ALY ALLEN | THE BLOG

after it started driving me too crazy not to, i've divided up my shop into two. not that you were worried, but it just looked cluttered to me. i was selling finished hair accessories, patterns to make them yourself, prints, digital files to print them yourself... oh, and some wreaths. pretty random. so i have kept " blossom & vine " for anything finished, tangible, shipped to you... and have opened " blossom & vine DIY " for printables and tutorials, anything emailed to you. that makes a lot more sense right? hope so! anyway, i wanted to preview some of the pretty things you can find in each place . you know, since christmas is less than 2 months away... lots and lots of prints that are ready to ship , like these ones: and this great deal, where you can get 2 8x10s or 3 5x7s for only $15 [this deal only applies to the plain-color-background-with-white-text designs though.  since i have SO many of them, i'm trying to purge...

well it's my second week, going strong! here's our week  [starting from last friday, since they happened after i posted last week] friday morning we got ready, picnic lunch and all, to go visit daddy at work. he works at a high school, one block from the beach. it's gorgeous. [you'll see further down] we didn't get any photos with daddy, but here we are at the park next door to the school.  sidenote: i just love her bow. so sweet and feminine. i don't have any for sale, but they're fun to make! and here's the view, just one short block away from the school. i'm jealous, i'll be honest. he says it's always gloomy down there, but this gorgeous day proved him wrong! that evening, since daddy had to scout a football game, we headed down to coronado [another beach] with my parents. burger lounge, starbucks, walking the beach,  and stopping into the Hotel Del made for a lovely evening :) [plus i think she loo...

[edited/enhanced & reposted, because i think it's really important & leslie's post reminded me of it] okay, so obviously it's fun to get comments on your blog posts... but even more fun than that is being able to reply directly back to the person who left the comment. with blogger, you can enable your email address on your profile so that when you comment on someone's blog, they can actually email you back a direct reply ! if you don't know how to enable your email, i'll show you how: first log in to blogger.com .  you'll see your "dashboard"  click on one of your photos either in the top right or top left: once you're at your profile, click on  "edit profile" then click on  "show my email address" that enables your email on comments so that the blog owner can reply to you :) it also puts this link on your profile [pictured below] it doesn't really "show" yo...

today was it. as far as fall days in southern california go, you know? no changing leaves to play in, or 35 degree weather to brave. but for me, and what i'm used to here in san diego, it was perfect. by 10am i was out of the house on time , to run errands: the bank: to withdraw our weekly cash allotment. walmart : paper plates, party decor, halloween candy, cute little pumpkin candy bucket for my little trick-or-treater. [she was sort of excited about that, can you tell?] trader joes: groceries then home: mac & cheese for R, and turkey chili for me then i finished up this wreath for a birthday gift. i love it and secretly wish i could keep it. luckily i know the gal who makes them so i could probably convince her to make another one ;) then it was nap time. and i worked [my "real job", which is tech support via email and online chat] . while making this: and this is where it got real, you guys. an already good, pro...

it's my first time linking up for instafriday because i am a new iphone owner . yay! and while i could have linked up my mobile photos before, everything is just so much easier/prettier from an iPhone.  the coolest thing about this post? i uploaded ALL the photos from my phone straight into blogger, and then came on the computer to type everything out. easy! [harder than i thought... once i published, there were all sorts of photos showing up that i didn't know were there in draft-mode... sorry for the confusion. hoping its all fixed now!] so here's my first-week-with-my-iPhone, in photos: here's my fall "mantel". we don't actually have a mantel [we sort of do, but it's like 2 inch brick that just happens to be there, because it makes up the fireplace. i'd love to put in a real wood mantel someday] so anyway, i use the piano for anything mantel-ish.  this is my view every friday night [sometimes saturday].  you remember how my...

k friends... here's your chance! if you've never commented before, i *really* would love to hear from you on this. i want to know which iPhone apps you just can't live without. i say that fully knowing, of course, you could actually live without all of them.. but you know what i mean, right? k. so i'm looking for: 1. a good Bible reading/tracking app  2. a planner/calendar type app 3. a good [and easy] photo editor [ shauna , i'm counting on you here] 4. whatever you use to read all your blogs in one place 5. anything else awesome that i didn't even know i needed ;) so far i've downloaded "Baby Log" which helps you track newborn baby type stuff: feedings, diaper changes, sleeping, etc. i'll be needing that feb.1 i've downloaded instagram and hootsuite and i've been recommended " Cozi " [family calendar/planner] and " Reading Plan " [Bible reading]. is there anything better than you know of? ...

okay, so i finally figured out how to make a blog button! well, i knew how to design one, i just didn't know the html part... so i have 5 different designs for you to choose from.  wanna help me choose? vote for your favorite! number 1: number 2:  number 3:  number 4:  number 5: also, i just got one of these babies... my phone was long overdue for an "upgrade" and this was about as cheap as any of the other smart phones i could've gotten. i'm excited because now i can learn how to take awesome iphone photos like this lady . she'll have to teach me how first :) how cute is the cover? if you couldn't already tell, i love polkadots. if you want to follow me on instagram: i'm "AlysonAllen"

it was one of those mornings. the kind where you wake up feeling rested, your 2 year old is still sleeping soundly and you feel like you've won some grand prize if you have time to shower and eat and spend precious time with the Lord before she wakes up? yeah, it was that morning... and what struck me this morning was that God's goodness is so overwhelming, if we let it be. i woke up and read this post on my phone, and was sent immediately into prayer of thanksgiving. He gives us so much, and often it's that which we didn't even know we needed. that which we will miss if we don't open our eyes to see it. today it was: the birds chirping outside the window the cool fog resting on the grass the crisp shadows dancing through the trees the peaceful child  still sleeping the hot tea from a beautiful mug [seriously, those anthro mugs are works of art] the bittersweet remembering as i read through my journal the tender goodbye kiss of a hard-working husba...