Holiday Organizer

Hooray! The holidays are here and each and every year, my first step to control holiday madness (a.ka. the chaos on which I thrive!) is to order my Holiday organizer.

I have used these adorable notebooks for the past 5 years to organize gifting, shopping lists, party and social schedules, sewing projects, kids crafts, donations and baking. They are so festive and fun and the best part of every event or season is organizing it!

Over the years each little organizer has become a treasured jounal of our family's Christmas season, storing annual Christmas story and celebrations. I enjoy going back through each to see what Santa brought the boys are they grow, what friends sent Holiday cards, and the fun parties and celebrations we toasted to.   In fact, this year while I was looking through last year's binder, I found a gift card to Olive Garden!! Yeah baby!!! (probably stuck in the handy pocket to be re-gifted, yikes, soory dad...he is the gift card king!)

Gooseberry Patch also has great choch-kies to stock up on for the cart boy or neighbor you may have forgotten!

"Chanello"

With the time change, I have re-committed to my morning time run. The weather is simple gorgeous and I have so enjoyed the Fall leaves. I hope to condition myself to the colder weather as the temps continue to drop... and speaking of winter running, nothing can motivate me like Chanel! Charlotte's pregnant run from SATC Movie (fav) is Ll the more graceful with her ears so stylish and warm! Now I just need some Chanel ear muffs of my own - yeah, that should do the trick do sustain my monday morning motivation!
For other "mommys on the run" I had to share this fun blog I stubled upon searcing for new running songs for my little mp3. Her Monday Morning run post is hillarious... and she really hit the nail head in her last sentance! Be sure to comment with what is pumping through your headphones lately.

Girlfriends Getaway

With a long weekend in Florida planned, as a birthday gift from the hubs, I was so excited to get a way from the kids, cold, and grind for a few days of girlie time! My girlfriends and the JLGWH (very near and dear to my heart) hosted central FL's most fabulous shopping event of the season and we kicked it off with the Girl's Night Out on Friday! I just had to list a few of my favorite vendors. Gorgeous interior designs Best jeans adorable tennis gear and of course this adorable handsewn kids garments
A long time favorite of my girlfriends is the most fabulous little boutique that we all simply adore. We love giving gifts from Ella G's almost as much as we love getting them. Owner, Amy *W* named her store after her daughter...how cute is that! Amy's spot at the Merry Market certainly set the stage for a beautiful Holiday Home and all the fun the season brings! Amy and a few members of her creative team are pictured above. xo guys, thanks for your love and support :-)

*J* and I were so excited that we can now accessorize in the shower! These shower caps were too fun!

Reunion Show

Timing was perfect for my quick jet set to FL and I spend the afternoon on Sunday at the Allen Family Reunion. Enjoyed seeing all the fam and catching up - but couldn't help thinking about on consistent oddity year after year. Have you ever noticed how you and your parents/siblings/granparents go to the annual reunion and end up sitting, chatting, and eating mostly with those parent/grandparents/siblings that you see all throughout the year. You know, the ones in your immediate family that you probably rode to the event with? Odd right? We did just that, and it was a nice afternoon with Nana/Poppa, Shawn, Gary, Lyssa, and of course Mom. Our whole crew wasn't there as we are pretty spread out now, but don't worry we talked about you :-) (some was even good!)

Halloween Fun!

It was quite a bit of work, but so worth the effort for the boy's to have homemade costumes! I mean, hello?!, an aspiring Fashion Designer like myself can't be outfitting my children in store bought costumes!


We had a great time trick or treating in our new neighborhood this year, and let me just say - these folks are serious about this fall holiday! The Heimers fit right in as we to love the thrill of spook and fun of the season. Our Mummy and Thomas the Train costumes came out adorable and (almost) even lasted through hours of TorT'ing adorned on 2 tough boys!