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.