things i'm loving

1.  i love these slipper socks!  i bought them off etsy and i adore them.  they're aqua with red flowers!  how can you not love them?!  cute, cute, cute.

2.  i have always loved drinking a chai latte but i never thought to buy it to have around the house.  i only bought on the occasion i was near a coffee shop.  then one day i made the big mistake of picking up a box of chai tea concentrate.  huge mistake because now i often have a little "me" time sipping my chai tea latte out of this a.dor.able  travel mug because i like to keep it nice and hot.  of course i'm wearing the aforementioned slipper socks.

the kids like chai, too, so i have to hide it from them.  that concentrate doesn't come cheap, you know?  one day i'll bother to make my own concentrate, but for now i'm loving the ease of not making it.

3. as always i'm loving this little guy.  such a stinker.

4.  i just noticed this picture of my two oldest from christmas when they realize that we got them nook colors.  we NEVER buy things like this at all.  never, never, never.  but we decided this year to let our kids feel the fun of a splurge.  of course we were still frugal and bought them as refurbs,  but we wanted to really surprise them with an unexpected treat.  it was worth it.  i love those shocked faces!

Shop notes

This past weekend my sweet little young'ins went to my parents for the weekend.  OMGoodness, did I ever need the break!!  Yes, I know that one day I will miss having them home.  Yes, I know how blessed I am to have healthy, active children.  Yes, I know how wonderful it is that I get to stay home and take of them.  So don't tell me all that, I know and I cry when I think of them leaving my nest.

However, this mama needs a break every once in awhile.  I don't know how long it's been since all of them have been away for the weekend when I didn't have a chore to do like painting or going away with my husband.  I was so excited to have a weekend to do whatever I wanted.  And I wanted to sew.  :)

Something I haven't done in weeks.  I got my fix this weekend!  I made lots of pillows for the store.  They were so stinking fun to make, too.  Here are two that I managed to get listed today:

 I simply ADORE the ruffles!  and polka dots!

I'm in love with the red and aqua combination!

There's still time for Christmas shopping with me, too!  All items will ship out within 1-2 business days, depending on what time of day you place your order.   Click over to my facebook page to get a fabulous coupon for savings!

Now, I'm off to finish my online Christmas shopping!

Meal Planning

I do love grocery shopping.  I love going and looking through all the produce, seeing the fancy olive oils, sampling whatever is out, discovering new products.  Yes, I can get into A LOT of trouble at the grocery store.   Luckily, I usually have a very antsy 18 month old with me who is only as good as the samples are in the store.  The babe really helps to keep me from blowing our grocery budget.  That and having a good plan.  I'm one of those who writes out the whole month's menu, that way I only have to do one great big huge shopping trip with only a few small ones in between for fresh produce, milk and whatnot.   I want to prep the meals for the whole month by stove is 20 something years old and is on it's last leg, not to mention I only have 2 eyes that work a little bit.  But, that's a-whole-nother sob story for a different day.  Yes, I plan to replace but not until it has completely died out.  I think I have a sick obsession to see just HOW bad it can get.

Towards the end of each month, you will find me sitting on the kitchen floor with recipes, grocery lists, freezer lists, and a monthly menu all sprawled out around me.  My husband told me the other day that I should have everything on the computer and then I just have to import the grocery list each month.  Now, that might work great for some people, but NOT me.  If I got on the computer to do my list, I'd get sidetracked checking out facebook, and then see what new pictures are on flickr, and then I'd get looking at someone's blog, and then it's all over.  I'd be lost out in blogland for the next five hours hour with only "milk" on the grocery list!   I will stick to my old fashioned way of pencil and paper, thank you very much!

In that spirit, I just listed a fabulous menu planning set!  I'm so in love with my little polka dot cherries.  Don't you just love them?!  (Don't answer that one if you disagree with me.)  So if you're trying to get control of your families food, this is a way great way to start.  There's an adorable market list, sweeter than cherry pie weekly menu planner, and cute as a button recipe cards!  Can you tell I love them?  And don't worry if you need a monthly planner or a large size list, I can make that for you.  It's what I use, so it's ready for printing.

Yellow!

Today is the first day the sun has peeked out in awhile. Glorious! It's amazing how the sun, or lack thereof can really affect your mood. So in honor of the beautiful sunshine beaming down on my house, I'm posting some fav yellow things of mine that have turned up at my house.

First, if you've ever read my profile at my original etsy shop you'll read about my first sewing experience making a fuzzy yellow pillow. I knew my mom had kept it and it was somewhere stored away at the house. I see my mom over the weekend and she hands me a big "bag o' stuff" from my college years. I get home, reach into the bag, and, oh yeah, there's the pillow. I guess she found it and decided to surprise me with it. So here it is, the infamous pillow. :)

Look at that stitching! I'm surprised it's stayed together for 20 odd years. I promise my sewing skills have improved since then. :)

The next yellow, is this fabulous muffin bakeware I bought off QVC. I'm not one to watch or buy off QVC, but my mom who is not one to buy off QVC either did happen upon some fabulous bakeware. When I saw this, I had to have it. But now I realize I need another set because I bake all my muffins in sets of 12, not six. I'm thinking Christmas present to me....

And, last but not least...