connect the dots.

baby king has arrived.

2010-03-15T12:47:00.009-05:00

we are so happy to announce the arrival of our sweet little boy, McAllister Kenneth King III, born at 11:51 am on March 15th. He was 8lbs, 9oz and 22.25 inches long.

my short labor & delivery story goes something like this:

my water broke at 5pm on sun march 14th at wegmans. that's right. at wegmans. talk about slightly embarrassing! after attempting to clean myself up in the bathroom, and getting walked in on b/c I was too anxious to lock the door, i bolted to find big mcallister. he was checking out so i said "my water broke. i'll be in the car."

my contractions didn't start right away. so our time at home was spent getting ready. i was really excited and anxious about finally getting to meet baby mcallister. the doctor said if nothing happened on it's own to come to the hospital at 8pm. so we waited! i made some phone calls to get my mom lined up to come out and watch lucy. and then i tried to relax. i think big mcallister was even more anxious than i was. he was trying to get me in the car at 7:20pm when the hospital is a mere 3 miles away ;)

we got to the hospital and sat in triage for hours. they were busy-busy with LOTS of babies coming that night. when they checked me i was 3 cm dilated and things were progressing. slowly, but progressing. so they checked me into a room and we waited for things to happen. contractions started late in the evening, but they were small ones about 10 mins apart and they weren't painful. big mcallister was being such a good coach and trying to massage and talk me through them. but they weren't painful, more annoying than anything b/c i couldn't sleep through them, so i convinced him that one of us had to sleep and it should be him. i spent the night playing suduko on my phone and watching awful tv. around 5 am - i was deliriously tired and starving. (note to self - next time around eat BEFORE going to the hospital!) they checked me at 5am and i was only 5 cm :( so they informed me i'd be going on pitocin at 7am. they offered me some pain relief to 'take the edge off' and get me to sleep b/c i was gonna need some energy so they gave me fentanyl with a small dose of morphine in it. it was great, didn't last long, but allowed me to sleep for 2 hours!

they woke me at 7am and started pitocin. things progressed quickly after that. i went from 5cm to 10cm in less than 4 hours! my mom and tom visited around 9am and she helped me through some of the contractions. it was around this time that i couldn't talk through them. they were 90 seconds apart. they still were fairly manageable until about 10am. when i got to 7cm - i requested the epidural for pain relief. although they had been telling me it only takes 20 mins to get it - the hospital was a bit BUSY that day. it took them 41 mins to get the epidural and they were the LONGEST 41 MINUTES OF MY LIFE. the pain was so intense i couldn't be in the bed - i had to be on my hands and knees or the birth ball. my doctor, whom i love, came in
and saw that we were so close - she managed to get that anesthesiologist pronto. he gave me a smaller dose since i was so far along but it was heavenly. in hindsight - i wished i would have had more time to enjoy the epidural but i'm still happy i followed my plan to labor without it for as long as i could.

throughout the entire pregnancy, i was scared about pushing the most. surprisingly - it turned out to be the easiest part for me! i started at 11am and the little guy was out by 11:51. (this apparently is very fast for a first time mom. or atleast the doctors were trying to make me feel good by telling me that!) i credit it, and my easy recovery, to my AMAZING doctor and attending that assisted the delivery. everything was calm, simple and they were chatting us all up in between contractions like we were old friends. they were both so great and i feel so lucky to have landed them!

baby mcallister... i will never forget our first moments. when i think about them, i go back to room 303 and relive seeing you & hearing you for the first time over and over again. these moments are forever etched into my memory. when the nurses put you into my arms, you stole my heart. all of it. happy birthday peanut :)

spring giveaway.

2010-03-12T15:07:00.005-05:00

i've been eyeing the vintage pearl's hand-stamped jewelry for awhile.

how cute is that family tree?! those initials?!

i want ONE of each.

please :)

lo and behold - she is having a spring-break giveaway on her blog.

maybe this is my lucky day!!

38 week update.

2010-03-10T14:56:00.002-05:00

the 38th week was so much better than the 37th for mom2be! no swelling OR nausea - HOORAY! i lost 4 lbs at this appointment but it's likely do to fluid retention from last week. we found out that things are progressing nicely and the doctors estimate that he will be between 7-8 lbs at full term.

only a little while longer until we meet the handsome man!

belly laughs.

2010-03-06T19:19:00.000-05:00

just got this in my 38 week pregnancy newsletter.

made me laugh.

for the love of birch.

2010-03-04T15:30:00.012-05:00

for my bridal shower last year I received a gift of Jessica Rust Design's personalized dinnerware from my maid of honor, allison. she gave us these beautiful mugs that had brown birch trees on them, and our initials and wedding year we're carved in the trunk of the tree. they are absolutely ADORABLE! i love how petite & fancy the china is and the birch trees are SOOO me.

well fast forward a year. we had several reasons to not exchange anniversary gifts this year, the biggest of all being my upcoming unpaid maternity leave and all the surmounting baby purchases we've seen the last few months. well after scouring the Internet and discovering a coupon code, i buckled the day before our anniversary and decided to expand our birch tree collection by purchasing the dessert plates.

happy anniversary to me! now we can enjoy the birch trees w/our carved initials in them for dessert & coffee :)

who knows, maybe someday we'll get the platter too :)

and they also have other cute designs... like these birds on a wire!

happi anniversary to us.

2010-02-28T14:05:00.007-05:00

"The best love is the kind that weakens the soul, that makes us reach for more, that plants fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that is what you've given me. That's what I hope to give to you forever. "

Happy 1st Anniversary to my best friend.

LOTS more wedding pics can be found here.

reason #1305

2010-02-26T12:41:00.004-05:00

...why i love my husband so much. he still leaves me love notes!

(the scheduled, early pot of decaf coffee won him points too)

big mtg @ work today so i brought the post-it for good luck.

baby mccutie.

2010-02-25T12:35:00.000-05:00

i apparently have no willpower. we were back and forth to the baby store a few too many times this month b/c somehow this st patty's day onesie & bib couldn't resist jumping into my cart. baby king is already a McCutie.

36 week update.

2010-02-22T16:25:00.008-05:00

my how the belly has GROWN since 31 weeks.

so far i've gained 25 lbs (total, not in 5 wks!) and many more inches than that around the middle :) baby king has had some very active days the last week keeping me on my toes, and up at night! i'm starting to slow down a bit which is making me more restless, but easing into the last few weeks i'm trying to embrace the slower pace while i still can.

one of my latest, more vivid dreams was about baby king's love for NINJAS. he was about 3 yrs old, wearing a ninja bandana across his forehead and came flying into our kitchen to ask me if April O'Neil could be his girlfriend.

Turtle in a half-shell April O'Neil?!

Girlfriend?

I told him to go ask his father...

baby book quest.

2010-02-18T15:39:00.005-05:00

i'm trying to find a darling baby book to record baby king's first moments & i stumbled across this gem...

it's the Mother Stork’s Baby Book. the story goes something like this. the founder discovered her Grandmother's baby book, filled in by her Great Grandmother, and she loved the book so much that she wanted to get the original 1904 version republished. so she started a company to do just that! The republished 100 year anniversary edition of Mother Stork's Baby Book is now in its third printing. And clearly, to purchase one for your child is to have an heirloom in the making.

Vintage. Charming. Lovely.

You can take a tour of the inside pages here.

only problem is... it's $135. YIKES.

have i gone completely out of my mind to fathom spending this much MOOLAH on a baby book?!?

anne taintor.

2010-02-16T15:26:00.000-05:00

i discovered anne taintor designs when i was shopping for bridesmaids gifts. her modern, vintage humor is RIGHT up my alley. i scooped up some flasks & luggage tags for the travel themed occasion and have since, thoroughly enjoyed sending her cards to deserving recipients who will appreciate the humor.

i've decided that the next opportunity i get to have a ladies night cocktail hour, these beverage napkins NEED to come with me. you can shop for them here. AND since i'm not a stickler for rules, cocktail hour can be achieved by one or more persons attending.

happy valentine's day.

2010-02-12T14:55:00.007-05:00

we're off to spend a night at the lovely country inn where we were married almost ONE year ago. i hope everyone enjoys Valentine's Day!

(guess I shouldn't have spoken too soon about being in a bathing suit)

nursery inspiration.

2010-02-11T10:26:00.006-05:00

we've been plugging away at baby king's nursery and making good progress! it pays to have a plan down well in advance given we had so many projects lined up prior to actually being able to start it.

the inspiration for the nursery came from an unexpected place. hubby and i were registering together and we realized that neither of us really wanted your typical pastely, light blue on light blue nursery for Baby King. (hubby can be VERY picky when he wants to be!) there were strict rules, no Disney, no teddy bears, no pastels on the walls, etc. in fact out of ALL the bedding and decor ideas at Buy Buy Baby that we saw, we only agreed (in principal) on TWO. An alphabet design in primary colors OR a woodland-forest themed colorful nursery.

when we ran across this bouncy seat at Target, the color scheme was nailed. this baby will be surrounded by deep chocolate, lime green, turquoise blue and bright orange. throw in the occasional creatures of the forest and VOILA! we were fortunate enough to receive the bouncey seat as a shower gift so the daddy-2-be went to town last weekend setting it up. cheers to making progress!!

buffalo chicken wing dip.

2010-02-07T18:58:00.003-05:00

remember this recipe?! well it came out just for the superbowl tonight. my husband is really spoiling me! YUUMMMMMMY.

nursery progress.

2010-02-04T14:32:00.006-05:00

the former guest room has seen quite a bit of transformation over the last 2 months. previously lavender in color with a shabby-chic guest room flair, it is making it's way (slowly, but SURELY) to a modern, colorful forest themed nursery!

we went with a deep, rich chocolate brown color for the walls which will really make the white furniture and colorful accents POP. here are some pics of the painting progress lovely hubby made:

swimswuit love.

2010-02-01T10:11:00.000-05:00

being 34 weeks pregnant, i really have no business even THINKING about swimsuits. but so far it hasn't stopped me from wanting this one and this one. they're just lovely.

oh, hello.

2010-01-21T22:19:00.010-05:00

nice to meet you! (virtually)

yea, that's my tongue.

and there is definitely NO question i'm a BOY!

burp cloths for baby king.

2010-01-19T10:52:00.005-05:00

i know, all my posts lately have been about babies, babies, BABIES. subject of the times, I guess :) while i was organizing my pics i realized i've been sewing quite a bit these days but never shared any of the projects...

i actually tackled these burp cloths back over turkey day when my fam was in town. they're easy-peasey and don't take very long at all!

basic ingredients: cloth diapers and fabric (i used fat quarters)

pin the fabric on the cloth diaper and then top-stich.

my fam was a BIG help. auntie justine helped iron all the fabric, mom oversaw the sewing and uncle jon actually busted out a few moves on the sewing machine. wish i had a pic of jon's fat fingers using the machine to share :)

next sewing-for-baby project up: diaper & wipes case!

31 weeks preggo.

2010-01-18T12:54:00.007-05:00

many have asked for a belly pic... and here it is. (or as close as anyone is getting these days!) i did my best to crop off the flabby arms and my complete dis-regard for undergarments peeking out of tank tops. yay for wintery layers :)

the bump at 31 weeks gestation.

mom & baby are both healthy and active. (well, he is definitely more active than me these days!) mom's been blessed with a fairly textbook pregnancy so far - reflux & roadrage included! they have appts every two weeks where we get to check in and hear his heartbeat and have been spending their free time thinking about the nursery, pediatricians, daycare, the hospital stay and all the other wonderful joys that can overwhelm first time parents!

only 58 more days to go!

meet the babies 2009

2010-01-10T09:21:00.006-05:00

sondra's little cutie pie, LELA, is featured in the democrat and chronicle's 2009 meet the babies contest. you can VOTE with either your facebook account or email address (or a hearty combination of both!) but hurry up because voting ends today.

pinecone garland.

2009-12-31T11:46:00.000-05:00

a neat-o blog I follow is Twig & Thistle. well they had this project tutorial to make pine cone garland that I swooned over ages ago and then filed away for a rainy day. (common theme which relates directly to my arts-n-crafts binge-ing)

well i finally got around to making it, with my friend Allison's help. all you need is those yummy smelling pine cones that come out this time of year, some ribbon or twine and a few screw hooks.

my mantle BEFORE garland:

my mantle AFTER garland:

next craft on deck, this short tree-stump trivet made out of felt that will make some slightly altered appearance in baby king's nursery. yay!

skype xmas.

2009-12-29T15:33:00.002-05:00

it's always tough to make those decisions on where you'll spend the holidays and this year was no different. we couldn't visit everyone we wanted to in person, but that didn't stop us from using the next best thing to connect with as many folks as we could!!

SKYPE! Or as my brother calls it SKKYYYYYYPPPPEEEEEEEE.

you might remember when i posted about it back here when i went to Singapore. my other half and i use it almost every week to connect with my siblings. we call them - skype dates. sometimes we eat dinner together or just spend an hour vegging on the couch. depends on the mood :)

this christmas justine was stuck in florida working so she couldn't make the trek up north. sooooo we opened presents over Skype and it was a HOOT!

it doesn't beat the real, in-person thing but it far outweighs not getting to see each other at all. Yay for SKYPE!

closet fit for a king.

2009-12-27T09:01:00.003-05:00

so baby king already has a TON of clothes. people just keep buying him gifts (mommy included) and dropping little, darling outfits every time they drop in.

my sweet sister brought him 2 track suits, 2 pair of shoes, a few cute onsies & sleepers and the most ADORABLE baby blanket a co-worker knit for her (more on that later!).

some other folks have dropped off adorable sleepers which baby king loves as he is super fond of DINOSAURS.

can you believe his closet already?!

thank you so much everyone for your kindness & generosity. baby king and i feel very, very BLESSED.

happy holidays.

2009-12-23T15:00:00.005-05:00

wishing you and yours a BLESSED holiday season.

with love, the King's

birthday wishes.

2009-12-18T06:21:00.000-05:00

thank you SOOOO much to everyone's outpouring of birthday wishes for me yesterday. i had quite a frustrating day/week with work coupled with/by malfunctioning pieces of technology i operate daily. (aka: blackberry, laptop AND home computer. sigh. all things easily taken for granted!!)

the well wishes and happy sentiments were much appreciated & enjoyed in my extremely hormonal, crazed state of mind. and special thanks to my hubby for sparing a few hours with me yesterday when our schedules actually aligned to keep me calm & sane.

here are just a few of the FUN eCards I received from thoughtful friends :)

29 is fun so far, but next up - the BIG dirty thirty. double sigh.

Face to Face Tour re-scheduled AGAIN.

2009-12-16T10:30:00.001-05:00

ok, so like you never hear about concerts getting re-scheduled - right? if that's the case - what are the chances it'll get re-scheduled TWICE?!?! over thanksgiving i was informed that the Billy Joel/Elton John concert scheduled for Dec 4th was postponed AGAIN.

so guess when the new date is? MARCH 9TH. a whole NINE+ months after I bought the darn tickets. What else usually happens in NINE months?!?! oh I don't know, perhaps the growth of a small human! my new 'estimated' due date is the 14th which puts this concert 5 days before. i already attempted to get a refund but ticketsnow is so not cooperating, nor is their customer service being very friendly.

ugh. what do I do?!?

owls, owls everywhere.

2009-12-04T21:17:00.002-05:00

just one of the few things i'm loving lately. OWLS. It started a few months ago when I had to order new checks.

then last month I ordered an owl maternity shirt from Jellybean apparel, she customized it to be a blue owl and I was able to get it in long sleeve. CUTE!

now i'm keen on anything OWL for baby king. these are a few of the things i put on our registry or have been drooling over.

owls are a HOOT!

happy thanksgiving

2009-11-26T10:25:00.000-05:00

with many things to be thankful for this year, we wish you and your family a happy thanksgiving from our home to yours.

edensbouquet giveaway.

2009-11-15T14:53:00.003-05:00

a few months ago sondra introduced me to the cutest of cute blogs/websites. it's a lady who makes vintage-y children's clothes that are absolutely adorable. she also happens to live in the most spectacular place called Windy Ridge with her 9 children. i've only been following her blog for a little while but sometimes i day-dream about being the 10th child over there at her estate. i'd love to romp around with edna, her goat, emily, her donkey & their guard dog simon.

if we were having a girl i'd probably squeal with delight every time i was on her site b/c of how many adorable options there are. her boy stuff is a bit more limited, but still adorable nonetheless. check out the clothing collections here but don't waste your time entering her give-away b/c I'm gonna win anyways!

happy birthday lucy.

2009-11-12T13:00:00.011-05:00

one of the LOVES in my life has a big ole' birthday today. we'll be celebrating pretty low key this year. no hats or dressing up but we'll be sure to shower her with presents, Frosty Paws and even more love than she gets every other day of the year. these are just a handful of things we can do to celebrate our appreciation of her never-ending love & loyalty!

(click to enlarge & see the many faces of LUCY)
happy 6th birthday LUCY :)

happy poppy day.

2009-11-11T11:07:00.007-05:00

happy Veteran's Day everyone!
Thanks to all those who are serving or who have served our country!

and to all my canadian friends and family...
happy remembrance day!

christmas countdown begins.

2009-11-04T15:27:00.012-05:00

50 days until Christmas. Yikes!!!
Every year I try to begin early and get as much done as early as possible. This year - having SERIOUS trouble getting the momentum! Lots of distractions with house renovations, baby related excitement and work kicking into major high gear. Drats.

Last night I was reading an article on 'simplifying the holidays' and had to laugh aloud at the tip "try moving other projects to different parts of the year". don't see that in our future! there isn't the time, nor the energy, to be as creative and crafty as I usually like to be. that is probably the most overwhelming part.

Haven't set the holiday budget, made the lists yet, thought about Christmas cards, nothing. Better get cracking! I will take their suggestion to set small, attainable goals.

(i take that back, I actually have purchased some items and can cross one person off our list. consider progress made!)

it's a BOY!

2009-10-30T06:38:00.014-05:00

yesterday we had our anatomical scan and got to watch Baby King live and in all his glory for about 25 mins. i started to feel his kicks last week and now a day doesn't go by where I'm not poked, prodded or kicked throughout the day. he (yes, i'll get to that part) was very active at the scan - alternating between sucking his thumb, giving the technician a few punches back when she wanted him to move her way, and when all was quiet looking at his heart and other internal organs - giving a few swift low-blow kicks to remind us he was there.
(i think he was waving at us in this one!)
him being a 'him' came into view quite clearly. and more than once! he definitely doesn't seem to be camera shy (who had any doubts?!) and he had a blast showing off his goods every time the camera came near his tush. quite the little acrobat already. she knew we wanted to know the gender but before she even had a chance to point it out it - i knew it was a boy!
it's quite fascinating all the measurements and photos (like 75!!) they take. they spent quite a bit of time on all the internal organs measuring all 4 chambers of the heart, the blood flow, size of the kidneys, lungs, spine measurements, stomach and brain scans. so far everything is looking good and the little one is measuring a week ahead of schedule.

everything is pretty easy to follow when you have a technician explaining everything but i'm afraid the recording may not have taken audio. i wouldn't know though b/c a) i forgot to ask and b) it's a VHS! i'll need to get that converted to a technology of this decade so we can watch it again.

until then - we're holding onto these memories of our already perfect baby boy!!

witch finger cookies.

2009-10-28T07:41:00.014-05:00

now this recipe was tasty, festive & fun!

To take a break from attic renovations last weekend, we didn't go to Sugar Mountain Bake Shoppe as planned b/c we had already made witchy finger cookie treats!!

Here's the recipe:
1-1/4 cups Sliced Almonds
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups flour

HEAT oven to 325ºF.

RESERVE 60 almond slices for later use as finger nails; chop remaining almond slices.
Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, extract and salt in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy.
Gradually beat in flour. Stir in ground nuts.

ROLL dough into 40-60 (3-inch) "fingers," using 1 Tbsp. dough for each.
Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray.
Press 1 of the reserved almonds into dough @ end of each finger.

Shape for appropriate 'witchy-ness'. (Try using a sharp knife to make slits in top of each finger for the knuckles)

BAKE 15 to 20 min. or until lightly browned.

Cool a few mins; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely.

(here's my mother trying to imitate her exact finger) (i perfected the female witchy fingers)

they're like a dense almond shortbread cookie & are the perfect match to coffee or tea. (they perk up my decaf!)

objects in mirrors

2009-10-26T19:35:00.002-05:00

are closer than they appear!

woof!

lucy's excited b/c we were headed for stroll @ the beach.

sugar mountain high.

2009-10-22T00:41:00.007-05:00

uh oh.

a gourmet cupcake shoppe is opening within WALKING distance from my work. (0.08 miles, to be precise)

they have a rotating cupcake menu which appeals to me most EVERY day of the week. (with 35 flavors, it's not hard)

i'm sensing TROUBLE!!

i tried to have an emergency meeting there at 5:30 last night but they're not opened yet. my co-worker and i walked away sad.

a little birdie told me they may have free samples on their opening day, which is this Saturday for anyone local.

Mom - since you'll be local this w/e I think we'll need to break from attic renovations and have a mandatory 'naming baby king' brainstorm session at the shoppe...

Yay for cupcakes!!

(and, if anyone from sugar mountain bake shoppe is reading my blog - your signage could be improved tremendously. like put one up please! (those interested - it shares the building with La Tea Da) oh - and there's a spelling error on your website. it's spelled Rochester. since we're dealing with CAKE here - i won't hold any grudges)

ode to my singer.

2009-10-20T20:51:00.003-05:00

dear ms. singer,

i thank you for your hard work & dedication the last few years. from the first moment I swept (read: stole) you from my mother (who demanded to have it returned but i managed to steal you back) you have given me all the attention, love and most of all PATIENCE a sewing novice could ask for. and i thank you for that.

you're about as old as me, but much, much wiser in sewing years. you've stood by me with all my rookie mistakes, and despite the lack of online help/tutorials for singers 3 decades old - we've made it through several rough patches together. you've allowed me to create clothes, aprons, placemats, pillows, and oodles of other FUN projects!

a month ago, when i thought you gave up on me, i was happy to part ways given our last hurrah together was this itty-bitty baby dress (free pattern courtesy of one of my favorite sewing blogs, madebyRae). i fully admit to shopping around, taking demo classes on newer machines with LOADS more features, and even flirting with the idea of spending nearly 2x our mortgage payment on a younger model. even worse, i day-dreamed about all the good projects to come...

i shamefully admit this to you b/c thanks to my mother - we're back in action again and i don't want any hard feelings. she's reminded me, once again, that most all my sewing hurdles are related to operator error. i don't want any hard feelings as we glide back into our normal pace again, ok? we've got quite the backlog of projects as well as new baby ones on the docket... so let's get to it!

yours truly,
miss sewing-novice nicky

ps - in the spirit of full disclosure, i refuse to take the Emerald 830 off my christmas list. there is room for two in my craft room :)

team pink or team blue.

2009-10-19T16:23:00.002-05:00

t-minus 10 days until we find out if baby king
is a prince or a princess!!

i love lists.

2009-10-16T06:26:00.000-05:00

most close to me know i'm a list person. lists, lists and more lists! I LOVE LISTS. usually my lists take shape on whatever extra recycled paper or notebooks i have handy. but not anymore!!!

i've been following this valedesign blog for awhile now. their style is clean and fun, not too modern and they have TONS of free, crafty downloads in the shape of FUN labels, tags, stickers, cards and to-do lists. (and even more!) i've used a bunch of them but for the record, haven't needed to pull out the happy husband kit yet!

i can't wait to use their new HONEY-DEW list. i'm hoping this fun, bright, cheery list increases the conversion rate of being able to cross things off it!! wish me luck :)

just skip on over to their site, download and ENJOY!

pregnancy announcement.

2009-10-14T07:28:00.003-05:00

sharing the news with our family was one of the biggest excitements we've had since getting pregnant. we wanted to make the announcement extra special.

baby king picked out the CUTEST shirts on cafepress.com to gift to our immediate fam. they all have fun sayings like 'grandma to bee', 'great dads get promoted to grandpa', auntie', and (my personal favorite) 'say uncle'.

one of baby king's grandmas is quite the m&m lover. (there are ALWAYS m&m's on hand at her house and she rarely travels without them) we thought it'd be cute to gift personalized m&m's with the due date on them in blue, pink & white. some say 'girl?' same some 'boy?' grandma was pleased with this part of the surprise!!

finally - there was a photo of baby king. depending on whether the gift was hand delivered or mailed, some got a photo of the baby when it was the size of a lima bean @ 7 wks and others got a photo of our 12 wk ultrasound. either way - baby king looks pretty darn cute.

our families were thrilled with the news and hopefully their little gift packages too!!

happy bday hubby.

2009-10-12T08:43:00.004-05:00

my hubby has a birthday today!! i wanted to make him a special bday dinner however he got roped into working a night shift. (boo) so we scooted out to a late lunch in between meetings @ the Gate House Cafe in Village Gate.

i've been there a few times for lunch. they have really YUMMY wood fired pizzas and gourmet burgers. it was no surprise (to me atleast) the birthday boy picked a burger with bacon and blue cheese. topped with pesto mayo... YUM. i got a pizza and will be enjoying the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. double YUM.

happy birthday mcallister!!

meet baby king.

2009-10-06T09:13:00.008-05:00

i had an idea of what i was gonna yack about today. but then i realized there were a few milestones achieved on this brisk, fall October morning.

1. this will be my 350th blog post.
2. i am 100 days pregnant.

yup - that's right folks. i fell off the face of the blogging earth quite some time ago for several reasons I won't go on to mention because i'd rather revel in the best news we've had this year:

mcallister and i are gonna have a baby.

words cannot even begin to describe how blessed we feel and how ecstatic we are that our home is going to grow by two feet. we'll be meeting baby king for the first time next march but until then... i share with you a few glimpses of he/she that we've seen so far:

we love you with all our heart baby king!!

happy fall ya'll.

2009-10-01T12:41:00.004-05:00

Fall is my FAVORITE season so cheers to the first day of October! And to not being behind on my FALL decorating for once!

Bring on the layers :)

rosette felt pillow.

2009-09-29T07:49:00.005-05:00

speaking of felt, I found an EXCELLENT tutorial on etsy the other day. a pillow filled with clusters of gorgeous felt rosettes. i love the orange but don't have a place for it so I'll have to find another suitable color. FUN!

roasted veggies.

2009-09-26T19:28:00.003-05:00

i've been craving roasted veggies on just about everything lately. they're one of my favorite things about summer!

felt craft hearts.

2009-09-24T12:33:00.010-05:00

remember i talked about felt crafts back here when i decorated for Valentine's Day? well it is just so easy-peasey and affordable to work with FELT, you never know when another project will pop up! i recently made baby lela a pink heart doorknob hanger for her room and tried out stitching a monogram for the first time. not bad.

next FELT project up: baby booties & some felt frames (proj courtesy of Martha Stewart). here's the how-to on the heart from my projects page.

heart shaped egg.

2009-09-19T09:19:00.000-05:00

i LOVE making fried eggs for breakfast with our new heart shaped egg molder. it's made of rubber silicone so you can change the shape of the egg at a moments notice. sometimes i'm in the mood for short round hearts and sometimes i'm in the mood for long, SKINNY hearts. today i made a round short heart egg to fit snugly in my newest addiction, thomas' mini bagel. top with red hot and enjoy!

baby girl myers.

2009-09-18T11:19:00.010-05:00

has arrived!!! yippeee :) Lela Evangeline Myers arrived this morning at 10:20am. 6 lbs 14 ozs, 19 inches. we hear Momma and baby are doing PERFECT. congratulations to the myers family on your sweet, new bundle of joy!!

chicken wing birthday

2009-09-17T09:15:00.002-05:00

happy birthday carol! congrats on trying your first chicken wing & being such a good sport to put the Anchor Bar's chicken hat on.

ps - that's right. the Anchor Bar, famous for the 'very first chicken wings' opened here in Rochester. like a block away from my work. YUMMMMM.

Face2Face Tour Re-scheduled!

2009-09-16T15:16:00.000-05:00

On July 24th, Allison and I were seriously, SERIOUSLY disappointed when the Elton John/Billy Joel concert was postponed. Like WHO DOES THAT?!? Apparently Billy was having a 'bout of exhaustion. Well we got good news today - the concert has been re-scheduled!! Woo-hoo :) It's about darn time. 6 months later we'll get to see them. Billy - I'm hoping you're well rested by Dec 4th!!

ultimate white cake.

2009-09-15T13:06:00.004-05:00

if you enjoy cake, live near a Wegmans and haven't tried their Ultimate White Cake yet - bring one home tonight!! i'm a super-duper cake lover and this one is INCREDIBLE. tastes better than most wedding cakes and blows the ultimate right out of their ultimate chocolate cake (which was pretty darn good). last week the store was giving out $1.00 coupons that can be used on either size, so i took a few extra :)

it's the mildly sweet vanilla buttercream that does it for me. i'm getting HUNGRY just thinking about it!

dougie's 60th.

2009-09-14T13:53:00.003-05:00

If you see the GOOSE buy him a beer because he's 60 today!!

Happy Birthday DOUGIE :)

bearded garden keeper.

2009-07-14T19:45:00.002-05:00

hubby, er the bearded man below, is tending the garden this summer.

he also is tending a beard that won't be chopped off until school is back in session.

missing florida.

2009-06-15T10:50:00.001-05:00

latley i've been missing florida, sunshine and JUSTINE. here are a few pics that remind me of our past trips. i've got the cartoon-y like one of Jon and I up as my desktop wallpaper. LOOK OUT!!

memorial birthday fun - dinosaur style.

2009-05-31T09:22:00.001-05:00

we celebrated the start of summer in style. blessed with gorgeous weather and great company, we headed to central new york for a fun filled BBQ weekend!

Brother Jon came in from DC and we celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday, dinosaur style. You see our family LOVES anything from the dinosaur barbeque. Their cookbook made the rounds one year as christmas gifts so @ his bday dinner request - everything on the table had to come from the book. Let's just say... YUMMMY.

Other festivities included lawn games such as ladder golf and Polish horseshoes. This horseshoe game is like no other - ski poles, beer cans and a frisbee (you really had to be there) and woah the ladder golf tourney (brackets included) was pretty competitive. Then Sunday we hit the water and took a nice boat ride and swim.

You can check out the rest of the pics here.

fun labels.

2009-02-05T16:15:00.010-05:00

i found super-cute party theme ideas when looking for bridal *stuff* on this website. it is a wedding style website that framed all the themes around bridal showers which got my mind racing for upcoming friends who might tie the knot in the next few years.

then i got to thinking and several of them could so be a non-bridal shower. they're good fro any ole regular party, get together, birthday, or special occasion! i even used the super cute book club labels for a recent birthday occasion.

sondra turned a FABULOUS age last week and we got her some light reading material. one from me, one from the boy, and one from lucy. i downloaded these labels for the to/from tags and these labels for the 'this book is perfect for you because....' part and VOILA. add fun wrapping paper and we've got ourselves some composition notebook style gifts. perfect for the teacher in ur lives ;-)

game day.

2009-02-01T15:46:00.004-05:00

it's GAME DAY...

go team CUPCAKES!!!!

snow bound.

2009-01-28T19:13:00.002-05:00

you know a lot of snow fell when....

your snow brush snaps from the weight of it!

obama address.

2009-01-23T19:13:00.000-05:00

my brother and his girlfriend live in the DC area. somehow, someway they scored amazing seats to the inauguration address the evening before and braved the cold and the crowds tuesday to watch history in our nation. here are some of his pics:

(their seats)

(posters)

(obama flair)

(security)

(capital)

thanks for sharing!

rising gas prices.

2009-01-04T20:16:00.005-05:00

i've decided to come out of hiding in the blogging world and publicly face what has been taking up all my spare time.

no, it's not the rising gas prices. it's the date of our upcoming wedding. our fast-approaching, getting closer by the day, can't put off any longer wedding date.

i apologize in advance, for all the wedding subject posts that are in our future. well, minimally mine, and yours too if you continue to have me ;-)

lucky lucy.

2008-11-03T09:09:00.002-05:00

hey gang, lucy here.

call the newspapers cause i really can't believe it. i'm shocked. AMAZED. could it really be true?! could i have made it through my first halloween WITHOUT MY MOM DRESSING ME UP?!?!? i checked the calendar not once, not twice, but THREE times and sure enough - it was the 31st all day long and nothing...

no lions.
no silly hats. (i'm not an easter bunny or a reindeer for heaven sakes)
no bumblebees.
no ladybugs.
not even a shirt!

as if that wouldn't make my day, then they ran off to some party looking like FOOLS while i got to lounge on the couch tormenting every trick-or-treater that came to the door. i'm so happy they mistakingly left the porch light on b/c it tricked those kids into thinking someone was home. you shoulda seen their scared kiddie faces!

so, yes, the rumors are true. my mom didn't dress me up. i skated by this year by the grey hairs on my chinny-chin-chin. it's probably better off that she didn't anyway. not like she was winning any points with me wearing a poodle on her skirt.

lovin the lazy life,
lucy

happy halloween.

2008-10-31T08:01:00.002-05:00

boo.

table numbers.

2008-10-08T18:46:00.003-05:00

sondra and josh are getting married and she asked me to create twenty table number cards for their reception. ingredients: brown cardstock, burlap, buttons, raffia ribbons and STAMPIN love. here are the results:

on my desktop.

2008-10-05T18:42:00.001-05:00

here's a neat photo that my bro sent me. makes inspiring wallpaper for the computs!

skype'ing fun.

2008-09-24T19:43:00.005-05:00

got skype?

if you don't - you're not getting FREE internet calls. with OR without a webcam! (thanks jon) who doesn't want FREE calls when ur overseas!

Singapore Day 1.

2008-09-22T18:50:00.008-05:00

today was spent exploring my hotel and getting acclimated to the time zone difference. more on that later. my room is in the 'garden terrace' section which is like half outside, half inside. it's really neat. there is this garden area with lush ponds, waterfalls, and palms in the center that jut up a few floors. i snapped some pics and headed out to explore the POOL.

this pool looks really enticing from my balcony and after work, i indulged in both it and the hot tub. it's a blazing 90 degrees here but later in the evening the hot tub was a perfect temperature to relax with a book.

work went really well. i'm working with cisco systems and their office is on the 26floor which makes for a great view. my co-workers here in Singapore are really nice. i can't wait to go to dinner with them tonight and see more of the city.

stay tuned!

singapore arrival.

2008-09-21T18:47:00.014-05:00

hey folks. i jumped ship and came to Singapore for work. it's my first time to the asia-pacific region and i'll admit it's been a pretty smooth travel so far. i hopped on one of these gigundo B747s that United runs and it was smooth sailing. these monsters hold up to like 400 people and even have a 2nd floor! i couldn't get over how big the plane was... the wingspan alone is bigger than most of the planes I take for business travel. when we were taxi-ing, i swear one almost went directly underneath the wing.
the haul from chicago to hong kong was over 15 hours... but i really wouldn't know. i slept about 9 hours of it. i struck gold when no one sat next to me and i could take over 2 seats for my bed. my layover in HK was okay... despite losing my glasses. i left them in the women's bathroom when i put my contacts in. HUGE bummer! hope i don't lose my contacts when i'm swimming in the pool at my hotel. speaking of.... check out my view!

although it was pretty early (hence no daylight) here when i took that video... it's HOT! 86 degrees by 6am and 90% humidity. holy toledo... i know i'll be enjoying that pool!

talk soon! i'm off to go convince my body it's really 8am and not 8pm. wish me luck!

b-day boy.

2008-09-14T07:41:00.002-05:00

A little birdie told me that today MAY be some anonymous' commenter's birthday. Happy Birthday ya old fart. Next time I see ya I'll be sure to buy ya a beer out of Al's garage!

film reels.

2008-08-24T18:56:00.010-05:00

remember when we started painting the living room?! well we've been basically 're-doing' the living room this entire year. (unfortunately just thinking about what we're gonna do doesn't really get much done!) when looking for decor i found these film reels at ballard designs and i think i NEED them for my mantel. they're so neat - there is one size for each era in the film industry, the biggest being about 2 ft.

then i saw the price and i reminded myself why the catalog(s) should go straight to the recycle bin.

window view.

2008-08-20T07:14:00.011-05:00

i'm bummed i haven't had the chance to keep up with the blog the last few weeks. i'm sooooo sorry guys b/c i really miss everyone!! unfortunately i just haven't had too many GOOD things to talk about. seems that life is throwing challenges at me left and right these days. and with so many in a row... i could but only stop and think that some force was working against me. hence some reflecting time.

enough about that. an update on when i last spoke to you - i DIDN'T win the scooter. BOOOOOO to that. i called Parkliegh on two separate occasions where they confirmed that the actual winner had already picked up little sunny and was off enjoying their new ride. i've yet to see them on the road but when i do, it'll be tough not to mutter obsceneties at them under my breath. at this point i could have used a little winning luck to pick my spirits up.

(from the corner)

i do have lots more to talk about and get your opinions on so CHECK BACK! including how the heck i'm supposed to resist the urge to skip my morning meeting and run over to the garage/moving sale that is literally next door to my office building. i swear i saw not one, but TWO antique cash registers as i drove in. not sure though as most of my caffeine hadn't kicked in by 7:20am.

(from my office)

here is a pic out of my office window as i sit here and type over my keyboard. crazy, huh?! how the heck am i supposed to concentrate on reviewing business requirements when i can see everyone else HAULING away antique goodies. maybe i could bargain with them out the window!? perhaps i could send them 'best offers' via paper airplanes! oh my. hopefully i'll be that much more productive today knowing i can race out of here and get some goodies. i deserve 'em these days.

scooter madness.

2008-08-01T08:04:00.001-05:00

i've been dreaming (and therefore drooling) about a scooter these days. riding on one, taking pictures of one, getting a sidecar for Lucy in one. i decided to take matters into my own hands and WIN one. today i entered to win the SUNSHINE YELLOW Vespa raffle going on at Parkleigh. the drawing is happening very soon and until then, i'll be practicing my facial expressions for when i win!

grand margaritas.

2008-07-25T07:23:00.001-05:00

you know you've been drinking a lot of grand margaritas when...

you have empty grand marnier bottles serving as your garden art. here's the TASTY recipe for anyone who hasn't enjoyed one of these yummy concoctions.

they are a nice accessory to our garden sticks.

the junk fairy.

2008-07-22T07:11:00.009-05:00

the next best thing to getting free JUNK alerts is having free JUNK show up on your doorstep. its the like the junk fairy came and dropped off a present, and it's way better than three dollars in quarters!

sondra stopped by with one of her drawers from an old letterpress. she must have known i was looking for one. casually looking of course, no need to be spending twenty bucks on one stinkin drawer.

these letterpress drawers were used way back when printing was done with good old fashion metal type. they held the letters, numbers and other symbols in 'em. fastforward a few decades and they are not in use with the computer surge... so many have been put out to pasture. making them VINTAGE, and a JUNK woman's collector item! they make perfect shadowboxes and can hold minitaures of any kind.

i am using my gifted drawer in the office as my rubber stamp holder for now. since i'm running out of storage room, i thought it'd be neat to hang on the wall above the crafting table.
thanks Sondra!!!

acorn squash update.

2008-07-19T07:16:00.000-05:00

**editor's note**

for those curious about the 'fruit', here is proof that squash is growing in our garden!! we've never grown acorn squash before... so we're excited for the harvest. who knew it got so darn BIG, it's already toppling over the broccoli!

cherries.

2008-07-14T21:16:00.005-05:00

cherries, cherries, and more cherries. some pics from our weekend at the farm.

acorn squash.

2008-07-10T15:41:00.001-05:00

have you hugged your acorn squash today?

summer decoratin'.

2008-07-09T05:32:00.000-05:00

guess what's at walmart right now for only FIVE dollars?! a cute little glass gallon beverage dispenser. perfect for holding fresh iced TEA in the SUMMER.

oh and these adorable nylon placemats to match. at 50 cents each they're perfect for the outside patio. easy cleanup for all those backyard bbq's!

the perfect thing about placemats is that when I'm sick of these, I can stich 'em on up and make some cute outdoor pillows for the front porch. happi-day!

poolside.

2008-07-07T07:09:00.002-05:00

we're back from vacation.

as usual, i'm drowning in hundreds of photos of all the FUN we had. here are just a few pics of how we spent our 4th.... POOLSIDE!

that hat got around quite a bit!

1000words.

2008-07-03T08:09:00.005-05:00

today i'm on Kodak's blog, 1000words talking about some of the techniques and tips used to capture last years's 4th of July photographs of Fireworks while we were in Washington, DC.

check them out for tips on how to take better photos of the fireworks this week, as many of us celebrate the Independence Day holiday.

happy canada day.

2008-07-01T08:06:00.002-05:00

to all my canadian friends, family and readers,

HAPPY CANADA DAY.

shower invites.

2008-06-28T13:23:00.011-05:00

my bjb sondra is getting married this fall and my other half and i have the pleasure of standing up next to them as they get hitched. i just got done sending out all the bridal shower invites and i loved them so much i wanted to share them!

with one bazillion women on the guest list - we wanted to keep the costs down. postage alone on that many invitations could break the bank. i went with cardstock on cardstock and trusty old 'powerpoint to design the invitation text.

i used the brown Simply Paper envelopes at Michaels that went with their color palette: burnt sienna and brown. i googled my brains out until i found a sondra-esque design image to layer in the background. then i played around with the border width and placement of all the text. the slicing doo-hickie saved me time and my fingers pulling it all together. i used double sided tape instead of glue for no reason other than sometimes glue can do funny things.

i took the leftover time and got coordination snazzy by pulling the font style, color, size and image on the address labels. how's that for the fancy-schmancy designer in me?!

my fave part of all? how well the liberty bell stamp went with the brown envelopes. a bit odd, I know. sorry it looks a little weird with all the rectangles. as much as i like you all, we just don't have room for bridal-shower-crashers.

gardenin' fool.

2008-06-24T07:20:00.002-05:00

we're not just eating lettuce these days. my other half planted a lovely garden which he tends to day in and day out! so far we've been enjoying fresh herbs like this rosemary plant.

we didn't go too crazy like last year with our tomato plants but we're still hoping to produce some monster size fruit. i'm excited to be trying out some new plants like acorn squash and broccoli.

i love these glass flowers that i got last year at the corn hill festival. they are such a nice splash of color for the growing-like-mad SAGE plant.

happy summer everyone!

vintage letterbox.

2008-06-21T06:16:00.005-05:00

i have been coming up w/ideas for how we can incorporate some of the things we enjoy most into our wedding decor. two of them being photos and travel.

so perhaps you can understand my delight when i found this vintage letterbox on one of the wedding blogs i love to read. snippet and ink always has fun, themed inspiration boards which can get the creative juices flowing for wedding ideas. they included the letterbox which featured on Grapevine weddings to showcase invitations. I just HEART the idea of old photographs that guest write on in lieu of a guestbook.

Now the question is - where can I get one?!?

free icebox.

2008-06-17T08:11:00.000-05:00

you know you're a junker when.....

you get two text messages in one day from friends asking you to haul away fun FREE junk. this latest one made me squeal:

Lanie: Any desire 4 a free icebox? I think its metal.
me: omg. i love you.

junk alerts via text messaging are not quite as fun as scoring junk via a roadside pile. it must be the lack of the hunt and the swerving that can be involved. this icebox practically landed on my doorstep! (which can also happen quite a bit to us junkers).

i can't say my other half was as excited about it as I was - but he'll get there! it has such POTENTIAL! I'm already looking forward to the project!

baby johnson.

2008-06-15T07:58:00.001-05:00

today we're congratulating our friends on their not-so-little bundle of joy that came this past Father's day weekend. clara elizabeth johnson was quite a big bundle of joy topping the scale at almost 10 lbs. we're so glad to hear mom and baby are doing well after their SPEEDY delivery. we can't wait to come visit - congrats to the whole family!

cup-a-cake.

2008-06-11T07:53:00.000-05:00

this one goes out to all my fellow CUPCAKE lovers. i made cupcakes last night in celebration of a couple things:

1. my 300th post!! who knew I could make it this far.
2. flag day.
3. my mom's bday. (also flag day)
4. the best piece of TUPPERWARE $4 can buy.

williams-sonoma has DONE it again! we were there drooling over nearly everything when i spotted several only-use-10-times-per-year-but-gotta-have-it-anyway items. this was one of them... although we do eat cupcakes WAY more than 10 times per year. it's flippin INGENIUS!! no more LOST frosting or smooooshed cupcakes. ever!

i prefer everything in the shape of a muffin or cupcake. my brownies, my corn bread, you name it. that said, my cup-a-cake has gotten LOADS of use already as I put it to work this week hauling corn bread muffins and cupcakes. these cupcakes were nothing like my 50th post, they were patriotic and adorned little red stars and blue sprinkes. gotta love the stars and strip cake mix.

happy flag day everyone!

letchworth park.

2008-06-09T07:44:00.005-05:00

we stuck around these parts for our memorial day weekend. we have quite a busy summer going here and there so it made sense to spend a quiet weekend at home. we putzed around the house a bunch doing projects here and there but on sunday we flew the coop for a hike at letchworth park. hard to believe both of us have been here over 10 years and never gone. letchworth is a NY state park with nearly 15,000 acres of scenery that runs all along the genessee river. i read up on it and it was voted one of the top 100 places to camp in America and it has over 66 miles of hiking trails.

this park is nearly in our backyard! we clearly need to get out more.

you can see more pics here.

thirsty wedding guests.

2008-06-01T08:03:00.003-05:00

this post goes out to the love-everything-about-Pottery-Barn-but-the-price crowd. so i gets my pottery barn catalog and LOVE their glass dispensor, just not their price. i've been looking for one b/c i want to use it at the wedding. outdoor wedding + hot july day could = thirsty guests. so i found the one above at Sams Club for oh, i don't know, $50 LESS than what PB will charge ya! (can't find a link to it. boo.)

so my plan (*CAVEAT* current plan which could change at a moment's notice) is to have two of them (they are 2.5 gallons apiece) outside or on the porch for the wedding ceremony. one with lemonade and one with iced tea. then pair them with these mason-jar style mugs i adore. on that table I can have my BIG galvanized bucket filled with bottled waters. these plus handmade wedding-program FANS will keep our peeps cool.

hopefully.

who knows - they could get some use at a couple PARTY events this summer too. ;-)

salad bowl.

2008-05-24T08:55:00.002-05:00

my mom made me a salad bowl for our garden and now we're eating lettuce like rabbits... it grows back like crazy!

1000words.

2008-05-22T11:38:00.004-05:00

today I'm on Kodak's blog 1000words talking about what else... more finds on my JUNK travels. i used these finds to display some of my FAVE pictures.

i mean, come on, doesn't EVERYONE use tennis rackets, ladders and rubber stamp holders as picture frames?!?!

see for yourself and comment there if you'd like!

she'd be honored.

2008-05-18T09:27:00.005-05:00

my girlfriend allison responded to my MOH card by one-up'ing my crafty creation. she made me a DARLING little book with photos of her and i and my other half and included a small tag saying "i'd be honored"

she has produced these before and i've always been in AWE when i see them. it really is a tricky puzzle i'd never be able to follow!! she swears it is only 3 pieces of heavy cardstock, 2 pieces of cardboard and some scrapbook paper. as soon as I have the steps - I'll let everyone know!

ps - if you're reading this allison, we really didn't need 2 publish evidence of my 9th grade hairstyles...

lilac festival 2008.

2008-05-14T18:12:00.005-05:00

after work, my beau and i went to the lilac festival. the festival takes place on about 20 acres of rolling hills in highland park. there are over 500 DIFFERENT varieties of lilacs planted which makes the entire park and surrounding areas smell absolutely LOVELY. during the bloom season - i drive through the park with all the windows down and you can smell them for MILES. you can see the rest of our pics, including the blooming onion, here.

yes, there are three of me - click and see for yourself!

hit the bottle.

2008-05-11T18:42:00.000-05:00

with a camera, that is.

by now many of my regular blog readers are used to my crazy photo-takin habits. i just love photography. i may not be good at it. but that's why i have a digital camera. i take HUNDREDS of photos to find the perfect bakers' dozen.

and sometimes i photograph random things. like rum & coke. ok so totally not random b/c some people think they're a perfect match. and really also not so random b/c there is a story behind it. remember - this is 'connect the dots'.

so the dots are my bjb ('best-junk-buddy' for the must-know acronyms folk) sondra is marrying a fella named myers. he's a real nice fella who happens to share a name with a popular rum. thus... i decided to take pics of another perfect myers match. its like a self-portrait - but not with people. (get it? nevermind...)

i really don't think any of us drink rum & coke - we prefer the hops, but nonetheless i couldn't resist. i took black-n-white, sepia, low saturated color, and odd angles. fun, right?! who knows what we could use these for!

you can see the other 50 i had to take to get the good ones here.

lazy lucy.

2008-05-09T10:38:00.003-05:00

how quickly gave up this for LAZY LUCY on my computer's wallpaper.

i wish i were lying in the grass soaking up the sun.

will you be my bridesmaid cards.

2008-05-07T06:56:00.003-05:00

my other half and i have been engaged for AGES. we're not in any hurry but things have finally been moving along so i want to share a recent 'wedding' project...

the girls i wanted to ask to be in the wedding are close friends/family and have been around for awhile. during my wedding research i found some cute bridesmaid cards here and here. i loved everything about them but the actual design!! (too cutesy for me) so what better way than to share my love of crafting to ask them in a special way. i came up with a cheezy poem and married it (no pun intended) with some supplies from our local craft store. i love the dress stamp and know i'll use it lots in the future. if interested, check out the steps and pics on my projects page.

may wallpaper.

2008-05-01T07:24:00.004-05:00

last month i discovered smashing magazine which publishes free desktop wallpaper. there are lots of sizes and options to choose from - i'm currently enjoying the colorful HAPPY MONTH. you can go here to see all the options.

lucy in stripes.

2008-04-28T10:41:00.000-05:00

lucy got all dolled up in her *newest* shirt to go visit Murel for his 6th bday party. she had quite a good time and even got to share (aka: steal) most of his bday gifts.

*i should clarify that this is her ONLY shirt. lucy and i think she looks CUTE all dressed up however someone else in our house would beg to differ.

stampin' fool.

2008-04-25T12:39:00.014-05:00

who doesn't love a rubber stamp?! i'm pretty crazy for 'em. check out my newest set of STAMPS. this one came from an estate sale that sondra and i ransacked. i literally squealed when i came across it... well - after i removed the half inch of dust that is. it's a sign stamping kit from 1894. or atleast that's what the copyright is... let's just say it's OLD. there is a small & a large set of numbers and letters. and i just LOVE the typography on them!! they might be the oldest stamps on the planet - but for $15 - the set was a STEAL!!

so what can i do with them?! well i played around with them to scrapbook and make a save-the-date card for J&S. (that's my new nickname for josh-n-sondra) they're getting hitched lickety split here and don't really have time to send these out to their guests. i still thought they really deserve one irregardless. (i just hope she opens the card b4 she reads the blog)

then i made them some place cards for their bazillion guests. i invited my better half a few times, myself, her bro and SIL, and even 'G'. 'G's our favorite barn sale guy who calls and gives us the heads-up whenever he's having a BIG sale. for all he's given us in the junk world... he made my list. (who knows - maybe they'll be some of his junk decor @ the wedding ;-)

(you'll have to click them to look at 'em up close)

next attempt - i'll make sure i have more supplies stocked in their color scheme. seems i'm overloaded with browns and short on 'rust'.

ps - the craft world is a better place now that slicing doohickies have made it mainstream. man i can cut a STRAIGHT line in a skinny minute with that thing. (thanks again allison!)

garage sale glass.

2008-04-24T08:53:00.005-05:00

how much do i love garage sales?!? let me count the ways....

ten
twenty
thirty
forty
fifty
sixty

sixty cents worth! can you believe they were selling these FUN apothecary-like jars for only TEN CENTS each?! i couldn't... so i snatched all 6 of them up!

this was my FAVE find of the day. a science kit! tons o beakers, test tubes, petrie dishes.... just oodles of fun, fun fun!! i got the whole box for $4.00. it's going to make one great BLOOMING centerpiece on our dining table. oh - and i'll have to be a mad scientist for halloween and decorate it all spooky-style. my ideas just overfloweth!

ps - yes, one of them looks like it has some gunk leftover from the most recent science project. i'll have to sterilize that one before i go putting mini blooms in 'em....

hoosier daddy.

2008-04-22T07:31:00.004-05:00

check out my newest antique! the easter bunny up and brought me a HOOSIER cabinet this year. it belonged to my bff's parents for like a bazillion years and they were going through a re-model so i snatched it up for a steal. i have a few pics of it here. i'm still struggling with where to put my favorite cherries, but other than that - it's making the adjustment to it's new home nicely!