Blog Abandonment and New Announcements

I have been a terrible blogger lately. I haven't posted in ages. As always, I still have a lot to say about everything, I just can't find the time/energy/will to write and edit the blog. I have been blogging for about 8 months, and I have just lost my real passion for what I was blogging about. I love the Bachelorette and running my mouth on my opinion but thanks to DVR, I don't feel the urgency to watch each episode as the come on, so the posts weren't very timely. Also, I wasn't doing a large variety of projects anymore, just mostly focusing on perfecting my designs and work. Which brings to another announcement:

 I am soon opening an Etsy shop! 

I have been immensely busy preparing inventory and perfecting things, working on branding and design, and testing the market. When the shop opens I will make an announcement on Facebook. I love creating more than I love writing about what I am creating, so when the projects started to take precedence, I kind of let the blog slip.

But my blogging ways may not be completely over, they may just take on a new form. 

I also am taking on another big project, they may get a blog of its own just for documentation sake. Recently, my sweet grandma passed away. My grandma was a master crafter and writer, an amazing and Godly woman that everyone loved. I am the only grandchild who has a real passion for creating things the way she did so I took on a project. It's a big scary project that is currently sitting in the corner of my craft room, being intimidating. She has a box of unfinished quilts, and I decided I wanted to finish them. So, when the day comes that I stop being afraid of quilting and all the challenges that will come with it. I may start a blog to catalog my experience, seek advice from quilters and reminisce about my Grandma. This project will be long, and very focused so I think blogging about something so specific and emotionally charged will be less of a task than just general blogging about dumb crap.


I want to thank all of my readers for the support and for listening to me ramble. You guys came to read my ramblings about 6500 times in just the 8 short months I have been blogging.

Thanks again :)

June: Organization, and catching up on The Bachelorette

June has been a crazy month. I haven't been blogging like at all and I have severely neglected my lovely readers. I had some problems with some bad computer stuff infecting my website, blah blah blah, technical stuff, blah blah. It is all fixed now. Also, I traveled to North Carolina to see my family for about a week in the middle of June and decided to bring home my little brother to stay with me for a couple weeks. So things in the  Presley household have been a little crazier than usual. Anyways, back to business.

I have been a little behind on The Bachelorette, thanks to DVR, I can catch up. And catch up I did!

I don't have too much to say about the last few episodes except that Kalon is tool, good riddance.
Also, Ryan is douchey tool, also good riddance.

I love Arie, and they have the strongest connection of anyone on the show. But Sean is adorable and seems like a good fit for her too.

Speaking of 'her'...while I was in NC, I had some down time and I picked up a gossip magazine with Emily as the main story. It painted a not so pretty picture of her. They addressed the points that she is very vain, obsessed with money, and is kind of bitch. I really don't want all these things to be true because I absolutely love her, and considering the source I am going to say that they are most likely just exaggerations of her personality.

Best Quote from The Bachelor/Bachelorette Series:

"I wanna go West Virgina hoodrat backwoods on his ass"

 Anyways, I caught up on the Bachelorette and now I'm hooked back in so expect a  Bachelorette blog next week.

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I haven't been into too many new projects recently, because the sheer volume of the unfinished, projects waiting to be done, limited space and time. But I have been trying to organize my family's massive amounts of clothing.

Between baby A, D and myself, we fill about 5 dressers and two very large walk in closets. We have way way way way way too many clothes. (We are in the process of going through and getting rid of a good majority of them)

As most of you know, dear husband has joined the Navy and that means it will soon be moving time, and I don't want to take 5 tons worth of clothes with us, and I really want to pack as few boxes as possible. (If you pack less, you have to UNpack less later on)

On pinterest I saw a neat picture and caption that said fold your shirts with the print/pattern up and store them vertically (see picture). This is amazing. It packs a lot more into a space and you can see everything without having to dig and rummage through the drawer. This would have come in very handy in college and the days of dorm room dressers and closets. Storage space is prime real estate!!

This packed about 2 drawers into one!

 

 

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I haven't been into too much else, I am getting ready to do lots of painting projects in the next few days/weeks, so expect to see some summer painting posts. Also I am going to try and start making some cool summery accessories so keep watch for that too!



Happy Summer 

Better Bikinis: give your suits a makeover

I love shopping for bathing suits and summer clothes! I pretty much just love bathing suits and summer style, because it means one thing: summer is here and going strong.

Lately I have overloaded my Pinterest with bikinis and summer dresses, and studded shorts and floral crops, and awesome sandals. I am a summer girl 100%, through and through. But I haven't bought a new bathing suit yet this season, and now I feel like I can hold off on that for a little longer.

As I said earlier, I love shopping for summer, but I do like to be financially savvy and get the best out of what I have bought. I also, like most women, like any advice that will a) make me look better in a bikini or b) make a bikini look better on me.

Ladies, if you have any triangle tops, or even any bikini bottoms, you have potential for a killer new bathing suit style.

I ran across a tip on Pinterest about changing up how you tie your triangle top from a tumblr blog called Goldfish Kiss , I decided to try it out and browse her site, which I fell in love with. And I also found a tip for making those boring bikini bottoms morph into the awesomely flattering scrunch-butt bottoms. I have a few triangle tops and basic bottoms that are the staples in any girls bikini line up, but I was getting kind of tired of them, and I just felt that they were boring. I was actually planning on going through my suits and getting rid of some. Now, I am back in love with all my bathing suits and will not get rid of any of them! (Okay, maybe I'll ditch last year's floral, sequined monokini, which was not my best idea)

Triangle Top= Wrap Top


This tie is great for the ladies who weren't exactly blessed with bounty in the chest area. It creates much more flattering shape than the usual triangle top halter tie and I know it is the same amount of fabric, but it feels like more coverage and better support. I may never wear a regular triangle halter again.

Regular Triangle Tie 

Wrap Top Style 

This gets a little tricky, so here is the you tube video from Goldfish Kiss to make sense of it.

Bikini Butt Scrunch

This basically changed my outlook on how good my butt could look in a bikini. Your basic bikini bottoms are pretty bland and probably aren't as flattering as they could be.But with a little floss (insert butt floss joke now), a needle and about 2 minutes, you can give your boring bottom a makeover! All you do in take some floss, stitch right down the center of your bikini bottoms about 6 inches or so, pull the floss tight to create a scrunched up ruffle and BAM! Your booty now looks fabulous in those formerly saggy bottoms. It also helps stretched out, a-little-too-big bottoms to fit better. No more losing your bottoms in the ocean or down a water slide!

So now you can go and play with your old bathing suits and make them fabulous. One of my old bathing suits (pre-pregnancy, that's how old it is) is now my new favorite of the moment.

Here is another Goldfish Kiss Bikini Facelift I tried :

This tie takes the strings that would go around your neck, and you tie them in the front. I really like this tie  and the way it looks too.



I also branched out a little bit in another way. I have been mixing and matching tops and bottoms lately. I know that is something that most beach babes have been doing since the birth of the bikini, but it is something I have never done before, due to my compulsion to be "matchy-matchy". But now that I have have broken the bonds of matchy-ness, I feel so free. I might go to Target and buy a mismatched bathing suit, or maybe just a pair of cute bottoms, or a sweet top. But I don't know if I could ever go back to matching again.

By tying my tops differently, giving my bottoms a butt scrunch and mixing and matching, I have successfully expanded my bikini closet without buying anything new (D will be so happy!).

But now, if  when I do buy a new suit, it will really be so much more!

happy summer, and you're welcome.

Rose Rant: Episode 3!

Chris Harrison calls the boys to the court yard and he  goes over the rules, again. Like he does every week…how dumb does he think the dudes/viewers are?!

Chris Date:

Chris got the first one on one of the week. 

I like to call him Connection Chris, he always talks about what a connection he has with Emily. 

 He is good looking but has borderline steve buscsemi eyes!! 

Chris is at the top of her list since night 1is what Emily says, so thats a good thing for him.

To get to their dinner, they climbed up the side of a building. You could tell Emily was getting really scared and who wouldn't be! It was getting windy and stormy. He was good and supportive and calm, he seemed like a protector, and stayed with her even though he probably could have climbed faster.  He was respectful and didn’t go in for a kiss, because it didn’t feel like the right time.

During their dinner chat, he mentions that he is 25, but he seems much older. She was thrilled with him after he said how mature and ready he was to settle down After dinner,  Luke Bryan performed for them. And Luke Bryan kind of actually looks like he could be a long lost southern brother to Chris.  He was respectful, asked her for a kiss, he got it! He got the first kiss!!   (and a couple.. scratch that SEVERAL more.) That’s usually the mark of a front runner!

Tony called his son, because he was really missing him.  I got choked up. Mostly because I love Tony. He is so cute.  SO cute. And partly because I can't imagine being away for such an extended time, and not really knowing how long you will be gone or if it will be worth it in the end. 

GROUP DATE:

She fibbed to Ryan and the boys about kissing Chris.. not that I would admit that to the guys if I was in her shoes.

They get to hang out with her friends on this date! The girls are interviewing the guys on this date. They are gonna be vicious, and I love it.

The guys are terrified! 

Here is a little bit  of a recap of what went down. 

Tony: dad, get points

Jef: dated a girl with 2 kids so he gets it and hes ready

Doug: dad, gets points

Ryan:doing pushups

Wolf: girlfriend said..oh I mean friend that’s a girl. Red flag, and the pause before the answer about cheating. 

Stevie… makes me hate him even more everytime I see him.

Sean, who came out of no where, I kind of forgot about him: cute, family oriented, faith is importantgave good answers!! Wendy loves him, Wendy should be a staple on the bachelorette, I love her. She is feisty. 

 After the interrogations, the guys have to wrangle a bunch of screaming kids. I have a child that I dearly love, and that looks like a nightmare. I can’t imagine how that would be if I never had a kid.

Doug, Tony, Jef, Sean are the stand outs with the kids. 

Clear who just says kids and who can actually handle it and back it up

Ryan is pretty..but manly . maybe did a bad thing. Basically said if she got fat, he would love her but not love on her. Bad MOVE.

Ryan is getting a little cocky, and a little bold. And he has potential to be the troublemaker, I did NOT see that coming. He was so sweet and great on the first date. 

Group date cocktail party: 

Emily wants to talk a little more to Sean and Doug.

 Sean won big with family talk. She was very impressed with him and his answers. 

Doug wanted to clarify to her that he was more than "dad Doug" and that that he wanted her to get to know who he was.  Doug  had a hard life. His mom left, Dad died. In and out of foster homes, getting separated from his siblings. She was so teary, as was I. She was impressed with how resilient and strong he is. 

Tony really misses his son, playing with the kids made him really miss his son more. He was talking to Emily about his son, tearing up. She says so many comforting and encouraging things, she has been there when she was on the Bachelor for Brad.  Emily, talks to him again, trying to comfort him, but she went back to her time with Brad, and said that if he really had understood what it was like to be a parent separated from their child, he would have sent her home if he didn’t know she was his girl. She basically said, " Im not totally into you, go home because I don’t see it going to the end and I would hate to keep you longer than this and put you through that. "  He went home..and I’m so sad…but it was the right thing. And Jef said what they all wanted to say.. we’re sad but its one less competitor.

 You can already sort of see her “type” ie: Chris, Ryan, Sean, Doug. She likes the big, super manly men.

  

Sean got the rose for the group date! 

Meanwhile back at the mansion

Kalon says he hopes Emily is interested enough to plan an over the top date for him and her, what a cocky SOB!  The date card comes and its for Arie, it says Arie, drive me wild, or something to that effect and then Kalon asks Arie, the race car driver, "can you drive a stick? " 

Hahaha. I cant believe Arie even justified that with an answer.

Arie Date: 

Date at Dollywood!!!

Arie and Emily explored Dollywood and rode rides. Then they went to a stage and tried to write a love song. 

And then, the curtains open anddddd: 

Dolly friggin Parton! Dolly Parton comes out and you can tell that Emily is in total shock. And Dolly Parton thinks its kind of funny and says sarcastically "Dolly Parton at Dollywood, who would have thought?"

Dolly wrote her a song and wanted girl talk with her.. I would have had the same (or bigger ) reaction as Emily did.  I love Dolly Parton. LOVE. I really think I would have died. OMG OMG OMG OMG. OMG . I would have just cried and been over the moon.  

Dolly Partons little video confessional speech about love everlasting made me teary. And she was singing "To the Moon and Back," which I have fond memories to those words and song. I was going nuts the whole time Dolly Parton was on, this show just totally redeemed itself for last weeks Muppet Mess. 

Arie and Emily at dinner have a chat. He last dated a girl with 2 kids. he was so close to his ex girlfriends kids, and it was really tough when they broke up.  They broke up because he wanted kids, she didn’t want more. He says he learned what it is to be ready for kids, and he is there, and he wants that.  He asks about the race car thing, and she says the race car thing is a non issue, she welcomes it.

She was freaking me out and played like she was gonna send him home… then SYKE! She was just kidding. You could totally tell he was crushed when he thought he was going home, I think he really likes her. 

He got not only a kiss, he got a make out sesh on a carousel! 

Arie is so cute and they are so adorable together. I am really liking Arie. 

Here is a highlight reel of what went down at the cocktail party: 

Kalon and Emily chatted, he took it personally that he didnt get a date.  He then tells her "I never had to share, so I don’t like this. " They talk about kids, he says he always thought his first child would be one of his own, and that this would not  be how he wrote it up as a kid." She was talking about kids, a hot button for her and then he said, "I love it when you talk,  but I love it if you would let me finish."  Okay, Kayne, what a D-BAG!!   Emily said she likes: Tall skinny and funny, but she will not tolerate tall skinny and condescending. 

 Egg man let go of shelly (the egg). ( Egg Man's name is  Travis ) Travis and Emily smashed the egg, which originally represented how he was going to care for her and her child. So what was smashing it symbolic of? 

Alessandro.... oh Alessandro. He says he doesn’t have kids experience.  And then goes on to say that kids and wife would be a compromise. Kids are a compromise?  Emily says that kids are not a compromise, but a bonus.  She asks if maybe he is mis-using a word and that it is a language issue, and maybe he downs' mean compromise.  He says firmly, no its not.  He is gone. And good riddance! What a jerk!   Sean also mentions that he told her friends that he cheated on an ex and that he had a one night stand, so he wasn't passing in the friend book anyway.

I love Emily and how cut throat she is.  If she doesn’t like someone, they are gone and they are gone that instant. 

She was very upset from the night she had (Kalon and his attitude, Alessandro and his compromise issues). Arie notices that she is upset and goes to comfort her, and she kissed Arie at the cocktail party, in front of all the guys. Bold move! She must really be into Arie to kiss him at the rose ceremony cocktail party! Ryan is not happy with the kiss and says that Arie is dainty and not the many man Emily needs/wants. Arie and Ryan have the same hair, and Ryan definitely does some beard-scaping, so thats the pot calling the kettle black. 

Sean and Emily talk some more and he tells her that his Dad has shown him his whole life how to be a great man and a perfect dad. He said, that Ricki would be his daughter, and he would never think otherwise. She was so reassured, she made out with him!

So now the kiss count is Chris, Arie and Sean. 

On to the Rose Ceremony: 

Rose Roundup: 

 Alessandro is gone, Tony is gone, Stevie is gone (finally!)

Who made the cut: 

Jef

Charlie

Doug

Michael

Travis

Alejandro

Ryan

John

Kalon

Nate

They showed the preview of what is going down this Monday and I can't wait. Now that the numbers are coming down, things are gonna start getting a little crazy and I love it! 

Rose Rant: Episode 2: Muppet Mania

Episode 2 starts out with a weird, fake sounding Channel 9 news segment on the Bachelorette.

Then the preview of whats coming during this episode... I never understood this. It's like "Here's an outline of what you are about to watch as soon as we are done showing you the visual outline of what you will be watching." It's so stupid and as the season progresses, I know I will get more and more frustrated with all the dramatic previews of what's coming.

Then we see Emily and her daughter meeting with a very random looking group of friends.

Now it's back to Bachelor mansion for some awkward shots of half naked dudes and their muscles flexing and twitching. Chris Harrison comes in and explains what will happen with the dates and date cards, roses, etc. As if anyone doesn't really know how this whole sham show works. He leaves the date card and the first date goes to.......

Ryan! 

Georgia boy, ex Footballer, super cute. I like a southern guy  that can rock a v-neck and faux-hawk

He is probably so excited about jumping into a volcano, flying across the world for a picnic, jumping off a bridge, or any other crazy, life endangering dates that are the norm, but he gets the "Mom" date.

I like this idea and I hope some of the other guys that she is seriously into get at least one date like this because that is her life, and that is what these guys will be getting into when/if they get together. I think she gave Ryan this date because she is really likes him. You know that the Bachelor/Bachelorette have a pretty good idea of who will be going the farthest right from the start because a lot of times you click with someone and you just know.  I think she really felt a connection (I can't believe I am using that Bachelorette cliche) with Ryan and wanted to see how he would react to that life. I am so glad she didn't introduce him to Ricki, I don't think most moms would introduce a guy to their child unless they were pretty serious.

I was glad that Ryan got a little bit of an over-the-top date ending so that he didn't go down as having the most boring (compared to the other dates from the show) date in the history of ever.  They had dinner and a concert by Gloriana to cap the night. Mark my words, Ryan is going to go pretty far unless he stirs up some sort of drama or crazy alter ego.

Next is the Group Date. 

These are always so awkward, and this one was made much worse by the Muppets. I honestly didn't pay too much attention to this because it was so awful. One thing I do remember is Charlie (brain trauma guy). He was in a bad accident and is still recovering and working on speech. Apparently he had to re-learn speak, and he was put in the group of stand- up comedians for the night. You could literally see him shaking and sweating the whole date for fear of speaking in public. He is this giant guy that was shaking at the thought of having to talk to an audience, he just can't take it anymore and goes to talk to Emily about switching to something else like singing or dancing in a group. She agrees, problem solved! but then he gets put in a a group that goes on fake talk show with  Miss Piggy and he has to answer a question, by himself, in words, talking. So... he still had to talk by himself. When he shakily answers Miss Piggy, to the applause of everyone, Emily says that she "felt like such a proud mama" because Charlie did so well.... Charlie you have been FRIENDZONED until further notice.

At the group date cocktail, Jef gets the rose after him and Emily have a conversation that makes it seem like she is the one chasing him and he just kind of 'whatevs' about the whole thing. It was super awkward and she must really like him, because her and Chris also had a good conversation. I mean. according to Chris, no one could have had a better conversation and connection with her than he did. Obviously he was wrong.


The next date card arrives and Joe (Matthew McConaughey wanna be) gets it. They fly to West Virgina and have a day at the Greenbriar. A fancy hotel that Emily hung out at when she was little. During dinner she asks him questions, and instead of answering them he just asks her the same question back. She doesn;t give him the rose, the end.

Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Kalon aka Chopper stirs up trouble by telling Doug that he put his life/his son on hold to do the Bachelor. I am so surprised that Doug didn't drown Kalon right there he was that furious. I am going to stand up for Kalon for a second, be warned. Kalon is not a father, he doesn't have a clue about parenting and what it means to be a parent he a very 26 year old who does not think before he speaks. The fact that he doesn't understand parenting and was bold enough to make that comment, means he probably will cross the line with Emily at some point on the parenting topic. I expect him to be the center the annual  "here for the wrong reason" drama, he doesn't like your kid.

Kalon is definitely this season's Courtney. He is bold and rude and is making enemies fast. I think he even re-used a Courtney line a la: "The other guys are making friends, not focusing on the prize" type comment. He is a wordsmith with Emily and you can tell that he uses big words to try and impress, as well as using his money to try and do the same. (Kalon, have you seen Emily's gorgeous house and car and her paychecks from this Bachelorette gig and the previous Bachelor snafu? Your money will not impress her.)


Onto the Cocktail Party!

Not too much happens. Tony goes in to interrupt Ryan and Emily's chat, and he is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ryan hands Emily a miniature novel that she proceeds to read while poor Tony is standing there forever. When Ryan leaves and Tony finally gets Emily time, he doesn't even show if it bothers him and comes back with a cute and witty "Wasn't that great, I told him just what to say" remark and they move on. That could have been super awkward, but Tony (who I think is absolutely adorable and I kind of have a crush on) is smooth and gets a good convo going. He brings up the fact that he has a son and they chat. Kalon and Stevie, the Jersey shore reject who I hate for no real reason (I think its the hair, and face, and voice and clothes) get into a little argument about stealing Emily and time with Emily, Kalon ends the argument with a matter-of-fact "who wouldn't want to be me?" comment.

On to the Rose Ceremony!

Aaron, the super cutie with the hipster glasses gets eliminated (boo hoo) and so does Kyle. Fun Fact: They were both from Long Beach, CA.

Here is who is left:


Alejandro
Alessandro
Arie
Charlie
Chris
Doug
Jef (safe from the group date)
John
Kalon
Michael
Nate
Ryan (safe from the one-on-one)
Sean
Stevie (uggh)
Tony
Travis

Chris Harrison sitting next to what he will look like if he ever ages and stops smiling.

The show ends with the preview for next week, which I didn't really watch, because it will be almost the same preview next week at the beginning of the episode.




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We're Growing!!

Thanks to the enormous support and loyal readers, the blog have grown so much since I started way back last fall. Because we are growing, you can expect to see some design and layout changes in the coming months.

You can find us on Facebook now!

 Presley Adventures: Now on Facebook!!

 Since a lot of readers don't use RSS feed readers, we expanded to Facebook to make it easier for readers to stay updated on new posts and it keeps thing a little more interactive than on blogger.

Thanks for all the tremendous support and awesome readers who have helped this blog to grow!

Baby Room Re-Do: Furniture

I am in the process of transitioning baby A's room from cutesy baby room to a room more fit for the chic, diva almost-preschooler that she is.

Addy and "Her Tiger" at Wild Adventures

She is a big fan of the "Big Cats" and can't get enough of them, so making her room theme animal print just came naturally. Addy take's after her mama and loves animal print too. It is something that can grow with her, I mean I would probably still have an animal/tribal bedroom, but Husband and I have totally different styles! (but we reached compromise and are working on our nautically inspired, but modern room.) 

Animal print suits her grown-up-in-a-toddler-body style.

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May Madness

Things are getting a little crazy in the Presley house now that summer has pretty much arrived and I was hoping to be picking up the pace with some of my bigger projects and blogging more, but my toddler is preventing that by siphoning all my energy and draining my patience.

Anyways, let me jump off my crazy mom-of-a-toddler train. I have been trying to work on some projects this month and try out some new stuff I found on Pinterest. But I only really got two things done. But I did get some new ideas for projects I want to work on (see more on that at the very bottom of this post!)

 French braid up the back with a sock bun topknot

This is actually pretty easy if you know how to french braid. I like it better than regular french braids because my arms don't get as tired when I am braiding with my head upside down. I think this may be a go-to this summer for my 2nd-day unwashed hair. The sock bun was super easy too. There are a million tutorials online for this. 

Leopard Dresser

I am in the process of transitioning baby A's room from cutesy baby room to a room more fit for the chic, diva almost-preschooler that she is. I finished this painting part, now I am just waiting on the awesome drawer pulls. I am working on a post about the room re-do, which should be up soon!

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I haven't done much else in the project department, but I have decided that I might change around the log side table I did a few weeks back. We had originally decided to leave it natural and plain, just coating it with a protective water proof sealant, but we don't really like the raw nature as much as we thought. I saw this stump stool idea on pinterest and I would really like to make that (or a set, I have more logs!) I also saw this idea too which would give it a colorful update, but still keep it natural without feeling like we have a tree in our room. I have also considered making both of these since we have several log pieces I could work with.

via Pinterest

via Martha Stewart

So I decided to take a poll! 

Stool or Side Table?
	Stump stool all the way!
	Stick with the side table!
	Make both of them!
pollcode.com free polls

Rose Rant: Season Premiere

It's baccckkkkkkk!

 The Bachelorette is back :) 

I was thinking about not watching this season, as I was still burnt out from Bachelor Ben and Crazy Courtney's season, but who am I kidding, I'm not NOT going to watch. And according to Chris Harrison, this season will be different than anything we've seen before (just like last season was different and the one before that, and the one before that....)

So, for those of you who don't know anything about The Bachelorette this season here is a little summary of what we know about her.

via ABC: Bachelorette

EMILY

 She is a single mom to Ricki, and has been engaged twice. Both times ending in heartbreak. Her first fiance and the father of her child was a race car driver who was killed in a plane crash. Her second engagement and eventual break up was played out on television, commentated by the one and only, ageless Chris Harrison. 

She uses the phrase "put on your big girl panties". Enough said. 

Girlfriend has SO MUCH MAKE UP! Did you see her dressing table??  and she wears so much too. 

She look like a bunny, one of Hef's bunnies. I do not mean that as an insult, she just looks like the cookie cutter blondes he usually has hanging around. 

Her daughter is so adorable. And if this season is like any of the last seasons of this show, I hope her daughter never sees any of the footage.

And she is "stunning", "beautiful", "breathtaking", "gorgeous" as all of her suitors would say. (I am pretty sure all of them used one or more those words to describe her.)  

But, her face is almost frozen (I hope by fear and not by Botox) and her dress looks like a figure skating outfit, but longer.

via buddyTV

Now, on to what we all really care about, the men. 

One of the reasons I love the Bachelorette over the Bachelor is because the guys. And not just for their looks! It shows you this strange side of guys, where they engage in fierce lady drama and get catty, all while still portraying some of their basic caveman instincts like chest beating and peacocking(helicopter entrance? moon walking dance up, skateboarding, etc) 

Here are some highlights of the guys we met tonight: (mostly the memorable ones or the ones who will be front runners, there are so many the first night!)

Kalon aka Helicopter Guy: He is a "luxury brand consultant", he is attractive-ish, seems like a self absorbed d-bag covering up that personality with a "changed man" attitude. He even says he was obnoxious but has changed.. and I totally believe him, especially after he came in on a helicopter. But he "would walk to meet Emily if he had to"....righhhttt. The helicopter entrance was Lindzi's horse entrance on steroids. And if his goal was to totally alienate and piss off all the guys in the house that walked up, mission accomplished pal. But he hit it off with Emily, and he was raised by a single mom, so appreciates what she does and how hard she works.

Tony: He is a dad, handsome, but he made a "who has two thumbs..." joke. And he brought her a tacky clear plastic stripper heel  glass slipper a la Cinderella/Prince Charming.

Singer/Songwriter David: Fame hungry much? 

The Black Guy: It is no secret that Bachelor/Bachelorette has been all white. Enter token black dude. 

Brain Injury: Cute dog. Cute guy. Corny line. "My head may be injured, but my heart is not!" And his suit was terribly wrinkled all night.

Jef:  Cute, hipster hair, CEO of a charitable company, skateboards, kind of seems like a cocky punk, but judging on Emily's interaction with him, I would say he has potential to be in the front runners. 

Arie: He is racecar driver...nice move ABC, way to try and stir the pot with a potential issue. Too bad he was honest about it up front, that could have made for some interesting "Emily, one of the guys in the house has a secret" drama  later in the season! But since ABC did not jump on that opportunity, I imagine they have bigger schemes in store. Oh ABC, you are so tricky! 

Doug: It seemed like he legitimately had chemistry with her upon first arrival, once they got past the initial awkward intro, they flowed right into conversation that sounded easy and not forced. He ended up getting the First Impression rose, with a little help from a cute note from his son. I am glad he got the first impression rose, they seemed to really connect and have some common ground.

Jackson/Pink Tie: Really, seriously? Down on one knee, cliched phrase about life. Hot pink tie. You could tell by her reaction to his intro, she was not interested and unfortunately she missed out on his bod, which he proceeded to show to the exit cameras. He was pretty ripped but so are almost all the guys in the house. 

Joe: A less attractive Matthew McConaughey wanna-be. 

Chris: When they met, he did one of those weird bro-handshake-hugs. 

Aaron: Used a dumb pick up line and he kissed her hand. 

The Brazilian: He had botox, or a bad facelift or just a bad face. 

Mr. Moonwalk:  A DJ/Party emcee. Kinda seemed like a Jersey Shore reject. 

Crossdressing as a Grandma to introduce yourself guy: I think I have said enough. 

Brent: Reminded me of a chubby Steve Carrell. 

Wolf: Let's be real John, you call yourself Wolf. No one actually calls you that, you are a one man Wolf pack. 

Egg dude: He carried around and stated he is going to take care of an egg because it represents her and Ricki. Creepy and weird. His suit and shirt were ridiculous as well. 

Music Mike: At first I thought one of the Hanson brothers was a participant. But no just a long haired musician. 

Mushroom Farmer: I though maybe he didn't speak English at all. Then in the middle of their strained Spanish conversation, he says in perfect English that he is from San Fran. 

I know I am missing some of the guys, but their entrance wasn't memorable, they weren't good looking and they probably won't make it too far.  

The final guys that made it past the first rose ceremony are: 

Doug (first impression rose)

Ryan (ex NFLer, cute, forgot about him)

Helicopter Guy

Arie

Brain injury

Jef 

Nate (who?)

Sean (who?)

Joe 

Kyle (who?)
Aaron 

Mushroom Farmer
Wolf
Botox Brazilian
Music Mike
Mr. Moonwalk
Tony

Egg Dude

After the rejects left, they toasted and then we saw previews for what was coming up this season: Lots of awkward kisses, drama (duh) and some flying f-bombs from Emily! 

Who is ready for next week?! 

via ABC: Bachelorette

 

 

Gossip Girl Birchbox Review!

I decided to try out some multi-media blogging, and played around with my video editing software.

If video blogging is something that you guys would like to see more be sure to message me, comment or let me know! 

Enjoy :) 

PS. The Bachelorette starts tonight (at 9:30!) so be prepared so see the occasional "Rose Rant" if this is  anything like Bachelor Ben's season! 

Spring Projects

I have been terribly busy with spring softball (dear husband plays Monday thru Thursday) and bad attempts at potty training.  But I am back, and I have been doing a little bit of crafting and such.

Here are some projects/ideas I have been working on or done since I've been on hiatus.

Hot Dog!

I made Addilyn octopus hot dogs..which turned out to be an epic failure. There must be some trick that I am missing, because the octopi did not have cute little legs that stuck out, they either broke off or stuck straight down. I won't even put a picture of what mine looked like, in order to hide some of my shame at failing at a seemingly simple task.

Glitter Key
I made a sparkle key! Which turned out infinitely better than the octopus challenge, so I will show you a picture of that! It was a key that had  Pepé Le Pew, one of my favorite cartoon characters as a child and he probably sparked my Francophilia, but he was scratched and chipped so I just painted over him with purple nail polish, sprinkled some multi-glitter while the polish was wet and sprayed it with some acrylic sealant I had from another project. I love this key and I am thinking about doing all my keys like this so that my key chain looks like a giant glitter bomb.

 

Glitter Key!

Painting Spring!
I have been inspired by all the adorable spring Lilly prints I see popping up on facebook and pinterest and I decided to pull out paint brush and do some spring canvases just for fun. I did 5 mini canvases inspired by flowers and largely inspired by Lilly and then on a 16 x 20 I did a sweet chevron pattern in colors that match the nautical theme that is my master bedroom. The chevron has a big blank box in the center because I have not decided the best way to add beach sand to the monogram letters that will be painted in the center. I am going to do some test runs on some small canvases before I try and sand texture my chevron print canvas.

It's shiny because the paint is a little wet and the center white box is uneven, but it dried with a nice matte finish and I evened out the center box lines.

Log Side Table!

I have completed the log side table! Dustin wanted to keep it natural so I just softened up some the rough spots and coated it a clear, waterproof protective varnish. It looks awesome, (actually it just looks like a clean, shiny part of a tree trunk) and Dustin loves it, but I think it needs some legs, so I am gonna figure something out, and maybe add some thin, random paint stripes in the style of antler art to make it mesh a little better with our nautically natural room.

Color Run: Atlanta!

Earlier in April I participated in the Color Run Atlanta.  I originally heard of the Color Run on Pinterest and a friend had a team going so I joined the team and signed up.

 

On the drive up, I was kind of regretting going; it was Easter weekend, I hadn't really been running a lot, and I probably would have backed out had I not already paid for the registration and hotel room. Even Saturday morning my running mate and I were not very enthusiastic. (We later heard of people taking shots and tailgating, at 7 am, maybe that was why we weren't as excited as everyone else!)

  Once we got all checked in we ended up getting excited and were in the front for the first wave. When the the starting shot rang, we figured we would have to run for our lives because we were in front of the first wave of 1500 participants.. Well, we took off so fast only to look behind us at people running a slow, steady pace. We ran through the first two colors, and then ran (when the camera guys were near) and walked.

It was so much fun. Too much fun! You get covered in color, and then at the finish line you get completely colored in the finish line party with 10,000 of your closest color running buddies. K has blonde hair, so she had nice colored highlights for a few days. My dark hair didn't show any but my hair line was hot pink and my with some scrubbing all the color came off of me in time for Easter the very next day.

If there is a Color Run close by, I would recommend going. It is so much fun and it is for a good cause! Atlanta's charity was a local Children's Hospital.

Color CRAZY!!

tips if you are planning on running in the event: 

• Wear sunglasses or goggles if you want color above your neck/chest. The color run volunteers won't really throw powder at your face unless you have sunglasses on or ask for it. And I suggest them at the finish line party too, as you will be constantly bombarded with color from all angles! 

• If you have asthma or a breathing condition, I would wear a bandanna or something over your mouth at the finish line party. Every 15 minutes, everyone throws color powder in the air and it is super thick and hard to breathe (plus it tastes like bitter sidewalk chalk dust) , but if you can hold your breath and are close to the edge of the group, it clears pretty quickly. 

•  Bring a little hand towel to wipe off with, the air blow stations blow a lot of the dust off, but it helps get any loose powder off.

• Take off your color shirt, or anything you want to preserve before you get dusted off.  If you would like to preserve the color in your running shirt, spray it with vinegar and iron it before you wash it.  For more color cleaning ideas and tips, check THIS LINK out!

• Have fun with it! There were teams that were decked out in tutu's and crazy socks, with matching team tee's. It's all ages too! We saw kids/babies in strollers and some Grandma and Grandpa runners too! 

(Sorry about the fuzziness) Our Team: The Fast, The Slow, and The Pretty

Running for the camera :)

The people behind us at the start line (they are facing sideways because that is where the DJ booth was giving out free stuff)

Color-tastic!

What the outside of the finish line color party looks like, we were probably about 100 yards away from the big blob of people, so you can see why the center of all that is a little hard to breathe in.

Potty Training: Epic FAIL

Last week I was reading some articles and tips about potty training your toddler in a day/weekend. I got extremely excited and very motivated. I was sure I could do this, and I knew Addy could too, she is so smart and she is two and half.  I was so excited and went out to target and stocked up for our big potty weekend. We had neon posterboard for a potty sticker chart and the stickers were oversized sticky rhinestones at the request of Princess Addilyn, the best treats and sweets, salty snacks, a new special cup, ballons, everything.

We made the chart and decorated it with curly gift ribbons and glitter markers. We set up the potty and I explained to Addy what the plan was.  SN: We have had the toddler toilet since last July and so she knows what it is, she has even successfully used it once or twice when we catch her making the potty face, so she is up to date and informed on to what it is and what it is used for. 

I followed the tips and made Barbie have an "accident" with a water filled medicine dropper and rushed her to potty in an excited, and positive way. Then I had Barbie use the potty and praised Barbie with stickers and a special Barbie crown. (I will admit to looking like a complete fool talking to Barbie, but I am so desperate to have Addilyn out of diapers, I don't even care).

We used a timer set for 15 minutes and every 15 minutes we sat on the potty. We did this for two hours, and cam up empty. I had been feeding her salty snacks and loading her up with water, hoping for more potty opportunities, but so far it was not panning out. I thought Addy might need some encouragement, so we called Grandpa in NC, she wasn't interested in the phone call and I chatted with my dad for a minute, venting about my unsuccessful attempt so far, and I was distracted for maybe 2 minutes and in that time, dear Addilyn squats and pees on the floor. Addy and I cleaned up the accident, and I took the blame because I was distracted and not watching for the signs. Then I vowed no more distractions and reset the timer.

We played  and sat on the potty when the time went off and it was getting close to Addy's bed time so I slowed down with the water and snacks.We decided to play with her big ball and were rolling it back and forth. When Addy is standing behind the ball it comes up to about the middle of her chest, meaning I cannot see her waist and down. I rolled the ball to Addy and she held it in front of her, she was smiling and rolled it back, just in time for me to notice the puddle. Accident again. Addy laughed and ran, taking off her big girl underwear and running around yelling and laughing.

I was not laughing, I was near tears. All the blog posts and boards and tips and articles were so positive and encouraging and made it seem so easy. It was getting late so I cleaned Addy up, read some books to her to calm her down a little and put her to bed. I cleaned up all our messes and set everything up for Saturday morning, I was determined to try again. I had lost a little hope since Addy showed no real interest and the night had ended with Floor- 2 and Potty - 0.  I was trying not to force something on her she wasn't ready for, but I wanted to try. She will be 3 in the fall and I was really hoping to be done with diapers. She is so smart and we have been reading potty books and making using the toilet a regular part of her life. We talk about potty-ing all the time, but try to do it in a way that doesn't overwhelm her or leave her feeling guilty. I was holding out a little hope for Saturday, although I was a little bruised by Friday night.

Saturday morning came and I took off Addy's diaper and put on some new big girl undies. She looked at me, right in the eye and said, " Please don't make me potty, I won't do it. I don't want to." 

And that was it.

 The end of the potty training weekend. Saturday morning was over before it started. 

Everything I have read and heard says don't push them, they will regress and it will be harder. So I stopped my efforts right then. Part of me was a little let down; I was so excited Friday morning to start potty training and have a mostly trained child by Sunday; but part of me was relieved because I was tired and upset from my Friday night failure. Our day went on as any regular Saturday would, we ended up going to the store and buying some gardening supplies and gardening that afternoon. It started raining mid-afternoon so we came inside and played until bed time. Dustin and I watched a movie (Warhorse, which was surprisingly fantastic) and ate dinner and went to bed.

The potty training weekend intensive was a total bust, but I learned straight from the source that my child wasn't ready and it wasn't going to work. I am glad I have an outstandingly verbal child, because otherwise the whole day could have been a bitter battle of will and we probably would have ended two steps back rather than advancing.

Every time I have to change a diaper or purchase a box of diapers, I just have to remind myself that she will not graduate high school in diapers and that we will get there one day, today is just not that day. 

Being Adventurous!

Sunday morning, as soon as I rolled over and woke up, the first thing I said to D (who was still half asleep) was "Hey, let's go to the beach or something today." He was stunned ( If you know me, you know that I am far from spontaneous when it comes to life. My brain functions on a timeline/itinerary type interface. If something on my daily mental itinerary is altered or changed on short notice, I have to completely rewire and mentally re-plan my timeline for the day, subsequently leaving me stressed and annoyed at the person or thing that changed my plan... control issues much? ) and half way mumbled something.

Then, baby A wandered into our room and we asked her what she wanted to do. She of course said the zoo, but we went to Wild Adventures the day before so we decided not to repeat that again so soon.

Dustin had the great  idea of going on a hike at Stephen Foster Park (in Hamilton County, FL).

I am from the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina so there were always hiking places and state parks close and available. Heck, you could walk around my back yard and neighborhood and it could probably count as hiking.

Down here in the flat lands of South Georgia, hiking is not really interesting ( not interesting if you had been spoiled by the Appalachian Mountains as your backyard growing up) or as big of a tourist draw as I was used to. So we had to drive a little over an hour to get to a state park with hiking and stuff. The drive wasn't bad, but we took our adventurous streak a step further and did it sans GPS. Dustin had a general knowledge of the roads and where it was so it turned out fine, only a couple of u-turns.


We got there around 11am after a quick hiking snack food stock up stop. With our hiking gear, backpacks and puppy dog in tow, we headed out on an 8 mile loop. (ha! with a toddler and a puppy..like we would get 8 miles)

Addy was such a trooper, she hiked all by herself and never asked to be carried, she only wiped out about a 10 or 12 times, and each time, she quickly responded with a laugh or an "I'm okay", even when she fell up hill into a tree. She loved seeing all the caterpillars and lizards and hearing the birds, she wasn't even scared of the snake we saw!


 We were finally getting into the thick of the flat woods when we realized we were in the thick of woods in the thick of tick season. We were having to pull ticks off every couple minutes and with a dog and small child we knew we needed to get out there soon, we took an exit path and ended up in the craft square.


Addy got to use a loom with some guidance (which she was absolutely fascinated by...I see a crafting buddy in my near future! )  and we watched a potter at work and some other crafters.

Addy said to each crafter: "that is so neat, how you do that?"  They were all so excited to have someone so interested in what they did and they explained things on her level and they were just amazing. She never meets a stranger!

 We rounded out our trip with ice cream, a trip to the gift shop and some time on the play ground.  And even Ace buddy (our 1 year old Chocolate lab) enjoyed the slides with Addy.



We ended up hiking about 3ish miles total, and my baby A hiked the first mile and half without being carried at all! (she was only carried for time's sake, we had a snail's pace)



According to D, I didn't even complain very  much and was very "go-with-the-flow" the whole day. And it actually felt pretty nice not to have every last detail planned.



Going on a quick hike in flat land on a weekend doesn't sound too adventurous. But I hate the woods, bugs, snakes, and spontaneous changes in the course of my day or plans so this was a big adventure for our little family. 

Feather Earrings: DIY

I have a pretty rad job at a law firm as a receptionist..that sounds like it would be the opposite of fun. But it is actually more of a dream job. I do something different everyday. Some days I am a travel agent, some days a party planner, or a dog sitter or a personal assistant or a wardrobe consultant and some days we have craft hour.

My boss's wife, J, was having a themed event and the theme was "Quail". We were going to make name tags with feathers and buttons but she couldn't find any buttons she liked. J loves feathers and she had to do something with them so she had the idea to make earrings. She didn't know how we would do it, but her crafty receptionist  played for a few minutes and came up with an awesome and easy way to make the feathers and earring blanks into some pretty ear adornments.

 I am currently in a serious relationship with summery boho fashions so this was right up my alley. I love these earrings and plan to make more.


Supplies:

• Earring Blanks 
• Hot glue/super glue
• Feathers, any will do, just whatever you like
• Tape
• Coordinating thread
• Fishing line

Instructions: 

Put the feathers together how ever you want, what ever you like. 

Cut a 1inch or smaller piece of fishing line. (you use this to attach the earring blank to the feather bundle) 

Loop the fishing line and tape it to your bundle of feathers.

Wrap bundle, over the tape with your thread until it is completely covered. 

Put a dot of glue on the back of the string wrapped section and wrap the string a few more times and snip it. 

Slip the fishing line loop into the earring blank

.

Here are some of the earrings I made today: