Cinderella is Back from the Ball!

So I haven't posted in almost a week, and I have so much I should have been posting! I've got my December Daily stuff that needs to get posted, an Old Navy Sweater Review post, A tour of my house all Christmasified, my 12 days of Christmas countdown calendar, crafty stuff for the cookie party that is on Wednesday, and the Smash Ball I went to Saturday! So much goodness to go over, but I think I will have to start with the Smashball!

So here is what the Smashball is. Basically a bunch of wonderful ladies get together with their Smashbooks (which you can purchase all over the place, even on Amazon!) and have access to a HUGE array of scrapbooking products to smash to their hearts content!

I had seen the original Smashball on the fabulous Becki's blog Whippy Cake and had been so disappointed to find it was in Arizona, far far away. :( It sounded like such a fabulous event that I couldn't help but want to attend. I stored it away, and pouted a little to my husband about how much I wanted to go.

Well, long story short, a few months later I learned that Becki was bringing the Smashing fun to Utah!!!! She was having a giveaway for a ticket, and I jumped right on that, knowing that the $70 ticket was a little more than I could afford to spend right now. Unfortunately I didn't win a ticket, and I was so bummed. :( How was I going to go to the Ball without a ticket? Sad face ensued, and a few days of moping around sad that I would not be going to this fabulous event I had been dreaming about. :(

So Friday rolls around (the day before the Smashball), and I get an E-mail from Becki with a special promo code for a discounted ticket to the "Ball". With the ticket now only $50 it is suddenly in my price range to attend, since my birthday is next week, and my husband had not yet purchased a gift. So I got the okay from him, and started looking into how I would get there, and how I would get home. 2.5 hours on the bus would get me there on time, but I would have to leave at seven to get home by the same route, cutting my fun time down by 4 HOURS! So I got on facebook, posted a plea on Whippy Cake's facebook page and soon found someone else who was going that was willing to drive me home! So I bought a ticket an was off on my adventure!

My hubby had to work that morning, so I met him at the Trax station by his work with the boys. I then went and hopped on the new South Frontrunner. They were having a free day, so I got all the way from Murray to Provo for just a can of food! Of course I had to stand all the way there (about an hour and 15 minutes altogether) and my back was starting to kill by the time I got down there, but it was well worth the savings! The train was much roomier than I would have thought, and had it not been a free day I think I would have had a much better experience on my ride. It was fun to take Frontrunner for the first time, and my boys wish they had come too!

I got off the Train in Provo, asked someone which way University Avenue was and began walking the mile to the venue... silly me somehow got turned around though, and I ended up walking nearly a mile in the WRONG DIRECTION. When I finally figured it out I had a mini panic attack! Here I was in a city I hardly knew, lost... I then remembered that I am now the owner of a smart phone, and I typed the address into google maps and the wonderful GPS led me all the way back, past the train station, over the overpass, and straight to center street. I sighed in relief as I saw the Temple construction site.

I had a little time to kill, so I walked around for a bit, taking in center street, and then was drawn into the Indian Food place India Palace that was across the street from our venue for the night. It just smelled so good I could not help myself!

After eating I was off to the Ball! I received some wonderful swag! I wish I had got some better pictures of the event, but my phone was going dead, so I didn't want to waste the batteries, just in case. There were all kinds of fun accessories, scrapbooking elements, charms, so much goodness! I was so excited! There were some candles from Gold Canyon Candles that smelled amazing (ginger lime, OMG it was the best smelling candle EVER, and packed such a big punch for such little candles!). There was also some earrings from Hoopla Earrings that I just LOVED (so much that I put them on right away!) And of course there were some lovely headbands and clips from Whippy Cake! There was so much fun stuff! Oh, and can't forget the Grandma's cookie!! My favorite cookie in the world!

After I was good and done looking at all the goodies in the swag bags I made my way over to the "Buffet" This was not your typical buffet though. This was every paper crafters dream. A giant table filled with every embellishment you could possibly imagine! Bins, and plates, and cupcake holders FILLED with fabulous swag, and we could take as much as we wanted! It was all up for grabs, there were stickers, letters, pockets, ribbons, feathers, lace, rhinestones, paper, clips, brads, flowers, washi tape, stamps, ink, it just went on and on!!! I must have visited the buffet at least a dozen time during the night, and every time I came back with even more wonderful stuff! It was AMAZING!

I had forgotten my pictures to smash, so I didn't get a ton done, by I had so much fun getting to know the ladies at my table! They were all so much fun and were very welcoming. I was so nervous, since I had never been to something like this, and they made me feel so welcome. Alexes Brown, Jenny Purcell Nielson, Lori Allred, Staci Potter, and the other ladies at our table were awesome! So glad I met them, and hope I see them at other things in the future!

All of this made me realize that I need to be branching out more and meeting new people with my interests. The last few years I have pretty much become a hermit out of necessity, due to Dominic's schedule, and it has really not been good for me. I have been missing out on meeting people and doing things that I enjoy. I have been so focused on getting him through school and taking care of my boys that I have lost sight of all the things I once enjoyed! I need to start getting more involved in the crafting community we have here. Everyone I met was so wonderfully awesome, and I had more fun than I had had in a long time. It was so good for me! This will not be the last thing like this I attend, that's for sure!

I am so glad I got the opportunity to go to this! Thank you so much to all the sponsers. K&Company, Spark the Event Online, Carina Gardner, Amy Burchfield from GC candles, Hoopla Jewelry, Ellie Collection Jewelry, and of course Becki from Whippy Cake who made this whole thing happen! It was an amazing night, and I really enjoyed getting "Smashed". LOL!

One Little Word: What Will You Focus on in 2013?

It's about that time of year that I start thinking about my "One Little Word". This is a word that gives me a focus for the upcoming year, something to work on, think about, develop, etc. I got the idea from, you guessed it, Ali Edwards (have I mentioned how much she inspires me in everything she does?), and it has been interesting.
My word last year I believe was "Create". I don't remember exactly. I lost track of what I wanted to focus on this year at some point, as I focused on meeting the needs of everyone else. I think I created, but I didn't really focus on creating myself. I meant to create in many different meanings of the word, and it all got lost because I put myself last. I wanted to create an organized home, I wanted to create traditions, I wanted to create memories, and mostly I ended up creating stress.
This last little part of the year I am going to try to focus on creating more, and one of the things I want to create while I do that is something visual I can put up in my house to remind me of the word I choose for 2013.

That leaves me the task of deciding on a word. In the past this has been a hard fought battle. I probably over-think it, but it always seems like such a big thing to me. I think about it a lot. I even pray about it. I ponder the year ahead and what I know I will be facing. I think about other goals I have set, and how I might incorporate them into my one little word. I think of it as an affirmation, or a resolution. It defines me, and focuses me, and feels like something that should be given great thought and consideration.

Some that are in consideration for this next year: Create (again, so I can do it right this time), Memories, Me, Achieve, Be, Challenge, Cultivate (that was on my list of maybe's last year), Focus, Record, Lift, Moment, Restore, Venture, Wonder... and the list goes on. It's going to be hard to choose one.

So, if you could choose one word that represents what you want for the coming year, what would it be? What one little word will define you this coming year? Think about it, and post your answer below. Perhaps you will inspire me... ooooo Inspire is a good word too....

Goals

Since I finally shared my blog yesterday I feel like I need to post today, but I don't have a lot of time (got a project I am working on today), and none of the posts I have saved up seem like a good choice today. Hmmm... so what to do?

Let's talk about goals!

My goal for this blog is to post at least one post a day Monday-Thursday. I was thinking of doing every weekday, but Fridays tend to get really busy for us since it is the only morning that my husband has off during the week. I purposely left off the weekends for the same reason. I don't want this blog to take up time that I would otherwise be spending as a family. I want it to be a filler during the long hours my husband is gone during the week, not something that takes more time away from the little I do have with him.

While we are on the subject of goals, I wanted to talk about something my husband and I started early in our marriage that I think has really been awesome for us. We would each make a list of 10 things that we would like to do, buy, etc, in the next few months, and then exchange lists and try to make those things happen. Since it was a short time period we chose mostly little things that were attainable, like visit a certain friend, or frame a certain picture, or visit a certain museum. It really helped us see what the other was thinking about, and how we could possibly make things better for them, it helped us come up with family activities, and it helped us choose things to do for date nights and special occasions. It was really something we looked forward to doing.

That evolved into more of a bucket list, but with a twist. The short time period helped us to be more proactive in meeting those goals, wishes, and dreams, so we decided to give our bucket lists a bit of a time limit. And thus came about our 30 by 30 lists. These lists our 30 things we would like to accomplish before we turn 30, giving us 3-4 years to get through each of our lists.

It really was eye opening looking at each others lists. There were things neither of knew the other wanted to do, there were some duplicates, there were some expected things, and there were some that kind of stretched the limits of what me might be able to do before we are 30. It was a lot of fun, and we have been having fun plugging away at the lists a little bit at a time. It has helped us grow closer together as a couple and as a family.

You can view my list on my "30 by 30" tab above, and for kicks and giggles, you can go here and download a printable I made so you can start on your own lists.
I encourage you to try it! It never hurts to dream! The worst that can happen is you never do a single thing on the list, but the best is that you learn, grow, and get some insight into yourself and your spouse (or even your kids! Our five year old has a 10 by 10 list he is working on!).

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like.... Christmas?

It's not even Halloween yet and I am already planning out the Christmas festivities!

I know, I am such a nerd. I still have two months! But my head is in Christmas already and I can't seem to get it to switch back to Halloween. Which is a bit of a problem, since I haven't yet finished our Halloween Costumes. I finished the party, that's good enough, right?At least the boys have their costumes. Our little Captain America and Iron Man are adorable! The hubby and I are going to be Hawkeye and Black Widow, that is if I can get my head in the game again.

So, back to Christmas! I really want to host a Christmas cookie exchange this year! I'm thinking either as a Girl's Night, or as a play date type thing with the kiddos. Leaning more to the Girl's night, as I could really use a night off from the boys! I know for sure there will be packaging supplies to wrap up the exchanged goodies, a hot chocolate bar, and I want to make little cookie recipe books with everyone's recipes as a take home favor.

I am in love with this invite (Right) from Lara at Announced Design. If you don't know already I am OBSESSED with Polka Dots. Also, I love the color turquoise. This just speaks to me! Thinking I might use this as inspiration for the party colors. I have been wanting to redo my kitchen decor in these colors anyway, so I would be able to make items do double duty as party decor and then keep some of them up year round! Win win, right? I think so!

The idea for the hot chocolate bar came from a fabulous shower featured on Hostess with the Mostess.  If you have never heard of that blog, you are certainly missing out! It is a fantastic resource for party planning! Go check it out, NOW! you will not be disappointed in the least! It's the Holy Grail of party planning, and if I ever have a party make it on her blog I think I would die.

So, that's all I have for now. I am working on writing up some past parties and crafts I have done so I can get some content on here. Also working on a blog design, but that is much slower coming. When it comes to design I tend to obsess and have to get it perfect. You can be 100% certain that it will include polka dots though. :)