Beach Mix

St. Pete Beach

Queen of the Castle

                                                         
                                               

Summer is officially here! The girls had their last day of school on Friday. The weather has been great and we are looking forward to some relaxing days at the beach. These are pictures of our "family sand castle" from last summer. I think we'll try to make an even bigger castle this time! Since St. Pete is an hour away, I made a "Driving to the Beach" mix cd to get us in the mood. Here is the playlist:


Stir the Water- Tyrone Wells and Braddigan
Windows Down- Ian Beert
To the Sea- Jack Johnson
Valeu Valeu- Braddigan
Dance With Me Baby- Ben Rector
And The Birds Sing- Tyrone Wells
Walk On- Braddigan featuring Josh Garrels
Into the Sun- She & Him
Happy as the Sun- Tyrone Wells
Hello Hurricane- Switchfoot
Rebellion (Lies)- Arcade Fire
Dropped- Phantom Planet
Young Blood- The Naked and Famous
On My Mind- Kalai
Decision- Josh Garrels
Sea Breeze- Tyrone Wells
Fist in the Ocean- Braddigan
Honey, Let Me Sing You a Song- Matt Hires
Everything Trying- Damien Jurado

Memorial Weekend Sale!

15% off my entire shop through Memorial Day! Enter MEMORIAL15 at checkout and thanks for stopping by! (Sale ends Monday, May 30, 2011)

Elenowen Part 2

So, so sad to see Elenowen leave NBC's The Voice last night. Me and my iPod have literally fallen in love with their debut album, Pulling Back the Veil. However, I have a feeling the duo is going to do just fine without The Voice. Pulling Back the Veil is once again back in the top ten going from #50 to #9 overnight on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart! Here is a sweet thank you from the couple:

In case you missed it- here is the battle (with Jared Blake). I think they are amazing and can't wait to hear what they will do next!

Blog Giveaway!

Today my jewelry is being featured with a giveaway on Sarah Tyau's fabulous blog, Welcome to the Good Life! The contest starts today and ends on Monday, May 23rd. Check out her blog for rules on how to enter.
As an added bonus you are all welcome to a special coupon code for 10% off my entire shop. Just type JAYNSARAH10 on your invoice when checking out! Thanks for stopping by!
(offer ends May 23, 2011)

Chuck Vs. the Cliffhanger

Image Credit: Chris Halston/NBC    

I was delighted when I heard the good news on Friday that my favorite television series, NBC's Chuck, has been renewed for a fifth season. The bad news? NBC also announced that this will be the final season for the lovable nerd/super spy hero. The network only ordered 13 new episodes and is changing the line up, moving Chuck from Monday to Friday at 8PM.  While I am very sad that it will be the final season, at least the writers will be able to close out the story knowing that and will no doubt end it in a absolutely fantastic, epic way. Most network shows never get a chance to to do that!

Tonight is the season finale! It is sure to be an emotional action-packed episode, since Chuck and Sarah's wedding is in jeopardy after she was attacked by Vivian Volkoff's deadly Norseman device. Chuck must enlist the help of the world's most evil and dangerous arms-dealer (Vivian's father) Alexi Volkoff (the great Timothy Dalton). Here is a sneak peek:

"Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger" airs on Monday, May 16, at 8:00pm ET/PT on NBC.

Kindle

I caved. I can't believe it. I got a Kindle. I have toyed with the idea ever since they came out, thinking how convenient it would be to simply download a book whenever I wanted. But then, I'd argue that I absolutely love going to the bookstore. It really is one of my favorite things to do. I also love the feel of a real book in my hand; I love the smell, I love the glossy covers, and I love turning the pages marked by the adorable bookmarks my youngest daughter makes. I also have a bit of techno-phobia, or maybe I should call it techno-rebellion (I still don't have a facebook). But, since everyone in my family loves to read as much as I do, we have mountains and mountains of books. Our bookshelves are completely full with our favorites and most recent reads. The rest are kept in bins piled up in the garage. The other day I was trying to find a book for my daughter and I went through every bin, finally finding it in the last one. I thought if I had a Kindle, I could have just looked it up in my files. How convenient! The thought of reducing my carbon footprint weighed in on my decision as well. I have a couple of friends who feel the same way about books, but now they absolutely love their Kindles. So, I hinted that I might be ready- after all Mother's Day was coming and the family wanted some gift ideas. So, my Mother's Day gift this year was a Kindle! I am excited to give it a try, but here it is 3 days later and I have not even touched it! What's up with that? Well, I actually did take it out of the box to charge it. I think I'm still torn; maybe I'm grieving my books and feeling a little guilty for going against my techno-rebellion. So, here I am putting it in writing- I will make it a point by the end of the day to purchase my first e-book. 

Any thoughts on e-readers vs. books?

Save the Whales

I love this Etsy Treasury by Studio Zen titled "We'll Have a Whale of a Time" and was honored that it featured my Save the Whales Necklace! There's so many cute items here, I just love the whale on the bicycle!

I was also excited to find out last week that one of my favorite shows, Whale Wars, will be back for it's 4th season on June 3rd.

I peeked at Studio Zen's other treasury list and found that she has quite a knack for curating Etsy finds and featuring them in unique theme-related spreads. Check out Studio Zen's other very creative treasuries here.