Yes, yes. It has happened. After months of stiff arming my friends and ignoring amazingly intriguing pins on Facebook, I folded and joined Pinterest. My husband was out of town over the long Labor Day weekend and I was looking for something to do. My initial reation was “Oh no. This is going to be a problem.”
I think what I am loving most about Pinterest is that I am feeling creative again! Somethings will sit on the “maybe someday” board, but others could happen in the not-so-distant future.
Summer weather is lingering. The warm days makes easing into fall so much easier. However, the daylight fades quickly and makes it difficult to enjoy long evenings outdoors. Problem solved-just add light. I will admit to being astonished at the cost of many candles, but you can’t beat their soft light. That is why I love prayer candles. As you can see, they cost just $1.99 and better yet can be purchased in the grocery store. Find the chipotle chiles in adobo sauce and look up. There are green and red styles with a portrait of Jesus, but I go for the plain white ones! They last forever and make a great table scape in any season. Simple, white, and easy. Buy three or five [or more if your table is really big] and mix them in with your nicer candle holders.
Ever feel like this? Just when you think that you have all your ducks in a row-life throws a curve ball. Or in my case….a lob right down the middle of the plate which I knew was coming. My youngest started elementary school yesterday. He goes again today. All day. For another 179 days.
I have not-so-secretly been anxiously awaiting this day. If you have ever stayed home full time with small children, you know what I am talking about. You dream of long stretches of quiet time all to yourself. You long for the luxury of making an appointment and not have to scramble and find someone to watch your kids. You are certain you would be a much better mother if you could just get a break every once in awhile. [Is June available?] As of today, after 5 1/2 years of being home with my kids, I have all that time, all that quiet, and my break. Now what?
Learn to play the guitar that my brother gave me on my 30th birthday [six weeks after my first child was born], organize my garage, volunteer, read, return to the classroom, practice yoga, reconnect with friends, join Pinterest, start a new career, study Italian, move my big girl camera off “AUTO”, run, read? Now what?
The beauty is I don’t have to decide today. I will get up. Make lunches, get my boys to school and face my day with a smile. The rest? I am not sure yet. Whatever it might be, I know a few things for sure. My family is first and foremost in my heart, soul and mind. Anything I do needs to make me a better woman, wife, mother and friend. Every day is truly a gift. As a new chapter in my life begins, I certainly know I am one lucky girl.
After watching two weeks of Olympics, I am inspired. Inspired by the athletes that dedicated endless hours to training, years worth, for the chance to be the greatest [for a moment in time.] Sweat, injuries, pain, and sometimes blood. The joy of winning gold was perfectly juxtaposed by the sheer agony of defeat. No matter the outcome, watching them makes me want to be better. To do better.
Sadly, I will never be an Olympic athlete. [I wanted to be just like Mary Lou Retton for quite a few years, but eventually realized it wasn’t going to happen for me.] However, I can live my life so that it will inspire others. Inspire others to be great, love themselves, care for others, have fun, laugh at the craziness of life, and a blaze a trail that is uniquely their own.
Have you seen the new Old Navy ads? Somehow they think that Kelly Taylor, Dylan McKay, and Brandon Walsh will help them sell jeans. Not so sure about that, but the commercial sure did make me smile.
Current day teens and twenty somethings don’t know a thing about this dramatic love triangle. But I will never forget……
Not sorry to say, but I am still Team Dylan all the way.
Since I was around 8, I have had a love hate relationship with my brows. It was in the 3rd grade that a boy kindly pointed out, on the bus ride home, that I had eyebrows like the muppet, Bert. That would mean I was blessed with a dreaded uni-brow! I took matters into my own hands. As a young girl, I shaved [pause for gasp.] between my brows. I now have a more exact method to tame them. I have them waxed at an Anastasia Brow Counter at Nordstrom. They use stencils to give your brows the desired shape and then wax around it. My brow is the high arch brow, but there are many shapes. I have been dying to share my daily brow routine using stencils. The ladies at the beauty department helped me out! Comb, stencil, and go!
It takes about 30 seconds per brow, but it makes all the difference for me. I use the brow kit from Anastasia that has the stencils, tweezers, brow powder, and brow gel [which sets your brows.]. While searching, I found one from Too Faced as well. No excuses, tame your brows! They are they are the frame to your face. Make them as beautiful as you are!
My arch enemy. Cheez-Its. If there is a box of these in my house it is a problem. I usually eat 5-10 at a time. All day long. It might be better for me to sit down and eat the whole damn box at once. Maybe then I would just get sick of them [from feeling ill] and never go back.
As a friend so aptly named it yesterday, “It is the season of s’mores.” If I am going to have s’mores and/or other delicious desserts with an extra glass of wine this summer, I am going to lay off the Cheez-Its. They are not permitted to enter my house. Because once they are in the house…… there is no stopping me!
Do you have a snack or food item that gets you every time?
The power of Dawn saved my life this weekend. [That might be a touch dramatic.] Dawn saved my shirt. While taking a pan of bacon out of the oven, a pop and a splatter covered a brand new shirt with bacon grease. After a brief freak out, I remembered I had a bottle of original (blue) Dawn in my laundry room. The recipe for rescue: a small drop on each of the grease splatters and let it sit over night. I washed it this morning in hot water. All traces of bacon grease are gone! I am a true believer. Think about it and it makes perfect sense. If Dawn can cut through the grease on your pots and pans, why not your clothing?
[Please note: If you use this clothing rescue, make sure to air dry your clothing after washing. You don’t want to throw it in the dryer and set any remaining grease. You might need to repeat the process to fully remove the stains. I did.]
