Oh Boy Sheboygan!

Sheboygan you are so lucky. You're just across the pond (Lake MI) and I've never seen ya. But you have the coolest things. #1 is Jen from jennadesigns. And her cute kiddos. Someday I will go out there and meet them! I know I've said it before on here, but I'm saying it again. Jen is the bees knees. That was super nerdy, but I'm running out of ways to express this since I've probably blogged about her 4 times already. I can't help it, she's my favorite Twitter pal. And that's not just because she sends me awesome things like these:

It's like Christmas in my mailbox!! How great is that quilted List Taker?! I'm in love with the fabrics! Especially the yellow and brown one on the bottom right corner of the List Taker. She sent me a cool chunk of Robert Kaufman fabric with fun turtles on it too! I may make one of my Itty Bitty Snap Pouches with it today. I saved my very last frame for it! The card with the flower on it is a photo she took herself as well. I know it's basically a business card, but I'll probably frame the photo to add it to my collection. In the past year I have really expanded my collection of art from people I know. Every single piece in my living room was made by a local artist or good friend of mine.

And the best part of this awesome gift! 60 minutes of crafty music! When I opened this package I showed my son the CD. He insisted that I turn it on right then. Within the first minute it had his approval. "Oh Mom! This is a brand new song, thanks for giving it to me!" and then on to "Who sings this song?" whenever a new one started. So thank you Jen for the other gift that came with this, the great big smile on my beautiful boy's face :)

Check out this fantastic playlist! Get out your magnifying glass... I'm no computer whiz here.


This CD hasn't left my CD player since I opened the package! I'm looking forward to listening to it while I create today. Thank you so much Jen!! I love it all so much!!

What are you creating today? I've got the Ugly Quilt to bind and a dress to alter for a wedding on Saturday on my list . It's a former bridesmaid dress, so I'm crossing my fingers that the wedding party will not be in chocolate brown. A big pot of chili is on my list of to-do's today also. It's a perfect rainy and cold chili day here in MI!

From the Car?

Art Prize is awesome. From the moment I heard about it I knew it would be one of the greatest things to happen to Grand Rapids.

What is Art Prize? Art Prize is a chance for artists of any medium to show their work in a number of venues around Grand Rapids. There is art shown in the streets, on the sides of buildings, and inside tons of restaurants, shops, and other buildings around town. The winners are determined by registered public vote and the winner gets $250,000!!


Look at a view from above!* This isn't even all of it, just one tiny speck of downtown! People everywhere!!

I had to see Art Prize from the car today unfortunately. My son had an award-winning attitude so we decided not to get involved in that giant mass of people. I didn't get very many good pictures from the car. I did see this awesome building covered in flowers though!

If you are in the area you should definitely check out Art Prize! I hope it becomes an annual event. Cross your fingers that next weekend I actually get the chance to see some more amazing art!

I hear the artist of this piece is living on top of this splatter painted tower till Art Prize is over. I've never understood why people do these sort of things. Where's he supposed to poo at? Why is this my first wonder upon hearing about this?

To learn more about Art Prize click here.

Since we're on the 'from the car' picture trip...

I think whoever decided to do this...


...along US131 needs to head on up to GR and see something pretty. Because the design of this is just awful. Now I know it's not supposed to be art, but come on, could it be any uglier?! I know it's fairly hard to see as I was driving down the highway when I took it, but it is a metal fence on each side of the median. The posts are connected with metal cable. Ick. In a few years when this is all rusted and nasty it will just look worse.

From what I hear it was put up to stop cars from crossing the median and going into oncoming traffic. Now I know this does happen, but come on, how often? What about when the snow flies? I'm sure accidents from crossing the median are more prevalent then but where will the cars go now when they slide off? They will either stay on the road for the rest of us to hit or maneuver around or according to this video they'll be shot back into traffic big-cable-rubberband-style. You really only need to watch the first 6 seconds of that video to see how badly this could turn out. For those that do slide off, they won't just need a tow truck to yank them out of the ditch, they'll also need a body repair shop. That fence is going to %*&# some cars up. Also, wouldn't one ugly ass fence down the center work just as well and cost half as much? Seems like it'd give a little extra space when you're being thrown back by the cable.

Maybe it is good somehow for some states, but a state covered in ice and snow for a good majority of the year? I don't want my car to be the one shot out of the median like a slingshot that's for damn sure. Saying a prayer that I'm proven wrong about this being a bad idea this winter.

Ughhhh Michigan, if you didn't bring me things like Art Prize, northern MI beauty, and my family, I'd think you were trying to chase me away!



*Picture found on Twitter. Will give credit should I ever find you again...

Magnets!

I added a bunch of magnet sets to my shop tonight!

Also, for the rest of September get a FREE magnet with every purchase!

Short and sweet tonight...

Tomorrow is my son's first field trip!

We are headed to the apple orchard bright and early.

Ali is coming along too. She's so excited that she finally gets to go to school,

even if it's for one day and we'll barely see the classroom. :)

What To Do...

Ok. I don't know what to do with these. I make hats every winter. I thought I was quick... but upon discussing crochet with my friend Becky from wanderlust*creations who crochets about 6,768,234 times faster than I do, I realized I'm sloooow. It hurts me to sell a hat for a mere $20 when I know how long it took me. Not that I ever sold one. So when they expired, aside from the Etsy Front Pagers, I didn't relist them. Now that it's getting colder I'm wondering what to do with them.

--give them to friends?

--have a giveaway?

--relist them on Etsy?

--start wearing a hell of a lot more hats?

--who the hell knows?

It's easier to give away a hat to someone I like than to only charge $20. Does that make any sense?

Recently I made a Facebook post saying that I was in a baby stuff making mood and if any of my friends were pregnant and I forgot/didn't yet know then they'd better tell me if they want cool stuff. Only one of my friends was ballsy enough to say "Hey my wife is pregnant, what do we get?" Happens to be my first high school boyfriend too - haha! If you want my stuff you've got to tell me. He's getting something awesome. My memory is shit and I need this all grouped into one memorable corner of my mind.

So far on my Knocked-Up List is: my best friend Megan, my ex-boyfriend Jessy, my cousin Kathy, my childhood best friend Michelle, and dang it... someone I've forgotten. That will now bother me all night.

From hats to this... how does that happen? What do I do with these hats?? Give them to the first gutsy people that scream at me "I WANT A HAT!! GIMME ONE!!"? I love them but I don't want them throwing off the feeling of my shop as it is now. Crocheted hats just seem kind of random in there. Am I being wayyy too picky?

Some Finished Works... The Things That Keep Me Busy Lately...

Man I've been busy!! I went through a baby stuff stage where I just couldn't stop making pinafores, quilts, and bibs. Just can't stop. Here's the back of one of the pinafores I made. These are the cutest ever. I wish I could pull this off as an adult, it looks so comfy!! Not sure who this is for yet, but it will be gifted to one of my many pregnant friends. :)

This patchwork purse is fabulous! It is triple-stitched and double-interfaced with a quilted strap and a twist lock. This purse should survive the apocalyse. Or at least my friend Beth the Purse Destroyer. She beats the hell out of purses, so I took on this challenge. She's owned it for only 2 days so far, but I'm curious to see what sort of beating it takes. I'm hoping it works out for her since I may cry to see this many hours of hard work end in purse destruction. I'm not sure how she does this.

These were a gift to some friends for their bridal shower. They had registered for a fabulous chocolate brown super-soft blanket that I of course had to buy them. Then make them awesome pillows to match. I kinda love making patchwork pillows. Next time pillow forms are on sale I may get out of control. These turned out great and she loved them! Come to find out they reallllly needed some throw pillows too! Score one for Lane! They also unzip in the back for easy cleaning!

This quilt is a work in progress. Progress being that I cut the squares, put them in a ziploc, and let them sit here for a couple weeks. Motivation where are you? Asian prints. Funny ones, serious ones, hideous ones. I can say that since my sis is the one that picked them out. I'm not sure if I like this quilt. I promise you a quilt before the snow flies Sis! It WILL happen!

My part-time girl Ali had a birthday this weekend! She is all about princesses and Tinkerbell right now. I took her to the fabric store last Friday while my boy was in school and let her pick some things out. Who would've thought a 3 yo would have such grand ideas?! She's full of them! In the end, based on time, I was forced to choose the quickest project, which luckily she loves!! A fleece Tinkerbell pillow, with a zipper for easy washing. But I couldn't stop there. I used the extra/scraps to make her baby a pillow as well. She loves it!!

This is Egg-cellent! And I'm a dork. It does look like eggs though, right? Slightly larger than my Itty Bitty Pouches, but not much. Lined in blue. Fab. I looove this fabric. My sis recently moved to Lexington and keeps finding the BEST prints for me! It's like Christmas in my mailbox all the time. :)

Ladies ladies ladies. Another awesome fabric that my sis sent! Robert Kaufman, I love you. I just had to fit at least half a lady on a pouch. It's too cute not to!

So that's *some* of what I've been up to lately! More to come soon! I've got a pile of cozy legwarmers in the works today!

Hiiiiyahhh!

Just here for a hot second to brag about some Ninja goodness. Now I don't even know if this is allowed, but my Ninja Pants are in an Etsy Treasury twice! Both my Custom Ninja Pants and my Itty Bitty Ninja Pants!

Thank you SilverSisterStudio for including me in your treasury! Seriously, go see the cuteness in her shop! This Pass The Peas pendant is such a fun mix of beads and felting. Love it!

*******************

They are also featured in this Etsy Hippie Treasury! Ninja Pants are gettin all the love this weekend! :)

Thank you CassiesAttic for this treasury feature! WOW at this shop too! Her photos are fantastic! How gorgeous is this vintage Turquoise Hippy Dress?! Makes me wish I was a dress girl. This dress could MAKE me be a dress girl. Want it want it want it! And a fellow Michigander as well- Love it!

Lovin the Ninja love.
Thanks!

First Day of Preschool and Some Frogs...

630am: Drag myself out of bed. Wake up with headache. Say little prayer that it goes away fast.

710am: Still trying to drag child out of bed. Get mean. Force him into clothes. Make him smile for first day of school photos.

720am: Unsuccessfully convince child that the preschool he was SO excited about yesterday will be fun. He just wants to hang out with Ali and me.

723am: Force child into the car against his will. Tears is not a good way to start the day.

730am: Sit though the light at Milham Rd. 3 times. PNHS needs to get their act together. Forcing all student drop-offs at one place isn't working for those of us that live here.

750am: Arrive at work. Deal with more tears because boy wants to go to school NOT Ali's house.

800am: Beg child to eat breakfast faster. Repeat all rules for preschool. Keep your hands to yourself kid! Listen to Ms. Teresa!

830am: Find a cool frog. Witness my son conversing with frog. "Hey Mr. Froggyman, wanna come to school with me? There's a big boat sandbox! You can get in my backpack with my lunch! No? Ok. Bye Mr. Froggyman!!" LOL


840am: Pack 2 kids into car. Arrange for Ali to 'babysit' D's toy dumpster while he's at school.

850am: Get to school. D takes off in a cloud of dust. Mom who? Won't miss her!

900am: I have to leave the school? But I don't wanna. My baby's all grown up! OMG! Beg for kisses. Get none. Ali gets a hug and a kiss goodbye.

905am: Mom cries. Then explains to Ali that they are happy tears. She cries because she thinks I'm upset. Drive back to Ali's.

1015am: Ali wants David back. NOW. Apparently I'm less cool than she thought.

1030am: Drive to the library for storytime. It's cancelled. Successfully scare Ali with every possible puppet. Not my intention. Meet woman with flock of children. Get involved in conversation with her where she tells me that women that work don't love their children as much as stay-at-home moms and they need to get their priorities straight. She's made the assumption that because I can be at the library at 10am that I don't work. Try not to laugh in her face. Enlighten her that I work 60+ hours a week. Get the evil eye. Watch her never smiling kids look very bored. Laugh to myself.

1130am: Drive back to Ali's. Make lunch.

1200pm: It's only noon? I miss my baby boy.

1240pm: Drive back to the preschool.

100pm: MOM'S BACK! I get my hug and kiss now! Get told by mean looking blond kid in sandbox that my child is naughty and mean. He gives us both the stink eye till we leave.

105pm: Ali biffs it at the preschool. Bad broken toenail, owwie on her face. This kid should live in a bubble.

110pm: Find out that he was good not naughty. Relief!

115pm: Drive back to Ali's. Try to get D to tell us what he did. All he talks about is the back-hoe in the sandbox and Cassie, the girl who shares Cheetos. What else did they do? "Nothing exciting Mom." Oooook.

130pm: Get Ali into bed. She's soooo tired. Naptime is usually an hour ago. She wants to give David back to the preschool. Says he should go live there.

200pm: Hang out with D, try to get him to tell me more about school. Beg him to sleep.

300pm: Still trying to get D to sleep. I thought school would wear him out! All this driving is making me tired.

330pm: Move him to Ami's bed. Sleep at last! I catch a few winks. Very few. Ali's up! My headaches back.

400pm: Drag D out of bed again.

410pm: Potty breaks and shoes on. Take a walk down Ali's super long driveway. Make necessary work calls while walking.

440pm: Jump on trampoline. With headache. Feel brain bouncing around inside head and must sit. Kids make up new game called Run Lainie Over With A Truck. They are the trucks. Surprisingly less painful to my brain than jumping.

520pm: Dishes and quick clean-up before Ali's dad gets home. Find metallic green frog- very cool. Find wasps nest - very uncool.

535pm: Finally read books from library this morning.

600pm: Leave work. Drive farrr. Make other phone calls.

630pm: Go to fabric store. Don't find what I needed. Still end up $23 poorer.

700pm: Dinner! It's 7, I'm not cooking now. Taco Bob's it is. Drive home.

730pm: Eat dinner. Type this. Realize I've accomplished nothing but being a toddler chauffeur and toddler entertainment all day. Is this how the rest of this school year will be? I'm exhausted and sick of driving.

830pm: Clean up dinner. Should clean kid, but bathtime is just gonna have to wait till tomorrow. It's BEDTIME!

I'll be sewing till 2am. *yawn*

I'm not used to having to be somewhere or do something every 10-20 minutes. I like to stay in one spot and get my work done! Once the snow starts flying I'm going to spend all the rest of my time brushing snow off my car and shoveling it out of the driveway. I'm not even sure how I'll find the time to brush the snow off! Add to to-do list: Ask Ami if I can have extra stall in garage for winter. Say prayer for mild winter.

Growing Up So Fast!

Here's some really cute pictures ... with a story from Little Dave's perspective.
(He helped me write it too!) Enjoy!

My first day out of that belly!

It was comfy in there but man, I couldn't wait to get out and meet

that Mommy of mine!

Plus she was always playing the drums on my big round house and it was making me crazy.

She still does this and calls it a Tummy Drum, and I'll admit, it's pretty fun.

I decided to escape that place a couple months early.

I was born impatient.

I get that from Mom.
I'm glad they put me in this warm box, it's cold outside of Mommy!

I'm just over a month old here! I'm so cute, even though I like to cry a lot.
If Mom and Megan didn't dress me up like I'm a doll I might have been happier on this visit.
Look how big my newborn overalls are!

Look at my lips! I'm a silly boy! These are funny and I still like them.
They make me fall down in fits of giggles!

I'm a collector. All things that aren't mine should be!
I'm all set in case I ever need to make a phone call!
I look just like my Daddy.
Mommy says we are both very, very cute.
We are her favorite boys.

My Mommy kisses me ALL THE TIME.
Really, she never stops.
This time it was my turn!

Wow I'm growing up fast!
Today I told Mommy that I am going to grow up to be really old.
She seems to be very happy with this plan but told me not to do that too fast.

Wednesday I start school for my first time!
My new teacher is very nice and has pretty blonde hair.
She has lots of fun toys and wants me to write my name.
I get to eat lunch at school and then Mommy and Ali are going to come pick me up!
I hope I can show Ali my classroom because she's my best friend.
I'm going to be nice to the other kids and keep my hands to myself.
I've always had a hard time with that, but I told Mommy I would make her proud.

Then Mommy cried some more about me growing up and being so smart,
and hugged me and gave me a hundred kisses.

I told her to chill.

Waiting waiting waiting... at Worst Buy...

This is what is looks like when I have no computer. I actually get work done!! LOL!

My computer conundrum is soon to be solved! It already is temporarily! My awesome, wonderful, fantastic sister loaned me her extra laptop! So I am back online in a much quicker manner than I was with the desktop and able to get some things done. So far I've only accomplished updating my Facebook and my Twitter though. It sucks not having my bookmarks or photos. I'm a little sad about all the blogs that I follow that I lost because they were only added to my bookmarks and not my blogroll. This goes to show that if you blog on Blogger you should really use that 'Follow Me' feature on your page, otherwise it's not as easy and I'm not logging in just to add you to my roll, you're just gettin a bookmark and now I've lost you! :(

I went and looked at those adorable little Netbooks on Saturday. Adorable really shouldn't be a deciding factor in buying a computer but since I don't have much else to go on with my computer knowledge, that's all I've got to work with. I dragged the kiddo to Best Buy with me to see what we could do.

That's where I met Rude Guy. Rude Guy works in the computer section and he's just that, rude. Not only did he treat me like an imbecile (whether I am a computer moron or not, he shouldn't have made it so very obvious) but he lied to me as well. Rather, he lied OR doesn't know anything about what he's trying to sell.

The requirements I have for a laptop are simple.

1. I want to log in to Etsy, and a few other sites.
2. I want to use Picasa3 to edit my photos.
3. I may occassionally want to print something someday, if and when I get a working printer.
4. I want decent internal speakers, or the ability to connect external speakers.

That is all. Yup. That's IT. Sounds pretty low-maintenance right? In all reality, the only programs I used on my other computer were Picasa and Notepad. Not even MS Office. Just Notepad. Rude Guy shows me a few things. By show me I mean he stands there with a smug look on his face, arms crossed, not offering any help. But considering he was at least standing there instead of wandering off to help one of the many other customers in that section it sort-of counts as help, right?

I found one I like. I tell Rude Guy I'd like one of those. I don't have the cash this week, but I will next week, so I march on up to the counter to get approved for a Best Buy card. Fast forward an hour and I'm finally approved and good to go. Not thrilled since I swore to myself that I would never get another credit card in my life and here I am holding an approved application for free money. See, that right there is why I shouldn't have a credit card.

I go back to Rude Guy and tell him i'm ready to buy my Netbook.

"Sorry lady, I just sold the last one about 20 minutes ago."

"But I just told you I was buying it and I would be right back as soon as I was approved."

"Sorry lady, it's gone."

"Well, can you tell me what other Netbook would be good for me to use. All I want to do with it is list some things on Etsy and edit some photos in Picasa" I explain. Again.

Rude Guy's eyes light up.

"Photo editing huh? You can't do that on these. Come here and look at these MacBooks with me, they are great for editing photos..."

"No, I'd like one of these, I don't want to spend $2500 on a photo editing machine. That's all I want to do other than surf the NET with my NETbook."

"Lady, you can't put Picasa on the Netbooks."

"I told you that's what I wanted it for earlier and you never said that."

And then HE WALKED AWAY.

Who does that?! You are a SALESMAN. You at least TRY to close your sale!! You treat your customer with respect no matter how much she knows about what she wants to buy. You are HONEST and POLITE no matter what. None of this "Lady..." business. None of this 'I want your $2500 sale or nothing' attitude.

I left. I cried. I was stressed. I just wasted 2 hours of a beautiful day trying to spend money I don't have yet on something I really needed. I sold my soul to Mastercard again to do this after not having a credit card for 8 years.

Fast forward another couple hours and here I sat. At my sloowww desktop computer. Googling "Picasa on a Netbook" and find pages and pages of people talking about how much they love using Picasa on their Netbooks. That's right, the same Picasa that you can't put on a Netbook according to Rude Guy. Someone's even running Halo on their Netbook and I KNOW (albeit unfortunately, since I have a big time gamer husband) that Halo takes up a massive amount of space. Picasa is roughly 57MB. I don't claim to know exactly what an MB is even though it's been explained to me endlessly, but I did learn that there's WAYYYYY more than enough memory to run Picasa on a Netbook. Screw you Rude Guy. *expletive*


I have wasted far too much of my life thinking and complaining about this interaction with Rude Guy, so I'll leave it at that. Just unbelievable though.

I'd like to commend the tall, dark, and handsome fella at the Geek Squad for explaining things in layman's terms so nicely even though he knew I didn't buy my broken laptop there. Instead of trying to empty my wallet, he gave me suggestions on what to do, what to buy, where to go. If I ever have a computer problem that a friend can't fix, I'd go back to this guy in a heartbeat and pay the big bucks they ask, because he treated me respectfully and was good at his job. Money wasn't the bottom line with him, and I bet that makes him the money in the end. Also, Jeremih at the Customer Service desk was helpful, knew what he was 'selling' and answered all of my questions. If he had any judgement about my terrible credit as I tried to get approved, he hid it well and I appreciate that. I'll be the first to admit my credit score is probably somewhere around a -3, but that doesn't make me any less worthy of shopping there.

It's so frustrating to shop for things I don't know much about. I'd much rather be shopping for fabric. Or spending $400 on a serger not a computer. At least there were 2 people there that redeemed Best Buy for their awful choice in hiring Rude Guy. I feel Rude Guy owes an apology to every out-of-work computer-techie-junkie-whatnot for having this job. Best Buy, you can do better. *another expletive*

Mourning the Loss...

I did it. I finally did it. I have used my computer to death. I'm constantly using that stupid laptop. Probably causing my husband to kick his own ass daily for buying it for me. It was a Christmas gift, it hasn't even been a year yet!! What have I done?! It's not even a virus-y thing, I know better. It's well protected. I practice safe-surfing. Yet I still managed to break it.

It will not charge at all! The little charger-hole-thing has been a little off center for a week or so since it fell off the couch, but it was still working and useable! Don't I sound so technical? Computer genius right here kids. I wish I just needed a new cord, but I really don't think that's it.

Lugging it around in a thin tote bag w/ all my other crap for the past few months didn't do it any favors either I'm guessing.

*sigh*

*real tears*

To add some salt to the wound, my cell phone is also not charging unless I hold the charger in the phone until it's done. Which I've found takes about an hour. I did this once, then remembered "Hey dumbass! You DO own a car charger AND a car!" Of course then I would have to unplug the XM. Decisions decisions!

Whatever would I do without my stupid electronics? I suppose this week I'll find out. Somewhat. Since I immediately fired up the desktop and started furiously tap-tap-tapping away again.

OMG, I might actually have to CLEAN or WORK!! This is just terrible.



The Silver Lining(s)...

I might actually get to check out the NetBook. It's so little and cute. I know it's wrong that I only want it so I can make things for it. Little colorful NetBook sleeves! It's almost enough to dry my tears! If this computer I'm on weren't so ungodly slow, I'd probably already be on Etsy buying fabric for it already.

I listed all the goodies I made the other day on Etsy earlier. So no re-uploading and re-editing of pictures for anything, and that makes me happy. The clutch I made but haven't listed was supposed to be featured in my next blog post though and that little beauty is on the busted laptop. Oh well. Patience people, patience. It's good enough to wait for. :)

What a day....