{confession}

I'm already on my second carton of this stuff...

Most people call it egg nog.

At our house it is lovingly referred to as snowman juice.

I know...sounds kind of weird/gross right? Or when you think about it...snowman juice would really just be melted snow, right?

Anyway...to explain how it got that name...last Christmas when Ben saw what looked like a juice carton with a snowman on it he exclaimed "SNOWMAN JUICE!" One of the most adorable things I've ever heard come out of his mouth.

So that's what we call it. And now the boys are hooked too.

What is your guilty holiday pleasure? {I have plenty more but I'll just share this one today}

{sunday morning}

Eating breakfast at the island...

and enjoying homemade buttermilk biscuits...

They make the best egg and bacon sandwiches...

Yum.

{pinch me}

You all. I'm so.darn.excited!!

I have some pretty awesome news regarding this little blog of mine. 

Those of you that have been following my blog for the past few years know that I'm a huge fan of Project Runway. And for the past few months I've been participating in What I Wore Wednesdays by sharing my weekly outfits, a lot of which included pieces that I've purchased from one of my favorite local clothing shops, Maurices.

What do Project Runway and Maurices have in common, you ask?

Wellll if you are also a PR follower, remember this guy?

That's Christopher Straub, a contestant from season 6, and he is launching a new clothing and accessories line at Maurices. And the folks at Maurices contact me, yes ME, asking me if I would feature his new line on This Girl's Life.

That in itself is pretty cool...but then they told me I could interview him as well!

So next Wednesday, I have a Skype date with Mr. Straub.

AND...wait for it...one lucky This Girl's Life reader will win a Maurices sponsored giveaway!

Yeah...you could say I'm pretty darn excited about this.

So be sure to check back next weekend for all of the details about Christopher's new Maurices line, our Skype interview, and a fabulous giveaway!

Did I mention that I'm SO.DARN.EXCITED?! :)

{warmth}

So yesterday I posted a pic of me wearing a heating pad. A super cute one covered in Amy Butler fabric. It has been a constant friend to me the past few days, after I woke up Tuesday morning with an awful pain in my back. Just a few minutes in the microwave and it provides a good hour of deep, soothing heat mixed with the calming scent of lavender.

I received it from someone close to me for my first Mother's Day. A fitting present for a new mom to twins, right? At the time I appreciated it for its cute fabric and sweet smell. But this past week, I've appreciated it for a whole lot more.

The person that gifted it to me is someone I've known my entire life. And things aren't well between us right now. It is difficult. And with the holidays coming up, I'm going to say that I'm honestly very sad about the reality of our situation.

But this cute bundle of lavender wrapped in Amy Butler fabric is such a comfort to me right now. It not only soothes my aching back, it also adds warmth to a place in my heart that has been hurting for awhile now. It is a reminder of a happy day when we celebrated motherhood. And it gives me hope that things will get better.

And for that I am very thankful.

{new etsy shop design!}

I'm so excited to unveil my new Etsy shop design. I've been working on it for a week or so and I'm so excited about how it turned out...

The squirrel is wearing one of my hats! I love how fun and playful the design turned out. It just screams ME! :)

To celebrate, I'm offering 10% off your order today...just enter coupon code NEWSQUIRREL when you check out! {my Etsy shop only}

{accessorizing}

My outfit is pretty blah today, but I added some color with a cute new ring, my lavender scented heating pad {tweaked my back a few days ago...ouch!} and a free Starbucks vanilla latte...

Just the pops of color that I needed, right? :)

How are you accessorizing today?

{burlap + hot glue}

 I don't sew.

I mean, I made a dress hospital gown in 8th grade home-ec class, and a pillow that looked like an ice cream sundae {I wonder what ever happened to that thing...} but since then I haven't layed a finger on a sewing machine.

But like some Project Runway contestants, I do work well with a hot glue gun. We are like BFF's really. So when I decided our newly refinished (!!) dining room table needed a runner to dress it up {and cover the one yucky spot in the finish}, I started brainstorming ideas that could work without a needle and thread.

And then it hit me yesterday...

BURLAP!

So of course I headed to Pinterest to see what inspiration I could find. One of the first pics that came up was this lovely ruffled number...

The person that made that runner probably sewed it. But whatever. I knew all I needed was some burlap and my trusty glue gun. So I headed to JoAnn and grabbed two yards of burlap at just $3 per yard. And while the boys were napping I got to work!

First I laid it out on the table to eyeball how wide I wanted it to be. No measuring here...I just used our centerpiece to figure out what width would look right.

And thanks to the lines in the burlap it was easy peasy to cut a straight piece.

I won't lie...at first I was just going to leave it like this...

But the ends looked really sad and weren't hanging down very well. So I cut two long strips {about 1 1/2 times the width of the runner} and used hot glue to make them into ruffles. I forgot to take pics of this process because I was busy trying not to be burned by the hot glue seeping through the burlap. Ouch!

But here is the finished product!

I think it turned out pretty darn close to my inspiration. What do you think?

Now I just wish we were hosting Thanksgiving so I could show it off!

The cool wooden bowl on the table was hand carved by my husband's Grandpa...pretty amazing huh?

And yep...still need to remove the ugly brass fireplace doors, decide whether or not to paint the brick, and figure out what to put on the left side of the fireplace. Ideas?

Linking up with...

{tis the season?}

 Please forgive me for what I'm about to talk about.

I just can't help myself.

I'm already into the Christmas spirit. Big.time.

It started when I spotted these two old friends at Walmart the other night...

Oh how I've missed them. I haven't broken in the candle yet, but let's just say the mint m&m's are mostly history.

And today I actually got a few Christmas gifts marked off my list. Mom #2 and I took the boys to our local Christmas Village, which is a huge craft fair at our fairgrounds. This year it did not disappoint...about 5 minutes in I had already oohed and ahhhed over quite a few lovely things.

My favorite buy of the day? Button.flowers. Yes...that's right...

Aren't they ADORABLE? Be still my heart. Anything with buttons grabs my attention and these were so darn cute. And $10 for 6 flowers with the vase? Sold.

I picked out colors that would go with our dining room, and for now I have them on our record player cabinet. I have a feeling they will make an appearance on the mantle sometime soon though.

And I'm super excited about the Christmas presents I purchased, which of course I can't share here in case a few special someones are reading. ;)


And I may or may not have listened to some Christmas music today.

But don't worry, I'm SUPER excited about Thanksgiving, and our tree will not go up until the day after turkey day.

So tell me, how excited are you about the holidays? Have you done any Christmas shopping yet?

{holiday shop update}

I've been busy working on santa caps for my shop...do you have a little elf that needs one?

They are available in 0-3, 6, 9 and 12 month sizes and I can do different combinations of colors. Traditional red and white, pink, green...your choice!

I also have other great styles and colors in the shop like this winter white one...

And a super cozy cream button cap...

Perfect Christmas gifts! The santa cap was my biggest seller last year and so far it is looking like it will be again this year. Be sure to get your order in soon if you want one for the holidays!

*And be sure to head on over to my Love Squirrels Facebook Page and become a fan! Find out about new hats in the shop and special promotions!*

{Halloween recap}

 We had SUCH a fun Halloween with the boys this year. I'm still on a high from it...or is it from all the sugar? Maybe a mix of both. :)

I did a little last minute decorating on Monday afternoon and hung a DIY "trick or treat" banner in the entryway...

{I obviously didn't dust though...shhh}

And a fun tin sign welcomed trick or treaters...

And now for just a couple pics of our two "punkins"...

With Nana and Gigi...

And their Papa...

And our cutie patootie nephew Noah was the cutest scarecrow ever...

Last year we only made it to two houses, so I was hoping this year to improve on that record. Not only did the boys enjoy it, but we made it around our entire neighborhood which is quite a treck...lots of hills...

 And leaf piles to jump in along the way...

Noah got a lift on his momma's shoulders...

And after getting over his fear of the first few houses, Landon was all smiles...

My Mom took a lot more photos that I forgot to copy, so I might be doing a Halloween recap 2.0 post later in the week. Hope your Halloween was fun and sugar filled!