{ gratitude }

via theresca

As I reflect on our Thanksgiving -- a most enjoyable day spent laughing, loving, and celebrating with our families -- I am reminded of what's truly most important and grateful for all the blessings in my life. Wishing you all a joy-filled holiday weekend. Meet you back here Monday.

{ added to my someday list: nick's cove }

I recently came across the site for Nick's Cove & Cottages and have been day dreaming about it ever since.

Located on a secluded stretch of shoreline in Tomales Bay--about an hour north of the Golden Gate Bridge--Nick's Cove is a small settlement of buildings and cottages built mainly in the 1930s. The cottages were recently restored & reinvented to create relaxed luxury lodging-- featuring a mix of original details and modern amenities such as wood burning stoves, private decks with seaside views, and luxurious bed linens. With an on-site restaurant by renowned SF restauranteur, Pat Kulteo, my only concern is that I'd never want to leave this idyllic spot.

{ gift giving simplified with wishzilla }

About this time every year, I being to stress about holiday gift giving. With two December birthdays in our household (hubby + little one), my inbox will soon be flooded with emails from well-intentioned family members requesting birthday AND Christmas gift ideas for my lovely family. It always becomes an overwhelming project with multiple back and forth emails and panicked phone calls. Thanks to my (ahem) not so great tracking system, we often end up with duplicate gifts that are either {shhh} regifted or donated to our favorite charity. While this may sound very "eco friendly", it's a bummer for both the gift giver and recipient.

So, when I heard about Wishzilla declaring war on regifting, I was intrigued. Wishzilla, I discovered, is a genius online service that allows you to easily create free, personalized wish lists filled with anything you want. We all know how much I love creating wish lists, so it's probably no surprise that I was immediately hooked and have been singing its praises ever since.

One of my favorite tools is Wishzilla's fun, one-click bookmarking feature that allows me to instantly save each of my online window-shopping finds in one centralized spot and, if I choose to, specify my wishes by occasion (think: birthday, anniversary, mother's day...).

But, it's not just about me...I also love that I can use Wishzilla's family feature to create separate lists of gift ideas for my husband and daughter and then, easily share them with our family and friends. They can then coordinate purchases with other family and friends and lock items so others won't purchase the same gift. Easy peezy and Suzanne is out of the loop (yeah!) Lastly, users have the option of signing in with Facebook Connect, so there's no need to create yet one more password. Did I mention yet how much I love Wishzilla?

If you do decide to try this lovely service (and I hope you do), you can add me as a friend...who knows, perhaps there's something on your list that I'll like too.

P.S. Pictured are just a few of my many favorites I've started adding to my wish list (which I plan to use well beyond the holidays to save both gift and blog post ideas.) You can find details about each of my wishes here.

{ mwah! }

It's true what they say...(online) absence makes the heart grow fonder. I've missed you all terribly.

My internet connection was out sick last week. 4 days, 15 phone calls, and one minor temper tantrum with Comcast customer service and voila!...a cure has been found.

I can't wait to join you you all again on Monday. Hope you're having a fabulous weekend. xoxo ~Suzanne

i hate to belated...

hi there! it's me... karey m. ...just popping in to drop off some surprises for my little suzanne.

you see, i treat my imaginary friends with very. real. care. and when i {gulp.} missed one of my absolute favorite and first imaginary friend's special day last week? i felt sick to my imaginary stomach. {it is a six-pack, by the way. wait. it is an eight-pack. because this is my imagination. thank you for playing.} but imaginary aches are the best because they're the easiest to assuage.

imaginary gifts always do the trick. here are mine for my friend, suzanne, on her twenty-ninth year...

a sweet family of three for her sweet family of three.

two petite jugs from which we'll daintily sip a celebratory champagne. or five. {don't judge. i am just following the instructions on the ceramics.}

a stunner of a treasure box. because my friend treats pretty much everything and everyone in her life as exactly that: a treasure.

and a bangle to store in it on the odd day when she's not wearing it 'round her wrist. because the shells will remind her of the beach and the colors will remind her of her little brown bear. and amour? well. i do speak french.

i would also buy her this. but only because she would know it was perfect for me and gift it back straight away. she is a very kind imaginary friend like that.

there is a chance that these might hurt her delicate little tootsies. this is a chance i am willing to take. they might also only come in size mine. and i am certain she would not mind. not one bit.

of course, if i know suzanne - and i do. i really do. even though we've not yet met. minor details. - she will want to write me a thank you note. i must order these for her, then. but imprinted with suzanne and not richele silva. again, minor details.

one more gift from mary swenson...my partner in t.ruffles...our creative confectionery. she baked suzanne a cake. then, i believe she took a photo of it. probably after that, she ate it. once again, minor details.

suzanne? are you listening? mary and i both wanted to tell you how much we enjoy you. and even though we tease about the whole imaginary friend thing, there is something very real about our friendship. for that, we thank you. and we're sending an extremely loud and laughing happy birthday, suzanne! belated...but beloved, for sure. xoxo.

if you'd like, visit me and mary at t.ruffles. she also hangs up heaps of beauty here and here. if you're ever looking for nonsense and/or a complete lack of capital letters and proper punctuation, you're always welcome at mackin ink. see you around, and xoxo to you all.

{ small talk: sophie & lili }

These handmade dolls by Sophie & Lili might just be one of the

cutest things I've even. I love their stylish little outfits and the fact that

you can personalize them with the name of your choosing.

You can purchase these cuties here and here and learn more about how they're made here.

{ thursday thoughts }

via imgfave

{ window shopping: ink & button }

Love these "fascinators" from

the new + adorable Ink & Button Shop.

I'll take one in each color please.

Be on the look out for Lisa's

sweet headbands in future shop updates.

Thank you all for the thoughtful birthday wishes--I'm so lucky to have such amazing readers!

{ 29...again! }

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all my wishes come true!

P.S. So happy to learn that my sweet imaginary friend and I share the same day. Please make sure to wish her a happy, happy day!!!

{ caught on film: photographer, irene nam }

I was in need of a little mental escape today...

Irene Nam's portfolio whisked me away to two of my most favorite places. Just what I needed. Paris & Venice... as magical as my memories of them.

Have a lovely weekend everyone. What are you up to? We have lots of kiddo activities...soccer, ballet, and Brownies. Looking forward to it. See you all on Monday. xxoo

P.S. I love her blog too.

{ thursday thoughts }

spotted here

{ window shopping: tiny toadstool }

Seriously adorable handcrafted woolen goods from new {to me} etsy shop, tiny toadstool.

Love the intricate, custom details.

{ a sweet surprise: t.ruffles }

In case you haven't heard the BIG news (which seems to be all over the blogosphere and twitterverse today)...two of my favorite girls, Karey & Mary, have joined their mighty super powers to create a brilliant new blog, T.Ruffles...candy for your soul. If you know these lovely ladies, then you can imagine that any kind of collaboration between the two of them would be positively scrumptious! But don't take my word for it...grab your sweet tooth and skip on over there now!

{ celebrating the little things }

After discovering this gated entry while walking my daughter to school today, I had to smile. I've walked past this spot hundreds of times and never noticed it. That I also happened to have my camera with me made it all the sweeter. It seemed serendipitous after giving myself a much needed attitude adjustment yesterday...one of those "Snap out of it!" moments if you will. The start of a new month seemed like the perfect opportunity for a fresh perspective and I vowed to find the good in each and every day. Who knew it could be found in a weathered gate?

P.S. Karey's bits of magic were the icing on the cake!