Thursday, September 2, 2010

Flowers for Fall

It's September!! And with a change in the month and weather (albeit, we're back in the 100s now), I wanted to get a little crafty to celebrate. Craftiness is something I have gleaned from my Vtown friends. It is not a natural character trait, so it's always a gamble when I take on a new project.

Jaime (of John Mayer and The Baeza Blog) mentioned fabric flowers in one of her blog posts back in the spring, and I remembered her saying it was easy. She is a craft queen and I should have known that when she says it's easy, that is not equalvilant for a girl who is all thumbs (although, being all thumbs, I could probably kick her butt at the Hand Jive.). So I gave it a try and chronicled in pictures.



First I cut my fabric into 22" x 4" strips and sewed it together to make a ribbon-ish thing (that's the technical term).



I wove thread along the bottom and cinched up the fabric as I went.



Then I sewed it together.  If the thread didn't blend with the fabric you would see the world's largest spiderweb of thread on the back of this puppy.  This was truly the hardest part for me.  I could not keep the darn thing wound around and/or I couldn't keep it from looking like a fancy coaster.  I'm sure I let some expletives fly.  This should be easy. "Should."



A slightly tilted view of the front.  Once I finished sewing the flowers, I glued a broach pin on the back so that we can wear them - in case you're wondering what the heck someone is supposed to do with a fabirc flower.  As I look at it in this photo, I'm not all that impressed.  They look better in person.  No hard feelings if you click to another blog.



My pile of finished rosettes!



I used my Cricut and made these tags. 
"Happy as a lark to be doing MOPS with you this year!"



A pretty package!



My stash for my new MOPS table and Pinkalicious' preK teachers, Miss Leslie and Miss Diane.



Of course I have to have one for myself!!! 



By the end of making the pins, I felt pretty confident (and I streamed the whole series of "The Hills."  Train Wreck!!!).  I'm very happy with how they turned out! And I'm also happy that Heidi and Spencer did not have a baby.

Thanks to Jaime for sharing her cool idea, and to all you crafty gals for inspiring me to dust off my glue gun and go for it!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

A Family Outing (No, I'm not gay)

The Hubs and I went with Mr. Monkey and Pinkalicious to Target (pronounced: tar-shay, if you're desperately clamoring for a shred of class) the other day and we had a great time in the toy section.  Lucky for me, I had my camera to capture the fun!





Look at this freaky-ass Barbie wannabe!!!  I literally backed away in revulsion.  It's too hard to see it in the picture, but this "girl" has golden, star-shaped nipples under her dress that you can totally see. 

1) What the hell?

2) Who would buy this for their kid?

3) Did Target receive a shipment intended for Spencer's Gifts?

4) Why is the clearance price $11.88?! 

This should be a Dundee, not a 4+ child's toy.






Here are modern Barbies.  I thought it was picture-worthy because someone came through and paired Barbie up with a Jacob doll.  Look out Ken; your competition comes in wolf form.





This made my heart skip a beat:  Peaches and Cream Barbie!!!!!!  This was the first Barbie I owned.  I was determined to win it at my school's jog-a-thon during my second year of preschool.  I can promise you there are no hidden stars on this Barbie doll!





Was anyone else a Rainbow Brite fan?  I had the doll and watched the cartoon.  It's weird to see trinkets from my childhood being resold to my daughter.  I wonder how many kids are into these 80s toys, and how many of the toys are actually purchased by parents who want to recreate their childhood for their children? 





I was not the only one reliving childhood memories.  I walked back and spotted The Hubs drooling over Nerf toys and plotting which ones we'll be buying for future Christmases.  Here he is, posing with the sleeping Monkey (pay no attention to that kid behind the blanket) and his favorite Nerf toy of all time - The Dart Gun.





In the end, nothing caught Pinkalicious' attention more than the keyboard.  She enjoyed playing for a while as we all enjoyed mooching off of Target's AC. 

Note:  This is Pinky when I say "Look at me and say 'broccoli!'"  My kid never smiles at the camera.  Whenever you see a picture where she is actually looking AND smiling, know that it took about five minutes to be captured. 


Oh Target, you are the land of red circles, free AC, and real Icees (another fond memory).  And your return policy sucks.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Dana, Jaime, and John - The Hollywood Adventure

On Sunday, Jaime and I headed to Hollywood for a John Mayer concert at the Bowl. It was a total blast!!



Jaime and I rocked The Cheesecake Factory at The Grove. It was kind of miraculous that we made it there for lunch, as we battled it out for parking and waded through a crowd of spectators watching some freaky-deaky contortionists that I quickly excused as being "cool" once I learned they were Cirque du Soleil performers. Although Jaime and I are smiling in this picture, we are silently willing the waiter to stop yacking about the Springville Apple Festival and his ONE friend, Candace, in Vtown, and bring the Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake!!! Yes, Mom, we did eat more than dessert for lunch. =)





This is our Beverly Hills 90210 drive.  We were on the lookout for Brandon Walsh and Dylan McKay in the Porshe, although Steve Sanders in his Corvette would have been acceptable as well. 




We kept seeing these banners around town.  At one point, Jaime demanded to know who the heck LA Phil was.  Oh my gosh, it was fantastic!!!!!!!!  If you, too, are wondering, it's an add for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. =)




Jaime and I are certain this is a paint-by-numbers mural, each brick with its own number.  Or, we have discovered the 21st century's Michelangelo!  Little do you know that your great grandchildren will be touring Hollywood and paying money to see the wall of an old pilates studio on which is portrayed the famed Female Adonis of Highland Ave.




Our tickets!  So glad that Jaime played "Mom" before we left town or else there would have been a picture of the Hollywood Kinkos were we had to print the tickets.





Our seats in section U1. Technically the nose-bleed section, and yet totally acceptable and lovely. How can you go wrong on a summer evening? We did purchase the cushion rental for $.75. Money well spent.




We are actually in the picture!!  It's not of our children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






A closer look at the Hollywood sign that we could see above The Bowl.  I think I see Brandon and Dylan having a camp-out up there... Too bad we didn't bring our hiking shoes.





Owl City was our opening band.  These guys made me feel old.  I would say that they are in league with Hannah Montana.  Feel free to argue with me, if you're a fan, but we were seriously put off when they had a whole song dedicated to the lead singer's trip to the dentist. For reals.  And there was another one all about riding his bike.  Their lyrics had some real gems like "I've been to the dentist, so I know the drill," and "I rode my bike onto the turnpike and it took its toll."  I gagged so hard on the puns that I didn't need to eat until midnight. 
Jaime and I were floored to learn that they had a legitimate song from the radio called "Fireflies."  Seeing that this band is some kind of bubble gum rock band challenged my assumption that "Fireflies" was all about an acid trip.  I still say these kids (can you see my cane waving in the air as I call them kids?) are a step above the Imagination Movers from the Disney Channel. If they had puppets, they'd have a show for sure.  Opening for the Doodlebops, maybe? ... Too harsh? 






John gets started and rescues our sanity!!!






Lots to say about this picture.  Okay, first, John Mayer opened with four songs played just by him and a friend he brought out from New York to play on the piano.  It was different and wonderful!!  If you go to Jaime's blog, The Baeza Blog, you can hear them play a version of The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony."  A-mazing.

Secondly, Spike Lee, whose spikes are glistening in this photo (and many others, humph), sat in front of us and had this jet black mess going on with one wiry white hair sticking out at the back.  It was the source of a lot of contemplation for Jaime and me as we turned inwardly, retreating to our happy place during Owl City.  In the end, neither of us plucked it; hence, we were not escorted from the concert with him for brawling.










I so completely enjoyed everything about this concert!!  John Mayer was so great to listen to - a true musician!  He sounds the same as his CDs, which is always refreshing when living in this Brittany Spears generation of big boobed non-talent.  Listening to him live was a chance to hear him jam with the other talents in his band in a way that added to the song and didn't distract from the songs that we know and love and want to sing with.  The Hollywood Bowl was a great venue.  I loved being outside (it was especially handy as many of the people around us felt the need to exercise their right to medicinal marijuana - I'm sure there was no illegal activity on the premises) and even though we were far up, the screens and lights were a great addition to the music - the camera work was fabulous!!



A concert t-shirt, of course!!! "It's been a long night in Los Angeles."  So true, John.  And more to come!





What is Hollywood without the Walk of Fame?  Michael Jackson, you'll never be forgotten. 
Just like Monty Woolley and Jay Silverheels.




Then again, Jay and Monty never had such devoted fans, like Debbie.  How sweet of her to transport part of her shrine all the way from Auckland, New Zealand! Check her out at www.myspace.com/debbies4umichaeljackson It is something to behold.




Graumann's Chinese Theatre.  Yes, I am that white girl who likes Harry Potter.  No, I did not do a charcoal rubbing for my personal collection of paraphernalia.



Matt Damon and I are holding hands!!!




This is the end of the photos.  But our night continued on with a desperate search for radio stations, some Santa Clarita Taco Bell, a freak out by me believing that we were going to get shot by another driver (who was probably just another unfortunate patient with medicinal marijuana), less than three tolerable minutes of Love Line, a brief history of the town of Earlimart, and then home at 2:30am.  It was a whirlwind made wonderful to share it with Jaime.

A BIG shout-out to the hubs for caring for our kids while I had fun!  He was happy for me to go and never reproachful of my time away.  What a joy to have a husband who enjoys time with his children and is glad for me to get some time without the fam.  Thanks, Sweetheart, for your kindness to me!  I love you!!!


Now, about Coldplay tickets...

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Restructuring

I'm failing at this blog. 

Well, I'm kind of choosing to fail.  And I'm choosing to fail because as I surmised in my first post, this really does feel like an exercise in megalomania.  I really don't need another reason or venue to be thinking more about myself - I'm pretty stellar at that while I'm doing everything else.

I don't think I'm going to close the blog down, though, because in it I have rediscovered my love for writing.  It's so hard as a stay at home mom to preserve a sense of self, and I forgot some of my own talents.  But I'm truly not balanced enough to dedicate an hour a day to my own production when there are so many other things to do and people to care for.  Someone is always getting left behind.  That's kinda the whole reason I'm at home anyway;  not to vacation or to use my kids as an excuse for years of "me-time" but to do the job of being a mom of babies and wife to the best of my ability, which currently requires me to be at home (cause I'm the worst multi-tasker in the world!). 

So for now, I'm not sure where this is headed or when/if I can find the time to return to the day-to-day posting.  The desire is there, and will remain, I think.  Farewell Day-to-Day Dane.  Hello reality.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Books, Bubbles, and Bags

The Summer Reading Program begins!!  Each day, we are keeping track of how many books Pinkalicious reads with an adult.  Ultimately we're aiming for five books a week.  If she completes this goal, she earns a prize from the library each week.  I wanted to make her a special library bag for her books, so we went to JoAnn's and she picked out the fabric.  I was SHOCKED that the entire thing was not pink!!!





Today we checked out six picture books - she is so eager to begin!  While we were there, we saw a performance by The Bubble Man.






These are the pictures that make my heart sing...




Pinkalicious' current favorite book (we're on our third check-out)

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Podunk Can be Fun!

Yesterday I complained on Facebook that I was feeling podunk as a Vtown resident.  Although being podunk requires me to drive to a "big city" to hit what I feel are basic stores, it also provides special opportunities that I only read about when living in a "big city."

Today we went berry-picking at Rancho Notso Grande (thumbs up on the name!) with lots of friends.  It was loads of fun and truly the fulfillment of a life-long dream since my first reading of Blueberries for Sal by Robert McClosky when I was little.  Pinkalicious and I even read it again last night in preparation for today.  Both my mom and grandma warned me about all the spiders in the bushes, to prepare to be brave for my daughter and pick without regarding them.  I only saw one the entire day, and it was 1/4'' long from leg to leg.  But one rare treat was a face-to-face convo with MFBFFM Christi!!!  I think if our kids weren't there, I could have talked to her all day!  Enjoy the highlights of our berry fun day!

Blueberry Bushes - our first stop!



Pinks, the Baeza girls, and their Grandma Kathy
SO thankful for them, Pinky's second family while I corraled the Monkey.





Pinkberry!!!
The Hubs calls this her Twilight photo




Fuzzy limes? Nope. Walnuts!!




Back to blueberries, the most interesting berries to Pinkalicious.
It helps that they were the only berry without any thorns or pricklies.


The most interesting until she discovered the Backlunds and something shiny!




Check out these monster blackberries! They are the first fruits of this season.



Blackberry blossoms and a honeybee!

Thorns abound in the blackberry bushes! I went in alone!!




The fruit of our labor




All tuckered out!



Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Turn Around

Pinkalicious came shopping with me today at Target.  It was kind of weird because she used to go everywhere with me, but now that Mr. Monkey is here, it feels like a treat to get away just the two of us.  We were going for supplies for all the cleaning/organizing that I'm doing.  Check out my before and after of one of my "hot spots," my night stand.  Judge away, friends!

Before



After



In Target I was purchasing a binder for myself to organize my To-Do lists, weekly menu planning, etc., and as I went to grab a cute one for myself, Pinky spotted a Hello Kitty binder.  "Mama, I need the Hello Kitty binder for me," she exclaimed.  I asked her for what she planned on doing with it, and she began to tell me about how she will make sections for practicing her writing and her drawing and her lists....

As she finished talking I noticed two women come into our aisle, a mom and her college-age daughter.  The daughter began telling her mom about why she liked a particular planner/calendar.  This had both the month and the weekly outlook; it had a pocket for her to keep new contacts' business cards; there was a section for birthdays; it would be perfect for college in the fall, Mom, don't you think?  It was a surreal moment for me. Looking at the two of them, I felt like I was watching Pinkalicious and me in one of those Ghost of Christmas Future experiences.  Today it's a Hello Kitty binder for preschool practice, and very soon it's a planner for college.  We bought the binder.  It was a totally emotional purchase on my part. Now is the time for Hello Kitty binders and Cotton Candy LipSmackers and Princess nighties.


My mom used to sing me a lullaby when we would be up all night with my ear infections.  It just came to me, a song called "Turn Around."  So poignant for today.  Love you Mom!

Turn Around

Where are you going my little one, little one
Where are you going my baby, my own
Turn around and you're two
Turn around and you're four
Turn around and you're a young girl
Going out of the door

Turn around
Turn around
Turn around and you're a young girl
Going out of the door

Where are you going my little one, little one
Little pigtails and petticoats
Where have you gone
Turn around and you're tiny
Turn around and you're grown
Turn around and you're a woman
With babes of your own
Turn around
Turn around
Turn around and you're a woman
With babes of your own

Where are you going my little one, little one
Where are you going my baby, my own