Shauna Niequist : Cold Tangerines

After sharing my Multitude Mondays this week, I was struck by how often I'm inspired by quotes from my favourite authors. Shauna Niequist, the author of Cold Tangerines which I spoke of on Monday, has so many gems in each of her pieces. I want to soak up every word that she writes, and yet sometimes, I can only take it in small doses, like really good quality chocolate. She's one of my favourite Christian authors that truly writes from the heart.

Many of my favourite lines and pieces of Niequist's work can't be taken out of context without reading the whole paragraph or story, but the quote above is one of my favourite stand-alone pieces. The quote is from the book that I own, Cold Tangerines. I created a little print of it using a photo from one of my summer adventures. Feel free to save it as an image for your desktop - simply open the image in a new tab to get the photo at the full size before saving to your desktop or background. It's a freebie from me to you!

I've had the rest of Shauna's books in my Amazon wish list forever. This is one of the first years that I've been trying to be more careful with my online spending, and my wish list is suffering a bit. With the baby on the way, I've been less self indulgent. Dan and I are both big readers: we used to place an Amazon book order at least once a month, sometimes every payday. I miss those days, but it simply means that when I do receive a new book in the mail, it's even more special. I think it may be time to place an order soon!

I hope that you're having a lovely weekend, spending time with your loved ones and avoiding stress as much as possible. I know that my to-do list seems to grow larger by the day, but I'm trying to stay focused on enjoying the little things, and Niequist's quote is a great reminder. We have friends coming over for lunch that we haven't gotten to see in almost a month, so I'm going to take the time to light some candles this evening, do a little tidying, and get as much food prep done as I can so we can get our meal on the table after church tomorrow with as little strain as possible. School and work can wait: I want to enjoy these moments, as they are what I'll remember a year from now, not assignment #4365.

Happy weekend!

Book Love

I preordered two books off of Amazon last night that I'm super excited about! I ordered Decorate Workshop from Decor8's Holly Becker and Young House Love from YHL's Sherry and John Petersik. Between all of the hard work at school lately and the low pre-order pricing, I couldn't resist. Dan gave me two thumbs up when I mentioned making a purchase - how could I pass that up? Both of the books will be released in early November, which is right around the corner. My mailbox will be doing a happy dance when it sees the big brown Amazon box!

(image sources: 1 // 2)

Read anything exciting lately? Eager to read a new release? Do tell!

Happy Wednesday!

Book Love

I did a little bookshelf rearranging lately, after keeping it the same way for what felt like forever. Daniel made the bookshelf for me last Christmas, and it's my favourite piece in our living room. The six compartments are fun to decorate and arrange, and the wide top is great for tablescapes and our television. After staring at the same old thing for far too long, I grouped all of my "pretty" books together on a shelf, along with my 12 x 12 scrapbooks.

All of my home decor and crafting books are grouped together in one convenient location. Curious about what's on my shelves? Here's what's there:

Stay Stitched by Erin Arsenault

Monarch Illustrated Guide to Knitting by Pam Dawson (vintage)

52 Scrapbooking Challenges by Elsie Flannigan

Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones

One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins

Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan

Modern Vintage Style - Emily Chambers

How to Never Look Fat Again by Charla Krupp

Junk Beautiful by Sue Whitney and Ki Nassauer

Decorate by Holly Becker

The Complete Family Interior Decorating Book (vintage)

Design Sponge at Home by Grace Bonney

Domino - The Book of Decorating

Love Your Handwriting by Heidi Swapp

Those Who Love by Irving Stone

Craft Inc. Business Planner by Meg Mateo Ilasco

The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin

Have any books that should be on my "must-read" list? Do share!

Happy Friday!

Inspired

I love a good home decor book. They are not an easy item to find: I do have a particular type of book in mind. I want bright, vibrant colours, lots of beautiful photography, ideas and ways to make things work in my own home... but most of all? 

 I want to feel inspired when I turn each page.

I picked up a new book a little while back, and boy, am I glad that I did. Take a look:

This book, Junk Beautiful, is perfect! I love using antiques and beaten-up "old trash" within our home. Each piece has so much more personality than the average big box store, press-board garbage. I would much rather use something that's been well loved over the years that I genuinely love (and keep it out of a landfill, too!) than settle for something that has no personality and just fills a void.

Junk Beautiful has so many ideas that I've never even considered before! Best of all? I felt inspired - it made me want to make our home more genuine. I'm slowly taking the time to examine each item, functional or decorative, that we own and deciding - do I love this? It's time to get rid of anything that isn't loved. Yard sale, anyone? :)

Here are a few beautiful "rejects from the past" that I love:

Vintage Coat Hook from Piper and Scout

Salvaged Jewelry Organizer from Junk Genius

Vintage Clock from Shop Unique Boutique

I have a mental list of items that I'm always on the lookout for. Are there any items that you feel will make your house a home?

Happy Thursday!

New Reads

I splurged over the weekend and bought myself a new book. Not an educational book, not a design book, not a recipe book, but a just for fun, just because book. 

If you haven't heard of The Book of Awesome, check it out. It started out as a blog, and eventually grew until the author, Neil Pasricha, created a book. It's full of simple pleasures that make you smile in your everyday life. An example: when cashiers open up new checkout lanes at the grocery store. How much do you love a whole book full of those types of sweet things? 

I've been wanting it for a while, but since it was a "just for fun" book, it just wasn't in the budget for me to take one home. I'm so happy that I took the plunge and picked it up! It was one of the store's 40% off bestsellers, after all. I can't wait to start reading it this week. It's a great coffee table or bathroom (what?! YOU know what I'm talking about!) book.

What's made you smile or giggle lately?

Happy Tuesday!

Something to Think About.

I read this message last week and knew I had to share it with someone else. I don't know about you, but it sure struck a chord within my heart. It's time for me to take some risks... we get so complacent and set in our ways that we forget that we have so many options in life. The statement that jumped out most at me was

make a difference.

How can you push that aside? It doesn't have to be a huge world change, it can be as simple as making a positive change in someone's life.

Think about that. A positive change in someone's life. Don't you want to make that difference? Take a risk. Put yourself out there. Let go of your fear of the unknown. I'm certainly going to give it a try.

... and don't forget to enter the giveaway :)

Phat Reads

I caved at the bookstore recently. I picked up this rascal...

 

I've been wanting this book for a while, but I wasn't willing to pay the hardcover book price for it. You know what I mean? Hardcovers are so stinking expensive! But, my friends, it was well worth the moolah.

I love home decor books, but I'm incredibly fussy. I have to hear great reviews, I have to look through it several times, and the biggest factor? The book has to have awesome photos. No yellow, unnatural lighting for me. Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces hit the nail on the head. I highly recommend it, regardless of the size or style of your home. They take great ideas from every day homes and tell you how to execute them in your own home. How perfect is that?

I hope that your day went smoothly. Here's to a fun Wednesday!

Post-Weekend and New Plans

I bought a lovely book on our trip, and haven't had a chance to peek at it until this weekend. Sage and I went out on Saturday afternoon with a blanket and chilled... me reading, him chewing on a random stick. Sounds like fun to me :)

Handmade Marketplace is a great read for anyone with, or interested in starting, an online business. The tips and tricks make me feel like starting from scratch all over again. The book is so well written: terrific topics broken down into chapters, quotes and ideas from established entrepreneurs, and brainstorming techniques. I highly recommend it!

Speaking of online businesses, I took part of the afternoon yesterday to come up with some fresh ideas for my Etsy shop. I let each item expire so that I can start with a blank slate, and gave away most of my merchandise. I think I'll be taking polkadotsoup in a whole new direction (the shop, not the blog). I'll have new items, better photos and descriptions, and a catchy new banner (the bar at the top of a shop's main page). We're on vacation in a few weeks, and I hope to take some days to really get my shop re-established.

Hope your week is off to a fabulous start. Happy Monday!

Library Run

I thought that I would share my library finds with you :)

This week, I found:

• Before I Wake - Dee Henderson is my favourite Christian author, she is fantastic.
• Embroidered Effects - written by the creator of Sublime Stitching, it sounds great for beginners
• Eat Cheap but Eat Well - the better of the two cookbooks I found
• Sara`s Secrets - not the best cookbook ever, but I haven`t gotten very far
• Country Living, Sept. 2009 - one of my favourite magazines, they use a lot of thrifted stuff

I hope you have a great weekend - and...

Happy Friday!