The Challenge of Love

Last week was an exceptionally busy week.  I found myself double booked on a couple of occasions and triple booked at one point.  So, yes, that adds stress.  Yes, that takes me a bit out of my ability to take things in stride, to smile in spite of and unfortunately to let my light shine as it should.

I had the opportunity to teach some children at my church in a Creative Workshop where we taught them Biblical principles and then did a creative activity to bring the idea home.  Another lady in my church birthed the idea and asked if I would help out.  One of the sections I had the opportunity to teach was on Joy.  Seems simple enough, right?  There are lots of Bible verses on  rejoicing and being joyful all throughout the Bible........like these for instance:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought me joy. Psalm 94:19

A person finds joy in giving an apt reply—
and how good is a timely word! Proverbs 15:23

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  James 1:2-3

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

Ahhh, that last verse.  When we read that last verse together we talked about all the things Christ endured on the cross, the pure hatred thrown at Him, the physical attacks, the emotional attacks, the beatings, the hostility, the anguish beyond our ability to comprehend.....yet He endured because of the joy set before Him, because of  His Father's will and love for us, because He would not respond in kind to those who treated Him so horrifically.  He would not become His accusers and attackers.  He would not change who He was even though He was immersed in a situation of hatred, lies and injustice.

So I am teaching the kids, talking to them about knowing who you are and how you want to treat people.  We are talking about how some kids are mean and pick on them, how groups make fun of other groups, how they are sometimes the subject of unwarranted hatred, lies and injustice.  And I am telling them to remember how Christ would not allow anyone, anything or any circumstance to change Him, how we need to behave like that, how we need to love in spite of, when we don't think the person has earned it or deserves it we should still love.....

and then the truth of the situation hits my heart 

who really needs this lesson? is it these kids? is it me?

I am afraid the answer is both.  I was speaking to myself as much as I was speaking to them.  It is not easy.  There are challenges in always responding with love.  But clearly something we should all prayerfully aspire to.  I often fall short here.  I am a lover of justice and I also mistakenly think I have some right to make the just/unjust determination.

Thankful for the opportunity to teach God's word.  After all, I am my best student.  No one learns more than I learn.

Friday Finds

So just a few things to check out this week.  Pretty soon  I am going to kick into gift idea mode so today let's continue to focus on us.

I think this is a cute t-shirt and oh the color choices......

Caslon Scoop Neck Tee

Also in stripes

Yep, this one comes in a slew of solids and even some stripes.   Sixteen total color options.  And best of all it is only $17.90. Think wearing this the rest of the summer and layering it in the fall.

Now if you are looking for something to layer over this.  Check out this cardigan.  I tried this on and loved the feel and the fit.

Halogen Cardigan

And speaking of color options......you get nine here.  It's a true sign of a good product when they make it in a zillion colors because people love it so much.  People obviously love it because it has 4.6 stars.

Now on Nordstromrack they are offering an additional 50% off clearance dresses and an additional 25% off other clearance thru July 30th.

The Pants Store has marked down several spring and summer shoes......if you are still in the market or one of those people who can forecast what you want to wear next year this may be a good stop for you.

On a non retail note....Wednesday night we went to see Hairspray the Musical at Lee High School.  I must say I was very pleasantly surprised.  It was done very well.  Amazed at the local talent.  This weekend is the last weekend it will be showing.  If you have some time or looking for something fun, I highly recommend.  Our tickets were $20.

Have a great weekend, ladies.  I will see you back here on Monday which believe it or not will be August eve.  Wowser August already?! We'll be pulling out the boots soon girls.

July 25th It's a Wrap

We wait for this day as if it is a national holiday.  We honestly spend from Dec 26th to July 24th preparing for it.  We shop.  We gather supplies.  We make lists. We barely sleep the night before.  It is a big deal.  For as long as I can remember we have spent July 25th totally immersed in the Christmas Spirit.

To make it feel more like Christmas we crank the air to an all time low.  We wear our Christmas PJs.

We start the morning with a fun breakfast.

Gather all our supplies.

 We make a big pot of chili and other festive snacks.

By the way, that is my new Instant Pot that I bought on Amazon Prime Day.....so far I am really enjoying it.

When we first started this tradition QVC would be running all their new Christmas merchandise and we would wrap and order more stuff.  This day was no different but we did get a  Christmas movies in also.  Thank you, Hallmark, for embracing the whole Christmas in July philosophy and running your Christmas movies this month.  We have had our Tivo recording so we could save them up and have some to watch on our Christmas wrapping day.

I put up a large folding table in the office and have slowly been bringing out all the purchases from their respective hiding places.  It is the staging area.  When we get everything in this room wrapped, we can call it a day and crawl into bed.  Yep, it will pretty much take us the whole day.

I am wrapping most gifts in my craft paper.  If you missed the blog post on the paper, you can find it here.  I will also be using the letters I made.  If you care to read that blog post, it is here.

As much as possible, I will adorn the packages to the final state.  However, for stacking purposes I won't be able to use some of my bulkier tie on's. Those I will tie on later when I bring the gifts back out to go under the Christmas tree.

We used some traditional name tags.

We used some of the letters I made.

And fortunately, there is someone in my house who does the prettiest hand lettering so she wrote directly on some of the packages.

A few years ago I used a 40% off coupon at Michaels and bought this stamp set. We used it to actually stamp the names right onto the paper.  It was a purchase that I still feel good about.

I wrap with my mom and my two daughters.  Many people ask if I wrap their gifts on this day too.  Well absolutely!!! I simply stash their stuff in my room, box it up in there and then bring it out and wrap the boxes.  If you think people have great anticipation after seeing their names on boxes under the tree in December, you can only guess how it feels to have that anticipation from July thru December.

I also have some wrapping to do for other people who I help with their shopping, so there are more than enough things to carry us through the day.


In all we wrapped about 150 gifts.  This is a huge relief for us when it comes to November and December.  Somehow I manage to still feel very busy during the holiday season but I cannot imagine having all this wrapping looming over me. Here are the final results of our efforts.

And in a stroke of true good fortune, as we were finishing for the day UPS came and delivered my new oragami shelf that I ordered from HSN.  It took us exactly 5 minutes to unpack it and get it set up.  We decided this would be the perfect place to store the packages temporarily.

Even if July is a little early for you, I still recommend setting yourself a day aside to wrap as much as you can before all the parties, family gatherings and the general hectic nature of the holidays kicks in.  If you wrapped in October that would feel good, right?  Or  how about November.......maybe you could shop Black Friday and wrap on that Saturday.  The point is getting some stuff off of your to do list and enjoying the real celebration of the season.

If you are wondering what is in all of these boxes, stay tuned.  I can't share everything but I do have several gift idea posts coming up between now and Christmas to  hopefully help you with ideas for everyone on your list.  And please feel free to share any great ideas you have too.  I can always use a little help myself.....especially with boy gifts.....I think boys are very hard to buy for sometimes.

Wrapping done........pretty soon we will be pulling out the trees. Oh, Summer, and your 100 degree temps.....you will not quench my Christmas Spirit.

See you back here on Friday!

Paint Class Review

We signed up for a class called Shibori at Art & Soul on Whitesburg Drive.  It was a class to teach us to dye flour sack napkins with Chalk Paint.  Apparently, you can pretty much cover anything with Chalk Paint.  The owner/instructor Kim showed us all the paint colors and had each of us select two colors we wanted to work with.

I chose these two harvest colors in hopes of using my napkins this fall.

She then took us through how to fold our napkins to get different results.  You could pretty much be as creative as you so desired.  Several of the ladies used a different folding technique for each of their napkins.  I went with the simple square fold for all of mine, but did vary the dipping a bit and still got quite a variation that I really loved.

Here's all my napkins neatly folded and ready for dipping.

We dipped each one in a chalk paint mixture and hung them out to dry.  We then heat set them by ironing them.

My four turned out like this

These were done with a burgundy and a gold.

These with a red and green

These with a gold and pink

These with pink and a red

And these with a blue and a green

How you folded and dipped determined the pattern and how much white remained showing.  They all turned out so differently but beautifully.  When we got them home we put them thru the dryer to further heat set them, gave them a rinse in the sink and then ran them thru the washer and dryer.  They can be used as napkins, a table square or even sewn into pillows.  It was a lot of fun to spend a Saturday morning learning something new and hanging out with fun ladies.

This is my second class at Art & Soul and I have been so pleased with both of them. I hope to take many more and learn lots of new things.......let me know if you are interested in joining me next time and I will tell you when we sign up again.

In addition to this being a wonderful place to take classes and learn, this is a super cute store.  They sell bedding, home decor, art, jewelry, candles and much more.  If ever you are looking for a cute, unique gift idea I highly recommend checking out Art & Soul.  I will be featuring some of their offerings in upcoming posts to help you complete that Christmas list.

Tomorrow is July 25th.....WRAPPING DAY......so come back Wednesday and see the progress we made in getting Christmas gifts wrapped and ready for this year's celebration.

Talk to you on Wednesday!

Hello Friday and Hello Nordstrom Sale Open to the Public

Well if you have been waiting on the Nordstrom sale to be open to you.....today is your day.

Log on in at Nordstrom.com and get going.  If you need a refresher on some of the things we already picked up  you can click here and here.

But I did want to show you today two things that we bought that I have not shown you yet.
One turns out might just be my favorite find of the sale.  But it wasn't showing up on line so I couldn't show it to you.  But it is finally there and so here it is



Ahhh, you say it doesn't look like much.....well you see that is why I am glad we went to the store and shopped in person.  You are right, just seeing this online I would not have added it to my cart.  But in person was a totally different story.  I got this black and white one but I wanted to show you this in a solid color so you can see the detail.



The fabric is really nice and the cut is great.  I may go back for another.

Now here is the other thing I bought that I haven't shared with you yet



Natori Cotton Briefs

These come in 8 colors.  I bought them last week but wanted to have a chance to wash them and wear them to give you an informed report.....Love Them!!!! While they had high reviews, I wanted to check them out myself.  If you need a restock, I highly recommend these.  I will be going back for more.

So check out the past two posts and these new finds and start filling a cart.  And if you find something great that I missed, please share.

Now in other good news World Market has their Christmas stuff online now.  They always have unique and cute ornaments.  Most come in sets so you will be extra pleased with knowing you get 2 or 3 for the price quoted.

Wooden Set of Two

or these

                                                         Metal set of three

Even if these don't match your tree decor, they would be super cute tied on a  present.

You can check out their pillows and throws here

The home decor items are here

The stockings and tree skirts are here

And don't forget in Alabama it is tax free weekend for your back to school purchases.  I will be the lady with the shopping cart full of items that are not on my kid's supply list, simply because I cannot resist boxes of new sharply pointed crayons, colorful folders and spiral notebooks.

I hope you have a great weekend.  Talk to you on Monday!

Friends.......

I have been thinking a lot about friends lately.  For various reasons this has been front and center in my mind.  One reason is I am always amazed at who shows up, calls, checks in or sends an unexpected word of encouragement. The second reason is I am watching my girls navigate, build and end friendships of their very own.  Let's face it girls can be tough on each other, judgmental, critical or even brutal.

But God has given me through every phase of my life good, tried and true girlfriends.  I am grateful.  We all need a shoulder to lean on, an ear to bend, a co-pilot, a partner who will maintain our confidence to the bitter end and a girl who buys for you when you can't get to the sale yourself.

So as I've watched my girls ebb and flow through various friendships it has been joyful and heart wrenching.  Because I have had a little experience and because I have zero emotional connection to these various girls, I can usually spot those that will last and those that are just passing through.  It is hard as a mom to keep silent about those that are obviously just passing through.  It is hard not to put a little wind behind their sails and help them pass through a little quicker.  But there are lessons to be leaned in figuring out these things on your own - Now let's not be ridiculous there have been a couple that I've been vocal about.....but they totally deserved it.  For the most part I try to just ask a few thought provoking questions like.....did she call to congratulate you....did she text to check on how that went for you.  You know if a girl can't be happy for you when things are going well or compassionate when things are not - they just aren't keepers.  Thankfully both of my girls have some real keepers in their lives.

Granted we all get busy, we don't nurture our friendships like we should but it's clear who's sincerely in your corner and who's not.

Again. I am beyond blessed with some really fantastic friends.  Some I talk to every day, some every week, some once a month or less but I know - they are there for me.  If you are one of those people in my life, you clearly know who are and I love you dearly.  I have been lifted in prayer, hugged, and tended to by the very best.  Just this weekend I found an anonymous package on my porch.  It is a canvas of me and my husband from our Nantucket trip.  It is the sweetest, most generous gesture.  It is a testament to how blessed I am in the friend department.  I am loved well and I am thankful for it. And I hope I am loving well in return.

Need to reach out, rekindle, reconnect with someone? Guess what - today is a really good day to do so!

Take care, my friends!

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale - Part 2

Happy Monday, girls.  Hope the weekend was super kind to you.

I'm going to complete our Nordstrom Shopping Trip for you today.  If you missed part 1,  you can find it here.

We made it thru lunch in our last recap so that is where we will pick up today.  Nordstrom has a little restaurant right in the store.  The selection is good, the prices are reasonable and the food is good.

We were zonked by the time we sat down to eat and to be honest.....we just went to eating.  By the time my blogger mind re-engaged we were half thru the meal but  we still managed to snap a couple of pictures from the slower eaters at the table. Two of the four of us had made too much of a dent to snap a picture.  We had a French Dip (fast eater was almost done), a chicken dish where the chicken was pounded paper thin, fried and served with a salad (faster eater number two was also almost done, a chicken dish with angel hair pasta

and lastly fish and chips

Full disclosure this started with 4 pieces of fish and twice the fries.  Oh yeah, the fries by the way are really good.  They have rosemary on them and are seasoned to perfection.

Now back to shopping.

Next up the men's department.

There were lots of good shoes on sale

Nike Stefan Janoski $81.90



       

                                                            Nike Slip-ons $59.90

This driving shoe

Midland $89.90

Some other dressier styles like


The Tyler Grand $139.90


And even some booties


The Barron $129.90


The Barrett $79.90

And the shoe trees are a great buy at $12.90


Cedar Shoe Trees

The clothing in men's was just as good

Lots of Nike Items like




Joggers



Tees



Jackets

If you need basics



T-shirts



Socks or low cut

There so many other options.  Vineyard Vines, Robert Graham, etc.  Just use the search feature on the Nordstrom site.

The Kid's department was also hopping.

Girl's options click here.

Boy's options click here.

Kid's Shoes click here.

We wrapped up in The Home Department

I picked up these rugs for our bathroom and am so pleased with them.  They look great and are comfy to step onto.


Accent Rug

At this point I could have curled up in any one of these throws and taken a power nap.  These are all super soft and any would be great.  I am going to show you a couple of price options and I think you will be happy with absolutely any of them.  You know we believe in a good throw around here so here you go.....


The Bliss Throw comes in 12 great color options and is only $25.90


This Ugg Throw is in 7 different color options and is only $69.90



The Barefoot Dreams Throw is $97.90 and is offered in 6 colors.  This is the same company that makes the cozy cardigan I showed you on Friday.  Pricey? yes. Worth it? double yes.

Now don't miss these candles.


This set comes in a larger size which you could break apart for 3 single gifts or in a mini set if you want to add them to someone's stocking.

You can totally start or finish your Christmas Shopping in the sale if you like.  I still have a couple of things that we bought in the store but I cannot find them on line to show you the links.  If they pop up, I will be sure to let you know.

I hope you have a great week and find a few things that you love too.

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale - Done and Done

So because I think so much of you guys and I knew you would want to know what to buy at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, we took a trip to Nashville to the nearest Nordstrom to scope out the best deals.

As a reminder the early access for Nordstrom Card holders started yesterday.  If  you have a Nordstrom card you can start shopping NOW......if not, hold tight the sale will open to the public on the 20th.

I hope you have some time because this, ladies, is how you do the Anniversary Sale.

We arrived at 9:57, parked the car and entered the store at the 10:00 opening.

First we hit up the shoe department.

These Nikes came in pink and black and yes we bought them both

                                                                     Nike $89.90

These TOMS booties came in a couple of color options and we decided on the Forged Iron color.

We liked these sneakers but did not come home with them but we ordered them on line

TOMS Sneakers




These booties were super cute in the store we decided against them, but maybe you would like them.

Hinge Booties

Then we went to Beauty and there were some really good deals.

Like this Clinique set

This MAC set

This Philosophy Set

And then when moved over to the Intimate Apparel and Active section

First up is the Barefoot Dreams Cardigan. It was a hot item in the store, almost everyone was going after it. 

Such a great option for loungewear and outerwear. You can find it here.

I think this is what dreams are made of, it has pockets and is so soft and warm. You cannot really go wrong with it. They have a few variations up for grabs that you should consider adding to your closet. 

These joggers were also super soft and comfy.  They come in black and grey and run true to size.

We also picked up these Zella high waisted leggings.  We buy these every Anniversary Sale

We like all Zella products we have purchased.  You can check them out here.

We then went to ladies clothing and once again racked up.

These Halogen long sleeve tunics come in several colors and are only $24.90

I loved this little top.  It is really soft and has cute sleeves.

This little sweater is just the thing with jeans or leggings.  There are several colors.  Runs true to size, however, if you really want coverage with leggings, you might consider sizing up.

There are lots of cute jeans available.  We got this pair which has a little distressing but not too much. They come in regular and petite sizes.

By now it was nearly 1:00 and we had to break for lunch.  If you have never had a chance to eat at the Nordstrom Grille......you should.  We went right down to the lower level and sat down for a bite to eat.

Monday I will show you the lunch that refueled us and allowed us to continue shopping for another 4 hours.  Come back Monday and see our finds from Men's, Kids and the Home section.

I am plum tuckered girls.......have a great weekend!