Name-Tag-Hello-My-Name-is-Jen TWell, hello there!  My name is Jen T.

You may remember me as an ambitious mama who had great intentions of blogging, like ALL THE TIME last spring.  And then summer came, and situations arose, not the least of which being I had three adorable and needy children at my feet ALL THE LIVELONG DAY.   Seriously, I’ve come to the realization that I have the blessing of three kids who still WANT me and my attention, pretty much every minute.  We have to try to find some balance, because I insist that I pee alone.   Plus the older ones were staying up late and the youngest one was waking up early, so my alone/writing time dwindled to nothing. I had to choose between attempting to blog and losing my sanity, or giving in to the embarrassment of no posts and just be a little bit better mommy.  I chose the latter.   I’ve never pursued trying to get ads or sponsors for my blog, because I don’t think I could handle the pressure of knowing I HAD to blog.  So, yeah, I want it to be regular, it might sometimes be sporadic.  I’m sure you’ll live.

HOWEVER, I’ve been sitting on this idea all summer and I want to pull the trigger today.   I’m sure I’m about the 5308th person to use this phrase, but I want to start a series called Friday Favorites, and tell you about something–anything that I love or am excited about.  Right now I’m thinking of non-profits, people, food, events, books, web sites—all kinds of stuff gets me pumped up and I think all 12 of my readers should know about.  Will it happen every Friday?  Bahahaha!  No, of course not.  But I hope it will happen on plenty of Fridays.  They’ll be short and sweet.2014Fall.JessicasPicks-5

Today, on this Friday Favorites, I want to tell you about an organization that I’ve known about for a few years and LOVE.   It is Noonday.   Noonday is a company that sells incredible jewelry and accessories to create economic opportunity for vulnerable women around the world, empowering them to grow sustainable businesses.  They work with over 2000 artisans in over 10 countries.   A portion of their sales also help adoptive families bring their kiddos home.  And also?  It was started by an adoptive mom.  I KNOW!blog-2014-09-02-d

So, basically, awesome, awesome stuff.  I love this quote from their website: “We offer you the opportunity to use your purchasing power to create change in the world {while looking really good along the way}.”

You guys, here’s the thing.  Their products are IN.CREDIBLE.  Cute, stylish, on trend.  At least that’s what I’m told.  You should probably not trust someone who’s entire wardrobe is based on items from Target and Costco.  But I’m on pinterest enough to know what is good, and this?  IS GOOD!  But also–not cheap.  I’ll just give you that heads up.  This is an investment of your cash.  Yes, you might be able to buy three necklaces at Forever 21 for the price of one Noonday necklace, but where would you rather have your resources going?  And also, the quality of Noonday products are excellent.

noonday necklace My most recent purchase has been on my wishlist for a LONG time.   OK, forgive me, I hate selfies, partly because they feel terribly narcissistic and party because I’m horrible at them, but you have to see this killer necklace I got this summer.  (to the left, to the left)  I adore it!   I bought it to support my friend Rory‘s adoption.  Rory is also a Noonday Ambassador, as is my friend Kristen, and I’m going to put links for both of them down below.

That’s it.  Short and sweet.  I love Noonday and you should too.  Go check out Kristen or Rory’s links, drool over the stylin’ products, read about their impact, and USE your purchasing power to make a difference in this world.

The End.

RORY’s link.    KRISTEN’s link.