The Stuff I Live For

Eric, Don’t Read This July 22, 2008

I took care of moi this week. Vacation is coming up in a couple of weeks so I had to! Assuming that headline warning didn't work, I might hear it later but I had to share anyway…

  A cute equestrian hat by London Fog. On sale for only around $28 at Boscov's.

   My second pair of these Steve Madden sunglasses this summer. I am not one of those people who deserves expensive sunglasses. I really don't take care of them well. They were also on sale at Boscov's for only about $13!

  I am ridiculously excited about this tank dress. I've been eyeing it for a couple of months at an Etsy shop called The Machine Stops, and it just went on sale.  Shannon is the mega-talented designer and creator and hers is the best shop I've found on Etsy. I'm betting the only reason she's not in New York making it big right now is because she lives in beautiful Hawaii. Can't wait to get this hot dress in the mail.

Yea for me!

‘The Dark Knight’ Looks Great, But… July 21, 2008

…they don't make movies like this anymore…

The Labyrinth with David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. It's from 1986 and is still one of my all-time favorites. Complete with Jim Henson's muppets, how could you not love it? Is it weird that I think David Bowie is the coolest ever? His voice is amazing and he's just timeless. He is absolutely the only musician or celebrity I'd love to meet. If you've never seen it, don't rent it, just buy a copy. I must've watched it a zillion times as a kid and wish I had the DVD right now. Here’s a clip with the awesome song Dance Magic Dance and David Bowie of course!

Birdie Note Cards July 17, 2008

I made these four blank birdie cards for a friend yesterday as a thank-you gift. To me, a great gift is something I'd like to have, but wouldn't want to spend the money on for myself. Even if it's something small, like these little note cards, I'd love to have them but I wouldn't buy them for myself.

I love them because I think the simplicity makes the little birdies extra sweet. Wouldn't they inspire you to write someone a letter? And, who doesn't love getting mail?!

Words of Encouragement July 16, 2008

I received this in an email forward at the exact time I really needed. Maybe some of you can appreciate this also…

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport . We were
driving in the right lane when suddenly a car jumped out of a parking
space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks,
skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other
car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver
just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was really friendly.

So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car
and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what
I now call 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around
full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of fear
and disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to
dump it and some times they'll dump it on you. Don't take it
personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't let
their garbage pile up on you and become an ugly, odorous weight on
your life that you'll then spread to other people at work, at home, or
on the streets.

Successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day!
Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so….. 'Love
the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.'

Make an excuse for them and let it go.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Throw Pillows and Windows Update July 12, 2008

I didn't think anyone was going to notice my throw pillows in the pictures I posted of my 'windows mess,' but apparently a lot of you are really observant. Thanks for your kind comments on them! I was going to post about them when the living windows were done, but you got a peek already. Thanks to all of you who emailed me or commented checking up on the windows job too. The windows are looking really good, but the job's taking a lot longer than we expected. You can see how they look here. I used to have old, brown ones so these fresh white ones make a huge difference.

I despise our living room couch because it's always messy looking. The covers come off for washing and they're just too big for the cushions. The whole big couch is always messy looking and I'm constantly straightening it. So, I decided to cover as much of it as I could!

Heather Bailey prints are my new obsession. As you can probably tell, I love color. I made all the pillows in two days a couple of weeks ago. They were so easy, I don't know why I didn't do them forever ago. I used the few pillow forms I already had and just used stuffing for the rest. If you have a couch that needs some freshening up, throw pillows are great ways to add color to it and brighten up the entire room.

Kid-a-nese July 11, 2008

Kid-a-nese:  Stuff my kids say.  Shay-a-nese and Ayla-nese are the common terms at our house.

  Me:  Shay, what's wrong?

  Shay:  No sumfeens

  Translation: No somethings, i.e. nothing

Ayla, on Ellen DeGeneres:  That lady looks like a boy!

Prelude - We have a candy machine in our family room that only dispenses M&M's when you put a quarter in.

At a pizza shop table…

  Eric:  Man, this is some close quarters.

  Ayla:  Where's the candy machine?!!    (all she needed to hear was 'quarters'!)

Ayla's term for a beard:  chin moustache

I'm adding this as a category on my sidebar to remind myself to write more of these down. I don't keep journal about my girls (in fact I have hardly any printed pictures let alone baby books), so I must start using this blog, in part, to record all this great stuff.

Need a Contractor? Don’t Call This Guy July 9, 2008

We're having new windows installed. I should be saying, 'yea!' Instead, I want to say, 'forget it!'

The contractors were supposed to start two weeks ago. To make a long story short, they wouldn't have even started yesterday if we didn't give the guy a little attitude.

The guy in charge, Mike, is 64 years old. He's got two other guys working with him. One is at least 60 years old, the other is middle-aged, in good shape - what you'd expect for a window installer. Mike told me his brother might come work too, but he's not sure because his brother's about to HAVE A LUNG REMOVED! Hmmm, maybe he shouldn't come?

Yesterday, they got here at 10 am and 'installed' three windows. Not really. They all need to be taken back out and packed with some 1 X's so they actually fit. Not sure if Mike measured wrong or if the house is uneven, but either way, I'd have thought he'd have had some wood with him yesterday. They left at 5 pm.

So this is what we have from yesterday's 'entire day' of work.

Broken shingles. These are old asbetos shingles, not easy to find or replace.

I'm not really happy that the window in my girls' room, on the second floor, was left like this. It looks like it's hanging on by a thread.

I expected them back this morning. Mike showed up today at NOON!! He came to drop some wood off in my backyard and tell me he's not going to work today because it looks like it might rain!

My house is in disarray. If they don't come tomorrow, I'll put the darn windows in myself.

It’s Real Life Thursday July 3, 2008

The adorably pregnant mom Jessica at Farm Fresh is again hosting her blog fest:  It's Real Life. Click to get to her fest and click the Mr. Linky banner at the end of her post for more bloggers and their Real Lives.

If you are reading this and don't know the premise to the fest, we're supposed to post pics as they are 'in real life.' No primping, pre-cleaning, decorating, etc. before pictures are taken. So, Mom, that's why I didn't straighten up my dresser before posting my mess. I did make the bed today, though, and I don't think that counts cause I always do.

We don't have a bed frame so I wanted to create a focal point behind the bed. I painted 4 large rectangles of blues and greens that meet in the center on the back wall. I really love it!

I also found the perfect duvet cover to go with the wall at Pottery Barn.

The wall directly across from my 'headboard wall' is not really a wall because it's entirely our closets. After painting the 4 rectangles I decided to paint the dingy off-white closet doors a bright white and repeated the blues and greens in the squares on the closet. It is so 'me.' Bold and colorful. I also love that our TV is behind these doors. 

Would you believe that I found matching lightswitch and outlet covers at Lowe's AFTER I painted the room?!

My side of the room. Not much on my bedside table but a lamp, my book - The Dark Tower IV by Stephen King, a couple of bills and a square candle dish I use to put my glass of water at night (which Eric brings in for me religiously every night).

My dresser. Lots of papers that need to be filed. I'm very disorganized when it comes to Good Pails.

Eric's side of the room. Grrrrr.

The picture of under the bed didn't turn out great. There's some left over Pergo flooring, a headband and a ball or two. I can't have my foot hanging over the bed at night because I think something's going to come out from under the bed and bite it (if you really wanna know, in my head it's a shark!), but for some reason it's never there during the day. Wish I could've gotten a picture of it for you, sorry!

Do You Still Have Faith in Humanity? July 2, 2008

This blog is supposed to be about the stuff I live for. I try not to complain, or write about things negative. But, sometimes I just feel hopelessly sad about society. I'm sad to think of sending my girls to school because, well, just watching the news for one evening scares the &#*@ out of me.

This evening the girls put their princess costumes on and they looked so sweet I thought they'd get a kick out of walking around the neighborhood in them. We've never done that before and never take walks without them riding in the wagon. It was great to just walk down the street holding hands and talking about life, airplanes and ant hills.

Then, some fabulous member of society went by in the passenger's seat of a gorgeous SUV and screamed out the window, "IT'S NOT HALLOWEEN!" I was so sad and angry at the same time. It was a devastating feeling. For a minute (well, more), I felt like I had given up on people in general. How could someone yell that at two sweet little girls proudly sporting their favorite dresses up and down the sidewalk in a little town? Fortunately, it didn't register with the girls and they went on smiling and skipping away. I, on the other hand, know I need to forgive and pray for these people, but have a hard time forgetting. We went to Sesame Place this past weekend and people got right in front of us in line more than once. Even things as simple as that make me feel like no one cares about others anymore. I know Eric things I'm overreacting, but I'm kind of deep and sometimes it's just all too much and really depresses me!

Music You AND Your Kids Can Rock Out To June 30, 2008

If you've never heard of Kidz Bop CD's, they're albums of current pop songs redone by adults with kids as background singers. We have a few of them, but some of the songs are inappropriate for my girls. With phrases like:

• If you ain't got no money, take your broke self home
• Hey, you, I don't like your girlfriend - and
• Never again will I kiss you, never again will I want to, never again will I love you,

I have to skip through plenty of the CD. Ayla knows now by the first note of the song if she can't listen to it and will run to push that right arrow on the stereo to switch past those 'bad songs!'

Eric recently grabbed Kidz Bop 80's Gold at Walmart for about $10, and we love it. The album includes:

1. Mickey
2. Footloose
3. Karma Chameleon
4. Funkytown
5. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
6. Holiday
7. We're Not Gonna Take It
8. Kokomo
9. I Want Candy
10. Our House
11. Girls Just Want To Have Fun
12. Livin' On a Prayer
13. Vacation
14. Kids In America

The girls and I totally rock out to Footloose and (our favorite) Livin' On a Prayer. I just noticed on the Kidz Bop website that Kidz Bop Gold is available also, with "14 classic feel-good songs" like Dancing in the Street and You've Got a Friend. It sounds like a fun album too that maybe we'll grab on our next trip out.

So sad, but it seems pop music used to be actually popular without sounding hateful. What happened?