{ happily ever afters }

ELLE magazine

lollipop workshop

 Ask most girls under age ten what "happily ever after" means and they're likely to respond with ideas about kissing frogs, princes, and riding off into the sunset. During my time working in the children's room at a library, I helped countless little ladies who were eager to get their hands on the perfect princess story (which most likely involved the helpless princess being rescued by a handsome suitor, aka the knight in shining armour). Bless their little hearts. I've never been a fan of fairy tales (or pretty much anything produced by Disney, for that matter) because it's my belief that such things give children, and girls in particular, a wildly unrealistic view of relationships, and our world in general.  But that's a topic for a whole other Oprah-oh, wait!...does that saying even apply anymore?!  Anyway, I've been thinking about happily ever afters lately.  What does that phrase mean exactly?  To me, it means finding bliss in my everyday life.  My happily ever after is CRAZY imperfect, but I wouldn't change it for the world.  It looks a little something like this:

Notice how no one gives a lick that mama has her heart set on the perfect family portrait?!  Nope. Our happily ever after is uncooperative and dirty and silly and messy and sleepy and funny and unbelievably LOUD.  But it's altogether wonderful, because it's ours.  Isn't that the great thing about life?  We're in charge, darnit,  and we get to write our own  happy endings!  So get crackin' on yours already, will ya?!  I read this quote recently, and I just adore it.  It's a great reminder to love your life 

I took a few minutes to create a version of this print that's been floating around the internet. And, because my mama taught me to share, I thought I'd pass it along to anyone who might like one too.
Download your own free {5X7} here



 Oh, and these are wise words too.






Download your free {5X7} print here

Speaking of happy...I can't tell you how much I enjoyed my blog break last week. We had a wonderfully relaxed, slow-paced week around here, and I even got some fun projects done. It's amazing how much one can accomplish when one stops blogging about doing things, and actual spends time doing them instead! I'm taking a new approach to this little blog of mine: I've decided to spend 20 minutes per day (during nap time) devoted to posting, and I'll stop when that 20 minutes is up, or whenever it stops being fun-whichever comes first. This will most definitely results in fewer posts. But you guys are all beyond awesome, so I know you'll be okay with that. ;)