happy five, my Majlinda!

It was five years ago today that I began sponsoring Majlinda in Albania with World Vision!

Here you can see the first ever photo I received of her, at age four, along with the most recent, age nine, from just last month. I had sent her family a gift notification, and she is standing with some of the grocery items that they were able to purchase. 

Majlinda, you have been such a blessing to me. I hope and pray that one day soon, we will be able to meet! I will give you the biggest hug, and I will probably cry, but it will be one of the best days of my life, I just know it. 

Thrifty Thursday with Scarlet Threads!

Scarlet Threads has recently introduced a new feature called Thrifty Thursday! Each week, a different item will be on crazy sale! This week, the deal du jour for you is the Summer Joy- the "big sister" of the lovely Poppy! Just $9.00 for this week - that's the best deal yet!

The Poppy dress, for infants was on sale last week, so we thought Summer Joy would be a great deal to follow.  The Summer Joy has two designs! One is the paisley (and I'm a sucker for anything paisley!), and then the floral design, like the Poppy. The darker colors in the paisley are a great ease into fall...add some leggings and a turtleneck, and your little doll will be the best dressed in class!

Need an inspiration? Check out these photos of Boikokobetso, the little darling I sponsor in South Africa with World Vision! I've posted the photos before, but here's a refresher-

Isn't Boikokobetso fashionable?! Straps up or straps down! Pink pants and shoes to match! For a bit of reference, I sent her a small/3T, and she just turned five this month. I don't have any children of my own yet, so I had to guess, and I think I did okay. Having room to grow is a good thing, eh?

So! This week, grab a Summer Joy for just $9! Best deal! Hurry and grab one today!

Go here to buy a dress, and use the code lex10 when you order  :)



I was a winner!

I recently came across a really marvelous company called Baby Be Blessed. They are a doll ministry- each doll comes with a scripture on its tummy. Their mission and deepest desire is for each child to come to know, understand and live for Jesus Christ.

Each doll can be personalized to your liking; it can be a boy or a girl, pick the hair color, you can pick its dress, pick a scripture verse and they also have animals, like lambs and bunnies!

They have a blog where they do a giveaway each Friday.

Well, a few Fridays, I won this little lovie!

This little pink lambie has 1 Corinthians 13:8 on her tummy-

love never fails

So true, and such a good reminder to children everywhere.

I was so pleased to win, and I've decided that I will send her to one of my World Vision babies, either Boikokobetso in South Africa or Majlinda in Albania- I just can't decide who to send her to! I suppose this means that I should buy a second, right? :)

Many thanks to Valerie for introducing me to this lovely company, and also, for alerting me to my big win that day! She saw the blog post before I did, and sent me an email!

Have you won any great giveaways lately? Should I host another giveaway sometime soon?

on bridesmaids

This is a post that I wrote in September, but for some reason, it didn't get published. I just noticed it, and thought I'd post it now.

Over the weekend, I had three of my favorite girls in town for a visit. It was wonderful, in many, many ways. We studied together in Krakow, Poland and shared some really amazing experiences. One of the girls is in Boston, one in Philly and the third recently married a Scottish guy, had a baby and is living in Glasgow! Our lives are very different from the simple carefree days we shared, but we are forever linked by our memories of that incredible time.

We spent the weekend laughing and eating, for the most part. We had plans to visit some VA wineries, but ended up just hanging around the city and it was perfect. We talked about everything under the sun, looking at photos of Krakow and just laughed laughed laughed.

One of the girls told us about a wedding she attended in San Diego recently, for a college friend of hers. The friend is our age (30-31) and had seven bridesmaids. My friend seemed to think that this was a bit much. She said something like "now that we are in our thirties, it just seems silly to have that many bridesmaids."

Do you think this is true? If you are married, how many bridesmaids did you have? If you aren't yet married, how many do you think you might have? How many bridesmaids is too many, and does your age make a difference?

Sharing the Joy of Sponsorship | World Vision Child Ambassadors

Please take two minutes to watch this video...I feel the same way as each of these people about my sponsorship of Majlinda and Boikokobetso!

Maybe a resolution for 2011 can be to sponsor a child? I promise, you will love it and it will change your life- for the absolute best.

{Modern Relief}

If you are a reader of quilting blogs like I am, you may have seen this popping up in the last several days---

Heather has dreamed up the most amazing project this holiday season-

{ Modern } Relief is a simple concept. We are Modern Quilters uniting through the holiday season by bringing the warmth of our quilts and the warmth of your hearts together for others in need. This season, 2010, we will be supporting World Vision. We hope YOU will join us in taking a stand against hunger by participating in our fundraising raffle.

I know that I don't need to tell you how much I love and support World Vision, so I was thrilled to see this charity as theirs.

Please go here and have a look at some of the amazingly gorgeous quilts that have been donated. I am not posting all of the pictures here, as there are so many, but here is one teaser, made by Heather herself-

Amazing, isn't it? She is so talented.

Raffle tickets can be purchased for $10 each and you can access their paypal account for purchasing tickets on Heather's site. I don't know if I can link their paypal account here! There are more than a dozen quilts that are part of the raffle, and one of them could be yours! Please consider purchasing a ticket and help support World Vision this year. Winners will eb chosen by a randon generator on December 1, so buy a ticket today and spread the word!

what are YOU doing?

Today is National Philantropy Day!

I've seen lots of posts about this on twitter, so I thought it would be appropriate to discuss. According to their website (linked above), 2010 is a very special year, as not only does it mark the 50th anniversary of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the chief sponsor of NPD, but it’s also the 25th anniversary of this special day.

In the United States alone, there are more than 1 million charitable organizations, and Americans give more than $300 billion annually to charitable causes (Giving USA Foundation). In Canada, more than 88,000 charities provide countless services to millions of Canadians, who in turn contribute more than $10 billion annually to those organizations (Canada Revenue Agency). In Latin America and Asia, with governments no longer able to provide enough funding for social services, charitable sectors are growing rapidly and creating programs to meet the needs of their countries’ citizens. The quality of life for all people—everything from education, healthcare, the environment and the arts, to name only a few—would be far less if not for these organizations.

(italicized paragraphs come from their site)

I talk about them enough, so I'm sure you know of two of my favorite organizations-

Scarlet Threads

A a compassionate boutique, specializing in unique products designed and produced by talented seamstresses in rural Asia.

World Vision

a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.

It has only been recently that I've become involved with Scarlet Threads, but I just love their mission and beauty, and I'd love you to check out their site (linked above, and on the side of my blog) for more information. They have gorgeous fairtrade aprons and other gifts that are perfect for any occasion. They just came out with their new products, and see the Aubergine apron? That was my name suggestion! Time for another giveaway, perhaps?

As you know, I sponsor two little girls through World Vision. Majlinda is seven and lives in Albania and Boikokobetso is three and lives in South Africa. I've been sponsoring Boikokobetso for just over a year, but it's hard to believe some days that Majlinda has been in my life for more than three years! I just love having them both in my life, and I think about them often, sending love and prayers their way. I have a picture of them both on my desk at work too. Unfortunately, I cannot post their pictures on my blog, as WV works hard to protect their privacy, and I respect that, but trust me when I say how adorable they are!

What are your favorite charities and what are you involved with? Are you passing along the message of philantropy today?

on saving the babies

As I mentioned yesterday, I was recently selected to host a World Vision House Party that is supposed to be at the end of the month. While I am thrilled to have been chosen, I am feeling slightly conflicted about it. I feel a bit awkward asking people to sponsor a child.

I know that some people don't like attending parties that ask you to buy something, like Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Tupperware, etc, and when you go to those, it is just a one time purchase. This is a monthly commitment that can go on for several years (I've had my Majlinda three years last month!) I certainly don't want to nose into anyone's financial situation, but I know that times are a bit tough for people right now.

As I've said though, this is a cause that I feel so strongly about, and I've really been so thankful to have it in my life, and it has become a big part of me. It's something that I want to continue with for as long as I can, and have my family and children involved (Steve already sponsors one little boy called Redion, also in Albania!). One day, I'd like to be able to visit my babies.

This party situation is unique in that you can host it in almost any way you wish. They give you suggestions, of course, but from there, it seems it is up to you. I will be receiving a box full of "favors," including tote bags, aprons and spatulas, and of course, information about sponsorship and children in need. They suggest making foods from those areas of the world and they send recipes and whatnot.

My question- what would you think if you were invited to a party like this? Would you feel obligated to sponsor a child? Would you just come to the party and eat the delicious food? Do you think that a party such as this is a bit odd?

Thoughts? Please share, I am curious!

ahhh, sweet September!

In case you missed the memo, today is September 1! I am so pleased and hope the next few months will be better than the last few. It may not have been apparent from my posts, but I've been in a bit of a funk this summer. Maybe I should write more about it, but right now, I don't want to go too into it, just hope that my mood will improve as the weather cools down.

September also means that new shows begin again! I'll be watching How I Met Your Mother, Law and Order: SVU, Survivor and Amazing Race for sure. Those are my top favorites, I think. What are your favorites?

Also, my giveaway ended yesterday and the big winner of the lovely Penelope apron is MANDY!!! If you don't read her blog, you really should. She's quite hilarious with the talers of her daughter, Vivian, the diva! Go say hi to Mandy!

Mandy, please send me your address so that I can get your Penelope in the mail!

Thank you all who entered. Consider hosting a Scarlet Threads giveaway of your own sometime (maybe for the holidays!), and check back, as it is highly likely that I will host another apron giveaway in the next few months. I'll also be hosting an apron party, I think, and let me know if you are interested in doing the same, as I will then put you in touch with the ladies behind Scarlet Threads and they will help you set it up!

In other exciting news, I was selected to host a World Vision House Party next month!

A House Party™ is thousands of parties across the country, hosted by people like you. Each event is sponsored by a leading brand and focuses on something cool that the sponsor wants its best fans to experience firsthand and share with their friends.

I think you know how much I love World Vision and my Albanian and South African babies, so I am really excited about this opportunity. Basically, I will have people over and share my story of sponsorship. I'd love it if others signed up to sponsor a child too, but I will admit, that I feel a bit awkward asking people to do that. A good thing about World Vision sponsorship is that you can be as involved as you want. Aside from the $35 monthly donation, the rest is really up to you. I'm very involved with my girls, so I write letters and send packages at least once a month, but others don't write, they just send the donation, and that is fine too. It's up to the individual.

If you are interested in attending my World Vision party virtually (or if you are in DC and want to come) please let me know. I can certainly pass along the information if you'd like to sponsor a child. I know it sounds cliche, but it will change your life, and I love having my girls in my life!

Any good news with you this week?