Live Simply with Sparkle

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy "Freedom" Day

Now, Valentine's Day means a something a little different to me than it does to you.
(I'm pretty sure that most people don't have the same connections as I do. Yep. Pretty darn sure.)

Yes, Valentine's is a day to celebrate the people that you love
and shower them with little sentiments of how much they mean to you.
It's a day that card manufactures
and chocolate company's boost their sales...
A day when bakeries (yumma!) open their doors
and supply their patrons with heart shaped confections...
The day that I have another glorious bake sale of new treats for Fences...
Kids hand out little notes of love and friendship to their classmates...
Parents dote on their kids with little notes of love...
All of these things are fabulous!
I love each and every one of those things, but to me "Freedom" day is all of that
and every other holiday wrapped up in a fabulous package.

You must be curious now...right?!
What could be better than all of that?!
Well...let me tell you!

For me, it is "Lori's Freedom Day.
Ahhh...beautiful, lovely, glorious freedom day.
The day that I was unchained from an unhealthy marriage.
It's the day that my shackles of pain and sadness were removed and I was FREE!
Unburdened...
Released...
Divorced finalized!

For some people, this type of day falling on a day
dedicated to love may seem horrible.
Stained.
Tainted.
Depressing.
Really, really sad.
But not to me.

Valentine's Day is a day of love.
It represents me, loving myself enough to get out of a bad situation.
Me, having amazing people who LOVE ME enough to hold me up, when I couldn't.
People ,supporting me every decision and helping me along the way.
It's me, having enough strength and courage to love me, and put me first.
To walk away and make my life, well, mine again.
If that's not a celebration of love, then what is?!
Though, I'm very confident that I definitely have the idea of love, just right.

So on this VERY important day of love,
remember that loving yourself and taking care of you,
is the best gift of love that you can give and receive.
Really, it is.
Trust me.
I've worked a long time to figure that out.

And while you're sharing the love,
make sure the amazing people that are your support system feel the love too.
If you're not sure what to give,
I suggest a big hug,
and a big cookie!

From me to you,

Happy Freedom Day

and

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

"Have a Heart for Chained Dogs Week"

February 7-February 14th is "Have a Heart for Chained Dogs"

from Dogs Deserve Better Organization.

How could the week of Valentine's Day get better than treats and helping unchain dogs?

It couldn't get any better than THAT in my world!

I'm bringing that idea right here in Portland with my

"Love of Dogs Valentine's Day Bake Sale."

With every cookie, scone, and pie,

a link on a chain drops away and brings a dog closer to freedom...

...with the help of my friends at Fences for Fido, of course!

Fences for Fido

SO...what will be baked to fill the hearts and tummies of two and four legged friends?

~Valentine’s Day Bake Sale~

Everyone needs a little love on this day!
I love to bake.
I love my friends and family.
I love helping animals.
They love to eat AND support my love of animals!

I’m mixing up a variety of treats for a Bake Sale on
February 12th and February 13th.

Perfect timing to purchase treats to eat or share with others
…or BOTH!
Of course, all of the money goes directly to Fences for Fido.
That's 100% folks!

Want to order cookies or treats, but don't work with me?
Sure, no problem!

Cookies:

-Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
-Cream Tea Wafers
-Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies
-Chocolate “Red” Chip Cookies
-Snickerdoodles

-"Love in the Tummy" Cookie Mix

(I'm making several small batches of other cookies for my school bake sale...

...this is a mix of the above and additional cookies)

Treats:

-Red Velvet Brownies

-Mom's Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting...made by my momma, the baking master!
-Scones (Red Velvet, Chocolate Chip, Lemon, Blueberry, Buttermilk or a Mix)
- Personal Mini-Pies (Apple, Cherry, Peach, or Chocolate Cream)

**Cookies can be ordered by
- Full Containers will be $10.00
(16-20ish cookies depending on cookie size)

- Half Containers will be $5.00

**Scones can be ordered for $10.00
(8-10ish large scones, depending how many I can fit in the container!)
**Mini-Pies $3.00 each

**Cinnamon Rolls- 2 for $3.00

Orders will be ready by February 11th...just in time for Valentine's day! Though I'm pretty sure everything will be done for the orders by Sunday night. We can set up a meeting point!

No pressure...

but let me know if you have questions

or if you want to order any goodies.

Oodles of Love,

Lori :0)

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Best Part of the Super Bowl...PUPPIES!

Murphy is ready for his favorite part about the Super Bowl. I tried to explain that it's not on for awhile, but he wouldn't listen.

I mean, who doesn't love a puppy?!
You don't?!
Oh...well...I don't think this
is the blog for you.

At least for today's post.
Sorrrrrrrrry.

Today is the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet. It's the absolutely BEST part about the Super Bowl.
Yes, some people watch it for the commercials.
Some people watch for the half-time show.
And actually, I hear that there are some people that watch it for the...well...football!
I know...strange right?!
Me, well, I'm all about the Puppy Bowl 2013.

I might be bias (a lot) but Murphy
was just the cutest puppy. Ever.
Not only cute, but a fierce competitor...
...at the dog park.
He would win.

And if the game got a little too intense, he knew when to ask for a timeout. Not many pups would go into the tunnel, but my Murphy...That didn't scare him! It was the perfect place to take the ball (stick) and take a breather before the next intense play.