There’s nothing quite better than a day curled up on the couch with a warm pair of reading socks, a mug of coffee and a good book! I’m excited to bring you a giveaway today to win a few of my favorite things. Plus, several of my blogging friends are giving away some of THEIR favorite things! Check out all the great giveaways below!…

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Hi Friends!

(Stick with me please…I have a simple action item I need from you!)

I want to chat with you about something that’s been on my mind…

I miss you! I miss connecting with you in ways we used to in the comment section here on Dine & Dish. I miss sharing happy things with you regularly, and I miss providing something more valuable for you to open in your inbox. I want to offer you something in your inbox you look forward to, not a piece of email that you roll your eyes at because it’s “just another blog update email”.  I KNOW how full your inboxes are and how meaningful something of value can be to receive.

So, inspired by my dear friend Bree (who sends my favorite piece of email each week), I’ve decided to start a separate way to communicate with you through email. Taking the place of my Happiness Reports, I’d love to send you a little happy note each Friday to start your weekend. These notes will include carefully curated links of value to things that have made me happy, pretty pictures, small blog updates, and a chance for you and I to connect through email in a way we haven’t before. I want to ENCOURAGE you to hit reply and chat with me as well! We’ve been friends for a long time…I think it’s time we get to know each other a little better, don’t you?…

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The post The NEW Rock Your Happy Newsletter – Your Action Requested appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Christmas music is playing, my daughters have been busy in the kitchen making our favorite cutout Christmas cookies (recipe here…you’ve gotta make these) and I feel like I’m wrapped in a blanket of holiday bliss. It’s been a low key kind of Sunday, just what we’ve needed amidst the hustle of the last few weeks. I thought it’d be a great time to write a happiness report and share what’s been making me happy lately!

Last week on my daily “Coffee Talk” on Snapchat (I’d love to snap with you – I’m dineanddish there), I shared that I’d been taking an amino acid vitamin supplement for the past month and I truly believe it’s really, really working. So many of you snapped me back asking for more information! I’m not involved with Happy Calm Focused in any way… I have just been really pleased with the product and wanted to share.

Happy Calm Focused was my last resort before I headed to the doctor to see if I had ADD or something. For the past year I have felt so incredibly unfocused, tired and irritable. Overall, I felt like an absolute scatter brain and it was driving me crazy. I’m normally a very organized, on the ball person, but something was happening and I had changed. I felt like my brain was constantly going in a million different directions, I couldn’t focus or remember ANYTHING, and I was really tired, despite getting a good nights rest. Every day required an afternoon nap for me to get through the day. I assumed it was hormones, ADD or something, but wasn’t sure….

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The post The Happiness Report #38 (Happy Calm Focused Edition) appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Hi friends and happy summer to you! We’ve been out of school for a little over a week and have had some super fun days so far. The weather has been iffy on cooperating but we are squeezing out ever sunny moment we can and are taking full advantage of it!

Many of you have asked about our Summer Bucket List for 2015 and I think we’ve decided not to do one this year… unless we change our mind, we’re going to be crazy and navigate the summer without a list. Oh don’t worry… that doesn’t mean my kids will be sitting in front of the TV all summer. I have plenty of ideas for ways we’re going to have the best summer yet… I just am not adding them to a list. You can find our 2014 Summer Bucket List Here, our 2013 list here, and our 2012 list here. I hope you get some inspiration for a fun summer from those lists!…

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The post The Happiness Report #37 appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Hi friends! I hope you all are well and are ready to have a great weekend! The girls and I are headed to Oklahoma City for the weekend to hang out with my sister and to celebrate her youngest daughter turning 18. I may have cried on my nieces birthday… what does that mean I’ll be like when my own kids turn 18? I can answer that for you… a big, teary, mess!

Anyway, I thought it would be a great idea to start the weekend off with a little bit of happiness. How’s that sound? Great! Let’s do it!…

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The post The Happiness Report #36 appeared first on Dine and Dish.

I mentioned in a recent Happiness Report that after completing three Project 365’s I needed a year off. I took 2014 off from officially taking/sharing a photo a day but now I’m back and am so excited to do another Project 365!

Most people would share this post inviting you all to join me in my adventure way before the new year…so you could prepare and be ready for your first photo on January 1st. But this is a different type of Project 365. This is a Perfectly Imperfect, no rules, photo a day project! Here’s how it works…

1) You take a photo a day with whatever camera you want to use. I’m going to try to focus on using my Nikon DSLR most of the time as I’ve found when I pick up my “big girl” camera each day, my photography really starts to improve. Camera phones, point and shoots, DSLR’s, polaroids, etc…whatever you want to shoot with, it’s totally up to you!

2) You share your photos either through Instagram with the hashtag of #Imperfect365 and/or I’d really love for you to join our Flickr group of perfectly imperfect participants. For projects like this, I really love the community aspect of Flickr!

3) Give up perfection.  That’s the one and only rule of our #Imperfect365 photography project! What do I mean by that? Well, the hardest part of Project 365 is not giving into that “all or nothing” mentality. If it’s the end of the day and you realize you forgot to take a photo that day, who cares? Just start back up the next day! I can tell you that my kids LOVE my Project 365 photos more than just about anything I do, because it’s a really neat way to look back at the year. They are one of my favorite things too. Who cares if you miss a day or two or five? Let go of perfection and just pick up where ever you left off. Don’t give up simply because you missed a step…that’s silly!

4) This project is open to anyone who just wants to capture moments throughout 365 days. Bloggers and non-bloggers are encouraged to join! Also, you don’t have to be a pro at photography to join! All skill levels are welcome. I’d love to see this community thrive as the most perfectly imperfect group of 365’rs out there! PS – join at anytime! Today, next week, next month…whenever works for you! Also, if you join and share photos, take a few minutes to comment and like other participants photos. That’s one of the best parts of a Project 365…the encouragement from others and connecting through photography!

Will you accept the challenge to capture and share moments throughout the year? I hope so!

Take the plunge and join the free Flickr group today!

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The post Join Us #Imperfect365 Photography Project appeared first on Dine and Dish.

2014 is through. It’s so hard to believe, isn’t it? I don’t think I’ve ever remembered a year going by quicker than this one.

This past January, I  learned from my friend Pam about the importance of giving yourself a performance review at the end of each month. This is a time of reflection and enrichment… a time to give extra thanks for all the blessings and reflect on things that made us stronger.  I’m going to be sharing my monthly “performance reviews” going forward here on the blog, but I thought it would be a great way to wrap up 2014 on Dine & Dish as well. Inspired by this post on the Victoria McGinley blog, I’ve decided to share my 2014 year in review in a similar format as Victoria. I hope you’ll reflect along with me!

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The post 2014 Year in Review – A Month by Month Look Back appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Hi Friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful week recuperating from all the pie and turkey eating last week.

We had an amazing Thanksgiving with my brother and his family…but I ate way too much pie. And turkey. And broccoli cheese casserole. Good stuff!

We played lots of games (Monopoly and Chicken Foot!), and my sister-in-law helped me sew my Kindness Elf. I think she turned out to be such a cutie, don’t you? Of course, now I have the sewing felt stuffed things bug and came home and bought about 10 more patterns from this adorable Etsy store! Apparently my plan is to sew the month away. Sounds good to me!

Shall we talk about what else is making me happy lately?

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