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!!!!