Messy Messy Fail- My feet are horrendous, just ask my husband. I pay regular visits to my podiatrist, but for the 2nd time I completely forgot about an appointment this past week and didn't even realize it until days later. I felt so badly - when I called to reschedule, I identified myself as "The jerk who forgot about my appointment again.". Thank goodness they are so understanding.
Tidy Victory - Over our vacation, hubby and I managed to clean out the unfinished portion of the basement. The pantry and baby clothes were resorted and organized, wrapping paper totes cleaned up, kitchen appliances reconfigured and decorations all boxed up in labeled containers. Pandora helped out A LOT with that project. What can I say, music inspires me!
Messy Messy Fail - I have labeled containers in the basement that house all of my decorations for the different holidays. Sometimes I am good about changing my decorations out, sometimes I'm not. Sometimes I am so bad about putting them away that my poor house cleaner gets fed up with my slackerness and ends up doing it herself. And then they sit in boxes that she happened to find in our basement (surprise, surprise!) on the floor because I keep forgetting to put them away in their proper container. At least I don't have to search too hard for my Christmas decorations this year. Tidy Victory - I've gotten a boat load of Christmas shopping done for the boys with lots of good deals, including a HUGE discount from Toys R' Us on some Thomas the Train items. I used a coupon that expired on Halloween night for $20 off of any wooden Thomas train set, and found the Railway Snowy Mountain Figure 8 Adventure on clearance for $42.85, which means I snagged it for $22.85 - SCORE! It's listed now for $122.99, I wonder if that was a listing mistake on their part? Either way, works for me! Speaking of Christmas, without further ado.........
Messy Messy Mess - I should have known when I left my computer bag next to the dog water dish that someone was bound to dump the water on the floor, hence soaking my computer bag. Good thing the computer was charging on the end table! Tidy Victory - In my new middle school classroom, I finally have four (cue gasp!) large bulletin boards to decorate. I've NEVER had bulletin boards to decorate - I had to hang posters with duct tape on painted cinder block walls, which usually only stayed up for a few months. So I made a trip to Joann's and found some cute fabrics on clearance, grabbed some borders at Office Depot and a staplin' I went. I am so excited to hang up some fun pictures and my sticker charts to help the kids with their practicing this year!
Messy Messy Fail - So I now have three key chains - one for my house keys, one for my high school keys and one for my new middle school keys (yay for a new classroom room!!!!). I used to keep all of my work keys on the same key chain but now there are so many, too many for one ring. You can imagine how many times I've left a set of keys at another location - that would be three times. Lots of extra traveling looking for keys this week.
Messy Messy Fail - The fruit flies in this house are insane right now. All windows have a screen, there is no food or fruit out on the countertops and yet they continue to buzz around and make me want to tear my hair out. I have my little glass of red wine with plastic wrap over the mouth to trap the little snots - you poke a few small holes so the flies can crawl in but not get out. Doesn't quite seem to be doing the trick. Back to the drawing board. Tidy Victory - At story time this week, I was chasing the baby through the reference section when I happened to notice a rack of TV show DVD collections. There it was, like a unicorn out of the mist, seasons 1-3 of Big Love from HBO. They really knew how to create an amazing series - all of my favorites were on HBO. First it was Sex and the City, then the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and lastly Big Love. Every plot and storyline was so intriguing and unique. When I was in college, we all chipped in to purchase HBO so we could keep up. Now I'm binge watching Big Love.
With my one summer job at Chautauqua Orchestra Camp approaching quickly, I am all over the place getting things ready and crossing items off of my list. But that doesn't mean I can't find time for little things that make me happy. Here's a mish mash list of smile-makers!
<One> The Punch Brothers - I recently heard this band open up for Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn at Chautauqua and was completely BLOWN AWAY. A fun, current bluegrass sound with some serious edge. Open up your mind and your ears and listen to them. In all likelihood you won't be sorry. If you are lucky enough to see them live, their musicianship is outstanding - they are all true masters on their instruments. When they play together it's absolute magic (not to be cheesy, but it really is).
<Two> Crabtree & Evelyn Nantucket Briar Hand Therapy - One of my best friends gave this to me as a birthday gift - she knows how I love thick hand creams throughout the year, NOT just winter. Girl knows what I like - it really helps my hands from drying out when I'm doing dishes 50 times a day.
<Three> Lemon No-Bake Icebox Cake - We had that same dear friend over for a birthday brunch this past weekend with her two boys and husband - my menu consisted of my breakfast bake, the Pioneer Woman's breakfast potatoes, champagne oranges and a Lemon No-Bake Icebox Cake. She loves anything lemon and I knew a cold dessert would be tasty on a warm summer morning. We loved it - here's the recipe.
<Four> Wooden Spoon Across the Pot - I have heard that if you put a wooden spoon across a boiling pot it keeps the water from overflowing. Whenever I boil potatoes, I can only assume my cupeth will runeth over. I had to make a potato salad for a picnic last week and tried this old wives' tale, and it worked!
<Five> Stitch Fix - I have had a few friends try this and had mixed results, makes me really curious. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, Stitch Fix is a monthly subscription where you pay $20 for a month, fill out a survey about your style, and you receive a box with a few clothing items based on your survey. The clothing items/accessories are supposedly picked by a personal stylist to fit you like a glove. You then have three days to either A) return the clothes with the prepaid return tag if you do not like them B) purchase the items at the price listed. Price points are typically range from $50 - $100 depending on the items, so this is clearly no Old Navy clearance rack. Might be fun to try the subscription for a month. Something different and new, especially when you have as limited clothing options as you do where I live.
Do you have a Stitch Fix subscription, and do you like it? Please tell me about it!
In the meantime, have a great weekend with the ones that you love!
Messy Messy Fail - So you surely remember my rant in this post about my cute bathing suit whose fuchsia color still runs to this very day - well I stupidly put it while still damp in a plastic bag with one of the baby's swim shirts and VOILA - hot pink baby swim shirt. The tag said do not bleach - non-chlorine bleach and OxiClean did nothing, so I used bleach. The pink was starting to come out, so I added a little more bleach and let it sit over night. When I went to check my progress in the morning, the hot pink that had bled in was no longer there, but the sleeves that were formerly gray were now a soft orangeish/pink. Awesome. At least it looks slightly more purposeful (I guess!).
Tidy Victory - There were a few plants around the house that I nearly killed, so I've been slowly nursing them back to health in various inconvenient locations, i.e. in the bright upstairs bathroom, sill above the kitchen sink. Some philodendron, which ironically enough is on many websites as a "houseplant that's impossible to kill" and an African violet. Well, today was the day I deemed enough root growth from these plants to replant them in soil in their own containers. The philodendron is going back into the toddler's room and the African violets.....well I'm not sure where, perhaps I'll give two of them away as gifts and keep one. I'm just happy they all didn't completely perish, I would feel guilty about it (not kidding).
Typically on a Friday I link up with "Oh hey, Friday!" and present my list of 5 things on my mind. Let's try something different today - Friday Favorites! Here we go: Favorite Song - I am not one for keeping up on the current hits necessarily, I just like what I like. I got the ole' iPod up and running again this week, and I keep humming Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA". She has definitely gone in a different and quite unique direction as of lately, but this song is just so darn catchy!
Favorite Recipe - I am making this quick and easy shrimp dish for dinner tonight with some fresh corn on the cob from my Egg Lady down the hill. Garlicky Baked Shrimp will be a perfect light dinner before my husband goes to work this evening for the opening night of the opera at the Chautauqua Institution.
Favorite Workout - Let me remind you that I live in a two-story house with two boys and my husband and the washing machine/dryer are in the basement. No more explanation needed.
Favorite Purchase - Scored an elegant yet rustic new 4x6 picture frame from the clearance shelf at Michaels - $5.99! I just finally ordered the baby's 1 year pictures (taken at the end of May, FAIL!) and I'm thinking about putting in it a shot of him sitting in my husband's old Radio Flyer red wagon that he had repainted for the kids.
Favorite Social Media Shoutout - I actually got my first feature this week from the lovely ladies at the Monday Funday Linky Party from this past Monday, July 27th. You can check out my feature (Pretty Frame Ring Holder) and their linky party here. Ladena from MyBabyStuff chose my post - yayayayayay! Of course this little blog of mine is all in fun, but it certainly is nice to get a little recognition.
Favorite Funnys - I think Jimmy Fallon is so unbelievably hysterical, especially when he does this skit.....
I'm not sure if it's his voice, the gum chewing, or the faces he makes, but I die every time.
On that note - welcome August, goodbye July, see you on the flip side!
Messy Messy Fail - Today itself has been a messy messy fail. Let me explain - broke a glass candle holder, dumped half & half on the kitchen floor, driveway guys showed up as I was trying to load up the boys in the car, dropped two 2 liters of pop (not soda) in the high school parking lot, dropped multiple items out of my too small cart at Wegmans, had one of my students who worked at Wegmans point out that my cart was too small for all of the items I was purchasing, holding a teething baby, dropped more glass on the floor, dumped a pint of blueberries on the floor. I guess you could say I dropped a lot of things today. Tidy Victory - In between dropping the 2 liters and trying to console the teething baby, I had a blissful hour of shopping at Wegmans for the baptism barbecue and purchased everything I needed to make food. Ah, my happy place. Did I ever mention I love Wegmans?
Well, according to this blog, I have not posted in nearly two weeks. It doesn't feel like two weeks to me, but that really is too long of a time. But I do have 5 very good reasons why I have not blogged in two weeks. For real. <One> Work - I will have had three concerts over two weeks - a middle school Lawn Social, a high school Awards Concert and middle school Awards Concert. The Lawn Social is exactly what the title says - we perform on the lawn and host vendors as a fundraiser for our music program. At the Awards Concerts I feature some soloists and small ensembles, hand out awards and have the orchestras play some fun pop music. It's a lot of work. And a lot of logistics. But a totally cool way to end the school year. <Two> Pittsburgh - Last weekend my husband and I went to a Dave Matthews concert with some friends at the First Niagara Pavilion in Pittsburgh while his parents stayed with the boys. We had a great meal at Bar Louie in Station Square, enjoyed the concert, ALMOST stopped at a bar called the Mousetrap (which upon internet research has a website and may actually be pretty cool despite the gory name), and lastly a quick visit to the Duquesne Incline. I got some great shots!
Up we go!
View from the top.
Cool light fixture in the incline car.
Aaaaand back down.
There's Dave!
No one can groove like Stefan.
Carter is always smiling!
The soul of the band.
Yes, those are two trumpets he's holding at once.
Boyd & Tim in one shot
<Three> Celebrations - You name it, we've celebrated it. Birthdays, baptisms, retirements, new houses, new jobs, the list goes on and on. We love to celebrate and be a part of our friend's and family's special occasions as well as have them be a part of ours. The baby is getting baptized on Sunday and I'm hosting a retirement party on Tuesday - party on Wayne! <Four> The House - aka The Money Pit - We have been driveway-less for approximately two months now. That may not sound like too big a deal, but as the dirt and grass being tracked into the house from the lack of pavement builds up in our kitchen (main entrance to the house) I am reaching my limit. THANK GOODNESS they came today to put the binder on the driveway, which after being explained to me I now know is the base coat but is still NOT LOOSE GRAVEL. Finally. We are still lacking a front porch, but come on - baby steps.
<Five> The Bachelorette - I'm just a sucker, what can I say. I'm watching the latest episode that I DVR'ed as I type. I'm not really feeling a good vibe from any of the men yet, except for maybe Ben Z. However, history has proven that I NEVER pick who the bachelor or bachelorette picks. So what do I know. Thanks for reading my true but ridiculous excuses as to my mega slacker style lately. With summer approaching, I am setting a personal goal of at least two regular posts a week. A few current posts in the works include: Fairy Garden Part II, my Deck Hanging Baskets, How to Help Your Child Be Successful on Their Musical Instrument and an Interview with One of My Favorite Etsy Shops - Carolina Knots.
Crazy concert picture, great show!
Cheers to a great weekend with good weather and fun times!
Messy Messy Fail - Perhaps if you saw my Instagram yesterday, I attempted to make a few loaves of Polish placek bread for my family for Easter. I used this recipe. The bread ended up tasting quite delicious, however, I think I let the bread rise too much the third and final time. The two 9" round pans and the loaf pan ended up overflowing in the oven, making a nice smoky pile on the oven floor, but they were still good! Tidy Victory - House is pretty clean, Easter basket items are ready to be assembled, eggs are getting dyed in a little bit, now it's time for a Mommy project!
I'm embarrassed to say I have NEVER used Modge Podge before. I had a friend in college who would make the cutest gifts using this technique with tissue paper. I always thought it was so artsy and fun, a REAL crafty project. Fast forward way too many years later, I want to decoupage something. But wait, is decoupage a noun, a verb or an adjective? Perhaps I will just use the word in this post as all of the above! I have been looking around town for a cute bunny who needed an outfit change. Finally, 6 days before Easter, there it was on the bottom seasonal shelf at Rite Aid, actually considered a garden statue (50% off woo hoo!).
I thought this bunny would be a good size for my first decoupage project - I wanted to make sure you could see the bunny's facial features so it didn't look like a rock I covered in recycled sheet music. He had some ugly poorly glued gems on his butt that I ripped off quite easily - now he's perfect! For this fun decoupage project, I used the following items: newspaper (to keep goo from going on my table cloth) bunny figure (use whatever you want) a container of Modge Podge a nylon brush several pages of old sheet music (from the recycling box in my high school orchestra room) a cotton dish towel (to dust the bunny pre podge) bowl of water (for a quick clean up if necessary) spool of ribbon (not too thick) hot glue gun
And now here's what I did: First, I gave my bunny a little dusting with a clean cotton dish towel, who knew how long that bunny was on that bottom shelf for!
Next, I tore up 3 pages of old sheet music. I made some longer and shorter tears to make sure I had a few different sizes for whatever I needed. I tried to make sure there was as little white paper on the tears as possible so that more music than white paper would end up on the bunny.
Music I used included The Final Countdown, Highlights from Wicked and Joy to the World.
Time to start decoupaging - dipped the nylon bristle brush into the Modge Podge container, brushed off the excess, and started painting it on the head of the bunny. Grabbed a strip of torn music, placed it on the bunny and brushed more MP over the strip to adhere it to the bunny. I used my finger to smooth out any bubbles and help the sheet music follow the contours of the figurine.
I kept repeating this method, making sure to work in smaller areas so the MP wouldn't dry before I was able to put music strips on it. The directions on the MP container mentioned allowing your project to dry 15-20 minutes before reapplying, so it's not like I was terribly pressed for time.
I had to stop a time or two to wash my hands - the Modge Podge dries up on your fingers and can build up quickly - and I did not want the dried glue on my fingers to tear any of the music off of the bunny.
I won't lie, I thought my bunny looked like he was being bandaged at the hospital at this point.
After the whole bunny was covered (I did not cover the bottom, left that alone), I let it dry for an hour. I was sure there would be some places on the bunny I missed, and sure enough there were!
Now he looks good!
I used some small tears of sheet music I had to cover the spots I missed, then I let that dry for another hour (just to be sure). My bunny was looking super cute and super musical, but he needed one last accessory - a bow! I had just purchased a spool of cool purple ribbon at Michael's, and I thought it would be perfect for my bunny. So I plugged in my hot glue gun, tied a cute bow and glued it under my bunny's chin with a dot of glue.
I'm so excited for my decoupage sheet music bunny - by the way there are NO decoupage sheet music figures on Pinterest so I declare this project ORIGINAL! I saw a few posts for decoupage music eggs, perhaps next year.
Do you like to decoupage anything?
This bunny sure does!
And new Easter Jams to boot, woo hoo!
Happy Easter everyone, enjoy the holiday with the ones you love!
