Tag Archives: birthday

Happy Birthday to me!

baby me!

baby me!

In the past I’ve written goals for my birthday. I’ve set a lot of them: 27 before 27 and 27 before 28, but this year for my birthday, I’m giving myself a break. Sure, I’ve got goals and super big, super secret things I want to and will accomplish this year, but for now I’m practicing the art of leaving things undone.

I’m a seasoned “do-er.” I’m a list-maker. I’m committed and hard-working and fastidious. But I’m also often stressed out and burned out and quite frankly, tired. I don’t want to make even one goal, but if anything, this year, I want to learn how to relax. I want to learn how to relax and still accomplish things. I want to learn how to take a break and I want to learn how to not count my self-worth by my to-dos.

How have you practiced the art of leaving things undone? Let me know in the comments!

love,
melanie

Birthdays and Money

baby me!

baby me!

Well, today’s my birthday. I celebrated last weekend because I knew I wouldn’t have time to do much celebrating today. As I get older, I want to do less and less celebrating anyway. I’m happy just laying in bed and watching movies with George. And maybe eating pizza… I do love me some pizza. And to be honest, as I get older I want less and less things. Sure, I’ll occasionally see something pretty when I’m browsing Pinterest and maybe I’ll want it for two minutes, but I’m more interested in acquiring experiences now.

This has been a really nutty and difficult year. In some ways, I’m kind of glad that 27 is behind me. This year I’ve learned a lot about money. I’ve forced myself to stop being scared and careless with money and learn how to use it. This year I’ve also learned a lot about life and death. I’ve been forced to think about how I want to live the rest of my life and how money can help acquire that life. I don’t think money can buy happiness, but we all need money to live and we need to know how to use money as a tool for a better life. I believe the meaning of a better life is up to the individual. My better life means more time to travel, more time to spend with the people I love and to live life without debt.

Zora Neal Hurston once said, “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” This year was a hard, real, thorny answer.

love,
melanie

 

 

An Easy Way To Wrap a Gift: Use Hot Glue!

wrap a present with hot glue I’m embarrassed to admit that I still have pumpkins sitting outside of the ol’ Airstream. With everything that has been going on, our home looks downright Scroogy this year. But the one thing that has been putting me in the Christmas spirit is putting on some holiday music and wrapping gifts. I think wrapping is almost as important as the gift itself. I hate putting a ton of effort into buying a meaningful gift and then throwing it into the cheapest bag I can find. No, I believe in wrapping.

I love wrapping gifts in brown paper because you can use it for every occasion. I got this paper and the bow at the Dollar Store. I did all my wrapping for $2.00. I’m also digging the contrast of the rustic brown paper and the glitter bow.

wrap with hot glue close upAnd can we talk about my new tip! I wrapped all my presents this year with hot glue. I hate the way tape musses up a perfectly wrapped gift. If you want to replicate this technique, just make sure you either use a box (not the gift’s box) or fold the paper over so you don’t glue on the gift. (See the example above.)

What is your best gift wrapping tip? Leave ’em in the comments!

love,
melanie

Happy Birthday to me!

baby girl

This baby girl turns 27 today!

Today is my birthday! I have one every year!!! Anyone else singing that No Doubt song? No? Don’t get me started about how much I love Gwen and No Doubt.

In honor of my birthday, I’m taking the day off from the blog.

later gaters.

love,
melanie

Happy Birthday, love library!

Photo by heartlover1717 on Flickr

Photo by heartlover1717 on Flickr

One year ago today I started this little blog. It has gone through a lot of changes since the beginning. I wanted to write about weddings, but I quickly found out that I hated writing about weddings. I’ve tried things that have worked and didn’t work, and I appreciate anyone who has stuck around. I’ve got some fun things planned for this little blog and I hope ya’ll stick around for another year!

love,
melanie

Love Lists: Birthday Goals List

I love a good list, ya’ll. And for the past couple of years, I have created a list of things I want to accomplish before my next birthday. (I was inspired by Elsie from A Beautiful Mess.) I can’t find my list from last year. I think I misplaced it when we moved, but I remember there being lots of specific, ambitious items on it. I distinctly remember “Get a big girl job” was high on the list.

But this year, I wanted to do something a little more fun. So, I gave myself quite a few rather fun goals and a few scary goals (see: #7) to accomplish before my next birthday, April 22, 2013. Some of my goals are quite personal (see: #15). But I am sharing because I think it is important to recognize that we all struggle with issues and we need to tell people about our struggles in order to overcome them.

birthday goal list

birthday goal list 2

birthday goal list 3

I thought the stationary was appropriate.

Do you make goals on your birthday?

love,
melanie