Music Review - Mat Kearney Young Love

I was so excited to get the opportunity to review Mat Kearney's new album Young Love which was released on August 2nd. I've been a big fan of his since I first heard the song Nothing Left To Lose, which I still listen to (a lot).

Here's the Young Love tracklisting:

1. Hey Mama

2. Ships In The Night

3. Count On Me

4. Sooner Or Later

5. Chasing The Light

6. Learning to Love Again

7. Down

8. She Got The Honey

9. Young Dumb and In Love

10. Rochester

11. Seventeen

Although I enjoyed listening to the whole CD, I really like #2 Ships In The Night and #4 Sooner or Later the best. Hey Mama is the first single off the CD but I would love it if Ships In The Night was the next single. A little info about the first single Hey Mama - it describes the first meeting between Mat and his new wife at the Anthropologie store in Tennessee where she was working at. How sweet! And #10 Rochester is a song about Mat's father (which he explains in the beginning of the song).

To find out more about Mat Kearney, visit his website, Facebook page, or iTunes page.

Mat is starting a concert tour in September, so here's your chance to see him in person:

9/14 Jacksonville, FL Murray Hill

9/16 Charleston, SC Music Farm

9/17 Athens, GA GA Theater

9/18 Carrboro, GA Cat's Cradle

9/20 Charlottesville, VA Jefferson Theater

9/23 Louisville, KY Headliner's

9/24 Cincinnatti, OH Bogart's

9/25 Cleveland, OH House of Blues

9/27 Interlochen, MI Corson Aud

9/29 Urbana, IL Canopy Club

9/30 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall

10/1 Des Moines, IA People's Court

10/2 Omaha, NE Sokol Auditorium

10/4 Bloomington, IN Bluebird

10/5 St Louis, MO The Pageant

10/7 Oxford, MS The Lyric

10/8 Pine Mountain, GA Callaway Gardens

10/9 Birmingham, AL Workplay Theater

10/20 Nashville, TN Cannery

10/23 Washington, DC 9:30 Club

10/24 Baltimore, MD Ram's Head

10/25 Lancaster, PA Chameleon

10/27 Allentown, PA Crocodile Rock

10/28 New York, NY Webster Hall

10/29 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts

10/30 Albany, NY Northern Lights

11/1 Northampton, MA Pearl Street

11/2 New Haven, CT Toad's Place

11/4 Boston, MA House of Blues

11/5 Portland, ME State Theatre

11/6 Burlington, VT Higher Ground

11/8 Montreal, Quebec Petite Campus

11/9 Toronto, Ontario Opera House

11/11 Buffalo, NY Town Ballroom

11/12 Pittsburgh, PA Rex Theater

11/13 Detroit, MI St. Andrews

11/15 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall

11/17 Chicago, IL House of Blues

11/19 Madison, WI The Majestic

11/20 Minneapolis, MI First Avenue

Tickets on sale now!

Disclosure: I was given a copy of this CD from One2One Network in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

free printable invitations

There's a great website called Free Printable Invitations where you can download cute and colorful invitations. You can also choose to download an editable version of any invitation for a small fee.

My little guy just started kindergarten this week (sniff, sniff) and I will probably use one of the invitations on the site when it's his birthday for him to give to his classmates. I really like the van invitation pictured above but it'll be up to J to make the final decision as to what he wants.

Free Printables also has a newsletter signup on the site where you can receive the latest news and designs. Have fun!

Book Review - Healing Hearts

I recently read Healing Hearts Three Amish Novellas by Beth Wiseman. These stories were previously published in An Amish Christmas, An Amish Gathering, and An Amish Love. I'm a big fan of Amish fiction and have read a couple of Beth Wiseman's other books, so I was looking forward to reading this.

The first story - Healing Hearts is about a husband named Naaman who tells his wife Levina he is going away for a few weeks to visit Amish relatives in Ohio. Naaman ends up staying in Ohio for a year before he comes back home and has to confront his angry and hurt wife and grown children. Through prayer and forgiveness, Levina and Naaman are able to work things out and have a relationship more loving than it was before he left.

A Change of Heart is about a young Amish teenager named Leah who wants to write stories instead of learning the skills needed to be a good housewife. A guy named Aaron takes an interest in her and has to decide if he will accept Leah the way she is or meet another girl that is more suitable in the eyed of the Amish community.

A Choice to Forgive is a story about Lydia. Her husband Elam died leaving her a widow with young children to care for. Before she and Elam were married, she was in love with Daniel, Elam's brother. Daniel left her without any explanation and went to live in the "English" (non-Amish) world. Now he has come back to the Amish community and wants more than friendship with Lydia.

The underlying theme in all three stories seem to be forgiveness. When the one that has been hurt forgives the other person, then things work out for the best. There is also a few Amish recipes included in the back of the book as well as a reading group guide. The reading group guide asks thought provoking questions that would stimulate discussion in the group. I enjoyed reading the book; it was written in a way that is easy to read and understand, and I would recommend this book to others.

Disclosure: I received this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

treasury features

Here's a few of the beautiful treasuries that Little Pink Plum has been featured in:





Falling Into Fall - my purse hook is in the bottom row, second from right






Pandamonium - my flower panda mirror is in the third row, second from left





Simply Pinkalicious - my Audrey Hepburn mirror is in the 2nd row, second from right


All featured treasury items for sale at www.littlepinkplum.etsy.com

Live Chat with Dr. Tony Youn

There's a great book I read called In Stitches by Dr. Tony Youn (and also posted a book review about). Whether or not you've had a chance to read the book, stop by Dr. Youn's Livestream channel tomorrow at 5:30 EST to listen to a live reading and participate in the Q&A session afterwards. Sign up for an account here in order to post questions for the Q&A session. Hope you'll stop by!

Craft Show

If anyone is in the San Diego area on the weekend of August 13/14, stop by the the CityFest that is going to be held in the Hillcrest area. It's going to be held on Sunday (8/14) from 12 - 8pm. This is my first time to be a vendor at this particular venue and it's one of the biggest in San Diego - over 150,000 attend every year. Besides the regular craft booths, there's also going to be a kids crafting area, so it is a family friendly event. Stop by the Little Pink Plum booth to say hi and get a pinback button of your choice. Hope to see you there!