much love, illy: November 2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

sponsor love + giveaway with Jac and Elsie.

meet jaclyn of jac and elsie.

"Hello happy Illy readers! My name is Jaclyn, and I run Jac & Elsie, an Etsy shop full of handmade, upcycled and vintage whimsical goodies. With nearly 200 items in the shop, there's sure to be something for everyone, whether you prefer cutesy charms like scissors or newspaper beads or hand-knotted pearl necklaces."

i truly admire people who have a vision of thinking outside the box and reaching out to others. Jac and Elise does this by creating unique, upcycled pieces and then using a percentage of their sales to support a variety of charities. be sure to check out their section of pieces dedicated to support Autism Speaks and Cancer Services.

today Jac and Elise is offering you the choice of not one, not two but THREE Jac and Elise pieces from this shop section (valued at $30!!)! and hey, it's the Christmas season, so you could keep one for yourself and give away the other two as gifts! how sweet is that?!

{giveaway:}

visit Jac and Elise's shop and comment below with the name of your favorite product in shop!

{really, really wanna win?}

additional comments - keep in separate comments to count as individual entries

-heart Jac and Elise via Etsy (1 entry)

- be a GFC follower of this blog (1 entry)

- subscribe to the Snap, Crackle, Pop blog (1 entry)

-like Jac and Elsie via Facebook (1 entry)

- subscribe to Jac and Elsie Newsletter (1 entry)

- follow @muchloveilly and @jacandelsie via Twitter (1 entry)

- tweet, blog, or facebook about this giveaway and leave comment in entry (1 entry)

feel free to copy/paste the following tweet:

wishing on a Christmas star to win the @JacAndElsie giveaway over at @muchloveilly!!! enter for your chance here: http://tinyurl.com/84p9bym

{don't wanna wait?}

use coupon code MUCHLOVEILLY for 20% off of your entire Jac and Elsie order!

(valid until the end of the month and cannot be applied to any of the fundraiser pieces)

Giveaway is open to ALL Much Love, illy readers thru December 6th.
Winner will be announced on December 7th.

much love.

[happy wednesday, friend.]

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

about being mind-blown and living under rocks.

do you have a minute?

can you take a sit with me as i tell you something that's been on my mind?

yeah, grab some hot chocolate (extra whip cream please) while you're at it.

so, i was thinking...i am continually blown away by the creativity out there! do you know what i mean? i've been blogging for nearly 2 years, and i am always shocked with new blogs or shops and think, have i been living under a rock? where have i been and never have noticed these suh-weet spaces in the cyber world? well some of those exact mind-blowing shops, i've had the privilege of working with this month!

so let your mind be blown away too as you visit (ahem, shop) these sweet places for you and for those Christmas stockings waiting to be filled (and psst! some of them are even offering exclusive discounts for you, lovely people!)

shop / blog / facebook

use coupon code ILLYLOVE for 20% off of your entire order for the rest of the Christmas season!

shop / blog/ twitter / facebook

use coupon code HAPPYHOLIDAYS for 20% off your entire order through the month of December!

shop / blog / newsletter

throughout the month of December, Jac and Elsie are offering FREE SHIPPING (no coupon code necessary).

shop / blog / twitter

from December 1st through December 9th take 15% off of your order with coupon code MERRY!

shop / blog / twitter / facebook

use coupon code HOLIDAY20 for 20% off from now through Christmas!

shop / blog / twitter

a shop filled with the most darling infinity scarves, colorful poppy headbands, and charm necklaces - the perfect stocking stuffers!

shop / blog

this whimsical space is filled with the most magical of fairies, gypsies, princesses and more in digi stamp form - all from the incredible imagination and talent of Krista!

shop / blog / twitter

if you are a lover of colors galore, you will love this sweet shop filled with the sweetest prints and boldest of colors on everything imaginable - tote bags, ruffled headbands, diaper bags, stocks and oh, so much more!

soooo...see what i mean? is your brain all in one piece? mind-blowing, i tell ya.

so have fun shopping your little hearts out and following all their lovely blogs!

your husband told me you should (about the shopping part), so go for it, my pretties!

much love.

[happy shopping, friend!]

no more guilt when i drive up to the McDonald's drive thru window.

dress: belk /cardi: f21 / maroon tights: c/o We Love Colors /Garren heels: Blowfish Shoes / traveling bag, ring: Le Mode Accessories / boyfriend tie necklace: Yellow Heart Art / nails: OPI big red apple and Sally Hansen glitter

welp, it's official. the Christmas season is really here. i no longer have to fight the guilt of listening to Christmas pre-thanksgiving - turning down the volume when i pull up to the McDonald's drive through or any other time my windows were rolled down. (yes, we are in the south were we are still hitting 70 degree temps. so weird.) this was my first year people that i broke my own rule of listening to Christmas music early but thanks to Michael and Zooey, i broke it. i enjoyed the music but there wasn't the full satisfaction till after thanksgiving.

it's a preference thing.

so to those that are all about listening to It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year all year round, you can be proud. and to those that are all about post-thanksgiving, you can know that i haven't forgotten my roots.

much love,

[happy tuesday, friend.]

p.s. ~~later this afternoon, i'll be featuring my amazing November sponsors - and some of them are offering suh-weet holiday deals you guys don't want to miss! be on the look out, folks!~~ check out my uh-mazing sponsors HERE! and if need to keep up on your roll of Christmas shopping, i hear these lovelies are offering some sweet discounts! so...GO!

Monday, November 28, 2011

eat pumpkin pie, drink hot chocolate, and be ridiculously merry...oh and make goofy faces.

oh, where did the weekend go? i don't know about you but it definitely went by way too fast - just like all of the food that we made for thanksgiving dinner. now you see it, now you don't. mom, ashley and i cooked up a storm, while dad kept busy decorating the yard with christmas lights. (oh but he does like to mention that he makes the coffee around here - and coffee is always a must! i couldn't agree more!). i didn't even get a full picture of the spread 'cause we ate so quickly (and the lighting wasn't being my friend - so you have to trust me that we ate well...or you can just check the pounds reflected on the scale to prove it).

and like our family does every thanksgiving, we planned out our Black Friday to the T. yup, we are one of those crazies - waking up at the crack of dawn for deals. we aren't the kinds that camp out for nights, (i finally saw a Best Buy camp out in real life...just like on the nightly news...they are for real and even i couldn't believe these people!), but we do like to get our hands on what deals that we can and get some early Christmas shopping done. and we just have fun doing it together every year - even if we don't find anything worth buying. and i think we broke our own record this year - 15 hours of Black Friday shopping...yeaaaah, baby!

and true to family tradition, we kick off the holiday season with blasting the Christmas music, drinking hot chocolate, and decorating the house at full force. i luuuuurve this part of the season and missed it every year when i was away from home, so i'm glad i got to experience it with my family again. there is always a lot of laughter and sentimental thoughts that are shared during this time.

and yes, if there was one super lame thing about the weekend was being apart from Ryan and not having Kristine (my sister) and her Ryan (her hubby) with us for the weekend, but i get to see all of them this next month, so i can hardly wait!

like the song goes, it really is the most wonderful time of the year.

let's drink to that - hot chocolate style with extra whip cream and sprinkles on the top, pleeeeeaaase!

much love.

[happy monday, friend.]

p.s. don't forget to use coupon code CYBERMONDAY for ~~surprise~~ 25% off of your entire Much Love, illy shop order!! woohoo!!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

grab some pumpkin pie as i tell you why i am...

in no particular order. my relationship with Jesus. my best friend and fiance, ryan. loving, supportive parents. my sisters who make me laugh every day. pey-pey, the best dog in the world. coffee and vanilla caramel creamer. colorful tights. salted caramel hot chocolate. Christmas music. pumpkin pie. bike riding adventures. glitter. smashbooks. cameras to capture every day moments. the color green. cat naps. hunger games and twilight. girlfriends. being home for the holidays this year. God's continued provision this year. burt's bee lip gloss. shoes. journaling. community. messy hair buns. laughter. and of course, last but not least, friends like you!

often times, it's easiest to focus on the negative things in this life. it's easy to be distracted by worries or fears of the unknown, but i'm continually learning to focus on the good. i have to in order to make it through the bad. and i'm gonna be raw for a second here, but this past year has personally been a very trying one - and i'm continually learning to take life a day at a time and to be grateful for God's daily provisions, even when i don't understand the whys of life's hardships. as ironic as it might sound, with this particular thanksgiving, i find myself even more grateful to God for his blessings!

enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!

give thanks to him; bless his name!

for the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

-psalm 100:4-5-

much love.

[happy thanksgiving, friend.]

p.s. if you are Lori (#485) of ChicGeek Designs, you have one more reason to be thankful today! you just won the Blowfish Shoes giveaway - so be sure to shoot me an email at muchloveilly at gmail com to claim your prize! let me know what shoe, style and size you want with your mailing address so that we can get those off to you ASAP! congrats, Lori and thank YOU, Blowfish Shoes for another sweet giveaway!

and be sure support small businesses this weekend and check out the sweet deals going on from Black Friday through Cyber Monday HERE!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

don't wanna get up at the crack of dawn for Black Friday?!

...then you don't have to!

this Black Friday (and into the rest of the turkey weekend) Shopping Guide will give you a variety of your favorite handmade businesses and online shops and their suh-weet weekend deals, specials and discount codes and it's all in ONE PLACE! so bookmark your favorites, get some extra sleep, grab that cup of coffee, snuggle up on your couch with your laptop...and don't worry about working out like the Target Lady (even though she is rocking awesome - i'm her biggest fan!).