Here Comes the Bride...

The Pretty Bride-to Be

I must have been a party planner or even a party girl in one of my previous lives.

I love to plan parties.

Birthday Parties, Holiday Parties, Baby Showers, Bridal Showers...
I could seriously plan a party for almost any reason.

After Chloe was born, I found myself lacking a key element in party planning, t.i.m.e.
The party gene was wiped out completely for awhile, but has slowly come out of hibernation over the last couple of years.

Lucky for me, my cousin Araceli is getting hitched in a mere five weeks.

Since she is sweet as can be, and really more like a sister, I (actually my mom and I) graciously (since I'm such a great hostess and all) volunteered to host her bridal shower.

I started my planning fairly early (which is rare for me), and ordered some totally awesome invitations from the super nice and really talented Vanessa. Her shop is chock full of some really cool paper goodies. Super reasonable prices and the best customer service.

Since I am so, umm, shall I say "particular," I kindly asked if she would make some labels, inserts, and even Thank You tags to match. This is the invite I chose for Araceli's soiree.


Pretty, huh?

My mom was kind enough to host the party at her casa so, my job was mainly to decorate and bake like a whirling dervish.

Here's the Party Table. Lots of cookies and sweets.

My favorite half of the table. I fashioned a tablecloth out of Heather Bailey's Pop Garden.

Araceli's favorite cupcakes. Red Velvet.
I found those vintage bride and groom picks on Etsy.

Aren't these roses gorgeous? Wow, gotta love Costco.

And look at these babies...they'll put any fancy flower shop's flowers, to shame.

Party Favors.
You can kind of see the matchy Thank You tags.

Araceli and her mama.

The ladies enjoying the gift opening.
There's my mama in the glasses.

Ina Garten. Love her.
Time to break out those new pots and pans, girl.

Me and Ara.

I have to say, it was a lovely shower.
Appropriate, for a truly lovely person.

Inhale, Exhale, Breathe

I feel as bad as this room looks.
This is an old picture though, really. My bedroom is no longer this color, and I swear it's clean-ish.

I'm sick.
Ugh.
I.hate.being.sick.
I.rarely.get sick.

I spent last week camping out with Chloe at CHOC, and caught who knows what.

I am congested.
My nose is runny.
I am coughing up a lung.

I have no motivation to do any type of housework
(Ha,ha,ha! I never do, but now I actually have an excuse).

I would love a nap, but alas, the duties of motherhood, await me.

I really miss being able to smell stuff.

Colds suck.

I could really use some homemade chicken soup right about now.

Boo-tay Call

Frida Kahlo and Minnie Mouse last Halloween.
No correlation between this photo and this post. It's just a spunky pic, ya know?

Sabrina caught a cold last week, and stayed home from school on Friday.
She wasn't totally "out of commission" sick, but had all the standard cold-like symptoms. Congestion, sore throat, cough.

Since Chloe catches pretty much everything, I quarantined Sabrina to the far side of the living room, where she could hack to her hearts content, and I wouldn't nag her too much about staying away from her sister.

Sabrina, agreed to the quarantine, on one condition.
"You know I don't do deals, Sabrina," I told her.
"It's not a deal mama," she said
"I just want to bring my bean bag chair into the living room."

Pay no mind, that there is a perfectly good chair, expressly for the purpose of sitting, curled up with your blankey, when you don't feel good.

We went back and forth for a few minutes, until finally the bean bag won out.

She dragged it, along with the book she was reading for school, to her little "corner" of the room, and happily ensconced herself in it's comfy embrace.

About an hour went by, maybe more, and things were quiet.
The television was on, but Sabrina, Chloe and I were each doing our own thing.

"I'm sorry Boo-tay," I heard Sabrina say.

At first, I thought I heard her wrong.

"Sabrina," I said, "Did you just apologize to your butt?"

"Yes, mama," she said nonchalantly.

"Why, in the world, would you need to say sorry to your booty," I ask.

"Well," she said matter of factly "I took a break from sitting on my bean bag, and was sitting on the floor, but after a while my booty started to hurt, so...," her voice trailed off. "I just thought I should say I was sorry."

"What?" she said, as I looked at her, my eyebrow raised,
"Why are you looking at me like that?"

She promptly got up from the floor, and plopped herself back onto the bean bag chair.

"Ahh," she said, "that's better."

Hooray for beanbags.

Lollipop, lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly....

I love that old song by the Chordettes...you know the one....it's been around awhile.

I always feel it necessary to stick the 'ole thumb in my mouth and pop it out, to make the "Pop" sound. Weird, I know.

That song may be old but there's another set of Lollipopz that are new, brand spankin' new.
These.


It's a new design group on Ebay that I am a member of. Yup. New, new, new.
The debut launch is today, and will run until March 26.
All the lollipoppy listings can be found here.

If you are interested in a ton of FREE stuff, as in GRATIS, skidaddle on over the the groups BLOG. Someone is going to make out like a bandit. Actually a few someone's will, maybe you'll be one of them.

And well, since this is a shameless pluggy type of post, I've got these auctions running NOW, as I type this, as you read this post.






Feliz Lunes!
Now go spend your hard earned money on some cute clothes for your kids!

To Hamster or not to Hamster...that is the Question

Photo courtesy of Istock.com

I have mentioned before that the only pets we currently own, are fish.

Sabrina, begs for a dog almost on a daily basis. She's been doing it for months now.
A couple of weeks ago, she announced that she wanted a hamster.
Hmmm...

"Sabrina," I say, "I thought you wanted a dog? Why all of a sudden do you want a hamster?"

"I just do," she says matter of factly.
"Can we maybe go to Petco...umm, not today, but maybe tomorrow and get one?"

"No way, " I say. "A hamster is not a toy, we have to talk to Daddy, and see what he says about the whole thing."

She half-heartedly agrees, and begins asking me if I need her to do anything. You know, like chores.

"I can clean my room," she says brightly.
"How about I wash the dishes for you?"
"Can I make your bed?"

Ordinarily I'm all about the kid picking up my slack around here.
However, I know her sudden interest in "helping" me out, is hamster-related.

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

Fast forward to Saturday.
Oscar agrees to take Sabrina to Petco. Hamster research.
I make him promise not to bring any furry creatures home.
He agrees, and instead comes home with lots of Hamster literature.

Sabrina is pretty jazzed at the prospect of learning more about her potential future pet.
She eagerly shows me the pamphlets.

"Hamster Care"
"Hamsters sleep during the day. They are awake at night"

"Hamsters have high metabolisms, and should have constant access to food and water"

"Hamsters can be cranky if disturbed during their daytime sleeping hours. So try to schedule daily cage cleanings in the late afternoon or evening."

The list goes on and on and on....

Don't get me wrong. I love animals. I had pets growing up, although not until I was about twelve, but that's neither her nor there.
The point being, that pets, in general, are alot of work, and once the novelty wears off (which it will), who will be stuck on Hamster duty?
One guess, moi.

I can barely handle the "duties" I already have.....cleaning, "cooking" taking care of kids and husbands and laundry...need I say more?
Adding a hamster to the list may prove disastrous, for both of us.

Oscar tells Sabrina, after patiently listening to her read the pamphlet,

"So, let me get this straight. The hamster sleeps during the day, will be awake at night, making all kinds of racket, while you are trying to sleep,"

"You won't be able to take him out of his cage and play with him during the day, as he will be sleeping (and cranky, no less),"

Oscar continues rattling off the 101 things the brochure advises, is necessary, to be a responsible hamster owner.

Sabrina is unfazed.
"I will daddy, uh-huh, I know daddy, I understand daddy, okay....uh-huh, okay...okay...."

Needless to say, the hamster negotiations are still going on.
We have all agreed to wait until, Sabrina's next report card, for the final decision.
Fingers crossed.

Tie One On

I know I already posted today, but this deserves a shout out.

My poor sister Monica (she is actually my sister-in-law but after sixteen years, the in-law part, kind of gets blurry), has been sick, yet the trooper that she is, has bestowed upon me the most delicious pictures.

I made these little girl aprons, in a somewhat futile effort to use up some of my enormous fabric stash. I took my own pictures, and they were, let's just say, craptastic, and that is being generous.
I begged Monica to re-photograph the aprons for me, as well, I wanted to actually sell them.

And look...

Bunny Tea

Hello Monkey

Sparkle Spring

Man, she is a miracle worker. Not to mention her kids are pretty easy on the eyes...!
So, on the off chance you need an apron for a diminutive person in your life they are here.
You rock Monica.

Feliz Cumpleanos

The birthday girl and Sabrina

Yesterday was my mama's birthday.
In her honor, I threw her a pretty rad shindig.....

I'm not exactly a "social butterfly," so in my book a rad shindig is usually a small(ish) one.

Tia Sylvia and the party table

My mama and pretty Araceli

Chloe and the Jokester

Two of my favorite ladies

Good food (green chile enchiladas, rice, chorizo beans and green salad),
Birthday cake (lemon cooler cake=store bought),
Sweet treats (sparkle sugar and chocolate chip cookies=homemade),
Presents,
My favorite people,
and
Kooky jokes, as told by my dad,
equal a totally awesome time.
Fur sure.

The Curse

Mom and Papa in all their glory.

We all have our own version of what a "curse" is, and it's not too often I throw that word around. I mean how often do you use the word "curse" in everyday conversation?

A few months ago, right after Sabrina started the fourth grade, she was busily doing her spelling or vocabulary homework. I don't remember which one.

She spent about half an hour writing sentences using the words that were on her list that week.

Sabrina is a very meticulous and detail oriented person.
So, it came as no surprise, when she asked me to double check her sentences, to make sure everything was on the up and up.

They were all very good sentences.
Witty, clever even, and well they all made sense, which is ultimately the goal, when you are in the fourth grade.

I made my way down the page, and stopped at one of the last sentences she had written.
I read it once, then twice.

"My Grandpa says when I grow up, I will get the curse."

I tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle my laughter.

"Sabrina," I asked, "Do you know what the curse is?"

"No," she said, "but Papa says I will get it when I'm older."

"Do, you want to know what it is?"

"Sure," she said, "What is it?"

You probably know what "curse" my Dad was referring to.
You know the one..."Aunt Flow" or the "Monthly Visitor," or (insert your favorite term for "the curse" here).

As I started to explain "the curse" that would someday befall her, she held up her hand,

"Ewww Mom, that's gross."

Thanks Dad.

One Fish, Two Fish, Third Time's A Charm Fish

Goldie and Pearl, our gargantuan pets.

The only pets we currently own are fish.
Two humongous, Little Shop of Horrors-like, goldfish.
One is aptly named Goldie, and the other one, not actually gold, is named Pearl (see photo).

Sabrina won Goldie at her school carnival, almost two years ago.
Yes. You read that correctly. Two years.

These are the tiny "feeder" fish they give away at carnivals for winning the ring toss game.
The ones you are usually attending a toilet bowl funeral for, after a couple of days.
A week, tops.

"Don't get your hopes up, Sabrina," I said.
"These fish, don't usually live that long."

Way to crush the kid, you may be thinking, but she had experienced a couple of prior fish deaths, so our expectations were low.

Oscar bought a small fish tank. He filled it with clean-ish water, a small filter and pretty blue rocks.
He followed all of the instructions dutifully given to him by the Petco clerk.
Goldie was deposited into her new home, and we all sat around on pins and needles....waiting....

Would there be a third fish funeral in our future?

Goldie, about a week old, the new fish on the block

Every morning I would wake up and inquire about Goldie's status.
And every morning, would be the same.
A -L-I-V-E.

A few months passed. Oscar decided it was time to get a friend for Goldie.
Another trip to Petco, and $150 bucks later, we had a fancy new aquarium and two new fish.
Aquarium and accompanying bits.....$149.50.
Fish.....$.50.
No kidding.

Unfortunately, the Petco clerk forgot to mention that new fish usually need to be quarantined because they carry around a fish virus called ICK.
So, the new fish infected our robust Goldie with the ICK virus.
After some internet research, Oscar discovered that ICK had a cure.
Fish antibiotics.
Seriously.
So, off to Petco I went. To purchase fish medicine.
Sadly, one of the newbie fish didn't make it...fish funeral number three.
The other one, Pearl, did.

Two years.

Goldie and Pearl happily co-exist.
Both of them Huge, and eagerly anticipating their next meal.

Goldie and Pearl hiding from my camera.

Goldie, age two.