Exciting Things This Friday!

First of all ... my blog has undergone an extreme makeover!  After more than a year and a half of the same look, I'd been feeling lately like it was time for a may-jahhh change up.  I just got nervous about pulling the plug on it.  :)

And then a sweet email came through last night from Amanda alerting me that she was getting a warning splashpage when visiting my blog -- apparently my previous template hosting site was potentially distributing malware ... no bueno!  That was the exact catalyst for change that I needed.

(If you're reading in Google Reader, click over to the actual blog to see the difference.)

And in other exciting news, I mentioned recently a big purchase that I'd made....

She's a beaut!  I'm in love.

Here's the story - my grandparents and great-grandparents gifted me savings bonds when I was born.  This particular type of savings bond continues to gain interest as it matures, and then, after 30 years, it maxes out.  Well, since I turned 30 this year, two of the bonds stopped earning interest.  After a trip to my bank (and a few tears shed over such a sentimental and meaningful gift), I cashed them out.

The savings bonds, given to me by very special folks that are sadly no longer with us, covered a little more than half of this purchase.  Although it was bittersweet letting go of documents that I'd had for 30 years and that were addressed to me at the house I first lived in, the small home that my parents brought me to all swaddled up and fresh from the hospital  -- I truly can't think of a better way of turning that financial gift into a classic, timeless, tangible reminder of their love.

(As a funny sidenote, I had a faux LV Speedy that I carried from approximately 2004-2006 ... and I loved it.  Now, I feel so proud that I have the authentic version of that very same bag!)

Cheers to a fantastic weekend, ya'll!

Edit: So many sweet compliments and questions about my new design!  I selected a pre-made template from Designer Blogs and installed it myself last night.  I'm no HTML whiz, but their instructions, videos, and picture tutorials made it simple.  It only took about 45 minutes and two glasses of sauvignon blanc to get it perfect!