The Stuff I Live For

My Over-the-Top Dining Room Cabinet January 4, 2009

I bought this cabinet about a year ago. It spent months lookly sad and bare because I was coveting some really cool plates that I knew I shouldn't buy. So, I crazied it up myself over the summer. I was playing with my new camera today wanting to take pics of something with lots of color and remembered that I never shared pictures of my over-the-top dining room cabinet. I've reaffirmed my knowledge that pictures taken with a camera flash just aren't great. Natural light is amazingly better, but I had to use a flash in this room.

I put a different fabric (my fave thing of course!) behind each shelf.

On the top shelf is a gorgeous plate from a really unique etsy shop called Love, Lindsey.

No one who sees this in my home gets the plate on the second shelf, so I'll explain… There are FOUR of us!! I just stuck a decal I bought from Lowes on there. The salt and pepper shakers took a ton of time. I had to go through a zillion magazines to find black-only prints of S's and P's. And finally, a too-cute stuffed fabric bird in black and white.

On the bottom shelf I placed the felt cupcakes I made a while back. I told the girls not to touch them and amazingly they haven't. The 'cake stand' is a simple green plate from Target sitting on top of an upside down candlestick holder. If these were real cupcakes, or a glass plate, I'd have glued the plate onto the candlestick holder.

This really epitomizes my style. I love, love, love color. It makes me happy. I could never have white walls in my home. In fact, I wish painting were easier. I'd change our wall colors every year or so.

Christmas Pics - Yes, Late January 3, 2009

While Eric's big Christmas gift was a telescope, Santa gave me a great, new Canon camera. Unfortunately, it was nearly the last thing I opened, so I didn't get too many great gift-opening pics with it. Later, we spent the afternoon at my mom's and I was the papparzzi, taking pictures of the same thing over and over. Even though the camera has tons of functions, I've yet to read the instruction manual. I'm a man like that and think directions are for suckers!

My main reason for wanting a good camera was for taking pics of inanimate objects for Good Pails and Mushy Bug. For this, it is working fabulously and for this, I don't need no stinkin' directions.

So, here's some pictures from our wonderful Christmas of 2008, taken without touching any of those knobs or buttons which I know nothing about…

The cupcake maker - fun, but messy.

The girls are loving this Fisher Price Kid Tough camera. They like to take pictures of Elmo on the television!

Maybe this camera shows a little too much detail!

Resolutions? January 2, 2009

I never do these. I'm too realistic a person to try and tell myself I'll stick with something just because I tell myself it's a new year and I should.

So, they're really more like mental notes I suppose. This year, I hope to…

1. Use our camera and video camera more. I really wish we had video of when the girls were babies, but I put off buying the video cam -stupidly.

2. Get creative up in my little studio and use up some of my ridiculous fabric stash! Mucho importante. Mushy Bug is doing well, but I'd have much more profit if I'd use my extra fabric up.

3. Stop being a compulsive fabric shopper.

4. Pad our savings account - somehow - to work toward moving. I want an inground pool! How I'm going to do this one, I have no idea.

5. Attend church more regularly. Must do. Nuff said.

6. Get organized! In the past week, I've spend over $300 on organizational stuff from Lowes, Target and The Container Store (which I think has some fun stuff, but is quite expensive. Plus, they really should carry some Good Pails!)  I've already done the playroom closet with shelving. Next - some cabinets and our linen closet.

7. Use my ab roller and hand weights - at least sometimes. I'm not an exceriser, never have been, so I'm not going to tell myself that I'm going to do this regularly.

8. Wipe up the kitchen and dining room floors everyday instead of doing one crazy difficult cleaning every few days. I despise our dark Pergo flooring - shows everything.

9. File a complaint on our neighbors whose dog has pooped on our lawn at least 25 times. I've been putting this off for months since their 9 year old is Ayla's only neighborhood friend and Eric plays whiffle ball with their 3 sons all summer. I have to be the bitch, though. Can't stand picking up someone else's dog crap any longer.

***I reserve the right to add to, or delete/forget, any of these and anytime of the year!

Just Watched… December 27, 2008

The Strangers with Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler

Riculously scary. Can't handle that stuff anymore. I will not be sleeping well tonight.

And the Stockings Can Be Hung… Finally December 13, 2008

Not mine, of course, I'm way too behind to be thinking of hanging my own stockings. But, Gina's can be hung! I completed these six sweet stockings for Gina of An Unpink Life this morning. She was kind enough to wait ridiculously long for me to get one of these prints in.

I looked at the design from one of our family's stockings and figured them out that way. After I got the first knocked out, they were fun to make. Gina picked some great fabric combinations don't you think? These prints are all from Michael Miller Fabrics - one of my fave fabric distributors.

It would've been nice to take the picture of these hanging up, but I don't even know where my stocking hangers are. So much to do, not enough days to get it all done in. Must remember to breathe.

Thank you, Gina, for letting me do these for you and your family!

Got My Baby Back December 6, 2008

But not without a fight. First the stupids at Dell EMAIL me that the issue with my computer has been discovered. Duh, the screen was broken. You could see that. How many days did it take them to discover this? The email stated that I need to call Dell within 5 days or my computer would be returned, un-repaired. Why would they email me when they have my computer? Am I wrong to think that most people don't have more than one computer in their home? They had my phone number, but their protocol is to email and not call the customer. Smart.

Next, they tell me the LCD and the Motherboard both need to be replaced. All I did was crack the screen. Don't know why they said the motherboard needed to be replaced. The guy who answers the call to the 800 number I was told to phone of course has a crazy, annoying foreign accent and I'm not even sure I believe he was in the same country as my computer, which was sent to Texas. He tells me, 'Jip, zip, yanna blah zip, hanna yanna zip blah blip 199 flat rate plus zip, sip yanna hoona 159 for a total of 358.'

What! $358! I only bought the piece of junk for $600. So, I tried to make myself cry to him but of course couldn't muster up my best actress voice and ended up just sounding like a bitch.

Oh well, it worked to some extent. He went to 'talk to his manager' (yeah right) and came back to tell me they could repair it for the flat rate of $199. I'm pretty sure no motherboard was replaced and Dell is probably hurting just like most other companies right now. They were trying to get one over on me. If I would've said OK to the initial $358 they'd have taken it from me.

In summary, if you're considering a new laptop or desktop purchase right now, I wanted to share this experience with Dell with you. Maybe HP and Compaq are the same, I don't know, but the customer service at Dell is quite frustrating.

In other news, I just updated my Playlist too, which you can see at the very bottom of the page. I just love making my husband wonder out loud if we have anything in common! I get such a kick out of it.

Worth Your Time November 21, 2008

Whale Wars on Animal Planet, Friday nights at 9 pm EST. The first two episodes of this seven-part series are available On Demand now if you have Comcast Cable, and the third show airs tonight.

Captain Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherd crew are a group of amazing people who set out to stop Japanese whaling ships through any non-violent means necessary.

Their mission is intense, dangerous, controversial and noble. The Japanese have killed tens of thousands of these beautiful mammals in the name of 'research,' though the fact of the matter is that a single day's worth of whaling can make the Japanese as much as millions through their sale of the whale meat.

I truly wish for an end to cruelty to animals (or mammals). Thoughts such as these evoke tears in me in an instant. I simply ask you to educate yourself on this atrocity happening in our world right now.

I’m an Idiot November 19, 2008

I picked up my laptop by the screen yesterday and must've cracked it internally. Now one third of the screen on the right side is not visible. I have to send it off to some techie at Dell. Who knows what this is going to cost, but more importantly…What am I going to do without my laptop for TWO weeks?? I'm having such a great time with my new etsy shop and doing well, but this means no uploading pics of new items to my shop and no new pics to this blog till I get my baby back.

We have an archaic desktop that I'll have to make do with. But it means devoting at least 10 minutes to send one email. The thing takes 20 minutes just to restart. Probably bogged down with hundreds of viruses.

We are having a remodel done in our bathroom this week, out of necessity really. Tiles starting falling off our shower wall, leaving holes in the wall because the sheetrock has starting rotting away. Needless to say, taking a shower with holes in the wall and seeing glimpses of mold through those holes makes you feel like crap.

Also, Eric needs two new tires on his car desperately. Plus it's the holidays. Trying to keep reminding myself how blessed we are. It's just one of those 'when it rains, it pours' things I guess.

Still, I'm an idiot. Here's a pic in case you want to share in my heartache. Or laugh at me.

Oh, my baby, I am going to soooo miss you while you're gone. Hurry back!

Two Thumbs Down November 17, 2008

I always wanted a thumb-sucker. Heck, I was one myself. I thought (and still think as long as it's not my kid) that it's so cute. Then, after Ayla was such a tough baby and always needed pacifiers, which of course get lost constantly, I sort of 'forced' Shay to suck her thumb. As an infant, I'd stick her thumb in her mouth when I put her down in her bassinet. If it popped right out, I'd shove it back in! She got the hang of it quickly and has always been such a good sleeper.

But now…

Shay's 3 years old and has been wearing Bandaids on her thumbs nearly 100% of the time since the end of July. That's almost 4 months people. And it's not working. We've literally gone through 1 1/2 mondo, 100 count boxes of Bandaids from BJ's.

Once every three or four days, I catch her taking one off and still sucking her thumb! I cannot figure out how the habit isn't broken by now.

Any tips besides the old thumbnail paint from the drugstore? I'm about to give up and let her suck her way straight to the orthodontist.

Saying Goodbye to My 20’s October 31, 2008

And I'm not a bit upset about it. Today, I am 30 and… I am happy. I love my family, I love life. Thank you, Lord, for the most wonderful gifts I could have on this earth - Eric, Ayla and Shay.

Although Eric took the day off today, many crazy circumstances led us to have to go into Center City Philadelphia today so Eric could get a couple of things done at his work. Of course today of all days was also the big parade for the World Series Champions - the Philadelphia Phillies. There were literally millions of fans out there, exactly in the spot we needed to get to. The real comical part is Eric is a Mets fan! Of course I had to get lots of pics of Eric with a sea of red around him. He didn't share in the laughs with me. 

The un-comical part was that it took us over an hour to get across the street! We went into the subway and tried to go under Market Street to get across. Every stairwell was just mobbed with people. With two kids, one in a stroller, it wan't easy going.

Why did the Mets fans cross the road? Cause they didn't wanna watch that darn parade!

Anyway, we made it, and we ended up having a good day.

Later, of course, we went trick or treating. Ayla was a butterly and Shay, a ladybug. My cousin came over with her girls so the kids had a great time collecting tons of candy for ME!

Now we're watching A Nightmare on Elm Street 2. Freddy Krueger rocks. Today was too rushed for time for the girls and Eric to make me a cake, so I have already declared tomorrow my birthday too.