit. We had the most amazing weekend ever. We are so blessed to be able to leave our families and meet in the middle for a weekend of girl time. 

I'll show you our crafts later...for now...I want to bask in the glow of the weekend. The most fun weekend in the history of EVER!!!

A New Coat

The painters are coming today to put a fresh coat of paint on my walls. They are going to be painting all of the gold paint....GRAY!! I am so excited. When we first moved into this house we love love loved the paint colors. But as time has gone on (2 1/2 years) I have realized what a crappy job they did with the painting. It is splochy and thin (needed another coat). The color has lost it's charm for me and if we didn't have super high vaulted ceilings I would have painted it myself by now.

When I started obsessing about the color (an I do mean obsessing...poor Jim) My sweet hubby suggested we take a weekend and paint it ourselves. Sure....except we don't own a ladder tall enough (and he HATES being on any ladder), and I didn't really want to bug him with it (he also HATES to paint!). I asked my friends for some referrals and called a couple. The one we ended up with will do all the prep, buy the paint and paint the whole thing (in about 4 hours) for less than $500!!!

Cue the choir singing and commence the happy dance!! I am pumped!! Best thing to spend our tax return on EVER!! So today will start a whole new look. Now to find some curtains ;) (This feels like a whole new chapter to "If You Give a Pig a Pancake)