A blue day

Today is a sad day for me, As I watch suitcases being packed and rooms being emptied I sit here with the realization that I dont know when Ill see my sister and Hannah again. If you've been following my blog since day 1 or for a while now than you know all about my niece hannah and how shes become like a daughter to me. Ive never cared for a child as much as I do for her and I cant imagine having a place in my heart for another baby, but of course this is coming from someone who doesnt have any children of her own.

I'm sure one day I'll understand the love of a mother more clearly, my heart hasn't been in this much pain since getting in a plane and leaving my fiance about 2 years ago. The pain of saying goodbye seems to haunt me, Just when I'm beginning to get used to living without someone another extremely important and valuable person(s) leaves my life without much of a goodbye or farewell.

This is one of the reasons I haven't been posting as often, I tried spending as much time with Hannah and my sister as I could but time just didn't seem to go slow enough for me. I honestly thought this day would never come but in less than 4 hours another piece of my heart will be in a plane to another destination. Its so hard to wake up in the morning and know this is the last time in a while I'll see her, shes so happy and playful not knowing what lies ahead. I wish I could feel the same way!

Im sorry for being so blue and dumping all this on y'all, I needed to vent some of this because it just seems to much to handle right now! Ill leave you all with some recent pictures of Hannah being the wonderful and carefree spirit that she is <3

:)

kisses from me and from her :)

hot chocolate

pondering and imagining

HEY!

we are "potty training"

I hope you all have a great rest of the week, If I'm MIA for a while you'll know why hehehe HUGS

Gracie <3

The Orange windmill giveaway

Ok so If you remember one of my weekly etsy finds a couple weeks ago I shared a gorgeous hand bound embossed journal in the most BEAUTIFUL shade of turquoise, anyways the talented Shirley from The orange windmill is having a giveaway for one of her hand bound leather journals and also some paper flowers from " For any occasion".

Click HERE to enter <3 Here are the amazing prizes up for grabs.... I do hope you will enter

Beautiful paper flowers

Isn't she just so talented? I looove these journals

Gracie

This weeks etsy finds

I know I'm so much earlier than usual LOL but this week I'm going to be incredibly busy so I thought I'd get a head start :)

First off I hope you all had an amazing weekend, mine was awesome and laid back! My family had a fun packed weekend playing loads of ping pong, swimming, drawing all over the side walk and soaking in the hot tub! I honestly can't remember the last time we all just chilled like that, anyways back to the subject at hand hehe. This weeks etsy finds are inspired by the colors orange and gold, I tend to wear more gold jewelery and accessories when fall comes around... Enjoy lovies

This simple yet beautiful necklace by Blue white wear is so elegant! You can find it HERE

This bicycle necklace by Las flores del sur is so eye catching, I can picture wearing this with a cute cardigan and jeans on a casual day! You can find it HERE

Ms. Marisa from Las flores del sur is so talented she also has a shop full of gorgeous accessories like this one! I just love the texture of this and how realistic it is. You can find it HERE

I LOVE autumn, If y'all haven't noticed I've been posting about it like crazy, so it came to no surprise when I fell in love with earrings from the amazing Headpinwear! You can find them HERE

The simplicity yet intricate detail of these earrings just captured my attention from KCdragonfly, You can find them HERE

Banana nut muffins

These delicious banana nut muffins have always been one of my fall favorites. I will also show you how to ice and decorate them, these muffins make a perfect addition to fall parties, are quick and easy to make and not to mention simply adorable.

I made my dad "pose" with the cupcakes... these are not my hands! LOL just thought I'd mention that hehe

To make this banner simply cut little triangles out of fun scrapbook paper, and hot glue them onto some twine. Next tie the twine on two long tooth picks and your done {ENJOY}

Here's what you'll need for the muffins:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup mashed ripe banana
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, banana and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and cinnamon; add to creamed mixture just until moistened. Fold in walnuts.

Coat muffin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners; fill two-thirds full with batter. Bake at 350° for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. makes 6 delicious muffins.

To decorate them cool completely, Here's what you'll need for the icing...

1/2 cup of Butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups of Powdered sugar
dash of salt
about a teaspoon or 2 of lemon or lime juice
 
 Mix all of the ingredients (except the lemon juice) together and slowly add the lemon juice to make the consistency you desire.

To decorate place the icing in a zip lock bag, and cut off the tip like so... squeeze out the icing as if you were making a cute swirly ice cream cone!

Now place the flowers and leaves onto your iced muffins :)

Happy Fall


Gracie <3

This weeks etsy finds

Howdy my lovie dovies :) I'm sorry I haven't been posting like I should, I'm incredibly busy these days its insane, but before the week is out I couldn't forget to share this weeks etsy finds with y'all. So here we go, this weeks inspiration is BEAUTIFUL THINGS *which mostly includes turquoise of course squeeee*

AHHH I could simply pass out from the beauty,  this bracelet by CKsilver is breathtaking... you can find HERE.

What a stunning work of art, I never even knew people made crochet earrings! Gmaellen is incredibly talented, you can find these earrings HERE

If I could wear hair flowers everyday then you would definitely see me wearing this amazing accessory by ChickyD's!!! You can find it HERE

And last but not least I'm so so so in love with these turquoise crescent hoops by Riorita :) The detailing and rustic look is so charming! You can find these beauties HERE

Hope you enjoyed this weeks BEST team feature and this weeks finds <3

HUGS

Gracie

RUCHE

Ive been given the ENORMOUS honor of being featured on Shop Ruche's blog <3 It is a felt bow DIY, check it  our HERE if you'd like lovies

I will be putting up more fun DIY's for y'all soon <3 I know most of you have already seen the felt bows but I thought I'd share anyway hehe

Gracie

this weeks etsy finds

Today I'm combining my wedding Wednesday with this weeks etsy finds :) I focused on pastel colors, which will be a huge part of the wedding! I was so happy to see what my fellow Best team mates had to offer <3 YAY

 I would love to see this EXTREMELY gorgeous garden fairy sun catcher by Poison Garden hanging somewhere close to where I'll be saying my vows... Since I hope to have an outside wedding I can see it fitting in perfectly. You can find it HERE

I love these gorgeous vintage sugar and cream set from Indigo Objects. So perfect for having a little tea party with my bridal party before the wedding ! You can find it HERE

I was ecstacic when I found this jewelry holder from Redemption art, I can picture myself putting this on my bedside table and putting my wedding ring in there every night! I'm a flower gal so this just made me smile soo much :) You can find it HERE

Such a beautiful necklace by Jewelry by Jaynemarie, this matches the colors of my wedding so perfectly. I just love it!!!! You can find it HERE

I hope you enjoyed these awesome etsy finds and shops!!!!!

Gracie <3