thank you, links and bokeh … oh my!

hello friends. how was you weekend? i slept in until 10 am on sunday. it was amazing. (i honestly haven’t slept that long in years. years!) then i had a super productive day and was full of energy. it’s amazing what a good nights sleep can do.

also this weekend, as i looked through several of my favorite bloggers’ posts i noticed many are taking time to thank the blogs that provide the most traffic to their site. since linking things up is a big part of blogging, i thought i’d share the love and thank the wonderful people that have provided me lots of appreciated traffic over this past year.

and coincidentally these are some of my favorite blogs too. so i highly recommend checking them out if you already haven’t.

1. life in the fun lane

2. just a girl blog

3. notes from the heartland

4. newlywoodwards

5. eddie ross

so, to you, my top five, thank you so much for sending your readers my way. i can’t tell you how much i appreciate it. i hope i’ve somehow done the same for you.

and in the spirit of thank yous, i need to send out an extremely special thank you to one of my readers. today in the mail (snail mail) i received an amazing card  full of the most amazing sentiments about me and my blog. i will cherish this card and keep it handy for when i’m not feeling ‘strong, positive and ambitious.’ you know who you are … thank you. thank you!!

i also had some time to discover some really brilliant and amazing new-to-me blogs. it never seizes to amaze me the talent that exists in this world. so if you have a spare moment please check out one or all of these blogs. i promise you won’t be disappointed.

vivienne mcmaster – some of the most beautiful, meaningful and heartfelt photography i’ve seen.

keswick and country – beautiful, white and airy with a splash of color decor. vintage met modern -beautiful. ‘nuf said.

the 1829 farmhouse – i love me a bit of contemporary. but there’s something about country, chippy paint and rusty junk that i’ll always love. this suits the later.

jolly goode gal – love her style. a bit scandinavian – robins egg blue, pinks, reds. just beautiful. great ideas too!

in color order – and last but not least. this woman blows my mind. the stuff she quilts is genius. i think my mouth was open the whole time i looked through her blog. check out this quilt. adding it to my to do list. already hunting down vintage sheets. bought the pattern online this morning.

and finally this weekend (told you i had a productive day!) i removed all the leftover christmas merchandise in my gift shoppe. i took all the pictures in this post of one of my trees. one of the reasons i couldn’t wait to get my new camera was to be able to take bokeh shots. i think these turned out great! don’t you? wouldn’t they look great blown up and hung on a wall? or framed and hung in a series. love me some ‘free artwork’!!