five things to do today:

1. read anastasia's post

☼right here☼

thank you, anastasia! this is so, so sweet!

2. enter my giveaway {it's closed}

☼right here☼

i will randomly choose a winner tomorrow.

3. listen to these 2 songs

☼here & here☼

one from laurie & one from martha.

4. bake some pumpkin bread

☼right here☼

this is so delicious toasted for breakfast.

5. make a green smoothie

☼right here☼

you know, to help balance out the pumpkin bread.

♥

homemade sweet potato dog chews

i read about these dog treats over at 17 apart.

apparently, there is a storebought version.

start with big, fat slices of sweet potato.

{though, i think mine are actually yams}

it's pretty funny that i just automatically tossed on some

olive oil & salt & pepper. those things are not necessary.

bake at about 200°for many, many hours.

ours ended up in various states of chewy -

some were soft & some were quite tough.

our dogs loved them.

we want to try
the other dog treat recipes at 17 apart:
apple treats & carrot/banana treats.
maybe we'll make some of our
peanut butter treats, as well.

♥

p.s. have you entered my giveaway?

i'm picking a winner on friday.

as long as you are not my mom or my aunt,

you can enter.

someone thinks it might be a good idea

if one ear stands up & one ear folds down

someone also thinks it might be a good idea,

despite getting swatted repeatedly,

to be as close to the cat as possible.

someone thinks it might be a good idea

to be best friends.

♥

p.s. someone thinks it might be a good idea
for you to enter my giveaway.
just go here and leave a comment to enter.
the only people who should not enter
are my mom and my aunt anna.
{you two are getting mini calendars anyway - shhhhh}

new babies

have a little look
at some one-day-old babies
and their beautiful mothers.
a project by london photographer jenny lewis,
one day young 

she wanted to catch
"this moment of intimacy in the home,
where the outside world
has not burst the bubble."

mother & baby names
are listed under each photo,
making it that much sweeter.

♥

-giveaway-

i love this mini calendar from

the paris print shop.

they didn't make them last year, so i was

happy to see them back in their shop.

it is tiny

-the size of a business card-

perfect for propping on a stack of books.

snappy mailer

tiny calendar

beautiful paris photographs

to enter,

just leave a comment below.

{the giveaway is closed}
{the winner is emily}

i will choose a winner on friday, the 22nd.

if i don't already know your email address,

please leave it with your comment.

good luck!

♥

friends

i just talked to my friend, laurie,

for hours.

i wrote about laurie

and her cloth produce bags a few years ago.

we are friends because of missy.

{laurie is standing, second from the left, wearing a light blue camisole}

{i am right in front of her, wearing a light pink camisole}

{believe it or not, our coordinating camisoles were purely unplanned}

over the phone, we laughed, we cried.

there is just so much there.

so many memories, so much love.

laurie told me that she still

had not shared her song for missy.

so, here it is...

it's a good one.

♥

p.s.

i'm helping laurie

get her etsy shop up & running again.

i have been using her produce bags

every day for four years

{missy gave them to me in 2009}

and they are as good as new.

i have several different types of produce bags,

but hers are the very best.

i'll let you know when they are back in stock.

cozy stuff

cuddle-muppet

adorable hinge-roof houses

{source}

they make me want to buy these

these scrumptious cookies

{i'm baking a batch now}

dreamy linens

{source}

tomorrow is the first saturday in

TEN WEEKS

that we don't have morning sports.

thank heaven.

♥