Posted on | December 27, 2011 | 21 Comments
this holiday season kicked last holiday seasons ace. last year i was all kinds of grinchy and sick and although i powered through, i had never been so happy to put away decorations and kiss christmas goodbye. this year was different. i learned so many important lessons in 2011 (that i probably should have learned much earlier, but hey, what can you do) and this week, i’ll be sad to clean up the house. but also happy thinking of the memories we’ve had the past month or so.
kids make christmas. the past 3 years were fun – Harper being around 8 weeks, then just a year, then just over 2 – but this year she was so into it and made it magical for me. coupled with Scot, who is the king of christmas, something about this holiday season was just special. now all the hoopla is over, but the awesomeness lives on. Scot is off all this week and we are stee-raight chillin’. sleeping in, hanging out like it’s our job, you know, important stuff. the look on H’s face each morning as she realizes daddy isn’t at work is basically the best ever. i’d like to press the pause button.
the day before christmas eve, we looked at our brown crispy tree and decided the fire hazard had to come down. Scot deemed it unsuitable for christmas. after 4 trillion needles were swept and vacuumed up, we pulled out our old faithful fakey, only to have half the lights not work. 45 minutes later he exclaimed “we’re going to target”. trees were already 50% off, so we scored a new tree for cheap, and redecorating it got us all back in the christmas spirit.
my mom spent the night christmas eve and we made an epic gingerbread house, ate clam chowder and drank bloody marys while watching White Christmas. around 10:30 we decided it was waaaay past time for H to go to bed, so we checked up on Santa on the norad website and he was in boise! we rushed her to bed after she made up a note and a plate for santa (“i think santa would like eggnog instead of milk” – Scot). for future reference, santa hits seattle at 11pm.
in the morning, we woke up around 7 and Scot went in to get her. she was dead asleep, but when she heard the door open, she shot up and in a drunk voice was all “is it christmas day today? mommy? daddy? gg? is santa here?”. it was ridiculous and adorable.
santa brought her a toolset, the only thing she asked for. we have no idea where she got the idea, but she is enjoying fixing ALL THE THINGS.
she knows all the words to, and continues to sing: holly jolly christmas, jingle bell rock (her FAVORITE), regular jingle bells, rudolph, and i want a hippopotamus for christmas. in fact, in line to see santa, she said “i’m gonna tell santa i want a hippopotamus” and i said “really?” and she said “no mommy, i’m just kidding”.
she also “whatever”ed me yesterday. SHE WHATEVERED ME.
but i digress.
this christmas was exactly what it should have been – about family and being together. the presents were few, but who cares? it’s not about the things, it’s about the people. and we made it count in every way. i couldn’t love christmas more this year.
Posted on | December 26, 2011 | 15 Comments
oh Harper >> dress: gift, target // coat: old navy, thrifted // shoes: target. on Mandy >> tank, jeans, shoes, cardi: target // scarf: h&m. on Scot >> super awesome new coat from target (i’m biased, i bought it for him).
let’s pretend it isn’t monday night and i’m just now posting SOS, ok? although i’m pretty sure the linky will be sparse this week – everyone was so busy getting their christmas on anyway. we sure were! we had a great weekend full of family, sugar and…more sugar. seriously, there is a reason why most people pick dieting as their new year resolution. dude. duuuuuuude.
christmas weekend included (but was not limited to) things such as: gingerbread house making, bloody marys, dogs in santa hats, smoked salmon, xmas jammies, white christmas viewing, letters for santa, turkey, playing with cousins, white elephant gifts that ruled, coffee, sparkly tops, taking down our dead brown tree and replacing it with a fake tree, and searching for the best christmas lights.
i hope you all had a wonderful weekend whatever you did to celebrate. merry christmas!
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Posted on | December 23, 2011 | 22 Comments
happy christmas eve eve! i wanted to share Stella Grace Boutique with you guys today, and a little interview i did with Kara, the super woman behind the adorable shop full of handmade goodies for your little one. please say hello and check out the giveaway as well!
how did Stella Grace Boutique come about?
My little business came about as part of the recession. I started making rag dolls for people at church and thought about selling them online. When my husband was laid off I decided to follow my dreams and make them a reality.
what is your favorite item to make?
These waldorf snuggle dolls are amazing. we are a natural parenting family, and have recently embraced the waldorf method of teaching. I made them for a custom order and almost didn’t want to send them they were sooo cute!! Of course since they were Christmas gifts off they went.
do your daughters inspire your shop?
If I didn’t have my girls, I wouldn’t have a shop. My 4 girls love and appreciate handmade toys, and love helping make items. they love stuffing little limbs, and legs of dolls. packing orders. putting together my gift card packets. They are so fun!
Also, some of their favorite things inspire me to make dolls. I try to keep an eye on trend with them and their friends to make sure that what I am making will be a popular toy.
do you have any advice for others thinking about starting a handmade business?
I would search through the Etsy forums. Go slow, and don’t overload yourself. Also, don’t price like people that have been in business for awhile. I found that pricing items to get them in the hands of consumers, and getting your name out there helped. Then slowly raise your prices. But never ever under-cut yourself or other artisans. If you do that you will end up burned out emotionally and financially.
I read through this book many many times, and took a online indie business class (www.indie-business.com) last year that really helped me find my business purpose and niche.
and because it’s december, what is your favorite holiday treat?
My husband is the cook and baker. He makes these amazing pizelle cookies and rolls them in dark chocolate and pizelles. YUM!!!
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Kara would like to give one reader a $25 credit to her shop! all you need to do to enter is like her facebook page and leave a comment here letting me know you did so. yay for fun friday giveaways! i’ll announce the winner next week after the holiday hoopla is all done with. thanks to Kara for the giveaway!
Posted on | December 22, 2011 | 16 Comments
i’ve never really done a year in review on the blog and this year i thought it would be fun. looking back through my posts was a pretty fun journey – it made me realize how much we’ve really done in the past 12 months and how thankful i am for the opportunities and fun times i’ve been given. i’m so lucky to have this space to be myself and have friends/readers (same difference!) like you guys. some of you have been around here since day one and that is pretty freaking awesome. 2011 in my blogworld had lots of ups and downs – lots of reflection, questioning, and looking inward – and i’m happy to end the year on a positive note, knowing that this is what i’m supposed to be doing and doing it my way.
i ended 2010 sick, tired and ready for a new year. and what a kick ace year it has been. shall we?
two thousand eleven, y’all!
the first month of the year brought our farewell to the binkie. hard to believe we started the year with a 2 year old in diapers who used a binkie and ended with a potty trained three year old who knows the words to Cee-lo’s Forget You. love that kid.
february my mama turned 60 (so i embarrassed both her and me by posting some amazing old photos of us on the internet!). our friend Doug turned nerdy thirty, and i kicked off Mama Style with one of my lovely friends Melissa. (more Mama Style coming soon!)
march was busy – first i surprised my mom in las vegas and we had a blast celebrating her big birthday. the loverly Stacy Jacobsen took some family photos for us and Harper and i tried our hand at vlogging. then Scot mocked me and it was awesome.
in april the lil’ nugget had her half birthday, i posted photos of myself in a muumuu on the world wide web, and Harper met dora at the spring fair. also, the day i had put months of work into happened, as a group of bloggers walked for the March of Dimes after raising over $2400 (THANK YOU). that day was AWESOME and i cannot wait to put together next years bloggers for babies!
may! may we went on our first food tour, Harper got her very first brain freeze, and the Haps got a rad makeover. oh yeah, and i turned 30 and had the best birthday party ever, which included my BIFF (best internet friend forever) Mae flying in from florida for less than 48 hours. best. birthday. ever.
june we broke out the kiddie pool! Scot turned 28! my friend Josie got married and Kenny from Smonk You busted up into Mama Style. awkward.
in july we headed to the gorge to see Soundgarden with our friends (chris cornell FTW). Harper got obsessed with CHAPSTICK whilst i got obsessed with mason jars and succulents. we floated around getting sunburns (well me anyways).
august was cray cray. i went to blogher for the second time. my best friend got married and we were all in the wedding! Scot and i celebrated our 5 year anniversary and headed off to Mexico to do nothing but eat and sleep. august ruled so hard.
september, this little biscuit basket started pre-school. i freaked out (naturally). Steppin’ Out Saturday turned one year old (whaaaat?) and a few friends and i coordinated the first PNW Bloggers Meetup and it was a smashing success!
Harper turned three in october!we started potty training a few weeks before her birthday, which was trying. but we did it! it took a bit of perspective to get us through it. she was the most adorable little snow white for halloween and had a kick ace birthday.
november we headed to yakima for a wonderful thanksgiving with Scot’s family. Harper got to see yo gabba gabba live for the second time and toy story on ice. and she showed off her style like a pro a few times. legwarmers!
this month has been pretty awesome so far – full of christmas fun and family activities. we got our tree, went on the polar express, and spent some time getting our holiday on with friends in seattle. bring it on christmas!
i’m practically giddy to start a new year. so many things on the horizon, the year ahead has so much potential to be a great one. i hope you guys have fond memories to look back on in 2011 and even if not so much, hey, kick it to the curb ’cause 2012 is almost here. here’s to hoping 2012 is the year i finally figure out how to make a saddle for my pug to ride my french bulldog. ::fingers crossed::
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