New To Us

In which we try out Red Box for our movie rentals

2009-06-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

Last month, almost over night, these began to appear all over Seattle.

Have you guys seen Red Box where you live? If you aren't familiar with it, and I wasn't, let me explain.

At different locations (grocery stores, etc) a Red Box will be placed. It's like an ATM, except for DVD's. You can rent DVD's for $1 (a day). Totally. And these aren't crappy movies. They are new releases.

Since we gave up our NetFlix membership last summer, we really haven't been watching movies. But dude, for $1....needless to say, we've been using Red Box for the last three weekends. I pick it up from a Red Box local near my work and then return it to the same location on Monday. (Although you can return them to ANY Red Box location. AWESOME!)

The first weekend we rented.....

Crap, what did we rent?

Oh yes, "Taken". It was full of action and pretty decent. Although I'd rather watch Jason Bourne.

The next week we rented "Doubt" from Red Box.

BOR-ING.

(I know it's supposed to be a great movie. But yeah, it took The King and I all weekend to watch it because we kept falling asleep. Also, DID HE OR DID HE NOT molest the kid?)

Last weekend we rented "The Curios Case of Benjamin Button". While I admit that Brad Pitt is a fine looking man and a great actor.....BOR-ING.

Again, it took us all weekend to get through it.

Good thing Red Box is only $1 a day or I'd feel horrible about the money we spent.

We don't blame Red Box for our movie choices. But this weekend, I'm totally going to get something with SOME ACTION from Red Box.

Any suggestions?

(Remember, we don't watch Rated R movies!)

Any of you tried Red Box? What do you think of it?

Getting My Craft On

2009-05-22T14:54:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my mom asked for help with a bridal shower for a beloved family friend. This "little girl" graduated from the Mrs. Squirrel School of the BabySatted without, to my knowledge, any long-lasting emotional scarring.

I jumped at the opportunity to help host and attend the shower (even if it included a plane ride with The Nugget), but when my mom asked me to take care of The Shower Games, my stomach curdled.

I heart games, but nothing sucks the joy out of a bridal shower like a bride suffering through an awkward game, turning red and trying to laugh and put on a brave face.

I decided on one game -- a game I've played at several showers but that wouldn't put the bride in an embarrassing situation. I also decided to (gasp!) CRAFT the game using her favorite color combinations.

The game: bridal shower bingo! The colors: pink & green!

Here's a closer look at the bingo card. Being a competitive freak and easily distracted at social events, I like shower gift bingo because it allows you to compete, socialize AND provides entertainment during the sometimes lenthy gift-opening session.

Several examples exist on the internet -- most of them involve paying for the game in some fashion, but I wasn't having any of that. Most of the versions already had the squares filled in with lame bridal words like "bouquet," "groom" and "dehymenization."

But I prefer the version where you, the competitive player, must strategically fill inthe spaces with gifts you think the bride will receive at the shower -- so obviously, you already KNOW at least one gift -- the one you brought. Then, if you're not shy, you can try to subtley (or not so subtley) discover what other guests bought for the bride.

The bride herself can play, too! Sometimes I get a little annoyed when the guests don't pay attention to the bride while she's opening her gifts and there's too much side chit-chat, but this game focuses all of the attention on the bride (or at least, what she's got in her hot little hands) and can be quite funny when people lament that the flat box cannot possibly hold the fondue set they'd been hoping her to unwrap or someone (not me, though...ok, maybe me) chants "gravy boat! gravy boat! COME ON FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SOMEONE HAD TO GET HER THE GRAVY BOAT -- IT WAS OFF HER REGISTRY! LET IT BE HERE! I KNOW IT'S HERE SOMEWHERE -- MAYBE THAT PINK PACKAGE? YES! THAT'S IT! OPEN THAT ONE NEEEEXTTTT!"

Anyway, the game was a huge hit with the bride-to-be and the guests. The bride loved the color combinations (colored cardstock from a craft store -- I think I spent less than $4 on two packages of mixed paper), and the only other supplies I needed were double-stick (permanent) tape, a rotary paper-cutter and a colored printer! I'm not sure if you can tell, but the center square has the couple's name and wedding date.

If you're looking for an easy crafting project and/or a shower game, try this. I'm thinking of making bingo cards for my 3.5 year old wtih zoo animals on the squares, since I have lots of paper leftover! And, if you want the template, please email me at hollowsquirrel at gmail dot com. I don't want you to have to reinvent the wheel or pay money for it elsewhere online!

From the people who brought you magic vagina cream on your face...

2009-05-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

I gave up on In Style magazine several years ago after an unfortunate, alleged Lazy Ass Mail Carrier incident involving months of undelivered issues.

I know it wasn't the magazine's fault, but I also wasn't going to shell out newstand price to buy a magazine that I was already paying for not to be delivered to my door. Bitter.

Anyhoo, I picked up the latest issue and noted a lip care tip from former Baywatch Nighter Angie Harmon.

What I'm about to say my shock you, but then again, we here at New To Us smear (not quite) vagina cream on our faces.

But back to Angie. She quite passionately recommended using Lansinoh lanolin, marketed for sore, cracked nipples, on your lips. Her enthusiasm was palpable. My perpetually flaky and cracked lips begged me to try it, and lucky for me, I still had two almost-full tubes of lanolin from my sore nipple days (breastfeeding, people...and yes, it is an awesome nipple soother.).

No lip balm has ever had the effect that Lansinoh has had on my lips. They are so smooth and soft, I honestly cannot believe the difference. Even my husband noticed how soft they are!

I guess I know now why Angie was so excited to share this awesome and inexpensive tip with In Style readers, because I'll be telling everyone I know about it, too!

In which I get a hair cut exactly like I had when I was eight

2009-05-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

You know how I got bangs a few months back as one of my New Things?

Well, while in Utah last weekend I took it up a notch.

That's right...I got STRAIGHT ACROSS BANGS. Dude, I haven't had hair like this since I was eight.

(Also, Paper Pocket Edward seemed to LOVE my new hair!) (Hey, I'm just saying, the little paper dude thought the bangs were hott.)

(Seriously, check out my straight across bangs on my baptism day!)

Holy crap, I have the exact same hair style I had over twenty six years ago. I'm thinking thats a bad thing, right?

Why did I get my bangs cut? Mostly because The King has, what I call, a bus crush on a girl on his bus with similar bangs. So I figured, why not?

Plus, they'll always grow back.

(But I think I might keep them for a while. They are WAY easier then the swoopy bangs!)

In which we go to the dentist for the very first time ever

2009-03-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Babboo is mere weeks away from being three years old, which is the recommended age to start going to the dentist. Yesterday was his first ever dentist appointment.

Thankfully one of our very bestest friends just happens to work as a dental assistant for a dentist that was currently accepting new (children) patients. HOORAY.

Babboo did such a great job. I'm not sure if it was just because he's a rockstar (hey, he is), or if having someone he's very comfortable with there to help me. (He loves Vesper almost as much as he loves me.)

Vesper started out by talking to Babboo and telling him what she was going to be doing to his teeth. She showed him how the chair goes up and down ("just like the rides at Disneyland!") and told him about "sugar bugs" on his teeth.

After she prepped him, she started working on his mouth. Babboo sat totally still and just let her do her thang.

(I just sat in the corner and snapped pictures.)

It just took a few minutes to get his teeth cleaned and get a few X-rays taken and then he was all done.

And, guess what?

NO CAVITIES!

Hooray for the dentist (and Vesper).

In which I enjoy a burger in my hotel room

2009-03-06T07:01:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that before last weekend I'd never eaten an In-N-Out burger?

Well, believe it because it's true. Okay, so I'm not really a "burger" type of girl. I rarely will eat a burger at a fast found joint and you'll be hard pressed to find me eating a burger off the home BBQ. I'm just not that into them.

When I do order a burger it always is a cheeseburger. And I also order it, "ONLY pickles". Oh yes, I'm very seriously about the ONLY pickles part. All that other crap they put on burgers? Just gross filler. (Oh and the pickles? DOUBLE them, please.)

Anyway, when we arrived in LA last Friday night we were tired. All of us were tired. And yet, we were super hungry. But being so tired, nobody wanted to leave the hotel room. The King, being the awesome husband he is took the initiative and headed out in the rental car to find something to bring back to the hotel room.

What he brought back was a box full of In-N-Out burgers, fries, and water. And, glory be, they were delicious. Even with "everything" on it. Okay, so I had to take off the onion. But only because there was AN ENTIRE ONION on the burger. (Is that typical? Are they known for putting too much onion on their burgers?) The fries were cold and limp, and yet, still tasty. The King and Babboo wanted nothing to do with the fries, so I ate them all myself. And didn't feel guilty about it.

Babboo also loved his burger. So much so that he laid down and ate it while he fell asleep. He couldn't finish it all so he asked me to put it away and "save it for later". (Since we were in a hotel room this means I threw it in the garbage and did not "save it for later".)

Note to self: Next time you're in CA, get another darn burger. They good.

In which I get new hair

2009-02-18T07:01:00.000-08:00

Yep, I got bangs.

And I love them.

(Ask me in two weeks if I'm still loving them.)

The New House deserves New Things too

2009-02-11T07:01:00.000-08:00

I feel like it's been a while since I posted about New Things over at our new house. But looking back at this blog, I realize the new house is pretty much all I've posted about lately. I guess that's because I was trying to keep the BIGGEST New Thing a secret, so I had to come up with other topics. But now that we've got the Big New Thing out of the way...let's talk more about the New Things over at the new house.

(Yes, we still refer to our house as "the new house". Mostly Babboo refers to it that way and we just follow along.)

Remember back when we bought new curtains for the house at IKEA and then I hemmed them all myself? I was super proud of my (faked) skillz. I mean, I had never really sewn before this and I was able to hem curtains for SIX windows in our house. Unfortunately we didn't need curtains in all the windows in the house and even more unfortunate we couldn't afford blinds for the rest of the windows.

The King began doing research on blinds and watching online and catalog sales. In the mean time we were walking around the house showing all our nekked goodies to the neighbors through our nekked windows. Thankfully, a few weeks ago, The King found a super sale on some blinds over at Smith+Noble that we liked. And so he bought blinds for the two windows in our office and one for the window at the top of our stairs.

And, praise be, they look magnificent. And they cover our nekkedness from the neighbors spying eyes.

(Are you loving the wool Vespa pillow The King got for Christmas? We love it too. It can be purchased over at ETSY.)

Not only do we have these awesome new window coverings (bought on sale, mind you), but we also got four brand new kitchen chairs FOR FREE last week!

Check out how cool they are!

How were we lucky enough to score these chairs? Well, I can't give all my secrets away, but it has something to do with a good friend who is an executive at a failing bank. A failing bank that was GIVING AWAY furniture used in an architectural mock up. Our friend got six chairs for them and then four for us. Score one for The King Family. (Or really, score four, since we got four of them.)

I think we're going to paint our old crappy IKEA wooden kitchen chairs to match the new green chairs and use all eight at the table. Awesome.

It can take a load of money to fill a house once you get it. Thankfully we've got time to slowly acquire all the stuff we need. And good friends to give us the other stuff.

Awesome Grandparents Gift

2009-02-02T08:06:00.000-08:00

I'd been planning this Christmas gift for my parents before the Nugget arrived. Finally, with all four grandchildren born and able to sit, my sister-in-law and I took profile pictures of our kids and sent them to www.simplysilhouettes well before Christmas.

We chose the double silhouette and made it as simple as possible (no wording, no colors). We each ordered the $10 frame which we both regretted. It was a piece of crap and cheapened the gift.

With the holiday travel and associated stress, neither my sister-in-law nor I had time to find the perfect frame for the silhouettes, but recently I found myself in WalMart (I know...I'm such a Target traitor!), and brought home an 8x10 black frame with two white mats.

Wait, you say... I see a white and a black mat, Mrs. Squirrel.

Yes, that's because I used a black crafty type marker I had around the house to color in the interior white mat.

Oh yes I did. In under three minutes, and that includes the time I spent trying to find where I put the cap.

Silhouettes make wonderful heirloom gifts, and this company worked some magic using the pictures we emailed them from our point-and-shoot digital cameras in a quick and friendly manner.

They also offer wall decals, silhouettes on canvas and many other fantastic gift options. Check it out!

In which I long for hair as pretty as Whoorl's

2009-01-30T07:01:00.000-08:00

Did you read Whoorl's guest post over at Amalah's Advice Smackdown back in November?

(You must read it. Click here, read it, and then come back.)

You all know what a fan I am of Amalah's beauty advice. I typically hold fast to everything she says. Throw in Whoorl's hair knowledge and you've got me hooked.

(I have spent real life quality time with Whoorl and let me tell you, HER HAIR IS MAGICAL. I will do anything she tells me to do in regards to my hair.)

Whoorl and me, kicking it at BlogHer '07

So back in November Whoorl suggested (via the Advice Smackdown) that we all try dry shampoo. This is a product I'd been wanting to try for years. Mostly because my hair is super oily and requires I wash it daily. I love sleep and I am lazy. I do not want to have to wash and style my hair daily. I spent the 9 months I was pregnant with Babboo trying desperately to "train" my hair into not requiring daily washing.

This did not work. My hair remained an oil slick.

And then someone told me I could rub baby powder on my hair to eliminate some of the oil. I tried this and it seemed to work. Plus, I had an abundance of baby powder in my house.

Problem solved, right?

Well, not really "solved". My hair is uber dark and thin...so eventually the baby powder shows up like white dandruff. Which it is NOT!

So then Whoorl suggested we all try "dry shampoo". And in the comment section I wrote:

Okay, okay, I'll buy some at Sephora today on my lunch break. I promise.

And even though I had promised, once I got to Sephora and saw that the Ojon dry shampoo cost $24 for 4 ounces, I shuddered at this purchase and walked out of Sephora empty handed.

Since it was so close to Christmas I added the Ojon to my "wish list" that I gave to The King. And then forgot about Ojon and continued to douse my hair with baby powder.

Christmas morning came and I opened one of my present to find my own bottle of Ojon.

Happy days!

I'm pretty sure I used it that day and have continued to use it for the last month. Do I love it? Yes, I do. Does it work? Yes, it does. Does it work better then my past baby powder regime? Maybe a little. But not twenty four dollars better.

So here's my final thoughts on it:

I do love it. I will be sad when it's all gone. I will save up any gift cards I may get for Christmas and birthdays for more bottles. But I just justify spending my head earned money on it.

Dang, I'm cheap.

So, have any of you tried the dry shampoos out there? What do you think about them? And what about using baby powder? I'd love to hear what you all have to say!

In which you can now come over to visit my new house

2009-01-26T07:01:00.000-08:00

You may have heard mention that we haven't had a way to access our front door at the new house. That's right, we had to get inside our house by opening our garage and using the basement door and then walking upstairs to our living area. It really wasn't that bad to do this, but not really the best way to present our house to friends and family visiting for the first time.

But, get this, as of about 11 am on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 WE NOW HAVE STAIRS TO OUR FRONT DOOR.

STAIRS!

Oh my gosh. I was so giddy. So much so that I may have text messaged the news to some friends. Oh yes, this is big news at The King household.

And dude, I totally had Babboo do an inaugural walk down the stairs so I could take pictures...that's how exciting our new stairs were.

And now we can invite all of our friends over to our house. Of course we still don't have doors to our bathrooms...but hey, The King's working on it.

In which I scrapbook for the first time

2008-11-18T07:01:00.000-08:00

It's my grandma's 80th birthday in a few weeks. Her daughters, one of which is my mom, are throwing her a huge shin-dig over Thanksgiving weekend. In Utah. In keeping with our Celebrating Thanksgiving Outside of the US of A tradition we'll be in Canada and not in Utah that weekend. Oh well, no 80th birthday party for us. (Sorry Grandma. Maybe next time!)

At this party my mom and her sisters plan on presenting my grandma with a scrapbook with a photo page for every single one of her kids, grandkids and great grandkids. Months ago an e-mail went out from my aunt assigning us our scrapbook pages. I was told I needed to make a page for me. One for The King. And one for Babboo.

Dude, three pages.

Oh yeah, did I tell you that I've never ever scrapbooked before?

(Just because I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints [Mormon] doesn't mean I automatically know how to scrapbook. Let's just get that straight.)

These scrapbook pages were supposed to include pictures of us with my grandma. I figured this was no problem as I have tons of pictures of me with her over the years. I even have quite a few pictures of her with Babboo. (No pictures of her with The King though.) I sent my pictures off to be printed a few weeks ago and then contacted my older brother Biff to see if he wanted to get together with me to scrapbook.

He's never scrapbooked either.

Man, what kind of Gay and Mormon are we that neither of us has never scrapbooked before?

(Bad ones, that's what kind.)

Last Thursday night Biff and I headed to the local craft store to purchase our scrapbooking supplies. First off, we weren't even sure what types of supplies we needed. We both knew we didn't want to spend very much money. The helpful lady suggested we buy the 12X12 paper and then just coordinate with some matching card stock to accent the photos.

Sounded easy enough.

Especially since I had loads of cute card stock at my house. I bought three pages that had red in them. My brother bought one page that was so ultra butch that it was also super gay. (He really should have just bought a damn rainbow page for as gay as his page turned out. I loved it!)

We headed back to my house and I unloaded my supplies as well as the multiple pictures I had printed out of me with my grandma through the years.

I quickly found out that I had way more pictures then would fit on the 12X12 page. Basically each page would only hold three pictures. I had to choose wisely.

I decided to put a few old pictures and a few new pictures on my page. Babboo's page is full of pictures of him with my grandma. Then instead of The King getting his own page I decided to have the last page be pictures of my little family. (I didn't have any pictures of The King with my grandma. Go figure.)

I found that I also owned more supplies then I realized. Who knew that all the stuff I use to make my own cards can also be sued for scrapbooking?! Really, I had no idea I was so supplied.

Even my brother was a little taken aback by my stash. I mean, dude, I even own a paper cutter, fancy scissors and glitter. (Oh man, I have loads of glitter.)

Once we got started time just flew by. Really, I have no idea how long it took the two of us to make four pages, but by the time we were done we were.....done. My kid was covered in glue stick and my floor was covered in glitter. And all we had to show were a couple of pages.

Today I'm mailing our pages so my mom can put them in the book to present at my grandma's birthday party next week. I suggested my mom make a color copy of the entire book for herself. I'm pretty sure this scrapbook is going to be priceless and a huge hit with my grandma.

My pages aren't the craftiest things in the world. But hey, I know my grandma will love them. And really, we all had fun making them!

Yes you can fit two people in a voting booth

2008-11-05T07:01:00.000-08:00

I registered to vote on my 18th birthday. At that same time I signed up for absentee voting. I was going to be moving away to college in a few months and I figured voting in the mail would be the easiest way to do it.

And so I voted absentee for the past 13 years.

But then we moved into our new house this summer, smack dab in the middle of a Presidential Election and I was afraid that something would go wrong with my address change and I would be able to vote. So months ago I did an online address change for my voting registration. I figured I would just in and vote. You know, with an actual number 2 pencil and a hole to fill in.

Babboo and I picked up The King from the bus stop last night and headed to our local voting local. Thankfully we only waiting in line for about 2 minutes (seriously). I got a little nervous when they said my name wasn't on their list. The King's name was, which was good. But dude, MY NAME WAS NOT ON THE LIST.

What if I wouldn't be allowed to vote?

I was shuffled over to a line and told I could vote using a provisional ballot. I admit I had never heard of this. But whatever, I was going to get vote.

And so, with my husband waiting off to the side and my child with me in the booth, I voted.

Voting, in real life and not by absentee, is pretty thrilling. Maybe I'll always do it this way!

My eyes are now "bare" and "natruale" apparently

2008-10-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

Here's the thing. I had a $5 coupon to try Loreal's new Bare Naturale Mascera. Plus Target had another coupon for $1 off. With a deal like that I couldn't not try it out. Right? It's not like I'm some sort of mascara whore or anything. Mostly because my eyelashes are already black and on the long end of the spectrum. So really I'm not looking for a mascara that will change the world for me...I just need something to take my lashes to the next level.

Typically I just buy the Sephora brand mascara. And it seems to work just dandy. But with this awesome coupon I wanted to try the new Loreal mascara.

Honestly my first thought was how light the package was. I'm not sure how much mascara should weight, but this bottle feels like it's full of air. Odd, I know. The texture of the mascara is pretty liquidy. But not so much that it runs off your lashes...it just isn't goopy when applied. This can be a good thing if your lashes tend to get all gooped together. The brush seems to work just fine and I haven't had any problems with my lashes sticking together.

What I have noticed is how I look like a freakin' raccoon every night after I wash my make up off. I don't use a specific eye make-up remover, but with this mascara it seems that maybe I should. It just won't come off. To some people this might be a good thing, but to me it just drives me batty. I find that I have to use a Q-tip to remove the last of my mascara the NEXT MORNING AFTER MY SHOWER. Yep, nothings taking this stuff off.

I'm not sure that my lashes are going to stop traffic any time soon. Like I said, my lashes are pretty okay, so I'm probably not the best demographic for mascara. But the Loreal Bare Naturale mascara is getting the job done, for now. Plus, the price is right.

I'd definitely buy it again. But only if I can get another $5 off coupon.

Anybody else out there tried it? What did you think?

For Your Chewing Pleasure

2008-10-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

I'm addicted to this gum.

I'm spending potential nap time to tell you about it and possibly limit my supply by letting you in on this secret.

My mom turned me onto this but had trouble finding it, so we spent a few days buying and discarding other similarly packaged gums before shouting EUREKA! in Target.

It's Dentyne BLAST, people. Winter Chill is the flavor. Trust me, your entire mouth will thank you.

The only sad part about this whole package is that it packs a wee NINE pieces of numminess. Can you not bulk-pack it? Like 20 packages to a package...so like 180 pieces? That might keep me happy for a week or so.

New Technology -- Read About it HERE FIRST!

2008-10-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

The date: October 2, 2008
The place: Upstate New York
The technology pioneer: that'd be me, Mrs. Squirrel.

The technology? Call-waiting.

Seriously. First time ever. Is the beeping always that loud?

I guess you could say I was bitten by Sarah Jessica Parker

2008-10-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

By now everyone has heard that Sarah Jessica Parker has her own clothing line, right? It’s called Bitten and you can only buy it at Steve & Barry’s, where everything is under $20!! But Steve & Barry’s isn’t located in downtown Seattle. I think it’s more of an east coast thing. Right? Anyway, there isn’t one in Seattle.

When we went to NYC last summer I made sure to stop at the local S&B to check out SJP’s Bitten line. At that time I bought a new winter coat, a pair of pants and a t-shirt. They were all under $20. I was happy with my purchases. (I have gotten so many compliments on the coat. Really, it’s cute.)

I had heard that there was a Steve & Barry’s in the state of Washington, I just wasn’t sure where. Well, last week I got online and found out it’s located in Everett city mall. Everett is about 40 minutes away from Seattle and also on the way to the local outlet mall. Last Saturday, with my mom in town, we decided to head out to Steve & Barry’s and the outlet mall. Hey, might as well hit them both.

It was going to be a perfect day.

My goal for that shopping day was to get some jeans that I could wear with regular shoes. You see, I’m short. Not super, duper short. But short enough. I’m about 5’ 5” and I have to wear every pair of pants I own with heels. Even my jeans are worn with heels. I wanted some pants that fit sans a 3” heel.

I was hoping to find some jeans at Ann Taylor. I love their jeans and figured the Petite ones would be perfect. Except guess what? The Ann Taylor loft didn’t have the jeans I liked. So yeah, NO JEANS.

But then I remembered that we were also going to check out SJP’s Bitten line later that day. And I knew the jeans would be less then $20. Hey, you can’t go wrong, right?

My mom and I walked into the store and instantly I fell in love with the new Bitten coats. But yeah, upon closer inspection it seemed a little cheap looking. Cute, but maybe a little too cheap. The jeans, on the other hand, looked pretty good. And for $9.98 I was sold. Even before I tried them on.

I grabbed my size in a "short" and ran into the dressing room. I thought they fit nicely and my mom agreed that they look decent enough. Especially for $9.98.

And so I bought myself a pair and I've been wearing them ever evening after work since last Saturday.

They aren't as dark of a wash as I would want. But again, for $9.98 I'm happy. And dude, the "short" isn't too short for me like most "shorts" are. In fact these are just the perfect length. I think I could even wear them with a bit of a heel, if I wanted to.

I'm anxious to hear what the rest of you think about Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten line. Seriously, do tell!

Hello Craig! I'm Stacy. Let's do business.

2008-09-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

I'd heard of this Craig's List thingy and wanted to try it out before I was the last person on earth who'd used it...well, besides John McCain.

First, I looked there for a painter for The Back Porch Project. Right away, I found a young whippersnapper who listed a friendly ad and linked to his website featuring lovely before and after shots. I hired the young man on the spot -- I couldn't help it. I just had to give him a shot, since he was working so hard at establishing himself in the painting business.

Did I ask for references? Negatory. Did I get other estimates? Oh no. I just hired him and ... it worked out great. Whew. That could have turned out poorly, like the last 8 years of presidency. Just saying.

Next, I decided to sell my Hello Kitty coffeemaker. I was in one of my four stages of Depression: Purging material goods. Other stages include: Overeating, Shopping and Sulking. Purging is my favorite. While I heart longtime my Hello Kitty coffeemaker, I rarely used it, and we have no place for it in our kitchen. It sat at work, unused, and even though the little happy kitty perched on top of the coffeemaker could make even Strom Thurmond crack a smile (if he weren't dead.)(he's dead, right?), I had to part ways with it.

I wanted it to go to a loving, enthusiastic home, and after listing it for $15, I got nothing but crickets. Until...

an interest buyer in Ohio emailed me.

But wait, aren't I suppose to be wary of non-local buyers? Shoooot. What to do, what to do?

I emailed the prospective buyer and explained my hesitation. She emailed me back with her understanding of my predicament but still enthusiastically wanted the Kitty. I could feel her desire. She loved the kitty coffeemaker. She NEEDED the coffeemaker.

For God's sake, people...she tattooed Hello Kitty on her arm.

Long story shortish, I googled her Hello Kitty wanting ass, Facebook'd her, and realized unless she had an elaborate online fake persona, this girl was realin' and dealin'. I wrapped that bloody coffeemaker with enough bubblewrap to cushion a friggin Frigidaire and mailed it off with a nice note and a prayer.

One week later and looook who made some dough! This girl.

Tomorrow: Live-Blogging a Live-Show!

2008-09-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I will try something new related to blogging: I'll be live-blogging the making/attending of The Martha Stewart Show down in New York City! One of my bestest bloggy friends forwarded me an email about the Martha Show looking to fill her audience with bloggers. I hopped on that like stink on Diaper Champ and rounded up a friend to join me on the early train to NYC!

There I will be schlepping my laptop, a breastpump and assorted superfluous cosmetics so in the slim chance the camera pans my way, the light reflecting off my shiny forehead won't blind you, in the viewing audience..and what if I need my berry-colored gloss? Unless my eyes are bloodshot from getting up so g.d. early...which is why I'll also bring my more brown-based Prescriptives lipstick. Also? If you hear a loud whirring during the show, it's probably me pumping. I'm sure that won't interfere with production, right? Good.

We'll see how friendly New York is to breastpumping moms! Amtrak? Martha Stewart Show? Random shops and restaurants? I'm taking my pump to the streets. Let me in! Let me near your outlet! Let me pump!

As for live-blogging, which was really the point of this post, this should be about perfect for me -- the consumate second-guesser. I can write, publish, rephrase and republish, say something new, publish, rephrase and expand on, and continue this stream of consciousness right through the morning. Should be a good time, even if I won't be sitting near live reindeer.

I do wish she was going to be there...or this blogging icon. I'm trying to not to be ungrateful for the guests lined up...I'm trying to summon some excitement. I'm just not into food, political or gardening blogs. At all. The headlining guest? Sure as shit I'm excited.

What if we get to question Perez...what do you want to know? Anything from Martha?

Hair like you just walked off the beach?

2008-08-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

Last year I bought Bumble & Bumble's Surf Spray. I'd read about it over at Amalah's Advice Smackdown and decided I needed to try it. My cousin was working at a salon, so she got it for me for a steal. I think it was marked at $16 and she got it for me for $8. Which is still more then I can afford, but I went for it anyway!

My natural hair is already ~~wavy~~ ~~curly~~ not straight, so I wasn't quite sure what this surf spray would do to my hair. According to the Bumble & Bumble website the Surf Spray is:

Excellent for wavy types and surfers with winter blues; adds body to fine hair; a nice texture for silver hair.

According to Amalah's Advice Smackdown:

The whole point of the product (Surf Spray) is to add a bit of "grit" to your hair, aping that salt-and-sand crazy flyaway look you get at the beach.

I know the beach hair that Amalah's speak of and I know that I love it and want it. I used the Surf Spray as directed on the bottle:

Work through damp or dry hair; let dry naturally or blow-dry with a diffuser. Or on dry hair for detailing and adding lift at the roots. The less you touch it, the longer it will hold.

The thing is, I wasn't sure how much to use. I usually don't use a lot of product, so I didn't use a lot of the Surf Spray. Maybe six sprays throughout my hair. (Two on each side and two on the back.) Plus, I didn't want to waste all of this spendy product in this trial phase.

I saved it for special occasions and then mostly forgot about it. Yep, I forgot about it. I'm not sure if that means it didn't really work, or what. But I didn't use it that often.

A few weeks ago, while shopping at my local drug store I saw a product I hadn't seen before:

Sunsilk Waves of Envy Sea Mist.

According to the Sunsilk website:

Recreates a beachy look in a bottle. Sea salt attracts moisture from the air to create the perfect conditions for tousled beachy look.

Best of all if was only $3. I bought a bottle and tried it out the next day after I got out of the shower. Since it is so cheap I wasn't afraid to use a ton of it. And that's what I did, I sprayed and sprayed. And then I used my fingers to twist some big pieces of my hair. And then I used my diffuser, like I always do.

And while it doesn't make me look (or feel) like this:

It does make my hair look like this:

And, let's be honest, that's plenty good enough for a $3 bottle of hair product.

Visiting Woodland Park Zoo for the first time

2008-08-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

For Babboo's first birthday I took him, along with some family and friends, to a small zoo outside of Seattle. The King was deep in the middle of building the new house, so we left him at home to work.

Last Friday The King and I decided to cut out of work early and take Babboo to the local Woodland Park Zoo. The King hadn't been to the Woodland Park Zoo since he was a kid and Babboo and I had never been there.

Hooray for trying New Things!

The afternoon started off great with a visit to the gorilla house. Oh my goodness, my heart about melted when I saw the mommy gorilla all snuggled up next to the baby gorilla. It reminded me of all the nights Babboo and I slept like this when he was teeny tiny. (Dude, saggy nipple alert.)

As we were walking away from the gorilla house I noticed our friends walking toward they. I guess we weren't the only ones with the idea to leave work early for a trip to the zoo. I'm no mathematician, but I'm thinking the odds of running into our friends rights as we were both getting to the zoo are pretty high. I mean, not to sound like too much of a nerd, but dude, what are the chances?

I spent most of the day making my kid pose for all the usual pictures. I mean, what mom doesn't dream of having their kid's face on a butterfly?

I know I've always dreamed of it.

I've also always wanted to see what Babboo would look like as a caterpillar.

(For the record, he'd be a very cute caterpillar.)

Or how about a picture of my kid riding on a bear. Oh yes, it's long been a dream of mine.

And a dream of The King's, if I'm being honest here.

Of course it goes without saying that Babboo's favorite part of the day was eating his first push-up bar. He couldn't push that darn thing up fast enough. Of course it ended up breaking and ice cream wound up everywhere but in his mouth. Poor kid.

One of the crazy parts about hanging out with these certain friends of our is that our kids names are a little too close for comfort. Of course I paid no attention to this when we named Babboo. I hate having to call after them when they run away.

"Luke, Leia*, get back here!"

People look at us like were some type of freaky George Lucas fans

Of course Babboo and little Leia love hanging out. (Yes, Babboo is wearing the pants that I patched up for him. I think they are adorable.)

All in all, we had a very lovely time at the zoo. Only made that much nicer because of our friends.

* Not their real names. But you get the picture, right?

Dear Target, I Love You.

2008-08-22T17:35:00.001-07:00

I normally don't post my weekly Target finds here. I don't think I've even shared with you my addiction to orange handbags and totes. Why not start now?

I simply MUST because I'm in love, people, LOVE! L-O-V-E with my latest orange addition to my shoulderwear collection!

Loookkkeeeeee it. Love at first sight does indeed exist. As soon as that graphic popped, I planned out which Target to head to after work (the superstore, naturally -- better selection), grabbed a sandwich and pop from the little cafe across the hall and checked the clock. Oh crap. I still had 15 minutes left of work. Blahblahblah work gets done, then I hit the parking lot!

NOW nothing stood in my way! PAPRIKA PURSE -- YOU WILL BE MINE!

My GOD it took me several loops around the handbag department (yes, I know it's like 3 shelves) before finding it. I was sweating it though, peeps. Maybe our Targets wouldn't be getting the satchel. Maybe they've already been scooped up. Maybe MY SWEET PAPRIKA SATCHEL WASN'T TO BEEEEE.

But alas, there she was. On the fourth shelf (as I said, it was a superstore. duh!). If I didn't have to quickly drive home to pump, then deliver another bottle to daycare for the Nugget, I swear I would have swapped purses right there.

Eventually, the ceremonial purse swappage took place, and even though sporting a (gorgeous) paprika satchel in late August could be considered a tad premature, me no care. You jealous. Jealousy ugly. Booo you!

Regress much? Oops. Sorry!

So there you have it! Another stunning orange accessory to accompany my orange canvas satchel, orange canvas-poly-something-SO-not-organic tote, and orange canvas diaper bag.

Welcome home, love.

Oh yes, this old thing?

2008-08-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

Why shoot... I haven't introduced to this blog yet the GREATEST new thing in the past 5 months and 2 weeks of my life... it's The Nugget!

Just look at him! Isn't he cute? See, now you're not angry with me for never posting over here...I've been busy pinching those CHEEKS! He's dreamy. I'm in love...all over again.

Having two children definitely more than doubles the work, but the highs of having children also reach so much higher, which I didn't think was possible. The lows, unfortunately, also dip further into hair-pulling-out-dom. They don't last as long, though -- I can't wallow in the tantrums. I don't have time. I calm one, then calm the other and then it's go time. Distraction! Shiny happy things! Weee let's throw stuffed animals at each other over the guestroom bed while I shield Baby Nugget with a pillow! What? You don't play that game?

It does get better...for those of you thinking of having two or in the overwhelming throes of having a new baby or two. It gets great, in fact.

Jojo and The Nugget are such different babies (well, Jojo is a Big Boy, and he'll tell you that). What we were used to with Jojo's infancy can now only be remembered -- through our swiss cheesed memories, or thankfully, those captured on film or video. But let's see if I can remember some of the main differences:

Jojo -- pooped at least three times a day.
The Nugget -- poops every 8-10 days.

Jojo -- came out big, but then slimmed down
The Nugget -- came out somewhat big and has only got bigger...he's currently only five pounds lighter than his older brother!

Jojo -- hated baths for the longest time.
The Nugget -- loves to lounge and kick in the tub. No worries!

Jojo -- spit up only a handful of times.
The Nugget -- spits up handfuls after every feeding.

Thankfully, they share many commonalities -- like that we're flipping crazy for them, they're both healthy and thriving, and they love to snuggle, smile and coo.

I'm so happy being the mother of two boys. Every day I learn something new about them and about myself, and even if at the end of the day I'm achingly exhausted, I still look forward to tomorrow's adventures.

Jojo's new role as a big brother has been incredible to watch. He seemed to understand that his brother was in mommy's belly, but I wasn't sure how it would be once he saw the screaming bundle of Nugget. We introduced him to his brother right away. He just kind of looked, repeated his name, then continued on opening his Big Brother present we brought with us to the hospital.

The nurses needed to take the baby for testing, so Mr. Squirrel and Jojo accompanied the Nugget in his rolling bassinet up to the nursery. While Mr. Squirrel and Jojo took their places in front of the glass outside the nursery, a group of touring expectant parents entered the hallway to check out the facilities.

"Look who we have here," said the tour guide, a nurse, "a brand new baby."

One of the expectant fathers wondered aloud if the Nugget was a boy or a girl.

Jojo informed them: "That's baby brother. MY baby brother. Baby Nugget."

He's been proud, protective and loving ever since. I think Jojo would label his new baby brother as we would: a wonderful gift who gives us great joy.

And now maybe I can dress myself a little easier

2008-08-08T07:01:00.000-07:00

The King and I have been married for eight years (or it will be eight years on Monday). And during those eight years I've asked him to buy me a full-length mirror. Every birthday, Christmas, anniversary, and Mothers Day I ask for one.

Yes, on every single gift-giving holiday I make this one request:

"Buy me a damn full-length mirror already!"

And every time The King tells me of his plan to build an entire wall of mirrors in the bathroom for me.

The idea sounds awesome and something I'm totally down with. But dude, it has yet to happen. We've built two houses and neither of them has a wall of mirrors.

On Monday night we went to IKEA to procure more curtains for the new house. Oh yes, I'm still working on hemming curtains for the million and six windows in our house. (While I'm cursing the amount of windows in the house right now, I'm sure I'll be thankful for them come the dark months this winter.)

Anyway, back to IKEA.

While The King was busy loading our cart up with pots for our new deck (that's right, we have [part of] a deck!)...I waltzed over to the mirror section and dreamed of one day having my own full-length mirror.

Then it hit me. Yeah, just throw a damn mirror in your cart and call it good.

And so that's what I did.

For our anniversary on Monday, I'm asking The King to get out his hammer and nails and hang my new mirror to the inside of my closet door.

(I am kicking myself for not doing this years ago. The stupid thing was only $9.)

($9, people. Why did I wait so long?!)

(I won't have to wait until I get into the office to use the full-length mirror in the bathroom at work. Now I know what I look like before I leave the house.)

Having a birthday isn't "new", but being 36 is!

2008-07-31T07:01:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Squirrel is 36 today. It's her latest New Thing and it's very fabulous. Just like she is.

Here's hoping that we can all look at fabulous as she does when we're her age!

Keeping it real at BlogHer '07