What I {Have For You} Today

Sigh...its been a harsh summer.  Hopefully we'll get an extra long fall to make up for it. Mia has a new found love for playing outdoors.  She picked a lovely day to do it. 

Well there was this cloud...

But we told it to scram!

That's better.

I might a little generous when I say she likes to "play" outside.  Really all she does is walk in circles and yell at the dogs.

And then she'll squat...

Apparently this isn't unusual.  Babies love to squat.

This playtime made it abundantly clear that Mia needs to get her bangs trimmed.  

Poor kid has to do the Justin Bieber hair flip.

Did I ever tell you I had a moment with Justin Bieber? I did.  It was magic, we totally made FULL ON eye contact. My tummy gets dizzy just thinking about it...

In addition to wandering in circles Mia also attempts throwing her ball

I just love this pic for some reason.

When she's not yelling at the dogs she'll try to throw the frisbee.

She's also crazy fearless about putting her hand in Trin's mouth.  It freaks me out every time but it makes Mia giggles like crazy.

Then I was a super mean FGM and {gasp} put a hood on the baby!

She hates hoods.  Can you tell?

Shadows!

Proof of my existence.

And now it's time for "Holy Crap That's A Lot Of Freckles!"

They came on strong this year.

Sometimes I forget I have them.

And then I see these. 

YIKES!  Although I can't imagine what it would be like to not have them. 

And now as promised, I have some pictures of my beautiful new niece! 

Vivian Aliza Laum

7lb 2oz

19in

Snuggling with mom...

Resting from the trauma of birth...

Looking confused...

And gettin some love...

Oh how I love babies!

And because I'm so full of love...

And I got a 95 on my paper proposal...

And it's FINALLY getting cooler...

I'd like to give you a gift!

The gift of scarf or hat! 

You choose! 

Please leave a comment and you may be randomly selected to receive a lovely handmade hat or scarf.  Your chances of winning are really good since only about 6 people read this and I think that number may be skewed by me reloading the page all the time.  

Winner will be chosen on FRIDAY.

So get commenting!

What I {Think You Should Watch} Today

Some fun random videos!

A lovely idea, but I don't know if I could do it...

Uniform Project Picture Book from The Uniform Project on Vimeo.

Makes me want to wear red lip stick. 

And buy a striped tee. 

And be European.

The couple is some crazy modern irish step dancing duo.  Their YouTube page has a lot of other crazy videos from them. Check it out!


Crazy tears watching this one (like every time I watch Up. I can't get through that movie without a giant limp in my throat} I hope someone loves me like that someday...

Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.


Oh yeah, Mia went to my alma mater today.


I was surprised to see how much has changed in the past 2 years


We found the new Dooley statue...





It's um, interesting...


I also realized you guys haven't seen Mia walk! Well here ya go...

What I {NEEEEEEED} Today

Seeing this coat made my tummy dizzy.

The Pollyanna Coat from Spotted Moth

Gasp.

I NEEEED this coat! 

Is it too much?

Could I pull off the color?

The collar is removable so that makes it practical.

I can justify this need right?

Speaking of needs...

I think each of you need to taste one of these. 

{Recipe}

You should totally come over and have one!

Call me. 

What I {Can't Get On Board With} Today

I cannot, CANNOT understand these "shoes"

Yes the quotes are necessary...

It's like a glorified toe sock!

Maybe MAYBE  in an outdoorsy athletic setting but not as everyday footwear.

UNacceptable! UNattractive! UN its doesn't matter! My point is that I don't care how comfortable these things are I just can't do it.

And to make things worse...my bestie not only has a pair...she ADORES her pair. She sent me this pic today...

Why Olivia? Whhhhhhhyyyy?

ughguhguhgughuh

 

Just looking at them leaves me bewildered and confused.

You wouldn't think I'd be okay with it, but I'm totally ok with saying fro yo.  I agree it sounds obnoxious but I like saying it.  So let's go get some fro yo after work mkay?

I still cannot get over last week's American Idol eliminations.  Sure the guy had a mullet, but his voice was so cool! And yeah her hair was white but she was so interesting!  America got it WRONG! 

I'm kind of having a hard time getting board with American Idol in general this season.  But I am on board with the new addition to the bracket.  Oh did I mention we do a bracket for Idol?  A bracket like people do for the basketball thing.

Yes, we take it that seriously. 

No, I'm not embarrassed.

Each week the participants (Michelle, Jason, and myself) pick the contestant we think will go home that week.  If you guess it right you get points.  There's no prize per say.  But the bragging rights are worth it.  However, I've never won the bracket.  It's because I vote with my heart.  Not like American teens.

SO, the new addition to the bracket is that we each have to pick who we think is going to win the whole thing. Our vote is secretly written down and then sealed in an envelope until the night of the finale. If one of us guesses it right that person gets a TON of points and basically sweeps the whole thing.  Like catching the snitch in quiddich.

Yes, that was a Harry Potter reference.

No, I'm not embarrassed.

I could not get on board with my previous "studio" situation.  So for the past week or so I have been trying to fix that.

This is what I was working with before...

And here is what I have now...

aaaaaaaaah that's better.  

Well yeah I know its kind of a mess.  I'm still working on it!  Give it time.

I still haven't found proper storage for my wares.

I did however find some good storage for my embellishments and such.

This purchase was pretty exciting.

all my roving in one place!

A place for fabric and tulle for yo-yo makin (more on yo-yos momentarily)

Oh and remember when I talked about making this?

Well I made it and it's now used to store my yarn balls.  Here is some yarn before they become yarn balls.

 

I used to not be on board with yarn balls.  I was like why take the time?  Then I got an insanely tangled mess once and I vowed never to not yarn ball again! 

[SIDE NOTE: I have to give my rents a shout out for getting me the yarn picture above.  My dad is the king of thrift stores and scored the pink and two white skeins for 60 cents total!]

Speaking of parents...I am TOTALLY on board for my mom coming to visit Mia so that I can get some work done.  But of course I got distracted by the cuteness and had to take some pics. 

Uncle J came over too.

This baby so sassy

I like to think this is her hiding from the paparazzi shot.

Awww look at the G'ma love!

So I've been hard at work in my new "studio" getting stuff ready for spring.  Here's some of what I got...

More flutterbands

And now some flutterbands with a twist...

Now that I know how to sew sequins I've decided I want to put them on everything I own.  I started with this skirt I have...it's going to take FOREVER. 

A flutterband in the round

As I mentioned before I'm really into making these things called yo-yos.  I have no idea why it's called a yo-yo, but I like em.

Before placing them on the headband I've been giving the yo-yo a tulle tutu.

They're so girly. Loves it!

I could so see this on a little girl to match her Easter dress.

So when experimenting with different sized yo-yos I accidentally made this giant one that could never fit on a normal human's head.  So I put a smaller one on top and made it a pin! I like it so much I might keep it for myself.

I could totally see this on some bridesmaids, or even a bride if it were ivory! I can make them in any color too (hint hint Danielle...I'm just sayin...)

Next one I make I think I'm gonna throw some tulle petals in for good measure.

So this hasn't really turned out to be things I'm not on board with.  But you wouldn't really want to listen to me complain the whole time now would you?

Post Script - In case you were wondering these aren't on the Etsy yet...the baby was really fussy today so I couldn't get much done but they will be on there soon!  Or you could go there now and check out what I have...