rosey little things

Go To the New Blog

2008-07-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

Please visit the new blog at http://roseylittlethings.com If you have problems reaching the new site please email me at roseylittlethings@gmail.com! A couple of people have had a problem with the new site. Thanks, Jen

Say Good bye!!

2008-05-20T20:43:00.001-07:00

This is the last post for this site, it has been fun, but I am moving over to http://roseylittlethings.com/blog So change your book marks, links and bloglines! Sorry for the hassle, but the new site is soo pretty!

Bye Bye little Blog!!!

Catching Up

2008-05-13T07:17:00.000-07:00

This may be one of the last posts from this site, the new site is almost done, so exciting!!! I have been bad about posting swaps, so here are all the ones I have done since we moved, and a few vintage finds thrown in for good measure. I am only participating in a couple swaps right now because I really want to focus on getting the new site up and going.

Today is Gab's 11th birthday and I took cupcakes to her class, and ate lunch with her. As I was leaving I realized that was the LAST time I will bring her cupcakes to school, and it made me sad:( We got her a pink adult size beach cruiser and she looks adorable on it, I will post a pic in the near future, she wants to get a basket for it.

A funny thing happened today, I was going to the post office to mail some swaps. I parked and removed the 3 packages from the car and set them on the ground between my car and the car next to me. I was next to this cars passenger side. I got Graham out of his seat and while I was mentaly trying to figure out how to carry him and the packages he is leaning way down and waving to the man in the car next to us and the man was waving back. The man gets out of his car and puts his arms out to Graham and he goes right to him. This man had a black cowboy hat on and reminded me of my Papa, he was sweet. He carried Graham into the post office so i could carry the packages. Why didn't I use the stroller you ask, I was in a hurry. We walk into the post office and the this older lady has a very perplexed look on her face as she stares at this man holding Graham and I walk in behind them. He hands little dude to me and I thank him and off he goes. As the perplexed lady passes me on the way out she nicely says that was my husband, and I said he was so sweet to help me out, and she said" He can be nice once in a while." They had obviously been married for about 50 years.

I sent this swap for Vintage, Shabby, retro.

Sent for FAA Lucky Parcel.

Received for Vintage Shabby,Retro, so pretty.

She hand made these pins! LOVE THEM!!

My friend Shara at Monkeybox sent me this package just for fun, I am excited about the CA Zinnias. It was such a nice unexpected surprise.

Love the vintage fisher price toys, got this one at a garage sale for 50 cents. Graham loves it.

Just a photo of my growing collection of vintage aqua pottery, I just unpacked it and put it on top of the TV cabinet.

Here is the cute black chair I got a few weekends ago for a couple of bucks. The seat needs recovering, but it is sturdy and the shape is darling.

Here is the mantle I got for 2$ at the same sale, it came from an old nursery farm house here in Greensboro, they tore it down and built a school. I think it will become a shelf to hold some of my goodies!

I got this vintage ceramic Christmas tree over the weekend at a garage sale and it was 1$!!! I have about 5 others and this one will be a nice addition to the collection.

I got these vintage music books at a church sale over the weekend, I plan on keeping one and selling the others for all you colagers out there.

This is a swap I received from Heidi over at Spiritual Knitter. We were partners in the vintage apron swap hosted by Mama&Jack. She was only required to send ONE apron and she got carried away and sent a bunch of pretty flowery stuff and the cute vintage apron below.
I sent this for the Pink and Brown swap, I knitted the pink wash cloth.

I sent this for the Fat Quarters Just for you swap and my partner is a blue bottle collector, I found both of these at the thrift.

Here is a pic of all the great goodies I received from Heidi at Vacuuming in High Heels and Pearls. We were partners in the Sweet Goodness Paris swap. I really enjoyed being partnered with Heidi!!!

A close up of the sweet vintage tea cup she sent.

Bath salts for the girls vintage Paris themed bath room.

This is now hanging in th girls bathroom, it looks super cute, once we paint I will post a photo.

Here are the goodies I sent her.

A close up of the vintage scrabble tile necklace I made.

Another close up.

I knitted this market bag for her, it is suppose to stretch and hold a lot. I think it turned out great and it was super easy to make.

Received for Fat Quarters just for your, love the colors.

Other goodies she sent me, so pretty and pink!

Received from 5 things owl finally, Love the pink owl, she is so cute and will take up residence in my sewing room!

The rest of the 5 things.

Pink and brown received, LOVE the little deer, she is going in the sewing room too! My partner made the pin cushion, it is so pretty!

The rest of the goodies.

The fabric made me drool, I can't wait to use it!

This is what it all came in.

Gabby modeling the darling apron my partner made.

All the goodies back in the box!

Off to bed!!

Back From The Beach

2008-05-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

I wasn't planning on being away from the blog for so long, however we got invited to go to the beach with my neighbor Robin. Her family has a beach house in Holden Beach, NC. She invited us Fri., so I emailed Gab's teacher to see what her though of us being gone until Wed. He was not happy about it so I told him we would be back Tues. night so she would be in school Wed.-Fri. He told me that I am persistent and he was glad we came to a compromise. When we got back, Gwen's teacher told her to tell me not to take them to the beach during school next time. Whatever, she is in second grade for goodness sake. Poor Ol' Chad had to leave for Canada Mon. am, so he missed all the beach fun, he gets back tonight:)!!!!

Thursday I took Robin shopping for some new clothes, she literally had clothes from the 80's still in her closet. So we started by going through her closet and I told her what to get rid of, then we headed off to the stores. We had fun and we found her some nice things, she still needs to find a nice dark pair of jeans, some cute shoes , a purse and some undergarments. So there will be another day of shopping in our future. Her hubby called me yesterday and asked if I would go with him Sat. am and help him pick her out a dress for Mother's Day.
I spent Sat. getting everyone packed and I chopped off the girls hair, they both look a lot better. We got up at 7am Sunday and headed out at 9am. It is a 4 hour drive to the beach, and along the way I got a speeding ticket, UGGGGGGG It was a 60mph zone, which no one was going less than 70 in, however I was going 80 because I thought it was a 70 zone. I know 80 is not 70, however you are driving on this wide open freeway, with only trees to look at and I had to pee really bad. Any way , I now have to pay $150. SHEESH I am so unlucky, every time I have ever been pulled over, I have been given a ticket. For example two years ago March, I got pulled over for a stupid failure to yield and I said it's my birthday, which it really was and the STUPID JERK, still gave me a ticket! BTW, 1 mile down the road from where I got pulled over the speed changed to 70, you would think they would give me a warning when they realized I just moved here as I still have dealer plates and a CA license. NOOO such luck for me!

We arrived in Holden Beach at 1ish and we unloaded the car an got in our suits and headed to the beach. The beach was amazing, way different then the Northern CA beaches I am use to. Did i mention, no steep drop off, no sea weed, and no major undertow.The weather was in the high 70's-to mid 80's, which in Nor Cal, in the middle of summer is a slim possibility. Robin was great, she took the girls shelling, ghost crabbing, to the beach when Graham was asleep. We also made a trip to the aquarium. Lots of photos below.
Here is the little digger dude, he looks like he posed for this one~

Could he be any cuter???Here we are! Apparently I need to get to the gym and do some serious ARM work~ Yikes

I have never in my whole life seen so many shells on the beach, they were every where. The girls collected these in the first half hour.

G=-Girls Ghost Crabbing.
Here is my car on the ferry going across the Inter -Coastal Water Way, I was excited to drive my car on the ferry as I had never done that before. All the ferries in Nor Cal are not car carriers. The silly things we get excited about.
Gab looking at a fishy!
Me and the 3 G's on the ferry! Yikes my hair gets crazy at the beach!
Miss Gwenzie-Lou~
Cute baby toes and fingers in the sand.
Big loves for sissy!!
Gwen making a sand castle. She luckily doesn't get crazy hair like her mom!
I might catch a fish if I wasn't so scared of the waves!
Or maybe, I'll try Boogie boarding, oh wait, that requires water entry also! I'll just drag it in the sand.
He loved the seagulls!
More love for sissy!
All the shells we brought home drying so they can go in a jar in our beach themed bathroom!

Close up look!
This is not beach related,just more wild life from the Smith house. This was in the driveway while I was cleaning the shells, is it a centipede or a millipede? Or some other creepy bug??

We can't wait to go back!!!!!

Leapin' Lizards

2008-05-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Yet another random post about the wild life in my new hood. I did go to a few yard sales on Fri and will post some photos later this week.
I was minding my own business and vacuuming my kitchen when I almost sucked up this little lizard! Chad wasn't home, so I called Gabby to come get it. We caught the little guy in a Tupperware and Gabby decided to call him Fredward Smith.

Here she is holding Fredward.

Mr. Graham though he was big fun too. He kept touching him while I was shrieking and jumping.

Gabby and her friend Spencer went online to see what lizards eat and caught him some worms. Poor Fredward met his demise when our neighbors dog Kasey came and bit him. Poor Gab was very sad, so they buried him under our mailbox, may he rest in peace:)

Hubby's New Toy

2008-04-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

This may not be that exciting to all of you junkers and crafters out there, but I am posting this for fun! We have over a half acre parcel and most of it is grass. Last week hubby tried to mow it with his electric mower, it took him three hours to mow one tiny section. I'm sure the neighbors who all have riding mowers though"look at that idiot from CA with his silly electric mower." SO we lucked out and one of Chad's coworkers neighbors had a couple year old one for sale. So we now have a riding mower, it still took him a good portion of a day to mow the yard! So here he is....

I am standing in the driveway while taking these photos, so you can see across the street from our house is a pretty forest. We see Cardinals, chipmunks, squirrels, a nest with a mama bird and her babies, so much nature!!

Book Critique

2008-04-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

I know it is Tuesday, but I don't have a good top ten. So we will talk about the books I have read instead. Before we moved I read Shopaholic ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella. This is the 3rd or 4th in the series, there are two I still have not read. You may find this hard to believe, unless you know him, but Chad has read all of them up to this point as well. Yep, my husband reads CHICK books:) I relate to the character in this book, she is goofy and LOVES to shop. However, this was my least favorite book so far. It was still funny and cute, but they dragged out some stuff way too long. I will rate it and (8).

Next book I read was Queen of Swords by Sara Donati. This was the 4th or 5th of the series. These books are sooooo wonderful, and are best if read in order as there are a lot of characters. This series is historical fiction set in the 1800's in New York, however this one was set in New Orleans. If you love historical fiction and want a really super read, order the first one. It takes her about two years to write each one, so patience is required once you have read them all, but so worth the wait. I have lent them to many friends and family and everyone who has read them LOVES them. This one was equally good, and I will give it a 10.

I also read one of JD Robbs (______ IN DEATH) who is actually Nora Roberts, however this is not her normal style of writing, I have read them in order and there are like 30 of them, so I can't remember the exact title. I have Creation in death to read next. This is a great series, there are a ton of them, they are mysteries. They are set in 2050 and are a little futuristic, which I normally don't like, but it is Incorporated nicely in this series. Overall they get an 8.

I just finished Naughty Neighbor by Janet Evanovich, this is now being read by the Hubby man. This was a super quick, light hearted read, great for a vacation or if you have a weekend to sit and read. It was cute and funny as all her books are, however it was quite predictable. So it gets a 7.

Now that we are all caught up on my book reading, we can move on to other topics in the next few days.

Antique Fairs & Estate Sale,& Auctions OH MY

2008-04-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

Friday was the Liberty, Antique Fair, so Graham and I headed out at 8:30am. As we got close to the Fair, there were multiple Yard Sales and a couple of small fields filled with dealers. Of course we stopped at them, and I got a few things. We finally got to the fair at 10:30ish and we had to park soooo far from the gate. I had to push Graham's strolled up a grassy hill and across the grassy parking lot, I was sweating by the time I got to the gate. The fair was big and there was a ton of great stuff, mostly all high prices though. I did get a few things though, Big surprise!

I got this and I LOVE it, it will be going on the guest room bed. Can't pass up beautiful rosey chenielle.

I got this doll house at one of the sales along the way, it was 2$. I remember reading on a blog that the blog owner used these for something cute. can't remember which blog or what it was used for??? But it is cute, so I may use it in the sewing room.

I got this quilt(which is soaking), at one of the sales along the way and the price was good. Then when I got to the fair, just about every both had quilts. I wanted them all. I really didn't need another quilt, but I can't seem to resist them!

I got these pretty dishes along the way. The cream one on the left was a dollar because it has a lot of crazing. I seem to be drawn to this shape, because I think I have about 5 others like this. The light pink one in the middle is pink milk glass, I paid 13$ for it, but I LOVE LOVE it. The dark pink one on the right was a buck also.

These I got along the way also, they will be good for storage in the sewing room. They were a dollar also and they are a pretty peachy pink.

Yep, another quilt. YIKES
This one was only 5$ because it is very thread bare, but the colors are lovely.

I also got an enamel table along the way, which I will post later after I get it cleaned up. Graham was pretty good, however it was 80 degrees out and I was pushing him over lumpy grassy fields until 2pm. The little stinker stayed awake the WHOLE time:( He finally fell asleep on the way back to the car. SHEESH

Today my neighbor Robin and I went junking. We hit about 5 hideous garage sales and were getting a little discouraged. So we decided to drive about 20 minutes out of town to an estate sale. It was way out in the country, and we got to poke around in the barns. I got the green vintage umbrella, the drying rack and clothes pin holder, the stool, the picture and some other misc things. Then we headed to an auction, it was my first and it was fun! I got the super cute umbrella for 2$, the matching chair for 2$ the white metal rack and a black one(NOT SHOWN) 2$, the clothes pin holder and a couple of tins and an aluminum vtg. ice cube tray for 2$ AND the formica table for 2$. So I have bought THREE tables since I have been here. WHO DOES THIS! Now I need some chairs to go with.
I cant wait to take my chair and umbrella to the beach or a game. SOOO cute, comfy too. Robin and I had a good time, people at the auction were asking me if it was my first auction.:)
BTW- Robin took this pic in my driveway, don't you love my red azaleas!

I got these at the estate sale and they gave them to me for FREE. I happen to LOVE them. I may have to duplicate the fabric one.

Hair And Grahams Room Photos

2008-04-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

If you read yesterdays post regarding my HAIR, you will see from the photo that I am still a brunette! SHEESH!!! It is lighter but still no where near the color I want, I so wish I would have had time to see Margaret before I left CA, she would have been able to get me blond!
Here is Mr Grahams room! Now , you must imagine the walls(tan) and ceiling(sky Blue) painted, and his cute blue light fixture. I still need to re-work his window treatments, just not sure what I am going to do with them. I haven't gotten inspired about it! It is a whole lot bigger than his last room, he runs laps around the rug, it is too funny!
The furniture will stand out so much better against some color!
I also want a printers drawer for the wall next to the window so I can put all of his Daddy's vintage cars in it.

Looking Back

2008-04-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

I decided to look back to my New Years Resolutions to see how I am doing. I feel like I am doing ok, I joined the Y last week and Graham and I went once, I am going to go tomorrow also! Maybe next week I can go twice in one week, sheesh. IF my SON would sleep at night it would make my life so much easier. He actually slept last night so maybe we will get two nights in a row. I have lost 10 lbs since leaving CA, only 10-15 more to go!!! If you look at my list, my ebay store was on there, lets change that to my new web site. Not sure how much longer it will be, but my blog and shop will all be in one place. I am hoping it will be up and going in the next couple of weeks. I have been trying to yell less and it seems to be a little bit better. Blogging at least three times a week, I was doing really good until we moved. Now I need to get my act together and blog BLOG BLOG!

I know you are still waiting on the hair photo and new home photos. It is hard to get a photo of oneself when you are the photographer in the family. I am going to the hair dresser tonight for color correction, when I got it cut they tried to put highlights into it to go back to blond, and I looked GREY! So I went back and she toned it and I am still very much a brunette. So I decided to go to a different more upscale hair salon. The last one was a LOL shampoo and set salon, YIKES! Hopefully tonight I will be blondish and can get hubby to snap a photo.

Now to address the house photos, I may show you Graham's room even though we haven't painted yet. It is at least unpacked and I hung up pictures so it looks cuteish. We still need to paint and switch out the light fixture and I need to make window treatments. We are almost done with the stupid family room, we have been painting this ONE room since we moved in, NO it is not a huge room. It is a decent size, but it was SUPER dark paneling and there is a TON of trim to be painted and 4 doors! SHEESH I am hoping we can finish it this weekend and get started on painting the sewing room. I bought the paint yesterday, it is pretty! We had the ceilings scraped in the downstairs, unfortunately we did not do the upstairs, I really wish my sewing room had no stupid popcorn. If I could convince hubby to scrape it this weekend that would be soooooo cool! Tomorrow may be the day for some photos!

Finally Found a Decent Thrift

2008-04-20T06:24:00.000-07:00

Last week I had been to about four different goodwills and they were mostly new stuff, which was weird to me. So, this week I decided to go out and explore, I started driving and along the road I saw a little Thrift shop. From the outside it did not look very promising, but to my delight it was. I will be going there often!!! WOO HOOO!!!

I am doing my basement in a retro 50's atomic lounge theme. So I wanted a formica table to have down there. I really wanted aqua or pink, but I found this at the thrift for 30$ and figured it will go with the aqua, pink and black theme. No i need to find some chairs!

I got these two adorable hat boxes and the man behind the counter was giving me everything for super cheap even if it was marked higher price! I asked him the best day to come back and he said Monday's as MAMA wasn't there. I will be going there tomorrow!!

I have a vintage quilt problem, I can't seem to resist them. This one is in terrible shape, but I think there is enough good pieces to use for craft projects. I got it at an antique store and I prob will not got to that one very often as his prices on everything were really HIGH. I got the cute wooden child's chair at the salvation army, which was pretty good also. It was 4.99 and I will paint it a cute color and then Graham can sit in it when he gets a little bigger.

I got all these lovely vintage pages, ad's etc at an antique store that I will be visiting often as her prices were almost thrift store prices.

I got this cute hat box at the first thrift store and it had a sticker on it that said not for sale and the man sold it to me for a dollar. I don't think MAMA will be happy once she figures it out!

Yes, I realize this is an ash tray, but it is soooooo pretty and PINK, and the nice man gave it to me for super cheap so I couldn't leave it there! Not sure what I will do with it.

Close up of the quilt!

I got these two items at an antique store in Jamestown and it was mostly OP, but this darling little mirror was only 2$. The other thing is a pin and I am going to use the flowers in some of my jewelry making!

Got this lovely vintage pottery at the super cheap antique store, it was 4$ and it is about 5 inches tall. I can't wait to add it to the collection!

This was also at the super cheap antique shop87

Got these there also, the top piece is a table cloth and the one at bottom right is a short outfit that I got for the cute fabric and the bottom left is two pillow cases.

This gold shelf was from the thrift and it is going to go in my dressing room, I am using gold accents!

These darling aprons were at the salvation army, notice the POLK A DOTS!
We went to a couple of garage sales over the weekend and they were not so good, so I was a wee bit disappointed. However this coming weekend is the Liberty antique fair, so we are going to check it out, hope we find some good stuff!

Weekend Update

2008-04-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

Chad got home Friday after being gone all week, which was such a relief for me! So much work taking care of everything by myself. I got my hair chopped off on Thursday, it is cute and I will post a picture as soon as I get someone to take one of me! Saturday we worked on the house, more unpacking, cleaning and organizing. Chad got the basement all set up so Gabby and her two new friends could hang out down there for their sleepover.

On Sat. I went with one of my neighbors to a furniture market shop where you could only get in if you knew someone or had a badge as a designer or a buyer for a store. It was mostly lamps and art work, which were mostly not my taste, but nice and super cheap all the same. Furniture market is twice a year April and October and people come from all over the world for it. My neighbors friend also borrowed passes so we could go into the actual market and look around. It was so huge and so many FAB things, but most places had a minimum, so I got nothing. However my neighbor Robin who is a designer tells me a lot of the places stick their furniture samples out for sale or donate them to the Habitat for Humanity shop, so I am going to go peek around in High Point to see if there is anything I need. I really need a head board and foot board!!!! That is what I did while Chadarella was at home cleaning away! Sat. evening my neighbor Robin invited us over for cocktails on her porch, so we hung out there with Graham for a while. The nice thing was we could see the girls jumping on the trampoline the whole time!

Sunday we went to the "SUPER FLEA MARKET" in the Greensboro Coliseum. I dragged the whole FAM there, which was fine because it was LESS than SUPER. We got through it pretty quickly, so I didn't have to kill and kids:) We bought a really great mirror, and two framed pictures and I got two homer laughlin plates that I love. I looked on ebay and I could probably make up a set as I go. Sunday night the crazyness began. I was unpacking pictures so we can decide where to hang things and where we need to purchase things. While I was knee deep in that Chad says"Jennifer, can you come here, I need your help" He was outside! I went outside and he pointed down on the ground by the garage door and said "what is that"? My house is in the woods, we have no street lights and no side walks, so it was a bit dark and hard to see. It was a baby bunny, he moved the trash can and he heard a horrid scream, I think he ran it over because it wasn't moving. So he hollered inside for Gabby to bring me a box and some gloves. While we were waiting for her we noticed this huge owl sitting in our tree waiting to get the poor LITTLE bunny. Gabby came out with the box and gloves and was freaking out that we had to save the bunny from the owl. So, I put the gloves on and scooped up the tiny bunny and he screamed, which scared me half to death. I put him in the box and we took him inside. At this point the girls are like"CAN WE KEEP IT" UHHH NOOOO!! I called animal control and they are not open on Sundays, so I called a 24 hour vet and they said I could bring him there to be checked out and then they would take him to wild life rehab. He looked to me like his back right leg was broken. This was at about 9pm. So I left him there and hope he ends out being ok!

Here are some photos of the little guy, he was no bigger than the palm of my hand.

Polk a Dot Purse

2008-04-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the previously mentioned cutest purse in the WHOLE world OK maybe just in my house!

Who doesn't have a photo of their kids with spaghetti face??
Swap I received today, So many pretty things!

Tuesday Top Ten

2008-04-08T20:31:00.001-07:00

It is 11:30 at night and I have to be up at 6am to get the kids ready for school, but I was inspired to do a quick top ten. The idea came to me as I was putting my clothes away in my closet, yep you got it I have been here over three weeks and still haven't unpacked my clothing. LOOSER By the way I only put about 1/4 of them away and decided to Blog instead:)

So the theme of this weeks top ten is........ Top 10 things wrong with my wardrobe

1. If it has polka dots all over it I will BUY IT, I have about 7+ black and white polka dot dresses, 3 red and white polka dot tops, 1 pair of black and white polka dot heels, and as of Today the CUTEST red and white polka dot Patten leather clutch, OMG I LOVE LOVE THIS BAG, I will take a photo tomorrow and show you. There are probably other dotty things that I can't remember since I only unpacked a wee little bit.

2. Is it really necessary to purchase a new dress for every wedding, baby shower, bridal shower, bachelorette party, girls night out, date with the hubby, OK you get it. Apparently I need to go to dress aholics anonymous. At least I can wear each one here and no one except hubby will have seen them before. Not that I have any where to wear a dress to. All in good time!

3. Lets talk about Shrug addiction, I have at least 20 shrugs all different colors and fabrics. Do I wear them you ask? YES, I happen to love most all of them, they go great with the above dress collection:)
4. Shoes are another HUGE problem, I had 90 pairs Oh wait, I bought two pairs in the last couple of weeks. I got the cutest red patten leather T strap shoes at good old ross of all places. They are Steve Madden shoes, so they are decent quality too. Patten leather is a sub category of shoes, I have hot pink, 4 pairs of black, 2 pairs or red, white and possibly another that I am forgetting.
5. My style- what style?? I have BOHO skirts, vintage sparkly 50's sweaters, Hollister Tees, baby doll tops, respectable banana republic clothes, & flowy summer dresses. WHO THE HECK am I??????
6. Handbags-yikes I haven't counted these, but I would guess about 50. Which are equally confused as my clothes, I have coach bags, Nice Italian leather bags, vintage fabric bags, PATTEN LEATHER-4 at least, Purse party bags, & vintage evening clutches.

7. Let's talk about Jeans, I have citizens, sevens, miss me, Rock and republic, lots of Lucky's and a few pairs of express and other random ones. Some of the above mentioned are still in the "skinny tote" since having Little G, but I am going to join a gym tomorrow so they should get to come out just in time for nice HOT weather when I no longer care to wear jeans:)

8. One of my other problems is saving things for longer than I should, I follow the if I haven't worn it in 3 years get rid of it, instead of Get rid of it after one year!

9. Jewelry is an issue as well, I only have a few really nice expensive pieces, But I have a BOAT LOAD of all kinds of really great vintage, handmade, fun costume, and rhinestone jewelry. I am good about wearing most of it! Except maybe the 20+ broaches which are sparkly and pretty and I love them.
10. I guess after reading this post and looking at my closet, I know two things: one I am completely skitzo and a wee bit of a hoarder! I hate the hoarder word, but Graham is crying and I can't think of a nicer term

SO COOL

2008-04-05T19:34:00.001-07:00

My parents discovered the coolest thing, and I am sure many of you will have all ready heard of it or are using it, but it is new and neeto to me. It is a really great FREE service called SKYPE. You download the program from their website, then your friend or family member downloads it and you can call each other for free where ever in the US. The BEST part is you can see each other if you have a web cam. My parents and grandparents downloaded it last week and have been bugging me to do it. I finally did because I couldn't take their nagging any more. We all love it, it is great for the kids to be able to see their grandparents and the grandparents to see the kidos! The only problem is every time we chat I look like H E double tooth picks, thank goodness it is just my family. I HOPE some of my friends will hook up to it also!!!

I haven't posted any photos in a while so here are some of the things I have received in the mail in the last few weeks!
I finally got the monkeys from the monkey swap I participated in a month or three ago! TOO CUTE!
I got these lovely fabrics and yummy chocolate eggs for my birthday from a fellow fabric addict in my FAA Swap Group.
I also participated in another birthday swap, and I got these darling vintage magnets!
This was a swap I received for my favorite things, its hard to see in this photo, but there are yummy wine truffles, pretty pink ultra fine glitter, cute cherry note cards and some cute pink girly napkins and the darling handmade cherry apron.
This was from my Friend Lori in Charlotte NC and she was only suppose to send one thing and she spoiled me, darling vintage fabric, super sweet fabric covered thumb tacks and a vintage vase from Japan.
Here are all the things I received from the birthday swap! See the cute handmade cupcake!!!

I am participating in a Paris in the spring time swap at sweet goodness Swaps
and I am so excited about my partner, it is Heidi at Vacuuming in High Heels and Pearls
she and I love so many of the same things, it should be really fun to put it together for her.
Off to Bed!!

Hello

2008-04-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

I know I said I was going to be better about blogging, but it has been a little crazy still. Graham and I started the week with a really bad cold and slept most of the day on Tuesday. Monday was the girls first day of school and they have to be there between 7:25-7:45 which is way earlier then 8:00-8:15. As of Tuesday they started riding the bus because it picks up at the bottom of our driveway, I love this and so do they because it is social! I have also been doing all my bills, taxes and misc. paper work from moving! UGGG not fun. Thursday my neighbor Robin took me to some really great stores, by the way she is an interior decorator so she has lots of connections. We went to four stores and my FAVORITE was this fabric Store/ware house. IT WAS HEAVEN, it is all decorator fabric and some of it is as little as a 1/2 yard and some as much as 20yards, the best part it is all 5$ or less a yard!!!!! This is the stuff you buy at the fabric store on the big rolls that usually costs 14.99$ on up, and it was nice stuff! I bought 15$ worth and am dragging the family there tomorrow. I want to slip cover my couches for the family room, YIKES that is a big job, but a lot cheaper than new furniture! Today Graham and I went thrifting, no great stores though, I will have to keep looking!

DO NOT TRY THIS!!

2008-03-31T10:52:00.000-07:00

First off, look at the March 3rd post I had saved it and finally posted it and I thought it would be at the top, nope, it is in date order! It is a tribute to all my lovely friends and Family in CA!

Now on to the topic at hand: Thursday of last week was free clinic day at the petsmart vet, which meant there were no office visit fees( I saved 125$, Not sure if it was worth it). So the kids, the two dogs and the NEW Kitten COCO all piled in the car to go to the vet. WOW, what a horrific, hideous, horrendous experience, I would not wish it on anyone. I wish I had had my camera to document the experience, because we had to look funny. Picture this..... Me pushing Graham in the stroller while holding Ruby's leash, Gwen caring her new kitten in a PINK cat carrier, Gabby walking CJ on his leash, I'm sure people thought I was CRAZY!!! We get inside and there is one lady and she has her cat in a carrier, all the rooms are full due to the clinic, so we wait about 30 minutes to get into a room. We all SQUISH into this TINY little room, where we wait another 30 minutes for the assistant to come talk to us and get history of the pets etc. The girls are starting to fight and be wiggly, Graham was getting super fussy, Ruby is whining and acting like a freakazoid, CJ as usual is just chillin. The Vet finally came in after we had been there for about and hour and a half and at this point the girls are being total brats to each other, Ruby is still being a freak and Graham has started to throw a tantrum. When this kid starts to scream, it is LOUD, I mean really LOUD, my sister can attest to this since she dealt with him while he was really sick. Meanwhile the vet is giving the dogs their shots and then it is time to examine the kitten just to make sure she is healthy. The Dr, is trying to talk to me over the screaming child and whining dog and all the other craziness. She says, WOW, this kitten is great, she is purring through all of this, and I said, "Apparently she is meant to live in our crazy house." So after and hour and 45min we go out into the lobby to pay and the girl behind the counter can not get the computer to work right and no one has stopped acting crazy~! While we are waiting to pay the other lady came out and says" my poor cat was climbing the walls" and I said" was it because of all the screaming?" She said yes in a not very nice way, clearly she has never tried to take 3 creatures and 3 kids to the VET, maybe she has no kids?? We finally got out of there after 2 HOURS, I called Chad when we got in the car and said "I need a bucket of Margaritas!"

Here is miss Gwen and COCO!

Southern Hospitality

2008-03-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

After we got the new car, the rest of our journey was smooth, thank goodness.
We finally arrived Monday evening, to our great big empty house. We slept on the floor for three nights until our stuff finally arrived! It was so nice to sleep in my own bed again!!!!
Our new neighbors are FABULOUS. In true southern fashion, we have received a welcome basket of goodies, a fruit basket, a plate of cookies and a chicken pie. People here in NC are very friendly, everyone waves hello as you drive through the neighbor hood, weather you know them or not.
Now that we have internet again, I will try to get back to regular posts, I have some great photos of me and all my wonderful friends that I need to post, and as promised some house photos will be coming soon!

TTFN

Greetings From the Never Ending Road Trip

2008-03-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

The movers came on Tuesday and loaded all our stuff into a 53 foot truck, of which our stuff took up 3/4 of. Chad was horrified that we took up that much space:0 We left Shoreline Dr. at 10 to to go pick up our pooches at the groomer and to get the trailer to tow Chad's car. We finally got out of Napa at about 6pm, which was about three hours past when we had hoped to leave. My good friend Tiffanie came and waved bye to us as we left and she made us a travel gift basket, whit letters to each of us, snacks and candy and books for the kids and even treats for the dogs. We have worked our way through most of the basket by now, this was a great gift for anyone traveling by car. On to the photos!

My little Graham packing for the trip!

You have to really look at this one closely to see what my silly Hubby wrote on one of my many boxes he packed. I have NO idea what is actually in this box, should be fun to open!

Here we are in the U-haul parking lot in Napa. First time towing something with my car.

My kidos and pooches in the car ready for the big adventure!

One last photo of the hills on the way out of Napa.
Gabby, Gwen, Ruby and CJ all cozy on the bed!

The first night we made it to Bakersfield CA, which is not one of the best parts of CA! We got up Wed. Am and went to good ol' Denny's for Brunch, then off to Wal-mart we went for some Dog food. What should have been a quick stop turned into a FIVE hour Sit in the lovely wal-mart parking lot. Basically, the kids and I sat in the car while Chad ran in and we decided we needed air, so we ran the AC while the car was off and we killed the battery. We had 4 different people try to jump us, chad bought a portable charger and finally FIVE stupid, Hideous, Horrid hours later Miguele came and jumped us with a professional thingy. 100$ and 15 minutes later our car was running, so off we went at 5:40 once again.

This is poor Graham asleep in his stroller in the Wal-Mart parking lot. We were there so long I felt like we might have to move in to wal-mart. There were 27 Cameras on top of wal-mart, yep, I counted them! Off to Lake Havasu AZ. We made it there for our second night and it is always a trick finding a dog friendly hotel, but we did.

Here we are in front of the Famous London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, this is basically the only fun thing we have done the WHOLE trip.

The fam walking along the trail in Lake Havasu AZ.

We didn't make it very far, my car was overheating on the way to AZ, so chad checked it out before we left thurs. AM and we were our of coolant, so he filled it up and off we went. No good luck for us, it started over heating right away again. So we stopped in kingman AZ at the Lincoln dealership. Here the Fam sits in the dealership waiting to find out what the HECK is wrong with my car. By the way we arrived at the dealership about 1pm ish and we finally left at 8pm. There was a hole in the radiator. While we were waiting for the car to get fixed Gab and I snuck out to look at the cars, and they happend to have a nice Pearly white 05 Navigator, which is 5 years newer than the Green Navigator. Yep, we bought it and I LOVE it!!!! We were at the dealership so long we had to sponge bath the kids in the bathroom before we left to freshen them up, which once again was making me feel a little homeless. Don't forget we have a super wiggly one year old and 2 DOGS! Yikes We ended up staying that night in Flagstaff AZ, we though we might never make it out of the state.

Here we are Fri am in yet another Wal-mart parking lot. That is my pretty new car, Chad thiks we look a little dorky with two white cars, OH WELL! This stop ended up taking 40 minutes because the dogs knocked over the cooler while we were inside and spilled H2O on the floor so we had to soak it all up before we could leave. We ended up driving all the way through New Mexico, Texas and we stopped for the night in some small city just over the border in Oaklahoma. We had planned on staying in Amarillo TX but they were all booked up due to some stupid basketball tournament.

This afternoon we stopped in at the Pig Out Palace to use the potty and stretch out legs, so here are the kids with the cute pigs they had out front.

Good night from Little Rock Arkansas!!!

Packing Break

2008-03-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

I am taking a break from packing so I thought I would update my neglected little blog! If you didn't read the last post, we are moving NEXT Tuesday. Obviously we found a house. It is in Jamestown NC. Being the CA girl that I am, I LOVE that this house is brick. For those of you Non Californians who see the brick homes all the time, you have to understand they are very few in CA due to Earth Quakes. This house was built in 1974 the same year as me:) I stole a photo off the real estate listing of the front of the house. The property is over half an acre and a lot of that is grass. Which means Hubby may have to give up the ol' electric lawn mower and trade up for a riding one, or it might take all day just to mow the lawns. We have a lot of work to do on the inside, a lot of painting, and some updating. It will take us awhile to do as the house is 3800 sq feet and all the walls are white. I am really excited to have a bigger kitchen!!! As we complete projects, I will post before and after photos. I am excited about the great potential this home has and can't wait to get my hands on it! Tomorrow is my birthday and my friends Annie, Heidi and Donna are bringing me birthday breakfast and helping me pack, it should be fun and productive!

We have a move date

2008-03-04T21:32:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to let you know we are moving ONE WEEK from TODAY! YIKES. I have so much to blog about but no time, so It may be a bit before I am back with new info! We got a house and I will have some great before and after photos. Back to packing!

Good Friends & Family

2008-03-03T09:32:00.000-08:00

I finally had a few minutes to upload a lot of the photos I took with friends and family before we left CA! I don't have one of my vintage girls because Miss Heidi hasn't emailed it to me yet!
I miss you all and hope you will come visit SOON!

Me and Lori

Me and Meegs

Me, Aunt Lori, Mommy, Sister and Papa

Me and Jenny Karbo, we have been friends since 8th grade!!!

Jenny L and baby Emma, Nancy, Melissa and me at the park in Sonoma CA. We have all been friends since Jr High also.

Henry, Landon and Graham at the park in Sonoma CA.

Uncle Gabe and Gabby!

Wendy and Gabby. I have been friends with Wendy since 7th Grade and she is coming to stay for two weeks in may! YIPPEEEE

My adopted Napa family- Grammy, Karen, Jenny M, and Wendy. We have been friends for the last 7 years.

Jenny and me.

Me and Wendy M.

Karen and Me.

Grammy and me.

Moms from the girls school. Top left Heidi, Me, Sarah, Amy, Jackie and Nancy.

Amy and I.
Heidi and I.
Me and my SIS!
Sarah and I.
Nancy and I.
Jackie and I.
Tiffanie and I.
Me and Molly!
Me and Megan.
Me and Kelly.
Me and Kellie
All my friends from dance class, poor gina got cut off!
Me and Lisa!
Andrea and I!

Thursday Top Ten

2008-02-28T08:59:00.000-08:00

The top ten for this week is a double feature: Top ten things I will miss about CA and Top Ten things I will Like about living in NC.

CA
1. I will miss my family and all of our family gatherings:(
2. I will miss all of my wonderful friends. All my friends from Jr high and high school, all the moms from the girl's school, all the moms from my old play group, Dance friends & my weekly coffee girls.
3. San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge & the Pacific OCEAN. Watching the sun set over the pacific:(
4. Toilet Seat Covers- weird I know, but 99% of all public restrooms here have them. In NC, I only found one bathroom that had them.
5. NO smoking in restaurants and Bars, You don't realize how nice this is until you have to go sit in a non smoking section where you still breathe and smell like smoke!!!!
6. The wonderful dining we have here. I will miss soooo many of them:(
7. The beautiful rolling hills of CA, the beauty of the Napa Valley and the vines. I will miss wine tasting, it is soooo fun
8. Disneyland- I love it, it is a magical place and i have been there at least 15 times in my life. I know we will be close to Disney world, there will not be the memories there!
9. Being within a close proximity to Chad's family.
10. Being a California Girl- This will probably take awhile to go away as I have been one my whole life:)

NC
1. NO TRAFFIC- the highways are laid out so much better there.
2. More Laid Back Life Style- it will be nice to stop and smell the roses for a change.
3. Brick Houses- They are so charming and abundant in NC, Not very many in CA due to earth Quakes.
4.The Atlantic Ocean, I have heard the beaches in NC are great, can't wait!
5. Super Friendly People- The people there are so much more friendly and open.
6. Being on the east coast and close proximity to a lot of history.
7. A less expensive cost of living, that will be nice!
8. Schooling- the school system there is one of the top rated in the country.
9. Hobby Lobby- A craft store we do not have in CA that is supposedly awesome!
10. I am running out of things, because I was only there for a weekend~ Maybe I will think of more later today!

I'm Back

2008-02-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

We got back from NC Monday evening, to sick kids and being sick myself. My poor sister had Graham and he got really really bad! He has never spent the night away from me, matter of fact he's never been away from us for more than a couple of hours! I had to drop him off Thursday night because my flight left at 7 am Friday morning and I was staying the night in San Francisco with my friend Melissa so I didn't have to get up at 4am to get to the airport. Graham was excited to see his cousin and he was fine other than a clear runny nose. He went to daycare with Eli on Friday, so he had a lot of scary things going on. No Dad, No sisters, NO MOMMY, now his auntie leaves him with some lady and a couple other kids. He did fine, however the day care lady did ask if his mom was a "stay at Home mom". What exactly does that mean???? I thought being a stay at home mom is a good thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyhoo, Uncle Gabe picked him up and all the boys went home, and once again he didn't sleep, I think he may have started to cough at the point. To make a long story short, he progressively got worse and my sis calls us at 6am CA time and tells us little G is really really sick and we need to come home. And of course there is the 3 hour time difference and the flights are all ready gone. I told her to take him to the ER, which she did. Poor little dude had a double ear infection, a fever, had to have a cortisone shot, and a breathing treatment because his throat was so swollen from the croup. He finally slept that night after getting some relief. Now my poor sister and Eli and Gabe are all sick:(

NC was good, we found a couple of homes we really like and we are trying to wheel and deal right now. I was bad, I didn't take any photos, we were too busy driving around looking at homes in many different areas. I wanted to do a top ten yesterday based on ten things I will miss about CA and 10 things I like about NC. Maybe it will be Thursday top ten this week. I also finished another book, maybe that will be for Friday!

Book Critique

2008-02-20T20:01:00.000-08:00

I just finished Innocent in Death by JD Robb, which is actually Nora Roberts pen name. This is the 23rd book in the series, I have read all of them so far. There is one more in the series which I am reading now so I can give them back to my friends mom before we move. This series is very different from Nora Roberts normal style of writing. They are set in the future 2050 something like that, and normally I don't like futuristic stuff. This series is well done, and the characters are entertaining and there is a bit of love and romance in each one. This series is a murder mystery type. I enjoyed this book and will rate it a 8. I would recommend reading the whole series so you can become familiar with the characters.

Sorry this post is so short, am trying to get ready for the flight to NC Friday AM. Hope we find a great home!