Muchas Gracias!

So, for those of you who have been waiting on the edge of your seats...

...I did not forget about that contest I had mentioned in celebration of 5000 pageviews on "The Good".  Just so happened that we reached that 5000 mark around the same time that I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl!

(Drumroll Please..........)

For those of you who have "liked" our Facebook page ( http://www.facebook.com/thegood2012 ), you will be entered for a chance to win a $20 gift certificate to your choice of our two home-based businesses here at The Good:

1) Just Duckie Personalized Blankies (www.justduckieblankies.blogspot.com)
2) Goodies Sweet Eats (www.goodiesbakery.blogspot.com)

If you have not liked our page yet, head on over and do so!  Deadline for the contest will be Sunday, November 11.  Winner will be chosen at random and announced on the blog.  Thank you ALL for your continued support and readership!  I feel so blessed and so happy to play a part in helping you look for the good in your lives!


*Side-note:  As of today, we have almost 8000 pageviews here at The Good. Wow!

Surprise in a Blanket: Part 2

As promised, there is a part two to this post! If you didn't read the first part, go to Surprise in a Blanket.  To re-cap the story, I made one baby blanket with our baby girl's name on it, but since her name was a secret until she was born, I had to hide the name on the blanket while my aunt Jeannie sewed it up!
Fast forward about 4 weeks...the blankie was wrapped up tight with ribbon and waiting in my hospital bag.  I had told Jean that she could open it as soon as the baby arrived, and she was so excited to see the name!  Little did she know, she would be even more excited after she opened it and saw the surprise!

It just so happens that baby girl is named after my aunt Jean!  So, when Nora was born and we told my mom her name, she said "we have to get Jean in here now and show her that blanket!".  So that's what we did! Jean came running in the room, grabbed the baby, and unwrapped the blanket.  And Matt caught the perfect moment on camera...Jean was shocked!  She just kept saying, "you named her after me?? After me??"



For someone who loves surprises, this one was one of the best I have experienced.  And the fact that Jean was the one who had sewed the blanket made it even more perfect.  We knew that she would be excited, but I didn't know it would be like this!  While we plan to just call her Nora, I know one person who will always be referring to her as Nora Jean.  And that's alright with me.

Is It REALLY The Thought That Counts?

We've talked a lot on our journey to "the good" about gift-giving. Gift-wrapping ideas, party ideas, the importance of friendship in our lives...and now, since it's Bargain Thursday, why not find some ways to give your gifts that extra special, personalized touch without breaking your bank or emptying your wallet?



Wouldn't this be cute to give a friend before they set out on a road trip?!

I recently came across a blog called "Thirty Handmade Days", and it inspired me to do this post.  The writer of the blog actually started it with thirty projects in mind (hence the name) to share with her readers.  She has now been working on the blog for three years!  Obviously that's a lot more than thirty projects!  It's been so inspiring to look at all of her ideas...I've only been looking through them for a couple days, and I can see that I will be spending quite a few more days on her site!

Anyhow, my point is this...let's try to remember that gifts truly are about the thought.  This is a hard concept in today's world, considering everything seems to be about monetary value--who brought the biggest gift, who brought the name-brand gift, etc.  Let's try to break that mold!  And the word "handmade" seems to have gotten a bad rap lately, and there's no reason for that, either!  Especially if you read my post the other day about Just Duckie Blankies (www.justduckieblankies.blogspot.com), you could see that handmade (and personalized) gifts are not only very special to receive, but in the end can many times be more affordable than the gifts you may find at your local mall or specialty store.  So, why not try more handmade gifts?



I love these "on the hour gifts" (works for any ocassion!)

I think if you check out this blog, you will be inspired as well.  She gives some great gift-giving project ideas, and not only are they simple enough for us to understand, but it appears that they are fairly affordable to accomplish as well.  What more could we ask for?

So I'm challenging you to make at least one handmade gift this summer...just give it a try, what harm could it do? Look through her ideas, and keep following us on "The Good" for more thoughts on bargain-priced gift-giving. I know this is a touchy subject (no one wants to be known as the friend who gives the "cheap gift"), but we want to find a healthy balance between "cheap" and "meaningful".  And to remember that it really is the thought that counts.  When my friends and family give me handmade, personalized gifts, I really do feel even more special receiving them--knowing that my loved ones have put so much thought, and time, into my gift means more to me than how much they swiped on their credit card at Target. It really does.

Happy project-making!

Surprise in a Blanket.

All tied-up and ready for baby girl to arrive :)

As many of you know, my aunt Jeannie and I have a baby blanket business called “Just Duckie” (www.justduckieblankies.blogspot.com) (If you missed Friday’s post about the blankies, go back and look at it!)  We have been making blankies together for about 3 years now. When we started, I had just become a mommy to my son, Sam.  Three years later, I’m almost due with my third baby!  Throughout our time working on the blankies, I think that our products have gotten cuter and cuter each time.  My main job is design—I pick out the fabrics, I match up the blankies with the burp cloths, I find the embroidery and applique images online, and I put the final baskets/bags together.  But Jean is the key…she’s the one who can actually sew!  And she has an amazing embroidery machine (our second one since we started Just Duckie) that makes the most adorable things for our babies!

Anyhow, long story short…I’ve obviously been busy making blankies lately, since my baby girl is due in August and all I had were blue and green boy blankies in my closet.  But, the best thing about our blankies is that they are personalized (with names, birthdates, etc.).  And since I’m not skilled at the embroidery machine, I have to rely on Jean for that part.  But here’s the catch…my husband and I are keeping the baby’s name a secret!  So we hatched a plan…

Jean taught me the basics of the new machine, and then left me in the room with the door shut while I typed in the baby’s name and let the machine do the work.  We crossed our fingers that the thread wouldn’t break while the machine was working, because threading is my downfall, and then she would see the name!  Luckily, no thread breakage.  I was so happy that it worked!  And, although we have known our baby girl’s name for about 8 years now (no joke!), we just recently decided on her middle name, so as I looked at the blanket, it was like her name was now officially her name.  And since I’m now 7 months pregnant and very emotional, I almost cried when I saw it!

Fabric hiding the name! No peeking!

Then it was time to sew the embroidered piece to the other side of the blanket.  Now, this is something I am capable of, but it turns out much better when Jean does it.  So, I grabbed a scrap of fabric from the drawer and pinned it all around where her name is on the blanket, and got it all ready for Jean to sew.  She came in, sewed it up (without peeking!), and gave it to me.  Hence the name of today’s post:  “surprise in a blanket”.  Needless to say, this blanket now has to be hidden extremely well.  The entire family was searching for it in my things last night, and they are dying to know her name!

My due date is 7 weeks away, and the excitement is building all around. I am so glad to have a blanket with her name on it, all ready to go to the hospital with me when the time comes.  And I’m even more excited for everyone to finally see the blanket and what name appears on it!  I plan to let aunt Jeannie do the honors and open the blanket on the day that baby girl decides to arrive.  After all, she is my partner in “Just Duckie” crime, and she chose not to peek when she easily could have!

So…this post will actually have two parts.  We don’t know when the second part will be, but when baby girl comes and aunt Jeannie opens the blankie, I will be there with my camera in hand…and then I will share the happy moment with you on the blog!  Hooray for secrets, I love them!

Community Spotlight: Just Duckie Blankies

If you are having a baby, or if you know someone who is, READ THIS POST!  Just Duckie Blankies is a personalized baby-blanket (and more) business that my aunt and I started about three years ago.  With aunt Jeannie's embroidery machine, the possibilities are endless!  Many of you have ordered from us, either for yourself or for your friends and family, and for that we are so grateful!  But for those of you who have never seen our stuff, I'm giving you a sneak peek today...

 This is the ADORABLE basket that Jean made me for my baby shower last month.  She saved all of her new tricks to surprise me...like making the super-cute and super-soft toy block in here! (see next two pictures...)

Here is a close-up of the toy block.  It has different fabrics and animals on every side. So cute!

...and a special surprise! One side says Baby Meehan! It's always even more special when the presents are personalized :)

Here's a close-up of the other items that matched the block....our go-to baby gifts, blankies and burp cloths! This basket was, in my opinion, cuter than anything you can buy at the store!

And another basket...she's just too good to me! I love this summer-themed one.  Especially since all of my babies are summer babies (August, end of May, and this one's due in August too), so the bright colors and summer-fabrics are so perfect.

One last picture, I promise! This is a close-up of the burp cloths from the summer basket..because you can't see them all in the basket, and they are just too cute to pass up! 

....so there's your sneak peek at Just Duckie Blankies! If you are now glued to your screen, waiting for more adorable pictures, please visit our website at www.justduckieblankies.blogspot.com.  I've also added a link to the site on the right-hand column of the blog, so you can have easy access to the blankies blog whenever you feel the need to look!   Just click on the picture under "Just Duckie Blankies" and you will be there!  We would love to hear from you about ordering gifts for baby showers, newborn gifts for the hospital visit, birthday presents (we also make toddler size blankies!), or even gifts for pets!

Cheap is the new Beautiful.

Don’t take this title the wrong way…I’m talking about bargain prices for party decorations! J  My mom and my aunts recently threw me a baby shower (we are having our first baby girl in August…we have a 3 ½ year old boy and a 2 year old boy…this will be a new experience for us!), and the party turned out so beautiful.  We had so many compliments about how nice the decorations looked, and how well everything matched. And we are not ashamed to admit, many of the items that were being complimented came from garage sales or clearance racks!

This is a picture of my fire-place, all decked out in pink!  Although every one of the blankets you see is a gift handmade by my aunt Jeannie (the best blankets in the world! www.justduckieblankies.blogspot.com), basically the rest of the items you see are super bargains.  The clothes hanging on the clothesline (so cute!) are all from a garage sale, purchased by my mom, as well as all of the pretty baskets holding the gifts.  All of the little toys, bottles, etc. are from the Dollar General, my aunt Jeannie’s favorite store (and one of my favorites, too!)

They decorated the rest of the room with some of baby girl’s clothes from her bedroom…all three  of these items are garage-sale finds, and the outfit in the middle even had the tags on it when I found it!  I was so proud!  Can’t wait to see my baby girl in all of these adorable buys!

And last, but certainly not least, the dessert table!  Look how beautiful it turned out…and yet, we didn’t pay a caterer or buy expensive treats (my mom made the cupcakes and the cookies, my aunt made the mints, and I bought that lemon cheesecake ball at the Farmer’s Market…and everything was delicious!).  I think the candy jars make the table complete—and yes, they are all from garage sales!  I’ve been picking up every size and shape of these jars for the past couple years (prices usually ranging from 50 cents to $3), and now I have quite the assortment! They have come in handy for many parties, and when we used them for my cousin’s wedding last year, it was gorgeous.  Our newest find was a big white platter, similar to the one holding the mints in this picture, which we paid $3 for, and we are sure to use it many more times in the future!

I’ll keep this post short and sweet, no pun intended.  Just wanted to remind you all (and myself) that it really is possible to have a beautiful party without breaking the bank.  I had some wonderful helpers for this party, and I’ve had them for parties in the past as well, and every time we have a party, no matter what the theme or reason, we have people telling us we should go into the party-planning business.  Imagine that, showing up to decorate parties with garage-sale items!  Now there’s something to blog about!  In the meantime…if you know anyone who is throwing a party in the near future and wants a planner, you know where to find us! (seriously, we’d like to give it a try!)  Hooray for bargains!

Love Where You Live

I am a true Quad-Citian.  My parents were raised in Davenport, I was born in Davenport, I grew up in Davenport, and after 5 years away during college, I moved back (with my husband, who was also born and grew up in Davenport!).

However, I hate to admit this, but I feel like I’ve never really gotten to know Davenport.  I mean, yes, I have a lot of childhood memories in this town, and there are parts of the city that really have significance for me.  But we were never big on “community” activities…we rarely went to any concerts/events downtown, we didn’t join any city councils or go to any town hall meetings, and I rarely even watched the local news.

But……I am currently in the process of changing this! I promise!  And I have to give credit where credit is due.  A big factor in my community-awareness “awakening” has been the Quad City Moms Blog (www.quadcitymomsblog.com).  This wonderful group of local moms, founded (in part) by a friend of mine from high school (Miss Camye Halvorson), has grown to be quite an institution around these parts!  Shortly after starting the blog, Camye and her co-founder Erin asked me to join a group of 10 moms who would regularly be contributing writers to the blog.  As a life-long writer, and mommy of 2 little ones (at the time), I was glad to participate!  However, I didn’t know just how much I would enjoy this new adventure!

Writing for the Moms Blog has led me to meet an amazing group of moms, and the best part is that they all live right here in the Quad Cities!  (Even though I’m from here and a lot of our close friends live nearby, not many of them have children yet, so I was eager to meet some fellow mommies!)  I have immensely enjoyed being a part of what Camye and Erin have started in our community. 

We recently held our first Mama’s Market in downtown Davenport, an opportunity for local moms to promote and sell their hand-crafted and home-based businesses.  What a great opportunity for all of us entrepreneur mommies (you can check out my personalized baby blankies at www.justduckieblankies.blogspot.com , just thought I would throw that out there….), and we had an amazing turn out!  Such a great response from a great community!  Along with great events, the Moms Blog is a daily reminder for all of us moms, both locally and nationally, that we are all living a similar experience, and that there really is someone out there who knows what we are going through.  It’s so inspiring!

And so,I have now become more involved, and more interested, in my local community.  So interested, in fact, that one day a week we will be celebrating it in this “Look for the good in your community” section!  But no worries, if you are reading my blog and you do not live in the Quad Cities, I have not forgotten you!  I plan to do lots of research into finding the best activities for any community you may live in, and how to both enjoy and give back to the city in which you live. 

For example, next Friday’s post about community will be from a very special guest-blogger, my aunt Kathy, who lives in Massachusetts.  She will be sharing her piece on why she loves her local library, which is a great asset to any community (who doesn’t love the library?!).

In the meantime, what do you love most about your community, whether it be here in the Quad-Cities, your hometown, or a community you have lived in at another time in your life?  And what are your best tips to get involved and give back to the community?