A Perfect Mother's Day!

I am one lucky mama - and wife! It began last night, when I was treated to a great dinner at Lucky Platter in Evanston. We talked, laughed, and had the best banana cream pie ever!

This morning, I slept in and lingered lazily in bed, cuddling with Frannie, our big furball of a cat.

Then, I came downstairs to the most amazing gifts from my family! And they were absolutely perfect!

I now have a new orchid for my growing collection, two gorgeous scarves (for my other ever-expanding collection!), yummy treats, and.... two new necklaces handcrafted by my son and daughter.

What's that, you say? Is that a sweet little bird necklace AND a TARDIS necklace!? Why, yes it is. Thank you for noticing.

All these wondrous delights = the Best Mother's Day ever! Happy Mother's Day!

Pi Day = Cupcakes!

Today, March 14th, is Pi Day (get it - 3.14??). So, it's the perfect day to enjoy pie after your dinner. And that was the plan, until I was driving and realized I was a few blocks away from my favorite folks at Luscious Layers Bakery! 

So, I picked up some cupcakes for the family. And of course, one for me for the drive home (the Guiness cupcake, thank you very much).

It was nearly impossible to pick for all the yummy flavors, so I just went with a variety. Here we have Green Velvet with Cream Cheese frosting, Dark Chocolate with Coconut Mousse, Fudge with Salted Caramel Frosting, and Guinness with Chocolate frosting.

The Pistachio cupcake (with Pistachio Mousse & Cream Cheese frosting) and the French Toast cupcake never even made it from the box to the plate.

So, while today may be Pi day, EVERY DAY is Cupcake Day!! So go get some. I'd share, but I have a feeling these will be gone in a minute. 

12 Days of Love Letters

So, the holiday season is upon us. Even if it is supposed to reach 60 degrees tomorrow, I promise that it really is December. And most of us have begun holiday shopping. 

Okay, I haven't started shopping, but I have started thinking about it. 

But, maybe you're looking for a more meaningful way to usher in the holidays. If so, you may want to consider The 12 Days of Love Letter Writing. This letter writing campaign is an effort to make the holiday season brighter for some folks who need a little kindness and love right now.                                              

It's pretty simple. For 12 days in a row- starting this Monday, Dec. 3rd - you are emailed with a letter request from someone who needs some holiday cheer. You write a letter or a card and send it to the lovely people at The World Needs More Love Letters. They bundle up all the warm wishes and send them to their merry way.

What a wonderful way to spread some love and joy.... and to make a real difference in someone's life.

Ready to write? Click HERE to join the effort. And don't forget to pick up some nice stationery when you're out running errands this weekend. 

DIY Pumpkins!

Now that the weather has cooled down a bit (for now, anyways), my mind has been wandering to thoughts of fall....

Halloween costumes. Baking bread. Picking apples. Carving pumpkins. Making applesauce. Oooh, I can't wait for all that fun stuff!

In the meantime, I offer you this sweet, simple project for making your own little fabric pumpkins.

These darlings would be the perfect table decorations for a fall wedding! They can also double as wedding favors.

The pumpkins are super easy to make - you just have to be able to cut a circle (or an approximation of one), sew a few stitches (they don't have to be even), and glue on a stem. Easy!! Click here to see the step-by-step directions on Craftster.

Have fun! Just don't get made at me when you can't stop making them!

Create Your Own Holiday

So, who remembers the Seinfeld episode where George's dad comes up with Festivus?
Yup, "Festivus for the rest of us." So, maybe the Seinfeld holiday got a little carried away with The Pole (tinsel is too distracting) and the Airing of Grievances.....

But who says you can't create your own holiday? We did!

It began with having a son whose birthday is right before Christmas. Not only was he inundated with birthday presents, a few days later he was bombarded with Christmas presents. Then my daughter came along and her aunts got carried away with buying cute girlie stuff. It just got to be way too much.

I tried to get everyone to cut back on the gift-giving, and they did respect our wishes (for the most part - we're dealing with some serious shoppers). My husband and I found we still weren't comfortable with all the "stuff" the kids were accumulating.

Thus, Vaughan Day was born. We discussed our idea with the kids: they wouldn't get any Christmas gifts from us, but instead we'd have a holiday in the summer where they'd get gifts. They were all for it. They called it Christmas in July.

The first year that we were going to skip Christmas gifts, I was a little worried that we'd have two unhappy kids on our hands. I kept reminding them about our arrangement. When Christmas rolled around, they barely even noticed.

This past weekend, we celebrated our 2nd annual Vaughan Day. We brought the tree up from the basement and decorated with "summery" ornaments. The kids and I made our own decorations the day before. My favorites were my son's light saber ornament (nothing says family holiday like a Star Wars) and my daughter's lemonade ornament (notice the long spoon for stirring?). Instead of garland, I used pink crepe paper around the tree. I'm all about multi-purposing stuff that's laying around.

On Sunday morning, we had Big Breakfast, as it's called in our house - bacon, eggs, cinnamon rolls, the works! Then the kids opened their presents. They each got one present and were thrilled.They even made us cards with a piece of candy from their prized stash of candy. We spent the whole day together - no pressure, no stress. We went to the movies and then ordered our favorite pizza. It couldn't have been a better day!

So, I highly recommend coming up with your own holiday. Be creative!

Do you like bagels? Try one day where all your meals include bagels (bagel dog anyone?) and it's your own official Bagel Day!

Love books? Why not Reading Day, when you spend the whole day in pajamas and curl up with a good book and a nice mug of tea.... and scones. (Hey, I think I may do this one!)

Celebrate your family, your friends - and yourself! And do it any way that makes you happy!

Happy New Year!

I hope you found a festive way to usher in the New Year. We spent a nice, cozy evening with good friends, hot cider and lots of food. We celebrated the New Year at 10 pm (for the kids) by getting them bundled up & sending them outside to bang on big aluminum bowls and lids. For some reason, I was the only one yelling, "Happy New Year!" These kids need to learn how to let loose!

I wish you all the best for 2010. And a special wish for happiness and love to all those couples planning weddings in the coming year. Congrats!

Winter Solstice - The Shortest Day of the Year!

Today marks the Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year. Still celebrated by modern pagans, Winter Solstice has been a day of celebration since ancient times.

The Roman feast of Saturnalia honored the God Saturn as a week-long observation of the Winter Solstice. The day was also honored by the Germanic people of Northern Europe with Yule festivals, which brought us the tradition of burning the Yule log.

If you'd like to celebrate the shortest day of the year.... and thus, usher in the lengthening days, here are some ideas:

Celebrate with a series of rituals, feasts, and other activities, with Winter Solstice Eve and Day as the central focus. Have gift exchanges and meals over the course of several days and nights, as was done long ago.

Decorate your home with Druidic holiday colors - red, green, and white. Place holly, ivy, evergreen boughs, and pine cones around the house, including a sprig of mistletoe above the doorway. Hang an evergreen wreath on your door, adorned with holiday herbs - the circular shape represents the continuity of life.

Enjoy a Solstice Eve ritual where you relish the longest night of the year by meditating or enjoying music in the darkness. Then, symbolically welcome the arrival of the sun by lighting candles. If you have a fireplace (or a fire pit outside), burn a Yule log, saving a little bit to start next year's fire.

How ever you decide to acknowledge the shortest day of the year (or the longest night), be sure to take a moment to celebrate the Winter Solstice.

I have another very special reason for celebrating today - my son's birth 10 years ago today! He has brought joy and light to our lives ever since. Happy Birthday!