Did you know that my Friday loveliness is inspired by a much bigger and more glamorous bloggers? Have you seen The Glitter Guide? Every Friday they post five fun, often magical, things to try over the weekend. They always have gorgeous images and fabulous ideas. Check them out.

My Fridays offer you a Tri- to Try, 3 ideas/projects/thoughts that might inspire you to venture into something new or re-explore something old. And, I always love to throw in 3 (sometimes silly) reasons to celebrate over the weekend.

And, so, without further adieu...

Are you fully living out Lazy Day today? Yes, that's right, August 10th is officially Lazy Day. You have my permission to lie on the couch in your jammies. But get ready because Saturday is calling you to the ballpark to remember the historical day in 1929 when Babe Ruth became the first person to hit 500 home runs in his career. Take a crack at hitting it over the fences. Sunday is Middle Child's Day so don't forget that middle child (again) in your life. Make sure you let them sit between you and your significant other...embrace the middle.

                               

1. LIVE A GOOD STORY:

I was really inspired by this post, and a little in awe of the writing frankly, and I can't not pass it along to you. It came to me via Beth Rago, and it's kind of been in my head this week. Here's an appetizer of Jeff Goins writing. Make sure your order the main entree.

Good stories involve conflict, which is a nice word for pain. People don’t become heroes without sacrifice, and as creatures of comfort, this is the last thing we want to endure.

Surely, our stories don’t have to require suffering in order them to be good — do they? They do, indeed.

2. REWORK A BOOKSHELF:

I have had this post bookmarked for a while. It's just so smart, and I use it as a resource. Karen offers seven different ways to style your bookshelves. And they're all beautiful. I find it kind of amazing.

3. GIFT THE NEW TEACHER:

It's almost back-to-school time around here, and I'm deep into backpacks, supply lists, and clothing. I've also been thinking more and more about writing letters to all of my children's new teachers this year. I want to give them a head's up on what wonderful, wacky kiddos are headed their way. As a former teacher, I know that I would have loved knowing more about my students early in the year...before I uncovered, I mean discovered it all myself. I'm also thinking that one of these small, crafty presents might be a fun way to start off the school year right. I think the highlighter present is corny fun! Thanks, Tip Junkie!

Have a bright weekend, friends! We're headed on a little vacation to the big city next week, but I hope to still post some loveliness for you. More details here after the enjoyable summer weekend...

XOXO, MJ

PS. Those chunky beads will be making an apperance over at Laid Off Mom's next DIY date. Can't wait to show you!

                   

Sometimes great things just fall in your lap.

Sometimes they come in lovely, unexpected emails. Like this.

Miss Paige over at Approaching Joy has been so good to me throughout this whole blogging journey, and the goodness just keeps coming. Yep, it's just who she is. And she's got a rocking new URL so go follow that happy link and check out girlfriend!

And, thanks for coming back..because Paige is helping me and all my blogger buds out with a super easy, way for us to blog better...and get the credit and traffic we deserve from all this online goodness.

Here's the beauty herself...and don't forget to watch that Vlog down there where you get to hear her, too!!

I had the opportunity to attend the Word Camp Fayetteville conference recently and highly recommend any kind of tech conference to anyone interested in blogging.  The sense of community there was amazing. If you'd like, you could check out my "How to Rock a Conference" post.   

Okay, enough shameless self plugs.

A big issue discussed by the community at the conference was that of watermarking. Though we all love Pinterest and the awesomeness that it brings to our computer screens, there is always the matter of making sure the original creator/ author / photographer gets the credit. If I were to see a snazzy pinnable from MJ on Pinterest (which I often do) I would want to be able to click on the picture and visit her site.  Chances are I would then fall in love with MJ's writing style and fun personality and be a follower for life.

But what if that process didn't happen just like that.  What if I saw MJ's image on Pinterest, clicked on it and saw it on another blogger's page?  That blogger (who was really trying to do the right thing because she always heard to credit images where she found them) credited the image back to Pinterest, leaving me am back where I started and not having had a chance to fall in love with MJ. Bummer.

There are two things we can do to prevent such bummers: 

1. Always, always, always credit images back to their original source.  
   Saying something came from "Pinterest" just isn't good blogging business.
2. Watermarking.
   If the image the was originally pinned from MJ's sight had a watermark I could easily see that, Google "Pars Caeli", and, of course, fall in love with MJ.

The question is: What's an easy way to watermark my images? 

Check out my video and I will show you how!  Together we can help the world realize that they need to fall in love with our content!  (Also: Click "full screen" to see this video in the way it's supposed to be viewed.)

Isn't that easy?!?

Something that I didn't say in the video but is worth mentioning: The beauty of this is the ease for next time.  Once you have your brush made & saved, go into the brush options and click "Save Brushes".  By doing this, your watermark will come up every time you load Photoshop and from there all it takes is a click.

Last thing:  Don't be like me and watermark every third image.  By making this process easy I hope to personally get a more streamlined photo/image creation process with this always being my last step.

Try it out.  Let me know if it works or if you have any problems.  I'd love to help.

Thank you, Paige!!! I love the ease of a Photoshop brush with my logo. Look out for some crazy good watermarked images, my friends. I'm hoping to see yours, too!!

On this note of blogging better, I have been a very lucky girl this summer in meeting up with amazing blogger ladies like Amy and Melanie. I can't wait to tell you more about these visits in the upcoming weeks. Super affirming and inspirational!

XOXO, MJ

Hello, hello friends! Welcome to a wonderful week. So glad to have you here! How was the weekend for you? Did you get hit by a terrible thunderstorm like we did? Crazy hail and lightening, too. Thankfully all of our trees and home stayed fully in tact.

We hung around town and escorted our little ones to birthday parties, the zoo, and back-to-school shopping. Today's outfit is inspired by this weekend's happenings. It's easy, slouchy, and relaxed to take you through whatever casually comes your way, even a surprise afternoon nap.

The fab earrings: I love the natural, sculptural edge these earrings add. Bonus - they're from a great little Etsy shop, too!

Those shoes: A fun flat to take you through the zebras, emus, and kangaroos!

That fun skirt: Love the stripe and the bold contrast, and the kint and easy waist scream comfy.

This easy, everyday tank: It comes in every color under the sun, and I love green with a great black and white.

The everywhere backpack: I know it's because I'm in back-to-school mode, but a great grown-up backpack is a welcome solution to the carry-everything-for-me mom.

Are you in the mode for Fall shopping yet? I find myself scouring the new arrival pages for all my favorite stores.

Let's have a good week, friends. We deserve it, no?

XOXO, MJ

  

It's Friday, friends, and that means it's time to gear up or downshift for the weekend. I've got a tri- for you to try in your home, on your blog, and in your office.

Today, will you be dressing like friend to pretend your twins for the Twins Day Festival? No? Well, then make sure you grab a hot dog, pretzel, or whatever else suits your fancy to ring in the party for National Mustard Day on Saturday. Call your sister or spend the whole Sunday with her on the 5th because it's officially Sisters Day. We'll be celebrating sisters in a big way at our house on August 18th during our annual Sisters Day (more on that later).

                                 

1. MIX UP SOME PATTERNS:

Nicole over at Making It Lovely posted an awesome how-to guide on pattern layering. I love her mix of whimsy and classical design. It makes me want to try some new pillows or a new tray in my living room to create some more interesting vignettes.

2. MAKE SOME BLOGGY CHANGES FOR YOUR READERSHIP:

Victoria over at VMac and Cheese has a bundle of fabulous ideas. Did you catch her ideas to drive more traffic to your blog? Number 2 and number 3 have me thinking that maybe I should change some things up!

On a bloggy note, don't forget to join me and many, many other amazing bloggers tomorrow (Saturday, August 4) for Blog Brunch. It's an amazing hour over on Twitter, and we're talking about Growing a Readership.

3. POKE SOME CARDS:

Lexy of The Proper Pinwheel crafted some mighty cute pinhole cards that you and I could totally create this weekend and send to each other. All you need is some great colored cardstock, a scissors, tape, safety pin, (I've got all those!) and a mirrored image of the text or image you want to create.

We're hanging out at home and soaking up one of the last weekends of summer with birthday parties, back-to-school shopping, and good old-fashioned rest.

Have a bright weekend, friends!

XOXO, MJ