Must Raves!

Some things from my week that I loved so much I had to rave about them:

1. The new line of bags we're selling exclusively from a local designer who has become extremely popular in recent months. We met Alicia of A. Girl bags at the Latah Creek Fair and hit it off. She liked what we were doing so much she decided that instead of opening her own website, which was her plan, she would retail through us. And, even better, she's designing a diaper bag to go with her regular line that will include a changing pad and small mama clutch! She uses the Amy Butler fabrics for everything she does, and she's absolutely brilliant!

2. My new cleaning products! Tired of the smell of vinegar while I was cleaning, but unwilling to go back to chemical laden store varieties, I invested into the cleaning products of a local company (also at the fair), Maid Naturally. All natural ingredients that clean just as well, at the same price, but smell so good you almost want to eat them! Even better is that they are marketed as a "spa treatment" for your home, and named as such! My favorite is the Aromatherapy Cleanser (an all purpose cleaner) in Clary Sage and Vanilla, followed closely by their Mint Glass Toner (for glass and mirrors) and Massage Oil (for stainless steel, leather, and wood) in Lavender and Vanilla. My home has never smelled so sweet! I went from charmed to completely sold when their Citrus Home Exfoliator took off the burn rings on my glass stove top that even the famed magic erasers had left behind. Warning: I threw away my mop because it smells so good I intend to hand wash my floors from now on. Yes, it's that good.

3. The harvest coming in from our garden. Many peas and beans, bags of zucchini, and several carrots, like this little guy, are making their way from the dirt into the sweet little hands and mouths of Sharkbait and the Bean, who have a whole new outlook on where the food they eat is coming from.

4. Ravelry! It's a knit community online that, right now at least, must be joined by invitation. I signed up ages ago and forgot about it, then meandered over a few weeks ago to check what was taking so long and found out my invitation was sent months ago and went to my junk folder. Oh the lost months! Well, I'm on now and making up for lost time! It's so amazing to find people who share my obsession with their needles!

5. My husband. He watched our kids both days last weekend while mommy worked, cleaned up numerous times (including a heaping sink of dishes that I was dreading touching), and even cooked his yummy friend rice for dinner once! Even better, he stood up to his family in a matter that has been tearing us all apart lately and pretty much singlehandly, through a great deal of pain and negativity, brought his family back together again to face their problems together anew. I've never been prouder than I was watching the man, who still seems so much a boy to me, face the accusations and anger of his entire family calmly and without excuse, and come out on top with a new respect from them...and me.