Tuesday, March 29, 2011

What I've been up to.

Let's go all the way back to Sunday... All the accomplishments from the day before were still fresh and I woke up ready to tackle anything and everything.  We started by hanging my shelf in my studio and this set the tone for the remainder of the day <3  Vince took Bella to the Nature Museum in the early afternoon, and I took the opportunity to "clean" Bella's room.  I got rid of a lot of toys that haven't been so much as looked at in a year, but I have a feeling that when it's discovered they're gone then there may be hell to pay.  I'll take it though because it needed to happen.  I also tackled our closet, both dressers, Bella's closet and her dressers as well.  My trunk is overflowing with a Goodwill donation that will be taking place today.  The house just feels lighter, and I like it :)

Now onto Monday... After getting Bella to school, I came home and made a baby sling for Liz.  Little Ethan Oswald will be here mid to late July, and it will be here before we know it!  Poor Liz though... She and her husband are doing nothing but fighting, divorce is being discussed again, and she admits that she had no business getting pregnant with number 3 but what's done is done, and there is no turning back now.  I really do feel for her, she is having a really tough time, and her husband is a super duper asshole, and being pregnant on top of all that plus dealing with the two kiddos they already have... disaster.  I found all this out after school because we stopped by to deliver the sling and let the girls play for a bit.  Good thing, because girlfriend needed to talk.  We stopped at Target on the way home for milk and bread.  There isn't really a grocery story on the way home, Target is the most convenient, but it's not enjoyable to stop there with the kiddo anymore because it's a big game of I want that/No not today, and it doesn't matter what section of the store we are in, she can find something that she desperately needs.  I have no problem saying no, it's just annoying and I wasn't feeling super patient.  When we got back in the car to head home, I notice that she has a fluffy little chick in her hand.  When I asked her where it came from, she immediately dropped it in her backpack while saying, "I don't know."  I thought she may have swiped it from Target, but turns out she took it from a counting work at school.  When asked if she was supposed to have it, she said no, and the talk about stealing, what that is and why we don't do it commenced.  She had to write a note when she got home apologizing, explaining what she did and why she won't do it again.  She has a tendency to pocket small/cute/shiny things that aren't hers, but usually it has all been stuff from Allie.  Had to nip this branching out thing in the butt immediately!  Once home, it was bath/dinner/read/brush teeth/bed time.  Before Vince got home from teaching, I had cut out and sewn together, minus the strap, a messenger bag for Liz to complement her sling.  I feel like she needs a little happy.  It really turned out great, and I am really loving my studio!  I also like that we all call it something different.. Me - The Green Studio  V - The Grudio  B - The Green Girls Studio  :)

As for today, I already added the strap to Liz's bag, and I'm going to go for a little run when I finish up this post.  I got my confirmation for the Peachtree Road Race with Katie, Vince's sister, on 4th of July weekend!  It's a 10K so I need to start a running regimen in order for this to happen.

Well, It's a beautiful sunny day today, a nice break from all the rain, so I need to get out there and enjoy it because it's supposed to start raining again tomorrow.

xoxoxo

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Epic.Day.

On Friday, Vince gave me the green light to get my sewing table from IKEA and I wasted no time!  It doesn't look like it in the picture, but that bitch is heavy, and women everywhere heard me roar when I got it from the store into my house all by myself.  During my hour during while Bella was at ballet/tap class, I started to put it together.  Vince was home too, and helped a bit when I had to go get B-bo from class.  It has a long drawer under each machine and it's awesome.

So on Saturday, we went back to IKEA to look at different storage options.  I had no idea that they had a wall mounted shelf in the same style as the table and length.  It's made for DVD's but is perfect for sewing storage and I can put storage cubes across the top.  The plan is to eventually get a second identical shelf, but we need to save a for a bit first.  Vintage Fresh is going to take off this year, I can feel it, and my husband is being so supportive by giving me a fabulous studio to work in.  Another bonus, we can now and do eat all of our meals at the kitchen table.  Huge and exciting things are happening around our house :)  Vince has even hung the cabinets in the bathroom... We had planned to do a bunch of yard work this weekend because, wow, our yard could use it, but it has rained all weekend shelving that idea until next weekend.  The Dogwood trees have bloomed though, and they look breathtakingly beautiful this year.


Quick side note, my friend Nikki, from Memphis, called me this week to ask if I was planning on doing another Memphis show... um HELL YES I will!  So one of the first two weekends in May, I 'm going to make my trek there for a party or two.  Doing it way earlier this year will help me get them completed while it is summertime <3  My goal would be to be done with them all by Andrew's wedding June 25th, I think I could do it...

Back to Saturday.  We finished up the day with a trip to Lowes for a few hanging supplies, and a small trip to Target for milk and what not.  When we got home, I put together a diaper messenger bag with some nice material I had gotten from IKEA earlier for a co-worker of Vince's whose wife is having a baby.  We are filling it with 6 gourmet beers, for the Dad of course, and a pack of onesies and some Sharpie markers so that each of the co-workers can design a onesie for the new addition.  They are not finding out the sex, BOO if you ask me, so I thought this would be a fun thing to do to work around that :)  This was the first piece I completed in my new studio...amazing.experience.

Once I finished, I walked into the living room to show Vince and this is what I found :)  Perfect end to a perfect day <3

It looks like Sunday is going to be just as productive!  2nd cup of coffee?  I think so!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Quickie.

This is what happens when your husband makes a pan of fabulous brownies on Monday night, and then works the rest of the week.  Damn it!

I ate the last one right after I finished this post.

xoxo

Feeling it...

It has been a creatively productive week for me, and boy did I ever need it!  I finished up a Mommy/Daughter Apron set this morning, and it really turned out super cute.  We'll see if these are a hit or not.  Based on my pricing research, I am very competitively priced at the lower end.  They may seem expensive, but they take me some time to create and I need to get paid for my time if this is going to be successful.  At least that's what I'm told :)

Now, I'm going to work on Bella's apron, and then I need to pull out all of my available inventory (which is not much), create an album and put it up as currently for sale online.  Summer is quickly approaching and we need some savings in order to help us keep afloat during Vince's non teaching months.

On a mind easing note, we now have health insurance!  With Bella's school being paid off, the $300 payment that was tuition can now go towards insurance.  Sometimes I just love being a grown up... this is not one of those times.  I hate paying for something that is only used sporadically, but I hate worrying about the what if even more.  Rock/hard place...

Ok, time to have a little lunch... Oh and before I forget, just found out that Bella won't get out of school next year until 4:15.  She gets out at 3:30 now, so that gives me an extra hour each day!  Sweet!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Wednesday.

It's Wednesday, half way through, well almost since the day just started.  I completed the "mini e" apron and took pictures of Bella wearing it this morning so that she could take it to school.  She ended up wearing it to school with the biggest grin on her face.  I made sure to remind her that it is for her classroom and that it needs to stay there.  She then reminded me that I need to make her one out of pink/blue/yellow fabrics so that she can cook with Miss Ensley like they planned.  I am never going to be allowed to forget anything..

Before we left for school this morning, Katie, Vince's sister, called.  While getting Trip dressed this morning, in order to make the process go faster, she was offering up fun things to do with his extra 10 minutes before leaving like watch a little tv, read a book, draw a picture, etc.  Trip pipes up and says, "I want to call Bella!"  Frank and Diane are headed to Atlanta tomorrow for Grandparents Day at the boys school and Trip wanted to know if Bella could come too.  So sweet :)

I dropped my car off at Elkin's to get it inspected/oil change/replacement bearings and whatever else that may pop up.  Car issues always = fun!  So since I am stranded at home, I am going to crank out some more Vintage Fresh stuff because I am feeling inspired <3

Oh, and the weather is beautiful today which always helps put a smile on my face.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Fun times.

It's been a few days... my apologies :)

So let's start with Friday because it was AWESOME!  Xperience Greenville was not only super kid friendly, but it was also a whole lot of fun.  Our friend Shawn,  and her son Ben who is 6 met us at our house around 3 and from there we hit the road for South Carolina.  We went straight to downtown Greenville, and met up with Kamran at Falls Park.  From there we headed to the amphitheater for some extreme glow stick/laser show/music/black light fun!  The kids had a blast slinging around their glow sticks while dancing and listening for the next challenge from the alien on the stage.  Our glow sticks actually had  LED lights inside that could be changed to about 6 different colors.  The alien on stage directed the crowd as to what color the glow sticks should be and what not.  It went on until about 10 pm and by the time the car was moving, Bella was snoozing <3  Once we made it to the Popkin House, we put all the kiddos to bed and the 5 adults stayed up conversing over 2 bottles of red wine.  Fabulous.Evening.

Saturday morning, we all woke up to a huge breakfast made by Kam the man, and it was delicious!  Post breakfast, it was time to pack up and hit the road because Shawn, sadly, had to work at 4 pm so we needed to get her home at a decent time.  It's an easy 1.5 hour drive so it's not like we were rushing out the door.  We made it home around 1, said good bye to Shawn and Ben, and then Bella and I took a 3 hour nap while Vince watched some basketball leisurely on the sofa.  Perfect Saturday afternoon <3  For dinner, Bella suggested we go to Hawthorne's Pizza, and so we did.  We have decided it is now the official restaurant of the Ammirato Family.

Now on to Sunday... We took our time waking up, and then we did some light clean up before Bella and I went to her friend Nora's Mermaid/Dance birthday party.  If we are being honest, I was not excited about this adventure today because I knew none of the adults at the party.  Not my favorite situation to be in and my shyness kicked into overdrive.  Thankfully, the party was only 5 minutes from Jen Hamilton's house, so I decided to let Bella have fun at her party, and I went to hang with my friend for some Scrabble and a glass of wine for an hour.  Win/win if you ask me :)  I picked Bella up at 4:45 and we made a stop at Target before heading home.  She wore her birthday hat throughout the store and was perplexed as to why everyone kept telling her happy birthday.  She would say, "It's Nora's birthday, not mine.  I was just at her party and I like my hat."  Love her <3  We got her some new goggles for summer while shopping, and she spent an hour in the tub "practicing" with them.  It was hilarious, and there wasn't much water left in the tub by the time she was done.  That's one way to mop the floors...

Monday... We all woke up at 7, read LATE!  Only by a half hour, but still it caused some hiccups.  I was a reading buddy for Bella's class and ended up reading to/with all but 2 of the 24 kiddos.  It is so fun to see the progress from the beginning of the school year to now.  For one, my kid is reading to me now!  Amazing stuff.  I stayed and had lunch with B-bo, and today she invited Lily to join us.  When lunch was over, both girls gave me big hugs/kisses and told me they love me.  This is why I am a Mom <3  I then headed home for 2 hours and worked on Ensley's apron until having to make the trek back to school.  Post school, I worked on Ensley's apron until completing it, and I gotta say... it really turned out beautifully.  Very 50's/Stepford Wives/Shabby Chic if you ask me, and most important part, my client loves it!  Seriously, best.part.

This morning, after I dropped Bella off, I went and did a quick photo shoot of a house for one of my favorite realtors from the past. It was an easy $75 and it looks like she may have a few more for me.  I can stomach shooting houses for a few hand picked clients, especially if it is straight up stills with no brochure or text.  Piece of cake.  Now I'm home, and I am going to finish up a mini version of Miss Ensley's apron for Bella's classroom.  The fabrics are different but the style is the same, and it can only be adorable upon completion.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

xoxox

Friday, March 18, 2011

Happy Day

First things first, my kiddo slept until 7:45 this morning!  That is an hour and a half longer than normal, and it's a record if you ask me :)  It's a teacher work day today which means no school, and no need to rush around like knuckleheads this morning.  It's really nice to sit here, and type a new blog while enjoying my 1st cup of coffee for the day.

Today is actually going to be a super fun fantastic day.  Vince is taking a half day and early this afternoon we are going to pack up and head to Greenville, SC for the evening to attend http://www.xperiencegreenville.org/ with the Popkin family and a whole lot of Instigators.  It's going to be a night full of fun music, people and glow sticks.  I mean really, does it get any better?  Bella is so excited to see and spend the night with her buddy Katie.  We always have so much fun with the Popkin fam, it's going to be one epic evening!  Honestly, there is a good chance in the near future, say 5 years or so, that we, the Ammirato fam, could be moving to Greenville, SC.  I really do love that little town full of artists and entrepreneurs.  Plus Vince's dream company, Brains on Fire, is located there and I know if he is ever offered a job he will not hesitate to scoop us up and move us on down and I would be totally happy with that.

As for the first half of the day, I need to make a run to Hobby Lobby to see if they got more of my fabric in, then it will be back home to tidy up a bit before doing some light packing and hitting the road.

It's the weekend!

xoxoxo

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Finished!

Finally, I have finished this project for Heidi!  Now it's time to create a Beach dress for Bella's friend Nora for her birthday party on Sunday, and figure out what I am going to do about not having enough of a certain fabric for Ensley's apron.  Hobby Lobby should have a new shipment in on Friday, so fingers crossed they get in what I need.  It's going to be a creative kind of day, my favorite <3

Feeling Lucky

We have a patch of clovers in the backyard that yields an unusual amount of 4 leaf clovers.  Seriously, you could find 13 at a time without really trying too hard. Well, I had an idea that I would find 26 clovers and flatten/glue/glitter them to 4x4 squares of green paper for all of Bella's classmates and her 2 teachers.  Monday I found 6, and then it rained for 2 days... So Bella took 2 to school today, one for each of her teachers on this lovely St. Patrick's Day.  Tonight is the Gallery Crawl at her school where we get to check out all of the fabulous art the kiddos have been working on.  I.can't.wait.  <3

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A studio for me.

Yesterday, Vince gave me the green light to get my work table from IKEA, and I wasted no time.  As soon as I got it home, I had it assembled in an hour.  We did some rearranging of the green room last night, and we will be getting rid of the giant brown armoire as well.  It will be replaced with an L shaped table system for both of my machines and tall storage for all my notions.  Plus Bella's red table is in one corner, and her easel is in the other so that she can also create with me in our awesome creation space <3  I think she is pretty excited about the new table too :)

Monday, March 14, 2011

Friday through Sunday.

Ok, so I'll start with Friday...  It began fine enough, as in I got Bella to school, came home and photographed 2 t-skirts before packaging them up to ship, then back to school to have lunch with B-bo and her 2 friends Brianna and Cameron.  Both Bella and Brianna were dressed from head to toe in shades of pink, and it was almost too cute for words.  They were all 3 wearing cut out shamrocks with their names on them taped to the middle fronts of their shirts made by Cameron :)  Post lunch, I tried a little shopping to select something new to wear to Dan & Heidi's 10 year vow renewal on Saturday.  Found nothing, but remembered a dress I had forgotten I had that would be perfect so no harm no foul <3  I was home for an hour, before I headed back to retrieve Bella from school to head to tap/ballet class.  Then it was back home for about an hour.  During that time, Vince got home and we enjoyed a little adult time before both heading to get Bella from dance class which turned out to be a great thing because I was beginning to get a terrible headache.  We went to Showmar's (a local chain) for dinner, and while there saw Shannon, Matt, and Gracen.  It's been a while, and reminded me to call her this week for dinner or something.  We seriously only live 7 minutes away from each other, no excuse.  Post dinner, I was in all sorts of agony with the worst headache I have had in a while.  Instead of stopping at the grocery store, we headed straight home.  Everything is in bloom so I think that is what my headache was all about but it was intense.  I attacked it with some nasal spray, sinus meds, and Advil.  Then I stood in the shower until we ran out of hot water before slipping into pjs and falling into Vince's lap on the sofa.  Bella was also curled up in his lap, and I don't think his smile could have been any bigger.  It wasn't long before both Bella and myself were fast asleep on Vince.  Friday wore us out.

Now Saturday...  I woke up headache free, but was still feeling like I had been hit by a bus so it was a slow start to our day.  I was shooting for a 10 a.m. leave time, but we were not really in a rush because the Dan and Heidi event wasn't until 7:30 that night.  After chasing after run away dogs, loading up the wrong car, and walking around in circles we made it into the car and on the road by 11.  Not bad :)  We were in Atlanta by 3 but had to go by IKEA first to see if they had any gray mice for our friend Kamran.  That's all I can say about that.  They had none, but we did buy a $10 tent for Bella which we have turned into her reading tent full of comfy pillows, a butterfly blanket, a bunch of stuffed animals, and of course books.  Back to Saturday.  We made it to Katie's house at 4 p.m.  We were there for about an hour when Nathan, my 8 year old nephew, threw up.  Then Bella threw up, followed by Vince.  Needless to say, we made it to Atlanta, but not to the event... These things happen, welcome to parenthood :)  All was not lost though, because we had a great visit with Katie, Bill and the boys even with all the puking.  It seemed to hit Nathan the hardest, B and V were much better after a few hours.  Katie grilled salmon for dinner, with rice (which Bella described as tasting like nothing), and salad.  It was delicious.  The kiddos were all out by 8:30 and the adults stayed up and watched Wedding Crashers.  Good.Times.

Sunday... sadly my headache returned Saturday night and finally I fell asleep around 2:30.   V let me sleep in, I made it to about 9:30, but my head was not hurting and I felt like I got some sleep.  Vince and Ben, my 10 year old nephew, went to Dunkin' Doughnuts to get bagels and doughnuts for breakfast.  Trip, my 5 year old nephew, and Bella played most of the morning together, so much so that after we left around 12:30, Katie texted me saying that Trip said he wished he lived next door to Bella.  I think the cousins had fun <3  We got home around 4:30, unloaded the car and decompressed for about 30 minutes before deciding to go on a family walk/run.  We have a loop around our neighborhood that is .7 of a mile.  We all started out together walking it, and then I went for a run.  I ran maybe .6 and walked .6.  Vince ran .5 and Bella ran about .5 her little self.  It was a great way to work off some road trip food and excess energy.  We're going to try to make this more of a habit.  Plus I'm going to try to do the Peachtree Road Race with Katie 4th of July weekend in Atlanta... Gotta keep this running thing up if I don't want to look like an ass ;)  Post work-out, we made a family Target run for some much needed supplies.  We stayed away from extras and stuck to essentials.  Target is a tricky place to do that in, but we stuck to our list, key word...LIST.  The list keeps you accountable...  Once home it was bath/dinner/bed time.  We were not far behind.  I was out by 9:30.  done.

Now, it's Monday.  Bella is at school for a couple more hours, and Vince is home.  He took a half day, mainly because he took my cell phone with him to work leaving me phoneless until after his class tonight.  Not good, and he just wanted to come home for a bit.  Fine with me <3  I'm meeting with Ensley, one of Bella's teachers, after school today to discuss an apron design for a new blog she is doing http://www.thepreppyvegan.com  She wants a Stepford Wives style apron in the colors of her blog so I have been researching designs a little today and getting sample fabrics together to show her this afternoon.  I've had some fun projects lately <3

Ok, this should bring us up to date... until next time... xoxoxo

Quick addition... This is the apron design we decided on, I will post pictures of the final project when it's complete.  I am only using this pattern for the style, the finished apron will look different because I am going to use 2 bright/feminine/shabby chic fabrics to create it <3

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Making an effort

Tonight, I had a spinach and broccoli salad with some pears and a little raspberry vinaigrette dressing.  It was delicious.  I have been trying to eat healthy and avoid meat when I can, especially if I don't know where the meat came from.  Last year, I watched Food Inc., and it really got the wheels in my head turning.  Seeing where most of the meat we buy in grocery stores comes from truly disgusts me, but to be honest I don't know if I could become a full fledged vegetarian.  Instead, I am choosing to be more informed about where our food comes from, and if I'm craving a juicy steak then I'm going to make a conscience effort to buy meat from our Farmer's market which comes from a local farm where the animals are grass fed, healthy and not mass produced.  Label reading has become a new obsession, and if it has HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) in it, I don't buy it.  I have been pretty shocked at all the food out there that has this added.  How unnecessary.

It is time to be more informed about what we put in our bodies, and healthy habits start early.  Ok, I will step down from my soapbox now :)

Salads Rule!

Spring is in the air...

The tampon trees, otherwise known as Bradford Pears, are in full bloom.  While they are pretty to look at, the assault on my nose is not appreciated.  So stinky!

Last night I went to see George Winston, a pianist, with Jen Hamilton.  What an amazing musician he is.  While playing, he would also play the strings inside the piano.  It made me feel like I was watching something dirty at times, like he was making love to the piano so to speak.  Reaching inside and plucking her strings while tickling the ivories at the same time... A little piano porn if you will :)  It was an amazing performance, and it made me wish I knew how to play.

Today I need to do some laundry and sew some before making the trek back to Chantilly this afternoon to get Bella.  On that note, time to get my day started <3

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

More gems.

I met Bella in her school library yesterday, because on Monday's it's open check out.  I think B-bo and I are the only ones who take advantage of that, and she loves it so we will do it every Monday if she wants.  When I got there she said to me, "Mom I am just so excited about tomorrow!"  When I asked her why she said it was because she gets to go to the dentist.  Wow, excited about going to the dentist, does it get any better?!

On the way home, we had to go to the grocery store because we had no food in our house.  I HATE going to the grocery store, there I said it.  On the way home, Bella fell asleep, and usually when I carry her in and put her on the couch she wakes up.  Not today... I had to wake her up and that took a good 20 minutes and proved to create one cranky kiddo.  Bath time sucked, and dinner wasn't all that pleasant either, but by the time we had watched one episode of Say Yes to the Dress together things seemed to finally calm down.  It is a teaching night for Vince so he won't be home until around 10.

She and I have added a new step to the bedtime routine.  At 7:30, before teeth brushing time, we sit on the couch and she reads to me.  I am truly blown away with the progress she makes everyday, and the memory on this kid is unbelievable.  Last night she read the book she had chosen from the library and then her daily FRED (Family Reading Every Day) book about Panda bears.  

Once she was sound asleep, I went back to cutting out my new t-skirt design.  It is all cut out now and once I get home from dropping her off at school this morning I will be sewing it all together.  Exciting stuff!

Now I need to get dressed and get Bella dressed.  She has Spring pictures today so I need to help a bit this morning :)  Looks like it's going to be a lovely, sunny day.


Monday, March 7, 2011

IKEA Trip and Family Dinner

Yet another great day was had by all!

The girls woke up around 5:30 a.m., and I'm glad they had each other to play with because they let us sleep until about 7.  Vince then got up and made waffles for breakfast and let me sleep :)  Once we were all up and dressed we decided to make a trip to IKEA.  We got a $200 giftcard for Christmas from V's parents and thought it would be fun to go spend some of it.

When we got there, the girls decided they wanted to go play in the kids area for a bit.  Fine by me, so we signed them in, got a pager and off they went to play for an hour while Vince and I did a little leisurely shopping together.  We really want a new couch so we did some comparisons and I think we decided which one we will get in the near future.  That way our red sofa can go back in the office where it was always meant to be.  Then we checked out different tables for my studio that I would need to make my life easier for Vintage Fresh.  They have an awesome drawing table that raises and lowers at an angle with a built in light table.  I am drooling as I type... That coupled with a simple narrow table for my sewing machine and serger will be perfect, and hopefully this summer we are going to make that happen.  The green room is going to be transformed into my studio, and the breakfast area will be able to be used to eat in again!

After an hour of looking around, I went and rounded up the girls so that they could peruse the kids area and each pick out a surprise.  They both chose stuffed puppy dogs with a cute pink poncho and headband set.  The tricky part was keeping the dogs separated so that they didn't get mixed up... They were EXACTLY the same, but I guess not to Bella and Allie :)  Next we headed over to have a little lunch before heading downstairs to check out.  I freaking LOVE IKEA, it is just such a cool store.

Our trip took a lot longer than we had planned, so instead of me taking Allie home, La came and picked her up at 3 since we had a family dinner to attend at Vince's first cousin's house.  Once the Schmitt's were on their way, so were we.  First we picked up Diane because Frank was sick and would not be going with us.  Kind of funny because, it was Frank's sister and family that we were having dinner with.

We made it to David and Susan's house at 4, and were greeted by Bella's 4 girl cousins as soon as we walked in the door.  They range in age from 8 to 11 I think, and they love Bella as much as she loves them.  While the adults chatted, the girls all played so nicely in the basement.  Such a difference from when we are with the Lyday boys in Atlanta.

Anyway, while talking to everyone, we were discussing colleges and who went where.  Turns out, Uncle Tom is also a RED RAIDER!  He was as surprised as I was that we had two TTU grads in North Carolina.  Lots of "get yer guns up" ensued and I gotta say, it was nice to have another fellow Red Raider amongst all the UNC Chapel Hill/Georgia Tech grads.

Dinner was delicious, and it was good to see everyone together.  In fact, we all live in Charlotte, but it was the first time since our wedding that we had all been together.  Hopefully now we will get together more often :)

We dropped Jamma off at home, and then headed home ourselves.  B-bo fell asleep in the car, and didn't even flinch when I carried her to bed.  I myself fell asleep at 9 and slept like a rock :)

Now it's Monday, and I'm getting ready to create my pattern for my new skirt design.  First things first though, I need another cup of coffee!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Nice day.

It was a very nice Saturday for sure.

Our day began slowly with coffee for me, and lots of pineapple for Bella.  She asked if we could get some at the store yesterday after ballet class, and she has been eating it like it might be the last pineapple on earth.  It's funny what she craves these days, but at least it's fresh fruit.

Post breakfast, a family cleaning session ensued.  It goes so much faster when we all just pitch in and knock it out.  Plus, if Bella wanted Allie to spend the night she had to clean her room.  Allie was told the same thing, but needed some encouragement so Bella drew a picture on her chalkboard of the two of them sleeping.  I then sent a pix message to La for Allie, and that seemed to do the trick because La said she immediately got to work. 

I spent the rest of the morning brainstorming a new skirt design, and tomorrow I think I will turn my thoughts into a pattern and get busy.  I still have two "wild card" skirts to create for clients and this new idea should work out perfectly for these orders. 

At 1:30 Bella and I headed out to pick up Allie.  We hung out there for an hour so that Laura and I could chat and enjoy a glass of wine before making the trek back to our house.  She and I don't get much face time these days with the girls in school so we try to take advantage of it when we get the chance.  Also, little Jacob bean is just adorable.  He gave me a big wet sloppy kiss on my right cheek and eye and then leaned back and clapped.  Already learning how to love the ladies, and I would expect nothing less because he is a Schmitt boy after all. 

Once we got back to our house, the girls did some science experiments with Vince before creating new books like last weekend.  Around 6 I asked them if they would like to go to a girl's only dinner at Hawthorne's Pizza, and the high pitched squeals I received in response almost made my ears bleed.  While we enjoyed a lovely dinner, Vince headed out to hang with some friends.  He totally deserved a hall pass, after his work week he needed some down time. 

After dinner, the girls took an hour long bubble bath.  I listened to them take turns telling versions of Goldilocks and the 3 bears using the toys in the tub, in between tea parties and bubble beard sessions.  I just love those 2 to pieces!  Post bath, they colored for about an hour before teeth were brushed, stories were read, lights out, and a star turtle was turned on.  I listened to them tell each other make-up stories as they drifted off into dream land.  I hope those two stay best buds forever.

Now I'm contemplating what to watch on Netflix while I wait for Vinny to return home. 

Today was a really good day <3

Thursday, March 3, 2011

There is a smile on my face!

It took it long enough, but HALLELUJAH!  My flow has made it's appearance!  Now I feel like I can move on with my life and quit obsessing/talking about my lady issues.  What a freaking relief.  Our family will be insured come April, so if the same scenario happens again, well bring it... Now just would not have been a good time, but then again when is anytime a good time really?

Last night Bella and I had dinner with Diane at Hawthorne's Pizza for noodle night.  Frank was at a meeting, and she didn't feel like cooking which was fine with me and especially Bella because that is only her very favorite restaurant.  While there, Diane slid a $500 check across the table to me and said she wanted us to have it, no strings attached.  I did not ask for this but,  it couldn't have come at a better time because V doesn't get paid again until next Friday and his school check won't go through until March 15th so I was really stressing about how we were going to get through a whole other week with only $100 to our name.  This is always a hard time because we have a 2 month lag on school payment from one semester to the next which makes things a lot tighter, doable but very tight.  So with the preggo scare/financial situation, to say I was feeling overwhelmed is an understatement.

I cut out 2 more skirts this morning while watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey, and now I'm gonna turn on some music and sew for about an hour before I need to go pick up the kiddo from school.  In fact, I know it's only 1:45 in the afternoon, but I'm going to mix myself a little drink to celebrate the end of a long stressful 7 days!

Cheers!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

It's all going to be ok.

I took test number 4 this morning... still negative :)  I'm also feeling like I may start in a few days now, so in other words everything is calming down now.  Stress is a super bitch!

I was able to finish skirt #3 yesterday, and today I've got a lot of brainstorming to do because I have 4 skirts to make that I have free creative license to create.  Sometimes those are harder because I'm guessing what my clients will like.  Two of them have specific color choices, but the other two are complete wild cards... We will see.

Other than that, not too much else to report except that I am feeling pretty relaxed with only a bit of anxiety still lingering.  So I will leave you with this awesome drawing Bella created on her chalkboard yesterday... Now let's all have a great day!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

At least it's not Monday...

Yesterday was not a good day, but it's over and today is a new day.

Here's a fun story... Bella loves Happy Meals, I on the other hand do not and I don't buy them for her anymore.  Allie though still gets one from time to time and announced that right now the toy is a Barbie fairy princess.  That caught Bella's attention of course, and I could tell when she asked the question that she already knew the answer.  Well, last night she said to me, "Mom, do you know who likes Happy Meals?  Jamma does!"  I told her that maybe she and Jamma could go get Happy Meals together, but that Mommy would not be taking part in that.  She asked if she could call Jamma and see if she would pick her up from school so they could go to McDonald's together.  I said sure and handed her the phone.  Pap Pap answered and Bella said, "May I speak to Jamma please?"  Pap Pap proceeded to try and talk to her, but she was on a mission and just said, "Pap Pap, I need to speak to Jamma please."  Well all of this made Jamma's day and long story short, she is picking B-bo up from school today so they can go have a Happy Meal together before she brings her home.  Does my kid know how to work it or what?

After I dropped the car seat off, I decided to go the back way home to enjoy the beautiful day... Well, I passed by Melody, and it's the first time I have actually seen her in 3 years.  I don't think she recognized me because there are a million and one cars like mine out there, but there is no mistaking her jeep.  She must have been headed to her granddad's house because that's the area we were in... Funny thing is, I actually thought to myself while choosing which way I was going to go home, "hmmm I wonder if I pass by Mel today."  Weird, I know...

Anyway, here's to hoping that today is a much better day, and now it's time to get creative!  These skirts aren't going to make themselves :)