Checking In

This was not the week for me to create a "NO WHINING" sign.

I think the second I hit the "publish post" button last time, everything got crazy.

And awful.

On Monday, after posting, a friend of mine and I got into a nasty spat.

So nasty, that she and I have decided to never speak to each other again.

I won't lie.

I was mean.

I wish I wasn't so good at saying mean things, but I definitely fight dirty.

Thankfully, she also fights dirty and I'm thinking I'm not in the wrong for the whole thing.

Not that it matters.

So yeah, Monday was awful.

Then Tuesday my husband calls me with horribly sad news.

He told me that his uncle was in the hospital and was said to have a few hours left to live.

Why doctors give time restraints on lives, I will never know.

Hubby came home and switched cars with me.

He drove an hour and a half to San Diego to visit him in the hospital.

He was too late.

By about 15 seconds.

My husband's dear cousin lost his father, and this week has been an emotional rollercoaster for everyone.

Hubby drove back to San Diego today and is there right now.

With family.

{My mother-in-law has 13 brothers and sisters, so the family is big.}

There are so many relatives together right now.

Sharing in memories and trying to cope together.

I so badly want to hug them all.

With this sad event taking place, I'm re-considering our Vegas trip.

One of the cousins who was supposed to go is the cousin who lost his father.

With funeral arrangements and such, and the trip nearly two weeks away now, I don't really know what's happening.

I just want everyone to feel okay.

Sadness is the worst feeling there is.

The rest of the week has been crazy.

Etsy sales.

Which means I have to actually make the things I have sold.

And the only things I have sold take about a year to make.

But I'm thankful for the sales.

So very thankful.

Today The Girl had a field trip with her Girl Scouts troop.

It involved snakes, mud, sticks, and lots of shrieking girls.

She loved it.

Tomorrow is her elementary school's carnival.

I will be working the nacho booth.

The last shift, mind you.

Which means I will be in charge of cleaning all of the cheesy burnt crock pots.

Awesome.

This week I thought I would be making some crafts and having fun.

I still need to make Amanda this little beauty:

I made one version, and it was so awful that I unfortunately wasted a bunch of fabric, Heat N Bond, and hours at my Cricut Expression and sewing machine.

Boo.

I'm going to have a go at it again.

When I'm done scrubbing the nacho cheese from under my nails.

Sorry, Amanda.

If you've noticed the little DI4Y button on my sidebar, you have seen the amazing things she's up to.

If you haven't, visit her page and beg her to extend the project into May so that you can participate.

In May, I will be blog swapping, participating in a giveaway, and seriously filling up my Etsy shop.

Get ready.

Right now I need to go bake three cakes for tomorrow's bake sale.

I should also go over The Girl's homework packet.

I just realized I haven't done that yet and she's already asleep.

Great.

Oh, and the good news:

{Yes, we actually had some good news this week.}

Today The Girl moved her clip up to purple.

Not sure what I'm talking about?

Okay, well, last Monday they switched their behavior charts to model the first graders' charts.

They have now entered what they call "kindergarten bootcamp" and they expect more from the kindergartners.

The new behavior chart is a rainbow chart with six behavior options.

They all start at green and can move up and/or down throughout the day.

No one in kindergarten has landed on purple yet.

I am so very proud of her for not only being the first one to set an example, but for doing her best even when I'm not around the coax her.

She's amazing.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I have also been running everyday.

I am loving my Nike+ shoes and I'm trying my hardest to figure out how to get the most out of my runs.

I like watching my mile time decrease, but know that running further and longer is more beneficial than running faster.

Hopefully I'll combine the two one of these days.

So blah blah blah- that's what's going on around here.

I hope your week has been better than mine.

Yes, that was a complaint.

The sign will be made later.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

No Whining

I visited my grandparents yesterday.

My great uncle and great aunt were in town from up North, and I wanted my kids to meet them.

My great aunt is quite possibly the sweetest woman who has ever walked the Earth.

The last time I saw her I was 13.

She asked me if she could go play with my kids in the other room and I watched her sit on the floor and play trucks and make silly voices.

And my kids were actually on their best behavior the entire time.

Amazing.

My grandma has a sign in her kitchen that says NO WHINING.

The colors are lovely and I have envisioned stealing it every time I visit.

Okay, not really, but I have hinted in the most annoying way possible that it should really just come and live at my house.

{Google Images search found her exact sign.}

Lately, I could use the reminder.

I whine.

All.Day.Long.

Whether I'm nagging my kids or talking to myself about things I need to do, I just don't stop.

And when my children start to complain, I get upset.

What a horrible thing for me to do.

I have even rubbed off on friends.

I complained about a blog that I used to love starting to annoy me.

And guess what?

Now that blog annoys her.

Oops.

This week I plan to tackle a "No Whining" sign of my own.

This week is crazy busy, so if you follow me on Twitter, send me a tweet and tell me to make the dang sign already.

I hope you had a fabulous weekend.

Stop whining about Monday morning and enjoy it!

28(ish) Day Diet

I have told you before that someone once told me I have "the metabolism of a male Olympic triathlete".

Right before getting pictures done by Drew, I went on a "photoshoot diet". I had a couple weeks to get my butt in gear (literally) and fit into the smallest jeans I own.

I was still nursing The Boy at the time, so the weight came off quickly.

Now that I am no longer nursing, those extra 500 calories that I burned everyday are sticking around.

Around my thighs.

Around my hips.

Around my face.

{sigh}

So, last Friday, I decided that "Vegas diet" needed to be in full effect.

Then the weekend attacked me and we ate fast food and I devoured the remainder of the chocolate in the house.

You know, so it didn't go to waste or anything... ;)

Starting Sunday I did my best to stick to a plan.

I ate smaller portions (this means eating one plate of food rather than three...seriously) and got out of the house and walked.

It has been five days since I've avoided fast food and sweets, and I'm down almost 4 pounds.

If I continue for the next 21 days, I should be right at my goal weight.

I guess you guys will find out if I succeeded when you see my Vegas photos.

So, browsing blogs a couple days ago, I noticed that my friend Andrea posted about getting back into running and eating a healthy breakfast.

Perfect timing for her post.

I'm not a fan of breakfast.

I would rather have a pot of coffee (the way I drink it makes each 8 oz cup equal to less than 2 calories) and eat at lunch time.

The Girl gave me major morning sickness, and for the past 7 years, I really can't eat before 10 AM without feeling nauseous.

Sad story.

So, I whipped up Andrea's idea as brunch today.

{I am still sipping it as I type this.}

This is what I added to my uber awesome ancient food processor:

Frozen berries, a banana (that I added before I realized I needed a photo- the one with the peel was a prop), light orange juice, and two handfuls of spinach.

My dad gave me this food processor and told me that I would be able to make a ton of recipes with it for my poor husband who eats frozen dinners 90% of the time.

This is the first time I used it.

It was super quiet and worked like a champ.

A super rad 1980's champ.

{swoon}

I have to tell you that I would drink a glass of mud if someone told me it will make you feel better all day long.

I will eat food I don't like just so it doesn't go un-eaten.

My mom was dead.serious. about eating everything on my plate as a kid.

It is a habit I wish I could break.

So to be honest, I will tell you that I made this too yummy.

Yup.

That's right.

It didn't taste like it was going to make me shed inches off of my waist.

Red flag.

But, I can tell you that this really is an awesome way to start the day.

Of course I skipped the toast with Nutella, but you can bet that it will be added to my meal come June.

Next time I will add fewer berries.

Or switch to swiss chard like she uses.

Because mine looked much prettier than hers' and I'm fairly sure that's a bad sign.

I promise I added the spinach though.

I even took a close-up to prove it.

Okay, that didn't really prove anything, did it?

If diets weren't so dang boring to discuss, I would show you what my next smoothie looks like.

I can guarantee it will be the color of Earth.

Minus the pretty colors.

Try one for yourself.

Tell me what you think.

Happy weekend. Have something yummy for me.

Happy Earth Day, cupcake.

There are some crazy cute Earth Day crafts out there.

I made none of them.

I came across a recipe, though.

For cupcakes.

And since I am the Cupcake Queen, it just had to be done.

My family is a little tired of all the cupcakes I make, though.

I needed new peeps.

So I asked The Girl's teachers if I could bring cupcakes for her class.

And then offered to bring cupcakes for all 114 kindergartners instead.

So, I stayed up until the wee hours making 168 cupcakes.
{Thank you, teachers for letting me bring sugary treats to the 5 & 6 year olds.}

I burned a batch.

"The world has ended cupcakes" wouldn't really be a hit.

And I discovered that food coloring is the most evil, amazing thing in existence.

I fear it.

I cursed at it.

I played with it.

Good times.

My friend Lori made some.

My friends Kristen and Laura are making some.

Hopefully their batches will turn out better than mine.

You can see my batches progressively got better.

I didn't get a close-up of all of them.

I will definitely be making them again.

And these can totally be incorporated into birthday party themes.

I skipped the magma frosting idea that I loved from Be Different Act Normal.

I couldn't figure out how to make it look like The Boy didn't insert the frosting instead of me.

I need practice.

Cupcake Queen Challenge.

I hope you're spending this Earth Day making long-term plans to live wiser.

If you use reusable shopping bags today, use them everyday.

If you walked to pick up your child from school today, do it often.

I am not a fan of those who become Earth lovers on Earth Day only.

Just saying.

And if you don't plan on celebrating on your own, please stop by my house and take one of these leftover cupcakes.

I hope to never see another cupcake again...

Today.

:)

Happy Thursday.

Headband headache

Just before school started for The Girl, I spent a lot of time carefully making little hair clips that matched her outfits.

Seventy-five, to be exact.

I made the bow holder to coordinate with her room.

I showed it off on Facebook during my pre-blogging days.

I was proud.

Then I met Leah.

She has twin girls that attend the same school as The Girl. (One of whom used to be in The Girl's class...more on that craziness another time.)

Her girls are freakin' cute.

Cute with a capital "C".

And they rock some crazy cute handmade bows.

I bought a bow from her, did some not-so-even trades with her (sorry about that, Leah), and eventually begged her enough to get some bow-making tips and tricks.

Mine are not crazy cute.
They turn out decent at best.

(These were a gift for my friend Shannon's stunning little beauty Alexis.)

So this morning, I get The Girl dressed and she says she wants to wear a headband.

Because owning 100 hair accessories isn't enough apparently.

I cannot tell you how much I dislike headbands.

I wore non-coordinating headbands to elementary school in the 90's.

With 3 pairs of socks on each foot.

Folded down just right so that each  hideous neon color would show.

I prefer to keep trends like that in the past.

Being the uber mean mommy that I am, (mean moms are awesome, right Heather?) I sent her to school with a hair clip and told her I would figure out some appropriate headbands for another day.

Yup, my words to my 6 year old exactly.

Heartwarming, right?

So I need your help.

I need affordable, adorable headband ideas that don't remind me of 1992.

Email me. Send me a tweet. Post a link in a comment.

Help a mama out!

{please}

Happy Wednesday, friends.

Selling, Shoes, Sunday

Hi.

My Etsy store is boring.

I need to make some fancy items.

Because so far, I've sold nothing.

And proving Hubby wrong would be semi-fantastic.

He thinks the whole world is on Etsy.

And they are just there to browse Etsy for ways to copy what you've made.

Not shop.

Whatevs.

Hopefully I can find something worth selling soon.

In the meantime, I am ignoring my crafting and enjoying my new shoes.

I am a woman who wears flip flops 365 days a year.

If you know me, you know this is true.

I also wear jeans just as often.

I wish I could be one of those super cute moms that has an awesome wardrobe with adorable shoes to match.

I just don't have the confidence for that.

So...

Hubby and I went shoe shopping.

I now own a pretty pair of Nike+ so that I can start running.

Because right now, I only run if I'm being chased.

I'd like to change that.

Or at least increase my stamina if the situation should arise.

If you'd like to read about how I am practically dying after each workout, please follow me on Twitter.

I could use the accountability.

And the encouragement.

Come summer, I am going to wear shorts.

And in exactly 27 days, I will be on a plane to Vegas.

I have some serious workout sessions ahead of me.

Starting tomorrow.

Since the kids have a new police car, I can jog alongside them.

The last day of Spring Break will be spent chasing my children in a cop car.

I hope I never repeat the above sentence.

Just saying.

I hope your week was good to you.

Please forgive me for being on vacation mode.

I should be back to exhausted normal soon.

Happy weekend, friends.

P.S. Happy birthday to my favorite sister-in-law. Lady, I am so proud of you and love you to the moon and back. I hope this birthday was amazing for you. Next year, the big 2-1...in Vegas, please.

Thank you, mystery shopper

Have you ever had someone ask you for your mailing address?

Did you assume that they were going to send you a flier or an invite of some kind?

Did you get a surprise package in the mail by that person, instead?

That's exactly what happened to me, too!

So, the amazing Julie, (who I have nic-named Queeny because she is seriously the Queen of everything awesome) sent me a package.

In it, is a super rad necklace that she made, a package of yummy candy, and a little note.

Do you see what the note says?

"Somebody sneaky bought this for you."

Seriously?

I mentioned on her blog post that I loved one of the necklaces.

I think I mention on all of her posts that I love whatever it is that she's doing.

So then, she emails me and says she needs my address for something.

Right now, there are a lot of fancy things happening in the land of blogs around So. Cal, so I assumed she was going to send me info on The Queen Bee Market (She is a queen, afterall...) or Blog*Sugar or something.

Not yo-yo goodness.

Not from a secret shopper.

I sincerely thank the person that made the purchase to help repair Julie's poor computer, and for spoiling me with the raddest neck bling I have ever owned.

Seriously, thank you.

Whoever you are.

If you say hi, I would love to thank you personally.

:)

Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone.

New, New, New

Please forgive me.

I have somehow managed to lie in tweets, Facebook status updates, emails, and everyday conversation.

I thought my blogs' 3 month anniversary was yesterday.

So I told the world.

And promised an Etsy shop grand opening to go along with the milestone.

And then looked at the calendar and went, "Whhaaaat?!"

Yup, I was off by a full day.

Today is my blog's anniversary.

Three months ago I took a stab at my first blog post and have tried to maintain my happy little corner of the world wide web ever since.

To celebrate, I created a new header (again...yes), some new tabs (again...yes), and a new Etsy store.

I've been busy.

Check out the shop.

Boost my confidence and tell me what you like.

Boost my bank account and order something.

Or simply leave me a comment telling me how mad you are that I wasted your Monday while you refreshed my blog over and over waiting to see the shops' link.

:)

Happy 3 month anniversary, live fancy.

Welcome to the world, Etsy shop.

Have a wonderful Tuesday, everyone.

You hurt my feelings, and I'm still fancy.

So, after a week or two of being in a slump, working my booty off on a new venture, and dealing with the everyday chaos that is my life, I get an email out of the blue from someone who claims my blog is "false advertising".

Apparently my blog name intrigued them to stop by, and they were thoroughly disappointed to see "a regular housewife displaying mediocre crafts and too much family information" when they got here.

Hmmm.

Being fancy has nothing to do with labels.

Or the car that keeps you safe while traveling from point A to point B.

Or the house that you're satisfied calling "home".

I am fancy.

And guess what?

The parents at my daughters' school have seen me at my worst.

No makeup.

Hair tossed up in a messy bun.

Sometimes in slippers.

But always kissing my child goodbye and calling out words of encouragement at the beginning of her day.

And always greeting her with a hug before we head home to play and laugh and thrive as a family.

That's fancy.

And my car may be full of crayons and crumbs, but it displays messages like this and holds car seats for the children I never thought I would have.

That's fancy.

Sometimes I say bad words or sing off-key or gossip when I shouldn't.

And at the end of the day, the love of my life is still beside me and loves me in spite of those things.

That's fancy.

"Too much information" is debatable.

Telling the world about the worst day of my life was greeted with emails full of encouragement and empathy.

My story lead to friendships that I might have never made otherwise.

And gave women hope that they never thought possible.

That's fancy.

So if you have arrived here hoping to read about my lavish lifestyle, I am sorry to have disappointed you.

My blog name is so versatile.

Fancy can mean so many things.

I hope to one day live my life in such a way that I achieve living every definition of the word.

I hope you believe that your life is fancy.

Because in the end, that's really all that matters.

And to the person who wrote to me, I thank you for your concern.

In closing, I would like to share with you a moment in my life that made me realize what being fancy is truly all about:

Being fancy is being yourself no matter what.

And if being yourself means wearing scuba gear while doing your homework, then in my book, you're pretty freakin' fancy.

Happy Friday.

Spring Wreath- well, technically

My house lacks color.

At least, the common areas downstairs lack color.

I like it that way.

I am drawn to summer colors, and have yet to come across a pink and turqoise home that looks phenomenal.

I tend to stick with Fall colors.

Lately I have been coming across Spring wreath projects in blogland, and I just can't seem to find one that not only looks adorable, but also matches my home's style.

I wanted a wreath.

Making a wreath during Spring technically makes it a "Spring wreath", right?

Glad you agree.

Yesterday I turned this pile of craziness:

into this:

The inspiration for the project came from here and here.

I started by wrapping a large strip of burlap around the wreath form and hot glued the ends down.

The wreath form that I scored for 25 cents.

Woot.

Then I added the yo-yo's that I had made for another project that I will never get around to completing with hot glue.

Then I whipped out my needle and thread and stitched together some pieces of floral fabrics to some burlap that I folded and stitched into thirds.

After creating a pile of them, I added them in-between the yo-yo's to the wreath with hot glue.

I couldn't figure out what to do with the yo-yo's.

They looked awful without adding a center of some sort, and I couldn't decide on any embelleshments that didn't look tacky on a wreath.

So I cut 1/2" strips of another fabric into sections that were about 8" long, and tied them into bows around each yo-yo.

The bow sits directly on the center of the yo-yo's.

(That's right, no photo for that step.

I discovered a random episode of Millionaire Matchmaker while trying to complete the project, and got sucked into the joys of reality T.V.

No cable means I get completely brain washed when a cable show appears on Hulu.

Fancy stuff.)

I wanted to add a wooden letter to the center of the wreath, but didn't have any and I'm too impatient to wait another day to post this project.

So I hit up the fridge for a magnet that just so happened to be the perfect size, wrapped twine around the top and tied it to the top of the wreath.

I added some more twine as a lazy bow on top, and love the end result:

No, the picture isn't centered.

This wreath hangs on the inside of our house, and the glare from the back door is so awful that my shadow appears in every photo.

If you'd like a centered picture that looks like the Boogie man is the photographer, I can totally take one.

I also need to adjust the lazy bow on top.

That's not centered because I'm apparently blind, not because I was avoiding any Boogie Man photo ops.

Awesome.

And you can try to guess what the "S" stands for.

I'm probably going to change it once I find the wooden letter I want.

If I find the time, too.

So there you have it- my Spring wreath.

Well, technically, anyway.

Happy Wednesday.

{I am linking up to these parties.}

Easter weekend 2010

This was the first year that we didn't go to my grandparents' house for Easter.

Instead, they dropped off some seriously amazing gift baskets for the kids and we spent the day hanging out at home.

They dumped out the contents of the baskets that the Easter Bunny brought and then bolted out front to search for eggs.

The Easter Bunny even hid eggs in the tree this year.

The same tree that still has Christmas lights on it.

Awesome.

They were spoiled rotten.

And we were a little behind schedule with coloring eggs this year.

So we did it on Easter.

About 10 minutes before the earthquake hit.

Thankfully, it all turned out okay.

And for all of you who have given your children Fun Dip candy before: make sure they do not eat the candy stick first.

His white shirt somehow stayed white.

Amazing.

We are not yet on Spring Break, but thoroughly enjoyed our 3 day weekend.

We visited family in Yucaipa.

And let the kids run wild.

They played with their second cousins.

And I took a ridiculous amount of photos of all of them.

I loved that they picked flowers.

And played dress up.

And enjoyed every inch of land that Hubby's uncle and his family live on.

My mother-in-law took me to a little thrift store while we were there and I found an old iron that I've been looking for.

I got a few other goodies, too.

And when we got back from shopping, Hubby's aunt taught The Girl how to make homemade tortillas.

It was seriously a fantastic family trip and a wonderful weekend.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend with your loved ones.

I am in need of Spring Break though.

I know most of you are on vacation right now.

I hope you're enjoying it!

Happy Tuesday, friends.

Happy happy joy joy

Excuse the old school Ren & Stimpy song lyrics.

For some reason, my mom and I still say that phrase when we're excited.

Thanks, Nickelodeon.

So today was crazy hectic until nap time.

Then my sister-in-law came over for lunch and everything got fantastic.

Hubby decided we should buy The Girl some new shoes and that I should pick up some new fabric.

Woot!

So we shopped.

And got tired.

So Hubby decided we should swing by Starbucks.

A rare occassion around this place.

On the way home, he suggested that his sister and I go tanning while he watches the kids.

So, after shopping for shoes and fabric, I walked into a tanning salon without children and with a grande white chocolate mocha in my hand.

Yeah.

My husband is pretty stinkin' awesome.

And my sister-in-law totally made the day fun.

Love is way better for curing headaches than chocolate is.

Trust me.

And here are the beauties I picked up today:

So many projects on my plate.

I guess I should dive in.

Hope your Monday was fabulous!

Today

Today I am going to try to shake the headache that has haunted me since yesterday's earthquake.

The 7.2 quake hit my husband's family's city & we have yet to hear from anyone.

It shook our home pretty badly, too.

The Girl and I were coloring Easter eggs and all of a sudden I felt like I was passing out.

I couldn't stand up straight and the world was all wonky.

I told her I was passing out and sat on the kitchen floor.

Then I noticed our pantry door started shaking and heard the fish tank water splashing.

I saw the chandellier swaying and told her to get under the kitchen table.

The Boy and Hubby were outside and Hubby said they didn't notice a thing.

Unfortunately it was an extremely long rolling quake, and I suffered major motion sickness afterwards.

Many of my friends mentioned feeling like they were on a boat or told me that they too felt yucky for hours afterwards.

I still have a headache.

Since it's raining today (I know- earthquake and rain. Southern CA sounds awesome right now...) I am going to spend the day inside enjoying my newly organized craft nook.

Remember the armoire in these photos?

I have filled it with scraps of happiness, vintage goodies, and supplies to complete several crafts that I have been stalking in blogland.

Once The Boy falls asleep and The Girl starts her homework, I will be diving into these:

and these:

Chocolate doesn't count if you need it to soothe a headache, right?

;)

Happy Monday, everyone.