A Great Bargain and A Perfect Mother's Day Gift

Ok, so I'm not doing my morning routine of making beds and starting laundry or running my errands to pick up detangler for my daughter or the conditioner she asked for days ago or running to the grocery store to pick up deli meats for a quickie dinner tonight because both boys have baseball practice. I'm on the Internet reading blogs and looking for Mother's Day gifts. Well have I found a great deal for all of you.

Have you ever wanted one of those self inking address stamps with an initial or monogram? Well here's your chance to get it at 40% off. (yes, that's right. I said 40% off!!!) Http://www.expressionery.com/ is having a Mother's Day special until May 6th on select personalized stamps, stationery and notepads. They have some great selections. And can I just tell you, I'm drooling. I love all this stuff. Do I need any more of it... no. Do I already have a personalized address stamp... yes. Do I need anymore personalized notepads or stationery... no. But I love it all and I can't stop myself. I'm addicted!!!!

It's a "Good Thing"

I love the colors pink and green. Always have since my preppy days started in junior high. Well last week I was at Target and found the cutest set of note paper in the dollar bins. This set with paper, acrylic holder and pen was only $2.50 . I couldn't pass it up and it would match my daughter's bedroom perfectly.

And then I had an idea, monogram the paper (my daughter opted for her name instead).

From this...

to this!!

How perfect would these be in goody bags for a birthday party or favors for a wedding shower or baby shower. Or even for Mother's Day. I'm going back to see if Target has more. I love it when things turn out so fabulous with little effort or thought.

Charming Children's Rooms

Fit for a prince.

Cheerful girls room.

Traditional and classic.

Elegant and full of charming details.

If only my children's bedrooms looked like these. All three of my children's bedrooms are decorated (sort of). The furniture is bought, the walls are painted, the bedding is all in place, but there is still something missing and I can't figure it out. So this morning I am playing hooky instead of doing my morning chores. I've been surfing the net and looking for some inspiration. I thought I would share a few photos with you all that I found at the website, Chic Shack.

I love the simplicity of all the rooms and the clean design lines. Some are a bit to neutral for me, but they all make a statement and look finished. That's what I need for my kid's rooms, a nice finished look. Where the rooms look like they just popped out of a magazine. I wish I had a knack for decorating. I've got to get to work on them and figure out what I need to do, so I'm off to do some more searching. Or maybe I should do the easy thing and hire a decorator. But I've done that in the past and it didn't turn out so good and then I've wasted all that money.

Maybe soon I will be sharing photos of the bedrooms if I get them completed to the look I'm in search for. Hopefully sooner than later.

Enjoy your day!!

Kids Room

I found this picture of a child's room and thought I would share it. Some times I need a little inspiration to get my juices flowing and to get me motivated to tackle a job. I love how they took a small bedroom and made great use of the space. The built in shelving unit on the one wall with the desk is so perfect. The day bed adds perfect seating for kids to hang out on. How cute is the table and chairs with matching table cloth and seat cushions? I love all the details.

Sunsets at the Beach

Wow, I've been away so long. It's nice to be back. We had a great time on spring break, so much so, nobody was ready to come back. We went down to Fort Meyers Beach with eight other families. It was the most relaxing vacation I've been on with kids. The kiddies had a blast. And the sunsets were absolutely gorgeous. Every night we had cocktails and appetizers on the beach to watch the sun fall.

Although this year, we had a little adventure. Our flight was cancelled the night before we were suppose to leave because of a big snow storm that was heading right for Chicago. My husband tried everything to get us on another flight, even to get us to other locations and then we would drive the rest of the way. But with so many other travelers in the same position we were and it being Easter weekend, there were no available flights unless we wanted to leave on Sunday or Monday, which we were suppose to leave on a Friday. So my husband said lets just drive it. I'm thinking are you nuts, have you lost your mind. Drive all the way to Florida?!!! I hate driving. My limit is about two hours. It's a killer to drive to Nebraska for eight hours and now he wants to drive 24 hours. The kids said they wanted to do it so I "sucked" it up and said yes. We loaded the SUV and headed out about 9:30 p.m. Then the built-in DVD in the SUV decides to break down as soon as we get out of town. Too late to make it to any stores so the kiddies decided it was a good time to go to sleep. The next morning we were at a Best Buy at 10:00 a.m. buying new DVD's for the ride. I have to say the kids were excellent all the way there. I got a laugh when we hit the Florida state line and the three kiddies started yelling in joy. I didn't have the heart to tell them we still had five hours to go. They were troopers and stuck it out wonderfully. We made it in 24 hours and had the best vacation!! It was well worth it.

Still doing laundry and cleaning and trying to catch up on things. I'm still feeling tired so hopefully by tomorrow I will be back to normal.