Winner!

congrats to Sarah, the winner of the pretty swell 25% off hair-do giveaway!

(chosen via random number generator)

to schedule your appointment contact:

Jordan McKell

Amara Salon

870 N 980 W

Orem, UT 84057

801-226-2300

*If you didn't win, make an appointment and say that Claire sent you. I promise she'll treat you right :)

Thanks to Jordan! For offering her wonderful services to needy heads of hair like mine :) I really don't know what I'd do without her.

xo

claire

happy monday!

a very swell giveaway

You know when you find some great treasure and you kinda/sorta want to be selfish and keep it all to yourself? But then you start to feel guilty cause it's just too good not to share?!

yeah, I have one of those little gems for you today:

Jordan McKell has been a lifelong friend of mine. We grew up in the same neighborhood and our birthdays are just a day apart, so we'd always have a double party together (coolest parties on the block I might add!). Well she's got this special talent, nah, it's more like a GIFT. She does hair. And she does an amazing job! and {excuse me while I mini brag here} I've never had more compliments on my hair IN MY LIFE than from my last visit with her. When I ran out of the stack of her business cards and began writing her contact on napkins or books or movie tickets for complete strangers (true stories), I knew I had to share her with you blogging friends.

SHE IS THE BEST.

and guess what?

Jordan's offering 25% off one cut&style to one lucky reader!

to enter, leave a comment below! It's just that easy :)

(open to all Utah county residents, or anyone willing to travel to Orem Utah)

I'll randomly pick a winner on Monday .

can't wait?

call her NOW and schedule an appointment:

Jordan McKell

Amara Salon

870 N 980 W

Orem, UT 84057

801-226-2300

I trust her with my life, I trust her with my hair. and lets be honest, thats a scary thing to do! Finding the right stylist is sooo hard! A bad hair cut can ruin the way you feel about yourself. But a great one? A great haircut makes you feel like a rockstar. That's how I feel when I get my hair done by Jordan, I walk away with my head held a little higher and more confidence in my stride. Oh, and I can't help but catch my reflection in every shiny object around..... :)

anyway, good luck!

xoxo

claire

yes you can: A GIVEAWAY!

have you seen "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown?" or more importantly have you heard Kristin Chenoweth preform "My New Philosophy" {go watch it NOW}. I like philosophies, mottos, catch phrases what have you. I like them. I write them in my planner or on little sticky notes I put up on mirrors. I have weekly mottos, monthly mottos, minute mottos. I'm a list maker and note taker. Something about writing things down makes them more real to me. oh, and it has to be in pen (no digital/techy notes for me!) I need the satisfaction of physically crossing things off as I accomplish them. Is it no surprise that I LOVE the new year? I love a fresh start, a time to reflect on the ups and downs of the previous year, a time to make goals and pick new philosophies.

my motto for 2012?

It's simple, maybe even cheesy. But it's just the motto I need. Way too often I underestimate myself (and I don't think I'm alone). I (we) have lots to offer but fear and doubt somehow always get in the way. Well not this year! No, not 2012! This year I don't hesitate. This year, every idea is a good idea and every goal worth running wild for. I'm all kinds of excited for 2012! And I hope you are too! Which is why I wanted to share this GIVEAWAY with you:

It's a hand-bound notebook made by yours truly ;) It's part of a collection that I'll be selling in my shop (to be opened in 2012!!) It's cover is recycled card-stock and includes 30 blank pages, perfect for writing all your goals for 2012! And to top it off: an embroidered "YES YOU CAN" to remind you of just that, that you really can do and be anything you want. This is our year!!!

k enough with my graduation speech.

here's how to enter:

{must be a follower}

1 entry: leave a comment below of a goal you have for 2012

2 entries: share/link this giveaway on facebook & leave a comment saying so/link

3 entires: post this giveaway on your blog & share a link in the comments

thats a total of 6 possible entries! Or I suppose more if you have like a bazillion blogs or something.....

giveaway closes Friday, January 6th @ midnight. a winner will be randomly chosen and announced Saturday.

good luck & have a happy new year!

huzzah!

last night I finished my last final for summer semester!

the feeling is better than a birthday. seriously! It's like I'm a new person today. I probably slept all night with a smile on my face and I haven't been able to wipe it off since. It's funny how one big thing can make the rest of your life seem so...out of control. Now that school isn't on my mind, I just feel plain happy.

I have two official weeks of summer before the school routine starts up again (18 credits....eeek!) and you better believe I'm cramming in all the good stuff: picnics, parties (finally decently celebrating the Misters big day), swimming, a mini girls trip to Vegas, family, friends, hiking, camping, a wedding, photoshoots, sewing projects....... I might even get a tan! And I'll likely be throwing some pretty swell GIVEAWAYS into the mix so stay tuned!

heck, I'm feeling spontaneous.

lets have a giveaway RIGHT NOW!

{CLOSED}

here my very most recent litho print!

"lady-alike"

it's a limited edition print and that makes it extra cool right? right.

this pretty little thing would look lovely hanging in any YOUR home.

you want it?

comment on your absolute favorite thing about summer

*must be a follower

and I'll randomly pick a winner next Tuesday, the 16th.

wow......this blog gets a whole lot more fun when I'm not in school :)

*lighting/coloring is slightly off. thats what you get with a spontaneous giveaway though....

happy early Valentines Day! {and a WINNER!}

The man and I kicked off Valentines Day a little early with sushi last night!

we then fell asleep to "Magic Town"

{I love me some Jimmy Stewart}

{photos were taken. FINALLY. but then my computer decided to have a bad day. photos to come :)}

Congrats to Christine!

the lucky winner of the heart strings garland set!

(chosen via random number generator)

*Christine: email me your info quick so I can get these little dears in the mail and to you ASAP!

wishing you a happy weekend full of love!

xox

Kitty

GIVE AWAY! {valentines edition}

{CLOSED}

G I V E A W A Y!

I'm so excited to announce my 2nd giveaway!

{the first one was such a hoot, i've been looking for an excuse to do another!"}

and what better reason than

LOVE

with lover's day literally JUST AROUND THE CORNER

this give-away will no doubt tug your heart strings.

My wonderful mother {being the wonderfully talented lady she is} made these simply darling heart strings using pages from an old love story book. Each heart is cut out by hand and sewn together to make a garland.

You can hang them anywhere!

window

doorway

wall

etc.

And we'd like to give away a set to one of YOU!

set includes:

2 large heart strings

1 med. heart string

2 small heart strings

* a little valentine from us to you

Here's how to enter to win

this lovely heart-strings garland set

1. leave a comment for 1 entry

2. get another entry for being a follower! or become a new follower and get 1 entry! (please indicate in comment)

3. blog about this give-away on your blog and get 2 entries! (please link in comment)

The husband and I will randomly choose a winner early Saturday morning.

Xoxox

Kitty

RIP and a GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!

The Hubs and I are house sitting my Parents house for the weekend (see, I told you we were going pro!). Once again the assignment is fairly easy:

bring in the mail

turn on/out the lights

lock doors

feed fish

FEED FISH!

this one might be a problem on account of Brandon's and my gold fish dying just days ago. My mother and I were at Walmart, grocery shopping and looking at yarn (for fun projects to come) when we decided we wanted to buy some fish. 2 each. So we picked out the cutest pot-belly gold fish we could find. She named hers "Boys" and "Girls". We named ours "Jesse James" and "Robert Ford". Sadly our ours fit their names all too well and one killed the other while fixing a picture frame (one would only understand this if they knew the history of these two, read about it here). And then the other fish died for reasons unknown. probably old age. Turns out one of my mother's fish died before we even got to the house. So we only have one left and we are trying our hardest to keep him/her alive (how can you tell with goldfish?).

Anyway, to the giveaway!

To randomly pick who'd win the bouquet of newly sharpened pencils we had everyone's name (twice/3 times if you had more entries) and held them high above the fish bowl. Who's ever name landed in the fish bowl would be the winner!!

Congrats Jesslyn Ann! email me @ cathorley.gmail.com your mailing address so I can send you the bouquet of newly sharpened pencils (and then some...)!

And have a lovely Saturday!

xoxox

Kitty

P.S. I'm thinking giveaways are THE BEST. And so there will be more! The next one may involve hank and myself....

P.P.S. hank is my camera :)

Give-Away Update

So I've been working on this little give-away and thought I'd give you a sneak peak of how it's coming along!

So far it includes:

-10 newly sharpened pencils

-2 blue pens

-1 red pen

-yellow sticky note pad

-post it page tabs

-assorted paperclips

-orbit gum (for the first impressions)

-soft lips chapstick (for the chapped fall lips)

-3 of my mother's homemade caramels (for snacks to sneak during class)

-a penny for your thoughts (for thinking...hehe)

If you are interested in winning this little school starter kit go here!

(it's rare we thorley girls find ourselves in the same room, so I had to take a pic! Is it not sooo obvious we are related?! The chins, the cheeks, the thin upper lip! We bare it all proudly :)

give away!

Last night I lay awake in bed.

I was tired (always am these days) but I was waiting for a good idea, you see.

They always come to me in the middle of the night.

So I had to wait.

I was thinking of school.

I had this excited feeling growing inside of me.

Excited because this is likely to be the best school year EVER!

I'm almost done jumping though hoops (aka: GEs)

And finally get to take the classes I want!

My schedule consists of 3 art classes, a sewing class, and a religion class.

I'm a happy girl :)

My mom gave me a new box of crayons the other day.

She does this every year because she knows how much I like a crisp new crayon. It's the same way with all my school supplies.

NEW!

hah maybe it seems a bit silly but it's the "newness" of the school year that gets me all antsy with excitement!

New classes, new teachers, new challenges, new first impressions, new goals, new school clothes (maybe not this year...), new new new. I love it!

Kathleen Kelly (likely the best fictional character ever concocted) said it like this:

"Don't you just love...fall?

It makes me want to shop for back to school supplies.

I would send you a

bouquet of newly sharpened pencils

if I knew your name and address."

Thats when it hit me (my good idea that is). I'm going to do just that! Send one of you lovelies a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils along with some other essentials for school survival! This is my first ever give-away! And I'm all sorts of excited!

Here's how to enter to win a lovely bouquet of newly sharpened pencils and other such back to school essentials...

1. leave a comment for 1 entry

2. get another entry for being a follower! or become a new follower and get 1 entry! (please indicate in comment)

3. blog about this give-away on your blog and get 2 entries! (please link in comment)

The husband and I will randomly choose a winner on Saturday.

Won't this be fun?!!

Xoxox

Kitty