Consider the Coffee

House views

2012-02-02T13:05:00.001-05:00

We got a new "pub height" round table for our kitchen. It's petite but very functional. It has the shelf area underneath and a large drawer for storage. The sides fold down as well. It's been fun to sit there with coffee, tea, or even a meal and look out of the window into the woods.


morning coffee

Even though it looks like there is nothing around back there in the woods, you can actually see the back of some neighbors' houses on the left(that angle not pictured). So we don't feel isolated. But we have a large patch of woods for lots of privacy still! The woods are outside of our property, owned by someone else. But we get to admire the view!

Me on the wood deck

our deck that you can access from the living room

How our living room looked the first morning we lived here. Things have progressed more since then but I don't have the pictures ready yet!

Just a view near our neighborhood, near lots of stores, and pretty views.

Birthdays and Decor Inpirations

2012-01-28T11:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my husband's birthday! We went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant last night, just us three. But today my family will join us to eat at an Indian buffet for lunch, can't wait! Indian definitely became my favorite cuisine over the years, influenced by my husband but also because it's just so delicious to me. So many different styles of Indian food. Differs from North to South India, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, with their yummy snacks and desserts too.

Kavi's 4th birthday is on Wednesday! I can't believe he'll be 4 years old! We are having a birthday party for him the following Saturday. Cars (Disney) theme, his request!

And a favorite "pin" of the day on pinterest. I don't plan to paint our mantel yellow but already had planned to incorporate these colors, plus one or two more colors, in the living room and our bedroom. So I repinned this from Angela, and it first originated from a studio decorated here and toured here before being mentioned on decor8blog. Amazing how these pins get around!

Source: bklynbrideonline.com via Angela on Pinterest

The painting

2012-01-25T12:29:00.000-05:00

Since a few people mentioned loving the painting, I wanted to talk about it! I love it too! And guess what? I got it through a trade with a talented friend. Since I had a sewing machine, and she had this lovely painting, we traded. My help to sew up bolster covers and regular pillow covers for this beautiful 2'x3' painting. We had to mail our items to each other and I was so excited when I received this, in a very large flat packaged box.

My friend Laura has two shops on Etsy. This work was unique as she had originally painted it for her own house. I admired it from the beginning. I eventually asked if she thought of scanning it to sell prints of on Etsy in her shop. That's when she said I could just have it, the original one, in the trade!

I received it at our rental house and put it up there before Christmas. But at this house, it's perfect in between the door and window, which open out onto trees as well! I had no idea how perfect it'd be when we decided to trade, since we didn't look at this house yet!

It has received compliments by all who see it! I had the pleasure of meeting Laura before I moved to Alabama.
(Sorry I was only able to use cell phone photos!)

If you'd like to check our her work, visit her on Etsy here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/laurahussein
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilwordtoldme

Or on facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/Laura.Hussein.Studios

A tornado scare

2012-01-23T21:59:00.002-05:00

We had our first experience of hearing tornado sirens and having to go to the basement, only a week after moving in!

We knew there would be bad weather coming in the middle of the night last night/this morning. I went to bed after watching some of The Weather Channel and it was already late, after midnight. It took me awhile to fall asleep and I felt a little anxious even though it wasn't stormy yet.I kept imagining us huddled in the basement. Eventually I fell asleep.

At around 3:45 am I woke up to the distant sound of tornado sirens. First I wasn't sure if I was really hearing them, but it was them. Not very loud though. I woke up my husband asking if he heard them too. Then they ended a minute later. My heart was already racing and I went to the living room to put on the Weather Channel again and read my phone's weather app warning. They said there was a tornado warning for our area, and they said specific areas very close to here! I saw the radar and that it wasn't right here but could be coming soon. I knew it meant we had to make our first scary tornado related decision to go to the basement. I got my husband up and he got Kavi, after I had used the bathroom. We grabbed a coat each, I grabbed some water, my wedding rings, my purse, a small crank flashlight and our phones and we went down to the basement a little before 4 a.m. Kavi was a little nervous and wondering what we were doing but he didn't freak out thankfully. We had a spare twin mattress down there and we sat on it in the safest corner. Our basement is only partially underground.

At around 4:10 a.m. the weather got stormy with some gusty wind and hard rain, but it didn't sound like a tornado just bad weather. Our lights flickered on and off, that part kind of freaked me out, and finally went out. So we were in our dark basement, Kavi told us to turn the light back on, we said we can't(hehe) and just used the light from our phones. Kavi ended up falling asleep on the mattress while the lights were off.

A little after that it sounded like the worst had passed but we stayed put since they extended the warming for the county until 5:15a.m. I was able to get online with 3G and post on FB and my phone didn't work well for texting. A friend texted us and I was able to tell her and others on FB that we were okay! The power came on sometime after 4:30 and we went back upstairs around 5:10a.m. when they had canceled our warnings. By that time I had read updates about the weather that said a large tornado was tracked very near our area. We couldn't believe it. It could have been 1-2 miles away at certain points. It missed us. I must admit tornadoes are one of my big fears. And now I feel like I am having to face it! But we plan to make our basement even more secure in one section. It was a crazy night/morning. Finally around 7a.m. I fell back asleep to catch up on rest, until around 10:30. I saw pictures after waking up of damaged houses in neighborhoods I have seen, not very far from here. Wow.

After a crazy morning and a very tired feeling day, I made some chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for a treat for all of us! Tonight will be a peaceful weather night.

Fireplace on a cozy Saturday

2012-01-22T12:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday(Saturday), my family drove down from their town to hang out with us during the day and evening. It turned out to be such a cozy day! It rained the first part of the day and stayed cloudy the rest of the day. It wasn't very cold, but as the evening came it got chilly enough for us to try out our fireplace! We would have tried it no matter what though.

My sister brought some firewood from their home that they had for their outside fire pit. We are very inexperienced with fireplaces, as you can imagine with growing up in Florida. So this is so new for us. Since we recently had the house inspection before buying this house, we knew the fireplace was fine to use. My sister was the one who worked to start the fire, with some crumpled newspaper over the wood, and after a little bit, the fire was crackling away. My mom made giddy giggles, and we all felt happy. We felt like we were at a vacation home. (Because having a working fireplace is still such a new feeling to most of us! Something we dreamed of in the past.)

My sis also picked up marshmallows, chocolate bars

and graham crackers to make S'mores!!

Marshmallows roasting below.

My S'more

Lights off to feel even more cozy.

I shared one of these pictures on facebook and said how happy it made me to have a lit fireplace yesterday! And then I also added this:

"And in case my happiness bothers anyone lol, don't worry I am sure I could complain

about a few things too, but I AM happy right now!! And it feels good. When we used to say

bye to family and drive home to FL or they drove home to AL, I always had a dark cloud

hanging over me even when I felt stronger. That is GONE now."

It's very true. Even when I was having a happy time in Florida, I'd end up having some days of feeling lonely or bored. I'd feel a nagging feeling all the time that just wasn't good. I would pray and get through it. Then we moved to AL and I felt so much happier. But in the rental house, I knew it wasn't our permanent home. I knew we had to find a house to buy and that added a little stress since we had just moved all our belongings. Finding a house and buying it went faster than expected. But we found a home that we really liked, and was in a great price range. We had to act! So we did, and now we are here getting settled in. And I like this house so much, and the area. Even though we are now 45 minutes from my family instead of 2 minutes, I don't at all feel that nagging Florida dread I used to feel when I drove home from visiting them. I feel joy, peace, and excitement for exploring another area. I am sure it's harder for them right now in a way, because they aren't busy with setting up a new house like I am. But we will all get used to it and it will feel very normal soon. I am praying this joy stays in me, because I don't want to go back to feeling what I used to when we were so far away. I feel relieved right now. :)

Sunset

2012-01-19T23:51:00.002-05:00

Last Sunday evening as we moved boxes into the house from the moving truck, there was a beautiful sunset. I snapped many pictures because the coloring kept changing. From pink and purple to teal and orange and back to pinks and purples!

Moved...again!

2012-01-16T23:31:00.001-05:00

We moved into the house we bought! We closed on Friday and moved Sunday. Things went faster than expected! I'll be busy setting up this house, calling for new service set ups and so on. It was exhausting for us and for our wonderful helpers! But it was less horrible than the FL to AL packing/moving. Moving twice in three months! Not recommended. ;)

I REALLY like our house and property around it. I'll post more pictures soon.

I'll be around....:)

Home Decor Inspiration

2012-01-11T09:38:00.000-05:00

Since we are moving again soon into our new place, I am looking over my pins on pinterest and adding here and there. I have to use what I already have and make it work, and then slowly add newer items if need be.

Some ideas I love:

Source: livecreatingyourself.com via Becky on Pinterest

Source: everyday-lovely.blogspot.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: houseandhome.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: adelightfulblog.blogspot.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: stadshem.se via Christina on Pinterest

Source: livandjeff.blogspot.com via Christina on Pinterest

A cold, and a house!

2012-01-09T19:36:00.000-05:00

I came down with a cold last week and thought I felt better, until yesterday. I started getting dizzy on and off, then I slept horribly last night due to Mucinex D which made me toss and turn. I didn't know it wasn't good to take before bedtime! I think it helped my dizziness/congestion, but gave me sleep problems in exchange! And weird dreams.

Today I woke up tired but feeling better. Or so I thought. We met up with a family friend for their birthday lunch and as I sat there eating, I felt worse and worse again, like my head was spinning. Big-time dizzy. We decided I should finally go to the doctor. My mom drove me because I felt too dizzy to drive. They took my blood (just to check it out, not bad to have an annual check on it) and took an xray of my sinuses. It showed some "cloudiness" in my cheek sinuses. So I got a prescription for a z-pack. As I suspected, I had a sinus infection that was messing with my head, making me dizzy. My husband is out getting my rx filled and hopefully I will really truly feel normal soon!

AND big news. We may be moving into the house we are buying very soon. Like maybe even on Sunday?! I can hardly think about it at the moment because I'm tired. Our closing might happen on Friday. If I feel totally better by then, we may start moving stuff over the weekend. I am excited but freaked out since I don't feel prepared to move *again*. But enough of my whining, it's sure to be another part of the adventure of living in Alabama! Right now we are minutes from my parents, less than a mile. We will instead be 45 minutes away. So that is sad but we are all reminding ourselves that it's MUCH better than the ten hours between here and Florida. My husband will have a much better commute to his downtown Birmingham job and that's important. I will be close to a Target and lots of other fun shops, so that's nice also.

Here's where we hope to call "home" soon:

I think I'll wait to share more pictures after the closing, just to make sure it's really ours!

Fashion inspiration

2012-01-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

Curvy girl fashion inspiration! From some of the blogs I've followed in the past months, and a new one.

Source: frocksandfroufrou.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: girlwithcurves.tumblr.com via Stacey on Pinterest

Source: jugglingchic.tumblr.com via Christina on Pinterest

My 2011

2011-12-29T11:52:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful 2011, and I feel so blessed to be able to say that. I look back on this year as a year of firsts and adventures and new beginnings. It will remain one of the most exciting years ever for me.

A little look back, highlights...

January-I started off the year with the 30 Day Shred and accomplished it!! Sadly I am not at the weight I wished I could have been by the end of this year if I had consistently worked hard, but I had my good times and bad times. But back to that 30 Day Shred, I did it and wrote how I felt each day. Results were here.

February-Kavi turned three, and then near the end of the Month we went to India again. I got to go to my sis in-law's wedding! Wrote about it here and here.

March-Partly in India. Came back home, readjusted to life.

April-Easter!

May-Oh! We got annual passes to the Florida Aquarium. :) Even though we moved, we get 50% discount admission to the Birmingham Zoo until it expires(along with discounts at other partners of the group our annual pass was through)!

June-Well, at the end of the month, we prepared for our trip to Oregon!!

July-Our wonderful Oregon trip! I really think I left part of my heart there. All the espresso your heart desires, natural beauty, Indian food truck, snow in July, and giant rocks on beaches are what did it. You can read here, here, and here. Kavi also went to his first Vacation bible school, like a big boy!

Now here are where things took a surprise turn!

August-Who knew how much would change in August? I had decided, after not visiting Alabama since the previous December, that whether my husband had time off or not, me and Kavi would be driving up to 'bama, just the two of us. I just missed it. Around the same time we were coming to visit, my husband applied at one place here just for the heck of it. A friend let him know about the position, and we do feel God used that friend to help my husband gain the desire to actually apply at jobs here. It was a big leap of faith though. My husband joked that he wished he'd be called for an interview while we were still visiting up in AL, so that he could meet up with us and take off work. Well, he did get called for an interview, a little later than me and K's planned day to drive back home. So me and K stayed longer, and he flew up for his interview. He felt it went well, down in downtown Birmingham, but wasn't fully confident they'd offer him the job. (I just think he's modest. I think they were crazy about him.) Anyway, we drove back home, and a week later they offered the job! After some negotiations, they agreed on a salary/etc. He had gotten a job in Alabama! It took a little while to set the start date, which we didn't mind since we had to pack. And meanwhile, I had a cruise to go on! ;)

September-Cruise! So, so fun. Girls only. My last Florida touristy hurrah before moving. Came back from the cruise and was off to Alabama again, to look at houses. Flew back home, just me and Kavi(big deal for me!) at the end of the month to start packing. And found out my husband started his new job in mid/end October. Woo!

October-Packed like an exhausted maniac, prepared, and then the move! We moved less than a week before my birthday, so I got to celebrate here with family!

November-Enjoyed the beautiful Fall and had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

December-Our first Christmas living in Alabama, and it was wonderful.ABout to have our first New Year's Eve here too! I am so happy we are here. Oh, AND we are in the process of buying a house here. We saw it early December, looked again, put an offer, signed a contract, and may be living in it in a month or so! Wow.

Thanks for looking back with me.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year!!!!

Gift highlights

2011-12-29T11:39:00.001-05:00

The big gift we got our son this year was a wooden train table set. It is called the Waterfall Mountain train set. After he went to bed very late on Christmas Eve, me and my husband stayed up to put it together. After getting it done and getting ready for bed, it was already 2 a.m.! We were very tired. We covered it with blankets so that he would first open his few smaller presents from us before seeing the train set. I took a video of him seeing it for the first time, which is really cute. But I hesitate to put it on the blog because my husband is in it a little, and he doesn't want a video of himself on here! :p

Kavi loved it and thanked us without being told to!
Deep in playing mode...

He got other awesome gifts from my family and some friends. He is a blessed little boy! We received many gifts as well. I won't list them all out. But among my favorites were my boots from my parents, perfume(well, e.d.t.) from my husband, and cute coffee mugs from friends. I also received yummy smelling candles, earrings, cozy clothes for PJs or layering, a cardigan, and lots of other goodies.

I picked out my gift from my husband, and actually the company sent us the wrong product, but I love it anyway. It's in the line of Stella McCartney perfumes, which are my favorite. The wrong one I received was only slightly different than the one I wanted, so I decided to keep it. The company we bought it through on Amazon said they'd give us a 5% refund for the mix up. Fine with me! I already started spraying it. So here is mine, Stella Sheer:


Smells like fresh roses and other good things, with a heavy focus on rose

I am over sensitive to perfume smells, and I dislike soooo many of them. When I find one I can stand wearing, it's a big deal to me! I have had "Stella", "Rose Absolute" and now "Sheer" by Stella. The one I was supposed to get was called StelleNude, because it was an even softer scent.

And I must feature my new, cute coffee mugs. From separate friends who know me well!

And one more boots picture, with a little munchkin who wanted to jump in the shot:

Boots!

2011-12-27T23:57:00.002-05:00

I got the kind of boots I wanted!

Thanks to my parents who bought them, and my mom who searched through page after page after page after page of lace up boots on amazon.com until she found some that had my size! And a good price. She asked me if I liked them first, I said yes, and so she ordered them. They look good online, but they are even cuter in person!!

Here is a picture from the amazon listing, I have the brown ones!:

Source: amazon.com via Christina on Pinterest

And my Christmas eve late night snapshot on my phone! I hadn't laced them all the way up yet:

Even with my not skinny calves, they zip up! *phew* And I can't be happier, they are even pretty comfortable! I got other awesome gifts but I am tired so I will have to blog about it another day!

Christmas Eve is Here!

2011-12-24T11:54:00.001-05:00

I am so happy it's Christmas Eve! I am so happy we live in Alabama for it this year! No ten hours of travel for either us or my parents. How about less than five minutes instead? I am happy for friends. Tonight we are going to a close family friend's house, which is on my street.

Things have been very busy lately! Christmas shopping, Christmas preparing, crafting, baking, and more!

I'm going to share photos of recent activities.

And this one, just because it's awesome:

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

Cookie decorating

2011-12-19T21:05:00.001-05:00

It's a busy busy time right now! I have a living room full of scattered gifts that need wrapping, empty bags, and sewing projects. But we have been having fun! Today was cookie making time! I dropped of Kavi at my parents' house where he helped them make cookies while I ran some errands. When I got back there, it was time to decorate! So I got to do some of that.

Below is our living room set up for Christmas!

And my mom wrote about what we did yesterday, a fun girls' day out! Read more here:
http://considerthelillies09.blogspot.com/2011/12/im-dreamin-of-awhite-christmas.html

motivation

2011-12-15T11:54:00.001-05:00

Source: runningrachel.com via Christina on Pinterest

Local Shopping

2011-12-11T10:55:00.001-05:00

Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? I haven't!

I have gotten a lot of my shopping done in the past week, but I need to look at my list to see who else to buy for. Something exciting to me is that I was able to do some Christmas shopping at local shops in Downtown Gadsden and Downtown Attalla. One shop makes candles in hundreds of scents! Another sells mostly Alabama made products. Other shops were antique/vintage shops which also had some new or handmade items for sale. I want to take a picture of everything I bought but am afraid it will ruin the surprise for some people who might come and read. ;) If you haven't finished your shopping either, you should check out some of your local shops for locally made or reused items! They don't have to cost an arm and a leg. I am a bargain shopper so I look for good deals.

One of the antique shops was having a massive Holday sale - 50% off prices plus additional 20%. I scored! I did buy myself one thing, inspired by Angela, our bloggy turned real life friend! Check out this post where she posted pictures of her newly acquired antique booth. My mother and I sent items for her to sell in her booth(at her very kind and thoughtful suggestion!). My mom sent crocheted items and I sent jewelry. Angela displayed everything so nicely! She used an old rake head to hang necklaces on. I thought that was a fun way to display necklaces! In the antique store having the big sale, my mom saw one and asked me if I wanted to buy it. Yes! So I got it!

Another example, found on pinterest:

Source: birdietobe.blogspot.com via Audra on Pinterest

And about those lace up boots I want...my mom ordered me a pair to try for Christmas! They are longer than the pair in my last post, but finding boots in my size was a difficult task for my mom who looked at page after page on amazon! She found some that should work and ordered them. Yay!

Seeking: lace up boots!

2011-12-07T12:39:00.001-05:00

I took that photo on my phone inside Forever 21 yesterday. I want those boots!! The problem? My feet are big and I have a hard time finding shoes that fit nicely. I wear between a size 10-11 (sigh). I frantically looked at the sizes of all the boots they had in the store and the biggest was a 9. I looked online and don't see these for sale.

I was at the mall with my mom, son, and a friend. After Forever 21, we visited several stores to look at their boots. I did find similar boots and tried on a pair in size 10 - they were too tight on the top of my foot. Ugh! Others were just too much money. So my goal is to find a pair of these style of boots that actually fit well. They have to be flat too. I can't handle a heel. It's a meaningless goal in the big picture of life (lol) but I hope I find them! Lucky size 7 feet women.

I know this is probably such a fad and by the time I find them, they won't be "in" anymore!! But anyway, here are some ways people style them...

Source: sundaycrossbow.blogspot.com via Jen on Pinterest

Source: frolic-blog.com via Christina on Pinterest

And I would love to have this ENTIRE outfit below for the holidays!!I am going to go look on Etsy and other places to see what it would cost to duplicate it, in some way.

Source: abeautifulmess.typepad.com via Liz on Pinterest

Cold fun

2011-12-05T09:51:00.000-05:00

I have been busy! I realized it's been almost a week since I blogged. On Saturday, I went with my mom and sister to the craft bazaar in Birmingham that my mom sold at the past two years. With lots going on and us moving here this year, she decided not to rush to prep things and sell. So we just went as shoppers this year! And while there were some cute items, I only bought a bar of handmade soap. But it's lemon scented, and so fresh smelling. I love it.

Sunday evening we went to "Christmas at the Falls" at Noccalula Falls. Waterfall, TONS of Christmas lights, a very fun train ride, hot chocolate, popcorn, walking trails at night but all lit up, I think you get the idea. Magical!

I am loving the weather here. Some days are mildy cold and other days are colder. It's still nice no matter what temperature. I really was just tired of sweating for so much of every year in Florida! It's been beautiful here since we moved. It's hard to believe Fall will be over soon and winter will start. Almost every tree that was full of bright colored leaves is now bare. I get to see seasons!

A little cold weather fashion inspiration:

Source: girlwithcurves.tumblr.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: seaofshoes.typepad.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: jcrewing.tumblr.com via Mary on Pinterest

Christmas Decor Inspiration

2011-11-29T09:47:00.000-05:00

Some of the items I pinned before decorating! We don't have a tree yet, but I decorated the mantle and shelves and some walls. And we finallllllly have couches to sit on! They arrived last night! I will share pictures eventually.

But now the Christmas decor inspiration!

Source: marthastewart.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Christina on Pinterest

Christmas decoration time

2011-11-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving with our family and some close friends. I hope everyone had a good one! It was one of those fun holiday get-togethers that last into the late evening. And Kavi slept over my parents' house, for his first real sleepover there(without me or my husband there)! I can't wait to hear how that went. I hope very good.

Now it's time to start decorating for Christmas!! I am excited. I debated whether to make a few pillow covers to sell in my shop, because I felt rushed. But I ended up doing it on Monday night and I am glad I did. They are cheery pillow covers! I have two 16 inch and one 20 inch in the shop. If no one buys them, they could be good gifts or decor for my house!

I'll be posting pinterest decoration inspiration soon!

Sparkly

2011-11-21T10:53:00.001-05:00

I painted my nails in a color that is just silver sparkles. They would be better for Christmas, but I couldn't resist. (It's my sister's nail polish. She and my mom always have the cool colors!)

Yesterday Kavi said that my sister's face looked sparkly in a picture- what he actually meant was blurry. But we thought that sparkly could be a good alternative to the word blurry! "Doctor, my vision is sparkly, do I need new glasses?" "That picture came out too sparkly". I love the things that three year olds say!

Etsy news...after having the shops on vacation and then recently opening them up, I was excited to make a sale on Saturday and on Sunday after a long gap of time! I sold two different pillow covers that had been for sale for a very long time. It feels so good to know that they will be used in someone's home now. So I finished up sewing one of them yesterday(had been a duplicated listing) and packaged them. Today I have to mail them.

Should I have any more orders soon, I will have to switch to a more wintery packaging. But I had these paper leaf doilies and thought I should still use them! They are pretty.

Christmas Gift idea: DIY Tea Wreath

2011-11-18T11:47:00.001-05:00

I saw this on pinterest! First I just saw the non-Holiday colored wreath. Then I went to the blog where the idea came from and saw this red and white wreath, perfect for the holidays!

Source: kojodesigns.blogspot.com via Christina on Pinterest

And here's the one that was made just to match a kitchen and can be used all year:

Source: thehappyhousewife.com via Christina on Pinterest

If you have pinterest, you can go repin these ideas for later! If you would like to see the tutorial right now, it's here: Tea Wreath tutorial

I will be looking up more DIY gifts to add to my pinterest board.

A month

2011-11-16T16:25:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite teas, Irish Breakfast from Twinings,

and a Christmas mug that I actually use all year.

Tomorrow will be a month since we left Florida and arrived here!!! In some ways that feels so long ago now. We are still settling in and setting up house. It takes longer than you think, when moving out of state and restarting your household! Right now Kavi is at my parents' house while I am alone at the house getting some things done. So happy I can do that now!

2011-11-14T12:46:00.001-05:00

Another Fall picture. I just can't help it! This was on Saturday in the downtown of another small town near here. Behind it is an adorable white church. There was a wedding there that day. We saw the groom and groomsmen getting pictures taken and then pictures of the bride too.

An Etsy post

2011-11-11T11:23:00.001-05:00

I finally reached my box of Etsy jewelry items, in the corner of the 3rd bedroom, under many other boxes! I opened it up yesterday and wanted to activate or relist any items that expired while the shop has been on vacation. It's a little more tricky than I thought it would be. I had put my shop on sale before moving, using Etsy on Sale. Before the sale officially ended(I set the end date/time on their website), I switched my shop to vacation mode. I think that messed up Etsy on Sale's ability to remove all the sale info that is supposed to automatically be removed at the scheduled end of the sale.

So when I went to reactivate a few items, I noticed their titles, tags, and first picture, still had the sale info on them! So now it's going to be a little more time consuming to get things for sale again. I only have three items available now. And I need to again evaluate the Etsy situation. I think I may need to focus more on the sewing side/The Cozy Nest shop, instead of the jewelry shop. We'll see.

I wanted to share two sweet items I saw on Etsy today. When I added the second item as a favorite, I realized the bird in the print had the same orange face and belly as the photograph I added to my favorites. That was not intentional, and makes me like the items even more.

Amazing bird photograph: szalonaisa
Dreaming print: CafeBaudelaire

Heavenly Leaves

2011-11-09T11:38:00.001-05:00

For me, with living in Florida most of my life, Autumn has been a rare treat! I am so happy I get to live here during it. I know I have already said that here, but I am still so happy about it.

Yesterday we walked around Noccalula Falls, which I have talked about before. But I couldn't find the post. We couldn't ride the cute little train, because that part is shut down while they decorate the place for Christmas!

I took too many pictures while there, because I was having so much fun in the Fall beauty. Now I have to decide which of the many to share!

More Recipes

2011-11-07T09:45:00.000-05:00

More recipes, via pinterest! I guess what I (and obviously LOTS of others) love about it is that you can just pin them to use as reference later. The picture with the linked recipe is so handy! My mom made a few recipes this past week that she collected on pinterest. As I had still been unpacking my kitchen (oy vey), I haven't gotten very creative with dinner yet. But that should change very soon!

I still need to get my crock pot out of its box (done for moving). Today, I will do that and will clean it. Then I will have to decide which scrumptious looking recipe I should try to make first(and will have to buy the right ingredients).

Chicken and Dumplings!

My mom made this. I got to taste it, and it is goooood. Such comfort food.

Source: bubblecrumb.com via Little on Pinterest

Crock pot brownies?!

I definitely have a weakness for brownies, which is why I rarely make them. Too much temptation! But now that we moved and I will have more functions to go to, I need to make them. I can share with a crowd and not eat a massive amount by myself.

Source: marthastewart.com via Christina on Pinterest

Falafel! I was surprised that this could be make in a crock pot. My mom made some of those, too, and I got to taste them(I think a different recipe that the image below). Yum!

Source: crockpot365.blogspot.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

And this recipe, not cooked in the crock pot:Spinach Manicotti! I don't feel as excited about this one, but it does look delicious! And I need to represent some of my Italian-ness here a little! This recipe even calls for homemade "crespelles" instead of the usual store bought pasta, which sounds a little time consuming to me. But I bet it makes it even better.

Source: skinnytaste.com via Christina on Pinterest

Shark boy

2011-11-02T09:46:00.000-04:00

CHOMP!

(above photo courtesy of my friend Jill)

Kavi transformed into a shark this weekend! We went to a "trunk or treat" on Sunday in the downtown area. Three churches set it up and were expecting a few hundred to show up. Instead, there were thousands! It was a little overwhelming and there were long lines everywhere. We didn't even bother standing in the block long line to go to the trunks for treats. But thanks to knowing people who put on the event, we got the candy hook-up. ;) And then Kavi danced in the back of a pickup with friends while they kept handing out candy.

Fall around town

2011-10-31T12:13:00.000-04:00

What a perfect time to move! After not getting to fully experience Fall since I was a toddler, I get to experience it right now! The leaves have changed a lot even in the last two weeks since we got here. Some leaves are falling off now(sad) while some trees are still green.

So I hope these colors stay around a little longer!

Birthday

2011-10-28T11:31:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful birthday on Wednesday with family!

Me, Kavi, and my parents went to Trussville (45 mins away, near Birmingham) to eat at a cute place called The Three Earred Rabbit. I had a delicious sandwich and some vanilla coke.

We went to Target after that and I bought myself a few birthday items: a cute candle with words written on it about Autumn, a pretty purple top, and a bright white duvet cover/shams for our bed.

In the evening we had dinner at my parents' house, where my mom set up this table so nicely for my birthday. She had the centerpiece up for over a week now, but added all the extras for my birthday dinner. My husband met us there after work.

I got some great gifts from everyone, including a cozy and soft sweater cardigan I picked out from Old Navy(one of my parents' gifts to me).

------------------------------------------------------------------

We are still setting up our house of course. It's fun and also tiring!

Yesterday I stayed home most of the day, which felt nice, and took this picture from the porch.

Also yesterday, a friend of mine who lives right down the street, almost across from that yellow tree, brought me a plate of cupcakes she made. :) That's another great thing about living here. We are not only close to my family, but to a lot of friends.

A week in Alabama

2011-10-25T10:23:00.000-04:00

We made it to Alabama very late Monday night!

The days after my last post were a complete frenzy! I had decided I never wanted to pack and move again as we scrambled even into the last hours before driving up. It was crazy and I hated that part!

The drive up was hard and started late in the day, around 2pm, which mean we didn't arrive at my parents' house until after midnight (EST). SO tiring! But then we felt a sense of relief. We were here! We really made it!

The next morning, despite falling asleep so late the night before, I was awake by around 6am and couldn't fall asleep again. My mind was going.

Within a few hours of waking up, a friend let us know she saw a rental sign just go up on her street, my husband called the # to see if they would consider a 6 month lease, they said yes, we checked out the place, I loved it, and we claimed it! We had called another place but they wouldn't agree to a 6 month lease. The reason we wanted a 6 month lease is because we still want to buy a house and need more time to look. I don't want to rush into buying house. So this worked out so well.

living/dining

The house is a cute, very spacious three bedroom, 1 bathroom. Hard wood floors throughout besides in the bathroom and kitchen areas. Old style, bright white painted molding around doors and windows! I have wanted to live in a house that looks like this for many years. A historic, old, charming house. So I am very excited. Apparently a hoarder had lived there until a few months ago! :-o Sadly the house was condemned, he(or they) were kicked out and it was sold for a cheap price. The new owner has a team of people who fix up houses and rent them out. They must have worked hard because I would have never known it was a house in bad condition not long ago! (I would have been majorly skeeved I'm sure) It's all freshly painted and has new counters/cabinets/sink in the kitchen.

dining/living

our bedroom

when we first looked at the house

after adding fall decor! all the flowers and pumpkins are from my parents. the cute stake is from my sis.

Saturday night was our first night sleeping over! We have had the keys since last Tuesday, signed the official lease on Thursday, and still had to do some setting up. We still need a couch, dressers, and a few other small pieces of furniture. Between Tuesday and Friday, of last week, we ran around doing things at the DMV for our cars, got our Alabama driver's licenses, bought new blinds for the house, bought other needed items, etc. Something I do not like here is that they put your weight on your driver's license! First of all, I lied. And the lady I was talking to was a sweetheart and said "let's put this instead", and dropped my weight down even more! hah!! I love her. I need to actually get to the weight on my license now. Still, there's no way I want anyone I know looking at that part! Even with the lie!!

OH-My mom set this up for us to see at their house when we arrived!

Adorable! Made using decor they bought a friend's baby shower which was the day before we arrived.

I will post more house pictures as we fill the space!

My birthday is tomorrow too! So much has been going on that I keep forgetting. But it's going to be a really nice birthday, being near my family!

Here!

2011-10-24T14:43:00.001-04:00

I started working on a longer post but lost steam! I will be finishing that post and writing about everything soon. Still busy busy, but everything is going great! Very happy to be here!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

In just a few days...

2011-10-14T16:23:00.000-04:00

...we will be headed to Alabama! Due to the packing frenzy and everything going on, some feeling very last minute and overwhelming, this may be my last post before I will be in Alabama. (Maybe?)

Source: etsy.com via Karen on Pinterest

I just foresee some very busy days ahead. I will share more about it once we are at my parents' house. Right now we already have the moving truck outside! My husband picked it up today! He was supposed to get it tomorrow, but the place we got it from called to say they had to close tomorrow and that he could get it today. Also when he got there, they did not have the 16 foot truck we reserved and gave him the 24 foot truck instead(for the same price)! It's so BIG! We don't even need all of that space, but better to have more than enough space than too little, right?

Tomorrow I get to meet another online friend that I have been in touch with for many years! I am excited. While her situation was not exactly the same as ours, we initially got to know each other because we both experienced the process of immigration paperwork involved in marrying someone from another country. And since then, we have shared in talking about all different things, Etsy too! She loves it, is an artist, and has two shops (which are on vacation for a short time). She just moved too, closer to where I live, which is why I wanted to meet her before leaving Florida. :) Her links: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LauraHussein(for watercolor prints) and http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilwordtoldme (hand painted wooden letters).

I packed up my favorite coffee mugs today, finally, and some other kitchen items. It feels more and more real! I will be back in a few days.

Let's go on an adventure

2011-10-12T17:35:00.000-04:00

Source: alt1984.tumblr.com via Christina on Pinterest

I really like the above saying. I feel like parts of my life have been that way, with my husband.

And then I found this cute shop on Etsy with adorable paintings. These are original paintings for sale, similar themes but each one original!! They would look great in a child's room.

Or even just around the rest of the house! I would put one up anywhere.

(You can click the shop banner above to see more)

As for my own Etsy shops, they realllllllly slowed down. And now they are back in vacation mode because I packed up all my supplies and sewing machine. I will wait and see what the future holds for my shops, after settling down.

Boxes and Recipes

2011-10-09T22:09:00.001-04:00

Boxes, boxes everywhere! Packing is quite the task. Still have so much more to do, and not a lot of time left! For a few short minutes I wondered why packing seemed to be a bigger task than the last time. It didn't take long to figure it out since last time we only had to move two people's items. This time, we have three people's items, along with many toys! We are giving away and donating a lot of stuff.

Since cooking a good dinner every night is not happening lately with the focus on packing and getting other things done, it actually makes me want to look up new recipes to try out. Eventually. I am pinning them, since they have the handy link provided to the recipes. I have soup on the mind, since we will be living somehwere that is colder during fall/winter than FL! :) (By the way, it gets messed up for me sometimes when I try to center pinterest images and write something above it. Frustrating!)

Here are a few I have got to try, after moving:

Chicken, lime and avocado soup

Source: homemadesoup.org via Christina on Pinterest

Veggie coconut curry

Source: savvyvegetarian.com via Christina on Pinterest

Eggplant meatballs (vegetarian)

Source: midwestveg.com via Christina on Pinterest

Crockpot chickpea curry

Source: savvyvegetarian.com via Christina on Pinterest

Fashion Inspiration

2011-10-05T11:05:00.000-04:00

I don't think I have posted about clothes/outfits in a few weeks! It's time!

Interesting combo

Source: weardrobe.com via Christina on Pinterest

polkadots

Source: collegefashion.net via Audrey on Pinterest

Cozy sweaters/cardigans

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Christina on Pinterest

Things are Happening

2011-10-04T10:27:00.003-04:00

A lot has been going on lately. Mostly behind the scenes! Well, some of the reason was that I couldn't really say much until my husband gave his notice at work. Because we are moving to Alabama to be closer to my family! They moved up there from Florida as well and it's been difficult being apart for over 3 years now. I thought I would share my mom's blog post about it for now where you can read a little more:
http://considerthelillies09.blogspot.com/2011/10/so-much-excitement.html

Travel success

2011-09-30T10:29:00.000-04:00

So we made it! Our flight on Wednesday was a success. I felt a little anxious waiting to get to the airport, but once we checked in and said bye to my parents, I felt better. We went through security just fine, and then didn't have to walk a huge distance to our gate.

We flew Southwest, which I had never flown with before, and so instead of assigned seats for most people, it's first come first serve seating(unless you have a special ticket). There are three groups of people to go on the plane: A, B, and C group. Families with young children do get to go on the plane before it's completely full at least. Our tickets put us near the beginning of the B group, but even then, as we walked onto the plane, there were hardly any areas with two seats open next to each other. Everyone first goes for the window or aisle seat, which means lots and lots of middle seats open. But I did get us two seats together near the back of the plane. Fine with me. Sat next to a nice, quiet lady who was in the aisle seat.

When choosing where to sit(only had about three options near the back of the plane) I decided which person looked like they'd be the least annoyed sitting next to a child. A business looking man, busy on the phone still in his seat? Nah. Nice looking lady drinking Starbucks? Ok! I wonder what went through her mind as I asked if the seats were taken next to her. I think about this stuff. Was she like: No problem, look at that cute child :p or oh no!! a possible brat to spend this flight with?! ;) Well, thankfully Kavi proved to be a good traveler once again as he quietly sat between me and the lady, leaning to my side, falling asleep on my arm soon after take off. He woke up during the last 30 or so minutes of the flight and was still fine. So yay!! We accomplished our first flight with just us two together.

On take off, I got to see a nice areal view of Birmingham's downtown and UAB, and other areas. On landing we got to see Tampa Bay and bridges and downtown Tampa. You couldn't get a helicopter ride to see both cities from above for the $59 each we paid for that flight!!

Fear not

2011-09-27T11:27:00.000-04:00

Last day visiting Alabama(again!). It was nice to be here for my parents' birthdays!

Me and Kavi are flying home tomorrow and I think usually I'd feel more nervous about such a thing. It's never been just me and Kavi on a flight before! I have struggled with fear of flying during my life, but it has gotten better over the last year or so. It's not the kind of fear that sends me into panic attacks or that I need medication for, but it would make me feel uneasy and have to rationalize in mind during a flight that people fly all the time, thousands of flights a day, we are just one of thousands of safe flights today.

And sometime during the travel to India earlier this year, or it was the way back home, I felt a release of some fear, due to exhaustion. Too tired to even think or worry about it! And I credit God because prayer helped me too. He is always with me during my worries. Then we went to Portland and I really felt ok during those flights, a step in the right direction! So with all of that, along with knowing we don't have to make the long drive home tomorrow, I am looking forward to a one way, quick flight home! We fly direct from Birmingham to Tampa.

Today we will be busy, running around later doing a few things. See you back in Florida!

Source: weheartit.com via ineedmartini on Pinterest

Around the House

2011-09-22T11:36:00.000-04:00

repurposed:

Source: kitchendinner.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: taliachristine.blogspot.com via Dominique on Pinterest

Source: tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com via Christina on Pinterest

Cozy lodgey living room:

Source: hookedonhouses.net via Christina on Pinterest

I want real branches on the wall as shelves:

Source: decoundstyle.de via Christina on Pinterest

Anniversary

2011-09-18T23:43:00.000-04:00

Today was our 7th wedding anniversary!! I can't believe it's been seven years already.

Ever since I got my new phone last February, I am guilty of not taking many better pictures. I just don't feel like getting out the dig camera when I have one on the phone. I did a lot of "real" digital pictures on the cruise though.

So....here are some anniversary photos(from my phone heh).

Before going out to eat for a late lunch/early dinner at one of my favorite places, Carrabba's. I ordered lobster ravioli, something I have never ordered there in the past. It was really good!!

I got these flowers from my husband in the morning.

The tiramisu we shared for dessert at Carrabba's. MMMmmm!

After dinner we stopped at Starbucks to sit for a little while, so I could get a pumpkin spice latte. ;)

It was a very nice day. My sis and friend took Kavi out for awhile so that we could go on our anniversary date. And...tomorrow(Monday) I am heading back to Alabama yet again. I am riding up with my sis and friend. And it's my mom's birthday tomorrow! So we will be able to get there for part of it. My dad's birthday is a couple of days later. It will be an action packed week! Me and Kavi will fly back down here. We found an awesome deal/sale on southwest. $59 one way each! I have never flown alone with Kavi, but I feel more brave about it now than I might have a year ago.

Home again

2011-09-16T11:05:00.000-04:00

I am back! We arrived back home yesterday. I had a fantastic time. I miss being pampered already. Pampered in the sense of not having to cook one single meal, not having to clean up after any meal, not having to make my bed, not having to take care of anyone except myself for 5 days!

My sister Jenny and friend Rachel are still visiting and will be here for a couple of days. So we will be hanging out still all weekend, which is always nice.

Here are just a few snaps from my vacation:

First day, just past sunset time

Our room, I got the window bed. ;)

Relaxing on a top deck of the ship(friend on left) one night

That's me! Saw pretty fishies while snorkeling.

Inside beautiful Chankanaab park

My "been snorkeling and sweating all day and about to get back on the ship for dinner" picture.
And I bought it for 11.99 (hehehe). I really wanted to buy at least one photo they took.

Getting ready

2011-09-09T13:18:00.001-04:00

I started packing for the cruise last night and I just need to finish a little bit up today. I also should be cleaning up around the house! My sister and our friend are driving down from AL right now to come to my house tonight before we go on the cruise tomorrow! There are six of us going, three in each room. We have all known each other a very long time. Our other fellow travelers live near me and will meet at my house tomorrow morning.

I am so much looking forward to it, but I am getting butterflies here and there about saying bye to Kavi for the five nights. Calling from on board the cruise is very pricey(unless they offer us some great deal?) so I won't really be able to do that. I will try to use wifi at the port stops to use Skype to call my husband. I would feel better to know I could call and say hi like twice a day. (hehe). Kavi will surely be asking where I am every day. I am glad he will be with his daddy though. I pray they have a peaceful, good time while I am away.

I am not very worried about tropical storm/hurricane activity now. Tropical storm Maria will be heading a little towards our way but is supposed to turn north before it can get all the way over to the area we will be in. There is still a chance for outer bands or choppy water from the storm while in the Cayman Islands on Monday, I think. But I hope nothing stormy. And tropical storm Nate should be almost to the other side of Mexico by the time we get to Cozumel on Tuesday. Two of the ladies joining us on the cruise(a mother/daughter we have known forever) have not been on a cruise before, and we just want it to be smooth and good weather for them. :)

Our schedule:
Sat: Ship leaves Tampa port around 4pm, we will arrive around noon. (I live an hour away from there)
Sun: Day at sea
Mon: Cayman Islands
Tues: Cozumel
Wed: Day at sea
Thurs: Back in Tampa in the morning.

I will blog after I am back! Have a good week!

(Our ship, "Carnival Inspiration")

Source: google.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Vintage: Chairs

2011-09-08T10:50:00.000-04:00

We will have to ignore budget friendly prices today in order to check some of these cool vintage chairs. ;) Sure, there are a couple of budget friendly chairs thrown in. But, I would love to come across a chair like in the 2nd and 3rd pictures. I like the gray one!! I want it! Maybe that will be a goal for me, to discover a similar chair at a cheaper price, that maybe needs to be recovered to be pretty again?

Vintage Library Chair and Foot Stool $225

Mid-century metal arm chair $295

Mid-century lounge chair $245

School chair $20

1950's sewing chair $70

Set of chairs $95

Pair of patio bounce chairs $40

Cruising...again

2011-09-06T10:22:00.000-04:00

Source: designismine.blogspot.com via Christina on Pinterest

I don't know if I actually wrote about this here...that this Saturday, I am going on another cruise! We went last September (2010), and I am going on September 10th with just ladies! My husband said I deserve a mommy break, so it was okay for me to go along with the women folk!

We booked it in June actually. My sister really wanted to go again(well, we all did!). But with going to Portland, I knew all of us couldn't go do something like that again so soon. But it was my husband who said I should just go with them. I feel a little weird because I have never been away from Kavi overnight yet. And this will be five nights! But at least I know he will be with his daddy the whole time. I hope they handle it well without little ol' me!

There's always a little tropical weather stress involved in a cruise this time of year, with all the tropical storm and hurricane activity recently! So far things look okay for the areas we are going to-Georgetown in the Cayman Islands, and Cozumel, Mexico again. There may be rain while we are at port, which would stink. But maybe not! I will definitely be keeping an eye on the weather this week until Saturday.

Do you know what things excite me about being on the cruise?
-Having someone make your bed for you each day, and turn down service while you are at dinner!
-Their coffee, available 24/7, tastes GOOD.
-The food is abundant.
- A room service menu, all "free"(just recommended to give a small tip, but food is included in cruise price)
-The open sea
-Sleeping in a moving hotel room that takes you to your destination
-Relaxing

What don't I like?
-Drunk obnoxious people randomly around you. ;)

But, the good stuff makes up for it.

I feel very blessed to be able to go again and to have a nice husband who wants me to have a mommy break.

I want that...

2011-09-05T07:17:00.000-04:00

Source: denydesigns.com via Bridgid on Pinterest

Source: kohls.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: forever21.com via Christina on Pinterest

Fringe hmm. I think I like it on that shirt.

Source: homeshoppingspy.wordpress.com via Darlene on Pinterest

Vintage Repurposed

2011-09-01T11:00:00.000-04:00

Good ideas!

Vintage drawer pulls put up as wall hooks.

Source: bhg.com via Christina on Pinterest

Old crates into a bookcase!

Source: cgi.ebay.com.au via Christina on Pinterest

I kind of stink at blogging right now!

I can just keep posting cool inspiration finds, ideas, or vintage items that I like. But, I kind of stink at blogging right now! There are things going on in life I'd like to talk about(no, it's not a pregnancy!). But I can't really on a public place like this. I can't even really on my facebook either.

I'll just say generally, we would like to be near family and we are hoping to make it happen sooner than later. We are going to try to make it happen. But we don't know when the sooner is, and that can drive me crazy at times! Opportunities come along but they aren't the best fit. And it's hard to let them go, because they are an opportunity. But if it's not what is the best one, and if God has something better waiting, then saying no and waiting is better. (even though it's harder).

....And I am really sick of Florida's hot weather for so many months. I want to wear some cute sweater stuff soon!!

Various inspiration

2011-08-29T10:36:00.000-04:00

Source: nickelcobalt.tumblr.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: decopeques.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: emmallamb.blogspot.com via Autumn on Pinterest

Source: houseandhome.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: letsdriftaway.tumblr.com via Darlene on Pinterest

Source: styleessentials.tumblr.com via Christina on Pinterest

A whirlwind

2011-08-25T11:52:00.003-04:00

We finally got home Tuesday night, after midnight, from visiting my family! The trip kept getting extended and it was a lot of fun! My husband was able to come up at the end of the trip and drive back with us.

So yesterday morning back at home, I opened up a new coffee grinder and a can of whole bean coffee, mmmm. Even though my blog has coffee in the title, I didn't have a working coffee grinder! I had gotten one years ago at my bridal shower(7 years ago!) and it died probably 3-4 years ago. And I didn't get myself a new one. Why? I don't know!! So I noted how delicious the freshly ground coffee tasted and smelled at my parents' house, so my sister bought me a new one. How sweet, right? And I bought a can of whole bean coffee from Whole Foods, and it didn't cost a million dollars! $4.99, that's all! :) For "Three Beans Coffee" brand, dark roast.
Yesterday me and Kavi were stuck at home all day because my husband had to use the car to go to work. He had driven his car down to Tampa to park it for his one way flight up to AL a few days ago. So we had to go get his car last night. It was tiring to have a drive an hour away after getting home late the night before, but we ate at a fun restaurant and made it a little outing.

Now I have my car to use, and maybe we will go to Target in a little while.

I have even more I could write, but need to go finish some things now.

Scone obsession

2011-08-17T23:02:00.005-04:00

I am still visiting family in Alabama! My trip is longer than planned. ;) And it's just been a wonderful time. My husband will be coming up for a short visit at the end of our trip here and then ride home with us. So I won't have to be the only driver! He has been missing us a lot and we miss him!

I may not be posting as much over the next few days because we are keeping busy, but I will be around!

But let me tell you about my ongoing obsession: baking scones.

I have tried three different recipes now, and I think for now my favorite is from the Joy of Cooking. I used this recipe, with added chocolate chips. (And no vanilla extract.) The cool thing is there is first a recipe demonstration you can watch to see how the consistency of it should be. Now, there may not be authentic compared to the ones in the U.K., but they are also not like the typical scones sold in coffee shops. These are more authentic. (Although, like I said, probably do not compare to U.K. real, real, real homemade scones! But I don't really know.)

Here are some I baked a few days ago. Round, as they should be!
I highly suggest watching the video tutorial if you try to make these. The woman in the video makes it look a little easier than how it sounds while reading the directions!

Here is a look at the recipe:

Cream Scone Recipe:

2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup (75 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces (if using salted butter, then don't add the 1/4 tsp salt)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream

Glaze:

Cream or Milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (I just sprayed cooking oil on the pan, they didn't stick)

In a large bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, two knives, or with your fingertips. (The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.) In a small measuring cup whisk together the milk or cream, beaten egg and vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently four or five times and then pat into a 7 inch (18 cm) round. Then, using a lightly floured 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) round cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing a few inches apart. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream. (This helps to brown the tops of the scones during baking.)

Bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve with Devon cream or softly whipped cream and your favorite jam. These scones are best the day they are made but can be covered and stored for a few days. They also freeze very well.

Makes about 10 - 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) round scones.

+I added 1/2 cup or so semi sweet chocolate chips.

Inspiration

2011-08-15T12:05:00.000-04:00

Something for when you need to be a little dressed up yet casual.

Source: frocksandfroufrou.com via Christina on Pinterest

For when you need something fancy yet not extravagant. It says wedding dress but I say other occasions too.

Source: thevintageweddingdresscompany.com via Christina on Pinterest

More Loot & Yellow Watermelon

2011-08-13T12:21:00.001-04:00

The World's Longest Yardsale ended last Sunday, but yesterday and today the town here has been having a sidewalk sale. There wasn't actually a lot set up yesterday when me, my mom, and Kavi walked around the downtown.

But I still got some goodies. And my mom bought them all for me, very nice of her!

Set of four teacups and saucers. $12 for set.
Each cup has a different bird on it.
I only got picture of these two birds though, oops.

Like new sandals, in my size(not the easiest to find, I have big feet :p). $3

Picnic basket marked $2, got it for $1.

And this morning my dad came back from going to a flea market with a yellow watermelon. I have never heard of yellow watermelon until today. And it was nice and sweet!! Still green on the outside but honey yellow on the inside.

A Favorite Shop

2011-08-10T11:37:00.001-04:00

A favorite local shop of mine here when I visit in Alabama is The Cozy Nest. I have talked about it in the past, but I don't remember how long ago! (hey remember, that's also one of my shop names on Etsy) ;)

Adorable window display, on the right.

And on the left side, there were children's items and this adorable truck shelf. Well, I bought that shelf for Kavi!

Scenes throughout the store:

I just love the items and the way they are displayed. And for painted/distressed/vintage furniture pieces, all cleaned, painted and ready to place in your home, you can find some good prices. A bunch of us went there on Sunday and we all walked out with items! Some large and some small. My sister bought a nightstand with drawers, my friend bought a desk/vanity set and a chair, another friend bought a bench, I bought the shelf, my mom bought a kid's chair for Kavi (and toy cars!), and there were a few other small things purchased.

Pictures- mostly food!

2011-08-09T10:40:00.000-04:00

Pictures of some of the things I have eaten while visiting my family, coffee, and shoes. Phone pictures...ehh.

California rolls, mmm.

Sitting on the curb during the city's First Friday during the evening, finishing a Philly cheese steak ;)

Using their Tampa mug, in Alabama.

Ooh tacos! I think these are the real kind. Shredded beef, onions, and cilantro in doubled up corn tortillas.
Shoes I bought at Target because they were cute but also very comfortable!

I love the handle on this mug. And my mom has such cute house decor.

My cute shelf

2011-08-06T12:17:00.000-04:00

I finally took pictures of the shelf I bought at The World's Longest Yard Sale! I love it. It was $6. My mom thought it was a good price. My dad thought I could have haggled it down. But I am not good at haggling yet and I just wanted that shelf! $6 sounds good to me. ;)

I am still away visiting my family of course, so I will have to wait until I am back home to put it up somewhere. It reminds me of being in a cozy mountain lodge like Timberline Lodge in Oregon or Lake Guntersville Lodge here in Alabama.

I will paint it white or maybe aqua or some other fun color.

What color would you paint it? :)

What a Thursday!

2011-08-05T10:44:00.001-04:00

Thursday was a very good day!
But first let me go back a couple of days...

Kavi and I drove up to AL on Tuesday and we made it fine! I drove all the way, we didn't make a million stops, and it went well. Kavi is a very good traveling buddy! It took us 10 hours total including stops, which isn't fabulous, but it always takes us about 9.5-10 hours.

Wednesday we went out for Thai food for lunch, and mostly relaxed around the house. I got to say hi to a bunch of our friends who live there.

Yesterday, Thursday, was the first official day of The World's Longest Yard Sale! And also, me and my mom planned to meet our blog friend Angela! Her husband Aubrey also came, and they had driven over from MS to follow some of the world's longest yard sale route from here and north.

We invited them to my parents' house early in the morning, and so they also got to meet my dad, sister, and our friend. We all had a wonderful time! We talked for a long time, waiting while there was on and off rain for hours. We felt like we had already known them (in real life) for years! Eventually my sister Jenny and friend Rachel had to go to work, and my dad left for work too but was back after a little while because of the rain.

Aubrey took this picture of us talking around the table!

My dad took this one of us three on my cell phone:

So then all of us(except Jenny and Rachel) headed to the beginning of the yard sale even though it was still drizzling and lightly raining on and off. But we had umbrellas and some bought ponchos!
Angela, in her poncho (hehe), is checking out items in what looked a little like a gypsy wagon.

Full of old goodies.

Pictures from our last stop (well Angela and Aubrey continued but we went back home with Kavi after this stop so he could play with his toys).

We survived the hair ruining rain, my mom's umbrella falling apart, and a little mud. If Aubrey and Angela pass by here again on their way home, we will probably get to see them again!

I bought myself only one thing at the yard sale. A really cute shelf that I need to take a picture of still! And I bought Kavi a Thomas the Train building, where the trains go to "sleep". Me and my mom might stop by the yard sale again sometime over the weekend since it's not far from here.

Me talking

2011-07-30T11:24:00.003-04:00

So...I haven't made a real "vlog" with my face in it, but the other day I took a short video of some wall decor to show a friend and thought I would share it here too. You can hear me yapping while I talk about what's on the wall. I sounded a little congested still and breathy, but I am putting it up anyway! :p I find talking to a camera awkward still.
My most recent item to hang on the wall is a large frame with four colorful postcards I got while we were in Oregon. I thought they matched my living room very well and I like how it looks!

Germs, go away

2011-07-28T00:02:00.004-04:00

Well.

We came home from Portland about 20 days ago. And I caught a little cold before leaving there, and it also felt like I had a sinus thing. Kavi's nose ran a lot at that time too. Then we started feeling better.

Now, he already has something else!! He started coughing a couple of days ago and it's still hanging around. The poor little boy. He does seem to be getting better though. I think he might have caught it last week at vacation bible school, that's my theory.

The upside to being around a lot of kids-fun! learning! new friends!

The downside-icky germs on children that spread to other children!

Random things:
My house is part clean and part mess. Will it ever be completely clean? It's my own fault. Some days I care, some days I don't.

And...how many little metal toy cars will I have accidentally stepped on by the time Kavi doesn't like them anymore? No injuries to report, thankfully. Just an almost injury.

Exciting news (and praying for good health for Kavi soon and for me! Please, I can't get sick again! And not before this trip):

Me and Kavi are supposed to leave to visit my family on Tuesday, with me being the only driver, just me and Kavi, for the road trip. That will be a first. I am a little scared, especially since the car's cruise control broke(am I insane to do this or what?!) and it's at least a 9 hour ordeal, usually 10. But I am going to be brave and me and Kavi will have an adventure in the car.

While we are there, I will finally see part of The World's Longest Yard Sale!! It starts in the city my parents live in now. It begins on Aug 4th and runs through the weekend.

And-we get to meet a fellow blogger!! Angela! And her husband(I believe). That is going to be fun!! She is like an expert buyer of cool old things now too! Maybe she can give me and my mom some tips. ;)

Fun Fashion Inspiration

2011-07-25T10:15:00.000-04:00

Source: kendieveryday.blogspot.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Christina on Pinterest

Decor Inspiration today

2011-07-20T15:33:00.005-04:00

Just some finds to share.
I wonder if I have shared the piano one before, because it looks familiar to me. But I love it!

Source: classyclutter.blogspot.com via Christina on Pinterest

Adorable:

Source: ecx.images-amazon.com via Christina on Pinterest

....And by the way, Kavi is loving vacation bible school!!! Yay!

Vacation Bible School!

2011-07-18T10:23:00.000-04:00

Over an hour ago, I dropped off my son at his first ever vacation bible school! I felt like I was dropping him off at real school for the first time. He has never been to daycare or anywhere where I had to leave him with someone we just met and then completely leave the building.

I was nervous and excited for him! I had been prepping him for it. For months now, actually. There were other vacation bible schools at other churches I was interested in, but the timing was off. After we got home from Portland, I searched to see if we missed all the vacation bible schools or not. I found that there was still one going on this week at a large church that is only 1/2 mile from my house! Perfect. Very close by, convenient, and reputable. And the theme is Rev it up: Full throttle for God. Kavi LOVES cars and any kind of vehicle, so I knew this could be extra fun for him.

So I called the church last week and a nice lady on the phone told me that we didn't need to pre-register. We could just show up today at 8:45 and I could register him then, and that "they had room for everyone!". And I started talking about it every day to Kavi. He left off the vacation part and just calls it "Bible School". He said yes he wants to go. We practiced what school might be like, with me playing teacher. And it cracked me up because his whole demeanor changed during our play school time. He would sit properly and treat me like a teacher instead of just mommy. I think he is a good kid anyway, but he was extra extra good during fake class time! hah. We did it for about five days in a row and he would ask to play school.

Here he is, trying to copy his name. He has already done it before, but I keep repeating the exercise with him. He is a lefty. (neither me or my husband are lefties, but my Italian grandfather was, until they forced him to try to be right handed at his school in the old days, kooky to force such a thing.)
So after all that practice, playing school time, I felt better about bringing him today. Yesterday we told him that if he goes and stays, I will take him for ice cream after I pick him up.

So anyway...
This morning I got up earlier than usual, showered, made some coffee and food, and then woke up Kavi. I reminded him that today he was going to bible school! He acted excited and kept acting questions in between bites of food."It's so close to our house?"; "Today I'm going to bible school?!"; "I'm not going to cry and I get ice cream later?".

I got him all ready and we drove to the church. I had pointed out the church to him during the past week saying that's where it will be! We pass it a lot because it's on a main road we take all the time. We parked and he says "this is not the church buildin', this is the doctor's place." I said, "no silly, this is the church building and vacation bible school! yay!" He finally believed me and we walked towards the church gym.

We walked inside, and he looked a little overwhelmed since it's a big room and there were kids and parents scattered around at tables. I said "are you feeling ok? isn't this cool!?" and he just nodded a little. I signed him up, me being nervous as well, and talked to a nice lady at the table. I put Kavi's name tag sticker on him and then walked him behind the table to the 3 year olds room! He wanted to hold my hand and we peeked into the open door. There was a child gate up so the kids couldn't just walk out(I was glad about that). Kavi shyly stood there with me looking in and the "teacher" of the group came and said hi to Kavi, asked his name, and invited him inside. She picked him up over the gate and immediately got a cute car puzzle to distract him. I only partially said bye to him at that point. I stayed outside the room for a few mins, seeing how it went. I didn't want to just walk away. He looked like such a big boy, and content but also shy, as he sat in a chair at the table with his activity. Now he was really experiencing a school-like thing! I got his attention as he looked around the room and waved bye and blew him a kiss. He waved bye back and sat nicely. He had another little boy sit next to him and was looking at him, so then I left.

So, it looks like we are getting ice cream later on! :D

And I actually had some tears in my eyes on the way home. It's a very short drive, and actually we could walk there in about 10 minutes(too hot!). I was just so relieved that he didn't cry. I was so happy that he was going to have a fun day. And he looked like such a big boy! I am glad this first real "say bye to mommy" challenge went so well. I kept wondering if I'd get a phone call that he is crying and won't stop. But I haven't. I truly pray he is having so much fun right at this moment!! I will pick him up at noon. :)silly time with 3D glasses and "rockstyle hair", as he calls it

Oregon: Day 4 & 5

2011-07-15T00:09:00.004-04:00

I slacked this week! I was getting over my cold/sinus infection and lacked the concentration power to finish this next part. But now it's here! This is about the last part of our trip. (We have been home a week now.)

Day 4, Waterfalls and Crown Point:

We went to Multnomah Falls first that day.

We took the interstate highway to the correct exit, and then had to drive a couple miles on a beautiful road called the Columbia River Scenic Highway until we were at the waterfalls. On the way, we actually passed a sign for another smaller waterfall, but didn't stop. I didn't get a picture of the roadway myself but here's an idea for you, found on flickr:

source

Oh and one more, because this really captured it too!

source

And now, on to my (less outstanding) photos!
The sun was not at a good angle for pictures of the waterfalls. I guess you have to figure out the best time of day for pictures there when the sun is out. Plus, my real camera battery died. :( Most of these are cell phone pictures.

So it flows from the top of the cliff/hill and dips into a small stream which falls once again, a double waterfall. We walked up the paved trail to the bridge where we got a closer view of the upper part of the waterfall. It was a hilly walk up! There was a cute lodge/restaurant/information center there at the falls, along with a cheaper food shop and an espresso stall! So when we walked up to the location, what I noticed right away was the sound of the water falling, and the smell of coffee in the air! That place is awesome.

I didn't get a great shot of the building myself, so here is a photo from it's wikipedia link:
We hung out at the waterfalls for an hour or more, ate lunch there, got an Americano, and sat on a shaded bench before leaving. We next went to the Vista House on Crown Point, a high hill/overlook point. It was nearby.

The Vista House was finished in 1918 as a rest stop and observatory for travelers.
A part of history.

view from parking spot
view from second story of observatory

My husband snapped a picture of one more waterfall that day. We were back on the scenic highway road after leaving Crown Point, and saw a sign for yet another waterfall. By that time I was so tired out, and I saw the uphill path you'd have to take to see it. So me and Kavi stayed in the car while he walked up the steep path to see it.

Latourell Falls

So it was another day of beautiful scenery.

Day 5, Zoo & Rose garden:

It was our last full day in the Portland area. We decided to go to the Oregon Zoo. I didn't get a lot of outstanding pictures of animals at the zoo, but here are a couple of pictures anyway.bear comparisons with pull up info tabs

Owl that didn't look real, but it was

And then within the zoo there was a train ride you could buy a ticket for.
So we did and we got on the red and black train.

And the train took you on a very pretty ride through forest covered hills for 2 miles (I think). It stopped at a station outside of the zoo property where you could get off, get a hand stamp, and get back on later.

From the station, the Rose Garden, the Japanese Garden, and a children's play area were within walking distance. We chose to check out the rose garden. Outside of the garden area there was this view, of some of downtown Portland and Mt. Hood hovering over it in the distance.

Hey Mt. Hood, I know you!

We walked into the garden area and it was even prettier than I thought it would be. Bright colored roses in bloom all over! And a very good rose smell in the air.

After spending at least 45 minutes there, and laying on some soft grass that did not have Florida red fire ants living in it, we decided we should catch a train back to the zoo before it got too late. We had to wait back at the little station for 25 minutes, but it was relaxing anyway. We got to take the retro 1958 Zooliner back into the zoo.
I had many thoughts going on during the train ride back. I wanted to take in every second of the scenery. I am usually afraid of heights, and while this train wasn't on a high up mountain, there were some steep looking areas right off the side of the train tracks. We were in the hills right by downtown Portland. But I felt like some of my fear had diminished. I had been up and down mountains, hills, and pathways the previous days. I was enjoying the unique scenery instead of feeling nervous about falling down. I didn't want the train ride to end!

So that was another great day. And we did tons of walking, yet again!

We were hungry when we got back to the zoo and it was already almost 6 pm, zoo closing time. We left and since we had to pass by downtown to get to WA and to our motel, we decided to drive into downtown and stop at an Indian food truck we read about.
My husband stood in line(on the other side of the truck) to buy their $5 special. Incredible pricing for a prepared Indian meal. And this one meal fed us three, no joke. It had rice, 4 vegetarian Indian side dishes, and a huge piece of naan, which was folded in half below.

Day 6, say bye to Portland:

(airport)

And now, I think I have shared everything I wanted to share about our trip.

I realize I posted a bazillion pictures in this blog entry!

I hope you enjoyed!

Oregon: Day 2 & 3

2011-07-11T20:18:00.001-04:00

We were in Oregon for five full days, and each was filled with activity. We actually stayed in Vancouver, Washington, 15 minutes from the Portland airport which was SO convenient. But most of our days were spent within Oregon. There is so much to do there within a 2 hour driving distance, and we didn't even do all of it! I bought some good Asics walking/running shoes a few days before we left for our trip and it's a good thing I did! They have gel insoles and are so comfy. We walked our butts off during the trip! It's amazing how nice weather and beautiful scenery can turn me into such a walking machine. ;) When it's hot out here in Florida, the last thing I want to do is spend the day walking around outside. I get ankle pain if I walk a lot, and the shoes really helped with support.

We were fortunate to be there during some really nice weather. That area is more known for cloudy, rainy days. But it was sunny every day, with mostly mild temperatures. The only day that started out cloudy and a little chilly(sweet relief for these Floridians) was the Sunday we were there, but by the afternoon the clouds had cleared and it was sunny again, and in the lovely 70's.

Day 1, Mt. Hood: So our first full day was spent going to Mt. Hood, which I posted about already, two posts back. I miss that mountain.

Day 2, Downtown Portland:

Crossing bridge border into Oregon from Washington(where our motel was)

Started cloudy, ended sunny

The Saturday Street Market -but on Sunday! They still call it the Saturday Street Market on Sundays. It started as only on Saturdays, but it was so popular they extended it to Sunday. This is a handicraft, import, handmade marketplace. There are also a variety of food stalls.

So we went to the Market for awhile, ate lunch there, then took a free light rail (metro train) to Pioneer Courthouse Square. We hung out there for a little while, and then took the light rail back to the Market and we were hungry again! So we ate some more food.

We already had done a bit of walking around that day, and by the time we got back to our car an hour or so later, we wanted ice cream. (hehe) So we actually got out of our car to leave it in the same parking spot (we had gotten a great deal, $3 to park it until 6pm. You know how it is in the "city", you can't just park for free, or even cheap, usually!) We walked several blocks back to the Pioneer Square area to a Ben & Jerry's. YUM. We shared an ice cream. We did a lot of sharing on the trip. To save money, and to save calories. After that we were too tired out already, and found the right route to get on the light rail again for a free, quick ride right back to near our car was parked.

Hmmm this may turn into a longer post than I had imagined!! I may need to break it up into another day of posting.

But for now, I will go on to...

Day 3, Cannon Beach:
It was the 4th of July! We had decided that we were going to drive to Cannon Beach, on the coast of Oregon. It took us almost 2 hours to get there due to a gas and food stop, and a little bit of traffic. I was yet again blown away by the state of Oregon. The drive to the beach was actually sometimes more "mountainy" feeling than the drive to Mt. Hood had been! It seems the Mt. Hood road is wider and has less steep areas, yet Mt. Hood was much higher than the road to the beach. I couldn't believe that in order to get to the beach, we had to drive up and down curvy mountain roads. So different than Florida! Flat Florida. So you are still driving down from higher hills when you are about to reach the beach. And then even when you get there, the houses and shops along the beach are higher up on hills. And mountains/hill stretch right into the sandy shores and in some places all the way to the water!

And get this. We were chilled on the 4th of July! That has never happened to us. We had our jackets on at first. While walking around the town in the sun, we got warm enough to take them off. But once we were down on the extra windy beach, we were cold! I kept feeling like it was October and not the 4th of July. And that made me happy! Because it's just so hot in Florida for so long. It was a quaint little town there. It was crowded since it was a holiday. But it was still enjoyable.

We left the beach around 6:30pm so that we could get back to our motel before dark. The time difference was the most complicated when dealing with our son's sleep schedule. It all got messed up! But we survived. :) We were in PJs in our motel room by the time all the fireworks were going on. Our son fell asleep and me and my husband peaked out the room window for a few minutes watching lots of little fireworks displays going on in the distance. They didn't start until around 9pm, which was midnight to our bodies!

So I think that's all I will post for today. This took a really long time! I will post the rest tomorrow or Wednesday. :) It's going to be about waterfalls, lookout points, a zoo, and a large rose garden.

Back home!

2011-07-10T15:16:00.002-04:00

We got home late Thursday night/Fri morning! I was sad to leave Portland. Kavi was happy we were coming home because he missed all of his toys. When we said we were going back to the airport to go home, he said "Hurray!". hah. But we stayed really busy while away! He had to have had a blast. The journey home felt a little tiring and we didn't get home until about 12:40am.

I caught a crummy cold that I started feeling a little bit on the day we flew home. Now it's a full blown cold, so my energy level isn't the best. I have so many pictures I still want to share from all of our outings. It was just wonderful!!

I will post more tomorrow. Here's a phone picture taken while at the airport waiting for our flight. Yummy coffee from the Portland based "Coffee People", inside the airport. And my little bag of purchases from the Made in Oregon store. What a perfect combo!?
Oh coffee lovers, it really is a coffee paradise out there. Everywhere we went I saw these words "Espresso" or "Coffee sold here".

More soon!

Amazing!!

2011-07-04T10:47:00.000-04:00

The flight over the western part of the country seeing so many mountain ranges from the plane...

Finally being on the west coast of the USA for the first time....
Driving from the airport to our motel...
The drive to Mt. Hood, Oregon...

The view when we reached the Timberline Lodge area...
ALL amazing!!

almost at the lodge...

Timberline Lodge. Free for public to walk around inside.

Back of lodge.

Seeing thick snow in July, while it's in the 50's-60 outside?...
Taking the Magic Mile sky ride (ski lift kinda thing) up from the lodge...
Standing near the top of Mt. Hood...
ALL amazing!!!

Going up, Mt. Hood's peak ahead. Our lift took us up to the tree top level!
Here we are at the top of the ride, altitude 7000 ft! The peak is at around 11,000 feet so we are still a few thousand down from it! There is one more lift that takes skiers up higher than where we were.

The view going back down.

Outside the building at the bottom of the ride.

We had to walk across snow in our sneakers for a couple hundred of feet to get from the lodge building to the sky ride base!! It was slippery and scary but so fun. See, this is a rare experience for us!! My son born in Florida, I moved there as a very young child, and my husband born in India. We have hardly been around snow in our lives!!!

I think the sky ride is one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced. And I am afraid of heights! But it was so quiet, so chilly, so snowy, and so beautiful!! I just can't stop feeling excited about all these things.

So we went to the Mt. yesterday. Today we explored downtown Portland and that was fun too! Tomorrow we are going to the coast, we will see the Pacific Ocean! We are just going all over. The weather today in Portland was chilly in the morning then sunny and in the 70's later on. So nice!! I will definitely take that over 90+ degree Florida weather. I think it will be warmer tomorrow but we are going to the coast, where the breezes keep it cooler!

The time difference(3 hours earlier for us) is confusing but not as bad as when we go to India. I am sitting here typing this ahead of posting it, at 10pm local time Sunday night but it's 1am at home! We brought our laptop with us and we have free wifi here at the motel(I guess these days, that's a given!), so I could easily type this. And I am almost ready for bed here. I hear some fireworks and firecrackers outside. I heard some last night too. 'Tis the season of noise! I will probably post again in a couple days.

Happy 4th of July!!!

2011-07-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

Praying for good weather and safe travels...away I go! Should land at the Portland airport around 5:45pm Pacific time. (Journey from Tampa to Houston flight connection to Portland)

Week recap

2011-06-29T10:59:00.001-04:00

A little recap of the past week or so. I will start with last Wednesday.

I started being much better about tracking my calories eaten/burned last Wednesday. I saw the scale very slowly start moving down due to increased activity like walking around the aquarium and such, so I wanted to slightly speed up the momentum with trying more. I felt encouraged and that helps me work harder. As some reading this may realize already, this weight loss thing is such an ongoing battle for me. I am using myfitnesspal.com and an app on my phone to track things. It's going well! I have lost at least a pound in a week but possibly two. My scale is really cheap so it's not completely accurate. I follow myfitnesspal's calorie goals for losing 1.5 pounds a week. And it feel sustainable because I don't let myself be hungry. I just have to wisely use my calories. If I want a little bit of ice cream, I can as long as it's within my calorie limits. But I usually have a "free" day like Saturday where I don't track my calories well and might indulge in something I don't have the rest of the week. I have used myfitnesspal in the past too, but not as consistently as now.
---
On Saturday we went to see Cars 2. Since Kavi had been to the movies a few times before that, I thought he'd just sit through it well like he has with other movies, and like it a lot. He loves cars and the Cars cars. But, the movie felt really long. I did like the movie, but as a friend said, it seemed more for older kids than a 3-4 year old. Themes of alternate fuels vs oil and cars exploding and espionage-clever in my opinion, but it went over a 3 year old's head. So after an hour he started asking, "why it's not over already?". And then during the last 20 minutes of the movie he was asking for movie popcorn. I said no. He was unhappy.

Thankfully that kind of movie audience has lots and lots of little kids so it's never completely silent. And his little talking cannot be heard over the movie sounds and other random kid sounds in the room. (If that happened during a grown up movie, which I wouldn't take my son to anyway hehe, I would have immediately left the room with him.) So on the way home from the movie, we stopped quickly at the grocery store so that I could go grab a couple items like bread, eggs, and popcorn! The whole box of popcorn with 3 bags inside is cheaper than the small popcorn at the movie theater. At home with the popcorn popped, Kavi was a happy boy.
---
And now we are in the final countdown to leaving for Portland! Two days (Friday). WOO. Today I am going to try to find a nice fitting pair of New Balance sneakers at JCPenney. I have a $10 off coupon for there, and I really need supportive walking shoes. Tomorrow I will focus on packing and last minute trip prep. We have reserved our parking spot at the hotel we will park our car at in Tampa before going to the airport. That parking cost is 1/3 the price of parking at the airport. And you get a free shuttle to/from the airport which is only a mile or two from that hotel. And our car stays parked in a secure, indoor parking garage. I love deals! We also reserved a rental car at the airport in Portland. Our rooms at a very affordable motel have been reserved for weeks, in Vancouver, WA (right across the border from Portland, OR). We happened to look up rates as they were having a sale last month and locked in the awesome rate. So we are pretty much set, except for packing!

I may stop in again before leaving but I am not 100% sure! I am going to take lots of pictures while away and will of course share!

Fashion inspiration

2011-06-27T11:59:00.000-04:00

1. 13.06.2011, 2. "Cocktail" dress, 3. bike baskets, 4. Blue velvet

No real "theme", just some I liked !

Sunday Music

2011-06-26T11:35:00.002-04:00

I listen to old and new stuff and once in awhile get in a real music mood. So I might play songs from youtube(if I don't own the songs, which seems to be the case for most songs!) for an hour or so, with the nice speakers on, somewhat loud. My son likes it too. My husband likes it too as long as it's not annoying punk music from the 90's like MxPx. :D

Today I thought of Sanctus Real and some of their songs that I like. (Sanctus Real is an American Christian rock band formed in Toledo, Ohio, in 1996. -wiki)

I didn't realize how long ago the songs I was listening to were released-in 2004. That doesn't seem so long ago right? But it's been 7 years!!

So I will just embed a couple and if anyone fancies listening to any, feel free. If not and you have never heard of them, well now you know that there is a band named Sanctus Real! :)

I used to hear these songs occasionally on the radio when I would be driving in my car in the mid 2000's. Sometimes to and from work(before I stopped working). And for some reason, when you hear songs in the car they seem to be even better than when played at home. Funny!

Upbeat song "Everything about You". I love it.

Slower paced song but with good electric guitar. "Closer."

A calmer, introspection kind of song about changing. Like a prayer song. "Change me."

2011-06-24T10:37:00.000-04:00

When I was deciding to cut my bangs, I came across this shop on Etsy and really liked this gal's hair. Her hair looks straighter and longer than mine, but I love her look. It helped inspire me to do it! And the shop also happens to be based in Portland. So I had to go with it!! ;) Me thinking of bangs+the shop being from a location I will be visiting=inspiration for me.

A shop that sells screen printed t-shirts as well as adorable dresses. SHESHEpdx.

Vintage Thursday : dresses

2011-06-23T10:46:00.000-04:00

I haven't done a vintage only post in a couple weeks or more, I think!

Just some cute dresses from the same shop BruklynBelle, based in Oregon.

Over the weekend...

2011-06-21T11:30:00.004-04:00

We had a fun visit with my family over the weekend. They arrived Friday before dinner so Kavi had a nice few hours to play with them before bed. We ordered pizza for dinner. NY Style pizza, which my family can't seem to find something like it in AL so far. Even at the places that claim to be. This is one of our favorite pizza places, local owned, 1/2 mile from my house.
We played outside after the temperature went down a little(so hot these days!) and Kavi and his neighbor friend drew with chalk all over our porch floor and driveway. There was also help from my sister and others.

(above was only the start, lots more was drawn!)

We met up with some friends for lunch at Panera on Saturday, stopped at Target, then stayed around the house the rest of the day just hanging out. One sad thing was that our good friend Rachel got sick and went to her mom's house(who lives here) and couldn't hang out all day Saturday and Sunday due to feeling yucky.

Sunday for Father's Day, we all met up with my grandmother, cousin, cousin's husband and kids for lunch. Then they all came over after that for dessert at the house. My cousin made and brought up a delicious chocolate mousse pie, with coconut flavored whipped cream on top! Mmmm. We had some family friends stop over during the day too. Coffee was also consumed.

About that coffee...sometimes our Dunkin Donuts-es around here make weak coffee. It's such a bummer. What happened to consistency?! My mom and sister bought a "Box O' Joe" from D&D. Have you seen those? It's an awesome to-go box of hot coffee, for a group.
We were so happy they brought it home...but then I started pouring some and it was light brown. You know what that means. WEAK. So sad. So I brewed a pot of stronger Starbucks coffee that my mom bought me (I'm too cheap to buy nice coffee to brew at home, I buy cheaper stuff hehe) so that we could mix the two.

But we have a theory about Dunkin Donuts around here. Theory: The old people must complain that it's too strong, so D&D makes it weaker for them. Our area has a lot, a lot, a lot of retirees. And if they are going out for coffee, they usually will pick Dunkin Donuts and not Starbucks. Or as one older man called it accidentally "Starburst". So they must buy a lot of coffee at Dunkin Donuts. And maybe they influence D&D's coffee strength. (See, it's a conspiracy!) And the D&D by my house is a hang out spot for a lot of retired men from NY. (We love NY around here in this part of FL, so many people from NY live here. I was born in NY myself.). They sit around talking for hours. We like seeing them sit there though. But is it really their fault? Or the elderly ladies' fault instead? Or is it just random, bad coffee making employees? Because there has to be something going on with it. It's just not good half the time. And the other half of the time it's decent. I need to get to the bottom of this problem. (haha, yeah right.)

That was my coffee rant. :)

Here's a picture of me and my sister.
I realize I don't have any with our dad, for Father's Day. Heh...oops. But here is a good oldie picture of my family!
And back to my family now. They left yesterday to go back home, which is always sad! We had a nice visit.

Now it's countdown time to our Portland trip. I still can't really believe we are going. 10 days is it now? I think so.

Inspiration : Blues

2011-06-20T00:01:00.000-04:00

Source: lookbook.nu via Christina on Pinterest

Source: style-files.com via Catalina on Pinterest

Source: glamour.com via Christina on Pinterest

Source: weheartit.com via laura on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Misha on Pinterest

Curtains Finished!

2011-06-17T10:47:00.000-04:00

I managed to finish the curtain project within a quick time frame! Compared to my usual procrastinating ways. I think it's because my family is visiting this weekend (driving down right now!) and I wanted the curtains up before they came so they could see them.

I finished them all and then had to redo a hem or two because of one being shorter than another. Argh! But I fixed the problem and now they all look about the same length.

And...it's only two weeks until we leave for Portland, OR!! I have had this written on this chalkboard for a couple weeks now, since we first booked the tickets.

Curtain Project

2011-06-14T11:38:00.001-04:00

We had painted my son's room last winter, and during the process took green curtains(also made by me) off of his windows because they just looked drab with the light blue paint color. I posted a few pictures back on this post. We didn't put up new curtains because I liked the way the white simple blinds looked against the paint color. His windows are narrow and high up.

But then my son didn't like these little gaps that were in between the set of blinds - so we have old receiving blankets up, in the middle of each window, to block out the "scary" darkness he'd see in between the blinds at night. We thought about getting white curtains but of the curtains I looked at, the sizes weren't right.

So on Sunday, we visited the aquarium again(yay!) and then after that went to Ikea. They are only a couple miles apart(or less). We didn't realize the store closed at 6 p.m. on Sundays so at 5:42pm we were in the kids' toy section and I decided to walk over to the kids' bedding and textile section. I found some fabric pieces on sale for $5.99! They measure 47"x118", precut and prepackaged. I grabbed one with vehicles on it, so cute, and I thought it'd be perfect for Kavi's room.
We walked really fast towards the checkout because by the time I looked at the fabric and showed my husband, they said the store was closing in 5 minutes! And we were still on the top floor. If you've been through an Ikea, you will know what I mean when I say we still had to walk through the bottom level and the warehouse part to get to the checkouts! Far! We used the "shortcuts" even and were speed walking and still didn't get to the checkout before they announced that the store was closed. But they of course were still going to checkout all of us stragglers making our way to the registers, *whew*. By that time we were a little out of breath from rushing! Funny, all for one $5.99 item. But I didn't want to have to go back to Tampa just for that anytime soon.

Instead of procrastinating, I started working on the new curtains yesterday. There is just enough fabric to make four short panels for his two windows. I was in the groove with the project until I ran out of white thread! I haven't bought any thread in awhile. So today I need to go get some. Here's a progress picture and an up close look at the cute fabric. :)

My son adores vehicles! And I like that the background of the fabric is white.

Pretty Hair

2011-06-13T11:12:00.002-04:00

Pretty ways to style or pin your hair up! I started adding finds to my "Hair I Like" board on pinterest.

This is so cute, pretty, and retro inspired:

Source: joannagoddard.blogspot.com via Christina on Pinterest

'quarium

2011-06-08T10:20:00.000-04:00

My son does and says lots of entertaining things all the time, even when he isn't trying to be funny. Kids really do say the darndest things!

A little while ago he suddenly looked sad and slumped over while walking around.
I asked him "what's wrong?" He said, "I'm sad about the 'quarium." I asked why? He said,"I miss the fishies, the sharks, the octopus, the black clouds...". What's funny is he calls this cool fog screen thing "black clouds", and the fact that he is saying he misses it is interesting since he didn't like it while we were at the aquarium! I found a picture somebody else took of this mist thing. It's in a really dark area, which is why Kavi didn't like it. And you could walk through it, but he really didn't want to. He walked around it.

(image found here)

At the far right of the picture, you can see the fog screen with the octopus projected onto it. It's blowing down from the ceiling and they project a cartoon onto it, which is cool. But you can see why he refers to it as black clouds? It seems to lead into darkness.

I told him we are going again soon, we have passes! And I even miss the aquarium now. I think we will go again very soon. :)

He is also a dance machine and I need to post one of his dancing videos soon. And he likes saying things like "cool man, really awesome, yeah-eh-eh-eh" while grooving.

Monday Inspiration

2011-06-06T15:48:00.000-04:00

Monday is feeling a bit blah so far for me today.

So I need some inspiration and cool things to look at!

1. mirror, 2. owls

1. Weaving Dreams, 2. calivintage: velma

Yay Friday

2011-06-03T11:46:00.003-04:00

Yay, it's Friday! Even though I don't go out to an office all week, it's still nice to know it's Friday.

And I have some excitement to share.

In a few weeks, we are going on a trip to an area we've never been to before. The West coast!!

Here's how it came about...

Because of our trips to visit my husband's family in India the past three years, with the same airline, we accumulated "onepass miles", better known as frequent flyer miles. We realized some time in the past what the reward travels options were. So in the past couple months after our trip to India, we started looking into it more.

Me and my husband had enough miles to get a round trip ticket to anywhere in the (48 continuous) US! Kavi didn't quite have enough, because the first year we all went to India together he sat on our laps, which was very cheap, so he didn't get to count those miles towards the reward program. My husband had extra miles from going alone in the past. So we transferred the needed miles to my son's account, and the cost of that was $225, much cheaper than the airline tickets I was seeing for sale.

So with a $10 fee each person + the miles transfer, we spent $255 for all three of us to fly to...
Portland, Oregon!!

Now, people are already asking, "oh wow, what's in Portland?" or "do you have family there?"
No family there. But why did we choose Portland?

Several reasons:

It's almost the most far away we can get from Florida, with it still being in the 48 states. Seattle was another option but we chose to fly to Portland.
I have heard it's a pretty cool city. Lots of artsy stuff.
Not far to the east of Portland is Mt. Hood, a snow capped mountain! I have not been right by a snow capped mountain before. I have only flown over them en route to India.
Not far to the west is the Pacific coastline, and cool looking beaches like Cannon Beach!
The weather there will be much more pleasant than Florida summer, even if it's rainy.
It's only 2.5-3 hours from Seattle-day trip!

So we booked our tickets two weeks ago, also found a VERY affordable motel with good customer reviews across the WA state line near Portland(in Vancouver, Wa). And we will be there six nights/five full days. After the long plane rides to India, traveling 8-9 hours to get to the west coast will feel short. We will be there the beginning of July. :D

I made a pin board inspired by the trip planning on pinterest.

You can see the whole board here.

Source: andersondesigngroupstore.com via Christina on Pinterest

Vintage Thursday

2011-06-02T11:07:00.002-04:00

I love this "instant collection" set of tin saucers!

And this vintage flashcards garland from the same shop:
It would look great in Kavi's room I think!

Love Thy Neighbor

2011-06-01T10:33:00.001-04:00

That above ^ is hard to do sometimes!

Right now I literally have neighbors that are driving me crazy. They moved in to the house next door to rent it last Fall. At first things seemed fine. But if they were in their driveway the same time I was, they wouldn't even make eye contact so that I could wave hi. So basically, I didn't say hi to them for months. I am not a talkative kind of neighbor to begin with, but not even wanting to make eye contact ever is a bit strange to me.

One day when we were leaving the house my son noticed the neighbor's little girl playing outside(with her mom who was pushing around a baby brother in a stroller). So he said "I see a girl!" so then we waved hi because they also heard. That was the first form of contact, and it hasn't really happened much since then.

The first issue back then was that they would sit on the back porch late at night talking and arguing on a cell phone with maybe a boyfriend. It was two women who lived there, maybe sisters? And the little kids. Then after awhile a man showed up and seemed to live there too. After that I was never sure who actually lived there.

One day many months ago, I had a knock at my door and it was Child Protective Services (Dept. Children/families). I was surprised but he was there to ask me about those neighbors. He asked if I knew who lived there, if I had noticed any weird activities, and if I ever heard screaming. (!?) I answered the questions and said I didn't hear screaming ever, but sometimes I could hear the adults yelling in the back porch. He took my name. That whole thing made me nervous and concerned for the children there. Soon before that, we noticed cops had been at their house one day and seemed like they told a man to leave the house. So the man and a certain vehicle that must have been his, were not back after that.

Fast forward a couple months and there is a man there again, and I don't even know if it's the same or different. I just know the vehicle from before is not there. And now, we had noticed a jump in activities at that house. Many different cars stopping there during the day, only staying a short amount of time, then leaving. I am sure you can imagine what we think about that. So the cars coming and going during the day added to the annoyance of hearing them outside talking and playing music late at night. Now almost every night I can hear them yapping away, and not quietly, in their garage with the doors open or in the driveway. Our bedroom windows are on the side by their house so we can hear it. I get really mad feeling sometimes but unless it's really loud, I don't feel like I should call the cops. It's an annoyance, I can hear it, but it's not blasting loud.

So this brings me to yesterday when there was a knock at the door and it was a cop! He asked if me or anyone in my house called 911. I said no. He said someone did from a cell phone and it "pinged" between my house and that neighbors house but they couldn't pinpoint it so they were checking both places. I confirmed we didn't call, but I couldn't help by wonder if someone in the neighbor's house really did. The cop might have already tried there and they could have said no. It could have been an accident. But was it? The cop said it could have been someone driving by here at that time too. I hesitated before saying bye and i just said, we don't know the neighbors and I am not sure what they are up to but they seem to have a lot of activity there. Hoping it'd be a hint. But I am sure they must have on record the previous police visit to their house.

So one last thing is that last night they were talking and arguing loudly in their garage at 2 am for awhile. I so much wanted to open my front door and yell SHUT UP to them. But honestly I am afraid to do that because I don't trust those people or know what they have in their possession. I need to pray for them, and if things get too out of control will have to call the cops.

So I am really really annoyed at these neighbors, and I feel bad for the two small children there. The rest of our neighbors for the most part are very nice, quiet people. There has been much less peace around here since the newer neighbors moved in and I know we aren't the only ones who have noticed. So I am just praying that something changes. That they will be quiet, they will stop acting shady, or that they will move.

Aquarium Visit

2011-05-31T13:02:00.001-04:00

The leafy looking thing="Leafy Sea Dragon", near the seahorse tanks. Cool!

We bought the annual pass as planned yesterday, when we visited the Aquarium. :) What we didn't know is that the pass would be 20% off for Memorial Day weekend! We saved $24 off the price. So we started out the visit extra happy. We really enjoyed it! I am happy that we can go back and visit often. There is this whole outside water play area for kids that is included.

Kavi was a little apprehensive with how we started our walk in the aquarium, picking the dark/deep water zone first. There were a lot of cool species in dark tanks, with dark lighting, but bright signs and occasional colored lights. The jellyfish turned whatever color the light turned in their tank. So pretty!

But by the time we left, the things that made Kavi unsure at first seemed to not bother him as much.

Monday Inspiration

2011-05-30T10:26:00.002-04:00

Just a quick one! I didn't do well with blogging last week hmm?

Today we are going to an aquarium and I am excited! We have never been to it and it's only an hour away.

The weather is really hot here already so I am sharing inspiration outfits that include shorts. But not short shorts. Short shorts are not me at all, for self-conscious reasons and modesty issues. SO I picked longer shorts!

Source: angiehearts.net via Sara on Pinterest

Source: forever21.com via Maggie on Pinterest

Style Advice IV by alter egoo -busy :( featuring blue shorts

in the refuge of my treehouse by bakery945 featuring a brown blouse

Source: modernhepburn.tumblr.com via Alicia on Pinterest

The park

2011-05-25T11:03:00.006-04:00

There is a park near here that my husband sometimes takes our son to in the evening after dinner. I usually stay home to do dishes or just to get a break and to actually be alone for a little awhile.

But last Sunday evening we were all bored after being home all day, so we all went to the park. Kavi cutely refers to it as the "Florida park" (but that is not it's name). And if there are little kids there for him to interact with, he calls them his friends. There weren't really any friends for him to play with Sunday evening. But it was still fun.

We first walked on a walking track that encircles the park before going to the playground.
Kavi has gotten much more adventurous than he was, say, a year ago. I guess he was only two a year ago though! This playground set actually says for ages 5 and up. It's not the biggest playground area compared to the one at the beach, which has different heights and a separate area for very little kids. But this one is really close to our house.

I regret not going more often when the weather was cooler. It is getting really hot again, and even in the evenings it can be in the 80's and humid. But I am sure Kavi will be having more adventures at the "Florida park".

Inspiration: clothes, hair, and home

2011-05-23T11:31:00.001-04:00

I am revisiting some images I have already posted here in the past. I have posted so many that no one might remember them. But I have them in my flickr favorites. Since I cut bangs last week, I noticed how so often, not only did I like the styling of the clothing in photos I have shared, but I also liked their hair. And why did it take me so long to realize so many had bangs! And why didn't I cut some sooner? I am always behind on the trends! hah...And I didn't know until recently that some people call bangs "fringe". Well ok then.

So here is a revisit of some photos I have already posted, bangs involved.

1. Green Doors in the City, 2. November 7th, 3. sprig of thyme, 4. Untitled

And how about some tree branch and birch inspiration! From pinterest:

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: kirinote.blogspot.com via lesleyt on Pinterest

I am now on pinterest: http://pinterest.com/coffeeplease/

If you have wanted to be on there and need an invite, let me know and I can pass one along.

I got this post mostly finished, and things went wacky! Images covering words and wouldn't enter down with the enter key. I had to redo it!

Necklace Clearance

2011-05-21T12:25:00.005-04:00

I marked down all the necklaces, shown above, in my shop around 50% off(oops miscalculated at first) for a big clearance. I only have 12 necklaces listed right now, but they have been for sale for a long time and I would love to clear out these items.

I haven't said much about it lately but my Etsy has been the slowest it's ever been. I also have not made any new items in months, ever since the trip to India. I don't have as much time to spend doing it or lost some of the motivation maybe? It's time for me to either reevaluate the jewelry shop or let it close if I can sell off the items. Unsure. I have the pillow shop too, which I could refocus on maybe during summer to sew new items.

The Week

2011-05-20T11:10:00.002-04:00

A recap of what we were up to this week.

Monday-we stayed home to make sure my son recovered fully from being sick last weekend. Not much happened that day except that I ate pad thai which is delicious!

Tuesday-Last minute plan to meet up with my friend again at Dunkin Donuts that morning. We are trying to make it a regular thing. The kids are happy with their special treats and we get to chit chat for as long as we want to. After that, me and K went to Target to get some groceries and other items. We have two Targets in my town(wee!) and neither are Super Targets. But one is almost a Super Target, minus the full produce and bakery depts. But there is a frozen section, limited produce and dairy, and dry goods aisles. So me and K were out that day from 10:30am til 3:30pm. We usually aren't out that long at one time. It was a nice change.

Wednesday-We finally got to meet my cousin's cute baby boy!! I cooked some food to bring, a mix and match of things-appetizer sized spanakopita, couscous with (almost) Moroccan flavored chicken, salad with homemade dressing(thanks mom),and a side of Indian style cauliflower. We all like unique foods so my cousin was happy with the food we brought. We went after my husband got home from work and ate dinner down there.
Oh! Another BIG thing for me on Wednesday night after coming home. I had been tempted to cut some bangs this week. I don't know why I waited so long, I really like them! I hesitated because my hair can get frizzy plus the weather is getting hot again=sweaty forehead while outside=can ruin bangs! But I went for it anyway. :D

(Left side taken when hair was freshly styled, right side after being out all day,
looks different but still ok!)

Thursday-Me and K usually go to our family friend's house on Thursdays to hang out for a couple hours. I have posted pictures of him waving at the school buses there. This time another friend and her mother came and it was really nice!

Friday-Not much going on yet today except for much needed coffee! I do really need to clean up around the house.
I was blessed to have a pretty active week! Some weeks are boring when we don't get to see a lot of people. This week was filled with lots of nice socializing!

Have a good weekend!

Vintage Thursday: Lotus bowls

2011-05-19T10:15:00.000-04:00

1. Lotus., 2. Orange Lotus Bowl, 3. Good Things, 4. Yellow Lotus Bowls!, 5. lotus bowls, 6. Around My Craft Table, 7. tulip/lotus bowls, 8. Bowls., 9. Lotus Bowls

I love these little flower bowls! I want some.

Treasuries & Inspiration

2011-05-18T10:58:00.000-04:00

Here are two treasuries I put together recently.

"Mustard & Gray Revisited":

I really like that color combination, as well as the chevron/zigzag thing.

And "The Wanderer's Stopover":

I was inspired by the print in the top left corner called the knowing wanderer. I wanted to include household items, but a wanderer doesn't have those while wandering around. So I figured this could be about the wanderer's stopover somewhere to sleep for the night or several nights along the way.

inspiration:

Source: decor8blog.com via Elyse on Pinterest

Source: sfgirlbybay.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Source: thecsiproject.com via Lindsay on Pinterest

The ickies are finally leaving

2011-05-16T10:09:00.001-04:00

I wrote about myself getting sick last week. As I was really starting to feel better, my poor little boy got it! Friday night he went to sleep as usual but an hour later woke up saying he had to go to the bathroom. We went in and as soon as we touched him we knew he had a high fever. It was pretty high, so we gave him some children's fever medicine and some water.

But then he said his tummy hurt and he kept holding it. And I just knew he might be feeling how I did a few days earlier so I rushed him into the bathroom. It's a good thing I did because he threw up(sorry, I know it's gross to read suddenly!). But just once. So while my sickness was worse in that sense, his was worse in the fever sense. His fever went up and down all night into the next day. Saturday he ate a decent amount of food without problems. But then at night after he fell asleep, his fever went up again and he woke up uncomfortable. It took a couple hours that time to get him to fall back asleep! But when I checked on him later, his body felt cool and it stayed that way into Sunday. But unfortunately Sunday morning, he drank some milk and it didn't stay down. But the food the rest of the day did. And he was energetic and happy until he went to bed, so I hope that means he is really getting better now.

I found these cute printables for sale on Etsy to make a get well kit. I will have to keep them in mind for the next time someone gets sick!

I wrote about a baby shower me, my sister, and others had put together in the beginning of April, and my cousin had her baby last Tuesday! As I wrote a little mention about already. We still can't wait to meet him! Baby Elijah. I really wanted to be at the hospital after he was born and be more involved. Sad. But hopefully soon we will see him.

bleh

2011-05-12T10:54:00.000-04:00

I seem to have caught some kind of 24 hour or more thing that suddenly appeared Tuesday evening. I am feeling better today but not to my totally normal self yet.

My cousin(who we threw the shower for) got induced to have her baby Mon night and he was born Tuesday afternoon. I was excited to go see them at the hospital! She was in a hospital that is about an hour away. Well, after my husband got home from work and we ate dinner, we got ready to go. We stopped at a grocery store along the way for me to get a baby boy balloon and flowers. But I started feeling extra weird while in the store and had to make a pit stop.(ew)

Back in the car, I felt worse and worse and nauseous. About 15 minutes later I had my husand stop at a Wendy's so I could go into the bathroom. And I threw up. :( I knew that meant we had to turn around and go home, even though we had made it about 35 mins towards the hospital. I didn't want to get anyone else sick, especially not my cousin and her baby!

Tuesday night was yucky but thankfully after I went to bed, I didn't have to make any more gross bathroom trips. I felt tired out yesterday and stayed in bed most of the day. Today I feel better but like I said, not 100% yet.

Spontaneous Fun

2011-05-09T11:18:00.000-04:00

As much as I like having plans ahead of time, I also love a spontaneously fun day.

On Saturday we wanted to go do something fun instead of sitting at home. In the early evening we decided to drive to the small local beach so that Kavi could play in the sand and on their playground. Then we could watch sunset.

On the way there, we needed to eat something and there weren't many options past a certain point. We went to a fast food place(ehh, I know), but they had an old car show going on! They must do it often but we are never at this exact spot even though it's only about 10 minutes away from where we live. Kavi loved that, because he absolutely loves cars and every mode of transportation.

We felt like we weren't even in our town or area for some reason while sitting there. I tried a turkey burger, not bad. We were at Hardees, somewhere we never go.

Then it was on to the beach, about 10 more minutes away. We brought some of Kavi's sand toys and it was so relaxing to just sit there on the sand. It was windy, like it usually is at the beach here. It had been a hot day, but the wind kept us cool enough to enjoy it instead of sitting there sweating.

After sitting for awhile on the beach, we had gone to put our feet in the water. Then we went to the other side of the beach to the playground. I didn't get a picture of the whole thing but the main part of the playground is shaped like a ship. It's cool!
Time went by so quickly! After being at the playground we went back over to a small deck they have near the water to watch sunset.
(this is the Gulf of Mexico, no big waves around these parts)

We don't live very far from this small beach, but we don't go enough! We hadn't been there since last summer. It's very refreshing to do something different and to be outside (without sweating!). I hope we do this more often now. We felt like it was such a fun evening.

We also had a fun Mother's Day! I will post about that at a different time.

The Week

2011-05-06T15:09:00.000-04:00

Thought I would do a little recap for the week since most days I don't write much about day to day life.

Monday- My parents went back home after visiting for the weekend. We stayed home the rest of the day. I looked up info for possibly using some accumulated freq. flyer miles, but still not 100% sure when we will use them.

Tuesday- In the morning I had a very nice time meeting up with two friends who are also mothers. Their kids are younger than Kavi. We went to Dunkin Donuts MMmmMmm.

Wednesday -Grocery shopping time! Isn't that always fun? (sarcasm :P) And other stuff around the house too.

Thursday- Like on most Thursdays, we head over to a family friends' house to chit chat. And whenever the school buses pass by on the way to a nearby H.S. to pick up students at the end of the school day, Kavi waves at them and they wave and beep at him. I imagine they remember that a little boy waves at them almost every Thursday, and it's been going on over a year! Here he is with his backpack on(just for fun) pointing at the buses. This picture is from two weeks ago actually.
Today: Laundry catch up, and other cleaning. Exciting! :P

Vintage Thursday

2011-05-05T10:44:00.003-04:00

Vintage inspiration flickr photos:

1. 7-11-08, 2. evie-28-2

Etsy related finds:

Red Licorice Whip umbrella; 1950's movie camera