Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Sabbatical...well, if that includes painting, sanding, sewing, etc.

Okay y'all, I am taking a sabbatical from blogland after my next post. I know I have been a slacking for a while anyway, but I have some home renovations (mainly refinishing cabinets, repainting, getting some neverending projects completed) that need some finishing up. I will post some before pics tomorrow and when I'm done. At least I know that if I acutally post it, maybe you all will keep me on my toes and I will actually get around to completing them. I am the Queen of Unfinished Projects (yes, you may bow and kiss my ring).

Okay, so on the list...
  1. Paint bannister

  2. Touch up nursery (includes distressing and staining new bed & dresser) and finish decorating it

  3. Repaint master bedroom, get new laps, finish up window treatments, hang painting

  4. Completely overhaul laundry room (it is sad)

  5. Possibly repaint kitchen & get pictures on the walls

  6. Make some sense of our upstairs space (I am at a complete loss)

  7. So a few other random sewing projects (finish bedding for nursery, cushion for porch swing, pillows, etc.)

That is it. Well, that I can think of at the moment. I have only had 2 cups of coffee so far today, so I am running a little on the slow side.

Watch for before pics next post & don't forget to visit my shop! 50% off of everything! Tell all your friends! Please...I have to finance all of these projects!

Blessings!



Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Super-mega-ginormous sale at my etsy shop....

Yes, you heard it right folks, I am having a SUPER-MEGA-GINORMOUS SALE at my esty shop. I have too much stuff that I need to purge so that I can start on some new things. Yes, the spring cleaning bug has hit me like a Mack truck and it is even spilling over into my shop!

From now through the end of March, everything is...wait for it....HALF OFF! (Okay, imagine someone yelling, it echoing several times, fireworks going off, a huge inflatable gorilla blowing in the breeze and bright, colorful, yet annoying graphics saying "HALF-OFF!" flashing on your computer).

Go on over and check it out!

Monday, February 16, 2009

The plague has hit...again!

I'll take 4 of these, please...

Oh heavens! It is flu central in our little casa! Not much time to post...not that I have been that on the ball lately anyway...
Regardless of said plague at our house, I still managed to squeeze in a little Valentine's Day fun. Whilst my brood was nauseated, sweating from every orifice, hacking, sneezing, snotting, among other disgusting and unmentionable bodily functions, I was trying to give them at least a wee bit of happiness to balance out their misery. The morning of Valentine's was a blur (Big Ma' had the bug too and was still in a fog of misery herself), but by late afternoon, we decided to whip out the homemade Valentine cards, candy, books, and other Valentine paraphernalia. Shortly after, we made heart-shaped pizzas (the kids loved them) and then baths, nail-trimming, hair drying, medicating and bedtimes ensued. Not much of a V-Day, but we can't complain about not being together. Oh, we have been together...all of us...for days on end...in this same house...sick...miserable...restless...bored...
Well, at least we love each other! Happy post Valentine's day y'all. Be well!!!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Rockin' the swing bob

Oh yeah, we did it. We chopped our little lady's long locks off. Her newest 'do is the ever-so-stylish-and-easy-to-maintain swing bob. I am this close (since you can't see my fingers, let me tell you that they are about 1/2 inch apart) to doing the same. You know, the totally-not-psychotic-mother-daughter-matching-hairstyles! That might be a tad awkward if we wore matching pigtails, but I digress...
I made the appointment after tens of thousands of , "I am so sick of this hair...Leave that bow in!..If you rip that ponytail holder out one more time I'll chop it all off!...C. be still while I comb it!...It wouldn't hurt if you kept STILL!...Quit whining!" proclamations. I threatened to my husband every day that I was going to do it and he would look at me like I wanted to have rabid wolves gnaw her bald. He had "always wanted a little girl with long hair". (Imagine a man wanting a woman to have long hair...I have never heard of such a thing). These men don't fully understand the dedication and hard work that the upkeep of such flowing locks takes. I mean, we have to wash, rinse, repeat, condition, rinse, comb, blow it out, round brush it, back-comb it, tease it, spray it, mousse it (did I just date myself?), color it, highlight it, cut it, pin it, pull it back, push it forward, twist it, twirl it, you name it...then we have to do our make up and still get dressed! Anywho, I would always have my ammunition to rattle back about the mess it is to keep it out of her face, out of her food, out of her mouth, untangled and pulled back when her first instinct is to rip anything that resembles any sort of "hair device" out in the blink of an eye. After the last hair ripping episode in which she quickly took out a fistful of perfectly good hair from the left side and left a frizzy mess in said area, I said, that is it...I can take it no longer.....and the hubby said, "OK". What? I couldn't believe it. YES!!! Wait...NO!!! For the love of all things good...NOOOOO!!!! Now I had to go through with it. Oh crap (excuse the French), what did I just do? I swallowed hard, made the appointment, came very close to calling "Miss Ashley" back and cancelling, then decided, no, I can't wuss out now or I will never hear the end of it.

Oh gorgeous hair, if only thou couldst maintain thyself...
Well, suprisingly enough, after the first cut (what I call the "too-late-now" cut) it wasn't that bad. Well, I did get a little lump in my throat, I mean, it was her FIRST haircut for heaven's sake. After that first cut, I just kept telling her to keep going....shorter...shorter...shorter. I think she thought I had totally lost it. When it was all said and done, this is what it looked like.


Okay, almost there...

The big reveal!
Wait, this is only the 1st of 2 haircuts...keep on reading.
After we left and my hubby saw the results he said, "You chickened out, hu?". WHAT? "If you cut it, you should really cut it" he said. Then he rambled something about, "It's kinda like kissin' your sister". Oh really? Well, I had to agree. I did actually want it shorter, but I thought we could always go back. Here is a little confession on my part: I have absolutely no spine when it comes to hairstylists and haircuts, in general. I have had some horrible, and I mean horrible haircuts, styles & colors in my life. When the hairstylist says, "What do you think?", I inevidably say, "Great...thanks!", leave the salon in tears and sob all the way home never to return again. I don't know what it is. I am a pretty tough cookie, typically speak my mind, would rip someone's head clean off their neck if they mess with my family, when a waiter(ess) asks me how my meal was, I am always 100% honest, but if my hairdresser gave me a mullet, I would exclaim, "It is perfect, thank you, here is your 20% tip" and run home like my hair was on fire...when in reality, I would only wish my hair were actually on fire so I would have some reason as to why my hair looked like that...Anyway, today I went back in, told her how short I REALLY wanted it, and she came up with this masterpiece.
Are you kidding me? Why won't my hair do this? ...oh yeah, the 90's happened (perms, Aqua Net, gravity defying back-combing)...that's why!
First haircut down...next, potty training....BRING IT!!!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Yes, baking again...are you shocked? And making Valentines

Okay, so here is the deal...I don't particularly like to cook, but I LOVE and I mean LOVE to bake. Don't know why, but that's my M.O. Anywho, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, I whipped up (literally and figuratively) a batch of meringues. Super easy, super fast and super addictive.

Yeah, I know, soooo cute! Here is how to make them:

Beat together 4 egg whites, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar, 1/4 tsp. powdered almond extract (I love this stuff & use is all the time), and 4 drops of red food coloring until very stiff. Add 1 cup of sugar very slowly and beat until it is fully encorporated.
Put the fluff in a pastry bag with a big ol' star tip & form hearts on a parchement lined cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 225 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours (for one cookie sheet or an extra 10 minutes for 2 cookie sheets), turn off oven & let them completely cool inside the oven. Store in an airtight container. It makes a ton of them (I only showed about half of what I actually made), it just depends on how big you make them.



This would be a great idea for any holiday. You could tint them green and make shamrocks instead of hearts for St. Patty's Day, you could crush up some peppermints and sprinkle on top (before cooking) for Christmas, or you could do the pink ones and crush up red hots for the top for a twist on the Valentine ones. There are endless possibilities!
Beware...they are extremely addictive! Not that I would know or anything, but I have heard that they are...


Just a little addition to this post. My friend "Marge" hosted a Valentine Making Party today and the little ones had all kinds of fun...(so did the moms). I have to say though, I had envisioned my darling little daughter to be so excited to make a little heartfelt Valentine for her Daddy adorned with little heart cutouts, stickers and massive amounts of glue, but alas, she decided that her bestest little friend "A.A." should receive her little masterpiece instead. Kids...what can you do? The cutest part though...her little friend did the same! I know, AAAWWWWWWW! Here is the evidence...

The girls crafting it up! One of my proudest moments...(tear, tear)


Sweet little "A.A." giving me the thumbs up, well, sort of...




W. had to get into the action too...never too early to learn!