at this moment

kaylee has her arms crossed right now telling her cousin that she's the boss because its her house. hmmm... and wow! my exact words to her on monday when we were having one of those moments, ya know, when you don't know what else to say but you want to make a quick point??? please tell me i'm not the only one.

**please leave me a comment with your blog, i would love to visit!

thursday's rambling

  

photos by me, hawaii 2008

sorry these are so small but blogger wont let me put them side by side any larger.  believe me, i've tried already. bleff, blogger!  anyway, since upgrading to a king size bed recently we no longer have a headboard. i thought these two images in big canvases would look awesome as a headboard.  the first image i would need to tweak it a little to get some more of the bright green in it but i love the antique-y look to them.  {on iphoto, it comes with a thingamabob to help enhance your images, lots of fun}  i also have an image of kaylee staring out into the wide mass of ocean that i would like to put with it but to be fair i would need an image of ham and that my friends, is something i tend to struggle with.  ham is a 16 year old boy who does not like to get his photo taken. not to be biased or anything but its a sad thing since he is such a handsome boy.

today i've got one of my nieces coming over for a play date.  my s-i-l asked me if i was ready for another play date this week.  i said sure. so she goes "well, i don't care if you drop off kaylee or i drop off kiran."  i knew where she was going with this so i just volunteered to have kiran come over here just so i no longer "owe" her one. {sil has brought up before how we would owe them if they took kaylee for the night etc.... never remembering all the times i/we dog or baby or house sat for them.  funny how that happens isn't it?}

getting pretty excited about the weekend.  its the big indy mini marathon for mike and a nice getaway for me.  hopefully kaylee will be a good girl for nana and pop pop.  her cousin on mike's side wont be there. i haven't told kaylee this yet, hopefully nana will have her entertained so much that she wont even notice.

comments?

yesterday i thought it would be fun to see who reads my blog and from where so i added the gadgets on my sidebar.  not that i have a big following or any following- hello?! anyone out there?  but its been fun to see just the same. i would love it if everyone would leave me a comment with how you found my blog and where you're from and if you have a blog to share.  i love reading blogs, never mind the fact that i am a bored housewife ignoring her bathrooms, laundry and floor sweeping, oh and i also have daughter who needs/demands attention. yeah, whats up with that?

*nobody new is going to say hello?  

10 on monday

1.  remember me whining about our lack of good-luck?  well to continue on with examples, we finally got my rover back on friday and had the driver side window fixed.  the same day we get it back, the passenger side window decides to break.  same problem as the driver side. (wont open or close) *sigh* another 300 bucks to get fixed!

2.  saturday we went to mike's bff's kid's birthday party.  i wasn't going to go but being stuck at home all week, i was pretty antsy and i didn't want to spend any money plus mike said we wouldn't stay long and we could eat dinner at stray dogs.  we ended up staying for about 6 hours and didn't eat dinner at stray dogs.

3. sunday was pretty relaxing.  the weather was crazy windy but awesome the whole weekend. had myself a few energy drink + vodka. was up the whole night. i guess i need more vodka and less energy drink.

4.  my hot stone massage and pedi on friday was freak'n awesome! 

5.  ham really ticked me.  so tired of hearing about how the car is not his car and how he didn't get to pick it out.  i told him to be grateful that he has a car to drive and if he doesn't like it then he can take his own money and buy himself something else and to not drive ours.  he stayed home pouting friday night.  he did get over by saturday.

6.  i'm wanting to get an 18-200mm lens for my camera.  cant seem to find it cheap anywhere ($700).  looked even on ebay and they only have it as a buy it now price.  i need a job to support this expensive hobby.

7.  told mike if we ever move again we will definitely have to check out the location.  being stuck at home, it would of been nice to walk somewhere- like to our downtown or to a local ice cream shop.  nothing around here is within walking distance nor do we have any sidewalks.

8.  prom was over the weekend.  hard to believe ham's old enough to be going to prom next year.  i wonder if he will ask anyone to go, he's pretty shy so it will be interesting.

9.  while watching desperate housewives, gabby was in a "garden club".  i want to hangout with a group of women talking about gardening while drinking margaritas!

10.  i really need to get out of elkhart.  hopefully things will go the way mike says it will and we will be moving in a few years- once ham is out of high school.  thinking about going to north carolina or tampa for his job.  oh how sweet would that be?

more white kitchen love

more white kitchen love. though i would add a little more color to mine.  {i love the plants in all of them!}  the second kitchen is my favorite, i've posted it about it before. (from design sponge)
    

  i think the others are from a fabulous blog i found recently.  check out alexandra hedin design.  

more etsy goods

i love and want this pillow.  and its made from 100% post consumer recycled felt. via coveiter; buy one here.

and mike would love this for his man apartment.  i might have to surprise him with it for our anniversary in june.

i cant remember which blog i found it from but you can buy one at rollandtumblepress.

everything but boring!

as mentioned from my previous, previous post my mom finds white walls/kitchens very, very boring.  she happened to have mentioned it about 20 times in a 5 minute time span making sure i heard her correctly.  i think she would of continued if it wasn't for my sister in law saying we got the point.  in a very mature -like manner, i did voice my opinion and told her i thought her kitchen was gay. {i was half kidding, we just have different tastes that's all}

while blog reading today, stephmodo came to my rescue.  these are a few that are featured on house beautiful. 

    

seriously?

remember when i wanted these bad boys?  i still do and they're finally on "sale".  seriously, they call this a sale?  $519  regularly $865 at net-a-porter.

fmylife

ever have one of those days? go here, you  will feel better.

10 on tuesday

1.  kaylee's taking a bath at the moment.  she wanted some bubbles so i poured her some.  she said that her princess ducky wants to know what the hell is going on with all these bubbles.  i know its not suppose to be funny but its funny.  i had to tell her that hell is not a nice word and she shouldn't say it anymore.

2.  my car is in the shop. its been there since yesterday and it might still be there tomorrow.  its been ok stuck at home.  the weathers crappy and its keeping me from spending money on fun stuff.

3.  remember this hat that i wanted from kate spade?  its finally on sale for $86.00 with another 20% off till friday.  still out of my budget unfortunately.

4.  i've been meaning to add jellybeans (another etsy artist) to my side bar.  i saw her art work last year and have been meaning to buy one. or two. or three....

5.  i cant wait for friday- i'm getting a massage and pedicure.  just want to make sure i'm ready for the mini marathon that mike, my brother and sister's in laws are running the following saturday.  and i wanted to make i'm all limbered up and relaxed for the big pf chang feast that will be happening that weekend too.

6.  last night at monday night dinner, mom asked me what color i wanted to paint my kitchen and maybe the master bedroom.  i told her white. i've been seeing a lot of white walls with great pops of color- like in an area rug or pillows.  she kept telling me how boring she thinks white walls are.  {yep. she's always been this supportive}

7.  we had heard something about my brother maybe buying a pizza joint right across the street from notre dame. dad said he's the one buying it.  its called hot box pizza and they will be open in august, right in time for football season.

8.  would love to try and get some girls together for a chicago weekend, maybe in the fall sometime.

9.  so jealous that my in-laws are going to hawaii at the end of may.

10.  for once kaylee doesn't have any dry boogies in her nose.  its been months, like over 6 months since her nose has been this clean.

* jisoo, i try to leave comments on your blog but it wont let me and i couldn't find an email address.

first party at phaeton place

    

     

saturday turned out to be an awesome day.  i was just finishing up the appetizers when friends and family started to roll in.  appetizers included: strawberries + grapes, spiral wraps, mini quiches and a small relish tray.  i was late in getting the main course in the oven- opps!  i wasn't too concerned till i turned my head and saw a mob of people starting to surround me in the kitchen with knives and forks in hand, chanting. ok- no knives and forks or any chanting but the mobbing part is true.

 the main course: shredded bbq sandwiches, mac- n-cheese- both from gordon's food supply, i made everything else- bayou bourbon beans, broccoli + cauliflower salad and shrimp salsa. had tortilla chips and pretzels too.  dessert consist of chocolate chip cookie bars (wish i had some right now) and buckeye brownies- too good for words!  good thing i went back to the grocery store to pick up 2 more bottles of margaritas- 4 bottles of 1.75 liters of margaritas were polished off by 7-8pm. {mike's side of the family and they are from laporte}

one of the few things that sold us on this house is the yard.  the adults were able to play crisbee (as kaylee still calls it) catch (football) and corn hole without the kids getting in the way.  we had erron and shantell bring their corn hole game.  of course they won every time they played being that they are on a league.  {it must be a laporte thing}

i was bummed that i didn't get to visit with michelle  and christine  and with a few other of my guests much since i was stuck in the kitchen.  they all left before dinner was finished. yeah- i have the lame-o friends- kidding!!  kaylee had a great time being that there were 8 girls for her to play with all pretty close in age.  she got to ride her bike around the pond with abby and play dress up with katie and lilly.  the other girls came later and they had a great time riding the jammin' jeep and running around like wild banshees together.

later in the evening we sat around the fire pit and then came inside for a few rounds of catch phrase.  men vs. women.  the men won best 2 out of 3 which is really unusual.  i think they cheated, one of them had not been drinking.  after that we came upstairs and found kaylee like this.  passed out {from too much fun} under the dining room table.   

happy friday

from our hawaii vacation 2008

i love this photo and would love to have it on a huge canvas for our family room {my blue room}.   i don't know why i don't post more of my own photos like this.  guess its insecurities that mine are not good enough.  got a busy day today.  will be back later- hopefully with some fun(ny)  party pictures!

the princess room

thanks kristi and stacy for your two cents from my previous blog post. still debating on making the change.  if i make the change i'm thinking of changing the blog name too.  and this is what i'm talking about- i cant get my image any bigger on here.

the above images are of kaylee's room.  the first two images are the "before".  i love how it turned out.  she also gets great light and her view is just awesome.  the walls are a white color while the tray ceiling trim is a light pink.  all artwork is from gorjuss {see sidebar}, the quilt and area rug are from pottery barn kids and the netting is from ikea.  curtains STILL need to be sewn, which i'm hoping to get to today.  it really is fit for a little princess!  now if only i could get her to sleep in it all night.

thursday already.  i wish i had more done with the house.  if i'm going to be showing it especially to those who wont be seeing it on a regular basis, i wanted it to be DONE and BEAUTIFUL.  i'm needing a big tree in the foyer- which still can be done, artwork and photos, a new comforter from ikea and the kitchen and master bedroom painted.  guess my sister's painter got stuck in michigan and its most likely too late for me to call someone else.  how disappointing!  i would paint it myself and am almost tempted but i know i wouldn't do as good as a job plus the thought of painting makes my head hurt.  

needing two cents

thinking about going with word press instead of blogger or maybe doing an iblog.  any suggestions? or reviews or any info?

wednesdays 10

1.  blogger is killing me.  it wont let me move my images where i want them and if i can get them where i want them i have trouble typing.  UGG!

2.  did make it up to the big mall yesterday.  much to kaylee's unliking, we left playgroup early.  got mike's growler refilled for 5 bucks- a really good deal and to make the drive worth while, i went to the buckle and found 2 pairs of jeans- 1 of them are shpants = short pants as mike calls them.  also found a top and jacket.  i'm a happy camper.  shhh!  don't tell mike about the other pair of jeans.  i know, bad wife! {he will find out eventually and wont care but its still fun for me}

3.  kaylee is killing me.  she wants to eat every 5 minutes and usually right after lunch or dinner or her previous snack.  so starting today, no snacks- unless its fruit- if she doesn't eat her whole lunch or dinner.  she doesn't know this yet.

4.  last week i was catching up on my dooce and i saw her on oprah talking about child raising.  she mentioned something about how oprah smells so now i wonder how does oprah smell.

5.  no update on my netti pot. haven't used it since my cold but i plan on using it.  i'm completely off my prescription allergy meds and have been using herbs instead.  it helps some.

6.  did celebrate my birthday at my parents house on monday.  they got me a vera bradley bag. i'm not a vera bradley girl but its the thought that counts plus i am twenty seventeen, should i still be getting presents?! {hell yes!}  i am going to exchange the pattern for a different one.  

7.  excited about desperate housewives and brothers and sisters on sunday.  new episodes!

8.  glad that ham can drive himself to school though now my showers are taken whenever i cant stand my stink anymore.  before it was right when i got up. 

9.  totally pissed off at myself.  i broke my lens yesterday, hopefully i can superglue the pieces on.  at least the camera body isn't broken.  i have a nikon d40 and i really really love it.  easy to use and its super light. {this was not on purpose either to get a new lens}

10.  my mind is at a total blank as to what to make for dinners even though i have been given tons of recipes!

easter weekend

kaylee on the way home from the winery on friday.  i know its hard to tell  [insert sarcasm] but she was not a happy camper. 

saturday, kaylee and mike headed over to nana and pop pop's house for the night.  [we're trying to get her use to nana's house again for when mike and i head down to indy in may for the weekend.]   i had the whole day to myself and it was fantastic. not that i did much, did some easter and grocery shopping, but it was nice being able to take my time and browse  just knowing that no one was home waiting for me.  {ham was driving around with his friends}  i did stop by kim and gary's house for a visit then headed home.  {these are the times i wish i had more friends, just someone to call out of the blue and go and do something with}  made myself some dinner and spent rest of the evening chilling.  didn't even come close to touching what i had planned on my to- do list. kaylee called close to 9pm to say good night.  she can be such a sweet girl.

sunday, kaylee and mike got home around 11.  first she showed me her goodies from the easter bunny that visited her at nana's house, then she wanted to go and find her easter eggs here.  she saw them while pulling into the drive way.  after she found her 24 eggs filled with chocolates, money and fake jewerly, she came inside to see what big present the easter bunny had left her.  {a doll set  to go with her big mrs. goodbe doll house}.  she loved it and had so much fun, she wanted to do it again!  she asked me if ham had an easter basket and i told her no, ham's too old now.  she then goes and asks mike how does the easter bunny know ham's too old?  smart isn't she?!
  

don't feel bad for ham, he isn't going without plus he has to eat all the leftover candy that's hidden in the cabinet.  we had our easter feast of chicken and shrimp fajitas and shrimp salsa with tortilla chips.  since the rest of my family, except my sister and i, were all vacationing down in florida for spring break once again, we will be celebrating easter tonight for our annual monday night dinner.

*i'm really disappointed with my camera.  i need some new lenses, just wish they weren't so expensive.  out of all the pictures that i took this weekend, only a handful turned out. *

twenty-seventeen

image via martha stewart

friday morning kaylee was in our bed like every other morning.  she comes in at the magically kid hour of 3 am.  i looked at her and she gave me a sweet little tired smile and said "its your birthday".  how sweet that she remembered.  she really wanted to surprise me and buy me a present so i had mike take her to target to buy me something.  i told him nothing over 10 bucks- maybe some earrings or something.  he ended up picking the least gaudiest item he said out of the 3. i wore the earrings while she wore the necklace.  mike ended up taking us to stray dogs for lunch since he knew that was one of my favorite places to eat.  it was kinda out of way but it still worked out.  i love their food and the atmosphere is just awesome.  i hope the economy doesn't shut them down being in new buffalo and all.  we then headed to coloma, michigan where the karma vista winery is.  friends of ours introduced me to a sweet red wine called watusi red.  i searched all over for the wine and would always come home empty handed.  so to make the trip worth it, i bought  7 bottles of watusi red, 2 of starry starry night, 1 of pink side of the moon and 2 ryno reds.  i even treated myself to their 2006 award winning dessert wine- the razz m' tazz.  its a heavenly drink made of raspberries.  all that's needed is a triple chocolate cake and i am all set.  now i am going to be a wine hog and share only with those who i deem worthy.  you must pass a test before a glass is poured.....maybe a dance or some sort of 80's trivia.  i am an 80's girl after all.

on the way home, i had chronic complainer in the back.  the ride home was filled with: when are we going to be home,  i want to be home right now, i have to poop, i'm thirsty, this water is yucky, its not yucky anymore {when i told her she couldn't have any}, i'm hungry and i'm boring.  {her way of saying i'm bored}  then i also had chronic complainer on the driver seat.  i wont go into details on what he was complaining about.  then we started to play the "your stinky game"  and i ended it with "well you've got a stinky attitude", this was to the little nugget and she said no you do and mike agreed!  that was the final straw, they broke me. i had tears on the way home.

after we got home and chilled and i said my two cents to mike. kaylee came to say she was sorry and gave me hugs and kisses.  mike said he was sorry too and then we went to the vine for dinner.  it was fantastic!  this is the 3rd time i have been there and i have not been disappointed.  it is now my favorite place to eat locally.  after dinner and dessert, i came home and took a long hot bath.  kaylee and mike came in once to do a sneak peek then left me alone for the rest of my tub time.  it ended up being a fabulous day.  next year though, i'm ordering me a cake from the bakery.  

*ham went to dinner with us only and he while he was passing me in the hallway, he said happy birthday gimp. such a sweet boy.*

thursdays 10

1. kaylee went over to a friends house today for a few hours.  i took advantage of it and went shopping at hearts desires. its a big building with lots of antiques and new stuff.  i bought a red heart pillow, a table for the phone, a large wicker basket, a plant holder and ceramic measuring cups and spoons.  it was a good day.

2.  my sister and her two rugrats came over this afternoon.  went around the pond and saw a huge koi fish, geese, ducks and turtles and huge loaves of bread (?)

3.  finished painting ham's room- finally!

4. i sent mike an email yesterday that i wanted to go the winery and pf changs tomorrow and to make it happen.

5.  we are going to the winery and i plan on buying lots of bottles since its the only place that sells it.

6.  got special day money from my MIL.  plan on using it down in indy.  crate and barrel's in trouble and doesn't even know it!  {line from a movie, guess which one}

7.  got to love on a teeny tiny babe yesterday.  will have photos soon.  made my "girl parts" do the giggy dance when i saw him.

8.  called for someone to come over and give us an estimate to paint the kitchen.  i told him i needed it done by next saturday since that's our big party day.  he said not a problem.

9.  my sister brought over a dozen krispy kreme donuts.  i'm not liking my sister at the moment.

10. been reading a few blogs that posted about raising their kids.  makes me question my parenting skills.  i got ham a cell phone when he was in jr. high but he was also skateboarding at the time. made me feel better knowing he could call me if  he or someone else got hurt or if they needed a ride.  we also got him a nice car.  is that spoiling him?  i feel that his "job" right now is to concentrate on his grades and to be a nice person. am i wrong?

tile love

 my dear friend christine has the most awesomest tile in her bathroom.  as much as i wanted too i didn't take any photos.  i don't want her thinking that i'm weirder than what i really am.  so i was delighted to see this "after" on design sponge today.  its pretty close to it, if not it.  i would love this in my kitchen. 

more love

i want that little "tree" in my house    {via decorology}

and when i saw these, they reminded me of a friend, i wont mention her name but she would definitely buy these for her husband even though he's pretty clueless that he's done something wrong. {via simple + pretty}

love this!

       

how cute is this idea? chalk board easter eggs.  

and orphan sock plant cozy's?  you can read more about them at  oh dee doh.

i love my bathroom

i finally have a room to share that's all finished.  there really isn't anything else that can be done to it besides taking down the border but i will need some ambition and motivation before that happens.  i can pretty much bet that i will be dead before either of those two show up.  plus its so high up i don't notice it.  so here's the crapper aka the kids bathroom.  i didn't do anything to the room

    

except add some stuff to it. {i know, such an interior designer}  remember how i was bitching that all the fun towels were too expensive?  well, i can always count on target to come through for me.  everything from the hand towels, area rugs to the shower curtain and soap dispensers.  i ended up going with a plain, light tan color for the bath towels from kohls.  {i have an issue with just cotton towels, they must be egyptian too. i think the big softball that hit my head in jr. high pe class has something to do with my brain function or lack of}   the love poster is the one i bought from made by girl before the big move and i love it!  next up is sweet kaylee's room.

randomness

over the weekend i started painting ham's room.  i was hoping a second coat wouldn't be needed but no such luck.  mike wants to host a big party next weekend so i'm doing a mad rush around here trying to keep things clean and get things in order.  this sort of stuff really pisses me off because he fails to recognize just how much work goes into hosting a big party.  {i prefer small gatherings}  food +alcohol preparing and buying, keeping the house in some sort of order and i'm still working on where to put everything.  tonight on oprah i saw that someone had written a book(?) titled " i would trade my husband for a housekeeper".  that's my new motto.  

here are a few random photos that has nothing to do with this post.  ham with his license and car.  of course he's thrilled to be having his picture taken with me.  look at how tall he is now  :O(
   

some awesome news for me.  my twenty- seventeenth birthday is coming up soon.  the husband, who i would definitely trade for a housekeeper and  my little nugget, who wants something every 5 minutes, is going to nana's house on friday.  i will have the whole house to myself, well besides the ham but i plan on ignoring him so it will be all good. kidding. sort of.....

and for some more awesome news.  i won another blog contest.  i swear i'm not a blogging contest whore. i only comment if its something that i love and lots of times i comment when there is no contest.  anyway, i found libbie's blog diary of an air force wife through tara whitney's blog.  check out her etsy shop too- she has some AMAZING images on there.

i was debating between "the giving tree"  with texture or the "i will not grow up".  i have wonderful spaces picked out for either one and decided to have libbie surprise me with one. knowing that we have just moved into our new house, she's sending me both!!  libbie- THANK-YOU!  AND YOU ROCK!!  i cant wait to see them in person.

friday's 10

 

1.  hate that anne hathaway looks so stylish, put together and more adult- like than me and she's much younger! image via bloomacious

2.  been antsy to do another swap and none of my regular blogs are hosting one so i went to google and did a search.  going to do a pink and green swap hosted by gypsy mermaid life.  love pink and green!

3.  go to lucky brand website and receive 40% off your entire purchase through april 5.  type in 9MARFFB to get your discount.

4. i've been wanting to buy a shootsac from jessica claire and was waiting to see what kind of a discount she was giving for those who has birthdays in april only to find out she's offering buy one cover get one free.  hello! i need a bag first! the bags cost roughly $170 while the covers are about 60 bucks...guess i'm going for a bag from timbuk2 to hold my camera.

5.  kaylee and i are feeling better- thank god!

6.   we're suppose to get some snow in the next few days.  hate indiana!

7.  yeah!- next week is spring break, get to sleep in a little.

8. my parents, 2 brothers and their family all went to florida together.  2nd or 3rd year of doing so while my sister and i got stuck at home. we never get invited along. definitely know who the favorites are in my family.

9.  unpacked 7+ BIG boxes for my craft/office.  now going through everything and getting rid of what i don't need.  

10.  i need a vacation.  would love a trip to hawaii but right now anywhere would be better than here.  see #6.

new baby love

congratulations to my friend christine! her new little guy is a week old today. {i would of stole this picture from her blog earlier if i had known how} totally bummed that i have not had the chance to love, sniff and in-hale him in yet.  having a cold sucks!

april 1st

7:30 this morning i called mike.

me:  i know why i've been sick these past few days.

him: why?

me: i just took a test. ya, know the first morning pee...

him: really? no freaking way!  [he's excited of course]

me: laughing- yeah, i'm just kidding.  happy april fools!

him: laughing- you bitch!

i wasn't sure if he would fall for it again but he did and it brought tears to my eyes and i thought i was going to have a heart attack from laughing so hard.  ah, what a way to start my day.  {this is probably my 3rd or 4th time playing this joke on him on april fools day}