Birthday Groovies Update

The Groovy Girls online party is now open and ready for your groovy girl to log on and start playing games!

For those of you who already have your Birthday Groovies; go on and use your doll's code to log on....for anyone who hasn't gotten a Birthday Groovy Girl; what are you waiting for?



Visit them at www.groovygirlsrsvp.com

Remembering and Appreciating...

We are always grateful to the men and women who serve our nation in the armed forces. Today, however, we wish to honor those that gave their lives while in service to our nation.

And, no, we are not having a Memorial Day Sale…sorry.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is meant to be a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. It’s not about the long weekend, the sales or the grilling – it’s about our entire nation coming together to remember and appreciate those who gave their all for our nation.

There is a really interesting history to this holiday…lots more drama and complexities than you would think. Check out this website to read about it.

I hope you will take at least a moment today to stop what you’re doing and to think about the sacrifice that those brave men and women made for our nation…for you and me.

[Note:To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."]

Go check out this blog...

I'm the public relations chair for Junior Auxiliary of McMinnville and, thanks to Susan Burks for setting it up, we have a blog! As PR chair, I have taken over administration of the blog and I'm working to make it a really great resource for, not just members of the club, but also the general public who might want to know more about, or want to help out our chapter!


For those of you who don't know; Junior Auxiliary of McMinnville is a chapter of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries. We are a group of women, here in McMinnville, who do our part to make a lasting difference in our community by meeting the needs of the citizens, especially the children. Our organization's slogan is "Care Today - Character Tomorrow"...along the same lines of the "Teach a Man to Fish" school of thinking.


We believe that we can make a difference in Warren County and we participate and host several service projects in the community; from the fun and family friendly Christmas in the Park, which has become a community tradition; to Coats for the Community, a project in which we collect donated coats and winter weather items from all over Warren County and then set up at the Mall in the autumn in order to give out the coats free to families and individuals who need them. We also host the Junior Miss Warren County Pageant in April and the Snow Princess Pageants in February, as well as several other fundraising projects in order to raise money to support all the service that we do for Warren County!

It's a great group that I'm so proud to be involved with. I wouldn't be a good PR chair if I didn't invite you to check out our new blog, to find out more about this club that does so much for the community, to make suggestions or comments that you think might be helpful to us, to find out more about maybe joining the club, or to donate if you feel so moved (monetary donations are great; but we also take coats for our Coats for the Community project, Books for our J.A. Book Drive, school supplies for our Pencil Pals project, etc.).

Here's the address: www.jaofmcminnville.blogspot.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Mom turns 56 today, so make sure to tell her Happy Birthday if you see her. As I've said before; she's the best mom that I could ask for but, even better than that, she's one of my best friends and we can talk about anything together. I'm very glad that I have her! I hope the rest of today is great for her!

Her day has already been made once today though. Chalee came to visit and ran in the door saying "HAPPY BIR-DAY AUNT HENEN!!!" and gave her a big hug and kiss! She also went back to our play kitchen and made mom a pretend cake and some pretend sweet tea!

Indiana Gillentine

Seth and I went to the midnight showing of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Wednesday night in Nashville. I was late coming in to the Indiana Jones movies since the first one came out before I was born...but in the last few year or so I've sort of discovered how much I like the movies. The new movie was sooo good! So, if you're a fan of the movies already or if you've never seen any of them definitely go see the movie. You'll stay on the edge of your seat the entire time! (Above are pictures that Seth took of me in front of the Rain Forrest Cafe in his Indy hat...very authentic-looking, don't you think?)

Kennedy's Groovies...

Check out this pic I found on my blogger buddy, Renee Garcia's site! Her four-year-old, Kennedy, is apparently the grooviest of all the groovy girls and, as you can see here, has plenty of Groovy Girls to show it! On Renee's blog, there are constantly posts about Kennedy and her Groovies...so, of course, we immediately had something to bond over when we found eachother!

If you haven't checked out my links over to the right of my site, definitely go now and check out Renee's blog. She is an inspiration...one of those 'supermoms' that I admire like crazy. Seriously, Seth makes fun of me for getting more excited and impressed about the everyday lives of these women than I do about the latest movies and celebrity gossip...and it's always been that way for me! Renee's blog REALLY gives me my 'supermom' fix everyday...go check her out and read about her story.

Images by Ellyn

We love this company; Images by Ellyn. The frames that this company makes are for sonogram pictures...which is something so sweet and special because it's the first picture you get of your baby. This company pledges to make frames that will help to showcase and preserve that special memory for you and we are so glad to be a part of that! Plus, they're so cute, with cute quotes and sayings on them; the pictures are only a few of the styles that we have.

These make great shower gifts but I've also seen them used as "surprise, I'm having a baby!" gifts for family members.

Go check out the story behind these frames - it's really touching. Mom got to meet the owner/designer of the company and says that she's just as sweet as she seems in the story.

Pickles for Babies

These are from one of our newer lines, Pickles. They're sooo soft and babies just love the way they feel!

For you last minute shoppers...

We have several ballet shoes jazz shoes and dance bags still on the rack. as well as a few pairs of both nude and pink tights. Come in quick before the other last minute dance moms get to them first!

Recital Time...

This weekend is Paula's Dance Academy's annual Spring Recital and that means time for parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to start running around in a frenzy, trying to find the perfect recital gift for their little dancers.

We have you covered! Here are just a few ideas of what we have in store for you! We have a table set up with all the gift ideas that we could think of (no "shopping" required) but if you do like the shopping, there is a ton of stuff all around the store that would also be a great gift. We have $5 gifts and $30 gifts...great to fit any budget.

Then we can wrap it up pretty for you in just a few minutes, so you can get out the door and to the auditorium in time to get the perfect seats.

Love to Dance!

I just got in a shipment of Necklines and here are some of the 'dance' themed ones that I ordered so that we'd have them for recital weekend! We ALREADY ran out of M's and K's AGAIN though (those letters always go the fastest)! I guess I didn't order enough! I promise to do another order of those this week !

So remember these for recital this weekend! These look great tied to a bouquet of flowers or as a stand alone gift for your little (or big) dancer!

Lulu Bracelets

Our Lulu bracelet supply has been restocked and they're so pretty. I love when the brand new bracelets come in because they're all so sparkly and shiney!

They come small enough for your newborn baby girl but we also have some for bigger girls.

Belated Congratulations!

Well...it's been a little crazy this weekend, so this is a little late, but

Congratulations to all of the 2008 WCHS graduates!

"History is written by those who make the wake, not by those who ride upon it, nor by those who watch safely by the shore."

May Day

McMinnville had its official celebration of Spring, our "May Day" celebration, yesterday.

It started out a little bit chilly outside but by the time festivities got started it was really nice out. The best part of the celebration every year is the May pole girls and their performance around the May pole.

When I was in the 6th grade I was a May Pole Girl along with a bunch of my friends, so it's always fun to see the new groups of girls every year.

Several of our customers were May pole girls this year so mom and I left dad at the shop and headed downtown to the Black House to watch them perform. They did great!

Free "Groovy" Gift

The Groovy Girl RSVP Birthday website is not up yet...they've had some technical difficulties and have had to postpone the "party".

For those of you who have already bought your Birthday Groovy Girl and have been waiting patiently, though, they are offering a free gift as a little something to keep you happy until the website opens.

All you have to do is go to GroovyGirlsRSVP.com with your Birthday Groovy Girl's code to register for your gift. It's a pretty good deal I think. And for those of you who have yet to buy your Birthday Groovy Girl...the website still isn't up...so why don't you take this opportunity to come on in and buy it so that you can register for the free gift (a $25 value)?!

Enjoy!

Small Wonders...

Mom and Dad accidentally locked me out of the house the other day. They went for their daily walk around the neighborhood and when I got home I didn't have my house key on me. So I walked around to the back yard to wait for them to get back. I had a book in my purse and it was pretty outside, so I didn't mind. Upon walking into the back yard, though, I was greeted by the smell of honeysuckles...I LOVE honeysuckles!

(Here's a close up and a super close up of the "honey" droplet from the honeysuckle)
I had my camera with me as well and I thought this would be a great time to test out my super close up lens. So here are just a few of the pictures I took. Happy Spring everyone!

(Here is my Croc ad...LOL: I had stepped in spearmint while I was taking pictures. I smelled it before I saw it....)

(Lady Bug)

(Hibiscus)

(Not a lady bug, but cool looking I thought)

Don King - Crocs TV spot

LOL...

Crocs Anthem TV Spot

This makes me happy! It's true, though. Right? Crocs bring out lots of emotion in people...they either love them or hate them...there isn't much indifference there!

Spring Shoes

Kayla was in the shop today and bought a pair of the Malindis. She just looked so cute and match-y that I had to take her picture to share with y'all. After all, it has been awhile since I've talked about the Malindi...and now that Spring is in full swing; it's just now time to really start wearing them. For those of you "brave" enough to wear the bright colors; we have teal, mango, and the color in the pictures called pulse, and for the more conservative of you; we have black, light pink and silver....something for everyone!

So for a cute and trendy shoe...not to mention super comfy and dainty-looking (even on my size 11 women!) shoe; come in and try on a pair!

Move over A-Rod!

My little cousin Amelia, who lives in South Carolina, made the headline of the sports page in her hometown newspaper! She's an awesome softball player; so awesome, in fact, that she was pulled up, as a sophomore, to the varsity team at her school. AND THEN she won a couple of games for them and helped them advance to the Upper State Championship!

Go HERE for the full story...

The only part of her personality that she got from me would be her boy-craziness, so I can't take any credit for the athleticism...and she's definately more cool than I ever was at that age!

So, I just wanted to do a little post to sing her praises a little bit...We're all very proud of her and her new-found celebrity! Congrats Amelia!

(That's her bottom left of the pyramid)

The Perfect Outfit...

Just in time for Mother's Day; an outfit that is mother, and daughter, approved...not an easy thing to come by!

Camerie and her mom, Cherie, came into the shop the other day to find an outfit for the Boyd Athletic Banquet that Camerie was planning to attend. Camerie and Cherie both agreed on this great skirt and top by Haven Girl, a pair of the Malindi Crocs and one of the new necklines. Doesn't she look great?

My Favorite Mom

Happy Mother's Day to my mom...the best of them all. Not only is she a great mom but she is my friend and that is what means the most to me. She's been a mother almost all of her life (she had my brother when she was 16)...so she has perfected the role! I'm proud that people say that I take after her!

"All that I am, my mother made me." --John Quincy Adams