We need to shake this off Stat!!

Oh wow I am glum.

Maybe it is work stress, maybe home life stress... maybe it is the fact that my daughter is clever enough to stack boxes to get to the freezer to get her "freezies".  But I am about done.  I have hit my limit and would like to lock myself in a bathroom with no kids, no husband, no phone or laptop with a bottle of Riesling and forget the world for a bit... or for a long while.

It honestly doesn't feel like the Holidays to me right now (the day before Christmas Eve) and I sometimes wonder if I feel this way, how many others in not such a good spot must feel?  And I have to get over it fast.  But these glums have got to go!

Bryan and I have started our New Year's Resolution a bit early this year out of necessity.  We are trying to be fiscally responsible so that we can start to afford some of our dreams.... and I am going to tell you it is not fun.  Not at all.  But it is doable and we have to, if we want to reach our goals in a timely manner.

This means I have to start cooking (turns out making your own meals can be cheaper than eating out every night - go figure!).  I have mastered the rice cooker... and found some fabulous brow rice that is very very similar to P F Chang's brown rice... now I have got to think of things to go with it - - - That I have the patience to cook and can actually cook.

That is the thing, I hate every part of cooking minus the eating part.  Prep- takes too long, I like my food now... thank you very much.  Cleaning - I really don't need another thing to clean when I have a 3 year old and a 6 month old.  Soooo that leaves me with very little options...

But I am slightly willing to change.  And I think if I can start cooking a bit - I can start managing my weight a little more since I know what is going into my body and there will be a lot less fries making their way in!

Gah - now off to fight these blues - and to fight some more laundry.

And I am Over Christmas a Few Days Too Early

Since finding my new best friend Pinterest, I have been collecting and collecting ideas for my living room/kitchen since they flow into one another.

And today I have hit the moment where I am sure of what I want to do.  And am so ready for a change for the better.  And if you know me,  I have a tendency to be impatient and jump to the next thing as soon as I have a semi firm idea...

If it wouldn't make my husband super mad, and Emily cry a thousand tears ... I would pack up all the Christmas decor and head to the local Home Depo's paint department. 

So this is what I have decided:

(if you have not stumbled on to this site it is a must!)

I love the blue for the living room, with bold white trim to go with my newish white painted fireplace...

Insert two built in bookshelves next to the fireplace (most likely going to be made from Ikea's Billy bookshelves with some extra trim)...

Then imagine a new couch that looks something like this:

and a pair of these on either side of our piano painted yellow since Bryan has vetoed the yellow piano idea multiple times:

 With a tufted coffee table/ottoman like this:

but with swivel wheels like this instead of legs:

And then if we reference the paint colors above we would go with soft grays in the kitchen with a green kitchen table and pink flowers on top! Something like this minus the unpainted area:

Did I mention that the kitchen table is still haunting me?  Yes, I made the request that my lovely husband bring it in from our clean garage (but super cold) into our newly cleaned (and warmer) basement so I can finish it up... and I am going to conquer it once and for all!!!!

So yes... I just have to decide on a stencil design for the kitchen and then we will start (meaning I will start) this massive paint project.  I am excited to finally have a decision made!!!

 I know this one has been used many of  times right now - so maybe not this one but something along this line ;)

Wish me luck!

3 going on 16

So we survived.  Yes it was birthday weekend this past weekend.  Miss Emily turned 3.  My goodness.

And in all honesty she is everything I would want her to be.  Cute, and cute enough to have her dad worried about the little boys that soon shall be knocking at our door.  Sassy like her mom, enough to drive her daddy nuts but make him laugh at the same time.  Lovable even through her sass, so that her dad and any other lucky person who meets her, knows that they are in fact lucky to meet her.  Smart as a whip,  I will take credit for that as well... but I think it might be a shared quality of both Bryan and I.  And she has a great sense of style.

I love her, I do.

So for her birthday we continued the tradition of streamers and balloons outside of the birthday girl's door (something that my mom did for my sister and I till we finally moved out of the house- and if we are lucky, and she is visiting during a birthday we still get decorations to this day).

I may have gotten a little crazy with the balloons, but I felt like this was going to be the first real birthday she was going to remember, and I had to make a good memory for her.

So I told her, that she had to sleep in her big girl bed all night or the birthday girl surprises weren't going to come.  So at 7 am I hear a knock at her door. And then ....

"MOM...Open Door!  It's WAKE UP TIME!"

And then out she came to a sea of pink, bright pink, white and purple.  She loved it.  Ran up and down the hall exclaiming that it was "Gorgeous!"

I was super proud.  And in that moment Bryan didn't totally hate me for making him blow up at least 75 balloons... How could you when you daughter feels that special because of what you did.

So then after a few episodes of Wonder Pets (sigh I just don't understand why they make the duck talk with a lisp- but anywho)  it was bath time and my smart as a whip daughter figured out how to dye her bath water pink.  Turns out if you add pink streamers you water will magically turn pink.  That was a fun surprise.

And then we were off to the family birthday dinner at the local Mexican restaurant (because she is a Vargas ya know!) ... and after mom and dad had a margarita and Emily got her share of attention .... it was time for the sombrero...

And a little whip cream on the nose!  We were so afraid that she wouldn't find it amusing (it didn't go over so well last year) but she absolutely loved it.  I am pretty sure she just loved the attention to be honest.

 So yes, the birthday was a success, she got her first Barbie from her Uncle Ryan and Aunt Andrea (I am pretty sure mostly from Andrea since I don't see Ryan running up and down the Barbie isle picking out a cute but not overly sexy Barbie with clothing and accessories to match... sorry Ryan I just don't think that is in your skill set).  She also got a princess doll house/castle and a Dora the Explorer tent that is now taking up most of the living room...

And on top of that she is getting a Children's Museum pass!  We are going to have some fun there...

However, I may have made a mistake.... Emily is really into stickers and such right now so I bought her boxes and boxes of the foam stickers plus a few sticky rhinestones... and this is what I got:

  Why yes that is a be-dazzled piano.... Bryan is not pleased.... However, it was on his watch that the piano was be-dazzled....so I am not taking full blame on this one.

Now onto the Holidays!!!

Naked Stage Over?

Nope.  Not in the dead of winter either... Bryan is concerned that his daughter is traveling down a dangerous naked road....

And he is coming home again to a naked little girl.  Parenting gold star goes to me tonight!

I am secretly smiling right now.

Was I insane... I believe so.

Yesterday morning was shaping up to be a disaster.

Emily has been in a funk this past month.  Doesn't want to dance at dance class, tired at daycare wanting to be held all the time, and sad. Super sad all the time.  Did I mention the "tummy aches"?

Before I freak and think that there is something medically wrong, I decided a "special" day with mom at work might solve these blues....

We got ready (she perked right up from the morning glums).  We packed her bag with a portable DVD player, movies, Oreos, coloring book etc. And we were off.

In the back of my mind I wondered if this was a good idea... I am in no way shape or form a VP or VIP person at work and this might not have been the best idea I had... but I had already promised, and I dressed her really cute so everyone would instantly love her and so she could get away with a little more.... and maybe I could as well...

Success on the clothing choice, everyone loved her.  She got a bucket full of Candy from my boss's boss.  She called me on speaker phone from my boss's boss's boss... so over all I think it was a success but I still have that - oh crap did I step over my boundaries feeling in the back of my mind.

But I think we may have cured Emily's blues.  She got so much attention and felt super special with everyone loving on her and paying attention to her.  I truly work with some great people who are just awesome.... and it is nice to see the softer side of the boss's boss's boss...

I am thinking that the little brother has encroached upon some of Emily's attention and she may have been slightly jealous and sad.... hopefully so I really don't want anything serious to come out of these blues.

We are also starting up on PediaSure - just in case she needs a little extra pep in her step... and trying for a more strict bedtime.... but as everyone at work is now quite aware... it is very hard to say no to this child.

On the project side of things.... this is what I have been up to:

And this was the inspiration for Eli's room (granted we are going for an industrial feel for his room aka. pipes for curtain rods etc)

I love the string idea... and maybe nails might have been the better way to go, but working with copper wire and steal we thought screws were the better choice sine we actually want it to stay in the wall....

But sadly I have ran out of screws and wire so I must make a quick trip to Mendards and pick some more up to make the letters a little bit more fuller and actually finish his name!!!  The string probably would have given a cleaner line but we really do like the rougher look the wire gives....


So hopefully soon I will have that finished and I can brag about that!  Until then I will be frantically planning a birthday for my birthday girl who turns 3 tomorrow!!! Wish us luck I am not sure what is going to be worse ... the terrible twos or the sass I know I am going to face with a 3 year old!!!

A New Love in My Life

So part of the reason I have fallen a little slow in blogging lately (besides a slow down in projects being done) is that Pinterest has taken over.... my life.

It is such a great place for inspiration, to keep track of all your dreams, and also stumble onto some fabulous sites you would have never found if not for someone else having pinned that something wonderful... tonight for me it is this site:

http://www.schoolhouseelectric.com/

And this is what I want - no let's clarify - what I need in my house.  Umm yes it is an arrow.

And it totally belongs in my hallway in my 1950-60's Rambler of a house... see I have a very long hallway and I believe this is well worth the $20 that I will never see again.

And yes, I could probably find a wood plaque and paint an arrow on it but it wouldn't be the saaaaaaaaaaaaame (said in my 3 year old voice).

I am so in love with this site and also this chair:

I love the stripes, the lines the colors - - - so inspired right now.  Just wish I had the money to go along with that inspiration!

Don't worry I am still brainstorming on how to become famous for nothing so I can afford all the makeovers my house sooo desires!!!

And I am thinking I need these numbers - maybe to hang over B & I's bed - maybe get all sweet on him and do our anniversary date - or maybe all the dates of our birthdays so something likes this:

03 07 11 12

So yeah... I hope you have as much fun on this site as I am having now!!! 

P.S. Life is good, work is good.  I am Emily's new favorite and dad is now second best (I use to pick her up from daycare with her screaming "NOT YOOOOOOOOOOOU.... DADDY PICK ME UP"  so I do know how it feels) but it does feel good every now and then to be on the top!

Eli is good - still spitting up on me every chance he gets - but he is smiling the whole time - so I guess it is okay?

Other than that we are golden!  Hope you are as well!

Turkey, Cowboys and Bunnies

So last week was Thanksgiving/Black Friday...  (I say slash BF because I am known for not cooking so this really isn't my holiday...however, shopping is a different story).

We had Thanksgiving this year at my Aunt's house.  My mom, dad, grandpa and grandma came up and it was lovely...  My dad had a great time teasing Emily which she loved/hated.  But that is my dad....

Grandma Mimis was a huge hit though... she brought gifts... warm gifts!

How cute are these?!?!  Mom scored these snow boots at a sample sale at her work (sometimes it is know people who work in retail esp. Lands End)... Emily also scored a fuzzy pink winter jacket as well with a cute knitted hat...

Eli on the other hand had to share his gift with Bryan:

Yes, my mother found a lovely lady at her work who can knit up a storm and requested a Cowboys helmet be made for Eli* (Disclaimer:  My mother is not and will never be a Cowboys Fan... She is a Vikings Fan - even though they seem to always disappoint... I just choose to root for the team always playing against the two... or the underdog... I am always a fan of the underdog). 

Needless to say, Bryan was super excited and thrilled with the gift... I think it is pretty cute too!

Grandma Mimis also was a super help last weekend too, allowing me to go spy on all the crazy people standing inline for Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy at midnight on Black Friday....

Those people are go-getters I must say... Wal-Mart - yikes... to say the least.  Target at least everyone seemed to be in good spirits and ready to get their shopping on in an orderly and systematic way... same for Best Buy... I was glad to see people enjoying themselves!

Grandma also let us take advantage of her by leaving the kids with her to go pick up/cut down our two Christmas Trees!  Normally we do this with the kids - but both were down with coughs and Grnadma was down with the flu....

 Proof That I in fact DID water the tree... Please note the spilled water over the tree stand...I may have forgotten to do this last year, and Bryan may have come back from TX to a dead tree and a pile of needles... maybe... it is a rumor that Bryan does hang over my head time to time...

And this is my new strategy... instead of buying one huge tree that doesn't fit inside my home, I decided to get two trees that actually do fit...  I am not sure if I would actually do it again ... but I like it as of right now!

And that there is the piano I want to paint yellow again a dark blue wall.... sigh - still working on that!

But I am currently working on a project for Eli's room... I just need a few more screws and I should be good to go... will update when done!