After seeing all the gorgeous spring bouquets with beautiful colors this morning, I had to share this fabulous find of color and flowers of a different kind. Bright, bold and beautiful these cute little purses would make the perfect gift for your bridesmaids. I even think they’d be a great gift for the Moms too!

Etsy Shop – Heidi Creations

Don’t you just love the polka dots inside? All those yummy colors look like they’ve just been picked from the garden, don’t they? Which one is your favorite? xoxo

Valentine’s Day is just a week away. (How’d that happen?!) I told you last week that while I agree it’s over-commercialized and gimmicky, I can’t help but love this “holiday”. It’s the seemingly never-ending supply of yummy treats, pretty flowers and little hearts that make me giddy. I thought I’d round up a few of my very favorite things about February 14th and Valentine’s Day (which I’ve broken down into seven fun categories) to share with you today!

by Simply Bloom Photography

What to eat?

heart-shaped waffles | breakfast in bed | romantic pizza for two

the best chocolate mousse | whiskey, caramel, marshmallow and bacon bark

heart-shaped cinnamon rolls

What to sip?

adult root beer float | pink grapefruit margaritas | raspberry hearts champagne

What to watch?

(My Top 14 movie picks for Valentine’s Day)

1. This Means War – in theaters February 14th

2. Friends With Benefits

3. The Proposal

4. Pretty Woman

5. The Vow – in theaters February 10th

6. Dirty Dancing

7. Pearl Harbor

8. Mr. & Mrs. Smith

9. The Notebook

10. Valentine’s Day

11. Just Married

12. Sweet Home Alabama

13. The Ugly Truth

14. Definitely Maybe

What to wear?

pink dress from ModCloth | Essie – Fiji | Essie – forever yummy | Avanessi love diamond pendant

What to gift?

Or rather what I would love to receive or buy myself! :)

love letter cufflinks via BHLDN | xo earrings via BHLDN | beat-to-beat ring via BHLDN

nostalgic love notes postcards via BHLDN | perfectly paired pencils via BHLDN

all wrapped up pavé mini bow ring via Kate Spade

What to listen to?

(My Top 14 List of Favorite Love Songs / What I’ll Be Listening To All Day)

1. Somebody’s Chelsea – Reba McEntire

2. Fallin’ For You – Colbie Caillat

3. Gettin’ You Home – Chris Young

4. God Gave Me You – Blake Shelton

5. Marry You – Bruno Mars

6. Makin’ Me Fall In Love Again – Kellie Pickler

7. Ours – Taylor Swift

8. Why Wait – Rascal Flatts

9. DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love – Usher

10. Teenage Dream – Katy Perry

11. I Do – Colbie Caillat

12. Mine – Taylor Swift

13. Stuck Like Glue – Sugarland

14. Valentine – Martina McBride

What’s for later? ;)

Betsey Johnson for Nordstrom lingerie set | ‘be mine’ sheer pajama set

-

Sigh. I really do love Valentine’s Day.

Don’t you? :)

xoxo

P.S. Romance your sweetie and stay on budget this Valentine’s Day!

I’ve heard that some people feel that Valentine’s Day is all about the ladies receiving something fabulous from their special guy. And if you take a moment and watch all the advertisements running across your television right now, you have to agree it’s all geared towards women. Chocolate, roses, teddy bears and of course, diamonds. So how about something for the guys? We think we found a great idea for your groom-to-be for Valentine’s Day! Check out these sweet Love Letter Cufflinks from BHLDN. The perfect gift for the perfect guy.

BHLDN

Would you buy them for your hubby-to-be and valentine?

xoxo

Around here, we love letterpress! Almost as much as we love Bella Figura, an eco-friendly artisan letterpress shop out of Central New York. And we couldn’t be happier to help them launch their new 2012 collection today! It’s AMAZING! 83 new invitation designs, a slew of new colors including neons and metallics, custom calligraphy styles, letterpress pocketfolds and so much more! Take a look!

{Metallics} have arrived and all signs point to them being huge in 2012! Bella Figura now offers foil stamping and foil edging in 12 brilliant foil colors. Add traditional colors like gold, silver or copper to the edge of any card for sophisticated flair. Or, be daring, and add brilliant shades of fuchsia, indigo, forest and teal!

{Custom Calligraphy} became quite popular this year and because they don’t see that changing any time soon, Bella Figura has added 6 new calligraphy styles! This brings their grand total of hand calligraphy styles to 22! Impressive.

{Envelope Liners} Patterned envelope liners are now 2 and 3 color, and easier than ever to custom create! You choose a pattern and colors, and Bella Figura will create a (100% PCW, FSC-certified) custom liner for you! New FSC-metallic envelope liners and new eco colored envelopes are also available.

{Letterpress Pocketfolds} Add a monogram, wedding date, or stylish pattern to any exclusive eco pocketfolds.

{Neons} 3 neon letterpress inks (hot pink, lime-aid and day-glo) have been added to the collection!  I just love these colors .. and their names! Lime-aid = yum!

{Free Personal Shopper Service} So many colors. So many designs. How ever will you decide? After a brief, but detailed survey, Bella Figura’s invitation experts will help couples navigate all of their design options, making sure their invitation choice captures the spirit of their wedding. Are they amazing, or what?

{Everything is Customizable} One of the things I love about Bella Figura is that everything about their designs can be changed. We’re talking ink, text, font, artwork, monogram, everything. Not many can claim that every design printed is unique, but Bella Figura can.

{Environmentally Green Printing} Bella Figura is a wind-powered, carbon neutral print shop. They print sustainably on luxuriously thick 100% cotton paper made from reclaimed fibers (it’s tree-free and made exclusively for them by a 500-year old European paper mill!). We. love. them.

And if that’s not enough…

{Free Letterpress or Foil Favor Cards} if a couple’s wedding favor is a donation to a non-profit. Place card sized, Bella Figura will match your design and highest quantity – for instance, if you order 200 invitations, they’ll offer 200 free favor cards in the colors and design of your choosing. Holy amazingness!

We’ve been drooling over all these new colors and designs since we first laid eyes on them! We’re dying to know what you think! Do you love letterpress too? How about those neons? The metallics? Let us know and be sure to leave Bella Figura a ton of love below!

xoxo

*Images courtesy of Bella Figura

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

For Him and for Her ::

Our final gift for Him and Her are Apple’s iPads! And yes, I am partial as both my husband and I have the original ones. And yes, I waited in line for them. Ha! A once in a lifetime experience. But seriously, we love our iPads and don’t really know what we did without them. We use them all the time  to read books, play games, check email and social media, do research on the internet and more. Not to mention that you have access to the largest app store with some of the coolest and best available! It’s the multi-purpose (best) gift of the season!

Starting at $499 for a 16GB

Well, that’s a wrap (literally) for our 12 Days of Christmas Gifts 2012! We hope we inspired you with a gift or two! And lucky for you, there’s still some time to shop! So, go! Now!

Happy Shopping!

xoxo

*You can review all 12 Days of Christmas Gifts right here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

For Him ::

I seem to be on a bit of a food and cooking kick right now. But these are the things that sustain us, right? So, whether your guy does some or all of the cooking, or maybe he just carves the turkey every year, all men like to own a nice, sharp set of knives. It’s probably one of the first things a couple registers for for their wedding. But, just in case you didn’t (register for a set that is) how about a go-to set of knives {$499.95} from Williams-Sonoma that both of you will use and love?

Williams-Sonoma | Babycakes

For Her ::

If you haven’t seen this yet .. you are missing out! It’s one of the hottest gifts this year .. it’s even made it onto my Christmas list! A Babycakes Cupcake Maker {$29.99}!! This cutie makes 8 mini cupcakes in 5-9 minutes! How can you resist?? And if that doesn’t take the cake (ha!), it has other friends like the mini-Donut maker, Cake Pop Maker, Pie Pop Maker and Whoopie Pie Maker! Oh, the many mini possibilities! :)

Happy Shopping!

xoxo