relationships.

i have been thinking a lot about relationships, lately...

we all have so many different levels and types of relationships with people throughout our lives.
each of them, teach us something on along the way...
whether it be, "that person has truly changed my life for the better..."
or "that person made me realize i never want to be like that..."
no matter what, we learn. and for that, i am grateful.


i am grateful for this life where i am able to experience love on so many levels.
i am in love with ted, and having him in my life has brought me the greatest happiness. i KNOW what it feels like to be completely loved unconditionally.


i have the love my parents. this week my mom said to me, "no matter what happens in life, no matter what you ever did wrong, i would always love you with all of my heart." having the knowledge of that kind of love is amazing. i am so blessed.


which brings me to the love of my Heavenly Father...
thinking about how much my parents love me makes it almost incomprehensible how much my Heavenly Father loves me, and knows me. He knows my hurts and my frustrations, even when I think no one understands. I am grateful for the relationship I have with Him.


i have the love of my siblings. i adore my siblings so much. i truly believe they are the coolest people on the planet, and i will always have their back, and i know they have mine.


i have the love of my friends. i have gone through a lot of friends in my life.
some might see this as, "ah, lauren can't keep any friends..." but that is completely untrue.
my closest friends are the ones i have had for years.
they are the ones that saw me through my hardest, darkest time.
they are the ones that know my life is hard.
they also are the ones that know that ted always comes first and friends come second.
these friends "get me"...and stand by me, no matter what.
they know who they are :)


i am also blessed to have such amazing online friends.
i am so grateful for the loving emails, comments, tweets and texts of love.
i don't care what people say about "online friends" not being real.
that is bull crap.
i know that i can turn to my friends at any time and they will be there.
i am so grateful for all of you. such a blessing.

on a much lighter note...
i really liked my outfit, today.
that's all.


but seriously, i love you all.
your friendship means so much to me.
xo, lauren.

sponsor spotlights...

I am so blessed to have such lovely, creative sponsors.
There work is so awesome, and inspires me to be a more creative individual, and I have loved working with them this month. We had such awesome giveaways from Dwell Deep, Lowe Photography, Shabby Apple, and early next week we are having one from the awesome Crafty Crochet Corner!



I wanted to spotlight the awesome work of my other sponsors!
A lot of you know by now that all of my denim jeans were stolen this past week. Long story, but suffice it to say I have been depressed because we have not the money to replenish them all. I have been looking for an awesome pair to get me through the next few months (along with many skirts). I have been lusting after the beautiful denim from:

Vintage Bliss
I love the dark denim and the light stitching! I think I just might need to invest in some.
Make sure to check out all of the other darling clothes in the Vintage Bliss, shop!

I get many requests for recommendations of great blog designers...

A Blog to Brag About
A Blog to Brag About is who designed my lovely blog. I can't be happier with how my design turned out. And it was so quick too! I told her what I was thinking, and wam bam, it was back to me at the end of the day. She rules and is so amazing!

Now, for perfect, creative invites and announcements...

Cordially Invited
dude. if I had known about Cordially Invited, before I got married, I would have totally snagged up these designs. I find myself swooning over her amazing Save the Dates, and Announcements. All of them are so chic and beautiful. I love Cordially Invited!

I am so inspired by the many wonderful photographers I have come in contact with from this blog...

chelsea albert photography
I am sooooo impressed with Chelsea's work. She takes classic photos with a modern twist, and that's what I love the most. If any of you are looking for a photographer in the Las Vegas area, hit up Chelsea Albert!


And for another rockin' blog designer...

Caroline B Designs
I go to Caroline WHENEVER I have a HTML question, because let's face it...I am HTML stupid. I can always count on Caroline to fix my stupidity errors :) I am forever in her debt. She just started her own blog design business, so go check out her work!

Go check out the awesomeness of the Busy Bee Sponsors!
And if you are wanting to be a sponsor for March, the time to contact me is now!
Being a Busy Bee sponsor is a party.
XO!


PS...still watching this music video:

din din time in the casa de busy bee...

ted and i love eating din din together...
we joke, we laugh, we enjoy good food, we catch up on each other's day.

we have a goal to eat dinner as a family each night...no matter how crazy things get.

because family dinners are the best!


they are especially the best when you watch "Playstation Store: Previews"...
and when ted says, "Clive Owen is a sexy man."
and when I say, "who do you think would win in an arm wrestling match. Zac Efron or Sterling Knight?" and ted responds with: "Zac...he has more neck meat."


do you love family din din? what's the funniest convo you have had over dinner?
I would tell you mine, but someone might shank me. and this is a shank-free zone.
HOLLA.

the shoppe is restocked...

the shoppe is restocked, ya'll!





so, go get you some pretties :)

happy bday mama face!

dear blogging world,
today was my mama's birthday, and i want you all to go over to her blog and wish her a happy day! she is the best mama on the planet, and is so beautiful. can you believe she is 48? she looks 29. happy birthday mama! we love you.

today was a busy day.
i made over 20 headbands. i packaged said headbands. i took photos of the new creations i designed. i edited those photos. i ran errands. i visited my mama. i went to work.



and i came home to this...

my tedward installing my new black crystal chandelier!
i was soooooo happy. yay for tedward! i also found out that he went and registered my car for me because he knew i would hate to do it myself.

he deserved a great dinner, so i put on my new apron from the lovely Lula!
she had this apron customized with my monogram. I love it so so so much :)
by the way, i will share my recipe for our din din, tomorrow!

now for my shoppe update!
i decided to design all of these headbands around different cities that ted and i have visited together. i thought it would make the headbands a little more special :)
i hope you all enjoy them...


here are baby versions of (left to right) "Beverly Hills", "Rocky Point" and the new and improved version of "Baby Allison".

Here is "Rocky Point"...
Ted and I went to Rocky Point, Mexico together with his family before we got engaged. I didn't love Rocky Point, but I loved chillaxin' on the beach with my tedward.

Here is "Beverly Hills"...
Ted and I loved walking down the lovely Rodeo Drive, and then literally running into Orlando Bloom when we went to Beverly Hills, California. Happy memories...

Here is "Portland"...
I designed this one with silver satin to represent the many clouds we saw in Portland, and the blue denim to represent the water all around. Such a gorgeous city!

Here is "San Luis Obispo"...
San Luis Obispo, California was probably one of our favorite spots we have ever visited. It is such a beautiful beach town. We would love to visit there again and stay in the Madonna Inn.

Here is "Mackenzie"...
This is the only one that isn't named after a city, only because I designed it before I made my "cities" line. But I love it anyway...

Here is "Seattle"...
Guh...my favorite city in the entire world. I love the overcast skies. I love everything about that city. It holds many happy memories for ted and I...

Here is "Las Vegas"...
Even though ted and I didn't love Las Vegas, we loved our hotel. I designed this headband after the color palette of the room we stayed in, in the Venetian. Loved that room.

And last, but not least..."Santa Monica"...
I heart Santa Monica. I love the Promenade, and the beach, and the pier...pretty much everything. And this flower feels beachy to me. So yeah...

All of these headbands will be available tomorrow, in the shoppe!
Which is your favorite?

pretty...

thanks mama for the amazing chandelier!

and thanks dad face, for installing it.


doesn't it look magical?

happy things

just some random things that have made me smile lately...


1. "team pot" sidewalk in phoenix.
i often make fun phoenix. saying it's the bane of my existance and all that.
it really isn't, i just like to make fun of it.
anyway, the other day i went to phoenix with my parents, and whilst making fun of it...
my mom and i walked on THIS sidewalk.
awesome.

2. i saw a rainbow.
i love seeing rainbows. not only are they pretty, they are such a reminder of how much Heavenly Father loves us all. it's always wonderful to get such a calm assurance. especially from something so beautiful.

3. happy feet pictures.
i have a mild obsession with taking pictures of my feetsies.
these pics make me happy. i like my navy tights in the first pic, and the cheetah skirt in the next.

4. cute cute cute pictures i've taken lately.
i had so many clients in january (27 different shoots, to be exact).
i have been slowly working on them, and it's taken me forever to edit.
but look at a couple of the gems i finished a couple days ago...





5. seeing my little brother in the regional choir.
my older brother and i never cared enough to try to make it into the regional and all-state choirs in high school, even though it was required to do so. we didn't want to have to sing on a saturday! heck to the no. but, my little brother zach made it as A NINETH GRADER! can you believe that? we were so proud of him. he is the one right under the spotlight along with 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. way to go zach!



6. lunch out with my favorite girlies.
it was time for our semi-annual girl's lunch.
my mom likes to celebrate mine and her bdays and cc's half bday. we do the same thing in august for sierra's bday and our half bdays. my mom is legit, obvi.
we had so much fun at costa vida, and then a quick trip to anthropologie where we swooned.




what has made you happy lately?

i am still...

sorry, i am still watching Sonny with a Chance.
(this time around, with tedward. he thinks it's hilar)
are you watching yet? seriously...you should.

i am also watching "StarStruck"...which has a boppin' soundtrack, FYI.


i don't care if i am a loser. this stuff is class-a entertainment.


but alas, i will be back to REGULAR posting, tomorrow! i promise :)


and now for the randomly selected winner of the Shabby Apple dress...



Congrats, Traci! Email me at busybeelaurenblog "at" gmail "dot" com!


see you all tomorrow, and love you all!

i'm happy. and a BBL giveaway!

sorry i have been MIA lately.
on top of my daily busy bee tasks, i some how seemed to accomplish watching the entire first season of "Sonny with a Chance" in under 24 hours. i don't know if i should be proud of myself for this fete, or be ashamed of myself. at this point i am pleased with myself. holy crap, best disney-produced show EVER. i am so excited for the premiere of season 2! who is excited with me?


now, i tweeted today that i had a surprise for all of you.
if we are being serious, i actually have TWO big surprises for you!


SURPRISE NUMERO UNO...


my mama (who finally updated her blog) cut this random caveman's hair today.
ok ok ok...he wasn't random. but he was in fact a caveman.
my friends...i found my husband today!

no longer lost in a nest of crazyspice hair.
he no longer can hide bowling balls in his hair.
nor throw actual parties in his hair.
praise beeeeee!

now, for surprise number dos!

The gurus of beautiful, fashionable modest dresses, Shabby Apple, has been kind enough to give away a wonderful dress for free for one of you! And for the rest of you, you can enter the promo code "busybee10off" to get 10% off on your order!


now, for the lovely dress you can win!
"Anchor's Away"

I picked Anchor's Away for all of you because:
1. it's the title of one of my favorite movie/musicals.
2. i think it screams busy bee lauren
3. perfect year round!


All you have to do to enter is comment!
If you want more entries you can:

1. tweet about this giveaway
2. be a follower of busy bee lauren
3. blog about the giveaway

You have until Saturday at 7:00 PM AZ time to get your entries in!
Check out Shabby Apple!

xo, and good luck!

my strange celebrity crushes.

so, here is the deal...
i sometimes get celebrity crushes on random characters, or not particularly cute actors.
i'm weird that way.
here are my top two random celebrity crushes:


1. jake sully in avatar form.
yes, sam worthington is very cute, but i was more attracted to him in avatar form.

hello! am i the only one here? *taps mike*

yes, i have seen Avatar twice. yes, that is 6 hours in total. i am completely aware of that.


and now for my newest one...


so today i was chillin' at my mom's house, and watched like 5 episodes of "Sonny with a Chance" on the disney channel. not only is that show hilarious, it stars Demi Lovato, and I love her! After about the second episode I was like, "hmm...i like that dude that was Zac Efron's son in 17 Again."

and i really liked him flirting with Sonny. Does anyone else watch that show? Do we know if they ever get together? Someone please tell me, ASAP.


anyway, after the 5 episodes, on comes some new disney original movie, "Starstruck", starring HIM.

2. Sterling Knight

so, after a total of 4.5 hours watching Sterling Knight on Disney Channel, I securely fell in TV love with him. And then something magical occurred.


Something so magical, that I had to share with all of you....


My friends, he IS Peeta Mellark.
After a very long quest to find the best Peeta actor for "Hunger Games"...
He has been found.


what do we all think?
1. Is Jake Sully cuter in Avatar form?
2. Do Sonny and Chad ever get together in "Sonny with a Chance"?
3. Am I the only adult that watches Disney Channel for fun?
4. Does anyone else think Sterling Knight is hottspice?
5. Have you seen "Starstruck" yet? It's way cute.
6. Is Sterling Knight, Peeta, or whhhhat?

sometimes i really love my job.

i love taking and editing pictures of happy families!
this family has been one of my favorites to edit, because they are all so cute and darling.
i just had to share some with you, because they slayed me with cuteness...

see what i mean? i mean, srsly.
which picture is your favorite?!

a note to tedward.

Dear Ted,

Thank you for the lovely surprise of a bouquet of roses late last night. You worked very hard that day and didn't get home until 9, so I didn't expect anything from you. Seeing you come in with them in tow, was quite happy.

Also, thank you for waking up extra early to surprise me with a yummy breakfast of cinnamon swirl french toast, scrambled eggs and turkey bacon. It was delightful and smelt delicious to wake up to.

And one last thing...thank you for being handsome.

Love, Me.

PS...cant wait until Mama Face cuts the bush growing out of your head, this week! This picture made me miss the tedward...not the caveman that shares my bed.