Archive for April 2013

Friday, April 26, 2013

Friday 5: Celebrating Simplicity

5 Simple noteworthy and toast worthy happenings from the week. 

I frequently send screenshots and text pictures to my mom and sister to get their opinions on pretty much everything. This week it was lighting fixtures and shoes. Here's to them (and technology!) for always being willing to lend their 2 cents. 

Here's to being thankful where you live and for finding a quiet place to get away from it all. (Even when it's not that far away at all.)

Vance sometimes struggles with trying new things. On this certain day he didn't let his worries take over. Just walked up and said he wanted to do it. And he did. Here's to not letting the scariness take over and keeping you from trying new things. 
 
I guess Vance gets it from me - I also struggle with putting myself out there and trying new things. Glad I didn't chicken out   last night because I enjoyed the yoga workshop with Jonny Kest. Thankful for the opportunity. Photo Credit

Here's to Justin who surprised me last night. While I was out getting my yoga on he took this old light fixture down and had started putting the new one up. New lighting, that's the way to my heart!

Cheers!
What are you toasting to tonight? 

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Urban Hiking




I am not a camper nor would I describe myself as being outdoorsy. 
I don't mind getting my hands dirty planting and pulling weeds but other than that I follow the Look but No Touch rules. (Especially after last year's Poison Ivy drama

That being said, I have found the perfect place. Everyone is happy doing what I like to call Urban Hiking


Close to home? Yes! Outdoors? Yes! Nature? Yes! Rocks and wet things that the kids always want to touch and climb on? Yes! Paved walking paths? YES! 


And a Macy's in sight. 


That's what I call roughing it. 

...............
Happy Thursday Everyone!


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Pinterest Etiquette and The No-Good Person Who Stole From Me

Is that title too long? 

Over the weekend, a friend alerted me to the fact that someone had stolen my content and was passing it off as their own. To make matters worse it had gone viral on Pinterest and all other social networking sites through their site which means I lost referrals, revenue, traffic, and everything else that goes along with it. I feel cheated and it sucks big time. (How 'bout them fancy writin' words?)

I can't help that someone stole my idea and then people started Pinning it. The Pinners didn't know it was stolen material.

But!

I feel this needs to be brought up again. 

For those out there that think that it doesn't matter how and where they Pin things... 

IT MATTERS.

It matters to those who put those ideas out there to begin with. 

I love Pinterest. It's great for inspiration. I love it when you Pin my stuff. Just Pin correctly please for everyone's sake. Always try to Pin from the Source. For example, if I talk about a recipe that I found from another blog, use my link to head over to that blog and Pin it there. Not from my blog.
I'm sure I've slipped up and made Pinning mistakes early on too. But now I always try to Pin everything correctly and always give credit in the description.


Others have written about this better than I have. If you want to know more try Googling 'Pinterest Etiquette' you'll find a ton of information. 

Here's one link from Pinterest: 5 Pinterest Tips for Beginners 

Long story short: I was able to make contact with the Admin for the site that stole my Perfect Polish post and my content has been removed from their site. (Their karma will forever be ruined though.) I'll never get back all those Pins though. (For those who Pinned it from their site it now takes you to a different nail post, which I'm guessing is stolen too. The whole site is sketchy.) I filed a copyright complaint through Pinterest of one of the Pins from the sketchy site and it also has been removed. (So if you Pinned from her board it gives you an error.)  

............... 
Woof. I feel better now. Time to move on! 
 I'll be back tomorrow with less drama. 

Have a great Wednesday! 





   

Friday, April 19, 2013

Friday 5: Celebrating Simplicity


It's been a hell of a week for our country. A perfect time to be thankful for so many things - big and small.

Personally, it's been a long, slow, week for many reasons. We had lots of storms which cancelled outdoor activities and forced us to stay inside. Thankful for these moments with my kids.  



 

 


To leave on a lighter note - the Milkshake Song has crept it's way into our house accidentally. I wasn't thinking and started singing it when Vaughn was playing with the toy milkshake. (See on the tray below?) Of course the kids took note immediately and repeating the lines I had just sung. (If they dig Milkshake wait to they hear Bossy. Wait until Vaughn discovers Lip Gloss by Lil Mama. It will blow her mind.) 

At this exact moment of that night this is the text I received from my loving, traveling husband:


I'm singing rap songs with the kids and he's dining al fresco with a million dollar view. Every job has its perks right?

............... 

Tonight I'll be toasting to Boston and Texas. 





Friday, April 12, 2013

Friday 5: Celebrating Simplicity


5 simple noteworthy and toast worthy happenings from the week. 

Here's to getting out there. 
We're minutes from a state park and finally got around to checking it out.    

Here's to kids asking bigger questions and to raising Thinkers.
(An impromptu dinnertime equator explanation using what was within reach.)

Here's to well-behaved kids. 
(I had to drag them with me to an appointment. They were angels. Maybe because I bribed them with gelato.)

Here's to making it through the storm without any damage.
(We had bad storms roll through.)


See that stick next to the rock? Vaughn was playing with it before the storm rolled through and left it on the patio. It never moved in the storm. 


Yet our neighbors all around have some sort of damage. 


And finally, baseball.
(If you ask me, 40 degrees, windy, wet, and muddy is no way to start the season off. But we did it. Here's to warmer games!) 



Just a reminder that simple day-to-day things are reasons to celebrate too. 

Cheers! 
What are you toasting to tonight? 






Thursday, April 11, 2013

What Mother Nature has to say about my fashion sense.

Mother Nature took a stance last night and shut me down as soon as I started to mess around with fashion. 

I admit that I am probably the last person you should seek fashion advice from but I received an introductory email to Beauty Sets and I thought I'd play around a little. A huge storm hit our area as soon as I got going and the kids and I battened the hatches and took cover in the basement while it passed. Was it divine intervention? A greater power telling me to leave fashion to fashionistas? Maybe.

(Whenever I say 'maybe' I think of Maeby Funke from Arrested Development. Have you heard that they're coming back? I'm ecstatic about this.)

The storms have cleared (we were lucky, no damage for us but  neighbors all around have big trees down) and I'll definitely play with the site again. 



Have you used this site? If so, what do you think of it? Are there others that you like better?


By the way, I'm not being paid by this site - it's just me chatting and trying to expand my borders!

Hallelujah it's Thursday! 
Has this been the longest week for anyone else?     

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Vaughn's Room Makeover: Gold!

See those handles? They started out a curse and have turned into a blessing. 


Long story short: I can't spray paint them, I had already refinished the dresser so it was too late to fill the old holes and drill new ones, and the pre-existing holes are an odd size so finding replacements was difficult so... we're going with gold. Gold! 
I spent many hours trying to clean them but they were in bad shape - pitted and super tarnished. This is as good as it's going to get. However, I've grown to really like them. They've given me a reason to add other gold accents around Vaughn's room. I'm finding it to be the perfect 'girly' touch and I like that they're not perfect.

That's why the gold polka dot lampshade caught my eye from the Honest to Nod blog. It was the perfect way to jazz up the boring white shade. 



I'm going with The Nester's trademark of "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" because perfect it is very well not. Instead of pointing out the negatives, let's look at the positives. It ties in the gold, it was cheap to do (I only had to buy the circle foam brush), and it took less than an hour. It's fun. Vaughn loves it. Perfect.

Again, hop over to Honest to Nod for their complete instructions. I wanted bigger circles so I used the Martha Stewart foam pouncers from Michaels. ($4.99 but I used a coupon so they were even cheaper. Holla!)   

 I plan on using this gold sunburst mirror too but am having a hard time finding the perfect place for it. See the Barbie house in the reflection? That's my problem. It's difficult decorating around but she plays with it everyday. I cannot come between a girl and her Barbies. So it will have to wait.    

I'm learning to be flexible and to roll with things that don't always turn out as planned. Here's to Happy Accidents! 

Hope you're having a great Tuesday! 



Friday, April 05, 2013

Friday 5: Celebrating Simplicity

5 simple noteworthy and toast worthy happenings from the week. 

The days this week have been so busy that I haven't wanted to crack open my computer at night to write a post. The weather has started to feel like spring and every free moment has found us outside enjoying it. Today is supposed to be great too, so I'm going to skip my usual yoga class and head to the park with Vaughn instead. I'm thankful I'm able to enjoy the weather while so many are cooped up in office cubicles. Every job has a perk! Of course, margaritas and guac are planned for tonight.  

 This week I picked up a bouquet of freesia and was able to make 3 vases from it. The blooms are beautiful, smell of citrus, and just having them around makes me smile. Worth every penny of $6.99.

This silly contraption is the handiest tool to have in the kitchen. No more fumbling and tearing, just pull and slice. (Horrible picture, but see the little blue button on the left? It has a little blade on the bottom so you just push it across the top and it cuts the plastic wrap.) Plus, I feel like the Barefoot Contessa because she uses one too. Look for it at Sam's club. You won't be sorry. 


I'm almost done with Vaughn's room. There's just a few projects to complete until I can stick a fork in it. Here's a couple of inspiration pics of what I have left to do:

This is from Meg over at Whatever. I'm not doing the same thing but it's what led me to my idea.

There's an adorable lampshade on the Honest to Nod site that I'm planning to use to spice up a boring white shade.

And of course I'm still working on her fairy door. While mine is different, here's one to take a look at which I found online on this site


Cheers!
What are you toasting to tonight? 

 

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