Essential Oil Diffuser

We'd been hearing a lot of good things about essential oils

and diffusers lately, so I was excited when The Mister got

me one for Valentine's Day!  We slept with Eucalyptus and

Lavender, meant to help with congestion and relaxation,

and we both felt better and more rested this morning.

I have had Clary Sage misting through the kitchen today.

It can boost your mental strength, self esteem and fights

depression.  I love that the oils came with a legend so I 

know what each one does.  It's a 16 pack from Radha Beauty

that I got on Amazon a few months ago.  The diffuser is an

AeroMist.  It has a light and automatically shuts off when it

runs out of water.  He got it at BB&B.

So far, I'm liking it very much!

Do you have a diffuser?

What's your favorite oil to use?

♥

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day, Friends!

I hope you have a bit of romance, friendship,

and love today.  And if not, show someone else some

love that needs it.  And love yourself....buy yourself a big

ol' box of chocolates and enjoy them all in one sitting. :)

♥

Seeing Red

I baked a cake today.

Red Velvet.  Yum.

Wish I could serve you a slice!

Would you like coffee or tea with that?

Happy Valentine's Day!

♥

Love Birds

I finally took my Christmas wreath down today and put up

something a little more in keeping with February.

A touch of romance while still looking wintry.

♥

The Weekend

♥

Random Acts of Kindness Adventure Week 2

First of all, I want to say a big thank you for all of your thoughts,

comments, emails and great discussion on my last post about

random acts of kindness.  Wow, when I say "I'm serving coffee,

stay and chat" you guys really can take it to heart! ha.

I appreciate each thought and suggestion.  So great!

You know, when I first became aware of the uncertainty of some

people sharing how they spread kindness, I had an evening of

soul searching.  I almost ended the whole adventure!

I didn't want to be misunderstood and was wondering if

the whole thing was worth it.  I was sadly puttering around

in my studio and came across this sheet of stickers....

Yeah, who wouldn't smile through their tears at that?

Kind of like an answer thrown right in my lap, don't you think?

And look...she isn't wearing a disguise but spreading sunshine

right out where people can see her!  Love that.

I also thought it was interesting that without any effort of my

own, the 2nd link up day for this adventure fell on Valentine's

Day...and my preparations for that seemed to be pink!  And hearts

 were popping up everywhere.... like on that sticker!

Even on the spatula I grabbed from the bunch!

And on my muffin pan!

So why fight it?  ha.

Pink frosting and heart shaped sprinkles ended up on

vanilla almond cupcakes.  They were a nice contrast to

the chocolate and peanut butter!

The cupcakes went to work with The Mister.

I thought it would be fun for the boys to take some

treats in to their 'school' for their classmates.

There isn't any organized card trading going on and 

I doubt if they get many treats from each other,

so I hope this makes them all feel special!

The pink theme continued with some chocolates for

my sweet little candy dish....a little kindness to myself.
Although, The Mr. keeps snitching them...

...even the sunset joined in!

Happy Valentine's Day to my sweet blog friends!

And if you want to link up and share how you spread some

 sunshine this week, please link up below

 so we can be inspired by you!

The link will be open until Saturday the 15th
7:00 PM EST.

♥

An InLinkz Link-up

Valentine's Day

I woke up to find flowers and a gift card to my favorite

clothing store on the kitchen counter this morning. :)

I dropped the boys off at school 

and snapped this photo.  Alex is already going

through the door. He shoots out of the jeep

like a rocket, even before the wheels stop

rolling.  ha.  Spencer makes sure

all the doors are closed for me.

I say, "Bye!  Love you!"

And Spencer answers, "Do, joo" (love you)

Sigh. I love these guys. :)

I wrapped a couple of new shirts and

a tie for The Mister and took off for the grocery.

When I came home, I made more chocolate things!

Two heart shaped trays of goodies.

One for The Mister and one for Taylor and Lauren.

Milk, white and dark chocolate covered strawberries.

Dark chocolate truffles and milk chocolate truffles.

And then chocolate caramel fudge.

Yep, I think we have enough chocolate!

The strawberries were my favorite.

yum!

I hope you've had a love-ly day!

♥

Chocolate Truffles

Extra dark, rich and creamy.

Oh, and did I mention, easy?

Yes, they are!

Chocolate Truffles

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1/2 c heavy cream

1 T orange liqueur.  I used Godiva Chocolate.

or you could use vanilla extract.

1/4 t salt

unsweetened cocoa powder, for rolling

Bring cream, liqueur and salt to a simmer in a

small saucepan over low heat.

Remove from heat and stir in chocolate.

Whisk until smooth and glossy.

Chill 30 minutes until firm.

Scoop chocolate into 1 inch balls.

Roll in cocoa.

I rolled mine in a variety of coatings.

Keep chilled until ready to serve.

*****

Shh...don't tell The Mister that I made them for him.

They are hidden until after dinner on

Valentine's Day!

I hope your day is full of love!
Happy Valentine's Day!

♥

A Little Valentine Decor

To celebrate the first of February, I took down the

New Years things and put up some Valentines!

I have a little collection of vintage postcards

that went on my wire holder, along with some

pink glass birds with feather tails.

And a heart shaped wreath got dressed up with pine cones

ribbon and a sweet red bird.

What did you do on this frosty February Friday?

We had a school delay with sub-zero temps.

Quite the breezy, icy day!

I ran errands and was really thankful for

heated seats in the jeep.

Brrr!

♥