blissdom 2011.

We had a great time at Blissdom.
JuneAnne (left) and Jill (right) came with me this year,
(Jill runs the "business" side of things
while JuneAnne runs the "production" side,
these are "my girls!"),
and the 3 of us have so much fun together-
I'm so blessed to have such great friends working with me!

We were at the amazing Opryland hotel,
Brene Brown was the inspiring keynote speaker,
and heard Mat Kearney sing (he's one of my faves!).


We met new blogging friends,
including Katie, Mique, Jessica
(we even layered allora handmade necklaces with ours, so cute!),
Kelly, tip junkie...



Creative Kristi (above), Dee, Hillary, Kristi,
Shannon, Aimee, Ruthanne...



I got a kiss on the cheek from The Nester,
chatted with Melissa,
a hug from Gussy...
and many others-
unfortunately there were lots of others I wanted to meet,
but didn't have the chance to,
maybe next year :)

* * *

While I was gone Ryan and my Dad tag-teamed the kids-
Ryan took them to school and my Dad picked them up
(thank you Dad!)

Ryan texted me a pic of the kids about to head to school the first morning I was gone-
they were all showered, dressed and fed- impressive!
Ryan had Tessa picked out all of Eden's outfits while I was gone,
wonder what those outfits looked like :)

hey ya'll!

I'm in Nashville
at Blissdom,
hanging out with friends
and making new ones!



(Sarah, me, Jill, JuneAnne and Deedra, the Tulsa girls!)

While we are here use coupon code
BLISS
for 15% off your order!

(hurry, we leave tomorrow night!)

treasures.

For some reason I feel like I'm nesting
up at the studio.
I want to change paint colors
and re-decorate
and organize everything!
(and no, I'm NOT pregnant!)

So today Eden and I went treasure hunting
at one of our favorite thrifting spots...


Aren't these old cameras fun?
I loved all of them,
but I only grabbed the top right one,
may have to go back for the brownie or polaroid,
and the typewriter was so fun,
and old telephones were also calling out to me...


I grabbed some shutters for a new earring stand at the store
but I have another project for those I want to try also,
will post pics when it's done :)

Not completely sure what to do with this old window... (but I love it!)


I'm sure we will come up with something fab.
(any ideas?)

There's a similar door I will probably go back for
with an old crystal knob.

We loved this birdcage... (Eden wanted to climb inside it)


but a little too big for our space :)


And these are Eden's treasures...


They helped us get through the entire store
with no meltdowns,
and kept her hands full so we could
"look with our eyes, not our hands"
(anyone else say this?
Eden now tells me, "don't worry mommy,
I not touch,
I'm looking with my EYES.")
and not a single thing was knocked over.

* * *

So I feel a tiny bit satisfied,
but still have lots of ideas and changes for our studio and store,
rolling through my head...
maybe it will pass,
or maybe we will be painting soon :)

pearl clusters.

Our new pearl cluster earrings...



A little bit fancy but still cute with jeans!



Find them here!

(new!) simple vintage imperfection.

Our new "vintage love charm necklace",
it's so simple
and imperfect,
just right!

And they are ready to ship!
(our ready to ship items ship within 3 business days).

OR customize by adding a name or initial charm.
(please allow 1-2 weeks for it to ship
if you add a personalized charm).

Find them here!

snow days =

lazy mornings,
waffles for breakfast,
Mario Kart races
(I lose 90% of the time to my 9 and 7 year olds,
I try to be a good sport about it,
but it's pretty annoying),
playing in the snow and then warming back up with
hot chocolate,
movies
(netflix through the wii!),
a game of monopoly
(we have the digital banking one with credit cards,
makes it a little more fun),
and of course flag tag...



Sorry for the bad picture,
all I had to grab nearby was my phone and we were running,
but you can see Eden grabbed Tessa's flags
(even though they were both on the same yellow team).

Eden loved flag tag.

She would grab one of our flags
and then run off yelling
"I got your seatbelt!"

:)

What do you do on snow days???

a {secret} love cuff winner!

I asked Nancy, Abbie and Adri
to each write down a number between 0 and 9
and they chose:


So comment #323
and the winner of the cuff is Teri who said:
"I would put my wedding date. If my husband was getting it for me, I'm sure he'd come up with something very sweet."

Congrats Teri,
please email us at customerservice@thevintagepearl.com!

When Good Morning America calls...

you lock your kids in the car
while you stand outside it
in the cold
to take their call :)

But first,
since the kids are home from school for MLK day,
you take them to the aquarium...



When leaving the aquarium I realized I had missed a call and had a voice mail
from Good Morning America.
The kids hopped into the car
and I put on a movie for them,
then stood outside the car to return the call.
Tory Johnson was doing a story and needed a small business perspective.
And they needed me to skype RIGHT NOW.
So I answered lots of questions with her on the phone,
picked up Ryan so he could hang with the kids for a bit,
and skyped with Tory Johnson
(I can always say my very first skype was with GMA!)
and I DESPERATELY wish I had fixed my hair instead of just throwing it up in a messy ponytail,
and worn something besides jeans and a t-shirt,
(I was hangin' with the kids all day!)
and my clip is about 1 second long,
but it was fun,
and it's a start, right?


(thank you to my new friend Cindy Morrison for all of your help and letting me skype at your house!)

heart day is coming.

Having fun with valentine's day,
making hearts,
tying pearls,
stamping sweet messages,
creating something new...



Please order your custom Valentine's Day gifts by
Wednesday, February 2nd,
and your ready-to-ship gifts by
Friday, February 4th,
for Valentine's Day delivery,
(US only, we can't guarantee international packages)

that is just about 2 1/2 weeks to get those orders in :)

{secret} love message cuff. (and a coupon!)

A new bracelet...



with a simple message of love inside...



You can customize them with
your own secret message here.

Or you can buy one ready to ship
that simply says "i love you"
(as pictured above)
here!



We are giving one away!

Just tell us:
what "secret" would you want on the inside of your cuff?

Blog it and tweet it (@thevintagepearl) for extra entries!

* * *

AND a special coupon code-
use "secretlove" to get 15% off your order!
Expires sunday night at midnight, so hurry!
(think Valentine's Day!)

savoring the small stuff.

Eden is caught in between being a
"big girl"
and a baby...

("big girls" don't use paci's, "babies" do)



most of the time she delights in
the praises of being a "big girl"...
(especially getting to sleep in her "big girl" bed)



until she's gone long enough without it,
and decides it's not worth it,
and wants the comfort of her paci...

then she looks at me and simply says
"I'm a baby."



which means:
"give me my paci."



It'll happen someday,
we'll eventually make it a whole day without the paci,
but since she's our fourth
and our last,
I want to savor her little-ness,
I'm not in any huge hurry
for her to be a "big girl".
:)

in-n-out.

When we were in California
Ryan just HAD to take us to
in-n-out burger
because he said it was the best burger ever...


and it was very tasty,
but what I was most impressed with
was the scripture verse
printed on the bottom of their cups!


Proverbs 3:5- "Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding."

Isn't that great?

cozy recipes.

Last night we got a dusting of snow
and this morning everything was sprinkled in white,
so I left a little note on Ryan's truck :)



It put me in the mood to get my crock pot out,
it always makes the house smell delicious
and feel cozy,
and try out some new recipes like
lasagna and beef stroganoff
(I didn't know you could make lasagna in the crock pot!
I'm very excited to try it!)
but my all time favorite crock pot dish is chicken enchiladas.
(not this one specifically,
but similar, and it's so yummy!)

Do you have a favorite crock pot recipe?
I'd love to try it out!

along for the ride.

Someday
I'm going to miss shopping
with a little one
riding on the end of my cart :)


(her adorable hat was sent to us by the sweet girls
from toile tales.)

what I'm praying {for 2011}

Our new vintage scripture necklace
is perfect for the New Year-
is there something you are praying and believing for this year?

It might be wisdom,
guidance,
healing (physical or emotional),
financial breakthrough...

whatever the need, this necklace is a great reminder.



It would also be a sweet gift to a friend,
to let them know what YOU are praying for them.
(I know I would love to know!)

My scripture for 2011 is Psalm 46:10:

"Be still and know that I am God."

I'm praying and believing to get better
at listening to and trusting in Him always,
even through the bumpy patches,
and to not stress over the small stuff,
because He is in control (not me!)

* * *

What are you praying for?

winners, sales and a coupon {fun stuff!}

The winner of the latest giveaway is:
Annie, who said:
"I'm a newlywed and would LOVE the monogram necklace!!!"

Email us Annie!

* * *

Do you remember the ugly Christmas sweater contest?

The votes have been tallied
and the winner is Anna:



Anna is one of our rock star stampers,
so the stampers all get lunch on me this week :)



Sales and specials are going to pop up
at the VERY TOP of the sidebar over there
--------------------------------------->
(the current sale is $10 off of our
key to my heart necklace! shown above- GREAT DEAL!)

They new sales may last one day or one week,
but once they are over they are OVER,
so if you see a sale or a special you like
be sure to grab it before it's gone,
and check back often for new sales!



I am so excited about the New Year,
bringing us new beginnings
and fresh inspirations,
we have lots of new stuff planned,
it's gonna be a great year :)

(our new Vintage Bloom necklace)


For 2 days only,
use coupon code
"newbeginnings"
for 20% off your order!

Expires Friday night at mindnight.

* * *

Happy shopping!

newport beach pier.

While in California we drove down the coast a bit.



















It was BEAUTIFUL.

Then we drove to Hollywood
and had dinner at Miceli's,
and it. was. AMAZING!
I highly recommend it if you're ever in the area :)

disneyland, knotts and legoland, oh my!

We had a great time at Disneyland on thursday,
Disney's California Adventure on friday,
Knott's Berry Farm on saturday,
and Legoland on sunday.

whew!

This was our first time ever to visit any of them...
and I have to admit that we were shocked at the size of Disneyland's castle!
(it's about 1/4 the size of Cinderella's castle at DW)



Tessa gets so excited about the characters still...
(which makes it so much fun!)



and Jessie is her FAVORITE right now...



She could pick out any toy
and she chose this Jessie hat
which she then wanted to wear the rest of the trip!



California Adventure is very pretty...



and I beat everyone at the Buzz Lightyear game :)







We spent New Year's Eve at Disney's California Adventure Park,
and they handed out hats and noise makers to everyone.



And we spent New Year's Day riding roller coasters
at Knott's Berry Farm (they have 10!)

We rode every roller coaster at least once,
twice if we could.
(our family's favorite ride)







And we think Disneyland's Space Mountain is SO MUCH BETTER than Disneyworld's!

Tessa is our little thrill-seeker...
(I think she's braver than the boys)
the bigger the rollercoster,
with the most twists,
backwards,
uside down loops,
the better!

She wants to ride in the very front.

And as soon as the ride starts her hands immediately go up!



Legoland was fun...
but a little low key for us :)









We had a great time,
together time we needed...

but we really missed Eden :)

p.s. I randomly found the app cross process
and used on all of these pictures,
isn't it fun?