Jingle all the way!

If you don't think this ad is awesome, then you can not be my friend.
WARNING: Will be stuck in your head all day!
CAUTION: Will cause spontaneous dance moves including, but not limited to, the sprinkler, the shopping cart, the lawnmower, a few Roger Rabbits and maybe a running man to top it all off.

I'm dream-ing....of a newwww laaaaptop!

I have been missing from the blogging world for the past month. As you can see, the previous entry was from Halloween and included a clip from The Office, the best show on the planet. My current MySpace profile picture is from our trip to the pumpkin patch. See a pattern here?

I have a few excuses as to why I've been so deficient in the blogging/anything related to computers realm:

1) Our computer has "issues." (This thing is 8 years old. Almost extinct in computer years.)

2) In order to remedy the old computer problem, we had to shop for a new one. Oh, the horror!

3) My poor bro-in-law (our family's techie go-to guy) had to withstand several hour-long conversations with Fred (my hubby, the not-so techie guy) so that we could get the computer of our dreams. (All I want is to have enough space for Photoshop...or even just a photo.)

4) After finally deciding on the 45,000 options we wanted, Fred decided to wait until Black Friday to order it. Because, as poor farmers, we take any discount we can get!

So there you have it. I'm still using this dinosaur for the next few days but believe me I have a date with the internet once we figure out how to get the new thing up and running.

Happy Halloween!

Hope you have a fun Halloween!

Birds and butterflies and babies; oh my!

I thought I would share a few pics from the baby shower I hosted for my friend, Megan. As you may remember, we had a birdy theme going on and it was so fun to come up with little birds and butterflies for decorations.

I had nothing to do with this cake (except for the consumption of it..YUM). I added a butterfly and bird from a template I (frustratingly) hand-drew. I used some Stampin' Up! and Amy Butler paper and added a little ribbon to some Wilton lollipop sticks I bought from Walmart.

Isn't she a hot mama?

I bought some flowers and greenery and made floral arrangements in vases from my milk glass collection. I used pink feather boas as table runners and found these cute green flower mirrors from the dollar store to set the vases on. I especially love the bird sticking out of the homemade cheese ball! (My co-host, Alisa, made the cheese ball! DELISH! She used cream cheese, pineapple, red bell peppers and green onion and topped it with almonds. Yum-O!)

Finally, I left all of the guests with a fun little seasonal favor to take with them: a mini white pumpkin. I printed the message, "Thank you for celebrating Megan's little pumpkin!" from my computer and added the bird stamp, clear cellophane, a little ribbon and VOILA...fun little favors.

All in all, we had a awesome time, had great food and even better company. It's always fun to throw in a few handmade touches to make any event even merrier!

Pumpkin love

We have pumpkin fever at our house!

The kids and I have been pumpkin patch "hopping" (sort of like bar hopping, but not) for the past week. Last Tuesday, we took a trip to our local pumpkin patch and had a great time! My little man is picking up sooo many new words and his two current favorite, fall-related words are "ske-cwhoa" (scarecrow) and "punkin."

My preschooler has had a great time exploring the different shapes and sizes of pumpkins, leaves, walnuts and other natural things on our pumpkin patch adventures.

On Saturday, we went to an apple/pumpkin farm called Abel's Apple Acres in Apple Hill (outside of Placerville, CA). We had an absolute blast with the pony rides, photo opportunities, apple goodies, etc. If you live anywhere in Northern California, go there and have a great time! I would highly recommend taking a trip during the week because the traffic and crowds can be unbelievable!

Prince Charming

Kristina Werner is a girl after my own heart.

This week's inspiration challenge comes from Ikea. Tomorrow I'm headed to spend some time with my sister and make a trip to this fabulous store full of wonderful things. If you've never been to Ikea, you need to go.....like, right now!

Not only do they have the coolest and cheapest home decor items, but they also have a FREE childcare (for an hour) while you shop. It's the best place ever for moms!

Here's Kristina's inspiration picture:
Unfortunately, I was out of ruby red, so I substituted rose red instead.
Here's the fun card I came up with:

I had fun doing a little bit of embroidery on this card...so simple!

Card ingredients:

Stamps: SU! Unfrogettable and Full of Life

Ink: SU! Craft White, Old Olive and Summer Sun (for contrast on the paper)

Paper: SU! Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Ballet Blue, Cutie Pie patterned paper

Accessories: White gel pen, white embroidery floss

Birdy baby

One of my good friends, Megan, is due with her first baby in December. I'm co-hosting a shower for her with a birdy theme, inspired by her crib bedding from Pottery Barn Kids. So cute!

I decided to make the invitations with the bedding in mind because a baby bird theme is so fun and birds are so hip right now. I'm going to use feather boas as table runners and make some paper butterflies to hang around. I have a ton of milk glass vases and cups to fill with fresh flowers. Here are the invitations I put together:

If you have any ideas on birdy decorations...let me know. I'm still on the hunt for some birdy party supplies (plates, napkins, etc.)!

Finally feeling like fall...

I have been in a crafty slump lately...until this week.

The forecasters have been predicting rain for Friday and by golly, they got something right! It's FINALLY feeling like fall and there's nothing better than a rainy day and a Kristina design challenge to get me into the fall spirit! Here is Kristina's challenge:

And here's my dual-purpose design challenge and wedding card creation:

This was quite the conglomoration of supplies (don't you just LOVE the word conglomoration..it rocks!) but I got a design challenge and a wedding card done all in one afternoon! Go ME!

Stamps: Studio G $1 stamp from Michael's (WOOT!)

Ink: Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip

Paper: SU! Very Vanilla and Pumpkin Pie and K & Company Amy Butler patterned paper

Accessories: SU! Twill tape, Self-adhesive die cut from SU! Tie the Knot Simply Scrappin' kit, wired seed beads, and pop dots

Summer "kleaning"

Oh my, where to start?! I've been on a bloggy hiatus for the past month. So many things have gone on and I just didn't get around to my blog and I definitely missed it (AND you)!

Last weekend was the Green Baby Expo in my area. I had my own craft booth and sold some handmade cards, art display boards and some retired Stampin' Up! stamp sets. My Etsy shop is coming soon! The expo was a really great experience and I learned about a lot of cool, local products. My friend, Jenna, had a gorgeous booth and sold handmade nursing covers, diaper cloths, fun onesies, diaper bags, key fobs, etc. If you are looking for boutique-quality, stylish and super-functional baby items, check out Jenna's Sweet Baby Creations shop!

One other product I was dying to get my hands on at the expo was a Klean Kanteen! These awesome bottles are founded from a local company and are responsibly made in China. If you haven't jumped aboard the BPA-free water bottle train, you should. Here are a few facts about them (from their website):

•Better Health: Klean Kanteens are made from #304 stainless steel, the material of choice in the food processing, dairy, and brewery industries. Stainless steel is easy to clean, durable, inert, sanitary, toxin-free, and non-leaching.

•Hydration: It’s vital for life.

•Environmental Responsibility: Klean Kanteens are the stainless steel alternative to plastics. Plastics in landfills and oceans are one of the most alarming of today’s environmental stories. (They are also recyclable.)

This is the Klean Kanteen I bought (but a 27 oz. one, with a sports cap top) and I'm excited it will fit in my car's cup holder and it will fit ice inside for a trip to the gym! In addition, I'll be saving a lot of money in the long run AND not filling up a landfill with more of those plastic water bottles.

What kinds of local products are you excited about? Give your local companies a "shout out" and post something on your blog. Go local!

Wilson's Heart

I have been haunted for the past week by these scenes:

This is the season finale from the Fox TV show, House. I've never cried during a TV show as much as I did when I saw this. It was so brilliantly touching and heartbreakingly real. My eyes teared, then cried and I finally just sobbed. The writers outdid themselves with this episode. Every word was perfect. Perfect.

Sometimes life feels so random and cruel. And sometimes we feel as if nothing "bad" will ever happen to us.

But such is life; we lose loved ones. And no matter how random or cruel it may seem, it WILL happen to those we love. We must love with all we have and make each day count. Stop regretting. Love ourselves. Laugh. Make memories. Be in the present. Accept difficulty and surpass it.

If you don't watch House, you should.

This was me yesterday...

It's tag and I'm it!

I feel sorta popular right now! I was tagged by Domestic Accident to complete the following tidbits about me. Wait a minute, this is starting to feel like homework...or worse yet, housework!

4 Things I was doing 10 years ago (1998)

1) Taking finals at the end of my freshman year of college!

2) E-mailing and calling my new "love." (Guess what, he became my hubby!)

3) Working at a local body and bath shop. Pumping lotion and cutting soap...no brain activity required.

4) Walking and biking everywhere because I didn't have a car!

4 Things I was doing 5 years ago (2003)

1) Getting a new job at a wireless phone company.

2) Reapplying to college after taking a 3 year break. All those essays can wear a woman out!

3) Having fun living with soon-to-be hubby and another great couple.

4) Dreading summer because the A/C was broken in my car! 102 degrees...#@&@^#!

4 Things I did yesterday

1) Took Kira to preschool.

2) Got to have a peaceful lunch out with the hubby and Mr. Marcus Man!

3) Bought some new underwear...ooh-la-la!

4) Went to a friend's Tupperware show....no longer a virgin in this department! Yikes! I'm broke! (And now officially a housewife!!)

4 Shows I like to watch

1) THE OFFICE!!!

2) Scrubs

3) House (I am emotionally scarred from the season finale!)

4) 24 (January seems very far away!)

4 things I like to do

1) Have date nights with the hubby.

2) Go to the park with the kiddos.

3) Eat ice cream.

4) CRAFT!

I'm tagging Jenna, Morgan, Lynda and Shauna. Have fun!

Simply quoting Amy...

I am currently experiencing a fetish for all things Amy Butler.

She is a fabulous designer and some of her fabrics have been made into patterned paper for scrapbooking/cardmaking and other paper crafts. I want them all!

I've also become obsessed with quotes... Actually, I guess I've always been in love with quotes. In high school and college, I always tried to use a "famous" quote to kickstart most of my essays and papers. I've incorporated quotes into a lot of the cards I've made lately.

These are two VERY simple cards I made using Amy Butler paper. I think the embossed sentiments go hand-in-hand with the simple beauty of the paper. Patterned paper can be such a great focal point on a card. I love that the sentiments can be used for many occasions: wedding, anniversary, thank you, new baby, etc.

"The grand essentials of happiness are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.--A.K. Chalmers"

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy - they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. --Marcel Proust"

"Slow down everyone, you're movin' too fast..."

Title provided by Jack Johnson's "Inaudible Melodies."

Things have been going by too quickly lately:

My "baby" is one.

My firstborn is four.

I've been married almost five years.

In a relationship with the awesome guy for TEN years!

On this earth for 29 years.

Where is the time going?

I heart you, Kristina Werner!

I have been stalking Kristina Werner's blog for a long time. 'How long?' you ask. Trust me, you don't want to know.

I really DO have a life and I DO spend lots of time with my kids. I'm serious...don't laugh!

Kristina is a Stampin' Up! designer and she has the most FAN-TA-BULOUS blog...full of clean, simple, but wonderful card-making ideas. PLUS, she loves The Office. For these two reasons, I'm sure we could be BFFs if we lived in the same state!

Anywho, Kristina hosts weekly design challenges on her blog and I'm constantly drooling over the gorgeous designs of all sorts of bloggers out there.

Here is this week's design inspiration (via Martha Stewart's home decorating section on her website):

Here's what I came up with:

My photography skills are *terrible* less-than-stellar. Thanks to the economic stimulus check we should be getting soon, I'll hopefully have a new computer and Photoshop to edit my pics!

My new best friend

I'm cheap. I'm a stay-at-home-mom. I can't help it.

I despise renting a movie for almost $5 when I could practically buy it for the same price. Netflix sounds fabulous, but sometimes we just don't rent all that many movies in a month because there isn't anything good out there.

Enter my new best friend, REDBOX.

Redbox is every mom's dream...you rent a movie at the (literally: RED BOX in the) GROCERY STORE for ONE DOLLAR. Return it the next day by 9PM, otherwise it's another dollar. We just watched Juno last week FOR ONE DOLLAR and then I took a peek at the Redbox website and saw that if you signed up for updates that they would send a code for a free rental to your email. So, we got to see Dan In Real Life for FREE! (Both great movies, by the way!)

Check out Redbox and find out where they're located in your area. I know you could use a night in with the hubby!

Summoning my inner Taintorette...

Mom and grandma. circa 1958. Taintor fodder in the making.

As you all know, the lovely Shauna redesigned my blog a few weeks ago. When I contacted Shauna about the design, I asked for something Anne Taintoresque because I knew that was the style I was looking for. Sometimes I feel like a sassy, modern mama with an affinity for all things vintage. *Or my family's pee-on.* Well, voila...enter Anne Taintor and her fabulous Taintorettes! Sounds like a new Vaudeville show, dontcha think?

Welllll, after Shauna got my new and improved blog up and running, I happened to pop over to her page and find ANOTHER blog *because I have nothing but time on my hands* called, She Couldn't Help Herself...She Just Had To Say It. Shauna had created another great layout for "Soliloquy" *witness protection name* and it was Anne Taintoresque to boot! Soliloquy's writing is hilariously real and I'm loving *jealous of* it!

Soliloquy joined the Bloggy Giveaways prize patrol and because I'm posting this shortly before her contest is over, you probably won't win all of the Anne Taintor gloriousness *neiner, neiner.* But I might. Or one of the other 126 people might. Or Soliloquy might keep all of the goods and change her identity. Again.

Spring is here!

Poop on croup!

I definitely lack in the Take-Care-Of-Me-While-I-Cough-And-Sneeze-All-Over-Your-Face part of Mommyhood.

I love my kids to pieces and I would do anything *no ice cream sharing here* for them. Sometimes I wish that when baby #1 was born, I would have developed the DUN-DA-DU-DUNNNN....MOMMY SHIELD *instead of saggy boobs*. This fantastic contraption would be an invisible shield from all of the bugs, viruses, bacteria, crud, vomit, phlegm, poo, *insert any foul noun here* crap that might come my way.

Seriously.

There is a vacuum that can clean your ENTIRE house BY ITSELF AND put itself away. Am I asking too much?

Little Mr. Bubs got croup this weekend. He WAS crawling on the floor at Round Table while I attended a local Mothers' Club meeting...coincidence??? I should be glad that he's still alive. Although my tough guy's spirit hasn't been weakened too much, he has contracted the ability to bark like a seal and wheeze like the Marlboro Man himself. Although these sounds may be music to a chain-smoking carnie's ears, they make me cringe.

The Mommy Shield in non-operational.

Resistance is futile.

My throat hurts!

"Does a seal sound like THIS?"

Just a card a day...

...keeps Mommy's creative juices flowin'!!

I thought I'd show you a few cards I did last weekend. My beautiful friend, Windy, placed an order with me for 3 sets of cards to give as gifts to friends. These are just a few I've done...I'll post more later!

1st Birthday Fun!

I've recently subscribed to a fun blog called Seven Dogs and A Baby. Angela is a 29-year old mama to almost-one-year-old, Connor. If I met Angela at a park somewhere locally, I'm sure we'd have some stories to share because I am also 29 and my little *almost* birthday boy will turn one on May 3rd! Since Connor is turning one, Angela is throwing a blog party with fun and prizes galore! Head over to Seven Dogs and A Baby and join in the fun!

(I did not make this cake. Alana Hodgson did.)