Marieliz Creations matches
"The Costa Rica Collection"!

I have mentioned before that my mother, who is a wonderful designer and amazing seamstress, recently branched out on her own and started selling her handmade purses on eBay under the id marielizcreations. Well, she has just created 3 new purses to match The Costa Rica Collection! These purses have the boldest of colors... perfect for Summer, and have lots of sweet little features! I had the pleasure of seeing these for myself and photographing them a couple of weeks ago when she was up for a visit from Florida... they are immaculately made! Check them out for yourself.

The first one is a generously sized purse, with lots of pockets and zipper closure. I fell in love with this one as soon as I saw it. It is truly striking! Click here for the auction.



The second one is a bucket-style purse with a sweet little yoyo button closure and fabric handles. Click here for the auction.



And last, but not least, a relist. I have one very similar to this one that I use as my everyday purse and I took it with me to our Boutique Cafe Getaway in Salt Lake City. Those of you who saw me there will probably remember this one! Click here for the auction.



She will be listing a few more purses tomorrow, but just wanted to give you a little taste of what she's got to offer. To see all of MarielizCreations auctions, click here.

Laundry, Vomit and a little Award

No, I did not get an award for washing clothes and puking but I should have, as my body feels like it has gone through a horrible boxing match right about now. Let's just say that my first week back from the Boutique Cafe Girls Getaway Weekend has not been the easiest for me.

First I had to relive the whole experience in tears as I read everyone's blogs and browsed through hundreds of pictures... my throat was in a knot for most of Monday & Tuesday. Then I had to tackle the huge mountains of dirty laundry that had accumulated while I was gone. See, I had been too busy to do anything but pack & prepare the days before the getaway so it had REALLY piled up. I washed non-stop for days... well, until Wednesday evening came around, then I wasn't doing much but hugging my toilet. Let's rewind, shall we? Jon goes out of town on Tuesday for 3 days (work-related). On Wednesday, the girls say they want Happy Meals for lunch. So off we go to McDonald's and I think I'm being good and staying on my diet by ordering one of their Premium Salads and an Unsweetened Iced Tea. Fast forward to 7 or 8 hrs. later as I'm watching huge chunks of lettuce, tomato and whatever the heck else they put in those salads come out of me with a fierce fury. The food poisoning lasted for about 36 hrs. and I was here alone with 2 small children and no one to help. Yep! That's what I should have gotten the award for.

But no. I actually received a Thinking Blogger Award from two of my favorite bloggers of all time. I am so honored... and surprised! First because I didn't think my blog was making anyone think, LOL, and secondly because these two women who I admire greatly actually nominated me. How cool is that? I was nominated first by Sarah (marvellousmouse) and then By Gyl (rhembein). Thanks ladies!! Now I'm supposed to nominate 5 bloggers. And I know it's probably against the rules but I will be nominating you guys back because you blogs really make me think... or I guess muse. hee hee

**UPDATE** I also received a Thinking Blogger nomination from my friend Amelia of SweetFeetBoutique. She has recently made the switch from Blogspot to Typepad and I totally missed it because I was sick for so many days. Thanks, Amelia!!! ***


OK, on to the "rules":

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.

OK, so now it's my turn. I will nominate 2 blogs that will probably never see this posting at all because they are just too cool for me (LOL!) but I read them just about every day and they inspire me in so many ways:

1. Dooce: I have been reading her blog for about 3 years now -- way before I ever even dreamt of having a blog of my own. She makes me want to be a better writer and photographer and I am extremely inspired by the fact that she was able to turn blogging into a full-time job. Even her hubby quit his job to help maintain Dooce. WAY TO GO!!

2. HELLO My Name Is Heather: She inspires me to push myself creatively every day and to surround myself with beautiful things. Her blog gives me the visual stimulation I need every day... like a bit of caffeine kick to get me going. Lovely!

3. PortabelloPixie: She got me interested in starting my own blog. Her beautiful photography and design inspired me to get started and I've never looked back. Thanks, Sandi!

4. Rhembein: WOW! What can I say?! She was recently nominated for 5 different Blogger awards and was very deserving of them. Gorgeous photography, interesting stories, beautiful designs. Everything a blog should be wrapped into a sweet package! Thanks for the shout out, Gyl... right back at cha! ;)

5. MarvellousMouse: Sarah is about a genuine as they come. Her posts are heartfelt and humorous and so thought-provoking. Again, thanks for the shout out, Sarah... right back at cha! ;)

Thanks for bearing with me on this long post. It had been a long, long week since I posted so I thought I'd better make it a good one. I want to leave you with a link to a new blog that just started tonight by my good friend Gyl. It is called Boutique Bloopers and the site seriously had me in stitches tonight. I sent in a couple of my own bloopers, but let me tell ya... you don't wanna miss out, so click here to check it out. (I also added a link to it there to the right under Favorite Blogs)

Good night.

We Painted Salt Lake City PINK!!!

I am back from my Girls Getaway Weekend with the fabulous ladies from Boutique Cafe and about 40 or so designers from the eBay children's boutique community. It was an absolute blast and definitely not long enough. For those of you who were there... guess what? I am still drinking FIJI water!!! LOL! For those of you who didn't "get that," FIJI water was one of our many sponsors of the event and they sent out dozens of cases of water bottles to keep us hydrated throughout the weekend... it was wonderful. By the end of the conference we had soooo much water left that everyone took some home with them. I didn't think I'd be able to fit any in my suitcase after the long day of shopping and all the wonderful giveaways, but I managed to squeeze in one of their 9-packs! Love you, FIJI!!

I also surprisingly won two of the best prizes there (well, in my opinion, at least, hee hee). I first won an original Amy Butler purse (sent in by the fabric diva herself!) and later on I won an outfit of my choice from GreggyGirl. I will let Sophia pick it out on her own tonight. :) Again, thanks to our wonderful sponsors.

I had an absolute blast chatting with the girls and hearing their stories. I am still chuckling to myself as I try to picture Dayna's marathon sewing days or when I remember Megan telling a half-naked guy who rode in the elevator with us that he was "Blinded by our hotness" LOL! OMG, the poor guy was a blubbering idiot and dripping wet from head to toe (he had just gotten out of the pool) as he rode in the elevator with, what?, like 6 or 7 of us. He missed his floor because he was too busy staring and not pushing buttons. Too funny.

Anyway, I have like 30 pictures posted on my website but here are a couple of teaser shots. Click HERE if you'd like to see the rest of the pictures from the event.

Below is a group shot (no, this was not all of us... only about half!)


Here is me sitting with a few of my favorite ladies! Sandi (portabellopixie) is the queen of blog, Eva (freshandvintage) our fearless LimeVine leader and the always beautiful and talented Amelia (sweetfeetboutique).



Last, but not least, I could not leave out of the sneak peek this super cute picture of me and Daria... her smile and laugh were contagious, to say the least!!!



OK, if you missed the link above, here is its again... the rest of my 30 or so pictures are HERE!!

Oh, and if you'd like to read Emily's awesome account of the event, click HERE. She's a much better writer than I am, so you're in for a treat! :)

Can't wait for the next Girls Getaway!!!