Bloggy Fun

I had some fun with Google Analytics this morning. Since inception of my little blogiverse, I have had visitors from 109 countries (or territories) and over 19,000 hits! I just think that’s so cool, you guys. Thank you!!!

Appearing last on my list was one visitor from the sovereign state of Andorra. Do you know where that is on the map, class? Me neither, so I wiki’ed it.

Some fun facts about Andorra:

+Andorra has the highest life expectancy in the world (83.5 years).
+Its currency is called “diners” and only a small amount was minted.
+“Andorra” is derived from an Arabic word meaning “forest”
+And they legally recognized same sex civil unions in 2005. How bout that?

Also thought I’d throw in some weird keywords people have used to make their way to my little ol’ blog (though they are not as fun as other’s):

+“My sister dressed me as a girl”
+“Mom booty”
+“Biggest girl turd movies”
+“Hobo Land”
+And my personal favorite, “Elf boobs” (a fetish, perhaps?)

There were actually lots of searches with porn-related titles. Probably because of the GIRL Land, a post about finding out we were having a girl (XX chromosomes) too, and my obsession with ye old BOOB tube! :)

I’ve been inspired by Jenna to revamp my blog. Since we aren’t going anywhere this weekend due to one teething infant and one (as of this morning) puking 2 year old, maybe I shall try my hand at it.

Lastly, I realize I haven’t had a giveaway in a lonnnnnnng time. I’m thinking of maybe 3 giveaways. Maybe one of vintage items, one of kawaii items, and one for a Girl Land Gift Certificate??? I’m aiming for my 300th post although that’s not for 20 more posts—need to step it up a bit.

Everyone have a lovely, lovely holiday weekend. I’m sad to see summer go, but I am excited for fall at the same time.

Decal Crazy

You know how I love vinyl decals. I also love waterslide decals! But mostly just kid ones.

I found a project to use some of them. I wanted them to look more weathered. A little nursery stepstool. Damn that good paint I used! I wish I had rubbed the edges of the stools with beeswax so the paint would come off easier when sanded. Do you know that trick? I think I have a chunk somewhere. Oh well. I still like it. I have two more to make for DUCF.

Here are some other decals I sooooo love!

I ruined one of them-- the BEST one. It was a turquoise bear knitting a pink and white striped something. I failed to take a picture or scan it before it bit the dust. It was really brittle. The other three may hold the same fate. We shall see...

Thank Heaven for Little Turds

They both are. Total turds. But I love 'em anyway. Q has been taking her lippy pills these days. Terms like, "Don't talk to me", "Daddy's stoopid", and "Go in the other room" are becoming commonplace. She bit her friend in the head at daycare last week, and I was mortified. She (somewhat) redeems herself with things like tellling one of the daycare ladies that the skidmark in her undies is "ok-- it's just chocolate". Or seeing a puppy on the side of the street and saying "sooooo cute" in a high pitched voice then talking about how puppies should never never play with knives (?). She's also taken a shine to the ringtone on my cellphone which happens to be Wind It Up by Gwen Stefani which she proceeds to jam out to on the way to daycare each morning.



I am home now with V. She is a miserable lump. My golden girl has turned into a wretched shrieking, red-eyed, no-sleeping, drool monster. She is teething. This is new to me as Q grew no teeth until she was about 13 months old. No hair, no teeth at her first b-day. Picturing one of these??? Don't blame you. But I love them. And these things shall pass. And they shall be replaced by other annoyances. Just as I am not perfect, my kids are far from as well.

No matter what, though, they will always be my living dolls. Fabric for some holiday dresses to be made by Christina:

















The dots is for Quinn-- long sleeve A-line with chocolate brown peter pan collar. The gingham is for Viv-- short sleeve A-line with cream collar and cream cardigan. Wanted them complimentary without being matching. I thought about matching, but I just couldn't do it!!! Ugh. No offense to those mothers who do matching.

Happy Hump Day y'all.

Yay, DUCF & More Vintage Finds

Whoo hoo! I got in! I will be a vendor at the Detroit Urban Craft Fair. So excited. I totally didn’t think I’d get in because I think there were more apps than last year, AND I was lucky enough to get in last year. I’m so happy because there were ideas swimming around in my head that I thought would be perfect for DUCF. Sigh. Very happy. Feel free to check out some pics from previous year’s show! Seriously, if you’ve never been, this is THE place for nifty stuff you can’t find anywhere else. This year will be even better as it’s near Christmas.

So we went to my parent's this past weekend to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary (go Jan and Jim!). Saw my bro, SIL, and niece. Q loves her cousin and was a complete spaz. We got to go antiquing a bit Saturday. Here are some pics from one of my fave stores downtown (excuse the quality-- they were taken with Ryan's phone).

And here were my finds! This dress is in perfect condition. No stains, rips, holes, etc. Viv may wear it for her first bday.

These S&P shakers which will make their way into my shop. Frankly, I don't make much of anything on antique store resale. I just love the aesthetic of the stuff, and it always makes its way into the hands of someone who really loves it. That's so worth it to me.

And these two are my ABSOLUTE FAVES! Not sure what I'm going to do with the clown nursery lamp, but the pic is going up in my craft room.

Also, my mom found me a house shaped shadow box FOR A DOLLAR that is currently a dark stained wood. Would love to finish it off a la Ismoyo (scroll down to her July 15th post) and put some little treasures in the openings.

Hope everyone had a fabu weekend!

OSB Update: Only lost .8 lb last Friday. Too many Hostess 100 cal packs, methinks, and no exercise. Boooooooo! Also, was bad over the weekend, but I'm back on track today. All I can do is keep on keepin' on! Sigh.

Splurge

I have been obsessed with this dress ever since Kathleen posted it. Her inspiration was from this dress from Ses Petites Mains.

Well, it’s on sale. I splurged and bought it. More than I care to spend on a 2 year old, but I had to have it. While I was at it, I bought this one too for next spring/summer!

When Quinn was a baby, I used to buy lots of her non-daycare clothing from Janie and Jack. Now is pretty much a Target and Old Navy gal, so I thought she needed something special. It will serve triple duty: Halloween costume (she will be a 40's style Little Red Riding Hood with a white 1/2 apron and red hooded cape), Thanksgiving with the in-laws with a red cardigan, tights and black maryjanes, and Xmas Eve with my parents with the same.

Ventured into Etsy Alchemy again— I really do love it. Am hopeful that it works out well. Have gotten some great bids for the apron, cape and Big Bad Wolf costume, so I’m excited.

How was your weekend? We saw a pretty good movie, The Counterfeiters. Typical scenario—Ryan picks it out with super high hopes. I whine about having to watch a non-fluffy movie (I’m so shallow). He ends up being semi- disappointed, and I am engaged during the whole movie. Although, we are both looking forward to this one:

OSB Update: Made the zucchini quiche, and it was AWESOME. Omitted the parsley and oregano because we had none, but added dried mustard. Didn’t read the directions well enough and mistakenly added the cheese to the egg mixture. That’s my downfall in the kitchen: too impatient and don’t pay enough attention to detail. Anywho, baked it for the suggested time, and the top got all crisp and chewy in a great way. Served it flipped over, and it was like a cheesy bottom crust. Yummers! And I counted it as 2 veggies (because of the 1 cup cooked squash in each piece), but I think with the onion, it could probably be counted as 3…hmmm. Currently obsessed with Lean Cuisine paninis. They are 7 WW points, but I was literally STUFFED after eating one yesterday for lunch. Just had the BBQ flatbread pizza. It was so so. Bought Hostess 100 calorie packs carrot cake—ONE WW POINT! There’s like 4g of fiber in those bad boys. Sweeeeet.

100th Etsy Sale!

Wow, I can't believe it. Who would have thunk it last January that I would have sold 100 items by now? Not a record-breaking feat by any means, but something I am personally proud of. I still love Etsy as much (if not more) than I did the day I found it. Sigh.

And my 100th sale was a lovely experience. Katie of Skunkboy Creatures (dahhhling shop) bought one of my Welcome to Girl Land trinket boxes. Her 5 year old daughter liked it so much that Katie requested a special one for her! I changed up the story in the box and popped her name in. I hope she likes it. She also got a few extra goodies because she was my #100: a little Hello Kitty shopping bag (you know how I loves my kawaii!), personalized keychain (do 5 year olds carry keys?), a homemade hair tie smaller for kid hair, a heart pen, and an owl pencil eraser. Yippee skippee.

Do you have wonderful weekend plans? Tomorrow is swimming with Quinn, Amy, and her daughter, Ramona. Afterwards, a Dream Cruise party. For you locals, I'm sure you all know the Woodward Dream Cruise is this weekend. UGH. I so loathe it. When you say you loathe the Dream Cruise around these parts, people look at you with this LOOK. Like you just said you worship the devil or drive a foreign car or hate Crocs (no, I don't worship the devil). We usually try to get out of town since we live like 1/2 mile from Woodward, and it sucks because you can't even CROSS it. Dummies block the intersections. It's ridic.

OSB Update: It is onnnnnnn...I so lost 3 lbs this week (whoop whoop). I'm so excited. Makes me *almost* want to exercise after going going going for 14.5 hours straight all day every day (wah, poor me). But two things: our WW leader gave us these WW brand mini snack bars to try-- Peanut Butter Bliss. I almost peed my pants they were so good. One WW point. And found this recipe from Sarah who found it from Turkey Cookies, and I finagled to make it points/diet- friendly. I could eat 1/4 of the entire thing, and that would be only 5 pts:

Grammie's Zucchini Quiche

4 c. thinly sliced zucchini

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 T. butter (instead of 2 T.)

1/2 cup Egg Beaters (instead of regular eggs)

2 tsp. dried parsley flakes

1/2 tsp. garlic powder, dried basil, oregano, salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 c. part skim shredded mozzarella (instead of full fat)

1 tsp. mustard

Saute zucchini and onion in butter until tender. Whisk the eggs, parsley, salt, garlic powder, basil, oregano, and pepper together. Whisk in mustard. Layer zucchini and cheese in pie pan. Pour egg mixture over top. Bake uncovered (yet with a pan underneath so your oven stays clean) at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until knife in the center comes out clean. Let stand for five minutes and serve.

Really not major changes. I doubt you'd even miss the stuff omitted. I'm going to make it this weekend and let you know how it turns out. Yummers!

The Perfect Costume and Self Diagnosis

Halloween's less than 3 months away. I can’t wait! I’m searching for the *perfect* duo costume idea for Q and V. Q will basically be 3 by then and Vivian will be about 6 months. I’m planning on an Etsy Alchemy listing to get the costumes actually made. You’d think I’d have learned my lesson, but I have had some great experiences, so I don’t want to give up on it. Currently I'm thinking this:

Quinn/Vivian:

and again Quinn/Vivian:

Oh, the possibilities!!!

I have also determined I have cubular tunnel syndrome. I can't feel my ring finger or pinky on my left hand!!!! I need to go to the doctor stat, but I just returned to work, and I hate to have to take more time (that I don't have to spare) off. I'm going to fashion a splint McGyver style to straighten my arm whilst I sleep. Did I just say "whilst"? Anybody know anything about this? It's uber annoying.

OSB Update: I didn't weigh in today because I forgot before I left the house and then I was thinking I really don't want to get on the scale until my WW weigh in (on Friday). Is that ok??? Better be...don't F with me though because here I am right now...

Time in a Bottle

photo courtesty of Alexia

My days are fleeting now. I have lofty ideas of painting a baby doll highchair for Q, painting some picture frames for Q’s room, making matching Halloween embroidered or appliquéd shirts for both V and Q, sanding step stools, etc. But by the time we come home, eat dinner, do nighttime routine (baths every night—my kids sweat!), and read books, it’s almost 8:30.

Working full time again definitely makes me appreciate them both more though, I think. Q is really funny. She has learned to operate Ryan’s iPod Touch. She takes it out of the case, puts it on the speaker, turns the speaker on, then scrolls through the songs until she gets to her favorite—“Whole Wide World” by Wreckless Erick. She’s obsessed. Q calls him “Reslick Erick”. I’m so glad she doesn’t need to listen to Barney or The Wiggles every day. She also loves Feist and Talking Heads (“Where are Talking Heads’ knees, Daddy???”). And it makes me proud that my 2 year old is more technologically savvy than one of our presidential candidates (ahem).

OSB Update: So far, so good! Had a few minor incidents involving movie theater popcorn, but still on track. I’m addicted to Morningstar Farms Chik Patties. Cut up, they seriously taste like FRIED chicken tenders. My favorite salad is currently mixed greens, 1 chik patty cut up, cucumber, grape tomatoes, ½ oz. shredded cheddar (full fat yo), and 1 ½ Tbsp. Newman’s Own light honey mustard. It’s 6 WW pts and fills you up. Plus, it counts as 2 veggies and is chock full o’ protein. You could add another 2 pts with a little bacon (I use the pre-cooked stuff) and crumbled egg whites. Tastes just like J. Alexander’s Cypress Salad. Yum!

Skinny Bitches

I've been debating on whether I want to make myself officially accountable. I have FIFTY pounds to lose, so I need to get off my ever lovin' ass. Period. I'm doin it. Here's a start.

Weight Watchers online fizzled out. I can't do it by myself. I get overwhelmed too quickly. I need to suck it up and try to get to an aerobics class stat. But I did go sign up for WW meetings. Let me show you what I'm dealing with here. Ugh (my hair looks horrid too):

And here's my lowest weight about 50 lbs ago when I visited my friend in San Diego three years ago right before I got pregnant with Q.

Yep, I weighed less at 29 than I did in high school! I think this shall be my motivation.

Thanks for listening to my "woe is me" post...but "woe is me" shall be no more! All I can do is keep trying, right???

I WON!!!! I WON!!! I WON!!!

I won Grosgrain Fabulous' Popcorn Bloomers and Blouse. I feel like I won the lottery!!!! That Kathleen. Well, I have mixed emotions because I am soooo excited, but now I will feel like a Greedy Gus if I enter any more. Sigh.

Vivian will look sooo cute. It will probably have to wait until next summer which will be good because she has hardly any hair anyways now (I won the barrettes too!).

Roses & Raspberries

My parent’s receive a local newspaper containing a section called "Roses & Raspberries". People can write in and praise or give the smackdown to the appropriate party that. The hubby is particularly entertained by this and reads it every time we are visiting. Here is a particularly entertaining tidbit from today’s paper that my mother read to me over the phone:

RASPBERRIES:
“• A bushel of raspberries to the - - -wipes who tossed loaded McDonald's drink cups out of their car, hitting me in the head in a totally unprovoked assault as I was pulling stray weeds from the curbside lawn in front of my Woolnough Street house around 10:15 a.m. Sunday, July 20. Had you "gentlemen" not rushed off as you did, I would've loved to have invited you inside for knuckle sandwiches - with plenty of relish! Since you'd served me "soft" drinks, it's only fair that I return the favor - in spades! - K. Delano”

God bless yer spunk, K. Delano.

In honor of the post, here are some "Roses & Raspberries" inspired Etsy finds!

Friendly Banter's Raspberry Rose Brooch

Garnet Girl Design's Raspberry and Rose Stackable Rings

Dreamwear Design's Raspberry Colored Purse with Rose Print Accent

Oh How I Love Dotted Swiss

Don't you love dotted swiss? I love anything made from it. Especially those cute little strawberries.

And yellow always reminds me of my Madame Alexander doll Amy from Little Women. My cousins had Jo and Marmie. We used to play with them up in the old nursery at my grandma's house. I still have her!

And now Kathleen's super cute dotted swiss dress. Maybe I'll win someday. Until then, go ahead and enter her Fields of Gold Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!