TEXTURED TIGHTS.

{photo via freckled nest via La Doulier Exquise }

I am loving textured tights this season.

I have two pair already, from Target.....on sale!

I want one each in the picture above.

I want the shoes too.

And the skirts!

{Go here to see my Veteran's Day Post}

WANT. NEED. WEAR. READ.

We followed this theme for gift giving last Christmas. Our children could pick one gift they wanted for each category. Plain and simple.....it was fun! And easy on the budget. Christmas morning wasn't overwhelming and each gift was cherished. We are looking forward to following the same theme this year. And next year. And so on. You can find lovely gift tags here at Dandee Designs. She was who inspired me last year to go with it!

PEEK AREN'T YOU CURIOUS....SILHOUETTE EVENT.

If you live in California, you may be in luck! From Peek Aren't You Curious........

"Please join us and silhouette artist KARL JOHNSON and create a stylish and thoughtful holiday gift. His work is so elegant and simple, and this may be the only few minutes your child sits still this holiday season! You can also bring in a photograph of someone or something (a pet!) you would like him to create.

Karl is a 3rd generation silhouette artist who’s work has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, In Style, Martha Stewart Living, Elle Décor and Domino. Learn more at http://www.cutarts.com/ "

Saturday, Nov. 14th, 10am-6pm
Fashion Island, Newport Beach
949 719 7732

Sunday, Nov. 22nd, 11am-6pm
Fashion Valley, San Diego
619 293 0284

Sunday, Dec. 6th, 11am-6pm
Village at Corte Madera
415 945 0100

Saturday, Dec. 12th, 10am-6pm
Montana Avenue, Santa Monica
310 434 9700

I have been wanting to replace my "F A M I L Y" letters above my fireplace with silhouettes of our family. I picture them large in black and white with teal photo mats framing each one. We received a large silhouette as a graduation gift from Blake's preschool teachers a few years ago and it turned out perfect. Looks just like him! I've been wanting to give it a try.

GIVE THE GIFT OF GREEN!

With most peoples budgets tight this year for holiday gift giving, I thought this set of 5 earth and fashion friendly reusable shopping bags by Envirosax would make great gifts divided up. Tie a red ribbon around the already neatly rolled up sack, add a tag and hand out to your hairdresser, babysitter, party hostess, girlfriend, teacher, and the list could go on and on. A set of five costs $37.95 plus shipping. That puts you under $10 per gift. And look how freakin' cute the bags in this set are below. All of them! Found here.

I really don't think it gets much cuter than that.

birds of a feather...

I am in love with the idea of a sumptuous feather atop a crown of slight curls. The vintage look and feel of the feather headband makes me giddy. I cannot decide between these three headbands from Mod Cloth. I know I just did a post on Mod Cloth, but there's too many great things on the website to pass up. For example:
The Crawford Headband:

The Night Lily Headband:

The Osprey Headband:

The prices are so reasonable, I could justify getting all three...

all a flutter...

how perfect would this Juicy ring be at your thanksgiving celebration?
fall colored accent- check
gold tone- check
butterfly- check
ab fab- CHECK!

you can get it here.

RIBBON NECKLACE.

I saw some pretty yellow beads at a thrift store yesterday. They were strung on a piece of elastic. I bought them. I want to restring them onto ribbon and make something pretty like this necklace. The combination of beads, ribbons and flowers gets me every time.

CREATE YOUR LIFE.

Love, love, love this idea!

This sentiment really speaks to me right now.

Read about it here.

Purchase one here.

cloche encounter of a cute kind

Cannot get over how much I am in love with the cloche!

To me this style of hat is just so feminine and classy. I am remniscent of

Audrey, Natalie, Jackie...
Hats to die for are not the only things found on Mod Cloth. I highly recommend a perusual!

GOTTA LOVE THE 80'S.

This onesie made me laugh out loud. I think it is great for all of us mommies that were raised on the movie Dirty Dancing. And what a lovely tribute to Patrick Swayze! Found here. Hope it made you smile too.

PUMPKIN MASK.

Excited to make this pumpkin face mask with the 12 year old girls in our church youth program tomorrow night. I'll let you know how it smells and feels!




Pumpkin Face and Body Mask


1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup bentonite clay (available at health food stores)
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp almond oil
2 tsp cinnamon


Mix together and apply evenly to your face or anywhere else you'd like to smooth. Leave on 10 minutes before rinsing. Almond oil moisturizes, clay draws out impurities, honey replenishes collagen and cinnamon improves circulation.

FIVE BUCK FRIDAY SALE!

Going on over at Zany Zinnia. Lots of scrapbooking and craft supplies for $5. Sale starts at 8:00 am Central Time! Just take a look below at their cute kit for Halloween. This item is not $5, but many cute items will be! Happy Five Buck Friday!

Congratulations Stacy & Dolores on 3 years!

liplicious

I love the look of shimmery, full lips. Here's a great gloss that is so affordable, perfect shimmer and it's organic. In fact, the entire line is organic*. Goodness, who knew it felt so good to go green...


Palladio Liplicious lip gloss

*for the local girls, you can find this gloss at the premium outlet center in Napa at the beauty store. The whole Palladio line is there.

GREY!

My new obsession this season. I have bought most of my new clothes for the season in this color and now I am trying to get a bit of grey in each room of my house. I just finished Blake's little mini room makeover adding a touch of grey and blue to his already brown and orange/rust decor. It looks good. Check it out here.

For the rest of the house, I can't keep my hands off these items in the stores. I keep going back and holding them.....wondering.....will they work.

For Kaia's room.

For the front bath.

And these super yummy down pillows for the couch.

life is beautiful

this movie was so beautiful, tender and rich with emotion. The music is touching and weaves expertly through the whole film. I highly recommend a screening with you and the girls...





not just for the movie alone either...


if that doesn't give you butterflies, I don't know what will.

MRS. MEYERS CLEAN DAY.

My new favorite scent! Mrs. Meyers Clean Day in Geranium. For.The.Whole.House! Hand soap, bar soap, laundry soap, dryer sheets, counter spray, toilet scrub, window spray, stainless steel cleaner. Seriously.....the whole house. And it smells soooo pretty. And it reminds me of a special night Mr. Kennedy and I spent together on a date.

The kids were going to the movies with Grandma. Mr. Kennedy told me to dress casually, he was planning a date night. We took off for a short drive to Sonoma, CA. Stopped in at a cute bike store to drool over some fabulous beach cruisers that we couldn't afford, then continued driving into Glen Ellen. Mr. Kennedy had been working on a home in Glen Ellen and every day drove by a quaint little restaurant....Saffron, that he dreamed of taking me to. We went. The food was amazing. Actually.....incredible. In their restroom was this hand soap. I washed my hands and while driving all the way home I kept smelling my hands. The scent was delicious and intoxicating...just like the meal we had just eaten and the time we had shared together on our special date night.

This hand soap now greets my guests in our front bathroom. And a bar of soap sits in my shower. The air freshener....at my kitchen window. And the packaging on all the bottles is so cute. A perfect scent to last me until next summer or until our next surprise date night!

AFFORDABLE SLIPPER CHAIR.

I have two of these slipper chairs from Target in my great room but mine are a plain khaki/cream tweed. I stopped dead in my tracks at Target today when I saw this sweet vine print. Oh they are pretty and affordable. And, I might add comfy. They have held up nicely too! We are going on two years with ours....with lots of use. They actually come in a couple of fabulous prints.

There also was an amazing table and chair set that I can't find anywhere on the internet yet, but I will definitely share when I find it. Let's just say that I wanted to redecorate my whole house around this table and chair set!

Happy Weekend.

we've got it made!

check out the cutest little dress salvaged from a men's dress shirt!!




you can find the tutorial HERE on the sweetest blog called made. I am in complete and total awe over how talented this chica is- and all with very easy to follow tutorials.

ANOTHER PURPLE RUFFLED HEEL.

I found these at Payless Shoe Source. Yes, every once in awhile I find a very worthy shoe at Payless that deserves some extra attention. These are my new shoes for this fall season! And I bought them during BOGO....even better. Deep rich purple suede for $24.99!

HAVE YOU HEARD.....?

I'm hosting a

over on my family blog. It's kind of like a garage sale...only on my blog. Click here. Kaia's closet is up first. Bidding ends tonight on her clothes with more from my closet and Blake's closet coming next! Make sure you scroll down. There are true treasures posted the farther you go. Happy Bidding!

ice, ice baby

Check out these tai ice pumps by Badgley Mischka. Word to your mother...

PERSIMMON AND PINK.

Kaia is wanting her room re-done from the current surfing theme to a more teen look of black, white and grey. I thought this would fit perfectly with her new decor while reminding her what is still important each day. Plus it fits right in with our family motto for the year. Found on Etsy at Persimmon and Pink. I actually think it would look equally fabulous in our family room. Hmmmm......

cute enough to eat

I have had an obsession with bento boxes lately. A bento box is a single-portion home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. I like the idea of a bento box because it is a creative outlet and eco friendly. Here's picture of an adorable bento lunch followed by a an even more adorable bento box.



Find the adorable bento box at My Sweet Muffin

coasting through life

using these fabulous heavy duty coasters from iomoi:

I also love the custom lucite trays:

ROCK REVIVAL JEANS BE STILL MY HEART.

I wasn't going to buy another pair of jeans. Really I wasn't. I told all the girls on our shopping trip that jeans were not on my list and to NOT let me buy a pair of jeans. I was looking for cute shirts and accessories.

Well I found cute shirts and cute accessories. And then these little beauties caught my eye. I do have one pair of Rock Revival jeans in a light denim wash and if I was going to buy a new pair for the winter it would be a pair exactly like the ones I own only in a dark wash. They are a great fit. Very flattering, with a nice high back waistband with double belt loops that keep them in place. Well be still my heart. My girlfriend was trying on jeans in Buckle at the mall and I went in with her for moral support! As I was walking through the store the pocket above caught my eye and I got all giggly. Really I did. Can you believe they had the exact jeans I had at home only in a darker wash.....in my size. Fate really. I walked out of the store wearing them.

My grocery budget for the next two weeks was cut short. But my booty sure does look cute! See more pics here of just how cute they really are!

in the trenches

shopping with the girls all weekend is my idea of a kick booty time. When the weekend results in not one, but two plaid trench coats... mommy comes home happy! Here's a looky-loo at some pretty in plaid:

This one is a DKNY plaid trench

i could just kick myself

with these ultimate boots! I coveted these beauties while shopping this weekend and decided against it... my, my am I having non-buyer's remorse! Maybe I should run back and buy these Turbo boots by Chinese Laundry in grey now that I see what a huge deal they were at Marshall's...

My message to you? Go with your gut.

SERIOUSLY....

.....isn't this the cutest packaging you have ever seen for flour? I loved it. I bought them after I sat and stared at the them in the grocery store aisle for a few minutes. I want to leave them on my counter to continue to stare. I'm thinking that they would make cute framed kitchen artwork too!

I HEART UGGS.

.....and these have me all goo goo gaa gaa right now. In my favorite color for this upcoming season and also offered in a yummy purple/plum color....my second favorite color for this upcoming season! These will surely be on my Christmas list. Aren't they delish? I'm not sure if it is the wool material or the wood buttons I like best, but I do know that the combination is hot!

POLAROID FRAME FUN!

I always love checking out Delight.com's daily specials. I was just talking to a friend yesterday about how much fun polaroids are but how expensive the film is and how fast you go through it with a polaroid. Check out this fun way to frame a regular picture in a dry-erase type of polaroid frame! Here.

I'VE BEEN A BAD BLOGGER....

...here on Butterflies. Please give me the rest of the week to get my act together and I'll be back next week with pretty things to look at. Thank you.

If you want to visit me on my personal blog, I am keeping that one up quite regularly.

you're clutch a good friend...

what girl doen't love sweet, feminine little clutch. Not I.



Check out the vintage inspired clutches at Briana Edelman Designs on Etsy.

oh maya!

love.love.love. Maya Brenner Designs. It was very difficult to narrow down to my favorite piece, but I do heart this necklace:

and I wouldn't be unhappy if my hubby just happened to get this for our anniversary:

fly me to the moon...

on Rockett St.George. Couldn't you just imagine wrapping up a sweet gift with this lace tape?

Or adorning your couch with this darling pillow?

Or expressing life views on your wall? 'Tis true... all you need is love & I wouldn't mind sharing that sentiment with Rockett's help.

blog-a-licious

If I were only as hip as the husband & wife team photograpers, I would die a happy blogger. Nate and Jaclyn's work can be poured over on 'the image is found' blog. I just sit and click. When you hop on over to browse... be sure and check out the crazy booth... pretty dang hysterical. The two have workshops to teach other photographers how to do a crazy booth at events. Don't these two just look like so.much.fun.

Here's my fave image from the crazy booth:

pretty in lavender

purple of any shade is in this fall & I am loving this sweet dress from Dorothy Perkins Come to think of it... this cardigan from J.Crew, would go fabulously along with it

smells good enough to...

Just bought this fantastic french milled soap at a little boutique store near the beach:I may start getting a shea butter tipped nose from the frequency of smelling the bar. I would've bought the lotion, too... but it was sold out. Always a good sign. I have been scouring the internet all day in hopes of finding an online supplier and EUREKA! I found it here. Now, to talk the husband into spending serious money on a case of soap...

sew cute!

The only word used to describe the feeling when I read this woman's blog is: awe. Check out katie did. I love the modern/vintage clothes she has sewn for her children. I am especially in love with these dresses:

Click here for her tutorial.

SLACKING and CALLING ALL STEPHANIE GRAHAMS!

I've been a blog slacker lately on this here blog. And now...Butterflies is on vacation. To see what is giving us butterflies while we are gone, check-in on our daily happenings here.

I'll be back in a week or so (if anyone is missing me). Stephanie? Stephanie? Where art thou Stephanie? Any goodies we can drool over while I'm gone?!

JUST TO COVER ALL MY BASES...

One of my aprons and cake plates is being given away here today! Good luck.

WHILE IN RENO....

...this weekend, I begged Dave to marry me again. He would just smile at me thinking it was funny. He finally realized on our last day there that he had turned me down three different times. And he promised to take me back so we could get married again. The thought of renewing our vows in silly places over and over again gives me butterflies. Can you imagine always feeling like a newlywed?! I can. He promised me a fun, cheesy wedding in Reno the next time we visit. Then I said "and South Lake Tahoe and Vegas by an Elvis impersonator." If I have my way, we will be back in Reno soon! Those pictures will be so fun to share over the next couple of years. Us getting married over and over again!

ONE.

My friend's little girl turned ONE on July 7th and they had a 4th of July party for her all done up in red, white & blue. I made a birthday banner and little matchbox party favors for the party.

And for her 1st birthday present.....a little creation from my Funky Vintage Kitchen's new baby/kid line Funky Vintage Kids! I loved adding the ruffles on the bum bum. It was a complete last minute add-on. Miss Mack's mom sent me a picture of her wearing it on her actual birthday.

VINTAGE SEWING PATTERN!

I went to the fabric store on Saturday looking for a cute vintage inspired dress to make. Nothing came close to this pattern I saw on a girl's blog I visit regularly. I'm so excited....she is making me a copy of the pattern for the short-sleeved green dress! I'll post pictures when my dress is complete.

LEAVES.

I am not normally drawn to items with leaves on them (even though they are wildly popular right now). But....I do love these. Something about them keeps me coming back and staring at them. Maybe it is the color combination. I found them here on Etsy again. Her necklaces are beautiful too. Browse through her site! Have I mentioned lately how much I heart Etsy?

Happy Weekend. Hope you have something wonderful planned.

NECK CANDY.

I can't get enough of necklaces these days. My newest obsession. If I could, I would buy a chunky necklaces in every color. I found a handful of beautiful ones. This one would be on the top of my list. Found on Etsy here. It makes me want to go to lunch with my girlfriends and order sparkling lemonade. Here is her close-up! She really is gorgeous in her lemony-lime goodness.

QUILT IN MY FAVORITE COLORS!

I really wish I had time to learn to sew a simple quilt. I dream of them. I see pretty fabric and want to put them together to make a pretty quilt. I have "quilt on the brain"! I browse Etsy and quilting blogs regularly. I spend far too much time in our own local quilt shop. I need to just break down, give up a Saturday, and sign up for a beginner quilting class. Until then though, I will continue to find gorgeous quilts that keep me dreaming and inspire me. This quilt was found while searching Etsy and I didn't keep good notes so I can't remember which shop I found it in. I'm so sorry. But it really is gorgeous. And makes my insides all fluttery.

I WANT IT ALL!

Sensibly Styled puts together the cutest outfits! And modest too. This grouping features items all under $30. I seriously need to be shopping a little more Charlotte Russe for my trendier pieces of clothing. Those dark cropped pants are adorable. I like wearing longer shorts and cropped pants because nothing is worse than a woman crossing her legs in short shorts and seeing the cottage cheese that is created when crossing legs. I was thrilled when Bermuda style shorts came back in. And thank goodness they are staying despite this seasons rash of shorter than short shorts! Wow that's a lot of shorts. Happy Monday!

BELLALULU

BellaLulu is definitely worth a peek on Etsy. I've highlighted a few of her finds that are in my favorite color combinations, but her whole site is like browsing through all the BESTS of an antique flea market. I want the little aqua and red dish for Funky Vintage Kitchen!

HOME TO ROOST.

I spent quite some time here and here yesterday. Everything about her Etsy shop and blog had me happy inside. After reading her blog, it made me want to go buy old milk bottles and get fresh milk straight from the cow. Take some time to enjoy everything about "Going Home to Roost." Even the name gives me butterflies.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THE 4TH?

Bingo with the family would be fun!

Found here.