tomorrow (june 1) from 8am- 12...our entire subdivision is having a yard sale.
if you are interested, email me at harpersmama8(at)gmail(dot) com and I will share the location with you. once i figure out you are not a stalker,creeper,or weirdo. teehee.
xoxo
S
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1. Jimmy posted the link to this article on FB. He never posts anything on FB,so I knew it would be good since he took the time to link it.
Sebastian Junger writes about the burdens of war that our veterans carry. It's heartbreaking and enlightening. I'm a big Junger fan, so I know I'd love this. He didn't disappoint.
2.In love with this stamp and everything it represents.
Kate Farricker (the owner of Absolutely Everything near Boston) and Hero Arts have teamed up to create a "Boston Strong" stamp to raise money and spread feelings of support for those affected by the Boston Marathon bombing. The stamp is only $8 and the profits go to The One Fund: Boston. You can go HERE for more information and HERE to buy your stamp!
3. Kiwi Crate is offering 50% off your first month subscription using the code FF50. And 20% off your entire shop purchase using the code SHOPFF . Y'all know I LOVE me some Kiwi Crates. They take care of my mama guilt for not having time to plan crafty activities with my girls. HA!
4.How I Finally Fell in Love with My Workout. Please go read this. Now. And if you don't laugh at ALL...well then I'm not sure we can be friends. Just kidding. No. I'm not kidding.
5. I am obsessed with The Perfect Palette. And I also love folliwing them on Pinterest. I pretty much just repin everything they pin.
6.Love this kitchen makeover. The hutch? Is to DIE FOR.
7. These cards from Erica Hernandez are fabulous!
8. Sign-Feld. An Etsy shop selling prints/signs of Seinfeld quotes. GENIUS. Seriously.
9. This dollhouse is absolutely magical. It makes me wish I was five again.
10.DIY High Fructose Corn Syrup. Um,ew. I don't really know what to say. Repulsive, yet intriguing.
Okay, that's all I've got this week. As always, I love to hear your thoughts.
Happy Thursday!
xoxo
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Elle's Studio May Kit winners:
way to go, y'all! please email me at harpersmama8(at)gmail(dot)com.
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This week is extra fun...it's a double whammy!
First we have Paper Temptress!
PaperTemptress.com set out 5 years ago to visit all of the card stock manufacturers in the world and offer the best they carry all in one place for an affordable price with no minimum purchase of 25 sheets or more.
PaperTemptress will sell just one sheet if one sheet of that color if that is all you want. PaperTemptress.com offers many variety packages where all papers are colors coordinated which takes all the difficult decisions out of the process. There is card stock at PaperTemptress.com that you just won't find anywhere else.
note from stephanie: papertemptress sent me some sheets of their GORGEOUS colored vellum and i am having so much fun playing with it. so pretty!
Just found out that vellum is 25 % off right now!!!
PaperTemptress.com stocks all of the Hambly Studio Overlays and Screenprints that were available when Hambly Studio closed their doors. Ribbon including May Art ribbon and embellishments are available too.
You can also visit PaperTemptress's Community Blog for endless inspiration!
Stop by PaperTemptress.com and receive a 15% discount by adding steph15 into the discount code box at checkout. Enjoy!
PaperTemptress is giving away TWO $25 Gift Certificates! Leave your comment below to enter!
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Create your own beautiful story to wear with a locket from South Hill Designs. We have a large selection of charms, coins and droplets to make your locket complete. You can create a locket to tell the world what matters to you! Your family, your hobbies, your next vacation.... it’s up to you! With so many options available, your locket designs are endless!
note from stephanie: this is my locket from south hill. i just love it and seriously get compliments every single time i wear it!
Visit HERE to create your story to wear. Do you need some locket ideas? Visit Sandy's FB page.
Can you use a little extra cash? South Hill Designs offers great products, superior customer service and a generous commission plan. These March Bonus Checks do not include commission on personal retail sales. These numbers were shared by a Senior Director with South Hill Designs. It's amazing how much you can earn by being a part of this amazing company!
Team Builder: $849 monthly = $10,188 yearly
Team Leader: $1,400 monthly = $16,800 yearly
Director: $4,298.78 monthly = $51,585.36 yearly
Senior Director: $14,164 monthly = $169,968 yearly
The best part? No wait list! Start making money as soon as you join Sandy's team today!
One person will win a $30 gift certificate from South Hill Designs by Sandy Burns.
**All are welcome to enter. International winner is responsible for shipping charges.
Here is a special for all of Stephanie’s readers! Get a free charm with all orders of $30 or more. You must email your order to sandy.southhill@yahoo.com with STEPH’S CHARM in the subject line to receive a free charm.
Since there are TWO businesses featured today...please let me know if you have a preference as to what you would like to win!
Good Luck y'all!
S
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Happy Tuesday, y'all!
I hope you had a beautiful weekend. I managed to try a few Pinterest recipes this weekend and I thought I'd share how they turned out.
I know I always appreciate hearing "real life reviews" of popular pins...I thought you might like to as well! :)
I was intrigued as soon as I saw this recipe for Magic Cake.
ease of recipe- Super easy. You have to fold in some whites, but that's about the only semi-difficult part.
review- Ehhh. It's sort of flan-esque and I HATE flan with a passion. Shudder. It's got a custard layer you can see in the photo. There's actually nothing "cake" about this cake. Unless I made it wrong. It's much more a baked custard/flan.
But it's pretty! So I took it to the BBQ and it was pretty popular. Which is good b/c I didn't have to eat any. :)
I LOVE Caprese Salad, so I figured I'd love this Caprese Pasta Salad.
ease- Ridiculously easy. The only somewhat involved step is reducing some balsamic on the stove.
verdict-Super underwhelmed. The salad tasted like...uh...pasta. No other flavors. I let it marinate for quite a bit and I even tried adding more balsamic, but it was just not impressive. Surprising.
I have been wanting to make these Carmelitas ever since I pinned them. Holy decadent! Anything that has oatmeal, caramel, and chocolate chips is going to be my friend.
ease-Not hard. You have to be pretty vigilant and patient while melting down the caramel, but that's it.
review-OMGAMAZING.Seriously, sinfully delicious. I'll definitely be making them again!
So there you have it. Have you made any really good Pinterest recipes lately? Or do you have any duds to share?
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Oh, and here are my food related Pinterest boards if you are interested.
xoxo
S
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I have a confession to make. Before I met Jimmy I was clueless. I had no idea what Memorial Day meant. I had no idea about sacrifice or selflessnes or grief. I truly didn't.
So please take what I'm about to say with that in mind. I'm not claiming that I'm perfect. I am not saying that you aren't allowed to have a party this Monday. In fact, I will be at a neighbor's BBQ this year.
I am not trying to be condescending. But I feel the need to write this post.
What am I saying? I'm saying that Memorial Day is not only about BBQs and the start of summer. It is not all about sales and adult beverages and being at the beach.
I am the first to admit that I get a bit ragey about this time every year. I have a hard time seeing the Memorial Day sale flyers and certain blog posts.
I don't believe that this should be a day for stores to have big blow out sales. We have enough days for that.
I have a hard time saying happy in front of Memorial Day.
I have a hard time with ads like this.
I have a hard time reconciling images like those with images like this one:
Photo by Andrew Harnik- Washington Times
I get that some people don't know. But at some point, usually in adulthood, that shouldn't be an excuse.
So what is Memorial Day?
Many people confuse Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial Day is a day for remembering and honoring military personnel who died in the service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle. While those who died are also remembered on Veterans Day, Veterans Day is the day set aside to thank and honor ALL those who served honorably in the military - in wartime or peacetime.
See a longer definition HERE.
It's a day to remember those who died. It's not the same as Veteran's Day or Armed Forces Day. It's a day to honor those who died. Simply put.
Memorial Day is bittersweet. I always enjoy being with friends. And this year I am so grateful that J is HOME. Not just home, but that he is still here with us.
I have so many friends that cannot say the same thing.
Y'all. I do not expect you to walk around all mopey on Monday.That is not my expectation. But i'm asking for a basic level of realization.
And empathy to the husbands and wives that are widows and widowers this year. The parents who lost a son or daughter. The children who have lost their mommy or daddy.
They should not be forgotten. It's one day. One day to remember.
It's a tough day to explain to kids.
Especially military kids. As I talked to the big girls about the real meaning of Memorial Day this year they were nodding and talking and listening and suddenly Harper's little voice said
"Is Daddy going to die? What if he doesn't come home next time he leaves?"
But I think it's important to talk about it. Talk through it.
That way they will know. They won't think it's all about cookouts and the start of summer. Or that it's only about blowout sales.
Here are some resources.
CNN is honoring 100 faces in 100 hours
Commemorating Memorial Day with Kids
10 Memorial Day Traditions more meaningful than BBQs
Talk and Remember. Simple.
Memorial Day parade directory
Time for Kids- The Meaning of Memorial Day
My best advice? Talk to your kids about it. Just talk about it. It's that simple.
I hope you have a beautiful, blessed and relaxing day on Monday. And I hope you take at least a moment to remember why you have the day off.
S
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we finally got our orders. vicenza, italy here we come!
by the end of july, the howells will officially be living in italy.
first item of business?
passports. and i'm sorry, but these shall be the cutest passports ever.
despite many people on instagram completely bursting my cuteness bubble by telling me no smiling on passports!
these were cleared and we can check one more thing off of our list.
our list, by the way, is 39248028304810238012830128 items long. our list has lists. and those lists have post its.
good times.
every time i get stressed i remind myself that soon we will be living somewhere that looks like this:
and i start to feel MUCH MUCH better.
and my eyelid stops twitching. for one second.
okay, off to fill out more paperwork.
CIAO!!!
xoxo
S
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and this is what my house regularly looks like.
laundry? is my nemesis.
i hate doing it. and i wait too long every time.
i force myself to wait until i HAVE to do it and by that point it's torture. 92348023840328 loads in one day.
and then i have a ginormous pile of laundry to fold. see above.
yes. laundry is my arch rival.
but at least i can put these 2 to work.
mini cinderellies. :)
happy wednesday, y'all!
xoxo
S
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First- Here are the South Hill designs winners:
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hey y'all! so i know i've been pretty absent lately...
life's just really full and crazy right now. in a great way. :)
lots of company and getting ready for italy. i cannot BELIEVE that june is our last month in this house. i'm equal parts terrified and exhilarated.
i was sitting here drinking my coffee and thinking about how i really wanted to blog. but I couldn't figure out what to blog about.
looking back through my photos from the past few months, i realized i haven't talked much about our favorite places in newport.
so that's what i'm talking about today. is anyone interested in reading this? i have no idea. HA! but i thought it might be fun.
here are some of our favorite places to visit in and around newport.
1. The Cliff Walk - we almost always take visitors here. the ocean, 40 steps, walking by the most gorgeous houses in newport...you just can't beat it.
2. Ocean Drive.- breathtakingly beautiful. the beaches are lovely, the homes are amazing. it never gets old.
3.Easton's Beach- ride the carousel, drink some del's.
4. Anthony's- best seafood in town. hands down. i have had their lobster rolls 2918302840238 and i NEVER get tired of them. so so SO good.
5. Bowen's Wharf- sit and watch the boats, shop in the super cute boutiques, and eat at 22 bowen's
6. Purgatory Chasm- the best place to have a picnic.
7.Newport Creamery- i don't even want to begin to try to count the number of Awful Awfuls we've consumed this past year.
8.Fort Wetherill- can't even put this place into words. creepy, beautiful, decayed, amazing.
9. Sachuest Point Wildlife Refuge- peaceful and beautiful.
10. Favorite Restaurants
Best Seafood/Best Chowder- Anthony's (see above)
Best Bakery- The French Confection
Best Pad Thai- Siam Square
Best Date Night/Best Tacos- Tallulah on Thames . hint- you can find the food truck at the Farmer's Market!
Best New Restaurant- Muse by Jonathan Cartwright
Best Creme Brulee/Steak Frites: White Horse Tavern
Best Margarita (Blood Orange)- Diego's
Best Nachos- Brick Alley Pub
Best Burger- Boss Man
Whew!! There you have it. All of our favorites. We have LOVED living here. It was like a year long vacation and it has been an absolute New England dream!
Happy Monday, y'all!
xo
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cate left, lucy right.
and in case you are wondering what they are doing...click here to see them in action.
ayiyiyiyiyi.
xxo
s
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