Mikarose's Marvelous Mother Giveaway!

Hiya girlies!

Take a look at what just popped up in my inbox:


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Mikarose, an industry leader in women’s modest clothing and apparel, announces its Marvelous Mother Giveaway contest to celebrate their upcoming 5 year anniversary and Mother’s Day.

“Being a able to bring attention to and celebrate the wonderful things that mothers do is exactly what Mikarose is all about,” said Michaella Lawson, President of Mikarose Clothing Company.

In order to say thank you to the many mothers that have made Mikarose a success, Mikarose Clothing Company is offering the Marvelous Mother Giveaway. The Giveaway offers an exciting grand prize package which includes:

• Two Economy Class, round-trip tickets to Tampa Florida from any major city in the Continental United States.

• A Five night Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Cruise Line.

• Round Trip transportation from Tampa International airport to the Tampa Cruise Terminal.

• A $100 dollar MikaRose Gift Certificate.

The sweepstakes runs from March 08, 2010 through April 12, 2010. To Nominate a Marvelous mother simply go to www.mikarose.com. Visit this same site to view the complete giveaway rules. No purchase is required to enter the Giveaway. Four finalists will be chosen and their stories placed online where individuals will have an opportunity to vote for the mother they feel deserves the giveaway out of the four finalist. The winner will be announced on May 3^rd 2010.

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I knew there was a reason I love Mikarose so much! ;)

What are you waiting for? Go nominate a marvelous mother in your life!

P.S. Don't forget to take a peek at their gorgeous collection of dresses while you're at their site. They even have a few sweet dresses for girls left in clearance.

Eye Candy

a.k.a. Audrey and Grace

*Swoon*

A Bun in the Oven

For those of you who missed my happy announcement over at Faith and Family, I thought I'd let you know why it's been so very quiet around these parts lately...

I've a wee bun in the oven!

Thankfully, the 1st trimester unpleasantness seems to (finally) be taking my threats seriously and moving on down the road. I look forward to catching up with you all soon! Please keep me and my little bean (due this September) in your prayers!

Take care, sweet friends!
Betty and Baby Bean Beguiles

*Smittens*

"WE'RE SORRY. THIS ITEM IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. PLEASE SELECT ANOTHER ITEM FROM OUR COLLECTIONS."

Kind of has a permanent ring to it, doesn't it?

Wait. Don't answer that. I really don't want to know.

I suppose I could take up knitting.

I think I'd rather pout, though.

What kind of company discontinues their Smittens right before St. Valentine's Day, anyway?

OK, I take that back.

I love you, Restoration Hardware. I'm too poor for you, but I do love you.

I'm still sad, though.

*7 Quick Takes*

1. Hiya, girls! How are you? I hope you are all having lovely, cozy, joy-filled days!

First things first: I'm over at Faith and Family Live today. I've asked readers to weigh in on the question of whether it's important for women to wear traditionally feminine clothing. I realize it's a bit of a hot-button topic but I'd love to have you girls head over there and weigh in! Pretty please? :)

2. I just discovered a new blog that I am absolutely smitten with! It's called The Sew Weekly. The author, Mena Trott, aspires to have a closet filled only with clothes that she has sewn herself (with a few exceptions). To accomplish that goal she plans to sew something new every week in 2010 while sharing the adventure with her blog readers. I am particularly excited because so far all the dresses she's made have been created from vintage patterns (though she just started documenting her journey this month she's been at it since last fall). Swoon.

3. It's not right that we are regularly waking up to temperatures in the teens (quite out-of-the-ordinary for us deep South folks) and yet we have not had the tiniest bit of snow. What good is freezing my bum off if there's not going to be snow? I'm quite bitter about all of this. ;)

4. Our family just made a new discovery that almost makes the fact that it's so very, very cold outside bearable. Storyteller Jim Weiss. His voice is amazing! Expressive, soothing and simply intoxicating.

We picked up our very first books-on-tape from the library yesterday and we are hooked! We are currently listening to The Wind in the Willows. I was left speechless after putting this on and watching as my incredibly rowdy boys sat quietly FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR. This is unheard of, ladies. Unheard of! Thank you, Jim Weiss. You have changed my life.

5. Many thanks to all of you who left supportive comments for my friends Devin and Katie Rose. If you haven't had a chance to leave a comment yet, I know they'd still love to hear from you! And if you did, Devin left a very kind thank you in the combox. I know he'd want you to see it, so go take a peek!

6. I watched Julie & Juliarecently. While I was annoyed at what seemed to me to be an inexcusably inaccurate portrayal of blogger Julie Powell, I was absolutely delighted by the performances given by Meryl Streep, as Julia Child, and Stanley Tucci, as her husband, Paul. Their chemistry was amazing! They were so adorable together! They reminded me quite a bit of myself and Mr. Beguiles, actually. He (my husband) was trying to finish up some work in the living room and I kept interrupting him to make him watch the romantic scenes with me. You know they were good because he barely minded at all! ;)

Inspired by the movie I picked up My Life in France, Julia's autobiography, from the library. It is supposed to have lots of lovely tales from Julia and Paul's relationship. I'll let you know how I liked it when I'm finished.

7. I need to get in as much reading as I can before the new season of television shows gets underway. We don't actually have cable (which I love) but Mr. Beguiles and I have still somehow managed to get hooked on 24, Lost and Fringe. Luckily for us, they can all be found online soon after they air. I have missed my Jack especially, but I must admit I also have a soft spot in my heart for Benjamin Linus and Walter Bishop. (Though I remain quite upset that the Fringe folks thought it appropriate to off one of my favorite characters this season. They very nearly lost me but I just can't resist actor John Noble. I won't name names in case any of you have not yet watched this season but plan to.)


Stroll on over to Conversion Diary to check out more of these fun Quick Takes entries. Thank you, Jen! You’re the hostess with the mostest!

A Gift for the Roses

Hello ladies!

Do any of you know the Roses?

If you do, I know I don't have to tell you just how amazing they are! If you have not yet made their acquaintance, let me just tell you one little thing about them:

This beautiful couple opened their hearts and their arms, put all their trust in God, and welcomed not one, not two, not three, but four precious little souls into their home in the last year alone!

First they welcomed the sweetie pie twins, Leo and Tobias, into their hearts.

Shortly after that, the boys' sister Adele toddled in bringing even more love into their home.

And just last week Katie gave birth to a tiny cutie pie named Edmund!

Now as a mother of four myself, I can tell you (though I know I don't need to), that this is no small feat. It's absolutely and without a doubt the very best job in the world but it's a big job. BIG. And I had five years in which to go from zero to four! Katie and Devin have had a mere 12 months.

So, I (along with my friends Danielle Bean and Jennifer Fulwiler) would like to offer the Roses a little loving support along with our congratulations. But first, we need the help of all of you very wise women. Will you help us create a little online baby shower for Katie and Devin?

Let's come together and give them the benefit of our cumulative experience!


What is the very best advice you have to share with the parents of a two-year-old, two one-year-olds and a newborn?

Can you recommend any sanity-saving products?

Do you know of any online articles, blog posts or books that are especially helpful?

Do you have a war story to share? (I know Katie especially would appreciate hearing stories of tough beginnings that had happy endings right about now. You know how that first postpartum month can be!)


Please leave your gift of support in the combox (I'll do the same later today). I emailed Katie and Devin last night to tell them to be on the lookout for a small surprise this morning.

Thank you so much for your help, girls! You're peaches, I tell ya! Peaches! Every last one of you!


(You can read Jen's post here and Danielle's post here.)

Shabby Apple's Winter Wonderful Sale

Just in case any of you girls are in the market for a new frock I thought I'd pass along Shabby Apple's Winter Wonderful 20% off coupon code:

Simply enter "winter20off" at checkout.

That's all there is to it. :)


You are aware that Valentine's Day is but a mere 40 days away, aren't you??? Of course you are! Silly me!


Oh, and on that note, how perfect would it be to begin The Love Dare tomorrow? I think St. Valentine's Day would be the perfect day on which to complete it, don't you? I think I just might do that...

(If any of you are interested but don't yet have the book just email me. I'd be happy to help you get started.)