Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween!!

Has anyone ever tried making those Cake Balls that are on Bakerella? They looked so good, and I thought they'd be a great treat for Brody to take to his daycare today, for their party. So last night, we attempted to make them. They started off promising, and were working out really well. Brody had a great time helping me dip the balls in chocolate and decorate them. Then we tried them. GROSS. They were so disgusting.

I threw them away this morning. Brody didn't bring any treats. They probably have enough sugar out there today anyways. I don't know, maybe it's just the cake mix I used, but I don't think I'll ever be making them again. I'm just mad I spent all that time making them just to throw them out!

Here is a picture of Brody this morning. He wore his costume to daycare, so I hope it's still presentable for trick or treating by the time I pick him up!!

I'll post more about today later!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

My first giveaway!

Okay, so I have decided to jump on the giveaway bandwagon this week! I figure, with all these that I am entering, I should return the favor!

As some of you know, I sell mark. I love selling mark. I absolutely love their products! So I am giving away some of my faves right now:



This is Dew Drenched Moisturlicious Lip Color . It is a very sheer, nourishes like a lip balm while adding dewy, long-lasting color. The color I am giving away is not the pink, but the light nude brown color, MIST. Trust me, it looks good on everybody. It's the elixir of life.



And this is my new love. The Bohemian Luxe Scarf. Beautiful! Each one is woven by hand.


All you have to do to enter my giveaway is visit my mark store, and if you like what you see, sign up as a customer! Each comment will receive an entry, and if you sign up it's an additional entry. Contest ends 10/31/08 at midnight and I'll post later that weekend who wins!

P.S. - For thousands more giveaways, go HERE!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Unbreakable Bond


I absolutely love my sisters. It's amazing to me how three people can be so similar and yet so different at the same time.

My sisters and I have a thing, if we are all together, we have to take a picture. This is the most recent one - taken at Heather's bridal shower back Easter. She lives in North Carolina now with the fiance, getting hitched next month. They only make it back once or maybe twice a year now, but it really changes nothing. We still talk on the phone at least 4 times a week, email, text, almost daily.

That's what I love about sisters, especially mine. It's such an unbreakable bond. Friends move away, and you sort of lose the closeness. With sisters, it's always there. You will always have secret inside jokes that nobody else gets. You will always have those girls that know what you are thinking just by looking at you, or even before they look at you!

With sisters, it's okay to disagree and bicker about silly things. Because you know in a day neither one of you will remember anyways. I have here my two constant, forever friends in life. I love my sisters.
PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Princess for the day

Seems that someone thinks I am a princess.......
I came to work this morning and went into the bathroom that I share with another coworker and this is what I found!!

No one would fess up to it, so I decided to play along and actually be a princess. (Yes, things are slow at work. I have lots of free time.) SO I made some princess crowns for me and Shelly to wear. We've been wearing them all day, and I must say, it feels good to be a princess!

Our office is one big ongoing practical joke, so now that I know who is behind it, it's time to plan our payback. Trouble is, we've done everything already, it's getting harder and harder to pull creative pranks!




Here's the two of us with our crowns. Sorry it's blurry, but I think the photographer was laughing.


Here's me, queen of the office.



I tried really hard to get a shot of my head in the stickers on the mirror, but it was just too hard to get the right angle. This is about as close as I could get!


I am so glad I have a fun job!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Finally! I'm going to Vegas!!!


But not until February!!!!

I have been wanting to go to Vegas, for oh I don't know, 7 years now, and FINALLY we are going. One of my all time best friends and old college roomies and I have booked the tickets and hotel so it really is happening this time!! Several times over the last few years I have come this close but never actually gone. Things always come up, or it's just a bad time, etc.

So since I am not going until February (do I really have to wait that long??) I need some good tips and hints for cheap, free and fun stuff to do!!

We are staying at the Flamingo. I love flamingos. Neither of us is really the gambling type, although I'm sure we'll hit up some slots but that's about it. What do you all suggest????

Monday, October 20, 2008

The best enchiladas EVER and a COFFEE GIVEAWAY!

So last night I made a recipe that I've been wanting to try for awhile now. Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas. (The recipe is from PheMOMenon, can be found here). Sooooo good. I can't wait for lunch today for leftovers. Seriously, my mouth is watering. They are perfect, even Brody ate them up, and I have a hard time getting him to eat anything that's not in the shape of fruit or a chicken nugget. Try them.



Photobucket


Also - Meaghan's new blog is up and running!! Actually, 2 new blogs, G.T.B. Fights Cancer and Get the Bean. Meaghan is an amazing person and if you haven't heard her story, check it out. Right now they are giving away FREE coffee!!! It looks absolutely delicious and I can't wait to order some!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Pumpkin Painting


PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek


This week, on the one free night that we actually got to stay home and didn't have other obligations, we painted a few of our pumpkins. I have a wonderful coworker who treats me like a granddaughter. He is always giving me something. Sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes, everything. Pears and Apples have been the latest, and then last week he surprised us by bringing by 6 huge pumpkins and a few small ones! All of this homegrown by him and his wife of course.



So here is Brody painting away. (He had a new shirt on, and the paint is my good acrylics so he painted in his underwear!)

















And here are his two creations. The one on the left is a monster and the one above is a bat. Pretty good for a three year old, I think!









Oh, and I had to throw this in here - a few weeks ago I posted about Brody reading his toy book every night waiting for Santa -- STILL IS!!

Monday, October 13, 2008

The Secret is in the Sauce...

It's a blogathon over at SITS today!!


As a new blogger, I was super excited to find this site a few weeks ago. If you haven't heard of SITS, it's a community of bloggers that support eachothers pages by commenting. There is a new blog featured every day!! I have already found so many unique and interesting bloggers out there. Here are 5 new favorites:

1) http://beckypaplanus.blogspot.com/

2) http://luvmydoxies.blogspot.com/

3) http://stolenbonbon.blogspot.com/

4) http://tressainnorway.blogspot.com/

5) http://lifeasamomat21.blogspot.com/

Starting a blog can be hard when you don't even know if anyone else is actually "reading" it. SITS has helped bring traffic over and I've made some new blog friends in the process! Every day you are introduced to a new blog, and in that process see all the comments left by others who love comments too! Win Win for everyone! If you haven't checked it out yet, do so!

My busy weekend

I took Friday off of work. An old college roommate of mine and I had a garage sale again this weekend. It started off great, and I had already made close to $100 in just 3 hours on Friday night. Saturday morning started off promising, but then it started to sprinkle. It never really did rain, but it was wet enough to really thin out our crowds. So, I ended up making about $180 total, and got rid of tons of stuff. I was hoping for more, but I am pretty happy. That much closer to my dining room table now! And I got to spend a few days with Mariah and her family. She has one little boy, who will be two on December 11th, and is pregnant with TWIN BOYS who are currently due on December 16th! December is always going to be a crazy month in their house! I can't even imagine...

I also had a long talk with the ex this weekend. He was texting me around midnight on Saturday night, and I of course got mad and wrote him back that I wasn't his piece of trash and he needed to respect me and if he wasnt going to do better to leave me alone. He showed up at my door 10 minutes later. So we had a long talk, and I laid down some rules. I care about him too much to throw in the towel, but I don't think I can really "be" with him right now either, so I guess we are somewhere in between. I feel better about now though, it feels more like we are moving in the right direction instead of just going nowhere. We'll see what happens I guess.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

An Exhausting Topic

I am really conflicted about something (someone) today. You see, I have this ex boyfriend (who is not Brody's father). We haven't actually been together for a year now. Here's a quick version of what went down: We were (are) great together. We both knew (know) it, and so did everyone else. We weren't even together a year yet, and about this time last year, he got scared.

I am three years older than he is, and I have a (now) 3 year old. He still won't admit it, but I know the whole "real life" factor of my life terrifies him. He also had a lot of single friends who liked to give him hell about me, settling down, playing daddy and whatnot, which didn't help. ...and his mom loved me.

So, he decided he just needed a little space. I gave it to him. I was never in any hurry to settle down, have more kids, whatever his friends were putting in his head. SO I didn't push, said I am here, when you are ready. So, playing the hey I'm a single 23 year old, I can do what I want, he ended up sleeping with a 19 year old.(How complete opposite of me can you get than a 19 year old you doesn't have a care in the world or responsibility to anyone but herself).

I was heartbroken. Then, icing on the cake, a month in a half later, he finds out she is pregnant. Boom, he has a live-in pregnant girlfriend. Now, I was devastated. I went through the whole, I should have fought to keep him, how could he do this to me? (yeah, I really thought it was some sort of evil joke).

They of course, were not working out. I chose to move on, and tried my best (successfully) to avoid him at all costs. Then, I hear she either lost the baby, or that there never was a baby in the first place. And she was cheating on him the whole time, and he kicked her out. I still chose to do nothing and continue to hate him.

All of the sudden I was seeing him EVERYWHERE. I realized that I wasn't the only one before who was avoiding the other one. Then one night there was a street dance and he had the guts to come and stand right next to me and talk to my best friends boyfriend. I couldn't believe him. I know now, he was just trying to get me to talk to him, or even look at him, but at the time I was soooo mad. So I texted him (because sometimes it doesn't matter if you delete a number you are still going to know it) and told him just what i thought about his little trick.

We ended up talking that night there in the middle of the street for a good hour, and another 2 on the phone later that night, and have been continually talking (on and off) for the last few months. The problem is, if we just talk on the phone, it's okay. But after a few hours of conversation, you really want to see that person. I will absolutely NOT let him see Brody right now, so that means, if we are going to see each other, it has to be after he is sleeping, which means, more than likely, spending the night. (Don't go thinking I'm a big slut here, because I am not. But I do love to cuddle, especially with someone I care about :)

So I will let him come over, we'll cuddle, talk all night, get that much closer, and then, boom! again, he pulls away. Not so much, but enough that it's more like 1 step forward, 4 steps back. I know he cares about me. I also know that (especially now after his own real life scare) that he is terrified of commitment and he has said to me, exact words, I know if I am with you again then that is it for me. Like his life is over. I don't know how to take that.

It is hard for me to tell him exactly what I want and how I feel, because I do not trust him anymore. Our old relationship is broken, we can't use it as a crutch, we need to build a new one. He, being a dumb boy, seems to think we can just keep this long drawn out process going until he decides he's ready to grow up. But for me, it's not working.

I know I want to be with him, and I miss him terribly. But his logic is lost on me. I feel like he's stringing me out, waiting for something better to come along, which he gets really defensive about, saying that's not true, there's no one else, that he just needs to be him for awhile.

One thing I want to make clear: I have not asked or pushed for anything here. Ever, actually. I am just fine with him being my boyfriend, living in his house, while I live in mine, a 12 minute drive away. I have not ever pushed for him to spend time with Brody, and really, they didn't. Just enough so they were comfortable with each other. How he thinks "his life is over" and no more fun, I don't know. Maybe because he has to actually commit his feelings to me when we are together? Who knows.

I know if I just be patient and wait, it'll happen. Very patient. But, part of me wonders why I am? I don't want to end up settling for less than what I want. Which I guess is why I wait.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

I've been tagged.


I have only been blogging a few weeks, and I already got tagged! So unexpected...
Well, anyways, Sharon, over at Out of my Mind...Back in 5 minutes. tagged me yesterday, so I guess I better play!


1. I watch Christmas movies all year round. Elf, The Santa Clause, and Mickey's Once upon a Christmas are weekend regulars at my house.

2. I can not snap my fingers. I just don't get it. People act like it's so easy, but I can not do it.

3. I don't really like icecream. I used to, as a kid, but now I'd really rather not eat it. Ever. I do however have a deep and meaningful relationship with BROWNIES.

4. I have a serious addiction to purses. Most women love shoes. Me, it's purses. I think I buy a new purse, clutch or bag every 30 days. Being a mark. rep doesn't help. I had a garage sale this spring and sold 7 bags that I had barely used.

5. I will not eat fish. I don't care how delicious you say it is, I will never be able to get over the smell. It literally makes me ill to be around any seafood, cooked or uncooked.

6. I bite my nails. I don't know what it is, but I can grow them out nice for weeks, and once they get to looking great, I just can't take it and they are gone within an hour. :(

7. I don't like to wear shoes. In the summer, I only wear them if I have to, and even at work I kick them off and go barefoot. and in the winter, I have a great pair of Rocket Dog clogs so I can kick them off too. Boots, on the other hand, I love.

So, that is me in all my weirdness. I am going to tag a few new to me blogs that I have been stalking lately:

1. Mabel's House

2. Seven Clown Circus

3. ValleyGirl

4. Tiaras and Tantrums

5. If I only had Superpowers

6. Super Hotmama

7. Smell the Roses

Monday, October 6, 2008

How I spent my Sunday


My sister and her fiance asked me to do the flowers for their wedding coming up in Novemeber. They live in North Carolina and are coming home for the wedding. Her bouquet and his bout are going to be real, so I didn't have to do those, but I did the rest of the wedding party.



They are trying to keep everything classy and simple, since they are traveling and can't be here to do much of the prep work, and don't want a bunch of decorations to take back home with them. So I tried to keep the flowers pretty simple too. Her colors are black and white. Flowers are roses and Casablanca Lilies (and her bouquet will have a few red roses in it, to stand out).


I added baby roses to the moms and grandmas corsages. They turned out pretty good.


But my favorite is the bridesmaids bouquets. They turned out great!


I just love to do this kind of stuff. I also made her invitations, and have received so many compliments on them, but of course, no pictures to post.

I was kind of surprised, because once I got going, the whole process only took me 4 hours, and that includes 24 corsages and bouts, 4 child, and 6 bouquets.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Photostory Friday - Already waiting for Santa...


PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek



I had a completely different topic in mind for today, but I forgot my memory card at home today, so it'll have to wait. This is a cute story too, though!

A few weeks ago, we received a toy book from Fisher Price. I gave it to Brody, as his "mail". He hasn't put that toy book down since that day. It's the first thing he looks at in the morning, and he falls asleep in bed reading it every night. He has everything he wants for Christmas picked out, and has even had me (already) make a "list" to give to Santa.

A few nights ago, he asked if it could just be Christmas already. When I explained that we had Halloween, birthdays, his aunts wedding AND Thanksgiving to get through before Christmas, he responded with, "Let's just put the tree up now and see what happens." (Thinking if the tree was up he would wake up to all his toy book wants).

This is a picture of him, in bed with his cherished toy book, mad at me for not putting up the Christmas tree. Poor kid.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Things parents learn...

I received this email this morning and laughed out loud. It was titled "Why boys need parents". I had my little guy in my head while reading and let's just say #3, #5, #7, #15, and #18 hold a special place in my heart!!!


1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3.) A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6 .) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words 'uh oh', it's already too late.

8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9.) A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.

10.) Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy.

11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12.) Super glue is forever.

13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15..) VCR's do not eject 'PB & J' sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18.) You probably DO NOT want to know w hat that odor is.

19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20.) The fire department in Austin , TX has a 5-minute response time.

21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24.) 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.

25.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.


My little shopping spree



It's the end of the quarter at work, which means bonus checks. I am suppossed to be saving for that awesome dining room table I posted below, but with it being fall, I just couldn't resist buying myself a few new fall things.

I ended up buying myself the black top from above, which actually has a tie on the back you can't see in that pic, and the grape essential tote, and the bohemian scarf.

Hey I worked hard for that bonus, right? I have been eyeing these babies (especially that scarf) since they came out and I can't wait until my package arrives.

These are all mark. of course. I have a serious addiction to this stuff. (Check out my store)

Is anyone else addicted to a certain brand like me? I swear the only places I ever shop at are American Eagle (85% of my wardrobe) and mark.!