Archive for May, 2008

We interrupt the scheduled Disney Crack programming to bring you a little crafty goodness.

My bedroom/crafting space is full of sweet little pillowcase dresses. I’ve been updating my Etsy shop. Makena keeps popping in and asking if each one of the dresses is hers. They are hard to part with, some of them are just too cute.

I decided that I needed to go ahead and cut into those beautiful vintage pillowcases to make dresses out of them. So I selected a few sizes and cut away. Right now the sizes range from 12 months to 3t. I’ll be continuing to add dresses to the shop over the weekend so check back. Also, remember that I can do custom orders as well so just contact me if you want something special.

Okay, go ahead. Check out the shop. I’ll wait right here for you. Now tell your friends. Spread the word. I’ve got preschool to pay for next fall!

I received my first custom order a couple of weeks ago from a woman wanting a dress for her daughter’s first birthday party. She said that she wanted a Mexican style dress and left the creativity up to me. Fun! I searched high and low until I found the perfect vintage women’s Mexican dress. A few cuts and snips.

Voila! A baby dress!

Send out a search party. I’m lost.

You might have noticed that I have gone missing and can’t seem to make my way back to my computer. I think I’ve been putting off this post because of the 500 plus photos from Disney World that I had to sort. Sorting that many pictures is daunting. Can anyone tell me why I felt it necessary to take pictures of every parade. Every character. Every time?

Why on earth did I take pictures of each and every fireworks show?

Why did I think I should take pictures every time we ate?

Because they slip you Disney crack when you arrive. That’s why!

Seriously, Disney World is a mecca of everything that Walt Disney could have never imagined.

I’m a planner. Before we left, I planned our meals, our itinerary and everything in between. I planned snacks, downtime and pool time. I planned. But when we arrived and breathed that Disney air. Every little plan, every detail went out the window. We were all kids again. Mouse ears and all.

I do have to admit that I came home with one too many Mickey Mouse souveniers. Don’t judge me when you see me walking down there street in my Minnie Mouse t-shirt. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It’s the crack.

Until tomorrow, I’m out. My brain hurts from sorting pictures. I do have more stories to share, especially about the Bippity Boppity Boutique, but those will have to wait for another day.

We’re back and I can’t say that we are well rested from our week long vacation. If anything, we need another vacation to just relax and sit around. And I can’t seem the get the “It’s a Small World” song out of my head. Aaaaaahhhhh!

Disney World is a place unto itself. There is just so much to see. I’m working on uploading the 500 pictures I took (serious) and am now trying to get back into the groove of being at home by the lake. It’s quiet here. Very quiet. I like that.

I will share my stories of Disney in my next post. It by far exceeded my expectations and I found myself running around like a child.

For now though, I’ve added a few more items to my shop. I’ve been picking up these great vintage Acapulco straw tote bags. Perfect for summertime by the pool, lake or beach.

Sorry that I’ve been missing in blog-land this week. The big Disney trip has got me scrambling. We had Mother’s Day gifts for the grandmas to make and get into the mail.

Keegan and Makena painted place mats for the grandmas, from Amanda’s book. A very sweet little kids craft.

I’ve got several ongoing lists of things to pack and do. There are piles of stuff all around the house, waiting to be packed. The kids are spending most days this week actually wearing things I’m trying to pack, because it’s out and they think they have to wear it. Take, for example, Keegan’s life jacket and Makena’s floaties. I spent the afternoon in the garage, creating yet another pile of not to forget items. The pile consisted of beach toys for the possibility that we take a day off and go to the beach. Floaties, life jackets, Crocs, a cooler and other things that we probably don’t need. One minute I’m creating my pile, the next the kids are deconstructing my pile and wearing everything from the pile. The beach toys are now in the yard, the kids were wearing their life saving devices and the dog had taken off with a Croc. Go figure.

This is why I have been amiss. I’m making piles, then I take apart the piles and try to determine what we actually need. It’s not like we are going to a third world country and they don’t have these things. We are going to Disney World. They have everything.

We are leaving on Saturday and will be gone until the following Saturday. That’s seven days at Disney World if you are counting. AAAAAAHHHHH! I think my head is going to explode. For those of you brave souls who have been there, I would love some advice. Particularly on what to pack. And what we must see, because it’s going to be overwhelming. The understatement of the year.

So all of this to say, Happy Mothers Day my friends. I hope you treat yourself as good as you treat everyone else in your lives. You are all incredibly inspiring women and I’m truly grateful for your friendship.

I probably won’t be around next week. Maybe I’ll try to pop in and post some pictures, like a virtual post card for you. Have a great Mothers Day and enjoy your week. I’ll miss you all.

Garage sale season is upon us! Every Saturday morning I wake up before anyone in the house, sneak my way downstairs, grab a cup of coffee and head out the door. I am ready for the world.

I spend the morning sorting through other people’s trash and treasures. The early bird gets the worm, you have to be there around 7 to get the good stuff. Oh, and what good stuff it is.

This weekend, my loot included a vintage Samsonite train case. Not the usual hard case variety, but the older versions with the stitching around the edges. Six years of Martha Stewart Living Magazines. A couple of vintage straw Acapulco bags, which will be added to the shop this week.

This dresser, which is oh so cute and has a new home in my entry way. Should I paint it? And what type of knobs should I put on it?

And this chair, which I painted red. He’s the ‘merchandising’ part of my shop. He’ll hold all of the dresses and such.

A few weeks ago, my friend Ruth tagged me for a four things meme. Here goes…

4 Movies

• Amelie- I heart French films and Audrey Tautou is one of my favorite actresses.
• Chocolat- Two words, Johnny Depp. Oh how I dream of moving to Europe and opening my own little shop.
• Under the Tuscan Sun- Can you tell I love to travel? There are so many villas all over Tuscany, abandoned. The thoughts of what it would be like to move there and just live. Beautiful.
• A Good Year- Europe. A house. Amazing.
• Xanadu- I know this is 5, but come on. It’s Xanadu!!!

4 Places I Have Lived

• Key West, Florida- Parents moved there when I was a baby. Loads of baby pics on the beach. I’m a beach baby.
• San Antonio, Texas- Where we got married and lived right out of college.
• Arlington, Texas- Where I grew up.
• Stephenville, Texas- Dairy capital of the world. HUGE Rodeo town. Where I went to college and played basketball.

4 TV Shows I Watch

• So You Think You Can Dance- Guilty pleasure.
• The Amazing Race- A race around the world. Sounds like my kind of race.
• Grey’s Anatomy- The characters, the plot, the humor, the timing. It’s all too good.
• Project Runway- It amazes me how they create such fabulous clothes.

4 Places I Have Been

• Australia- Went once with my dad. He sells opals and we went to Sydney and the Outback on a buying trip and to stay with his friends. Got to raise kangaroos while I was there. Went a second time with high school students. I was a leader for a student travel program and we spent three weeks in Australia, traveling up the coast from Sydney to Cairns. Amazing.
• Europe- There are just too many amazing places to leave one out so here’s my list. Most of these places I visited as a travel leader. I did spend some time in Italy with Miles before we had Makena. England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. I can not wait for the kids to be old enough to travel and we can all go! A few of my favorite places: Salzburg, Austria - Cinque Terre, Italy - Paris, France.
• Vancouver/Whistler, B.C., Canada- Our number one favorite place to ski. We like to fly into Vancouver, spend a couple of days then head up to the mountains in Whistler to ski. There is so much snow there it will blow your mind.
• Belize- We went with my dad on a diving trip to the islands in Belize. It’s so pure and natural. My dad says that is the way Cozumel was thirty years ago.

4 Things to Eat

• Chocolate
• Fish Tacos
• My family’s recipe for spaghetti and eggplant parmesan.
• Sushi

4 Things to Look Forward To

• Disney World- We leave on Saturday for a week at Disney World!!! The kids are going to go crazy. Ah, who am I kidding… we are going to go crazy! I promise to come back with lots of cheesy ear pictures of the four of us.
• Summer days spent at the lake.
• Oliver being house trained.
• Getting ALL of the laundry done.

4 Favorite Places

• Home
• The lake- floating on a raft.
• Granville Island Public Market (Vancouver, B.C.)- A mind blowing market place. I usually stand there with my jaw dropped to the ground, overwhelmed with the choices.
• Savannah, Georgia- We went in the fall for our ten year anniversary. The quaint little shops, coffee shops, parks… it’s all too much!

Okay friends, it’s your turn: Chris, Ellie, Sarah, Misty.

Friends, I woke up this morning to fog covering the hillside. I just love days like this because they are so rare in the Texas Hill Country. We’re not leaving the house today. Nope. We’re going to stay put, do some painting, possibly some laundry and just be. We are just going to be.

I wish I could have you over for a drink and we could chat. I have been uplifted and motivated by your comments to my last post. I was really at a crossroads and you, my friends, really stepped up and provided me with much needed support and encouragement. I was really perplexed on what direction to take my blog. I felt like a change was in order.

You helped me to find my way when I was lost. And then, what I realized that I was never lost after all. You were there, to hold my hand and be the friend that I needed in you. For that, I thank you. I realized that no change was in order after all.

You validated who I am and what I do in this wacky blog world. All of your comments, each word was taken to the heart. I can’t thank you enough for all that you said. It can get lonely in this blog world, each of us at our own computers typing away. Taking snapshots for the memories and trying to document our everyday lives. Then we send our hopes and dreams out into the world. To be what? To be read and appreciated by our blogging buddies.

I wish I knew you all better. Maybe that is what we are trying to gain here after all, a better understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live in. I truly appreciate the glimpse into your lives that you provide. A snapshot in a moment of time. A fleeting moment, that we might forget had it not been written down.

Thanks for listening to me ramble. Thanks for all of your lovely comments all of the time. Thanks for checking out my pictures. Thanks for the encouragement on my ETSY shop. Thanks for always being so sweet about my children, it’s not always picture perfect you know. Thanks for simply being my friend.