We Have a Winner!

Congrats, Leslie from Pink Tulips! You've won the calendar and notepad from Rifle Paper Co. and the set of vintage stamps from the A Girl in the World Etsy shop.

I selected the winner via Random.org, which generated number 19.

Thanks to my followers that have been around for some time, and welcome to everyone who's new! It's been a fun giveaway! Let's do it again sometime, ok?

Reminder: Last Day of Giveaway!

Images found via Rifle Paper Co.

Don't forget to enter my Rifle Paper Co giveaway! It ends tomorrow evening, January 4. Go to the post right here to enter. Good luck, everybody!

Resolutions for 2012

I feel like I should start this post with a recap of my 2011 resolutions. You can see that post here. Here's a brief summary of how I did:

1. Read more books. I suceeded quite well with this one. It feels good to have recaptured one of my favorite personal activities. And I also discovered one of my new favorite authors this year. Ann Patchett. I'd recommend any of her books, and also her new bookstore that she's opened here in Nashville.
2. Paint more. I painted a handful of things, but I'd say that in general I wasn't successful. Maybe this year...
3. Take a really great trip. Didn't work out. :)
4. Develop and expand my blog. I'm counting this as a success since I have lots of new followers and also because after two years I still love doing it.
5. Buy a house. This was the most important item on my list, and we did it!! Kane and I love our new home and have already made so many great memories in it.  

Well, 3 out of 5 ain't bad! I'm going to call our first full year back in Tennessee a success. Now for my 2012 resolutions:

Image found via We Heart It.

Make a career change. Don't get me wrong, I love being an interior designer. I just need to approach it from a different angle. I've got something in the works that I'll keep you all posted about!

Image found via We Heart It.

Improve my health. Leaving New York meant better mental health for me, but it's also lead to a more sedentary lifestyle. I need to work on staying more active this year, and finding a routine I can stick with.

Image found via We Heart It.

Take a great trip. This is a repeat from last year. We didn't accomplish it because, well, we bought a house! But I've got a good feeling about this year. We'll have been married for 5 years this fall, and it seems like the right time to get away.

Image found via We Heart It.

Make as many improvements on our new house as possible. This one is self-explanatory. We love the house, but it needs a lot of love!

Image found via We Heart It.
Expand my blog and Etsy shop. This is also a repeat from my 2011 list. I still enjoy blogging after two years, so I'm going to continue giving it my best. My new Etsy shop, also called A Girl in the World, will hopefully become an outlet for all the creative little crafty projects I always want to try. It's an experiment. We'll see how it goes!

This turned into a really long post, but it feels good to put goals in writing. I want to hear what all of your goals are for 2012! Big and small. Be sure to leave a comment letting me know!

New to the Etsy Shop

I've added two fun new items to the A Girl in the World Etsy shop! You can check them out here and here.

Don't forget that I still have an awesome Rifle Paper Co. giveaway going on until January 4! See the details right here.

Happy New Year!

I hope you all celebrated New Years Eve in style, with your family and friends close by! We celebrated with friends at the Opryland Hotel here in Nashville. It was beautiful all lit up for the holidays. A perfect night. I think we may have started another new holiday tradition!

Here's to a happy and healthy 2012!

100 Follower Givaway!

To celebrate reaching the 100 follower milestone, I'm hosting a givaway! Thank you so much for all of your dedicated support and sweet comments! This giveaway is a good one (I'm tempted to keep these goodies for myself!) One lucky winner will get a Rifle Paper Co. 2012 Fruit calendar, a Rifle Paper Co. Floral Wreath notepad and a set of unused vintage postage stamps to mail four letters from the A Girl in the World Etsy shop.

See below for the giveaway guidelines. Good luck!

 Image from Rifle Paper Co.

 Image from Rifle Paper Co.

Image from A Girl in the World.

Giveaway Guidelines:

- You have 7 days to enter. Winner will be announced on Wed Jan 4, 2012.

- Make 1 comment on this post to enter.

- You must be a follower of A Girl in the World to be eligible, so if you're not a follower yet be sure to sign up!

- Annonymous comments will not be considered. I have to know who you are!

- The winner will be chosen via Random.org and announced on Wed Jan 4.

Haven Conference?

Ok, I need some information. Have any of you other bloggers been to the Haven Conference in Atlanta, or know anyone who has been? It's coming up in June 2012, and I'm trying to decide if I should attend. John and Sherry from Young House Love are the keynote speakers, and I'd love to hear their talk...any insight?  

Hope your Christmas was the Best!

I hope that you all had a beautiful Christmas, filled with family, friends, love and laughter. Kane and I were very grateful to host our family in our new home this year!

Merry Christmas Cards!

Thanks for all of the awesome Christmas cards everybody! They're one of my favorite parts of the holidays. I have a lot of friends and family that are easy on the eyes! 

McAlpine Booth & Ferrier Christmas Decorations

Are you all ready for Christmas? My house isn't fully decorated yet, but I did have the honor of installing Christmas decorations for a great Nashville McAlpine Booth & Ferrier client. You can check out the full album on MBF's facebook page. What do you think of the blue, silver and gold color scheme?

Glitter!

I am unbelievably excited about all of my new glitter. It was a total impulse buy because it was on sale, but I don't regret it at all! I think I have enough to last me for the rest of my life. Now, any suggestions of what I should do with it?

Success!

I am 99% finished addressing our Christmas cards. Thank goodness! Job well done. Those of you whose addresses I still need...you know who you are. :)

Parnassus Books

Image found here.
Nashville has a bookstore other than Barnes & Noble and I'm so excited about it! Author Ann Patchett has opened up an independant shop called Parnassus Books. I visited for the first time about a week ago and haven't been able to stay away!

If you're in the Nashville area be sure to stop in and support this new small business, since great locally owned bookstores are so hard to find!

Architectural Digest AD100

I have to brag today! McAlpine Tankersley (the sister architecture company of McAlpine Booth & Ferrier) is on Architectural Digest's Top 100 list! And McAlpine Booth & Ferrier got a shout out as well! Check it out online here, or in the newest issue of AD.

Stocking Stuffers in the Etsy Shop!

I've posted some great new vintage stamps in the A Girl in the World Etsy shop! Some of them are as inexpensive as $4.10 and would make great stocking stuffers for people who love beautiful paper goods. They can also be fantastic paired with a beautiful set of notecards or return address labels!

Now if only I could get my own holiday shopping started...