I Heart This!

I have been a super lazy blogger this week. So lazy in fact, that I didn't really have anything selected for today's post. I think it's because my mind is currently obsessing over possibility (some changes may be happening for the Anderson family, but they're not a done deal yet). Fortunately I was smacked with inspiration just in the nick of time.

Spice Tea:

I've been obsessed with spice tea lately. It started when I finally cracked open a special holiday blend I bought from Harry and David, and just snowballed from there. Right now I'm working my way through a bag of Spice of Life Orange Spice which I bought at a local market over the weekend, but I find the Private Selection brand from Kroger pretty darn delicious too. I'm pretty sure you can find an orange spice in any brand and it would be tasty.

Tea Infusers:

Since I just purchased my first bag of loose tea I also had to buy an infuser. When I went looking for a photo (mine is in almost constant use and therefor not camera ready), I ran across these. If my tea addiction continues I may end up with quite a few - they're so dang cute.

ROBIN HOOD!!!

Wondering what to do now that you've brewed some yummy tea? Go watch Robin Hood! I discovered this show on Netflix and fell head over heels. I love it so much I've avoided watching seasons two and three because I don't want it to end (the BBC cancelled it after three seasons and why is a spoiler of sorts). It's actually funnier than the trailer makes it appear, and when Robin winks at Marian it kills me. Guh!

Happy Thursday!  

P.S. A very special thanks to Mandy who informed me that the complete series is on sale today. My copy can't get here fast enough. ;)

Handmade Monday: easter basket

 

These adorable little baskets caught my attention while strolling through the holiday goodies in Target recently.

I was super tempted to scoop one up for ELA, but I found the idea of attempting one of my own even more enticing. Unfortunately, when I went searching for supplies, I couldn't locate the necessary stiff felt, so I had to come up with a slightly different approach. 

About halfway through, when it was still miles away from anything functional, I began to question both my stradegy and skills.

Determination coated in frustration pushed me forward (I refused to let a pile of felt win!), and I'm actually quite delighted with the finished product. Here is ELA's new Easter basket:

Front

Side 1

Side 2

Back

Basket in action.

Obviously she made out pretty well in the sugar department. How did you do? I hope you received at least a treat or two to help fuel you through this Monday.

I Heart This!

I love surprises (as long as they don't cause me to become the center of attention), and this week was full of them.

Heartsy.me

My super cool sister-in-love (we're connected by love, not just the law) posted a link to this little website on Facebook last week, and it has been feeding off my checking account ever since. It's Groupon for Etsy. Seriously, does it get any better? 

Red Vines Drawing Contest

Tuesday I found this at the bottom of my Red Vines. Apparently this snazzy little doodle won third place in the Teen: 13 to 18 entrant category. If you'd like to see more winners you can find them here, or go buy a box of these tasty treats and be surprised.

Parking Lot Carnival!

I have no idea what this is actually called, nor do I care. All I know is that for the last few years a little carnival has magically popped up in our mall parking lot, and I love it. I've only actually attended twice. (The first time my friend dissolved into tears after I convinced her to get on a ride, and this year the tot developed a carousel addiction.) I'm just happy looking at it. How much more fun would the world be if more carnivals just popped up in random places? A ton! It would be a ton more fun! :)

I hope you've made some delightful discoveries of your own lately. If not perhaps the Easter Bunny will bring you some treats this weekend. Happy Thursday!

King For A Day

Today is my super awesome husband's birthday, and the tot and I are going to do our best to make him feel like a king! Normally he works between 40-80 hours a week, and still manages to come home with a smile on his face and prepare dinner. After dinner he bathes his little one to ensure he gives her some quality time, and stays awake long enough to watch movies, play games, and snuggle with me. Getting him to take five minutes for himself is nearly impossible, yet somehow I managed to convince him to take today off (from everything!) so we're going to take advantage of it.

Happy Birthday Bryan!! 

You're amazing and we love you!!

P.S. Special thanks to the birthday boy for walking me through Photoshop over the phone yesterday so I could put a crown on his unsuspecting head. ;)

Handmade Monday: sunglass case

Last month, before we were enveloped in the two week tornado, I thought I'd throw a few quick crafts onto the overflowing to-do list. Honestly, I don't know who I was kidding. Being a self-taught beginner and a procrastinator = a slooow crafter. Since time wasn't on my side this little project will need to be redone, but it's working pretty well in the meantime.

Here is my sunglass case:

Happy Monday!

*The bead I used for the closure was made by the hubs who does lamp working as a hobby.

Happy Harry Potter Day!

In honor of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows being released on DVD/Blu-ray today I thought I'd share my first, but definitely not last, HP craft.

I made this a few months ago for the biggest Harry Potter fan I know (the SP are her initials). I couldn't find anything I wanted to embroider on, so I just made the tote (hence the crooked seams). Since she received it I've agreed to make something similar for a friend of hers and I'm super excited. I've never had anyone request I craft. :)

Now, go get your hands on a copy of the movie, and have a great weekend! I know I will.

I Heart This!

Often times I find myself trying to explain something I've recently discovered to someone with a kid on Christmas level of excitement. My body starts manufacturing adrenaline as I try to accurately explain the specifics, and those around me dissolve into fits of giggles in order to counteract the information overload. Since that's not exactly the best way to enlighten others I've created the I Heart This! My plan/hope here is to post something every Thursday that I feel the need to rave about or recommend. It could be a gadget, a website, a service, or almost anything, but it will always be something I believe needs a little love.

Cinnamon bears

While we were in Sunriver, soaking up some much needed family time, my brother, sister-in-law, and myself shared a small bag of spontaneously purchased cinnamon bears. Bryan hates cinnamon, so I hadn't had any in quite awhile. They were delightful. In fact, they were so tasty there are currently a few in my pantry.

Cookie scoop

I purchased this a few years ago at a Pampered Chef party. I bought it because I'm the person who always attends those stupid parties and feels guilty if I don't purchase a little something. Fortunately, this was money well spent. I've used it to scoop cookies, muffins, and, earlier this week, cupcakes. It's a handy little sucker.

COUGAR TOWN!!

This show is hilarious. When it first started Bryan would always find something else to do and I'd be sitting on the couch cracking up all by myself. Eventually I convinced him to sit through an episode and I've been gloating ever since. There are a lot of running jokes (or maybe inside jokes), so sometimes things don't immediately make sense, but the hubs is proof that you can catch on quickly. It airs Wednesdays at 9:30 on ABC, and it's definitely worth 30 minutes of your time.

Something(s) I Miss

This is Day 9:

There is a small handful of people at the top of this list, but I don't want this blog to become so sentimental it's not fun to read. Besides, there are tons of other things that deserve some attention too.

I miss Pudding Pops.

A few years ago I was super excited to stumble across these in a local Safeway. I loved them when I was a kid and had forgotten all about them. Unfortunately they've disappeared from there as well. If you know where I can find them please let me know.

I miss long road trips.

As I mentioned earlier this week, we've spent a lot of time in our car lately, but each time our destination has been less than five hours away. I miss the kind of road trips I used to take with my family. The kind where you spend multiple days in the car surrounded by pillows, blankets, and snacks. The kind where you just stop at every dinky attraction that catches your eye and pick where to end the day at random. I would love to simply drive to Texas for our annual Austin visit, but with gas prices as high as they are now this is probably the most expensive way to travel.

I miss the original Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Ponies, and Care Bears.

Seriously. These "new" versions are ridiculous. Not even my tot wants to watch them.

I miss chalkboards in classrooms and snail mail letters.

Don't get me wrong, I love technology. I'm currently blogging from my couch and checking FB on my phone, while Netflix is playing in the background. Okay, I'm not actually neglecting my daughter that much but you get the idea. I am saturated in technology. I really do mean it when I say I love it. Even so, I still feel a little sad knowing our children will never run their fingers through the chalk dust at the blackboard or lick a stamp. The more the world changes the more I find myself having those "when I was your age" moments.

Handmade Monday: cupcakes

Recently, someone very dear to me gave me some blogging advice. Even though I can't remember her verbiage to save my life right now, the main idea was to create a piece, or two, to post on specific days of the week in order to get into the habit. Since she has two famous features of her own (check out Obsessed and Nerd News), I would be a fool not to listen to her. ;) So, without further ado ...

WELCOME to the first edition of Handmade Monday! Here I hope to post some of my creations. The guidelines here are pretty loose. Basically, if I made it myself, it counts. While I intend for the bulk of these to fall under the craft department, they may wander off track just a bit. I'm cheating a little today because I spent the majority of the evening creating banners for my various "pieces" (but since I've yet to tell anyone of this blog's existence I think I'm okay).

These are devils food cupcakes with buttercream frosting. Everything came from a box, but I did mix it by hand. Watch out Betty Crocker! My original plan was for lavender frosting with green sprinkles (Christmas leftovers), but the frosting started to turn grey so I panicked and decided to make it blue. Luckily the red sprinkles (also left over from the holidays) coordinated pretty well. 

I'm not sure if baking is a hobby, or just a result of my sweet tooth, but I do it fairly regularly either way. I've only baked one cake from scratch, and hated all the work, but here is a lady that has some magical cupcake skills if you'd like to feel inspired (or need a visual sugar fix).

Getting Back On Track & Short-term Goals

Jeezy creezy! The last two weeks have been crazy. I feel like we were in constant motion. Everything that has been simmering came to a boil all at once, and we did our best not to let anything burn (except maybe ourselves). We endured ants, exterminators, emergency vet visits, heart wrenching goodbyes, and multiple days in the car. Simultaneously we enjoyed birthday surprises (with lots of birthday cake), precious quality time with loved ones, a family bike ride through the trees, the Oregon Zoo, dinner with dear friends, and the thrilling glimpse of opportunity. It was chaotic, but definitely time well spent.

Now, after sleeping for the majority of the last three days, I feel ready to return to the land of the living and my wee little blog. I have a few ideas brewing, but for now I'll return to our regularly scheduled program (aka the 30 days) with short-term goals.

This is Day 8:

• Get the songs from Tangled out of my head. Seriously.
• Tell friends and family about this blog because so far I've been too chicken.
• Lose weight. (I have a lot to get rid of, so this is both a short and long-term goal.)
• Make the tot an Easter basket.
• Work on list of crafts!!
• Put together boxes for thredup.com.
• Work on the backyard.
• Help the hubs find a job, find a place to live, and move to Portland.
• Get my hands on more spice tea from Republic of Tea.