Posies by Cait: Giveaway!

I've been wanting to do a little blog giveaway for a while, so here we go!

For those of you who don't know, I am the creator of a little Etsy shop called Posies by Cait.

It has been an incredible few years, and I have been able to be a part of some really special moments!
Including weddings, birthdays, holidays, and just-becauses.
I love my little shop and would love to share it with you!

Following the steps below, you will be entered to win a Posies headband AND earrings!
It's the perfect time to start thinking about gifts and stocking stuffers, and Posies by Cait is a great place to start.
Feel free to share this giveaway with all your friends!
And don't forget to check out the Posies by Cait Facebook page for some great Black Friday sales!!

I also always have a little shop feature on the right of my blog, with current "for sale" items.
Thanks for supporting Posies by Cait, and good luck!



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birthday!

Today, I am 24. Oh my word!

I'm feeling a bit faint, as I look back over all of my birthdays. We measure life in such definite terms, it seems strange that you don't actually feel any different, year by year, birthday by birthday, until you look back over years at a time.

2007

2008

2009

Okay...super awkward confession.
Today, I am wearing the necklace from my 2008 birthday, and the jacket from my 2009 birthday.
Wow. I need to mix it up a little.

Today.

Even with the promise of wrinkles and old age, I loooove birthdays. Love love them.
Last night, I went crazy cleaning the bedroom and the kitchen, because I wanted to wake up to a clean house on the morning of my birthday. Weird, right?

Then, Dusty ran out to the store to get coffee and juice and brought me back McDonald's. At like 10pm. Talk about a horrible idea, but an absolutely wonderful one for us calorie-hoarders.

We cuddled up with our super-nasty McDonald's that we scarfed down while watching How I Met Your Mother until midnight.
As soon as the clock struck midnight...

It was Tiara Time! And present time, of course.
(Oh and also, I thought, Dear Heavenly Host, I am 24 years old, I have GOT to stop eating like this...)
And ya, that's my Color Run tiara decorating my lamp. :)

You guys remember when Dusty and I went to Florida and went to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter? 
And do you remember this shirt?

Well, it now belongs to me. :)

We also kept the tradition alive of watching this video, as soon as one's birthday has commenced.

Don't watch this if:
a.) you have no imagination
b.) you don't have a good (weird) sense of humor
c.) you creep out easily
d.) you don't appreciate squashed, pasted faces on wrists wearing party hats.

I'm really glad Britany gave me the gift of this video, years ago.
She knows me oh so well, down to my weirdest thoughts and ideas.

I don't really know what else to say because this is an incredibly self-centered post.
Other than I love you all, I love my family, my friends, and I would do just about anything to be home in Arizona right now.
Or, to have the entirety of my Arizona lovelies here in Virginia for a day.

I have spent every single birthday for the last 23 years with my mom.
I think I took it for granted, because that's a pretty amazing accomplishment, really.
But she has always worked hard to love on me.
Even when I was in college in California, she always made it a priority to see me. She made things special.
She was even able to come out last year to Virginia.

But this year, a beautiful miracle was born, in the form of Annabella Caitlin, my new niece.
And I proudly pass the baton of October birthdays to my new little namesake, whom I already love so very much.
It's the end of an era, but now my mom gets to spoil and love on the new budding generation. It's one of the most exciting things in the world.
Still, I am thinking about her a lot today!

2008

2011

Today has already been a wonderful day.
I can't wait to get off work in a few minutes, and spend the rest of the evening with my husband!

(Even work wasn't so bad. There was cake, and presents! Look at the amazing mug my boss got me, from one of their former student workers, Sarah Veak of Sarah Veak Pottery. Her stuff is amazing.)

Anywho.
I hope you all are having just as wonderful of a day!

Go do something wild and crazy in my honor.
Or, even better, go be fancy fresh.

In love,
Cait

oh baby, oh darling.

I love these little prints from a shop called Fifi du Vie on Etsy.
They're so simple, but so perfect.

In a lot of ways, I think this is how my love and I live.
We wish and we dream, and we would rather go broke from great food and beautiful places than be responsible and "save", whatever that means. I've never been good at it.

But I have to say, I have very few regrets. Whenever we buckle down and decide to really save up our money, someone mentions a fabulous restaurant we've never heard of, and Dusty gets this mischevious look in his eye. "Screw it," he whispers, and we do a happy dance that involves throwing a lot of money around our heads and acting like wild men.
Okay, so that part doesn't really happen but it usually involves us laughing a lot and talking about what a great date we had.

The one thing I would heavily emphasize is the fact that we have had a lot lot lot lot lot of help over the 1 year, 4 months and 24 days that we've been married. And plenty before that, as well.
I hope to one day pay our parents back, penny by penny. Their love, wisdom and generosity has led us through.
Still being in school is sometimes hard, because it doesn't allow us to truly be on our own. We take out loans, we receive gifts from others...and I'm the only one working. My little job provides enough for rent and bills, and a small portion of our food and other expenses.

I also have Posies by Cait, which I've actually been working really hard at! It's something I really enjoy doing. I have my first big, official craft fair tomorrow, and I'm so, so nervous.
(The funny thing about these things is that often the cost of the event preparation alone may outweigh the actual profit...but I'm hoping for a sunny day and LOTS of people!)

I suppose my general musing about all of this is that there are a lot of contributors to my husband and I's craziness.

1. We love food
We have finally come to the conclusion that a consistent work-out system must be in place, because we simply love to eat.

2. I love to give presents
Birthdays, holidays, showers, parties, will-you-be-my-friend bribes...all of these amount to a lot of money spent on others, that I simply can't live without.

3. We love our friends and family
Whenever our loved-ones plan a get together, it's impossible for us to resist. Going out to eat, double dates, concerts, trips, etc. etc.

4. Shopping is FUN!

5. We love to travel
This is the best and worst one. We are bursting at the seams to go all over this crazy world. We've had little tastes here and there, but we have a nice long list of all the places we want to go.
We have a coffee shop designated for whipping out a little notebook, and planning out trips for our future. It's called The Muse, which is rather fitting, I think.
The truth is, some people never get to check off that list...but we've already gotten started on it, and feel immensely blessed and motivated to have travel be a priority in our lives, before and after we have kids. But a big part of us wants to take some of our adventures while it's still just the two of us.

 6. There's something seriously wrong with us.
Last, but not least.

Someday, I'm going to make my own print.

And it's going to say,

Live Simply, Travel Extravagantly.

I'm so glad life is an adventure. I'm so glad we don't know what's going to happen. I'm so glad we have families and friends that love us, and I'm so, so glad I found that handsome weirdo up there to spend  his life with me. I sure do love everything about our life.

xoxo
In love,
Cait