The Busiest Non-Busy Saturday...

Well, I'd say that over 75% of the day today was spent at the house, but looking back at the past 12 hours, it was anything but lame.

First things first, breakfast - the timeless classic that  my mom made for us growing up: Cream of Buckwheat. Sounds weird, but don't knock it til you try it. :) 

nommmmmm.... :) 

Once breakfast was off the list, we made an attempt to gather our thoughts for how we'd take advantage of the day [which was beautiful, btw]. We settled on some necessity things, which turned out to be a perfect way to spend it.

Sydni was ready to go: 

i just... i can't. i love this so much. 

Item 1: Poor Subie. She's been singing the infirmary song of her people for a couple weeks now: her rear brakes are going bad and a couple weeks back, we drilled a pothole in the never-ending field of them en route to Milford. My fiance, being the stand up guy that he is, ushered in the assistance of his contacts at the tire repair shop, where we left Subie for the better half of the morning.

In the interim, we made our way to Oakley: Michael's and lunch. I can't spill all the beans now [since I know this page is frequented by a certain someone whose birthday may or may not, but in this case may be approaching in like... 4 days or so], but the Michael's mission was a success!

Lunch at Which Wich afterwards wasn't a shabby experience, either: I always enjoy showing new dives to Rob & Syd. 

love at which wich!

Back at home, Rob set out on the second half of his quest to fix my car, while I set to work on my.... "project(s)." I suppose I'll leave you with one small spoiler for now, but that's it!

that's all you get [for now!]

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out together as a family, doing our own separate tasks, but there together. Sydni made a little flower garden and some mud pies, Rob changed my brakes and fixed Subie's squeaky hubcap, and I was able to finish the craft tasks on my list. We all had our hands busy, but were all within earshot of each other and free from the distractions of technology for the afternoon. It was beautiful! 

Evening eventually found us, which meant dinner... which I was bound and determined to make healthy for us: 

salad salad salaaaaad

And yes, I count it as a monumental life victory that my kid will eat salad without protest. I don't have this whole parenting thing down to a science yet, but it's small things like this that remind me we're doing something right :) 

Goodnight, blogbots! 

xo | cmd

Glass Is BACK!

We forgot to pick these up over the weekend, so on a short break today I ran down to Brazee Street Studios and picked up THESE!

I love them! I'm not entirely sure what purpose mine is going to serve, but it's still pretty, and I think it's pretty cool how this is done. Regardless of where these little projects end up, I am sure that we'll have plenty of future arts & crafts expeditions!

In other notes, I found this on my TimeHop today, and really, it was just too good not to share. I can't believe it's already been 1 year! Mare, I miss & love you, friend.. and I'll see you SOON! 

Have a beautiful week, blogbots!

xo | cmd

Glass & Games

I'm in group-creativity heaven.. haha.

So a month or so back, I'd coordinated with Elisa to have a surprise outing for Carri's birthday; that was this past Thursday. Likewise, I did the same with Carri to plan out a little something for Elisa's birthday, and that was today!

* Sidenote, I am a terrible surprise-keeper. I cannot express how happy I am to not have to constantly monitor what I say between the two of them; keeping ONE secret hushed is a struggle for me.. don't ask me how I managed to keep TWO buttoned up for nearly a month now... haha.

I met Carri at our office, where we were originally going to meet Elisa... plans took a turn when Elisa called saying she'd lost track of time at her apartment [the poor thing was under the weather today and also trying to move out of her apartment this weekend..]. We traveled there to get her, which nearly didn't happen amidst the chaos & stress she had in a move-out deadline. We eventually coerced her into coming with us, and were all grateful that it worked out that way.

Off to Brazee Street Studios we went! For anyone who didn't know about this place - myself included before 4 weeks ago - it's a glass studio that offers material and finished product sale, classes and private events! It's tucked into a little corner on a side street in Oakley, which was clearly off my radar, but is very clearly there now.

We'll be able to pick these projects up next Saturday, once they're double-fired, cooled & whatever else happens to them between now and then. Stay tuned & I'll have the finished products up.. eventually. Hah :)

Glass plate making is taxing work [ok, well...] so afterwards it was a no-brainer that lunch was a priority. We decided to stay close, and settled on Blue Elephant for some Thai food. With our bellies full, we made one final stop at Coffee Emporium.

They day show ended with dropping Elisa back at her house and then stopping at the office to bid adieu to Carri until Monday. I headed back home to catch up with Rob. We lounged around for a bit before a last minute decision to head out to Jessica's for a few hours of winding-down time. I can't imagine if we'd tried to actually go and do anything tonight.

game night with these guys! 

Man, I'm getting old ;)
Oh well..

xo | cmd 

Rings & Noms & Beads ♥

Mondays, more often than not trigger this reaction from me:

[thank you, natalie dee]

Seriously. It's a 50/50 on whether or not I'll crawl home from the day or bounce out like a triumphant Olympian. Today, I came out on top :)

yes, we can! 

I received a phone call early on today that my ring [over which I've been mildly stressing] was finished and returned to the jeweler, now in the correct size that will stay put on my finger :). I gathered Sydni up after work and together we went in for the pick-up. I handed off the $4 temporary ring I'd been wearing to Sydni, and immediately realized she needed one her own size.

And so we did :)

hers... & mini hers! ♥

She loves it. And I love.. that she loves it. She's too stinkin' cute for her own good.. sheesh.

At home, it was dinner: Chicken, potatoes and spinach. I seriously don't know what people do without staple foods!

it's now gone. every bit of it. ;) 

After dinner, Sydni and I went to work on one of the fun things Rob & I picked up for her at Ikea over the weekend. I had one of these as a kid, and I could bet there are still little plastic beads tucked in the nooks & crannies at my parents' house.

in progress.... 

We meticulously placed these, and when done, I broke out the iron and heat paper to create the final product: a heart medallion and one happy little goober:

syd.. that cheesy smile... i just... i love you ;) ♥

Syd, kiddo you're hilarious.
Thank you for making me smile - you have no idea how much we love you!

For the rest of my blogbots out there, happy Monday! Make it a great week!!

xo | cmd

'Tis the Season to Be GENEROUS

She finally got me.
Sydni the germ-buster brought her sniffles home on Monday this week, and somehow I didn't contract anything until today. Fortunately, we were able to get out of the house for a few short hours to take care of some shopping:


1. Christmas Tree Lights

round lights! 

We don't have them all up yet [we didn't buy enough strands; go figure], but this year, we decided to go with round Christmas lights, as opposed to the traditional slender strands. At this point, only half the tree is lit, but that half sure is beautiful ;)

2. Christmas for SOMEONE ELSE.

♥& be merry about it, too! 

We are called to GIVE!

"Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to." - Dt 15:10 NIV

Anyone out there who's ever been to a church around Christmas time has probably seen some version of this practice: You draw or pick a name of a child, and with that comes your commitment to provide for that child [or children] gifts appropriate to their age, gender, needs and possibly wants. Our church is of course participating, and it was our pleasure to choose a name and give Sydni a reinforcing experience of giving generously to someone she doesn't even know.

Sidenote: Parents, if you and your kids have never participated in this, I would strongly encourage you to do it. Not only does this give you and your family something you could do as a team, it is a teachable moment built to easily give us a platform to lead by example in giving generously AND joyfully to those in need. In our case, we reminded Sydni that not every little girl and boy has a family like ours and sometimes the only gifts they may receive could be the ones we choose.

And JUST LIKE THAT, my 5-year-old's response gives me as the PARENT a very obvious and very BOLD reminder:

Give not JUST joyfully, but give nothing but what would be fit for a queen [or king!]. 

Whoa.Right?! Because it would've been easy for us to pick out some random, maybe even knock-off versions of what was listed on her little slip: clothes, princess items, baby dolls. We could easily have finished our "obligatory" shopping for this 2-year-old girl in a matter of minutes, but Sydni proved a reminder to us that this little girl deserved the best:

"Oh, MOMMY! I know what we should get her!! Let's get her................."

And just like that, she started spouting off lists of things she would enjoy. And I realized that, although we weren't planning on the cheapest way out for this little girl, I had not actively been approaching this as though I was buying for my own child. I would want the prettiest doll, most fun little game, fuzziest PJ's and functional clothes that would keep her warm. And so for the little girl being assisted by my family and me this year, that's what we did. ♥

#truth! 

3. Christmas Decorations & Of Course... Knitting

The last thing on our agenda today was some comfy family time at the house. Sydni and I perused some Pinterest ideas for fun Christmas decorations. I had to laugh, because of all the crafty, more "kid-friendly" ideas floating out there on the interweb, Sydni has adamantly chosen mock faberge painted eggs. In this case, Sharpie'd faberge eggs. But still. Thanks, kiddo.. haha. Leave it to her to pick one of the most delicate projects on the entire site ;)

thanks, pinterest! 

Although, I've gotta hand it to her - they are gorgeous!
Maybe next year. For now, it's back to these [knitting] needles; these scarves aren't gonna finish themselves! ;)

xo | cmd 

It's ELF Season!

THIS:

photo cred: kena betancur

^^
Yes, guys, we are one of the households that has its own Elf on a Shelf, sent from Santa himself to grace our home when we're not looking. No, it's not the size of a parade balloon, but she's big in her own special way around here..

yep. 

I am well aware of the nay-sayers out there who don't participate in this fun little holiday tradition; we are however SO excited to have our own little gal elf, Lila, who finds her way back and forth between our house & the North Pole when the rest of us have gone to bed. She made her first appearance tonight and brought with her a book for Sydni [which went over perfectly]; thanks, Lila!

We'll get some pictures of Lila up here soon; for now, it's back to mama-daughter knitting. I know I posted a few shots yesterday of finished products, but I'm nowhere near done; they'll keep comin'!

knittin' fools over here :) 

See ya on the flipside, blogbots!

xo | cmd

Level UP : Knitting GOALS ;)

#trueeeeeeeeeeeeestory.

Okay okay okay... so I've been knitting a whole bunch so far this year. I spent a few hours tonight working away on the current project for Jessica's grandma, but I discovered THIS somewhere in the middle of my own work and breaks spent perusing social media.

The link has the full deets, but long story short, it's THIS:

want. need. want. need. want. need. 

The lengths to which this gal went to create this blanket seem pretty grueling, and I'll be the first to tell you I don't have my own personal collection of wool [........... yet? haha] to move on this. It looks.... fantastic, though. Add this one to my bucket list of other Pinterestesque ideas that may or may not ever find fruition.

That being said, I'll stick to my individual projects here, pale as they may be in comparison to that behemoth of a creation. If you want in on one, let me know! ;)

#6 & 7 so far this season!
$20/each - i will customize if you're interested! 

Yay, DIY-ers!
G'Nite, blogbots ♥

xo | cmd

Scarfie Saturday

I. 

Have. 

Been. 

KNITTING.....

All. 

Stinkin'. 

Day. 

At least that's how it feels. My fingers felt like they were ready to fall off around 6pm, when I finally peeled myself away after about five straight hours of work. I'm not complaining, no, but to say I felt a little cross-eyed was accurate. Christmas presents are well underway, and we're not even to December yet ;).

We rendezvoused earlier with Rob's boss & a few of his co-workers for dinner, and he dropped me at home to nurse this headache I developed somewhere in the afternoon... I'm sure I'll be zonked by the time he's back.

I suppose I'll be curling back up on the couch for some Big Bang Theory and... you guessed it...

remember this, from 2 years ago?
..... get ready for 2014, haha.. 

[More.]

KNITTING. 

:)

See ya on the flip side, blogbots!

xo | cmd

All Things Monday

What. A. DAY.

This has been a pure blend of surprise, celebration and mourning. It's all here, on one day.

First things first, today is my cousin Maricor's 30th birthday!

happy birthday!!!!

It's a rare blessing I think, to have someone so closely aligned with you, who isn't technically a biological relative [I'm adopted, remember?]. With splitting hairs aside, this woman is still my best friend, an inspiring soul, a wonderful mother to her beautiful girls and much, much more. Our daughters are 1 week apart, and although we don't see each other nearly as often as we'd like, we never miss a beat. Happy birthday, Maricor!! LOVE YOU!!

On the tails of morning birthday salutes, I found this in the mail:

yay, continued staffing education!

^ Yep. Another year's worth of being certified as an EUCP. Thanks, Express (:  

 

And then THIS: 

finally!! yiiieeee

^ About a week or so back, I gave in and finally ordered some waxed polyester cord; it's the same material [I think] used to make the famous Pura Vida bracelets. I have several of their bracelets, but decided that it's high time I start making some of my own, inspired by their design, but customized exactly how I want them. I started today, and have to say they didn't turn out bad. Marianne is the lucky guinea pig who gets the first set:

fun!

Oh... the possibilities.

Now for the sad - and I mean truly sad part of today:
By now it's been on every headline out there, but today the world lost Robin Williams.

I realized today that we don't always recognize the fact that personalities who as adults themselves defined large parts of our childhood, continue to age just as we do. I won't say I was a prolific follower of all things Robin Williams, but he was absolutely an iconic figure in my mind.

I mean c'mon.. he was the GENIE!
He was Adrian Cronauer!
He was Patch Adams!
He made Flubber!
He was Rainbow Rudolph!
HE WAS MRS. DOUBTFIRE!!

That list is obviously so long that it warrants more accolade than I could give on my own. Outside of his acting career, Robin was a philanthropist with a huge heart; Shriner's and the USO found much of his dedicated time, and the man contributed to the advancement of humanity in ways we didn't always recognize.

And he left this world today, after battling severe depression, ultimately leading to his suicide.

"genie, you're free."
 - the academy of motion picture arts & sciences

And okokokokokay.... to clarify, NO, I'm not propogating the idea that suicide equates freedom.

NO NO NO NO NO. The more I examined that statement, given by The Academy, the more I could justify why many people were offended by it - yes, in its immediate simplicity, it does leave room to suggest that by committing suicide, RW was "liberated."

NO NO NO NO NO. What I'm hopefully assuming the Academy meant to convey was the same sense of remorse so many other people feel at his passing: the long and excruciating struggle is over. It did NOT end the way it should have, at all, but it is over.

I have seen what happens to families ripped apart by suicide. I do NOT believe that the act of taking your own life delivers freedom to ANYONE. My heart hurts to think that, regardless of his celebrity status, RW has family and friends who are intimately destroyed by losing him.

Here's a solemn call-to-action for all of you out there.. from me to you: If you, or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts.......... talk. TALK to someone. It's only too late if you choose to ignore it. I joined the AFSP in 2009 after losing my friend Jena to suicide and watched her family and the rest of us blindly picking up the pieces.

Rest in peace, Robin. The world lost a remarkable soul today.

xo | cmd

Crafts & Chicken

I had it in my head that I wanted to be crafty, and I wanted to cook tonight.
Thanks to my ever-faithful little friend Pinterest, I was able to do both: 

From the craft table:
It was time for me to put some mini photo albums together for some people, so this is what happened:


card for dad!

inside of dad's card

card for ali

inside of ali's card

And from the kitchen: Crockpot chicken!  

yum!

 (Recipe for the chicken is super difficult... so get ready)..

You need 1 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce, chicken, a crockpot and 4 hours of uninterrupted time for your chicken to sit in there bathing in barbeque sauce. Shred it apart when it's tender enough to do so, and you've got shredded BBQ Chicken sandwiches.

YUM.

I'm crafted out for the night, folks.
See ya next time!

xo | cmd

Crafty Cards & A Four-Year-Old Four Wheeler

Elisa and I did something today that we've never done before.
We... played.. hookie.

Okay, so that's kind of what we told ourselves, but really all we did was take a dual lunch break and make a pitstop at Findlay Market. I gave Becky & Mike a heads up that we would be stopping by, and the four of us had a chance to chat over some gelato for a few minutes.

Oh, and there are hanging glass terariums at Market that give me the urge to transform my entire house into a gallery of tiny hanging succulent bulbs.

love!

And cacti:

d'awwwww (:

Sure, we made it back to the office in a reasonable amount of time, but for the sake of pretend rebellion, yeah, we went there. ;)

Anyway, with Monday gone to Sydni and my play-doh party, Tuesday gone to the circus episode of retrieving brick pavers, and last night gone to volleyball, I was left with tonight to start and finish the production of our Mother's Day cards.

So,

THANK YOU, PINTEREST. 

I had the format for these ready to go in my head on like, Sunday night, with every intention of having them completed and in the mail by Tuesday at the latest. Oh well.

They're done, we're happy, and here they are (:

to my mom ♥

open

front & top views

And the personalized but still mass-produced outcome?

dawne. mom. kate. mindi. carolyn.
"[some of] the moms"

add a little bit of a personal touch! ;)

While I was finishing the last bits of final touch on the cards, Sydni got bored and wandered outside to help Rob with the yardwork and re-arranging he was doing. It wasn't long before I heard, "Mooooommmmyyyyyyy!!!!!" It wasn't the panicked cry, rather that mischevious inflection that sounds more like, "Mmooooooommyyyy..." I opened the back door and found a giggly girl and Mr. Rob doing loops in the backyard.

i. friggin. love. them. ♥♥♥♥♥

They're amazing.

We're some happy people in this house, tonight ;)

Happy Thursday!!!

 

xo | cmd

Post-Dated Easter Cards & Mini Pot Pies

Happy MONDAY!  

love love loooooove!!

My little Easter egg is back, and we started off our week with a mama+mini selfie, because... we can (: We had big plans for this evening, so we made it a point to get started as soon as we got home.

1. DINNER!
I'm going to share this one with everybody, because it's just... that easy. And delicious.
Here ya go. Here's the scoop on making mini chicken pot pies:

NEED

2 cans pillsbury grands dinner rolls
1 bag frozen veggies (the peas/corn/green beans/carrots work well)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups of shredded chicken (or 1 can.. if you're into canned meat)
Shredded cheese, if you please!

Muffin tin
Cooking spray (or flour, if you do it that way)

DO

1. Pre-heat oven to 375. Thaw your veggies & cook your chicken if you need to. Put all the ingredients in a ziploc bag.

looks great. uhhhh.. haha

2. Prime your muffin tin with either cooking spray or flour, whichever method you like best. Try not to have a heart attack while opening the grands container.... even though we all know what's coming, if you're like me, it still scares the crap out of you every time.

3. Stuff grands rolls into the muffin tins. 





gettin' there.

4. I used 2 tablespoons of the bag mixture per dough cup. Spoon everything into the muffin tin. Bake at 375 until the dough starts browning slightly. Since everything in the mixture should be cooked already, be sure not to overdo it.

noms.

5. EAT!

deeeeelish!

These were a huge hit tonight. I wouldn't say I have a picky eater, but it was exceptionally easy with this one. No, not the healthiest thing we could've done, but we don't regularly eat this way.

Anyway, that was the solution to dinner. The rest of the night was dedicated to the creation of Easter cards! Okay, correction: Post-Easter Easter cards. It's never too late for well-wishes ;)

prepared earlier last week!

here we go!!!

Our dining room table transformed from an eatery to a craft bench:

colorful girl

mister rob, come help!

markers & colors & eggs, oh my!

love these nights

After what seemed like "fooooooreverrrrr, Mommmyyyyyyy," the glue had dried on all the eggs and our cards were ready:

egg cards!
artwork compliments of miss sydni herself ♥

........... Whew! That's a lot for one evening, but we're caught up now and relaxing together like we should be. Here's to a great week!

xo | cmd