Top Ten on Tuesday {link party}

First of all, I hope all of you moms had an awesome Mother's Day!  And all of you not moms, well, I hope you had an awesome Mother's Day too.  Because really Mother's Day is a celebration of women and love.  Hooray for both!  :)

Once again, I've had a blast reading all of your top ten lists!  It has been a crazy-busy week so I haven't gotten the chance to comment on all of them yet, but I will!  Have you been jumping around and reading them?  If not, you should!  It is just so fun getting to know all of you great bloggers.  Loving it!  (Don't worry.  We'll still be posting blog freebies too though!)

Okay, so I love music.  LOVE it.  Reeeeeally love it.  I took my 10-year-old to her first concert for her birthday this month and it was the coolest thing ever to see her face radiate sheer unadulterated joy.  It was the kind of joy one exudes when a huge dream becomes a reality.  What a neat experience for both of us.  It made me think about what a big part of my life music is.  My favorite music feels like it belongs to me somehow.  The music I love has woven in and out of my days and has become the soundtrack of my life.  Is that silly or does anyone else feel that way?  You may have guessed already, but this week's writing prompt is all about music.

Top 10 Favorite Musicians

*If you'd like, you can change that to be albums or songs.  Whatever music-related list is most fun for you.
*Also, please note that you have a week to enter this link party.  Don't worry if you aren't able to write your list on Tuesday.  That's just when we put it out there, but you can jump in any time!

Here are the official rules:

1. Keep it family-friendly y'all.
2. Please only link to your blog if you are actually posting about the top ten list topic we are giving you. We are sure your dog is adorable and your homemade curtains turned out awesome, but this link party is for those participating in our top ten list challenges only.
3. If you join our link party, please include the image below in your post.

In no particular order...

1. Ray Lamontagne

2. Mumford & Sons

3. James Vincent McMorrow

4. The Civil Wars

5. Matthew Mayfield

6. Passenger

7. The Lumineers

8. David Gray

9. The Paper Kites

10. Loheem

Okay, that was waaaaay harder than I thought it would be to shrink my favorites down to ten.  Ouch.  No room for Of Monsters & Men or Young The Giant or Boy & Bear or Fleet Foxes or a million others I adore.  (Did you see what I did there?)  Sigh.  But there you go!  Images are clickable so you can check out my favorites and see if you like them too!  And now it is your turn, friends.  Watcha listenin' to???

Top Ten on Tuesday {link party}

I had THE most fun reading your Top 10 lists from last week.  Maybe it is weird, but sometimes I feel like I'm just talking to myself when I blog.  Visiting each of your blogs and reading about you made me feel so much more connected- and that's such a huge part of blogging.  I'm grateful for that feeling of being a part of something that each of you who participated gave me.  I needed that.  Thank you!

So the weather here in Michigan has been divine lately.  On Sunday afternoon, I dragged my favorite blanket outside and sat with my husband and girlies on the lawn, just soaking up the sun and the smells and the sound of my children laughing.  I snapped a photo and put it on instagram with the caption "Happiness is a blanket on the grass and someone to sit with."  That made me think about all of the other things happiness is to me.  So then I thought, Why not make that our Top Ten for this Tuesday???

Don't forget the rules!

1. Keep it family-friendly y'all.
2. Please only link to your blog if you are actually posting about the top ten list topic we are giving you. We are sure your dog is adorable and your homemade curtains turned out awesome, but this link party is for those participating in our top ten list challenges only.
3. If you join our link party, please include the image below in your post.

1. Happiness is always having a hand to hold.

2. Happiness is "adventure boots" for every member of your family and nothing but time and countryside as far as you can see.

3. Happiness is a blue mason jar full of fireflies or flowers.

4. Happiness is the sound of my little mermaids playing at Lake Michigan.

5. Happiness is a clean house...or so I would imagine.

6. Happiness is knowing you'll be forgiven- even before you ask.

7. Happiness is the orange clearance sticker at Target.

8. Happiness is knowing who you are and who you're not...and being ok with that.

9. Happiness is being gentle with the hearts of others and being surrounded by people who are gentle with yours.

10. Happiness is proving to yourself that you can do hard things.

So there you go!  I'm pretty sure I could list a million things that happiness is to me, but this is the top ten I came up with.  Also, I decided to add some photos I just quickly pulled from my instagram feed to make it more interesting.  If you want to add images, go for it!  If not, don't!  I'm just excited to read your answers!  :)

XOXO-
Megan

Top Ten on Tuesday {link party}

For years now, everyone and their pet iguana has been throwing blog link/linky parties.  Let's face it.  They are fun to throw and fun to enter.  We did give them a try a few times, but ours got rather abused and didn't work out very well.  Having said that, I'd really like to give it a try again.

Each Tuesday, we will be giving you a new topic for a top ten list.  We will give you the subject prompt and then hand it over to you to write your own top ten list based on the topic we give you.  Not only will this give us an opportunity to get to know you better, but it will also give you a great chance to get more visitors to your own blog so that you can meet new people too!  We hope our weekly top tens will not only be really fun to write, but also keep the blogger's block at bay.

Here is our long list of super important rules:

1. Keep it family-friendly y'all.
2. Please only link to your blog if you are actually posting about the top ten list topic we are giving you. We are sure your dog is adorable and your homemade curtains turned out awesome, but this link party is for those participating in our top ten list challenges only.
3. If you join our link party, please include the image below in your post.

(Okay, I lied.  There are only 3 rules.)

Everybody cool?  We good?  Okay then!  Here is this week's Top Ten List prompt!

Don't be nervous!  I'll play too!  Ready?  Here we go.  Ten random things about Megan:

1. I would rather eat a grilled cheese sandwich than anything else in the culinary world.
2. I can roll my tongue and spit things through it alarmingly far.
3. I'm deathly afraid of mice.
4. I'm 100% "girly girl" but was a total tomboy until I had my second daughter.
5. I love cycling and bike every chance I get.
6. Being a mom is my favorite thing about myself.
7. I'm kind of addicted to popcorn from Target...and also their chicken marinara flatbread sandwiches...and also Target in general.
8. Though public speaking is one of my favorite things, I am actually an introvert.
9. I love traveling and exploring the world, but I am a country girl at heart.
10. I hate horror movies, but love anything funny or anything old and set in England.

There you go.  We are best friends now.  I can feel it.  Now go write your own Top Ten Random Things About YOU so we can get to know you better too!

Free Digital Paper- Winifred the Fancy Whale

I love to create things.  Though I'm probably best at making messes, I love to make art- whichever way it comes out.  I'm not one of those people who usually sees what I'm making before I sit down to make it though. That means that nine times out of ten, I completely surprise myself.  That was definitely the case with this latest design.  Laura was so sweet to send over these gorgeous ranunculus she painted.  Every time she sends me new beautiful pieces of watercolor loveliness, it feels like Christmas!  Within seconds, I had the files open and was kafloofling about with things.  After a minute or two, there was a whale involved...and she was in desperate need of a bit of fancying up.  Some would suppose whales don't care about trivial things like "fanciness", but you should know that this one (I named her Winifred) most certainly does.  I'm pretty sure this random bit of delightful silliness came from the incessant rain we've had here in Michigan and the fact that I've been holding my breath waiting for my own little flowers to finally burst open.  But, wherever my dear old girl Winifred came from, she is now headed straight for your blog...so be good to her!  :)

Ooh, and don't forget that if you live in Utah, you can meet the super sweet and deliciously talented Laura Davies at the Beehive Bazaar in May!!!

XOXO-
Megan

Feather Art Blog Post Pretties

Hey there, birds of a feather!  This freebie comes to you from the paintbrush of Laura Davies.  She painted these beautiful little feathers and passed them on to me so that I could design something lovely for you to use on your blogs.  Isn't that rad?!!  These post pretties are going to make your notes and quotes look cooler than ever!  Just click on the images below to download the full-sized versions.

Bonus:  If you happen to live in Utah, Laura will be at the Beehive Bazaar in Provo next month.  Since I'm over here in Michigan, I can't go.  (I know.  It stings.)  But if you can, stop in to see our girl Laura and snag some of her stunning art in person.  For those of us who aren't within reach of the hive, there is always this little treasure trove.  I know it's not the same as getting to hang out with her in person, but it's still pretty sweet.  :)

xoxo-
Megan

Vintage Freebie with Keren: Vintage Fawn Facebook Timeline Cover

Well, Hello There Lovelies! Spring has definitely hit NC and you wont hear one single complaint out of me!  My little girl on the other hand, has not been loving all the frogs and bugs that literally popped up over night! It's hilarious to watch her :)

Anywho.. anyone up for a pretty freebie? Of course you are! You could use this as a FB cover or as an adorable blog banner.. but you already knew that :) To download,just click and save.

Till next time..
Enjoy my pretties!
xo,

www.freeprettythingsforyou.com

Free As A Bird Banner

Before I share this cute little bird banner with you, I have to show you a photo of my three little girls excitedly holding their happy mail for Brielle.  (You can read all about that darling girl in our previous post.)  They were so proud to send this package of completely random goodies.  It was not easy talking them out of sending some really strange treasures though!  My 4-year-old could not, for the life of her, understand why I objected to mailing her favorite (used) sparkly chapstick or a single striped princess sock.  Goodness, kids are awesome, aren't they?  I love it!

I hope lots of you have sent or are sending Brielle a little note or something special, but either way, please consider purchasing one of these really cool prints which will also benefit this darling girl.  Nope, I didn't design any of them, but I am totally buying the "love is spoken here" one!  Super cute!

Okay, so sometimes when you're blogging, you have a title or a sentence or phrase that you just want to really accentuate, you know?  You want it to stand out.  This freebie is perfect for that!  It adds some flare to your posts and a whole lot of cuteness too!  Yep, you could even use it in your sidebar.  Enjoy!  :)

P.S. I adore you.

My 4-year-old has a cold again.  It breaks my heart.  She has had colds one after another for months now.  I listened to her sniffle and speak in that sad, raspy little girl voice all day today.  Then I saw this in my Instagram feed:

Help us brighten Brielle's day by sending her mail! Draw her a picture, send a funny note, or an uplifting message. She also has 3 sisters: Breanna, Brooklee, and Braylee! Let's share this all over and load up their mailbox with love! To read her amazing story go to: blog.psiadoreyou.com #briellelove

Instantly, I stopped what I was doing and said a silent prayer, thanking God for my small daughter's small sickness.  After reading about Brielle, I cried unabashedly like a complete and total idiot.  Yes, I'll admit it.  This darling little girl who is just a little older than one of my own little girls has had to fight cancer two times already in her young life and it is back again, not to be beaten.  There is so much more to this story and I genuinely can't do it justice.  Please read it.  This family, and especially this brave and beautiful little girl, deserves all the love we can send their way.

As I was writing this, two of my daughters came over to see what I was doing and I told them about Brielle.  Both of them said, "I want to send her something!" and ran off to their bedrooms.  They aren't done yet, but just in the last few minutes they have amassed quite a collection of some of their favorite treasures.  Let's all be more like these sweet children of ours!  This blog has nearly 19,000 followers.  Can you even imagine the happiness we could give this incredible family if each of us sent Brielle and the Beus even just a sweet little note?  Oh, please do!!!

Brielle Beus
4928 W. 5300 S.
Hooper, UT 84315

Please pass this on so we can make this darling girl smile and show her and her family all of the love and support we can!  Thank you so much in advance for your support and kindness!

*P.S. I Adore You is an incredible site with an incredible goal.  In that one spot you can do two of my absolute favorite things in the entire world: shop and help people.  They give money from the sales of their really cute daily deals to children fighting cancer.  Get to know them if you haven't already and get to do some good!  :)

-Megan

New designs are here!

They're heeeeeeere!  Hop on over to ShabbyBlogs.com and be among the first to treat yourself to a brand spankin' new blog design!!!

I'll be adding new buttons, headers, sidebar tags, and post dividers in the coming days and weeks as well so keep your eyes peeled!  :)

Free Ephemera Collage Frame

Psssst.  I'm tired.  Seriously.  Don't be mad at me.  My 4-year-old and I have been sick off and on (but pretty much on) for the past two+ months.  What the heck is that?!!  We've done blood work and antibiotics, but nothing seems to cure us of the cold/flu from down under.  And I don't mean Australia.  I mean, like, waaaaay down under.  Good grief!  I stopped wishing for spring to come and now I'm just praying I don't die.  So anyway, I've got good news and bad news.  The good news is that I seriously designed close to fifty (5-0) new blog backgrounds...and some other sweet stuff too!  The bad news is that I haven't been able to get everything uploaded and online for you yet.  Unless I die, they should be available within the next week though.  Thank you for understanding!

In the meantime, here's a rad little collage I created for you to use in your blog posts!  Just click on the below image to download the full-sized .png file.  Enjoy!!!