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My Favorite things 2014… {a little gift guide, of sorts.}

Published on December 5, 2014December 8, 2014 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay6 Comments

I love buying gifts for others. I would make a brilliant millionaire, in that way. (and the people I love would agree, I’m sure!) I’ve been told I am a good gift giver, which naturally makes me happy since I love it so much.

We made the decision, as a couple, a few years ago, to really take a step back from gift bingeing at Christmastime. It’s often vulgar and unnecessary. We reevaluated the gifts we bought our kids, and who we bought for in general. (and why)

As I wrap up the last of my very modest Christmas shopping, I thought I’d share with you a handful of things I love, in case you need a little help! Most of these are things that I fell head over heals with, just this year. (One of them though, has been on my wish list for years and years, and someday I’ll get it.)

Stocking Stuffer Wonderfulness…

EOS Coconut Milk lip balm is my FAVORITE “lip gloss” ever! I have a dozen of these little EOS eggs floating around in various flavors, but this and the new Vanilla Mint (blue swirl) are the BEST! (you can buy them at Target, drug stores & Kohls.)

Marrying Mr. Darcy is a really great card game! For anyone who love Jane Austin or P & P, this would make a delightful gift! We were turned on to it by a friend and our family really loves it, though I’ll save him a bit: Chw will play it and have fun- it’s probably not his first choice on family game night… (You can buy the game Here. There is also an expansion back with Zombies, and an Emma expansion pack coming soon!)

It’s the Girls is a brilliant cover album, by the amazing Bette Midler. While I’m not the sort of girl to cry and watch Beaches regularly, or belt out Wind Beneath My Wings whenever it’s on the radio- (who am I kidding, I am the sort of girl to do BOTH of those things!) it wouldn’t matter, because this album is for every girl. It’s stunning!

Chef on Blu-Ray or DVD. This has been, by far, my favorite movie of the year. So entertaining and fun! So poignant! It was one that I had to drag my husband to, after I waited anxiously for it, and then he LOVED it so much he immediately wanted to see it again right away. It’s one of the few movies anymore that makes me sit back and feel this is why we have movies… (Target, Amazon)

Crabtree & Evelyn Citron Hand Therapy would win my Product of 2014 award, if I gave out Product of the year awards. This stuff is phenomenal. Your lady’s* hands deserve to be treated like precious treasures and this is the product to do it, whether it’s in Citron or any scent. Citron just happens to be my favorite. (*or your hands, if you are a guy and want great hands. I don’t judge. My hubby will not balk at a hand therapy treatment because it’s just “good hygiene” and because it feels pretty incredible.) (Crabtree & Evelyn hand Therapy kit)

A little something under the tree…

Kate Spade Umbrella– Yes, it’s true, i love Kate Spade. Because of this, I will admit that maybe there are a hundred other brands of umbrellas that are equally as awesome. That being said, allow me to point out a few facts…

1.) I LOVE umbrellas and have many different kind/styles/sizes/varieties.

2.) When my hubby bought me this one, in Chicago this summer, I fell into Umbrella love and haven’t used another since. It is stylish, practical and just the best umbrella ever! (Kate Spade)

Whitney English Day Designer– My husband bought this for me last Christmas and it was easily the best gift ever. In so many ways I did not utilize this planner for all it was capable of, but it really was the absolute best planner I’ve ever had. Some of us girls will forever be paper planner gals and if this describes you or someone you know, this planner is PERFECT! (though the 2015 line isn’t out yet, so gift wrapping it would be creative…)

Sponsoring a Child through Compassion International– Our family sponsors a little girl named Elisabeth, and we adore her. Her letters and pictures are the first things we open, when they arrive. Just the other day her social worker (she’s only 5) told us about how she bought a goat, a dress, a rake and cake with her birthday money. This was mind-boggling to me, in fact we talked about it for most of the evening. They had written before about how Elisabeth loved to play with the family goat, and we had to wonder what a difference a second goat could make to a family…

What an amazing Christmas gift idea, to sponsor a child for someone else. It blesses the life of a child immeasurably, as well as the person whom you sponsored for as they get to see the joy and blessings spread through this life because of them. (Compassion International)

Dean & Deluca metropolitan spice rack– this is, obviously, the item that’s been on my wish list for the better part of a decade. I have several D & D spices in my spice cupboard. They are my favorite spices, I hoard them like crazy because they are amazing. If I lived in NY, I would absolutely shop there, even if their market made Whole Foods prices seem comparable to the Dollar General. The reviewers complain about the tins stacking odd, or smudgy labels. I don’t care about any of that… If you have a cook on your list who A.) loves quality spices, B.) has a huge empty space in their kitchen to store a beautiful D & D spice rack, and C.) your Christmas shopping budget is infinite- then this is definitely the gift for you! (Dean & Deluca)

While we are on the subject of gifts, we’re also talking about gift giving over on the podcast this week. (Be sure to subscribe, and remember we love hearing from you!)

hello June…

Published on June 1, 2014June 1, 2014 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay2 Comments

June is a pretty special month for me… Not only does it hold several very important birthdays, but it’s the official start of summer and that’s a great thing, right?

Me-

– An exciting new project that I can’t divulge too many details about, but you know what they say: my excitement is your excitement… {They say that, right?!?!}

– I joined a new summer book club and I am so excited! (Perhaps I should add overuse of the word exciting and any words derived from it. Yikes.) I’m hoping it will be a great experience and connect me with a few new gals in my area!

– I have some fun books between my night stand and my kindle that I’m looking forward to getting in to.

– have coffee/tea/social plans with a new friend.

– I have not done it in ages, but I really want to do a paper craft project, or two, this month.

Family–

– End of the year school program.

– sending our youngest off to Jamaica with a youth group team from our church, for a mission trip. {yikes!}

– we are (finally) going through the stuff we have stored in our garage, from our move, that we just don’t have room for.

– celebrating several birthdays of loved ones, even if from afar.

– having a belated Father’s Day since we won’t be able to be together for the calendar scheduled one.

– bike rides, evening walks and active weekends.

– summer movies, trip to the drive in, etc.

Food–

– I’m wanting to try some new, summery recipes in the kitchen.

– Mastering fontina cheese fondue. {Yum!}

– concentrating on more vegetables.

– Grilled dinners complete with deck dining.

– weeknight sun tea, fresh squeezed lemonade, weekend cocktails.

Home–

– I’m inspired to redo my photo ledges (and this has been an ongoing hope for months) but I can’t quite figure out what I want to do.

– we’ve had tragedy befall our dining room table recently so we will be taking on a creative, yet affordable redo in that area.

– My office has been a mess since our trip to Idaho. When I’m in here, it’s for a quick second or to rush through a work project. I need to organize and clean it.

Love–

– We have theater tickets to a Tony winning show that I’m really excited to see!

– We have a couple of other fun, intentional dates on the calendar for the month. Our intentional date challenge has been a really fun one!

{Image credits…}

Slow learning, since 1976…

Published on May 30, 2014May 30, 2014 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay6 Comments

What I’ve learned in May is kind of a tricky topic. I feel it’s likely, on any given day, that I could have a varying degree of answers. One day I’d tell you that I learned to master the most amazing sandwich recipe, the next I’d cry into my sourdough bread and tell you how I’ve learned nothing and I’m a huge failure, doomed to repeat the same disastrous mistakes day after day.

I live with a fifteen year old girl, who is the barometer of our house. I’ve learned this.

I kind of, sort of, pretty much, definitely hate it. {learned that too.}

In all seriousness, it’s been a tough month. My instinct is to lay it all out for you and prove to you that I’m a failure as a wife, mother, writer and _________ (insert every other area here), but the truth is, I’ve learned the damage thinking such things can do. While yes, it has become painstakingly clear that I am not an awesome mom because apparently awesome moms have their stuff figured it by now, I have learned that I daily become more and more of the person I’m destined to be. Labeling all of my steps along this journey, until this moment, as failure only sounds spoiled and ungrateful.

I already knew I didn’t want to be that…

I’ve learned that love is patient. Most of us know that. It’s something ingrained into our brains and yet, I’m only really starting to understand what that truly means. I’ve learned that saying “no” to the stuff we should say no to is tough, and saying “yes” to the stuff we should agree to is even tougher. This realization hit me like a Mack truck to the face, and I still think it sucks, but something about knowing it helps me when I’m faced with the question and that’s a good thing.

I’ve learned that intentional dating is an awesome thing to do with my husband, but sometimes life is heavy and hard and we just need to escape and zone out at the movies together. Feeling guilty for that isn’t healthy.

I tried to learn to make fried chicken again. (the last time was 20 years ago.) I will not try again. I realize there is nothing healthy about fried chicken but I grew up on fried chicken picnics and Chw grew up on Sunday fried chicken dinners. Nostalgia inspired me to try it again. I did learn that I’m a really great cook, when it comes to some things, and fried chicken is not one of them. I am ok with this…

Regarding writing, and working from home, May has been quite an educational month. I’ve learned I work better when I’m working. Novel concept, (no pun intended) I know. It’s that simply, though, so I’ve begun scheduling my hours and it works like a dream. Because it’s the end of the school year oddness, a few things have been tweaked, but it’s been a pretty great and I’ve been more productive and taken more steps forward this month than I have in well over a year.

It all falls under the same lesson though, one I think that I’ve been learning since I was seven years old… That’s the lesson of grace. Grace for myself, grace for others… I’ll wake up and need to learn it again tomorrow. I think I’m stuck in my own version of Groundhog Day over here…