success

thanks to everyone who commented and helped with my intervention. today has gone much better. i started out by making a list of everything i wanted to complete, and then numbered the steps that i needed to take to get them done. today i contacted several vendors for products i'm working on developing. i also contacted several of my reps and talked to them about my new products and their feasibility/cost/etc. all in all, it was a productive day. though my conversations i've even come up with a few more products i'd like to develop! intervention complete!

time for an intervention

maybe it summer, maybe i'm in a rut, maybe i'm lazy, maybe i just need a swift kick in the rear. i've been totally slacking lately. i have a bunch of new product ideas that i want to work on, however, i'm progressing really, really slowly. i'm sure it doesn't help that i have a baby getting 4 teeth at once, but in the end, that's not a good excuse.

i think i may spend tomorrow motivating myself with a complete breakdown of what i want to accomplish and what needs to be done in order to complete those things. i think giving myself some cut-off dates is going to be an important component to this list. any motivating words would be greatly appreciated!

chicago anyone?

the hubby and i are thinking of going to chicago for a long weekend next month for our 5 year anniversary. it's close to home, so we'll be able to drive, which will be nice. however, neither of us have ever really been there for fun. so, i need some info from anyone willing to help. here are the things we're interested in:

1. great hotels at an inexpensive price
2. great restaurants
3. the best of the best stationery and/or gift shops
4. museums and other fun things to do

any suggestions would be great! thanks so much in advance!

1 year anniversary + weekend mayhem

tomorrow (the 20th) is my official 1 year blog anniversary! wow. i can't believe i've been doing this that long! since i'll be traveling over to minneapolis tomorrow for a wedding, i thought i'd mention it today. i've met so many lovely people through this blog and the paper forums i belong to. thanks to everyone who visits!

it's going to be another long weekend with no time to ourselves. hhmmmppphh. what happened to lazy summer days? as i mentioned, we're heading out bright and early tomorrow morning to sit in the car for 6 hours so we can be in minneapolis in time for a 3:00 wedding rehearsal. then friday night is the actual wedding. did i mention that my hubby is actually the one performing the ceremony? yeah. the couple getting married are good friends of our and asked if he would do the honors. so he went online and got "certified" by some wacko church to perform their wedding.

then on the way home on saturday we need to stop "up nort" to visit his brother who just had surgery and is in the hospital.

hopefully i'll have the energy to unpack everything and weed the garden (which is in desperate need) on sunday.

one more weekend down the drain.

indie shopping feature

we've been featured at indieshopping.com!

the lovely dawn at anna bella baby is now a contribution editor at indieshopping.com's blog and chose to write about us for her first article. awe shucks! we're flattered!

here's a link directly to our feature!

rhubarb crunch

after the mention of my famous rhubarb crunch, i got a few requests for the recipe.....so here it is:

crust & topping:
2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. oatmeal
2 c. brown sugar
1 c melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon

mix together.

the corn starch mixture:
1 c. sugar
2 T. corn starch
1 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla

cook this mixture until it's thick.

put half of the crust/topping mixture in a 9 x 13 pan to form the crust. save the other half for later.
cut 4 cups of rhubarb into equal size pieces. add this to the crust already in the 9 x 13 pan.
next, add the corn starch mixture over the rhubarb
finally, add the remaining crust/topping mixture to the entire top of the 9 x 13 pan.
bake at 350º for 1 hr.

it's fantastically good....but as you can tell from the ingredient list....not the best for you! enjoy!

busy holiday week

over the past week, we've had three sets of guests! yes, three! last weekend (the 1st) we had my whole family over to celebrate my mom's birthday. we had lots of fun down by the beach with the niece and nephew, and then came back to the house and grilled out. it was a scorching hot and humid day. other than that it was a great family time.

then a couple friends of ours came down from minneapolis for the 4th of july celebration. it's turning into a tradition as we've done it for several years now. our small town has GREAT fireworks that they send out over the water, so we dig big chairs into the sand and lounge around until they begin. this was the little dude's first firework experience. i was a little nervous that he would be scared. (and not to mention tired and cranky) i was surprised when he not only made it all the way to 9:30 p.m. without being crabby, but proceeded to fall asleep 2 minutes into the show. how someone can sleep though fireworks, i will never know. it was a short visit, but nice nonetheless.

then this weekend a friend from college came down from minneapolis with her boyfriend to visit. they arrived late friday night. we went to the farmer's market on saturday morning and bought lots of goodies. we came home and i baked up a batch of my famous rhubarb crisp with the fresh rhubarb we purchased. yummy good! we hung around the house while the little dude took a nap and then headed out to the john michael kohler arts center which just happens to be where the hubby and i were married! (5 years ago next month!!) here's a photo of the outside.


it's an amazing building, with equally amazing art.

inside they have a great little area where the public can come and do FREE art! i can't wait to take the little dude to do some. out summer is so packed, but it will be a nice thing to do during the fall and winter months. in this art area, they had this great bubble machine. we must have played with it for a good half hour. here's a photo of my friend and her boyfriend trying to get a bubble out to the little dude. much fun was had!


outside of the arts center, the have a gigantic chair that the little dude thought was totally hilarious to sit in. i hope the picture is big enough to see his intense laughter! he just cracks me up!


after the arts center, we went out to a nice dinner and had plans to go to the beach (again! 3 times in one week!). however, when we left the restaurant, it was sprinkling out and we didn't want to get stuck out in the rain, so we opted to go home. i couldn't resist this photo of the little dude "reading" the pamphlet from the john michael kohler arts center on our way home from the restaurant. such a little man.


once home, we played some board games, (the hubby and i of course winning trivial pursuit.....sorry kelli!) and then marched off to bed.

we headed off to the beach early sunday morning before the little dude's nap, and then lounged around the house until early afternoon when they headed back home.

i'm now slowly trying to get back into the work week thing. i'm just not feeling it. maybe by tomorrow.....

long overdue

finally....a photo of the unbelievable notebook i got in the mail from stephanie over at mundane superhero. the amazing pattern she used to cover my notebook was one that i had been admiring from afar! i was so excited when i opened it! she chronicles the process in this post if you'd like to do one yourself! included was the most adorable little birdie card. thanks stephanie!

official photos

we finally got around to getting the little dude's 18 month photos done, and i just went to pick them up. here's a preview of them! i may be a little biased, but i think he just might be the cutest kid on earth! :)