Sweet gifts from sweet girls...

Once again, I can not even say how grateful I am to such sweet people.  In one week I received two random gift's just because.  These are the best gifts ever, the ones that are truly just a gift from the heart.

This one is from Heather, a blog reader and customer who has just been the sweetest to me.  She hand crocheted this lovely dish towel.  That combined with burning sage is the best little home warming gift ever!  So thoughtful and useful.

And these lovlies are from one of my sponsors, Jacqueline from Under The Shade of a Bonsai Tree, who is also a blog reader.  She sent me two of her amazing handmade wooden brooches.  She has excellent craftsmanship and adorable packaging!  And even a cute little origami crane on it!

A big big thank you to you sweet girls. I am so touched that you have sent me these things from your heart.

xo.

PEACE,
Laura

Sending My Love Floral Dress...

The day before mother's day, I received this beautiful dress c/o of Ruche in the mail.  It was so pretty and light feeling I couldnt wait to wear it.  It feels just as good on as it looks, it seriously feels like Im wearing a nighty its so comfy.  I love the details of it with the lace front, the waist tie and there are 3 precious buttons on the back.  So sweet and girly.  And a quick pull back of the bangs created a simple 70's hair style.  Makes me look more like my mother when I wear my hair like this.

Outfit detals:
Sending My Love Floral Applique dress c/o Ruche
The Traveling Leaf necklace by me
bangle from Forever 21
feather hair clip from Forever 21
beaded sandals from my BFF


And I painted my toenails for the first time in about 10 years.  I never paint them.  And I honestly cant decide if Im digging it or not.  Sure looks cute with those sandals though :)

We are hopefully about to get some rain here.  They keep telling us so at least.  I never believe it until I see it.

Oh, and I created a Lookbook account today for my outfit pics, super excited!  You can find the link in my sidebar.  Ill be adding new looks quite often.

PEACE,
Laura

Our Nest... Part One


 My office is really just an extension of our living room.  Which is exactly what I wanted b/c I can sit here and work and still be super close to James while he is on the computer or playing a game.  It makes feel much more at home to have my primary work spot in the open and not tucked away in a back room.  

I love that I have enough space to hang my big painting.  And I have my record player set up right in front of the office so my music is close.  And I get to look at my amazing macrame owl while I work now!  I put out my three favorite albums on display... Neil Young, The Rolling Stones & Janis Joplin.  They are my three favorite vinyls to look at, not my top three favorite records, although they are up there :)

 I think the wall in my office with the collage of artwork is my favorite wall in the house.  It makes my heart so happy.  There are some super special pieces, among some of my wood blocks, a friends photo, my mom's wooden sun, dried roses, a feather and a piece of drift wood.

 And my quick fix to cover up the back of the ugly desk was fabric and doilies.  Im sure this will change over time constantly.

 PEACE,
Laura

Inspiration Post by Kami

Today I have a little inspirational post from Kami of Kamika Kraftz, one of my lovely sponsors.  Im sure this is one that alot of us could gain some insight from.
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Hi everyone, I am super excited to be sponsoring Violet bella this month! I love LOVE this beautiful blog and find it to be very inspiring and uplifting. On that note I wanted to share with you all a post I once wrote when I was going through a very difficult/emotional time of my life. Just the simple act of writing this post helped get me through a really tough time, and served as a reminder of what I wanted to do, and who I wanted to become. I do hope you enjoy it, and that it can help you all discover your own personal “soundtrack”. Xoxo

It is said that if you can change your thoughts you can change your life...or something like that. Many of us, myself included, walk through life with a broken record playing in the background. I don’t know about you but I could use a better soundtrack!  It has been proven that negative thought patterns not only effect our bodies but also weave deep, complicated, and negative thought pathways into our brains....making it hard to "get out of a funk". Our brains literally become hardwired to expect, almost look for, the worst. But by simply thinking something different, and believing it to be true, wanting it to be true, you can re-boot the stubborn hard drive that is your brain. Are you ready to give it a try? I know I am!

The secret is, its really quite simple…it’s all about positive affirmations!  But honestly, not many of us can keep a straight face while they look in the mirror and tell themselves how freaking awesome they are, unless your Barney Stintson.

Just the word affirmations is bound to bring something like this to mind.
Yet as much as we make fun of affirmations, there is something to be said for the power of words. If you have ever been bullied you will know this to be true. If you call someone stupid for long enough, the sad fact is that eventually… they will start to believe it. So what if we take back that power and flip it on its head? What if we got over the giggles and silly feelings and told ourselves every morning how much we love ourselves? How awesome we were? After all Masaru Emoto proved that words effect water....simple water crystals can be affected by the power of words!



Considering that well over 50% of our bodies are comprised of water, it kind of makes you think twice about the "fat talk" eh? Imagine how all of that negativity, all of that self loathing affects the very molecules of our being?

I don’t always have the healthiest "script", and it’s been on repeat since I was 16 years old. SCREEEEEEEEECH! It's time to yank that needle of the record and play a new track! How's about something like this?

What will your new soundtrack be? How can you re-write your script?

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Thank you Kami!  And all of my lovely readers, dont forget Kami is offering up a 20% discount in her shop by using the code 'VIOLETBELLA'.  And check out her blog here.

PEACE,
Laura