Holiday Link Party: O Christmas Tree

It's our third holiday cheer Christmas link up today and this time Courtney and Megan are hosting! Be sure to go link up your Christmas Trees with those gals for all to see :)

I have a thing for flocked trees. I know it's probably old school, but a white tree in our living room just look so pretty! We started with light blue and navy ball ornaments, layered with glittery silver and gold ornaments, and topped it off with our personal, sentimental ornaments. Those ones are the fun ones, right?! Here's a look at our 2013 Christmas Tree:

So, do you ever flock your tree? What decor theme did you go with this year? Our past trees:
Christmas 2012
Christmas 2011

Go link up with Honey We're Home and A Thoughtful Place and visit everyone else's trees!

Have a wonderful Thursday!
xoxo

7

Just Pictures

*all images by michaela noelle designs

Today I'm playing along with Jenni's Blog Everyday in May Challenge. The prompt is "just pictures", so I'm showing you a bit into my weekend in a few pictures. Join in & link up!

PS. Trader Joe's is exploding with peonies right now!

Happy Tuesday :)
xoxo

PS. Welcome my sponsor Hannah of Sweets & Celebrations

If you're looking for some delicious treats for an upcoming party, pretty party inspiration or a peek into Hannah's lovely home, you'll adore this girl. She's a real life friend of mine, so I can tell you she's a true gem.

WEBSITE 

15

Pay It Forward Link Up!

via

Happy Monday! I'm so excited to read about your pay it forward experiences in the last week!  For those of you who are just tuning in, last week I announced that I'd be hosting a random acts of kindness link up today with my sweet friend, Nicole of Bloom. Last year at this same time, I had the coolest thing happen to me! A couple paid for my dinner at a very nice restaurant. I was beside myself and in awe of the amazing gesture of kindness shown. I promised myself I would pay it forward on the year anniversary of that day, so over the weekend I did just that and asked you all to join me.  

{scenes from Disneyland via instagram @michaelanoelle}

My mom was in town to go to Disneyland with me, so we were constantly scoping out ways to bring kindness to someone there.  On Friday we ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. Sitting right next to us was the cutest, most energetic little boy, who let us know multiple times it was his birthday. He was SO over-the-moon to be at Disneyland on his birthday. I saw joy in little kid's faces all day at Disneyland, but this little boy was different. Whenever I see this type of genuine happiness, it always makes me smile and reminds me to be joyful; always.  My mom overheard the boy's dad tell him he was allowed to pick out one thing at Disneyland for his present, so my mom whispered, "we should leave him some money for his birthday!"  I was so excited by this idea! Before we left, I got up and told the waiter to give this money to the little boy next to us, telling him it was a special birthday surprise. We told the waiter to let him know he could use it on something fun in Disneyland and to remember to pay it forward to someone when he grows up.

Man, to see his face when he received the money would have been amazing. This was the most animated little thing you've ever seen, so I can only imagine his excitement! My mom and I were thrilled to do this for him, and hopefully he'll do the same for someone else when he grows up :)

Nicole and I would love to read your stories of paying it forward! Link up what you did below and we'll visit each link!  If you didn't do something this week, you can do one whenever and link up with the post any time.

Happy Monday!
xoxo

11

Spread the Love: Random Acts of Kindness

Just about a year ago I had a really special experience. I was out to dinner with my now ex-boyfriend and we had our ENTIRE meal paid for by the couple behind us.  It was the craziest, kindest, most amazing thing someone's ever done for me. Even more, I didn't take the time to look around the restaurant, so I'm not even sure what the couple looked like. Wow. What a gesture. To pay for a young couple's $80 dinner. I SO want to be able to give that to someone someday, don't you?! If you want to read about my genuine excitement, you can read this post I wrote about it happening.

You may think it's silly, but I'm planning on paying it forward on the year anniversary of this day. Even if I can't pay $80 forward, and despite the fact that I'm not together with the guy now, I do think it's important to give back to people. I want to serve others, show God's love, and truly make someone's day a bit brighter, if even for a minute. God's really been teaching me to love and serve people with nothing in return, and this is another way to do that.  You know what my favorite part of giving is, friends?! The way your heart feels after. Overflowing. I could be having the worst day then pay for someone's coffee in front of me at Starbucks, and immediately I feel an overwhelming sense of joy. It's God's way of reminding me that this life is not about me. It's about others. It's about serving. It's about making other people smile, sending friends a note, baking cookies for neighbors, buying dinner for the homeless person on your way into a restaurant, loving those who are hard to love, and loving without getting anything in return.  That's making love and life and joy really happen. 

This quote is my desktop and phone background. Download it for free by following the link!

I'm so excited to team up with one of my dearest friends, Nicole from Bloom, and with all of you who want to join in, to bring kindness to people this next week. In the next week, be thinking of how you can pay it forward, do a random act of kindness or do something sweet for a friend or family member. I'm going to host a link party right here next Monday, so we can see what each of us did to pay it forward! The blog world is such a supportive, giving, and encouraging place, I thought this would be yet another way to inspire each other...by giving and then sharing about it! Don't think of it as bragging about what you did to pay it forward, but rather think of it as just another way to encourage others to do the same. Let's spread kindness around the world, friends. Won't you join me?!

Pay it forward, write a post about it, and link up at the party right here on Monday, May 6th!  Share in the comments if you've ever had anything paid forward to you before so we can get some ideas :)
Who's with us?!
xoxo

PS. Only a few more sponsor spots available for May! Email me if you'd like more information: michaelawarner90 {at} gmail.com

13

She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not: Link Up #8

This week I'm chiming in with my loves and love-me-nots! Feel free to link up your own She Loves Me post below.

1. This adorable wash tape polka dot wall is too cute for words. My future office needs a little bit of this:

via

2. These Rifle Paper Co Recipe Cards. We used them in my cousin's bridal shower and I will be using them for a friend's shower that I'm planning in June. Does it get any cuter?!

3. I'm pretty sure this Valentine's table scape is the prettiest thing I've ever seen! Gold, chevron and peonies for days...

via 

4. My girl Shannon of GBO Fashion is including me in her Valentine's Edition of  her Style Crush series today! Head over to GBO Fashion to check it out and see who else she's crushin' on. Also get ready to laugh....she's a funny one :)

1. Said it once and I'll say it again; LA drivers are nuts. But this time, I'm ranting about how elevated their bad-drivers-syndrome is when it's raining sprinkling.  One rain drop falls from the sky, and you just know you'll be about 20 minutes later to wherever you were going.

2. I haven't been to Disneyland since living here in LA. What is the deal with that?! It's my favorite place! I need to get on this.

Okay, it's your turn-- tell me what you're loving and what you're not in the comments or link up your own posts!

Happy Wednesday!
xoxo

PS. You can find me dishin' on more of my loves over at This That & Life blog today! 

25

She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not: Link Up #2

Hi loves! It's Wednesday and this is the second installment of She Loves Me as a link party! Feel free to link up under the post and play along :)


Here's what I'm lovin' and not diggin' this week...


She Loves Me:
1. Strawberry anything.
By far my favorite fruit- always makes my mouth water!

via

2. Colored Cabinetry.
Especially loving the turquoise, blue, seafoam trend. Aren't we all?! Plus, this exposed beam work is to die for.

via

3. My CAD/Photoshop class.
I put this number together in photoshop the other day during class. It's a little girl room, so I imported my dresser into the room! Way too fun.

via @michaelanoelle instagram

4. This AWESOME braid secret via The Beauty Department.
Before you braid your hair, braid one of the three individual strands.  Then braid all of your hair like normal. This gives the braid texture and keeps it in better! I've done it twice this week and LOVE it.

5. 14 days until I go visit my boyfriend in Michigan!
I couldn't be more excited!! It will have been 6 weeks since the last visit!

watercolor print via

She Loves Me Not:


1. No more sunshine :(
We were on a roll there for a while, but the sun is officially gone for a bit and it's back to rain for the Pacific Northwest.

via

2. Modern Family hasn't been on in WEEKS.
This is my family's favorite show and I, for one, am having with-drawls! When does it come back!?

via

3. Biology.
I'm not going to use it in my career...why do I have to take it?! {to become a well rounded person...I know, I know, mom! ;) }

Thanks for reading! What are YOU loving this week? Tell me in the comments or link up your own post. The link party will be open through the weekend! Have fun and visit other links, too! :)


Happy Wednesday!
Love,

14

Spread the Love: My Story

Last week Anna, Megan and I challenged our readers to start a movement of Kindness.  We threw out a bunch of ideas of how to spread the love throughout the week. I'm super excited to read what you all did! Here's what I decided to do...


Since my favorite tea shop went out of business, I've been going to Starbucks every-other-day to get my zebra hot-chocolate. On Friday I went in to get my regular, and decided to pick up a gift card and put $5 on it.


Me {to the cashier}: This is going to be a little weird, but can you actually keep the gift card and give it to the next person who walks in the door after I leave?
Cashier: Are you serious? This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done. How cool! I've never witnessed someone doing this.
Me: Yeah, I write a blog and we're trying to spread some love this week with random acts of kindness! 
Cashier: Wow, that's awesome. I'm totally going to do this today for someone else at a restaurant or something!
Me: That's what we were hoping it would spark!


So I took a pen and wrote "Pay it Forward" on the envelope, hoping to encourage that person to do the same for someone else someday!


Isn't that amazing?! I hope she followed through and did it for someone else :) It's so neat to feel so much joy in my heart just by passing along a few dollars to someone at Starbucks. There's a sense of mystery to it, too, which I love, because I didn't know who would end up with it.

I also wrote a few hand written notes and even picked up a little something for my BFF Megan. Don't tell though cause it's in the mail. Okay I ruined the surprise...oops! :)


What did you do to spread the love?!


Be sure to tell me in the comments, write a post about it, and link it up with Megan at Mackey Madness. Anna, Megan and I will be reading through them today. Thanks to everyone who's joining in on the fun!


Feel free to include this graphic in your post!

Let's make it our goal as a community to share smiles, laughs, kindness and love throughout this whole month-even to people we've never met!


Happy Monday!
Love,


PS. I'm over at Amy's sweet blog today answering some fun questions. Pop over to Five Kinds of Happy to get to know me more! She writes the cutest design blog...you are missing out if you've never visited!

30