High Five for Friday

one.

large Poppy and Pippa boutique order 

complete

two.

how adorable is this match?

Target dress + matching hair bloom = an adorable one year old!

three.

my "helper" filling orders

four.

blogging outside

five.

went to the vet

he HATES riding in the car

but

100% healthy

Sorry about the super boring High Five - It was a busy week but, after work today I'm on

V A C A T I O N!

linking up.

There's nothing better than...

Right now (last night for those of you reading this in the morning) I am sitting on my deck enjoying a perfect night. It's 8:45pm and the sun hasn't quite gone down yet. There's a slight breeze in the air but no chill it's still about 75 degrees. It's perfectly perfect.

There's nothing better than a summer evening in Minnesota/North Dakota. I say both because while I grew up in Minnesota I currently live in North Dakota about a mile from the Minnesota border. I think my favorite place in the entire world is at a Minnesota lake. Luckily for me - I'll be spending the first week of my vacation at my in-laws lake house. This will be my view. I plan on enjoying every single second.

By the way I'm almost at 100 followers!! I'll be having a give away of the fabulous hair ties from Poppy and Pippa!  If you're not a follower you really should be...everyone's doing it. Or maybe about 90 other people so, it's not actually everyone but, you know what I mean. :)

Miscellany Monday

Hellooo friends, won't you join me for a little miscellany?

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I "met" the nicest gal through my Etsy shop. She recently sent me all of these beautiful fabrics to create hair accessories for her two girls. She had dresses made for the girls and sent me the scraps. I'm so excited to create for her!

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My blog is back to being called My Green Pen. While I feel really lucky and the title Lucky Me seemed perfect - after a week it didn't feel perfect to me. I started this blog on a whim. I don't typically do anything on a whim. I couldn't think of a name hence the title My Green Pen. I chose the title in a very uncreative way - my favorite color: green - what do you write with? a pen. Ta Da! There you have it. So, I'm back with my new blog design and old (perfect) name.

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Speaking of my blog design...I purchased a pre made template from Steph Anne at Yellow & Savvy Design on Etsy. I purchased pre made because the price was right and Steph Anne let me choose my own colors for an additional fee. Not only did she let me purchase my own colors for the blog but she has been INCREDIBLE to work with! I've been emailing her questions for about a week and she's been gracious enough to get back to me by the very next day! At the end of each of her emails she lets me know that I should contact her if I have any more questions. I can't believe she still writes that after all of the questions I've had. So, if you are thinking about a new blog design but aren't ready to pay big bucks on a custom design talk to Steph Anne. She's fantastic!

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I have to share a new favorite product with you. It's the Mr. Clean® Magic Eraser® Bathroom Cleaner. I used this to clean my tub/shower yesterday and it was fabulous! I mean it. It takes very little "elbow grease" to make your entire bathroom spic and span! The best part is the price. The box costs about $4 for 4 sponges. That's a dollar a time for cleaning your bathroom with no messy cleaners, buckets or rags! Love it!! (No, I haven't been compensated in any way by mentioning this).

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VACATION... coming soon. Only 5 days of work until my two week vacation!

Linking up with Carissa

Friday Five

This week has flown by! My short and sweet high five for Friday.

one.

my new camera!!

love it!

two.

dinner with friends.

we went out on a "double date" last

night to my favorite restaurant.

we ate outside on the patio

listening to great music,

three.

new items finally listed at

Poppy and Pippa.

four.

rain.

lots of rain.

I didn't have to water my

flowers once

this week.

yay!

five.

remember...

100 followers = giveaway!

25 hair ties from Poppy and Pippa!

linking up.

My New Camera

I am by no means a photographer. Sure, I took photography classes in high school and college...for an easy A. I don't use a dark room to develop or all of those nasty chemicals like I did in school. Now it's just the camera and my computer. So much easier.

About two weeks ago my trusty Canon PowerShot SD850 IS died with the lens open. I did what I could to get it to close but, the camera didn't budge. So I spend last week searching for a camera that takes great pictures but is easy to use. I wanted a DSLR but, decided I wasn't ready for that type of commitment or price. I needed something that would take great product shots and that's it. I have an iPhone for all my other photo needs. After LOTS of researching I ended up going back to the very first camera I looked at after mine died. A Canon G12. Love it! Actually, to be honest, I hated it the first day. I wanted it to be easy like my old camera. It wasn't. I had to read the directions. Ugh. There were so many different knobs and dials. (So glad I didn't jump into the DSLR pool!) After using it for a day I've grown to have a fondness for it. I hope it will grow into more. I know it will take time.

Here's a couple of photos I took with it last night. These photos weren't retouched in any way. They were transferred from my camera to the computer. That's it. Not bad, huh?

Wednesday :: Pinterest :: Helpful Hints

Let's Do This!

Helpful Hints 

they may not be pretty - but they are handy

use chalk to remove grease stains from clothes {via}

hang your ironing board behind a door with coat hooks for easy access {via}

another coat hook trick - hang it in your shower {via}

hanging space above the dryer {via}

my favorite helpful hint of all - 

use clear nail polish to secure threads on a loose button {via}

Remember - when I reach 100 followers I am giving away 25 Hair ties!

So, my new design is up and running - still working on a few layout issues. What do you think?

My Happy Place - ULTA

On Friday my sister and I took her daughter, my niece, to ULTA for her first time. (My sister and I love ULTA. It's our happy place. They have fantastic lighting!) Anyway, this little girl adores nail polish - which she calls Sparkles. She is always checking out toes and fingers to see their Sparkles. It's so cute how she asks to get her nails re-touched when they chip. Her daddy is getting very good at painting tiny toe nails. By the way, she is only two.

So many colors. So little time.

Mom and daughter on a mission to find ESSIE.

Which one? The Pink OPI from the Minnie Mouse collection

OR

the fabulous magenta ESSIE.

Happy girl! She got both polishes and a few princess Lip Smackers.

Overall, a very successful trip. She was such a happy girl.

High Five for Friday

Five fun things from this past week.

one.
I did some voice over work for my husband. I have a horrible voice but, it was fun nonetheless!

two.
New fabric! I haven't been doing as much creating for Poppy and Pippa. I've been so busy with the hair ties and filling orders for boutiques. I needed some inspiration for new blooms, twisted flowers, badge reels and brooches.

three.
Bill and I have season tickets to a local University theatre. They perform about five plays throughout the summer. It's so fun to have an excuse for a date night. We had a fabulous dinner. (I was starving so I forgot to take a pic). Then ventured over to the theatre for a production of "Shout."

four.
I decided on a camera to purchase!
It's a Canon Powershot G12. It's not as fancy as a DSLR but, I decided I probably don't need something that fancy for product shots.

five.
New blog name!

As you may know, I recently changed the name of my blog and I'm in the process of changing the design. I'm very excited to share my new look with you. This "construction" project is taking on more and more similarities to real construction projects. Meaning the time and the decisions.

My original design was done by my very talented husband. I loved it. At the time. Now, I want to go in a different direction. The header was so plain. If I was blog surfing I don't think my former look would encourage me to keep reading. It was a great simple design just not the design I want to go forward with.

My husband recently said to me that he didn't understand why I'd change my blog look. He said that people don't come to the blog because of the look they come for the content. That may be true but, first you need to have a "selling" point. Beauty is a very good "selling" point. I know that if I come across a blog that has great design I am more inclined to stop and check it out.

Here is my inspiration:

Font

Color

via

Pattern

via

linking up with Lauren

1. Do you have any real life blog friends? 

Nope. I don't.

2. Which blogger are you just dying to meet?

This is a hard one. There are so many - Katie from For Lauren and Lauren, Brooke and Summer from The Girls with Glasses Show, and Beverly from la la love, learn and laugh.

3. Which blogger's closet do you want to raid?

If only we were the same size! I'd raid Rachel from ThePink Peonies closet!

4. The first blogger you remember "meeting" and connecting with ? 

Liz from Liz's Lovely Life

5. Any blogger that you admire and look up to? 

Jenni from Story of my Life.

6. Who is the craziest/funniest blogger?

She's not necessarily crazy but, I think she is very funny! It's Beverly from

La la love, learn and laugh

7. Some bloggers have really cool jobs, anybody you'd like to swap careers with? 

Allisa Jacobs from Quiltish or Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy - 

I would love to have their skills!!

8. Favorite blog design?

Story of my life

So, You probably noticed that I skipped a few questions. Oops! I cheated. 

There were so many more blogs I wanted to include.

Under Construction

Pardon the mess!

Change is coming!!

Wednesday :: Pinterest :: Top 10

It's Wednesday, you know what that means. I get to share my favorite "pins" as of late. I haven't hooked up for Isn't It Pinteresting in about a month so it's about time I do it again.

Link up with Michelle

one.

I'm obsessed with fabric {via}

two.

Could live in maxi dresses and a jean jacket {via}

three.

I have always loved funky bowls {via}

four.

Hello beautiful mint breakfast nook {via}

five.

There is nothing like the perfect lemon desert {via}

six.

I keep my cape in my purse {via}

six.

Washi tape makes everything better {via}

seven.

Pretty {via}

eight.

Easy storage {via}

nine.

Blog color update???  {via}

ten.

Vintage kitchen {via}

So, are you still into Pinterest? 

I think it's a great way to pass time.

New Blog Name

I've decided on a new name for my blog. Goodbye {My Green Pen}. Hello...

Lucky Me

a crazy beautiful journey through the everyday

My web address will not change. That would just confuse everyone. 

So, what do you think?

A Little Monday Miscellany

A little randomness for Miscellany Monday. Linking up with Carissa.

I took Friday off to go to the beach with my sister and her kids. It was a perfect day. It was almost 90 degrees and sunny... but this is what I did instead.

My sister decided she didn't want to go to the beach. Yup. I couldn't believe it either. Oh well, I got a lot of work and laundry done. 

~~~~~~~~~~

On Saturday Bill and I spent the day working at his parent's lake house. I weeded and planted a garden while Bill cleaned off the roof and trimmed trees. Both of us were exhausted at the end of the day.

This is my favorite place to relax after a long day. Seriously, isn't that view amazing?

The sunset and the stillness of the lake made a perfect evening.

~~~~~~~~~~

On Friday I posted about some changes that are going to take place at {My Green Pen} because, I don't think it currently reflects who I am. 

When I started this blog I had no idea what I was doing.

Stay tuned for change... 

~~~~~~~~~~

My camera officially died. I need a new one ASAP! Any suggestions?

~~~~~~~~~~

Giveaway coming soon...

When I reach 100 followers I will be giving away: 25 Hair ties from Poppy and Pippa.

So, tell your friends.

Have a wonderful day!