mardi gras, cupcakes and fearless women

Happy Mardi Gras! The party has been going on in New Orleans, I'm sure, and I hope the rain stopped long enough to keep the parades and revelers nice and dry.

Today is also the 100th anniversary of International Womens Day, a day dedicated to improving the lives of women around the world. There are events going on worldwide which you can find HERE.

I brought out my little collection of beads and tokens from past parades. I've never been to New Orleans, but I've been lucky enough to have a few of these sent to me by friends who know about my French Quarter obsession.

This was a super special treat sent by my sweet friend Cindy, who lives near New Orleans and knows how much I adore her city. She makes all these beautiful tags (among other lovely things) and she surprised me with one she made just for me.

Thank you Cindy!

I hope you don't mind if I also share this delightful treat. A little package was in my mailbox this weekend, sent by my lovely friend Linda from snowy Michigan. Linda has been making these adorable "sweets". Mini clay tarts and wooden cupcakes that look yummy enough to eat. And she also sent a pair of beautiful earrings. Aren't they simply divine? Thank you Linda!

I have to confess I like to treat myself to a few extra little goodies during my birthday month. Last week a vintage typewriter I've been keeping an eye on at my favorite thrift shop, finally got marked down low enough that I couldn't say no.

It was around $90 when I first saw it 2 months ago and each time I'm there I check to see see if it's still around. They would mark it down every 2 weeks and when I popped in a few days ago, they had just marked it down to 14.99! Well with my birthday coming up and all, I knew it was meant to be mine :)

I also had to treat myself to the latest issue of Flea Market Style when I was grocery shopping the other day. Because inside was this amazing spread on a vintage themed birthday brunch!

I could dream that it was made just for me! There are loads of beautiful photos and I'm getting lots of ideas for doing things with some of the vintage stuff I've collected.

The sun just peeked out and it's early enough that I can get started on my real happy cupcake and candles day today. I hadn't planned on doing a post but once I started snapping pictures I couldn't resist. Thank you for letting me share.

Have a beautiful day and if you can, do something special to celebrate the women around you and around the world. It's a perfect day to honor the amazing power of women. I'm tickled that it just happens to be my birthday too.