The more you praise and celebrate your life,
the more there is in life to celebrate.
(Oprah Winfrey)

Hello there happy friends. Today’s my 25th birthday and I can hardly believe it! This one feels significant, as if I’ve crossed an important threshold. A lot has happened since last March 29 and I’m excited to see what unfolds this year. I spent the last few days celebrating with a manipedi, hair appointment, solo shopping, and a fun night out with friends on Saturday. Sunday was relaxing and filled with love.

Today should be a wonderful workday, followed by dinner with my mister and quiet time at home. I’m planning some artist dates and journal writing sessions to help me set my intentions and inspiration for the year ahead. I wish to continue to nurture my dreams and live with intention. I wish to connect more with you, my inner artist and spiritual self. I wish to rock this year and make it the best one yet.

image credit: papaya art

Luck is believing you’re lucky.
(Tennessee Williams)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day my darling friends! This is just a quick note to remind you to hop on over to Kimberly Wilson’s blog Tranquility du Jour for my Signature Style Wednesday post. Today’s musings are all about being green, making your own luck and celebrating like the Irish!

I hope you have a fabulously green & completely lucky day. Thanks to for all the love and support in response to my post earlier this week. I appreciate our blog/tweet/webbie community more every day.

photo credit: saralagace via etsy

Sometimes you have to let go, to stake your claim.
Be still, to move forward. Give, to receive.
Cry, to feel the joy. Pretend, to make it real.
Fake it, before you make it.
And sometimes, oddly enough, you must first decide
to feel their love, to find it was there all along.
(Notes from the Universe)

Hello gorgeous souls. A reminder to those of you who are participating in my Good Karma Gift Swap, today is mail day! Please do your best to send all packages before the post office closes today.

Remember that your package should include 4 gifts—a treat that calms, something that comforts, a bit of celebration and a piece the promotes creativity. If you have any questions, send me an email or message on twitter.

I’ll be connecting with each of you this week via email to make sure everything goes smoothly. I’m so excited to see everyone’s blog posts about the good karma (and gifts) they receive. Thanks again for your participation. Happy swapping!

photo credit: moi – package from stephanie @ heart piercing life

Love is love.
All, everything that I understand,
I understand only because I love.
Everything is, everything exists,
only because I love.
(Leo Tolstoy)

Hello gorgeous friends. I want to wish you a fabulous Valentine’s Day. Take time out to nurture yourself and those you care about. Enjoy a restful nap, relax by the fire, read a book, soak in a hot bath. Smell the roses, nibble some chocolate.

Find peace in your heart and joy in your soul. Know that love is all around you and it always wins. Check out these last minute Valentines and consult this kissing checklist if you’re in need of some holiday help.

Thanks for sharing your love, support and sparkle with me. Happy Valentine’s Day!

photo credit: papaya! blog

The greatest gift you will ever learn
is just to love, and be loved in return.
(Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge)

Hello sweet souls. I hope you’re having a fantastic start to February! I simply adore this month. It’s full of chocolate, sparkles, hearts and joy—what’s not to like?

In an act of celebration, I am inviting you to join me in my first Good Karma Gift Swap.

If you heart snail mail and want to participate, please leave a comment below with a favorite way to pamper yourself.

This experience is all about sending love and getting love in return. It’s a chance to make a fellow blogger’s day. All you have to do is gather 4 unique gifts that will delight your swap buddy (nothing expensive, just pour your heart into it).

A few juicy details:

Be sure to include 4 gifts—a treat that calms, something that comforts, a bit of celebration and a piece the promotes creativity.

To participate, you must have a blog + need to be willing to ship internationally.

Registration ends Friday at midnight. Leave a comment below to join in on the fun.

Surveys will go out Saturday—please take a moment to respond over the weekend.

Swap buddy details will be emailed early next week.

With the help of your swap buddy’s survey answers, you will be able to send a completely custom and totally thoughtful Good Karma Gift Swap package.

Please mail parcels by Wednesday, February 17.

Open, enjoy and blog about your package when you receive it!

By leaving a comment below, you are agreeing to the details outlined above. If you have any questions or special requests, please send an email to hello AT kaileenelise DOT com.

Are you lovelies ready to start swapping? Let the good karma and snail mail love begin…

photo credit: williams-sonoma

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world,
I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport.
General opinion’s starting to make out that
we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that.
It seems to me that love is everywhere.
Often it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy,
but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters,
husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends.
When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know,
none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages
of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love.
If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find
that love actually is all around.
(Love Actually)

photo credit: 1 | 2 | 3 via weheartit

The joy of brightening other lives,
bearing each others’ burdens,
easing other’s loads and
supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts
becomes for us the magic of Christmas.
(WC Jones)

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope you are enjoying safe, uneventful travels. I’m writing this from the airport and am looking forward to being home with family for a few days.

Before I leave Raleigh, I wanted to make sure I thanked you for all the holiday wishes and kind words about my exciting news—I couldn’t do any of this without you.

It was my honor to host a small gift swap this holiday season. With the help of Chelsea and Carolyn, a group of creative and inspiring bloggers exchanged gifts of cheer, sparkle, sweets and warmth. Pictures from each swap are included below—the links will take you to their blog posts on the exchange.

Chelsea Bea from Pencil Skirts and Pearls ♥ Kaileen Elise

Chelsea got me the sweetest assortment of goodies—including delicious chai tea, a bright red personal-sized tea pot, a cozy cream scarf, a decadent lavender sachet, yummy homemade caramel popcorn and this gorgeous print. My favorite part of the gift were two notes Chelsea emailed along—one to read before opening and one to read after. It took all the willpower I had to not read the letters before my package arrived! I loved everything, in case you can’t tell. Thanks Chelsea!

Kaileen Elise ♥ Maryam from Pamplemouse

Maryam ♥ Carolyn from Hang On Little Tomato

Carolyn ♥ Kylie from The Ooh La La Life

Kylie ♥ Melita from Gussying Up the Tuttle

Melita ♥ Chelsea from Pencil Skirts and Pearls

My Pretty Pennies ♥ City Girl

photo credits: via weheartit | me | maryam | carolyn | kylie | melita | chelsea | mpp | city girl

The outdoor Christmas lights, green and red and gold and blue and twinkling,
remind me that most people are that way all year round—
kind, generous, friendly and with an occasional moment of ecstasy.
But Christmas is the only time they dare reveal themselves.
(Harlan Miller)

They say that when it rains, it pours—and it seems like life has been raining and pouring down on me this week. Strangely, I am both overwhelmed and overjoyed for this holiday season. A number of wonderful things have happened the last few days and a handful of tricky situations have bubbled up to the surface.

As with all challenging times, I am trying to find the calm within the storm.

I am looking forward to…

quiet time with family and cheerful exclamations of joy
the warmth of the sun on my skin and the chill of snow on my nose
reflections of this year’s accomplishments and contemplations of next year’s goals

It’s a busy time for all of us and I promise to catch up more soon. In the meantime, please know I am thinking of you and sending twinkling holiday thoughts your way.

photo credit: photoinsajd via weheartit

We do not remember days, we remember moments.
(Cesare Pavese)

photo credit: paper tissue | muffet | jayxxbe

When you get to the end of the rope, tie a knot and hang on.
(Franklin D Roosevelt)

I know I’m not the only person who has thrown her normal routines out the window since Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful holiday and the food turned out perfect, but a weekend spent knee-deep in stuffing really got me off track. Since then, I’ve been focused on Christmas gifts and wrapping materials in preparation for my weekend of holiday cheer (more details to come).

It’s fortunate you’re reading this from the comfort and safety of your own surroundings—instead of from the disastrous conditions of my apartment. There are clothes, presents and assorted craft projects strewn about these 720 square feet as if a hurricane blew through town last night.

Pressing the reset button is sometimes the best solution. If you’re living in a similar state of disaster, I welcome you to join me in reclaiming your sanity—clean, organize, go grocery shopping, cook, journal, read, breathe or bathe—do whatever it takes to grasp serenity this holiday season.

In the meantime, here’s some bits of bliss to distract you from the towels on your bathroom floor…

plan
beautiful 2010 calendar from papaya

smile
kind words from a friend

challenge
best of 2009—are you up for it?

eat
yummy oreo cookie cupcakes

greet
tips for holiday cards & invites

enjoy
36 really incredible illustrations

type
best free fonts of 2009

ponder
50 quotes to make you think

picture
gorgeous book photography

photo credit: ChromaticOrb on Flickr