remember when?

remember waaaaay back in january when i made a gigantic list of goals for the year?

remember that one crazy goal of losing 10 pounds?

yeah, well. i knew it was a long shot. 10 pounds is a lot, especially when you're a buzy mamma. i did really well from january until may. but when the national stationery show hit, it all kind of fell apart.

so, being bound and determined not to let that goal slip away without a good solid try, i've been working the last two months or so on trying to eat less and exercise more. i still don't feel like i have the time and/or motivation to go to the gym, but lately i have been walking with a few friends about twice a week. (better than nothing i guess)

for all my work over the last two months, the scale rewarded me yesterday! it's not 10 pounds, but i officially hit the 5 pound mark! considering how much i've done, i'm very happy with this. it's actually kind of funny. i feel like i'm doing way less than i've done in the past, but i'm losing more. maybe it's because i'm really trying to focus on how much i eat instead of how long i work out.

i don't even feel like i'm sacrificing much. i've found that it doesn't matter so much what i eat, but instead, how much i'm eating. so, if i feel like ice cream, i have it. just less than before, and maybe less for dinner to make up for it. i'm trying to be more aware of how much i'm eating instead of just finishing everything that's sitting in front of me. so basically being more conscious of what's going in my mouth.

and my "hot jeans" (as my hubby likes to call them) are becoming more like my baggy jeans! it's pretty cool what 5 pounds can do!

now to keep it up!

dancing with my baby

to my baby…

i wanted to record this memory because it’s one that i never want to forget.

when i went to tuck you into bed last night, i asked for my hugs and kisses as usual. you hugged me and cuddled so nicely that i decided we should dance. so we danced around your room with your head on my shoulder while i sang my “dancing with my baby” song. over and over i sang my song, and we danced. when i was ready to put you down i asked if you were ready and you said “no. dancing!”, so we danced some more. we stopped again. i asked again. you said “no. baby!” so we danced again. over and over this went. how could i say no to my cuddling baby boy? finally after many dances, i convinced you to lay down and go to sleep.

tonight, i promised that we would dance again. so, of course, we danced. i sang the same song and danced the same slow dance with your head on my shoulder. this time your arms were wrapped tightly around my shoulders as you didn’t want me to stop. when i asked to stop, you said “no. sing!” over and over again. i may not have the best voice in the world, but at least i know someone appreciates it.

i don’t think there’s any other feeling in the world like the one you have given me the last two nights. i love you too, baby.

how i spent my day.....

remember that mega huge gigantic order i wrote about a couple months ago? well, it's time for it to ship. today, my assistant and i, labeled each and every one of our items with barcode labels provided by the retailer.


here's a photo of about 1/3 of the labels spread out on our table. it took us a total of 4 hour with two people working to get them all done! whew!


here's a photo of everything ready to be boxed up to go! the blue boxes are full of gift tags just like the one open on top. sorry about the quality, not the best lighting in the basement!


and another. now onto invoicing! fun times!

thrifter's paradise

this weekend, the family and i visited the world's biggest and bestest rummage sale! the hubby had heard about it through a couple people at work. it's held by a private school and many of the donations are from the wealthy parents of the students who go there. they even auction off cars, boats, etc....crazy!

we were not disappointed when we arrived. it was just as big as we had heard it would be. sheds, barns, and tents FULL of thrifting goodness! i was in heaven. we weren't able to make it to the sale until about noon on saturday. i was a little worried about what would be left since it started early on friday. much to my surprise, there was a ton of fun stuff left.

here are my favorite finds:


this is my first find of the day. it's a piece of patchwork stretched on a frame. it's pretty large; about 3 feet by 2.5 feet. it does have one little tear that needs to be repaired, but other than that it's perfect. actually, it's rather imperfect, and that's what i like about it. it was marked $5.00, but since saturday was half-price day, i paid a whopping $2.50 for it! unbelievable! i think it's going to go in my red dining room. since the border is red, i may paint a block on the wall to stop it from blending in too much.


i have to thank the hubby for this find. a whole box of weaving thread. (the jars were not included) the large jar on the left is all of the thread that was included in the box. the second jar contains spools that i found on another outing years ago. i thought the box of thread was the perfect addition to match the spools i already had. now i just need to find smaller versions for the smallest jar. this is also resides in the dining room in the built in buffet. again, i paid $2.50 for the whole box!


and here's my precious little lemon tree embroidered piece. it's about 5 x 7 inches. it needs to be cleaned up a little, but i couldn't resist the three dimensional little lemons hanging off the tree. this was my big purchase of the day at $1.00!

we also bought a few books for the little dude as well as a leap frog leap pad for him. although he's a little young for it, it was in perfect condition and had an asking price of $12.00. too good to pass up. he'll have fun with it even if he doesn't quite understand what he's doing yet.

next year i want to get a pass to get in early. it costs $10, but you get to go in before anyone else on friday and see everything first! i can't imagine all the goodies i would find being able to go before everything is rummaged through!

where am i?

i feel like i've been a little absent from the blogging/internet world lately. what have i been doing? i'm not really sure, to tell you the truth. busy doing a lot of nothing i guess! in reality, that's not true, but that's how it feels.

i've been busy building my online portfolio for a new wholesale art/craft website that i've joined. retailers can see all my things and order right from the site. i'm then notified by e-mail! pretty smooth. i hope it goes over well. my site is supposed to launch sometime before friday. it's a lot of work to upload nearly 200 product descriptions and images. i didn't add some of my less popular products because it was getting a little overwhelming. if sales are good through the site, i might think about adding more.

i've also been working on getting some promotional materials out in the mail to my customers/potential customers in hopes of adding to my holiday sales. i know it's a little late for christmas, but i also included spring holiday information too. we'll see how it goes. they went out this morning.

the happily handmade giveaway is going great! i've already got almost 175 entries in less than a week! i can't imagine how many i'll have at the end of the month! i'm excited at the possibilities. hopefully it will really start to get my retail name out there a little bit and increase sales for the upcoming holidays.

i've also worked on a new set of notecards that i'm really excited about. i think they're really fun and unlike any of my other work. all of my current work is illustrated on the computer, where these were hand drawn and then scanned in. it's all based on remembering when you were a kid. so think fun kid images, but grown up. i'll post a sneak peak soon. the only problem is finding the funds to get them printed! i want to do them on some really, really nice paper, which i fear is going to be very expensive. i'm afraid to get quotes!

so that's about all i've been up to in the last week or so. not too much! :) i guess i HAVE been busier than i thought!