Cookie Mondays...

Lisa Leonard necklace winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:01:00 +0000

YAY!
If you are this awesome person...
{randomly picked comment #21}
you have an amazing piece of jewelry headed your way!!!
***
Thanks for playing along, everyone.

And a big thanks again to Lisa Leonard!

{celebrate banner cake topper}

Lisa Leonard giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 05:47:00 +0000

Lisa Leonard.
You know her. You love her.

Her {hello monday} blog series is my fave.

I have been swooning over the amazingness that are her creations for years.

I mean, YES PLEASE to all of the following (and SO many more):

{celebrate cake topper}

{gold bunting necklace}

{through my lens necklace}

***

I am so thrilled to finally own my very first piece!
The 'love has found me' charm was the February edition of Lisa's new build a charm bracelet.

{2013 build a charm bracelet}

I was dying to have it on a necklace!

Lisa is so kindly giving away another 'love has found' me, hand-stamped fine pewter charm, along with a cute little 18" sterling silver-filled link chain.

Eeeek!!

***

Each of the following six options earns a giveaway entry:
{Post a separate comment for each, please.}

>>Browse Lisa Leonard online and tell me which is your very fave and WHY! Good luck choosing.
>>Follow along with Lisa Leonard Designs on FACEBOOK.
>>Follow along with me on FACEBOOK.
>>Follow along with Lisa on INSTAGRAM: @lisaleonard
>>Follow along with Lisa's amazing twin sister on INSTAGRAM: @chrissierouse
>>Follow along with me on INSTAGRAM: @heathermattos

Comments will close Saturday at midnight.
{daylight savings... tricky!}

I'll announce the super lucky winner Sunday morning.

After recovering from losing an hour.

***

YAY! Let's give away a necklace!

SHRED by CM handmade

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 05:35:00 +0000

I'm super happy to introduce a brand new boy-inspired banner line! SHRED is my new addition to the Etsy world... You might say RAD is the new YAY.
Come check us out, and spread the word, pretty please!

Ellie {three months.}

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Christmas blessings.

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 05:46:00 +0000

fall photo practice: capturing some of my favorite people

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 05:43:00 +0000

Ellie {two months.}

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 06:58:00 +0000

Thankful.

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 06:40:00 +0000

Ellie {one month.}

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 05:47:00 +0000

Eloise Grace Mattos

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:02:00 +0000

It's a GIRL! | {Ellie} | October 1, 2012 | 9:44 am | 7 pounds, 15 ounces | 19.5 inches

Happy Birthday Stella!

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 23:40:00 +0000

A few fun shots of Stelly Belly for her FIRST BIRTHDAY invitations!

{And a great excuse to finally whip up a cute little rosette cake.}
Where did the year go?!

Awaiting Baby Mattos: a Couples Brunch

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Yay! Amanda & Bobby's vintage-inspired baby shower brunch has been featured on On To Baby!
This is one of my favorite ever parties I've planned & styled, featuring beautiful rentals from Milk Glass.
Such a great, simple & happy celebration for Baby M and the soon-to-be Parents!
{Custom invites by Life Made Lovely.}

If You Give a Boy a Party...

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 06:12:00 +0000

My baby boy is TWO!

We celebrated with his favorite book,

favorite friends,

and of course his favorite treats!

A cookies & milk party with a mouse-y twist.

The invites. Washi taped & Bakery twine tied to books, and sent off to his buddies!

{Lillian of Simplicity Papers is AMAZING! So glad we found each other!}

If you give a mouse a cookie...

He's going to ask for a glass of milk!

Picture drawing.

Adopt-a-Mouse!

{Cutest ever mini paper bags: Kawaii Goodies}

In the cookies of life,

friends are the

chocolate chips!
{Favor tags also by Simplicity Papers.}

Happy birthday, Buddy!

{Thanks so much to my friend PJ of Milk Glass Vintage Rentals...

I can always find a few (or many) things I absolutely NEED to complete my party!

This time, it was the awesome milk crate, little creamer bottles, old milk bottles, white milk bucket, and awesome blue metal ladder. You rock, PJ!}

fun news!

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 04:17:00 +0000

I'm super excited to be featured in Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine this month! YAY banners will be on special at $12 for the entire month of August! Thanks so much, you guys, for all the love & support! My poor blog has suffered because of my little shop, but it has been so worth it.

sorry, june!

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 05:21:00 +0000

Wow. Never in the four-year history of Cookie Mondays have I let an ENTIRE MONTH go by without saying hello. I feel so lame and so guilty about blogging. Summer is supposed to be lazy and I feel busier than ever. I wish the ol' blog wasn't so low on the endless priority list.

But it's all my fault. This is a great article. My busyness is completely self-imposed, but it's how I thrive. How about you? I have over 40 banners to finish in the next two weeks, and we're off to family summer vacay number two this weekend! Plus parties. You KNOW there are always multiple future parties dancing around in my brain.

All four 'C's and Mr. CM are fabulous. I promise (I think) to be back before we see AUGUST. Visit me here if you'd like! I miss you, and hope we can still be friends.

Lemon Dill Orzo Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:31:00 +0000

One of many, many, many reasons Summer is my favorite is the PASTA SALAD. Endless combinations; throw together your favorite things with some yummy dressing, and call it dinner. Several nights a week.

Pasta salad also happens to make perfect boat food, served in paper cups... which we confirmed last weekend during an annual lake trip, celebrating a couple of our favorite people. I pretty much made this recipe up as I threw it together on Friday night. So by all means, every component should be adjusted to taste! Lemon, dill, and cucumber are a natural combo. A couple of the ingredients are exclusive to Trader Joe's, but easily replaced.

It's simple and tasty.

To one pound of cooked orzo, mix in the following...

one English cucumber, diced
a generous handful of dill, chopped
four ounces dill Havarti (Trader Joe's)
one bag rosemary Marcona almonds (Trader Joe's- SO good)

For the dressing, whisk together the following:

juice of two lemons
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
one garlic clove, minced
one teaspoon Dijon mustard
a generous squirt of honey 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
(A very basic vinaigrette perfect for most any salad.)

Stir the dressing into the orzo mixture. It only gets better if it sits in the fridge a day or two! And just because I love fruit in my salad, I figured throwing in a few handfuls of strawberries wouldn't hurt a bit.

Here's to the upcoming weeks and weeks of refreshing pasta salads! Yay, Summer!

Come on in!

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:54:00 +0000

Check out the rest of the tour at Life Made Lovely!

hello, 911...

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:12:00 +0000

oh, i have blog?! hmmm... must've slipped my mind.
or maybe it's just that this is one of the busiest seasons of my life!
blogging just seems to be one of those things i can't keep up with these days.
but i am super excited to be participating in heather hamilton's home made lovely series tomorrow!
do you want a peek into my crazy home?

what kind of crazy you ask?

well, for example...

when you pick up my house phone (which i my case is just my phone because i am anti-cell phone), the previous number dialed is displayed... just in case you want to do a quick re-dial.

so when i called my mom to inform her that her grandson almost gave me a heart attack... it was a clear reminder of how scary the previous moments were. Because it was a total blur when I dialed 911 on Sunday when WE COULDN'T FIND COLE ANYWHERE! The scariest moments of my life led up to Chloe finding him hiding in a corner of the garage while Kevin was frantically searching the neighborhood on his bike, Chayse was double-checking his usual hiding spots, Camden was hysterically asking over and over if he had been "squished by a car", and I was just running around like a crazy person before eventually calling the police.

that boy is a STINKER! which totally supports my no time to blog sob story.

like i said, it's crazy over here.

smoothies & choo-choos, and a little confusion!

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:56:00 +0000

Well, I was gonna write about how SPROUT oatmeal with roasted cinnamon applesauce baby food makes a scrumptious addition to your morning smoothie. Seriously so good.

But being the super awesome blogger that I am, finally logged in to blogger after a couple weeks to find all this new totally foreign craziness?!

What is up with this new format that has been forced upon us? Who loves it? Any tricks or tips? I'm so confused...

Cole and Thomas say, HELP US OUT!

dusk.

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:53:00 +0000

ISO 200 f/2.8 1/640 (all photos taken using a Nikon 50mm 1:1.4D lens)

Just before Easter- the part of Spring Break that shockingly didn't include ugly gray skies and rain- I took the opportunity for a little photo practice with a Spring cousins shoot... aka the perfect grandparents' Easter gift. Have you tried PicMonkey? A non-photoshopper like me sure does appreciate such an awesome free photo-editing site. Especially in light of Picnik's upcoming FINAL week! Currently, I'm just slightly obsessed with the delightful 'dusk' filter in PicMonkey's effects section.
ISO 200 f/2.8 1/400
ISO 200 f/3.5 1/800
ISO 200 f/2.8 1/640
ISO 200 f/2.8 1/500
ISO 200 f/2.8 1/400

ten on ten: spring break edition

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:39:00 +0000

ten on ten: Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month.
Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments!

Late last night we arrived home from our annual beach house trip.
Would you like to see ten photos of sandy laundry today? Cause that what my day looks like.
Yeah, me neither.
Maybe if I post ten beach photos instead, I can pretend we're still there...

{san diego}
{seven}
{saturday sale}
{squirt}
{sunny shoulders}
{sunday surprises}
{sandy smile}
{sweet sunset shoot}

All Tangled Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:37:00 +0000

After an unseasonably dry & warm start to our year, the rain & wind rolled in to the bay area, just in time for Camden's birthday week. Of course this being the first year we were going to attempt her party outdoors- at the park, original plans for her Tangled-inspired party suddenly moved to Plan B (postponement) then to Plan C (venue change).

I'm not ashamed to admit that I have gradually made it a priority to plan events according to ideal lighting conditions for photography purposes! I think preserving the happy memories and hard work that goes into parties is important! Plus, Camden had this whole plan to transform the park's play structure into Rapunzels's tower. Yes, she's quickly becoming party planning-obsessed, and I have no idea where she gets this horrible curse.

So minus the DIY tower and wonderful outdoor lighting (my house desperately lacks natural light), we were still determined to pull off the BEST DAY EVER... and, WHOO-HOOOOO, we did!

***

Camden's turning five,
so let's get together...
Come let down your hair
for the BEST DAY EVER!

Of course, Pinterest proved to be a great source of inspiration for this party, with lots of ideas I was able to adapt to create my own! I found several versions of ice cream cone cupcake towers, paint favors, Flynn Rider game, skillets as serveware, and I specifically loved the yellow ribboned crowns via Tiny Tutu Boutique and the Tangled up game from The Metzgars blog. Thanks, Pinterest!

YAY for WATER!

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:12:00 +0000

Today is World Water Day!

Everyone in the world should have access to clean water! I have become passionate about clean drinking water over the past few years, since the launch of Project 320 in 2009. Just last month the girls and I received word that four P320-funded projects have recently been completed via Charity: Water and thanks to YOUR donations- like this hand dug well in Minchi Village, Ethiopia- serving hundreds of people. Amazing and encouraging!

The Adventure Project is awesome!

Meg Duerksen of Whatever is also passionate about clean water. Today she is joining forces with fellow bloggers to feature The Adventure Project, in an effort to support the well mechanics that are desperately needed to keep those new wells working. And she's got some major incentive for those who have the heart to help raise money by donating today. A box of Craft Weekend swag is up for grabs, including my very own YAY burlap bunting! Meg has all the details here.

YAY for clean water! Go give!

Thank YOU!

OH BABY!

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:41:00 +0000

At Tegan's shower in January, we didn't quite know yet that I was the only non-preggo in this photo! Tegan was about 8 months along, Mel about 2 months, and my S-I-L Amanda... well we'd soon realize that she had conceived about a week prior in Jamaica (they were on their belated honeymoon, after all!). YAY for THREE 2012 new additions via three of my favorite girls!

Marlee Kate arrived last month! I can't wait to squeeze her!

Mel finally revealed the new equation this week, now that she's half way done!

And nearly through trimester #1 of pregnancy #1, Amanda & Bobby just announced it to the world, as well. In September I'll be an Auntie again!

It's Spring, the sun is shining, and there is so much to look forward to this year! Including a serious baby fix, minus the morning sickness and sleepless nights. (Oh wait, my nights are still sleepless.)

And what a perfect time to be practice my latest obession- shooting in manual. (Can someone please teach me Photoshop? Thanks.) Here are just a few more I've taken of Amanda over the past weeks... many, many, many more can be expected!

ten on ten: march

noreply@blogger.com (Heather | Cookie Mondays) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 07:13:00 +0000

ten on ten: Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month.
Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments!