{5 Lovely Things on Monday}

 

What I'm Most Proud of Accomplishing Prior to the BIG 3-0

      As many of you probably recall I made a "30 Before 30" list last year...well I'm officially 30 now- it feels great btw. Here are the 5 loveliest things I'm most proud of accomplishing from that list!

{1} Visit New Zealand: tick!

(in NZ they say "tick it off your list" instead of "check")

     Since my dear friend, Sarah, returned to her homeland over four years ago I had wanted to visit NZ. Last fall I was at the gym stretching when I got a Travelzoo email alert that flights were on sale. Right then & there I knew I had to pull the trigger-- & what a great decision it was to do so.  It was fantastic to meet her growing family & explore the land of Kiwis land with my favorite travel buddy (aka: the boyfriend).

{2} Develop Sea of Lovely Branding

     Thanks to my artsy sister, Jenna, the Sea of Lovely logo was born.  And after much fine-tuning-- & cursing at WORD while formatting labels-- I developed a labeling process that I'm quite proud of.

{3} See My Family More Often

My sisters & I all live in different states while mom & pop are still in the Motherland 

(aka: MT). I cherish the fact that I was able to make Thanksgiving dinner for my parents- barring the minor turkey mishap- & spend Christmas under the same roof 

with the entire Lechner clan.

Turkey Day weekend

Christmas Day chaos at the cabin

Mom & Dad came for my Dirty 30!

{4} Give Only Handmade Gifts

While I didn't finish my plans for handmade 2011 Christmas gifts I can report significant strides since the turn of 2012.  Sea of Lovely gifts are out in full force!

Look Whoooooo's 1?
Baby Adele & her new "Owlivia" 

{5} Live 5 Minutes from Work

While going through some significant life changes in 2011 I also found my 

beloved vintage apartment. Very few things make me happier than being able to 

run home at lunch to say hi to my Willis :)