Hats for Hope--GIVEAWAY!!

 I pretty much wear hats as long as I can...anything less than 85 degrees is still hat weather to me. A tank top, breezy skirt, flip flops, and a hat is pretty much my fav outfit to wear. And I LOVE products that help people so I 100% support my young friend, Arthur's, attempts to sell 400 Dece hats made by impoverished moms in Romania in the convenience of their own homes. Yay for "work at home moms"! His shop is called Sperantsa.

The hats are awesome, high-quality, and come in tons of styles and colors and I'm GIVING ONE AWAY!! Leave a comment below letting me know your favorite fair trade/non-profit type business. I'll randomly pick a winner on Monday and the winner can pick ANY HAT THEY'D LIKE!!

Here are a few pics from Sperantsa's website...

 (awww, Arthur) ; )

 Crazy cute, right?! So leave a comment, spread the word, and get yourself (and a friend!) a sweet hat!!

Arian : )

Lovely Easter.

 We had such a wonderful Easter with friends then family! I hope yours was lovely too!! We started the day with brunch and worship with a house full of some of our favorite people.  I'm borrowing the following photos from my photo-talented friend Andrew. I was too busy monitoring Jude's donut intake to take many photos. : )

 Lovely ladies, lovely dresses, lovely babies, lovely instruments.

 We love the McMurrays!

(me)  : )

 a sitar, banjo, and several guitars....now THATS some great worship!

 and, of course, an amazing spread of Easter carbs : )

 Yay! Our family on Easter!! (Thanks for the pics, Andrew!)

After the brunch we headed to the country to be with family for more good food, handmade ice creams, egg hunting, and conversation on the front porch.

 Love my boys!

I hope the weekend gave you time to slow down and enjoy spring!

Arian

Cases

Last weekend I left my iphone on top of our car and drove off. Luckily it was found the next day by a kind stranger, unharmed, in the middle of a busy intersection a few blocks from our home. It's an iphone miracle! This is why people like me need hard cases for all their expensive hand-held devices.

But for the rest of you more responsible folks, may I suggest GelaSkins! They've got hundreds of amazing images to choose from or you can upload your own. We got one for Daniel's mom's ipad for Christmas customized with this picture of my boys playing piano (she's a pianist). She loved it!

And my lovely friend, Mandy, used my "Snowy Night" print for her ipad. I think it turned out great!! Thanks for the photos, Mandy!!

If anyone else is interested in using any of my prints for their smart phone or ipad or nook or whatever, let me know! We can work it out! As for me, I will be sticking to hard cases for now : )

Arian

I'm still here : )

 Hey! How's it goin? It's been a little while!  We've been unpacking and getting settled as quickly as possible. Nothing like hosting a party/house concert to motivate us to get things in order!

 We're loving our new home. I love the way the sun pours in at different parts of the day. The sun rises in the dining room and sets in our bedroom...lovely.

 And there are plenty of pretty details, like the vintage door knobs and the dark, refinished wood floors.

 We're enjoying the spring weather.  Our outdoor spaces are in need of some TLC. I see lots of trips to the hardware store and garden center in our future.  I picked up this patio table set for free on Craigslist and am excited to transform it!

Loving the spring flowers!

 I've got a growing collection of inspiring home images over on pinterest. Is anyone else as addicted to pinterest as I am? It's like my crack.  Must... Pin... Pretty....Pictures.

So many ideas and color schemes swimming in my head. Gotta get crackin!

Arian : )

Settling In

 We're slowly getting settled into our new home. I think it's going to be such a blessing for our family!

 We're maybe 1/3 unpacked and they are still doing work on the house (like putting in a new kitchen!) so we're in that "cold cereal out of Styrofoam cups for lunch" and the "I need a glass of wine but don't remember which of the seven 'kitchen' boxes has the bottler opener in it" phase.

 But the boys are loving it. Their room is like a cozy tree house. I can't wait to finish it and show you pictures!

 And my mom, who stays over once or twice a week, has been working on her little sunny sleeping nook.

 We're so grateful for our friend, Eric (on the left) who bought this place just two months ago when it was in quite bad shape. And when he heard we needed a place fast, he and his wonderful crew worked like crazy to make this house beautiful and available for us!

 (And still managed to have fun in the process) : )

Plus we welcomed home Tye and Andrea yesterday from their adventures in South Africa!

 So happy to have them back! We've already made plans to hit up one of our favorite Cincinnati spots tomorrow morning. Yay!!

I hope your week has been beautiful!

Arian : )

Party Girl

 I finished the crocheting project that's been like therapy for me just in time for my little friend Ruby's birthday!

 It was such fun to work on and I'm anxious to start a new project. I downed a few apps for my ipod and have been bookmarking inspirational photos.

Well, hopefully Miss Ruby enjoys her little party banner. Jude turns three next week so maybe I'll get started on one for him!

(Jude trying to get some love from the birthday girl. She was uninterested. He's never had much luck impressing the ladies.)

Arian : )