Monday, June 4, 2012

Herb Garden

I have been trying to keep my herbs alive as the weather gets warmer. I think I finally found a part of the yard that most herbs are enjoying. I give them what I consider to be a heavy drowning regularly and each time I wince that I will kill them...but they seem to love it!

 On the left is my basil "bush" it grows all year and is powerful...You can smell basil all around her.
 My lavender...she has sprung back beautifully after all but dying this winter.
My pretty Echinacea is about to bloom. I am so excited!!! To the right of her is my Stevia. It tastes so good if you add a leaf or two to your tea.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Little shopping trips this weekend

The men in my life are cruel...they sent me for a candy run while they played video games...the milk was for me. The checker must have thought I had issues.
I found this at Walmart while we were picking up a few necessities. A new camera case for my new point & click. I love it. 
 I finally got my bumper sticker on...I ordered it on ebay forever ago!

Namaste,

Melody


Rainbow Crocheted Bag

I had a vision of this bag and I got right to work. I love it and cannot imagine it leaving my side for the entire summer....


Action Shots



Pattern will be up tonight...its all simply soft yarn. 

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Crochet

Hubby in a Moogle Hat. :)

Beautiful Lazy Saturdays

We are having a wonderful lazy Saturday. The house is a mess...but I can fix that later. I figured I would pop in for a quick post while my husband is out planting some seedlings. 

I went garage saling this morning. I have yet to find a route to garage sale along since we moved to this strange new land. (Riverside) But, today I made my way about more thoroughly than I have since we got here.

Armed with a McD's nonfat sugarfree vanilla latte Errol and I drove and drove seeing what he likes to call "Garage Fails"...but I did score a pare of jeans. And a BUCKETload of fitness DVDs. Both will be mine. No Ebay loot today, sadly. But, my collection of stuff to Ebay is just big enough to get me through the week. 



Terrible picture! Might replace it later. But SIX Turbo Jams and a Tony Horton DVD that I have never heard of for $1 each. Paperwork for the Turbo Jam was included. I already had three...which I paid $25 for. I am in cardio heaven.

I will work on sharing my embarrassingly large collection of fitness and yoga DVDs. 

Yay!! Happy Saturday afternoon!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Friday Favorites - Summer Excursions

Well...its Friday. I am not sure how this happened. I am really excited about the weekend being just a few hours away. It feels like I lost this week. Just so much "busy work" in ending a semester of homeschooling. Lots of tests, lots of meetings and organizing. As I get my grades together to turn in there is always something that I find we forgot to finish up. Its showing in the kids attitude. Its showing in mine. So, I at this point I just keep taking deep breaths and repeating "Thursday will come and this will all be a memory".

Next Thursday is our final Finals for 9th grade. The first year homeschooling has been amazing.

When you send your kids to school it feels like summer is more work. If your a working mom you have to figure out where your kids will go and how to best use their time so their brands don't turn to spaghetti by fall. If your a stay at home mom you realize just how many times they are going to look to you to avoid the worst POSSIBLE thing happening. Boredom. Fate worse than death to kids.

But, now I home-school and for the first time since the end of my own 11th grade year...summer means VACATION! I am excited! I am planning what I want to do with the boys and where I want to take them and what we should see and how often...and how to save the most money doing it.

At this point it looks like Tuesday will be "beach day" and Thursday will be "field trip day".

Some places Id like to go are my Friday Favorites! I have 12 weeks.

Raging Waters in San Dimas, CA (there are three of them)



Knotts Berry Farm Its close and I always have a coupon available to me. The $70 annual pass is becoming more and more appealing. Its just a great place where we can all enjoy ourselves. Rides, food, things to walk around and see.
File:Knotts Gate.jpg

Universal Studios


Soak City


The San Diego Zoo/Balboa Park  So much to see and do...we make a weekend of it.

The San Diego Fair I have never been to this one! Out of the World...sounds like a fun theme.


The Orange County Fair: I wish I could go see Willy Nelson or Journey. (brace yourself for whining) I literally have NO sitters. Like. No babysitters. Its a bummer but this too shall pass. I have had one datenight in the last year and a half. *sigh* Investing time in our marriage means sending the kids to their room and pretending not to hear them whine while we hold hands on the couch. But really...we're OK with it. We just laugh and tell ourselves to enjoy our kids because we will miss this someday. And we do enjoy the heck out of them. The OC Fair is a blast with the kids. The farm and barn area alone are incredible. The exhibits are always fun. The educational area is educational and interesting for us, too. It is always a great day. I considered shelling out the $35 for month long season "Super Pass" and taking the kids several times. But I will be doing the first day "freebie" and then going back with my husband on "Goodwill donation" night. I love the Goodwill and try to donate to it whenever possible. Five items each gets an adult in on August 1 from 12-4. Here is a list of their other discounts and promos.


The LA County Fair: Aug 31-Sept 30. I go the first day when it is $1 from 10-1. Great stuff for school age kids to do divided by age can be found here. The fair is an amazing place. Deep-Fried everything, rides that come apart and would probably give me nightmares if I knew how little they were maintained, parking lots from hell. But, LOVE them. I never miss a fair. Shopping, people watching, exhibits. Just makes summer feel like summer to me.


The LA County Fair: I like to go twice. The second time is for grown up fun at the Wine and Spirits Marketplace that Ralphs grocery store puts on every year at the fair. Its


The Sawdust Art Festival: June 29-Sept 2 Its in Laguna and looks amazing. We love art. And Laguna is just a laidback, pretty place to be when the sun is going down. Good food, gorgeous beach...sounds like a great day!
homepage-2012


Irvine Park Coupons! They have a zoo, a lake, a museum, a reptile exhibit, horseback riding. Just a Blast!
Irvine Park Railroad Train Irvine Regional Park Orange County

Aquarium of the Pacific: I have amazing memories of this place. It opened when my oldest was about two years old and we didn't live far away. My MOMS Club went there often. Everytime I go there I picture Errol running around so excited to see all of the fish. Then having lunch with friends outside of the aquarium and looking at the boats.


It is going to be a great summer!!!





Thursday, May 31, 2012

Wordless Wednesday

My Final Fantasy 14 Character, Juggy... :) I love playing with my husband and son. 

Maaaail Call

Oh I love ordering things online...because getting things in the mail is like Christmas no matter what time of year it is! Today was a double package day...

My girlfriend Joelle told me about Sanuks and I had to try them out. She made them sound so dang comfy! I love the Fiesta print! Mine arrived today and she (and they) did not disappoint. They have the feel of a really comfy, durable flip flop or several yoga mats layered on top of one another...supportive, cushy, springy. And the fabric outsides appear to be durable, too. But, they don't cut into my feet anywhere. I see more of these in my future...maybe black or navy blue next. See!

Sanuk Donnas...love at first step-in.

My second package was a secondhand book that I bought on Ebay. My Izzy is showing great urges to learn. He is by nature an independent boy...and I think watching big brother have school-time everyday has made his hunger for input even stronger. I considered putting Izzy into a Montessori-type preschool program since he is very close to three...then I realized that I can do it at home! So, I ordered my first Montessori preschool book.


Here it is on Amazon if you are interested. I'll will be reading it and reviewing it soon. I have heard nothing but good stuff! 

Some days I just love my mailman. <3

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Cocktails! Moscato Wine Spritzer




Its HOT out and after a day of shopping and shipping I decided to take the boys out shopping. I grabbed a bunch of cheapy nail polishes at Ulta and some shorts at Old Navy. Then I went to Costplus for some sparkling mineral water.

I had a few bottles of wine open at home...I LOVE to open a bottle of wine and drink about 1/3 of a glass every Friday with my husband as he has his celebratory weekend beers. So, tonight I made spritzers!! White wine spritzers are great for a cocktail when you are watching calories and its hot out. Its very light. I am not a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Chenin Blanc drinker. Immature palate. :) I love them sweeter... Riesling, Gewurztraminer, White Zinfandel (Beringer!) and Moscato. But, when its hot Moscato can be a little overly sweet. That is what was in the fridge so I decided to make nice light spritzers out of them!

Moscato Wine Spritzers

One Part Chilled Sparkling Mineral Water
One Part Chilled Moscato Wine

Cheers!




Target Haul

I wanted to give Justin a chance to nap after work yesterday. He had to be up really early. The only way daddy gets to nap is if I get the baby out of the house so we went to Target! Logged nearly 3000 steps on my pedometer.


Izzy and I had a blast. We both picked out a yogurt...he hit the $1 area like a tornado. I got a new polish...Wet 'N Wild "I Need A Refresh-Mint".

I have read alot of good stuff about ELFs Shine Eraser Sheets...you get 50 in a pack for $1 at Target. Had to try them! Great for on top of tinted moisturizer.

OH! New Pedometer. I try to hit 10,000 steps a day...I do half the time. Before I was trying I was only getting about 3,000. As much as I run around the house I actually have to get myself out and take a walk to hit my goal. Sometimes twice in a day.

I got Wet 'N Wilds liquid liner in black. Needed some more. I go through it fast. I have not been able to find a liquid liner that I can apply that works as well. Its easy to apply, it stays on well and one line is all I need. So many times I found myself having to apply coats to keep my liquid liner from streaking. In the winter I am a kohl girl...but in the summer that just makes a mess. Liquid liner works best for me. For beach days I do waterproof and like to use bright colors. Wet 'N Wild has pretty blue and teal...the plum is OK. A little muted for my taste. For $3 I have all the colors.

Impulse magazine buy at the register. It turns out Jessica Simpson is the new Weight Watchers spokesgirl. Am I the last to know? She is trying to get in shape for a December wedding. Weight Watchers new plan did not work for me. At all. The old Points plan worked like a charm, but then they changed it and gave me LOTS more points. It was confusing and I could not stay under points for the longest time. Then when I did...I still did not lose. Just count your calories and make sure you are getting some good protein, leave out the refined carbs and do not eat fruit after lunchtime. And do your cardio...thats the plan for now. I used to be a personal trainer and its what worked best.

It confused me that Jessica Simpson named her child Maxwell...and its a girl. But, now that I know its awesome. I guess she is referred to as Maxi. Which is cute!

Q-Tips, bananas and sunscreen for the kids.

I like aerosol sunscreen so I can just chase the baby, spritz him and release him back into the wild. Its alot like the wildlife associations tagging system. I haven't yet had to use at tranq gun. This was my first time using the Target brand of 50 SPF sunscreen. It left us kind of shiny for an hour or so. But the shine wore off. It went on so easily and light that if it hadn't left the shine I probably wouldn't have trusted that any came out. I suggest applying it outside. It leaves a bit of a cloud after you spray it.

:)

Mommy Mani aka Lightning Fast Polish Change


While I was waiting for my hair color to set I did my nails and tried out a trick I recently pinned on Pinterest


This Revlon "Lavender Pastelle" with a streak of Wet 'N Wilds "On A Trip" on top.

Heres the tip: Dip your hands in ice water afterward for a couple minutes and they dry in a snap! It worked like a ok. The top layer was still a little gummy afterward. I needed a touch after rinsing my hair.

I think I will stick with my lightning fast nail change:

It takes me forever to use the cottonball/nail polish remover method. It just smears it and I have trash left over. I had tried the nail polish remover in a tub with the foam inside. Better...but after a few uses the foam starts getting messy (I like bright and deep colors). So one time I had acrylic nails (they never last long for me) and I wanted them off so I bought a tub of artificial nail remover with these little plastic bristles inside. It is like this one.

Then I am set to polish.

I follow up with a coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip. I love this stuff...my polish stays on thru a few of my most grueling nail days. I use it on fingers and toes.



Warning! The first time I dropped this it shattered. I have dropped many nail polish bottles and this is the first time one broke. I was shocked! I ran out and bought another bottle right away. I am just more careful now.

(as I type my children are sticking one of those strange stretchy quarter machine toys into my up-do)

Before finding this stuff I went without polish quite often. Its hard for a mom to carve out half an hour of her day for her nails very often. There are just so many other things to do with a kid-free free half hour (Pinterest, Facebook, Target). But I have found a way to do my nails in five minutes. I like to do it outside because of the fumes.




Spraypaint: A girls bestfriend

I inherited a Sunbeam Mixmaster MMA...circa 1965. I am in love. But she needed a pop of color.

Enter Rustoleum spraypaint in sky blue *swoon*

I masked her hardware off with tape and gave her a light even coat, let it dry for about five minutes. Then I gave her a good once over. I like to unmask ASAP to avoid the paint sticking to the tape better than it has adhered to the item I painted. I love it!


Then I did what I ALWAYS do when I am painting or dying something. I ran around the house looking for ANYTHING else that could be painted. 

I found a basket...it holds my ebay items that I have for sale so I don't get them confused with other items. 

Toddler not for sale...today.

And I found a vase...it was dark purple and was just a little too muddy of a shade for my taste. So now it is blue.



It is sitting happily on our breakfast table that I painted yellow a few weeks ago. Isn't buttery yellow just delightful!? Please send me links to what you have transformed. I could look at makeovers alll day long. 




It was a great day! I woke up to the brightest summeriest of mornings! I got my shoes on and looked down and saw the brightest every sunbeam on my livingroom carpet! Its only May and we are close to 100 degrees each day. Toasty!

I had a great meeting with Errols Educations Specialist. We chose to homeschool thru the local charter school and it has been an amazing experience. His last day of school is next Thursday and we have lots of sanctioned finals between now and then.

Then I noticed that my roots could not wait another day. My son and husband swear that people would all love to have dark brown roots and medium brown hair...to men this is "highlighting" and people pay good money for it.

Being budget conscious, I have never had my hair professionally died. When I tell people that I get a variety of looks. From concern to pity and usually a really stern talking to. I am sure that after my hair turns grey I will need professional help (in more ways than one...hullo, traumatized)...but until then I will probably go with "box color" as long as I am happy with the results.

Today I was super cheap and went with Colorsilk Luminista in Light Blond.



Its about $4 a box. Its  this is what gave me the color lightening effect in the above picture of my roots. Far from making me light blond and I am glad. And a day or two later I follow up with a toner to get the inevitable brassy orange out.


The Results...an even, lighter brown. A little brassy for a couple days, but I don't like to process more than I have to all at once. I am ready for summer!



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