11th Day of Joy

A Handwritten Letter

I correspond with people all day long and close to seven days a week. I spend countless hours typing away. Emails, text messages, convos, status updates, tweets, tags, instant messages....the history of my adult life neatly organized into to short typed blurbs.

Real mail, the paper kind that gets delivered to the house has turned into nothing more then a mundane daily task of weeding out the bills from the junk. Aside from packages arriving with handmade goodies that I always look forward to, nothing special is ever delivered by the way of paper mail.

This time of year, our postal carrier's sack is extra loaded. More junk mail and credit offers, store flyers, and of coarse the annual avalanche of holiday cards arrived at our door everyday.  I always look forward to that avalanche. I love Christmas cards...the colors, the glitter, and the photos.

Yesterday however, I get an extra special treat. Something arrived at my door so rare in these times that I actually cannot remember the last time I received one. What is this elusive little piece of joy? It was something so simple....a handwritten letter. In a time of being connected with the world, but hardly connected at all, what a beautiful little treasure.

Consider brightening the day of someone you know with some simple written words.  

A special thanks to Grace of Grace's Garden Walk for the little piece of joy brought to my day. 

This post is part of 12 Days of Joy where I am celebrating the holiday season by sharing simple little joys in my life.  See also: 
12th Day of Joy - Cinnamon

12th Day of Joy

It's that time of year when people are celebrating many different holidays and traditions.  My family and I celebrate Christmas.  We do the tree and Santa, cook a ton of food and consume too many cookies.  Over the years, Christmas has become so much more for me.  It is a time of reflection, graditutes, family, giving, charity, finding joy, and for slowing down and living life.  It all comes easliy for me, especially this time of year except the last one.  I'm hardwired to multitask.  I have an insane desire to do it all...myself.  

Since Thanksgiving I've been making a point to slow down and enjoy my family and the magic of this time of year.  I've even been enjoying the overcrowded stores this year (I can only say that because almost all of the gifts I'm giving this year were either handmade or purchased online).  

The girls are nearly four years old now and everything is so much fun to experience with them.    For the past few weeks, we've been honoring some old family traditions and starting new ones. 

For the next twelve days, I'll pop in and share some things that are bringing me joy this year. 

Making cinnamon applesauce ornaments.  Cinnamon has to be one of my favorite "home" smells.  I cook with it every morning and in the winter, I overload my home with the warm aroma.  I place the drying cookie sheets on top of my radiator and for two days the house smells incredible. 

This post is part of 12 Days of Joy where I am celebrating the holiday season by sharing simple little joys in my life.  See also: 
11th Day of Joy - A Handwritten Letter

Frosted Mornings

Of coarse I've been thinking about the holidays and the winter season. Here in Pennsylvania, we had been having unseasonably warm weather. Though that made me very happy as I do not enjoy our long months of winter here on the east coast, it does not feel like Christmas is just two weeks away. We awoke two days ago to our first heavy frost. The rising morning sun shining through the glistening ice. Mist rising from the warming rooftops. This is what December should feel like. I enjoy buying and making handmade Christmas gifts. Etsy is always my first stop. I love supporting the handmade movement and I couldn't help but be drawn to the cool frosty images today.

Retiring Scents and Returning Favorites

So I agonized and I put it off for far too long, but it is finally finished now. The following are the scents that will be retiring in September to make room for all the new fall and winter goodies I’ve been working on. These scents will be retired mid September. I don’t have an exact date yet since I want their retirement to coincide with the release of the new scents. I just want to give you a little notice so you can plan now or perhaps stock up with this handy 15% coupon code! 15% off any size order through August 31st with code 15FORALL82011. This applies to any size order and I still have the flat $5.99 shipping special going on. The code can by used in my Etsy shop too! The only catch is that I will be closed during this time. I’ll be reopening on September 1st, so order turnaround time will be a little longer then usual.

Without further ado, the retirement list:

From the Spring and Summer Line
Azure
Black Sands Coconut
Creamy Coconut
Crush
Daydreamer
Dragonfly Blue
Dreaming of Violets
Electric Berry
Forgotten Rose
Green Tea Sorbet
Iced Mango
Island Beauty
Island Height Tea
Juicy
Just a Kiss
Of a Citron Sea
Pale Vanilla
She Sells Sea Shells
Shine
Sun Tea
Violet Sun

From my Main Collection
Chocolate Rose Crème
Green Grass
Indigo Moon
Modern Zen
Olive Leaf & Lemon
Pom Acai
Raindancer
Sandcastles

I’ve been working on some awesome new scents for fall but I’ll also be bringing back the best sellers from last year. Here’s a sneak peek at the 2011 Fall and Winter Collection (just the returning scents for now…I’ll give you a sneak peek at the new ones in September)
Amber Chai
Autumn’s Promise
Ember
Ginger & Brulee
Gingered Vanille
Pumpkin Masquerade
Woodland Cider
Woodland Orchard

I'm not missing, I'm just living....plus some shop talk

Hey all! I just wanted to pop in quick and say hi. I can't believe the last time I was here was in May. I knew the summer was going to go quick this year but, yet again, here I am wondering how on earth it is August already. I should have put it into writing that I was going to be taking a break from the internet for the summer....well as much of a break as I can while still running and online business. I've been trying to spend less time online this summer....less blogging, less facebook, less twitter. I've been saving up all those tiny moments stolen by the internet to get outside for a walk or even just sit on the couch and just watch tv with my girls (something I never give myself the luxury of doing).

There is only one month of summer left, one more beach vacation for my family, one last farewell to the summer solstice. In September, I'll be getting back into my usual routine around here.

Though I've been trying to keep myself unplugged as much as possible, I'm still logging in shop time planning my fall and winter line, getting soaps ready to be restocked, and trying to lure the "Monsters" out of hiding.

This year I plan to release my fall and winter scents as well as retire my spring and summer scents in the middle of September. I am working on a list of retiring scents now, which will be posted shortly. I'm just dragging it out and agonizing endlessly over the cut list. The Monsters in Love Collection will also be available starting mid September too!

I have a small soap restock coming in a few days with a larger one to follow next month. Up for release this month are Blackberry Cotton Candy, White Lavender, Unscented Castile Milk Soap, and Sweet Oat. I have a new and gorgeous Almond Meal and Oatmeal soap that is ready to go too. I haven't decided if I'll release that one this month or wait until the big release next month. Thoughts anyone?

Just a quick little reminder that I'll be closed August 18 - September 1st....toiling away over freshly made soaps and vials of newly created scents. That for me is pure love!


Oh yeah, and I'll also be out walking.