10 Things I Can't Live Without

{in no particular order}

1. Family~ I can't imagine life without them. It's incredible to me that God has blessed me with these two sweet babies and a hubby that still gives me butterflies in my tummy when he walks into the room. They entertain me, keep me busy, drive me a little crazy and make me very happy.

{Sweet Ava's Baptism}

2. Fresh Flowers~The beauty, the fragrance, the picking them out, the placing them in a vase. Such a simple thing that brings me such joy!

{market flowers mixed in with zinnias from our garden}

3. Design Inspiration~ Blogs, Books, Magazines, flickr, etc - I sometimes wonder what I did before I knew about design blogs. It was such an exciting moment for me, the first time I read post after great post from that first blog.

{My fav blog~Knight Moves}

4. Entertaining~ I find great peace and excitement in grocery store shopping, cooking, setting the table, picking out & arranging flowers in vases, decanting a nice bottle of red, turning on the perfect music depending on the guests, lighting the candles around the house, and sitting down at the dinner table to enjoy, what I believe, are the best things in life. Family, friends, food, wine, conversation, and laughter....and pretty flowers! You can't beat it my friends!

{cedar plank salmon, tomato-mozzerela-cucumber stacked salad, sauteed mushrooms and spinach &chocolate covered strawberries raspberries and pretzels for dessert}

5. Oct1-Jan1~ Summer doesn't hold a candle to this time of year. As much as I love warm weather, I love the changing of seasons even more. I can't imagine living in a place where I didn't experience the blooms of spring and a pretty snowfall, all in the same year. Not only do I get to wear my leather boots, sweaters, and scarves, but this time of year revolves around the golden trifecta of holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I mean, what's not to love? The costumes, the feasts, baking cookies, Dirty Santa, parties, the changing leaves, hot cocoa, fires in the fireplace, the first snowfall, trick-or-treating, Christmas shopping, Clark Griswold on repeat, Michael Buble or Sinatra on the playlist, Thanksgiving break, Christmas vacation, carving pumpkins, decorating the tree, champagne & fireworks on New Years, the list goes on...

{Christmas 2009}

6. Comfort of Home~ As much as I love to travel, nothing compares to coming home. It's the place I'm most comfortable, most happy, most myself. It's the place I can wear sweatpants all day, watch Meg Ryan movie marathons {fav being When Harry Met Sally}, sing Bette Davis Eyes at the top of my lungs, re-decorate, play 'tea' with Audrey, cuddle in bed with Ava, watch movies with Conor, cook new recipes for my family, work on craft projects, take naps, enjoy wine nights on the patio, try The Shred for the first time without anyone watching, and sit at my computer for hours on end reading design blogs. It's home. And that's me.

{December 2009 Morning}

7. Friends~ As I've gotten older, and the longer I'm a stay-at-home mom, time with my girlfriends has become more important to me. It's good to have those people in your life who you can really be yourself around. . .

{Dallas Trip with my oldest & dearest friends in the world, Jen & Allison}

8. Technology~My Mac, Canon G11, the internet, DVR all make me feel connected. I would be lost and extremely bored without them, especially my beloved camera.

{Without it I wouldn't be able to capture the beauty of our memories and everyday life}

9. Bargain Shopping~ I have no desire to jump out of an airplane or climb a mountain. I get my adrenaline rush from finding a great deal. I love scouring antique/thrift stores or walking down a clearance aisle to find a treasure that no one else was able to see the potential in. And, I admit, I'm the world's worst about telling guests how little I paid for something when they compliment it. I take strange pride in this skill. . . .I will go ahead and throw craft projects in with this one. Crafting makes me giddy.

{1970s mirror transformed with scrapbooking paper and modge podge. Total cost was $10! }

10. Home Projects~ I'm Type A in a bad way when it comes to our home. My mind is always racing about things I want to do or should be doing. Nothing makes me happier than painting a piece of furniture and moving things around in our house. Some people play golf; I play decorating.

{My latest switch-a-roo}

Tell me! What is something you can't live without?