weekend in review

*All ready for The Little Black Dress charity event benefiting the local women's shelter.**At the event with my co-worker girlfriends.* *Our tulips finally bloomed. Yay spring!* *Veggies getting ready to be grilled.* *Spent the day with my good friend Tara. We talked for 8 hours straight--seriously. So wish she still lived in MO.*

*Late dinner with family at Chevy's.*

*Planted flowers in 4 pots and on top of our rain barrel. Only 2 more pots to go. Pictures to come.*

*Made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.*

*Grocery shopped--got lots of yummy fruits & veggies.*

*Read while sipping a grande, non-fat, no-whip, mocha in a for-here mug at Starbucks.*

It was truly divine. Hope yours was, too!

Peace, Love, Lipstick,

& Namaste'

Leslie

a few spring break photos

New hair with highlights Vision Board

Expect Miracles t-shirt

Lunch in KC

Peace, Love, Lipstick

& Namaste'

Leslie

birthday celebration

Last night we celebrated my Sweet Husband's 38th birthday.

We had a great time.We ate a lot of sushi.

It's one of our favorite celebration foods.

And, we got a free dessert for his birthday!

Mango icecream! Yum!

Peace, Love, Lipstick,

& Namaste'

Leslie

family time

I am truly blessed with a wonderful family. Yesterday we had our annual March birthday celebration. I believe there are 6 people in my family with March birthdays, so we get together each year to celebrate them all at once. The star of the celebration is always my Grandpa, who just turned 87 years old! He and my Grandma are my marriage role-models. Such a cute couple. Love them both so much!

Other than family time, I spent the weekend doing yoga, breakfast out with Sweet Husband, reading and mocha sipping at Starbucks, and dinner out with Sweet Husband. Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Peace, Love, Lipstick,

& Namaste,

Leslie

yogathought

This photo pretty much shows how I've been feeling lately. According to the Dr., I have walking pneumonia and need to rest, so that's what I've been doing. I've been very glad to have the animals around to keep me company. I am really looking forward to feeling back to my normal, healthy self!

Although I haven't felt well enough to do much yoga recently, here's a yogathought for the day:

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." --Frederick Keonig

Peace, Love, Lipstick,
& Namaste'
Leslie

winter wonderland

Here in the midwest, we've been snowed in for two days. Love me some snow days! Although I really do not like winter, I cannot imagine living in a place where the seasons aren't distinct. Here are some photos Sweet Husband took with our Nikon earlier this winter:

Hope wherever you are, you're staying safe & warm!

Love, Peace, Lipstick,

& Namaste'

Leslie

holiday 2010 photos

Three holiday celebrations down, and only two more to go. Tonight we are going to an ugly Christmas Sweater party (first one I've ever been too--and it should be fun!) & Saturday night is our final Christmas celebration with my Mom's dad and his wife. Throughout the festivities, we took many photos with our Nikon D60. We bought this camera earlier in the year, but hadn't used it very much. After all the photos we've taken and printed lately, I am very, very pleased with it. (I don't know much about photography, and the photos this camera takes, makes me look like I do!)

Today I took down all our Christmas decorations. While I think having them up makes the house feel cozy & festive, after the holiday, I always look forward to taking them down. Partly, to have it checked off my list of things to do and partly because I appreciate the spaciousness that I feel after everything is down and put away. I've found this is the perfect time to clean up, organize and create space in my life for all the great things to come in the New Year!

Namaste'

Leslie

holiday party 2010 photos

Last night was my mom & step-dad's annual holiday party. It was a good time! Here are some photos from the evening:

My sweet grandma Nana who turns 80 next month.

My handsome husband.

My BFF Hayley.
My aunt and her sweet hubby.
My mom, her two sisters & my sweet Grandma Nana.

Love my family & friends. I'm very blessed.

Namaste'

Leslie

creative christmas project & magic tree

I've spent my morning making home-made stamped gift cards and wrapping a few gifts. This is the first year I've made gift cards, and I'm very happy with how they turned out. I simply used fancy scissors to cut the silver paper I had. I used green, blue, and bronze ink for the stamps. I punched a single hole in the top, tied ribbon through it, and finished off by adding a sparkly sticker gem. Voila! Quick, easy, and personal. Last night my sweet husband and I and another friend couple went on a Starbuck's run and Christmas light gazing trip. I must admit, the lights around town were somewhat of a let-down (I swear the small town I grew up in--with population 2,000--has some of the best. lights. ever.), but the magic tree was truly magical!

Tonight we're off to my Sweet Momma's holiday party. Looking forward to the festivities! Hope you have a bright & sparkly weekend, too.

Namaste'

Leslie

2010 reflections

holiday photos

I just began reading the book The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin. I have had this book on my reading list for a while, and when I saw it as a bargain priced book at Barnes & Noble, I couldn't resist buying it. As I read, I am once again reminded that we are born creative. It doesn't matter if you don't paint or draw, you are still an artist with a creative spirit! Sometimes we can become very disconnected to our creative side by the busy-ness and noise of every day life. This is why it is so important to take opportunities to get still (yay yoga!) and plan inspiration dates. Find the time to reconnect with your creative side! What inspires you? What gets you excited? What are you drawn to do? What would you do, if you had all the time in the world?

One of my favorite ways to be creative is through decorating. Since we are in a new house this Christmas, I've added a few new color schemes and decorations, but I was able to use most of our older decs in bedrooms and the study. Christmas decorations just make the house cozy and warm...

This is a little vintage looking tree in our study. I love it. The photo doesn't do it justice at all. Raspberry is one of my favorite colors!

I'm loving using the center of our square table as a display for decorations. I bought a bunch of small silver and gold candle holders from Michael's for $2.00 each, put out some ball ornaments randomly, filled two vases I had with ornaments, and put 4 snowflakes (I got at Hobby Lobby a few years ago)in the center on a round mirror I had.
This is a little raspberry tree I've had for a few years.

This is a candle stick I bought at Marshall's this year. I actually got two of them, and I am absolutely in love. I will be leaving these out all year round!

Peace

Thought these initial ornaments were fun. Found them at Kohl's last year.

The tree...I've always loved white trees. I orginally started with a gold, silver, and bronze color theme, but decided I needed more color, so I added in a silvery blue and green apple. I'm pleased with the final result.

Peacock blue is also beautiful, in my opinion!

This is the entry way to our home. Thanks to my momma for helping me with this arrangement!

I got this wreath years ago at Macy's, and I love it. Fun green feathers? What's not to love? It used to have a raspberry ball in it, but I wanted it in the living room, so I switched out the ball for a blue one.

Another shot of the table and tree in the evening.

"We need to remember we are all created creative and can invent new scenarios as frequently as they are needed." --May Angelou

Get your creative juices flowing this holiday season!

Namaste'

Leslie