Thursday, April 28, 2011

Shhheeeshhhh...

I was playing around with designs for my blog and now it's too late to fix it...blahhhhh.....Zzzzzzzzzzzz Off to bed and will worry about it in the morning. 

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Enjoying the now...

I love when you are able to do this. (For me it's usually a fleeting moment) I love when you can forget about the laundry waiting to be folded, the house that needs to be cleaned, and the bills that need to be paid.  I love that moment when everything is forgotten and you can just simply snuggle up with the loves of your life and live in that moment.  I had those moments last night.  It was nice to just lay on the couch with the kids and the hubby.  Not a care in the world...and enjoyed each others company.

After the kids went to bed we watched a documentary last night about of all things testosterone.  But that was just the topic, the meaning of the documentary was much deeper than that.  It got Eric and myself to talking.  When is enough, enough?  It seems so many people chase after the next big thing.  They will be happy if they purchase this.  If their house looks like this, if they had this certain car or if their body looked like this.  When do they find happiness and more importantly could they be able to enjoy it?  When is enough enough?  I know I'm guilty of this on occasion.  I'm forever chasing home decor or a body image that changes daily.  Living in the now is the hardest concept to obtain and truly practice.  To be happy with your life and ok with what you have.  I'm all for transcendentalism and rising above...but geezzzz capitalism on crack will only leave you with a bottle of antidepressants and hand full of bills.  Finding happiness within is the true meaning in life, not the car you drive or the clothing on your back.  Being able to enjoy the fruits of your labor, not thinking about what you want next is a hard pill to swallow for some people.  It was sad watching that last night on tv..I totally get it though.  It's our society, it's what we consume daily, more is better and better is much better than the norm.  Eric and I are going to try to purge some household non-essentials.  They're simply things and like I said I get it.  Everything in moderation is ok.  It's when you cannot be happy without having more when it becomes a sickness.  With this said...I think the world would be a better place if everyone took a moment to breath and look around to see the blessings they have...not what they do not have : ) (self included on this)

 I love my hubby.  I love that he listens and gets me.  I have a gypsy spirit with a mind full of ideas and no knowledge how to make them happen.  I've been wanting to go back to school.  I had wanted to go back for a 6 year program, but honestly, I just don't see how that would be possible.  We would not qualify for student aid and I'm not sure if I would have to take out personal loans to attend UK.  Adding two kids onto this and a possible third and I just don't see when I would have time.   (The third is a possible future baby...ha)  So I told him I thought about going back for graphic design.  I"m pretty good at it having NEVER been formally trained....but I love design, I love computers, and I love creating.  So, I get this phone call this morning as I'm rushing in from taking Spen to school.   It was Eric asking me if I was at my computer.  Ummm...no..I had a hand full of baby...hehehee.  So I ran upstairs and sat down to find a skype message waiting for me.   Eric said he had been researching graphic design schools for me and found the perfect program for me.  My personal assistant...heheheheee.  He's funny and adorable.   So long story short he did find the perfect program.  It is advertising design and it incorporates EVERYTHING I love.  Art, photography, and graphic design along with advertising. It also covers website design.  Something I LOVE!!!  So I plan on looking into it and discussing it more when he gets home.  Who knows where this life journey will lead me  : )

Ok, off to get this day started : )



Monday, April 25, 2011

That's what I get for being pro active...

I went a little overboard with the carpet fresh...ummm...yeah I have coughed all evening since I vacuumed up or shall I say caused a horrific cloud of good smelling dust to spread upstairs like a horrific dust storm.  I sooo need a new vacuum.  This is like our third vacuum in the last 5 years.  Either I'm buying crappy ones, or I just keep breaking them.  Shhheeeshhhh...but at least our bedrooms smell good...I'm sure you can smell them from my front door.

***EXCITED***  The hubs is all for the bedroom makeover.  Yay!  Now to figure out the paint and get energy to make it happen. 

Tomorrow is our dentist appointments.  It's funny but I try to schedule Eric and mine together so we play tag team with Cedric.  He freaks out now...and having a screaming kid on your stomach while getting your teeth cleaned is not the most comfortable.  Last time I tried taking him...and it was kinda comical.  Thankfully, I have the worlds best dentist and she rocks so she is cool with Cedric's melt downs.

Tonight I did a little mommy no no...I let the boys decorate these little plastic figures.

It's funny I showed Cedric how to color on the foot of the figure...he thought that's where he had to  color...notice one foot is almost solid.  Spen didn't get to finish his...bedtime called.




He was so studious with his coloring.  I LOVE IT!!!  Notice he colored himself...yeah...the face markings came off...the belly did not.  Thank God for shirts : )






My handsome little man : )
 

I had to laugh tonight at Spen's swim class...gotta love technology.  I will admit I totally play around with my cellphone too...but I had to capture this new phase of Americana.



I wonder how Norman Rockwell would have depicted this?


I will admit I added new stations on pandora today during the class.  I had an awesome ride home listening to The Shirelles, Temptations, John Denver,The Mamas& the Papas and She& Him.  Sometimes, you need feel good music on a crazy drive home.  It was nice though to come home to a meal waiting for me.  Eric had made dinner.  We listened to some oldies and goofed off with the boys.  A fabulous ending to a good day : )  


Good night : )

Excited!!!


Ok...call me a sucker for a fairytale story but I am so excited for the royal wedding!!!  I think every little girl has the dream of marrying a prince and being whisked away into a charming life as a princess.  I know now as an adult the fairytale soon fades and reality sets it...but it's still nice to dream : )


I will have my tissues handy and cup of tea by my side!!!  I love a beautiful wedding...and I adore the royals!!!   I cried just watching Elton John talking about Princess Diana this morning so I am sure I will weep like a baby during the procession of events.  I remember sobbing during her death. (I was OBSESSED with the royals when I was a girl/teenager) I'm sure I would be the old lady collecting all the royal dinnerware if I lived across the pond  :) 

Only bringing it out for special occasions and to show it off to all my old lady friends. 

It's funny when I was a teenager I had a yield to the Princess license plate holder on my moms car (We had to share.)  It was funny to see a grown woman driving around with it on there...hahahahaa...sadly if I still had it I would totally sport it on my wagon. I had books, magazines and posters of Di and prince William.  So you can only imagine how excited I am...yes...I am fully aware of how big of a nerd I am. I'm tempted to get a group of my friends together to watch the event...sounds like fun!!!  Ok, I had to share my excitement : )

I'm feeling that...

I'm feeling that oh so familiar feeling of needing or wanting to paint.  Ha!  I think I'm going to go to lowes today and check out some paint swatches for my bedroom.  I HAVE NEVER been in love with my bedroom.  It was one of those rooms I goofed up the color on, filled it with furniture and decor that I either had, found cheap or was given and forgot about it.  But I want a space that I love to go to...not roll my eyes as I look around asking myself why the hell did I buy or hang that?  I need a change.  Now...to get the hubs on board with this...hummmmm....

We still have to paint the theater room down stairs...BUT...Eric has to sand the walls of that room.  So that is up to him...hehehehe...or so I shall claim anyway.  I want...I want...I want... < insert temper tantrum here...heheheee.... I just hate my bedroom and my new chairs have inspired me to change it up.  So let the new decor ball rolling...

I'm a weirdo...but I think I'm going to take down everything in my room to get ideas. I need a clean slate....if not I'll just be distracted  by everything.  I'm really tempted to move my bed...sometimes you just need to see your world in a different view.  I guess I get this from my mom.  She was forever changing our house up.  I blame the moves in the military for that...it gives you gypsy blood...and since I'm not going to be moving anytime soon...I need to give myself a new view in life : )


I have a very long to do list sitting in front of me.So off to get  this day started.  Have a great week guys : )

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Shheeeesshhhhhhh...

I'm so over Easter...I'm so over Easter candy....I'm so over this rain.  Today was great...I'm wore out from the celebrating and all the non-diet friendly food I consumed.  I need to go rest in my food coma and wake up in a week.  I hope everyone had a Happy Easter!!!  The hubs is calling for me...I have two little guys to help put to bed so off I go : )

Pictures shall follow tomorrow : )

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Waiting...

Ok,

Waiting on my oldest to fall asleep (and be really asleep) so the hubs and I can play the Easter bunny.   I'm sleepy...so hopefully, he's out soon. 

I was soooo lazy this year.  I bought pre-filled eggs to hide.  I even bought a premade easter basket for Spen. I bought more stuff to add to it.  I love my hubs...he bought Spen a book for his basket.  Spen has been begging for a Percy Jackson book...so he will be over the moon when he sees it.  It was super cute, he has been asking if the Easter bunny can bring books.  Yes, leave it up to my kid to forgo candy for books. 

I usually HATE dying eggs...but I will say the new glitter foil eggs rocked so hard!!!  I LOVED them.   I totally snagged some left over foil sheets for a project.  Hummmmm....I think I call feel a craft coming on ; )



Ok...how wrong is it I have used these eggs for dinner? Ha...

I'm on the hunt for fabric for my chairs...

 Ok...I just thought this was a fun fabric and had to share...

 I LOVE this!!!





These would be fun to frame the kids artwork in.

 Such a cute birdhouse...I'm a sucker for a cute birdhouse...

 I LOVE this!!!

 I thought this was fun as well...



 I heart skeleton keys.  I need to get my necklace fixed...Cedric broke my chain to my skeleton diamond necklace.

Ok, I had to laugh at these...because there is a story to this giggle...a few years back I was OBSESSED with the huge chrome ones...I could not find them anywhere.  I was even going to settle for small ones and paint them.. I couldn't even find them. Now they have these everywhere.   These would be ADORABLE painted a funky color for a kids room....hummmmm...



More skeleton keys.

I had an idea for these...

I love vintage anything...but sadly I had no idea where I would put these...


 Love this.

 This was fun...and I thought about buying this for my kitchen...

 If only they were not gold : (
 My two little darlings looking out at the rain : )  They're so sweet together...they are really the best of buds and I LOVE IT!!!  Yes, Cedric lost his pants somewhere throughout the day...ha. 

 One of my prints that need to be wrapped...I can't wait...they are around 3'x5'.  I have three prints of various images of my Chicago visit.  This shall be an adventure in mounting them and wrapping them around a frame while not ripping them.



This makes me laugh every time I see it...this is Spen pretending to be a DJ at Lowes with the sandpaper.  Hahhahahaa...He's a funny kid.


Ok...I'm tired.  This has been a crazy week with rain, Easter, and all the craziness life offers...off to play the Easter bunny, snuggle with the hubs and watch a movie.  I need some down time : )  Have a Happy Easter or whatever you chose to celebrate (or not) tomorrow...if anything..enjoy some chocolate and have a great weekend guys : )

Friday, April 22, 2011

I love THIS!!!

Freebie Friday!!!



Here is a full resolution image of my word art.  Feel free to use this to brighten up your office, house or desktop!!!

Just click on the image for it's full size : )

Happy Friday!!!


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Randomness of today...

Ok..I have a small confession...I do not clean my refrigerator out as often as I should.  Bigger confession...I usually wait until I HAVE to.  Well, today became one of those "HAVE TO" days.  There has been a funky somewhat peculiar smell coming from it.  I put it off honestly in hopes the hubs would hunt it down.  No such luck...so this afternoon I pulled up a garbage bag and just started pitching things.  Then I discovered the EWWWWWW factor item.   Yeah...the lone turkey patty that was forgotten about and just thawed out but never cooked.  GAG!!!  I serious thought about febrezing my fridge.  Ha...just thought about...did not actually do it...but that should be the next febreze product...because I would soooo buy that!!!  So happy day...the funk smell is gone and I am a happy mama.

Other randomness...
On the way home from school today Spen asked me if the Easter bunny has a Facebook page.  Ha!  I had to laugh.  I'm sure he does...and I will look it up in a bit.

Today was the day for me to come into contact with the crazies while out.  I stopped by a peddlers mall I had never been to...(nor plan on EVER going back to...ick..dirty) but there was a CRAZY woman talking so loud on her phone I almost used my flip to share her conversation with you guys.  Although, the lady did share my thoughts of the mall.  She too was not impressed.  Then it was creepy old man talk to nikki day.  Ewwww...
Then my last crazy encounter was at Target and a Lady smiled at me and said something then continued to talk to me...while I WAS DOWN THE OTHER AISLE!!!  Ummmm...I thought the conversation ended with the smile.  hehehehehehee...

I'm on the hunt for mod fabric for my chairs.  This shall be an adventure trying to recover them.  My friend did tell me she would help. 

These are a few finds I found today and wanted to share.

This is a West Elm vase...very cute!!!  But I am on this kick of not buying ANYTHING unless I have a space for it in my house.  I have a bunch of cute stuff with no homes for them. 


I thought these little mugs were fun...arrrrr...



These totally remind me of my Nanny...



Ok...I LOVE Norman Rockwell...he captures the American dream so well...and I'm a sucker for classic life moments.  




Had these been a few bucks I would have TOTALLY bought them...but they weren't so they stayed there.  But they are adorable!!!



This totally reminds me of my childhood...


Ok...I'm  stealing ideas for my booth...old windows...hummmm....


My tacky heart goes swoon over these soap dish covers...not that I would buy them...but I think they are cute and funny...although I would have chosen different fabric.



Laaaaaaaa....Loving some Milk glass right now...


 Over priced cute chair : )



Ok...off to reply to emails...have a great day guys : )

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Being Lazy...

I'm being lazy today.  I cleaned the house and ran a few errands...but nothing earth shattering.  I did score my new windows.  Yay!  They came out today and switched the wrong ones out.  I had family over and I ran Spen to swim lessons.  I ended up ended up going out for dinner.  All in all it was a good day.

This is a pic of me in my kitchen...today was a day for boots, a dress and a blue jean jacket kinda day.


My hubby's root beer.  Long story...and I'll explain in another post...(It's a lazy day)








I'm thinking about taking a sewing class.  I want to learn how to do upholstery.

Sometimes you just need to step back...catch your breath and then start things off with a fresh mind.  Tomorrow...I plan on getting things accomplished...until then...I'll be lazy.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

I think I have lost my mind...

Ok, I think I must be crazy... I'm going to start my own booth at a local peddlers mall.  Anyone who knows me knows I love a good deal and I love shopping along with crafting.  So the perfect combination.  I found out some details about a local Peddlers Mall and the hubs and I are going to look into it this week.  I scored some AWESOME finds today at a thrift store.  I could not believe them.  All the furniture was 75% off!!!  So I ended up spending around $50 total ( I bought some little apothecary jars too).


 These chairs were only $14 each!!!REAL WOOD!!!  I'm going to paint them and reupholster them.  It was super funny...while I was there I had three different ladies wanting` to buy them : )  Thankfully, I had already paid for them.  I'm keeping these chairs for me.  I'm going to put them in my bedroom once they have been spruced up.


This table set I scored for $17!!!  The chrome is in remarkable condition.  I plan on getting some mod fabric and reupholstering the seats.  The table top is in really good condition too.  Those  are some of the jars I bought today.  I also bought a milk glass vase.  I'm totally crushing on them right now : )


Ok...off to relax...I've been so busy all day.  Goodnight guys!!!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Fast times at Nikki High...

I ran from the moment I got up this morning.  Once I got Spen off to school...I ran over to my moms, dropped Cedric off, drove to my friends house and snapped some pics of her precious little guy, drove back to my moms, rushed to the Preston's T.J.Maxx and was disappointed with their selection.  (I'm on the hunt for vases) then RUSHED to pick Spen up from school.  Came home edited some pics (way more to come), drove Spen to swim lessons, came home ate and now I have time to breathe.  Shhhhhheeeeeesssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...............................


I have a whole house to clean tomorrow...I mean a WHOLE house.  Three floors.  Insert maid here.   I'm having some family over later in the week.  I did FINALLY take my friend her pom poms that were on my dinning room table for a small eternity. That's a start right? eh... I'm in a super weird mood to rearrange things in my house.  I want to move my bedroom around.  I'm in desperate need of a trip to IKEA.  I need wall shelves, frames, two ceiling light fixtures and 2  HUGE bookcases.  I think being in this house daily makes me grow to hate seeing the same things everyday.  I need a CHANGE!!!

Ok, enjoy this little ray of sunshine : )