A bit of kindness

Okay, I've been meaning to post this, but with all the reading I have to do for class, I've been swamped and I've forgotten.

Anyway, on Valentine's Day, I got a little surprise in the mail.

Lisa, from Two Bears Farm and the Three Cubs, sent me a little care package as a "thank you" for regularly participating in Memory Lane Friday.

She included some fun stuff: a travel journal, photo album, scrapbooking supplies, a magnet with some great sayings, a little jar of play dough from Pierce to Livie, a Dove dark chocolate bar for me.

(I had to put it all on a solid-colored towel, so I wouldn't have too busy a background to display the stuff.)

Anyway, it was fun waiting anxiously for the package, wanting to see exactly what was inside. And then finally getting it, now that was fun!

And the chocolate bar? I hid it so Liv wouldn't see it. And I ate some of it after she went to bed. I ate the rest after class the following day. It was gooood!

The magnet, with it's sayings like, "Your presence is a present to the world," and "Count your blessings, not your troubles," and "Have courage," went on the fridge right away.

Liv loved the play dough, especially because it was pink! She immediately began making various creations with it.

And when she saw the scrapbooking material, she got excited about a potential art project that she and I could do together.

Now I don't normally do scrapbooking, but seeing how excited Livie got about all that stuff, I figured that when my semester is over, she and I can do some fun art projects with it (and the photo album - and maybe even the travel journal, both of which Lisa included in the package).

So anyway, I just wanted to say "Thanks again" to Lisa. I look forward to using the travel journal, and doing some art projects with Livie and the scrapbooking supplies! And, of course, the photo album will be put to good use! (If you're new to my blog - I love taking photos!)

My Mother's Day gift . . . a little early

Last month, Livie signed up at pre-K to do a special Mother's Day project.

Well, this morning when I dropped her off, I was surprised with the gift that she made for me.

The kids made special collector's plates. And they are very cute!

Here's the plate Livie made for me:

Livie's in the middle. Andrew and I are on either side. I think I'm the one on the right with the "long" brown hair and the eyelashes.

It was fun!

On Wednesday, I spent time in a small Iowa town called Shueyville (population in July 2007: 281). But it was fun! Wanna know why?

I went to this really cute little wine shop called The Secret Cellar and spent about an hour there. Okay, so I was there to do "research" for an article I wanted to write. But it was such a cute place, and the owner, Lauren Cannon, was so nice, it was like going on a fun field trip.

Here's her stained-glass sign at the entrance:

 Here's the cute blue house where she's set up shop:

I love the purple beginning to bloom on this little tree:

She had all sorts of wines, some of which were from local Iowa wineries (yes, apparently Iowa has wineries!) and from across the nation and around the world (like the German eiswein or "ice wine" in English which she sold to the customers who stopped in while I was there). There were even those big bottles of wine - those 1.5 liter bottles (I guess it's called a "magnum" and it holds the equivalent of two regular sized wine bottles).

And she had these bottles of wine that were shaped like a high-heeled shoe and others that were shaped like some exotic bird!

Shoe bottle:

Bird bottle and shoe bottle:

Big bottle (this is actually a 5L-sized bottle!! That's good for mom's night with the ladies):

Not only did she have wine, she also had other liquors, beer and tasty foods. Some of it was gourmet food and from the local area, like the pickled asparagus from the Amana Colonies. There were chocolates, soup mixes, stuff for appetizers, tasty gourmet cheeses and crackers. And she even had little candies and sodas for kids . . . like the kids she says stop by her shop after school to pick up snacks on their way home.

Some of the liquors she has on hand:

Some of the food and treats she has in the store:

Then there were the gifts - she had a lot of great gifts, like shirts with bling which shaped wine glasses and said "Wines Constantly" or the soy-based candles from the mom-owned company here in the Cedar Rapids area.

Here's the cute bling shirt (there was a matching hat, too - not shown here):

Here's a floor mat (cute, huh?):

There's even wine bottle jewelry - how cute is this?!

Here are some other gifts, including the soy candles (seen in the middle of the photo):

Some of the candles (they're all white) came in cute scents, like "XOXO" or "High Maintenance" or "Bitch." There was even one called "The Secret Cellar" made for this shop. Lauren was burning one of these "The Secret Cellar" scented candles while I was there. It smelled good. Fruity/flowery.

Oh, and she does these custom gift baskets for any occasion like Mother's Day, birthdays, anniversaries, and such. She puts great stuff in it, like: chocolates, a bottle of wine, a candle, bottle jewelry, some gourmet treats. And sometimes she'll even put in a gift certificate for a massage, where the masseuse will go to your house to give you a massage!!

Anyway, she has a lot of stuff going on there. For example, she's got this great party planned to kick of the season - on May 1st, she's having a "wine party" where there'll be plenty of wines to taste, cheeses and crackers, live music. She also does private wine tastings for groups, like for bridal showers and such. There's a great backyard, complete with hammock and "gazebo" to add to the ambiance. 

Doesn't this look like a great place to hang out with a glass of wine and some cheese and crackers? I think I'd like to read a book or take a nap here, though (on a cool day):

Isn't this cute? There's a grapevine theme going on. Can you see it?

So it was a lot of fun to go out there for "research." I would definitely like to go back to get a bottle of wine or two, and some cheeses and crackers.

Maybe for her next wine party, I can attend. Her first one coincides with the opening of the Downtown Des Moines Farmers' Market, and we already planned on going to that, so we'll be 120 miles away when she has her first wine party.

Looks like a fun place, doesn't it?!