Thursday Thoughts: On Being Thankful

Turkey day is almost here! I know how crazy Thanksgiving day can be, so I wanted to share this week's Thursday Thoughts one day early to help you get in the zone. With all the chaos of traveling, prepping food and preparing for the arrival of guests, it may be hard to think about what you are thankful for. But I hope you can find a moment to feel the love around you and remember what this day is all about.

We will be breaking tradition this year and traveling up to Tahoe to meet up with my husband's family for the weekend. 10 hour drive with a turkey (in a cooler), two pugs, two poodles, two babies and questionable cell reception. It should be quite the adventure!

I must say I am very excited to go back to Tahoe. My aunt and I drove down Route 395 a few years ago (gorgeous!) and she took me to the town where my grandmother grew up near Tahoe. We were there in the summer, so this will be a very different experience. You can faintly see some swimmers in this picture I took during that trip, which I doubt we'll be seeing this time around.

But there is something about that part of California that I absolutely love and can't wait to experience this time of year. Bring on the rustic!

I hope you are surrounded by family, friends and loved ones this Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for all of you, so don't forget to download your copy of my free gift to you.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Free Thanksgiving Wall Art Printable

I hinted recently about the big changes I was making to Elaina Lynn Design, and today I'm excited to share a sneak peak at what that will look like. I've been doing a lot of soul searching about why I started Elaina Lynn Design, and realized my business was missing that magical spark that made it unique.

As you may have noticed, I love inspiration quotes. I share them in hopes that they will inspire you too, to follow that big dream, to add a little magic to your life. I love finding, creating & sharing them so much, but it took April's CreativeLive class to realize that this is where I could be focusing my energy. In order to give you even more ways go be inspired, I'm working on developing art prints for the holidays, parties, nurseries and life. I feel like I have a unique point of view to offer the world, and I'm excited to share it.

At first I doubted my ability to create something unique and important, but I kept thinking back to Bonnie' words from her CreativeLive course, "There's room for you". I plan to develop coordinating stationery & party printables down the road, but stay tuned for more info about art prints coming soon!

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you all something special to celebrate Thanksgiving. This holiday has become very important to my husband and I, filled with lots of melded traditions, triumphs and joy. Not only am I thankful for my amazing family, I am so thankful for my incredible husband who believes in me even when I don't believe in myself. I would not be here today, following my dreams of inspiring you all, if it wasn't for him. The words thankful don't even begin to cover it.

Please download my Thanksgiving gift to you all, because I am also so SO thankful for my readers. Print it at home, and display it to remind your family & friends how thankful you are for them. The artwork is 8x10, prints easily on a home printer, and fits nicely in this frame with the included mat. Just click the link below, save the file to your computer, then open using Adobe Acrobat or similar software.

I hope this free printable will instantly bring color & joy to your Thanksgiving table. Please share the love with all your friends by clicking one of the share buttons below!

Thursday Thoughts: Tommy Chong shared more than his amazing dance moves on DWTS

I know I'm not the only one that is secretly obsessed with Dancing with the Stars. Especially this season. I have been crying and laughing to the point of crying since the first episode (Jonathan's bug eyes... I was hysterical, by myself, in a hotel room). But the moments that have choked me up the most are when Peta talks about Tommy Chong. And after this week (SPOILER ALERT) when Tommy was eliminated, I lost it. Not because he was out of the competition, he certainly made it farther than ANYONE expected. But because of Peta's reaction to working with Tommy throughout the season, and how he had changed her. The host probed Peta as to how he could have changed her life, after working with so many great partners, and she said it was Tommy's outlook on life. They then cut to a scene with Tommy saying this:

To be clear, I had no strong knowledge of who Tommy was before this season. I had heard of Cheech & Chong but never seen a comedy sketch.

But man, that line got me right in the feels. I was welling up like a baby who skipped nap time.

I think we can all learn something from Tommy's amazing spirit. If a 76 year old man can get on national television and perform a dance he's never done before in his life, what's stopping you from taking up that hobby you've been secretly passionate about?

Happy Birthday Ariel! The Little Mermaid Turns 25

Did you know that the Little Mermaid turns 25 today? As a born and bred Disney fan, Ariel certainly was a part of my world (had to) when I was growing. Premiering when I was a mere 1 years of age, Ariel was the first Disney princess to burst onto the scene since Sleeping Beauty. She was also defiant (sound familiar parents?), true to her heart and always exploring the world around her with a wonderful sense of curiosity. She definitely shaped my outlook on life, and I'm thrilled her story is still around to help shape young girls of today.

I watched the Little Mermaid last night to reminisce (and because I watch Disney movies all the time) and totally agree with the sentiments of these girls. Also, I also totally thought that Prince Eric was worthless (it's been awhile since I've seen this one!) but he actually is the one that ends up killing Ursula!

For even more anniversary fun, here is a fun article by Vanity Fair about everything that Ariel taught our generation.

An article by Entertainment Weekly about the evolution of Disney princesses and the messages they send to young girls (I love this stuff!!).

And one last one from the Disney blog, Oh My Disney.

Happy Birthday Ariel! Hope it's filled with whosits and whatsits galore.

Thursday Thoughts: Finding Your Inner Passion With Help From CreativeLive (and Oprah!)

The last few days I have been live streaming April Bowles-Olin's courses on CreativeLive. She has taken me on a journey of discovery with my business, guiding me to find the brand & products that are unique to ME. Her course on building a brand that is irresistible because it is built around YOU totally gave me the confidence I needed to dive into developing my new products. That's right, fabulous new products are currently in development! I will share more details as they come, but I am taking the time to really find my voice (thanks to April's advice!). I stumbled across this quote by the incredible Oprah that instantly resonated with how I'm feeling right now.

I am so, so excited to keep growing and sharing fabulous content with you all (like more free downloads!), mostly because I am listening to what really fires me up.

What keeps you energized? I'd love to hear what fires you up!