Wednesday's What's Up With That!?

Although some of you are my facebook friends and may have already seen my grumpy post this morning - I thought I would repost as my Wednesday's What's Up With That!?

Why is that I have no problem falling into a deep deep sleep in the five minutes between my alarm sounding and my snooze alarm, yet lay awake for HOURS in the middle of the night? WHY!? WHY!?

I think I may be nocturnal.

Fanciful Friday - The Vintage Pearl

A fellow blogger recently hosted a giveaway of a piece of gorgeous jewelry from The Vintage Pearl.  Upon seeing the giveaway I had to checkout The Vintage Pearl for myself and I am completely in love with everything they make.  Here are a few of my favorites that I would love to have in my small yet growing jewelry collection.

(All photos are from The Vintage Pearl's website).  Please click on the photo to be taken to the product page on The Vintage Pearl's site to learn more.

Pearl Nest Ring

Messy Nest Necklace

Vintage Silver Charms Necklace (I would want T and E of course for Timmy and I)

Aren't these pieces beautiful!? Definitely on my wish list!

Thankful Thursday - Faith

My husband and I recently started attending a wonderful church, South Hills, in Corona, CA.  Not only is it a new church for my husband and I, but church is new all together for the both of us. 

Shortly after we got married we thought about how blessed we are and decided that we should start attending church.  Neither of us grew up in a family that attended church, so we in kind of blind.  Our church offered a class called First Steps which was basically an intro not only to the specific church, but kind of to religion as a whole.

Since about September 2010 we have been attending weekly and have greatly enjoyed our time thus far.  I recently read about a Bible study on a new blog that I am following (check it out here - Social Studies Momma).  She mentioned a Bible study that she picked up and invited others to join her in her study.  The book is titled For Women Only: The Bible Study (you can find it here).  Basically it is a book for women to better understand the men in their lives and guide them in providing the support the men need.  I am eagerly awaiting it's arrival in the mail and can't wait to get started.  Thank you to Social Studies Momma for the inspiration and letting me crash the party. 

My husband and I's new faith, I feel, has brought us closer together and has really taught us not only to respect each other, but how to love each other and appreciate each other on a new level.

I have also been volunteering weekly in the church's nursery since about November.  Although I joke that it's a natural birth control, I really enjoy showing the children God's love.

If anyone else wants to pick up this book I would love to discuss the contents of the study so we can learn with and through each other.

Spring Wreath (my 1st wreath)

So this is my first real attempt at making my own wreath.  It turned out all right.  I think I definitely have room for improvement though.  It does make me laugh that the eggs are larger than the bird, whom I have lovingly named Bridgett.  Thanks for looking!

2 special shout outs:
My inspiration from Craftomaniac
and
The Robins Eggs tutorial from Viv Spot

Tutorial Tuesday - Wooden Pallets

I'm so sorry I've been slacking on the Tutorial Tuesday's.  It's been a few very busy weeks for me.  Things seemed to have calmed down some, so I'm back at it. Yay. 

Well, as I've mentioned many, many times, my current family room is empty.  Completely empty.  I saw some fabulous furniture using wooden pallets and I think I just may go for it - to create a modern, industrial, yet chic vibe.  We will see.  The first step will be in finding affordable yet still in good condition pallets.  I have yet to find those. 

In the spirit of my wooden pallet quest, I thought I would share today a few tutorials on re purposing wooden pallets - which I think are WAY cool by the way!

First up is this terrific and versatile shelf.  Pretty cool, right!?

Next up is this amazing coffee table.  There are a lot of variations of wooden pallet coffee tables - just google it and you can find one to suit your own taste.  I like this one a lot - although I may leave mine in a more natural wood tone.

This vegetable planter.  Again there are a TON of planter ideas using pallets online, so check em out to find one you link, I like this simple one, plus I like that hte link includes a PDF with instructions :)

Check out this book! I must get my hands on this!

There are plenty more on the Internet and I'm not entirely certain what my wooden pallet get-up will entail - I suppose it depends on how many quality pallets I can come up with. 

As always, thanks for reading!

Another Moss Initial and a Burlap Banner

So my friend came over and stole picked up the moss initial that I had made for her which I had lovingly had on display at my house in the meantime (which I posted about here).  I decided it was high time that I make my own - but I decided to keep it a little more simple and hang it in my dining room on my new metal wall display we recently put up. 

Here it is all by it's lonesome.  Well I also have a frame hanging on the bottom that I picked up on clearance but I don't know if I love it yet. 

Well it looked lonely so I decided to make a simple burlap banner using a roll of burlap I had picked up at a yard sale.  I'm not thrilled with how it turned out, I think it needs more embellishments, but it's a start and at least adds a little more pizazz to my dining room.

The sign was simple - I printed a graphic of an isosceles triangle on my computer with the dimension that I wanted, I then cut that out and used it as a guideline to cut my burlap pieces.  I used a cricut cartridge to cute a scalloped circle and then a smaller circle and letters. 

So now, my fellow readers, I need your help - how can I improve upon this sign so that I love it? Please and thank you :)

DIY Button Egg

I got this adorable DIY idea (and tutorial) from one of my favorite blogs - Auntie Lolo Crafts (you can find her post here). 

I followed pretty much the same basic idea that she presented in her tutorial with only slight variation.

I purchased an ugly plain wood frame from the Dollar Store (which I immediately spray painted white).  I found a graphic of an egg through a google image search and traced it onto brown paper.  I then hot glued the burlap to the brown cardstock.  I realized I couldn't really see the egg outline so I took my cut out egg image and placed buttons in what I thought was an outline of an egg, then put the cut out over it and adjusted the buttons accordingly.  I glued the exterior buttons first and then filled in the rest.  I hot glued the buttons to the burlap once I had them in place where I wanted them.

Pretty easy and very cute.

A great addition to my work-in-progress Spring mantel :)
ps: I also hopped on the band wagon and got one of the adorable bunnies from Pier One which I added to my turquoise vase!

Thanks for looking!!!

Friday Five

Today's edition of Friday Five is the 5 projects I would like to finish or at least work on this weekend.

1) Another Monogram Moss wreath (the one I made here is actually a gift for a friend).

2) A Spring wreath - I've been sitting on most of the supplies but haven't actually done anything!

3) A Spring mini album - I started this nearly a month ago and have only gotten as far as covering the chipboard and printing the photos. It's time to get started!

4) Some research into wooden pallets for some possible furniture projects - strange, I know, but unique.  More details to come if I find the right pallets necessary for the project. Oh and they need to be free or cheap because I need a ton! lol.

5) Framed Easter Egg made out of buttons - an idea from a fellow blogger who I will link the tutorial up to when I actually make it.

This weekend is the first in a LONG time in which I have zero plans.  Zero.  Well, other than church.  It will be nice to perhaps get some of these crafts done and reclaim my dining room table.  Although it would also be nice to catch up on NCIS......

Friendly Friday

Want an awesome way to find great new blogs and get more traffic to your site in return!? Of course your answer is yes! Click out Friendly Friday button above to get the details! You can link up your blog below as well!

For those of you visiting me for the first time - my site is erratic - hence the name - but if you are crafter, check my left side bar for my keywords and click "crafts" if you don't want to read all of my other mumbo jumbo :)

Looking forward to meeting you!

Here are the link-ups so far!

Fanciful Friday

For my wedding I got some BEAUTIFUL ruffle bowls from Crate and Barrel that I am just in absolute love with.  I recently saw on C&B's website that they have now added a mini dip bowl and platter to the ensemble, which of course I have to have!

Ruffle Dip Bowl - for details click here. But I want like 8 - wouldn't these be adorable condiment bowls for a taco party? RECEIVED

Ruffle Platter - for details click here. It would be nice to have 2 of these on hand. RECEIVED 1

Now my mom recently was talking to me about my birthday and I suggested she check out my Fanciful Friday posts for ideas.  She made a good point in that I love to shop and often buy items for myself - so I will be updating my posts with a "PURCHASED" if I do indeed buy any of these items.  So if you are interested on my take on any items that indicate I have purchased them, feel free to ask - I always have an opinion (ha!).

"Your office is difficult to deal with"

Excuse me!?

My managing attorney is appearing at a Mandatory Settlement Conference this morning (an appearance required prior to Trials in family law cases).  Both opposing counsel and the claimant's counsel (claimant is the parties' son who is stating he has an interest in one of the residences, we say he does not), failed to show up for the last Mandatory Settlement Conference, so the Court, on it's own Motion indicated they would hear argument regarding sanctions at today's hearing.

Both opposing counsel and claimant's counsel submitted declarations that were total BS full of blatant out and out LIES. Some BS about traffic and that's why they didn't appear - oh really? Then why wouldn't you call the Court and advise them you were going to be late like we do all of the time? Also - why when I called you nearly 2 hours after the hearing was supposed to start to ask you where the heck you were - you told me you "assumed it was off calendar".  You forgot to mention that in your declaration.  You also were NOT stuck in traffic when I spoke with you. LIAR!

The attorney just texted me and said that opposing counsel told the judge that our office is difficult to deal with. HA!

Let's review, Opposing counsel has no fax, no physical address (PO Box only), no email address, and whenever we send anything by mail he alleges he doesn't get it forcing us to go to the expense of sending EVERY piece of correspondence to him by certified mail.  What else, oh ya, you lie. Constantly. About everything. 

We sent a discovery request, meaning that his client had to provide a ton of documents we were requesting for within 30 days.  After 25 or so days he calls and asks for an extra week, so it would now be due in 37 days.  On day 38, after receiving nothing we sent him a "meet and confer" letter indicating his response was now late, therefore, he waived any objections he may have had, and if we did not get the full response within 10 days we would file a motion to compel the response and request for attorneys fees.

Do you know what his response was? That he never got our discovery request.  You know, the one he had previously asked for an extension on.  Note - this was when we determined we would send everything certified mail.  We argued, filed a Motion and the Court didnt' order sanctions and gave him 20 days to comply.

After 20 days, no response.  He calls, said he's sick and needs more time.  Give him 5 more days.  He calls, now his dad is sick.  We give him 5 more days.  He calls, now his dad died.  We give him a week.  He calls, now his wife had a miscarriage, we give him another week.  He calls, said he's sick again, I say NO, we need it by the end of today period.  We finally get a box full of documents, unorganized, not in any kind of order as required. This was last month. Either this guy is the most unlucky SOB in the world or a giant liar.  I'm going with the later.

Now this mandatory settlement conference is today.  You're required to exchange a bunch of stuff 7 days prior.  We of course, get theirs and the claimants (ps the two attorneys are in bed together or something) documents YESTERDAY.  The DAY BEFORE.  Not 7 days before.  So I draft up an objection.  The rule states if the orders aren't followed sanctions SHALL be imposed.

So help me God, if the Court does not order sanctions against both of those lame-ass attorneys I'm going to scream.

Oh, did I mention the parties are in their 80's and I think the reason for all of this is that they want to keep stalling so that our client dies and their client and the parties' son can have everything? Pathetic.  Makes me sick.

YOUR office is hard to deal with!!!!!!!!!!!  I need a xanax or something.......

Wednesday's What's Up With That!?

Today's topic will be volunteerism.  I am involved in a wonderful community service organization for women.  It is a national organization known as Junior League (you can check out their website here).  I am involved in my local chapter and have been for the past 5 years. 

My frustration today is with the lack of follow through of people.  I understand this is a volunteer organization, but that is exactly what the organization relies on, volunteers.  Things come up, personal circumstances change, I get that...... but if you volunteer to handle something, and you are no longer able to handle that responsibility, notify someone immediately.  What ever happened to common courtesy? Don't just fall off the face of the planet - what's up with that!?  Not only is that frustrating, but it's a great disappointment and let down - people (and projects) were relying on your contribution that you said you would do. 

We start a new fiscal year in June, I do hope that there is a change. This is by no means a bash of the organization, as I truly do love the organization and what it stands for, it is more a bash of the trend in some people's failure to follow through on commitment.  This is just a few people, not a representation of the entire League, but in such a small league, we rely on each and every person, and even just one person dropping the ball so to speak, sucks.  I wouldn't mind if you told me as soon as you found out something changed and you were no longer able to commit, which would give us time to find someone else to fill your role - the problem is in not following through and not telling anyone about it. 

Sigh.

DIY - Moss Initial

I saw this on a blog I follow called Felt So Cute and had to try it out. I couldn't find a wood monogram "M" large enough to my liking so I recruited the assistance of the hubby to print out a big one on the computer which we taped four pages together to form an over-sized "M" which I traced onto a sheet of 1" Styrofoam.  I actually traced two as I am making one for a dear friend of mine who shares the same last initial as me.

I also don't have the patience to cut it out, so again the hubby used his awesome skills with a jigsaw to cut them out perfectly for me.

I love this man.

I didn't have green paint, but I had brown on hand and figured it would be good enough (the husband makes fun of me for saying "I will just paint it brown" about just about everything).

Anywho, here I am getting set up to start adhering the moss, which was a PITA, especially considering the fact that I am not super handy with a glue gun and am prone to burning my fingers.

Just barely started now.

Finished the front now.

Then I had to do the sides which were the biggest pain ever.

And here is the final product hanging up on my new wreath hanger on clearance from Michael's (sorry for the poor quality photo).

Thanks so much for looking.  It was a quite easy project - just quasi time consuming due to the moss and my issues with glue guns.  I rendered the assistance of tweezers at the suggestion of the tutorial which I found to make things much easier (and protective of my fingers).  Although I need some new tweezers now!

DIY - Unique Bridal Shower/Wedding Gift Idea

This framed art, featuring the date of the couples' big day is a super easy, but fun gift to give for a bridal shower or even a wedding. 

I am attending a shower this afternoon and had seen this idea several weeks ago on a fellow bloggers' blog (I am so sorry I forgot to make a note of who's blog this was, so if it was yours please contact me so I can add your link here).  I whipped this up in no time!

Here is a quick run down of how you can create this unique gift as well.

Supplies:
- nice frame featuring 3 photos all the same direction (I chose a frame with 3 5x7 photos)
- 3 coordinating designer papers (or you can stamp your own)
- a cutter to cut said designer paper to 5x7
- 1 piece of solid cardstock for the numbers (must know the wedding date!)
- a big shot or cricut cartridge with a font you like (I used my Cricut Storybook font - setting at 5")

Directions
1) cut your 3 background papers into 3 5x7 pieces
2) cut your numbers with the date of the wedding (I used a 5" setting as I felt it would be the perfect size for the 5x7 photos, if you have a smaller frame you may want to use a smaller font)
3) tape number onto center of background pages and place in photo windows

TADA! That's it! How easy is that!?

This would also be a cute gift for a new baby (of course after the baby is born so you get the right birth date).

Thanks for looking!

DIY - Pomander Flower Balls

I got this fabulous idea from the Pizzazzerie blog.  I just adored it and knew immediately that I had to do it myself.

Here is what I started with

I decided to utilize these already on my mantel - here is the before look

And the after (a close up is at the top of this post)

My mantel so far with the flower balls and bunny garland.  It's a work in progress.  I still have a few more Spring items up my sleeve that I hope to add to my mantel over the coming weeks.

Thanks for reading! If you want to try these - I bought 5 pieces of glitter paper for mine and used almost 4.5 pieces.  About 1.5 pieces per ball.  I easily made these while watching TV, it was easy just time consuming.  I love the outcome and think it was well worth the time spent.

DWTS - Week 2 Review - SPOILER

After Monday night's dancing episode, my opinion did not change that either "Psycho Mike" or Wendy Williams should get the boot.  Although I have not yet watched last night's boot episode (I Tivo'd it though and intend to watch it tonight), I was pleased to find out that Psycho Mike did in fact get the boot. 

Nevertheless, here is my review/recap of the dances from Monday and my predictions for the rest of the season.

1) Chelsea Kane - Like I said last week, she has a lot of potential.  I thought the routine was fun and spunky.  I think the judges were pretty hard on them in which they bashed Mark's choreography.  I definitely saw elements of the jive and applaud Mark and Chelsea for going outside of the box to create this entertaining number.  The costumes were great and they just make the cutest couple.  She has a lot of personality and I think she will, and hope to see her go far in the competition.  

2) Chris Jericho - Again, like I said last week, Cheryl is an amazing choreographer.  She can make just about anyone look good, including Chris Jericho.  I think he stepped up last week's performance and performed very well.  I think he could be a contender.  Hasn't Cheryl already won 2 or 3 times? Woman's got talent!

3) Hines Ward - Hines was just as adorable this week as he was last week.  I think he did great and I hope to see him go far as well.  Finals maybe?

4) Kendra Wilkinson - Eh, I didn't love it.  She didn't possess the grace needed the quickstep IMHO.  The footwork was pretty sloppy and it looked like Louie was dragging her around the dance floor.  She has zero flexibility (surprising for a ex stripper/playmate) so when they go into the graceful poses they just look awkward as she isn't even able to extend her leg straight and pose.  She'll last a few more weeks because she is a more well-known "star" but I wouldn't hate to see her go.

5) Kirstie Alley - She again impressed me with her talent.  She did great and I didn't see the missteps the Judges kept alluding too.  You go girl! I hope she reaches her weight loss goal.  I bet she sticks around as the fan base of the show is probably right on par for the same fan base Alley has. 

6) Mike Catherwood - He did better than last week but that's not saying much.  The only part he did well on in my opinion was the jive kicks - and I hate to say this but his kicks were better than any of the other guys performing the jive this week.  Everything else about the dance was terrible though, just like last week, so I was not surprised to read that they got the boot.  I am a little bummed though as I do enjoy the "hipper" choreography Lacey brings to the table.  Hopefully she will be back next year with a partner that makes it a little further. 

7) Petra Nemcova - They kept saying tall people can't jive.  She had the kicks down the best out of all of the women.  And dang she looked good. But some of the other parts of the dance were a little sloppy and she looked like maybe she was a step or 2 behind.  I do think she has potential though and hope that she sticks around for a few more weeks. 

8) Ralph Macchio - I was bummed on the Judge's response to his performance.  I thought it was fun and entertaining.  He could have been a little sharper on the kicks but I can't believe they said it was too much.  Isn't that what the jive is all about, being over the top? I really enjoyed it and hope that he keeps coming back.  He is a front runner in my book and I hope to see him in the finals.

9) Romeo (aka Lil' Romeo) - Last week I said I hoped Romeo stepped up and I think he did.  He allowed himself to let go and not play "hard".  He acted a little goofy and had fun with it.  I enjoyed the dance (and I love any song from Grease).  I don't see him as a serious contender, but I think we'll see him around a while longer.

10) Sugar Ray Leonard - I think he did okay as well.  I think the Judges are hard on him too.  Another person I don't see as a serious contender but I think will be around a few more weeks.  I love his personality - a lot of "stars" who aren't actually actors have trouble with the showman performance aspect of dancing, but he has it nailed down.

11) Wendy Williams - She was bad again this week, not as bad as last week, but still bad.  I knew it would be either Psycho Mike or her.  I hope she leaves next week.  She just looks awkward when she dances because of how top heavy she is.  Her footwork is also pretty terrible, but I did see an improvement from last week. 

Top 5 - I see Ralph Macchio, Hines Ward, Chelsea Kane, Kirstie Alley and Chris Jericho.

What did you guys think?

Friday Five - Why I'm Awesome

So I recently started following a hilariously awesome blog called Superlegal Fun in which she recently had a series of posts about various awesome people, etc.  I decided today's Friday Five would be FIVE reasons why I am awesome.  Yep, you read that right, why I AM AWESOME. 

Am I doing this to toot my own horn or to snap myself out of some horrible depression by making myself look at all of the good things about myself? Eh, not really.  I'm doing this so you, my faithful follower/reader can learn a little bit more about me.  Although if you're already a follower/reader you probably already know how awesome I am, so it's kind of like preaching to the choir, but I'll carry on.

1) I have a victory dance that I do when I sing the "I told you so" song.  It's similar to Carlson's dance from Fresh Prince of Bell Air.  It has been perfected over many years.  My favorite time to do said dance is to either a) the Associate attorney who works with me, fresh out of law school whom I, a paralegal, know more than about anything related to Family Law, or in some cases law in general; or b) my husband. 

2) I have won awards in the past for things such as - 1st Place jump rope competition in the 1993 girl scout olympics - regional (I know you're jealous), 2nd Place jump rope competition in the 1994 girl scout olympics - regional, 1st Place jump rope competition in the 1995 girl scout olympics - regional, 1st place in Math Field Day partners mental gymnastics for our local school district (1996), 2nd place in Math Field Day partners mental gymnastics regional (1996).  Yep.  Like I said, I'm awesome.

3) I write incredibly nasty letters to Opposing Counsel for my boss's signature which he always signs, if nothing less than to make me feel good and so that I can say "TAKE THAT" as I send it on it's way by fax to an attorney who has gotten on my last nerve.

4) I rock at Buzztime Trivia.  If you don't know what Buzztime Trivia is look it up.  Seriously.  It's awesome, and I am awesome at said awesome trivia.  A few local sportsbars/restaurants have it in my home town and my husband or dad are forced love to go with me. I hold several local top records.

5) Because I said so.

Muscle flex.

Fanciful Friday - CB2 Items

Last night I had the luxury of surfing the CB2 website - a partner of Crate and Barrel featuring a slightly more "modern" look.  I saved a ton of items that I just loved and thought I would feature some of my favorites for today's edition of Fanciful Friday.

Isn't this ice bucket gorgeous!?  I have yet to purchase an ice bucket but have been wanting a stainless steel one as I just think they are so stunning and sleek looking.  This is definitely on my wish list!

I adore these wine glasses! Right now we have a set of crystal wine glasses (which I'm afraid to use on an every day basis) and some of the gorgeous Lolita glasses (hand painted and so quirky and fun - if you haven't seen 'em check them out!).  However, we only have 3 of the Lolita glasses so we really do need some every day wine glasses that we can use at casual get-togethers for my wino friends (haha totally kidding - sorta).  I saw these and just love them! What do you think of the unique square look?

Another stunning stainless steel piece - a wine bucket.  Swoon.  This would be the perfect addition to your dining room table on that special occasion.

Okay so I just thought these "tooth" picks were too funny and unique! Definitely a conversation starter.  I love on the box it states "for pickin' and dippin".  Smart - you can scoop your own dip instead of using a spoon. Very clever indeed.

Yep, another stainless steel look that I love - I just love the shape and style of these awesome snack bowls! Don't you!?

HAHAHAH! I need these.  Totally. I want to put exclusively use these Blah blah blah post-its for work. Please!?

Again another funny item for sale - I think this Bar Bingo would definitely liven up anyone's bar experience.  I could see my friends and I having a grand ole time with this. 

I certainly hope my husband is keeping up with my Fanciful Friday posts.  My birthday is coming up (well it's in June).  Hehe.

Pay it Forward

I just love this great idea I got from a fellow blogger (check her out at her adorable blog, Perfectly Polished, Almost).  So bring on the comments! :)

ps: I will check to make sure you posted this too!

Thankful Thursday - Skype

Today I am thankful for Skype - as I'm sure many of us are.  Although when my husband was on Active Duty and deployed he was on a ship, and thus Skype was not an option for us, I know of many military members who utilize this service to communicate and "see" their families back home.  In fact, one of my girlfriends gave birth while her husband was away and her husband was able to "witness" this magnificent event through Skype.

Personally, I love Skype because I am able to communicate and "see" my husband while he is on business trips, which he has been quite often.  It's nice to see his face and his smile.  Sometimes we just Skype but go about our own business - me working around the house and he doing homework, not even really talking, but pretending we are in the same location.  It's nice sometimes. 

We also enjoy using Skype to communicate with Tim's parents, siblings, friends, and other family who are all in Michigan.  It's great to have a free service from which we can talk to people in Michigan from our cozy couch in California.  We recently gave a "tour" so to speak of our house to Tim's dad's family who weren't able to make it out to California for the wedding or to see our new house.  That was so nice to have that option. 

What a fabulous invention!