Hello! You might or might not have noticed but I’ve been MIA from blogging for quite awhile. There’s been a lot of reasons – all varied from family life, a desired break and a strong desire to lead a healthier, less-stress lifestyle. The latter means there’s been a detour from sweets and confections from my favored drug of choice – sugar. I know. A tad ironic and possibly problematic for a blog with “sweets” prominently featured in its title. I’ve actually struggled with this conundrum for a long time as I like things all tidy, wrapped up and everything in its place. I didn’t know what to do about this but I realized not having a solution to my blogging identity crisis was one of the things holding me back from moving forward and doing something I once loved which included more than just baking.

DIY of the succulent pumpkin arrangement coming soon.

So while I’m watching my A1C, (which by the way is just dandy but I also want to keep it that way), and keeping the calories in check (because seriously how can anyone bake so much and not nibble along the way), I’d like to blog about what I used to write about when I first started almost 9 years ago when my blog was called Pink Martinis and Pearls. Remember that? The blog was sprinkled with posts about crafts, cooking, and decorating here and there and not just about sprinkles on a cupcake.

If you’ve followed along with me from the beginning, you know I would scatter in posts of a more personal nature, about me, my husband and my boys who so long ago were just finishing up high school and attending college. They’re both grown, graduated and even graduated from grad school and successfully living on their own.  One, on the east coast and the other on the west. I’ve also decided to be much more private with my personal life going forward on this blog. The reasons aren’t important and have thankfully passed but I urge caution to anyone with an online presence of having too much personal info available even if you think it’s of little importance. You don’t want to find yourself in a bad Lifetime movie like I was, believe me.

So before this Stella gets her blogging grove back, I just wanted to say thank you for visiting me here and for being old friends or to welcome new ones!  I’ll still be more active on Instagram and Instagram Stories so you’ll see different things there of a more candid nature and in real-time. I hope you’ll follow me and join me there at SweetsToImpress. I love to respond to comments and I respond to all. I can be quite chatty but isn’t that what connecting on Instagram and here is all about?

So with all this said – this is what I’m working on now – big party plans incorporating a birthday on Thanksgiving Day! At this point I’m playing with colors and textures and what I’m going to do for the invitation for the birthday girl who will be 95! My MIL is an incredible woman who has a Facebook page, writes and answers emails, prints out photos and uses her iPad and computer regularly. She deserves another palooza, don’t you think? Here’s a link to her 90th paoolza party when I featured orange and pink as the color palette.

Thank you again for visiting today! Have a great week ahead and happy October!