hi there!

hello blends

(blog friends) 

happy funday sunday.

i cant believe the week is starting AGAIN.

where does the time go? 

no. seriously. 

where the heck

does

it go?

i had a sad weekend. 

one of my very close friends, lost her dear, 'sassy' sweet beautiful 

mother to cancer.

ugh.

yes. 

another cancer victim

it broke my heart to see my friend and her family so sad 

and see such a gorgeous lady

give her life to 

this horrible illness. 

yeesh.

she was only 57 years young.

which brings me to another topic. 

i read a super uber dee duber blog 

called 

lil blue boo

the sweet creator of this blog is a sweet gal named ashley, who most recently was 

diagnosed with a form of cancer.

anyway, in addition to being diagnosed with cancer, ashley also 

lost her father very unexpectedly this past year as well.

heartbreaking.

ashley has an amazing blog and has been sharing her 

trials and tribulations  with the cancer. 

she even shares the video of her shaving her head. 

(do not watch if you are pms'ing or extremely hormonal, or unless you have buckets of kleenex near by)

if you get a second, please pop over and just read this girls journey. 

when you are having a bad day it really puts your life 

in perspective.

anywhosies, ashley made some 

choose joy 

bracelets that she sells on her site. 

if you head over

here

you can read all about why she chooses joy 

and if you want you can help her cause. 

i just ordered my set of 20! 

10 adult size and 

10 lil nugget size!

i just wanted to help ashleys cause and be reminded when i am 

wearing my lil purple bracelet:

k, thats all i have for you tonight....i am off to do what you ask????

why, write another paper! 

dont forget to choose joy!

xo

smiley sunday!

a wee while back i used to post more regularly.

then this crazy thing called life, took a dive for the ground

and i stopped.

but i missed blogging.

its not that i dont want to.

i just dont have a lot of free time.

between going to school, and working two jobs, one being full time, i honestly

just do not have much ME time.

happy me time.

my weekends are often filled with running errands, working and just doing all the

usual things that everyone does. you know, like,

laundry,

dishes,

floors,

organizing,

paying bills,

grocery shopping....(i actually love this one)....

but before you know it, my weekend is over

and it's back to

the dreaded work environment.

but anywho,

a while back, i started smiley sunday. it was

just simple things that make me smile

and with that, i try to embrace what little time is left of the weekend.

a girl in the work kitchen the other day, said, something like, oh, it's almost friday....

i was like, uhhh yayyy! hooorayy. yippeee skippeee!

and then she said 'isnt it awful how we just wish our life away'....'instead of just embracing today'....

hmmm. well there's a thought.

embrace.

today.

so my little bloggies, i want you to stop what you are doing...

well, dont stop reading this....

but when you are done....

think about it....

be HApPy for TOday.

EMBRACE what is going on in your life right now.......

the sad thing is that we never know if this is our last day here.....so why live it wishing for

tomorrow, or the weekend, or whatever....

and just be happy at the present!

so to make you smile, here's a few lovelies that made me smile today....

(while i am supposed to be working.....i was doing a little web surfing...hehe)....

hahahahaha. sorry for such a small pic.....

croc waterproof boots. my beating heart.

and the best part: 20 bones. out the door...free shipping too! happy dance!

i bought a pair of wellies, (black ones with different color polka dots...and i {{{LOVE}}} them.

living in cleveland....you need them....

and then taking the white nugget outside to go potty....well, need i say more....?? lol...

ok, on to our next contestant:

credit: closet cooking

um, seriously....does this not look fabulous?

reuben dip....

ohh emm gee.

i am running to the store to get the ingreds for this dip. not even kidding.

(it doesnt matter i have already been to 3 grocery stores in 2 days) :O)

credit: very jane!

if you do not know what very jane is, let me explain....they send daily emails with amazing deals

for handmade cuteness.

i have bought hand stamped necklaces, pins, pillow covers, the list is long...

i bought 3 sets of these to go with the 3 princess' valentine pressies!

and my last little lovely, is another v-day gift for the crazy princess' of mine:

credit: west elm

arent these mugs oh so cute?! i am imagining the girls guzzling down their hot bevvies drinking

from this heart mug!

and the best ?

6 dollar hollar AND

FREE FLIPPING SHIPPING!

k, thats it my dear blends....i am off to enjoy some mediterranean fare with

princess # 2.

embrace the moment and

enjoy the rest of your sweet arse weekend!

love and hugs,

t

giveaway! giveaway! giveaway!

i promised.

and

i

am

delivering!

how many of

you

love the sound of 'cheap bedroom furniture' ???

well, pop on over HERE!

take a peek around....

ahhhh....

imagine my excitement when

CSN contacted me

to do a giveaway!

CSN stores have over 200 stores, that sell just about ANYTHING your little

heart

could

desire!

CSN online stores have literally everything from cheap bedroom furniture to cookware.

sooooo

here's the good

stuff:

how

to

enter!

head over to CSN online stores look around and then come back and tell me

what you would pick out with a

$50.00 gift certificate! (one entry)

become a follower on my blog. (one entry)

link this post to one of your blog postings and come back  to dessert or diet with the url/link to that post. (one entry)

that's it.

please leave a comment for each thing you did.

i will

randomly choose someone

9/19/10.

  a

BIG

thank you to

CSN online stores

for sponsoring this

amazing

giveaway!

ok, even with all that excitement above, i can't let smiley sunday pass me by...

things that make you go

AWWW!

MY BFF. (bestie friend FOREVER)...

the start of football season! goooo steelers!

the miracle of nature....

and

a double RAINBOW.

this rainbow came out after i was having a really bad day and was thinking

about my dad. he passed away almost 4 yrs ago. i just asked for

a sign and lo and behold not one, but TWO rainbows appeared.

look

closely.

you can see

the

start of the

second one....

have a wonderful smiley sunday!

xo

i won! and smiley sunday~

heyyyyyy bloggies!

lol. that reminds me of the old kool-aid commercial...(um, yes i am showing my age...most of

you were probably not even born when that came out....)

happy sunday. it's STILL the weekend! yay!

i am having a rough time getting going this a.m. hhhmm..

no late night. no awful hangover.

maybe my copious amounts of non sleep are finally

catching up!

oh well, i relished in the glory of snuggling next to that boy for a few extra minutes.

that's the nice thing about fall, the air is crisp...

the bed is warm!

some days it's just nice to be LAZY. i think that's today. i did start the laundry. blah.

i will try to get a few things done. we have a party but not til way later.

and honestly, i have become such a homebody, that i really like to just hang out HERE!

anywhoosie doosies, the post title...are ya curious???

are ya ready?

i

won

dinner

for

10

to

CARRABBAS ITALIAN GRILL.

OOOOOHHHH EMMMMM GEEEEEE!

squeals of delight!

i filled out an online survey which said that they would be randomly choosing someone

for a prize of above mentioned.

well. lucky ducky me.

AND the best part???

it took literally 4.10 seconds.

i emailed the girl from carrabbas headquarters back just to reiterate and ensure we were

under NO obligation.

andddd.....NONE. we will be responsible for our alcohol. everything else: compliments

of

CARRABBAS !!!

honestly, if you have never had dinner here, you should consider....(oh, and

i am not getting anything extra to put this in my blog...fyi!)

we took the boys here a couple of weeks ago and i literally

filled out the survery regarding our experience.

but......

i LOVE this place. we are not fans of chain or franchise restaurants. dont get me wrong...

we will eat at different places, but we really prefer the eclectic, or mom and pop

type of independently owned. i think

it's good to support your local businesses.

so, anyway, i get off track...look at the menu and if you have one near...RUN, dont walk

and try the speidino di mare, or the chicken bryan.

pure bliss to your palate.

here's a little back ground:

check this page out for some:

  authentic yumminess

 and if you really want to learn more about this wonderful chain:

meet johnny and damian!

now the BIG question:

who gets to go???!!!??

well, seeing how we have like 100 kids, we are almost there....i guess we'll

invite the grandmas!!!

ok, on to smiley sunday.

i dont have a picture, but i am drinking my new pumpkin spice coffee from

yesterday. still smiling. soooo delish. (i did not make the whipped cream topping, we

are out of heavy whipping cream. boo.)

this made me smile:

have you ever shopped here? or hosted a home party. way cool and fun!

1154 lill studio

they are a little pricey, but with fall coming, it's a great time to get some girls together....you

will get FREE stuff! who doesnt like FREE?

blue skies. the sun shining. i am so blessed to be alive and healthy!

the start of THIS!

(imagine, smelling fireplaces, fall air, and candy corn!)

what's on your list of things this smiley sunday?

what are you doing today for fun times?

enjoy your day with lots of  sunshine and love!

huggies,

t

p.s. look for giveaway info this week! whoop whoop!!

smiley sunday! things that make you go 'awwwww'

HAPPY SUNDAY!

do any of you follow

this is an awesome community for bloggers!

it's all about the blog love.

sharing comments,

visting new blogs and

making NEW FRIENDS! yay!

who can't use some new

BLENDS??

remember, blends: BLOGS+FRIENDS!

anyway, i normally HATE, DESPISE sundays. many of you have come to know this. i know it's supposed to
be a day of rest.....however, it seldom is. it has become the day before the start of
the wretched work week.
the day to complete the unfinished business around the house.
the day to get chores done....because in the blink of an eye, its monday morning.
blah.
anyway, over here, one of the comments posed a new way to address sundays!

cindy said 'sundays' represent 'new beginnings'......
what a great way to look at it!!! it made me stop for a minute and think, i should be
enjoying every day of the week. regardless of what tomorrow should bring.
what a novel idea! (no sarcasm indicated)
i dwell on tomorrow.....
always. always worried about what will happen next.
boo.
i have been really trying to focus on life and not sweating the small stuff...
very difficult for me.
i am always thinking what if....and what about.
so today i am going to start to 'try' to 'like' sundays.
note: i said "TRY"....big step. it will not happen over night....but
thanks cindy for opening my eyes!

ok, on to smiley sunday!
look at this lil guy!
meet mr. dallas.
the newest addition to our family. well....he belongs to princess # 1.

sleeping beauty....

yes, he has a cage while mama is at work. (sorry all you PETA people)....it's good for training...

look at that face. look at that tongue.

she adopted him and we think he may have been abused....but he is settling in nicely.

what makes you smile on this LOVELY sunday?

AND what's on your to-do list for this upcoming week? something ya wanna finish, accomplish or just

GET DONE?

thanks for reading smiley sunday and enjoy the rest of your day!

xoxo

t