Beauty Supply Hoarder (and a giveaway)

It's no secret that I have an issue with beauty supplies.

My friend Lori just posted a photo on Facebook that made me smile.

It was a photo of about ten different nail polishes all different shades of hot pink.

I adore hot pink.

I also adore nail polish.

Want to see my collection?

I also have several bottles in the bathroom downstairs that didn't make it into this shot.

l.o.v.e.

I have fallen in love with a brand called Pure Ice.

Since this is my 100th blog post, I think that calls for a giveaway, no?

I am giving away one bottle of my favorite nail polish in my favorite summer shade.

{Eww, weirdo. No, not from my own collection.}

So it's not the most fancy giveaway, but who doesn't like getting packages of free beauty products delivered on their doorstep?

Right.

To enter:

Leave me a comment telling me how much you adore me telling me your favorite nail polish color.

Yup, that's it.

Everyone gets one chance to win.

Fair and square.

Winner will be chosen by Random.org on Friday morning.

Happy Wednesday, lovelies.

And happy 100 posts, live fancy.

1950's Housewife version 2010

I could easily make this a super heavy controversial post.

I'm opting not to.

I will state facts without voicing my opinions.

If I could go back in time, I could without a doubt live a 1950's lifestyle.

I would probably miss today's technology.

And maybe a few other fancy things.

But the language would make me happy.

And I could adjust the the menu pretty rapidly.

{Nutella, anyone?}

I love the 50's.

It's not far off from my life today.

I stay home with my children.

I am the sole caretaker.

I cook every.single.meal.

{Even on weekends.}

I leave the finances and income up to Hubby.

I get a weekly allowance, just like Lucy did.

I desperately wish I could wear a fancy dress every.single.day.

Oh, and a fancy hat.

I wish I could spend my days at soda shops.

Lucky for me, there is an old school restaurant near me that Hubby introduced me to.

It's called Watson's Drug Store and Soda Fountain and it is the next best thing to my 1950's dream.

It has a 50's diner atmosphere, old-fashioned desserts (malts, shakes, splits), yummy American meals, a real pharmacy adjacent to booths, and the most amazing decor you could imagine.

{Amazing per the vintage lover.}

They also serve fun drinks like this:

If you live anywhere near Orange, California, go visit this place.

Admire the vintage.

Eat something yummy.

Look around and appreciate the country you live in.

It's an incredible place to visit.

And afterwards, you can walk around all the antique shops nearby.

We spend plenty of weekends doing just that.

It makes me happy.

Happiness in 2010 via 1950.

Pretty fancy if you ask me.

Happy Tuesday.

Italian Sausage with Peppers

Yesterday we spent the day at Venice Beach.

{More on that later.}

I wanted to wear a denim mini-skirt that I happily wore in Vegas last summer.

It didn't fit.

"Probably from all that awesome running you're doing with your new treadmill and Nike+ shoes!" you're thinking.

More like, "Probably from all that Nutella I've been shoving in my face".

The not-so-happy version of, "My clothes don't fit."

So tonight, I am making a meal from my Weight Watchers cookbook.

Have I ever been to Weight Watchers?

Nope.

Have I ever followed their meal plans before?

Nope.

Why?

I despise math.

Calculating points is just as bad as eating diet food.

Their plan seems like double misery to me.

But alas, my clothes do not fit.

So I am making this tonight:

*photo courtesy of my WW New Complete Cookbook...like we use cloth napkins around here...psshhh*

Want to join me?

(I am going to type this straight from the cookbook- Google and I are apparently in a battle of some kind.)

Italian Sausage with Peppers

*You can control the heat of this hearty dish by using hot or sweet sausages, or a combination of the two.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 Bermuda onion, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 cup canned diced tomatoes

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1/2 pound cookd Italian pork sausage (hot, sweet, or both)

2 cups penne

1/4 chopped basil

2 tablespoons chopped falt-leaf parsley

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Saute the onion, bell peppers and fennel until the vegetables turn golden, 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute 1-2 minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended, about 20 minutes. If the sauce becomes too dry, add 1-2 tablespoons of water.

2. Meanwhile, cook the penne according to the package directions; drain.

3. Add the basil, parsley and penne to the sausage mixture; toss to combine.

Per serving: 438 calories, 20 g total fat, 6 g saturated fat, 44 mg cholesterol, 972 g sodium, 50 g total carbs, 6 g dietary fiber, 16 g protein, 89 mg calcium

POINTS per serving: 10

If you have avoided the Nutella aisle, you can eat something that doesn't involve mathematics for dinner.

If you have fallen victim to my Nutella gifts, cupcake tasting, or Amish Friendship Bread be-friending, then I apologize if your clothes are just as snug as mine.

And by "snug" I mean, "screeching to a halt right above my knee and protesting any upward movement".

Fabulous.

Oh, and when I said that I would be adding something to my shop over the weekend, that was pre-mental-breakdown over my clothing situation.

It's all under control now, and something pretty awaits purchase:

Happy Monday, calculating cooks.

Howdy, howdy, howdy!

Have you seen Toy Story 3 yet?

We have.

It was the first movie that we saw in a theater all.the.way.through since The Boy was born.

I cried.

Like a baby.

The Girl finished up kindergarten yesterday.

Between seeing Toy Story 3 and the end of kindergarten, my brain has turned to mush.

We've been busy.

Doing normal things...you know, like preparing for hurricanes.

Going for drives.

Spending five hours at the park with a beloved friend.

Making end-of-the-year gifts for each student.

And for each teacher.

Saying goodbye to kindergarten and hello to summer.

Spending some time enjoying the kiddie pool and sunshine.

Baking some crazy yummy cookies.

Attending the end-of-the-year Girl Scout party.

{The Girl thinks this slide is fun. The Boy thinks this slide is trying to kill him.}

Baking Amish Friendship Bread.

We have been just a little busy.

And tomorrow, the only 4 Fancy things I will be able to write about are laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, bleach, and a pantry that is in need of some organizing.

I do have a couple things almost ready for my shop coming this weekend, though.

You can look forward to that.

Or not.

Your choice.

:)

Back to consecutive blog posts and a typical Friday post next week!

Have a wonderful weekend, friends.

Oh, snap!

Perhaps I should stop buying The Girl clothes.

Or perhaps we should take out this broken beauty and install a fabulous new closet organizer and continue shopping.

Decisions, decisions.

Happy Monday, friends.

Fancy 4 Friday No.4

Recap:

Emotional week.

Next week is the end of kindergarten, so heed my warning:

next week I will be a disaster.

A disaster with nice hair.

Want to know how?

Let's get to this weeks favorites, then.

1. Pam told everyone at our table about an amazing hair product during Blog*Sugar. I meant to post about it right away, but didn't. Thankfully, Rachel beat me to it so you can read her funny post and get the deets.

{Photo courtesy of Rachel. You all know my kitchen isn't that clean.}

2. This blog. I have no idea why Erin reads my blog. Her house is the epitome of beautiful, and I am always posting about my messes and patched walls. Whatevs. Read her blog. You'll want to become a follower because she constantly posts eye candy.

3. These cookies. I need someone I know to get engaged or get pregnant or something so that I can make them with the appropriate words. Birthdays and anniversaries could work, too, I guess. Pure genius if you ask me. Someone give me a reason to bake them. Make it happen.

4. Our crooked house. I have posted about it on Facebook, but yesterday the kids ran out back and played in it, and I was thinking, "Man, I should really be thankful for this thing." When I told my husband I wanted a crooked house like Jon & Kate, he started building it the same day, only bigger and better. It may or may not end up with a loft on the inside of it this summer. If so, I'll post about it again. If not, I'm not complaining.

Those are my top four things this week.

Nothing will be added to my shop this week.

I promised myself that I would spend less money, and since I didn't sell anything last week, I'm avoiding the not-so-fancy Etsy fees that I rack-up every Friday.

Hopefully I'll be back in business next week.

If not, I'll definitely be back with more favorites.

What are your favorites this week?

Happy Friday, friends.

*ETA: I had the word "epitome" spelled wrong in this post for almost 24 hours. I am relying on you guys to help a mama out when I blog at 12:40 AM. Typos? Crazy words? Tell me! Seriously. I take pride in being a spelling rockstar...eww for having a major blemish on here and noticing it so many hours later! If you noticed, I apologize.

Plugged in again & fully charged

I'm back.

I spent all of yesterday and most of today "unplugged".

The computer stayed off, the cell phone battery was taken out, and as usual, no T.V. on weekdays.

You may not think that your world revolves around technology until you purposely avoid it.

I am guilty of checking my cell phone the second I hear a text message.

I check my email often.

I browse blogs during nap time and the second my kids go to bed.

I read hilarious tweets around the clock.

I am a fan of almost everthing there is to "like" on Facebook.

I didn't do any of that yesterday.

Not even when the kids were sleeping.

I went to bed at 9:18 PM.

Granted, my body had no idea what was going on, so I didn't fall asleep until sometime after 10:22 when I looked at the clock again.

But still.

It was different and made all the difference.

I highly recommend it.

The Boy and I walked to get The Girl from school.

This was common back in September and October, but this Winter was freezing and got me used to driving.

{If you think it doesn't get cold in Orange County, I'd like you to know that one morning at 7:30, I dropped The Girl off at school and my car's thermostat said it was 37 degrees outside. For.Reals.}

He loved riding his bike to pick her up.

And of course I had to bring her scooter to school so she could ride it home.

We stopped by the park across the street from our house on the way back home.

We baked pretzels after we had lunch and quiet time.

(But topped ours with powdered sugar and dipped them in yogurt.)

The Girl made a camel pretzel after a minor meltdown over a ruined giraffe.

I made my pretzels look like donuts because that's what I was craving.

{Note to self: making food that looks like one thing and tastes like something else will only make you crave the craved food more. Bright idea FAIL.}

I painted The Girl's nails while The Boy helped clean up his flour mess.

Today The Boy and I added ingredients to the Amish Friendship Bread we're about to bake.

{This is an on-going routine in my house. About a year ago, some friends I passed the recipe/ingredients to one another and it eventually died out. My dad found the recipe/ingredients for me again a couple months ago, but I flaked and let it disappear. And now again, my dad is at my Amish Bread craving rescue.}

When The Girl got home from school, we busted out the wooden blocks and built a little town in The Boy's room.

I layed down on my stomach and made car noises for hours.

I am definitely going to make the "unplugged" thing a common occurance at this house.

(Without boring you every single time with a heavy-picture post. Promise.)

And you know what's amazing?

For a while now, I've been down in the dumps over my blog, business, friendships...yadda, yadda, and all I needed to cheer me up was time with two small people who bring me up without saying a thing.

A random hug, a belly laugh, and a simple "thank you, Mama"...it all fed my soul in the most beautiful way.

Life is good.

Happy {late} Thursday.

Avoiding Reality

I am currently sitting at my computer in workout clothes.

I just ran 3 miles and then plopped in front of my laptop like a bum.

I visited my Facebook page only to find mention of most of my friends' children about the finish up their kindergarten year.

We aren't finished until next Thursday.

{I think we go back to school later than everyone after summer though.}

So I started browsing kindergarten photos and looking through my own photos of The Girl.

I am a mess.

I wish there was a better way to describe myself.

Sitting in sweaty old clothes completely beet red from running and from sobbing my eyes out.

Is anyone else with kindergartners totally losing it, too?

Just me?

I am sad.

{Understatement.}

My baby is growing up.

About to lose some friends due to them moving, losing touch, and new class placement in the Fall.

She will no longer have her amazing teachers.

And I mean amazing.

{Understatement.}

She will lose her routine that she has become familiar with.

Her little desk with her organized pencil box.

She will eventually forget so many things that she once gushed over.

And never remember the quotes of her friends that made her giggle so hard that she had to tell me what they said the second I picked her up from school.

Her little crush will become a thing of the past.

And the little boy who has a crush on her will no longer make her blush everyday as he says goodbye to her.

Her backpack will retire.

Her first day of school outfit no longer fits.

She has grown.

She has been on the Honor Roll consistantly.

She has told me what she learned on a daily basis.

She has missed only one day of school.

She adores kindergarten.

She has named her Barbies after her teachers.

And I wonder now if the names will change, or if those dolls will permanently be a part of our family.

Things are about to change.

Drastically.

And I am losing it over here.

My baby is growing up.

Too fast.

Rapidly, really.

I know that every single day I focus on being the best mom I can be for her, but now that the year is ending, I feel like I lost so much time.

That there were days when she wanted to cuddle and I was busy.

That she wanted to sing a song in the car and I would hush her to finish a conversation or to hear something on the radio.

There were times when she could just simply say, "Mommy!" and I would reply with a sigh after a long day,

"What?!"

I'm listening now.

Cuddling.

Singing along with her.

Playing Candyland with her for the thousandth time.

For the first week of summer, I planned on spending it "unplugged".

No TV, computer, cell phone, etc.

Tomorrow I am adopting my plan early.

Just for a day.

To hear all about her life.

And her dreams.

To hear the silly stories and cuddle while we read a book.

I will be back online again on Thursday.

Right now, I really need to just focus on this.

This time.

This family.

This memory.

I will be avoiding reality for the next or so.

I hope you understand why.

If not, you can always focus on something else...

Like mailing me a package.

I could use some more tissues.

See you Thursday, friends.

My little bathroom

Some people collect stamps.

Others collect antiques.

What do I collect?

Makeup and accessories.

It is solely a hobby since I wear makeup about 2% of the year.

This is one half of my "little bathroom".

Our house doesn't have a master bathroom, but instead has a little room attached to the second floor bathroom that has counter space, cabinets, mirrors on both walls, and a sink.

A fun little room for people like me to store collections like mine.

If we planned on living here forever, I would expand the bathroom upstairs and make it ultra fancy.

Since we will be moving within the next five years, the house will be staying as-is.

So here's a little sneak peak of the "before" photo of my little bathroom.

This summer I will make it better functioning and less 1970's.

(Although I will admit that the gold-swirled glitter countertops make me smile on a daily basis.)

The other half of the room is far too embarrassing to post.

It looks more fit for a drag queen.

For reals.

{wigs, eyelashes, bottles of potions, and pretties...}

I need to seriously organize this collection of mine.

What do you collect?

Happy Tuesday.

Donors Choose

Since we don't have cable, we watch a lot of Netflix and Hulu.

Our television is basically just a large computer monitor.

We have a ginormous computer system unit where most people have a cable box.

We have a mouse and keypad sitting out in the open where most people would have decor or a stereo or something.

Super fancy, right?

A couple weeks ago, an ad popped up before a show started that asked us what organization/company we would like the following commercial to fund.

We had about ten different options, and I'm sure tons of people just click on a name to hurry up and watch their show.

We opened a new tab on our TV and Googled each and every organization/company.

When we got to one called Donors Choose, we were both in awe.

I had never heard of such a thing.

We watched the clips.

We read the stories.

We browsed through the optional projects to donate to.

If you are a teacher, a parent of a student, have a spare dollar, or simply someone interested in amazing things, you need to check this out.

Like, now.

Some of the stories made me cry.

Many of the stories made me thankful that my daughter attends such a wonderful school.

I would seriously love to work for this company.

It is truly inspiring.

Check it out and tell me what you think.

Happy Monday, friends.

Fancy 4 Friday No.3

I am writing this with my head wrapped in foil.

I thought I should announce that right off the bat in case there are any typos or totally deranged thoughts posted.

Rachel dyes her hair herself.

I do not.

The last time I attempted to do so, I ended up wearing a wig for about a year afterwards.

If you don't see another photo of me posted until summer 2011, you will know why.

{fingers crossed that I still have hair in 20 minutes}

Let's get to it...
This week my favorites are:

1. This girl. Sure, her blog is awesome. And okay, so her house was featured in Better Homes & Gardens. And yes, Obama was [this] close to her all week long. But I am talking about her. The girl who leads quite the amazing life and also texts me 413 times a day. Sometimes she sends me texts that make me laugh so hard I drop my phone. And our Facebook chats could make millions if they were published. If you have a friend who goes out of their way to make you smile, thank them. Do it once or do it often. A thank you is always nice to hear.

Thank you, Rachel Cook.

:)

2. In-N-Out. I really don't know all of their locations, but I'm fairly sure they are a CA company. They are a family owned (not franchised) hamburger restaurant chain that makes food so good people wait forever in line for it. Okay, well, maybe not forever, but I wouldn't mind wasting half of a day waiting for a Double Double. I had one for lunch. Yum.

3. This. I want the whole set.

4. This blog. Heather, this entire week you have posted happy, wonderful posts about things that make me smile. I love the 10 idea. I will definitely be joining in on the fun starting next month!

If you'd like, post a comment telling me your 4 favorites of the week.

Or a link to your blog that has a post with your favorites.

Does anyone want to attempt another linky next Friday?

Okay, I should really go wash my hair now.

12:42 AM already.

Blah.

And since it's officially Friday, I guess I can show you what has been added to my shop.

Chenille Rosette Rings.

Pretty fancy, huh?

The next few days are going to be crazy.

And the chaos will begin in about 5 hours.

Awesome.

Goodnight friends.

Happy weekend.

Noon time coma, please.

Today isn't my day.

I am beyond swamped with projects and housework.

I have completed 12 loads of laundry.

I attended a special breakfast at 7:15 at The Girl's school for parents who volunteer their time for the students.

The Boy did.not.nap.

I have been trying to catch up with emails and Etsy conversations.

So umm...yeah.

Tomorrow, please.

I'm going to dive into a carb-induced coma starting at noon.

Because I can.

And because this is the first week that The Girl didn't have homework {sob} so we have time to bake something fun together.

Homemade pretzels.

Made by my dear friend Andrea.

Go here and tell her thank you.

Everyone deserves a happy messy kitchen and belly full of goodness.

Happy Wednesday (and Thursday), friends.