Recipe: Cherry Dessert Danish

Recipe: Cherry Dessert Danish.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

Hello Sweat Love Muffins!

Here it is! My recipe for Cherry Dessert Danish, as promised! This is one of Pauli’s favorite desserts, and every person I’ve ever made it for giddy claps for it again and again, so I hope you love it!!!

I’ll walk you through this easy peasy, uber yummy for your taste buds and tummy dessert … with pictures the whole way through.

Overall, you’ll need 4 main parts to bring your dessert Danish together:

  • 1 tube of Crescent Rolls (Yep, I cheat on this one, lol. But we still buy organic to make these fully organic for Pauli.)
  • Ooey Gooey Cherry Filling
  • Yummy Tummy Streusel Topping
  • Sweet Kiss Glaze

First up. The Ooey Gooey Cherry Filling.

Ooey Gooey Cherry Filling:

  • 1 bag of frozen dark sweet cherries
  • 2 tsp of cornstarch
  • small sauce pan
  • spoon
  • measuring spoon
  • cutting board and knife (optional)

Now, of course, you could use any ol’ can of cherry pie filling you want if you want … but really, this is fast and easy, and way better scratch-made!

I personally like to cut up my cherries into small little bits (thus, cutting board and knife), but I’ll leave that up to you and your preference. You don’t have to cut them up. I just do it because I like the bite sizeyness of it!

So I cut up my cherries into lil bits, and add them to my sauce pan. Add in 2 tsp of cornstarch, and start stirring over medium heat until the cherries thaw, heat up, and the cornstarch thickens the juice into a pie filling like thickness. (You do not need to add any water, as the cherries will thaw and juice naturally.) (Also, you could add sugar if you want – like a can of store bought cherry pie filling. But honestly, you don’t need it. The cherries are already sweet and yummy all on their own. And it’s a place you can omit the sugar, and you won’t miss it. Your body will thank you!!!)

Recipe: Cherry Dessert Danish.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Heat up bag of frozen cherries with 2 tsp of cornstarch over medium heat until thickened … about 5-ish minutes.
Recipe: Cherry Dessert Danish.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Here’s what your cherries look like when they are all yummy gooey’d up!

Next up, Yummy Tummy Streusel Topping :

  • ½ cup flour
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ cup softened butter
  • Small bowl
  • Spoon

In small bowl combine 1/2 cup flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp of cinnamon, and 1/4 cup butter.

Recipe: Cherry Dessert Danish.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Here’s what the crumble topping looks like all mixed up: flour, sugar, cinnamon, softened butter.

And last to premix/premake before assembly, let’s make the, Sweet Kiss Glaze:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2-3 tbsp of milk
  • ½ – 1 tsp of vanilla to taste
  • Small bowl
  • Spoon

In small bowl, mix together 1 cup of powdered sugar, 2-3 tbsp of milk (enough to get drizzle consistency for the glaze), 1/2 – 1 tsp of vanilla (to taste). Yep, it’s that easy. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the glaze mixing step. Just mix until smooth and drizzle-worthy.)

Assembly Time!!!! PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 degrees F!

Pop open your can of crescent rolls and separate into 2 “columns” of dough on your baking sheet. (I recommend lining your baking sheet with baking paper for easier cleanup as this assembly will get a little, but happily, messy.) The crescent triangles might try to separate a bit; if so, just gently smoosh ’em back together.

Using either a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough with matching slices on each side of the column. You’ll be folding them over after you put the cherry filling in.

Recipe: Cherry Dessert Danish.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
What your crescent roll dough should look like after you cut it. When you are making the cuts, just make sure NOT to cut all the way through to the other side. You want fold-able flaps, not strips.

Next, spoon about half of the cherry filling down the center of each Danish column.

Recipe: Cherry Dessert Danish.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Adding the cherry filling down the center of the Danish dough columns.

Now you can fold the dough flaps up and over the cherry filling. The flaps can touch, but they don’t have to, and most likely won’t for the whole Danish strip. It’s okay. It’s how it works!

Recipe: Cherry Dessert Danish.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Fold-able flaps can touch or not. You don’t have to feel like you need to stretch them or anything. Just gently lay them across the cherry filling.

Now the excitement starts to kick in … you can start to see how the Danishes are coming together when you sprinkle the crumble streusel topping on. Simply, gently spoon on the crumble streusel topping (roughly half for each Danish). It’s okay if the topping crumbles off to the sides a little bit. You can try scooping it back on, but sometimes it just wants to fall onto the pan. Let it go. It’s okay.

Recipe: Cherry Dessert Danish.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
What your unbaked Danishes look like after you spoon on the crumble streusel topping.

Time to Bake, and then Glaze!

Now, it’s time to bake these tummy yummy Danishes. Bake the Danishes at 375 degrees F for 11 – 14 minutes until the dough looks lightly golden brown.

You don’t have to wait, but I encourage you to let the Danishes cool for about 10 minutes, or even more, … so that when you drizzle on the glaze it doesn’t completely melt away.

Once your Danishes have cooled a little bit, using your spoon, drizzle on your glaze. I do crisscross back-n-forth motions up and down each Danish until I’ve used up all of the glaze. Pauli’s mouth waters the whole time, while he has to wait. Once we get to this stage, he starts pouring his very large glass of milk! LOL, but for realz!

From here, you can slice your Danishes into whatever serving size calls your taste buds, tummy, and heart. Pauli like 3 1/2 – 4″ wide slices. Once the Danishes are fully cooled, we freeze whatever he doesn’t eat the first night. That way, he has snacks on demand whenever he wants.

Recipe: Cherry Dessert Danish.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Danishes complete! YUMMY!!!! Gobble to your heart’s content!!!

And that, my sweet lovely honeybuns, is how you make Pauli’s Cherry Dessert Danishes! So easy! Soooooooooooooo YUMMY!!! If I could still eat gluten, I would gobble these up, and Pauli and I would race to eat the most! LOL. As it is, those days are in the past for me. Awww, boo face. But it’s okay. If you missed my Cherry Crumble a la mode recipe, that’s how I get my gluten-free fix now – and it’s truly delicious as well!

Pauli and I hope you enjoy your Cherry Dessert Danishes to the yummy in your tummy max!!!

Until next week …

Loving you Big Time and Hugging you Tightly!!! Would love to see a pic of you gobbling up your new dessert!!! Feel free to write me at marykate at loveandbighugs.com.

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate

More Happiness from Mary Kate

Find more happiness, love, big hugs, support, gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care in these POSitude cards!

Needing some self-care, love and support? Wanting hugs? Treat yourself or someone you love to these Big Loving, Big Hugging daily inspirational, motivational, and empowering POSitude cards! They really can make a big difference in your day!!!

POSitude Cards.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs!  Found at Etsy

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

What beautiful souls like you think about their POSitude cards!

These cards are colorful and cheerful!  They stay on my desk at work and have made for great conversation with colleagues.  I look forward to choosing my daily pick me up.  I reflect on my current mood or what inspiration I need for the day.  I do have a few favorites that I’ve used more than once or have displayed longer than just a day.   

These cards remind me to stay positive and believe in myself!

Mary Kate Kopec.  testimonial

Stephanie Shay, 4th grade teacher

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

I love my POSitude cards!  I pick one to display on my refrigerator for the week.  Reading the card makes me happy and gives me a variety of ways to stay positive in my daily life.  It has also become a conversation piece for all who enter my kitchen.

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Karen Henry, Retired 4th Grade Teacher, Personal Assistant

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

The Positude cards have made a difference for setting the tone during meetings.  I have set them in the middle of the meeting table and while we are settling in, people pick them up and read them. This small gesture makes a huge difference in the quality of the conversations we have during our 1:1 meetings.

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Mary Freer, University Research Department Administrator

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

I love my POSitude cards!  They are so cute, and the messages are very uplifting and inspiring!

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Mary McMurtry, Retired Bookkeeper, Mom, Grandmom

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Each deck has 35 different full-color, fun, happy POSitudes (36 cards total, with one card sharing suggestions on how to get the most out your POSitudes.) Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

You can find these POSitude cards in my new ETSY shop!!!

Looking for self-care to share love and big hugs for all ages?

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub’s Very Happy Day! is filled with delightful brightness and big huggy smiles!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub is the happiest, PINKest, most love-filled monster, Ever! Her big, PINK heart is always with her, and it beams brightly in everything she does!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub loves you!

Join Lub as she shares with you her love and very happy, monster-ifically delightful day! Feel playful and bright, smile big, and be happy! Have fun and be cheerful!

You can find copies of Lub’s Very Happy Day! to adopt at Amazon!

Recipe: Cherry Dessert Danish. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Be Love

Be love.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs!

Hello Beautiful Lights of Love!

I’m a week late and a cherry dessert Danish recipe shy, but my dad died last week, and between coping with his loss, family drama and trauma, and my chronic fatigue, I find I’m struggling.  So for now, let’s talk about the message that beats loudest in my heart, body, and soul:  Be Love.

I promise I’ll get you that recipe, but for today, in this month of love, let’s talk love.

Be love. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

To me, there are 3 big hearts in Being Love:

  • Surround yourself with love
  • Share your love with others
  • Love yourself
Be love. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Surround yourself with love

There’s a saying out there that says you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.  It’s an interesting idea, and one I believe in.  People who stand by you and bring you up help you be your best self; whereas people who do the opposite, make it so much harder for you to be your best self.  Living in POSitivity, happiness, love, kindness, and support is heartwarming, smile making, and energizing; whereas, dealing with criticism, angst, sadness, frustration, and drama drags us down and saps us of our energy.  So pick your people well.

Find people who love you and who you love.  Create your world of love and support by filling it with people who care about you and love you!

Be love. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Share your love with others

Be it friends.  Family.  Your special human.  Fur babies.  All of these.  Grow your love by giving it to others and sharing it. Build on commonalities.  Experience new things together.  Strengthen your relationships with POSitivity and acts of kindness.  Be thoughtful and learn more about each other.

And in this month of love, I challenge you to grow your love even more by giving of yourself to someone in need.  Make someone’s day.  Pick any person who you feel needs a little extra love, help, kindness, and be an expression of love for them.  Brighten their day.  It doesn’t have to cost money.  Just do something that is thoughtful for them.  Something that lets them know they are not alone.  That someone cares about them.  That they are worthy.   Quite simply, the difference we need to make in the world starts with each of us.

Imagine how much happiness we can make by being thoughtful for someone in need, giving him or her some love, kindness, and attention.  It’s a beautiful thing!

Be love. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Love yourself

This is the one I think is hardest for most.  We’ve been taught to be self-critical to succeed and excel in a competitive world.  I feel like we’ve learned not to be patient with ourselves.  We’ve learned to be excessively critical and unforgiving.  We say mean things to ourselves.  Undermining untruths.  Have you ever said to yourself things like: I’m so fat.  I’m not pretty enough.  I’m not that smart.  Or maybe you’re a little craftier about it and less direct.  Perhaps you say things like:  She’s so thin.  She’s so pretty.  She’s so smart, … all the while using those statements as quiet comparisons to judge yourself by.

It’s amazing and daunting how automatic we can be in self-degradation.  And the thing is, in actuality, it’s self-abuse.  There’s a destructive effect that comes with constantly telling ourselves negative things about ourselves.  If we tell ourselves these negative things long enough, we can start to believe them.  It works the same as if someone else is saying negative things to us.

We haven’t really been taught to approach ourselves with kindness, love, and patience. We could instead say things like, “I’m going to find ways to eat and live healthier,” if we feel we are overweight. Or, “I am going to find a haircut that highlights my striking cheekbones, or brightens my eyes,” if we don’t feel confident about the way we look. Or even, “I’m going to learn and experience something new to grow my knowledge-base,” if we feel we could know more.

If repetition breeds belief, then start telling yourself positive things. Good things for you to know and believe about yourself. Reaffirmation is POWERFUL!!! Use it to grow your self-love and self-confidence. And in the areas where you feel you need growth and improvement – give yourself the patience and time you need to grow and learn new things. To become the reality of yourself you want to become. Love yourself!

So in this month of love, I challenge you to tell yourself something positive about yourself each day, even if it is the same thing every day, all month long.  Find something you like/love about yourself and tell yourself out loud every day this wonderful thing.  It can be something you’re good at like, “I am kind kind to others!”  Or it can be something about you physically like, “I have a bright smile!”  Or even something emotional/mental like, “I am resilient!”  Pick anything – one thing or even many things – and keep reminding yourself every day of the goodness in you.  Reaffirm yourself.  Love yourself, even if one little bit at a time … because I promise you, you are worth your love!

Be love. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Until next week …

Loving you Big Time and Hugging you Tightly!!! Remember, surround yourself with love, share your love with others, and love yourself. Together we will make life a happier place to be!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate

More Happiness from Mary Kate

Find more happiness, love, big hugs, support, gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care in these POSitude cards!

Needing some self-care, love and support? Wanting hugs? Treat yourself or someone you love to these Big Loving, Big Hugging daily inspirational, motivational, and empowering POSitude cards! They really can make a big difference in your day!!!

POSitude Cards.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs!  Found at Etsy

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

What beautiful souls like you think about their POSitude cards!

These cards are colorful and cheerful!  They stay on my desk at work and have made for great conversation with colleagues.  I look forward to choosing my daily pick me up.  I reflect on my current mood or what inspiration I need for the day.  I do have a few favorites that I’ve used more than once or have displayed longer than just a day.   

These cards remind me to stay positive and believe in myself!

Mary Kate Kopec.  testimonial

Stephanie Shay, 4th grade teacher

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

I love my POSitude cards!  I pick one to display on my refrigerator for the week.  Reading the card makes me happy and gives me a variety of ways to stay positive in my daily life.  It has also become a conversation piece for all who enter my kitchen.

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Karen Henry, Retired 4th Grade Teacher, Personal Assistant

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

The Positude cards have made a difference for setting the tone during meetings.  I have set them in the middle of the meeting table and while we are settling in, people pick them up and read them. This small gesture makes a huge difference in the quality of the conversations we have during our 1:1 meetings.

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Mary Freer, University Research Department Administrator

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

I love my POSitude cards!  They are so cute, and the messages are very uplifting and inspiring!

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Mary McMurtry, Retired Bookkeeper, Mom, Grandmom

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Each deck has 35 different full-color, fun, happy POSitudes (36 cards total, with one card sharing suggestions on how to get the most out your POSitudes.) Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

You can find these POSitude cards in my new ETSY shop!!!

Looking for self-care to share love and big hugs for all ages?

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub’s Very Happy Day! is filled with delightful brightness and big huggy smiles!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub is the happiest, PINKest, most love-filled monster, Ever! Her big, PINK heart is always with her, and it beams brightly in everything she does!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub loves you!

Join Lub as she shares with you her love and very happy, monster-ifically delightful day! Feel playful and bright, smile big, and be happy! Have fun and be cheerful!

You can find copies of Lub’s Very Happy Day! to adopt at Amazon!

Be love. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs!  Celebrating Love.  Stockings filled with love.

Dear Bright Stars and Happy Holiday Hearts!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Pauli and I celebrate Christmas, and if you celebrate Christmas, we wish you a very merry holiday!  For those of you celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Las Posadas, Diwali, Chinese New Year, HumanLight, and Newtonmas, we also wish you a very happy holiday!  We wish you all love-filled days!!!

We hope you will celebrate with us in sharing our joy in love, kindness, fostering positive relationships, giving of our hearts, happiness, healthiness, POSitude, gratitude, self-care, peace, and earth-care!

Living Like Lub! My bright star is shining brightly with love!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs!

Each of us are bright stars with light and love to give and share!  We hope you shine brightly, always!

Loving and Hugging you BIG TIME with our whole hearts!!!

ps:  If you find yourself all up in the stress, drama, sadness, and/or hectic chaos that can happen during the season, please remember to take a moment for yourself, take a deep breath, find a quiet healing space, relax, find calm, just be.  Remember, we’re here for love.  Love and big hugs, and positive, happy time spent together will go further than any other gift.  You and your heart – that’s what is important and what they love!  So give yourself precious time to self-care and feel your own goodness.  You are wonderful and beautiful and bright!  You are a bright star!!!  And you are loved!!!

Until next week …

Thank you for being here with me! I am filled with gratitude for being able to share my love and big hugs with you, and for spending this time with you! You are wonderful, and I wish you peace, light, love, laughter, healthiness, and happiness in abundance. May your days be filled with kindness, goodness, and gratitude!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate

More Happiness from Mary Kate

Find more happiness, love, big hugs, support, gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care in these POSitude cards!

Needing some self-care, love and support? Wanting hugs? Treat yourself or someone you love to these Big Loving, Big Hugging daily inspirational, motivational, and empowering POSitude cards! They really can make a big difference in your day!!!

POSitude Cards.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs!  Found at Etsy

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

What beautiful souls like you think about their POSitude cards!

These cards are colorful and cheerful!  They stay on my desk at work and have made for great conversation with colleagues.  I look forward to choosing my daily pick me up.  I reflect on my current mood or what inspiration I need for the day.  I do have a few favorites that I’ve used more than once or have displayed longer than just a day.   

These cards remind me to stay positive and believe in myself!

Mary Kate Kopec.  testimonial

Stephanie Shay, 4th grade teacher

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

I love my POSitude cards!  I pick one to display on my refrigerator for the week.  Reading the card makes me happy and gives me a variety of ways to stay positive in my daily life.  It has also become a conversation piece for all who enter my kitchen.

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Karen Henry, Retired 4th Grade Teacher, Personal Assistant

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

The Positude cards have made a difference for setting the tone during meetings.  I have set them in the middle of the meeting table and while we are settling in, people pick them up and read them. This small gesture makes a huge difference in the quality of the conversations we have during our 1:1 meetings.

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Mary Freer, University Research Department Administrator

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

I love my POSitude cards!  They are so cute, and the messages are very uplifting and inspiring!

Mary Kate Kopec. testimonial

Mary McMurtry, Retired Bookkeeper, Mom, Grandmom

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Each deck has 35 different full-color, fun, happy POSitudes (36 cards total, with one card sharing suggestions on how to get the most out your POSitudes.) Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

You can find these POSitude cards in my new ETSY shop!!!

Looking for self-care to share love and big hugs for all ages?

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub’s Very Happy Day! is filled with delightful brightness and big huggy smiles!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub is the happiest, PINKest, most love-filled monster, Ever! Her big, PINK heart is always with her, and it beams brightly in everything she does!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub loves you!

Join Lub as she shares with you her love and very happy, monster-ifically delightful day! Feel playful and bright, smile big, and be happy! Have fun and be cheerful!

You can find copies of Lub’s Very Happy Day! to adopt at Amazon!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs! Celebrating Love. Stockings filled with love.

100 Books – 100 Happy, Smiling Kids!
Lub’s Very Happy Day!
Holiday Donation Book Drive

100 Books - 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub's Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

Hello Precious Bright Stars!!!

It’s that time of year again! It’s time to help kids smile big and bright and feel love and happiness in their hearts!!! Christmas can be a difficult time for children in need. There are so many families who for so many reasons cannot afford to gifty-gift their kids at Christmastime.

Having connections to the medical community, for instance, I know that parents fighting cancer oftentimes face tremendous medical expenses that make Christmas even more difficult. Then there are the kids of low income families. And even right before I started writing this blog post, I was reminded of the children who themselves are hospitalized at Christmas fighting their own battles. This list goes on. And so for me, I thought … let’s help make some kids smile big this holiday! My special gift to give always is love and big hugs … and this year, I have a very special way of sharing those big loves and big hugs. She happens to come in the form of an adorable, lovable, happy monster named Lub who is having a very happy day! Thus 100 Books – 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub’s Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive was born.

Pauli and I were never able to have kids, so our nurturing hearts found other ways to share and spread love! And Lub’s Very Happy Day! story and activity book is one of those ways! This year we have already donated one classroom set of Lub’s Very Happy Day! books to a 4th grade classroom in Bay City, MI. And I got this big idea … Let’s do a Lub’s Very Happy Day! holiday donation book drive to get 100 copies of Lub’s Very Happy Day! donated to kids in need, so we can make at least a 100 kids smile … cuz Lub will do that to you … she’s big on making smiles, sharing love and happiness, and giving hugs! … And then, if 100 books get donated, we can do a random hat drawing for one lucky donator to win a classroom set for another classroom of their choice! Also, as I mentioned a moment ago, a nursing friend of my reminded me that there are children who will be confined to their hospital rooms for the holidays, and so I’m also open to the gift set of books being donated to children in hospitals.

With all of this in mind … let’s be the loving, bright stars we are and share and donate! Let’s make a happy, smiling big, loving difference to kids in need! Here’s how!

100 Books - 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub's Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Help me put smiles on at least 100 kids’ faces this holiday season by buying a copy of Lub’s Very Happy Day! and donating it to the charity that moves your heart (Toys for Tots, your church toy drive, etc).

In return, I will donate a classroom set of Lub’s Very Happy Day! books (up to 30 copies) to the winning participant’s classroom of choice (to be determined by random hat drawing).

  • This holiday donation book drive ENDS Sunday, December 15, 2019, midnight, EST.
  • The recipient classroom of the classroom set of Lub’s Very Happy Day! books (up to 30 copies) must be in the continental United States.
100 Books - 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub's Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
  • You buy a copy Lub’s Very Happy Day! from Amazon
  • You send me proof of your purchase to marykate at loveandbighugs.com
  • I will put your name in a hat for a random drawing for every copy of Lub’s Very Happy Day! you donate.
  • You donate the copy to the charity that moves your heart (Toys for Tots, your church toy drive, etc).
  • When we reach 100 copies donated, I will draw a random name from the hat and donate an inscribed, classroom set (up to 30 copies) of Lub’s Very Happy Day! books in the winner’s name!  (Shipping to classroom’s school included.)
  • It’s that easy!!!
100 Books - 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub's Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub makes kids of all ages smile big and instantly feel happier.  She can’t help it … she’s drawn that way, lol!

What the kids are saying about Lub and her very happy day story and activity book!

“My grandson thinks Lub is cool!  We love Lub’s Very Happy Day!Kris B.  Elkhart, IN

“I read Lub’s Very Happy Day! to Ethan (6) and Ally (5), and they said it’s full of joy, and it made them feel happy!” Karen H.  Hamburg, MI

Maybe you are wondering what Lub is all about … well, she’s very much me in my kid-like, loving, cute monster self … so when I wrote her story I thought about things I love, and I wanted to fill her story with happy images of some of my favorite things. So that’s exactly what I did!

  • I love cute monsters – so of course Lub would have to be adorable.
  • I love PINK – so, lol, of course – Lub’s the PINKest monster, EVER!
  • I love LOVE.  Love in all it’s kindness.  Giving and sharing.  Compassion.  Big Heartedness.  Playfulness.  Silliness.  All of it!
  • I love nature and being outdoors.  The sunshine.  The woodland creatures.  Adorable buggy boos.  The flowers and the trees.  And oh how I love bright, sunny, warm blue skies with fluffy cotton ball clouds floating by … and all the imaginary shapes I can see!
  • I love reading, creating, playing, eating healthy snacks.
  • I love spending happy time with friends and loved ones.

Lub’s Very Happy Day! is filled with delightful brightness and big huggy smiles!

100 Books - 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub's Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub is the happiest, PINKest, most love-filled monster, Ever! Her big, PINK heart is always with her, and it beams brightly in everything she does!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub loves you!

Join Lub as she shares with you her love and very happy, monster-ifically delightful day! Feel playful and bright, smile big, and be happy! Have fun and be cheerful as Lub lovingly models healthy behaviors, like:

  • Being happy
  • Smiling big
  • Having fun
  • Being kind
  • Spending fun time with oneself
  • Having independence/self-reliance
  • Being imaginative
  • Having positive friendships
  • Napping
  • Eating well
  • Having compassion
  • Enjoying silliness
  • Valuing companionship
  • Being grateful

Watch your child’s face brighten with big smiles at every adorable page turn. Kiss them goodnight with happiness floating in their heads and big smiles filling their hearts!

Additional Features of Lub’s Very Happy Day:

  • Adorable, bright, full color, happy art and images spark big smiles
  • Positive, lighthearted, and encouraging
  • Fun to read and experience

Feel Lub’s love, happiness, and fun! Bring her home to share now!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
100 Books - 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub's Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
100 Books - 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub's Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Until next week …

Thank you for being here with me! Thank you for donating your love and big hugs to this 100 Books – 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub’s Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive and helping me help at least 100 kids to smile big! I hope your holiday season is filled with love and kindness, big hugs and big love, laughter and squee, and healthiness! And the biggest smiles, ever!!!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
100 Books - 100 Happy, Smiling Kids! Lub's Very Happy Day! Holiday Donation Book Drive. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Holiday Door Decorating Contest?
Challenge Accepted!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Hello Happy Holiday Hearts!

So.  Story time.  LOL.  Pauli comes home from work about a month ago and says, “They’re having a holiday door decorating contest at work …”

No need to finish that statement.  “Challenge ACCEPTED!!!”

Challenge Accepted!

In under 90 seconds I’d grabbed the nearest writing implement (a blue highlighter) and a piece of paper, then super scribbled up my instant idea.  Pauli was eating BBQ at the time, and he smiled as the ink spread.  A couple of drops of BBQ sauce later, and he nodded.  He loved it!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Insta-scribble door decorating idea conceived … with 2 drops of BBQ sauce from Pauli!

“So we’re in?” he asks.  “We’re SO in!”

LOL.

The Power of a Smile – Our Purpose!

You know I’m all about the power of a smile!  Smiles make people feel happier.  And happier is healthier.  And happier and healthier at the holidays means we can eat more chocolate with less guilt.  LOL.  Let’s be real.  I never feel guilty about eating chocolate!  Chocolate is filled with powerful phytochemicals and antioxidants and it comes from the cacao plant … so it’s salad at its most delicious!

Back to those smiles!  It’s the holidays, and the holidays can be stressful for many.  Even unhappy for some.  I want to do everything I can to make the holidays have smiles and happiness as much as possible for all!

So.  Let’s get to decorating the happiest, smile-inspiring door yet!

Planning Stage!

For planning purposes, I knew I wouldn’t be able to doodle-art all the elements on my computer … my printer doesn’t print door-sized art … lolz … so I decided to get bulletin board paper and paint the larger scene, then doodle-art the detailed fun bits (like Santa and Rudolph) on my computer to be printed out on cardstock, cut out, and mounted with mounting squares to the painting for a 3-D effect. … oooooh, giddy clapping … sounds squee!

I ordered the bulletin board paper, and while I was waiting for it to come in, I started doodle-arting!

My Doodle-arting Begins!

Quick trip through clipart searches for some style inspiration, and voila, I was off and doodle-arting to my heart’s content! (Doodle-art time is so calming and peaceful, and it makes me feel really happy! Gets my brain all destressed and relaxed. Love it! Hope you’ll give it a try … even just for fun. It’s really good for you!)

To give you an idea of what my doodle process looks like:

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
How I doodle. Scribble, scribble, outlines. Start to create color palette. Doodle. Scribble. Digi-erase A LOT. And Ta-da! I eventually get my tweaks just the way I like them!

For my design plan, I needed multiple door smile-making happies: Santa, a sleigh, Rudolph, some stockings filled with LOVE, a Christmas tree, a snowhuman, and a wreath!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Here’s all my happy, smile-making door decorating doodle bits!!! Stockings, wreath, Santa, sleigh, Rudolph, Christmas tree, and a snowhuman!

Next up, the door painting. The bulletin board paper had arrived!

I’d had Pauli take a whole bunch of measurements of his door and surrounding area to help guide me. His door isn’t quite 3 feet wide, and I’d found 2 feet wide white paper for the painting … and by awesome luck, we found some amazing nighttime looking paper with stars – PERFECT for the outdoor scene portion of our door. OMG-Totalloo SQUEE!

A few years ago for Christmas, when I was first getting my digi-doodlebug skills going, I made a Christmas pic to share with my peeps on social media. I used it for my inside scene inspiration. Here it is!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Christmas digi-doodles from my beginning days of computerized scribbles!

Time to Paint!

Pauli helped me hang the bulletin board paper up, and I got to sketching in the outlines.

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Pencil sketch to guide my painting!

All doodle-sketched in, I grabbed my paint brushes and my acrylic paints and got going on the background first. (The nice thing, to me, about acrylic paints is that they blend well, and they dry pretty quickly. So it’s fairly easy to keep layering in each bit and layer. Also, they’re water-soluble, so super easy cleanup!)

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Getting the background painted in!

And then, layer by layer, my doodle-art started coming to life! Every new color brought me happiness and big smiles to my heart. And Pauli got more excited with each stage – especially when I got the fire all done … he loves the fire in the fireplace!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
That’s me … doodle painting in the flames of the fire!
Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
First and second floors done! Just need the roof, banner, and fireplace rug. (You’ll see those in the door assembly pics!)

Door Assembly Time!

All the while I was painting, Pauli got to cutting out all of the 3-D decorating bits. Scissors and exacto-knifing it up. I’d be painting in my studio room, and I’d hear him out in the living room … “You’re kidding, right? You don’t really expect me to cut around all these little lights on the antlers, do you?????” LOL. I’d smile and keep painting, and he’d get back to exacto-knifing the details. His poor little finger is still hurting. But a partner-project is a partner-project, and sometimes we just have to take one for the team … Getting people to smile isn’t always the easiest of work. LOL (No worries … I’ve been TLC’ing his little finger back into happiness. In all fairness, cutting out is really hard work, and Pauli did an amazing job!)

With everything painted and all the cut-outs cut out … it was time to assemble everything! Pauli went to work armed with the night sky paper and mounting squares. He did a great job getting the sky in place!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Pauli gets the night sky background up!

Now for the painted house scene parts! After work, Pauli came home to get me … sweat pant p.j.’s, silly hair, and all, but ready to go! And off to Pauli’s work we went. Once there, assembly was pretty straightforward. Each bit is its own piece: the roof with chimney, the second floor windows with candles, the Happy Holidays banner, the first floor fireplace, and the fireplace rug (bottom of the door finisher).

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Look at it all coming together!!! Up go all the painted house scene parts!

Finishing Up & The Big Reveal!

All we had to do was double up the mounting squares to add depth and use them to add the final happy, smile decorating bits!!! Oh, and a lil bit of white paint for some smoke coming out of the chimney! And here it is the … the big reveal …

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Ta-da! One very happy holiday door ready to make smiles and share happiness!!! We’re both very SQUEE with how it turned out!!! Also for fun: note the door-side stocking detail offering organic candy canes for fun and holiday cheer!

A cool and fun unanticipated location artifact is how the hallway lighting outside Pauli’s door lends perfectly to the scene setting with the inside of the house being all lit up, and the outside of the house being dark, like at night.

But so you can see the details all come together, I asked Pauli to take a picture with the flash. It over brightens the door, but you can see Santa and Rudolph so much better!

Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.
Big Flash and over bright, but now you can see Santa and Rudolph better!!!

Holiday door decorating contest? Challenge accepted! We hope you love our door! We hope it makes you smile and feel a delightful spark of happiness! We wish you a very happy holiday season filled with love, happiness, laughter, and kindness!

More from Mary Kate

This was a pretty big art project. It took Pauli and me a week to do. If you like the idea of Arting It Up for happiness, but don’t want to take on a big project … I’ve got the happiest little activity sampler for you! It’s a 7 day Arting It Up challenge. Instead of doodlebugging everything out from scratch, I’ve given you daily cute, happy, little coloring scenes that only take a few minutes to color, but give you precious moments of peaceful, restful, relaxing time to yourself. And I’ve added in some space for you to have gratitude and love yourself for something you’ve done each day. In short, it’s simple happiness for you that will also help you feel healthier. And it’s FREE … just click below!

Ready to take my Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness: Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge?

Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Each day support your healthiness with feeling less stress, less anxiety, more happiness and more positivity!

Easy, fun, happy, silly, adorable, and totally supporting you!

7 days of Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

11 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven happier and healthier promoting strategies:

  • Smile-making, positivity-promoting, happy coloring blocks
  • Gratitude Acknowledgements
  • Self-acknowledgement Reaffirmations
  • Includes “how to get the most out of this challenge” intro page & a summary reflection page
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs get button

Find more gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care from me at Etsy!

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Looking for a gift that will put a smile on your face and help you feel happier? Treat yourself or someone you love to these Big Loving, Big Hugging daily inspirational POSitude cards!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Until next week …

If you start to feel overwhelmed this holiday season, love yourself and take the time you need to breathe and heal. Feel love and happiness, take time to laugh and breathe, share kindness, and know that I’m hugging you with the biggest BIG LOVE so tight!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
Holiday Door Decorating Contest? Challenge Accepted! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

How a Treasured Friendship Lost Gave Me Something Life Changing to be Grateful for!
(… and how it’s made my life a happier and better place to be!)

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

Hello Beautiful Blossoms!

I have a Thanksgiving story of Gratitude-Giving to share with you.  It’s all about how a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for, and how it’s made my life a happier and better place to be!

Treasured friendship lost

Has it ever happened to you?  You’ve had a friendship with someone who simply brightened your heart with so much happiness and big smiles, who made a positive difference in your life, but then time, distance, circumstance … life … happens and your friendship is lost, but the love is still in your heart?

It has happened to me with great sadness.  I will miss my friend forever, but I am grateful for every wonderful, life changing gift I got from our friendship.

I know I’m not alone in this as I’ve talked to other gorgeous souls who have experienced friendship loss as well.  We talk about how great it was when we had our friend in our lives, and invariably the conversation always drifts to wondering … What went wrong?  What happened?  Why did our friend let go?  Sometimes we get answers.  Sometimes we don’t.  Sometimes we can reconnect.  Sometimes we can’t.

My thoughts for my friend-lost and my shared wisdom to the gorgeous souls I talk to … I take from the book/movie Eat, Pray, Love … send them your light and love and wish them well wherever they are in the world and in whatever they are doing.  I feel this truly and deeply in the depths of my soul.  Yes!  For as much as I miss my friend, there is a reason I miss her so much – she was a delight in my life – and I wish her goodness, healthiness, and love in all that she does, even if it means without me.

For as much sadness as I’ve felt from the loss of this friendship, I have so much to be grateful for, and especially as it is Thanksgiving and a time for Gratitude-Giving, I want to share with you the amazing life changing gifts I received that made this friendship so worth the pain of losing it.

Life changing gifts

To start, I am grateful for every single day I got to spend with my friend … for all our laughter, shared love, shared wisdom, shared goals, shared philosophies, supporting one another … the absolute delight of feeling fully connected to another person in this giant lonely world and getting to spend time with her.  What a gift!

And she gave me another gift; one I never saw coming.  It changed my life, forever.  She gave me the gift of encouragement.  It helped me grow a new confidence in myself I’d never had.  She saw a creative talent in me that I didn’t feel was worthy of sharing.  She disagreed.  She told me my art looked like me.  It had all my happiness in it.  That my art was a visual embodiment of my voice. 

Then, she gave me the gift of knowing … she taught me how to use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

I started out slowly.  Figuring out the digi-tech part of art.  Playing around.  Birthing a new craft.  And as my confidence grew, I tried new and bigger things.

Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Living my gifts

And this is how Lub’s Very Happy Day story came about!

A few years ago, while we were still friends, I decided to create a children’s story and share it with her as a prezzie.  She – like me – loves children’s picture books to fall asleep to.  … You know how life can be stressful?  Well, at nighttime, you want to fall asleep, not being stressed.  You need to let go and relax.  You want to go to bed with good juju running around in your head so you can have happy dreams, not stressy ones.  A novel, although a very happy escape … if you get sucked in (we’re talking hours of awesome reading), you lose sleep and rest.  So to help us calm down, me and my friend love to read happy kid’s books.  They’re quick.  Cute.  Fun.  Often silly and squee.  And help you calm down and sleep sweet. 

So I thought, hey, why don’t I write a cute, happy kid’s book for us to enjoy before sleepy-time?  I wanted it to be filled with happy images of favorite things.  So that’s exactly what I did.

  • I love cute monsters – so of course Lub would have to be adorable.
  • I love PINK – so, lol, of course – Lub’s the PINKest monster, EVER!
  • I love LOVE.  Love in all it’s kindness.  Giving and sharing.  Compassion.  Big Heartedness.  Playfulness.  Silliness.  All of it!
  • I love nature and being outdoors.  The sunshine.  The woodland creatures.  Adorable buggy boos.  The flowers and the trees.  And oh how I love bright, sunny, warm blue skies with fluffy cotton ball clouds floating by … and all the imaginary shapes I can see!
  • I love reading, creating, playing, eating healthy snacks.
  • I love spending happy time with friends and loved ones.

So of course, Lub’s Very Happy Day! is inspired and guided by all this love and happy goodness.  It’s filled with delightful brightness and big huggy smiles! (It’s self-care in picture form!)

I can’t look at Lub & her picture pages without smiling so big!  For me, she has that silly something that just makes me feel better instantly. :0)

Lub was born from all my squeelightful monstery pink-hearted happiness and giddy clapping to brighten our days and sweeten our nights!  Her very presence on paper is a silly monsterification of all the giddy love in my heart!  And she’s been keeping me company at bedtime ever since.

Not too long ago, a friend – who is also a retired elementary school teacher – was visiting me, and we were in my studio.  She saw Lub’s book, and she smiled huge (Lub will do that to you!).  My teacher friend asked me about Lub; what her story was; and how it came about.  She started flipping through the pages, and page after page, her smile grew bigger.  She told me I should publish the story.  That she thought it was really good!

I was all like, “Really? … Like share with other people kind of good?”  I had written it for fun and bedtime positive imagery, never thinking to put Lub into the world.

But my friend insisted. 

I was moderately convinced.  My artwork in my personal copy was from my first days in the digi-painting world.  My doodlebug fingers hadn’t grown their confidence bones quite yet, back then.  So I asked around to other school teachers I know.  Every single time I got the same thing.  Share Lub!  She’s adorable and so happy and so fun!!!

Fueled by all the excitement of how easily other peeps were falling in love with Lub, I decided to update the artwork.  For as much as I loved her and everybody else seemed to be loving her, too, I knew my art could be cuter with my improved and more experienced doodlebug digi-skills.

Along with redrawing and updating all of Lub’s artwork, I learned that Amazon print services requires a minimum of 24 pages.  Lub’s story fell short, as I hadn’t written it to meet any page requirements.  I thought about the power of creativity and coloring and art to sooth, heal, detress, reduce anxiety, and relax, so I decided to add in some Lub coloring and activity pages for fun. 

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

And voila!  Here we are today.  Lub’s Very Happy Day is a story come to life to share happiness and love with like-minded and pink-hearted monsters who are giddy clapping for more POSitude and happiness to brighten their days and sweeten their dreams.

My life: a happier and better place to be!

This is how a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for!  And how it’s made my life a happier and better place to be!  I have learned how to be a digi-art doodlebug!  I’ve grown my skill with experience.  And I’ve gained confidence in my doodlebug digi-art skills and having a visual voice to share my love and happiness with you!  I feel this is a gift that pays forward.  Now that I’m digi-art doodlebug, I have another medium to share all my Love and Big Hugs with you, and this makes me so very happy!!!  Especially as, let’s face it … most of us are visual people.  A picture is worth a thousand words.  And my art is me all over the page sharing all the PINKness in my heart to help you feel better, more loved, happier, and healthier.  And this is gratitude in my heart!!!

I hope you give yourself the gift of Love and Big Hugs all day long today on this Thanksgiving day!  And every day.  May your day be filled with love, happiness, and healthiness, and may you be surrounded by peeps who get you, love you, and cherish you for all the goodness in your heart!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub is the happiest, PINKest, most love-filled monster, Ever! Her big, PINK heart is always with her, and it beams brightly in everything she does!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Lub loves you!

Join Lub as she shares with you her love and very happy, monster-ifically delightful day! Feel playful and bright, smile big, and be happy! Have fun and be cheerful as Lub lovingly models healthy behaviors, like:

  • Being happy
  • Smiling big
  • Having fun
  • Being kind
  • Spending fun time with oneself
  • Having independence/self-reliance
  • Being imaginative
  • Having positive friendships
  • Napping
  • Eating well
  • Having compassion
  • Enjoying silliness
  • Valuing companionship
  • Being grateful

Watch your child’s face brighten with big smiles at every adorable page turn. Kiss them goodnight with happiness floating in their heads and big smiles filling their hearts!

Additional Features of Lub’s Very Happy Day:

  • Adorable, bright, full color, happy art and images spark big smiles
  • 6 Delightfully fun coloring activity pages included
  • Positive, lighthearted, and encouraging
  • Fun to read and experience

Feel Lub’s love, happiness, and fun! Bring her home to share now!

How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Lub's Very Happy Day! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Find more gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care from me at Etsy!

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Until next week …

Happy Thanksgiving! I am grateful for you! Big loving you and hugging you tight!

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
How a treasured friendship lost gave me something life changing to be grateful for! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Grow your happiness with smiles!

Happiness: Grow yours with smiles! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Hello Sweet Beautiful Rays of Sunshine!

Today, you get to ask yourself a powerful question: Do I want to be happy? … Don’t let this scare you off. I know I was super direct. But it’s a real and worthy question. That can sometimes be a bit scary. Please don’t be scared. I’m right here with you!!! We can do this together!!! Cuz I love you Big, and I’m holding you tight!!! We can grow your happiness with smiles!

I don’t need to tell you – I’m betting you already know:  there’s a lot of unhappiness in the world.  And it’s impacting so many of us.  Even the brightest of souls can get hit.  If you are a soul that has been feeling unhappy a lot, or even a little, lately, and you want to feel more happiness in your life again … the first step is acknowledging you are ready to feel happiness again.

So … are you ready to feel happiness again?

If so … let’s talk Smiles!

Now, I’m not gonna sit here and try to sell you on a smile, telling you it will fix everything.  I, mean, come on, let’s be real.  Life can deal some serious blows.  Bigger things than a smile alone can heal and fix. 

But, a smile is POWERFUL!

Grow your happiness with smiles. It’s been proven and shown in study after study after study to make big POSITIVES happen in your life.  The simple act of smiling can lift your mood, alter your brain chemistry, lower your stress, boost your immune system.  Umm … yes, please … to all of this!

Here are just a few of the articles written about it … in case you want to check it out for yourself.

Neuroscience Says Doing This 1 Thing Makes You Just as Happy as Eating 2,000 Chocolate Bars

Smiling can trick your brain into happiness – and boost your health

Smile! It Could Make You Happier

But really … do we need to skootch off to read about it?  Why don’t we just try it?  Like right now?  You know.  Smile, and see how it makes you feel.

Here, I even have a POSitude to share with you to guide you through it. LOL. Like, you’ve never smiled before. (Althooooough … maybe???? … Just kidding.)

Actually, in this POSitude, I take it up a notch … I like doing that. I try to get as much bang as possible for my happiness investment bucks. So I’ve added a little moment of self-reaffirmation to go along with the smile. Give it a try … it’s feel-good in like 5 seconds … it’s deliciously delightful!

Happiness: Grow yours with smiles!  POSitude. Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
POSitude card from Mary Kate’s deck of POSitude cards available at Etsy

So. Here we go. Ready? SMILE!

How’d it go? How are you feeling? … Little bit better? Maybe even a smidge better than a little bit better?

Well, we’ll take that, won’t we?!!!

Grow your happiness with smiles. A smile is one of the ways we can improve our happiness – and it’s a powerful one!  If we practice smiling (and even taking it up a notch with a little extra self-reaffirmation) throughout the day … each day … every day … we can build a happiness and healthiness habit that can accumulate goodness, happiness, and healing in our lives.

With this, you can add SMILES to your Healing Toolkit of Goodness to be used daily and even more for extra tough times.

Remember. Happiness doesn’t come from the absence of darkness or bad things happening in life … although sure, that could help SO MUCH!!!! The thing is, life is gonna happen. It’s just how it rolls. But happiness comes through in us in how we deal with life. How we cope. How we approach life and choose to be.

If you want to be happy, you can be! Step by step. Practice by practice. Habit by habit. And smiling is a great and powerful place to start!

Grow your happiness with smiles. I love smiling. I love how it feels. I love how it sparks smiles in others. And I love how easy it is to do. I love how quickly it brightens my face and lifts my heart and my mood. I love how it grows my happiness and helps me heal! I love that it’s a quick and easy practice like Practicing Gratitude to help me grow and heal and feel happiness in my life. I hope sharing these practices and habits with you will help you grow and heal and feel happiness in your life, too!

Create and Grow Your Self-Care!

Want to dig even deeper into your Self-Care? Snag your copy of my “Mary Kate’s Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!”

Mary Kate'es Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!

When you find yourself feeling low, negative, unhappy – doubting yourself – maybe your confidence has taken a bit of a tumble & your self-worth is low …

Grab my Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!

You can start feeling better and start smiling again!

Filled with empathetic & supportive Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

14 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven feel better strategies:

  • Reaffirmations & Positive Self-Talk
  • Gratitude Acknowledgements
  • Smiling POSitudes
  • Additional supporting ideas to help you find your calm and happiness again through self-care and self-love
  • Bonus Love-You Supports and Resources section
Mary Kate'es Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!
MKs Be Kind to You Interactive Self Care Love Letter to You Get Now button

Find more gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care from me at Etsy!

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Until next week …

I’m smiling big and brightly and sending you the love in my heart! I’m holding and hugging you tight! May your day be filled with BIG Smiles, lots of love, and some giggles sprinkled in!
Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
Happiness: Grow yours with smiles! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Practicing Gratitude for the win! Do it! Feel better!

Practicing Gratitude.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

Hello Gorgeous Blossoms!!!

Life happens.  And sometimes it happens to not be nice about it.  We can feel stress, frustration, anger, … a whole range of negative emotions … none of which are actually helpful.  Most are usually hurtful, in fact.

It can be so easy to give into the negative emotions.  So incredibly satisfying.  When we’ve had a really bad day.  Our boss was crap.  A human we had to interact with was an aaaabbb-so-lute jerk.  A relationship we’re in is in trouble.  Sometimes there’s nothing better than a GINORMOUS VENT.  Or even a hard cry.

Processing emotions is vital and important to our well-being: emotional, mental, physical, … all of it.

I’m no saint.  Even with all my positive determination, I have things happen to me that take me down.  Some harder than others.  I have to process what has happened; how it makes me feel; and what it takes for me to cope, get through it, grow, and move on.

I’ve learned, being an active processor (with a toolkit of positive strategies) helps me to work my way through difficult times, crap moments, and mean people.  It also helps me avoid the negative downward spiral and negative self-talk that I can be an expert at heaping on myself.  It also helps me simply live a happier, healthier, more resilient life.

And one of my favorite toolkit strategies is practicing GRATITUDE!!!  I practice it daily.  Plus, it’s in my Healing Toolkit of Goodness for when I take a hit in life, big or small.

Practicing Gratitude

Give the gift of gratitude.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

Practicing gratitude has been shown to actually alter your brain chemistry (for the better) & improve your mood and life!

“According to UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center, regularly expressing gratitude (the quality of being thankful and readiness to show appreciation) literally changes the molecular structure of the brain, keeps the gray matter functioning, and makes us healthier and happier.”

Thrive Global

“In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways.”

Harvard Health

With practice, you can make gratitude a habit and experience positive, long-term effects on your happiness, healthiness, and your life!

So.  What are you waiting for???  Let’s get you Gratituding like an expert!!!

Practicing Gratitude is really easy.  All you have to do is think of something you are grateful for today; focus on it for a lil’ bit; maybe smile while you’re thinking about it; and if you want to take it up a notch, take a deep breath in and then let it out slowly while you are doing your positive gratitude thinking!

And that’s it.  Like.  Not hard.  So easy. 

gratitude invocation Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Here’s me … one of my gratitudes … I’ve actually turned it into a daily gratitude intention, and I keep it in my Healing Toolkit of Goodness.  And I have little reminder print-pages that I keep handy on my desk, and on the fridge.  And actually, I often try to go for at least 3 gratitudes a day.  I know.  Whoa – being adventurous.  LOL.  I’m big like that.

All I’m saying is, there are a lot of ways you can work to change your life for the better, efforts you can make (things like eating better, getting more exercise, sleeping longer, etc.), but practicing gratitude is one of the easiest and least time consuming ways you can do it. 

I mean, seriously, how long does it take to think a happy gratitude thought and smile and breathe while doing it?  In the big scheme of a whole day … about a breath.  And for 3 gratitudes and a few moments really focusing on them.  Coupla minutes? 

So really, likely the only thing holding you back from increasing happiness and healthiness in your life, is maybe the know-how (which I’ve just shared with you) and the willpower to do it daily.

Practicing Gratitude Print Page.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

Come on, print out my lil’ reminder print-pages.  Set them on your desk.  Put ‘em in your kitchen.  … Wherever you’ll do them.  And then … Do Them Daily!  Voila!!! Gratitude is the gift you can choose to give yourself!  I hope you will!!!

Create and Grow Your Self-Care!

Want to dig even deeper into your Self-Care? Snag your copy of my “Mary Kate’s Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!”

Mary Kate'es Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!

When you find yourself feeling low, negative, unhappy – doubting yourself – maybe your confidence has taken a bit of a tumble & your self-worth is low …

Grab my Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!

You can start feeling better and start smiling again!

Filled with empathetic & supportive Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

14 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven feel better strategies:

  • Reaffirmations & Positive Self-Talk
  • Gratitude Acknowledgements
  • Smiling POSitudes
  • Additional supporting ideas to help you find your calm and happiness again through self-care and self-love
  • Bonus Love-You Supports and Resources section
Mary Kate'es Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!
MKs Be Kind to You Interactive Self Care Love Letter to You Get Now button

Find more gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care from me at Etsy!

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Until next week …

Today, I am grateful for you! And all the love and kindness that comes into your life!!! May your day bring you heartwarming goodness and be filled with positive energy!!!
Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
Practicing Gratitude. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth
MK’s Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for YOU!

Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Hello hungry, happy hearts!

Flu/cold season is here.  A day doesn’t go by that I’m not reading about one of my peeps falling down to a mean bug of some sort.  Ugh!  I hate being sick!!!  So let’s talk about one of the most healing foods you can ever eat:

Chicken Bone Broth!

Why is chicken bone broth so healing?  Well for starters, it’s chockful of helpful, healing proteins like collagen and gelatin.  These help your intestines, skin, and joint health. 

Your intestines are Super Important for your immune system, so if you keep your gut healthy, it will help you stay healthy and fight illness and injury better.  Which is wonderful and amazing!!!  Plus, who doesn’t love glowing, healthy skin, and joints that move?

Additionally, if you add salt to your broth while cooking and/or to taste afterwards, the salt and the hydration provided by the bone broth will help maintain and restore your electrolytic balance, which can get wonky when you’re sick.  Have you ever had achy muscles and spasms while sick?  That’s often your body telling you your electrolytes are wonky, or that you are dehydrated.  I used to drink sports drinks to help, but they’re filled with sugars and artificial colorings.  Bone broth is a healthier choice!!!

Also, the hydration helps heal damaged membranes, and SUPER BIG TIME, the hydration helps you flush the bug out!!!  YES, PLEASE!!!

The warm broth and salt can help soothe a sore throat, too.  Also, I add table pepper while cooking, and to taste at the table.  This helps loosen congestion big time.  I love this for helping with my allergies, too.  I gobble my soup and keep the tissues handy.  I love when I can breathe freely again!

So with that, I just want to add … don’t think bone broth is just for kicking bugs to the curb.

It’s SO MUCH MORE!

Bone broth is a super anti-inflammatory, healing food.  When you need to heal from illness, injury, stress, life, etc., bone broth is my go-to and at the top of my healing list along with blueberries, walnuts, broccoli, and sustainably, wild-caught salmon.  Help your body heal, so you can feel better faster!!!

Let’s talk recipe!

My bone-brothing method of choice: the slow cooker.  I love tossing everything into the pot, and letting it do it’s thing.

My recipe will take you veggie prep time + 12 hours of cooking time + rapid cooling time, and an overnight chill.

Here’s what you’ll need:  (I have an 8 qt slow cooker, but I’ve also used a 3 qt.  I’m going to put the quantities for the 3 qt cooker in (parentheses), so you can still make it easily if you’re going small batch.)

  • (2 lbs) 4 lbs chicken wings
  • (3) 5 carrots
  • (3) 5 celery sticks
  • (1/2 – 1) 1 medium/large onion
  • (1 ½) 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • Water
  • Salt and Pepper

Here’s what you do:  See pictures below for fun, happy visuals!

  • Clean and prep your veggies however you like.  Some folks I know rinse and toss them in whole, skins and all.  That’s not me.  I’m a peel-my-carrots, cut-off-the-tops-of-my-carrots-and-celery, and peel-off-the-outer-skin-layer-to-my-onions kind of girl.  You do you, and it will work out just fine!
  • Layer your chicken wings into the bottom of your pot.
  • Add in veggies.
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Place chicken and veggies in slow cooker.
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Add water, apple cider vinegar, salt, & pepper. Cover and turn heat on.
  • Fill with water (for the big pot, that’s about 18 – 20 cups of water.  Can’t remember the small pot.  Maybe 8 – 10 cups?).
  • Add in apple cider vinegar!!!  If this sounds wonky, it’s not.  It’s IMPORTANT!!!  You’ll never taste it in the end – trust me.  I have the most sensitive taste buds you can imagine, and I can’t taste it.  I’m the kid who’ll turn up her nose at chocolate cake made with sour cream, cuz I can taste it … blehcky.  So I promise you.  You won’t taste the apple cider vinegar.  But it’s necessary to help extract all that healing bone protein goodness!!! So DO IT!!!
  • Shake in some salt and pepper.  I add a couple of shakes to start here in the cooking process, but leave the real seasoning for at the table.  That way peeps can control their salt intake better.  Plus, some days I like more salt and pepper to taste, and other days, I go mild.  I like having eating-time options.
  • Cover with the lid.  Turn the heat on high until it comes to a simmer.  Turn heat to low.  Cook for 12 hours!
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
After 12 hours of cooking.
  • Scoop out chunks and pour through strainer into big bowl.
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Spoon out big chunks, then pour through strainer to get smaller bits out.
  • Cool using an ice bath.  Takes about 10 minutes.  This step is a safety step.  When I was researching bone broth recipes, I learned lots.  And chefs are particularly dedicated to safe handling.  They encourage using an ice bath to rapidly bring down the temp of the broth, preventing bacterial growth that can happen during slow cooling.  Also, putting simmering hot soup straight into your fridge or freezer to cool, raises the temp inside your fridge or freezer significantly and can affect your other foods.  So, again.  You do you.  If you have a soup making cooling method you love … go with it! Whatever works for you! I do the ice bath to especially not have to put the hot soup right into my fridge.
  • Remove from ice bath, then Cover and place into your fridge overnight.
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Rapid cool in ice bath for safest cooling.
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
After overnight chill in fridge, gently scrape off solid fat.
  • Gently scrape off excess fat. You will reveal the gelatinous, happy, healthy, healing bone broth goodness!!!!
  • You can now heat up your portion and salt, pepper, and season to taste … and devour!!!  I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE adding thyme to my soup!  It’s my favorite, and I think it makes the most delicious broth.  If you want to give it a try, I usually add a few good shakes to my bowl after I heat it up, and then I devour it!!! Thyme also has wonderful healing benefits – so added tasty, healing bonus!
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
The gelatinous goodness you see is your bone broth telling you did a perfect job! This bone broth is ready to heat, season, and serve, or turn into chicken soup to serve!

Okay.  So.  From the gelatinous state, you can totally heat, sip, and devour your chicken bone broth as is.  Orrrrrrrrrrr, if you like, you can turn it into chicken/veggie bone broth soup!  This is what I do almost every time!

You can add whatever you want: baked/boiled chicken chunks, veggies, noodles, rice, herbs, etc.  I will say this, though, the closer you stick to broth, veggies, and herbs, the more you maintain the anti-inflammatory nature of the soup.  Adding in chicken, rice, and/or noodles would minimize that effect a bit.  For instance, all rice – organic, brown, wild, … all – has arsenic in it.  There are tolerable limits for arsenic in your weekly diet (usually no more than 2 servings of rice per week), but if you are using the bone broth for its healing qualities, you may want to consider NOT adding in foods that diminish its awesome power.

At this stage for me, I’m definitely an “I eyeball it” kinda girl.  For my big pot of stock, I usually add:

  • 3 cleaned, trimmed, peeled, and sliced carrots
  • 3 cleaned, trimmed, and sliced celery sticks
  • ½ – ¾ diced yellow onion
  • 1 tablespoon of the chicken fat I removed earlier (you can use a veggie oil if you prefer)
  • Salt, pepper, and thyme to taste, at the table
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Make chicken soup! Gently heat veggies and oil over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then add in gelatinous bone broth. Simmer on low for 30 minutes.

Here’s what I do:

  • I gently cook/soften the veggies in the chicken fat; over low-medium heat; for about 5 – 10 minutes.
  • Add in the gelatinous bone broth, 1 cup measuring scoop at a time.  (There is usually a layer of fine particulate “sludge” at the bottom of the pan, which I do not use.  It looks sludgy to me, and that gets my nose rolled up at it … I wash it down the drain.  You can decide for yourself what you want to do with it.  Use it or toss it.)
  • Bring to simmer.  Cook for about 30 – 40 minutes.
  • Portion and serve.  Add salt, pepper, and thyme to taste.  YUMMO!!!
  • At this time, I usually portion all remaining soup into lidded, glass, individual-serving-size freezer bowls.  And then I put all these extra servings in the freezer, making them quick gets for any time I want or need some YUMMO soup and healing power!!!
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You!  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.
Season to taste – ready – DEVOUR!!!

Now that you are empowered to make your very own chicken bone broth, let’s talk about some thoughts and considerations that might be important to you:

  • Given that you are making bone broth in which you intend to cook down to the bone and extract the healthy goodness, it is advisable to use the best quality ingredients to fully enhance and ensure healthy goodness.  Consider organic, free-range chicken and organic veggies, apple cider vinegar, pepper, and herbs.  If ever there was a time to cook pesticide-, added hormones-, and antibiotic-free, this is it.  Cooking down to the bone pulls these contaminants out even more, and that’s not in your best health interest.  I have calculated my cost (using entirely organic and free-range ingredients) at $1 – $2 a serving (depending on how big of a bowl I want!!!  Sometimes I eat a double serving, cuz it’s that good!!!)  Even at $2 a bowl, this is not a lot to spend on healthy goodness (especially when you think of what you pay for a serving of fast food these days).
  • If you prefer adding in herbs or other veggies earlier on (things like bay leaves, garlic, leeks, etc., for instance), go for it!  It’s your soup.  Make it yours!!!  For me, I like the delicious flavor of a simple broth enhanced with some thyme, salt, and pepper.  That’s me.  What do your taste buds want?  Do that!!!
  • A 12 hour cook time is actually on the shorter end of cooking time for bone broths.  My research found that you can actually cook chicken bone broth up to 72 hours.  Duuuuuude!  Like I’m gonna wait that long!  LOL.  Actually, there’s 2 real notes here.  One, the longer you cook your broth, the more gelatinous goodness you will extract.  This can definitely be a good thing!!!  Two, if you cook your veggies longer than 12 hours, they will get bitter and mess with the flavoring of your broth.  If you plan to cook longer than 12 hours, you can either try scooping out just the veggies (sounds miserable in even trying) or you could bind them in a cooking cheesecloth bag or something for easy extraction.  Just know that if you desire to cook your broth longer to get more of the gelatinous protein healing goodness, you will want an action plan for getting the veggies out after 12 hours to avoid having the soup get bitter with the veggies.
  • I saw some recipes in which peeps blended up the cooked veggies to “add nutritional value and extra thickness” to the broth.  I’ll leave this one up to you.  What I can tell you is that after cooking the veggies for 12 hours, I tasted them to see if they were still “usable” and yummy.  My answer is a resounding NO – they’re yucky!!!  After 12 hours of cooking, I feel they have been used of all their goodness and are ready to be disposed of.  To me, if you want to add new, fresh veggies for new nutritious and yummy goodness, that’s the way to make delicious soup from the broth.
  • A quick ice bath cautionary: when you fill up your sink or a tub with ice and water to make your ice bath, please note, that when you put your broth/pan into the ice bath, it might have buoyancy. Be prepared to hold it steady or have some help. It would totally suck to spill your broth into your ice bath after all that cooking.

And that should do it! You are bone brothing ready!!! Get in there and make yourself some happy, healthy, healing goodness to warm you and delight your taste buds!!! And heal you right on up!!!

Ready to take my Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness: Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge?

Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Each day support your healthiness with feeling less stress, less anxiety, more happiness and more positivity!

Easy, fun, happy, silly, adorable, and totally supporting you!

7 days of Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

11 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven happier and healthier promoting strategies:

  • Smile-making, positivity-promoting, happy coloring blocks
  • Gratitude Acknowledgements
  • Self-acknowledgement Reaffirmations
  • Includes “how to get the most out of this challenge” intro page & a summary reflection page
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs get button

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

May you tackle this flu/cold season illness free! May your holiday season be filled with laughter, love, kindness, gratitude, and joy! Thank you for being here with me … I love spending this time with you!!!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
Recipe: Chicken Bone Broth: MK's Happy, Healthy, Healing, Yummy Goodness for You! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

But, but, but, … I LOVE Gluten!
Having to go gluten-free and making it work for me.

Title pic. Going Gluten-free. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Sweetest Love Muffins,

I LOVE gluten.  I love it in my cakes, cookies, muffins, breads, biscuits, grilled cheese sandwiches, pizza, pasta, brownies, croissants, coffee cake, donuts, gravies, cereals, …

Going Gluten-free.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm … Gluten!!!

I miss it so much.

This will be my second holiday season sans the gluten.  No Thanksgiving stuffing, gravies, desserts … oh my.  I can’t even talk about Christmas and all the cakes and cookies and goodies I won’t be eating.

But I am adapting and making my own way.

Summer, a year ago, I had to go gluten-free for my health.  At first it was just supposed to be a trial run to see if not eating it made me feel better.  I was just over 3 years into what has become a chronic health moment in my life (now at 5 years in).

I make being an aging girl look really hard, and I promise you, I don’t mean to.  Along with transitioning into perimenopause, my body has become alien to me in so many ways.  It’s on a programmed mission that is difficult to cope with and is confusing me and my doctors.  And it’s not telling us when, or even if, this is going to get better.

The symptom highlights I experience that are super relevant here: debilitating chronic fatigue, insomnia, exhaustion, and loss of a 24 hour day (My days can be as short as 2 hours, and I’ve gone as long as 34 hours – it was the major suck!!!).

For those of you who don’t understand what chronic fatigue is, it’s not like you just feel tired, like you didn’t get enough sleep.  Nope, that would be a cakewalk compared to what it is for me.  Imagine unbelievable weakness, where you can’t even get out of bed on your own.  Imagine aching bones and joints.  Being unable to concentrate and think, and not wanting to.  Imagine being so mentally and physically fatigued that even breathing feels exhausting.  And then you just lay there.  A lump.  Too debilitated and fatigued to do anything, and then add in the insomnia.  You can’t even sleep yourself well.  Which, by the way, sleeping doesn’t make you feel better or rested with chronic fatigue.  You can wake up even more tired than when you fell asleep.

So with that picture, you might be able to understand why I was willing to try giving up the gluten.  For those of you who know me and my love of chocolate goodness, you know this was a big give.  But desperation was talking, and I was listening.

Just so you know, I’m not trying to convince anyone to go gluten-free.  It’s so hard to do!  All I’m saying is if you need to, it can be done, and in time, you will likely feel a whole lot better!  And if you don’t need to, maybe my experience will help you to understand how hard it is for us, and help you to empathize with our journey.

The day we came home from the doctor’s office, the decision having been made, I went to our pantry and stared.  I looked at all the yummy food that I wasn’t going to be able to eat. I was torn between feeling good about doing something to help my body but also thinking … what’s left to eat???

When going gluten-free, a first lesson you learn is that gluten is freaking EVERYWHERE!!!  We Americans eat so much wheat and wheat processed product that its gluten has contaminated just about everything.

I came home thinking, all I have to do is move all the bread and wheat stuff to a newly designated “Paul’s side” of the pantry, fridge, and freezer.  But nope.  Just about every grain and dried product that you can think of has been processed in a facility that processes wheat, so gluten.  And if you are gluten-sensitive, then yes, even that is enough to trigger a response. 

So out went my grits, rice, corn, oatmeal, and all their related products, too.  Going gluten-free when you really need to get gluten out of your body means going grain-free – unless, you specifically seek out gluten-free grains, which aren’t always easy to find.

And that cuts deeper than you might think.  Marshmallows, for instance.  Made with cornstarch.  So yep, gluten.  So no marshmallows.  … Seriously?!!!  You’re taking away my marshmallows on top of everything else?  Yep.

So it’s not been easy.  In fact, it’s been really freaking hard.  I won’t lie to you.  Going gluten-free is a challenge!!!!  Especially when you are me, an organic vegetarian (who eats occasional fish).  The variety in my diet plummeted, and I’m still working hard to build up my options and choices.

Going Gluten-free.  Mary Kate Kopec.  Love and Big Hugs.

We are mixed household.  Pauli still eats gluten … like … in front of me!!!  LOL.  We’re talking all the things I miss.  Lots of gluten.  Donuts.  Cakes.  Cookies.  Pizza.  And this list goes on.  And it’s even worse for me … because we’re talking True Love, here … I still make cakes and cookies and all this gluten stuff for him to devour in front of me.  (That’s like a straight to heaven kind of thing isn’t it?!!!)

For a quick explanation about the meat and organic choices … there’s a ton of cancer in my family, including colon and breast cancer.  Just over a decade ago, I learned that practically every artificial food coloring used is correlated with colon cancer.  This knowledge took me on my journey to find foods without additives and preservatives, which led me to organic options, and that has grown into a 99% organic habit.  The meat, for me was hard to digest and came with its own hormonally induced symptoms.  So what started out as removing red meat from my diet eventually turned into cutting out all meat except for occasionally eating sustainably wild-caught fish.  Additionally, recently, I’ve learned the AMAZING benefits of bone broth, so I now also make and eat chicken bone broth (but don’t eat the meat itself).

SO.  Being an organic vegetarian who needs to eat gluten-free brings me to my second lesson: it’s a very time consuming and effort-involved journey.  Why?  Because I have to essentially make all of my own food from scratch – which, let’s remember, the whole reason I’m doing this is because I have chronic fatigue … as in many of my days come with ZERO energy.

OK.  I’m assuming by now, you are ready to run for the hills and say screw that going gluten-free thing.  And if so, I get it.  I understand.  It’s hard, and it can totally suck at times.  BUT, before you lace up your runners … here’s the thing:

It’s working.  I’m not a 100% better.  Not yet.  But within a few months of cutting out the gluten, I noticed that my full-on, totally bedridden days reduced from about 27 days a month to about a week.  And now, nearly a year and a half later, I maybe only have 1 – 3 REALLY BAD days a month, and for the most part, none of them are as bad as what I experienced back then.  I still get fatigue attacks, but these days, they seem to be less intense and of shorter duration – however, they still drop me like a sack of potatoes in an instant and without warning.  Also, I still have the insomnia and the non-24 hour day thing … but hey … improvement is good thing!!!!

So for now, I just want to wrap up with a couple of very IMPORTANT things I’ve learned so far.

FIRST

Gluten is definitely an allergen, and if you are not allergic to it, you can still be sensitive to it and experience negative health effects.

If you are in either of these categories, gluten is a highly inflammatory substance, and inflammation leads to disease like diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and rheumatoid arthritis.

If you have ongoing health troubles, and you are wondering if gluten might be at the core, there’s this great doctor online who freely shares an abundance of knowledge – Dr. Axe.  I love his website, and he has no idea I’m talking happy about him. Check him out. (I’ve linked his name to one of the articles he’s written on gluten intolerance … it’s totally worth the read.)

Also, there’s a hiccup with conventional (non-organic) wheat that has nothing to do with gluten and everything to do with Round Up (the highly toxic weed killer they use to dry out the wheat faster to make it ready to harvest faster.  There is conversation about whether people are reacting to the wheat or the Round Up.  If you’d like to read more, Wellness Mama is a website (human’d by a number of health-invested professionals) that offers tremendous healthy living information.  (I’ve linked you here to an article they wrote about conventional wheat … and if you are eating it and don’t like the idea of eating Round Up, please read this article … it’s eye opening!)

SECOND

It’s true that going gluten-free is a challenge, but making all of my own foods has saved us a lot of money … even with buying organic, gluten-free products.  I’m eating super nutritious foods for far less expense.  And my body is thanking me!  So if you are feeling poorly, and you think gluten or wheat might be the culprit … it’s worth checking out.  Just know that it can take a long time to see the full effects.  It depends on you, your body, your needs, and your sensitivities.

What I can tell you is I LOVE Gluten, and even though I miss it, I am happy and grateful it’s out of my life, and I’m on the road to wellness again!

If you are interested in recipes I’ve found, made my own, and turned into things I love, email me and ask for recipes and I will start including them here.

Ready to take my Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness: Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge?

Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Each day support your healthiness with feeling less stress, less anxiety, more happiness and more positivity!

Easy, fun, happy, silly, adorable, and totally supporting you!

7 days of Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

11 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven happier and healthier promoting strategies:

  • Smile-making, positivity-promoting, happy coloring blocks
  • Gratitude Acknowledgements
  • Self-acknowledgement Reaffirmations
  • Includes “how to get the most out of this challenge” intro page & a summary reflection page
Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs get button

You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!

Get Your POSitude On!

Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!

Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!

Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!

Promo Image of POSitude cards on Etsy

Gluten or no gluten, I hope your day is filled with sweet love and kindness and the biggest hugs ever to hold you and lighten your heart! Thank you for being here with me!!!

Love and Big Hugs,

Love and Big Hugs Mary Kate
Title pic. Going Gluten-free. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.