On Friday my sister and I took her daughter, my niece, to ULTA for her first time. (My sister and I love ULTA. It's our happy place. They have fantastic lighting!) Anyway, this little girl adores nail polish - which she calls Sparkles. She is always checking out toes and fingers to see their Sparkles. It's so cute how she asks to get her nails re-touched when they chip. Her daddy is getting very good at painting tiny toe nails. By the way, she is only two.
So many colors. So little time.
Mom and daughter on a mission to find ESSIE.
Which one? The Pink OPI from the Minnie Mouse collection
OR
the fabulous magenta ESSIE.
Happy girl! She got both polishes and a few princess Lip Smackers.
Overall, a very successful trip. She was such a happy girl.
one.
I did some voice over work for my husband. I have a horrible voice but, it was fun nonetheless!
two.
New fabric! I haven't been doing as much creating for Poppy and Pippa. I've been so busy with the hair ties and filling orders for boutiques. I needed some inspiration for new blooms, twisted flowers, badge reels and brooches.
three.
Bill and I have season tickets to a local University theatre. They perform about five plays throughout the summer. It's so fun to have an excuse for a date night. We had a fabulous dinner. (I was starving so I forgot to take a pic). Then ventured over to the theatre for a production of "Shout."
four.
I decided on a camera to purchase!
It's a Canon Powershot G12. It's not as fancy as a DSLR but, I decided I probably don't need something that fancy for product shots.
five.
New blog name!
As you may know, I recently changed the name of my blog and I'm in the process of changing the design. I'm very excited to share my new look with you. This "construction" project is taking on more and more similarities to real construction projects. Meaning the time and the decisions.
My original design was done by my very talented husband. I loved it. At the time. Now, I want to go in a different direction. The header was so plain. If I was blog surfing I don't think my former look would encourage me to keep reading. It was a great simple design just not the design I want to go forward with.
My husband recently said to me that he didn't understand why I'd change my blog look. He said that people don't come to the blog because of the look they come for the content. That may be true but, first you need to have a "selling" point. Beauty is a very good "selling" point. I know that if I come across a blog that has great design I am more inclined to stop and check it out.
It's Wednesday, you know what that means. I get to share my favorite "pins" as of late. I haven't hooked up for Isn't It Pinteresting in about a month so it's about time I do it again.
A little randomness for Miscellany Monday. Linking up with Carissa.
I took Friday off to go to the beach with my sister and her kids. It was a perfect day. It was almost 90 degrees and sunny... but this is what I did instead.
My sister decided she didn't want to go to the beach. Yup. I couldn't believe it either. Oh well, I got a lot of work and laundry done.
~~~~~~~~~~
On Saturday Bill and I spent the day working at his parent's lake house. I weeded and planted a garden while Bill cleaned off the roof and trimmed trees. Both of us were exhausted at the end of the day.
This is my favorite place to relax after a long day. Seriously, isn't that view amazing?
The sunset and the stillness of the lake made a perfect evening.
~~~~~~~~~~
On Friday I posted about some changes that are going to take place at {My Green Pen} because, I don't think it currently reflects who I am.
When I started this blog I had no idea what I was doing.
Stay tuned for change...
~~~~~~~~~~
My camera officially died. I need a new one ASAP! Any suggestions?
~~~~~~~~~~
Giveaway coming soon...
When I reach 100 followers I will be giving away: 25 Hair ties from Poppy and Pippa.
First of all, my HIGH FIVE FOR FRIDAY post is below. Sorry about the link mix up.
........................................
So, I've been thinking about my blog a lot lately. I want it to be more of a reflection of me - of who I am.
I started this blog with no forethought into what it was going to be about. I didn't know what I wanted it to be called and I had no idea of the look I wanted.
After blogging for about six months I think I finally know what I want and where I want this blog to go. I know who I'm writing for and possibly what YOU want to read...hopefully...maybe. I just want to be me. All me.
It's time to change the name and the look. I would love some input from you. Please?
Name change options:
.........................................
All me
Being me
something to say
daily life
A fulfilling life
beautiful crazy wonderful life
life wonder
a crazy simple beautiful somewhat organized life
...................................................
All opinions, suggestions, and comments are welcome.
It's Friday!
Let's check out my five favorites from this past week.
one.
My sister and I were checked out and possibly "hit on" by some much younger fellows. Yes, we were! We were driving along when all of a sudden the guy in front of me is waving. I asked my sister if she knew him. She didn't. Then he held his cell phone out of his sun roof. Not sure of his intention. It's not like a person can just beam a phone number from one phone to another. He was pretty persistent. Too bad him and his buddies didn't know they were hitting on a mother of three and a thirty-five year old. Bummer for him. Yay for us. We still have it!
two.
A story from work - as most of you know I work in an early learning center located within a long term care facility. (There is rarely a dull day.) After Chapel service with the residents the children go around the room to say hello. On this particular day the early preschool teacher asked on of the children (four years old) to say good morning to a resident named David. The child goes up to him excitedly and says "Hey David, what are you doing here?! Aren't you supposed to be fighting Goliath?" To which David replied, "I'm all out of stones!"
five.
Blog changes. You might have noticed (if you follow me - if you don't you really should...everyone is doing it) that my posts have changed a bit. One change is that I participated in What I Wore Wednesday instead of Isn't it Pinteresting. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone a bit. (and I think I like it!) I see this blog growing and changing over the next couple of weeks. I think I finally know the direction I want it to go. More on this next week.
.................
Happy Friday all! It's going to be a HOT one here this weekend. Bill and I are headed out to his parent's lake house. I plan on planting my mother-in-laws garden and Bill has to climb on the roof and do some work. We don't mind the work because we get to stay and enjoy a beautiful house on a beautiful lake with family.
Ask anyone who knows me - I'm not a sparkly kind of gal. I've never worn sparkle/glitter body gel. In fact, I don't even really love an eye shadow that has a shimmer. But, recently I became a bit obsessed with sparkly nails! It's not quite up to par with my mint obsession but it's close.
Sparkles are fantastic...until you want to take it off!
Here's what Deborah Lippmann, celebrity manicurist, said - First of all, be gentle. The course glitter can damage your nail. {Oops! guess I shouldn't have been filing the glitter off of my nails!}
Step 1: Saturate cotton with acetone or polish remover (a remover with acetone works best). Step 2: Place the cotton on the nail and wrap each finger in aluminum foil. Press down. Step 3: Leave on for 5 minutes. Step 4: Pull the foil off and your glitter polish will glide off, too!
There you have it! Now you can enjoy your sparkly nails and safely remove it too!
I live in a Condo on the third floor. We own our unit just like you own your house. The only difference is that we don't have to do any yard work, shovel the snow, or do any maintenance to the building. We pay a monthly fee for those things. I love it but, I wish I had a garden. A real garden. On the ground. In the ground. I'd love to plant flowers and veggies. I'd also plant strawberries and raspberries. I imagine my dream garden to be rather impressive but, for now, my garden consists of pots. Don't get me wrong - pots of flowers are beautiful too.
There's just something about digging in the dirt. Not scooping the dirt out of a bag...
Notice Wilfred the gnome? He is in rough shape but I truly adore him!
Whidbey didn't understand why he couldn't join me...I didn't have the heart to tell him it's because he's klutzy and would fall off the deck.
Enjoy your day! It's supposed to be hot, hot, hot here!
On Saturday we celebrated, my niece, Sophia's 2nd birthday! We all gathered at my sister's house for fun on the {new} trampoline, yummy food, and lots of laughs.
Andy and Isaac (her brothers) showed of some mad skills!
Sophie hung out with Grandpa (my dad) while her brothers jumped.
She ran around and around the trampoline.
Her bubbies (as she calls her brothers) are always there to keep her safe.
I think she was surprised when she caught some air!
After jumping for a bit {in the hot hot sun - I've never been so hot in my life} we went inside for dinner and Birthday cake!
After a delicious meal it was time to open presents. She was more hesitant than any child I've ever seen with presents. In fact, Andy ended up opening them all up for her.
I got her that blanket she's holding. She loved it!
Her current blankets have lots of holes so it was time for a new one.
She loves the gauze blankets. If you haven't given one for a gift - do it!
The child will love it!
So patient as Andy opened up her gifts.
She took time to "read" the cards...and she's only 2!
Finally, alone at last! I think she needed to make some calls on her new V-Tech Smart Phone.
This week was fan tab! Not only was it a four day work week but it was also the last day of school! Working in early childhood means working year 'round. When I was a preschool teacher I spent my summers with a group of school age children. I loved summers with the kids! We'd hang out outside everyday, go to the pool, and just be kids. Now, that I'm in administration, summers aren't so fun. Oh well, at least I can still smell the sunscreen as the kids walk by my office.
Five favorites from the past week!
one.
The innocence of children. I love having conversations with children. Here's a conversation I had with a child on Thursday morning.
child: "I don't like Chucky"
me: (thinking to myself - I don't like Chucky either he's a psycho little doll - then thinking why do parent's let their children watch scary movies?!) I asked him, "Who's Chucky?"
child: "he's a mouse that lives at Chuck E. Cheese."
me: "oh, have you seen him recently?"
child: "yes, I ate pepperoni and I don't even like pepperoni. Then I go home and I cry because I don't like Chucky or pepperoni."
Seriously.
two.
I've been browsing at the Pleated Poppy shop for the past couple of weeks. I finally purchased a small pouch. I ordered it on Monday and received it on Thursday! Fast shipping. It's even better than I imagined. It has two pockets. I wanted this one because I could put my business cards in one slot and keep my Poppy and Pippa credit card in the other. It's perfect because I keep business separate from my personal.
Losing 4 pounds in 7 days! I think I am really turning my eating habits around. Love it. I can't wait to feel the difference in my clothes.
four.
Finally got my hair to curl in a decent but not curly sue kind of way. Wore my hair curly all day with no ponytail for the first time since I had permed hair in seventh grade.
five.
These girls have amazing talent! In this video they are 12 and 9 years old. I hope this makes your Friday just a little bit happier. If you have a little extra time you should check out some of their other videos on YouTube.
Welcome to my little corner of the "blogosphere." I am not a writer. I have horrible grammar and punctuation. I love commas and dashes - especially when they are not needed. But, I enjoy having a little spot to share what's on my mind.
If you have a little time, I'd love it if you'd stay awhile.
