Faves for the Face

The following round up was put together by my fabulously put-together friend, Tara. She knows her facial products and it shows, because her make-up always looks impeccible (as well as her hair and clothes).  She has been so kind as to share with us her list of absolute favorites:

1: Dr. Alkaitis Organic Eye Cream  

2: Suki Face Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser

3: Almay Oil Free Eye Makeup Remover Pads

4: Laura Mercier Mineral Finishing Powder (She also loves LM eye shadows)

5: Christian Dior Eye Show in Undressed Biege (used as a base or alone)

6: Touche Eclat by Yves Saint Laurant (She raves about this highlighter!)

Tara reports that she's not ready to settle on the ultimate lip gloss or lipstick, but for now she's liking Prescriptives and Trish McEvoy. And she's still on the hunt for the best mascara... Any suggestions?

Oh, and remember there's a PS notecards giveaway going on here that ends tomorrow!

I Have a Confession...

Here goes... I like country music. I don't know what it is about it, but I dig it. I'm a closet listener though. When I'm driving in my car solo, I oftentimes switch over to the radio and check the two presets (hidden over on FM2, of course), and if they are playing a particularly sweet (ie: sappy) tune, I'm instantly sucked in. Well, just the other day, this exact scenario happened, only their playlist included several particularly sweet (ie: sappy) songs together, back to back. And I'll tell you what, I was just a blubbering. Seriously, crying to the point it was hard to see the road.  I came home and looked up the lyrics, and teared up some more as I took in the sweetness. Each message was saying to me to cherish each day. Every moment. It will soon be a memory. If you can stomach some music of the country variety, here's a video of one of the songs that had me going (and the singer is darn cute to boot). 

Stealing Cinderella, Chuck Wicks: 

{video from myplay.com}

And here are the lyrics from another song, You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins:

She was staring out the window of that SUV

Complaning, saying "I can't wait to turn 18"

She said "I'll make my own money, and I'll make my own rules"

Mamma put the car in park out there in front of the school

Then she kissed her head and said "I was just like you"

You're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times

So take a good look around

You may not know it now

But you're gonna miss this

Before she knows it she's a brand new bride

In a one-bedroom apartment, and her daddy stops by

He tells her "It's a nice place"

She says "It'll do for now"

Starts talking about babies and buying a house

Daddy shakes his head and says "Baby, just slow down"

Cause you're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times

So take a good look around

You may not know it now

But you're gonna miss this

Five years later there's a plumber workin' on the water heater

Dog's barkin', phone's ringin'

One kid's cryin', one kid's screamin'

She keeps apologizin'

He says "They don't bother me. 

I've got 2 babies of my own. 

One's 36, one's 23.

Huh, it's hard to believe, but ...

You're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times

So take a good look around

You may not know it now

But you're gonna miss this"

And if you're really looking for some emotional cleansing, look up the lyrics for Don't Blink by Kenny Chesney and Sarah Beth by Rascal Flatts. Oh My. 

So There. I've said it: I listen to country music (on occasion).

 Now go on and have yourself a good Thursday, y'all!

Giveaways & Downloads

Hop over to Kotori and enter to win this set of Perfect Sentiment note cards. I designed them especially for Tonya, with her little bird theme in mind. Her blog is full of great stuff (design, recipes, interesting finds, and tons more), and she's just a stellar person all around. I'm continually learning new and wonderful things about her, and now she's sharing it all with us through her blog. Let me know what you think! If it goes well, I think I'll host a giveaway over here soon too.

I also came across these neat posters available for downlowd. They are offered by Readymade (a magazine I just love). I don't know how I missed them, but Lin at Paperdolls pointed me in the right direction. I printed out the bicycle one and hung it out in the garage on my husband's inspiration board (really his work bench peg board, but inspiration board sounded so nice).

Happy Wednesday!

Gift Tags (FREE) For You

Last week I was inspired to be generous... Soooo I created some cute, little gift tags available for you to download and print. Just click here and be ready with your cardstock. Then you'll simply cut them out, punch a hole in the corner to thread your ribbon through, and you're ready to attach them to your gifts. Enjoy!   

Here's a neat contest that I just luckily came across.  Visit this completely fun site for a chance to win, but hurry; it ends today!  The online rikrak store is the "home of handmade one-of-a-kind and limited edition upcycled vintage fabric creations, & fabulous goodies made from new recycled felt!"  Good luck!

Meal Planning Monday

This week is going to be an easy one. I am planning to try one new recipe, but we'll be having two easy and scrumptious favorites. With several nightly commitments this week, I don't predict having extra time to plead with a 6 year old to eat her dinner--That's where the ole-standbys come into play. Plus, we just picked up a fresh supply of fruits and veggies this weekend from our organic co-op.  Everyone will be snacking on those throughout the day, so I thought dinner could be a little less balanced. Or at least that's my rationale.  

Here's our week and a couple of recipes to pass along:

{remember you can download this cute meal planner here!}

We're going to try Tonya's Eggplant Parmesan. This will be a first for our family, but we have a beautiful eggplant from the co-op just daring me to not toss it this time. Our breakfast casserole recipe is so easy and delicious. My good friend, Angel, introduced it to me when she brought it to a baby shower brunch many years back. It's now a family fave. It's definitely not light or lowfat, but it's been specifically requested by my daughter for this week.  

Egg Casserole

1 lb of maple sausage 

5 eggs (but we've used up to 9 and it's still great)

3/4 c milk

1 can of crescent rolls

1-2 cups of shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
   
2. Brown sausage.
   
3. In a bowl, mix eggs & milk with a fork.
   
4. Spray 9x13 dish.
   
5. Roll out crescent rolls, without separating them.  Press together any separations.
   
6. Evenly sprinkle browned, ground sausage over crescent roll layer.
   
7. Pour egg & milk mixture over sausage.
   
8. Evenly sprinkle cheese over egg mixture (however much you prefer).
   
9. Bake for 20 minutes or until eggs are set (& doesn't jiggle).
   

Happy Monday!

Closet Clean Out = Vintage Find

I'm in the process of doing a triple closet clean out... I'm cleaning & organizing our coat closet in the family room to serve as art & office supply storage, repurposing our 3rd closet in our master bedroom into my workspace, and converting our old tv cabinet into a coat closet. It's a big undertaking and I'm working hard (and slowly) at not making it just a rearranging project. In our 1500 square foot house space is limited, so I need to make these spaces work better. Before & After pictures will pop up on here, I'm sure. But the point of this whole rambling is to share what I found in the formerly-known-as-coat-closet. Check out this vintage purse:

It was stashed with some odd mittens and scarves in the bottom of the closet. I vaguely remember rescuing it from one of my parents' garage sales, but I don't recall the history behind it. So I guess I really don't know if it is even vintage. To be honest, I'm not really sure what even qualifies as vintage. Heck they're playing 80's music on the oldies station now, so it's got to be vintage. Right? No matter, really, because I'm in love with it! I usually make my purse purchases at Marshalls or TJ Maxx (my latest is from Sam Moon... Thanks Erika!), but I just spent way too long (and had way too much fun) perusing vintage handbags online to see if they measured up to my sweet little find. I discovered so many interesting totes out there when I did my maraton search for "vintage handbags". I might just have to broaden my purse purchasing venues. Take a look at a few that caught my eye.

{1: ancestorvintage 2: AvantGarb 3: LilOldLady 4: AnitaBier312

5: ZucchiniFlourVintage 6: fuzzylizzie 7: TheChurchofVintage}

Cool Art... And It's Free!

{artists are (clockwise): Jen Wallace, Jessica Gonacha, Samantha Hahn} 

Budgets are tight. Cash flow is barely trickling. Lots of shopping hiatuses are in effect. But someone is looking out for us. Jen at Indie Fixx has started Feed Your Soul, The Free Art Project. What a splendid idea. She and two others are offering their art via download.  Just follow the link and you'll have a happy gift awaiting you.  

She's inspired me too.  My mind is turning over with some ideas for free things I can offer.  Stay tuned...

Just Happened Upon This Little Tidbit...

This little insert was in my Valentine's greeting card from my hubby (f/ Papyrus), and I thought it was just lovely and wanted to share. Just so happens that we had taken some equally lovely photos of  hummingbirds a few years back that I just rediscovered while transferring data to my new computer. Here goes...

"Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy & celebration. The hummingbird's delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning & that laughter is life's sweetest creation."

I knew I liked those cute little birds... Perhaps there was something more to it.

Happy Wednesday!

Brownie Points

Our Valentine's Day was purposefully low key this year... Given our current employment status we opted to go low budget this year. We dropped the kids off with the grandparents, headed to the bookstore to hang out, peruse slowly, and drink coffee. (For some reason this is where we end up on nights when we have just a small window of time to be an adult couple.) It was a really nice evening... We both picked up some reading material, got to sit and chat for a bit, and had a sincerely splendid time. I was not disappointed at all.

When we got back to my mom-in-laws to pick up the kids, my sweet husband decided to kick it up a notch and present me with a homemade gift. He had gone over to his mom's earlier in the day while out "running errands" and baked me a cake. From scratch. It's chocolate. And I don't think he's ever baked before in his life. I just don't even know what to say about this. It ranks way up there on the sweet-thoughtful-I-love-him-even-more-now scale.

{Aren't these polaroids cool? If you haven't checked out Poladroid, you really need to head over there. Fun stuff!}

Meal Planning Monday

I'm thinking I'm going to try to make meal planning my theme for Mondays. This will definitely help to hold me accountable to my New Year's resolution, and maybe nudge someone else's week along the way. My goal is to cook at least 3 times a week to make 6 at-home meals (I'll start with a feasible aspiration & go from there). Here's our plan for this week:

{Download this neat, little meal planner from a print a day blog here. Isn't it cool?! You can just print it out and fill it in. And it's free! Even a better deal (and cuter) than the one I got from the dollar bin at Michaels.}

Tonight we're having chicken skewers, or "chicken-on-a-stick" as we refer to them in our household. My daughter isn't a fan of meat of any sort, but if you serve it on a stick, it becomes a-okay by her. You can marinate the chicken however you prefer, but here's the one that we're doing this week. It's sounds a bit strange, (and looking at it now, I'm not even really sure why I ever wanted to try it in the first place), but it's really tasty. Honest. Give it a go:

1/3 c hot water

1/4 c barbecue sauce

1/4 c peanut butter

1/4 c soy sauce (I think I'm going to skip the ss this time bc we're not going asian w/ the sides)

1/4 c chopped cilantro

2 T Grey Poupon Honey Dijon Mustard

1 lb chicken breasts cut into strips

• Mix water, bbq sauce, pb, cilantro, and mustard in a medium bowl with wire whisk.
  
• Marinate chicken with mixture for 1-2 hours in refrigerater. (It makes a lot, so you can reserve some of mixture for dipping if desired)
  
• Thread chicken on to skewers in a ribbon fashion.
  
• Grill about 5-7 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (doesn't take long).
  

What's for dinner at your house?

A Few Of My Favorite things...

{my handsome boys... our miniature schnauzers I dearly miss... chocolate cake from Rockfish (or really anything chocolate will do)... my sweet, toothless daughter... cheeseburgers (again, I'm not burger exclusive)... Cozumel beach (okay, not picky on the location of the beach either, but I have fond memories of this particular one)... my iPhone (LOVE it!)... coffee in large amounts (check out Megan's cool work of art here)... girlfriends (couldn't do without)... my hardwood floors and the shark that cleans them.} These are a few of my favorite things...

Just wanted to show a little love on this Valentine's Day Eve.

Have a lovely day!

Parenting Tip for you

When putting your baby down for a nap, always put pants over his diaper.

I just learned this the hard (and very dirty) way yesterday. After I shouted, oh-dear-goodness-gracious-holy-moly-what-in-the-world-am-i-supposed-to-do-now, or something similarly benign I'm sure, I did think to grab my camera to snap some photos of the scene. I wanted proof of what I was about to embark on. I'll spare you the images and just pass along the tip: Never put a baby down in just a diapered rear.

Love is...

I was reading The Five Languages of Love by Gary Chapman the other night and came across this sentence that resonated with me, "When an action doesn't come naturally to you, it is a greater expression of love." It reminded me of this Shakespeare quote about giving and I wanted to look it up. I think it's worth sharing. Happy Wednesday!

Men's Suits

Oh, holy moly! Who knew that buying a suit was so involved? Surely not me, or my darling husband. We were so unprepared when we stepped out to buy him an interview suit yesterday. I suppose I thought my innate fashion would kick in, but apparently it doesn't apply in the suit department. Poor guy thought he was in good hands, but I was clueless. It was a learning experience for us both. A few things I retained from our adventure yesterday...

• There are many, many, many different style combinations of coats & pants.
  
• Brown is not considered a conservative, interview color, nor are wide pin-stripes. Black, navy, & charcoal are fine, as well as narrow pin-striping.*
  
• It is physically painful for me to step into a mall and not be able to shop for myself. (Okay, I already knew this one.)
  
• My husband looks hot in a suit! The last time I saw him in one was at our wedding 10 years ago... He still has it!
  
• Suits are crazy expensive.
  
• Carlton Cards is going out of business and the whole store is 75% off. (Okay, so I got to shop a little.)
  
• You shouldn't take a toddler suit shopping. (I probably already knew this one too.)
  

We ended our shopping trip having purchased a suit. We left it there to be altered, and we're pretty sure we made a good decision. I think the one we decided on was a 3-button jacket, flat-front pants, both with thin pin-striping, but neither one of us can recall what color or what brand it is... It was a long day.

*Disclaimer: Take this information with a grain of salt, as we were compleltely at our salepeople's mercy. At one department store we were taking wardrobe advice from a man with a gray pony-tail, with at least 5 rubber bands evenly spaced down the length of it. He was wearing a suit and a nametag though.

Meal Planning Aspirations

One of my new year's resolutions was to meal plan. My goal was to actually sit down on Sunday evening and plan out our meals for the week. I started off strong! Then I fizzled. For some reason this is an arduous task for me. It's such a weird phenomenon: when I sit down to plan, my mind literally goes blank. I can't seem to remember recipes, family favorites, what we had last week, etc. I'm not sure why this happens, but I've deducted that I have a love/hate relationship with meal planning, and all that goes along with it... I love to have a plan/I hate to make the plan... I completely appreciate a home-cooked meal/I am reluctant to make all the preparations that meal entails... I enjoy cooking the meal/I dread the clean up it takes... And so on and on. The simple truth is: I need to buck up and make the plan. I just really work better, in all areas of my life, when I have a plan of action.

Soooo when I saw this cute little magnetic pad in the dollar bin at Michael's (They have lots of fun styles & patterns for just a buck!), I thought, maybe, just maybe, this will help me to look forward to organizing my week. It's a simple pad of paper with a magnet stuck to on the back, but its bright colors and organized grids are speaking to me (not quite as loudly as the sketch book, but I'm rolling with it). It's gonna work. I just sat down with my new meal-planning-pad and my mechanical pencil (the one with the extra-thick lead), and we now have a plan for the week. And it wasn't even that painful. Tonight we're having grilled chicken salad. What's for dinner at your house?

Busy... YAY!

This blogging business is hard work! It's so fun, but I'm finding myself a little consumed with it, thinking (and dreaming) about ideas, and really getting into reading other blogs. Well, when I had some card orders all come in at the same time, I found myself a little overwhelmed, and I just about missed my first morning of posting (since I had started consistently blogging), but these little babies just had to be announced (I mean, check out how irresistibly cute the bundles are)! Here are a couple of the cards that had me occupied in addition to trying to get my Valentine orders out before the big day.

This first one was for the third baby, first girl of this sweet family. They wanted something girly and a little vintage...

This second one is for a first baby. The look we were going for on it was "pure/clean and simple, with a less-is-more" feel...

Nothing like a sweet, innocent little babe to make you smile. Have a happy weekend!

A Quote To Share...

I just love this quote, and it goes along so well with my glass-half-full-attitudinal-aspirations at the moment. Plus it gave me a wonderful excuse to showcase some of Mary's photography. Her work and creativity are amazing! Simply put, I think she's brilliant.

Side note: Can you believe I went all the way to Nice, France and didn't step foot in the Matisse Museum? I couldn't seem to drag myself from the beach. Wonderful way to spend 4 days, but still.

What's In Your Cart?

I have this habit of pseudo-shopping online. I fill my virtual shopping bags with lots of goodies I think I need (read: really want). Even though most of my "purchases" never come to fruition, I get some real satisfaction from it. Does anyone else do this? The urges really do seem to disapate for me after I make an almost purchase. Given the current times, I think is a safe habit to continue. Yay!  Here's a few of the items you'd find in my current carts:  

Nothing too crazy-extravagant, but oh-so-mighty cute it all is.  That swatch is from the comforter I've had my eye on for quite some time.  It would so nicely update our master bedroom.  I just imagine this skirt being my summer uniform, paired with some layered tanks and those absolutely perfect wedges. I saw this necklace recently at a jewelry party (you know the ones where you go just to be nice to your friend who invited you, and possibly to have a glass of wine while you're there) and fell in love with this designer's dainty-yet-cool necklaces. (I actually purchased this one, at an in-home discount... Maybe I should have one of those parties. Hmm...) And I love this clutch too. I stumbled upon it while looking for wristlet keychains and just think it would so easily go from a wallet in my big bag to a purse when I'm sans baby. Fun stuff! What's in your cart?

Cold Turkey

You know that pesky, shrinking job market that seems to keep coming up in the news? Well, it just came up, in our household. My dear husband got laid off on Friday. No worries for us though: We're choosing not to freak out about it. It's all talk of new opportunities... and more time together... and reassessing priorities... and potential... and lots of other kumbaya thoughts. I know it's only been 4 days since the news, but it's working so far. Go ahead and forward any extra positive vibes in our direction though, just in case.

Well, along with all the positive thinking, we're being realistic too. The budget is in full force! Soooo you know that gluttonous confession I posted a few days ago regarding my ice cream addiction? Yeah, not really in the budget anymore. After the tub, okay tubs, that still remain in the freezer are emptied, we will not be making our frequent trips to Braum's. We'll see how it goes... Here is my meditative thought to help us through this economically-slumpy sort of day:

I'm looking for a little character growth over here, people. It's cold-turkey time. Ready, set, go (Right after that last bowl)!

25 Random Things... You're Turn!

Have you seen this list floating around? If you're on facebook, you've probably been "tagged" a time or two with the 25 Random Things deal going around. It's much like those forwarded emails that ask you silly questions like, "when was the last time you cried?" and "chocolate or vanilla?" I usually just hit delete and move on to more important things (like reading blogs). This 25 Random Things thing just kept coming back to me, so I decided to just go for it and write the first 25 things that popped into my mind. I have to admit, it was kind of fun. Here's my list, in no particular order:

1. I love my life and feel blessed to be living it.

2. I love cheeseburgers.

3. I wish I liked to run. I just don't. At all.

4. I don't normally do these personal questionnaire-type things.

5. I'm working on stepping outside of my little comfort zone that I normally function within (see #4).

6. I enjoy reading... My faves are memoirs, biographies, & self-improvement/enlightenment books, and my newly added, blogs.

7. My family is everything to me. I thank God for my husband and kiddos.

8. My girlfriends are right up there too... Couldn't live without 'em!

9. Honesty is a huge thing with me. I don't like lies or facades.

10. I'm a sucker for "reality tv"... I'm a fan of Survivor, So You Think You Can Dance, & The Real Housewives of OC (really).

11. I rearrange some part of my house on a monthly, often weekly, basis.

12. I have a love/hate relationship with cooking & meal planning.

13. I sometimes can't believe that I get to be my kids' mom. Amazing, really.

14. I'm digging my new Mac (Thanks, Hon!), but I'm finding change is hard.

15. I've traveled to 8 countries.

16. I haven't stepped foot out of the good ole US of A in the past 6 years.

17. Morning coffee time with my husband is way up there on my list of favorite things to do.

18. I am a big fan of chocolate... You really must try the chocolate layer cake at Rockfish. Scrumptious!

19. A glass (or two) of Pinot Noir is a fine way to spend an evening.

20. I find it hard to resist a good bargain.

21. I attribute acupuncture (and the grace of God) for my son.

22. I have a file drawer full of magazine clipping of everything from fun, crafty ideas to my dream kitchen.

23. I have a really cool sister and a supportive mom and dad.

24. I'm learning (slowly) to be a more business-minded person.

25. Miniature schnauzers are awesome little dogs, and I sure do miss our two sweet pups.

So there you have it! Now it's your turn: Just rattle off 25 things about yourself (or 10 or 5 or 2 or however many)... They can be facts, wishes, goals, whatever. If you've already indulged in this little activity, just paste your list into the comments. And if you haven't, give it a shot. It's fun, and easier than expected! And it's interesting to read what pops out about other peeps in our lives. Do share!

(Oh, and how cool is this ransom note generator I happened upon? Check it out here.)