A room of ones own

Virginia Woolf said it best "In order to write fiction, a woman must have a room of her own"

Well in order to do some kick-ass crafts, I must have a room of MY own.

So this is the closest I could come up with, my old craft room is currently occupied as a nursery, so i now have to share the very tiny office space in the next room, with my hubby, Here is what I came up with, I absolutely love it.

I claimed this old cabinet we used to have in the bathroom, and put folded fabrics on the shelves inside,and in the bottom drawer I have all my jewelry findings and polymer clay, and tool organized. it's nice because I can now see everything that I have (which is quite a bit more than I expected) On the floor I put two drawers that hold my card making supplies. I also used an old toothbrush holder to hold my scissors and pens! I cannot WAIT to start making even MORE stuff, now that I have my own place to do it!

Crazy weekend

Oh my gosh I got so much done this weekend! Which surprises me considering Hudson had his four month shots on Friday and spiked a fever Friday night and most of sat. he was extraordinarily cranky and his left leg was swollen, poor dear, I hate getting him shots :( But I know they are necessary. He feels much better today and is back to his happy laughing self:)


I also managed to finish a Christmas project, my felt Christmas trees, Bill said it reminds him of the trees in Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, or Jack Frost.

I like the way it looks in my pretty centerpiece on the table.

I also finished this fall hand sewn pin.Obviously a bit too late for this year.

Then began working on my ornaments for my Christmas gifts. Oh yeah, I am in felt heaven! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh :) I love Christmas crafts.

We are working on putting up our Christmas decorations, and I can't wait to see the look on lil Hudson's face when he sees the Tree all lit up in it's Christmas glory, I can't wait to take the family photo in front of the tree :) Too fun!

Hopefully my curtains come today, they were shipped on Friday, so they should reach my door soon. It will be so nice to have a little color in the house!

I also hung out with Julia in the Gordon Arts District yesterday, we went to the Room Service Christmas shop and Kitsch City, had some coffee and a HUGE chocolate chip muffin....

thanks Julia I needed that!

Well hopefully today will go by fast, as will whats left of the work week (THREE DAYS!!! WOOHOO! Then I am off for the Holiday!)

Bizzy Lizzy

Omg I have been in a complete craft coma lately, SERIOUSLY, it's a sickness, and what is up with me and felt lately? i am totally on this crazy felt kick. But i love it, so no matter.

I have been playing around with ideas for making my living room more colorful, when we first moved in the walls were white, we needed to paint quick and we had big purple couches, so i chose a very light tan color ( I still want to repaint it someday, but not anytime soon) a darker tan perhaps. My curtains are just cream and tan sheers, kind of blah. So I checked online and found a great sale at JC Penny's, and I purchased the curtains below in a sage green;which will offset my purple couch. here is the link to the full picture http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=60156&CatID=60193&GrpTyp=STY&ItemID=161c0b0&attrtype=COL&attrvalue=green&CMID=60156%7c60193%7cshopbycolor&Fltr=COL%3aEquals%3agreen&Srt=&QL=T&IND=61&cmVirtualCat=shopbycolor&CmCatId=6015660193shopbycolor Then I am going to make Turquoise throw pillows for the couch and love seat to really POP IT! I know your thinking, "wow turquoise, purple and green? but really it all works together very eclectically. And our ceramic lamp is turquoise so the pillows should highlight that.

Below are some pictures of living rooms that I really love, I love these color combos! SWOON!!!!

Don't you LOVE this color combo???

So elegant a beautiful!

Aside from redecorating; I am also starting up Christmas projects, making felt cone shaped trees, felt ornaments (for gifts) and this awesome felt mobile I saw online.

Would love to hang this in hudsons room!

On Motherhood-Advice

Things that I learned in my first few months of being a new momma.

1. Everyone will feel obligated to give you their advice on child rearing, but none of them or necessarily right, only you can decide what is best for your child. Don’t let these comments drive you into a tailspin; you will find your own path.
2. If someone tells you that you are doing something wrong, just remember, that’s THEIR opinion. If you are in fact doing something the wrong way, you will find out sooner or later and chances are, it wont cause your child any long term issues.
3. Two things never to discuss with other mothers (unless you REALLY want their opinion) breast feeding, and when to start solids. This is up to you, your child and pediatrician, children have an uncanny way of telling you when they need something.
4. You will figure out what your child wants, it won’t always be this hard!
5. You may feel like you will never sleep again….you won’t…at least not for the first few months….but you also won’t even care because there so damn cute.…
6. On returning to work: it will all work out, children are attuned to schedules, they generally fall in to patterns rather quickly. Being consistent about bedtimes when you go back to work will make everything run more smoothly.
7. Trust your instincts, if your pediatrician is telling you he sees nothing wrong with your child but you know deep down something is not right, your probably correct, find another doctor.
8. Another word about doctors: every single one of them has a different opinion from the other, whether it be on feeding or sleep training, take their advice in and decide what is best for you and your family.
9. That cold generally will not kill them, but it may kill you ( up all night with a stuffy nosed little one)
10. Buy a cool mist humidifier in the winter for the babies’ room, even if they aren’t sick, your kid will sleep AWESOME! (but that’s just MY opinion ! )
11. Do not be afraid to use Tylenol for teething, it won’t hurt them and will help them feel better.
12. Listen to those girlfriends who have had children, they may all have different opinions, but they have been through it, and their advice is VALUABLE. I don’t how many times I called friends Michelle or Kristal in the first few months because I was SURE something was majorly wrong (OMG THIS DIAPER RASH IS HORRIBLE! MY CHILDS BUTT IS GOING FALL OFF!!!)
13. Babies cry…yes they do….. and it is not going to kill them to put them down when you get frustrated and walk away, as long they are somewhere safe it is OK to go outside or in another room and compose yourself. Your child WILL BE OK, I promise, I have done it.
14. If your child gets frequent hiccups (like my son does) lay him on his left side next to your knee and rub his head, this stops Hudson's hiccups and he falls asleep…..it’s worth a try.
15. If you need to get stuff done around the house like laundry and dishes and such, strap the kid to the front of you in a baby carrier, they like to look around, and often fall asleep if you keep moving. This is also FANTASTIC exerscise for you!
16. if the baby carrier wont work or they get fussy a lot, keep moving them, from the swing to the bouncer to the bed to the couch ect. Sometimes a change of scenery (or even a ceiling fan for them to stare at,) will do the trick.
17. Every so often at least, get your self dressed, put on some makeup, brush your teeth, and go out for a walk with the baby, you will both feel better.
18. Do not worry about the color of their poop…..believe me it will be many different colors over many different months, it’s all good, your kid is fine.
19. If they haven’t pooped, and it’s been a few days, take their rectal temp. if that doesn’t stimulate it, get a warm washcloth and put it on their butt, this may help them relax and go.
20. And the last one, remember not to get too stressed out, babies love their parents, spend as much time as possible just staring at their sleepy little face, and let things work them selves out, because it will all work it’s self out.

BONUS

21. YOU ARE AN EXCELLENT MOTHER!!!!!!!!!

Friday Perrrrtys

Love them, want them, cannot afford them at $300!!!

I love victorian tea cups
Lust

yes please
Julia would look FABULOUS in this!

Freelancer, love her style love her blog

Enamel bracelet love

Looooooove Damask, and these are super kewl

Pretty rockin!

Love the color, love the outfit love the girl, check her out at Galadarling.com

Unexpected tastyness-Kale

Wanna try a new veggie? Try Kale!!

Since I have been eating healthier, I make it a point to really dive into the produce section at the store and try stuff I never tried before. I have always had an interest in exotic veggies, ever since I dated a vegan chef back in 2003.

I had heard in one of my Natural health magazines, that Kale was known as a super food, it's anti inflammatory property and cancer fighting super nutrients are world renowned for helping to achieve better health. I have kind of always turned my nose up at Kale without ever really trying it, I am not a huge spinach fan, but I have been known to eat it now and then, kale was always spinach's ugly stepbrother in my mind. But given the great health benefits, i decided to look it up online to see just how exactly you cook kale. What i found surprised me, hundreds of people tried kale and loved it. There were recipes galore, from baked to sauteed. I had to give it a try.

Kale has a taste like a cross between raw broccoli, cabbage and spinach. It has a very earthy flavor, bitter but with a touch of sweetness.

The first time that I made it I sauteed it with mushrooms, onions garlic and olive oil, and it was delicious!! Then last night , I cut it into bite size pieces, brushed it with olive oil and sprinkled it with season salt, and baked them until crispy, THEY TASTED LIKE POTATO CHIPS!!!! I shit you not! I don't know how its possible, but they were really good, and addicting! I mean kids would probably even eat them!! So next time your in the grocery store, try some kale! You just might like it!!

What did I do this weekend?

Visited my sister and my beautiful niece Kiera!

Made Squash Apple Soup
Finished sewing my Ipod cover with embroidery
Turned this....
Into this ,Pot Holder Embroidery floss organizer
Finished these stuffed felt softies for Hudson
Spent time with the little angel.

Fabulous Fall Fashion Goodness

So I HAD to make a fall fashion post about the things I am loving right now, Most of these things are yearly fall favorites.

Chunky and fine knit hats in all sorts of colors . hat by Pixiebell on etsy
Every kind of patterned tights imaginable, I cannot get enough of them!

Photo from this cute gals site. I would love to display my stockings like this, brilliant.

sweater dresses in all shapes and colors! They are so easy to wear

with a pair of cute tights and warm boots or booties
Ridiculous oversized glasses
I am so very in love with enamel jewelry, and these bamboo bracelets are do DIE for!
These rugged boots from Wanted

And these would be super cute with a grey sweater dress and black tights!

Happy dressing!

Well crap, there goes that idea.....

Soooo about that 30 day no spend challenge.... yeeeaaah riiight. I bought this yesterday.

But WAIT I can EXPLAIN!!

On Tuesday my phone finally bit it. Just completely went to hell, i had been wanting this phone for along long time, but never could justify the cost, but since Tmobile has screwed me twice now with bad phones, I decided I was going to get a killer deal on this thing if it killed me. lets just say I came out of that store with exactly what I wanted, and cheap Internet access, seriously i love this thing, for reals! There is nothing that this thing doesn't do, it is comparable to the iphone, but waaaay smarter. I can't keep my hands off of it!! Anyway I obviously blew my challenge. Even though it was a necessity, I decided to put off the no spend challenge until Jan. Anyways.

But on the diet challenge front, I lost 4 pounds!!! I know I shouldn't get too excited it's probably water weight, but it's something people!!!! let me have my moment lol. I have successfully avoided refined sugar for two days, even though I got a blazing headache yesterday I still managed. I Rock!!!

This and that sunday

This weekend was rather nice, we went to a coworkers packing party on Saturday. And then on Sunday I spent some time with the hubby and the lil man. Julia came over and we went to Clementine’s to sit in the sun ,

drink pumpkin coffee and just vent. And then walk around the nearby shops. I came home and made a killer batch of chicken stock, which I plan to make into chicken and dumplings soup tonight.
The weekend was also a little scary, after I got home from going out with Julia, I was changing the lil man when he starting making this wheezing sound and looked like he couldn’t breathe. Now mind you, he had actually had this issue since he was 3 weeks old or so, after he is done eating or when he is scrunched up he makes this wheezing sound. Our old pediatrician said that the problem isn’t in his lungs (those are fine thank god) but in his voice box, and that because babies has “floppy windpipes” sometimes they make that sound, sounded reasonable to me, but over the past few months the noise has gotten worse, still I suspect he may have acid reflux and just attributed it to that. Until yesterday when I was changing him, he looked all of the sudden like he couldn’t breathe, started shaking his hands and let out a cough, then was fine, but scared the shit out of me. So I finally called he new doctors answering service and had her ring me back, she said that they don’t call it wheezing, it’s called “stridor” and that wheezing refers to a whistling sound made when the lungs exhale, Stridor is a sound like gasping when the baby inhales, she said it’s a voice box condition that has to do with underdevelopment in that area, in other words “a floppy windpipe………still”. But she said it’s nothing to be concerned with unless he has trouble eating (no problem there!) and if he starts turning colors a baby shouldn’t turn. Still she is going to check him out on the 20th when he goes in for his 4 month shots.

Still it’s scary.
Today I also started the beginning of my two 30 day challenges.

The eating healthier challenge and the no spend challenge.

On the diet front, I am starting out at 175 pounds, phew! My long term goal is 145 my reasonable goal is 155, just because that’s what I was when before I got pregnant,

I haven’t been 145 in YEARS,….but wouldn’t it be nice?

I had my one and only cup of Joe this morning and am working on my first water of the day. For lunch I have a salad with lots of veggies and chicken, green apples with cinnamon and celery with peanut butter for snax some crackers and some yogurt. I really hope I don’t kill people today not eating any chocolate….specially around the 3pm hour…….god help me.

I made the last of my frivolous spending last night, I bought, a rolling pantry system for the kitchen, although I debated whether or not to call this “frivolous” we have hardly any space inour tiny kitchen and with the jars of baby food I am getting from friends, ever increasing, not to mention OUR food and the dogs food, we have no I mean NO space. So it really was a need. Still I didn’t want to put it on my already heavy credit card,

but what are you gonna do ya know?

And then true to freaking form, my damn cell phone started breaking this weekend, but I am sticking to my rule, NO FRIVILOUS SPENDING until the end of the month, mainly because the phone still works, for the most part, the handset is just ready to give way, and it routinely shuts itself off for no reason. Still I am going to try to use it until it totally craps out, in the mean time I am doing a bunch of research on a new one.

Well that’s really all for today, I can’t wait until lunch when I plan to just sit in my car and work on my embroidery, no borders or Target or craft store, I have to stay away from temptation. I can do this!!!!!!.....I think lol