i wish this came in black...

oh pbteen, why do you tease me so?!?!? and why am i still subscribed to ohdeedoh still?!?!?!

oh well. how goes??!?!

sunshine and bunnies,
holly*

these guys are aweomse.

so, i've been on the look out for vinyl wall decals and/or stencils and i bumped into these guys on etsy.

 

byrdiegraphic's on esty has some of the best wall decal designs i have seen in a long time! super hip. i was thinking of ordering this one:

 

but i dont know what color. i was thinking the gold or the navy. the wall (which hasnt been painted, but the colors are picked) that it will be on is in the yellow, olive family. the accent wall is going to be a SUPER deep plum. very near black i think. the brick on the fireplace is that deep, brick red. i did a painting that this decal will be above that is done in a very similar gold. not sure how if the repetition of the color will make me happy or not. WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

and look at this awesome sofa! can we say awesome? fo realz.

 

sunshine and bunnies,
holly*

**photos borrowed directly from byrdiegraphic's esty store.**

CHRISTMAS COOKIE MANIA!!!

this is a little of what i did last night. call me crazy... no, really. crazy. 9 hours of straight baking...

i found these super cute boxes at target to pack cookies in for gifts. i bought the 6 that were there. i wish they had MOAR!

Spritz cookies. these were super fun to make. and yummy. must make more!

cocoa cookies with powder sugar on top. they're bitter but the powder sugar is just right. 

box for husband's coworkers.

another box i packed for husband to take to work.

doin what i do.

i have officially joined the world of bloggers with custom titles. the blog was getting stale and i kept seeing people who had recent changes or a title i really liked in my daily reads, so i too did what was right and changed it up a bit. not sure how long this one will stick around, but i had a good time doing it. yay for a good time! next time i make one, i will scan it. yup. i will.

 

this is a copy of the purse i made for my SIL's bday a few weeks ago. i JUST HAD TO HAVE ONE TOO! sorry KT...

 

i'm finally getting serious about putting my ideas for around the house, well, on the house. i decided a while ago that our upstairs bath room (which came into our lives with the street walker red venetian plaster all over it) in black, white and shade of grey. anyone with any kind of color philosophy (and even some with out it) know that reds are impossible to match and i really didnt want this bathroom to look like a box of crayons barfed all over the place, so i took the easy way out with white linens (how generic) and a great grey textured shower curtain. and thus it remained for over two years. until the cow head was rebirthed and housed in the bathroom and now, a couple weeks later, the photo hanging has begun. my plan is all black and white photos framed in an assortment of black and/or white frames only. i like the collage so far. i have quite a few photos i still plan on framing, but ran out of frames for the moment. i think it makes the red a little more bearable. why dont i paint over it you ask? because i really like it. i'm just not up to the challenge of it over my blk & wht additions.

ATTACK OF THE GIANT CUPCAKE!!!!

i ordered one of those giant cupcake pans. it is possible that it will be her in time for a certain boogerbear's big no.2 party. maybe not though. i hope so. it would be too rad to make a couple giant cupcakes (its a party for two, the boogerbear and his auntieKT) with plastic dinosaurs trying to munch on them... anyone have any baking in mind or is it too hot for you guys these days?

today was a day.

a rainy day. a no cable day. a boring cleaning day.

so the bay area is under attack by some nasty storm (i think we should name it like hurricanes. although it has been fun telling husband "thar be a storm a brewin'.") apparently we've had 6+ inches of rain in the past 36 hours, which doesnt sound like a lot to you texans, BUT apparently, by the time the storm is over, we're going to get 10+ inches of rain which is more than we got during the entire year of 2007. we kinda have a drought. and people in california just dont react well to rain. i swear its all survivalist mode around here. i tried to buy a 6-pack of water for my car yesterday (because i like to keep water in the car for thursty moments) and they were out. i asked the stockdude and he was like "thar be a storm a brewin'." well, not really. but, he did say people were stocking up. um. ok. i believe in being prepared, but ITS RAIN! at worst we loose power for a bit or maybe the sewers back up, but really? you need 50gallons of water? silly people.

i did brave the weather the today in order to return to the ear, nose and throat guy to get looked at again and have my hearing checked. that went well. no more infection and i'm offically NOT deaf like husband thinks. (come to find out, he's a mumbler.) in fact, i have very "normal" hearing, BUT i MIGHT have a tiny hole in my left eardrum (the infected, yuck, ear). i have a follow up appointment in a few months to keep an eye on it, but chances are that was how my body got rid of the infection and it will continue to heal and my hearing will even improve with that. YAY for ears that work!

also, my buddy erican has been given 10 days to go into labor, otherwise she'll be induced and there will be two more cutie pie babies attacking this planet. i cant wait. its a neat feeling knowing someone will enter mommydom and kinda know when. with kirbs she was like, monday. everyone was like MONDAY!!! ok. i'm weird. i'm babbling. i think i had too much sugar today.

so, tomorrow husband is off again. it sucks because we're just getting back into our grove. my mom went back home yesterday (i was actually bummed to see her leave, which is kinda a new thing. we had a great time. everything that happened last year happened for a reason and i'm convinced she's a better person for it.) and we de-christmased the house. today he played bioshock ALL.DAY.LONG. ugh. such a creepy game. i will miss husband, but i will not miss his obsession with this game. so its the boogerbear and me for a while. we have big plans to organize and put away his toys, hang shelves, frame pictures, scrapbook the last 6months, hang out, and put away our old dishes and get our new fiestaware into the cabinets.

i'm actually very excited about the new dinnerware. currently we're using black stoneware from cost plus. its functional, but its starting to chip. and its boring. and we all know i cant be boring... i've been thinking about buying fiestaware for a while. all i did was mention it to my mom and she was on my laptop trying to find a few retired sets to give me for "after-christmas." next thing i new, i had 12 5-piece place settings in every color we could find them in on the way. the only thing i've received so far are a couple apricot cup&saucers and they're CUTE! *does a little happy dance*



ok, now that i've discussed dinnerware, i think thats a good time to depart and finish packing husband. night all.

"If men liked shopping, they'd call it research."

today we went researching. nothing like 3 laps around the mall and a few hundred $$ out of the bank account to get your heart pumping. BUT, i did score a super cute monkey chair from baby style as well as the a shirt that the booger will be wearing for this year's holiday photo and some gifties for baby Maceo. last but not least, i found the EXACT xbox360 travel bag that the hubby wanted for my, i mean his, uh xbox360. (it looks like dh will be traveling a lot more this next year and he wants to kidnap the 360 to keep him company...) i know, it seems dumb, but this is the bag HE wanted (i liked the impractical white one) and i havent been able to find it ANYWHERE! there seems to be like two of them in the entire bay area, oh, but i have one now!!! thinking back on today's purchases, i didnt buy a dang thing for ME! hum. what time does the mall close?

so, the diaper rash still rages on, but the poopie mood baby that matched it has subsided for the time being. the boogerbear is pretty happy today. currently he's taking his nap. yea i know, most babies are about to go to bed at this time of day not taking their first nap of the day... what can i say? my booger sleeps in later than all those other earlybird babies. neener neener!

seriously, why is it that laundry can never be DONE? there is always laundry. if its not dirty clothes and towels, then its comforters and sheets. really, when will a day pass that i dont have to run the spin cycle?

oh, and before i scamper off, i wanted to thank the new readers/commenters on their compliments on my evil baby (he's cute, but looks are deceiving) and make sure everyone knows i appreciate when someone else takes the time to bitch with me about how lame other people are, i mean can be... *big smiles!*

***quote Cynthia Nelms

more grown up furniture...

I FOUND A TV STAND!!! not an entertainment center (there's a difference?!?!? yes. >>> that was the answer that the hubby gave. ok dear.) i actually found it at (surprise, surprise) the place we got the rest of our furniture. (dot.dot.dot.) they hubby wouldnt let me buy it with out him, but we're going tomorrow morning before my yearly girlie check-up and i'm pretty sure it will be coming home with us then. do you know how hard it is to find an entertainment center that will fit equipment that measures 17"x17"x8"?!?!? no? hard. very hard. stupid tv.



well, here's photo of the dohicky. i'm off to clense myself. take care.

Project/Photo Update #2

first a couple embroideries that i intend on using on an applique ABC book:





i also put together a couple scraps i had laying around and one of the embroideries together and into a frame. i did FINALLY decide on the actual decor of our bedroom, until now it has just been painted a lovely green with pretty much nothing on the walls and basic bedding. AND ITS GOING TO STAY THAT WAY. actually, i decided on a color scheme of sage-like green, cornflower blue, and plain-old yellow. those colors are soothing and clean to me. but anywho, here's a possible accessory for the room:



last, but not least, is the summer blanket for tyler. i love it! ok, i love the fabric. ( i should have ironed it before i snapped the photos. le sigh)



i still didnt snap photos of those stroller strap covers, but in due time. for now, its about bed time. night, night!

cranky baby and a retro kitty

We did a whole lot of nothing today. Julie came over with little Laurel this afternoon. She’s still so tiny, 8months and about 8lbs. TINY. Tyler was bigger than that at birth. After they left, Tyler got it into his head that he wanted his daddy and he cried about it. He cried about it from 4 until after 8 when Ben FINALLY made it home. Grrr. Tyler seems to be becoming a daddy’s boy lately. (Yes, that is a pink and purple sucky thing in my son's mouth. He's a real man. And, no, my husband isn't high. He's "tired.") For the past 3 or 4 weeks now Tyler seems to “want” one of us. Let me tell you, it’s a very gratifying feeling. On the other hand, seeing laurel the blob today (and I mean that in the nicest way), I kinda miss that. Tyler is a little maniac now (and I’ve been told that it only gets worse, WTF?!!??!) and him having an opinion about what he wants is actually quite tough on good old mom here.

So I did work on some hand embroidery today (and tonight). I was thinking about using them as appliqués on the simpler things I sew. I think this one will be going into a frame and given to Mary (my MIL) for mother’s day or something. Maybe not. Who knows.

Well, this weekend I plan on getting Tyler’s room put together at last, so I can take stock of what I need to make it a complete room. I know I will still need some wall hangings, but I was holding off on finding those until I knew exactly what I needed. I was thinking something along the lines of
nifty, vintage western movie posters or something along those lines.

My night has been all messed up thanks to Ben coming home so late. I’m just a little off schedule. It’s almost 1am and I’m feeling like its only 10pm. Grrr. I should shower and force myself to sleep. I’m going to be so worthless tomorrow. Oh well, at least Ben watch what baby while I catch up on some Zs.

Experiencing as Wisely as I Know How.

This weekend was productive, but not as productive as I intended. Katie and I didn’t get Tyler’s room completely finished as I would have liked, but I did get most of the decorations done and I finished distressing the bookshelves for that room. I know what goes where, so now it’s a matter of getting Ben’s computer out of there. Ugh. I also hung 4 of the 6 shelves that were part of operation baby proofing thus getting the dvds out of tornado tyler’s destruction path. The living room looks so finished compared to before. Its amazing how such a little change can make such a big difference.

Tyler is crawling with expertise now, his 2 top toofers are taking their sweet a$$ time, but coming in, he’s eating well and is a happy little guy as usual, BUT he’s so mean. Mean as a baby can be. He’s such a boy already. I wonder if its nature or if we’ve nurtured him into it this early on? Speaking of doing things early on, its time, its past time to get him sleeping on his own. I think tomorrow I’m going to set up his bed down here again and just suffer through it. I would put him in his crib upstairs, but Moomoo and Erican are coming to visit in the next couple months and I don’t want to confuse him just as he’s getting used to the new sleeping arrangement. Aw, but as I look at him right now, sleeping curled up to Ben, I just love having him right here. But, on the other hand, I don’t want a two year old still sleeping curled up next to Ben, that’s my job!



This week should be a good week. Tuesday evening I think Katie and I are going to go over the hill into San Jose to go to a JoAnn’s so she can pick up a pattern or two and some fabric. Saturday we’re doing a sewing day. This week I have a couple patterns and some super rad fabrics that I ordered last week coming in. I cant wait to get started on those projects. One’s an adorable appliquéd ABC book. Its kinda old lady-esq. but I found some appliqué templates that are a bit more modern and I started printing those out already. I looked into the local quilting shop’s class offerings. There are quite a few options, I think there are a couple I’m interested in, but not until April. In June, they’re part of a thing called Shop Hop where you hop around bay area quilt shops. I think that will be a good way to check out the local and not so local shops. I’ve always been one to go out of my way if I find a really cool shop. I already talked Katie and Mary into doing it with me. YAY! I’ve also been poking around a new forum called sewing mamas. Those ladies there are great. Some are on the crunchy side, but not too bad. Certainly nothing compared to some of the mama’s I’ve encountered here. eep.

Speaking of meeting new mommies, I meet one of Katie’s friends this weekend, Sam, and her new little boy (2 ½ weeks new to be exact), Hayden. I really liked her. She seems like the kind of gal I could get along with. We’re going to try to get together this week and do some scrapbooking. Its been right at a year since I’ve moved up here and I feel like I’m really starting to find my place and not feel so lonely. I keep in relatively close contact with the girls back home, but its just not the same as having friends you can hang out with. My MIL and SIL are awesome, but I can’t count on them or Ben for all of my adult contact. When I was pregnant I was so bummed out by the pregnant lady classes offered and more so by the attitudes of the other preggers that I didn’t get involved and the mommy and me classes are the same way. I have definitely changed from the person I was, but I’m still not a Santa Cruz native and those way crunchy mamas just aren’t my crowd. BUT, now I have Julie (who just had laurel on Feb. 8th) and Sam seems to be right up my alley to do play dates with. Its taken longer for me to adjust to life up here that it has anywhere else I’ve lived, but, then again, this has been the biggest change. I don’t feel so isolated anymore.

On a down note, I don’t think I’m going to pursue one of the relationships presented to me. I thought my BIL’s girlfriend, Nicole, was in a similar station in life as me. She has a son, Lundon (yes, it is spelled with a U), who is 2 months younger than Tyler and she’s a part-time SAHM. When we get together at family events, she is very gung-ho doing things together, stating that she would love the company and that none of her friends are around when she’s off of work or that they don’t have kids. So it seems perfect. I thought, from what she says of herself, she’s a lot like me. I think I was wrong. At least 75% of the plans we have made have been cancelled by her, when we do get together and talk about life and things, she says a lot of things that make me think she’s not the person she says she is and also about her commitment to our family. For example, according to my MIL, Nicole and Nate (my BIL) have been fighting lately. Last time Nicole and I sat down for a chat she said something about how if her and Nate didn’t work out she couldn’t be part of our family. Ummm… ok. That’s not how a family works in my eyes. I don’t want to get close to Nicole knowing that she can just bail on us because its too difficult for her to continue relationships with her ex’s family. I can see where she is coming from. If Lundon wasn’t involved, would almost understand. But, when a person becomes friends with another and they spend time on a relationship, I just don’t think it should be thought of so lightly that you can toss it out like used Kleenex. So, for the time being, I’m just going to leave that alone. I hope, for her sake, she isn’t really the person I think she is.

I’m also working on changes for this blog. I never really thought I would like having my own blog, but I do. It’s turning out to be more than what I thought it would be. As I look back on this post, I see more than just mindless chatter. I see myself experiencing my life and I think I know where this blog will go.

Well, here’s to a good week!

I’m so excited about how Tyler’s room will look once I get it put back together. I took some pictures of just how bad it is. how embarrassing. I’m currently painting some small decorative pieces. Back to doing that. Yay.




Also, Erican is coming up in May! It will be good to have her around to explore San Francisco with and what not. Not to mention, she more than likely wont be pregnant again so we can have a good time with out too many concerns of the baby nature…


More tomorrow.