for fun // a giveaway

just because I love pretty Spring flowers

& I've been obsessed with scarves lately...

I'm giving away this lovely infinity scarf from the Eclectic Joy shop!

I'm keeping it simple today;

all you have to do is leave a comment!

(along with your email address

so I can contact the winner)

I'll randomly choose a winner

when I get back from SNAP.

Happy Spring!

**this is not a sponsored post, just me sharing some love with you.**

skate

I love ice skating. Spending a couple of hours on a Wednesday morning on the ice with my sister was quite wonderful, even though I'm not the best at it. It's more of a winter activity, I suppose, but it was fun to be bundled up despite the hot temperatures outside. Now I just have to convince the Mister to take me later this year for my birthday!

weekend fun!

Since we got married, I've cherished weekends a lot more than I used to.

I love having my man home, sleeping in a little,

having coffee together since he doesn't have to rush off to work.

This weekend was especially special.

My 21st birthday is on Christmas Day, 

so we celebrated early!

Hubby took me shopping, lunch at Chik-Fil-A,

dessert & candles to blow out.

It was a very nice way to celebrate a birthday. :)

other weekend highlights include...

...going tree shopping!

I love Christmas, and getting a tree is always one of my favorite things.

We picked out a really nice one,

and my sweet husband even let me get a little baby tree. ;)

I've been working on getting the decorations up,

and I definitely plan to share pictures soon!

...celebrating another birthday!

My niece turned 4 yesterday,

and Saturday she had a little party.

Love my little nieces & nephews!

...church on Sunday.

I took a break from playing keyboard on

our music team when I got married,

but I played again yesterday & loved it.

I miss having a piano/keyboard in the house.

...birthday celebration with my family.

I had lunch with my family after church,

and they had a little party for me.

Complete with ice cream cake & a gift!

...Christmas shopping with my mom.

Apparently I'm good at shopping for other people,

so I helped my mom pick out gifts for a sister.

...just relaxing.

It's a nice time to unwind before the schedule of a new week.

How was your weekend?

I hope my ramblings didn't bore you...

{feeling blessed}

I'm definitely feeling blessed after this weekend...

my bridal shower was on Saturday morning,

and it was just wonderful.

{my bride-to-be "costume", put together by my sister;

all the essentials for cooking/baking in one easy place! *wink*}

We had a great turn-out {so thankful for all the ladies who came!},

lots of yummy food, fun games, and all the other fun shower "stuff".

Unfortunately, a lot of the pictures on my camera turned out really blurry,

so I'll have to track down some more pictures I can share.

We received a lot of the things we need for our new home,

and I couldn't be more excited about setting up our new place. :)

Now we just have to find that place....

How was your weekend? Hope it was lovely!

{floral fun}

I do believe that Spring may have sprung...at least here in the Sunshine State!

I crave sunshine, really. Growing up in Florida didn't leave me a lot of tolerance for cold.

And I looove flowers. They're beautiful, unique, colorful, and just so fun.

I would wear this with a pair of jean capris for a fun day out!

{flutter-sleeve tunic :: Old Navy}

A day at the beach, perhaps?

{printed flip-flops :: Old Navy}

Of course, I love anything yellow.

{floral-print dress :: Old Navy}

Looove this dress! Mint + Floral = Happy. :)

{bridget shift dress :: Target}

This necklace would be beautiful - perhaps to dress up a date night outfit?

{tulle-flower ribbon necklace :: Old Navy}

Now I want to run out and add a bunch of florals to my wardrobe!

All pictures from the Old Navy and Target websites.

*****

The winner of Liz Curtis Higgs latest book is Katy from The Country Blossom - congrats!

Be sure to enter to win a necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs!

{ announcements }

Just a few announcements for this Monday morning...

{source}

announcement:

I stink at volleyball. That's all there is to it.

I wish I could look cool and send the ball flying over the net with ease.

It would help if I weren't afraid of being hit by the volleyball.

And if I didn't bruise my wrist when I serve.

{source}

announcement:

Uno is more my kind of game. :)

announcement:

The lucky winner of the FABulous apron from Lima Bean Designs is...

#87 - Yanick

Congratulations!

announcement:

If you didn't win, stick around.

More fun is coming to The Sweetest Petunia very soon. :)

{ parisian love }

I will admit it. I'm not a big fan of football.

I would much rather watch a movie or something similar.

But I did watch the Superbowl, or at least most of it. I didn't pay much attention, because I was working on several other projects while I was "watching"...but I did see most of the commercials.

And I now think that Google is brilliant.

{please note: Google is not paying me to be nice to them. I just thoroughly enjoyed their commercial.}

Isn't that the sweetest?! I love it. :)

What was your favorite part of the Superbowl?

*****

Be sure to enter the Spunk & Sass giveaway right here!

{ one yard wonders }

Last night when my dad came home, he brought something fun for my sisters and I.

One Yard Wonders.

source

I am so excited!

I think the concept of this book is really neat. I always try to use as little fabric as possible, but I want the project to turn out amazing, too. Now I have 101 to choose from!

Yes, last night I sat down and flipped through the entire book, writing down all the projects I wanted to try. Now I just have to find some fabulous fabric!

Some of the projects look harder than others, but I thought the directions looked fairly clear.

Of course, I tend to ignore rules/directions when sewing, so we'll see how it goes. :)

What about you? Is this a book you have? One you would want to use? Tell me about it!

{ fabric }

I will admit this to you.

I seem to have a slight obsession with sewing at this point in time.

And that's not a bad thing!

Seriously, I need to snap some photos of some of my creations. I'd love to share them with you. Maybe a little later this week? Hmmm.

Anyway, because I've been enjoying sewing so much, I've also been drooling over looking at fabric. I wish I had a very large budget for fabric, because I love a lot of it.

Nicey Jane fat quarter set

Meadowsweet

Timber

Does anyone else share in my {slight} obsession with fabric?

I hope so. :)

{ visiting }

In my perfect dream world, I would love to invite some fellow bloggers for coffee.

Nevermind the fact that in real life, I can be painfully shy.

{This is just my dream.}

{source}

Maybe Kim would come over.

{She actually does live fairly close to me!}

Maybe Gussy. Or Natalie. Or Erica.

{You know, I'd probably still be nervous. Even in my dream world!}

We would sip coffee with special creamer and topped with whipped cream. I might even make some Coffee & Cream muffins. We'd spend several hours talking, laughing...it would be so much fun.

But since that probably won't happen {at least not any time soon}, I'll just have to be content visiting their blogs and leaving comments. And that's fun, too.

Now, I know there are lots of other great blogs out there.

I'd love to be able to visit some of them over the next week or so!

So here's my plan.

If you are a fellow blogger, and you'd like me to come visit your blog for a virtual "coffee visit", I'd love to! Just leave me a sweet comment about your dream world + a link to your blog.

P.S. I do have one small request. I don't want any weird links to nasty sites or anything like that.

{not that any of you would do that, but this is my disclaimer.}

Please keep it clean, safe and family friendly!

I'll be seeing you soon!

{ yellow + grey }

I would have to say that is probably Natalie's "fault" that I love yellow + grey so much.

Because I really didn't notice yellow until I "met" her and her blog.

So, thank you, Natalie. Because these colors are fabulous.

{Natalie is celebrating this week of yellow + grey, and she might even be giving something(s) away! You should go check out her lovely blog, and I doubt you'll be disappointed.}

{ tired }

I have a bad habit.

{Well, maybe more than one, but for now, it's enough.}

I always have books on hand, just waiting for me to read.

And I read them.

I have read SO much in my lifetime.

My problem is that sometimes {especially on Saturday nights}, I'll finish one book...

{source}

...and then I'll pick up a book I've already started...

{source}

...and finish it.

And think to myself, my alarm will go off early in the morning, and I really should be sleeping.

{source}

But I don't turn off the light. I just pick up another book. And proceed to read almost the entire thing.

And then I finally go to sleep at 2:30am.

Trust me, I regret it when the alarm goes off at 6:30.

{Someday, maybe I'll grow out of this habit. I hope.}

{ #78 }

78. Go to IKEA.

Yep! I've actually been there 3 times in the past 5 days...Wow!

I really wasn't intending so many trips there.

Once I went with my dear friend, my mom and my sister. My mom and my friend had never been there, so it was more of a "browse around and look in wonder" trip. ;)

The second time, I went with my parents. My dad really wanted to get a bookshelf for their bedroom. He had never been there, but he found exactly what he wanted from the catalog and website. He likes to shop when he knows exactly what he wants.

The third time was not intended at all. But my dad bought 2 sets of casters to use with the bookshelf...

...but he needed 3 sets. So my mom and I ended up going back again.

But in my opinion, there's no such thing as too many trips to IKEA. Plus, they have super yummy cinnamon buns. ;)

{All images taken from ikea.com}

{Monogrammed Candles}

Oh, how I looove candles!

If there was one thing I "collected", that would be it.

I also love to give candles to other people {go figure}!

This year for Christmas, I needed an easy, inexspensive {read: cheap} gift, and then I needed 2 of them.

One for my mom, one for my Sweetheart's mom.

I wandered the aisles at Michael's for hours...

{probably only one hour, but it was a while.}

I finally found my solution, and it turned out so cute I just had to share!

Here's what you'll need:

A jar candle

Ribbon {I used 2 kinds}

Paint to match

Small letters {they can be hard to find, so you may have to improvise}

A hot glue gun or super glue

First, you'll need to paint your letters. Front, back, sides, all of it! Make sure the paint is thoroughly dry before moving on to the next thing.

{With my candle I did first and last initial; you can do that, or your own monogram version. Whatever works best!}

Next, be sure to peel the label off of the candle and heat your hot glue gun.

Once it's ready, hot glue that letter right onto the jar!

{Arrange it however you like!}

The last step is to tie your ribbon around the mouth of the jar. I used 2 different types of ribbon {I couldn't resist the brown/gold combo!}, but if you only have one kind, that would work, too! Just make it look good. I'm sure you can figure that out on your own. :)

And here it is!

They turned out very cute, and the ladies loved them!

'Cause really, who doesn't love a monogram? *wink, wink*

These would be great to make for birthdays, bridal showers...very easy, not much expense...sounds good to me! I'm already planning the next one I'll be making. ;)

{Linking up to Kimba's DIY Day!}

{Heartstrings}

Heartstrings

I'm in love with this necklace from Lisa Leonard.

I love the hearts.

I love the sentimental quality.

I love the customization.

*sigh*

Is there a Lisa Leonard piece you're wishing for? Tell me about it!

If you've never heard of Lisa Leonard, you are missing out on a lot of loveliness.

And you should go now. :)