Happy Valentine's Day + Pay It Forward Announcement

First and foremost: HAPPY VALENTINES DAY BLOGGERS!

I hope everyone is having a lovely day today! Today is a good day for me. You know why? Joey was released last night! Okay, so he was only in there for a day and a half, but it still felt like FOREVER! I'm extremely happy that he's out, but unfortunately we won't be going out to dinner or anything as planned because he is under house arrest. He can go to work, court, my office, and church, but other than that he's got to stay home. So instead of going to a restaurant, we'll be cooking dinner for ourselves at home tonight, which I don't mind one bit as long as we're together. So right now, I'm scouring the net for some inspiration on what to make for dinner. Anyone have some suggestions? I'm thinking a Cajun-spiced steak with lobster tail, steamed veggies and steamed white rice (we islanders eat rice with everything). Also thinking of putting that Ghirardelli brownie mix to use as well.

So I opted to wear purple today instead of the cliche red and/or pink. Purple is my second favorite color, but I think people might have thought me a bit morbid if I had worn my actual favorite color, black. So I'm wearing a purple top, black patent leather shoes, and my favorite pair of jeans. These jeans are my favorite because of different reasons: they were free because I stole them from my sister (thanx Jaxx), they're the perfect shade (not too dark, not too light), and most importantly, because they fit me perfectly and they're a size 3! Now a size 3 may not be a big deal to you, but for me, having fluctuated between a size 5, 7, and 9 (depending on some brands) since high school, being able to say that I can wear a size 3 is like...well...it is AMAZING! I don't workout regularly, I definitely don't diet (sometimes when I'm so busy at work, I eat a bag of chips for lunch), and I lack real motivation to do any type of fitness program (though I do love me some Zumba). I do have body image issues and I'm slowly (very slowly) trying to work on them, but I still love who I am! What about you? Do you have issues with your body? Are you working on changing what you don't like about yourself?

So moving on...

I was inspired by Dottie and Heather a while back to participate in a little project called Pay-It-Forward Project. It is an awesome way to reach out and connect with someone through handmade crafts. I had been meaning to post this announcement earlier, but things got hectic, so I figured what better time to share the love than on Valentine's day! So here's how the Pay-It-Forward Project works:

1. The first 3 people to comment on this post (& follow my blog) I've decided that the first 10 followers of my blog will receive something special, handmade by me at some point during this year. (This makes it easy since there are 10 months left in the year and I will send out one item per month)
2. By committing to pay it forward, you agree to help continue to spread handmade joy
3. Post this on your blog and make the same offer I've made to 3 (or however many you want) other people!

Psst! (Don't forget to send something special to the person who sent you something!)

And please post a comment with your email address (if I don't already have it) so that we can trade mailing info! ;)




And now I leave you with a photo:



Our very first Valentine's Day together. February 14, 2006


♥ Duckie.