Enjoyment - Round 2

We're heading to Yosemite later in the week and I am both excited and nervous.  It's going to be 60 degrees which is cold for this self proclaimed wimpy girl from Southern California.  But the campground looks very promising and I am looking forward to a 4 day break from work, computers, homework and housework.  The families that we are traveling with have split up meals so I don't even have to cook most days!  Reason enough to celebrate :)  I have a few guest posts lined up that I hope you'll enjoy.  In the meantime, here are some shots of life around our house of things I've been enjoying...

This is not my bathing suit, but I kinda wish it was.  A birthday gift for Taylor, but I've been drooling over the bright and cheery print and colors.  Blues, aquas and oranges=perfection. 

I have officially bypassed Art as the chocolate chip cookie making champ.  I don't know what I did, so who knows if I can replicate the taste next time around, but this batch came out GOOD!  Art was thoroughly impressed and admitted that they were better than his :)

Ah, just something about spring time linens that makes a bed look so inviting.  I only keep 2 sets of sheets on hand and 1 set finally ripped after 10 years of use, so it was time for a new one.  Instead of the standard cream set, I took a walk on the wild side and bought stripes! Thank you Target and your $36 sale sheet sets.

My nightstand drawer is an embarrassment and I waste 5 minutes of my day trying to dig through it looking for an accessory.  I finally decided I needed a tray to display watches, rings and bracelets on, but didn't want to spend any money.  In keeping with Shopping My Own Closet, I shopped my own house and discovered this crystal dish my Aunt gave me for a bridal shower gift twelve years ago.  It suits my simple room just perfectly.

Pretty beads all set for a fun DIY necklace project.  Full post coming soon with tutorial...

And finally, seeing my children turn into little jewelry making apprentices made me smile.  I knew I saved all of my beading supplies from high school for a reason.  I have a stash of beads I collected for years that the kids found amazing.  Between the two of them they made about 6 necklaces.  I love finding new projects for us to do together that help spark creativity.  Makes my heart sing.

Have a wonderful week friends.  I hope to check in once more before I leave!

I'm linking up to Heather's Life Made Lovely
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Thoughts of the Week - Blogger Fail & Stage Moms

Source

I think about blogging A LOT.  Some would say I'm obsessive, but then again I'm obsessive about a lot of things, it's just in my gene pool; you should meet my dad.  I love blogging but sometimes I think about it a little too much.  So when blogger went on the fritz Thursday and Friday, at first I was a little miffed, and then after about 3 hours I was relieved.  Sort of like I had been let off the hook for a bit.  Like when the power goes out at your job and at first you're irritated because it's going to mess with your deadline, and then after a while the boss let's you go and you're like "Yahoo, that was a blessing in disguise!"?  Sort of like that...and man was I productive.  I actually folded laundry , went to the gym sans phone and fed the kids something other than goldfish to stave off starvation (kidding!). 

It was a bit funny seeing people freak out so much on Twitter.  It's like some didn't know what to do, so they started Pinning, posting pictures to Facebook, working on their Tumblr more.   For a time Twitter even went over capacity and it's like the world was coming to an end.   Now I know that there's plenty of people that make their livelihood off their blog and so for that it did suck, but for the rest of us that just do this as a hobby, our worlds could still do go on, quite nicely actually.

Source

When I saw a tweet from someone jubilantly claiming that "Blogger's back up, I can get into my blog, thank GOD!" I just thought to myself, already?  Damn, I was sort of getting used to this mini vacation.  What were your thoughts on the blogger fail?  But all joking aside, it's fun to be back up and running and chatting.  :)  Thanks for reading by the way!

In other news, I dressed my 6 year old daughter up like a bit of a tart Friday for picture day at her ballet studio, complete with foundation and eyeliner.  Next I'll be giving her botox injections and waxing unsightly body hair.  Such is the life of a stage mother I guess.

Really though, I'm going to have to rethink this whole ballet recital thing for the makeup requirements alone.  It felt oh so wrong telling my daughter to hold still while mommy applies some mascara.  To make matters worse, I noticed afterward that they applied even more red lipstick to her lips after she was ushered into the studio, I guess to better define them?  No words people, no words.

Shop Your Own Closet Challenge - Round 1

{Jacket - local boutique 6 years ago;T Shirt - James Perse; Shorts - Forever 21; Shoes - Anthropologie; 

Handbag - very old Prada; Bracelets & Necklace - Forever 21; Watch - Michele}

Well look what we have here, a jacket resurrected from the dead.  I loved this jacket from the moment I saw it at a local boutique 6 years ago.  Feminine girly details of sequin, lace and pearls on denim felt just right and the price was even more right; I think I paid $29 for this.  I got a lot of good use out of it the first year I owned it and wore it to countless showers and Taylor's dedication.  Over a dress, this was very much a "shower" type of outfit appropriate for both the marriage and baby.  I loved the heck out of it for that year.  And then it somehow made it to the back of the closet for the last few years.

So I came up with a challenge for myself; pick 4 pieces that I still love but haven't worn in the last several years and revamp them for my current lifestyle and current trends.  I chose this jacket first and I'm quite happy with how the restyling went.  What I did was:

• Roll and push up the sleeves to give it a more casual, edgy look
• Pair it with something other than a dress or skirt to make it more appropriate for everyday wear
• Layer over a T-shirt to enhance the casual ease of the piece
• Accessorize with a few subtle but funky pieces, mainly the chunky stacked bracelet look and a very simple leaf necklace

Due to the proportions of the jacket, I wanted to wear it with a high waisted pair of pants or shorts.  I originally thought chinos would be nice but since I couldn't justify buying anything new, I remembered I had these high waisted shorts in my drawer from last year, originally seen here.  They worked out perfectly.

And just when I thought I really couldn't say anything else about restyling a 6 year old $29 jacket, it turns out that yes, I can.  We had Syd's speech assesment today with the Speech Therapist and District Rep so I wanted to look respectable and I think I achieved that.  Luckily this outfit was comfortable enough that I ended up wearing it all day, even to swim lessons and while making dinner, so it's definitely mom approved.

So what piece should I restyle next guys?  

p.s I found a picture from back in 2006 showing how I originally wore it. This was taken the day of Taylor's dedication :)

Melon, Prosciutto & Asparagus Salad

I used to be hesitant to post recipes here on the old blog.  I mean really, I'm no chef and there are food blogs by the thousands, as well as cookbooks, cooking channels, websites, etc.  You get the picture.  The world needs another recipe like it needs another attorney.  Or politician.

But here's the thing, I love getting recipe recommendations from friends, and after reading a blog for a while, you sort of feel like they're a friend.  We're friends right?  I mean I call you guys 'friends' all the time so if we're not really friends I'm a little hurt. ;) Anyhow, I have several cookbooks that I love, but I find that my favorite and most cooked meals are recipes that have been passed on down from family members, friends and now, blogs.  So, I post my most favorite recipes here because they have been cooked in a real kitchen by a real woman with a real budget and very real and ordinary cookware.  Please know that I will never post a recipe here that I don't love.  Tell me, where do you find your favorite recipes from?

I dreamed up this little salad a couple of weeks back when the weather had turned a few degrees warmer, Taylor was out on Spring break and we had a free day at home with no plans.  I made the kids their usual peanut butter and jelly and I made myself this!  The flavor combination is not new; melon with prosciutto.  But the addition of the tender asparagus and toasted pine nuts elevates this to a whole other level.  I started with two helpings for myself, and I had enough ingredients on hand to make a small side salad for dinner.  The recipe I'm posting would make one large salad that you could divide up however you'd like :) I think the only thing that could make this salad any better would be a bit of crumbled feta or goat cheese on top, but you decide.

Cantaloupe, Prosciutto & Asparagus Salad:
For Salad:
1 cantaloupe cubed
1 bunch of asparagus
1 package of prosciutto sliced into thin strips
1/4 cup of pine nuts, toasted

For Dressing:
1/4 cup EVOO
1/8 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2-3 Tbsp Honey
Add all ingredients to a small ball and whisk together

Blanch the asparagus and slice after cooled.  Toss the asparagus, cantaloupe and prosciutto with the dressing, and top with the toasted pine nuts.  Sprinkle some salt and cracked pepper on top.  Eat and thank mother nature for the Earth's bounty!  This salad is so good you will have to resist eating the whole bowl.  But if you do eat the whole bowl, you won't feel too guilty because overall, it's not too bad for ya.  Oh, and I ate mine with a toasted slice of sourdough by the way.  Oh heavens.

Enjoy!  As always, let me know if you try it please!  By the way, you can thank Emily for the dressing idea. She advised adding the balsamic and honey, which proved to be the perfect lift to the salad.

Project 2011: Buy Less Give More - April Spend Recap & More

{If you're new here and you'd like to read why I started Project 2011, you can go here and here}

It's been a couple of months since I posted my spend recap.  When all was said and done, March didn't turn out so bad after all.  I returned the sunglasses I felt horrible guilt over, the belt I had purchased in February and I exchanged the Cienta pair of shoes I had bought Taylor for a less expensive (but still high quality) pair from Stride Rite.

The one thing I have discovered most about myself through this project is that I am a compulsive buyer, but 9 out of 10 times I feel that ultimate buyers guilt after a purchase, making the instant gratification from the purchase not even worth it.  Wow, that was a mouth full!  This is what leads to that nasty buy/return cycle that I got into in March.

Moving onto April, and I was in a much better place because psychologically I had to be!  Let's recap what April had in store for me, keeping in mind that April was the final month that I would be collecting a paycheck and we'd be a dual income family:

My 35th Birthday

Taylor's 6th Birthday

Our 12th Wedding Anniversary

Property Taxes

Income/Business Taxes

1 Brother and 1 Sister's Birthdays

1 Nephew's Birthday

6 Friend's Birthdays

Clearly, last month I had to control our spending, for our sanity and financial health.  So how did we do?  Not too bad.  Aside from my birthday outfit (yes, I did return that other skirt!), I purchased 1 Target sweater for Taylor for Easter, a pair of pants for Art and 2 sweatshirts for me from my old job because I had my killer discount.  I paid for part of my birthday outfit with a gift card, leaving our total spend on clothes just over $100. 

Other ways that I tried to be mindful of our spending were:

• We used a gift card to go out to dinner for our Anniversary
• I ran out of my night cream and mascara so I dug into my samples of Gifts With Purchases and used those instead
• To help with costs for Taylor's birthday, my sister and I hosted a dual birthday celebration for her and my nephew and split the costs of everything.  Including the jumper and food, we each spent $95!
• We hosted a very small birthday celebration with school friends on Taylor's actual birthday and I only had snacks and made cupcakes and just had the girls decorate them, saving money on food and a fancy cake. 
• Taylor only received 1 birthday gift, and it was on extreme sale through Amazon
• We were diligent about not dining out too much.

Of course there are always ways to improve and I'm hoping we can do even better in May.  In fact I've sort of put myself on a self imposed shopping hiatus all together for May (I do have 1 $50 Nordstrom gift card left from my birthday that I might use).  We are going to Yosemite next week so we might need to buy some gear for the trip which will eat into the budget.

Blah, blah, blah!  Enough about spending!  Let's talk GIVING!  Last month I hosted the Joyful Life Library Book Drive and I'm happy to report we collected just over 60 books for the Miller's Children's Hospital PICU!  What an amazing turnout.  I received books not only from local friends and family, but blogging buddies from all over the country sent books to me or directly to Miller's. 

Thank you so much to everyone that participated and helped out with this very special project.  I know Heather was beyond thankful and appreciative.  The best news was that the excitement generated off of the book drives that were started in April helped get the Joyful Life Library connected to a total of 6 other hospitals across the country! Amazing, amazing stuff!

Lastly, I'd like to announce my service project for the month of May.  I just completed my registration to be a Meals On Wheels Volunteer!  I'm really excited for this service project since I'll actually be getting out and volunteering as opposed to organizing and collecting like I've done the last couple of months.  I'm not sure exactly how they'll use me yet, but I'm hoping I'll be a driver so that I can take the kids with me and they can see giving in action.  I got this great idea from my friend Laura, after I was telling her I wanted to "do" something this month.  She suggested Meals On Wheels and I instantly latched on.  Thank you so much Laura for this idea!

There are several ways to volunteer for this great organization and there are locations all across the country.  I'm looking forward to this month's project so much and if it works out, I'd like to make it a long term volunteer option for me.  I'll of course keep you updated on how it goes.

And that my friends is it!  I'm thankful that I have this outlet here on the blog for me to talk about some of my (bad) spending habits, as well as a place to get inspired on ways and opportunities to give.  The encouragement and lack of judgment has meant a lot to me, and I appreciate that you guys even read these little recaps.  I know they're not the most stimulating or exciting posts, but it's therapeutic for me and an accountability tool.

Anyhow, thanks so much.  Back to the fun stuff tomorrow :)  I've to a recipe to share and Thursday I'll show you how I reworked an oldie but goodie item from my closet.

Shop Your Own Closet Challenge

Well hello there friends!  How was your weekend, how was your Mother's Day?  Did you do anything special?  Me, I cleaned.  Yes, on Mother's Day and it felt GREAT!  I had willing participants, I had time, I scaled back on our schedule and I got my house in shape to start the week.  What a freeing feeling.  I did start with lots of cuddles and breakfast in bed and read for an hour because I'm not that crazy ;)  We were free by lunch time for some Pei Wei and then to my mom's for dinner with the family.

One of the things I did accomplish was giving my closet a little spring cleaning by rotating out sweaters, heavy pants and jackets.  I came across a few pieces that I haven't worn in the longest time, but would love to rotate into an outfit soon.  After a month filled with birthdays, taxes and anniversaries in April, the wallet needs a break so I'm going to be shopping from my own closet for a bit.  It might be fun to come up with new and creative ways to wear some of these things I used to love so much but haven't worn in years.  Here's what I'll be playing with:

1. Cheetah Romper: Wow the romper trend came and went fast now didn't it?  The last time I wore this was last July and I actually did a fun P&L post on it last June.  While I love the print, I just can't see myself wearing this again as a romper.  I'm glad I only paid $38 for it.  I'm thinking I might try to hack it in half and wear it as a pair of shorts or a blouse.  I think either would be cute if I could make it work.

2. Denim Jacket: I haven't worn this since the Spring of 2006.  I love the pearl, lace and sequin detail, but the cropped length makes it very difficult to wear with anything other than a dress, which is how I originally wore it to Taylor's dedication at church.  I'd like to find a funkier, more casual way to wear it with something I have IN my closet.  A nice pair of high waisted chinos would be fab, but alas not in my closet already.

3. J. Crew Coral Skirt: Yes, it's a skirt even though it looks like a pair of shorts with the front and back slits.  Oh my goodness I have held onto this skirt since 2001!  It's moved with me to 3 different houses and I just can't seem to let go of it even though I haven't worn it in 10 years.  I love the color, the fabric and the top stitch detail, but it just doesn't seem very practical now a days.  I'm thinking if I can make it look decent with a pair of flat sandals, it might be mom appropriate.  We'll see.  I definitely think this will be the toughest.

4. Linen Printed Jacket: It's been about 4 years since I've worn this piece.  I love the bright colors but the length again is a little odd.  I have a long torso so unless I wear it with a long enough shirt I feel awkward.  I think I might have something it could work with though... 

I'll post my first outfit on Thursday this week.  Do you think you might want to play along?  If so, come back this Thursday and link up your outfit.  Just shop your own closet and choose an item that you haven't worn in at least 6 months.  Style it in a new and fun way and link up!

And while I did take the month of March off from posting my spend recap (remember my confessions post?), I'll be back tomorrow to post my April spend recap from Project 2011 Buy Less, Give More.  I'll also announce the details of the May service project and announce how we did for the April Service Project - Joyful Life Library Book Drive.  See you back tomorrow!  Until then, have a fantastic Monday.

If You're Looking For Me

Hi Friends!  You can find me over at Jenn's blog today, Ruffled Sunshine.  It's been fun getting to know Jenn a little bit better in the last couple of months and I can't wait to meet her at Blog Sugar.  She asked me to write a  Playgrounds & Lollipops post for her Mother's Day week series, but I gave it a bit of a twist.  Please go on over and check it out and say hi!  I'm sharing tips to help you avoid the "Basics Is Better" rut.  It can be a little intimidating guest blogging so it's nice to see familiar faces :)

Happy early Mother's Day to you!