Blessed Nail Growth!

All my life I've had ugly finger nails. Uuuuugly. I've never been able to grow them out, and would spend my teenage years pining after the long claw-like nails of my younger sister Jana.

I never thought there was hope for a person like me, and even when people said that my nails would grow like crazy once I started growing a human and taking vitamins every day, I still didn't believe them.

I mean, my nails have been ugly my whole life. That whole nail growth thing has to be a myth for someone like me, right?

Wrong!

You guys! This nail growth this is for real! It is so true and I can't believe it! I feel like I'm promoting Oxy Clean or some other ridiculous infomercial product, but watching my nails transform has been so great, almost life-changing, really.

May I present to you Exhibit A:

These are my nails. Lovely, no? Do you happen to notice the lovely out-growth from the bottom of the polish to my nail bed? That, my friends is from only a week ago! A week people! That kind of growth used to take me a month to achieve, at least.

This is one of those pregnancy symptoms that I would like to stick around with me for the rest of my life, please and thank you.

Holiday Time Is Upon Us!

Via Relatively Unique.

How lovely are these twig snowflakes? This picture gives me the desire to drive up the canyon tomorrow and hunt for some twigs so that I can fill my home with these adorable handmade snowflakes. Who wants to join me?

I know it's only the second day of November, but when I've got a bambino that could make an appearance at anytime right before, during, or right after Christmas, I decided to take some time away from my usual perusing of DIY nursery tutorials and spend some time getting my gift lists together. I want to be sufficiently prepared in order to avoid any last-minute gift wrapping stresses that could send me into labor! Ha!

So now I've got holidays on the brain. Gratefully our families have done the name exchanging early this year, so I'm already on the hunt for gifts, and making lists for Mark's approval. I've been searching the internets high and low for some awesome ideas to make gift giving extra special this year, and I wanted to share a couple of those ideas with you today!

1) For those of you who live in Utah, Bijou Market will be here in a couple of weeks! This is a seasonal event featuring tons and tons of vendors who come together and sell their pretty creations to people like me. They have the most adorable selection of gifts for everyone, and I'm always a sucker for their toys. This year I'll be on the lookout for a cuddly creature for our little bambino. And please let me know if you want to come oogle at adorable things with me! I'd love to go with you and support local handmade vendors!

2) Design Mom started posting gift guides today, and if you love her style as much as I do, you'll be sure to find a gift for anyone on your list.

3) The geniuses behind The Craft Pack (Alison from The Alison Show and Susan from Freshly Picked - and yes, I'm coveting every flavor of those moccasins that Susan makes) have launched a digital craft book that is making me drool. A Hip Handmade Holiday is perfect for making holiday crafts on a budget that are memorable and hip. And it's only $10, which is a downright steal for what you get.

Any other ideas that you've stumbled upon to make these holidays a little more awesome yet more economical than usual? I'd love to hear them!