Meet our fabulous Sponsors!

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Sproos Shop is an online hair accessory store for the darling, spunky gal. After a trip to Tokyo in 2009, we were inspired by Japan's fashions sense to open our little shop. Since then It has evolved into an delightful online shop. Our mission is to highlight the best pieces and offer a handpicked and distinct selection around. We search and work with designers to bring you a selection that is a out of this world.    

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Campfire Chic is my story as a crafty camper. I share my story as a 9-5er looking for adventure and a handmade life. The posts I share encourage my readers to take risks and try new things, like camping, rock climbing, and yoga, while maintaining their current interests and responsibilities. Campfire Chic is about accepting challenges, setting achievable goals, and documenting the journey toward the finish line.

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Blondie Blu – livin' a vintage cool life.  I'm Helena, and this part is always hard for me!  I end up writing something that sounds so serious, even though I NEVER try to take myself too seriously.  So here goes.  Most days you can find me searching for treasures, refinishing furniture, sewing new wares from vintage linens and such, taking care of my assorted furry and feathered creatures, cooking, renovating and redecorating our little blue house and waiting for My Girl to come home from school. My house is sometimes a little dusty - the laundry's not always done. But hey, I'm having fun!  In the summer of '13, we are packing it all up and moving to Texas.  This New York Girl is going on an adventure!

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 At the Nerd Nest, husband and wife team Megan and Jake blog together about their nerdy family life. Megan is a memory keeper, aspiring novelist, and book devourer. Jake is a computer nerd, code sifter, and a photography nut. They share adventures in raising two nerds-to-be, food, crafts, small business, and wear their nerd pride like a badge of honor.

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Ruby Door- As a child I delighted in finding patterns in wood grain, 

locating fool’s gold, and watching the fish swim in my 

father’s wall of aquariums.

The daily visual influences and childhood fascinations 

with nature have transcended into my paintings.

Today I capture this world in lush transparent layers 

which often mimic the look of stained glass.

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I am a self proclaimed “Fancy Farmgirl“.  I live on a small slice of heaven farm just outside Seattle  in the Pacific Northwest, where everyday I try to enjoy life to it’s fullest. I think everything is better when made pretty. Even cleaning a chicken coop can be fun in a vintage prom dress! I love the simple pleasures in life, and embracing all that country living has to offer. I love hard work and the rewards it brings. Don’t be afraid to get dirt under your nails, and have fun while you do it! I spend most of my days as a Professional Commercial/Editorial Photographer. I work freelance for several magazines and publishers. I also shoot lifestyle photography, and I love to infuse Fancy Farmgirl Style into photo shoots. Every other day I am just like you. A wife, mother and homemaker.  I love to spend time with my children, family and animals. I would love to share the adventure with you!

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The Wish Forest - I’m a full time independent illustrator and crafts enthusiast, a huge art devotee and genuine home body. I work from the comfort of my own home eversince I had my daughter in 2003 and nine years later (with two boys added under my wings), I can't imagine having it any other way! When I was little, I found true love in fairytales and grew up in a whimsical world, the two things that inspire my art the most. I love the simplest things in life and if I had my way, I would spend hours sitting under a tree just dreaming my day away with a sketchbook and a pencil in hand.  My ultimate dream is to touch people with my art and to know that the messages I put in them are carried across into their hearts.

........................................

For me, being an artist and blogger is about sharing. I absolutely treasure the friendships that I make every day through this blog and my chosen profession and I try to show my gratitude by sharing any morsels of beauty, fun, and knowledge that happen to blip across my radar. So it thrills me to be able to share these interesting, talented, creative, stylish, and downright nice folks with you! It has been a rough couple of months for us due to the storm and it's aftermath, but these sweetheart sponsors stuck by us through the darkness.
 I am so happy to be back in the swing of things. To be blogging in every sense of the term. Meaning that not only am I posting on a more frequent schedule...I'm also back to regularly reading my fave blogs. Even with my home turned upside down, it was utterly necessary for me to find the time for blogging.
So a post like this one is very meaningful to me right now. The blog world and these little networks of fab online shops and communities of creative souls have always been there for me...even when...especially when...my tangible world was ravaged by mother nature. Bringing you these shops and blogs is so important to what Everyday is a Holiday is all about. I think you'll really enjoy getting to know these fab peeps...and I can see you all possibly becoming fast friends. I hope you'll find yourself purchasing something fabulous for yourself or a friend. And as was the case in past months, I'm tickled with what a fantastic mix has been collected here. Something for everyone! So many different types read Everyday is a Holiday...this is an opportunity to connect the dots.

I have some changes coming soon to my sponsorship program that I am excited about. More about that in the very near future.

In the end, this post is dedicated to the talented and interesting...my readers.

Thank you so much for popping in and reading. It is an honor to be able to share.
And a very big thank you to my lovely lovely sponsors!

xo Jenny

a little IKEA trip

Oh my gosh today was so much fun! It had been so long since our last visit to IKEA. In the meantime I had been circling things in the catalog and pinning on pinterest. And today I finally got to go see all this fabulous stuff in person. Today's crew was Walt's girlfriend Val, me, and Aaron. 

Do you see this amazing "scary lady" pillow?! Yes that is what we call cabinet card ladies. The name came about because our fave one had such an unpleasant expression...and then we came to realize that most of them are sorta scary.

Some of you may remember our huge Scary Lady portrait (the gal who coined the nickname) that we had hanging in our bedroom at our last apartment. Since moving to our current home she has been in storage upstairs. But as soon as the house is back to normal she'll be hanging in a place of importance. I found the cabinet card lady pillow a bit out of character for IKEA. But I'm thrilled that they strayed from their comfort zone. I feel in love with it when I saw it on their website...and as soon as I saw it in person knew I had to have it! 

I cannot wait to get the kitchen done. I know that I said that the most important room is the studio. But the kitchen is the room that I like to decorate most. And once again, Ikea simply dazzled me with this offering of ceramic glasses. We bought them in ice cream shades: pink, cream, and pale mocha. And some adorable pink dish towels as well.

I just love the look of these glasses all lined up!

We also grabbed some pink and gray napkins. And as for that black and cream striped throw... I ended up putting it back...for now. I know I'll end up grabbing it the next time we hit Ikea...which will be soon.

For our studio light fixture we picked up one of these large Foto pendants. It looks black here but it's more of a dark gray. Love it!

I didn't come home with any of these this time around but I know I'll be grabbing a few next time. They are so summery! So vintage beach house! When Aaron and I had an antique booth years ago we'd come across the vintage version of these all the time!

And of course no visit to Ikea is complete without sitting down to eat some Swedish meatballs and cutesy cakes! 

The adorable little pink cakes are even better than they look! Hard to believe but true. They are delicate little fluff balls filled with a sweetened whipped cream, a bit of raspberry jam and golden yellow cake. So so yummy! I bet they have bags of them for sale in the little to-go food department by the check out...but I didn't look. I'd love them for a tea party!

Gosh, it was such a fun time. A much needed break from the crazy work going on around here. In Jersey our Ikea is located right next to Newark International airport and there is pretty much nothing but oil refineries and smokestacks for as far as the eye can see. This is the little sliver of a region that Jersey is famous for, even though the majority of the state is so picturesque. Admittedly, the refineries, smokestacks, and roaring jets may not be pleasant...but we oddly enjoy looking at the spectacle of it all from time to time. And then we get out of the car, stroll into Ikea and get to look at all the fabulous stuff you see above. Contrast is necessary in the well examined life. 

Not a bad way to start off the week! So thrilled to have some happy, pretty things to brighten up our "work in progress" home. Tomorrow it is back to the grind. Filling orders, working on the studio walls and some other things.

Hope your week is off to a great start! And if you have an IKEA near you...don't walk...run!! So  many cuuuute things!!

xo Jenny

Adventures in flooring

Hey guys!

First, ohh my gosh what a super fun time the Totally Awesome Blog Hop was! or is...as I still have soo many blogs to visit! So many new faces and worlds to explore! You still have time to link up and join the fun.

So, this weekend...we finished getting all of that old flooring up (what a pain), and Aaron's dad Skip came over to assist us in laying down a new floor (what a help). First we covered over the old stripped floor with some thin plywood to give us a fresh start and an even base for the vinyl tiles. I am super excited about the tiles we are going with. They are very 1970s-80s grocery store. You know, with the speckles of color. We are going with a tan/cream checkered pattern. This is a fairly easy floor to lay down and it's going to be perfectly durable for our studio space. And it's not expensive. Tiles come in a box of 45 or you can buy them loose for .79 each. 

In case you're interested here are the particulars for purchasing:

All is from Home Depot

Armstrong Imperial Texture Tiles...I don't know the names of the colors but these are the numbers of them: 51899 and 51858 

The adhesive is Armstrong Premium Floor Tile Adhesive and we bought adhesive remover in case of spills. 

Pick whatever trowel feels comfortable for you...but get one with an 1/8 inch tooth...they are right there in the aisle beside the tiles and the adhesive etc...

Around the bottom perimeter of the room Aaron and Skip had to piece in some sheetrock to fill in gaps in the walls from storm damage. They did this after the plywood layer and before the tile layer...this way the sheetrock wall would lay flush to the new wood floor and then when the tiles go down they can be measured to butt right up to the sheetrock.

Then after giving the room a good sweep and vacuum they measured to find the center of the room. They rolled out some string and snapped a chalkline that split the room into four quadrants. They then started working from the center of the room out to the walls. This way all the tiles from wall to wall will be equal. The cut tiles on one side of the room will match the cut tiles on the opposite side. 

The tiles are applied with a water based adhesive that doesn't smell so bad...I mean, it doesn't smell great, but I've smelled way worse. You apply the adhesive with a fine tooth trowel and comb out the adhesive, kinda giving it a corduroy texture. You then let the adhesive "dry" for about 30 minutes so that it is tacky to the touch but doesn't transfer to your finger tip. And the open time is great...you've got six hours to lay down your tiles. Even with all this open time, Aaron and Skip thought it best to take it a quadrant at a time. They stuck down a quarter of the room earlier today and right now me and Aaron are waiting for the adhesive to setup so that we can lay down another quarter of tile before we hit the hay.  

You can see in the pic above that we've got some weights pressing the tiles down. This might not be completely necessary but we like to be thorough. Oh, and as far as cutting the tiles goes...all you need is a straight edge and a utility knife. You score the tile as deep as you can with the utility knife and then flip it over, give it a little punch, and it breaks along your score line.

I'm really excited. Gosh what a difference a day or two make. This room was so utterly depressing...and it really is coming along. So so excited to have at least one room on the road to recovery after the storm. And it's so so fitting that it's our our studio. Our work is everything to us. Show me an artist with no where to create and I'll show you a sad face. We cannot wait to paint the walls and then move everything in!


This is just the beginning of sooo many projects. Thanks so much for popping in and following along!

Have a great week!
xo Jenny

The Totally Awesome Blog Hop!!!

Hello, and welcome to the Totally Awesome Blog Hop. This will be an ongoing effort brought to you by four really cool ladies, hopefully resulting in the biggest community link-love fest evar!

The hop will be linked between four sites, ensuring everyone's links get seen and clicked. We want our audiences to get to know each other! Our goal is community building between like-minded folks, and this is a place for of people to meet, make friends, and expand their following!

Participation is super simple-

#1 Follow your four hostesses- they are the first four links.

Chantilly of ChantillySongs

Shell of Kitty and Buck

Fritha of Tigerlilly Quinn

Jenny of Everyday is a Holiday

(We promise you will love these blogs, and they are all totally worth getting to know!!)

#2 Link your blog/ website

#3 Visit other sites, follow, and comment

#4 Grab a button & post it on your blog

#5 Post about it on twitter, facebook, and all your social media sites

We love you, and thank you!

<a href="http://www.chantillysongs.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Chantillysongs Blog hop" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8029/8014378460_14a1e017e5_m.jpg"/></a>

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Friday Favorites

Hey friends! Happy Friday! This week seemed to be over before it started. We never fully got back into the swing of things after the holiday. And now here we are at the weekend! Today we'll be shopping around for studio flooring, paint, and some closet organizers.  If all goes as planned, maybe by Monday  we'll be ready to start setting up our art supplies and stuff.  I am really really looking forward to having a fresh clean slate. I can't wait to be settled in and start going nuts in a good way! So many ideas for new designs and projects!  

So yes...hooray for Friday! How about some Friday Favorites?

First, the above collection of Valentine kitchen goodies from Target! Oooh aren't they just so so fun? Circus-y! I love them all!

Also from Target...a collection of canisters with chalkboard labels. Super cute!

Ok, you know I'm crazy for balloons...and these striped balloons really take me over the edge! Love love love!

How darling is this dress? And the name couldn't be more fitting! 

And I'm going to be quite honest here and tell you that I've been wrapping my IPAD in a cupcake dish towel when I leave the house. Holding out for a cute case....and ummmm I think I found it!!

Have you come across anything amazing lately? Or were you gifted something fabulous over the Holidays? I'd love to hear or see! :)
xo, Jenny

Happy Friday kids!

xo Jenny

chipping away at disaster

Yep. So today was all about just totally attacking the monster. The monster we have been hiding from. The one that controls everything. Our ability to work, our anxiety and depression levels...etc...

Unfortunately there's no David and Goliath analogy that applies. We can't just hurl a little rock to topple this giant monster. We gotta throw about a million little rocks over the next few months. It's all about chipping away. At the moment there is not one room on the first floor in good shape. Not even fair or decent shape. 

But first things first. Before we get going on the kitchen or living room or dining room or bathroom or laundry room, it is all about the studio. Our work space. The heart of the home.  

(here I got a bit side tracked... ;)

The floors are just plain gross. There was this old old linoleum that was soaked and rippled and raised and buckled and now just looks rotten. This room was our bedroom for those that remember and in the flood this is where a majority of the water accumulated. So we moved our bedroom upstairs and we ripped out the soaking wet carpet and exposed this terrible floor that needs to be chipped out with a hammer and chisel. Don't get me wrong...the bummer part of all this will fade. Me and Aaron have been through a bit more than I'd ever want to burden the world with...we can handle this one. It's good to gut out the rotten parts and make everything shiny and new every once in a while. It's time to move forward. We should have all of this ripped up today. 

The biggest issue with redoing rooms is that there are so many things and no place to put them. Aaron just stands around holding stacks of things with a look of utter despair. But the key is to just shove stuff somewhere, somehow...it's only temporary.

We have 80% of the studio shoved behind the couch right now. Which is what you see above. What a disaster. 

So by the end of the day we should have the gross tiles ripped up and bagged out at the curb. And the moldings either taken off or nailed back up, haven't decided yet. Tomorrow we'll be going to Home Depot for paint and hopefully some new flooring. I'm hoping for some retro looking old school classroom tiles. Maybe tan and cream check? We'll see!

On a lighter, happier smile-ier note... this print! I love it so much! It will hang proudly in our newly renovated, clean, dry, warm, happy home! Hopefully soon.

Ohhhhh and last night I started watching Twin Peaks!! I saw some back in the day but only bits. Last night I only watched one episode...Aaron conked out on me. LOVE it! And I am super excited to watch both seasons! I never knew how much the show The Killing channeled Twin Peaks. We absolutely loved The Killing but I don't want to google the comparisons of the two shows for fear of spoilers. But yeah...very excited for this little escape.

Okie Doke...

just wanted to pop in and say hi!

oh oh oh...almost forgot...

A Big Thank You!...and a Big Sale!!

use code: holiday2000

xo, Jenny

New Year's Eve...

Happy New Year friends! What a difference a day makes! I'm thrilled to be done with 2012 and living in the year 2013. Sure, yesterday was Monday...and today is simply Tuesday. The only thing that has actually changed are the digits on the calendar.  

The rest is up to me. It's up to me to strive for happiness at all costs. That's probably my biggest resolution...the pursuit of happiness. And so far I'm not doing too bad. Today me and Aar are embracing the cold gray day...staying home, taking the day at a decidedly lazy pace, but still keeping our minds busy with tomorrow's plans and also working on bits and pieces of small projects today.

Last night we had such a great time with my family. We all gathered down at the home of my brother Richard and his girl. Almost all of my siblings were there, as well as my parents, and my cute as a button niece! A night filled with snacking, laughing, and plenty of goofball behavior. I baked my famous Red Velvet Cupcakes, decorated with "Baby New Year" toppers, along with some little baby bottles and diaper pins. The cupcakes were requested by my brother Walt. They're his absolute fave and I think he wanted to get his fill of 'em before he puts his dieting resolution into effect. And boy oh boy did they do the trick last night. We all indulged plenty!

 If you are following me on Instagram, then it's likely that you've seen these already. I guess this would be where I'd possibly apologize for the redundancy...but nope... I'm fine with it...I LOVE it. And if you are over there on Instagram I'm sure you LOVE it too!

 I've heard lots of peeps in blogland griping about bloggers going all Instagram on their blogs while neglecting their "real" cameras. Pretty much saying that they're taking the easy way out. But for me, it's totally not a substitution. I can only view it as an addition. I suspect that I'll be using LOTS of Instagram here...and at the same time I'm certain that you guys will be seeing WAY more real pics than ever. I'll be purchasing a brand new lens very soon and this has got me pretty darn psyched!! 

For our New Years Eve partying we opted for middle of the road attire. We wanted to be comfy but we spruced up just a bit. I wore my fave bow hair band from Sunshine & Carousels (Erin). And yes...you're looking at my very first Instagram #selfie  ;)

And here's Aaron looking comfy, cute, and a bit dapper in his new shirt. :) 

Earlier in the day we played around in our Art Journals. I could never even begin to list all the things that I love about Art Journaling...but one of them is that it's the perfect creative activity to do on days like yesterday and today. Days when you are either recovering from the party or waiting to leave to get the partying under way. Just pick up your Art Journal and turn the lull in the day into something colorful. I love this simple and fun page that Aaron did! 

We are having a lazy, comfy day here. Just chatting and planning and dreaming about the year ahead. Ideas for our business, our art, our blog. Everything is a possibility.

I'd love to hear about what you guys are up to! Drop me a line if you can!

Hooray for a brand new shiny year!!

xo Jenny