pros and cons

okay robshep and other devoted followers... i know i've been a MAJOR slacker on my blogging responsibilities here lately, but i've been HEAVILY weighing the idea of wether or not I want to continue this little self-indulgent venture of mine. Here's the way I see it:

PROS:

• i REALLY enjoy sharing my ideas on home/craft projects
• sharing a successful (and scrumptious) recipe makes my efforts feel like even more of a success
• the site is a mini-record of random thoughts that i can later refer back to quite quickly 
• i can promote my small home business (((with love... from jessiemint))) 
• i was inspired to do new things after following one friends blog and i think it would be cool to do the same for someone else
• it's yet another outlet to vent feelings and share life stories
• others seem to enjoy when i do post 
• it's a scrapbook of my life 

CONS:

• running a good blog (that's worth following) is time consuming
• i don't always have fun/blog-worthy ideas to share (my life is just sometimes... normal)
• i'm so busy living my life at the moment i can't always find time to get on and type up what's going on
• i love having pictures with my blog posts and that takes too much effort sometimes
• my current students have found me on the world-wide-web and i'm not sure how much of my personal life i want them to know about (sorry if you're reading this students)
• sometimes it feels like a duty and not a recreation
• facebook allows me to post some of my "bloggy" things with less effort

Weighing the pros and cons of this blog haven't swayed me one way or the other on what to do, but they have given me somethings to think over. I admire all the blogs I follow that post regularly (how do you manage to do it?!). Here's to thinking it over!

from jessie (slacking slightly)... with love 

p.s. feel FREE to weigh in on this subject in the "comments" section. I always enjoy checking in and seeing what others have to say!

is enough really enough

I know this is bad... but I haven't gone shopping in awhile and I started swooning for new things. I have not yet had the opportunity to indulge this want (because I can affirm that it's NOT a NEED), but it did get me thinking: there are some things that I can never buy enough of. I feel this way simply because I love these items and they bring a spark of "fun" to my life. Here's a short list I thought of...

• scarves (so many cool colors and patterns to be had!)
• coffee mugs (ESPECIALLY Starbucks ones) 
• nailpolish
• ETSY goods (which spans into several things on this list) 
• flats (just ask my husband)
• sandals (this includes flipflops)
• flowers... fresh ones
• fresh fruit
• lounge pants
• bags and purses (thanks ThirtyOne)
• good books
• eye shadow
• fabric (a person affliction)
• earrings and necklaces
• candles

more than that, and I just seem greedy. But these are things you will always see me buying with little regret! A girl can dream.

from jessie (a few of my favorite things)...with love

garden full of cupcakes

Check out these "garden" cupcakes I recently made for my mommy's birthday::

  

  

My inspiration (and complete direction) came from the book Hello Cupcake. I received it two Christmases ago but this is the first time I've made a set of cupcakes from it. The book couldn't be any cuter or the directions easier to execute. You don't have to be an expert at piping icing because many of the "objects" are made from candies: tootsie rolls, skittles, corn flakes. They were more time consuming than I had anticipated, but soooo worth it. I think I'll try the sunflowers with ladybugs next (perhaps for mother's day). 

from jessie (crazy for cupcakes)... with love 

rug renovation

Since moving into the new apartment, our feet have REALLY missed the carpeting in the old apartment. Our feet just don't like the "fake-wood-laminate" floor feel. Thankfully, our tax returns this year provided us the opportunity to purchase an area rug for the living room space. I searched online and found a few really fantastic options at Target. We had settled ourselves on this one or this one, but the mixed reviews from previous buyers really had me hesitating despite the fact that I LOVED the design (especially of the second one). 

THANK GOODNESS for hesitation! During an impromptu trip to Lowes this past Sunday, I passively suggested we check out their rug selection. It took all of two seconds to spot the rug I had pictured in my mind, check the price (RIGHT in our range), and haul it over my shoulder (who needs a cart?!) to the front. (side note: Scott said he'd carry it for me about 5 times, probably more, but I was just TOO DARN EXCITED to let it out of my hands)

So here's the empty, "non-foot-friendly" living area before ::

(pardon the "post-party, pre-spring-cleaning" mess) 

and the complete, "soooo-foot-cozy" living area after::

from jessie (snug on my rug)... with love 

happy hubby...

...cause it's his BIRTHDAY! We're entering the final year of his 20's... next year is the big 3-Oh!

I'm making him pancakes early for breakfast and we're celebrating tonight with a few close friends over Thai Food and games! He deserves more... but I'll do my best with the above listed activities to make him feel LOVED. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

SCOTT

(aka birthday-boy)

from jessie (party planning)... with love 

mr. postman:: PART I

If you ask me, one of the BEST things in life is getting snail mail! With the exception of bills and junk mail (and the like) there is little more exciting than receiving MAIL that's been personalized to you! 

For this reason I LOVE ordering online (especially from ETSY). I look forward to the day my package arrives and I get to rip it open and retrieve the goods inside. 

An order I recently placed with Orglamix (an organic-makeup Etsy shop) came packaged so prettily... I just have to share! 

What's not to love! The package was FUN and the makeup is so pretty! 

Make someone feel special and send them some snail mail today! 

from jessie (send it snail)... with love 

surprisingly crafty

I do shock myself sometimes with the crafty inspiration that pops in my head... 

I have a few large plastic bead necklaces that have been hibernating in my top drawer since we moved into the new apartment. Out of sight meant out of mind and I hadn't worn them in awhile. When getting ready for my friend Bethany's ThirtyOne party last Friday, I remembered the necklaces in my drawer and went to try them on. The blue one worked with my outfit but was too long... "if only it was shorter," I said to myself. 

Hence the bracelet and necklace you see in the picture before you! A few snips of the scissors and a slide or two of unused beads onto a new string and...VOILA! Two pieces of jewelry from one! 

from jessie (getting crafty)... with love 

ewok

He looks just like a little ewok! SO CUTE! Found him while browsing on etsy the other day...

I don't know if I'm for or against "animals-in-clothes"... but can I have one of him pretty please?! 

from jessie (puppy please?!)... with love

lemonade love...

Just about any combination of "berry" and "lemonade" is a hit in my book! Thankfully, one day I googled the term "raspberry lemonade" (cause I have nothing better to do?) and came across this site here. 

I made this YUMMY treat in cupcake form for my recent ThirtyOne Bags party and they were a hit! They'd be PERFECT for your next spring/summer get together and don't require much more work than your standard cupcake or cake. Seriously... give it a try! 

from jessie (so berry sweet and sour)... with love 

PUKE!

Sorry for the week long hiatus! I had a BUSY weekend followed by a BUSY start to my work week... 

FRIDAY - Thirty-One Party with Lindsey Brooks and Fabulous Friends (I can't say enough about these products people!)

SATURDAY- all day "hang-out-extravaganza" with some best friends: Katie, Krystal, and Joy

SUNDAY - went to church, reorganized the house, crafts, sleep!

MONDAY - Field Trip to Jamestown (more on this to come) AND Awards/Brag Night at School

TUESDAY - community group and SO MUCH FUN with apples to apples

...see! I was genuinely busy! 

As for the MONDAY field trip... PUKE! That's right, puke! As we're merrily driving along the road to Jamestown huddled close together in a bus, on of my LOVELY students let it all out. The stench hit me first, then the announcement that "HE THREW UP". So yours truly spent the trip to Jamestown carefully redirecting students (on a moving bus) away from the "impact-zone" and the traveling vomit that sloshed slowly down the isle. I had to employ "mommy skills" and clean up the damage so no one ELSE would loose their breakfast. THANK YOU HAND SANITIZER AND LYSOL SPRAY! That is a trip I won't soon forget. 

from jessie (GOODNESS!)... with love