{memorial day weekend}

Just popping in for a quick minute today...

I realized that this weekend is actually Memorial Day weekend, so I probably won't be around again until Tuesday.

I'm spending the weekend preparing for a bridal shower, making bunches of these beautiful poms (in blue and white),

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resting, hanging out at home, watching movies, reading, baking, and all that good stuff. :)

I hope you and yours have a lovely long weekend.

Have any fun plans?

I'll be back on Tuesday, and I'll announce a winner from my celebration!

color love {lime}

inspired by summer...

{ lime }

solid sugar scrub

reusable sandwich bag

square earrings

lime teapot

cellphone wallet

If there's a color you'd like to see in an upcoming edition of {color love}, please email me.

favorite musicals {Hello, Dolly!}

This musical was discovered while watching Wall-E.

The song at the beginning? Put On Your Sunday Clothes.

The movie that Wall-E watches and tries to recreate?

Hello, Dolly!

So we tracked it down and watched it. :)

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I personally love this movie.

Barbra Streisand is just brilliant, and I love Dolly Levi.

There are so many funny lines:

"Barnaby, you're going to have a mistress!"

{in reference to his search for a wife}

"But I'm too young, Mr. Vandergelder!"

Louis Armstrong makes an appearance, and he's a favorite of mine.

The music is fabulous.

(Some of my family didn't like it as much as I did, though.)

Hello, Dolly! 1969

starring: Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau

favorite songs: Just Leave Everything To Me, Put On Your Sunday Clothes, It Only Take a Moment, So Long, Dearie

Have you seen Hello, Dolly!? What did you think?

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Be sure to stop by and link up to the party if you haven't already!

I'm {slowly} making my way through the list, and a winner will be chosen on Friday morning.

Happy Wednesday!

{thanks} a party + giveaway

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This morning when I opened my Dashboard, I saw a number.

A rather large, milestone kind of number.

200 {followers}

Wow.

Can I just stop and say thank you?

I am totally blown away by how much my humble little blog has grown.

And that you lovely people actually enjoy my blog!

So I've decided to throw a party.

{a rather impromptu party}

This is for followers/subscribers only, because I am thanking them for reading.

{you are more than welcome to become a follower/subscriber during the party!}

Here's how it will work:

Add a link to your blog to the Linky below - I'd love to come say hi!

The Linky will close Friday morning.

I will then {randomly} choose one of my followers/subscribers from the Linky list {so you must add a link to win}. That person will win a little something special from me!

This being an impromptu party, I don't know exactly what the special something will be...but it will be good. Probably something that's a favorite of mine. :)

Once again, thank you. Enjoy the "party"!

{a makeover}

It has been a crazy week here on my side of life.Between birthdays, picnics, parties, piano lessons. errands, a last-minute day trip...I think I've only been home one day since last Friday. Because of that, I have not had the time to pull together a {color love} post for today. So you'll just have to wait and get your color fix next week. And I am really trying to come up with new and fun colors, so if you have an idea? Email me! On another note, The Sweetest Petunia has gotten a makeover!  {if you're reading in a Reader, I'd encourage you to click on through and check it out!} It's bold, fresh, colorful and fun - I loved my other design, but I don't mind the change! Kelly of Fabulous K Creative did a great job. :) Well, that's all I've got for today. I need to rest, clean, craft, etc. I'll be back on Monday! What are your plans for the weekend? What do you think of the new blog design?

favorite musicals {Seven Brides for Seven Brothers}

This is an all-time favorite of mine.

I've seen it SO many times.

And I can still sit down and watch it, and love it.

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I love Howard Keel.

I love that the brothers are named alphabetically from the Bible:

Adam, Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frank(incense), Gideon.

I love the scene when Gideon is trying to lure Alice outside and meows like a cat.

I love the dance right before they raise the barn.

If you haven't seen it, you are missing out. :)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, 1954

starring: Howard Keel, Jane Powell

favorite songs: Bless Your Beautiful Hide, Goin' Courtin', Lonesome Polecat, Sobbin' Women

did you know? Jeff Richards (Benjamin) was a former professional baseball star. Julie Newmar (Dorcas; Benjamin's bride) went on to play Catwoman in the 1960's TV version of Batman.

Have you seen Seven Brides for Seven Brothers? What did you enjoy the most about it?

I found information about this movie on Wikipedia.

{just a second}

Just popping in for a second today!

I am BUSY.

It's my dear friend's birthday, among other things. :)

But I did want to share a few things with you before I go...

I made a set of these cute little flower pins for Valerie to give away on her blog; she's also featuring a fun little Q&A with yours truly {who knows, you may learn something about me that you never knew before!}. You can see the feature post here.

Erin from Bringing Up Burns commented with the link to this lovely Peony + Pewter Wedding theme - it's just lovely! You can check out all of the inspiration pictures by clicking the link, but I had to share those shoes. They're too fabulous.

I've also just added the option of email subscription with FeedBurner. Check out the sidebar if you'd like to subscribe, or click here.

That's all I've got for today, ladies.

{I don't think any guys are reading this?}

I'll be back tomorrow {hopefully} to kick off my Favorite Musicals series!

{ sunshine }

field of sunshine by bomobob

It's raining here in Florida this morning.

I don't like rain very much.

It's dark and wet and gloomy.

So I'm remembering the sunshine of yesterday.

Walking with my sweetheart out on the pier.

Talking about life and the future.

I think it's enough sunshine to get me through to tomorrow. :)

What's putting sunshine in your heart today?

color love {peony pink}

not just pink! inspired by my love of peonies...

{ peony pink }

peony perfume oil

melanie collection clutch

peony rose pink necklace

peony knot dress

save the date

{Absolutely looove this! I could see myself using it when I get married.}

If there is a color you'd like to see in an upcoming edition of {color love}, please email me.
To see previous {color love} posts, click here.

review {baskets from CSN}

You may remember when I posted about my {unique oppurtunity} to review something from one of the CSN stores...well, the baskets have arrived and I've been putting them to good use!

{my camera wouldn't cooperate, so I didn't get to take any pictures; mine are the baskets above, but with the Leaf Vine liner}

I really love to use baskets - they are so much more attractive than plastic bins! I knew that I'd be using one of these baskets {the smaller one} on my dresser as a catch-all for my perfume, lotion, mousse, combs, ponytail holders, bobby pins...it's great to have one place to put all of those things.

These baskets have the fabric liner, which I love. It's especially nice because I don't have to worry about my bobby pins falling through the basket. :)

The smaller basket is plenty large enough for all of my "stuff", about 11x11. The larger basket {about 13x13} doesn't have a job yet, but I know I will find a way to put it to good use!

My only concern about the basket is this:

The seams of the liner show the stitches, like when you sew something right-sides-in and the push the seams too tightly when you turn it right-side-out. Does that make sense? However, I don't think that will be an issue, it's just something I noticed.

Overall, I really likes these baskets. Many thanks to CSN for making this review possible!

**I recieved a set of these baskets for review purpose. I was not compensated in any other way. All opinions are honest and my own.**

{ a couple of things }

Just a couple of things for today...

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I'm participating in SheyB's fun lineup of Birthday BASH giveaways!

I'm giving away a set of these adorable cards:

Would you like to be the lucky winner?

Hop on over to enter!

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Next week {probably on Wednesday} I will be starting a mini-series about my favorite musicals.

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Every week, I'll be featuring an old musical that I love and {possibly} can sing along to. But I promise to spare you the singing part on the blog. :)

I'm not sure how long the series will last - that mostly depends on how many musicals I decided to feature. But I'd also love to feature some of your favorites! If you have a suggestion, please email me.

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Hope you all have a lovely Wednesday!
What are your plans for the day?

{ peonies }

I always said that I would use pink daisies in my wedding.

But I think my alliances may have changed a bit...

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Aren't peonies gorgeous?!?

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What is your favorite flower?

If you're married, tell me about the flowers you used for your wedding!

{ it's just life }

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Sometimes life is just life.

Which means that some things take a back burner when other things are going on {sorry about that}.

Last week we watched a little boy from church while his parents were on a cruise. He's a year old, and precious as can be! But I didn't get much done last week...too busy chasing him around and keeping him out of trouble. :)

I got hit in the nose/mouth by the back of a {very excited} 2 year old's head. I will not lie - I am a sissy, and I cried. It hurt!

I'm supposed to play a piece for a recital in about 2 weeks. It's tough. And I need to practice. A lot.

I've only been seeing my sweetheart a couple times every week. Call me pathetic, but I wish it were every day.

I've been drinking more coffee than I'd like to. Because I always seem to be tired, and coffee {or at least the idea of it} keeps me going. Although I really don't want to become addicted to caffeine...

For those of you who have left comments over the past couple of weeks, thank you. I so appreciate your kind words. Unfortunately I just haven't had the time to return visits...hopefully this week will be better.

My silhouette cards were featured here, along with some other fabulous gals. 

And I  probably blushed SO red when I saw this, about bloggers you'd most like to meet.

{and I feel extremely honored, by the way}

Sometimes life is just life, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

How has your life been?

color love {celery}

This fresh green color just begged to be featured today :: I love the sweet brightness it brings.

{ celery }

flower brooch

flower beanie

{couldn't resist this sweet face!}

handmade bouquet

solitair necklace

bow tie

green birdies tote

{this is a brighter shade, but the tote is oh-so-cute!}

If you would like to see your favorite color in an upcoming {color love} post, please send me an email. I'm always open to new ideas!

To see previous {color love} posts, click here.

{the pleated poppy} winner!

And the lucky winner of The Pleated Poppy giveaway is randomly chosen #30

J.J. from I'd Rather Be Laughing

Congratulations to J.J.!

{you didn't leave an email address, so please email me asap!}

Many, many thanks to Lindsey for her generosity and to everyone who entered. :)

{ grateful }

Today I am grateful.

Because I know that I am loved, no matter what, without fail.

I have that assurance for today and a promise for the future.

And it is a beautiful, wonderful thing.

What are you grateful for today?

{necklace from the vintage pearl}

{ busy + bored }

Sometimes I feel like life is really busy.

But that I'm still bored.

How does that work?!

Every day is filled with something, and nothing.

It's a lot of stuff that I have to do, but don't necessarily want to do.

Do you ever feel that way? What do you do to beat the boredom factor?

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On another note, I just recently decided to update my Goodreads account.

If you like books as much as I do, and want to see what I've read, am currently reading, or want to read...let me know! I haven't quite figured out exactly how it works, but books are being added to my shelves. :) I'd love to see what you like to read!

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One more thing:

Natalie is having a giveaway!

And I really, really want to win. It's a surprise, but I know it will be fabulous.

You can see all the details right here.

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Happy Tuesday!

{the pleated poppy} + a giveaway!

::CLOSED::

Here at The Sweetest Petunia, I love featuring handmade. I especially love featuring handmade when I adore their products. Which is exactly what I'm doing today!

If you've never been by the Pleated Poppy site, let me tell you - you are missing out! Here's just a sampling of all the goodies that Lindsey {the brains behind The Pleated Poppy} has to offer:

Aprons, checkbook covers, headbands, tea towels...it is all SO lovely.

{Can you tell that I really like her shop? I tend to gush about it when I love it.} :)

Whenever I think of The Pleated Poppy, my mind always jumps straight to her fabulous posy pins.

I own a set that I got from the (in)courage shop, and they are so fun! I love using them to dress up an outfit, and I've gotten lots of compliments on them. They've even inspired me to make my own version!

Lindsey is giving away one set of posy pins - winner's choice!

Would you like to win?

US only, please

All you have to do is hop on over to The Pleated Poppy and tell me what your favorite thing is. {This is a MANDATORY first entry} Please leave your email address as well so I can contact you if you win.

Extra entries:

{leave seperate comments for each}

-follow Lindsey's blog

-follow The Sweetest Petunia blog

-tweet a link to this giveaway

-blog about this giveaway

This giveaway will end Friday morning {the 7th} at 8:00am est. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on the blog.

(**I recieved no compensation for this post - I'm doing it because I love the shop! All opinions are honest and my own. I own a set of posy pins that I purchased.**)