Support The Good

Next weekend Nate and I have plans to head out of town for the night and mark the last few things off of our Christmas list, before the rush of the Holidays start in the stores, before we have to pay 100x more in shipping for anything to be here in time, before my stressed emotions are high, panicked, and ramped …

Let me just stop here, take a minute, and bask in how serene this little escape sounds.

Well, how it sounds and the reality of how it will play out, are two different things… Translation..
Nate and I have plans to head out of town, where Nate will tag along with me, while I stress about finding the last few things on my Christmas list. I will be thankful the kids are not pulling me in every direction, but annoyed with my husband's scoffing and have low patience for fielding questions like "do we really need this?", "who is it even for?", "it's how much!?" and "how many bags of Peanut Butter M&M's are you going to eat?".

I'll be mentally talking myself down from flicking him in the forehead when he makes comments like "there really isn't that much work to pulling off Christmas" and I'll find myself heavy sighing when he grabs crazy "Dad gifts" off the shelve like sling shots, oversized bottles of glittery mess, crafts that are too involved, and devices that have over 1,000 impressions of the most disgusting of bodily functions…

Between you and me, my suspicions are that he does these things purposefully, knowing it's just a matter of time before I instruct him to go find a bar stool somewhere and a TV with a sports event on it, and when I'm ready and done, he will be beckoned upon, to do the lugging.

It's what we do… Kinda our thing… Christmas tradition, if you will.

Unfortunately, the reality is, box stores are inevitable on some levels… Legos need to be purchased, baby dolls need to be loved, and batman's collected.

And though our views may differ on what exactly goes into "pulling Christmas off" it's important to the both of us that we do our part to cater our Christmas gift giving around homemade, local, and small business.

It's more important for us to teach our kids quality vs. quantity through the homemade, investments into our own community with local, and support the passion and drive of other's making their happy, through small business.

I wanted to share a few links from some of the businesses we are supporting this Holiday season and encourage you to at least make an effort to do the same, with a few of your gifts, from those who are self driven, passion chasing, big pond, little fish, swimming, family supporting, small business doing.

The Bailey Girls

Able & Free

Second Sanctuary

Twenty2 Vodka

Baboo's Bin 

Dig This Chic

Sweet Vivi James

Midnight Son Jewelry 

We've got some DIY homemade gifts playing out in the next couple of weeks too.

I'm excited to share, so stay tuned.

Happy Friday!

Slowing Down & Catching Up & A Bit Of Business

This morning I'm feeling lazy… perhaps it's because I don't have coffee and am trying to compensate with tea. I don't think it's working…. at all. I've entertained the thought about skipping my own breakfast and letting the kids eat poptarts for theirs…simply because they can get those themselves and require no effort from me.

 I wont do either one of those, but the thought is somehow comforting right now.

This weekend we did nothing. We had no where to go. No commitments to any obligations. No expectations of our days. It gave me a minute to realize that November has started.. not only is November here, but we're 5 days in… How did that even happen?

It always feels like this time of year comes to a drastic halt and things slow down, at least for a few weeks. I'm not complaining because I need things to slow down, so I can catch up on all the things I need to have done, before the next rush of go.

My computer has been in a constant state of picture upload and image placement the last 4 days. Shutterfly had a 50% off their photo book sale over the weekend, I couldn't pass it up, considering a majority of my Christmas presents are photo books.

In the process of organizing for this year's photo books… I also stumbled upon these photos…

I realize that Shutterfly will continue to have great saving deals on their site up until Christmas, but I'm not a last minute person, in fact I've already designed and placed my first batch of Christmas cards to be sent out this year… {Speaking of Christmas cards, I was a guest blogger over at another blog It's ALL Good In Mommyhood, giving a few tips on taking your Holiday Christmas card photos. You can check it out HERE}

I've also been cleaning up around here a bit…There are new sections on the left for you to follow Goodnyou? on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.

I'm trying to make it more user friendly and added a new section for recipes that will hopefully make things more direct. You can check it out on the side bar, top bar, or HERE… I'm looking for some new recipes for this holiday season… though the tried and true are great, there is only so much pizzaz Buffalo Chicken Dip can give off.
Stay Tuned Foodies.

I've got a few new crafts under way too. Pinterest has a way of sucking me in this time of year and my creative juices are flowing… Beanie and I going to knock out some holiday gifts like it's nobody's business.

Lastly, I'm offering a 20% of coupon for all order that are placed in the month of November in my Etsy Shop. Supplies have been restocked and I'm ready for the Holiday rush. So use coupon code HOLIDAY20 and get your orders in now.

Ok… I think it's time I get off the couch and get the kids and I nourished to attack this day and whatever exciting adventures it brings… and by "exciting adventures" I'm just fancying up the "pulling out winter coats" task considering the fact that it just started snowing outside.

Happy Monday!

Happy Halloween

I love Halloween.

Love, love, love it.

I'm realizing that what started the initiation of this love for Hallow's Eve, are the very things, as a mother, I dread my own children falling in love with it for.

Seeing as my parents read this blog and I fear I've already said too much….

 I'm just going to let the pictures take it from here…

Happy Halloween!!