Cara Box: all about fall

This was my second time participating in Cara Box (see the first month here!), and once again I absolutely loved it.

The theme this time was fall, so obviously I loved every bit of it!

I met Cait over at My Life as a Long (check out my guest post for her!), and I sent her a fall-inspired box last week. I also met Charity of Our Pemberley, who sent me the most adorable box ever. 

I loved chatting with these ladies over the past 6 weeks, talking about pumpkin spice and travel and marriage. Having the opportunity to connect with other women in such an encouraging way is pretty amazing. I call them my pen pals, because it is kind of nostalgic, thinking about writing notes to people you may never meet. It brings back images of gel pens and stickers and handwritten letters.

As I was opening my box, I had my husband take pictures of my authentic reactions to each item. I love opening things. A lot.

Charity is so sweet. When we first got connected, I found out that she is also a law wife! Such a crazy coincidence, but I think it ended up being a perfect match. We were able to talk about some of the blessings and struggles of law school, and I think it was really encouraging for both of us.
She put so much thought into my box. I was so thrilled with everything. I felt like she had known me for years!
The polka dotted plate and mug and the fox necklace were all from Anthropologie, one of my very favorite stores. She said when she saw the fox, she thought of me immediately. So sweet!
She handmade the crochet beanie and flower headband (which I've worn twice this week already, whoops!), which I love.
The dishtowel is adorable, with a recipe for "Easy Streusel Apple Pie" on it. She also included two nail polishes, and a sweet handwritten card.
That's one of the best requirements of this whole exchange -- a handwritten note of encouragement.
As Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals (the creator of Cara Box) says: It's great to get items that put a smile on your face, but kind words will last in your heart forever.

I'm so thankful I was able to meet these two lovely ladies! I still keep in touch with the first two women I met in this exchange, through their blogs and Instagrams. I would absolutely encourage anyone and everyone to participate, because it has been so much fun! And a definite extra blessing of blogging. (You can also participate if you don't blog, though! You'll be assigned with other non-bloggers!).
Do it. :)

my first guest post

Good morning everyone!

I told you all before about Cara Box, and how much I enjoyed it! Well, I decided to sign up again for the fall season.
I have been paired with two lovely bloggers, one of whom is the lovely bloggess of My Life as a Long.
As it happens, we have the same name! Cait and Cait!
It's not very often that us Caitlins come across another Caitlin with the same spelling.
As every Starbucks barista I've ever encountered would testify, it's one of the trickier names to spell correctly. Way too many variations.
Although I'm pretty convinced that the one barista that spelled it "Katz" was just being ornery.

Anyway, I've run down a rabbit hole. The lovely Cait is off galavanting across deep blue waters, cruisin' it up in honor of her and her husband's anniversary! She asked me to come up with a fun guest post so that her blog would remain active while she was away.
I happily obliged, writing up a quick post on some of my favorite fall layering tips. 
I would love for you to go read it!

Cara Box: seasons of life

Happy Saturday, friends!

This past month I decided to participate in something called Cara Box.
For those of you who haven't heard of it before, head on over to this link where you can read all about this fun program started by Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals.
(You can also check out the Cara Box button on the right side of this blog to link to it.)

The purpose is summed up in the tagline, "make friends. receive gifts. share encouragement."

You're paired up with two different bloggers from all over the US (although you can also do it if you live outside the US, and if you don't have a blog! You're just paired with others like you), and are given the opportunity to get to know them by following their blog and exchanging emails. At the end of the assigned time (which is now 3 months), you send them a gift box!
Each month has a different theme, and they've done so many fun ones in the past! Things like nautical, circus, holiday sparkle, etc. This month we were assigned to each other based on our "season of life" (age bracket, kids/no kids, etc.). The goal was to find out everything you could about the other person, and try and compose a box that was perfectly them in every way.
I met two amazing girls, Amanda of Keeping Up with the Jayneses, and Shana of Keep It Simple.

I can honestly say I would be friends with both of them face-to-face. They are both such amazing people, and I loved finding out more about them and getting to know them. We exchanged quirky questions about each other and found out we had a lot in common! From favorite colors to favorite TV shows, to funny childhood collections and similar guilty pleasures.

Shana was the one who sent me my box, and I couldn't wait to open it!

She included a really sweet note, explaining all of the fun things she included in my box.
She totally hit the nail on the head! She included crafting supplies, a Christmas ornament representing the many cows that reside in Indiana (because my husband and I collect Christmas ornament from our travels!), a big notepad for jotting down blogging ideas, and a salad cookbook to balance out our guilty pleasure of eating out all the time! One of the greatest parts? She included a toy for our sweet kittens!

I think the piece I'm most enamored with is the little wreath-carrying cow.
I adore Christmas ornaments and can't wait to include this on this year's tree!

I can't wait to use the new ribbon and the sweet pastel buttons for new Posies by Cait projects!

Thank you so much Shana, for all the thought you put into this box! I love every bit of it and it was so wonderful getting to know you. I look forward to keeping up with you and maintaining our blog friendship!

I would highly recommend participating in the next Cara Box :) sign ups will be up on Wifessionals sometime after Labor Day! It's such a wonderful way of getting to know other bloggers, and to get plugged into a sweet community of encouraging women. It's like a blogger's Christmas!

(Luna and Evangeline sure enjoyed it!)