turning forty

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Next week I will be putting another candle on the cake and as I say goodbye to my thirties I have been doing a lot of reflecting.  My thirties have been amazing!  I married a great guy, we bought our first house together and welcomed three healthy children into the world.  To say that I am blessed would be an understatement. 
I also started this blog in my thirties.  Encouraged by friends to have a place to share all of the projects, traditions and celebrations that I always seem to be working on I started les petits presents.  So far I have enjoyed this adventure.  I am definitely a little technically challenged and I am proud of myself for continuing to keep up with weekly posts and new features that I think will be helpful to my readers.  Sometimes I think the only people who read my blog are my friends (and I am ok with that!) and wonder why I don't get more traffic or comments and then I remember that I would be doing all of these things whether I was posting them on a blog or not.  I do these things because I love to.  I love celebrating friends and family and every single holiday.  I always have and always will. 
I just wanted to take the time to say thank you.  Thank you to all of my friends who do follow my blog, encourage my creativity, and join me in celebrating all of life's wonderful adventures.  Thank you to all of the people that come to my blog and take the time to make a comment or send me an email.  One of my all time favorites came from a reader named Molly who wrote: "I'm emailing now to tell you how inspired I am by your awesome projects. So many times I read one of your updates, turn to my husband, and exclaim over the amazing childhood you are giving your kids."  Thanks, Molly for taking the time to email me and for your kind words.  I know lots of people often think that I am crazy or that I have too much time on my hands and it is emails like yours that make me smile and remind me that my blog might just inspire someone that I don't even know! 
As is my style I am going to start celebrating this weekend and just keep going until my big day on Thursday.  I am looking forward to drinking martinis with friends, dinner out with my husband, taking my kids for ice cream, and an overnight at a spa.  Here's to being forty and fabulous!

wishing you a sweet new year

We are heading over to some friends house tonight to drink some eggnog martinis and ring in the New Year in style.  I am bringing dessert and decided to make this recipe for cannoli dip.  For fun I am serving it in an over sized martini glass.  I dusted some cocoa powder on top and stuck a pirouette cookie in for a garnish.  I am going to put a variety of cookies and some fresh strawberries around the platter for people to dip.  May your New Years be filled with good friends and may your 2012 be sweet!

martini kit winner

The winner of our Martini Kit is Suzan who wrote "I've been following your blog for a few weeks and LOVE the creativity. I particularly like the party themes and am impressed by your attention to detail!" Congratulations Suzan! Please e-mail (nina.healy@yahoo.com) me with your address and I'll put it in the mail next week.

"olive" a good party

Today is my 1ooth post and my daughter's birthday so I thought I would celebrate with a giveaway. I have a little martini themed party kit with 8 invitations, olive shaped foam coasters, and paper umbrellas for your drinks along with a favorite martini recipe. I was totally new to blogging when I started last summer and have really enjoyed having a place to document all of the little projects that I am working on. Many thanks to all of my friends and followers for reading and commenting. I am delighted if any of my ideas inspire you. I really enjoyed my last give away and even though I only had 7 participants, I loved reading each comment and got the sweetest thank you note from the person who won (thank you Lorelai). I have also started a facebook page if anyone is interested in becoming a fan or learning more about what is going on here behind the scenes. To enter this giveaway please comment below. You can ask me a question, tell me what else you would like to see on this blog, or become a follower. All comments must be made by midnight EST on April 16. A winner will be chosen at random and announced on Saturday, April 17.