Lunch Pails & Lipstick

Isn't that the cutest name?  Lunch Pails & Lipstick.  That completely describes stylish motherhood, doesn't it?

I have a friend Summer Thacker.  She is rad.  She's adorable, funny, and ridiculously stylish on a budget.  I've known her since Junior High, and we both moved back home after college so we run into each other around town all the time.  Especially at Cafe Rio or the mall.  She has styled people like David Archuleta and Carmen Rasmussen of American Idol fame, and has worked on catalog shoots for Lime Ricki.

Summer and a couple of her friends have started a new blog, and I'm so excited about it.  I have been trying to get her to blog for years.  Lunch Pails & Lipstick is awesome.  My favorite thing about it is that there are three friends contributing, and they all live in different parts of the country, with different life situations, so there's a great diversity of information.

Today there is a posting by Summer about her friend Lindsey's son's Pumpkin Patch Party.  Um... did you know that you can mail a pumpkin?  Check out what I mean by reading the post.  I'm totally thinking I'm going to do this to invite my family to Thanksgiving Dinner.  I love it.

Lunch Pails & Lipstick also has a Pinterest page that is just completely chalk full of radness. 

Like these cute Halloween ideas:

 

Source: marthastewart.com via Lunchpailsandlipstick on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Lunchpailsandlipstick on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Lunchpailsandlipstick on Pinterest

Don't take my word for it though.  Go check out Lunch Pails & Lipstick yourself.  You'll have a new style go-to.  Leave some love and tell Summer I sent you!

Sorry, but my sister is better than your sister.

My friend Mique, the Queen behind The Queen Bee Market is having an awesome contest. It's called "Bee a Queen for the Day", and one lucky winner is going to get a prize package worth over $1000! To nominate a person, you have to write a post about why the deserve to win.

So here I am {of course on the last possible day, because I am the queen of procrastinating}, telling you why my sister should win this contest.

My sister, Molly Garibaldi, is so many things: an amazing wife, the best mother {way better than me}, a great big sister, a giving friend, and a business owner whose "business" is actually a ministry that serves so many.

Molly is the kind of mom that gets down on the floor and plays with her kids, even when there are a million things to be done. She is creative and brilliant, so she comes up with super fun things for the kids to do that don't cost a lot of money. One year for Christmas she gave my son a restaurant kit that included stuff like guest check pads, menus, and an apron.

She is the first one to volunteer to help with her friends kids, or to bring someone a meal, or to just be there to offer support and encouragement to a friend in need.

Molly and her husband are amazingly disciplined with their money. They sacrifice a lot so that they can live on a Private School Teacher's income. Every single time I meet someone from my brother-in-laws school, they go on and on about how much they love him. {Frankly, I would have nominated Kevin for this prize too, but I wasn't sure he would appreciate being called a queen for a day.} He is where he is called to be, but that means that he and my sister have to be very careful with their budget.

My sister rarely buys stuff for herself. Lucky for her, I am getting fatter by the second, so her skinny little butt gets all my hand-me-downs. But Molly basically waits for Christmas and birthdays to get anything she needs.

Being the Queen for the Day would be such a blessing for her, and I would love to get to make that happen. Because on top of all those other things, Molly is the best big sister any girl could ever ask for!

I am blessed.

Choose Joy Tickets *NOW ON SALE*

I have metioned before that I am putting together a one day, faith-based conference for women experiencing infertility or desiring to grow their family through adoption.

Please help me spread the word about this event!  If you know anyone that could benefit from attending, email them a link to the site {www.choosejoyevent.com}.  Blog, Facebook, tweet, Instagram the photo above.

God is working in this event... it's going to be a great day.

Exciting News from a Friend

Have you ever heard of Lisa Leonard?

Lisa is a designer, blogger, wife, and mom.  She is also one of the most amazing women that I have ever met.  She is kind, wise, generous, fun, and absolutely beautiful inside and out.  I had the privilege of meeting Lisa when my business was just taking off and she shared so much with me about the highs and lows of owning your own small business.  I still think about her advice often.

Anyway, Lisa just shared a huge secret on her blog... her family is working on a reality TV show.  Check it out the trailer:


I cannot think of a more perfect person to represent the light of Christ on TV.  It's a position I don't envy, but I know she can handle it. 

Please pray for my sweet friend to be protected from certain attacks and nastiness that will be headed her family's way as they place themselves out there.

Congratulations Leonard family!