Boxes for Ishinomaki

My friend Nicole, who was featured on this blog not too long ago, has been working on a pretty awesome project lately. It is starting to get some notice in the local news, and I felt like it would be good to spread the word.

Basically, Nicole has a friend at church from Japan. Nicole and her family set a goal to get 20 boxes prepared and sent to that friend's home town. Supplies, toys, anything extra you have around your house that could help families in Ishinomaki. Well, 20 boxes has turned into hundreds of boxes being sent. It's such an amazing thing.

Here's a video of her TV interview:



Check out Nicole's blog for more information or if you would like to follow the success of the project. Nicole posts photos and updates as they come in. There's even a post about the postman who gets to deliver all the packages, which must be an experience in and of itself. You can add a button to your blog or follow her Flickr page for updates and maybe even send a box yourself. What a fantastic (and easy) way to help people who really need it.

If you would like to send a box and would like more information, please leave a comment with us and I will do what I can to get the information to you. Also, see Nicole's blog, The Sleepy Time Gal, for information and links. She also has a Facebook page that she updates regularly, including lists of supplies that are needed in Ishinomaki.

Help a blogger out...

Just found out The Sleepy Time Gal was nominated as a favorite mom blogger on babble.com! Click over to babble and vote for Nicole (our fabulous guest poster from last week) and show her some support. She is number 79 (or was last time I checked) and on the second page of the list.

Good luck, Sleepy Time Gal!

Blog Spotlight: Living in the Motherhood

For those of you who have enjoyed Melissa's guest posts today and in the past, we want to tell you about her new project, "Living in the Motherhood." She actually credits the Lovely blog as being part of the inspiration for what she's doing, and we think she's creating something really special over there. We're excited to share it with you, and encourage you to frequent it and perhaps write guest posts or nominate great mothers for the spotlights.

Thanks for being lovely, Melissa! Check out the blog at  http://livinginthemotherhood.blogspot.com.

Annilygreen on Etsy

This blog won't typically be a place where you are inundated with posts about buying things, but this is an occasion to help out and encourage a Lovely Reader and I love it when that happens.

I'm in love with the close-up shots of her pillows, too. I would frame that.

Annie and I are constantly talking about the state of our Etsy shops, but Annie has finally really got hers up and running and it is wonderful (check it out at annilygreen on etsy). I'm a sucker for pillows anyway, but she makes beautiful and unique pillows AND she gives them clever names. I'm a double sucker for pillows with clever names. In fact, I've been stalking her pillows since she posted them (one in particular, but I'm not telling which because I don't want someone to get it before I can). She also makes great little baggies.


And now to the real point. Annie was just accepted to be a vendor at The Beehive Bazaar, but the cost of participation is high and the deadline is approaching quickly. We are not asking for donations, just helping with some advertising in the hopes that someone out there will like what they see over at annilygreen* and buy a pillow or some baggies. Maybe you are even in the midst of a search for a great pillow for your couch! I am always in the midst of a search for a pillow to put somewhere...even though I already own far too many pillows. Either way, your search ends here! Check out the pillows and help a sister out! That's what we're here for, right?

This one is made from a jacket from a thrift store! How can you not love that?!

*She does custom orders, people! Don't see anything up there in the colors you love? Just give her a shout and she will hook you up.

A Holiday Plug For A New Blogject

I got an email from a friend of the blog asking for submissions from our Mormon readers for a new blog she is starting called Hopefully Mormon.

Here's an explanation straight from the source:

"I want to start a new blog. Its purpose is threefold: 1. To get good (interesting and inspirational) pro-Mormon content out on the internet for the benefit of those inside and outside the church; 2. To do it in a way that no one else is doing; and 3. To pull a broad range of people in, people whose needs aren't already being met by the prolific (and fantastic and witty) blogging that's already being done....

Our unifying theme is from Peter: To "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope this is in you."

We'll borrow PostSecret's visual format--4-by-6 inch compositions that mix words, photos, drawings, etc.--but will focus instead on the quirky, lovely, aching, personal, inspiring, unforgettable reasons that all of you (parents, students, professionals, anarchists, artists) began and continue to make the LDS church part of your life."

The site will launch on January 1st but they are asking for submissions now. If you have a minute, put together a post card with a scripture or quote, a picture, or just a thought...any type of visual testimony you would like to contribute. It can be cheesy or serious or silly or sweet, just as long as it is you.

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I really love this idea and I'm so happy to be able to spread the word about it. I realize, of course, that not all of you Lovely Readers are Mormon. This isn't meant to be exclusive--please know that the creators of this blog would also love to have your perspective if you would like to share it. If you've had a positive experience with the LDS church or a member of it and you feel inclined to share, then please do! If you don't know anything about our faith and would like to know more about us on a more personal level, I think this will help in accomplishing that.


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Submissions can be sent to:

Hopefully Mormon
P.O. Box 970312
Orem, UT 84097

or email hopefullymormon at gmail dot com