As soon as the Easter candy hits the grocery store shelves, I get the urge to make this pretty pastel spring bark. There’s just something about those soft colors and sweet treats that put me in a festive mood. Remember that reindeer bark I made back in 2009? I decided to give it a springtime twist a few years ago. This version features Golden Double Stuf Oreos, vanilla chocolate bark, and pastel candy corns—all swirled into a cheerful, colorful slab of goodness. I meant to add pretzels too, but forgot—note to self: don’t rely on memory alone when you’re improvising in the kitchen! It’s even better with the salty crunch of pretzels to balance the sweetness, but it still turned out delicious. Sweet, creamy, crunchy… what’s not to love?

Do you pick a word for the year? I’ve been doing this every year since 2008, thanks to Ali Edwards’ "One Little Word" project. It’s a tradition I’ve grown to love—a simple way to set intentions and stay focused throughout the year. What makes it even more fun is that my whole family gets involved. Everyone picks their own word, and it’s something we talk about and cheer each other on for all year long. This year, we all “unveiled” our words as part of our family New Year’s Eve celebration.

I have to admit, one of my favorite parts of the holiday season is all the treats and goodies. As a cookie lover, I find this time of year full of temptations. As a young mom, I hosted a neighborhood cookie exchange every year—it was a fun tradition.

Over the years, my baking has evolved, especially since I went gluten-free in 2021. Even so, I’m excited to whip up some of my favorite recipes with a few tweaks to fit my diet. I’m also constantly searching for new recipes to try, so I’m using this post as the perfect excuse to share some festive foods that look absolutely delicious!

Some years, I’ve been on top of my game and remembered to buy festive, fun tags to make gifts extra special. But more often than not, I forget about tags until it’s time to wrap. That’s when I turn to my digital scrapbooking supplies or a program like Canva to quickly create my own. It’s a lifesaver when you need tags at the last minute! So consider this a reminder to shop for or make some gift tags. Here are some creative ideas for inspiration:

I love making holiday treats—it’s always a joy to revisit those special recipes that only come out this time of year. This project originally was part of our 2009 holiday season, but I never transferred it to this blog. So, I’m excited to share it with you here now! I’ve also included some notes at the end on how to make a gluten-free version since I was diagnosed with celiac disease almost four years ago.

It’s springtime around here, and I feel like I haven’t been able to get my “ducks in a row” all year! I’ve had such an interesting and unpredictable year so far, and I’ll admit that it’s thrown me for a bit of a loop. I’ve clued in that life is just that way, but it has all been a little crazy lately.

Do you know what’s wonderful about little kids when they get creative? They don’t have all those voices in their heads telling them they are doing it wrong. Hopefully, they are surrounded by adults who are willing to provide the space and supplies, give them a safe environment for creating, and give them the freedom to try out whatever method works best for them. That’s the ideal, and I wish we could all have this type of experience!

The Art of Noticing by Rob Walker is my book club's newest selection. It's an easy read and I love that each idea is shared in a page or two. Even though it is short and sweet, the content is really inspiring. I made notes as I read through my Kindle version and I now have a long list of prompts and ideas that I’m going to use to document and enrich my everyday life. You will see scrapbook pages and more blog posts from me that are directly inspired by this book!

I’m wrapping up the last two chapters of my book club's selection of A Book That Loves You: An Adventure in Self-Compassion. I decided that these two chapter topics, Love Your Ups and Downs and Love Letting Go, were great to combine, and so this will be my final post about this book.