with gratitude

September marks one year of starting my blog.  I have learned so much and still have so much to learn, but I must say this last year has been wonderful.  I have "met" so many amazing people.  Through writing and reading blogs I have really figured out a lot about what I like.  Style when it comes to fashion, food and home decor have always been important to me, but through blogs I think I have defined my true style.  One thing that maybe surprised me is that I have defined my style to fit one word and that is simplicity.  To mark my one year anniversary I would like to do my first give away.  Through blogs I have fallen in love with the company Glassybaby Forever.  I love the story behind them and adore having them in my home.  So I'm giving away a Glassybaby called appropriately "Gratitude" to one of my readers.

Thank you for reading l o v e l y t h i n g s  and for your comments and encouragement.  A winner will be selected through random.org on October 16th.  Remember to check back on Monday to see if you've won.  To enter you must be a follower.  Leave a comment here and tell me which Glassybaby is your favorite.  To receive an extra entry, please mention this giveaway on your blog.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

happy anniversary darling

Today my husband and I celebrate our 24th anniversary.  Next year I will have spent half my life married to this wonderful man.  We were married when I was 25 and next year I will be 50!  We met and married in only three months and 24 years later we are as happy together as when we first met. We feel very lucky.  My daughter and I were walking through the village on our last trip to NY this summer and I saw this writing on a wall...we kept walking and a couple of blocks later I said, "stop, we have to go back."  I had to photograph this...it just says so much with so few words.